The Price of Coal

This two-parter for BBC TV, written by Barry Hines (‘Kes’) is surely the only Loach film to feature Prince Charles as a character. Made during the Silver Jubilee year of 1977, the first part is more light-hearted and features frantic, often comic preparations at a Yorkshire colliery for a visit by the Prince of Wales. Matters take a turn for the worse in the second part when the cracks being papered over for the royal visit by the pit’s management lead to tragedy. As with his script for ‘Kes’, Hines’s approach to urgent social and political commentary is resolutely warm and human – although the film’s finale is no less devastating.