shows it is most effective in catalysing some remedy to the mistreatment of an individual. But the result, if it comes, is often confined to the individual and there is no clear pattern of why it works for some and not others.
Television investigation has many practical limits. Most programmes of this sort are expensive and rarely last much longer than half an hour - short in terms of developing a complex arguement. In addition they are "one-shot" operations: it is hard to return to a subject once a programme or rival has "done" the story. New information is difficult to use after transmission, too. Newspapers, with their ability to follow up stories are better adapted to sustain the pressure that may
bring about change.
Politicians do not watch much TV, so programmes need press publicity - producers depend heavily on previews and reviews.
Chris Oxley, producer of Thames TV's Death on the Rock, says the trail that led to First Tuesday's trilogy on the Guildford Four began in 1982 with a piece he and Margaret Jay made for Panorama. "We showed that the condemnation of Anne Maguire could not be held up on the forensic evidence. The Home Office promised to look again at the evidence, but nothing came of it." It took another two years before TV was ready to tackle the story again.
Nowadays the climate for this sort of television is tough. Companies face the twin pressures of falling advertising revenues and competative
franchises, with untried quality hurdles. Meanwhile the BBC is positioning itself for the expiry of it's charter in 1996.
In these conditions, broadcasters are careful not to get too unpopular, though most editors maintain that the attack against Death on the Rock has not affected their story choices. But Roger Bolton, controller of networks factual programming at Thames Television, says that more than ever there is an attack on the motives of people making independent television journalism.
Threats to originally researched investigations could come from a less obvious direction. Although the BBC regards Rough Justice as part of it's public service remit, bigger programmes are
increasingly being funded with co-production and sponsorship. Grant McKee, head of documentaries at Yorkshire Television, warns of more insidious change. "It means that the priorities are no longer being solely set by British editors, and stories may need to have an eye on Ameican, Japanese and European markets."
The Author is on the production team of Taking Liberties. A new series started last night on BBC2.
