Streaming
Mothers, Missiles and the American President lands on iPlayer
Beeb’s streaming service offers up this fascinating new documentary.
On the 40th Anniversary of the start of one of the biggest and longest-running women’s protests in British history – Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp – that saw women from all walks of life brave the elements to take on the fight of their lives to stop the nuclear bomb, comes a fascinating new documentary.
We’ve seen the march; we’ve heard about the mass protests, but what do we know about the women who risked it all to bring about change? Now a powerful, moving new documentary Mothers, Missiles and the American President narrated by BAFTA-winning Welsh actor Rakie Ayola (Anthony), sheds light on one of the untold stories… how three sisters, housewives from the Rhondda Valley, had the courage of their convictions, that saw them dedicate their lives to the women’s anti-nuclear protests… whatever the cost.
This eye-opening authentic documentary reveals the true sacrifice of these brave women who faced imprisonment for their cause and even flew to America to take on the President. It weaves together intimate interviews and poignant archive footage to show the personal, often humorous and sometimes shocking memories of the Brinkworth sisters and women of Porth as they recount their time at Greenham and the lasting impact it had on their lives.
The year is 1981. Diana and Charles tie the knot, as do Ken and Deirdre Barlow in Coronation Street while soap fans go into mourning with the sacking of Noele Gordon from Crossroads. Kate Robbins has a number two hit with More Than In Love while Raiders of the Lost Ark storms the box office, and the threat of nuclear war is real. Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minister; Ronald Reagan has just become President and every family receives a ‘Protect and Survive’ pamphlet through their door.
It was a big year for Ken and Deirdre Barlow in Coronation Street, (Granada TV)
In the Rhondda Valley, live the Brinkworths, a working-class family of seven sisters and one brother, raised by their Mum and bus driver Dad who are well-known in Porth. Socially conscious but not political, the two eldest sisters, Susan and Christine, both in their early 20s, have dabbled in CND meetings, along with many of their peers, but are also housewives and raising young children.
When they hear about the Welsh women’s peace movement Women for Life on Earth’s 120-mile protest march, from Cardiff to Greenham Common, Newbury where preparations to house the American nuclear missiles have started, they are intrigued. On learning that the women have set up a permanent protest camp, they are furious that the press and government have taken little notice of the women, so they decide to take action.
Rallying a small group including younger sister Lesley and school friend Lynne they set up their own mini protest under the banner ‘Who and why are the women of Greenham Common?’. They chain themselves to railings and camp out in the middle of the local town square for a week. Then, with the support of their parents and families, the three sisters, Lynne and young local newcomer Kath hitchhiked from the terraces of Rhondda to the tents of Greenham Common… and their lives changed forever…
As they commit wholeheartedly to the cause and the sisterhood surrounding it, they begin to spend every moment they can at Greenham and risk more and more, placing themselves in terrifying situations that bring the threat of violence, anger from those who disagree with their actions and even imprisonment… while the national press continues to ignore their fight for their cause.
This is the story of ordinary women doing extraordinary things.
The programme has been commissioned to air on BBC One Wales and can be seen across the rest of the UK on the BBC iPlayer.
