At an anniversary screening of the film, Ken Loach spoke of how the play had become an important part in making the debate on homelessness public. At the same event his producer, Tony Garnett, pointed out that the number of homeless in Britain had more than doubled "but Ken [Loach] and I now live in much more expensive houses."
The TV play was so realistic that for years after it was broadcast, Carol White (who played Cathy) would be stopped in the street by passers-by who would press money into her hand, unable to believe that she wasn't actually homeless.
Cathy's two sons, Sean and Steve, are played by Carol White's real-life sons, Sean King and Stephen King from her marriage to Mike King of The King Brothers.
Closing credits epilogue: All the events in this film took place in Britain within the last eighteen months.
4,000 children are separated from their parents and taken into care each year because their parents are homeless.
West Germany has built twice as many houses as Britain since the war.
4,000 children are separated from their parents and taken into care each year because their parents are homeless.
West Germany has built twice as many houses as Britain since the war.
Producer Tony Garnett later said that the play "let everybody off the hook,[it] was not political enough, [it] was a nice, soft, liberal film, it didn't put the boot in where it should have done".