 Series 3 - MTCP 1999 - 8 Shows |
| Show 1 - Arms Fair |
| Opening lines |
 Mark's favourite opening lines come from a book (Earthly Powers) by Anthony Burgess |
| "It was on the afternoon of my 81st birthday and I was in bed with my catamite (rent boy) when Ali told me the Archbishop had come to see me" |
| Tonight's show is probably the nearest Mark is going to get to that |
| "After discussing with the major-general the army's involvement in the massacre of 271 innocent civilians in a churchyard, I spent the afternoon with an Iranian arms dealer talking through whether a mortar bomb could be the solution to the problem of moles on my back lawn." |
| Defendory International |
| Mark and the team went to one of the biggest arms fairs in the world in Athens |
| Huge arms fair |
| Filming is forbidden in the arms fair but they do manage some footage |
| All the top torturers are there |
| Mark wants to know how exactly you sell a fragmentation grenade |
| They get a stand in the exhibition as a PR company called Mackintosh Morley |
| Idea is to give PR tips to torturers and arms dealers |
| Stay at the same as hotel as many of the arms dealers |
| There is a Gala reception on the first night so they start their PR exercise there. |
| First day of the exhibition they speak to one of the organisers who is very interested in what they are doing. "We've never had a PR company exhibit before". Really... |
| Set up next to a Bulgarian missile manufacturer whose sales pitch comprises a mini-skirt wearing girl eating a banana. |
| Mark meets the Serbian delegation and suggests they need better press. |
| Also speak to Sri Lankan and Egyptian delegates. The Greek Prime minister passes past as well. |
| Zimbabwean Minister of Information pops by too who says he gets better at lying every year. |
| Then the Kenyans appear who agree to a short media training course |
| We'll question you about your countries human rights record and then I'll advise you on the best way to handle it. |
| Speak to Major General Njoroge, Deputy Commander, Kenyan Army |
| Mark gives him advice about how to look good on TV |
| Njoroge says that Amnesty International have a problem with Human rights because of their judgement of human rights in the world |
| He says that wife-beating is a way of expressing love in certain cultures |
| Write up a report on his communication skills. |
| Day 2 all the delegates are led around by Hellenic guards. |
| They introduce Major General Widjojo from Indonesia who also agrees to the training |
| Mark couldn't resist doing a warm up breathing and stretching exercise to relieve tension |
| He doesn't accept that Amnesty's reports prove there is torture in his country |
| Mark asks him to consider saying that on some occasions torture has happened, he agrees. |
| Mark asks him to put a positive spin on why torture happens sometimes. |
| He admits that torture happens some times to protect the security of society. |
| Mark then put a tape recorder in his pocket and started charging around the exhibition asking about the weapons for sale |
| M16 Machine guns for getting rid of pigeons and the mortar for getting rid of moles |
| Anti-tank missiles for getting rid of Renault Espaces and Range Rovers on school runs |
| The Indonesians ask them to pitch for a 6-week PR media training course for the Indonesian army. They pitched as requested. |
| |
| Credits |
| THE MARK THOMAS COMEDY PRODUCT |
| Written and performed by: MARK THOMAS |
| Associate Producers: JACK CHESHIRE, CHRISTOPHER MARTIN |
| Researcher: PETER NEWTON |
| Floor Manager: GRIFF EVANS |
| Production Team: DUNCAN BARNES, JAYNE HANCOCK, NICK MICOURIS |
| Production Assistant: SARA LEWIS |
| Production Managers: CATHERINE STRAUSS, KATHY NETTLESHIP |
| Design: BLAZKHO |
| Scenic Supervisor: GABREL MOSSA |
| Gaffer: STEVE SMITH |
| Vision Mixer CAROLE CHESSUN |
| OB Camera Supervisor: ALAN HADDOW |
| Sound Supervisor: KEITH NIXON |
| Location Camera: PAUL MUNGEAM |
| Dubbing Mixer: ELI PERL |
| On Line Editor: NICK KING |
| Off Line Editor: STEVE TEMPIA |
| Lighting Director: ROBIN THORBURN |
| Director: MICHAEL CUMMING |
| Producer: GEOFF ATKINSON |
| Made by VERA for CHANNEL FOUR |
| © Channel Four Television Corporation MCMXCIX |
| Show 2 - Indonesian Torture |
| Colonel Halim |
| This show carries on from the last |
| Arms fair loved them, they sent Mark a Christmas card |
| Indonesian army asked them to pitch for a PR training course for their army |
| Went around to the Indonesian Embassy in London on Widjojo's advice |
| They interview Colonel Halim, Defence attache, Indonesian Embassy, London |
| Ask him about the use of Hawk Jets, water cannons, etc. in East Timor |
| He denies their use, claims anyone who says so is lying |
| set up a list of charges and asked if he would admit to any of them |
| Rape, torture, disappearances, etc. |
| Ask him to order them in order of worst to least worse |
| Agrees that the use of UK equipment in East Timor could be admitted to. |
| "We use some but it is the old equipment such as Saladin and Saracen." |
| Quiz him on Amnesty reports on torture. He denies all |
| They advise that no-one will believe him if he takes this stance |
| Ask him again, he says in some cases of torture may have been committed |
| Tried to find out how many licences for arms export to Indonesia have been granted |
| DTI would love to tell them but the computer's broken. |
| The number of refusals is less than the number of approvals |
| Met with Lord (David) Alton of Liverpool, member of the All Party Land Mine Eradication Group |
| He tabled a question in the House of Lords about the sale of arms to Indonesia. Apparently 60 new licences have been issued. |
| Some of the exports to Indonesia that have been approved under new labour |
| 3 for Small arms. machine guns and accessories |
| 4 for large caliber including howitzers, mortars and flame-throwers |
| 3 for bombs, torpedoes, rockets, missiles, mines and charges |
| 16 for aircraft and aircraft equipment |
| Spoke with Paul Greenwood of Pains Wessex at the arms fair who export hand grenades to Indonesia and Tear gas to Kenya |
| "To be honest I don't care 'cos all that happens is, you know, gradually we'll back out of it and we'll just get it made overseas and shipped in. Yeah, no one cares." |
| "We do a licensed production to various countries, the UK government don't care" |
| "I've had the DTI down, I've had DESO down. I've spoken to them about it." |
| "I said 'can I take the order in Pains Wessex but get somebody else to make it and ship it'?" |
| They said "Yeah, that's fine". |
| "As long as I don't ship it from the UK they don't give a toss." |
| We wanted to find out if this was DTI policy |
| Asked to do an interview with Stephen Byers (No). |
| Went down to DTI with helium balloons with the questions on them. |
| Balloons accidentally get released in reception |
| Took a pantechnicon removal wagon down to Pains Wessex office to help them move abroad. "Don't give a toss removals" painted on the side. |
| Speak to the General Manager and play back the recording of Paul Greenwood and asked if there is anything that needs shifting overseas |
| Always 3 arguments that the arms trade use |
| "If I didn't do it somebody else would" |
| "It's very good for jobs" |
| "we're only doing what the government allows us to do" |
| ECGD underwrite arms deals and the UK taxpayer picks up the bill if the buyer doesn't pay up |
| Jordan defaulted on £214 million |
| Kenya £27 million |
| Egypt £52 million |
| Algeria £98 million |
| Credits |
| THE MARK THOMAS COMEDY PRODUCT |
| Written and performed by: MARK THOMAS |
| Associate Producers: JACK CHESHIRE, CHRISTOPHER MARTIN |
| Researcher: PETER NEWTON |
| Floor Manager: GRIFF EVANS |
| Production Team: DUNCAN BARNES, JAYNE HANCOCK, NICK MICOURIS |
| Production Assistant: SARA LEWIS |
| Production Managers: CATHERINE STRAUSS |
| Design: BLAZKHO |
| Scenic Supervisor: GABREL MOSSA |
| Gaffer: STEVE SMITH |
| Vision Mixer CHRIS ALLEN |
| OB Camera Supervisor: ALAN HADDOW |
| Sound Supervisor: KEITH NIXON |
| Location Cameras: JAMES SALIGARI, DREW SEYMOUR |
| Dubbing Mixer: ELI PERL |
| On Line Editor: NICK KING |
| Off Line Editor: STEVE TEMPIA |
| Lighting Director: ROBIN THORBURN |
| Director: MICHAEL CUMMING |
| Producer: GEOFF ATKINSON |
| Made by VERA for CHANNEL FOUR |
| © Channel Four Television Corporation MCMXCIX |
| Show 3 - Geoffrey Robinson |
| New Labour |
| They love business |
| Got to find someone to talk to about the Labour government and business. |
| Phoned up Derek Draper (former Aide to Peter Mandelson) and paid £600 for his comments |
| Which were mostly bollocks |
| Asked him about Geoffrey Robinson who is apparently "interesting and Exciting" |
| Geoffrey Robinson |
| Hold a conference about GR |
| Held it at the Millbank centre. |
| Christmas 1983 his Jaguar car was found on the hard shoulder of the M6 with him asleep in the passenger seat |
| Police said that GR was |
| "talkative but incoherent" |
| "in the habit of raising his voice" |
| "needing assistance to get to the police car" |
| When asked how he got to be there he replied "none of your business" |
| He managed to shoot his own son in the foot with a shotgun |
| His neighbour pops around to commiserate and got mauled by GRs dogs |
| Attend one of his constituency surgeries on 13th November 1999 |
| His attendance record at the house of commons is poor. He didn't speak in 2 years! |
| He's got load of other jobs as directors of various companies |
| He forgets to register some of his jobs in the register of members interests and is told off twice about this |
| He was Chief Exec of Triumph Motorcycles (Meriden) Ltd from 1979 to 1982 |
| The accounts there went a bit awry and they go down the tubes with £10 million of public money |
| This man goes on to become Paymaster General! |
| He was one of the people behind the Private Finance Initiative |
| There is a law in this country that says you don't have to own a property to be able to apply for planning permission on it. |
| So Mark applied for permission for a change of usage of his Lutjens mansion into an old people's home |
| Local council reckon it is eligible |
| Found the Land registry that said that on 27th August 1998 the proprietor of the property was Cheltenham & Gloucester PLC |
| He's taken out a mortgage on his £3 million mansion |
| Maybe he's not as rich as he makes out so started looking at his outher accounts |
| Lost £4 million on he shares in his company Transtech |
| Lent £5 million to Coventry City, probably won't get the money back |
| Unless Coventry sell off the ground and redevelop which they have just done |
| Attend another surgery on 22nd January 1999 |
| This time with a big film crew and lots of lights |
| Ask the attendees as they arrive and leave what they have been discussing with him |
| Manage to ask him a few questions as he leaves |
| GR was up before the select committee about whether he took £200,000 from Hollis |
| Select committee rule that he didn't get the money |
| The bloke that wrote the memo says he didn't remember writing it and GR definitely didn't get the money. |
| The same bloke (Michael Stoney) had been struck off the Institute of Chartered Accountants for providing false information |
| Mark puts a bet on GR resigning with City Index |
| Mark wins the bet |
| The money is given to Ivy Needham of the Leeds Maxwell Pensioners Fund who leaves a message on his answering machine |
| He rang her back the next day |
| The money was given to the Guide Dogs for the blind |
| Credits |
| THE MARK THOMAS COMEDY PRODUCT |
| Written and performed by: MARK THOMAS |
| Associate Producers: JACK CHESHIRE, CHRISTOPHER MARTIN |
| Researchers: RICHARD NEWMAN, PETER NEWTON |
| Floor Manager: GRIFF EVANS |
| Production Team: DUNCAN BARNES, JAYNE HANCOCK, NICK MICOURIS |
| Production Assistant: SARA LEWIS |
| Production Managers: CATHERINE STRAUSS |
| Design: BLAZKHO |
| Additional Graphics: CLEAR INTERACTIVE |
| Scenic Supervisor: GABREL MOSSA |
| Gaffer: STEVE SMITH |
| Vision Mixer LEIGH PANTON |
| OB Camera Supervisor: ROB SARGEANT |
| Sound Supervisor: KEITH NIXON |
| Location Cameras: JAMES SALIGARI, DREW SEYMOUR |
| Location Sound: JAMES JUDGE, SEAN TAYLOR |
| Dubbing Mixer: ELI PERL |
| On Line Editor: NICK KING |
| Off Line Editor: STEVE TEMPIA |
| Lighting Director: ROBIN THORBURN |
| Director: MICHAEL CUMMING |
| Producer: GEOFF ATKINSON |
| Made by VERA for CHANNEL FOUR |
| © Channel Four Television Corporation MCMXCIX |
| Show 4 - Local Referendums |
| Two stories tonight |
| Linked by one thing - the public sector borrowing requirement |
| PFI |
| 2 stories tonight linked by one thing |
| PFI in the health service. They sell off the old hospitals o property developers who have to build a new hospital as well as being able to redevelop the old for sale |
| They then rent the new hospital to the hospital trust |
| The trust get a 25 year lease |
| Mark went to a trust meeting in Edinburgh to ask what happens when the lease runs out |
| Apparently there are 3 options |
| Re-lease |
| Negotiate to buy the building |
| Walk away |
| The hospitals they are building are smaller |
| They also become centres of excellence and specialise in one thing |
| Mark interviews David Laughton, Chief Executive, Walsgrave Hospitals NHS Trust, Coventry |
| Coventry has two main hospitals. These will be replaced by one smaller rented hospital under PFI |
| Whenever David Laughton tries to communicate with people about the health trust he gets a picture in his mind of an imaginary lady called Mavis who lives on her own and tries to make her understand. |
| 40,000 people signed a petition opposing the PFI plans in Coventry |
| Mark holds his hand and asks him to pretend he (Mark) is Mavis and asks him to tell her why having this new hospital is so important |
| He says it's for here long term future and to keep the benefits available |
| Couple of months later we bumped into a brilliant bunch of pensioners in Coventry |
| They are really keyed up as they have a meeting with the health trust but instead of just doing the normal British thing and tutting quietly to themselves they shout out things like "that's bollocks". |
| Mark asks if they will join in a little stunt. As people are rushed through hospital you need to be fit to be healthy so asks them if they will help out doing a fitness dance item for David Laughton. |
| They agree and do the routine as part of a meeting with him. |
| Air Traffic Control |
| ATC staff are worried about the privatisation of the ATC |
| We got hold of a memo from NATS (National Ai Traffic Control Service) part of the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority). |
| They say their first commitment is to the shareholders. |
| Go on to say "There may also be identifiable relationships and trade-offs between the outputs (i.e. safety and productivity)." |
| "There may be divergence between what we say, and what we think we will do". They are considering lying about air safety! |
| They try and challenge the CAA, they put the document into a black box and take it around to the CAA HQ and ask them to accept it, they refuse. |
| They leave the black box and ask them to phone them when they want the key to the box. |
| Get Chris Thompson, a survivor of the Kegworth air crash who tries to deliver the document after flying over from Belfast. |
| Richard Wright, the CAA's press officer will not come down to reception to collect the document in person. |
| Then try John Prescott's department, DETR (Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions) who take the document and promise a response in an hour. |
| Go to the House of Commons and ask to see Gwyneth Dunwoody, MP, chairman of the Transport Select Committee. She is concerned. |
| Back to the DETR for their statement after 2 hours they have produced a single 9 word sentence in response. "The document does not represent government on NATS policy". |
| Mark decides to stage an air crash outside the building. |
| Get a gang of folk to to a die-in outside the building. Speak to the chairman of the CAA, Sir Malcolm Field and ask if they are embarrassed by the document. He says "people put forward documents for discussion, they're entitled to do that." |
| Spoke to ATC about a few incidents that had already occurred concerning safety |
| Go to see Virgin Atlantic and speak to their Corporate Affairs Director about a plane that returned having lost 2 engines when it could have landed elsewhere. |
| Hospitals |
| Certain attitude about things like PFI that the individual is helpless and can't do anything about it. Actually there is something you can do. |
| There is an unusual Parish Council law which says that 10 people or one third of those present at any council meeting, whichever is the less can call for a referendum in the Parish which affects the Parish. |
| The local government has to pay for and run the referendum |
| Some people in Wakefield are having a referendum on PFI at their hospitals to prevent the privatisation of the NHS by stealth. |
| Credits |
| THE MARK THOMAS COMEDY PRODUCT |
| Written and performed by: MARK THOMAS |
| Associate Producers: JACK CHESHIRE, CHRISTOPHER MARTIN |
| Researchers: SAM BEALE, PETER NEWTON |
| Floor Manager: GRIFF EVANS |
| Production Team: JAYNE HANCOCK, NICK MICOURIS |
| Production Assistant: SARA LEWIS |
| Production Managers: CATHERINE STRAUSS |
| Design: BLAZKHO |
| Scenic Supervisor: GABREL MOSSA |
| Gaffer: STEVE SMITH |
| Vision Mixer LEIGH PANTON |
| OB Camera Supervisor: TONY KEENE |
| Sound Supervisor: KEITH NIXON |
| Location Cameras: ANDY NEWLYN, JAMES SALIGARI |
| Additional Cameras: DUNCAN BARNES, JULES SENIOR |
| Location Sound: MARK JELBERT, SEAN TAYLOR |
| Dubbing Mixer: ELI PERL |
| On Line Editor: NICK KING |
| Off Line Editor: STEVE TEMPIA |
| Lighting Director: ROBIN THORBURN |
| Director: MICHAEL CUMMING |
| Producer: GEOFF ATKINSON |
| Made by VERA for CHANNEL FOUR |
| © Channel Four Television Corporation MCMXCIX |
| Show 5 - Nuclear Trains |
| Cricklewood |
| Got a phone call from some people in Cricklewood, Brent Terrace, London NW2 |
| They had found out that British Nuclear Fuels were about to park their trains at the end of their gardens. |
| Off the coast of Sellafield they found a lobster irradiated 42 times over the limit of the level they would expect to find after a nuclear accident! |
| BNFL got their own train service to save money, the people who used to run the service wouldn't let them use their marshalling yard so they plan to open one in Cricklewood. |
| They said they have consulted with Local council and MP |
| But they spoke to the wrong council and wrong MP |
| Appears the consultation process comprised of them sending a press release that didn't mention Cricklewood sidings. |
| BNFL won't debate in public. They have some private meetings with residents. |
| Went along to a public meeting at Whitefields School, Cricklewood on 14th October 1998 |
| People were asking what the emergency plans were in the event of a leak |
| The council do have an emergency plan which is to evacuate everyone within a 45 metre radius and stand them up wind |
| Mark phoned up a few more councils to ask about their emergency plans |
| Dungeness |
| The track there is dodgy, you can move it with your foot |
| About 5 minutes out of Dungeness the nuclear train gets to a level crossing at Lydd where the driver stops the train and has to get out and manually operate the crossing before moving through, stopping again and operate the crossing again. |
| Not the most security conscious operation in the world |
| Take about 40 people in camouflage gear down there as the "People's Nuclear Train Militia" to protect the train |
| Also have an armoured car or two |
| Mark hen hops into "The helicopter of truth" and escorts the train further up the track |
| Safety limit on a flask is 4 Becquerels of radioactivity |
| In Germany they were getting readings of 13,400! |
| Had lots of questions to ask BNFL |
| Between 1995 and 1998 they received 53 wagons which were over the safety limit |
| In 1998 there were 3 derailments of nuclear trains |
| They refuse to do any interviews because they are trivialising the subject |
| Found out that residents of Brent had been asked to attend a secret meeting with BNFL at a Holiday Inn |
| Mark goes along with a film crew (1 December 1998) |
| BNFL representatives make a rapid exit |
| BNFL said they had consulted with three food stores about their proposals and had no objections. But Tescos said they hadn't been spoken to. |
| Got some mates in to try calling them to ask the questions. |
| Paul Foot, journalist |
| Simon Davies, journalist |
| John Pilger, journalist and broadcaster |
| Matthew Norman, journalist |
| Rudy Vis, MP, Finchley & Golders Green |
| Rudy phoned up Sir John Guinness' office, he chairman of BNFL |
| Demanded that he be dragged out of a meeting to talk to him |
| Asks them about the claim that they has spoken to Tescos and Sainsburys when both groups claim they have had no contact from BNFL |
| Ken Livingstone, MP Brent East then calls Sir John Guinness who thinks that "calling out of the blue, for recording purposes, is not fair play."! |
| But they had circulated material saying that Ken had been consulted when he hadn't. |
| Put "The video box of truth" outside the HQ so they could come and record their answers in private |
| BNFL declined to comment |
| Sellafield |
| Took some trackside samples to Dr Philip Day, Dept of Chemistry, University of Manchester who find caesium 137 & 134 which is the fingerprint of Sellafield. Other radioactive isotopes found as well. |
| If these had come from London someone would have a lot of answering to do. |
| Got 2 questions to ask Sir John Guinness who we know will be watching as he phoned up Channel 4 to ask when the programme would be on. |
| How much are you, personally, going to profit from the privatisation of BNFL? |
| Were the isotopes found at the side of the track in Sellafield because |
| (a) The train flasks were leaking |
| (b) The Sellafield area is contaminated |
| (c) both |
| |
| Credits |
| THE MARK THOMAS COMEDY PRODUCT |
| Written and performed by: MARK THOMAS |
| Associate Producers: JACK CHESHIRE, CHRISTOPHER MARTIN |
| Researchers: PETER NEWTON |
| Floor Manager: GRIFF EVANS |
| Production Team: JAYNE HANCOCK, NICK MICOURIS |
| Production Assistant: SARA LEWIS |
| Production Managers: CATHERINE STRAUSS |
| Design: BLAZKHO |
| Scenic Supervisor: GABREL MOSSA |
| Gaffer: STEVE SMITH |
| Vision Mixer LEIGH PANTON |
| OB Camera Supervisor: TIM HIGHMOOR |
| Sound Supervisor: KEITH NIXON |
| Location Cameras: JAMES SALIGARI, DREW SEYMOUR |
| Additional Camera: DUNCAN BARNES |
| Location Sound: JAMES JUDGE, SEAN TAYLOR |
| Dubbing Mixer: ELI PERL |
| On Line Editor: NICK KING |
| Off Line Editor: STEVE TEMPIA |
| Lighting Director: ROBIN THORBURN |
| Director: MICHAEL CUMMING |
| Producer: GEOFF ATKINSON |
| Made by VERA for CHANNEL FOUR |
| © Channel Four Television Corporation MCMXCIX |
| Show 6 - Company Directors |
| Middle class |
| Tony Blair says we're all middle class |
| This show is all about class |
| Corporate scum |
| We spent the afternoon at the CBI conference on 3rd November 1998 |
| Costs £12 to get in! |
| They are ruthless scum |
| They put shareholders before everything |
| Peter Mandelson was speaking, he said that business leaders should be idolised |
| So we created a businessman's pin up calendar. |
| Snapped Peter as Mr June outside his house |
| Al Fayed agreed to pose as Mr January in a very strange get up |
| Companies always get very funny if workers try and take strike action, ensuring the letter of the law is followed |
| Wonder if they take the same approach to company law? |
| There is a company law that says that all company directors must register their normal home address at companies house. |
| 4 Marks and Spencers home addresses are at the store in Baker Street |
| Stella Rimington's (Miss July) home address is another bit of the store in Baker Street |
| 14 company directors of Ford all share the same flat in Dagenham |
| Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge, a director of British Airways (Mr September) has his home address listed as the company HQ |
| They pop around and check, he doesn't live there |
| Francis Anne Heaton has her usual home address as the HQ of Lazard Brothers. |
| Sir Clive Thompson, president of the CBI and Chief Exec of Rentokil Initial has his as Felcourt, East Sussex. Mark pops along to check, he doesn't live there. |
| Mark questions him at a conference about some of his statements. |
| Mark vandalises a caricature drawing he has done. |
| Gerry Robinson (Mr May) runs Granada, he has 3 different home addresses, but he doesn't live at 2 of them. |
| Wrote to him saying he has broken company law |
| He wrote back |
| "It seems to me that it is not uncommon to move house and that clearly it is the address notified on the most recently filed form which is my usual residential address." |
| "I do not believe that there is anything for me to remedy with the Registrar of Companies and no doubt you will now write to Companies House pointing out the error in your earlier letter to the Registrar referred to in the final paragraph of your letter." |
| Hillingdon Hospital women went on strike 3 and a half years ago. They recently won a ruling at a tribunal saying that whoever has the contract must re-employ the women. |
| Granada have the contract, they say they won't as it's not practical. |
| We faxed the cast of Coronation street asking them to show some solidarity |
| Granada said this was unfair |
| Jubilee line Electricians |
| Safety problem. Things being rushed as deadlines approached |
| Fire at Old Street, smoke entered the Northern line tunnels. The passengers were evacuated but not the workers |
| Got some labour MPs to agree to be interviewed about safety on te Jubilee line. 7 of the electricians were there too. |
| Met them outside Westminster |
| Parked a white transit on Westminster bridge with a projector on the roof and started playing the lads testimony on the hoardings |
| The MPs are horrified and agree to ask the questions |
| International labour |
| Got an interview with the British Association of Toy Retailers in the run up to Christmas |
| Mark dressed up as Santa and discussed the new Furby toys |
| He says most of the toys are made in China due to the cheap labour |
| Quizzes him on Health and Safety issues in China |
| Last report said that there were still problems to be overcome. Accusations of long hours |
| Credits |
| THE MARK THOMAS COMEDY PRODUCT |
| Written and performed by: MARK THOMAS |
| Associate Producers: JACK CHESHIRE, CHRISTOPHER MARTIN |
| Researchers: PETER NEWTON |
| Additional Research: S. HUGHES |
| Floor Manager: TOBY BAKER |
| Production Team: JAYNE HANCOCK, NICK MICOURIS |
| Production Assistant: SARA LEWIS |
| Production Managers: CATHERINE STRAUSS |
| Titles & Design: BLAZKHO |
| Scenic Supervisor: GABREL MOSSA |
| Gaffer: STEVE SMITH |
| Vision Mixer LEIGH PANTON |
| OB Camera Supervisor: TIM HIGHMOOR |
| Sound Supervisor: KEITH NIXON |
| Location Camera: JAMES SALIGARI |
| Additional Camera: DUNCAN BARNES |
| Location Sound: SEAN TAYLOR |
| Dubbing Mixer: ELI PERL |
| On Line Editor: NICK KING |
| Off Line Editor: STEVE TEMPIA |
| Lighting Director: ROBIN THORBURN |
| Director: MICHAEL CUMMING |
| Producer: GEOFF ATKINSON |
| Made by VERA for CHANNEL FOUR |
| © Channel Four Television Corporation MCMXCIX |
| Show 7 - Menwith Hill |
| DTI and the Post Office |
| Ian Lang was in charge of the DTI and wanted to privatise the post office. He had an idea to put the business mail out to tender. The business mail subsidises the personal mail. |
| Got hold of his home address and put it on the internet asking for people to fill in freepost forms |
| People joined in big time |
| Someone sent him a speak Afrikaans linguaphone tape |