In a career that spans some 40 years and has taken him to Africa and Southeast Asia, documentary filmmaker Stephen Peet is best known in his native Britain as the creator of the award-winning, 12-year-long BBC series Yesterday's Witness, which explored recent history through memories of those who lived it. Their stories were accompanied by newsreel footage, photographs and music, skillfully integrated to achieve what Peet calls “something new for television: illustrated oral history. Very personal and informal.”
Peet, who conducted his own research and interviews, tonight presents a selection of excerpts from Yesterday's Witness. His commentary will illustrate the process of making this particular kind of documentary, revealing how and why he constructed them as he did. Also included in the program are two complete Yesterday's Witness segments:

The Burston School Strike: Village school children go on strike in 1914 over their teachers' dismissal. “Novel, dreamlike, impossible and absolutely true” (Daily Mail).

The Great Sit-Down: The story of the famous 1937 sit-down at the General motors plants in Flint, Michigan, U.S.A. “An epic story, told superbly” (Sunday Times).