One
of the fiercest confrontations of the 1984-85
miners’ strike has been re-enacted for a
television documentary.
The "Battle of Orgreave" where hundreds of miners
clashed with police in the South Yorkshire village
17 years ago today, was staged again featuring
some of the original participants.
The original clashes happened outside the Orgreave
coking plant in June 1984 and led to dozens of
injuries and arrests. The reconstructed battle
was filmed by British director Mike Figgis, for
a Channel 4 documentary to be screened next year
and was the idea of conceptual artist Jeremy Deller.
A spokeswoman for the production company Artangel
said: "This is going to be as historically accurate
as it can be.
"Jeremy came to us and said ‘I’ve got
this idea’ and we said ‘fantastic’.
"The site of the reconstruction is not where the
original battle was - that’s now an open
cast mine - but nearby."
The 1,000-strong cast playing the miners and police
included the sons of ex-miners who were originally
there and large numbers from re-enactment societies
from across the UK. Stuntmen were used for the
more dangerous moments, mainly the police charges
on foot and horseback, which culminated in a "cavalry
charge" through the village.
Only two figures were played by professional actors
- the roles of Arthur Scargill, the leader of
the National Union of Miners who was arrested
and later fined £250 for obstruction, and the
police commander on the day, Assistant Chief Constable
Anthony Clement.
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One
of the fiercest confrontations of the 1984-85
miners’ strike has been re-enacted for a
television documentary. 