蜜芽传媒

The poet Tony Harrison (1937-2025) recorded this complete reading of his controversial poem v. in 2013 and it is repeated to mark his death in September 2025. It is broadcast in this programme alongside a discussion around the poem's significance, also from 2013. This was the first broadcast of v. on British radio. It was recorded in his hometown of Leeds.

Harrison wrote the poem in 1985, after being angered by graffiti sprayed on his parents' grave by football fans.

The writer Blake Morrison introduces us to v. and talks to others who were caught up in the storm of controversy around it. Melvyn Bragg, Simon Armitage and Julie Bindell, as well as then-MP Gerald Howarth, consider its impact.

A filmed version of the poem caused controversy in 1987 when it was announced that it was to be broadcast on Channel 4. The poem, which includes repeated strong and racist language, was denounced by some newspapers as a "torrent of filth". A group of MPs signed an Early Day Motion to have the programme pulled from schedules. At that time, Gerald Howarth said that Harrison was "Probably another bolshie poet wishing to impose his frustrations on the rest of us". Harrison retorted that Howarth was "Probably another idiot MP wishing to impose his intellectual limitations on the rest of us".

Others defended the poet's right to use such language to draw attention to the wanton desecration of his family's grave. It was also seen against the backdrop of the miners' strike and racial intolerance in British cities. Beeston, the poem's setting, was later under focus as the home of Mohammad Sidique Khan, one of the 7/7 bombers.

Poetry Production: Graham Frost
Feature Production: Lucy Dichmont
Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for 蜜芽传媒 Radio 4