In Two Minds (1967) with Q and A with producer Tony Garnett

In 1967, the BBC television play In Two Minds brought the ideas of antipsychiatry to public attention. Coming off the huge critical success of Cathy Come Home (1966), producer Tony Garnett looked to his personal experiences and the writings of R.D. Laing and Aaron Esterson for his and director Ken Loach’s follow up Wednesday Play. Written by David Mercer in consultation with Laing, Esterson and David Cooper, In Two Minds garnered further critical acclaim, but also provoked controversy and contention, particularly from orthodox British psychiatrists who felt that their profession was under attack.

King’s College’s ‘1968 and Its Legacies’ series is offering a rare public screening of In Two Minds and Q and A with producer Tony Garnett, asking about his personal and political motivations for making the television play, its collaborative production processes, its contested reception, and the decision to revisit the topic in the feature film Family Life in 1971.

Tim Snelson from the Demons of the Mind project will chair the discussion.