'No Surrender'

In addition to recordings made for 'No Surrender', this series also contains assemblies of clips from actuality recordings compiled by Philip Donnellan in Belfast and Derry in 1973, which appear to have been intended for use in a programme possibly entitled 'Bloody Sunday Vigil'. Many of these actuality recordings concern people's experiences of the events of 'Bloody Sunday' in January 1972 when thirteen people on a civil rights march were killed by British troops. Some of the themes that Philip Donnellan was exploring in these recordings are similar to those that Dilip Hiro and Charles Parker had focused on a few years earlier for 'No Surrender', and they may have provided Donnellan with an introduction to interviewees in Derry. It is also possible that Charles Parker was involved in editing Donnellan's recordings and compiling the assemblies.

Copyright: BBC

The tapes have been arranged as follows:
sequence of actuality recordings made on 5 inch tape and arranged according to the numbers on the original boxes (MS 4000/6/1/62/1-55)
clips and assemblies (MS 4000/6/1/62/56-62)
versions of 'No Surrender' broadcast programme (MS 4000/6/1/62/63-66)

MS 4000/6/1/62/67-68 comprises assemblies of clips from actuality recordings made by Philip Donnellan in Belfast and Derry in 1973, likely to have been compiled for a programme possibly entitled 'Bloody Sunday Vigil'

See MS 4000/2/134 for related paper files, consisting of tape transcripts, draft and final scripts (including script and correspondence for the first trial programme 'Derry in Depth'), correspondence, notes, newscuttings, guide books and 12 editions of 'The Honest Ulsterman' (1968 - 1969) .

'No Surrender' was a documentary about Derry/Londonderry and the attitudes of people, Catholic and Protestant, to its history, compiled by Dilip Hiro from conversations with Protestant and Catholic people living in the city, and their folk songs. Actuality recordings were made in May 1969 and June and July 1970, mainly in the Fountain and Bogside districts of the city. Dominant themes were the attitudes of both Catholic and Protestant communities towards Derry's history, particularly the Apprentice Boys tradition and the events of the siege of 1688-1689, and feelings about the sectarian tensions in the city. Participants on both sides discussed housing, unemployment and political issues. The programme was produced by Charles Parker and was broadcast on Radio 4 Birmingham on 11 August 1970. The programme featured folk songs by singers from Derry, with Brian Patton on fiddle, and Adrian Morris on tin whistle.