Editing Daniel Farson (section)

==1950s==
Farson joined [[Associated-Rediffusion]], the first British commercial television company, in the mid-1950s. Here he took risks that few television interviewers (certainly not those employed at the then-conservative [[BBC]]) would dare to take. In his series ''[[Out of Step (TV series)|Out of Step]]'' (1957) and ''People in Trouble'' (1958) – never shown at the same time throughout the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] network, but much repeated in various regions well into the early 1960s – he dealt with issues of [[social exclusion]] and alienation that most of the media at the time preferred to sweep under the carpet. The best remembered editions of these series are the ''Out of Step'' programme on [[nudism]] (the term "naturism" had yet to become commonplace), which claimed to show the first naked woman on British television,<ref>{{cite web |date=24 May 2015 |title=Out of Step (1957) – Spielplatz |url=https://pamela-green.com/out-of-step-1957-spileplatz/ |website=Pamela Green: Never Knowingly Overdressed}}</ref> and the ''People in Trouble'' programme on mixed marriages (a highly sensitive issue at the time as post-war immigrants tentatively began to integrate into British life). They were repeated in 1982 on [[Channel 4]].

Another 1958 Farson series, entitled ''Keeping in Step'', looked at establishment institutions such as public schools from a distinctly more distanced perspective than that seen on virtually all BBC programmes (and even most other Associated-Rediffusion programmes) of the time.  A regular guest on Farson's programmes at this stage was [[James Wentworth Day]], a [[reactionary]] British writer of the [[Agrarian Right]] school, who commented in the programme about mixed marriages, referring to mixed-race children as "coffee-coloured little imps" and argued that black people must be less "civilised" than white people because "their grandfathers were eating each other" (Wentworth Day's remarks were featured in [[Victor Lewis-Smith]]'s series ''Buygones'' and ''[[TV Offal]]'').  Farson would usually respond to these diatribes with a polite statement along the lines of "I couldn't disagree with you more, but at least you do say what you really feel".

However, Wentworth Day's appearances came to an end when he said all homosexuals should be hanged.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}} Farson insisted that the episode of ''People in Trouble'' in which Wentworth Day had made those remarks – concerning [[transvestism]] – was scrapped before it had been completed. He publicly insisted that the [[Independent Television Authority]] would ban it; in reality Farson was terrified that Wentworth Day would attempt to bring him to trial. After this, Farson immediately froze Wentworth Day out of his life and his programmes.

Farson's broadcasting career, however, continued to flourish.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}} ''Farson's Guide to the British'' (1959–1960) took a critical eye at a nation in transition and was the first public expression of his long-term quest for the true identity of [[Jack the Ripper]].  Other series included ''Farson in Australia'' (1961) and ''Dan Farson Meets ...'' (1962), which usually featured popular singers of the time.  The one-off programme ''Beat City'' (1963) was an atmospheric evocation of the [[Liverpool]] scene which had given birth to [[The Beatles]] and the [[sociology|sociological]] factors which had brought it into being. In 1960, he helmed ''Living For Kicks'', a documentary about the frustrations and uncertainties of British teenagers in the [[Beat Music]] era, in which [[Duffy Power]] was interviewed.

The ''[[Daily Sketch]]'', a tabloid paper then owned by [[Associated Newspapers]] (who were the "Associated" in Associated-Rediffusion, although they had sold their stake in the company by this time), led the chorus of revulsion to the documentary. The ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' responded with a defence of British teenagers; a considerable war of words then developed between the two papers, with the ''Mirror''{{'}}s well-remembered TV commercials ("The ''Daily Mirror'' backs the young!") representing its position on the matter.