A provocative docu-drama that combines a scripted play with a studio debate to scrutinise societal attitudes towards rape.
In a dramatisation written by Fay Weldon, a young woman, Rita (Lesley Dunlop), accuses a young man, Bill (Albert Welling), of rape. While the fact of intercourse is not contested, the jury must decide whether Rita consented. The play follows the jury’s deliberations, which are heavily influenced by the personal biases and prejudices of its members. Following this dramatisation, journalist Jacky Gillott hosts a studio debate with figures including Judge Christmas Humphreys, Commander Daphne Skillern of Scotland Yard, and women who have been raped, examining how the law and society treat victims of sexual assault.
Act of Rape was a challenging and formally inventive piece of television, constructed as a direct intervention into the contemporary debate surrounding sexual assault law. The production is a two-part polemic: first, a tightly focused play that dissects how a verdict can be shaped by flawed assumptions and moral judgments, and second, a current affairs discussion that grounds the drama in the realities of the justice system. Weldon’s script avoids easy answers, instead exposing the ambiguous social signals that juries were often asked to interpret. By juxtaposing this fiction with the testimony of real-world experts and victims, the programme confronted viewers with the ways in which the legal process itself could re-traumatise those who reported an attack.
Broadcast: BBC 2, Single Programme, 22 January 1977
Written by: Fay Weldon
Director: Matthew Robinson
Producer: Jack Saltman
Presenter: Jacky Gillott
Main Cast: Lesley Dunlop (Rita), Albert Welling (Bill), Bernard Kay (Peachey), Rosemary McHale (Lois), Tim Preece (Jeff), Patricia Hodge (Jenny), Gwen Cherrell (Mrs Sands), Michael Gover (Swann), Morgan Sheppard (Watkins), Morris Perry (Judge), Judge Christmas Humphreys (Himself), Cmdr Daphne Skillern (Herself)
