Cathy Come Home (played by Carol White) and Reg (Ray Brooks), and their descent into poverty and homelessness. At the start of the film, Cathy leaves her parents' overcrowded rural home and hitchhikes to the city, where she finds work and meets Reg, a well-paid lorry driver. They fall in love, marry, and rent a modern flat in a building that does not allow children. Cathy soon becomes pregnant and must stop working, and Reg is injured on the job and becomes unemployed. The loss of income and birth of the baby force them to leave their flat, and they are unable to
Cathy Come Home of a hand-held camera to take moving action shots and close-ups gave "Cathy" almost a feel of a current affairs broadcast and a realism which was rare in British TV drama at the time. This produced shots some traditionalists thought "not technically acceptable". Imi commented: "I was stuck in a rut after working on "Dr Finlay's Casebook" and "Maigret" – standard BBC productions. All of a sudden, with "The Wednesday Play" and Ken, there was a newness that fitted into the way I was thinking at the time." Loach's naturalistic style helped to heighten the play's impact. Many scenes were