In 1969, Dominic Behan wrote an episode of the UK television series Play for Today entitled 'Michael Collins'. The play dealt with Collins' attempt to take the gun out of Irish politics and took the perspective of the republican argument. At the time of writing the script, the Troubles had just begun in Northern Ireland and the BBC were reluctant to broadcast the production. An appeal by the author to David Attenborough (Director of Programming for the BBC at that time) resulted in the play eventually being broadcast; Attenborough took the view that the imperatives of free speech could not be compromised in the cause of political expediency.