The Wilderness Years

Out of power and riven with strife, this programme tells the inside story of the Labour Party's bitter civil war with leading players speaking with devastating frankness about the time from 1979-81.

In the early 80s Michael Foot was leader of a divided Labour Party. The 1981 deputy leadership battle between Denis Healey and Tony Benn split party loyalties and Labour sank to its lowest popularity ever.

Senior Labour politicians explore the Labour Party's long years in opposition. In 1983 after a humiliating defeat by Margaret Thatcher, Labour elected Neil Kinnock as its new leader in the hope that he can modernise the party.

Key political figures from the Labour Party tell the story of the struggle to modernise the party, culminating in the rise to power of Tony Blair and the arrival of a new breed of Labour politician.