Life After Kes

This book examines the history and legacy of this award-winning British Film made on location in Yorkshire. The book not only pays homage to the vision and extraordinary talent that was evolved both in front of and behind the camera, but also compares the changes in the educational system. Are we any better off today? Have we learnt anything? Have successive governments learnt anything? Have the teachers forgotten anything? After 35 years is Loach's gritty Northern Drama as important a message as it was then? What effect does the film industry have on young people thrust into the nations gaze? Most importantly, the book explores the lives of the cast and production team since the film was made and asks how the legacy of Billy Casper and the national perception of Kes has cast a shadow over this part of South Yorkshire. Does Casper's ghost still haunt this community or has the regeneration of this mining area finally laid him to rest?