History of Medicine in Motion

An excellent and original production, which gives a very good insight into the history of the Lock hospitals and their importance in recognising the suffering and distress caused by STDs to large numbers of people. Alan McOwan is a ‘natural’ and sympathetic presenter. This is, in many ways, a ‘secret’ story which deserves to be more widely told since it is only very recently that we’ve lifted GUM/HIV medicine from their basement clinics. Historians are as guilty of anyone of perpetuating the ‘nudge nudge, wink wink’ narrative in the history of sexual health.
A couple of technical points. I realise that the interview was conducted in the clinic, probably using available light. There are a couple of messy and distracting background features (the red garment and ceiling light) that could have been removed or cropped out. An off-camera microphone would have helped with sound. I would have reflected a small amount of light onto the presenter’s face (a piece of white card or foil-covered card works well). The very good images could have improved with cropping out the strapline ‘Wellcome Images’ and also enlarged to fill the screen.
I very liked the use of live action from the location and sequences showing HIV testing. These bring the reality of the story onto the screen.