Old documentary about woman living rough in London

[ReginaPerrin]

I’m hoping someone here has an excellent memory and can help me find the title of a program I watched many years ago.

it was a documentary (not sure if it was BBC) about a woman who had fallen on hard times and was living rough on the streets of London. I think the woman was Scottish and had previously worked with children but one of the children under her supervision had drowned, and the woman’s life spiralled downwards.

The other thing I remember about it was there was a nun who regularly travelled to London to drop off little care packages to the woman.

I don’t know why but I’ve thought about this program a lot over the years, it was really sad on so many levels. I’ve tried all sorts of combinations on Google but have drawn a blank so far.

Does this ring a bell with anyone? Thanks in advance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Fairchild

Crikey, sorry I dont know why links show up like that these days

Story OP told isn't MF's story, though. MF was a piano prodigy, never had children, not Scottish. I read The Lady in the Van just a few years ago.

@bellac11 the MF story is fascinating but it’s not her I’m thinking of. Thanks though!

This is radio rather than telly, but sounds similar. I still think of it several years after listening. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b0bfykqm?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

It wasn't when some celebrities did a sleepout for comic relief a few years ago? They were each teamed up with a homeless person who showed them their life. Famous, rich and homeless?

I remember this story quite clearly, but not the lady's name. I think it could be as much as thirty years ago. She said that she had been at rock bottom and suicidal, and someone had given her a kitten. She said that she had to stay alive to look after the kitten which would have died without her care. The end of the programme was her graduation ceremony.

I’d love to watch this if anyone comes up with the answer.

There was one called the vagrant, maybe in the 60s/70s, pretty sure not Scottish though

Might find yours if you search that one and similar genre

It’s not the celeb one, it’s a lot older than that. I think @TooEarly4Breakfast is right, it was possibly about 30 years ago.

For some reason I keep thinking of the woman as ‘Mary’ but I don’t know if I’m mixing up two different programs.

I thought it would be quite easy to track it down on the internet but it’s not! If I do find it, I’ll post it on here.

Could it be Edna the Inebriate Woman?

It was an Inside Out programme from 1992: https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/c9c090f9c715515b6869dbe658afca87

Bloody hell, I can’t thank you enough for finding this! Thank you so much @CrossPurposes and to everyone else who tried to help me. X

I’ve checked the iPlayer and it’s not on there (I’ll hopefully be able to find it on YouTube) but there are some other Inside Story episodes, including one called Mini, for anyone that’s interested in the more gritty docs.

Thanks again @CrossPurposes , you’ve made my day!

She died at the age of 46 in 1996. A very sad life.

So pleased I could help!

@ReginaPerrin Hi OP just wondered if you managed to find it as I cannot and would like to watch it.

Hi @BringMeTea , no I haven’t been able to find it on YouTube or similar. I was hoping to find it on the BBC archive site, but no luck! I hope the BBC release more of their old documentaries, I’ll keep an eye on the website to check.

@postwarbulge different programme but I did watch this a few years ago and it was grimly fascinating.

I know exactly the documentary you are talking about and it was on about 30 years ago. The woman was a similar age to me, so probably in her 60s now. Definitely not born in 1911!

I definitely remember she had worked as a nanny and the child died, which was the start of her problems. I remember some other snippets. She had been adopted as a child and had done well at school but she also had an adopted brother who did brilliantly at school and went to Oxford, I think. She had also been allocated a flat in Hackney but felt isolated as she didn’t know anyone there and ended up back on the streets. That’s all I remember but I do wonder what became of her.

This definitely sounds like the one. So she would have been born around 1950. Very sad if she died in 1996.