A mass peaceful protest against the Poll Tax in Trafalgar Square, was turned into a riot. Eyewitnesses tell their stories against a backdrop of video footage showing the day’s events as they unfolded, one radically different from that presented by TV news. Demonstrators testimonies raise uncomfortable questions about the role of the police in the violence, the independence of the media and the right to demonstrate.

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Winner of the Prix Du Public 

International Documentary Festival Nyon 

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The documentary shows footage of unprecedented sights in the West End of London, flooded with demonstrators as they run down the street being chased by police horses. Riot police wearing helmets and holding shields chase them down, knocking them to the ground. A policeman grabs a woman by the neck then looking up, seeing the camera, stops. Another policeman is repeatedly beating a photographer on the ground with a baton, a young woman is trampled by a charge of police horses into Trafalgar Square.

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"The only plan seemed to be to cause chaos", says one protester, who testified to seeing people being beaten indiscriminately.

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"Why was a peaceful march disrupted? 

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Battle of Trafalgar raises the question:

 "In whose interest was it for the demonstration to end in a riot? 

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Battle of Trafalgar was broadcast on prime-time C4 TV at 9pm in the evening on an independent documentary series, Critical Eye. It caused controversy in the press, as it directly questioned and confronted, the TV account of the events. With 3 million viewers, it was one of Critical Eyes, most watched independent documentaries on Channel 4.

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