Hector Does

"Hector Does" was a series of short cutout animation films made for the British Conservative Party and intended for broadcast as Party Political Broadcasts during the campaign for the United Kingdom general election, 1987. [Ian Gilmour, Whatever Happened to the Tories: History of the Conservative Party Since 1945 (Fourth Estate, 1998),p.193.]

The films were made in the style of children’s Public Information Films and dealt with the political issues that faced the electorate at that time, such as wider share ownership, starting a small business, trade unionism and crime. The films featured a white middle-aged man by the name of Hector (voiced by Patrick Allen) and his wife Sarah (voiced by Vanda Godsell). Sarah usually acted as a moderating influence upon Hector, a device designed to chime with women voters who at that time were the core of Conservative support. Hector often had good intentions, but it was only with the wise counsel of his wife that he was able to “do the right thing”.

Production details

The films were produced by Gordon Holland Animation who also produced a number of iconic advertisements during the 1980’s including:

*Ariston (“"And On, And On"”)Fact|date=April 2008
*Scotch video tape (“"Re-Record, Not Fadeway"”) Fact|date=April 2008
*Chewits (“"Chew for Victory"”).Fact|date=April 2008

Six "Hector Does" films were produced in total:

*"Hector Refuses to Join a Trade Union"
*"Hector Opens a Shop"
*"Hector Buys Shares"
*"Hector Chooses Private Health Care"
*"Hector Tackles a Burglar"
*"Hector Buys a Bigger House"

Party Reaction

Margaret Thatcher was unhappy with the six films. Whilst she thought that it was important to engage and inform the electorate about the issues raised in the films, she considered the style and tone to be patronising and crude. Thatcher considered the films to be a blunt tool and instructed party officials not to broadcast them and urged Gordon Holland Animation to destroy them. This caused some considerable re-working of the party’s election strategy at short notice. When they discovered that the party had rejected the films, both Patrick Allen and Vanda Godsell disassociated themselves from the project. It is not known if the six films have survived.

Notes