For the Record is a Canadian television drama anthology series that aired on CBC Television from 1976 to 1985.[1] The series aired docudrama-style television films on contemporary social issues, typically airing between four and six films per year.[2]
After a nearly decade run, the series was cancelled in 1985, although the CBC opted to continue commissioning similar television films as standalone productions, beginning with 1986's Turning to Stone.[3]
For the Record was intended as a series of dramas which would take an honest look at problems in Canadian society, among them many about mental illness and "flawed social institutions".[4]
Gail Henley remarked in 1985 that For the Record dramas were "information laden" when compared to their more emotional American counterparts and emphasises the importance of research and documentation for the series.[1] As Bill MacVicar put it:
Topicality is both a blessing and a bane for television. Since the time from concept to telecast can be much shorter than for movies, television appears better briefed and more up-to-date. But the voraciousness of the medium encourages clumsy or cynical abuse of topicality; all too often (as in the slack Lou Grant the mere act of raising an issue is assumed to be tantamount to solving it; in other cases, solutions are so slickly simplified that what purports to be an investigation is little more than a case of special pleading. In contrast to this frequent shortcoming, the CBC's For the Record series tends to do justice to the problems it airs.[5]
After being sexually assaulted by her acquaintance David (Reineke), Carol (Maxwell) struggles with the moral and legal complexities of whether to report her assault to the police.
A young doctor challenges his hospital's chief surgeon over experimental surgeries. Winner of the Genie Award for Outstanding TV Drama Over 30 Minutes at the 1st Genie Awards in 1980.
After political activist Jane Kohl's (Brown) apartment is robbed, RCMP officer Tom Kelby (Campbell) is forced to decide whether to stand with her in the face of evidence that his superiors may be engaging in surveillance of Jane.[19]
Trish Baldwin, a backbench Member of Parliament, is named to the Cabinet of Canada but struggles to balance her political ambitions with her personal integrity when she has to defend a major government project in her riding to which she is personally opposed.[23]
^Sid Adilman, "Movie dramatizes horrors of prison". Toronto Star, February 21, 1986.
^Collins, Richard (1990). "National culture; or, Where is here?". Culture, Communication and National Identity: The Case of Canadian Television. University of Toronto Press. ISBN0802027334. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
^"Fiona Reid enters the political arena". The Globe and Mail, 27 February 1982.
^"Trained shrinks sent in to score for the defence: Does insanity excuse murder?". The Globe and Mail, 6 March 1982.
^"Failure of comic touches deals High Card a fatal blow". The Globe and Mail, 13 March 1982.
^"Torturers and the tortured go on record in TV special". The Globe and Mail, 20 March 1982.
^"Sneezy Waters won't let success go to his head". The Globe and Mail, 26 November 1983.
^"Pinsent's past helped with role in farm drama". Broadcast Week, 5 March 1983.
^Carlo Coppola, "Reviewed Work: "Reasonable Force". Television drama for the series "For the Record," by BRIAN KIT MCLEOD, PETER LOWER". Journal of South Asian Literature Vol. 21, No. 1, SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN WRITERS: THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE (Winter, Spring 1986), pp. 181-185.
