Published 11/02/2015
In the Matchlight production for BBC Two The Longest War: Women & Power (working title), Amanda Vickery looks back at the 300 year long campaign by women for equality in Britain.
The fight for women's right to vote is often presented as taking place at a specific moment in time, with campaigns across 25 years ending when women won technical voting rights in British Parliament in 1928. In reality, the fight to win the vote was a battle fought over many centuries. In this three-part series for BBC Two, Amanda Vickery reveals why the journey towards Parliamentary power became such an important issue, and why the 1918 victory can only be truly understood when seen as the culmination of a much longer struggle. The female vote wasn't a reward for women's work in the First World War, but it was in fact the result of a long engagement between men and women in the battle for equality in political power and influence.
Bridgeman has proudly contributed footage to Matchlight's ground-breaking production of the tragic but pivotal moment when suffragette Emily Davidson made her fatal protest at the Epsom Derby.
