We want to get to know you more to help improve our service. Please take 2 minutes to fill out our survey here. Thank you! test2

This film is part of Free

Title of error

See Help

Sunley's Daughter

A bitter-sweet love story set in Guisborough, a remote corner of North Yorkshire.

Drama-documentary 1974 53 mins

Overview

Young Mary Sunley toils from dawn till dusk on her parents' farm, tucked away in Guisborough, a remote corner of North Yorkshire. Her father's refusal to embrace electricity or modern machinery means Mary must hand-milk the herd and heft half-hundred-weight bales of hay. But when her life is touched by a neighbouring farm-hand, Mary faces a stark dilemma: follow family tradition or be true to her heart?

This is a fine example of the kind of beautifully-crafted rural-themed documentaries that Barry Cockcroft became known for. As well as a prolific filmmaker, he was also an author who frequently wrote books on the same subjects as his films, including this one. 'Sunley's Daughter: The Ways of a Yorkshire Dale' was published in the same year that this film was broadcast.

Director

Barry Cockcroft

Genres

Drama-documentary

Country

United Kingdom

Location

ClevelandGuisboroughNorth York Moors National Park

Language

English

Subjects

Watch for free

Doing Our Bit Doing Our Bit

Charity appeal 1935 11 mins Location: Middlesbrough

Digging a way out of the 1930s Depression in the Cleveland Hills.

Watch for free

All We Imagine As Light - Exclusive Q&A All We Imagine As Light - Exclusive Q&A

Short interview 2025 28 mins

Payal Kapadia discusses her Cannes prize-winning and Bafta-nominated drama with Ashanti Omkar.

Watch for free

Khichdi Khichdi

Animation & Artists Moving Image 2023 16 mins

The interwoven stories of four best friends who reunite in the UK, thirty-five years after training together as nurses during their teens in Ferozepur, Punjab.