This film is part of Free

London's Own Crossword Puzzle
A real pea-souper (just about) captured by the newsreel cameras.
Overview
Like bowler hats and rag-and-bone men, London's thick fogs seem to belong to a bygone age. Older viewers will remember the 'pea-soupers' the capital was prone to before a succession of Clean Air Acts in the second half of the 20th Century finally did their work. Here, the Topical Budget newsreel does its best to make light of the gloom, though you can almost hear the cameraman, like his fellow Londoners, begging for more light as he tries hard to pick out famous landmarks around Pall Mall and Trafalgar Square.
The crossword theme carries into the next item in that week's newsreel, which features a performance artist attempting to solve clues while suspended upside-down on the roof of a skyscraper.
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