Play Safe - Camping and Fishing

One of a trio of ‘Play Safe’ public information fillers made by the Central Office of Information, this film conveyed the message not merely that overhead power lines are buzzing with tens of thousands of volts, but that it’s easy to inadvertently make contact with them while doing normal countryside things. For instance, if you lift a metal tent pole too high, thoughtlessly swing a fishing rod too close, or push a boat with a tall mast under them, the contact briefly turns the entire vessel live.

The Play Safe trio was commissioned by the Electricity Council as part of a wider project, Understanding Electricity, that was to teach children and teenagers about the uses and potential abuses of electricity - not least by emphasising what kinds of materials conduct it effectively (and possibly dangerously). There was also an 11-minute version of Play Safe, in which the exploits of an enthusiastic but careless animated bird are intercut with the live action films. Viewers of Camping and Fishing will be glad to hear that the boat-pusher ultimately recovered in hospital.