Political interviewer and former Labour MP, Brian Walden opens with a recap of the "bitter, painful and costly dispute" and pithily concludes his summary: "this gulf could be bridged if both sides really tried to bridge it."

There follows a sequence of clips of political journalists giving their assessment of the current situation and whether either side - or both - is trying to prolong the dispute (these same journalists were studio guests themselves on the programme a fortnight ago - see The Miners' Strike: How Close is Peace?). Mrs Thatcher is believed by "some miners and others" to wish to keep the dispute going long enough to enable a decisive defeat of the miners and bring "the NUM to its knees." Others believe that Arthur Scargill is equally intransigent and "will never compromise."

The interview with Arthur Scargill takes up the main part of the programme and focuses solely on the fundamental issue of the closure of "uneconomic" pits - Scargill maintains that there are no such pits in the UK because the closure of collieries in the UK would cost the government at least double the amount it would to keep them open.

Brian Walden maintains his characteristically forensic questioning throughout - some viewers might feel that he's like a dog with a bone in his unwillingness to give up his pursuit of a point. Walden attempts to break the apparent deadlock - and also justify his own journalistic philosophy - by stating mid-interview that "Weekend World interviews are not done confrontationally. They are done to get to the bottom of an issue, to make it clear."

Meanwhile Arthur Scargill remains just as committed to his original position - that attaching pre-conditions to "peace talks" is unacceptable. He points out that the NUM's willingness to meet without pre-conditions demonstrates that nothing is ruled out and so there is no need for any stipulations.

The interview ends with Scargill on typically resolute form, declaring that "As far as I'm concerned the National Union of Mineworkers' position is absolutely as it was" - and he maintains that resolution is possible providing negotiations take place without pre-conditions.