This article is about The Privileged, a documentary series filmed by Westward Television in 1967 and broadcast in 1968 and 1969. The article offers the series as a case study of regional documentary production in a geographically peripheral ITV franchise area. It examines how documentaries were made by Westward despite the absence of a formalised documentary unit. This article shows how producers, editors and camera operators used their skills and experience to create an ambitious and innovative documentary television series within the more constrained budgets of regional independent television. Drawing on original production papers and preserved episodes of the series, this case study reveals how The Privileged took advantage of new production technologies and novel ways of filming and editing. It also considers the archival afterlife of the series, which has been largely been forgotten since its original transmission. The article concludes by drawing attention to some of the problems with the series' partial re-presentation on the BFI Player website, and highlights the potential social and cultural benefits which could be obtained by enhancing access to archival documentaries such as The Privileged.