  Powerful radio galaxies often display enhanced optical/UV continuum emission
and extended emission line regions, elongated and aligned with the radio jet
axis. The expansion of the radio source strongly affects the gas clouds in the
surrounding IGM, and the kinematic and ionization properties of the extended
emission line regions display considerable variation over the lifetime of
individual sources, as well as with cosmic epoch. We present the results of
deep rest-frame UV and optical imaging and UV spectroscopy of high redshift 6C
radio galaxies. The interdependence of the host galaxy and radio source
properties are discussed, considering: (i) the relative contribution of shocks
associated with the expanding radio source to the observed emission line gas
kinematics, and their effect on the ionization state of the gas; (ii) the
similarities and differences between the morphologies of the host galaxies and
aligned emission for a range of radio source powers; and (iii) the influence of
radio power on the strength of the observed alignment effect.
