The Arts

THE FOUR BROTHERS. Performance by the Brussels Twentieth Century Ballet. Granada
THE FOUR BROTHERS. Performance by the Brussels Twentieth Century Ballet. Granada

Television may itself be regarded as an art-form and in a very real sense everything produced for television may be described as belonging to the Arts. Certainly a wide range of specialised artistic and technical skills enter into every programme of whatever kind. Television is a creative activity, and effective television calls for a high degree of artistic judgment.

Drama

In terms of the volume of production, television’s main contribution to the Arts in a narrower sense is the whole range of drama. A single good drama production on television is seen by an audience large enough to fill a theatre for a decade. Independent Television’s contributions in this field are considered in a separate chapter.

Opera and Ballet

In dealing with many fields of human activity, television can add a new dimension or a new understanding. The attractions of certain of the performing arts, however, depend upon elements which television cannot always capture. Conventional opera and ballet often do not readily lend themselves to presentation on television. It is difficult for the camera to provide the necessary balance of detail and spectacle, and colour is often an important part of the whole. However, full-scale operas and ballets have been successfully presented from time to time on Independent Television, for example in Granada’s television presentation of the Sadler’s Wells production of Orpheus in the Underworld and The Four Brothers, a modern mime and ballet production by the Brussels Twentieth Century Ballet.

Excerpts from ballet and opera by small groups of performers are presented quite frequently as items in general programme series, and a few programmes or series have dealt specifically with opera or ballet. It is by no means unusual for artistes of the calibre of Nureyev and Nadia Nerina to appear in light entertainment programmes seen by up to twenty million viewers. A regular series of programmes dealing with the history and performance of ballet was presented by Anton Dolin for Tyne Tees Television.

Music

Television producers have devoted much attention to the development of techniques for presenting orchestral concerts. This is a difficult task: visual interest soon wavers if the whole orchestra is shown on the screen; on the other hand, the constant movement of cameras from section to section of the orchestra or about the concert hall is found distracting by many music-lovers. The major advantage which television has over sound broadcasting is the visual interest to be gained from close-ups of the hands of a pianist, conductor, or string-player. For this reason the more successful presentations of classical music on television tend to be in concertos, recitals or programmes of musical instruction.

Art

Despite the disadvantage of being confined to monochrome, a number of successful art programmes have been presented on television. Sir Kenneth Clark has continued his lectures, the most recent series dealing with the works of Rembrandt (ATV). John Betjeman has taken part in a number of programmes, including a series on Victorian

design entitled Steam and Stained Glass (ATV). Outlines is the title of a series on design presented by Associated-Rediffusion. A novel approach to the problem of presenting art on television was taken by John Berger, who in each of a series Drawn from Life (Granada) discussed with a layman his reactions to selected paintings. Programmes such as Collectors’ Piece are included with miscellaneous documentary programmes.

Reviews

The weekly literary review, The Bookman (ABC), discusses recently-published books, literary trends and presents interviews with authors. A number of general local magazine series include book reviews and discussions with local authors.

General Series

The regular weekly programme Tempo (ABC) is entirely devoted to the arts. Its range is wide. In a typical programme, Lord Harewood interviewed Sir Laurence Olivier about the Chichester Festival Theatre; in another Vicky spoke about the history of political cartoons; a group of actors and writers discussed the artist’s place in politics; the cast of “Beyond the Fringe” presented their own version of a Tempo-type programme; and a series of special features considered, among other subjects, the contribution of Ireland to the arts, contemporary British architecture, and The Arts and War. The series Canvas (Westward) dealt with various aspects of the arts in the South-West of England.

Festival of London

Substantial coverage was given to the City of London Festival (Associated-Rediffusion). Nine events were shown, including five concerts, an exhibition of cartoons, an “entertainment”, and a special performance of Handel’s “Water Music” from the Thames.

The Bath Festival

Each year a series of programmes covers the Bath Festival (TWW). There are also a number of programmes from the National Eisteddfod.

Series Description Company Mins. Time & day Distribution
Tempo Review of the arts ABC 25 5.40 Sunday Part Network
Drawn from Life Discussion of paintings Granada 30 10.30 Friday January 1962 Part Network
Plectrum Guitar instruction Scottish 10 1.30 Wednesday Jan.-Feb. 1962 Local
Outlines Talks on design A-R 7 6.08 Monday Jan.-Mar. 1962 Local
Canvas The arts in the South-West Westward 30 6.15 Monday Monthly Jan.-Mar. 1962 Local
Breakthrough Musical appreciation Scottish 10 1.30 Wednesday Feb.-July 1962 Local
Steam and Stained Glass Victorian design ATV 30 10.35 Monday April 1962 Part Network
Rembrandt Sir Kenneth Clark lectures ATV 30 10.40 Monday May-June 1962 Part Network
Highland Air Gaelic ceilidh Scottish 10 1.40 Wednesday May-August 1962 Local
Up and Coming Young musicians Border 30 10.45 Tues. Oct.-Nov. 1962 Part Network
The Bookman Literary review ABC 25 2.35 Sunday July-Sept. 1962 Part Network
Keyboard Piano recitals Granada 15 11.35 Thursday Jan.-April 1962 Local
Music for Guitar Classical recitals Granada 15 10.55 Thursday May-June 1962 Local
Stories of the Ballet History and performance Tyne Tees 10 5.45 Sunday May-Sept. 1962 Local

Light Entertainment

SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM. ATV
SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM. ATV

To light entertainment, as to many aspects of programmes, Independent Television has introduced many features which are new to British broadcasting. Some of the wide range of variety, light music and comedy shows presented by the programme companies are illustrated in the following pages. Many of these shows have wide popularity throughout this country and some are seen by television viewers overseas. Many programmes, however, are essentially local in their emphasis and presentation, and are seen only in the transmission areas of the producing companies.

Variety

The traditional flavour of the variety theatre is retained in Val Parnell’s Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV). Leading artistes from all parts of the world come to take part in this popular weekly show which has been running since 1955.

From the television studios comes a wide range of variety and spectacular series. Regular lunch-time variety is presented by Scottish Television, Tyne Tees, and ATV in the Midlands. Granada regularly presents variety programmes, the current series under the title West End. Associated-Rediffusion presents a regular series Hippodrome, and special shows. ABC presents the Comedy Bandbox series and regular summer shows from holiday resorts. A rather different approach is provided in Bruce’s Show (ATV). In addition, there are a few local variety shows during evening transmissions.

Music

All the programme companies produce series of light music programmes. Most of these are only seen locally and many are of particular local interest. Among the networked series are the weekly review of hit records Thank Your Lucky Stars (ABC), Swinging Along (Granada) and All That Jazz (ATV). The local programmes include folk music, record programmes and musical performances of all kinds.

Film Reviews

Several companies produce weekly half-hour film magazine or review programmes. These include Associated-Rediffusion, TWW, Westward and Tyne Tees. Preview, a weekly programme by Ulster Television, includes theatre and book reviews.

Contests

Contests of various kinds are a popular feature of television services. Two longstanding general knowledge series are Take Your Pick presented by Michael Miles and Double Your Money presented by Hughie Green (Associated-Rediffusion). Pencil and Paper (ATV) provides tests of intelligence presented by Shaw Taylor. University Challenge (Granada) brings together teams of university students in a contest of general knowledge and quick wits under the chairmanship of Bamber Gascoigne. In Take a Letter (Granada), contestants race to fill the gaps in well-known phrases. Several programme companies present local quiz contests.

Comedy

Comedy drama series, generally half-hour programmes, are a popular element of Independent Television. Currently to be seen are Hancock (ATV), Bootsie and Snudge (Granada) and The Dickie Henderson Show (Associated-Rediffusion). A favourite feature of weekend viewing is The Arthur Haynes Show (ATV) in which comedy sketches are interspersed with music.

THE PEGGY LEE SHOW. Jimmy van Heusen, Peggy Lee, David Kossoff, Bing Crosby and Sammy Kahn. ABC
THE PEGGY LEE SHOW. Jimmy van Heusen, Peggy Lee, David Kossoff, Bing Crosby and Sammy Kahn. ABC
THE ARTHUR HAYNES SHOW. Nicholas Parsons, Arthur Haynes and Leslie Noyes. ATV
THE ARTHUR HAYNES SHOW. Nicholas Parsons, Arthur Haynes and Leslie Noyes. ATV
LUNCH BOX. Noele Gordon at the Circus, one of the outside broadcasts in the popular Midland series. ATV
LUNCH BOX. Noele Gordon at the Circus, one of the outside broadcasts in the popular Midland series. ATV

LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT EARLY 1963

Programme Description Company Mins. Time & Day Distribution
One O’Clock Gang Lunchtime variety Scottish 30 1.00 Mon.-Fri. Part Network
Tea Time with Tommy Light music Ulster 18 6.07 Mon.-Fri. Local
Sounds New Light music Grampian 30 6.15 Monday Local
Who Knows? Inter-schools contest Tyne Tees 30 6.30 Monday Local
Discs a Gogo “Pop” record programme TWW 30 7.00 Monday Part Network
A’ the Airts Quiz Grampian 30 7.00 Monday Local
Preview Film, theatre and book review Ulster 30 7.00 Monday Local
Spin Along “Pop” record programme Westward 30 7.00 Monday Local
Aye Yours Light music Grampian 60 8.00 Monday Local
Pick o’ the North Talent competition Grampian 30 8.30 Monday Local
University Challenge University contest Granada 20 10.10 Monday Network
Their Kind of Music Light music Southern 30 11.04 Monday Part Network
Lunch Box Lunchtime variety ATV 35 12.47 Tues.-Fri. Local
One O’Clock Show Lunchtime variety Tyne Tees 40 1.02 Tues.-Fri. Part Network
Movie Magazine Film review TWW 30 6.13 Tuesday Part Network
Stars in the West Review Westward 30 6.15 Tuesday Local
Star Parade Film review Tyne Tees 30 6.30 Tuesday Local
Song Album Light music Southern 15 6.45 Tuesday Local
Treasure Hunt Quiz Westward 30 7.00 Tuesday Part Network
Beat Your Neighbour Inter-town competition Southern 30 7.00 Tuesday Local
Try for Ten Quiz TWW 30 7.00 Tuesday Part Network
Beat in the Border Dance music and instruction Border 45 6.15 Wednesday Local
The Ingle Neuk Local entertainment Grampian 25 6.35 Wednesday Local
Take a Letter Word game Granada 30 7.00 Wednesday Part Network
The Dickie Henderson Show Comedy series A-R 30 9.15 Wednesday Part Network
Music Match Musical quiz Anglia 30 9.45 Wednesday Local
Let’s Dance Ballroom dancing Granada 25 11.12 Wed. Local
Double Your Money Quiz A-R 30 7.00 Thursday Network
Bootsie and Snudge Comedy series Granada 30 7.30 Thursday Network
Come Aboard Nautical music Grampian 30 8.00 Thursday Local
Hancock Comedy series ATV 30 8.30 Thursday Network
Close Up Film review A-R 30 6.15 Friday Part Network
Take Your Pick Quiz A-R 30 7.00 Friday Part Network
Thank Your Lucky Stars “Pop” singers and records ABC 40 5.50 Saturday Part Network
Comedy Bandbox Variety ABC 55 6.30 Saturday Part Network
The Arthur Haynes Show Comedy series ATV 35 8.25 Saturday Network
Candid Camera Real-life comedy series ABC 30 4.20 Sunday Part Network
Best of Friends Comedy series ABC 30 4.25 Sunday Part Network
Land of Song Music in Welsh TWW 45 6.15 Sunday (monthly) Part Network
Sunday Palladium Variety ATV 60 8.25 Sunday Network