THIS IS THE BBC - Richard Cawston's epic 1960 documentary

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THIS IS THE BBC - Richard Cawston's epic 1960 documentary

Рет қаралды 11,648

2 жыл бұрын

This is a rare archival piece from classic times in the BBC. I remember seeing it as part of a graduate recruitment drive by the BBC when they were preparing for the new BBC-2 channel. It persuaded me to join the BBC as a General Film Trainee and so benefit from one of the best training schemes anywhere in the world. The film was transferred to VHS many years ago from a 16mm copy held in BBC-Scotland's station in Aberdeen, and in the days when they still had a telecine machine!
The film is BBC copyright, I do not own it, and I have posted it purely as a piece of historical interest for all to see.
First transmitted on BBC Television on 29th June 1960. Written and produced by Richard Cawston. The film, which won a British Film Academy Award, tells the story of an imaginary day in the life of the BBC. It takes viewers behind the scenes of both sound radio and television to show the BBC's huge organisation at work-engineers, planners, producers, artists, musicians, personalities - a cast of 1,200 in all. Among those who appear are: Flora Robson, John Gregson, Beryl Grey, Richard Dimbleby, Francis Williams, Richard Murdoch, Kenneth Horne, Jean Metcalfe, Cliff Michelmore, Cy Grant, Eamonn Andrews, Wynford Vaughan Thomas, Raymond Glendenning, Peter O'Sullevan, Arthur Garratt, Roy Plomley, Frank Muir, Denis Norden, Edward J. Mason, Geoffrey Webb, The George Mitchell Singers, The Television Toppers, The Allegri String Quartet. BBC Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Rudolf Schwarz BBC Northern Dance Orchestra Conducted by Alyn Ainsworth The Eric Robinson Orchestra
This listing has been extracted from the Radio Times Genome website.

Пікірлер: 39

@kbezier7484 3 ай бұрын

What a fantastic film about the Golden Era of BBC. Before Hugh Carleton Green started the process that eventually lead to its destruction in the 1980's. The current BBC is a sad and rather pathetic shadow of what it once was. So glad to have grown up with the BBC when it truly was the cultural treasure of the UK. As was originally envisioned by Lord Reith. The film was shot over an extended period of time in 1958 and 1959. The airline disaster was KLM Flight 607-E on August 14'th 1958. The Russian satellite was sometime in 1959 because nothing they launched in 1958 stayed up long enough to record. The Flora Robson play was shown on June 30'th 1959. Mother Courage and Her Children. The rather irascible foreign producer was Rudolph Cartier. And Marshal Pil won the Lincoln Handicap in March 1959. Thank you posting. A real gem.

@kevinchamberlain5978 9 ай бұрын

Incredibly atmospheric. Makes me feel old to realise this is what the world looked like when I was a kid.

@xenu-dark-tony 10 ай бұрын

I remember how, when thousands of miles away from dear old Blighty, how tuning into the right short wave length would suddenly add colour to the world, as the beloved accent of home came through. All the haughty, staid, middle class accents and speech patterns were so reassuring!

@xenu-dark-tony 10 ай бұрын

People in those days became middle-aged and sensible at 20 years old, and stayed that way till they were 60 and became elderly and retired, and did their allotment every day. They then smoked a pipe and called their wives "moother"

@newforestpixie5297 5 ай бұрын

whereas nowadays many healthy folk in their 60s consider themselves still middle aged whilst men deny or ignore the prospect of popping their clogs by the time they’ve reached 82 - if they’re lucky & if the “Deaths” page in our district newspaper is being factual ! 😁👍

@newforestpixie5297 5 ай бұрын

does anyone remember that fabulous sound which Morris Minors & 1000s made when being changed down through the gears ? we used to call it the Moggy Waboomm

@doncarpenter1040 5 ай бұрын

Wonderful to see this again. Thank you.

@jeremypreece870 22 күн бұрын

A brilliant film that captures a bygone era. A real piece of social history. You can also see so many prototypes of Harry Enfield's "Mr Chumley- Warner" character.

@yachtWildSong 10 ай бұрын

like the kind souil who posted this, I too was a film trainee at Ealing Studios in 1969 and I remember being taken to what is now the Langham Hotel and we were shown this with great seriousness

@xenu-dark-tony 10 ай бұрын

I love how wooden ordinary people's acting was back then. Nowadays everyone is a reality star waiting to be discovered, but back then people had no idea of how to 'act impromptu'. Lovely ingenuous times.

@MirlitronOne Жыл бұрын

This is absolute gold - thank you.

@MrWiffleHead 10 ай бұрын

When they were still nice.

@doneisenhuth408 Ай бұрын

The world seems so much nicer then.

@jeremypreece870 22 күн бұрын

Yes, but only because it is safely in the past. There was the constant threat of the Cold War, poverty, higher infant mortality and the like. The problem is that whenever we look back, we filter all of the bad stuff out of our minds and look at everything in a mist eyed nostalgia. When kids of today grow old they will express exactly the same sentiments about the 2020's.

@PlanetImo Жыл бұрын

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing. :)

@nottmjas 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for uploading this.

@tsr207 2 жыл бұрын

Superb !

@alangriffiths9280 9 ай бұрын

Excellent. Many Thankd

@stephenwildsmith8594 Жыл бұрын

Tim Gudgin opening Light Programme. I have to say my parents were great listeners of Radio 2, and I just seem to recall TG as a name. But my personal best memory of Radio 2 was when they had Kenny Everett on a Saturday morning show (1981-1983?). Good things don't last and I wonder if KE was sacked for being...too entertaining??

@timbowler962 2 жыл бұрын

A really excellent documentary, beautifully filmed. Broadcasting House is still a great building.

@otgelangovan2220 Жыл бұрын

Thanks sir

@nottmjas 2 жыл бұрын

Couldn't find any bio info on Janie Marden, the singer in the colour section at the end, but it would appear that Dennis Norden was to last of the credited performers to die, and that was in September 2019.

@TheGiantKillers Жыл бұрын

Assuming this was all recorded on the same day, it makes it March 14th 1959 as that was the day Marshal Pil won the Lincolnshire. This was also the first time the race was televised.

@Greenacre-AV Жыл бұрын

It was recorded over a period of weeks or even months.

@nottmjas Жыл бұрын

The 1959 European Skating Championships were held between the first and eighth of February. Plus a charter flight from Amsterdam to New York didn't crash that year. This wonderful documentary was meant to represent a typical day's output and other activities within the BBC.

@TheGiantKillers Жыл бұрын

@@Greenacre-AV Hence my saying assuming.

@ianwarburton5409 Жыл бұрын

Several of the featured programmes, such as Mrs Dale’s Diary, weren’t on at the weekend, so it will certainly be a composite of a number of different days.