Media AS OCR

1. History of British TV Drama
(1936-1970)

2. Unit aims: Preparation for Section A of
the exam.
• Develop knowledge of media language and
ability to use it appropriately
• Engage with a broad range of television drama
in order to critically recognise conventions
• Develop knowledge of media theory - in
particularly theories of representation and
genre.

3. BBC - Birth of Television
• The British Broadcasting Company started daily
transmissions on November 14th 1922, by which
time more than one million ten-shilling (50p)
licences had been issued.
• In 1927 the company was restructured as a public
corporation -the BBC that we know today- by its
founding father, John (later Lord) Reith, but by
this time an even newer technology was being
developed -television.

4. BBC - Birth of Television
• The BBC was broadcast from Alexandra Palace
and availability was limited to:
• a) those who could actually afford a television
• b) those who lived within a 25 mile radius of
the Alexandra Palace.
• Very little exists from this era as they had not
developed the technology to record the
programme.

5. 1936-39
• Early television drama were stage plays reworked for television.
• They earned the nickname 'photographed stage plays' because of
the simplicity with which they were shot.
• However they were hugely popular, with fourteen out of twenty-
two hours of transmission time being dedicated to dramas.
• They were mostly broadcast in the morning and afternoon. Why do
you think this was?
• The most anticipated viewing event was the Sunday night play.

6. Post-war Drama 1945-1950s
• In the years after the war, television struggled
to gain popularity. Radio never had to shut
down, so audiences were reluctant to invest in
television.
• Plays continued to feature heavily - George
Bernard Shaw, J.M Synge and J.B Priestley
were popular at the time.

7. Post-war Drama 1945-1950s
• In 1952 Michael Barry was appointed Head of
Television Drama. He held strong beliefs about
the visual power and potential of television
drama.
• It was under Barry's vision that television
drama started to develop . . .

8. Quatermass Experiment
• Six-part serial, transmitted between 18 July and
22 August 1953.
• Written by Nigel Kneale.
• This was a landmark moment in television drama.
Not only was it an original script, but the science
fiction genre signified the departure from
naturalist drama.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Lln3FaVPuR4

9. Nineteen Eighty Four
• The other most significant drama of the post war
period was Nigel Kneale's adaptation of George
Orwell's '1984'.
• It was a two hour live drama.
• It was one of the first two be 'telerecorded', meaning
we can still watch it today!
• They combined live drama with fourteen filmed
sequences.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hATC_2I1wZE

10. ITV - Independent Television
• ITV began its launch in 1954.
• Much to the BBC's dismay, ITV proved to be
incredibly successful.
• As well as launching gameshows, quizzes and
variety programmes, ITV went much further
than the BBC had done in targeting new
audiences, i.e. working-class audiences, with
its popular drama programming.

11. The Adventures of Robin Hood
(1955-59)
• This was one of the most popular early dramas
on ITV. Initially targeted at children, it was
scheduled before the 'toddlers' truce', a one hour
gap in transmission from 6-7pm which was
designed to allow younger children to be put to
bed and older children to get on with their
homework. However, commercials soon
overrode these concerns and the show was
moved into this slot!
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=zMcpbMOZYK0

12. Coronation Street - Social Realism
• Coronation Street was by no means the first soap opera on
television, but it is the longest running one.
• It offered (arguably still offers) a representation of the
working-class of north-west England.
• In its iconography, character types and storylines,
Coronation Street tapped into new modes of social realism,
or 'kitchen sink' drama, that had been popularised in the
theatre, and in literature since the mid-1950s, and which
was also emerging in the 'new wave' of British cinema.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_7Z3046_dg