The History of Forgotten Television Drama in the UK

英国被遗忘的电视剧的历史

• 批准号: AH/K002953/1
• 负责人: John Hill
• 金额: $ 68.2万
• 依托单位: Royal Holloway University of London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2013 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FK002953%2F1
• 关键词: History; Forgotten; Television; Drama; UK

In recent years, there has been a degree of return to empirically-based television history that seeks to 'revise' the conventional ways in which television's past has been understood. In particular, there has been a growth in awareness of the need to document and reassess the output of the BBC and ITV during the early decades of television production when many programmes were 'lost' or destroyed. This project will build on previous research by investigating the history of 'forgotten' television drama in the UK, looking at productions that are largely unknown, either because they were produced live and not recorded, or because they were recorded but subsequently junked, wiped or lost. It will also examine dramas that exist, either in part (e.g. as individual episodes within a series or serial) or complete, but which have rarely been seen, if at all, since their original transmission. Due to the specific issues raised by regional production, the project will place particular emphasis upon television drama made in the regions and nations of the UK (the English regions plus Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) and assess the extent of the correlation between the 'unknown' and the 'regional' in television drama. The period to be covered by the project is from 1946, when BBC television resumed after the Second World War, to 1982, when the BBC/ITV duopoly was ended by the arrival of Channel 4 and a new era in broadcasting began. In 1946 all drama was broadcast live and no recordings were made. By 1982 nearly all drama was pre-recorded and the practice of wiping and junking recordings, which occurred on a regular basis during the 1960s-70s, had ceased. Through research in regional and national archives, and by interviewing surviving production personnel, the project aims to uncover a 'lost' history of television drama in the UK. In doing so it seeks to produce an alternative history of UK television drama that will add to our knowledge of television history, challenge ideas concerning the television drama 'canon' and encourage awareness of the regional diversity of television drama production. Among the research questions to be addressed are: What has happened to the many lesser-known plays, series and serials produced from 1946-82 that are not mentioned in television histories and which have not had subsequent screenings? Do these dramas still exist? If not, does their lack of existence, or their unavailability if they do exist, account for their 'invisibility' in histories of television drama? What constitutes the 'unknown' or 'forgotten' in UK television drama and by what criteria might a drama be designated 'unknown'. To what extent were these 'forgotten' dramas produced by regional BBC production centres and regional ITV companies? Is there a correlation between 'forgotten' drama and regional production? What happened to recordings of these dramas? Were they kept in the archives of regional BBC production centres and regional ITV companies? If so, what happened to these archives when the centres closed or relocated, or when the ITV companies were taken over by other companies? Has the nature of their archiving contributed to the 'invisibility' of these dramas? Given that it will be impossible to provide an exhaustive account of all the 'forgotten' drama produced in the period under study, it is the aim of the research to build on existing databases by mapping the main contours of unknown and forgotten drama in the UK before concentrating on a series of case studies.The case studies will be chosen to represent all of the regions and nations, with at least one drama, as far as possible, representing each BBC regional production centre and each regional ITV company. In this way, the case studies should contribute to an alternative history of television drama in the UK while also putting to the test some of the assumptions that have traditionally underpinned existing accounts of its history.

近年来，有一定程度的回归到以经验为基础的电视史，试图“修改”传统的方式来理解电视的过去。特别是，人们越来越意识到有必要记录和重新评估BBC和ITV在电视制作的最初几十年里的产出，当时许多节目都“丢失”或被毁。该项目将以之前的研究为基础，调查英国“被遗忘的”电视剧的历史，看看那些基本上不为人知的作品，要么是因为它们是现场制作而没有录制，要么是因为它们录制后被丢弃、删除或丢失。它还将研究现存的戏剧，无论是部分的（例如，作为一个系列或系列中的单独剧集）还是完整的，但自从最初传播以来很少被看到，如果有的话。由于地区制作提出的具体问题，该项目将特别强调在英国地区和国家（英格兰地区加上北爱尔兰，苏格兰和威尔士）制作的电视剧，并评估电视剧中“未知”和“地区”之间的相关性程度。该项目涵盖的时期是从1946年，当BBC电视在第二次世界大战后恢复，到1982年，当BBC/ITV双头垄断被第四频道的到来结束，一个广播的新时代开始了。1946年，所有的戏剧都是现场直播，没有录音。到1982年，几乎所有的戏剧都是预先录制好的，在上世纪六七十年代经常发生的擦除和丢弃录音的做法已经停止了。通过对地区和国家档案的研究，以及采访幸存的制作人员，该项目旨在揭示英国电视剧“失落”的历史。在这样做的过程中，它试图制作英国电视剧的另一种历史，这将增加我们对电视史的了解，挑战关于电视剧“经典”的想法，并鼓励对电视剧制作的地区多样性的认识。需要解决的研究问题包括：1946年至1982年间制作的许多不太为人所知的戏剧、连续剧和连载剧在电视历史上没有被提及，也没有后来的放映，它们到底发生了什么？这些电视剧还存在吗？如果不是，他们的不存在，或者即使他们存在，也无法获得，是他们在电视剧历史中“隐形”的原因吗？在英国电视剧中，什么构成了“未知”或“被遗忘”？根据什么标准，一部电视剧可能被指定为“未知”？这些“被遗忘”的电视剧在多大程度上是由地区BBC制作中心和地区ITV公司制作的？“被遗忘的”戏剧与地区制作之间是否存在关联？这些戏剧的录音后来怎么样了？它们是保存在BBC地区制作中心和ITV地区公司的档案中吗？如果是这样，当这些中心关闭或搬迁时，或者当ITV公司被其他公司收购时，这些档案发生了什么？它们的归档性质是否导致了这些戏剧的“隐形”？鉴于不可能对研究期间产生的所有“被遗忘”戏剧提供详尽的描述，研究的目的是在集中进行一系列案例研究之前，通过绘制英国未知和被遗忘戏剧的主要轮廓来建立现有数据库。案例研究将被选择来代表所有地区和国家，至少有一部戏剧，尽可能代表每个BBC地区制作中心和每个地区ITV公司。通过这种方式，案例研究应该有助于英国电视剧的另一种历史，同时也对传统上支撑其历史的一些假设进行测试。

项目成果

'Political Fantasy in a Realistic Situation': The Scotch on the Rocks (BBC 1973) Controversy

“现实情境中的政治幻想”：加冰威士忌（BBC 1973）争议

• DOI: 10.1080/14714787.2017.1396915
• 发表时间: 2017
• 期刊: Visual Culture in Britain
• 作者: Hill J

'Blurring the lines between fact and fiction': Ken Russell, the BBC and 'Television Biography'

“模糊事实与虚构之间的界限”：肯·拉塞尔、BBC 和《电视传记》

• DOI: 10.3366/jbctv.2015.0280
• 发表时间: 2015
• 期刊: Journal of British Cinema and Television
• 影响因子: 0.9
• 作者: Hill J

Television Drama and Northern Ireland: The First Plays 1959-67

电视剧和北爱尔兰：首演 1959-67

• DOI: 10.3366/jbctv.2023.0677
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Journal of British Cinema and Television
• 影响因子: 0.9
• 作者: Hill J

Dominic Behan and the Beginnings of Television 'Troubles' Drama

多米尼克·贝汉和电视剧《麻烦》的开端

• 发表时间: 2017
• 作者: []

The Northern Ireland Troubles in Britain

英国的北爱尔兰麻烦

• 发表时间: 2017
• 作者: Hill, J.