Television - Season 1

Television - Season 1

Season 1

Network
DatesFeb 12, 1985 - Apr 30, 1985

Episodes

Visions of Power
Season 1Episode 160 min

Visions of Power

A look at the way that TV affects and manipulates viewers.
Feb 12, 1985
The Race for Television
Season 1Episode 260 min

The Race for Television

Goes back to TV's earliest flickering beginnings, in the first primitive TV camera built by the eccentric Scots inventor John Logie Baird - whose previous triumph had been the indestructible sock - out of hat-boxes, sealing-wax and an old tea chest. (The Guardian)
Feb 19, 1985
We Bring You Live Pictures
Season 1Episode 360 min

We Bring You Live Pictures

The development and impact of outside broadcasts and live coverage of news, sport and pageantry. Peter Dimmock, then in charge of OBs at the BBC, recalls how the coronation in 1953 was a turning-point. When Prince Charles married Lady Di in 1981, 750,000,000 people in 74 countries followed their progress up the aisle. (Daily Telegraph)
Feb 26, 1985
News Power
Season 1Episode 460 min

News Power

Continuing the worldwide history of the medium, this programme moves on to television news, tracing its development from the first TV news in America in the forties to today's high-powered satellite broadcasts. (Daily Telegraph)
Mar 5, 1985
News - The Power of Pictures
Season 1Episode 560 min

News - The Power of Pictures

Looks at the awesome ability of on-screen images to evoke a massive public response, as with the pictures of the starving children of Biafra in 1968; to shape the nature of the response, with American footage showing how protesters in close-up look far more violent than when filmed in long-shot; and ultimately to shape events like Nixon's downfall. (The Guardian)
Mar 12, 1985
The Story Machine
Season 1Episode 660 min

The Story Machine

From news to fiction as the series moves behind the scenes to look at how some of the most popular drama series are produced, what they cost and how they came about. Hollywood is the home of most of the world's TV drama, but there is also a look at Japanese Samurai drama, Brazilian soap opera and Nigerian comedy. (Daily Telegraph)
Mar 19, 1985
Play Power
Season 1Episode 760 min

Play Power

Considers TV drama and the practical influence, if any, of such controversial landmarks as the BBC's post-war "1984" and ITV's "Armchair Theatre" and the later drama-documentaries of the Sixties, most notably Jim Allen's "Cathy Come Home", which led to the creation of the charity Shelter. But as production costs rise, how will purely commercial considerations (saleability, for example) affect the quality? (Daily Telegraph) / Also charts the rise and fall of America's golden age of television drama - the fifties - featuring rare clips of the likes of Redford and Newman, in their earliest TV roles. (The Guardian)
Mar 26, 1985
The Rise and Fall of the Documentary
Season 1Episode 860 min

The Rise and Fall of the Documentary

After 30 years of recording every human problem, every aspect of the natural world, has the TV documentary run out of steam - and themes? And for all its work in informing millions about the plight of the homeless or the threat to the rain forests, has it ever been an agent of real social change? (The Guardian)
Apr 2, 1985
Chewing Gum for the Eyes
Season 1Episode 960 min

Chewing Gum for the Eyes

Focusing on light entertainment, from variety to quiz and game shows, from chat shows to pop videos, with samples garnished from, among other countries, Britain, America, Brazil, Russia and the Philippines and even a Japanese version of "What's My Line?". (Daily Telegraph)
Apr 9, 1985
The Good and Bad and the Ugly
Season 1Episode 1060 min

The Good and Bad and the Ugly

An examination of the beneficial effects of television, its help in education, its power to broaden the horizons of its audience, and then - the other side of the coin - its possible harmful effects, its power to influence the young, to encourage violence, to corrupt. (Daily Telegraph)
Apr 16, 1985
Canned Laughter
Season 1Episode 1160 min

Canned Laughter

The history and development of television comedy is examined, from its origins in American vaudeville and radio shows, through the social comment sit-coms to the ultimate send-ups in such productions as "Soap". (Daily Telegraph)
Apr 23, 1985
The Selling of the President
Season 1Episode 1260 min

The Selling of the President

The medium's revolutionary effect on the business of electioneering around the world, with politicians being taught how to maximise their television appeal, and image replacing issues as the key vote-catcher. (The Guardian)
Apr 30, 1985
The Third Age of Broadcasting
Season 1Episode 1360 min

The Third Age of Broadcasting

Looks to the medium's future in a satellite and cable world where the viewer may be spoilt for choice in terms of quantity of channels. But what of the quality of programmes, of standards and mandatory public service content of the schedules, with satellites crossing frontiers and national regulations a thing of the past? (The Guardian)
Apr 30, 1985

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