Hilary Kingsley

This book is a history of television in the UK from 1953 up to 1989. (Actually the date of 1953 is slightly arbitrary - TV had existed in the 1930s, although with a very limited audience, and re-started after WWII, but many people think of 1953 as its "real" starting date, because the broadcasting of the Coronation brought it into the public consciousness.) Each year has a long account of a few of its outstanding programmes, together with a quick rundown of others, and it is far from encyclopedic - a quick survey of IMDB will bring plenty of omissions to light. As an example, the entry for 1965 has longer sections on "BBC3" (not the channel, but a shortlived successor to TW3 mainly noted because of Kenneth Tynan's use of the f-word), "Up the Junction" (also controversial for its seamy picture of life in Clapham), "Peyton Place", the soap-operas "United!" and "The Newcomers", "Tomorrow's World", "Mogul", "The Public Eye", "The Man from UNCLE", "Not Only ... But Also", "World of Sport", "Thunderbirds" and "The Magic Roundabout", together with very brief mentions of such programmes as "Call My Bluff" and "Sherlock Holmes" (in this case starring Douglas Wilmer and Nigel Stock). Sometimes the choices are slightly arbitrary, as the above list demonstrates (I'd have said that "Call My Bluff" deserved a longer discussion). Also, from 1960 and the introduction of commercial TV, there's a quick rundown of popular adverts of the year, such as (for 1965) the Homepride ads with the voice of John le Mesurier. Although it's not perfect, anyone interested in the history of the "mass media" will find this enjoyable to dip into.… (meer)