Film and TV Technician (1957)

268 FILM & TV TECHNICIAN May 1958 WHERE DOES COMMERCIAL TV GO FROM HERE? T3EFORE examining the future of '-* commercial television, it is essential to get a clear picture of the past. For purely political reasons, commercial television was mounted and started in this country in just about half the time that was really needed to do it well, and it was done, for the greater part, by people with little or no previous knowledge of television. A few experts were enticed out of the B.B.C. but there were not enough to go round and the remarkable cinemas on their hands and these were hastily adapted because they were immediately available and in spite of the fact that, except for certain sorts of " variety ", the . . . enticed out of the B.B.C. thing is not that so many mistakes were made, but so few. That it started at all when it did and that, in a mere two and a half years, it has taken such a hold on the public imagination, is a tribute to everyone concerned. The commercial companies started with no premises, no staff, no equipment, no income, no audience and no time. In a year transmissions had begun. It is hardly surprising that the whole operation was permeated with an air of frantic improvisation. Hastily Adapted The personnel was hastily assembled, the equipment was often not the best that could be obtained but what could be obtained in the time; the studios, in the beginning, could not be pecially designed and built but had to be converted from existing buildings. Most of the companies had a lew derelict old theatres or By DESMOND DAVIS TV Vice-President theatre is, architecturally and acoustically, just about the worst and most awkwardly unsuitable kind of building for the purpose. To make confusion even more confounded the I.T.A., by its rigid over-insistence on regional television and by its complete ignoring of the fact that London is, and always has been, the traditional centre of the entertainment industry, placed many of these companies in places where there was no large, resident population of professional entertainers — actors, writers, dancers, musicians and the like; with the result that these exiled companies had to import a very large proportion of their programme material from London. A most cumbersome and expensive operation. Awkwardness and Improvisation Many of the faults inherent in this kind of start have since been rectified, but many have not and the general picture of awkwardness and improvisation still, widely remains. What should be done ? First of all, to build studios that are really and solely designed for television production. This work is going ahead, but it takes time and money and it will be quite a few years before we are finally rid of the improvisations. The second thing to do, as I see it, is to get regional television into its right perspective and build these studios in the most economic and convenient place. Genuine, regional television is an excellent thing and should be encouraged in every way. London is not Britain and it is sound thinking to give the regions a proper voice in television, the biggest voice that they can be given. There are, however, limits to which this is practicable and economically sensible. This limit is reached when it comes to drama, variety and " pure entertainment ". For three hundred years, now, London has been the Mecca of all those who would make a place for themselves in the entertainment industry. Everyone from Aberdeen to Aberystwyth who has wanted to make a living as an actor or singer or dancer has emigrated to London to do it, with the result that London is now the only place in the country that has a large population and a huge reserve of professional entertainers. Because of this, it is also virtually the only place that has all the ancillary arts and industries that support them — the costumiers, the wig makers, art directors, and hirers of firearms and furniture, the film processing laboratories — all the things that go to make up entertainment. The result of this is that if you want to cast and equip a complex . . . everyone lias emigrated to London piece of entertainment you have got to do it from London. What happens at the moment with, say, a television play from Manchester? A Director, living in London, takes a script which has been written or adapted in London or the home counties and easts it with London based actors. He prepares it and rehearses it in London and then, with a huge load of costumes, wigs, furniture (you