Credit Where It's Due...

 

Ten Years of Talking Pictures

It is ten years this week since the digital channel Talking Pictures TV first began broadcasting. When they started out, TPTV were the only broadcaster out of hundreds across the Sky and Freeview platforms to base their schedules around vintage film and television. The channel grew out of the Renown Pictures DVD label, a small publisher that specialised in obscure and neglected relics of British cinema, with a strong focus on the immediate postwar era.

Back in 2015, TPTV’s output was comprised mostly of old movies from the Renown catalogue, plus a handful of vintage American TV series like Amos Burke and Honey West. It was a very black and white channel, and the preponderance of old movies probably accounts for why it chose to present itself in the manner of a fifties cinema – a stylistic trope that persists to this day.

I was, of course, involved in the business of old film and television myself, employed by the Network DVD label, who had been instrumental in resurrecting vintage and forgotten gems from both media. At first, there was no crossover in content, and TP had no access to the ITV archive which was such a prime source of material for us. 

I soon became aware, however, that there was a big difference between Network and Talking Pictures – public awareness. TPTV very quickly became a talking point across the mainstream media – I even heard it used as a gag on the radio comedy series Dead Ringers. They’d made an impact. Whereas Network had not. Granted, we had our supporters in the form of a small but loyal fanbase, but we remained unknown to the wider audience who had picked up on Talking Pictures.

It wasn’t long before the new channel started making inroads into Network’s back catalogue. The biggest early success was when they secured the rights to the dimly remembered ITC crime drama Gideon’s Way. They got a lot of praise when it debuted on their channel, with viewers welcoming its return after an absence of over fifty years... Except that it hadn’t been absent – anyone wishing to revisit Gideon’s Way could have done so on the medium of DVD: Network released the series way back in 200x – it was one of our earliest ITV releases. We just forgot to tell anyone we were doing it – or rather, we didn’t make enough of a song and dance about it, and a potential audience slipped through our fingers.

Before long, more and more Network titles were appearing in Talking Pictures’ schedule, and each new title won plaudits from viewers and critics for their dedication in reviving lost classics. They’re still showing Budgie, yet it had been available on Network DVD for years. Eventually, they added the Gerry Anderson series to their roster, and again, were showered with praise. Well, why not? They were making the effort where others didn’t – there are very few broadcasters willing to chance their arm on obscure black and white television of sixty plus years’ vintage.

Now that Network is no more, TPTV seems increasingly like the label’s afterlife. From our own archives, they have bought rights to series including Space Patrol, Dial 999 and The Cheaters, none of which would have been available had it not been for the efforts of Tim Beddows in acquiring the rights in the first place. I’m not saying this in a spirit of criticism – quite the reverse, in fact. It’s good that this old archive material is being brought to air instead of being left to rot (quite literally) in film archives or sold off to collectors. I know for a fact that rarities from Tim's personal archive are being broadcast on TPTV – today's schedule includes an archive film of the Blue Pullman railway service, which we watched some years ago when it resided in his collection, and other items have turned up on the weekly Footage Detectives programme. It's just a shame that Tim never gets more credit for his efforts in preserving vintage films and television series.

Some years ago, Network sold TPTV broadcast rights to the BBC TV series Maigret – but it went to air without any on-screen credit for Network (who had spent a lot of money on rights and restoration). Why had we not appended a ‘Network Presentation’ credit to the Maigret masters? None of this would really matter were it not for the fact that, once again, it was TPTV who got showered with praise when they brought Maigret to air. I even had people asking me if I’d seen it. Seen it? I’d only set the whole thing in motion back in 2018 when I recommended to Tim Beddows that we should try to release it. I don’t often blow my own trumpet, but, honestly, without me, those old Maigrets would still be in the BBC's vaults...

In the past decade, Talking Pictures has flown the flag for vintage television and film, finding an audience that more mainstream broadcasters have always sought to avoid. They’ve shown the way for others to follow, and viewers can now take their pick from a number of other channels dedicated to archive content. Newcomer Rewind TV has been going for exactly a year, and others are following their example – although in some cases, there is plenty of room for improvement.

Talking Pictures has successfully carved out a niche for itself as a provider of 'I thought I'd never get to see that again' televisual moments. If they've proved anything in these past ten years, it's the simple fact that a broadcaster will always find an audience where a physical media provider might struggle. Is it my kind of television? Undoubtedly. My only regret is that Network was never as successful in promoting the same kind of vintage content.

Oh, and one last thing – is anyone ever going to give that flustered usherette the right change?