ATV Productions 1955 – 1981
THE SEVENTIES
The Rococo Bush. 1970
Part of ITV Saturday Night Theatre. Directed by Peter Moffatt. With Katharine Blake, Golda Casimir, Tenniel Evans, Michael Joshua.
Another Evening with Burt Bacharach. 1970
Burt Bacharach returns to ATV Elstree for more music entertainment. Guests include Dusty Springfield.
In Search of Paradise. 1971
An inside look at the new India, spotlighting the highly controversial Prime Minister Indira Ghandi, and the pressing problems of the country. Controversial, critical, predominantly about the young, the film explores India’s modern generation, which has grown up in an era of economic pessimism. India is a country which has gained its independence, but is plagued by poverty. Notables and ordinary young people alike are interviewed, among them Professor Khusro of Dehli University and the Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi herself. Students, too, express their opinion, and their hopes
Stop Look and Listen. 1971-02
Stop, Look, Listen, one of ITV’s longest-running schools programmes; Initially aimed at 7–9-year-olds and presented by teacher Harvey Higgins, its focus had changed to 5–7-year-olds by the time Christ Tarrant began presenting from 1975-81 when ATV handed production over to Central TV.
The Shopper. 1971
Drama starring Ann Firbank and Joyce Carey.
Born to be Small. 1971
Documentary on people who were shorter in height than average. Produced for ATV by Lord Snowdon and Derek Hart. Contributors included Joyce Carpenter who at the time was the shortest recorded UK adult.
Saturday Variety. 1972
Live weekend entertainment series from ATV Elstree. Hosts included Larry Grayson, Ted Rogers, Terry Wogan, Bob Monkhouse and Val Doonican. Regular appearances by Lionel Blair and star turns such as Dorothy Squires, Edward Woodward and Kenny Ball.
Options: The Life and Times of J.W. Rainbird. 1972
Slicing ham by day, gliding across a dance floor by night, Mr J.W Rainbird and his wife have found happiness and fulfilment in both their marriage and jointly-run business – a grocery shop on Romford Road, Newham. Long days spent serving locals and stocktaking are rewarded with a glass of beer and a skirt around the ballroom dance-floor in the evening.
Shirley’s World. 1972
Hollywood actress Shirley MacLaine stars as a bubbly London-based photo-journalist writing for the magazine World Illustrated. Her assignments take her all over the world and into a variety of adventures. John Gregson plays her despairing editor.
Barbra Streisand and Other Musical Instruments. 1973
Barbra Streisand’s first television special in five years is worth the wait, with an array of musical styles, instruments and moods to suit every taste – folk, rock, gospel, lieder, comedy, classical, electronic, and marching music.
In this award winning show Barbra is joined by special guest Ray Charles and manages to take us around the world as she performs some of the music themed on other countries. She also experiences lonliness when her orchestra disappears and tries to convince herself that she likes being alone.
Graham Hill: Master of Monaco. 1973
An exciting profile of car racing superstar Graham Hill, narrated by Paul Newman, featuring Prince Ranier and Princess Grace of Monaco, among other celebrities.
Elton John and Bernie Taupin. 1973
Elton John, that most durable and flamboyant of pop superstars, is the subject of this fascinating documentary. With his lyric writer, Bernie Taupin (the pair met when both answered an advertisement seeking new talent), Elton John has produced a shattering number of solid hits, and lived by his own credo – ‘The biggest sin is to be boring’ – in devastating style.
ATV track Elton on tour in America, to the French chateau in Heronville where top pop idols record their discs, to his home in stockbroker country in Surrey, and provide an insight in this most elusive of pop performers
Thriller. 1973-76
An anthology series of suspense thrillers with a horrific edge. Spine-tingling movies created by master of the genre, Brian Clemens. Tales of the macabre and the terrifying, tales of fear and grotesque fate, tales of murder and psychopathic killing as well as tales of sinister suspense and hair-raising drama. Magnificently created by Clemens and featuring a host of celebrated stars
Herb Alpert Variety Special. 1974
Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass bring a special performance at the climax of their European tour, recorded at The Royal Festival Hall in London. Herb Alpert, a talented American musician and his band, entertain the audience in this musical extravaganza. Herb, playing mainly the trumpet and accompanied by the other band members, plays a selection of well known tunes and medleys.
Tiswas. 1974-82
Today is Saturday, Watch and Smile. Live Saturday morning children’s entertainment series with a slant on towards the chaotic and unusual. Hosts included Chris Tarrant, Gordon Astley, Sally James and a host of sidekicks ranging from Frank Carson and Jim Davidson to Bob Carolgees with Spit the Dog and Lenny Henry.
Sandy Duncan Variety Special. 1974
This television special features American singer, dancer and actress Sandy Duncan as she hosts her own variety show where she is joined by special guests Paul Lynde, John Davidson, Valerie Armstrong and Gene Kelly.
Let Sandy and her guests entertain you with music, singing, dancing and comedy sketches, including a real treat for any Gene Kelly fans as he joins Sandy for a tap dancing routine and then goes on to perform a rendition of one of his great classics when Sandy passes him an umbrella and a hat.
Inside the world of your dreams. 1974
The average person spends 25 years of his life asleep. At least five years of that time is spent dreaming. This programme goes right inside the participants’ dreams, reconstruting some and analysing others. Using an experimental filmmaking technique called ‘expanded consciousness cinema’ the makers of this special program have focused on a sub-conscious existence we perceive quite differently when we close out the waking world.
In the programme, dreams are dramatized rather than analyzed – so that the actual look and feel of the film is dreamlike. What do people dream about? Sexual dreams are top of the list, with anxiety, flying and falling dreams close behind.
Glen Campbell Specials. 1974
Glen hosts a number of music specials as star guests join the legendary American country and western singer at ATV Elstree.
Edward the Seventh. 1975
BAFTA winning drama.
The Cedar Tree. 1975-78
Period drama series telling the story of the Bourne family, hailing from an aristocratic background, before the Second World War. Starring Philip Latham as Arthur Bourne and Joyce Carey as Lady Bourne.
Where on Earth. 1975
Documentary exploring the lives and work of men on a North Sea oil rig.
Celebrity Squares. 1975-79
Big star game show based on the stateside series Hollywood Squares. Bob Monkhouse oversees proceedings while Kenny Everett is the voice over. Questions were written by Jeremy Beadle.
Into the Unknown. 1975
Long before the X-files chilled audiences, Into The Unknown was thrilling audiences by meeting the real people who’ve faced close encounters.
The mysteries of the unknown, the paranormal of every kind, are investigated to a penetrating degree. The production team are split in their own beliefs – the producer believes in the occult, the writer and presenter is a sceptic with a scientific background. Their aim is to assess how far man is in deciding whether the world he lives in is the one presented by orthodox science or whether, by contrast, it is a world where the normal and the paranormal go hand in hand. The series investigates and interviews people claiming first-hand experience of mysterious encounters – from the West Coast of America to northeast Scotland.
British Rock and Pop Awards 1976. 1976
Presented by Maurice Kinn for the Daily Mirror Pop Club, live from The New Bingley Hall, Stafford, 1976. The Daily Mirror’s Reader’s Choice of 1976 features awards for the Best New Group, Best Newcomer, Top Hard Rock Band, Best Album Of The Year, Best Instrumentalist, Best Male Group Singer, Number One Pop Group, Number One Rock Band, Outstanding Music Personality Of The Year and Number One Solo Male Singer. Performances are given by The Real Thing, John Miles, Status Quo and David Essex with appearances from The Bay City Rollers, Paul McCartney and Wings.
Bing Crosby’s White Christmas. 1976
Bing Crosby hosts his annual Christmas show alongside his wife Kathryn and three of his children, Harry, Mary Frances and Nathaniel. They are joined by special guests Jackie Gleason and Bernadette Peters for more music and comedy.
Between them they cover festive songs such as ‘It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas’ and ‘Happy Holiday’ and includes Bing singing ‘Silent Night’ and his big hit, ‘White Christmas’, as well as a medley of Christmas carols with the help of some choir boys and a medley in tribute to songwriter Johnny Mercer.
Two Stars for Comfort. 1977
Set in one of Britain’s most attractive areas, the Thames Valley, an old inn is the setting for a light-hearted comedy of romance (mostly illicit) during the height of summer, with underlying drama.
In John Mortimer’s comedy drama, it’s 1953 and an hotel owner decides to pep up his love life whilst his wife is away. Among the visitors to the inn are four university students, two of each sex, plus one girl who shouldn’t really be there at all. It is the third girl who is responsible for this summer developing a changed pattern for the inn’s extrovert owner.
Heart and Soul. 1977
Musical entertainment show starring Cleo Laine and Ray Charles with Jack Parnell and his Concert Orchestra, the Jubilee Singers and John Dankworth. The lavish production has frequently changing sets, including an interpretation of Catfish Row for a series of songs from Porgy and Bess.
The Ballad of Salomon Pavey. 1977
TV musical, based on the stage play by Jeremy Taylor and David Drew-Smythe. Set in 1601, a young boy is kidnapped and pressed to join ‘The Children of the Chapel Royal’ – one of the companies of boy actors that entertained Elizabethan nobility.
Golden Gala. 1978
Noele Gordon hosts a show that features only women, 100 women. Including Anna Karen, Gabrielle Drake and Petula Clark.
The Spencer Side. 1978
In Deborah Mortimer’s play, tensions between Deirdre and her 18-year old daughter, Alison, brings a shock disclosure – the identity of her father. Starring Janet Ellis, Paul Daneman, Elizabeth Bodington.
Revolver. 1978
Tea-time music show with a revolving stage, presented by Peter Cook, who played a dance hall owner who hired punk bands, and DJ Les Ross. Peter Cook plays the manager of a converted ballroom, the Revolver of the title, who has been forced against his will to go over to the present-day, providing the frenzied atmosphere of a 1970’s club frequented by pop and rock fans.
Treasuring memories of the great days of big bands and star names who once graced his premises, he introduces the coming acts in a caustic manner which brings friendly, but noisy derision from the new clientele.
It is in this setting that the contrasting outlooks of one generation and another are seen. While much of the appeal of the programme is in the contemporary acts, Revolver also offers a graphic picture of the tastes and outlooks of the younger generation, with new production techniques which make this different from any other programme of its kind. The frenetic energy of the present-day rock and pop scene is reflected in lively style for younger viewers. The bands in Revolver were, for the most part, completely new to television: The Autographs, Hi-Tension, The Lurkers, The Boyfriends, Kandidate, The Stranglers and The Boomtown Rats.
All God’s Children Got Rhythm. 1978
Music which emanated from Harlem between 1920 and 1930 provides lively entertainment in this show representing one of the most dazzling eras in the history of jazz. Both the music and high-speed dancing have an exhilarating exuberance, with a pertinent commentary from veteran master showman Billy Daniels, and a cast drawn from the stage hit ‘Bubbling Brown Sugar’, including Helen Gelzer.
I’m Dickie, That’s Showbiz. 1978
Dickie Henderson presents a star-studded variety series with guests including Michele Dotrice, Arthur Askey, Petula Clark, Wayne Sleep and Roger Whittaker.
The Family Dance. 1979
The owner of a large country house holds a dance for the members of his family. Tensions within the family soon come to the surface with the adults restricted to the kitchen while the living quarters are taken over by the children.
In Felicity Browne’s witty play, the owner of a large country house holds a dance for the members of his family. Over the course of the evening, tensions within the family soon come to the surface with the adults restricted to the kitchen while the living quarters are taken over by the children. With Richard Briers, Alec McGowan, Judy Parfitt, and Annette Crosbie.
The Purple Twilight. 1979
It’s 1944, and the crew of a Lancaster bomber are preparing to bale out. The pilot, while preparing to ditch in the sea, has a vision of his future.
Donkey’s Years. 1979
The Master of an Oxford University college is away when a group of former scholars gather for a reunion. His wife stands in for him and becomes the victim of hectic happenings, ranging from high comedy to farce, and misunderstandings stemming from her belief that her old lover is among the guests.
Penelope Keith, Colin Blakely and Denholm Elliott star in this adaptation of Michael Frayn’s stage play
Close Season. 1979
Starring Eileen Atkins and Jeremy Brett.
Tropic. 1979
Comedy about the residents of an executive housing estate. Written by Leslie Thomas and based on his novel ‘Tropic of Ruislip’ the sitcom stars Ronald Pickup, Hilary Tindall and Hilary Pritchard
Heartland. 1979
Series of plays on the theme of love, with an overlapping central character. Each story is linked to the other through the romantic attachments that begin with a policeman’s affair with an actress. The plays range from comedy to tragedy, emotional conflicts to personal problems, from the ultra sophisticated to the touchingly simple.