TV at the National Archive

The bfi's National Archive has been collecting television material from all Britain's channels since the 1950s, though, as with the companies' own archives, the collections are far from complete, especially those for the earliest decades of television broadcasting.

Throughout the 1950s, most broadcasting was live and the technology for recording it was expensive and rarely used. Many of the most watched programmes have therefore failed to survive, a good example being some of the most outstanding productions in the innovative and highly popular ITV drama series Armchair Theatre, as well as popular entertainment formats such as Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

The advent of videotape and the subsequent switch to most programmes being pre-recorded did allow for more retention, but did not prevent the loss of much material through the wiping and re-use of the expensive tapes, which continued until the late 1970s. Many episodes of the massively popular and controversial sixties sitcom Till Death Us Do Part have been lost. Live material also continued to be at risk of loss. Much of the coverage of the Apollo 11 moon landing, including the studio discussions on the night of landing itself, and some of the coverage of the death of President Kennedy has failed to survive.

The bfi National Archive has copies of many of the most popular British television programmes from the early decades, acquired from the companies themselves, and these are available for study and re-interpretation.

In 1985 the Archive began recording television material off-air, thus preserving the output as it was seen by the public. We have statutory responsibility for the archiving of selected output from ITV, Channel 4 and Five, an operation to which those companies contribute funding, and we also act as the public access arm of BBC Television, which has funded the recording of their output for his purpose since 1990. Complete coverage of the live events which dominate the recent ratings lists - England football matches, The Funeral of Diana - is thus preserved as it was seen and is accessible.

As the official archive of ITV programming, the holdings of the bfi National Film and Television archive will be much in use for the screenings and educational uses planned by the bfi to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Britain's most popular channel later this year.

Steve Bryant

Keeper of Television, National Archive

Try these links for more information on researching British television:

Research Viewing Service

Viewing National Archive holdings for study

bfi National Library

How to access the library and its resources

Screenonline

A bfi guide to Britain's television history

Film Links Gateway

Selected and annotated film and television weblinks