Television

The bfi National Archive holds by far the largest accessible archive of British Television programmes. We have acquired donations on various formats since the late 1950s from participants and collectors but most of our material has been acquired through agreements with the broadcasters themselves.

Since 1 January 1985 we have recorded independent terrestrial channels to broadcast standard and we currently select about 12.5% of the output of ITV, Channel Four, and Five for permanent preservation. Originally funded voluntarily by the companies, these arrangements are now subject to statutory provision under the terms of the 1990 Broadcasting Act and 2003 Communications Act. We also select examples of regional programmes from independent television and we are the official archive of the Parliamentary Recording Unit. The BBC have their own preservation archives but since August 1990 we have had an access arrangement with the corporation whereby researchers, academics, and students can view anything from the output of BBC1 and BBC2 since that date, and from BBC3 and BBC4 since their inception.

If you are a non-commercial researcher you can view material on our premises via our Research Viewing Service Service. If you are a company looking for clips or other commercial uses for material contact Archival Footage Sales, although note that you should usually contact the appropriate broadcaster in the first instance.

As well as selecting and acquiring material, the TV Curatorial Unit also make our TV holdings more accessible in different forms and research and interpret the collections. We have a huge, and representative, range of programmes that tell us about the production and consumption of television in Britain over 50 years, from classics such as Steptoe and Son, Cathy Come Home, World in Action and the work of Dennis Potter, to the popular game shows, cop dramas and makeover series that form the bulk of the schedule and speak of their times.

For more information on our holdings contact Archive Enquiries.