In February BFI Southbank screens a season of rarely-seen TV studio dramas curated by department researchers. Creative personnel central to the history of British television – including Piers Haggard, Philip Saville and Howard Brenton – will guest at some of the screenings to share their experiences shaping these dramas in the TV studio.
Further details and booking information can be found here.
This season of screenings is curated by Leah Panos and Billy Smart, as part of the AHRC funded research project Spaces of Television based at the University of Reading.
SCHEDULE
Thu 6 Feb, 6.10 The Imaginative World of the Television Studio
Dead of Night: The Exorcism (50m, w. Don Taylor, d. Don Taylor, BBC2, 1972)
+ Lecture – “Dramatic Spaces: The Unlimited Possibility of the TV Studio” (Leah Panos, University of Reading and Billy Smart, Royal Holloway, University of London)
Sat 8 Feb, 3.50 Brechtian Alienation: the Studio as an Empty Canvas
Festival: The Life of Galileo (115m, w. Bertolt Brecht, d. Charles Jarrott, BBC, 1964)
Tue 11 Feb, 5.50 Entrapment and Confrontation in the Studio
Theatre 625: Miss Julie (70m, w. August Strindberg, d. Alan Bridges, BBC2, 1965)
+ The Wednesday Play: Let’s Murder Vivaldi (75m, w. David Mercer, d. Alan Bridges, BBC1, 1968)
Sat 15 Feb, 3.45 Studio Trickery – Colour Separation Overlay
Censored Scenes from King Kong (50m, w. Howard Schuman, d. Brian Farnham, BBC2, untransmitted 1974)
+ Play for Today: The After-Dinner Joke (65m, w. Caryl Churchill, d. Colin Bucksey, BBC1, 1978).
With guests Howard Schuman (subject to availability) and Brian Farnham
Wed 19 Feb, 8.40 Mixing Genres in the Studio
Playhouse: The Journal of Bridget Hitler (110m, w. Beryl Bainbridge, d. Philip Saville, BBC2, 1981)
With guests Maurice Roeves and Philip Saville.
Mon 24 Feb, 8.40 The Stripped-Down Studio Space
Play for Today: Psy-Warriors (73m, w. David Leland, d. Alan Clarke, BBC1, 1981)
+ Centre Play: The Saliva Milkshake (30m, w. Howard Brenton, d. Robert Knights, BBC2, 1975)
With guest Howard Brenton
Fri 28 Feb, 6.20 Landscape in the Studio
Play for Today: Desert of Lies (85m, w. Howard Brenton, d. Piers Haggard, BBC1, 1984)
+ Guest Panel tbc: Howard Brenton, Piers Haggard, Mick Ford
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