TWW (Television Wales and West) final broadcast May1968
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- TWW (Television Wales & West) otherwise known as Channel 10 lost the ITA franchise it had held from 14th January 1958 to HTV (Harlech TV) in 1968.
The promoters of Harlech appear to have included film stars Stanley Baker and Richard Burton.
TWW had been providing television services and news provision to the West (with Bristol having a very small studio) and to Wales (centred on Cardiff). This included services in Welsh for they had been obliged to take over Teledu Cymru, which also covered Central and North Wales. They had planned to start colour broadcasts.
Forced to sell their franchise, they ceased broadcasting five months early, leaving HTV totally unprepared and handed over to them on 20th May 1968. ITA had to step in to provide services in the interim, and the unwritten promise to provide enhanced cultural and artistic TV, and presumably with a greater focus on Welsh language, never happened. Those big names never even read the news, but Lord Harlech did get his name on top of a building.
Television coverage was certainly the poorer for Stroud and the West with even more “canned” programmes being bought in from other regions in the initial months of HTV .
Thank you so much Lord Hill.
This fiasco took the word independent out of Independent Television, and the whole story would now probably make a good TV docudrama.
With live entertainment and audience Programme controller Brian Michie, plus an announcer wearing Bow-tie and Sir John Betjeman speaking the final words of the broadcast, I just had to record this on film.
Mum and Dad’s 405 line TV had a problem with the horizontal hold. Combine that with 25 ASA film stock, each frame photographed at 1/30 second at F1.8 - it probably was not going to get anything on film, so I was very economic with the length of shots.
Why didn’t I switch on the reel to reel tape recorder and capture the sound? I really thought I was throwing film away at the time of shooting this.
In the 1970s Stroud based Cotswold Cine Club visited the Bristol studios of HTV. There was not a lot to see, apart from a blue screen set up, possibly for a quiz show. Blue plastic covered the walls and a freestanding desk unit constructed of blue coloured EPS.
_"The new firm, Harlech, which will be centred in Cardiff, must build up its own personality. Tellywelly, you had a warm, friendly and inspiring one. Like many others, I'm very grateful to you. I'm sorry to see you go. It's like the death of an old friend.
"_
-John Betjeman's closing words of "Come To An End". "Tellywelly" was what he affectionately called TWW.
I happen to say that those were such good words to wrap up such a grim night; all that TWW went through should be in a docudrama someday.
I recognize the announcer as Ivor Roberts who was an actor prior to his career at TWW.
When TWW closed down for the last time, he returned to acting and appeared in a number of TV classic shows including Z Cars and The Sweeney.
Sadly, TWW may be gone but it will never be forgotten!
After TWW finished he worked as an announcer for ATV Midlands in 1969
Roberts' final announcement before the farewell show went like this after an advert break following the presentation of a compilation of one of TWW's colour television experiments on 35mm film, _Sing Me a Fantasy:_
_"This is TWW._
_The time is __10:42__, a time to mark well and to remember because it now brings to your screen the final programme to be put out by TWW after a decade of television entertainment._
_The program, which now comes to you live from our studios here in Cardiff is called _*_All Good Things_*_ and it's certainly going to be full of plenty of good things._
_But before the program starts, TWW's chairman, Lord Derby, would like to say a few words to you."_
Following the announcement was Lord Derby's speech and it went like this:
_"Good evening._
_All good things have to come to an end, and this is TWW's last show._
_You're going to see a lot of friends, so I know you'll enjoy it._
_We've always done our best to give you everything that is best in entertainment._
_Last week in the Bahamas, I had an extraordinary experience: for half an hour, I played with a dolphin. I swam with it, I dived with it, and it allowed me to stroke it._
_It was a glorious and sleeky creature, and it was full of fun._
_Well, I can't quite guarantee a glorious, sleeky creature to introduce our final programme tonight, but I _*_can_*_ guarantee someone who's full of fun._
_So, I'll throw a cue, rather than a can of soup, at Bernard Braden."_
Then came the special and finally, Betjeman's speech from the (later closed then demolished a few years later) Granville Theatre in London.
And that was almost it.
But after two months as the Independent Television Service for Wales and the West/ Independent Television Service - Teledu Cymru, it was truly over.
Good thing there was Transdiffusion and their service on Soundcloud.
Thank you for sharing, my father worked here 🙏
Wonderful!
I really feel that the ITA let the nation down with several of the 1968 franchise changes. Not just TWW, but Rediffusion and ABC also lost their franchises. Then 14 years later ATV was watered down into the rather anaemic Central. Tragic!
apologies for the error in the date: I took my information from another website about TWW
By god the ITA shafted TWW. They came to the rescue of Teledu Cymru and continued to provide a service in Wales. No doubt were already investing in new studios and colour and then cut off like that. I'm not surprised they just called it a day!
How many years of memories
I can't hear it!
No sound! Can I have an explanation for it?
Standard 8mm silent clockwork operated camera.
Sad Part: 0:22
Is there the sounded version?
this was filmed on a clockwork powered standard 8 cine camera.
The longest shot I could film was about 30 seconds.
i did not even have a tape recorder at the time. Amateur video cameras did not exist.
Good footage. But can you upload a better one with better quality and good sound?
I could have probably captured the standard 8mm footage slightly better both in sharpness and frame steadiness by using my better Standard 8mm projector, but as for sound: these were days when I probably did not even have a tape recorder. The TV was not very good and it was a very cheap Russian cine camera.
God! We are lucky to have THIS. There is virtually no existing TWW footage at all.
@@stephenguppy3466 there is one TWW programme in existence from 1965 entitled Return to the Rhonda featuring Stanley Baker and Donald Houston and the boxer Jimmy Wilde it's on the Hell Drivers dvd as a special feature