0:00:02 > 0:00:03Switch out, regions.
0:00:03 > 0:00:10'This is the story of how we fell in love with the brave new world of regional telly.'
0:00:10 > 0:00:14I launched into this new industry feet first. It was wonderful.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17Nobody was there to tell you, you were doing it wrong.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22- Anyway, this is Susan Hampshire. - My friends call me Lottie Tea Set.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26- This is my little friend. - Who I hope is going to sing for us.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29'After shaky beginnings, millions tuned in
0:00:29 > 0:00:32'to see their world as never before
0:00:32 > 0:00:35'and watch formats that broke the TV mould.'
0:00:35 > 0:00:39I don't suppose you expected to see me on a rock 'n' roll programme.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43'For more than 50 years, regional TV reported on local stories,
0:00:43 > 0:00:47'and has been a launch pad to a new kind of fame.'
0:00:47 > 0:00:50How often do you have a bath?
0:00:52 > 0:00:56'Local stations built a bond with their viewers
0:00:56 > 0:00:58'and placed them centre stage.'
0:00:58 > 0:01:00- Do you think women should wear trousers?- No.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04'As the BBC and ITV battled for ratings,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07'how real was this portrayal of regional life?'
0:01:07 > 0:01:11You could do anything in regional broadcasting.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14The network centres were like Tesco. We were the corner shop.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19Contestant number 12, Miss Rotherham Advertiser...
0:01:19 > 0:01:21'As the viewers lapped it up,
0:01:21 > 0:01:25'the broadcasting world was turned upside down.
0:01:25 > 0:01:31'As regional telly basked in its golden age, it faced a challenge that would threaten its existence.'
0:01:39 > 0:01:41Here we go. Stand by.
0:01:41 > 0:01:47'It's early evening, more than seven million viewers are tuning in
0:01:47 > 0:01:51'to the BBC and ITV, for one of television's highest ratings genres,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54'regional news, features and weather.'
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Time to join the BBC's news teams where you are.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59Hello, and welcome to Look North.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02'This is the BBC's Look North from Leeds.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05'Christa Ackroyd and Harry Gration are famous,
0:02:05 > 0:02:10'but only in their native Yorkshire, where the programme is broadcast.'
0:02:10 > 0:02:14While most of us basked in the holiday sunshine...
0:02:14 > 0:02:16'They're not the only ones
0:02:16 > 0:02:20'who found fame through the lens of regional TV.'
0:02:20 > 0:02:24This is Plymouth where, according to a London fashion promoter,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27the men are more fashion conscious than the women.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31'Regional television has produced regional television stars.'
0:02:31 > 0:02:38You could say they were big fish in a tiny pond. That didn't matter.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40They were still big fish.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43And they won the war with this.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Rhubarb!
0:02:46 > 0:02:49That kind of fame was inordinate.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53Huge numbers of people watched the show.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56In the chip shop, you'd have to fight your way out!
0:02:56 > 0:03:01Perhaps slightly fewer top people holiday at Frinton today.
0:03:01 > 0:03:06It was extraordinary. The moment you arrived at Liverpool Street station,
0:03:06 > 0:03:11and got off the train, you were nobody again!
0:03:11 > 0:03:17People felt that there was a kind of an ownership because you worked on local telly.
0:03:17 > 0:03:23You were walking down the street, they would stop you and talk to you and ask for your autograph.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26On one occasion, I was in a supermarket.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30Some bloke said, "Are you that maid what works on the telly?"
0:03:30 > 0:03:33I said, "Yes." He said, "I never did like you!"
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Right. Stand by.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40This is the BBC television station at Alexandra Palace.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47'Regional voices were seldom heard on the TV in post-war Britain.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51'There was only one national service and it was run by the BBC.'
0:03:51 > 0:03:53It was quite establishment.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Presenters tended to be upper middle class
0:03:56 > 0:03:58with received pronunciation.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02That was something that they, I think, felt was a strength.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07We now proudly present an item with a rather more serious face,
0:04:07 > 0:04:12Cervantes' hero of classic Spain, Don Quixote de la Mancha.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18The moment of the Queen's crowning is come.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23'The coronation in 1953 only confirmed the BBC's authority.
0:04:25 > 0:04:30'Millions tuned in on their new TV sets to watch history unfold.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35'But the BBC's monopoly was about to be challenged by a new force.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39'A second channel would be launched in 1955.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43'It would be different from the London-focused BBC.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47'Independent television would be run on a regional basis
0:04:47 > 0:04:50'by companies who'd make money from advertising.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54'As well as making programmes that would only be seen in their region,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57'they'd provide shows for the new ITV network.'
0:04:57 > 0:05:00There was a great fear amongst
0:05:00 > 0:05:04particularly the elder statesmen in the BBC, but also political circles,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07about Americanisation.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11Here is the new Band-Aid strip with new Super-Stick.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18'Establishment fears of vulgar American culture were to be allayed.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20'The network would be regulated.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22'The BBC saw itself
0:05:22 > 0:05:25'as the high church of public service broadcasting,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29'but as the first ITV region went live in London,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31'Auntie was less than holy.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33'She played dirty.'
0:05:33 > 0:05:37The roof's collapsing! For God's sake, Grace, come back!
0:05:37 > 0:05:42They took their most listened-to broadcast, the Archers.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45One of the most popular characters, Phil Archer,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48had married this gorgeous wife of six months.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51And they killed her off in a terrible fire
0:05:51 > 0:05:53while she was rescuing her horse.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55A poor attempt, but it worked.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59The headlines the next day were "Grace Archer dies".
0:05:59 > 0:06:04'The BBC stole ITV's thunder but it faced a dilemma
0:06:04 > 0:06:06'as more companies went on air.
0:06:06 > 0:06:12'Should it ignore these TV upstarts or should it go regional, too?'
0:06:12 > 0:06:14This is the BBC television service.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19'The Beeb entered the race and targeted news as the battleground.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22'The BBC regions tried to get on air before their rivals,
0:06:22 > 0:06:26'but the style remained very formal.'
0:06:26 > 0:06:30Switch out, regions. Switch out.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Smokeless zones in northern towns and cities...
0:06:33 > 0:06:37..a great Midland estate to be broken up...
0:06:39 > 0:06:41'And in the northeast of England,
0:06:41 > 0:06:46'the BBC's news show felt more Hertfordshire than Hartlepool.'
0:06:46 > 0:06:49And here is Lucinda Lamp.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54- RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION: - I went yesterday to Whitley Bay
0:06:54 > 0:06:56to see how and why
0:06:56 > 0:06:58all the...Scots people
0:06:58 > 0:07:01went there each and every year
0:07:01 > 0:07:04for the Scots week celebrations.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08I took some photographs. Look at that one, for instance.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12Those two ladies sitting there enjoying their holidays.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17You can see how they're enjoying their holiday. Freezing cold!
0:07:17 > 0:07:22'On the commercial channel, Tyne Tees couldn't have been more different.'
0:07:23 > 0:07:27# There's no business like show business... #
0:07:27 > 0:07:31'ITV stations were offering a broader variety of programmes.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34'Along with the news, there'd be razzmatazz.'
0:07:34 > 0:07:38# ..maybe standing out in the cold... #
0:07:38 > 0:07:42There's no business like show business and Tyne Tees Television
0:07:42 > 0:07:47introduces 60 minutes of stars and features you'll see on your screens.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49'The stardust wasn't surprising.
0:07:49 > 0:07:55'Many new ITV owners, like George and Alfred Black at Tyne Tees, were showbiz impresarios
0:07:55 > 0:07:58'and knew how to put bums on seats.'
0:07:58 > 0:08:02# Bobby Shafto's gone to sea with silver buckles on his knee
0:08:02 > 0:08:05# He'll come back and marry me Bonnie Bobby Shafto... #
0:08:05 > 0:08:07This was the ultimate in glamour.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12We had dancers, famous comedians, beautiful ladies.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17It was like Hollywood come to Tyneside.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23# He'll come back and marry me
0:08:23 > 0:08:27# Bonnie Bobby Shafto. #
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Newcastle had never seen anything like that.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35I don't think we did another one, but it was really impressive.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43'As each ITV station launched, the fanfare got louder.'
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Hi. Welcome to First Night...
0:08:46 > 0:08:51'There'd be no stopping this television juggernaut.'
0:08:51 > 0:09:01# Yorkshire Television has been born Yeah! #
0:09:04 > 0:09:08'The landscape was now dotted with BBC and ITV transmitters.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13'Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland had their own services.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18'In England, TV signals didn't always respect traditional borders.'
0:09:18 > 0:09:21The Tyne Tees region was a massive region.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25It overlapped into Yorkshire. It went right up to the borders.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29In that group, several different cultures
0:09:29 > 0:09:32and programmes that reflected all that
0:09:32 > 0:09:35were lapped up by people all over the region.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40'Border TV's signal crossed more than county boundaries.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43'It straddled two countries.'
0:09:43 > 0:09:47Our transmitters, they plonked one in Caldbeck and one in Selkirk.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52They managed to reach the places that other transmitters couldn't!
0:09:52 > 0:09:58We had Stranraer on the west coast, 100 miles from Carlisle where the studio base was.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03We had Berwick-on-Tweed out on the east coast.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08We had Kendal in the Lake District, then out to the Isle of Mann,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11then Scotland, Robbie Burns and Walter Scott country.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13It was a crazy area to serve.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19'As each region went live,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21'ratings wars broke out.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25'In East Anglia, the BBC's Look East and ITV's About Anglia
0:10:25 > 0:10:29'were fighting for the loyalty of a million viewers.'
0:10:29 > 0:10:31We were aware that many more people
0:10:31 > 0:10:36were watching Anglia Television than Look East.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40It was better resourced and it had a popular anchor man, Dick Joyce.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43We were playing catch-up all the time.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46First there's the news, the local news, all about Anglia.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51The nerve centre at Anglia House will receive news 24 hours a day.
0:10:51 > 0:10:56There'll be that hot story that'll send the stills photographer
0:10:56 > 0:10:58scuttling for his camera
0:10:58 > 0:11:02and the film unit scorching off to bring back the pictures.
0:11:02 > 0:11:09We arrogantly thought the BBC was a complete joke.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11We thrashed them to bits.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16And I think the ITV stations did actually do very well.
0:11:16 > 0:11:21When I was at the BBC, the Director General was Sir Hugh Greene.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24He watched Look East and he was so appalled
0:11:24 > 0:11:29that he sent the editor of Panorama to the BBC in Norwich
0:11:29 > 0:11:32on a weekend, to instruct us in the basics of television.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36I suppose we were a bit hurt, but we had to admit he had a point.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43'England was becoming more urban, but viewers in East Anglia
0:11:43 > 0:11:46'were treated to a more cosy view of daily life.'
0:11:46 > 0:11:50We were not chasing eloping heiresses
0:11:50 > 0:11:54or catching footballers in scandals, it was very genteel.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56It was Miss Marple-ish.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59It was another England that has gone completely.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01MUSIC
0:12:03 > 0:12:05MUSIC STOPS
0:12:05 > 0:12:07I'm in Cambridge,
0:12:07 > 0:12:11in the rooms of a man whose face is familiar to millions of viewers,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13Dr Glen Daniel of Cambridge University.
0:12:13 > 0:12:18Once a fortnight, he'll be introducing a programme called Town And Garden.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20Let's find out something about it.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24- Dr Daniel, this is a beautiful city. - It most certainly is.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Tell me about Town And Garden. Won't the programme be high-brow?
0:12:28 > 0:12:30No reason why it should be.
0:12:30 > 0:12:36It'll vary from scholarship to the lightest form of entertainment, sport and drama.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39You will see rowing on the river and cricket.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42You will see theatre, the Footlights and the Marlow.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44We hope to have excerpts of them.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47'It seemed everyone wanted a job in television.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51'There'd be more than tea-making duties for one student from Oxford.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55'The restoration of historic buildings of Suffolk
0:12:55 > 0:12:58'gave David Dimbleby one of his first TV moments.'
0:12:58 > 0:13:01This is the Guildhall at Lavenham.
0:13:01 > 0:13:07It was built in the time of Henry VIII and became the centre of the cloth trade in this town.
0:13:07 > 0:13:13It's where the merchants used to meet to wrangle over prices and settle their wage disputes.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17The extraordinary thing is there's not just one of these,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20but a score of them in the same state of preservation.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24I'm trying and find out about the people who live here
0:13:24 > 0:13:28and about how they've managed to preserve the town so well.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32- Have you been doing this work long? - About 40 years.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35- Do you build many modern houses?- No.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38There's no call for them in Lavenham.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41- People like the old stuff. - I don't blame them.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Thank you very much. I'll let you get on with the job.
0:13:44 > 0:13:50'David Dimbleby wasn't the only cub reporter tackling weighty issues of the day.'
0:13:50 > 0:13:55I see from this that the 8.30 from Liverpool Stret arrives at 1111.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57But it doesn't. It's running later.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02And there's not even a special announcement to tell the public.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06What do they think? Do they enjoy the pleasant surprise?
0:14:06 > 0:14:09'David Frost would become the master of the probing interview.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13'He honed his skills with a much more gentle line of questioning.'
0:14:13 > 0:14:20- What do you think of the fact that the trains are later? - Well, it's slightly inconvenient.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23I get here five or ten minutes later.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27That puts me five or ten minutes later throughout the morning.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32'We were black and white. We were on film. It was very clipped.'
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Two years ago, the regiment was facing a recruiting problem.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40The East Anglia Brigade compares recruiting very favourably
0:14:40 > 0:14:43with any other brigade in the Army.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47I was doing what I imagined were the accents of the officer class,
0:14:47 > 0:14:49trying to be Richard Dimbleby.
0:14:54 > 0:15:01'But in the north of England, a new army of recruits was taking regional telly in a grittier direction.'
0:15:01 > 0:15:05My generation, the one that benefitted from an education,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09where bright working-class kids could go to grammar school
0:15:09 > 0:15:14and go to university freed up a huge area of bright working-class kids,
0:15:14 > 0:15:16and something was going to happen.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21'Parky's TV career started at Manchester-based Granada
0:15:21 > 0:15:23'as a producer and reporter
0:15:23 > 0:15:27'on the nightly news programme Scene At 6.30.'
0:15:27 > 0:15:31The centre of fashion in tattooing is this shop in Liverpool.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35It's owned by Sailor Jack. He's got 5,000 designs to choose from.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39According to his publicity, he's got designs from politics, to erotics,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42to religion to aesthetics.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46'Like many others, Parky was recruited from newspapers
0:15:46 > 0:15:52'and was exposed to a concept from Granada boss Sidney Bernstein that would transform regional news.'
0:15:52 > 0:15:57He said, "I want to represent the people we're broadcasting to."
0:15:57 > 0:15:59In those days, it was a revolutionary idea!
0:15:59 > 0:16:03The bench mark nationally was the Tonight programme.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06The next Tonight will be tomorrow night. Good night.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11'With the urbane Cliff Michelmore and urbane Alan Whicker.'
0:16:11 > 0:16:16And Fife Robinson chucked in as a bit of Celtic rough!
0:16:16 > 0:16:18I think Granada,
0:16:18 > 0:16:24with Scene At 6.30, they had wrote a style book.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28It said we should not talk as though we had bananas in our mouths.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31The tone should not be like Tonight,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35which was like a bishop talking down to you.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38We had to be like a bloke you'd met in a pub
0:16:38 > 0:16:42and you were bursting to tell him how good Newcastle had been.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47'Bernstein's master stroke was to create a brand that resonated with the common man.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52'It was much more than a TV region. This was Granada-land.'
0:16:52 > 0:16:55As we say in Granada-land, good night.
0:16:55 > 0:17:00'It did create a loyalty among the viewers.'
0:17:00 > 0:17:04This belonged to them. The BBC was a bit distant, a bit toffy.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09Bit dressy-uppy. It hadn't really related. Radio had, not television.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13It was a brilliant idea, and it worked.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17'Granada created a new regional identity.
0:17:17 > 0:17:22'Across the country, local news programmes were turning TV etiquette on its head.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25'The viewers were now centre stage.'
0:17:25 > 0:17:29A learned judge was heard to remark in the courts the other day
0:17:29 > 0:17:34that he didn't understand "snogging" and it was explained to him by a nine-year-old girl.
0:17:34 > 0:17:39Let's see how much the word "snogging" means to Mr Everyman.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42- Do you know what I mean by snogging? - Yes.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44'I don't think we did a single news story'
0:17:44 > 0:17:47without going out and doing the vox pop.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51- What does "snogging" mean? - No idea at all.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55Asking anybody passing by, "What do you think about X, Y or Z?"
0:17:55 > 0:18:00- Do you know what's meant by "snogging"?- No. I'm afraid I don't. I'm a sailor.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02Bosses always loved vox pops.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06When they work, of course, they're wonderful.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08- Do you think women should wear trousers?- No.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13I HATED vox pops. Absolutely terrible.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17Cos they saw the camera and they'd all run away.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21- When should women wear trousers? - When they're doing the housework.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25So I got this lady. I was about to say, "Mike Neville, BBC..."
0:18:25 > 0:18:29She screamed, "No! NO! NO!"
0:18:29 > 0:18:32And ran the entire length of the street,
0:18:32 > 0:18:36screaming "NO!" at the top of her voice.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39Everybody stopped and looked at me.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43I was thinking, "I didn't do anything. I didn't!"
0:18:43 > 0:18:49- What do you think of hot pants? - Smashing. I'll get our lass a pair.
0:18:49 > 0:18:54I hated approaching people. Not a good thing for a reporter to say!
0:18:54 > 0:18:57I felt like such a nuisance. "Shut up!"
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Is that all? Can I get on with work?
0:19:00 > 0:19:02It was like pimping!
0:19:04 > 0:19:06LAUGHS
0:19:08 > 0:19:12- If I give you a kiss on the cheek, would that be over-friendly?- No.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16'The more local faces you got on the screen, the more people to whom
0:19:16 > 0:19:20'you gave the opportunity of 15 seconds of fame,'
0:19:20 > 0:19:22the more people would tune in.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Would you say men are more fashionable than women in Plymouth?
0:19:26 > 0:19:27Yes, I would.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32The presenter on the box was on the street with you. This was quite a glamorous thing.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36- You're on the telly, look.- Oh, no! - Yes, you are.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41'That was important, interaction between broadcaster and community,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43'especially in the regions.'
0:19:43 > 0:19:46That's what made it theirs.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50'But being seen and heard was only half the battle.'
0:19:50 > 0:19:53They're not vicious criminals, what do you think?
0:19:53 > 0:19:56- STRONG ACCENT:- Ooh, don't take no notice of what they say.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00- The best thing they do, look 'ere. - Yes?
0:20:00 > 0:20:03I did once get hold of an interpreter.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07I had to find another Suffolk...Norfolk man
0:20:07 > 0:20:11and say, "Can you help..." "What do you want, boy?"
0:20:11 > 0:20:15"I'm finding it a bit difficult to understand."
0:20:15 > 0:20:18"Oh, that's old Zachary! Oo-ee-oooo!"
0:20:18 > 0:20:24He came down and it was wonderful, because they both were at it,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27"Oo-ee-ooo" like this.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31And after quite a long time, he stopped and said,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35"He doesn't want to do it." LAUGHS
0:20:35 > 0:20:39STRONG ACCENT: My old friend, Sam. Go on.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43- STRONG ACCENT:- Now, I don't know how 'tis...football...
0:20:43 > 0:20:50some get £100...get a penny... but I...trolley.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54I remember filming a sequence in a Liverpool pub
0:20:54 > 0:20:57and we showed it
0:20:57 > 0:21:03to the executive producer and he said,
0:21:03 > 0:21:08"I can't understand half the words. We'll have to have subtitles."
0:21:08 > 0:21:11I remember feeling terribly insulted
0:21:11 > 0:21:14that he felt that should be necessary.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18That was really part of the way which the BBC was,
0:21:18 > 0:21:20the BBC nationally was.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23- I wouldn't go at 'em.- You wouldn't? - No, blimey!
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Well, I've been asking Mr Green what he thinks,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29and I'm sure I don't know even now!
0:21:32 > 0:21:37'By the late '60s, TV had overtaken radio in the popularity stakes.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42'And one part of the schedule was doing really well.'
0:21:42 > 0:21:47There was a sense, both from the ITA and from the BBC establishment,
0:21:47 > 0:21:49that regional news is not that interesting.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52People want to see national news.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54If we look at the audience research,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57people wanted to know what was going on in their area.
0:21:57 > 0:22:02The fire started in a top floor social club in the centre of town...
0:22:02 > 0:22:06'Viewers were watching stories that reflected how they lived.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10'Camera crews were dispatched to all corners of the region,
0:22:10 > 0:22:14'covering every inch of what journalists called "the patch".'
0:22:14 > 0:22:19We're put this barricade up to stop lorries from coming up this road.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21There's going to be children knocked down.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26'But gathering the news was a physical battle.'
0:22:26 > 0:22:30The Arriflex was the kind of camera that I would be involved with.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33They're quite heavy.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36There's a tripod. Guess who carries the tripod! The director!
0:22:36 > 0:22:42They've got stuff now that almost goes inside your pocket!
0:22:42 > 0:22:46'When the BBC's Look North launched in Yorkshire in 1968,
0:22:46 > 0:22:48'it did so on the perfect news day.'
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Good evening from Look North.
0:22:51 > 0:22:56'Hundreds of homes were damaged, as the River Ouse rose 14 feet
0:22:56 > 0:22:58'above its normal level.'
0:22:58 > 0:23:04We're coping. I see the bread's eventually arrived.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08The situation is getting rather congested with boats everywhere.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12'Programme makers loved bad weather stories.
0:23:24 > 0:23:30'One battle against the elements proved it could be grim up north!'
0:23:30 > 0:23:36This job is different. It's the only part of the world where you can get thick fog with a howling gale.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39You've got to experience it to believe it.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43'The building of the M62, which linked Liverpool with Hull,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45'sliced through the High Pennines.
0:23:45 > 0:23:52'Man and machine were pitted against the bleakest of landscapes.'
0:23:52 > 0:23:55It's no bloody joke working on the M62.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57In winter, we're frozen to death.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01In the summer, we do 12 hours and we choke with dust.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05By the time you get home, it's quarter past nine,
0:24:05 > 0:24:09have your meal, it's bed time and that's the end of the day.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12'Britain's highest motorway would open up the north.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16'Bad weather wasn't the only problem facing engineers.'
0:24:16 > 0:24:20This building is scheduled for demolition. >
0:24:20 > 0:24:23- Did you give them permission to...? - Be off! Be off!
0:24:23 > 0:24:27- Now, just a moment!- Be off! - Just a moment, sir.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30- Be off!- We have permission... - Be off!
0:24:30 > 0:24:33We have permission to come through this land.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37- Who gave permission?- The people on the site have permission.
0:24:37 > 0:24:42- The people on what?- The people on the site.- I'm the owner!
0:24:42 > 0:24:45'Regional programmes were getting close to the action.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48'Local TV had found its feet.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55'The biggest test came when huge stories broke.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59'In 1974, the quiet of the north Lincolnshire countryside
0:24:59 > 0:25:04'was shattered by an explosion at the Flixborough chemical plant.'
0:25:04 > 0:25:08A generation of people will surely never forget
0:25:08 > 0:25:13the worst single act of devastation in this country since the last war.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17'28 people died and more than 30 injured.'
0:25:17 > 0:25:19It was like something out the Blitz.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22There's blown windows everywhere, glass all over.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26It's even impaled right across the room into the table and chairs.
0:25:26 > 0:25:32'Journalists descended on the scene, but the regional news programmes remained for days
0:25:32 > 0:25:34'to record the aftermath.'
0:25:34 > 0:25:38- Half the houses in the village with no roofs on.- Across the road...
0:25:38 > 0:25:41- ..they're putting the roof... - On farm buildings!
0:25:41 > 0:25:45- The council's doing what they can.- I don't think they're doing anything.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49People seem frightened that the plant might be rebuilt.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52If I was in Flixborough, I wouldn't want the plant there.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57If we don't build it there, we've got to find somewhere else.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03'Major disasters were few and far between.
0:26:03 > 0:26:09'On quiet news days, the regional news magazines were hard to fill.'
0:26:09 > 0:26:12The usual problem, we haven't got a major story.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15We'll start with our friend, "Top story yet to happen."
0:26:15 > 0:26:18'Producers had to show initiative.'
0:26:18 > 0:26:22I used to try and put on items that were...
0:26:24 > 0:26:28..a little more down-to-earth, racey.
0:26:28 > 0:26:33I tended to say, when it came to me in the meeting and I was producer,
0:26:33 > 0:26:37"What are we going to bore the people with today?"
0:26:37 > 0:26:42Get the fire brigade out the way, get the police and politicians out the way
0:26:42 > 0:26:45then let's get a bit of humour.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49There was a freedom to do some fairly unusual stuff.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52We might look back and go, "What was going on there?"
0:26:52 > 0:26:56There really are some magnificent sights in Yorkshire.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58One of them is Miss Mandy Silver
0:26:58 > 0:27:02who is now training secretly at a Leeds night club
0:27:02 > 0:27:07for an attempt next week on the world tassle tossing record.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11It was post-'60s. It was an interesting time.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15They were playing with the boundaries, seeing what you could do.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19Miss Silver, toss some tassles for us, please.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23'You could do anything in regional broadcasting.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28'The network centres were like Tesco. We were the corner shop.'
0:27:28 > 0:27:31It was a fast track of learning
0:27:31 > 0:27:36everything you possibly could about television.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39And so, it was a joy. I loved it.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46'It was as if television then was a teenager,
0:27:46 > 0:27:50'rather than the mature individual that it is now!'
0:27:50 > 0:27:54We were a bit wild with some things, certainly quite experimental.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58- Can I come and sit down?- Yes. - I brought you some beer.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01- Isn't that nice?- And sandwiches.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Isn't that nice of you?
0:28:03 > 0:28:08- Oh, lovely.- Tell me, how long have you lived here?- Over two year.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12'I remember being sent off to interview a local tramp
0:28:12 > 0:28:14'called Smokey Joe,
0:28:14 > 0:28:19'who used to live on the main road through Cornwall to St Austell.'
0:28:19 > 0:28:22How often do you have a bath?
0:28:22 > 0:28:27- Ooh, I just get in the trough here. - You just get in the trough?
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Tell me why you live by yourself and don't team up with another tramp.
0:28:31 > 0:28:36Oh, wouldn't do that. Takes a lot to look after yourself.
0:28:36 > 0:28:41You've got this broad canvas of any kind of story you can imagine
0:28:41 > 0:28:46which is a true reflection of the area in which you're broadcasting
0:28:46 > 0:28:50and the people who live within that area.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54'The demands of daily news were one thing.'
0:28:54 > 0:28:59You're planning to bring the twist to Carlisle. Why?
0:29:01 > 0:29:07'But getting to grips with popular culture was another matter entirely.'
0:29:07 > 0:29:10All the popular music was in the northwest.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14The Beatles were more or less our resident group.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17I did the very first interview of the Rolling Stones.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21Apart from current affairs, we were also bringing in this new culture.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24# That boy
0:29:25 > 0:29:30# Took my love away... #
0:29:30 > 0:29:34Mick, we've had the normal Stones type reception for you,
0:29:34 > 0:29:38girls swarming round the taxi, why do they do it?
0:29:38 > 0:29:41- Is it a sex thing? - Yeah. It's sexual. Completely.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44'We didn't know we were living through a cultural revolution.
0:29:44 > 0:29:49'My generation, we created, without knowing it, the '60s.'
0:29:49 > 0:29:55We tilled the ground for it to happen. We were too old - I was - to take it all in.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58It didn't really impinge much on Look East.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01Except once, we did have a competition
0:30:01 > 0:30:04and the prize was lunch with Cilla Black.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08So we were obviously trying to reach out to the pop audience.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12'Regional telly was capturing a new vision of England.'
0:30:12 > 0:30:19Just as it, perhaps, preserved some myths about England, about its rural idyll,
0:30:19 > 0:30:24because that's what regional audiences wanted to see,
0:30:24 > 0:30:29it was also at the forefront of showing social and physical change.
0:30:29 > 0:30:33The ways in which cities were changing was represented very keenly
0:30:33 > 0:30:35by regional broadcasters.
0:30:35 > 0:30:41The region could see that it was developing, that it was successful,
0:30:41 > 0:30:44that it was clever.
0:30:44 > 0:30:50That it was attractive. "Look at the beautiful landscape in Northumberland."
0:30:50 > 0:30:54"Look at our wonderful ship building."
0:30:54 > 0:30:56And the confidence as a result.
0:30:56 > 0:31:02That's what regional television does for a region.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05'And as regional TV's popularity grew,
0:31:05 > 0:31:08'so did the profile of its news presenters.'
0:31:08 > 0:31:13And first, hopefully, Diane Elms. No? Have we got the film yet?
0:31:13 > 0:31:16'And they didn't come any bigger...'
0:31:16 > 0:31:19It's been one of those funny days. Must be the royal visit!
0:31:19 > 0:31:22'..than the BBC's man in Newcastle.'
0:31:22 > 0:31:27Bear with us a moment. Radio Newcastle had this problem. They couldn't get the pictures.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32No-one could compete with Mike Neville. He's the best presenter of a regional programme.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38You had lots of rookie directors on these regional programmes,
0:31:38 > 0:31:40where they pressed the wrong button.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44Mike used to have to apologise to everybody and say,
0:31:44 > 0:31:48"We've got an idiot producing this programme. What do you expect?"
0:31:48 > 0:31:54We once had a letter from a lady following a break-down in the programme.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57I was filling in, and she said,
0:31:57 > 0:32:01"I was laughing so much that I burnt my husband's tea.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03"When he got in, he was livid.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07"Not that I'd burnt his tea but that he'd missed the break-down.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09"Could you please repeat it?"
0:32:09 > 0:32:14Which we did, frequently, but not deliberately.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17People love that imperfection, you know?
0:32:17 > 0:32:25I'd go into a pub the next day and they'd say, "Hey, mate! I loved that break-down. That was great!"
0:32:25 > 0:32:30On dull news days, I've seen journalists longing
0:32:30 > 0:32:35for a camera to go down or the Telecine to go down,
0:32:35 > 0:32:40on the basis that you'd give Mike the freedom to extemporise.
0:32:40 > 0:32:45He had the ability to talk like Sir John Gielgud.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49But also like Jack the lad with a barrow down the market.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52Mike Neville is a broadcasting genius.
0:32:52 > 0:32:57'Mike Neville's iconic status in the northeast meant he was fought over
0:32:57 > 0:32:59'by the BBC and ITV.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03'Wherever he went, the audience followed.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06'Producers gave him freedom and, on the Beeb,
0:33:06 > 0:33:10'he was allowed to go to previously unthinkable lengths.'
0:33:10 > 0:33:17A committee of us re-wrote the balcony scene from Romeo And Juliet in Geordie.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19- Romeo.- Yes, pet?
0:33:21 > 0:33:24I was rather pleased, because I wrote the last bit.
0:33:24 > 0:33:29Instead of "Good night, good night, parting is such sweet sorrow..."
0:33:29 > 0:33:33I rewrote that as, "T'ra, t'ra.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35"I'm sorry you've gorra go.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39"If you canna see us tomorrow, will you ler'us know?"
0:33:39 > 0:33:43I heard Shakespeare rolling over then.
0:33:43 > 0:33:48'Mike Neville wasn't the only big name given free rein to develop his personality.'
0:33:48 > 0:33:52In the Yorkshire Television area where I worked from '68 to 1975,
0:33:52 > 0:33:57the big character was more complex, the big character was Austin Mitchell.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59- Hold that position.- I can't!
0:33:59 > 0:34:03That's what you'll be like when you leave the aircraft.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10'Yorkshire Television put presenters at the heart of the action.'
0:34:10 > 0:34:12Feet together, ready for the impact.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14Aargh!
0:34:14 > 0:34:17'Austin had this amazing dichotomy.'
0:34:17 > 0:34:24He'd say, "There's a thing about Robin Hood being from Wakefield. Not from Sherwood Forest."
0:34:24 > 0:34:26I shouldn't be here at all.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32I should be in Wakefield.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37- Have you got any wrongs you want righting?- A lot, love.
0:34:37 > 0:34:42'Ten minutes later, he'd interview a member of the Cabinet.'
0:34:42 > 0:34:46He might interview George Brown or Harold Wilson himself.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50You just did now know where Austin's image really was.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53I think that's why people liked him
0:34:53 > 0:34:58because he came over as a big daft Yorkshire lump, and he wasn't.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01'As technology evolved, presenters were freed up,
0:35:01 > 0:35:06'placing Austin Mitchell at the centre of an unfolding tragedy.'
0:35:06 > 0:35:10At 2.30 this morning, a sudden rush of water poured into workings
0:35:10 > 0:35:14on the Flockton seam, two and a half miles from this pithead,
0:35:14 > 0:35:16some 250 yards underground.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20'The plight of seven trapped miners at the Lofthouse colliery
0:35:20 > 0:35:24'near Wakefield, captivated the nation for almost a week.'
0:35:24 > 0:35:29There were 32 men on that working. 25 escaped. Seven are still there.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33It could be that the seven are dead or it could be, and it's hoped,
0:35:33 > 0:35:39that they are trapped in an air bubble in which they could exist for 40 hours.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42'Sometimes, reporters were at the scene for days.
0:35:42 > 0:35:47'but the beaming of live pictures gave an extra dimension.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50'Local news was reporting on events as they happened.'
0:35:50 > 0:35:54What was a rescue operation becomes a recovery operation.
0:35:54 > 0:35:59Coal Board officials see very little possibility, if at all,
0:35:59 > 0:36:01that anybody could now be alive.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08'The mix of light and shade was picked up elsewhere.
0:36:08 > 0:36:13'The BBC's Nationwide wrapped itself around the local news shows
0:36:13 > 0:36:15'and celebrated the regions.
0:36:15 > 0:36:19'The relaxed nature of regional presenters was catching on.
0:36:26 > 0:36:32'With the news programmes slugging it out, a new front opened in the battle for viewers.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37'Documentaries could be seen on the network
0:36:37 > 0:36:42'but longer local films that might only be seen in the region were also being made.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46'The Yorkshire Dales was a magnet for filmmakers.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49'By the '70s, the BBC in Yorkshire was looking for a new way
0:36:49 > 0:36:51'of showing it off.'
0:36:51 > 0:36:56This is an exemplar, really, of regional documentary film-making.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00What A Way To Spend A Sunday, a film by Sid Perou.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03'While everyone else headed for the hills,
0:37:03 > 0:37:09'Sid Perou and his mates donned wet suits and went for the caverns underneath.'
0:37:09 > 0:37:12John Shepherd is from Liverpool, a trainee solicitor.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15Shep's had one or two narrow escapes from drowning.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19'Sid Perou was a former BBC sound recordist
0:37:19 > 0:37:22'who later became a freelance cameraman.
0:37:22 > 0:37:27'He took his 16mm camera into places where few dared go.'
0:37:29 > 0:37:34The cave brings back very happy memories to me of past friends
0:37:34 > 0:37:38who were involved in explorations but were, unfortunately,
0:37:38 > 0:37:43caught out in a flood and drowned in the caverns.
0:37:43 > 0:37:48I think this, personally, has made me a lot more cautious caver
0:37:48 > 0:37:52as regards water and outside weather conditions.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56One's got to be very conscious of what's going on at the surface,
0:37:56 > 0:38:00although you can't see it after several hours underground.
0:38:00 > 0:38:08You haven't a clue whether it's raining, but this is a factor you've got to bear deeply in mind.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13'He had to take lights down there. It was a tremendous effort.'
0:38:13 > 0:38:17It took over 26 weeks to film. They went back and back and refilmed.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19Almost like a drama.
0:38:19 > 0:38:25On reflection, it might not be a bad way to spend a Sunday after all.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29'It could be said that Sid Perou was one of the first innovators
0:38:29 > 0:38:33'in experimental adventure film-making.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36'He was filming in dangerous and risky places.'
0:38:36 > 0:38:39This was something that film-makers tried to copy.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41'By going underground,
0:38:41 > 0:38:47'BBC Yorkshire exploited what was in their own backyard.
0:38:47 > 0:38:53'Tyne Tees went further for their take on one of the northeast's most important industries.
0:38:53 > 0:38:59'The award-winning documentary Big Deal At Gothenburg looked at ship-building
0:38:59 > 0:39:04'from the shipyards of Scandinavia where the Swedes were building vessels more quickly
0:39:04 > 0:39:11'and with a fraction of the manpower employed in the yards of Tyneside.'
0:39:11 > 0:39:13In this uncanny stillness,
0:39:13 > 0:39:16a shipyard is at work, the world's most revolutionary.
0:39:16 > 0:39:21'It was a wake-up call for the workers and the government.'
0:39:23 > 0:39:27It's at least ten years ahead of anyone else.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31The cost and time of this man is known as certainly as he knows
0:39:31 > 0:39:35where any piece of steel is at any given moment.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38With two other men, he's responsible for lifting
0:39:38 > 0:39:42and coaxing all the steel through all its preparatory stages.
0:39:42 > 0:39:47'The documentary captured a critical moment that ship-building was changing.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51'British companies would have to change too to survive.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55'Tyne Tees' film was shown locally and then networked.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59'It also won an Emmy, TV's highest accolade.'
0:39:59 > 0:40:0370,000 tonners extruded like sausages from the assembly hall
0:40:03 > 0:40:07at a rate of 13 a year.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10Good evening, and welcome to Border Television.
0:40:10 > 0:40:18'Over in Carlisle, Border Television didn't have much of a record in high-end documentary making.
0:40:18 > 0:40:23'England's most northerly ITV region had more sheep than viewers.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27'The station's rising star was Derek Batey,
0:40:27 > 0:40:31'a local ventriloquist who also trained as an accountant.'
0:40:31 > 0:40:34We had one film camera unit. We had one sound man.
0:40:34 > 0:40:39We had one lighting man, one director, one PA, one vision mixer.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41We had a part-time make-up lady.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45I'd say, "Border's a company of one of everything," but like a family.
0:40:45 > 0:40:51'Multi-skilled Derek doubled up as a roving reporter and production manager.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54'With a background in light entertainment,
0:40:54 > 0:40:58'Derek was the perfect host for a talent show with an unusual title.'
0:40:58 > 0:41:02Join us for the final of Cock O' The Border, 7.25 on Sunday.
0:41:02 > 0:41:07I remember our butcher saying, "I saw that programme, Cock O' The Border, last Sunday.
0:41:07 > 0:41:13"What a load of rubbish!" I said, "I'm sorry you didn't care for it.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15"You won't be watching this week."
0:41:15 > 0:41:18"I wouldn't miss it! It's fantastic!
0:41:18 > 0:41:23"Every week we think it can't be as bad as last week, and every week it is!"
0:41:23 > 0:41:27John and Jessie, nice to see you here in Castle Douglas.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31'Derek had one big hit on his hands, a quiz show
0:41:31 > 0:41:36'that tested how much husbands and wives knew about each other.'
0:41:38 > 0:41:42If your wife is on the telephone to a friend,
0:41:42 > 0:41:45does she say what she has to say and get off the line?
0:41:45 > 0:41:50Does she have a real good chat? Or does she never telephone friends?
0:41:50 > 0:41:52We haven't got a telephone.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56- She wouldn't telephone friends. - Does she go to phone boxes?
0:41:56 > 0:41:59- What's she going to say? - I don't know.
0:41:59 > 0:42:04'The cash from Mr & Mrs helped the station branch out into more adventurous territory.
0:42:05 > 0:42:11'In the Border region, big stories didn't come calling very often.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15'It seemed they'd struggle to get a documentary on the network.'
0:42:15 > 0:42:17There's Border Parliamentary Report.
0:42:17 > 0:42:23We did Border Journey, a documentary looking at industries across the area.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26We had two big interesting industries.
0:42:26 > 0:42:31One was Sellafield, which was the original atomic power station.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34The other was the knitwear industry.
0:42:37 > 0:42:42Donald Campbell took over from his father at Coniston 17 years ago.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45Now he and his team are back.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48'Donald Campbell had set speed records on land and water.
0:42:48 > 0:42:54'In the mid '60s, he chose Coniston in the Lakes for a new attempt.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57'Border took a punt and followed Campbell's progress
0:42:57 > 0:43:02'as Bluebird attempted to break the magic 300mph barrier.'
0:43:02 > 0:43:06The antic-climax comes when the attempt fails to succeed.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09You know the pattern will be repeated. The weeks go by.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12Many a night, he came out of the boathouse,
0:43:12 > 0:43:17did a half mile wander up the lake, then there was a puff of smoke
0:43:17 > 0:43:21and that was it, back to the workshops.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25A lot of people imply it's a death wish you've got.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28A lot of people sit on their behinds and watch television,
0:43:28 > 0:43:31but what do they know?
0:43:31 > 0:43:34'Viewers would soon know lots about Campbell's quest.
0:43:34 > 0:43:40'On January 4th 1967, he made another attempt to break his own record.'
0:43:40 > 0:43:44The day he did it, we had cameras more or less stationed with him,
0:43:44 > 0:43:47or A camera, the freelance,
0:43:47 > 0:43:54who actually got the classic piece of film of the boat taking off
0:43:54 > 0:43:57and crashing and killing poor Donald.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03VOICES ON TWO-WAY RADIO
0:44:03 > 0:44:08'Complete accident, I'm afraid. Over.'
0:44:10 > 0:44:15'Campbell's fateful record attempt became an international news story.
0:44:15 > 0:44:19'It also gave Border one of their most poignant moments.'
0:44:19 > 0:44:21Very sad.
0:44:28 > 0:44:30'As long-form programmes took hold,
0:44:30 > 0:44:36'regional producers were allowed to experiment with new formats.
0:44:38 > 0:44:43'They started to build shows around their local personalities.'
0:44:43 > 0:44:46We've got some lovely Yorkshire scenes to look at
0:44:46 > 0:44:52and some lovely Yorkshire people to talk to - three first-class Yorshiremen.
0:44:52 > 0:44:58'The BBC's Savile's Yorkshire Travels might have a hint of Alan Partridge about it,
0:44:58 > 0:45:03'but regional programmes weren't always what the audience wanted.'
0:45:03 > 0:45:07The key example is when a regional interest programme
0:45:07 > 0:45:13clashes with Monty Python and the regional station can opt out of the national programme.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16That could create some criticism from viewers
0:45:16 > 0:45:20who felt they were being patronised
0:45:20 > 0:45:24and forced to consume a diet of regional interest.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28They wanted to join the nation in the networked programmes.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32South Kirkby Colliery there, folks.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36And Scarborough, beloved Scarborough, great training ground.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43'There's one show that started on local TV
0:45:43 > 0:45:48'which would captivate the nation and become a worldwide brand.'
0:45:48 > 0:45:52There's a question that very often comes up in pub quizzes.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55Who was the first presenter of Top Gear?
0:45:55 > 0:45:59It was me! Everybody thinks it was Jeremy Clarkson. It was me!
0:46:01 > 0:46:04I was already working as a news reader,
0:46:04 > 0:46:09doing a lot of driving and I was a motoring correspondent for the AA.
0:46:09 > 0:46:14There are bad drivers. Some are women but an awful lot are men.
0:46:14 > 0:46:20'Broadcast once a month, it was no accident that it was only shown in the Midlands region,
0:46:20 > 0:46:24'a part of England that was built around the motor industry.'
0:46:24 > 0:46:29It was about motoring issues rather than the toys for the boys now.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32'Episode one was more about hot grub than hot rods.'
0:46:32 > 0:46:37The meal that you had has cost you in this restaurant just over £2.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41How does that compare with what you pay in Holland?
0:46:41 > 0:46:45Well, I think about twice as much in Holland.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49'Life in the fast lane was very much frowned upon.'
0:46:49 > 0:46:51I used to drive a yellow sports car.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55A woman driving a sports car is like a red rag to a bull,
0:46:55 > 0:46:59certainly to the police who are looking for speedsters,
0:46:59 > 0:47:01so I always drive at a steady 70.
0:47:01 > 0:47:06- Ten miles an hour is rather splitting hairs!- I will note that.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10'Angela's stint with the driving gloves lasted a couple of series.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13'London saw the programme had legs.'
0:47:13 > 0:47:17At which point, the network thought, "This is a pretty good idea.
0:47:17 > 0:47:19"Let's have it on the network."
0:47:19 > 0:47:24The programme that I was asked to do in the regions again,
0:47:24 > 0:47:28an idea from a regional producer, made by a regional production team,
0:47:28 > 0:47:32was catapulted onto the network.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36Just look at what's happened to Top Gear now!
0:47:36 > 0:47:39That's where we end this first edition of Top Gear.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41'A short drive down the M5,
0:47:41 > 0:47:44'there was another programme breaking new ground.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48'The BBC's arts show from Bristol offered an eclectic mix
0:47:48 > 0:47:51'of everything hip in the West Country.'
0:47:51 > 0:47:55I had my own programme, RPM, where virtually anything went
0:47:55 > 0:47:59that I liked - architecture, pop music,
0:47:59 > 0:48:04real ale was one of the first things that I did, rather stupidly.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08# Whatever happened to the heroes?
0:48:09 > 0:48:12# No more heroes any more... #
0:48:12 > 0:48:15'The Stranglers were great for starters,
0:48:15 > 0:48:19'but David Pritchard was about to find a new hero.'
0:48:19 > 0:48:22I met Keith Floyd and said, "Come on this programme.
0:48:22 > 0:48:27"I think you're really funny and I think the camera will like you."
0:48:27 > 0:48:29He said, "OK, fine."
0:48:29 > 0:48:33You put some wine into the rabbit and put some wine into yourself.
0:48:33 > 0:48:37Cooking is meant to be fun, a bit like the bedroom.
0:48:37 > 0:48:41'Floyd would prove to be more than a flash in the pan.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45'David Pritchard decided to make a series focused on fish.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48'He was hearing stories from the quayside in the southwest
0:48:48 > 0:48:53'about the wasted catch that UK consumers wouldn't eat.'
0:48:53 > 0:48:57This old fisherman said, "It's all very well holidaymakers coming here,
0:48:57 > 0:49:02"but all you want to buy is cod, plaice and haddock.
0:49:02 > 0:49:08"All this red mullet, all this cuttlefish, octopus, you won't touch it, will you? No.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12"It all gets shipped over to France and Spain."
0:49:12 > 0:49:16I thought, "Wow! Keith Floyd could really work with this material."
0:49:16 > 0:49:22I said, "We'll do one programme." I was the commissioning editor at the time.
0:49:26 > 0:49:32'Here was a larger-than-life maverick chef trying to educate the public's palate.'
0:49:32 > 0:49:34The French are very discerning.
0:49:34 > 0:49:38- The Chinese know all about it. - Yeah, they buy large cuttlefish.
0:49:38 > 0:49:43They dry them out and you eat the cuttlefish in with the curry stuff
0:49:43 > 0:49:45they give you in their takeaways.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48'The net result was an increase in our choice of fish
0:49:48 > 0:49:52'and an increase in programming for Pritchard.'
0:49:52 > 0:49:56I liked it so much, I commissioned myself to do another five!
0:49:56 > 0:49:59So we did a series and then that got on the network.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01That changed everything, really.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05Changed the way food programmes were made, and all of that.
0:50:05 > 0:50:09Also, it changed my life enormously.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14'One of the strangest local TV successes came when one producer
0:50:14 > 0:50:18'brought the tap room into the living room.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22'Indoor League gathered some of the best saloon bar sports stars.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25'It proved to be gripping television.'
0:50:25 > 0:50:30Moments of tension. Moments that have made commentator Dave go lyrical.
0:50:30 > 0:50:36'Pub athletes flocked to Leeds, enticed by the limelight and prize money.'
0:50:36 > 0:50:40The first prize is a hundred quid for shove ha'penny, bar billiards,
0:50:40 > 0:50:42skittles, table football and darts.
0:50:42 > 0:50:47'It was a glimpse into a world where people played games in pubs.
0:50:50 > 0:50:56'The programme was shown in the Yorkshire TV area but became a massive hit,
0:50:56 > 0:50:58'picked up by the ITV network.
0:50:58 > 0:51:03'One key to its success was its location and it wasn't a glitzy TV studio.'
0:51:03 > 0:51:07The thing about a Working Men's Club is you have a few beers,
0:51:07 > 0:51:10a game of dominos, but there are rules.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14It's not like a pub. It's a member's club.
0:51:14 > 0:51:18Most of the people who came were Working Men's Club people.
0:51:18 > 0:51:23Take it from me, the kings of darts will steal your hearts.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26They were used to this environment,
0:51:26 > 0:51:31but they were also used to having quite a boozy jolly audience
0:51:31 > 0:51:35cos everybody brought their hangers-on.
0:51:37 > 0:51:41A star of the sliding small change, so is Alan Brown,
0:51:41 > 0:51:43star of the Durham shove ha'penny league.
0:51:43 > 0:51:48I've seen him play before. Alan Brown is really rubbing it in.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52One o'clock, lunch time, nationally.
0:51:52 > 0:51:57Five million viewers, mainly in pubs.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00His skittle playing has deteriorated in the last minute.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04That's a better one! That's a flopper!
0:52:04 > 0:52:11It tickled me to have made telly stars out of coal miners,
0:52:11 > 0:52:17steel workers and... let's be blunt, some lads who neither worked nor want.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21'Time was called on the Indoor League but its legacy lives on.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24'Televised darts are still with us.
0:52:24 > 0:52:29'Indoor League producer, Sid Waddell, is the national voice of the sport.'
0:52:29 > 0:52:32It was what regionalism really is about.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36It was a Geordie with a sense of humour
0:52:36 > 0:52:38who played all these sports, badly.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42But I was All Yorkshire Champion of shove ha'penny!
0:52:42 > 0:52:46'While you couldn't deny the popularity of Indoor League,
0:52:46 > 0:52:50'not every programme was as well received.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54'At the Beeb, local staff felt the heat from bosses in London.'
0:52:54 > 0:52:57Regional television was always threatened!
0:52:57 > 0:53:00It was a bit like Swan Hunter, the shipyard.
0:53:00 > 0:53:05There were always threats of redundancies, cuts,
0:53:05 > 0:53:10less programmes, shorter programmes, it was ever thus.
0:53:10 > 0:53:14Nationally, they thought the regions were...
0:53:14 > 0:53:16poor cousins, country cousins.
0:53:16 > 0:53:20We were treated, to an extent, as country cousins.
0:53:20 > 0:53:25People in regional broadcasting are sort of like sand fleas,
0:53:25 > 0:53:28you know, compared to the great emperor penguins
0:53:28 > 0:53:31of Television Centre and whathaveyou.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35Probably a pretty bad analogy, but you get my drift.
0:53:35 > 0:53:39I think there was an element within the BBC
0:53:39 > 0:53:41that was really quite patrician,
0:53:41 > 0:53:44that felt that the regions were amateurish.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47BAGPIPES PLAY, DOG HOWLS
0:53:47 > 0:53:50We attempted things in regional broadcasting
0:53:50 > 0:53:54that weren't, you know, our finest hour.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57We've come to the pierhead to see how people,
0:53:57 > 0:54:01to paraphrase Gerry Marsden, bellow across the Mersey.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03SHOUTS
0:54:03 > 0:54:07- You reckon you were heard in Birkenhead?- No.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12'Viewers may have been swinging in their 60s,
0:54:12 > 0:54:17'but the cosy relationship with their local TV station was to take a new twist.
0:54:21 > 0:54:26'The 1979 ITV strike was arguably the catalyst for a chain of events
0:54:26 > 0:54:30'that would shake regional broadcasting to its core.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32'Technicians wanted a 25% pay rise.
0:54:32 > 0:54:37'For almost 11 weeks, ITV screens were blacked out.'
0:54:37 > 0:54:41This really sowed seeds of the demise, if you like,
0:54:41 > 0:54:45of television as it had been evolving.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48It raised questions about the model of broadcasting.
0:54:48 > 0:54:53We see this with Channel 4, which pioneers a new way of working.
0:54:57 > 0:55:03'The new channel would become one of many to challenge ITV's advertising strangle hold.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07'Regional telly was increasingly seen as expensive.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10'It was cheaper to make one network blockbuster
0:55:10 > 0:55:12'than regional variations.'
0:55:12 > 0:55:15There were 15 regional programmes.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17Slowly, like any other business,
0:55:17 > 0:55:21the big boys started to swallow up the little lads.
0:55:21 > 0:55:26Eventually, people counted their money against each other and the big boys won.
0:55:26 > 0:55:31'In the '90s, the BBC also searched for efficiencies
0:55:31 > 0:55:36'and concentrated regional output on news, politics and current affairs.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40'By the noughties, the remaining big ITV companies started to merge,
0:55:40 > 0:55:44'and ultimately became one PLC.'
0:55:44 > 0:55:48If we look back to the '60s and '70s we had a clear sense of Tyne Tees,
0:55:48 > 0:55:53Anglia and Granada and the Midlands and the South.
0:55:53 > 0:55:58We knew where these regions were. It's much more muddied now.
0:56:05 > 0:56:07'With broadcasting rules changing,
0:56:07 > 0:56:12'ITV was allowed to ditch the bits it said didn't make money.
0:56:12 > 0:56:19'Regional output hit the cutting room floor, leaving ITV with a core service of local news.'
0:56:19 > 0:56:24We have lost that wonderful curve of mixed programming
0:56:24 > 0:56:29that reflected the region's talent and achievement and history.
0:56:29 > 0:56:31And now, it's gone.
0:56:33 > 0:56:40We are gradually, gradually losing our contact with our region
0:56:40 > 0:56:45because we don't have that visual representation of it
0:56:45 > 0:56:47on a regular basis.
0:56:47 > 0:56:52"The network" has become the all-important god.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57'Regional telly still pulls in the viewers.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00'But the fight to keep them is intense.'
0:57:01 > 0:57:07Spare a thought for shopkeepers in Sheffield who are cleaning up after flash floods.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11'The transmitters from the '50s and '60s defined regional television,
0:57:11 > 0:57:14'but the world below has moved on.
0:57:14 > 0:57:19'TV no longer has those boundaries and viewing habits have changed.
0:57:19 > 0:57:23'In a digital world, regional telly faces challenges
0:57:23 > 0:57:28'from global media giants and plans for super-local TV.'
0:57:28 > 0:57:31Naturally, you're thinking, "What of the future?"
0:57:31 > 0:57:36'Is there still a case for viewing life through a regional lens?'
0:57:36 > 0:57:40Globalisation makes the case for regional television much greater.
0:57:40 > 0:57:46People want to...want to feel part of where they live.
0:57:46 > 0:57:51Television's a way of showing them what part they are.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55People in Leeds and Manchester don't think like people in London.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59They have a different point of view, different accent. That's important.
0:57:59 > 0:58:03That needs representing because it's often very creative.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06We can learn, one from the other.
0:58:06 > 0:58:08Regional television will never die.
0:58:08 > 0:58:12It will just take on an entirely different guise.
0:58:15 > 0:58:16Good morning, sir.
0:58:16 > 0:58:20PLAYS EDELWEISS
0:58:41 > 0:58:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:44 > 0:58:47E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk