New film shows how regional television came to Yorkshire and the north

Relton and his team have created a film make up of footage from the first days of Yorkshire and North East regional news and programmes though to the 1980s. Screening at Pictureville Cinema on January 19, TV Comes North: Bradford brings together archive footage of first broadcasts, award-winning documentaries and regional news features to look back at history of television programming in the region.

"We really wanted to bring some of those regional stories, and the story of television coming to the north, to a wider audience. Back then television was the place where people got their regional news and they would sit down at 6pm or 6.30pm together to watch it and then talk about it at work the next day. It’s not like today when people can get their news from so many different places whenever they want it was really unifying.

“There are some really important stories such as the election of Bradford’s first Asian Mayor, an interview with Martin Luther King by the first black television presenter and Bradford’s first multi-racial carnival. Then there is the closure of the city’s wash house, which might not sound like massive news but on a local level it was very significant,” explains Renton.

“Then there are more light-hearted stories such as world record attempts including the world’s biggest jumble sale and the Oakenshaw man attempting to crawl the furthest distance. There is a real charm to it. But they all create a vibrant and unifying picture of the region. And these programmes made celebrities out of their presenters who became household names and it also gave a lot of ordinary people their five minutes of fame.”

The film includes some iconic footage such as the BBC’s Interludes, together with memorable programmes including the star-studded opening night of Yorkshire TV or Michael Clegg’s investigation into the famous Stott Hall farm on the M62. As well as footage from historic local news features such as the election of Bradford’s first Asian Mayor and Yorkshire TV’s 1976 documentary, The Bradford Godfather.

“There is a lot of emotional footage, such as the aftermath of the Bradford fire and although local things are at their heart, many had national relevance,” says Relton, who explained that more films are planned in the TV Time Machine project a collaboration between three Northern film archives, the Yorkshire and North East Film Archives, and the North West Film Archive, supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network.

David Burton, Cinema Commercial Manager at the National Science and Media Museum added: “The Yorkshire Film Archive have brought together some fascinating footage to look back at the history of television programme in the North and Bradford. The film has been specially tailored for our audiences and cinemagoers can look forward to seeing footage of prominent moments from throughout Bradford’s history as well as early footage of the museum.”

The Yorkshire Film Archive was formed as a registered charity (and company limited by guarantee) in 1988, to preserve the rich film heritage of our region. In 2012, the YFA constitution was changed to incorporate responsibility for the North East Film Archive, extending the remit to ‘find, preserve and provide public access to moving images made in, or about Yorkshire and the North East of England’. Together the collections now total in excess of 70,000 items, covering an area stretching from South Yorkshire to Berwick-upon-Tweed.

The archives have grown from a small collection of films discovered through local community programmes to one of the UK’s leading regional film archives, respected nationally and internationally for their commitment to finding, preserving and creating access to its collections for the widest range of audiences.

The collections largely comprise non-fiction material, on film and various videotape formats, though contemporary material is increasingly acquired on a range of digital formats. Collections range from regional television news and programmes, through to advertising collections, the output of local cine clubs, community and amateur filmmakers, and home movie collections revealing a rich social history of everyday life over each decade of the 20th century. In June 2022, the Yorkshire and North East Film Archives were recognised for their work by FOCAL International, winning the ‘Company of the Year’ Award.

They are currently working on a film on conjunction with the York St John University featuring footage from the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s looking at the cost of living crisis affecting people then and how it is being mirrored today. “It just shows that what we are going through; the cost of living crisis, petrol and fuel shortages, the strikes and winter of discontent, is nothing new, “ says Relton. “It is the seventies all over again and the television footage from the time shows that.”

TV Comes North: Bradford will be at Pictureville Cinema on Thursday. Tickets from www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk