Talking Pictures TV
Talking Pictures TV is a British free-to-air vintage film and nostalgia television channel. It was launched on 26 May 2015 on Sky. Later it also became available on Freeview, Freesat and Virgin Media.
It is on air 24 hours a day and features mainly older British films, both classics and B-films. The schedule also includes some American films, straight-to-video programmes, cinema shorts, extended interviews with veteran actors and period home movies of British locations.
In July 2018, Talking Pictures TV had an audience share of 0.50%., it had reached an audience share of 0.63%.
Foundation
TPTV is a family business, founded by producer/editor Noel Cronin, and run by his daughter Sarah Cronin-Stanley with her husband Neill Stanley. Films in many genres are included in the schedule. In-house productions are also shown, as are items from the Cronins' own back catalogue, including Noel's Dandelion Distribution, as well as series from the archive of Southern Television, a [History of ITV|former ITV contractor], and early American television shows. Movies are usually copied directly from film reels; damaged reels from the catalogue are often replaced by donations, either from online, viewers or available libraries.One of the aims of the founders was to maintain the history of British cinema; it was said to have been in the making since 2007. Older movies, including those made in black and white, were once regularly shown on terrestrial channels, such as BBC and Channel 4, but such programming had declined by the 2000s, with only the best known classic films occasionally being aired.
Cronin-Stanley explained to the Watford Observer in 2016 that "People were interested in the big titles but he wanted to save the smaller, more obscure titles, from getting lost". However, television networks rejected their pitches, unconvinced that it would be of high demand, so they decided to set up the channel independently. Cronin-Stanley later explained that the channel specialises in "the things people have forgotten".
Availability
Talking Pictures TV was initially only available via digital satellite on the Sky platform in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Since 15 September 2015, the channel has also been available on Freeview. It became available on Freesat channel 306 in February 2016, and on Virgin Media on 1 June 2017. On Freeview, it was initially broadcast only in standard definition on a HD multiplex and could be received only by Freeview HD equipment.From 30 November 2017, the channel became available, to those within coverage, on any TV capable of receiving Freeview. In 2018, the channel reportedly had a weekly audience of about 2 million, but BBC News reported that it possibly rose to as high as 6 million in mid-2020.
Broadcast output
Films
A list of selected films shown on Talking Pictures TV:Television series
Talking Pictures TV features several classic television series from American broadcasters ABC, CBS, and NBC, as well as British series, mostly from Southern Television productions for the ITV network. Many of the American television shows were produced by Four Star Television.New television programmes for 2022 included The Heritage Chart Show with Mike Read, a pop music countdown of videos and live performances from veteran acts, presented on Sunday nights by the former Radio 1 disc jockey Mike Read and shared with the Local TV network of channels. Also Read can be seen each week with Talking Pictures TV founder Noel Cronin on the channel's archive programme The Footage Detectives, a show which discusses forgotten films and lost TV shows such as The Barnstormers from 1964.
British programmes
American programmes
Other
Talking Pictures TV also features several films from the series featuring Old Mother Riley, and from the British Film Institute's archives, including several significant documentaries, and a considerable number of Children's Film Foundation productions, named under a series segment Glimpses. Its intention is for both nostalgia and education, as well as reminding the audience of the past; some footage is donated by viewers. The series is the most popular original content on the channel and its compilation DVD is the most popular buy on Renown Film's website.The Take Two series was presented by Elstree historian Morris Bright, and occasionally Robert Ross and/or the channel creators, who interview famous actors whose films and programming is airing on the channel, such as Nanette Newman, Angela Douglas, Rita Tushingham, Sylvia Syms, Michael Craig, Shirley Eaton, Sally Thomsett, Jack Smethurst, Jenny Hanley, Norman Eshley, Valerie Leon, Madeline Smith, Marc Sinden, and Janette Scott; a few of them recorded station idents for the channel. An interview with A Family at War creator John Finch was also aired, as well as Neil Sean Meets..., an interviewing series presented by Neil Sean, who has interviewed historians and celebrities of the mid-20th century, such as Tommy Steele, Roger Moore and Eden Kane.
Interviews from 2018 onwards have been filmed in the Cinema Museum in the wake of the museum's foreclosure announcement; the interviewees there include Mark Lester, George Layton, Anita Harris, Sid James's daughter Reina, Anneke Wills, and Peter Butterworth's son Tyler. Some interviews in the series were later released on a DVD collection named Talking Pictures with....
Themed days
The channel has featured themed days, such as "An Afternoon with Liz Fraser", "1960s Day", "Sophia Loren Evening", "Music Hall Monday", "Diana Dors Day", and "An Afternoon with Patricia Dainton", in which the actress came out of retirement to provide introductions to her films. "Laurel and Hardy Month" aired their short films and feature-length productions throughout September 2017 and their movies continue to be shown. "Ronald Colman Season" occurred throughout November and December 2016, airing movies such as The Devil to Pay!, Bulldog Drummond, and Raffles.15 February 2018 was "Sam Kydd Day", with showings of a handful of his movies and television appearances, excerpts from his diaries and anecdotes of his life from his son Jonathan. 15 March 2019 was "John Gregson Day" which featured movies and television that starred/featured the actor, along with interviews with his family members and remaining cast members of his filmography. There have also been special guests that host their favourite vintage media that has appeared on the channel, such as Danny Baker and Vic Reeves.
| Name | Date | Topic | Notes | |
| Dial M For Monday | B-movie crime films | |||
| Music Hall Monday | British Music hall movies | |||
| Vintage Valentines | Romance films | |||
| Monster Monday | B-movie monster films | |||
| An Afternoon with Patricia Dainton | Celebrating the movie career of Patricia Dainton | |||
| Trip Down Memory Lane | Movies set on planes, boats, and trains | |||
| Pop Goes to the Movies | Films that starred/had cameo appearances from pop groups | |||
| An Afternoon with Liz Fraser | Celebrating the career of Liz Fraser | Aired on Fraser's 86th birthday | ||
| 1960s Day | Musical films from the 1960s | |||
| Sophia Loren Evening | Celebrating the career of Sophia Loren | Aired on Loren's 82nd birthday | ||
| Ronald Colman Season | Celebrating the career of Ronald Colman; aired sporadically | |||
| Diana Dors Day | Celebrating the career of Diana Dors | |||
| Vic Reeves Takes Over Talking Pictures TV | Schedule chosen and hosted by Vic Reeves | |||
| Laurel and Hardy Month | September 2017 | Laurel and Hardy comedy shorts aired sporadically throughout the month | ||
| Danny Baker Takes Over Talking Pictures TV | Schedule chosen and hosted by comedian Danny Baker | Co-hosted by historian Robert Ross | ||
| Laurel and Hardy Season | February – 3 March 2018 | Laurel and Hardy comedy shorts aired sporadically throughout | Spiritual successor of September 2017's "Laurel and Hardy Month" | |
| Sam Kydd Day | Celebrating the career of Sam Kydd | |||
| Will Hay Thursdays | Celebrating the career of Will Hay by airing his films every Thursday | |||
| John Gregson Day | Celebrating the career of John Gregson | |||
| A Celebration of British Transport Films | 100th anniversary of transport in the UK, through documentaries | Films created by British Transport Films | ||
| Stanley Baker Day | Celebrating the career of Stanley Baker | |||
| Kenneth More Day | Celebrating the career of Kenneth More | 37th anniversary of More's death | ||
| Dora Bryan Day | Celebrating the career of Dora Bryan |
Themed nights
In 2021, the channel introduced The Cellar Club with Caroline Munro, a Friday night block of crime, sci-fi and horror films, like 1974 Hammer production Captain Kronos The Vampire Hunter and Joseph Green's The Brain That Wouldn't Die from 1962.Controversy, racial slurs
The regulator Ofcom has warned the channel about the use of racial slurs in its programming on a handful of occasions, including an episode of Granada Television's A Family at War, originally broadcast in the early 1970s, shown by TPTV in the hour just before the 9pm watershed, and an uncensored interview with Joan Turner during her appearance on the talk show Tell Me Another.Cronin-Stanley told The Times in February 2018: "Ofcom say we need to advise people before they watch something that it may contain outdated racial stereotyping, but I would say that's babysitting our audience". However, since late 2018, warning notices have been displayed just before some programmes begin, stating, for example, that a programme "was made between 1978 and 1992" and that "Some viewers may be offended by the language and attitudes expressed by some characters... which reflect the time it was made." In addition, occurrences of such terms may be removed from the soundtrack and the subtitles.
Related projects
Renown Pictures
For over 20 years, Cronin-Stanley and Cronin have been patrons of a DVD membership club, The Renown Film Club, for fans of B-film classics. Cronin had worked for The Rank Organisation and Central Office of Information, and bought the rights to several libraries that owned films that air on TPTV, such as much of the Southern Television library, and originally licensed them out to terrestrial channels. Many of the films aired on Talking Pictures TV are available to buy on DVD, often sold as compilations under different genres, through the distributing company, both online and through the Renown's telephone service. Each DVD set is full of films made between the 1930s and 1960s, and also include special features, such as interviews and history. Other merchandise is also sold on the website, such as mugs, clothing, biographies, and calendars, often branded under Talking Pictures TV's name. In spring 2019, Renown released its first CD compilation album named Hits From the Flicks, three CDs of songs from musicals and movies with pop song theme tunes that had aired on the channel.The Renown Film Festival
Since 2014, the channel's producers created the Renown Film Festival, which celebrates classic British film, featuring guest appearances by actors whose films have been aired, as well as historians, who give interviews; there are also screenings for films that were once considered lost, and memorabilia available to buy and be autographed by the actors. It occurs annually in February, and tickets are advertised on both TPTV's website and the channel. Actors who have appeared on the guest lists include Jess Conrad, Rita Tushingham, Brian Murphy, Melvyn Hayes, and Derren Nesbitt.The festival takes place in Hertfordshire, such as Watersmeet Theatre, Rickmansworth and St. Albans' The Alban Arena, but 2019 was the first year to have more than one festival in a year; October 2019 was the Renown Film's 6th Festival of Film at the Stockport Plaza, which also featured special guests, film screenings, and memorabilia. Although tickets sold out, St. Albans' 2020 Festival was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.