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 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:
FilmYearGenreDirectorCast
A Taste of Honey1961DramaTony RichardsonDora Bryan,
Rita Tushingham
An Alligator Named Daisy1955ComedyJ. Lee ThompsonDonald Sinden,
Jeannie Carson
Au Pair Girls1972ComedyVal GuestGabrielle Drake,
Astrid Frank
Bad Blood1981ThrillerMike NewellJack Thompson,
Carol Burns
Ball of Fire1941ComedyHoward HawksGary Cooper,
Barbara Stanwyck
Be My Guest1965MusicalLance ComfortDavid Hemmings,
Steve Marriott
The Beach Girls1982ComedyPat TownsendJeana Tomasino,
Debra Blee
Beat Girl1960DramaEdmond T. GrévilleDavid Farrar,
Noëlle Adam
Bedazzled1967ComedyStanley DonenPeter Cook,
Dudley Moore
The Black Book1949ThrillerAnthony MannRobert Cummings,
Richard Basehart
Blood Mania1970HorrorRobert Vincent O'NeilPeter Carpenter,
Maria De Aragon
Blood of the Vampire1958HorrorHenry CassDonald Wolfit,
Vincent Ball
Blue Money1972DramaAlain PatrickAlain Patrick,
Barbara Mills
Brannigan1975ThrillerDouglas HickoxJohn Wayne,
Richard Attenborough
Can You Keep It Up for a Week?1974ComedyJim AtkinsonJeremy Bulloch,
Sue Longhurst
Carry On Admiral1957ComedyVal GuestDavid Tomlinson,
Peggy Cummins
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things1972Comedy/horrorBob ClarkAlan Ormsby,
Valerie Mamches
Child's Play1972DramaSidney LumetJames Mason,
Robert Preston
Commuter Husbands1972ComedyDerek FordGabrielle Drake,
Robin Bailey
Crucible of Horror1971HorrorViktors RitelisMichael Gough,
Yvonne Mitchell
Cry of the Banshee1970HorrorGordon HesslerVincent Price,
Hilary Dwyer
Cry, the Beloved Country1951DramaKellner ZoltánCanada Lee,
Sidney Poitier
Curse of the Fly1965HorrorDon SharpBrian Donlevy,
George Baker
Curtain Up1952ComedyRalph SmartRobert Morley,
Margaret Rutherford
Deathdream1974HorrorBob ClarkJohn Marley,
Lynn Carlin
The Demon1981HorrorPercival RubensCameron Mitchell,
Jennifer Holmes
Dentist in the Chair1960ComedyDon ChaffeyBob Monkhouse,
Peggy Cummins
Down Among the Z Men1952ComedyMaclean RogersHarry Secombe,
Michael Bentine
Every Day's a Holiday1965ComedyJames HillJohn Leyton,
Mike Sarne
Friends1971RomanceLewis GilbertSean Bury,
Anicée Alvina
Fourteen Hours1951DramaHenry HathawayPaul Douglas,
Richard Basehart
The Flying Deuces1939ComedyA. Edward SutherlandStan Laurel,
Oliver Hardy
The Frightened City1961Crime dramaJohn LemontHerbert Lom,
John Gregson
The Frightened Man1952Crime dramaJohn GillingDermot Walsh,
Barbara Murray
Go for Broke!1951War dramaRobert PiroshVan Johnson,
Lane Nakano
Hell Drivers1957Crime dramaCy EndfieldStanley Baker,
Herbert Lom
Henry V1944DramaLaurence OlivierLaurence Olivier
Renée Asherson
His Girl Friday1940ComedyHoward HawksCary Grant
Rosalind Russell
Hobson's Choice1954ComedyDavid LeanCharles Laughton
John Mills
Home Before Midnight1979DramaPete WalkerJames Aubrey
Alison Elliot
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte1964ThrillerRobert AldrichBette Davis,
Olivia De Havilland
I Remember Mama1948DramaGeorge StevensIrene Dunne,
Barbara Bel Geddes
Incident in Shanghai1938DramaJohn Paddy CarstairsMargaret Vyner,
Patrick Barr
I See a Dark Stranger1946Comedy dramaFrank LaunderDeborah Kerr,
Trevor Howard
It's a Wonderful World1956ComedyVal GuestTerence Morgan,
George Cole
The L-Shaped Room1962DramaBryan ForbesLeslie Caron,
Tom Bell
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp1943DramaMichael Powell,
Emeric Pressburger		Roger Livesey,
Deborah Kerr)
Look Back in Anger1959DramaTony RichardsonRichard Burton,
Claire Bloom
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner1962DramaTony RichardsonTom Courtenay
Michael Redgrave
Lost in the Desert1969DramaJamie UysWynard Uys
Jamie Uys
Malibu High1979Crime thrillerIrvin BerwickJill Lansing,
Stuart Taylor
The Man in the Mirror1936ComedyMaurice ElveyEdward Everett Horton,
Genevieve Tobin
The Man Who Could Cheat Death1959HorrorTerence FisherAnton Diffring,
Hazel Court
Marilyn1953Crime dramaWolf RillaSandra Dorne,
Maxwell Reed
Mark of the Phoenix1958DramaMaclean RogersJulia Arnall,
Sheldon Lawrence
Melody1971ComedyWaris HusseinMark Lester,
Tracy Hyde
The Million Pound Note1955ComedyRonald NeameGregory Peck,
Ronald Squire
The New York Hat1912Silent filmD.W. GriffithMary Pickford,
Charles Hill Mailes
Night Boat to Dublin1946ThrillerLawrence HuntingtonRobert Newton,
Raymond Lovell
Night of the Big Heat1967Sci-fiTerence FisherChristopher Lee,
Patrick Allen
No Love for Johnnie1961DramaRalph ThomasPeter Finch,
Stanley Holloway
Notorious1946ThrillerAlfred HitchcockCary Grant,
Ingrid Bergman
Once a Jolly Swagman1949DramaJack LeeDirk Bogarde,
Bonar Colleano
Once in a New Moon1935Sci-fiAnthony KimminsEliot Makeham,
Rene Ray
Our Girl Friday1953ComedyNoel LangleyJoan Collins,
George Cole
The Plough and the Stars1937DramaJohn FordBarbara Stanwyck,
Preston Foster
The Pom Pom Girls1976ComedyJoseph RubenRobert Carradine,
Jennifer Ashley
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie1969DramaRonald NeameMaggie Smith,
Robert Stephens
Pygmalion1938DramaAnthony Asquith,
Leslie Howard		Leslie Howard,
Wendy Hiller
Radio Cab Murder1954DramaVernon SewellJimmy Hanley,
Lana Morris
Raffles1939DramaSam WoodDavid Niven,
Olivia De Havilland
Rasputin the Mad Monk1966HorrorDon SharpChristopher Lee,
Barbara Shelley
The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler1971Sci-fiBob WynnLeslie Nielsen,
Bradford Dillman
Richard III1955DramaLaurence OlivierLaurence Olivier,
Ralph Richardson
Rosie Dixon – Night Nurse1978ComedyJustin CartwrightBeryl Reid,
John Le Mesurier
Sapphire1959Crime dramaBasil DeardenNigel Patrick,
Yvonne Mitchell
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning1980DramaKarel ReiszAlbert Finney,
Shirley Anne Field
Say Hello to Yesterday1970DramaAlvin RakoffJean Simmons,
Leonard Whiting
Séance on a Wet Afternoon1964DramaBryan ForbesKim Stanley,
Richard Attenborough
Sextette1978Musical dramaKen HughesMae West,
Timothy Dalton
The Skull1965HorrorFreddie FrancisPeter Cushing,
Patrick Wymark
Sparrows Can't Sing1963ComedyJoan LittlewoodJames Booth,
Barbara Windsor
Suburban Wives1971ComedyDerek FordEva Whishaw,
Barry Linehan
Tarka the Otter1979AdventureDavid CobhamEdward Underdown,
Peter Ustinov
Tom Brown's Schooldays1951DramaGordon ParryJohn Howard Davies,
Robert Newton
The Trollenberg Terror1958Sci-fi horrorQuentin LawrenceForrest Tucker,
Laurence Payne
Tomboy1985ComedyHerb FreedBetsy Russell,
Gerard Christopher
To the Devil a Daughter1976HorrorPeter SykesRichard Widmark,
Christopher Lee
The Van1977ComedySam GrossmanStuart Goetz,
Deborah White
Virgin Witch1972HorrorRay AustinAnn Michelle,
Vicki Michelle
What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?1969ThrillerLee H. KatzinGeraldine Page,
Ruth Gordon
Whistle Down the Wind1961DramaBryan ForbesHayley Mills,
Bernard Lee
White Cargo1973ComedyRay SelfeDavid Jason,
Hugh Lloyd
The Young Ones1961Musical comedySidney J. FurieCliff Richard,
Robert Morley