British television has rightly been celebrated for producing classic drama: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954), Cathy Come Home (1966), Abigail’s Party (1977) and The Singing Detective (1986) to name just four. But for every TV “classic” there are countless plays, series and serials that have been forgotten.
Our Forgotten season highlights a few of the many productions that have survived being junked or wiped, including dramas from Granada and BBC North West that haven’t been seen since they were first transmitted. By bringing these neglected dramas to new audiences, we hope to act as the catalyst for rediscovering more of British TV’s forgotten history.
This season has been curated by Lez Cooke as part of the AHRC-funded research project, The History of Forgotten Television Drama in the UK, Royal Holloway, University of London.
With thanks to the BFI National TV Archive.
Previously in this season
Cinema
Double Bill: The Day Of Ragnarok + The Logic Game
Both shown in BBC2 series, Six, we present The Day of Ragnarok and The Logic Game. The first has been specially reconstructed from material surviving…
Cinema
Double Bill: It’s Dearer After Midnight + Them Down There
Made for Granada anthology series City68 and its follow-up, The System, we present It's Dearer After Midnight and Them Down There - both written by John Finch.
Cinema
Home and Away (Two episodes)
Written by Julia Jones, Home and Away was a seven-part Granada serial about a woman reaching middle-age who decides to return to work in a…
Cinema
Triple Bill: Sense of Place
Sense of Place was an anthology series produced by BBC North West in Manchester. Here we present three episodes, From the Roots Came the Rapper,…