“ATV the Midlands” has a record of seven years of sustained enterprise and expansion in the region which was the first outside London to be served by Independent Television.

A sense of excitement and readiness to face new challenges marked the service in its early days. It is still the characteristic of a progressive undertaking ready to meet the needs of changing times.

The Midland area is the most “television conscious” in Britain.

Licence issues show that there are more receivers operating here, per head of population, than in any other region. The Midland audience will soon approach seven million: in the main evening periods 70 per cent of viewers prefer ATV programmes.

As we strive to hold the mirror of life in the Midlands we are encouraged by this evidence of public approval. Midlanders are realists: they know what they like — and they like what they know Channel 8 will supply.

Programme output has improved in range and character. That policy will continue, for our planning is backed by the finest technical resources, artistic and creative skills.

The Midland area is one of contrasts. It includes industrial and rural interests in great variety, all backed by strong local loyalties and cherished traditions.

In the great diversity of those interests, television plays a major role by showing the world to the Midlands — and the Midlands to the world.

In the exciting and expanding world of television, pioneering achievements in regional broadcasting stand to the credit of ATV

Enterprise

In its service to the Midlands ATV were :

• First To broadcast regional daily news bulletins.
• First To appoint regional station announcers.
• First To begin each day’s programmes with a “Thought for the Day” — and to end transmissions with the Epilogue.
• First To screen a regional Municipal Election results service.
• First To cater for midday viewers with an outstandingly successful light entertainment — “Lunch Box”.
• First To provide a series of guidance on careers for boys and girls leaving school — “Where Are You Going?”
• First To broadcast a Mayor-making ceremony — the main event in Coventry’s municipal year (1957) was the election as Lord Mayor of the late Alderman Mrs. Pearl Hyde.
• First To arrange a regional forum for public discussion on topics of the day — “Midland Affairs”.
• First To produce a weekly serial about a Midland family — “The Wright People”.
• First To take a quiz into the factories — “Hit the Limit”.
• First To bring schools’ broadcasts to a region.

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Television is still a young medium. We believe the future will bring opportunities for further expansion. We look forward to the stimulation and challenge of competition.

ATV are convinced that present restrictions on hours of transmissions should be lifted. The need for this freedom is urgent: it is of prime importance in the Midlands, a region in which there is more shift-working than anywhere else in the country.

Shift workers are as entitled to have a service of entertainment in their homes as those who work routine hours. We would like to provide that service. They should be allowed to watch television when they are relaxing at home in daytime.

We favour true freedom of the air. This means withdrawing restrictions so that we can cater for viewers’ needs at all times.

An end of present regulations would bring increased benefits through opportunities to expand the range of our programmes. Restrictions deny these developments.

Daytime programmes — notably “Lunch Box” and occasional relays of top-class sport — have proved conclusively that there is a vast audience anxious to watch TV at “off peak” times.

More ATV programmes will be screened when we are allowed to put them on the air.

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Our drama department’s range is vast. It extends from Ibsen’s “John Gabriel Borkman” (in which Sir Laurence Olivier made his television debut) to the domestic comedies of “The Larkins” and the affairs of a typical Midland family “The Wright People”.

For television, as for the theatre, London is the main home of plays and players. That is why our biggest drama productions are produced in or near London instead of at Aston. Now, at our Elstree Studio Centre, we have the world’s most modern facilities and technical resources.

There are other reasons. Prominent among these is the availability of the country’s foremost actors and actresses. Most are engaged in London, and the Metropolis inevitably provides the greatest opportunities for available talent.

Many of the stars find it impossible to travel long distances to provincial centres when they have London theatre engagements.

Top theatre and screen performers are not so readily available in the Midlands. There are, of course, many distinguished and experienced players in regional strongholds (particularly in Repertory companies), but relatively few are free for rehearsals and performances at the times demanded by television’s high-pressure schedules.

Television demands are exacting. Like any other programme, screening a play involves a complex and closely integrated system, dovetailed from the planning stage to the last second of performance “on the air.”

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So-called “serious” programmes form a group which is much admired (and much misunderstood) We believe that serious subjects can be dealt with responsibly and intelligently while gaining in impact by lively and entertaining presentation. Being serious does not call for pomposity.

Many ATV programmes have demonstrated how a lively approach can grip the viewers’ attention by stimulating thought and opinion.

Cultural programmes need not be rarified by fussy TV treatment! Ability to blend information with alert treatment has been demonstrated consistently by Sir Kenneth Clark in his programmes on art and architecture and by Alan Taylor, the Oxford don whose history lectures (given without notes, illustrations or backgrounds) set new standards in the vast field of informative broadcasts.

No “opinion” programme has been more successful than “Free Speech”, with its discussions laced by frank exchanges and lively personalities.

Topicality is admirably served by “Right to Reply” and “The Warning Voice”. Its interests have been strongly represented in the Midlands by such surveys of current affairs as “Midland Affairs” and “Midland Grouses”. “Midland Montage” continues to supply features which give the background to the news, and “Look Around” has won esteem as a regional documentary.

The range of topical and documentary features is comprehensive. ATV has turned the searchlight of inquiry on many subjects of profound public importance.

They include “Prison Officer”, “Abortion”, “Polio”, “Eichmann” and major studies of the American way of life. These, under the title of “Main Street, U.S.A.” and “The New Americans” were screened immediately before and after the Presidential Election.

In “Mockba Moscow” ATV broadcast the first full uncensored pictures of life in Moscow as Muscovites went about their ordinary duties.

In dealing with subjects of special regional interest we believe that all assignments should be treated as fully and carefully as inquiries which find their way onto the national network. A good example of careful preparation was provided by “The Fighting Midlands…”, a series in which General Sir Oliver Leese discussed and illustrated the history, campaigns and honours of famous Midland county regiments.

ATV were pioneers in the widely-praised dramatisation of social documentary programmes. These include “Emergency – Ward 10” (the screen’s most successful and longest-running serial), “Probation Officer”, the “Deadline Midnight” stories about life in a national newspaper office and “Harpers West One”, a series about day to day events in a London store — on both sides of the counter.

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Daytime television is another enterprise introduced by ATV. First in its field, and still leading it, is that gay and informal light entertainment “Lunch Box”. It was produced first in September 1956, soon after our Midlands’ service began and has remained high in viewers’ esteem ever since.

“Lunch Box” reached its 1,000th performance in September 1960. Still the fan-mail pours in.

The secret of its remarkable and consistent appeal? Team-work by regular artistes and “star” visitors, backed by the enthusiasm of all associated with its production. At the start a high professional standard was set by hostess Noele Gordon and the enterprising Jerry Allen and his Trio who provide the musical backing. Their standards are the best: they have never flagged.

Its repute is such that internationally-famed stars visiting the Midlands welcome opportunities to appear in this gay informal midday programme. It is famous for its “Memory Lane” features, its anniversary greetings and the liveliness of its sketches.

Every week “Lunch Box” fans come to the studio for the “Open House” performances before studio audiences. They flock in their thousands to welcome Noele and the “Gang” whenever “Lunch Box” is produced as an outside broadcast. When the programme was relayed from Nottingham Forest football ground the attendance was officially estimated at 27,000

“Lunch Box” thrives on its success. It has been waterborne (on a River Severn cruise) and has been to parks, works and recreation grounds, to a R.A.F. station.

It has visited the circus, Dudley Zoo — and it’s been on ice!

Look Around

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ATV decided at the start that the link between studio and home would best be sustained by having station announcers “in vision” — seen on the screen. It has been amply justified.

It is not merely that Jean Morton, Pat Astley and Caroline Lloyd are so professionally competent.

That is a pre-requisite in a service in which the screen is never blank and in which split-second timing is a reality.

They are people, friendly, knowledgeable, accomplished — not disembodied voices. “Announcer” is a modest assessment of their duties.

They introduce programmes and they talk about people and programmes. Even weather forecasts are made human.

• Noele Gordon
• Patricia Cox
• Jean Morton
• Pat Astley
• Caroline Lloyd

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Among other successes she played more than 1,000 performances as Meg Brockie in “Brigadoon”, and thrived on the long-running “Let’s Face It”, “The Lisbon Story” and the late C. B. Cochrane’s “Big Ben”. She was honoured by selection to appear in the Royal Command Performance in 1949.

From the stage she went to America to study television techniques and joined ATV on her return as adviser on women’s programmes.

“Though I knew the Midlands well before I.T.V. programmes began here, I have been astonished by the immediate and tremendous impact ATV programmes made”, she says.

“I soon became convinced of television’s power to transform social life. Midlanders are very friendly people … I know that from the letters they write, from their calls and their greetings.

“Their response is whole-hearted and sincere. Through the screen, I feel I am welcomed into their homes as a friend. No-one who has shared an outside broadcast—such as when we tour “Lunch Box” — can have any doubt about that welcome.

“It’s equally spontaneous when audiences come to Aston to see shows produced. Requests for personal appearances pour in, and I would accept more if there were more than seven days in a week or 24 hours in a day.

“The splendid support we get from the studio back room boys and girls helps to strengthen this contact between performers and the audience at home. It’s delightful to share such experiences”.

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For over five years Birmingham-born Pat has brought information about wide-ranging life and interests of the Midlands and of events grave and gay. She has a flair for news and a remarkable sense of timing in its presentation and emphasis.

Her composure and smiling greeting each evening immediately after the first national news bulletin show nothing of the excitement and streamlined organisation that lie behind the preparation of a newscast as it is brought up-to-the-second with news contributed by staff reporters, interviewers and correspondents in all parts of the Midland counties.

Pat has logged nearly 1,500 news bulletins and her enthusiasm is undiminished. Her zest for news is shown when she goes on interviewing assignments for Midland Montage.

“When I am away from the studio the pleasantest part of my job is interviewing people”, she says. “I’m lucky, for people know me from ‘Midlands News’ and there’s always a welcome. I go to social events of all kinds, yet, as time goes on, I’m still astonished that so many should greet me as a friend. It’s very pleasant, and such convincing proof of the impact of television on the lives of us all”.

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Viewers know her as the friendly hostess whose natural style is an invaluable asset in linking programmes. She is cheerful, charming and spontaneous. They know her, too, as a versatile personality, confident and talented as she achieves the smooth running of such programmes as “Rainbow Room” and “Cover Girl”.

Jean herself has become a Midland celebrity through her ATV appearances. She is accustomed to welcoming and interviewing the many celebrities who appear in programmes produced at Aston.

When readers of a Sunday newspaper were asked to vote for their favourite announcer Jean topped the poll.

It is not surprising, therefore, that her services are in constant demand at functions of all sorts in the Midlands. She is a skilled puppeteer and a great show business personality—versatile, poised and knowledgeable.

Housewife, mother and TV hostess: life is busy for Jean. She has a flair for doing well everything that comes her way.

“I came to television from the stage,” she says, “and soon became aware of the immense power of television. People soon came to greet me as a friend when they saw me in the street. This feeling of being a welcome guest with so many people is flattering in its way and an incentive to keep on top form. Midlanders are kindly folk—and they are quick to note such things as changes in hairstyles, jewellery and dress fashions. They can be critical, but their comments are always good-natured.”

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He is a vigorous, exhilarating character whose bubbling enthusiasm registers immediately on the screen. And — typical of a war-time Commando — he will tackle any job, anywhere and at any time

He is a true enthusiast. He adds to his announcing duties reports and commentaries for news and magazine programmes. One of his hobbies is skin-diving, a pastime to which he has converted Noele Gordon. He has coached Noele in the instructional course she has undergone for the screen.

Pat came to ATV from the motor industry. He made an immediate hit, and remains a top favourite.

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Before entering Television, Caroline studied for three years at the Rose Bruford Training College of Speech and Drama, near her home in Kent, and obtained a teaching diploma.

She also has theatrical experience and has worked for various repertory companies.

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So highly was this series regarded that arrangements were made to present film records of the programmes to the War Office and the Ministry of Defence. “The Fighting Midlands… therefore, will live in official history as well as in the records of television.

The War Office, Government departments the Imperial War Museum and other authorities co-operated in the preparation of the programmes, and Commanding Officers readily agreed to place their resources at the disposal of John Pullen’s production team. Full authenticity was assured. This outstanding series traced in detail the history of eleven famous Midland regiments. For viewers, history assumed new significance under the impact of TV presentation as the programmes recalled the formation of units, campaigns, honours won and personalities.

All the programmes were introduced by Lieutenant General Sir Oliver Leese, whose authority, informality and engaging style quickly established his reputation as a screen commentator.

In the first programme, when the spotlight turned on the Sherwood Foresters, Sir Oliver interviewed two V.C.’s of the First World War.

No campaign was more vividly recalled than the most recent war in Korea  The gallantry of the Gloucestershire Regiment, — the “Glorious Gloucesters” — took a new meaning as the story was related by men who took part. Their commander, Colonel Came, V.C., was in the studio to talk about the bitter fighting in a distant land.

When the history of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment was told, the programme welcomed its Colonel-in-Chief, Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.

The Midlands of England were fully represented by the inclusion of special programmes on

• 1st Green Jackets (Ox and Bucks)
• Royal Leicestershire Regiment
• Lincolnshire Regiment
• Northamptonshire Regiment
• North Staffordshire Regiment
• Worcestershire Regiment
• King’s Shropshire Light Infantry
• South Staffordshire Regiment

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He took over when Noele and Jerry Allen’s “gang” went to Woburn Abbey, best known of England’s stately homes, to present the show as an outside broadcast. The vast Abbey provided a fine backcloth for a performance on the terraces, watched by a crowd of 6,000 visitors. The Duke soon proved his skill as host—and vocalist!

He paid ATV this tribute :

“Everyone was so friendly and helpful that the week was a pleasure as well as a duty. How I admire the ‘Lunch Box’ gang, the producers and technical staff! If I get a chance to come back I shall certainly take it”.

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In the Midlands ATV were appointed to provide five-day (Monday-Friday) operations, with A.B.C. authorised to supply week-end programmes. It was agreed that the most effective arrangement would be to establish one central studio instead of separate homes.

A former cinema (which had been originally the old Aston Theatre Royal and later the Astoria) was chosen for conversion to television needs.

Alpha Television Services (Birmingham) Ltd. was created, therefore, as a third and joint company to run the studios on a seven-day week basis on behalf of the two parent programme contractors. The range of output makes “Alpha” a busy and skilled television factory. Once ATV or A.B.C. production specifications are notified it provides full facilities to put shows great and small on the air. Camera, lighting, scenery, wardrobe and sound… These are some of the complex services which are dovetailed to produce the pictures that brighten screens in homes throughout the Midlands. Alpha’s own home has undergone major reconstruction. The transformation has left no sign of the days when it served earlier tastes in entertainment as theatre and cimena.[sic] Now it is a fine television centre, equipped with the most up-to-date resources to serve TV’s “magic eye”.

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They ensure that top-quality pictures are beamed from Alpha to the Independent Television Authority’s transmitter at Hints, near Lichfield.

In Master Control life is ruled by the stop-watch: it is a place where split-second timing is essential and literally true.

The duty Transmission Controller has to co-ordinate the cueing of network and regional programmes: he must insist on programmes ending to the scheduled second and “roll” films which are of pre-determined length. Effective synchronisation (with many regions inter-linked) calls for alert control and high sense of responsibility.

“Loggists”, too, know the reality of split second timing. It is their duty to monitor every second of transmissions—noting “on” and “off” times of every programme and every commercial. They record, too, times and type of any occasions when technical levels are sub-standard.

In Master Control, every second on the air is “on record”.

When you switch on your set do you ever think of the immense organisation of technical and artistic skills that lie behind the service at the “transmission end”?

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“Come into the Garden”, sings Midland expert Godfrey Baseley! His invitation is readily accepted as a regular date by gardening enthusiasts throughout the Midlands.

His programmes are a valuable guide to all forms of outdoor cultivation, indoor plants and household decoration, garden lay-out and maintenance.

Gone Fishing

Practising what he preaches … Jack Williams, the anglers’ friend and adviser, presented his weekly guide, “Hook, Line and Sinker”.

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“Look Around”, the magazine programme which devotes its half-hour to detailed examination and discussion of Midland enterprises, has won a big following.

When it screened a feature on the Midland Jazz Festival, The Hon. Gerald Lascelles, younger son of the Princess Royal, took part in lively exchanges on trends in the world of jazz. The Hon. Gerald Lascelles—pianist— demonstrated some of his points in a rehearsal session with producer John Pullen.

Police Five

This weekly programme was designed to help the Midland Police Forces in their fight against crime as well as offering a service to the public by giving information such as traffic detours, new parking regulations and missing persons. Shaw Taylor is the spokesman.

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Your picture will be appreciated all the more if you position your receiver correctly, particularly in relation to room lighting.

When you have a good picture, don’t fiddle with the controls

Don’t have lights shining directly on to the screen—they will cause reflections.

Ideally, have a light above or behind your set.

The wise viewer insists on having plenty of light in the room. With modern receivers there should be no need to dim room lights.

Adjust your distance from the receiver according to the size of the screen.

NEVER, NEVER, allow children to lie on the floor and gaze upwards at the screen.

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In Cabaret Style

Set against the background of a Manhattan skyline, this cabaret-style show provided glossy, sophisticated entertainment of night-club pattern.

The show was visited by leading stars of show-business, who were welcomed to the guest-spots by hostess Jean Morton. In addition to music, dancing and celebrity features, leaders of public and social life have been interviewed on topics of the day.

Young in Heart

A cheerful feature designed to meet the needs of the young in heart, “Cover Girl”, provided exceptional opportunities for young people to see, study and discuss the best contemporary styles, in music, song and dance.

It brought to Midland enthusiasts more than fifty famous recording artistes (including Adam Faith, Mike Preston, Cleo Laine, Mark Wynter, Matt Monroe and Billy Fury).

Each week the spotlight turned on a different Midland jazz group and six girls were chosen to appear so that viewers could select their “Cover Girl” of the week.

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Their decisions in the Midland studios call for judgment and precision. They plan your entertainment to the last detail… to the split second…

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