The world of British television off and on the screen, as it was sixty years ago.

Gravy Train

The Observer‘s Maurice Richardson was enraptured by a BBC wild-life film on Squirrels reporting that the film, made by Heinz Sielmann and introduced by Maxwell Knight and Monica Shorten, provided “twenty minutes of ecstasy”. “Squirrel proportions,” he notes, “seemed perfectly suited to the small screen.”

Not so good, in his eyes was the Sunday Night Theatre production “The Happy Hypocrite” which was “a most woeful travesty, better left unhowled.”

Two plays received more favourably were the BBC’s Monday effort “The Reluctant Debutante” and ITV’s “The Glorification of Al Toolum”, the latter described here as “amiable but by no means unintelligent”.

In the field of variety, Richardson declares honours to be even but adds, “I notice more and more how the turns which come across best are those like juggling or acrobatics, which depend on technical expertise rather than rapport with an audience, or mob-turns such as Morton Fraser’s Harmonica Gang… with its exquisitely funny dwarf.”

News is similarly level-pegging with ITV’s Christopher Chataway an advantage “somewhat offset by their rather erratic sense of news values.”

And so to The Stage‘s “TV Page” which carries the most detailed version of the story they headline, somewhat erroneously ABC-TV Becomes ATV-TV. I hope they will forgive my relaying their story in full:

As a result of discussion which has taken place between the Chairmen of the respective companies, Prince Littler and Sir Philip Warter have agreed to work together in the provision of studio facilities in the London and Birmingham areas.
The companies have also agreed within the terms of the Television Act to co-operate over the provision of the best available programmes on the days and in the areas for which they have been appointed programme contractors by the ITA.
In order to avoid confusion between the identity of the two companies, Associated Broadcasting Company Limited has consented to change the name of the company to Associated TeleVision Limited, and with effect from October 8 Associated Broadcasting Company Limited will be known as Associated TeleVision Limited or, in its abbreviated call sign form, as ATV.

And lastly, the “Telebriefs” column notes that the Oxo commercials featuring Harry Corbett and Sooty have won first prize in the TV section of Monte Carlo’s International Film Festival.

That’s it for today: bye bye everyone, bye bye.

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