TV Heaven is a collection of television programmes from 1946 to the present day that can be viewed free of charge by visitors to the Museum. There are almost 800 titles, many of which can no longer be seen on satellite or terrestrial television, or purchased on home video. The collection reflects the rich diversity of British television. It includes award-winning drama from television’s greatest writers such as Dennis Potter, Mike Leigh and Alan Bennett; memorable documentaries such as the World in Action series Seven Up and Jacob Bronowski’s Ascent of Man; classic comedy like Hancock’s Half Hour and Monty Python’s Flying Circus; and nostalgic children’s shows such as Watch with Mother and the first episode of Grange Hill.

The only free open-access television collection in the UK, TV Heaven has five small viewing booths for two to five people, and a large viewing room providing seating for 36 people. Booking is not necessary but is advisable at busy times, or for large groups such as school parties.

All titles showing during BFF2004 will begin at 2pm in the TV Heaven Viewing Room.

Kandahar
Saturday 13 March
TV Heaven Viewing Room
Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf BBC 2002 80 mins

A Cannes prize-winner, this moving drama-documentary tells the story of two Afghan women. On hearing that her sister intends to commit suicide, Nefas decides to travel to Kandahar to try and save her. The film highlights the problems of hunger, landmines and the treatment of women under Taliban rule.

Eskimo Day
Sunday 14 March
TV Heaven Viewing Room
Dir. Piers Haggard BBC 1996 85 mins
Maureen Lipman, Alec Guinness, Tom Wilkinson, Anna Carteret

A play by Jack Rosenthal, one of television’s most prolific and talented dramatists. With a typical blend of humour and pathos, it follows the fortunes of two teenagers travelling with their parents to be interviewed for Cambridge University.

The Royal
Tuesday 16 March
TV Heaven Viewing Room
Dir. Adrian Bean YTV 2003 60 mins
Wendy Craig, Julian Ovenden, Ian Carmichael, Michael Starke

The first episode of the hospital drama series which is a spin-off from the highly successful Heartbeat. Once again set in the 1960s, the Royal of the title refers to the fictional St. Aidan’s Royal Free Hospital in Whitby. The programme is actually filmed in Whitby, Scarborough and in a disused wing of St. Luke’s Hospital in Bradford. Ian Carmichael plays the role of hospital secretary T.J. Middleditch.

Programme courtesy of Yorkshire Television

Ready When You Are, Mr Mcgill
Wednesday 17 March
TV Heaven Viewing Room
Dir. Mike Newell Granada 1976 55 mins
Jack Shepherd, Joe Belcher, Joe Black

Jack Rosenthal’s classic comedy play about television itself. An incompetent and egotistical television director and his dispirited film crew battle to produce a drama despite a throng of onlookers, awful British weather, and a bit-part actor with only one line who dreams of stardom.

P.G. Wodehouse’s The World Of Wooster:
Jeeves And The Exit Of Claude And Eustace
Thursday 18 March
TV Heaven Viewing Room
Prod. Michael Mills GB 1966 35 mins (no cert) b/w
Ian Carmichael, Dennis Price, Timothy Carlton, Simon Ward, Clive Morton, Fabia Drake

Ian Carmichael plays the stuttering aristocrat Bertie Wooster, and Dennis Price is his imperturbable manservant Jeeves, in this version of the classic stories. It was adapted for television by Richard Waring and Michael Mills. In this episode, the only one of the series to survive, Bertie’s best efforts to impress the straight-laced Sir Humphrey Wardour in order to marry his daughter are thwarted when his cousins' pranks lead to chaos in the house. As usual it is down to Jeeves to save the day.

Ptang Yang Kipperbang
Friday 19 March
TV Heaven Viewing Room
Dir Michael Apted CH4 1982 75 mins
John Albasiny, Abigail Cruttenden, Alison Steadman

Jack Rosenthal’s comic drama that explores the anxieties, fantasies and sexual awakenings of a schoolboy growing up in 1950s Britain.

The Gathering Storm
Saturday 20 March
TV Heaven Viewing Room
Dir. Richard Loncraine BBC 2002 90 mins
Albert Finney, Vanessa Redgrave, Jim Broadbent, Ronnie Barker, Derek Jacobi

This award-winning drama traces Winston Churchill’s pre-war wilderness years, when he tried to alert the British people to the threat posed by the Nazis. The producer was Ridley Scott and the screenplay was by Hugh Whitemore.

Play For Today - Bar Mitzvah Boy
Sunday 21 March
TV Heaven Viewing Room
Dir. Michael Tuchner BBC 1976 75 mins
Jeremy Stein, Maria Charles, Kim Clifford, Mark Herman, Adrienne Posta, Cyril Shaps

An amusing yet moving rites of passage play by Jack Rosenthal, part of a body of work that resulted in him winning the Bafta Award for Best Writer in 1977. The play concerns a Jewish boy and the tensions in his family as the ceremony approaches at which he will assume his full religious obligations.

Lord Peter Wimsey – Murder Must Advertise
Tuesday 23 March
TV Heaven Viewing Room
Dir. Rodney Bennett BBC 1973 180 mins
Ian Carmichael, Robin Bailey, Christopher Timothy, Paul Darrow, Peter Bowles

One of Dorothy L Sayers’ stories about the aristocratic detective of the 1920s, which were adapted for television by Bill Craig. Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter has to investigate the death of an advertising agent.

Fools On The Hill
Wednesday 24 March
TV Heaven Viewing Room
Dir. David Giles BBC 1986 70 mins
Shaughan Seymour, Nicholas Farrell, Jill Balcon, Caroline Embling, Nicola King

An impressively dramatised account of the early days of British television. With much period detail, this Jack Rosenthal play tells the story of the BBC’s first faltering steps into pictures, in the context of a romance between two of the minor participants.

The Knowledge
Thursday 25 March
TV Heaven Viewing Room
Dir. Bob Brooks Thames 1979 100 mins
Nigel Hawthorne, Mick Ford, Kim Taylforth, Michael Elphick, Maureen Lipman

The acclaimed Jack Rosenthal comedy drama about trainee taxi drivers learning by heart the complex pattern of London streets that comprise “The Knowledge”.

London’s Burning
Friday 26 March
TV Heaven Viewing Room
Dir. Les Blair BBC 1986 120 mins

A one-off Jack Rosenthal film drama that was developed into the popular TV series. Although it demonstrates the heroism of the firemen it also highlights institutional racism and sexism, and it’s considerably darker in tone than its offspring.

Play For Today - Spend, Spend, Spend
Saturday 27 March
TV Heaven Viewing Room
Dir. John Goldschmidt BBC 1977 85 mins
Susan Littler, John Duttine, Liz Smith

Another Bafta Award-winning play by Jack Rosenthal based on the book by Viv Nicholson. It tells the true story of how her mundane life in Castleford was changed for the worse by her husband’s massive win on the pools.