Films
A list of selected films shown on Talking Pictures TV:
Television series
Talking Pictures TV features several classic television series from American broadcasters ABC, CBS, and NBC, as well as British series, mostly from Southern Television productions for the ITV network. Many of the American television shows were produced by Four Star Television.
New television programmes for 2022 included The Heritage Chart Show with Mike Read, a pop music countdown of videos and live performances from veteran acts, presented on Sunday nights by the former Radio 1 disc jockey Mike Read and shared with the Local TV network of channels.[57][58][59][60] Also Read can be seen each week with Talking Pictures TV founder Noel Cronin on the channel's archive programme The Footage Detectives, a show which discusses forgotten films and lost TV shows such as The Barnstormers from 1964.[61][62]
Other
Talking Pictures TV also features several films from the series featuring Old Mother Riley, and from the British Film Institute's (BFI) archives, including several significant documentaries, and a considerable number of Children's Film Foundation productions, named under a series segment Glimpses.[7] Its intention is for both nostalgia and education, as well as reminding the audience of the past; some footage is donated by viewers.[10] The series is the most popular original content on the channel and its compilation DVD is the most popular buy on Renown Film's website.[126]
The Take Two series was presented by Elstree historian Morris Bright, and occasionally Robert Ross and/or the channel creators, who interview famous actors whose films and programming is airing on the channel, such as Nanette Newman, Angela Douglas, Rita Tushingham,[127] Sylvia Syms, Michael Craig,[128]
Themed days
The channel has featured themed days, such as "An Afternoon with Liz Fraser"[147] (14 August 2016), "1960s Day",[148] "Sophia Loren Evening"[149] (20 September 2016), "Music Hall Monday" (18 January 2016),[150] "Diana Dors Day" (14 May 2017),[151] and "An Afternoon with Patricia Dainton" (12 April 2016),[152] in which the actress came out of retirement to provide introductions to her films. "Laurel and Hardy Month"[153]
Themed nights
In 2021, the channel introduced The Cellar Club with Caroline Munro, a Friday night block of crime, sci-fi and horror films, like 1974 Hammer production Captain Kronos The Vampire Hunter and Joseph Green's The Brain That Wouldn't Die from 1962.[175]
Controversy, racial slurs
The regulator Ofcom has warned the channel about the use of racial slurs in its programming on a handful of occasions,[14] including an episode of Granada Television's A Family at War, originally broadcast in the early 1970s, shown by TPTV in the hour just before the 9pm watershed, and an uncensored interview with Joan Turner during her appearance on the talk show Tell Me Another.[176]
Cronin-Stanley told The Times in February 2018: "Ofcom say we need to advise people before they watch something that it may contain outdated racial stereotyping, but I would say that's babysitting our audience".[14] However, since late 2018, warning notices have been displayed just before some programmes begin, stating, for example, that a programme "was made between 1978 and 1992" and that "Some viewers may be offended by the language and attitudes expressed by some characters ... which reflect the time it was made." In addition, occurrences of such terms may be removed from the soundtrack and the subtitles.
