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Channel 4 Film Blog

Channel 4 Film Blog

During the four years of the research project ‘Channel 4 and British Film Culture’ (2010-2014) a number of writers contributed blogs on aspects of Channel 4’s film activities. Here’s a selection.

An Open Letter to the Home Secretary

Publish: 29 December 2010
On the desk in front of me as I as write is a half-page advertisement from The Times of 10 October 1979. This treasured clipping, now creased and yellowing, is headed ‘The Fourth Television Channel: An Open Letter to the Home Secretary’. Below a block of italicised text there is a signature list of more than […]

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FACE TO FACE: Justin Smith talks to Jeremy Isaacs

Publish: 30 November 2010
JS: Aside from your established track record in television, you’d done a stint as Head of the BFI Production Board in the late 1970s. Was film always a personal passion? What were your reasons for making it a part of your declared manifesto for the new fourth channel? JI: Well, there was an argument going […]

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The Channel 4 films of the 1980s: ‘A worrying new category’

Publish: 9 November 2010
As Channel 4 draws the curtain on the eleven-year success of the Big Brother franchise, it continues to reap the rewards of being the producer of some of the most popular shows on television, including teen dramas Skins and Hollyoaks and reality shows like The Secret Millionaire and Come Dine With Me. It has also […]

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Rose in the Pink

Publish: 9 November 2010
Producer David Rose, Channel 4’s first Commissioning Editor for Fiction, was honoured at a ceremony on 20th April 2010 for his career contribution to British television drama and film. The BFI Fellowship, the Institute’s most prestigious award, was presented by the current Controller of Film and Drama at Channel 4, Tessa Ross, before an audience […]

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Le Blog Française

Publish: 9 November 2010
Festival du Film Britannique de Dinard, 6-10 October 2010 My first day at the 21st British film festival enabled me to catch a film part-funded by Film4 which won the special jury prize here two years ago. Boy A (2008), directed by John Crowley, stars Peter Mullan as Terry, a probation officer charged with protecting […]

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Balloon goes up on University’s Channel 4 Project

Publish: 14 June 2010
The University of Portsmouth’s School of Creative Arts, Film and Media launched its major new research on Channel 4’s impact on British film culture at a special event on 19 May. This first major assessment of the output of Film Four is being led by Dr Justin Smith and Professor Paul McDonald. They won a […]

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In this section:

 

The Research Project

This four-year AHRC-funded project (2010-2014) is a collaboration between the University of Portsmouth and the BUFVC, assessing the impact of Channel 4 on British film culture.

A Film4 Timeline

Between 1982 and 1998 Film on Four directly funded over 270 productions, which provided a major boost to the British film industry and created an unprecedented bridge between television and film.

Film For All Seasons

Film on Four was the flagship strand for new feature films commissioned by Channel 4 between 1982 and 1998. Here you can browse the back catalogue, season by season, as originally broadcast.

Oral History Interviews

Interviews with key personnel have been vital to our research. They reveal much about Channel 4’s contribution to British film culture, and provide valuable insights into the ecology of creativity across the UK film and television industries.

Conferences

The Portsmouth-based research project hosted a dedicated conference at BFI Southbank in November 2012 to coincide with Channel 4′s 30th anniversary. Members of the project team have also disseminated research findings at a number of other conferences in the UK and internationally.

About the project

Among its many innovations, the new Channel 4 made a commitment to fund feature film for broadcast on television and for selective cinema release. While some critics argued that it diminished cinema, many hailed Channel 4 as the saviour of the UK film industry.