BBC Trade Test Films - Vintage Broadcasting

Do you remember the music that accompanied
the test card on the BBC and ITA?
Well now you can hear it again
Just click the logo to tune in to
TEST CARD MUSIC
From LIVE365

BBC Trade Test Films

Trade test films were first shown as part of the early colour tests done by the BBC.
They were chosen primarily for their high photographic quality.
They were also very interesting to watch.

I remember very well in about 1962 turning on the tv expecting to see the test card
in the afternoon and sometimes, instead, seeing
Beauty In Trust, Journey Into The Weald Of Kent, Skyhook and The Power To Fly
to name but a few. Only one film was shown each day.

The films were then used as part of the pre-launch tests for BBC 2, Jan - Apr 1964.
At that time they were shown in b/w. Later in 1964, colour tests started on BBC 2 and the films were again used, but the transmission times were irregular.
Scheduled showing of the films began in 1967 until they finished in 1973.

They were used by dealers to demonstrate colour tv to customers
as then there was no all day tv programmes.
In all over 160 films were used by the BBC,
below is a small selection of them, and there is also an audio extract from each one.

For more infomation on the all the test films shown by the BBC, go to webfax

BBC 2 Trade Test Continuity

The Colour Television Receiver Film
aka The Colour Receiver Installation Film
can be downloaded in full from HERE

Please Note:
All BP & National Benzole Films Can Be Purchased On VHS Tape From
The BP Video Library Tel: 020 7323 3094

Narrated by John Betjeman, this film visits some National Trust sites. A National Benzole film. Click HERE for audio clip		This film showed farmers how they could gain extra land for cultivation A Shell film. Click HERE for audio clip
A father and son in South East Asia find their lives made easier by an outboard motor. Click HERE for audio clip		The C.O.I. Guide to the driving test. Click HERE for audio clip
Twenty four hours in the life of an Italian motorway service area. Click HERE for audio clip		Made in the mid 1960s as a tribute to the rig, "Sea Gem" which capsized in 1965. The film looks at exploring under the North Sea for natural gas. Click HERE for audio clip
The building of the Kariba Dam in Rhodesia. A Shell film. Click HERE for audio clip		Safety in an electrical laboratory. "S.I.D.E" Made by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. Click HERE for audio clip
A light hearted story of 2 men and a cattle truck in Australia. Theme music sung by Frank Ifield. Click HERE for audio clip		A film made by the Post Office, about mechanised letter sorting. Click HERE for audio clip
An animated film made by Mullard. Click HERE for audio clip		The overhaul of London's buses is the subject of this film. A British Transport film. Click HERE for audio clip
The story of the 1958 Alpine rally. The music is by Malcolm Arnold. A Shell film. Click HERE for audio clip		This is the history of paint from prehistoric caves to the 20th century. Click HERE for audio clip
The making of the glass panels in the spire of Liverpool's RC cathedral. A Shell film. Click HERE for audio clip		This animated film, made by Pearl & Dean for Philips, tells the story of telecommunications. Click HERE for audio clip
The work of a Swiss cable railway conductor. Narrated by Bernard Miles. Click HERE for audio clip		The 1966 Daily Express International Offshore Powerboat Race in the Solent Click HERE for audio clip
The beauty of oil seen through a microscope, music is by Malcolm Arnold. Click HERE for audio clip		Halas & Batchelor made this wondeful animated film about the story of powered flight A BP film. Click HERE for audio clip
A futuristic Dutch exhibition, made for Philips. Click HERE for audio clip		Made in 1962, this film shows the use of plastics in our lives. Click HERE for audio clip
Grass growing in New Zealand New Zealand Film Board Click HERE for audio clip		How to set-up an oil drilling platform in the middle of a jungle. Click HERE for audio clip
A young girl (Guiseppina) in a rural Italian garage. A BP Film Click HERE for audio clip		A selection of uses for small boats from a weekend cruiser to a power boat stunt team. Click HERE for audio clip
A young man buys an old bull nosed Morris car from a scrap dealer and restores it. Music by Ron Grainger Click HERE for audio clip		The Gas Council made this film showing what could be done cooking with gas. Click HERE for audio clip
Mullard made this film about the manufacture of colour tv tubes. Click HERE for audio clip		A look at fossils. A Shell film. Click HERE for audio clip
John Betjeman takes a journey through the "garden of England". A National Benzole film. Click HERE for audio clip		This light hearted animation by Halas & Batchelor tells the history of ocean going oil tankers. Click HERE for audio clip
	George Auric wrote the haunting music for this stop frame animation fantasy, made for Philips. Click HERE for audio clip

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