ITV in 1988: HTV 

23 February 2023 tbs.pm/77514

HTV

WALES & WEST OF ENGLAND

HTV Wales, The Television Centre, Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff CF5 6XJ
Tel: 0222 222 590590
Telex: 4977013 Telefax: 590325
The Television Centre, Pontcanna, Cardiff CF1 9XL
Tel: 0222 590590
Telex: 498330 Telefax: 590759
HTV West, The Television Centre, Bristol BS4 3HG
Tel: 0872 778806
Telex: 44156 Telefax: 0272 722400
HTV Limited, 99 Baker Street, London W1M 2AJ
Tel: 01-486 4311
Telex: 264357 Telefax: 01-935 6724
The Civic Centre, Mold CH7 1YA
Tel: 0352 55331 Telefax: 0352 55465

Directors G. E. McWatters (Chairman and Chairman of the West of England Board); I. E. Symonds (Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Welsh Board); P.S.B. F. Dromgoolet†* (Managing Director); C. R. M. Atkinson*; W. G. Beloe*; Mrs R. W. Buchanan*; H. H. Davies† (Chief Executive and Director of Programmes, Wales); The Hon. J. H. Davies†; T. G. R. Davies†; Dr. T. R. Edwards, OBE†; Sir Geraint Evans, CBE†; R. S. Evans* (Director of Programmes – West of England); Mrs M. Gwynn Jones†; T. Knowles†; Lady Merrison*; The Lord Oaksey, OBE*; Dr G. O. Phillips†; C. D. Romaine (Sales Director); E. L. Thomas†; M. R. Towers (Director and General Manager); T. P. George (Director of Engineering); A. J. Burton (Director of Finance).

† Member of the Welsh Board
* Member of the West of England Board

Officers of the Management Group P.S.B. F. Dromgoole (Managing Director); A. J. Burton (Director of Finance); H. H. Davies (Chief Executive and Director of Programmes, Wales); R. S. Evans (Director of Programmes – West of England); T. P George (Director of Engineering); C. D. Romaine (Sales Director), M. R. Towers (Director and General Manager); G. S. Tovey (Company Secretary).

HTV West Programmes Regional news broadcasts have been extended still further during the year and the award of the MBE to senior news journalist, Bruce Hockin, is a matter of special satisfaction for the HTV team. The news output was complemented by such current affairs programming as The West This Week, Weekend Outlook, Election Special, Review of the Year and West Country Farming.

Gardening with John Abrams now holds the record as television’s longest running series of its kind, and Police Five reached a major milestone when the value of stolen goods recovered through the help of viewers reached and passed the magic £1 million mark.

Community programming remains a significant strand in the output with the series The Good Neighbour Show; Problems; Helpline and Your Say maintaining their valued service. New York Film Festival awards for Best Newscast and for Consumer Journalism (Problems) were other landmarks of the year.

DOCUMENTARIES Included Great Dorset Steam, a nostalgic look at the steam driven mechanical monsters of yesterday; The South West Export Awards, a happy collaboration with industry; Along The Cotswold Way, in which Clive Gunnell explored the byways of Gloucestershire; At Home, where Bruce Hockin meets West Country personalities; You’re the Boss, our annual search for the business leaders of tomorrow; The Year Was, leading figures look back on a critical year in their lives; Cavalry of the Clouds, profile of the Royal Flying Corps; Wally Hammond, a revealing study of the West Country’s legendary batsman; Severn Tunnel and A Bridge Too Few, engineering feats that made regional history.

LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT New ground was broken with a series that offered an exciting hour of live television, The Weekend Starts Here. Also screened: Three Little Words, and Something’s Coming, a musical treat for Christmas.

DRAMA Productions included The Honey Siege, the tale of schoolboys who stage a rebellion; Displaced Person, the Emmy-winning story of an orphan in search of a father; Man on the Screen, a compelling murder mystery; Adventures of a Lady, a serial set in England, France and the wilds of Canada; Flashback and Tam, dramas for younger viewers; The Canterville Ghost, a charming romp with Sir John Gielgud as the spectre; and Suspicion, starring Anthony Andrews and Jane Curtin.

MUSIC AND THE ARTS In Search of Mother Kelly’s Doorstep explored the life and music of Randolph Sutton; through Scene ’87, we kept viewers in monthly touch with the world of the arts; Bath Festival, a taste of the region’s premier musical event; Pulling Together, sea shanties; A Long Time Ago, musical nostalgia.

SPORT Facing West, commentator Peter West talks to leading figures from the world of sport; Club Rugby featured exciting games from a championship winning season; Extra Time, sports quiz; The Big Match, soccer coverage; Sports Personality of the West, the search for the region’s outstanding sports person.

RELIGION, CHILDREN’S, ADULT EDUCATION One God, Three Gods; A Dying Order; Highway; Wide Awake; Thy Kingdom Come; Get Fresh; Video and Chips; Against the Odds; Manscape and Storybook International.

CHANNEL 4: Pets in Particular, another series with James Allcock and Lesley Judd; A Little Bit of Magic Realised, gold award-winning documentary; Gallery, arts series; Harlech Democracy Prize, a student production; Wildscreen ’86, Peter Scott Lecture; Stacking in the Sky, daredevil skydiving; Great Dorset Steam; The Middle of the Road Show, Sir Geraint Evans introduces music for everyone; Superfrank, Frankie Howerd entertains; All Muck and Magic, a scries on a new approach to gardening; Clem, a drama which starred Frances de la Tour and her brother Andy.

Bruce Hockin, the HTV newscaster, who received the MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, interviews Somerset cricket veteran Bill Alley.

HTV Wales Programmes The news and current affairs programmes are the flagships of the service. Over the past year, HTV has been improving and extending its daily news service for Welsh viewers with the introduction of extra bulletins, news features in its nightly news programme, Wales at Six, and better visual coverage in all its news programmes. The introduction of electronic news gathering (ENG) has facilitated many of the changes. The advent of ENG has also meant a more comprehensive coverage of Wales in HTV’s news programmes and much later deadlines for news material from West and North Wales.

The weekly current affairs programme, Wales This Week, has won many awards and has established an excellent reputation for in-depth coverage of Welsh affairs and for investigative reporting. During the General Election the Wales This Week team produced a series of ‘Election Specials’. The importance of agriculture to Wales is reflected in the fortnightly farming magazine programme, Farming Wales.

HTV Wales jointly sponsors the Welsh National Business Awards with the Western Mail newspaper. The final of this business achievement competition is televised from HTV’s studios at Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff. The 1986 final was preceded by a weekly series of programmes about Welsh business and industry, Wales Means Business. In addition to programmes shown on its own channel, on the ITV network and on Channel 4, HTV Wales makes nine hours a week for S4C, the Welsh Fourth Channel.

DOCUMENTARIES Networked documentaries included To Ride a Wild Horse, about horse trainer Lucy Rees; and The Pity of War, a drama documentary in which the actor Peter Florence played the part of First World War poet, Wilfred Owen. Other documentaries were Lord Harlech 1918 – 1985, a tribute to HTV’s founding chairman; Wynford Vaughan-Thomas 1908 – 1987, a tribute to another of HTV’s founders; the series, A Week In The Life Of…; Cledwyn, about the* Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords; The Fate of the Language, also shown on Channel 4; Bewitched by a Dolphin; and 1927 – When Cardiff Won the Cup.

LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT Programmes included Showbizz which featured acts new to television from North Wales; Your Number’s Up, a new quiz show; and Elinor, the chat and music show hosted by Elinor Jones.

DRAMA Included the highly-acclaimed networked series, John Silver’s Return to Treasure Island, starring Brian Blessed, and the Christmas musical, The Little Matchgirl, with Twiggy and Roger Daltrey.

MUSIC AND THE ARTS: The Story and the Song featured operatic music from different countries presented by Sir Geraint Evans. Other programmes included Festival Choice; Words and Music; Whom the Gods Love; One Thousand Voices and Prelude at the Castle.

SPORT Regular coverage of rugby and programmes on soccer, athletics and other sports. The series Survival of the Fittest featured eight men in a test of courage and stamina in Snowdonia.

RELIGION, EDUCATION, HEALTH AND FAMILY MATTERS Highway from Aberystwyth, Port Talbot and Swansea for the network; Wales on Sunday; Wales Festival of Remembrance; Looking Forward; It’s on Wales; Parents and Education; Welsh Learner of the Year; When the Chips are Down; Fit for the Family and Play it Safe.

REUCIKIN, EniK’ATieIN, HEALTH AND FAMILY Matters Highuniy from Alierystwyth,

CHANNEL 4: The Dragon Has Two Tongues, a Welsh history series; The Dream that Kicks, a documentary series; and The Fate of the Language.