From Minor Misdemeanours to Ill-Gotten Gains: the Emergence of Britain's First TV/Film Crime Series

Abstract

By the mid-1960s, with the ending of the double bill at cinemas, the supporting feature disappeared. In the meantime, much of the domestic sector’s endeavours had been focused upon a newly emergent form – the filmed television series, known domestically as TV/film and often referred to as ‘telefilm’ in America. The transition from the production of programme fillers and supporting features via ‘dual purpose’ films (that is, filmed series intended for exhibition in cinemas or on television) and, finally, to TV/film series has not been mapped, nor has its significance been appreciated or critically examined. Yet for some producers and studios in the lower reaches of the industry making films for televisual exhibition was regarded as an opportunity rather than a threat. Through innovative strategic management and the ability to adapt quickly, they were able to survive a period that has long been regarded as one of decline in the British film industry consequent upon the sharp fall in cinema attendances caused by the arrival of commercial television from the mid-1950s onwards (see, inter alia, Spraos 1962 and Docherty et al. 1987).1 Indeed, for some at least, this period of transition was one of continuous and economic production and of successful, innovative adaptation to the burgeoning international market in TV/film. What follows is an account of those industrial dynamics that encouraged the development of domestic TV/film and the changes that were introduced in order to accommodate the market opportunities that subsequently arose. It draws upon articles published in the trade journal, Kinematograph Weekly, which is cited extensively throughout. The focus is upon the largest generic component of the supporting feature and TV/film sectors, the crime narrative.