DS Forums

 
 

1979 ITV strike - how did they cope?


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 02-09-2003, 12:43
cobaltmale
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dunfermline ♂
Posts: 20,150

I tried in vain a few years back to ask this of "Inside Soap" magazine (where it disappeared down a black hole) but was interested if any of you soap boffins knew how the 3 main ITV soaps of 1979 coped when the 2 month strike hit between August and October. There seemed to be an air of denial in a Corrie hardback guides published in the mid-80s. It had a storyline guide arranged in order by month and there was a synopsis for September 1979 - no acknowledgement of any blip in production. Crossroads must have suffered the same problem tho Emmerdale Farm was only on seasonally then so might have escaped. Given the filming lead over broadcast and the technical blackout nature of the strike action I think the soap gap may have meant that filmed episodes had to be held over but that no new ones could be made until the strike was over. I have a recollection that they did not return until November.

I guess there were 2 options, either to carry on regardless despite continuity concerns (which could be ignored in those largely pre-video days) or to acknowledge to viewers that time had passed and "here's a resume of what you missed" (ie what had not been filmed). The latter may have been obliged if a wedding or suchlike had been flagged up beforehand with a date that fell during the strike.

Also would the cast and crew have been paid for the down-time given that it was beyond their control? 2 months pay would be a big deal for most of us.

Over 2 you ...G
cobaltmale is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 02-09-2003, 13:30
Critical-Eeyore
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Gloomy field in South Oxfordshire
Posts: 196
As far as I remember, the strike was over a period of 11 weeks - Aug to Oct 1979 - and only an apology caption was broadcast.

Again, to the best of my recollection, storylines appeared to continue from (roughly) where they had left off when the strike started (Coronation Street & Crossroads).

As to whether staff were paid, I would imagine that members of the ACTTU may have drawn some form of strike pay, but certainly the acting fraternity may well have been hard pressed.

My memory is not what it used to be.... too much beef, I suppose!

Heyho!

C-E.
Critical-Eeyore is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-09-2003, 21:53
ilscuro
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Manchester UK
Posts: 16
It wasn't a funny time for me, i was bedridden with a broken leg . And there were only 3 channels in those days, so it was either Pebble mill on bbc1, test card on bbc2, or public information films on Itv
Those were the days!

P.S. i'm sure the strike was earlier in the year, my accident happened in february
ilscuro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-09-2003, 22:29
cobaltmale
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dunfermline ♂
Posts: 20,150
[i]
P.S. i'm sure the strike was earlier in the year, my accident happened in february [/b]
A lot of strikes occurred earlier in the year (that was THE winter of discontent) but this mega one was certainly August-October and the arrival of Maggie at No10 did not extinguish industrial strife as some now think . I remember that one of my personal bete-noir Dr Who stories entitled "City of Death" went down as the highest rated ever in that period since there was literally no opposition.

G
cobaltmale is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 03-09-2003, 09:22
James2001
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Mansfield
Posts: 27,534
I know with corrie they showed the episodes that were intended to hvae bene show during the strike afterwards, then showed the new episodes after.
James2001 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-09-2003, 12:05
Critical-Eeyore
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Gloomy field in South Oxfordshire
Posts: 196
Originally posted by ilscuro
It wasn't a funny time for me, i was bedridden with a broken leg . And there were only 3 channels in those days, so it was either Pebble mill on bbc1, test card on bbc2, or public information films on Itv
Those were the days!

P.S. i'm sure the strike was earlier in the year, my accident happened in february
I think that there may have been an electricians strike earlier that year, but as far as I can recall, I believe only Channel TV managed to struggle on for a while.

Operated by execs, they had a couple of steaming tele-cines churning out old ITC produced material for a few weeks (Bless you, L G!), together with the cleaners providing links.

C-E.
Critical-Eeyore is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-09-2003, 12:20
cobaltmale
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dunfermline ♂
Posts: 20,150
Originally posted by Critical-Eeyore
Operated by execs, they had a couple of steaming tele-cines churning out old ITC produced material for a few weeks (Bless you, L G!), together with the cleaners providing links.

C-E.
Sounds eerily like some of the digital channels we have today


G
cobaltmale is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 03-09-2003, 12:47
Critical-Eeyore
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Gloomy field in South Oxfordshire
Posts: 196
Originally posted by cobaltmale
Sounds eerily like some of the digital channels we have today


G
I wonder what Lew would have made of digital these days!!!

C-E.
Critical-Eeyore is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 14:03.