This film is part of Free

Thinking about People

A Liberal dose of electioneering in this unmissable party political broadcast - an example of 1960s live TV saved on film.

Party political broadcast 1965 10 mins

Overview

In this amusingly self-aware Liberal Party political broadcast, newly-elected 'Baby of the House' David Steel MP takes aim at the nationalisation of steel, rates, and the balance of power. But not without taking a pop at the political broadcast TV format: "[They] have always bored me. I’ve always regretted that you can’t even switch over to the other channel because they’re on that one too".

It's also an example of a live TV programme from the 1960s being saved on film. Live telly from the period was extremely ephemeral, and programmes would disappear as they were broadcast unless they could be expensively 'telerecorded' (essentially a 16mm film camera set up in front of a TV) onto film.