THE OVERSEAS INFORMATION SERVICES (OIS) 1946 to 1959. Introduction The term Overseas Information Services (OIS) describes that part of the work of the British Embassies and High Commissions (Posts) that provided information and publicity about Britain in the countries to which they were accredited. Their purpose was to assist in promoting a better understanding about Britain, its achievements and the nature of the British people
Starting in the 1930’s as an initiative by the Empire Marketing Board many Posts had built up libraries of films some produced by the Crown Film Unit,or other UKorganisations for local distribution to a range of educational and other institutions as well private screenings at Posts. The films were mainly documentary, but included some feature films the rights for which were acquired by COI. The documentary films came from a range of sources including films acquired from industrial sponsors. Although not especially made for overseas use, a number had sufficient general interest to be useful to Posts
The acquisition of rights and the distribution of copies was a service provided from 1946 by the Film Division Distribution and Acquisition Section so that most Posts had a library, some small, some quite large, of films on offer to interested groups or for screenings given by information staff.
The opportunities offered during the 1950s by the gradual opening up of television stations, particularly in North America and Australia, provided the prospect of new ways to reach substantial audiences. But gaining significant access to television implied creating new programs and services that would be effective in the context of this new medium.
In 1954 an Official Committee of the Overseas Information Services chaired by the Earl of Drogheda recommended an expansion of the information services. It had also recommended development of the use of television by the Overseas Information Services “as an outlet for films, particularly in the United States”going on to recommend the establishment of films officers in Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles with an officer in New York to handle television. These positive recommendations languished for a while in the official machinery but were revived as a consequence of the debacle of the invasion of Suez that did great harm to the image of Britain in the world. The implementation of the Drogheda Committee recommendations was taken up by Charles Hill, who had been appointed to coordinatethe Government Information Services in 1957. He arranged to find the necessary financial resources to expand the use of television by the overseas information services.
The White Paper on Overseas Information Services (Cmd 225) published in1957, concluded by noting
“Britain’s full influence can be exercised only if we are prepared to devote enough effort and resources to ensuring that the people’s or other countries have every opportunity to understand our ideas our policies and our objectives. Furthermore, we shall strengthen our economic position only if our efforts include vigorous sale salesmanship overseas”.
The White Paper announced an expansion of the order of 15% in terms of annual expenditure that was now a total of £15 million a year compared with £13 million pounds then currently expended. It was
“necessaryto maintain Britain’s information services as a level consistent with our world wide responsibility to ensure the necessary reinforcement of our national policies and our associations in the defence of the free world”.
It took a couple or years or so for this additional expenditure to come on stream. Gradually it did so and from 1956 onwards the Overseas Television Services were brought into being in Film Division and developed. While by no means entirely spent on Overseas Television the budget for Films Division grew from under £200,000 in 1957 to £1,530,000 in 1964/5 The Overseas Information Services (OIS) comprisedthe Foreign Office, the Commonwealth Relations Office and the Colonial Office. Their work eventually represented the largest single area of work and expenditure for Film Division, a situation that continued until 1990. During the period 1957 to 1990 several hundred television programs together with well over 1000 short news features, together with a weekly television newsreel were produced. The exact number is not known because the records are sadly incomplete. However for the OIS, who had come to accept that the concept of “projecting Britain” through the mass communication medium of television, the output was to be a substantial contribution to their information work in Embassies and High Commissions.
The television programs for overseas use produced by COI were an activity and a body of work about which not a great deal has been written. Yet the style and nature of the programs were remarkable given the context within which they were made, which was that of the voice of ‘official’ Britain.
A useful account of the overseas television work up to1964, was published by the British Universities Film and Video Council (BUFVC) in 2007. Written by their Head of Research Linda Kaye, under the title “Reconciling Policy and Propaganda: The British Overseas Television Service 1954-1964” it was published as “Projecting Britain”. The book deals in some detail with developments in government policy during the 1950s, leading up to Ministerial decisions to invest in the new medium of television as part of the Overseas Information services. It goes on to chart the progress of a number of television series produced between the mid 1950s up to 1964 showing how these television films attempted, with varying degrees of success, to meet the policy objectives of the Overseas Information Services. The period covered by this account runs from the middle of the 1950’s, to the early part of 1990. In broad terms the COI Film Division Overseas Television Services gradually grew from the mid 1950s, expanded quite quickly during the 1960s.A significant number of changes were made at the beginning of the 1970s, both in production and distribution. The services waned somewhat during the late 1980s and disappeared almost altogether between 1990 and 1995 as the then Foreign and Commonwealth set up its own Film Unit. Many of the changes over the years were driven by changes in technology and the growth and scope of television stations around the world. How far the eventual disappearance of the COI services were driven simply by policy changes within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as it went its own way is not, at present, at all clear. The thrust of this account is look at how the various television series made in the period 1957-1990 were actually produced in the context of the government machine with all the inevitable implications of the bureaucratic system. Who actually created the television series? What was the nature of the programs? How were they distributed? What were the criteria for their transmission? What evidence was there for their use? The original impetus for writing this account came from conversations between several former colleagues including Adam Leys and John Hall at screenings organized by the BFI at the National Film Theatre in 2006, as part of the COI 60th Anniversary Celebrations. The preparation of this account has been hampered by the incomplete paper records passed by COI to the National Archive for preservation. Another difficulty has been that the handling of the physical archive of COI film materials in later years was poorly carried out by COI. The archive was outsourced for several years to a commercial distribution company whose care of it left much to be desired.
When COI closed in 2012 the archive was taken over by the British Film Institute and the National Film Archive. Nonetheless with the aid of the memories of some former colleagues, research at the National Archives and the British Film Institute, together with some personal papers, an account was put together and is now incorporated in this overall account of the work of Film Division.
Overseas Television Services1954 to 1959: As with all ‘discoveries” the value of television as a medium for the Overseas Information Services was not solely one for the Drogheda Committee. In 1954 anad hoc group brought together by the Board of Trade, the Overseas Departments and the COI had also considered the use of film and television largely from the importance of trade. At about the same time the Commonwealth Relations Office saw the same question from a different perspective. It believed television would be important in future years for influencing ‘public opinion’ in political and cultural terms in Commonwealth countries.
A key figure who started the actual ball rolling in April 1954 was Charles Dand then Director of the Films and Publications Division of British Information Services(BIS) in New York that was the media arm of the British Embassy in Washington
While BIS had a library of documentary films that were on offer to television stations it was Charles Dand who proposed that a series of magazine programs especially produced for use on television be commissioned. He proposed the programs be called "Transatlantic Teleview" and marketed to television stations across the United States. His vision was both perceptive and prescient. He envisaged programs that would use an interviewer to enable an American audience “to become familiar with our leading political and economic personalities……more informed…..about our attitudes to current international problems”.
The first three "Transatlantic Teleview" programs were produced by COI some four months later. The interviewer for the series was a Canadian, Robert Mackenzie. A journalist, he was an urbane and informed interviewer who was able to ask sensible questions thereby gaining the respect of his interviewees together with his audience. The prescription put forward by Charles Dand together with his hope for substantial use by television stations in the USA proved very successful. Of the roughly 400 television stations operating in 1955, 150 stations took the program on a monthly basis. By 1956 with an estimated audience somewhere between 10 and 20 million the Overseas Information Services were well pleased with both the program content and the audience achieved.
Altogether some 35 editions of "Transatlantic Teleview" were produced during the three years 1954 to 1958. The suggested information content drawn up by Charles Dand in his letter of April 12 1954 to a Miss Senior at the Foreign Office was closely followedby the COI.
Transatlantic Teleview
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 8 1955" Robert Mackenze interviews Anthony Nutting Minister of State at the Foreign Office about the disarmament talks between Russia and China and the USA and France and UK. Nutting emphasises the need for effective international control of weapons. NFA ID 585671
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 9 1955" Mackenzie interviews two students from the USA as Marshall Scholars at Oxford University NFA ID 596494
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 11 1955": Interview with Sir Arnold Hall Director of the Royal Aircraft Research Establishment at Farnborough. NFA ID 585670
"Transatlantic Teleview issue13 1955": Robert Mackenzie interviews the Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd about current UK foreign policy. NFA ID 585666
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 14 1956": Robert Mackenzie interviews Sir Matthew Drysdale Chair of Lloyds of London about the historical origins, development and present day functions of the world famous insurance organisation. NFA ID 329677
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 15 1956": Robert Mackenzie interviews SirJames Scott Watson Director General of the National Agricultural Advisory Service about agriculture and livestock in the UK NFA ID 329678
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 16 1956": Robert Mackenzie interviews two teachers Miss M Harber from the UK and Mr Peter Weeks from the USA about their experience in working in different countries NFA ID 329679
"Transatlantic Teleview issue17 1956": Robert Mackenzie interviews Sir Edmund Hillary and Dr. Fuchs of the British Trans Antarctic Expedition. Made by World Wide Pictures. NFA ID 329680
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 21 1956" is about the new satellite town of Harlow. Christopher Chataway discusses this building experiment with Frederick Gibberd Harlow's architect planner. NFA ID 329685
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 22 1956" is a report on British achievements in the field of aviation with an emphasis on jet airliners. NFA ID 329686
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 23 1956" A report on the historical, political and economic background to the issues giving rise to political disturbances in Cyprus. NFA ID 329687
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 24 1956" Christopher Chataway interviews Peter Twiss and Donald Campbell about his water speed records and why he continues to undertake more attempts. NFA ID 329688
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 25 1956" was about the construction and working of Calder Hall the world's first full scale nuclear power station. NFA ID 329689
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 26 1957" was about the police service in London. Interviews with men on the beat and with Sir Not-Bower the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. NFA ID 329690
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 29 1957"was about the world tour by Prince Philip as described by him during his film and slide show to school children at the Royal Festival Hall. NFA ID 329693
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 31 1957" was about a typical English village Harting on the Sussex Downs. NFA ID 329695
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 32 1957": Robert Mackenzie interviews Prime MinisterTunku Abdul Rahman on the occasion of Independence of Malaya. NFA ID 329696
"Transatlantic Teleview issue 33 HM The Queen1957" an American student of history describes the meaning and significance of Britain's constitutional monarchy. Robert Menzies Prime Minister of Australia speaks about the status of the Queen in Australia. NFA ID 329697 " Transatlantic Teleview New Towns in Britain" (click here to view from BFI) recently-settled residents of Harlow give the lowdown on living in one of Britain's New Towns for the benefit of North American audiences. At the top of the Lawn tower block, architect-planner Frederick Gibberd explains his modern building concept. Meanwhile closer to earth, a worker, a factory boss and a middle-class housewife with an unexpected grasp of Americanisms describe the reality.
" Transatlantic Teleview 27 Ghana New Nation (click here to view from BFI) an interview with Kwame Nkrumah, first Prime Minister of Ghana, is the centrepiece of this optimistic vision of a postcolonial, multicultural, gender egalitarian parliamentary democracy. Other voices extol the nation's dynamism in an account that blends promotion of the Commonwealth, celebration of territories running their own affairs and sympathy with the British Empire's retreat from the Gold Coast. NFA ID 329691
Commonwealth Teleview
These programs were complemented by a similar series "Commonwealth Teleview" distributed to Canada and Australia that included:
"Commonwealth Teleview issue 1": Robert Mackenzie interviewed the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the Earl of Home about the future nature of Commonwealth Relations. NFA ID N- 605427
"Commonwealth Teleview issue 2" was about the new towns in the UK NFA ID 2821
"Commonwealth Televiewissue 3": Robert Mackenzie interviewed Sir John Cockcroft the Director of Harwell Atomic Research Laboratory about the use of atomic energy in the UK.
Thus by 1959 the acorn planted by "Transatlantic Teleview" had developed through some experiments into a young but promising tree.
Topic: Meet the British
In 1958 the teleview programs were replaced in the USA and Canada with distribution elsewhere by a new 13 part series "Topic Meet the British (1958-1959)".
"Topic:Meet the British" was the first attempt by COI Film Division to produce a 13 part series in a television idiom specifically addressed to the US market.By offering the series as a package of 13 programs, it would also fit the13week schedule that most television stations worked to. An American couple, Joan and Julius Evans who were “travelling” in Britain while describing a single place or subject as they went, presented the series.
Among the subjects were programs about the work of a Member of Parliament, a look at Oxford University through the eyes of an American Rhodes Scholar, a program about Northern Ireland and its many links with the USA: an impression of theatre in the UK through the West End of London and a program about children’s cinema featuring the Children’s Film Foundation.
The series was directed by Ray Fleming who was then in charge of the Film Division Overseas Television Services. In many ways "Topic" was a brave attempt at a package that was fronted by friendly, slightly folksy, Americans. The series as a whole was, however, somewhat variable in execution.Nonetheless it was well received in the USA. By October 1960 129 stations had transmitted the entire series.
Topic
Topic no 1 Oxford Julius and Joan with some help from a Rhodes Scholar Dick Baker explore Oxford and discover the joys of the tutorial system.
Topic no 2 Theatre J&J meet an aspiring actor from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) to learn something about the nature of the theatre in the UK.
Topic no 3 Housewife J&J meet a typical housewife Angela Parris from Eastcoate in Middlesex.
Topic no 4 A Day in London J&J in tourist mode visit a number of landmark sites in London.
Topic no 5 Meet an MP J&J investigate the British electoral system and the work of a typical MP.
Topic no 6 Lifeboats a visit is made to a lifeboat station at St Davids in West Wales to meet a lifeboat crew.
Topic no 7 Northern Ireland J&J learn about the ties that bind the province to the United States .
Topic no 8 Coventry a visit is made to Coventry to see something of its reconstruction following WW11.
Topic no 9 Men of Harwell a visit is made to the Harwell atomic research station.
Topic no 10 Commonwealth students J&J meet a number of students from various parts of the Commonwealth who are studying in London.
Topic no 11 London Airport visit is made to see interesting parts of the airport.
Topic no 12 Children's Cinema Julius Evans finds out about the work of the Children's Film Foundation. They meet Mary Field and John Krish. NFA ID 13758
Topic no 13 A Village in England sixty miles from London is the village of South Harting where J&J see a typical village,
Dateline Britain
"Dateline Britain 1957-1959 " ,replaced "Commonwealth Teleview" to be broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation across Canada. It was presented in the manner of "Topic" by a Canadian couple Bernard Braden and Barbara Kelly who were well knowntelevision personalities to Canadian audiences. NFA ID N-36623
One of the issues of this series provoked some criticism. It was called "Face of Youth" and included an interview by a controversial UK author Colin Wilson together with a London debutante. The Director of Information of UK Information Services in Ottawa, Donald Kerr, wrote to the Commonwealth Relations Office saying:
“ it is our job to present hard information to Canadians not to entertain them except when a little entertaining can smooth the way for presenting much hard information”. The recipient of these comments, Alistair Scott of the Commonwealth Relations Office, disagreed with the definition of “hard information” saying
"It seems to me important that overseas people have some hard information in film terms about what British people are feeling and thinking in their everyday occupations. What he calls hard information in my view is adequately dealt with in the other media and the film is a medium above all which can present a personal view of Britain and the British.”
This interesting exchange was to echo down the years. Donald Kerr was later to become Controller Overseas at COI at a point when there were similar issues about “hard” and “soft” information with BIS New York in the context of a later series "London Line". Donald Kerr then stoutly defended criticisms of COI Film Division from BIS about the use and balance of soft and hard information. But the differences remained to haunt COI. They possibly played a part in leading the Foreign Office in 1990 to split away from COI to pursue its own dreams of getting hard information transmitted by overseas television stations by way of programs produced by official departments..
That is another story, to be picked up some 30 years later. In the meantime the view of COI and indeed many of the officials in the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Relations Office recognized the essential importance of informing entertainingly if the programs were to be transmitted by television stations.
Viewpoint
In addition to "Dateline Britain" a further series called "Viewpoint"was produced. It was a contribution to aCanadian Broadcasting Corporation program of the same name that was transmitted each day following the evening news. This arrangement for the UK program to be part of a larger program provided a substantial audience for the UK information services.
British Sporting Personalities 1959-1962
Stanley Matthews was account of the career of this famous footballer including material from some of his notable games NFA ID 133578
Derek Ibbotson about this record breaking runner with material of him breaking the mile in 1957 NFA ID 133573
Judy Grinham was about the career of this record breaking swimmer with material of some of her best performances NFA ID 133574
People and Places 1959 -1960
People and Places was also known as Arab Teleview. It consisted of 13 fifteen minute programs produced for the Foreign Office. Another version of this series was Report from London produced in Persian. NFA ID 63395
In 1958/59 the rapid expansion of production of television material by Film Division gave rise to program production problems. The COI had realized for some time that the 1946 remit of contracting out production made it impossible to produce films rapidly. To make a series in a matter of weeks for example.
Much earlier John Grierson the former Controller of Films (1948-50) had foreseen the problem, commenting in 1950 on the shortcomings of the COI terms of reference in respect of contracting fast moving film production. In such situations he noted
as uneasy events assume urgency …… of this we have all been aware with one or two of us holding the minority view that events have never been other than urgent……… the COI terms of reference have accordingly being basically inadequate from the outset
The new television services now needed to operate at a faster pace. A modest proposal that a single camera crew should be added to Film Division staff led to a remarkable row with the documentary film industry who strongly objected to the thought of Film Division acquiring a camera crew. They saw it as being the thin end of a wedge to bring back some form of Crown Film Unit. The row reached the floor of the House of Commons where, eventually, the idea was squashed. In time, of course, very gradually, as this and other parts of this account will record, the remit of 1946 was worn away to the point where in house production was substantially greater than contracted production. John Grierson’s vision of 1950 eventually came to have a good deal of substance.
The year 1959 and the approach to the decade of the 1960s witnessed the falling into place of a group of services that formed a coherent package of output that was to be the Overseas Television Services. It saw the start of the first issues of "British Calendar (later renamed Calendar)" together with "This Week In Britain (TWIB)"a series that was initially produced by Roseanne (Rossie) Brownrigg.
"TWIB" was to become a long running and popular series distributed to the Commonwealth and Latin America where it was called "24 Horas". The format was a short film with a reporter presenting each report that lasted about 5 minutes. The intention of the series was that the reports would be incorporated into local news magazine programs. They would appear to the viewer as though they were reports produced by a correspondent of the local television station in the UK. The reports covered a wide range of people, events and innovations in a lively and friendly way.
The series was first produced in two versions for Latin America in Spanish and Portuguese. The programs were quickly taken up and led to further versions so that by the end of 1960 there were no less than seven versions of TWIB. One version for Canada, one for Australia, one for New Zealand, India, Nigeria and Southern Rhodesia, one in Persian, one in Arabic plus the two for Latin America. The reported usage in Latin America showed that it was quickly taken up in Mexico, Cuba, Honduras, Columbia and Brazil.
The format appealed to television stations since it tended to enhance their status by leaving open the suggestion that the report was their production. From the perspective of COI there was the added value of the station incorporating the reports into local programs because this tended to mean that transmission times were often peak times. For example the Australian network ABC broadcast the series at 8.25 pm each Saturday evening for a number of years moving to 6.55 pm each Tuesday just prior to the evening news. The series continued until 1980 a run of nearly 20 years and over 1100 programs.
The reporter/presenters of each version of the series became personalities because of the regularity and longevity of the programs. Reporters such as Ann Forsyth and Noelene Pritchard became celebrities in Australia while Leda Casares and MadalenaNicol gained much the same status for the Latin American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese versions respectively.
The content of the series covered a huge range of events and people in the course of some 1100 programs from 1959 to 1979. Subjects of early programs such as "TWIB issue 5" in 1959 includedHampton Court Palace which was simply a piece of historical tourism. The arts included a program "TWIB issue 751" in 1973 about the sculptor Barbara Hepworth. During 1974 and 1979 there were programs about social issues such as "TWIB 813 in 1974 Meeting without Bars" about help for families with a member serving a prison sentence while in 1978 there were a group of three programs, "TWIBs 988 to 990", about the changing place of women in society.
These programs starting from 1954 constituted the roots of the Overseas Television Services that were achieve considerable growth in the years 1960 to the end of the 1980s.
Although over 1100 issues of TWIB were produced only a few records of the actual program content remain. The fault or blame for this sad situation lies squarely with the Film Library section of Film Division and also with the COI Registry who, in common with all departments of government, were the guardians of all COI records files including film production files. For some reason many production files were “weeded “ by the COI Registry before being handed over to the National Archives for preservation leaving no useful content. In addition many programs were junked as lacking historical value .
During 1959 several series were produced in Arabic for distribution in the Middle East. The first two programs were People and Places (1959-1960) a series of films each lasting 13 minutes together with Report From London in Persian (1959-1960). The format was the same for each series with a presenter introducing a single subject. In effect they were a series of short documentary films with a presenter added on. These programs were superseded by Letter From London (1960-1970).
The group of programs reflected the priority given by the OIS to the Middle East where television stations were emerging. The opportunity offered by the structure of the programs provided low cost films for the newly emerging television stations in these countries.
Two further series were "British Sporting Personalities (1959-1962)" they were a short group of 15 minute programs. Each program featured a prominent British sports person.
"Portrait (1959-1965)" was a series of 15 minute programs each featuring a different occupation in the UK. It was eventually distributed in a number of different language versions including Hindi and English. The latter version was distributed to television stations in Kenya, Ghana and Uganda.
To complement the various series of programs the Overseas Television Service also produced a regular service of short news items extensively used by New York and Ottawa. The "Television News Service" that started in 1958 did not provide programs but numerous short, 1-2 minute. These items were designed to be included in news programs produced by local television stations. They were distributed on 16mm film. The items were accompanied by a suggested script to be read by a local news presenter. Where the item included interview material a transcript was included in the script for local translation.
A music and effects soundtrack was also included for incorporation into local news programs. Since television stations were used to being supplied by material in this form from television news agencies, the material was judged on the basis of its perceived interest to a local audience rather than as something coming from a foreign government. The fact of distribution by 16mm film that entailed sending material by air meant that the material took some 24 hours to arrive: it was not instant news. However all the news agencies faced the same time limitations.which enabled the "Television News Service" to compete on roughly equal terms. Reports from Posts suggested that the items supplied by the service were well used.
The content of the news items reflected events of the day including political events involving relations between the UK and other countries. This offered opportunities for the UK view to be included in local news programs, an opportunity frequently taken up by UK Ministers.The access to Ministers enjoyed by the service together with relatively “soft” questioning made it a good vehicle for the “ hard” political subjects which the Foreign and Commonwealth Office were keen to get across. The existence of these services were also valued by a number of Departments who had an interest in overseas publicity.
The weekly "British Television News" was a newsreel produced under contract with Movietone News aimed largely at television stations in the developing countries. It is not clear when this operation commenced, probably around 1958. Len Croft supervised the production of the newsreel. Before joining COI he had been employed by Pathe Pictorial Newsreel.
For a list of Overseas Films that were made between 1946 and 1959 go to "The Films We Made" on the Navigation Bar.
It is possible that the list is not complete. Information about any films that may have been missed would be welcome. Please send to "Contact Us".