Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Drama
    Drama TV Shows - 1950s 3 Mins Read

    Nineteen Eighty-Four

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 5 4 (UK)
    1 x 107 minute episode

    Aired as part of the BBC’s Sunday-Night Theatre on 12 December 1954, Nigel Kneale’s adaptation of George Orwell’s most celebrated novel was one of the most controversial television programmes of its time and marks a key transitional moment in the development of television drama in Britain.

    Orwell’s warning of a totalitarian future – with one eye on the Soviet present – was just six years old when Kneale and producer Rudolph Cartier (in modern terms, the director) enacted it for the small screen, and audiences and critics were unprepared for the brutality endured by its hapless hero, Winston Smith.

    Like all TV drama of the time, Nineteen Eighty-Four was broadcast live, but it made unusually extensive and imaginative use of filmed inserts – 14 of them in total.

    These sequences bought time for the more elaborate costume changes or scene set-ups but also served to ‘open out’ the action – showing us both the desolate ‘prole sector’ and the apparently idyllic woods where Winston (Peter Cushing) and Julia (Yvonne Mitchell) have their first illicit meeting – while speeding up the drama by reducing the average shot length.

    This unusual freedom helped make Nineteen Eighty-Four the most expensive TV drama of its day, but other, less costly features were just as striking.

    The careful use of close-ups, accompanied by recorded voice-over, allowed us a window into Winston’s inner torment (and demonstrated Cushing’s grasp of small-screen performance) as he struggled to disguise his ‘thoughtcrimes’, while effectively representing Big Brother’s frightening omniscience.

    In the torture sequence, Cartier condensed days, perhaps weeks of relentless humiliation into a few minutes by periodically fading to black, slightly reframing the shot, then fading back in.

    Winston was hidden from view throughout this sequence while we watched his persecutor, O’Brien (André Morrell, whose coolly menacing performance was at least equal to Cushing’s).

    This enhanced our shock when the abject figure of Winston was finally revealed, stripped of all humanity.

    Audiences today are used to far stronger stuff, but in 1954 the drama caused much public and media comment and some tabloid newspapers tried to whip up a demand (unsuccessfully) for the Thursday repeat to be cancelled.

    Support also came from an unlikely quarter when the Duke of Edinburgh announced that he and the Queen had “thoroughly enjoyed” the broadcast.

    This endorsement and the publicity generated by its opponents ensured that the programme attracted a massive audience – the largest since the Coronation – when transmitted a second time (again live) four days after its first screening.

    Winston Smith
    Peter Cushing
    Julia
    Yvonne Mitchell
    O’Brien
    Andre Morell
    Emmanuel Goldstein
    Arnold Diamond
    Syme
    Donald Pleasence

    Related Posts

    • Quatermass Experiment, The
      Quatermass Experiment, The
      1 9 5 3 (UK) 6 x 30 minute episodes This prophetic science fiction thriller by Manx writer Nigel Kneale introduced…
    • Thirty-Minute Theatre
      Thirty-Minute Theatre
      1 9 6 5 - 1 9 7 3 (UK) 285 x 30 minute episodes BBC2's Thirty-Minute Theatre was an attempt to…
    • Alcoa Hour, The
      Alcoa Hour, The
      1 9 5 5 - 1 9 5 7 (USA) One of the finest dramatic shows on US television at the…
    • Quatermass II
      Quatermass II
      1 9 5 5 (UK) 6 x 30 minute episodes Following the success of The Quatermass Experiment in 1953, writer Nigel…
    • Your Show Of Shows
      Your Show Of Shows
      1 9 5 0 - 1 9 5 4 (USA) As television was coming of age in the 1950s, it…
    • David Susskind Show, The/Open End
      David Susskind Show, The/Open End
      1 9 5 8 - 1 9 8 7 (USA) Television's longest running talk show, both in length of time it…
    • Sunday-Night Theatre
      Sunday-Night Theatre
      1 9 5 0 - 1 9 5 9 (UK) 721 x 90 minute episodes This long-running series of plays…
    • Music Box, The
      Music Box, The
      1 9 5 7 (UK) 7 x 30 minute episodes When theatre impresario Jack Hylton was awarded the contract to provide…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleMe and the Boys
    Next Article Cardiac Arrest

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Village People
      Part clever concept, part exaggerated camp act, the Village […]
    • Just Good Friends
      1 9 8 3 – 1 9 8 6 (UK) 22 x 30 minute episodes In the […]
    • Just For Fun (1963)
      The Prime Minister (Richard Vernon) is angling for the youth […]
    • Heights, The
      1 9 9 2 (USA) 13 x 60 minute episodes This drama series ran on […]
    • Lincoln Logs
      John Lloyd Wright, the son of famous architect Frank Lloyd […]
    • Buffy Sainte-Marie
      Born around 1941 on the Piapot Cree reservation in Saskatchewan, […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.