1 9 6 5 (UK)
13 x 30 minute episodes
1 9 6 6 (UK)
13 x 30 minute episodes
1 9 7 8 (UK)
13 x 30 minute episodes
1 9 8 0 (UK)
13 x 30 minute episodes
This occasional series from Anglia Television gave viewing audiences a glimpse of the changing face of village life in the East of England.
Episodes showed the village ponds, local markets, village greens and close-knit communities, but the days were gone when everyone in the village knew everyone else and agriculture had begun to make way to some extent for commuter residents in many of the locations.
The villages featured in the show were all within the Anglia Television region, encompassing Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire.
The debut series ran from January to March in 1965. A second series aired in 1966, with Portrait of a Village returning in 1978 and 1980.
Original presenters were Dick Graham and John McGregor. Graham Bell presented in 1978 with Paul Barnes taking over for the 1980 series. The series was produced by Ron Downing.
The theme music was Andantino from Symphony No 2 by Sir Malcolm Arnold (1953).
Graham Bell died in 1997, aged 57.
Presenters
Dick Graham
John McGregor
Graham Bell
Paul Barnes
Episodes
1965: Finchingfield | Episode 2 | Madingley | Hadstock | Abbotsley | Woodbastwick | Polstead | Shepreth | Dalham | Episode 10 | Episode 11 | Episode 12 | Episode 13
1966: Episode 1 | Somerleyton | Tebworth | Cavendish | Castle Acre | Terling | Walberswick | Episode 8 | Odell | Coltishall | Episode 11 | Episode 12 | Episode 13
1978: Weldon | Heybridge Basin | Parson Drove | Hoxne | Langley | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Chelsworth | Episode 9 | Boughton | Westmill | Episode 12 | Episode 13
1980: Wansford | Stevington | Easton | Holywell | Stoke Bruerne | Westleton | Outwell | Pin Mill | Castle Rising | Episode 10 | Episode 11 | Episode 12 | Episode 13