Nineteen Eighty-Four (TV programme)

Nineteen Eighty-Four was a British television adaptation of the novel of the same name by George Orwell, originally broadcast on BBC Television in the winter of 1954. The production proved to be hugely controversial, with questions asked in Parliament and many viewer complaints over its supposed subversive nature and horrific content. In a 2000 poll of industry experts conducted by the British Film Institute to determine the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four was ranked in seventy-third position.

Broadcast history

• BBC Television, December 12 1954, live – not recorded.
• BBC Television, December 16 1954, live – exists as a 35mm film telerecording.
• BBC Two, November 28 1965, new production of an updated version of the 1954 script. Does not exist.
• BBC Two, August 3 1977, repeat of December 1954 telerecording.
• BBC Two, July 1 1994, repeat of December 1954 telerecording.
• BBC Four, June 14 2003, repeat of December 1954 telerecording.