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.

Production

Until the early 1960s, the vast majority of the BBC's television output was then performed live. Nonetheless, there was a certain degree of pre-shooting in the form of inserts on film, which could be played into the studio and broadcast as part of the play to cover changes of scene, or show location material which would have been impossible to mount live in the studio. Initial pre-filming for Nineteen Eighty-Four took place on November 10 1954 in Studio B of the BBC's original television complex, Alexandra Palace (even by then all but abandoned as a venue for shooting drama, although it housed the news and later the Open University for the next thirty years), with footage of the Two Minutes' Hate and some of the canteen scenes being filmed here.

Related Topics:
1960s - November 10 - 1954 - Alexandra Palace - Open University

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Further location shooting took place on November 18, all exterior scenes featuring Smith's travels in the proletarian sector. Following the pre-filming work, rehearsals for the entire cast began at Mary Ward Settlement, Taverstock Place, from November 22 (moving to 60 Paddington Street from November 29). During these rehearsals, the cast-members memorised their lines and cues, as important in a live television production as in a theatrical play, if not even more so given the vastly greater audience and technical sophistication involved.

Related Topics:
November 18 - Taverstock Place - November 22 - 60 Paddington Street - November 29

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The cast and crew moved to Studio D at the BBC's Lime Grove Studios (a decade later the very studio that was to house the early years of Doctor Who) on Saturday December 11 1954, the day before transmission, for a full camera rehearsal and run-through on the now constructed sets. Rehearsals continued the following day until shortly before transmission, which began at 20:37 on the evening of Sunday the 12th and continued for the best part of two hours.

Related Topics:
Lime Grove Studios - Doctor Who - December 11 - 1954 - Sunday the 12th

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Kneale's script was a largely faithful adaptation of the novel as far as was practical with the limitations of the medium. The writer did, however, make some small additions of his own, the most notable being the creation of a sequence in which O'Brien observes Julia at work in PornoSec, and reads a small segment from one of the erotic novels being written by the machines there.

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