(Un)Familiar spaces of television production: the BBC's visit to the Soviet Union in 1956. Issue 2 (3rd April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lundgren, Lars
• Is Part Of: Historical journal of film, radio and television. Volume 37:Issue 2(2017)
• Page Start: 315
• Page End: 332
• Publication Date: 2017-04-03
• Subjects: Motion pictures -- History -- Periodicals; Broadcasting -- History -- Periodicals; 302.23409005
• DOI: 10.1080/01439685.2015.1105515
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0143-9685

Abstract

Abstract : The sharing of expertise and know-how was an important practice in the early days of television production; delegations from national broadcasters visited each other to negotiate agreements concerning co-production and programme exchange. On one such occasion, in spring 1956, the BBC visited Soviet Central Television and their production facilities in Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev. Using that visit as vantage point, this article examines production values and professional ideologies in relation to the material spaces of television production. The article argues that the British delegation's encounter with (un)familiar spaces of television production forced them to articulate their own production values in relation to material spaces. The final discussion suggests that the tensions provoked by the discrepancy between production values at Soviet Central Television and at the BBC may inform the main currents of television studies and television history.