Colour Strike
Encyclopedia
The Colour Strike was an industrial action
by technicians at all ITV
companies from 13 November 1970 to 8 February 1971 (although some shows made during this period in black and white were having their first transmission as late as December 1971) who, due to a pay dispute with their management, refused to work with colour television equipment.
At that time ITV had recently switched to colour transmissions, requiring the individual companies to invest heavily in new equipment. Early colour television studio cameras consisted of four tubes to relay the picture: three were receptive to colour (red, green and blue - the chrominance
signal) with the fourth providing a high-resolution monochrome image (the luminance
signal) which was still required as many viewers still watched on monochrome receivers. The final colour picture was created by combining the chrominance and luminance signals, but the technicians simply switched off the colour tubes whilst this dispute took place.
This meant that even though colour equipment was available, all shows were recorded and broadcast in monochrome, thus denying the ITV companies the ability to sell airtime
at the higher value that colour transmissions dictated.
In some film sequences for location shots in these programmes (shot in colour), the colour signal from the telecine
machine had to be switched off in the vision mixing desk before being recorded to tape, but this was partly unsuccessful, leading to some film sequences being recorded with an odd array of pale colours (as for items where the colour is a mix of two primary colours, only one primary colour would show). This is prominent in the second series of Hadleigh
, for example.
The first Coronation Street
to be broadcast in colour was on 24 November 1969, but due to the strike, many 1970/71 editions (such as the death of Valerie Barlow by electrocution) were shot in black and white. The last monochrome edition was on the 10 February 1971.
There was also a short dispute two years later in early 1973 affecting both BBC channels and ITV as well.
Industrial action
Industrial action or job action refers collectively to any measure taken by trade unions or other organised labour meant to reduce productivity in a workplace. Quite often it is used and interpreted as a euphemism for strike, but the scope is much wider...
by technicians at all ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
companies from 13 November 1970 to 8 February 1971 (although some shows made during this period in black and white were having their first transmission as late as December 1971) who, due to a pay dispute with their management, refused to work with colour television equipment.
At that time ITV had recently switched to colour transmissions, requiring the individual companies to invest heavily in new equipment. Early colour television studio cameras consisted of four tubes to relay the picture: three were receptive to colour (red, green and blue - the chrominance
Chrominance
Chrominance is the signal used in video systems to convey the color information of the picture, separately from the accompanying luma signal . Chrominance is usually represented as two color-difference components: U = B' − Y' and V = R' − Y'...
signal) with the fourth providing a high-resolution monochrome image (the luminance
Luminance
Luminance is a photometric measure of the luminous intensity per unit area of light travelling in a given direction. It describes the amount of light that passes through or is emitted from a particular area, and falls within a given solid angle. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square...
signal) which was still required as many viewers still watched on monochrome receivers. The final colour picture was created by combining the chrominance and luminance signals, but the technicians simply switched off the colour tubes whilst this dispute took place.
This meant that even though colour equipment was available, all shows were recorded and broadcast in monochrome, thus denying the ITV companies the ability to sell airtime
Airtime
Airtime is a free and open source radio management application for remote broadcast automation , and program exchange between radio stations.-History:...
at the higher value that colour transmissions dictated.
In some film sequences for location shots in these programmes (shot in colour), the colour signal from the telecine
Telecine
Telecine is transferring motion picture film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the post-production process....
machine had to be switched off in the vision mixing desk before being recorded to tape, but this was partly unsuccessful, leading to some film sequences being recorded with an odd array of pale colours (as for items where the colour is a mix of two primary colours, only one primary colour would show). This is prominent in the second series of Hadleigh
Hadleigh (TV series)
Hadleigh was a British television series made by Yorkshire Television which originally ran from 1969 to 1976. Developed by Robert Barr, it was a sequel to the writer's earlier Gazette for the same company...
, for example.
The first Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
to be broadcast in colour was on 24 November 1969, but due to the strike, many 1970/71 editions (such as the death of Valerie Barlow by electrocution) were shot in black and white. The last monochrome edition was on the 10 February 1971.
There was also a short dispute two years later in early 1973 affecting both BBC channels and ITV as well.
Shows affected by the ITV colour strike
- BudgieBudgie (TV series)Budgie was a popular British television series starring former popstar Adam Faith which was produced by ITV company London Weekend Television and broadcast on the ITV network between 1971 and 1972....
(LWT) (the first four episodes of series one) - Please Sir (LWT) (the last three episodes of series three)
- Upstairs, DownstairsUpstairs, DownstairsUpstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a...
(LWT) (the first half of series one was made in black and white; the first episode was later reshot in colour. The remaining black and white episodes are often not shown in overseas syndicated broadcasts) - The Big MatchThe Big MatchThe Big Match is a British Association football television programme, which screened on ITV regularly between 1968 and 1992 ....
(LWT) - TimeslipTimeslipTimeslip is a British children's science fiction television series made by ATV for the ITV network and broadcast between 1970 and 1971. The series centres around two children, Simon Randall and Liz Skinner who discover the existence of a strange anomaly, known as the “Time Barrier”, that enables...
(ATVAssociated TeleVisionAssociated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
) - Doctor at Large (LWT) (the first six episodes)
- On the BusesOn The BusesOn the Buses was a British situation comedy created by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney which was broadcast in the UK from 1969 to 1973. The writers' previous successes with The Rag Trade and Meet the Wife were for the BBC, but the Corporation rejected On the Buses, not seeing much comedy potential...
(LWT) (the second half of series four, plus the Christmas special 1970) - Bless This House (ThamesThames TelevisionThames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
) (the first seven episodes of series one) - Crossroads (ATV)
- Coronation StreetCoronation StreetCoronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
(GranadaGranada TelevisionGranada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
) (all episodes transmitted on and between Monday 16 November 1970 and Wednesday 10 February 1971. In addition, the episodes transmitted on Monday 22 and Wednesday 24 February 1971 had black and white location inserts) - Dear Mother...Love AlbertDear Mother...Love AlbertDear Mother...Love Albert later retitled Albert! was a successful British sitcom broadcast between September 1969 and June 1972. It was created by and starred Rodney Bewes. Bewes co-wrote and produced the series with Derrick Goodwin...
(Yorkshire) (all 6 episodes 1 to 6 of series 3) - Hine (ATV)
- The Mind of Mr J.G. Reader (Thames) (all of series two apart from 'Man With A Strange Tattoo')
- The Trouble with You, Lilian (LWT) (all but episode one)
- Six Dates with BarkerSix Dates With BarkerSix Dates with Barker is a series of six one-off, half hour situation comedies showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. All were broadcast by London Weekend Television early in 1971.Writers on the series included John Cleese and Spike Milligan...
(LWT) (episode 3) - A Family at WarA Family At WarA Family At War is a British drama series that aired on ITV from 1970 to 1972. It was created by John Finch and made by Granada Television for ITV. The director was David Giles....
(Granada) (episodes 12 to 19 of series two) - The Dickie HendersonDickie HendersonDickie Henderson, OBE was a London-born entertainer.-Early years:His father, Dick Henderson was a music hall comedian and singer famous for his short, rotund appearance, bowler hat and beautiful singing voice...
Show (ATV) - Mr Digby, Darling (Yorkshire)
- Nearest and DearestNearest and DearestNearest and Dearest is a British television sitcom that ran from 1968 to 1973. A total of 46 episodes were made, 18 in monochrome and 28 in colour...
(Granada) (episodes 2 to 8 of series five) - Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width (ABC/THAMES) (episodes 1, 3-4 & 7 of series five)
- HadleighHadleigh (TV series)Hadleigh was a British television series made by Yorkshire Television which originally ran from 1969 to 1976. Developed by Robert Barr, it was a sequel to the writer's earlier Gazette for the same company...
(YorkshireYorkshire TelevisionYorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
) (episodes 1, 2, 8, 9 and 13 of series two - the last five black and white episodes of that series to be made) - Elephant's Eggs in a Rhubarb Tree (three out of six editions)
- FreewheelersFreewheelersFreewheelers is a British television series made by Southern Television between 1968 and 1973. It was the brainchild of television producer Chris McMaster, who was aware of the popularity of adult action series such as The Avengers and Department S amongst teenagers and saw the potential of a...
(SouthernSouthern TelevisionSouthern Television was the first ITV broadcasting licence holder for the south and south-east of England from 30 August 1958 until the night of 31 December 1981. The company was launched as Southern Television Limited and the title Southern Television was consistently used on-air throughout its life...
) (episodes 6 to 11 and 13 of series five) - The Benny Hill ShowThe Benny Hill ShowThe Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill.There were various incarnations of the show between 1951 and 1991, and it aired in over 140 countries. The show is generally sketch-based with heavy use of slapstick, mime, parody and double-entendre...
(Thames) - Queenie's CastleQueenie's CastleQueenie's Castle is a British sitcom set in early 1970s Leeds, West Yorkshire that aired on ITV from 1970 to 1972. The series featured popular British actress Diana Dors.- Plot :...
(Yorkshire) (the last four episodes 3-6 of series one) - Public Eye (Thames)