Boxed History

It was A.J.P. Taylor who, in the mid 1950s, inaugurated history programming on television with chalk and board, and direct to camera address. From such rudimentary beginnings there followed a rapid evolution of 'tele-history' into a variety of forms and combinations. The 1960s saw dramatic and extensive use being made of archive footage beginning with 'The World At War' (Thames). Peter Watkins' 'Culloden' (BBC) demonstrated the striking and critical power of the drama-documentary. Programmes also started to include the evidence of 'witnesses' and participants of history.

The evolution away from the chalk and board days marks tele-history coming to terms with some of the specifications of the medium. For one thing, it occupies an entirely different place in social life from the history textbook. Television is not primarily locked into the world of work and compulsory participation which characterises the educational sphere.