Helen Wheatley Department of Film and Television Studies Helen.Wheatley@warwick.ac.uk 024 7657 3871 Television programming featuring the Traveller community, 1936-1985 Search terms used: gypsy, gypsies, Romany, Romanies, travellers As far as I can possibly tell, this is a list of all the programming featuring Romanies/gypsies/the travelling community, from the start of British television broadcasting to the mid 1980s (I stop there as ITV/C4 listings are much harder to search past this point). It seems to me a fascinating mixture of serious documentary/current affairs programming, a range of programming for children (including schools broadcasting), dramas about the travelling community or more often long running drama series from the UK and the US in which ‘gypsy’ characters are the catalyst for dramatic action, and are often portrayed as threatening/villainous in some way, as well variety/arts programming which featured ‘gypsy’ or Romany dance and/or music (this was particularly popular in the early years of television broadcasting). This offers the start of a story about how perceptions of travelling communities have built up via television across five decades (for many viewers these representations have been their only contact with these communities); it also provides historical context for the kinds of representations of these communities that are offered on contemporary television (we might want to bear in mind what these older programmes might have looked and sounded like when evaluating contemporary television and its cultural impact). Further work could be done quite easily to ascertain what copies of this programming still existed (via the BFI, the Kaleidoscope which we hope to bring here to Warwick, the BBC, and so on). I can also envisage a very interesting project about the role of television in forming perceptions/memories of the travelling communities with older audiences which might draw on this research. I have highlighted all the documentary/current affairs programming, and placed in bold dramas, for ease of reading. Please feel free to use this list in any way that is useful to the project and its researchers. I have produced it for today’s event only. ************************* 1930s BBC Alfredo and his Gypsy Orchestra 26/8/38 - performed 4 times over the next two years BBC 28/8/39 Oscar Rabin And His Romany Band 1940s BBC Musical Variety 28/6/47 - featuring a gypsy orchestra BBC Balalaika 19/9/48 - a musical - The story begins in a Montmartre street, takes us back to St. Petersburg, 1914-the Balalaika Cafe of the Gypsies, a castle in Galicia. the theatre Marinsky, the Karagin Palace -and has its ending in the ' Balalaika ' Restaurant, Montmartre BBC Along a Gypsy Trail 12/5/49 - looks like a musical production BBC Gitanes D'espagne 23/8/49 - The celebrated dancer Nino de Cadix and his company in a film featuring the traditional songs and dances of the Spanish Gypsies 1950s BBC The Howerd Crowd 8/3/52 variety featuring Peter Daminoff and his Gypsy Music BBC El Amor Brujo 11/7/52 - A ballet based on an Andalusian Gypsy tale by Gregorio Martinez Sierra BBC La Nouvelle Eve 12/7/52 The cast includes: Le Trio Gypsys BBC Children's Newsreel 3/3/53 item on Road Gypsies: Some call them Romanies-some travellers-some vagrants. What kind of people are they? What is their way of life? BBC The Open Road 19/10/53 documentary - A Swedish musical film of gypsy life and dancing, with speech in Romany BBC Gypsy Days 26/10/54 - A programme on Welsh Gypsies, especially those who made a brief home at Bettws-Gwerfil-Goch in Merionethshire, where the late Dr. John Sampson , an eminent Gypsy scholar, founded a centre of Gypsy studies. Included in the programme are Romany songs and dances, and examples of the robust Romany language with Juanita Berlin BBC Gypsy Christmas 22/12/54 a film of singing and dancing in the Flamenco Style BBC Children of the New Forest 26/4/55 - children's serial - After Jacob Armitage 's death, the children support themselves in the forest cottage. * Farmer ' Humphrey digs a pitfall to catch a wild bull, but instead traps Pablo, a young gypsy who comes to live with them. Edward, still restless, narrowly escapes death at the hands of a villainous forester, Ned Corbould. ITV Romance 13/2/56 - excerpts from musical theatre - this ep Strauss's 'The Gypsy Baron' ITV Forecast Unsettled 6/5/56 - play featuring a gypsy character BBC The Black Brigand 24/6/56 - children's serial drama - ongoing gypsy characters ITV Hopalong Cassidy 2/8/56 - episode entitled 'Gypsy Destiny' - A gypsy cannot marry his sweetheart until he has cleared his father’s name, and Hoppy decides to help him. ITV Jack Hylton Presents The Lilac Domino 9/8/56 musical play based on a German operetta - leader of a gypsy orchestra also acts as a marriage broker ITV Play of the Week 3/4/57 - 'Time Remembered' - a fairy tale-esque story with a mysterious gypsy character N.B. Party of a themed evening on 'The Gypsy' ITV Frontier Doctor 3/4/57 - 'Strangers in Town' An exciting adventure is in store for Dr Bill Baxter when a group of wandering gypsies comes to town. ITV Members Mail 3/4/57 - "We are condemned before we are born"... that is the cry of the gypsies in Britain. Norman Dodds MP has taken up their cause in the House of Commons on behalf of all the gypsies in Great Britain. As they are allowed to camp in one place for only a few days at a time, the gypsy children get no schooling. What can be done to help these social outcasts? BBC Vera Lynn Sings 9/4/57 featuring Noucha Doina and her gypsy violin ITV Lassie 13/4/57 - episode 'The Gypsy' - Gypsies make camp near the Millers’ farm. Jeff finds them interesting, but they manage to cause trouble before they finally leave the district. BBC 9/5/57 Hungarian Rhapsody played by Budai Loso Karoly and his Gypsies Presented by Patricia Foy ITV Fury 25/5/57 'Joey and the Gypsies' - A gang of horse-thieves is operating in the area, but ranchers believe that gypsies are responsible. Joey, who is friendly with them, believes they are innocent, and sets out to rout the gang. BBC 16/6/57 Hungarian Rhapsody played by Budai Loso Karoly and his Gypsies - Presented by Patricia Foy BBC 30/6/57 Circus Boy - children's serial - ' The Little Gypsy ' and Bimbo the baby elephant - It's a happy day for Corky when he saves a young gypsy from drowning. For a while there is a great 'friendship between the circus-folk and the gypsies, but when one of the tribe finds his former sweetheart working in the circus violent passions are aroused..... Repeated in 1963 BBC 25/9/57 Club Continental - Your guests are Sascha and his Gypsy Violin, The Bavarian Edelweiss Dancers, Fred Bina who sings and yodels, The Lyman Cossack Dancer* BBC 15/10/57 Hungarian Music And Dances - with Budai Loso Karoly and his Gypsies and Agnes Hont Presentation by Arthur Langford BBC 24/10/57 Vic Oliver introduces and conducts a shortened version of Verdi's 'IL TROVATORE' (Libretto by Cammarano) Produced by Patricia Foy Soldiers, gypsies, the Count's followers, etc. Chorus-Master, Cyril Gell LONDON Symphony ORCHESTRA (Leader, Hugh Maguire ) BBC 16/11/57 The Saturday Show presents The Second INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF MUSIC-HALL in which, by land, sea, and air, the BBC brings you artists from all over the world to the stage of the Television Theatre, London including Sensational balancing act from Argentina and The Trio Gipsys Spectacular Romany acrobats BBC 4/3/58 Mainly For Women – women’s magazine programme included an item ‘Married to a Gypsy’: Audrey and Tony Butler-tell Elizabeth Robinson about the Romany way of life ITV The Carroll Levis Show 25/1/59 variety show featuring the Russian Gypsy Dancers ITV Douglas Fairbanks Presents 30/7/59 drama entitled 'The Charm' - A potion to make her love him? Only the gypsy knew, and he knew the secrets of many things. 1960s BBC 10/8/60 The Adventures Of Hiram Holliday US SItcom 'Gibraltar Road ' Scotland Yard, gypsies, and the British Army are all involved when the invincible Hiram studies the wild life on the Kock of Gibraltar. BBC 26/11/60 Tenderfoot A Western series starring WILL HUTCHINS as Tom Brewster the young cowboy adventurer who is also a student of the law ‘The Gitanos’ - Tom finds excitement and unexpected romance when he meets a band of gypsies. BBC Lords of Little Egypt 3/1/61 documentary - Mai Zetterling among the Gypsies Every year in May several thousand Lords of Little Egypt, as the Gypsies were called in the old days, come from all over Europe to meet for festivities in the Camargue, the remote wild west' of France. Zetterling stayed with them in a caravan to discover how this mysterious and often violent people really live among themselves. BBC Adolphus and the Gypsies 5/5/61 Children's illustrated tale BBC 25/10/61 Frontier Circus: US Western series - When Tonv finds a strange and beautiful woman hiding in a circus tent, the gypsv's prophecy seems to have come true. But the gypsy did not foretell the trouble that the woman brought with her. BBC 15/4/62 The Charlie Chester Music Hall - This week CHARLIE CHESTER introduces A company of Hungarian artists from Budapest making their first British Television appearance tonight including JOZSEF PECSI AND HIS GYPSY ORCHESTRA BBC 11/7/63 Moonstrike WW2 drama series - A Matter of Trust by JOHN O'TOOLE Directed by Waris Hussein - The loyalty of a gypsy girl is put severely to the test. ITV Here and Now 25/5/64 'The New Gypsies' - East Anglian current affairs show - Once an old race of Romanies slowly trundled along the roadside in colourful caravans on their way to nowhere, but now the caravan has been revolutionised and is the highly mobile weekend cottage of young, adventurous families, seeking to escape from the crowded confines of a spreading suburbia. What are the problems facing caravanners? This programme takes a look at some caravan sites and talks to people concerned about the difficulties of providing amenities ITV The Larkins 18/7/64 episode of the drama called 'The Gypsy's Warning' featuring a character called the Gypsy ITV Car 54, Where Are You? 25/8/64 - episode of this long running drama called 'The Gypsy Curse': Officer Toody has the unenviable task of evicting an old fortune-teller from her unlawful business premises and gets the fright of his life when she puts the gypsies’ curse on him - repeated in 1983 BBC1 29/10/64 - Moscow State Moiseyev Dance Company... the dance sensation of the century ... the finest dance company in the world One hundred and fifty dancers and musicians direct from Moscow under the direction of Igor Alexandrovich Moiseyev present excerpts from their treasury of more than two hundred dances – including Bessarabian Gypsy Dance The Samarkand Platter ITV Rawhide 19/1/65 'A Man Called Mushy' Slow-witted Mushy is duped by circus-gypsies, and Gil Favor is abliged to fire him BBC2 21/3/65 Moscow State Dance Company - under the direction of its founder - Igor Alexandrovich Moiseyev .. the finest dance companu in the world .. the dance sensation of the century - An Outside Broadcast made by special arrangement at the ROYAL ALBERT HALL when the company of 150 dancers and musicians recently visited this country presenting dances including Bessarabian Gypsy Dance BBC2 1/7/65 Time Out ☆ FOR SALE-PARADISE? For many people, paradise is a plot of land. a stretch of sand, eternal sun and the sea: all of which can be found in the islands of the Bahamas. According to some advertisements in the British Press you can buy a plot in the Bahamas for as little as 15 down and £5 a month without interest charges, or £350 cash down. What do you get for your money? Jeremy James investigates. ONE HORSEPOWER The modern gypsies have exchanged their Romany caravans and the wandering life for large pink trucks and fast modern living. The Swain family from Shipley in Yorkshire left their van behind and spent a week's holiday in an original gypsy caravan Production unit, Dick Gilling Bob Duncan , Tom Conway ITV Richard the Lionheart 15/7/65 - 'A King's Ransom' - Visiting the Queen in Poitou, Prince John is told by a gypsy fortune-teller that Richard is dead. He hurries back to England to proclaim himself King BBC1 8/10/65 – Bolshoi -The world-famous ballet company from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow present - LARISSA TREMBOVELSKAYA the Company's principal character-dancer in the fiery Gypsy Dance BBC1 15/10/65 Gala Performance MICHAEL FLANDERS introduces ELISABETH SODERSTROM CHARLES CRAIG JOSÉ GRECO and his Spanish Gypsies BBC2 8/11/65 Tonight In Person - A series of weekly programmes presenting music in the folk idiom from many parts of the world This week. from Spain: The internationally famous flamenco dancers JOSÉ GRECO and his Gypsies BBC2 12/3/66 The Hunchback Of Notre Dame by VICTOR HUGO dramatised in seven parts by VINCENT TILSLEY Victor Hugo 's tale, set In medieval Paris, of the deformed bellringer at the great cathedral and the beautiful gypsy dancer Esmeralda. PART 1: Abduction Producer, DOUGLAS ALLEN Directed by JAMES CELLAN JONES First shown last Tuesday BBC2 23/11/66 Man Alive A weekly programme which focuses on people and the situations which shape their lives This week: THE FAIR GAME Most of us see the fairground only once a year, think of fairground people as a cross between con-men and gypsies—out to take our money from us in the few hours they are in town. But what really goes on in the world of freak shows, hoop-la a stalls and the giant machines? Who are the families who control the fairs and make a fortune from them? Who are the gaff lads with dyed hair, earrings and tattoos who follow the fair for the fun-and the girls? BBC2 20/12/66 Rajko - The Hungarian Gypsy Ensemble Traditional music, singing, and dancing by a company of sixty. five true Hungarian Gypsies - Introduced by Judith Chalmers BBC1 21/2/67 Jackanory Children’s television - with Zia Mohyeddin - The Bird Talisman by HENRY ALLEN WEDGWOOD Part 2: The Gypsy Plot BBC2 11/7/67 Children Talking – adult documentary series 7: GYPSIES AND GORGIES Harold Williamson talks to some modern gypsy children from Iver, Buckinghamshire, about their life - ' I'm half and half—my mum's a gypsy and my dad's a gorgie.' BBC1 30/11/67 Inside Local Government The management of local authorities in Britain 8: ‘The Finance Committee’ Is it worth spending council money on permanent sites for gypsies? The uses-and limits-of cost-benefit analysis. Introduced by Denis Mitchell BBC1 8/4/68 Play School A programme for children at home Useful Box Day Presenters this week, Julie Stevens , Wally Whyton Today's story is called ' What Anna Saved ' by Inger and Lasse Sandberg All sorts of things are collected In the Play School Useful Box: today Julie uses sweet papers, egg cartons, and empty cardboard boxes to make a house. There's a house on wheels — an old gypsy caravan — to see on Tuesday, and Julie and Wally have a sing-song round the campfire. BBC1 1/6/68 The Man From U.n.c.l.e. US action series – “The Terbtif Affair’ - A beautiful gypsy girl, a murderous secret police major, and a girl-friend from Solo's past help to turn the U.N.C.L.E. agents' European ' holiday' into a bullet. riddled mayhem. BBC2 26/6/68 Flamenco At The Albert - The great gypsy guitarist MANITAS DE PLATA at the Royal Albert Hall , London with HYPPOLITE BALLIARDO MANERO BALLIARDO RICARDO BISSARO in a programme which includes fandangos, bulerias, tarantas, and gypsy rumbas, with an audience of 5,000 clapping and stamping to the exciting flamenco rhythms About Manitas de Plata 's concert appearances the Press comments: held a huge and knowledgeable audience spellbound THE TIMES swept from obscurity to international fame DAILY EXPRESS uninhibited exploitation of the utmost resources of the guitar DAILY TELEGRAPH ... gypsy guitarist from Montpellier has become one of the hottest personalities in France BBC2 8/9/68 Show Of The Week presenting FESTIVAL FLAMENCO GITANO 1968 The second of two programmes - A riot of gorgeous colour and swirling dresses, tonight's programme is the follow-up to the first programme of Festival Flamenco, seen in June. We can see the genuine Flamenco of the Spanish gypsies, a thing almost unknown in this country. BBC2 3/10/68 Black Sound-Deep Song The Andalusian poetry of Garcia Lorca Federico Garcia Lorca , poet and play-wright, was born near Granada in 1898 and was shot by an unknown group of people in July 1936 at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War Though of an educated' family himself, Lorca derived much of his inspiration from the lives, customs, and music of peasants and gypsies. Photographed for the most part in Andalusia, this film seeks to re-create Lorca's world through the medium of his poetry. CARLOS DOUGLAS as Garcfa Lorca with the voices of Leo McKern Keith Michell , June Tobin Narrator, John Justin BBC1 16/10/68 The Czechoslovakian State Song And Dance Ensemble - Wednesday Show Time Just arrived from Prague Tonight's live transmission from the Royal Albert Hall , London introduced by Richard Baker The artists and gypsy orchestra of this internationally famous company present the haunting songs and exciting dances of Bohemia. Moravia, and Slovakia BBC2 25/10/68 Manitas De Plata The great gypsy guitarist in an exciting display of virtuosity and showmanship at the Royal Albert Hall, London with HYPPOLITE BALLIARDO MANERO BALLIARDO RICARDO BISSARO ITV Land of the Giants 4/1/69 'Terror-Go-Round' - The group of travellers find themselves in a pinocchio-like Situation when they are captured by a gypsy giant who plans to sell them to a circus performing midgets BBC1 22/2/69 Holiday 69 with Cliff Michelmore - A series of programmes to help you choose your next holiday - CAMPING - Camping is still an inexpensive form of holidaymaking, and more than two million Britons camp each year. Drawn from all social classes and attracting a wide variety of people, camping is no longer strictly for the dedicated. Holiday 69 carries out its own survey of camping sites throughout Europe, takes a close look at a Spanish camp, and finds out what it is like to get away-from-it-all with a Romany caravan. BBC1 1/4/69 repeated on 7/11/69 Where Do We Go from Here? Tuesday's Documentary about the travelling people of Britain: gypsies - tinkers - nomads - potters by PHILIP DONNELLAN The wanderers of our roads and lanes talk about their lives, their homes, their work, and their problem us Commentary by JOHN SEYMOUR - They left India 900 years ago and after travelling through Asia and Europe came to England about 1400. They were a dark, mysterious, clannish folk devoted to horses. They came to be called Egyptians -or gypsies for short. The law saw them as a threat to order and stability-and still does apparently. Today, existence is more difficult than ever for the travelling family, hate and misunderstanding more widespread. While the Irish tinkers slug it out with Authority in the city centres, the English gypsies try to keep to their ' underground ' life. Independence has always been their pride. Individualism has served them for centuries as a way of life. Can it survive? Where do they go from here? In this film we meet half a dozen families at the berry-picking in Perthshire or a squalid Kentish campsite; at a wedding in Eve-sham; a Yorkshire horse-fair and scraphunting on the Welsh border. BBC2 15/4/69 Festival Flamenco . Gitano 1968 The first of two programmes featuring LA SINGLA REGLA ORTEGA and PACO DE LUCIA Outside Spain genuine flamenco is so largely unknown that Spanish stage dance is often mistaken for it. Festival Flamenco Gitano 1968 is the real dance of the Spanish gypsies presented by an outstanding group of young artists. BBC2 13/9/69 The Hungarian State Dancers and Singers At London's Royal Festival Hall this company of 100 performers from Budapest brings you an action-packed programme of Magyar songs and dances The Hungarian State Ensemble are counted among the best of the European singer-dancer troupes Leader of the Gypsy Band BBC2 26/10/69 Thirty-Minute Theatre single play in an anthology series ‘Trespassers’ by ALLAN PRIOR The plight of the gypsies is dramatised in this delicate love story between a ' gorgio ' (house-dweller) and a Romany. Author Allan Prior has written many Softly, Softly and Z Cars episodes. with Script editor DEREK HODDINOTT Designer ROGER MURRAYLEACH Producer tNNES LLOYD Directed by CHRISTOPHER BARRY – repeated 15/8/70 1970s BBC2 20/1/70 The Borderers drama series Michael Gambon , Edith Macarthur in Snatch by JAN READ Guest stars Jean Anderson Stuart Mungall The gypsy way to win a wife was to snatch the desired lass from her home and kinfolk. When Agnes Ker catches the eye of Hector Faa, ' Lord and Earl of Little Egypt,' Gavin must fight Hector and Agnes herself to get her back. Series created by BILL CRAIG Designer GUTHRIE HUTTON Script editor MARTIN WORTH Associate producer MICHAEL GLYNN Producer ANTHONY COBURN Directed by KEN HANNAM BBC1 28/4/70 Summer Search Westmorland – children’s documentary - PAUL BROOK and VICTORIA MOSS from Ravenstonedale spend a day with TOM LANCASTER to explore the world of the shepherd and to visit a gypsy horse fair ITV The Englebert Humperdinck Show 18/7/70 'Romany and Juliet' There’s a Romany touch to Engel’s show tonight when he and Juliet Prowse get together as a pair of gypsy lovers. BBC2 26/7/70 Music on 2 Where the Unspeakable is Sung - The True Flamenco with Manuel Morao ' Flamenco ' for the tourist is a world away from the genuine flamenco which for over a century has profoundly influenced the Spanish cultural scene. Perhaps surprisingly it still survives as a living force among the gypsies of Andalucia. This film traces its history and features some of its finest present-day interpreters, most of whom appear before the camera for the very first time. ITV The Gypsies 31/7/70 - documentary programme - The gypsies have been in this country for 500 years. For most of this time they have been either outlawed or regarded as outcasts. But in April this year they won their battle to force local authorities to provide them with permanent gypsy sites. Or did they? Allan Hargreaves reports on the gypsies’ battle to be accepted by the community. ITV Coronation Street 14/10/70 - Gypsies in the Street 21/10/70 - Annie and Ray Challenge the Gypsies - 26/10/70 - Violence flares at the gypsy camp BBC2 18/11/70 Man Alive A weekly programme which focuses on people and the situations which shape their lives This week: Where Can They Go? They call themselves Gypsies-others call them tinkers, robbers, tax-dodgers, metal spivs, and a dozen other angry names. For centuries they drifted to the West Midlands to find winter quarters. But three years ago one local council decided that its people had had enough. The tinkers would have to go. Since then the council - Walsall in Staffordshire - has been fighting a running war. Now the council has decided to make a final stand. They voted 41-1 to reject a new parliamentary law ordering them and other authorities to provide sites for travellers. Other councils are coming to their support. Anti-tinker action groups have been formed. Now the government is considering action against the councils. Man Alive brings both sides together in Walsall to ask the question - where can they go? BBC1 29/11/70 Manitas at the Bull Ring Audiences everywhere acclaim Manitas the gypsy as the greatest living flamenco guitarist in the world. Manitas de Plata means 'Little Hands of Silver,' a name won by his virtuoso performances when still a child. In this programme he leads his gypsies on one of their rare trips away from the Carmargue to perform at the Bull Ring centre of Birmingham. BBC2 24/1/71 The Expert – crime drama series starring Marius Goring with Ann Morrish and Victor Winding Michael Farnsworth Valerie Murray in Go Somewhere Else by N. j. CRISP Gypsies led by Samuel Brown (Salvin Stewart , above) arrive in the Hardy neighbourhood to the horror of many residents. A public meeting is called to discuss the ' problem.' But protest can go too far. BBC2 5/9/71 The World About Us – current affairs series – ‘A Cold Wind on the Heath’ - When George Borrow lived with the Gypsies over 100 years ago, Petulengro told him: 'Life is very sweet brother; who would wish to die? ' - To find out if life was still sweet among English Gypsies, a group of young men whose connections allowed them to penetrate Gypsy family life in a way never before achieved, lived with and filmed two Gypsy families over a period of months in Kent and Essex during 1970 and 1971. The enquirers found a striking similarity between the present condition of Gypsies and that of nomadic peoples all over the world who have come into direct collision with modern societies. Are the only two solutions integration or destruction? BBC2 6/10/71 Look, Stranger - Kenzie, the Wild Goose Man - MCKENZIE THORPE , half gypsy, stole his first shotgun at the age of 13 and went poaching full-time for the next 35 years. He scored 29 convictions, £150 in fines, had four guns confiscated, and did two months in Lincoln Gaol. Now reformed at 61 he lectures on wildfowling to gamekeepers and police, and cares for the geese he once hunted. BBC2 14/10/71 Europa – European current affairs ‘The Right to Wander’ - From Helsinki to Istanbul - from London to Moscow the real issue facing Europe's two million gypsies is the same. Can their traditional way of life survive or must the Romany Gypsies integrate with the society around them? As the gypsies themselves become more aware of their changing role Europa presents film reports from Finland, Russia and Germany. ITV Romany Jones 15/2/72 - ongoing sitcom - The trouble with Bert Jones is that he has a little too much gipsy in his soul. After all, it is a husband’s duty to provide his wife with a decent, comfortable bedroom, not a shakedown in a caravan crawling with ants - especially on the wedding night. Can a decently brought-up girl like Betty - born and bred in Streatham - survive such a start to her marriage? - ran for 3 years then became Yus My Dear in 1976 BBC2 24/2/72 Europa - Beethoven in Tokyo; gypsy violins in Moscow; pop in East Berlin; pub songs in Liverpool. Film reports from France, Russia, and East and West Germany reveal some unexpected facets to the music scene in four cities. BBC1 29/5/72 Tales from the Lazy Acre - A new drama series starring Milo O'Shea and written by HUGH LEONARD with David Kelly and Anna Manahan This week: The Travelling Woman - Mr Rushe , a young Church of Ireland clergyman tries to ' do a Pygmalion' on a gypsy woman - Jessie Savage. But Jessie is no Eliza Dolittle. BBC1 20/8/72 Appeal - John Edmunds appeals on behalf of the National Gypsy Education Council The Council needs money to provide caravan classrooms and other amenities to help bridge the gap for Gypsy children between their caravan life and the State schools. ITV The Osmonds 20/1/73 'Transylvania' The Osmond brothers, with the aid of a gypsy princess, discover the weird secrets of Count Dracula’s Castle. ITV Late Night Theatre: Melodrama 24/1/73 anthology drama - 'The Gypsies Revenge or The Wrath of the Romanies' - Sir William, the local squire, drives the gypsies off his land - and the curse of the Romanies drives him to his untimely death... ITV Arthur of the Britons 14/2/73 'The Wood People' - Two gypsy children are held hostage by the Saxons. The ransom is Arthur’s life. However, the king’s kindness to the gypsies reaps an unexpected reward - they refuse to kill him... BBC1 4/6/73 Holiday 73- holiday programme with Cliff Michelmore including the item - Touring France - Gypsy Style: Do horse-drawn caravans live up to your Romany-inspired expectations? ITV The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan 22/12/73 - kids animation series - episode called 'Gypsy Caper' BBC1 17/7/73 Summer Search – ongoing children’s documentary series – ‘On the Road: Dorset AIDAN SMITH and PAUL JOHNSON , two English schoolboys, join LEWIS and DAVID BOSWELL, two Romany gypsies, to make a journey across Britain by horse-drawn caravan. This week they meet grandfather Boswell, a leading English gypsy, and the rest of the Boswell family, as they start their expedition in Dorset. BBC1 24/7/73 Summer Search - The Peaks - The Romany gypsies have always been famous for their knowledge of the countryside. AIDAN SMITH and PAUL JOHNSON have been invited to make a journey in horse-drawn waggons across England by the BOSWELLS, a gypsy family who have spent all their lives on the road. This week they reach the high hills of Derbyshire. BBC1 30/7/73 Summer Search - The Quiet Country - The Romany gypsies have always been famous for their knowledge of wildlife and the countryside. AIDAN SMITH and PAUL JOHNSON have been invited to make a journey in horse-drawn wagons by the BOSWELLS, a gypsy family who have spent all their lives on the road. This week they reach Galloway-a fascinating, littleknown part of Scotland. BBC1 7/8/73 Summer Search - The Travelling Nation - The gypsies have always been a nation within a nation - a people renowned for their knowledge and love of horses. AIDAN SMITH and PAUL JOHNSON visit the Appleby Horse Fair with DAVID and LEWIS BOSWELL who are true Romany gypsies. Here the whole travelling nation comes together every summer. BBC1 7/8/73 Search Report – children’s news report with John Craven The Gypsy Man SYLVESTER GORDON BOSWELL is 80, and head of one of the most respected of all English Gypsy families. In this special report he and his family re-enact their way of life from the early days of the pack donkey and the horse-drawn caravan, to the scrap lorry. – repeated twice during this month BBC2 14/1/74 Look, Stranger Drawn to the Romany Life BESHLIE HERON is an artist who catches her subjects, shares her home with them and finally releases them in a field. She draws field mice, frogs, beetles and wild flowers from life, but sets them in a fantasy world that has a flavour of the Romany life she and her husband lead among the Travelling People. BBC2 21/4/74 The Carnforth Practice – drama series - starring Leonard Rossiter in The Aristocrat by ALLAN PRIOR While trying to help another ' Aristocrat ' - a full-blooded Romany -The Hon Greville Carnforth's identification with him leads to a dangerous encounter. Created bv COLIN MORRIS , DIANE CAMPBELL Designer GRAHAM OAKLEY Producer COLIN MORRIS CYRIL COKE BBC2 28/10/74 The Waltons with guest stars The Gypsies: a gypsy family is stranded when their caravan is damaged during a storm. When the Waltons try to help them they encounter suspicion and hostility. BBC1 11/11/74 Jackanory – children’s television with Ronald Pickup ‘The Moon on the Water’ by NINA WARNER HOOKE - Six beautiful roundabout horses save themselves from disaster by becoming real horses and set out to search for freedom, following the moon on the water. Today: The Gypsy's Secret BBC1 22/11/74 Personal Choice Don Revie in conversation with MICHAEL BARRATT In a unique and intimate interview England's football manager reveals the other side of his life. He talks about prayer and superstition; about the day he got Billy Bremner down on his knees; and the gypsy he paid to lift ' the Curse of Elland Road.' ITV The Wild Wild West 10/1/75 'The Night if the Gypsy Peril' Agents West and Gordon are assigned to escort the Sultan of Ramapur and his sacred white elephant, a gift to President Grant. BBC1 22/1/75 Country Search with Susan King who investigates Motor Cycle Trial Riding and Horse Drawn Gypsy Caravans and introduces John Burton who reports on British animals in danger of extinction. Number one on the list is the Bat. BBC1 30/6/75 Read All About it - Introduced and edited by Melvyn Bragg - Paperbacks of the Week chosen by Hermione Gingold with Rachel Billington and Auberon Waugh With them in the studio: Authors of the Week including Jeremy Sandford , whose illustrated book Gypsies is published this week. BBC2 2/7/75 Closedown - GWEN WATFORD reads The Romanies in Town by ANNE BERESFORD BBC1 2/11/75 The Little Minister by J. M. BARRIE - A Play of the Month presentation with , the young minister of Thrums, loves his congregation and they him. But when the weavers in the town find their livelihood threatened by the mill owners and their new machines, they resort to violence against the redcoats sent to keep order. Gavin has to intervene, and he does so one night in the wood above the town, but soon finds himself in difficulties when a wild gypsy girl suddenly appears ... BBC1 22/1/76 Kizzy – children’s drama serial - from the book The Diddakoi by RUMER GODDEN : dramatised in six parts by JOHN TULLY 1: The Wagon - The village is aroused by the arrival of the gypsies in the Admiral's orchard. Young Kizzy and her grandmother hope to make it their permanent home. But this is not to be the case ... BBC2 27/8/76 Centre Play Showcase - A season of seven first plays by writers new to television. 4: Fair Tradin' on the Dancin' Ground by DEL HENNEY - On a derelict farm, within sight of the local Squire Russell's place, Tweed and his gypsy family are encamped. All but Dancin' Billy. For months Tweed's been watching Russell's young son Kit, and now his desperate plan is ready. Script editor ALAN SEYMOUR DesignerBOB BERK Producer ANNE HEAD Director GARETH DAVIES BBC2 8/10/76 Open Door – current affairs series - The programme in which the BBC hands over air-time to the public. Tonight: The Mobile Home Residents' Association present: A Place to Live There are 250,000 people living on residential mobile home sites. Contrary to popular opinion they are not gypsies, tinkers, or clothes-peg manufacturers, they are hard-working, responsible members of society who in terms of housing stand on their own two feet. A Place to Live shows the contribution the mobile home can make towards getting the homeless off the streets, and looks at some difficulties encountered by mobile home residents. Made by The Mobile Homes Residents' Association with the help of the BBC'S Community Programme Unit. BBC1 28/5/77 Kojak – US crime series ‘Another Gypsy Queen’ - Kojak and his team are trying to track down a man who has killed several women in the neighbourhood. But the police investigation is hampered by a tribe of gypsies. BBC1 10/7/77 Blue Peter Special Assignment- Twin Towns with Lesley Judd in Bordeaux and Peter Purves in Bristol - LESLEY flies on the Exchange Shuttle with a party of Bristol Children bound for Bordeaux where she joins the gypsies for the wine harvest. BBC1 7/2/78 For schools TV Club. A School in Time: Jolling Tomorrow - Danny, the gypsy boy, keeps a pet fox. BBC1 20/4/78 Scene: The Travellers – schools television - A film about the life and work of a gypsy family. BBC1 20/4/78 Face Values HRH The Prince of Wales Patron of the Royal Anthropological Institute presents Face Values with people from Bali, Brazil, California, Malta, Tanzania and Britain. The Changing Tradition Ukakoro, former leader of an Indian village, advised his people to kill the Brazilian road gang but the present leader's advice to do a deal and move to a new village was accepted. It has been too readily assumed that contact with industrial society inevitably spells death to traditional culture. The Kayapo of Brazil have faced this problem in the last few years and come to terms with it. Villagers in Malta and gypsies in California are also adapting to new circumstances and they, too, wish to preserve the essentials of their culture. BBC1 27/4/78 Face Values – documentary series with HRH The Prince of Wales Patron of the Royal Anthropological Institute – episode ‘The Human Frame’ Neighbours of gypsies in Richmond, California, think gypsies are dirty. In fact. gypsies do have strong ideas about what is clean and what is dirty, but they are different from their neighbours'. Gypsies are greatly concerned about keeping themselves - their bodies - away from dirt and it explains some of the reasons why gypsy culture remains separate. All people see the human body as more than its anatomical parts and it is used to express some of their most deeply cherished ideas. Narration written by PAUL KRIWACZEK BBC1 30/4/78 Carmen - from the London Coliseum - The English National Opera production of one of the world's most popular operas. Bizet's exciting and passionate music and MSrimee's tragic tale of the love of a Spanish soldier for a wild and wilful gypsy girl. Acts 1 and 2 BBC1 4/5/78 Face Values – HRH The Prince of Wales, Patron of the Royal Anthropological Institute presents Face Values with people from Bali, Brazil, California, Malta, Tanzania and Britain. ‘Everything in its Place’ If a Balinese is asked which one of two men is his relative, he is quite likely to say the one on the north, never the one on the right or left. This is just one example of the different ways people think about their living space. On a camp site in the Lake District people seek privacy whilst gypsies in California break down the walls in their homes in order that people can always enjoy company. BBC1 11/5/78 Face Values HRH The Prince of Wales, Patron of the Royal Anthropological Institute presents ‘Moving Through Life’ - Jimmy Adams , the Californian gypsy, spends a few thousand dollars on his daughter's wedding. Malim Manzi , a Tanzanian Muslim, spent two-thirds of his annual cash income on his boy's circumcision. Everywhere in the world, people find it essential to mark the important stages in life and the surprising discovery is that all such ceremonies have similar patterns. BBC2 12/7/78 Brass Tacks – current affairs series - Eric Robson invites people to talk about issues directly concerning them. ‘All God's Children’ "They call you dirty gypsy ... they tell you to get away from their houses ... they think we are dogs and they are queens ... they are lucky, they have got hot water and we have to wash in the river ... some of them aren't so bad, they just don't know us ... they are God's children too.' (EILEEN GILHEANEY , aged 7, traveller '). The charity of a gypsy child toward house-dwellers, a charity that's rarely returned. Ten years of legislation have failed to provide legal stopping places for more than a handful of Britain's 50,000 gypsies and, increasingly, their ' unauthorised' encampments in lay-bys and on derelict land are bringing them into conflict with the settled population. In Swansea, where much of tonight's programme was made, that convict has escalated from the thrown stone to the credible threat of petrol bombs. Producer DAVID GEEN Editor ROGER LAUGHTON Many BBC Local Radio Stations in England are giving their audience a chance to state their views on this issue - in phone-ins following Brass Tacks. BBC1 5/11/78 The Chosen Road - Everyman on the road with the travelling people. To some they are romantic Kings of the Road; to others they are parasites who litter the lay-bys. To Father Daly they are his parish: 15,000 Irish gypsies whose Roman Catholic faith survives antagonism from local residents and indifference from local authorities. For 12 years FATHER DALY has chosen to work amongst them, responding to a call unwittingly begun by a fortune-teller. Reporter Patti Steeples BBC1 30/11/78 Jackanory - with Ronald Pickup Willow's Luck by GABRIEL ALINGTON Today: The Gypsy Girl BBC2 Country Game - Presented by Angela Rippon who, with her special guests up from the country, introduces some of the people, places and events that have attracted Country Game through the year. This week: Gypsy Dogs and Horses Joe Henson , Cotswold farmer, takes ANGELA RIPPON to the Stow Horse Fair where much of the ' horse trading' goes on out of earshot of the official auctioneer; and Phil Drabble and Gordon Beningfield spend a day at the Lambourn Lurcher Show where they find that these cross-bred greyhounds, traditionally the coursing dogs of gypsies, are now in fashionable demand. All kinds of people turned up on the Berkshire Downs to show off their handsome dogs and to put them through their paces behind the ' dummy hare'. BBC1 14/1/79 The Mill on the Floss by GEORGE ELIOT ; dramatised in eight parts by JAMES ANDREW HALL starring Judy Cornwell , Ray Smith Christopher Blake , Pippa Guard with Jonathan Scott-Taylor and Georgia Slowe 3: Tulliver has failed to solve his financial problems and the head-strong Maggie has decided not to stay with the gypsies. ITV Picture Box 18/1/79 'Fishing is Fun' - short serial for schools about a girl making friends with a gypsy boy BBC1 21/1/79 Holiday - Introduced by Cliff Michelmore The last few years have seen a growth in the number of horse-drawn caravan holidays available in Britain - a reflection, maybe, of the ' back to nature' movement among holidaymakers, and a chance to sample a Romany lifestyle. ITV Wish You Were Here...? 25/1/79 - episode of the holiday programme featured a holiday in a Romany caravan ITV Little Blue 22/2/79 - 'The Gypsy Caravan' Cartoon adventures with Little Blue the elephant and his friends. When Little Blue and Mrs. Jellybun spend a week being gypsies, it makes a pleasant change. John Kidd reads the story, and drawings are by Digby Turpin. BBC2 8/5/79 - Making a Bob or Two – documentary Mervyn Jones , Dealer -Mervyn Jones started with horses and caravans and now buys and sells absolutely anything. 'Dealing becomes your night and day. I can't keep money. Money's no good to me. It's goods I need for the excitement of buying and selling.' He works with a Welsh hill farmer -' and two can work better than one; you gang up on the fellow.' He also keeps close contact with gypsies. ' They'll call at 20 or 30 farms in a day. They're like miners, digging away and turning out all the rubbish in the hope of finding a nugget and when they get their nugget I want to be there first to get it off them.' Narrator DERYCK GUYLER Research JEAN THOMPSON Photography ARTHUR SMITH Sound JACK WILSON Film editor ROY NEWTON. Written and produced by DON HAWORTH. BBC Manchester BBC1 16/9/79 - Romany Rye – single drama - by GEORGE BORROW Dramatised by ALLAN PRIOR with Rosalie Crutchley and James Smith as ' The Rye' George Borrow was a Romany Rye, a Gypsy Gentleman, and he spent his life travelling with the gypsies and writing about his own adventures among them. In this true-to-life story he befriends Belle, the beautiful Workhouse Brat, comes to blows with the Flaming Tinman, her protector - and is warned of his restless fate by the gypsy palmist, Mrs Chikno. 1980s BBC2 5/7/80 Open Door - 200th Edition - The programme in which the BBC hands over air time to the public. Tonight: Wherever We Go presented by the Romany Guild 'If it was an animal or plant there'd be people rushing round to save it, but it seems that flesh and blood they are not so worried about.' The Romany people have always been needed - and always been persecuted. In our programme, we'll be looking at our problems today and our fears for tomorrow. Made with the help of the COMMUNITY PROGRAMME UNIT BBC2 28/10/80 Man Alive – current affairs series investigates, discovers, questions This week: They Steal Children, Don't They? And anything else they can lay their hands on too! The popular image of gypsies is one of a trail of old iron and rubbish, thieving, drunkenness and violence. A raggle-taggle people who are disliked for the mess they leave, distrusted and even feared for their powers of foretelling the future and putting on curses. Is it any wonder then that ' authority' sees gypsies as a problem to ' tidy up ' - first into camp-sites, then into houses? But as Jeremy James found out, gypsies equally see us, the house-dwellers, as a problem and a threat. What is it that the gypsies really want? What is the way of life they so passionately want to protect? Why is there so much distrust of this minority - only 50,000 of them compared with 50 million of us - who ask for little more than to be left alone, free not to conform with our particular values? BBC2 2/11/80 The Netherlands Wind Ensemble ' Most of the time we are serious -till we can't stand it any more, then we just.... break out! ' This is the philosophy of these versatile and talented Dutch musicians, and tonight's programme in- cludes a gypsy csardas, a partita by Franz Krommer, the slow move- ment from Beethoven's Pathetique, Weber's Overture: Euryanthe and the ' balcony ' aria from Mozart's Don Giovanni. BBC1 3/11/80 Mighty Mouse –children’s animation Gypsy Life - Mighty Mouse zooms to the rescue as he hears the cries of a gypsy dancer, carried through the air by a monstrous bat! BBC1 21/11/80 In the Country – documentary with Phil Drabble The fourth of 16 programmes Appleby Fair Generations of horse dealers, gypsies and didicois have made their way annually to Appleby Fair in Cumbria. From all corners of Britain they come to meet friends, to show off their horses, and above all to slap hands on a deal. PHIL DRABBLE meets some of the regulars-men like Jack Toon , whose lives and livelihood are bound up with horses. These colourful characters follow a way of life that still captures the spirit of their country roots. BBC1 8/7/81 The Song and the Story The last of four programmes with Isla St Clair Travelling People Isla visits the Cutty Sark , the most famous clipper ship of all time, and the Gypsy Fair at Appleby, to discover the stories and sing some of the songs of the men who made such incredible journeys on land and sea. BBC2 15/11/81 The World About Us – documentary series The Romany Trail - The first of two programmes Into Africa Gypsy music is the means by which the Romany people have preserved their legends and history throughout the world. From Appleby, England, we trace the ' roots ' of the Romany people to the nomadic tribes of North India. Then we follow The Romany Trail down the Nile, to discover the hitherto unknown gypsy tribes of Egypt, spreading from the temples of Luxor to the fortune-tellers, fire-eaters, puppeteers and exorcists of old Cairo. The trail then leads across Africa into Spain, where the greatest gypsy flamenco dancers and singers still live. Finally we follow the annual pilgrimage from Spain to the festival of Saintes Mariesde-la-Mer in France. BBC2 17/11/81 The World About Us – documentary series ‘The Romany Trail’ - Part 2: Into Europe Music has helped to keep the Romany myths and language alive, as in Skopje, Yugoslavia where Eur ope's largest gypsy community has settled. They have preserved many of their Indian customs in this communist country - now demanding a separate ' Romany nationality'. Of the five million gypsies in East Europe, the best-known are the Budapest restaurant musicians, but others still live in isolated communities with their own Romany school and church. Of those who still travel, many have become West Europe's ' guest-workers '. We follow the migrant gypsies into Germany and, finally, to the World Romany Congress. BBC2 15/3/82 Other People's Lives The last of ten films about the way people live, in cultures very different from our own. Gypsies - A People Apart A gypsy community of Richmond, California, celebrates what looks like a very American festival-Thanksgiving. But behind the scenes much of what goes on is designed to keep them separate from the 'outsiders '. STALEY COSTELLO, the leader of the group, spends much of his time managing the group's relationships with the American society that surrounds them. BBC2 5/5/82 Travelling with Dignity - Open University programme - An investigative study of schools for gypsy and travelling children in Buckinghamshire, England, and Co Dublin in the Irish Republic. Some of the difficulties and problems of this work are revealed and put in a context of contemporary views about human rights. Producer ELEANOR MORRIS BBC1 2/10/82 Juliet Bravo UK crime series A series of 14 programmes with Stephanie Turner as Inspector Jean Darblay 5: A Breach of the Peace Written by ROBERT HOLMES - A long-standing family feud threatens to erupt in violence when gypsy Tom Tully is released from prison. ITV Johnny's Animal Opera 30/12/82 'Daggerlengro The Gypsy Fiddler' - children's musical entertainment BBC2 8/1/83 * Bendigo Boswell A CHILDREN'S MUSIC THEATRE production, written by JEREMY JAMES TAYLOR , DAVID SCOTT with music by PETER ALLWOOD The story of Bendigo Boswell is set in a Kent hop farm in 1910 during the picking season. Bendigo is a gypsy boy - a dark character, obsessed by Romany custom and ritual. He is deeply disturbed because his mother has just died, but there hasn't been time to carry out the ritual burning of all her possessions. When Bendigo meets Anna, a London East End girl also in Kent for the hop picking, she becomes tragically involved in his attempts to put his mother's spirit to rest. Bendigo Boswell was commissioned by BBCtv. The performance by children aged from 9 to 17 is directed by JEREMY JAMES TAYLOR and was recorded at the George Square Theatre, Edinburgh, last year. ITV Cockleshell Bay 18/1/83 children's programme - episode 'Gypsy Rose Routy' BBC2 21/6/82 Education for Gypsies and Travellers – an Open University programme Safeguarding the rights of children of gypsies and other travelling people Is a difficult problem for education authorities. Different approaches are producing different results in the Irish Republic and in Buckinghamshire. ITV Duty Free 31/1/85 - episode 'Spanish Lace' features a gypsy character BBC2 3/3/85 Favourite Things - Phil Drabble in conversation with Roy Plomley - This week Roy visits the Staffordshire estate of naturalist and writer Phil Drabble -90 acres of land devoted to the preservation and propagation of wildlife. Phil also goes to a gypsy horse fair, takes Roy behind the scenes of his favourite television programme, and visits his favourite star, BBC2 31/10/85 onwards - The Journey A series of 10 programmes featuring playwright Peter Terson and reporter Dennis Skillicorn as they travel by gypsy wagon along the old pilgrims' route from Winchester to Canterbury. In the ninth programme of the series they visit Aylesford Priory and join in the fun of the annual Maidstone Carnival. Rejoining the Pilgrims' Way at Thurnham they pass through Hollingbourne and find a camp site where they meet up with a genuine gypsy family, who tell the travellers what it is really like to spend a life on the road! Film editor BEV AMBROSE Producer JOHN COLEMAN