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.
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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