1. How did you become interested in the history of the BBC's Community Programmes Unit? 

During my Photography and Multi-Media degree in the early 2000s I became interested in video as an art format and its limited use in broadcast television.  I remembered the Video Nation project - where 2-minute shorts were aired week-nights on the BBC throughout the 90s - as interruptions in the broadcast flow and often reflecting on contemporary concerns. One short, from 1994, by Rhona McKenzie, a junior doctor who was recounting her workload and working conditions and asking us the unseen audience how this could be right. The immediacy and authenticity of the form struck me as really interesting, alongside video's ability to document the unseen and the previously unrepresented often in a domestic context. 

In producing a video diary for my major project - Video Nation was a major influence.  Once I had completed by Masters in Cultural Memory, I successfully applied for an AHRC-funded PhD studentship at the Institute of Education, on a project that specifically looked at Video Nation and then started to find out more about the Community Programme Unit in the BBC that made it and became fascinated by the intentions and the radicalness of much of its work"

2. What do you think is distinctive about the CPU's work, and what can we learn from it today? 

The distinctiveness about the work of the CPU is that all of the material - at least 1500 programmes of varying lengths in different strands, consistently present two particular elements. The first is the incorporation of new technologies, and the new techniques they enabled - that transformed television production and the grammar and language of television from the late 20^th century. These techniques were subsequently adopted in mainstream television,  first-person documentary and formed some of the conventions of early  social media output. 

 

The second element that is apparent throughout, is the demonstration of trust between the participants and the programme making teams  - without which these programmes could not have been made. Participants were present throughout the  process and the  programme making team were there to realise and facilitate the groups intention - whilst also advising them on ways to be make their point more effectively   

 

Perhaps the most important thing that we can take from the work of the CPU is a recognition of what public service broadcasting can do when it engages with and represents the public on equal terms and in the actual contexts of their lives. This is an important issue for the BBC in particular, to address in the run-up to the next Charter Review in 2027.  Could the production model of the CPU become a means for the BBC to focus on the public in public service broadcasting - and perhaps move towards a re-establishment of trust with their audience"

3. What can we do to further share and preserve this heritage? 

We need to capitalise on the interest shown in the DIY TV project, which built on the People Make Television exhibition at Raven Row. To this end,  we (myself and Raven Row) are working with the BBC to make a selection of the early CPU content available online - either on BBC iPlayer or on  BBC archives site. We are hopeful this will happen within the next six months. Additionally, I am working on a book DIY TV, which will draw on the oral history recordings as the content of the presentations and sessions. And of course, working with our archivist Mary Brown to make the oral histories and the digital assets from the day  available, and extend the range of oral history recordings."

4. What has been the most enjoyable part of this project for you? 

Whilst it was quite stressful at times - making sure we had all the licences in place from the BBC and Box of Broadcasts, and managing last-minute changes on the day - the whole process has been incredibly interesting. The oral history training, getting to watch lots more CPU content and hearing more about the specific context of each programme in the talks on the day. The atmosphere at the event was also lovely - with some people meeting up again after 30 years so the sense of a reunion from the ex CPU staffers spread across the wider audience resulting in a relaxed and participatory event.

What has been lovely has been working with the project team, (Helen, Amy, Holly, Mary and Lori) and the support that I had from all my colleagues at the London School of Film, Media and Design -  (Alison Hawkings, Carl Rohumaa, Danielle Dooey and Ben Whiting should get an extra loud shout out!) and the subsequent  conversations that I have been able to have with them. Because of the traction and interest that DIY TV has garnered I am working to ensure that more programmes are made available for students and lecturers  on the Box of Broadcasts format as well, as they provide an incredible social history document about how life has changed in this country over the last 50 years, and so are an important teaching resource."

5. Do you have a favourite programme made by the CPU? 

I can't single it down to one:

Open Door  - The Whetley Voice (mid-70s): The story of a hyper-local newspaper that covered Sloane Square a dilapidated housing estate in Bradford, which had dreams of twinning with Sloane Square in London. The residents of which were treated to free entertainment from a local resident who performed as both a male stripper and an accordian playing drag artist.    

Open Door  - The Transex Liberation Front (1973): An amazing programme - four trans women (some pre-  /some post-op) discuss their experiences and treatment. It is quite incredible to think that more than 50 years ago this was broadcast - today the BBC would face such a backlash, driven by the Daily Mail if it showed a contemporary programme on this subject presented without the mediation of a broadcast interviewer. 

Open Space - Talking LIberties (1984): An important programme made by Sheffield Police Watch, an organisation that started to document on video the actions of police during the Miners Strike, the programme presented a substantially different version of events than those shown in the news bulletins.

Video Diaries - Spike and Clinton (1993): Feature length first-person documentary made by two care home leavers - as they struggled to make the transition into adulthood with few of the necessary skills.

Video Nation Shorts - Mirror by Colonel Gordon Henscher  (1994): The first Video Nation short transmitted, which is a poignant real-time reflection on getting old, told through the participants relationship with the mirror. 

The Unit's work in Northern Ireland was incredibly important in representing the issues of sectarianism to the wide UK audience, as well as allowing the different communities to have a voice on the BBC during the time of 'the troubles' and the Broadcasting Ban - was a topic that the Unit revisited frequently, and often caused tensions between the CPU and the BBC, and the BBC and the government. 

There are many, many more I would love to see, but they are not yet available, including the entire output of the Something Else output - a youth music strand that featured the only television performance of Joy Division, the only BBC appearance of The Clash."