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The Story of British Pathé Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
4 Episodes 2011 - 2011
Episode 1
The Birth of The News
59 mins
For more than half a century, the film and newsreel company British Pathé documented almost every aspect of everyday life in Britain and around the world. Covering everything from major world events and exotic foreign locales to the pageantry of state occasions and gritty social issues, the company amassed a unique documentary record of 20th-century life.
Episode 2
The Voice of Pathé
59 mins
The newsreel company's coverage of the Second World War, which featured footage of the Blitz as well as practical advice for families on the home front. The program discovers how the distinctive commentary style of announcer Bob Danvers-Walker became synonymous with the war effort, and why some came to regard Pathe's films as embodying the values and spirit of Britain.
Episode 3
Entertaining Britain
59 mins
An insight into Pathe's popular cinemagazines, which played in cinemas across the nation, and were initially conceived as a way to improve public morale following the end of the First World War. The program examines the many strands of the initiative, including Pathe Pictoral and Eve's Film Review, which were designed to appeal to women, and the 1930s production of Pathetone - a format that took advantage of the arrival of synchronized sound to examine the various dimensions of life.
Episode 4
Around the World
59 mins
The company's travelogues and anthropological films, which helped shape British views of life overseas in the years before package holidays made foreign tourism accessible to the majority of the population. The program also examines what Pathe newsreels reveal about the experiences of British holiday-makers in the 1950s, and looks back at the company's coverage of royal visits to Commonwealth countries.