Current Affairs aka Behind the News 1968

[robertboon]

According to Wikipedia:


Behind the News (more commonly known as BtN) is a long-running news programme broadcast on Australia's ABC TV made in Adelaide and aimed at school-aged children (8–13 years of age). BtN is aimed at upper primary and lower secondary students to help them understand issues and events outside their own lives.



Behind the News explores news using the current language, music and popular culture of youths. The programme explains the basic concepts that underpin the issues and events, while also providing background information. Behind the News also covers children's issues often overlooked by mainstream news, and makes use of online resources including streaming video of BtN stories, study materials for teachers and additional information and activities for students.


History


On 5 June 1968, Behind the News aired its first episode. Originally known as "Current Affairs", the name was changed to its current name within a year. The discovery of the first episode happened during the 45th anniversary (at the time, the show claimed to have started in 1969).



The very first episode is available on Youtube. The format of the 15 minute programme appears to be three items of 5 minutes each.

NAA hold copies of a lot of the early editions including this one:



Item details for: C475, 1076305

Request copy

Title
 Behind the News [Episode 4] - Dr Who

Version name
 Primary Version

Contents date range
 01 Jan 1957 - 31 Dec 1989

Series number
 C475
 
Click to see which government agency or person created this item.

Control symbol
 1076305

Citation
 NAA: C475, 1076305

Item barcode
 13205272

Location
 Various locations

Access status
 Open

Date of decision
 28 Apr 2017

Format
 Audiovisual records

Colour type
 Colour

Sound type
 Sound

Available in (Item Type/s)

Film (Moving Image)

Film (Audio)


As the episode will date from 1968 and could therefore include missing Troughton material how do we go about finding out what it does include given the present difficult situation.

[Mark Vanderlinde-Abernathy]

Nice find.

Wondering if this one was known by the episode hunters. Sometimes they already know about random rare things like this.

[Arthur Chim]

Looking at other entries for Behind The News, the title includes the 'series' and 'episode' numbers, eg Series 71, Episode 2, which might mean 1971, episode 2.
"Behind the News [Episode 4] - Dr Who" doesn't include the series number so you cannot tell the year.
Also, the entry states that the material is in Colour so it may not be an episode from the late 1960s.
The only way to verify is to submit a 'Request Copy' to see if the National Archives would be willing to view the material to confirm the date.
However, there may be a cost involved.

[John Wall]

Here’s the list of Aussie broadcasts broadwcast.org/index.php/Australia_Sales

If there is a cost we could easily have a whip round.

However, we should soon get confirmation as to whether it’s known.

[Mark Vanderlinde-Abernathy]

There was a Behind The News in 2013 with Doctor Who material. I don’t know if that is what this listing is for...

[Martin Dunne]

I found a Behind the News clip with Dr Who, but as I recall it was already known.
Sorry, ABC's site is having an outage at the moment.

[Jon Preddle]

That the clip is in colour puts it to be later than 1975.

Youtube has this one from 2014: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PLLctHbNuw

[Mark Vanderlinde-Abernathy]

Could the show have done something with Doctor Who back in the 60s?

[Jon Preddle]

Jun 5, 2020 11:49:17 GMT Mark Vanderlinde-Abernathy said:

Could the show have done something with Doctor Who back in the 60s?

Unless they did a "look at the Dalek Johnny from Wooloomooloo has made out of bin-bags" type item in 68, you'd have to ask why? But when Baker and Pertwee visited in the 70s and 80s, it would make sense for them to do an item.

[Michael Pummell]

They could be doing an item on what was popular at the time. Doctor Who was a popular ABC program.

I clearly remember watching Behind the News when I was in primary school and episodes of that vintage could only contain clips from Troughton or Pertwee.

They used clips from Power in the C for Computer documentary and that was from around 1973/74 so there is a precedent for them using clips from Doctor Who for other purposes.

There’s no harm in asking NAA what year the programme was released, although they may be a little bit busy at the moment after their recent court loss but I’m sure they’ll respond in due course.

It really depends if it’s about a specific Doctor or about the show in general really.

If it is in colour (NAA’s information about specific records are often inaccurate) it would be from Tom Baker’s visit in 1979. I’m sure he went to Adelaide as part of that visit.

[adamjordan]

Jun 4, 2020 14:21:14 GMT Martin Dunne said:

I found a Behind the News clip with Dr Who, but as I recall it was already known.
Sorry, ABC's site is having an outage at the moment.

Interesting.

What did you (re)find?

[Martin Dunne]

I honestly can't remember! I posted in a thread on hits in the ABC database previously, wasn't there. It wasn't anything missing, curse the database being down!

~~~

The thread.
missingepisodes.proboards.com/thread/12178/more-missing-clips-programs

~~~

I've gone through ABC's footage sales database; it's far from complete and even if it were there is a strong possibility it could exclude clips.

The search is pretty ordinary, many un-dated items will show up with no real criteria. The average return with "Doctor Who" is a news piece on malpractice.

Items of note are the 2003 George Negus Tonight (AKA Dimensions) anniversary (with its irritating footage of Richard Hurndall), a piece on Melbourne fans for a 1993 TVTV segment, another undated TVTV piece on an "out of this world sci-fi exhibition", a 4.31 interview of Jon Pertwee by Kel Richards dated 30 May 1980, Pertwee's obituary piece, an undated piece on Perth fans appearing in Hay Street Mall in costume to promote a convention (literally appearing, handing out flyers in "fastmo" and then vanishing when reporter John Richards puts on a gas mask), a cover of the theme on Spicks and Specks, a titles montage from 1984 and a couple of pieces on a yacht called "Doctor Who"

This is the pick of the bunch, anyone know about this?

ID: 119666 - SUNDAY AFTERNOON WITH PETER ROSS; GUEST, ROBYN WILLIAMS - PROGRAM

Duration: 3.58.00
Location: SYDNEY,NSW,AUSTRALIA
Summary: FOUR HOUR ARTS PROGRAM CONSISTING OF OVERSEAS PURCHASED & AUSTRALIAN MADE PROGRAMS AS WELL AS THE STUDIO LINKS (INCLUDES WILLIAMS APPEARING IN 'DR WHO/DOCTOR WHO' EPISODE 'THE KROTONS' B&W)

Personalities: PETER ROSS, ABC PRESENTER; ROBYN WILLIAMS, ABC SCIENTIFIC EXPERT

Shotlist: NONE


ID: 28455 - SEGMENT - DALEK SALE
Duration: 1.04
Location: NONE ENTERED
Summary: NONE ENTERED
Personalities: CHRISTINE BONGERS; ABC REPORTER; PHIL WALLINGTON, ABC TV MANAGER
Shotlist: ABC DALEK TO BE SOLD; EXTRACT "DR WHO" EPISODE; IV WALLINGTON; CU DALEK THROUGH SMOKE; CU BONGERS NEAR DALEK

Second is a science documentary series called Quantum. Entry header says "86" but it could be from 1984 (the date I have for Geoffrey Burchfield working on the show). The Terrigator was a robot with wheels which would find its way through a course of witches hats. Dalek library footage unknown.

ID: 250020 - QUANTUM; 86/15 - PROGRAM - SCHODDE ON BIRDS; KEYMASTER; TERRIGATOR
Duration: 31.13
Personalities: GEOFFREY BURCHFIELD, ABC REPORTER; MARVIN MINSKY, PROFESSOR, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPERT
13.56 THIRD ITEM: TERRIGATOR; MCU BURCHFIELD RTC; LIB FTG: (EX "DR WHO") VS COMMANDER DALEK INSTRUCTING GROUP OF DALEKS; MLS MINSKY RELAXED WITH HIS FEET UP


Tom Baker's Countdown interview (17 February 1979, show 181), Peter Davison on Perth Nationwide (not Adelaide?), 1983/4 Christmas reel (suspect I've seen this), an Insiders piece on (George) Christensen's campaign to get Dr Who (made) in Australia, a news montage on (Mark) Scott shaking hands with (Stephen) Conroy as he departs with Conroy talking about Dr Who (Scott said Who was Conroy's favourite topic in their respective roles as ABC managing director and communications minister), the two Collectors pieces, a midday news piece on the revived show (2005), a 7.30 Report piece on Tristram Cary's 70th birthday (thus 1995), another piece on Tristram's book (if Illustrated Compendium of Musical Technology then 1992) a clip of Who and Star Trek on TVTV promoting Sky Trackers, a 4 Corners piece on John Hewson called Dr Who? (no other connection but worth mentioning; Magda Szubanski got Hewson a beauty when she asked if he was still being chased by the Daleks on Fast Forward because he didn't get it), the Dr Who theme used to illustrate the clocks changing for daylight savings ending, a 1989 piece on The Factory with a clip from The Time Warrior illustrating a video giveaway, and a Nationwide piece on author Michael O'Brien illustrated by unspecified Dr Who pictures, a lookalike coming out of a "box" and going to have a drink at a pub.

Clip of The Mind of Evil on a youth current affairs show called Attitude (illustrating Computer Culture, sadly from c.1994 so not likely to be a preserved colour except. Second clip from unnamed episode illustrating Australia as a republic in 2010.

Pieces on SwanCon IX in 1986 and AussiCon in 1975, the latter illustrated by clips from Zardoz.
Possibly more relevant than the odd Daleks, Dr Who and Pertwee obit is what it DOESN'T return.
That Power of the Daleks clip filled episode of Perspectives, C for Computer, also features a sweet interview with Arthur C Clarke. It doesn't show up, nor does any Perspectives. Hence any Perspectives level clips ... would go unreported.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTdWQAKzESA

Edit. Need I add ... Perspectives was on the last week of May 1974, episodes four and five of Power last played in June 1968. Four years and eleven months.

This also means any of the prints held by ABC were open slather.

[isaacc]

I know this is a bit off-topic but I just want to put out there that BTN was my childhood (born in 1998). Very interesting that BTN showed Doctor Who stuff in the 60s and 70s, but I do remember watching it when they had a thing on the 50th anniversary in 2013.

[Arthur Chim]

This clip from BTN has surfaced on the ABC website.
www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-21/doctor-whos-tom-baker-films-episode-of-behind-the-news/12574768?nw=0