Central Office of Information

[jahshabby]

Thought this may be of interest to some - I'll be watching for sure. Monday 7th May (Bank Holiday)

10:00pm Britain Beware
Adrian Edmondson delves into the archives of the Central Office of Information, the government department behind public information films, which is due to close this month. He takes viewers on a nostalgic trip through nearly 70 years of short movies and TV ads that alerted the nation to all kinds of dangers, from road safety to nuclear fallout. Adrian looks back at favourites including the seatbelt campaign in which Jimmy Savile advised us to 'clunk click every trip', and the cartoon Charley Says, which taught youngsters how to stay safe, and he discovers a few hidden treasures along the way.

Pip pip

[Sam]

I've got two DVDs full of these clips - "Charley Says" - I think you can pick up the pair cheap on Amazon still. Well worth it if you're into the genre - and even if you're not (I often leave them playing as background video for parties).

[jahshabby]

ITV btw, forgot to get that bit in...

[JGBollard]

There are five double DVD volumes (+ a "re-mix" DVD) of COI films available from the British Film Institute which are well worth picking up if you're interested in that sort of thing.

As they almost exclusively concentrate on the longer form films you find pretty minimal crossover with the "Charley Says" discs.

[Little Jimmy Oddman]

ITV, 10pm on a Bank Holiday Monday, presented by Ade Edmondson? I'll be recording it and hoping it isn't terrible.

On a related topic, I'd recommend the BFI collection of the GPO Film Unit shorts - I have the first volume (Addressing the Nation). The BBC did a documentary about them, which I found fascinating. It looks like you can see it on Youtube, here.