BBC Breakdown Music

Yes, the move away from playout from Tape or Film has definitely improved transmission of recorded programmes. There were lots of things that could go wrong with VT or TK machines. VT decks could suffer from headclogs which would marr picture and/or sound quality. TK machines could be very tempramental and it was a skilled job keeping them on-air. Feature films also had to be 'panned and scanned' to fill the TV frame - again a skilled job. ISTR the pan/scan information could be recorded onto tape to run alongside the film in transmission so that a pre-programmed portion of the frame would be transmitted. This did occasionally slip out of synch and could lead to all sorts of nonsense. Sound could also slip out of synch as well. Of course both film and VT transmissions could be interrupted by finger trouble, machine failure or switching problems to the transmission suite.

Servers have their own issues of course, being essentially computers, but they're almost aways backed up and running in tandem into the transmission suite, plus if all else fails there's often a tape copy in the building which was ingested in the first place (though electronic file delivery is becoming much more common).

Finally, companies that specialise in channel playout often have major contingency plans to ensure the transmission of services even in the event of major systems failures at their main facility.

There's a nice example of how not to do pan and scan on YouTube, from a 1986 BBC1 transmission of the film Adam's Woman



And the moment it fell off air because they didn't change over the reels properly

I must admit, I do miss those old breakdowns. A lot of the music was fab.

For the record, the first track played on that BBC-1 1995 Breakdown for the film "Heaven Will Have To Wait" is called "Primary" by Murray Munro which is on the same Atmosphere production Library Disc as "Against The Clock". ATMOSCD38.

Thanks! I've now got the file on my PC!

The BBC breakdowns were annoying, but I just wish they became more frequent, with the breakdown soundtracks that we all loved from the 90s. They're fun, they make you want to dance! Long live BBC breakdown music!

I think it may have been punched paper tape at one point. Not only did you have to pan-and-scan film, you also had to do some form of grading - which could also be done in a similar way. Much easier to dub it to VT off-line...

Technology has come a long way since the 90s...

Fantastic !! I do recall Stanley Baxter doing a sketch on his 1970s LWT show parodying the frequent (in those days) P&S cock ups. 1986 is getting a bit late to still be messing it up. I know C4 always transferred films to VT first, they never broadcast directly from TK, when did the Beeb and ITV companies follow suit ?

How did they transmit anything over the airwaves when they couldn't use computers to do it for them? Because the BBC began broadcasting in the 1930s...

As a child I always seemed to notice those awful pans where films slid across the screen unnaturally. It was only through reading forums like this some years ago that I understood the reasons for them. Now with wide screen transmissions, I guess they're more or less a thing of the past.

The BBC used a system of hole-punched tapes (I think) to store the pan/scan data but if this couldn't be prepared in advance of transmission it was occasionally done live. Also the colourisation of tk play out was also done in advance but occasionally tweaked live. A real art. Many pan and scan cock ups were a result of punch tape synch problems I believe.