Talking Pictures TV | |
---|---|
Launched | 26 May 2015 |
Picture format |
576i 4:3 (SDTV) 576i 16:9 (SDTV) |
Audience share | 0.09% (March 2017BARB) | ,
Broadcast area | United Kingdom |
Website | talkingpicturestv.co.uk/ |
Availability
|
|
Terrestrial | |
Freeview | Channel 81 |
Satellite | |
Sky | Channel 343 |
Freesat | Channel 306 |
Cable | |
Virgin Media UK | Channel 445 |
IPTV | |
YouView | Channel 81 |
Talking Pictures TV is a British free-to-air film nostalgia channel which launched on 26 May 2015 on Sky Television platform channel 343. The channel was founded by Sarah Cronin-Stanley and is run by her with assistance from her father, former producer Noel Cronin, and her husband Neill. It runs for 24 hours a day and specializes in British films, both classics and B-movies, from the early days of cinema through to the early 1990s (although it has also shown the 2001 film Arthur's Dyke). During the twilight hours the schedule often changes to American drive-in movies or straight-to-video oddities. A wide range of movies from different genres are shown including horror, comedy, drama and thriller films. In addition to films, in-house productions are sometimes shown, as are items from the Cronins' own back catalogue including Noel's Dandelion Distribution, as well as series from the Southern TV franchise archive, and early American shows such as the original Burke's Law and Honey West.
Cronin-Stanley and her father have for years run a DVD membership club, The Renown Film Club, for fans of B-movie classics. Many of the films now shown on Talking Pictures TV are available through The Renown Film Club. Renown Pictures also own much of the Southern Television library, hence its inclusion on Talking Pictures.
The channel was first only available via satellite on the Sky platform in the United Kingdom. Since 15 September 2015 it has also been available on Freeview Channel 81; it is broadcast in standard definition on a Freeview HD multiplex, and can only be received by Freeview HD equipment. It became available on Freesat Channel 306 in 2016 and on Virgin Media on 1 June 2017.
A list of selected films shown on Talking Pictures TV
Talking Pictures TV also features several films from the Old Mother Riley franchise, and from the BFI (British Film Institute) archives, including several significant documentaries and a considerable number of Children's Film Foundation productions.