A long-running ITV arts and culture series that aired from 1961 to 1968, Tempo was a landmark British television programme dedicated to the performing and visual arts. With a flexible magazine format and an open editorial remit, the series explored cinema, music, dance, photography, literature, theatre, and contemporary cultural life. Combining intellectual ambition with accessible presentation, Tempo established a model for serious arts broadcasting on commercial television and laid the groundwork for later landmark programmes such as Aquarius and The South Bank Show.
Tempo (Season 7)
Information (Episode 1)
Air date: 1967-01-01
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: The old idea of a fixed, unchanging world has been thrown out. In today's world of information, can the artist provide a crucial early warning system of coming changes?
Nostalgia (Episode 2)
Air date: 1967-01-08
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Nostalgia is.. Good..? Bad..? Is life today too hectic and rushed? Does nostalgia close one's eye to the present?
Take a Simple Action and Look at It (Episode 3)
Air date: 1967-02-12
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: An attempt to explain and visualise the experience of a person undergoing an LSD trip. The film uses repetition and changes to audio and visual perception via avant garde techniques.
Performer and Composer: Daniel Barenboim on Beethoven (Episode 4)
Air date: 1967-08-06
Runtime: 30 min
Performer and Composer: George Malcolm on Scarlatti (Episode 5)
Air date: 1967-08-13
Runtime: 30 min
Performer and Composer: Gervase de Peyer on Brahms (Episode 6)
Air date: 1967-08-20
Runtime: 30 min
Performer and Composer: Vlado Perlemuter on Ravel (Episode 7)
Air date: 1967-09-24
Runtime: 30 min
Performer and Composer: Janet Baker on Schumann (Episode 8)
Air date: 1967-10-08
Runtime: 30 min
Contemporary Drama: Waiting for Godot (Episode 9)
Air date: 1967-12-17
Runtime: 30 min
The Actor and the Role: Irene Worth (Episode 10)
Air date: 1968-03-03
Runtime: 30 min
The Actor and the Role: Edith Evans (Episode 11)
Air date: 1968-03-17
Runtime: 30 min
The Actor and the Role: Donald Pleasence (Episode 12)
Air date: 1968-03-31
Runtime: 30 min
The Actor and the Role: Sybil Thorndike (Episode 13)
Air date: 1968-04-07
Runtime: 30 min
The Actor and the Role: Michael Hordern (Episode 14)
Air date: 1968-04-14
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Michael Hordern stars as the exiled Prospero, who lives on a desolate island with his daughter Miranda. When his usurping brother Antonio sails by, Prospero uses magic to conjure a storm that wrecks the ship and torments the survivors, including the King of Naples and Antonio, thus changing all of their lives.
The Actor and the Role: Diane Cilento – Miss Julie (Episode 15)
Air date: 1968-06-03
Runtime: 30 min
Expendability (Episode 16)
Air date: 1968-06-24
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: A discussion on expendability.
Seasons
Episodes 2
Episodes 10
Episodes 8
Episodes 20
Episodes 14
Episodes 13
Episodes 16