ITV's seminal arts programme, Tempo ran for eight years through a decade which saw a creative explosion within all aspects of the performing arts. Its fluid style of presentation allowed an almost open-ended remit, enabling it to cover subjects as diverse as cinema, music, dance, photography, writing – and much more besides. At a time when television was being criticised for dumbing down, Tempo – more than any other series – showed that ITV could indeed go highbrow whilst still remaining populist – a philosophy and outlook that was to continue into the 1970s and beyond with its successors 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