About this season
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.
Episodes (16)
1. Information
Aired 1 January 1967 • 30 min
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?
2. Nostalgia
Aired 8 January 1967 • 30 min
Nostalgia is.. Good..? Bad..? Is life today too hectic and rushed? Does nostalgia close one's eye to the present?
3. Take a Simple Action and Look at It
Aired 12 February 1967 • 30 min
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.
4. Performer and Composer: Daniel Barenboim on Beethoven
Aired 6 August 1967 • 30 min
5. Performer and Composer: George Malcolm on Scarlatti
Aired 13 August 1967 • 30 min
6. Performer and Composer: Gervase de Peyer on Brahms
Aired 20 August 1967 • 30 min
7. Performer and Composer: Vlado Perlemuter on Ravel
Aired 24 September 1967 • 30 min
8. Performer and Composer: Janet Baker on Schumann
Aired 8 October 1967 • 30 min
9. Contemporary Drama: Waiting for Godot
Aired 17 December 1967 • 30 min
10. The Actor and the Role: Irene Worth
Aired 3 March 1968 • 30 min
11. The Actor and the Role: Edith Evans
Aired 17 March 1968 • 30 min
12. The Actor and the Role: Donald Pleasence
Aired 31 March 1968 • 30 min
13. The Actor and the Role: Sybil Thorndike
Aired 7 April 1968 • 30 min
14. The Actor and the Role: Michael Hordern
Aired 14 April 1968 • 30 min
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.
15. The Actor and the Role: Diane Cilento – Miss Julie
Aired 3 June 1968 • 30 min
16. Expendability
Aired 24 June 1968 • 30 min
A discussion on expendability.