
Tempo
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.
Seasons
1. Episode 1
Air Date: 1961-10-15
2. The Art of Bullfighting/The Death of Fiction
Air Date: 1961-11-26
A specially commissioned film by Orson Welles examines bullfighting. Meanwhile, writer Truman Capote discusses the death of fiction.
1. The Artist in France
Air Date: 1962-02-04
2. Episode 2
Air Date: 1962-03-25
A look at modern architecture in Britain including interviews with the critic Iain Nairn and the architects Frederick Gibberd and Hubert Bennett.
3. The Artist at Work
Air Date: 1962-04-08
Tempo visits France for a film about the abstract artist Graham Sutherland who is seen at work in his studio.
4. The Negro Spiritual
Air Date: 1962-10-07
5. Analysis of the Hero
Air Date: 1962-10-14
The author of the James Bond books, Ian Fleming, talks to Dan Farson.
6. The New Glossy Magazines
Air Date: 1962-10-21
7. The Spoof Prima Donna
Air Date: 1962-10-28
8. The Man with the Moon
Air Date: 1962-11-11
9. A Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose – But Is It Art?
Air Date: 1962-11-25
10. Choreography: The Art of Norman Morrice
Air Date: 1962-12-16
1. Annie Ross
Air Date: 1963-01-27
2. Art from Australia
Air Date: 1963-02-10
3. Lions Led by Donkeys
Air Date: 1963-04-21
4. Dark Descent
Air Date: 1963-09-29
An attempt to explore the television technique in relation to modern ballet.
5. The Mark of Feae
Air Date: 1963-10-20
How artists bring terror into their pictures.
6. The Life I Sing About
Air Date: 1963-10-27
7. The Saltire in the Wind
Air Date: 1963-12-01
8. Carols Mean Christmas
Air Date: 1963-12-22
1. Mods and Rockers
Air Date: 1964-03-08
Mods and Rockers is a dance created by Peter Darrell for the Western Theatre Ballet based on the music of the Beatles.
2. A Dialogue of Actors
Air Date: 1964-03-22
3. Postscript to the Ballet
Air Date: 1964-04-05
4. A Wind of Change: The Art of Franco Zeffirelli
Air Date: 1964-04-12
5. A Vision of England
Air Date: 1964-05-03
The Great Shakespeare Exhibition at Stratford-upon-Avon takes you back to 23 April 1564, the day of the poet's birth.
6. The Mime of Jacques Lecoq
Air Date: 1964-05-24
7. The Christopher Marlowe Murder Mystery
Air Date: 1964-05-31
8. Crime to Remember
Air Date: 1946-06-14
Songs, recitations, and Victorian melodrama are used for a series of vignettes on aspects of crime. From the righteous to the romantic and ultimately, the repellent.
9. Ice Shows
Air Date: 1964-07-12
10. Odetta
Air Date: 1964-07-19
A profile of the American blues singer Odetta.
11. Some of These Days
Air Date: 1964-08-16
A profile on Russian-American singer Sophie Tucker.
12. Two-Handers
Air Date: 1964-08-23
13. A Star of India
Air Date: 1964-08-30
14. The Prince Maker
Air Date: 1964-09-13
15. More Minim
Air Date: 1964-09-20
The South African cast of the 'Wait a Minim' theatre show bring their sparkle and zest for life to the small screen.
16. The Making of a Musical
Air Date: 1964-10-10
A behind the scenes look at a production of the musical Maggie May.
17. The Music Ladder
Air Date: 1964-11-14
18. A Man of Runnymede
Air Date: 1963-11-22
Looking back on the past year since John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
19. The Blues Came Walkin': Part 1
Air Date: 1964-12-06
20. The Blues Came Walkin': Part 2
Air Date: 1964-12-13
1. Look Back at Tomorrow
Air Date: 1965-04-04
2. Lee Strasberg
Air Date: 1965-05-28
3. Boss Guitar
Air Date: 1965-06-06
4. The Knack
Air Date: 1965-06-11
5. Successful Failure
Air Date: 1965-07-18
6. The Title Makers
Air Date: 1965-07-25
Tempo visits the booming film title making industry, where some have said that the titles are now a lot more interesting than the films they introduce.
7. Profile No. 1: Harold Pinter
Air Date: 1965-10-03
Playwright Harold Pinter talks about his background and influences in a documentary that also includes extracts from The Homecoming with the original Aldwych Theatre cast.
8. Profile No. 2: Jean-Luc Godard
Air Date: 1965-10-10
9. Profile No. 3: Michael Tippett
Air Date: 1965-10-17
10. Profile No. 4: Charles Eames
Air Date: 1965-10-24
11. Profile No. 5: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Air Date: 1965-10-31
12. Profile No. 6: Orson Welles
Air Date: 1965-11-07
13. A Tale of Two Talents
Air Date: 1965-11-14
Contrasting the professional life of Welsh pop singer Tom Jones who shot to fame last year with Canadian-born modern ballet dancer Lynne Seymour who performs with the Royal Ballet Company.
14. Profile No. 7: André Courrèges
Air Date: 1965-11-21
1. A Guided Tour of Zero Mostel
Air Date: 1966-01-23
An interview with actor/comedian Zero Mostel on the set of 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'.
2. Entertainers: Theatre
Air Date: 1966-01-31
3. You've Got a Nerve
Air Date: 1966-02-13
The evolution of London's community of street musicians.
4. Entertainers: Comedians
Air Date: 1966-02-21
5. Entertainers: Jazz
Air Date: 1966-03-06
A profile of jazz musician Duke Ellington.
6. Tativille
Air Date: 1966-05-08
An interview with French comedian and director Jacques Tati on the set of his latest film 'Playtime'.
7. Blood, Sweat & Champagne
Air Date: 1966-05-22
8. Jazz in Wonderland
Air Date: 1966-05-30
At EMI Studios in London, Tempo films the pianist Stan Tracey as he works on a new jazz suite interpretation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.
9. The Offenders
Air Date: 1966-06-05
A look at satirical magazines 'Krokodil' (USSR), 'Le Canard Enchaine' (France) and 'Private Eye' (UK).
10. The Image Wizards
Air Date: 1966-06-19
Awards presented by the Design and Art Directors Association.
11. Bauhaus
Air Date: 1966-07-03
12. The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Air Date: 1966-10-23
13. Sound
Air Date: 1966-10-30
"Is music just a sound? Is a truck passing by music? Are sounds just sounds or are they Beethoven? Is there such a thing as silence?" John Cage, composer.
1. Information
Air Date: 1967-01-01
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
Air Date: 1967-01-08
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
Air Date: 1967-02-12
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
Air Date: 1967-08-06
5. Performer and Composer: George Malcolm on Scarlatti
Air Date: 1967-08-13
6. Performer and Composer: Gervase de Peyer on Brahms
Air Date: 1967-08-20
7. Performer and Composer: Vlado Perlemuter on Ravel
Air Date: 1967-09-24
8. Performer and Composer: Janet Baker on Schumann
Air Date: 1967-10-08
9. Contemporary Drama: Waiting for Godot
Air Date: 1967-12-17
10. The Actor and the Role: Irene Worth
Air Date: 1968-03-03
11. The Actor and the Role: Edith Evans
Air Date: 1968-03-17
12. The Actor and the Role: Donald Pleasence
Air Date: 1968-03-31
13. The Actor and the Role: Sybil Thorndike
Air Date: 1968-04-07
14. The Actor and the Role: Michael Hordern
Air Date: 1968-04-14
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
Air Date: 1968-06-03
16. Expendability
Air Date: 1968-06-24
A discussion on expendability.
Select an episode to start watching
Rating
0.0/10
Release Date
1961-10-15
Episodes
83 (7 seasons)
Status
Ended
Cast
Production Companies

ABC Weekend Television