Screen Test
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- For the method of evaluating an actor/actress's on-film performance, see Screen test.
Screen Test was a British children's quiz show produced by the BBC which ran from 1969 to 1984. It was presented initially by the legendary Michael Rodd from 1969 until 1978 and then Brian Trueman from 1979 until 1983, with Mark Curry presenting the final series in 1984. Contestants were shown a series of film clips, with each one being followed by a series of questions either specifically about the content of the clip or more generally about the film from which it came.
The clips of Disney films in Screen Test (and in The Wonderful World Of Disney and Disney Time) provided the UK audience with much of its exposure to Disney films, as Disney films were not shown on British television during the programme's run.
Aside from the quiz, the programme also featured a young film-makers' competition. Viewers were invited to send in films they had made themselves to be judged by anonymous experts. The prize at stake was a selection of camera gear and other equipment. The Oscar-winning Jan Pinkava was the winner of the 1980 series with his film The Rainbow. Runners up were promised a sophisticated looking certificate of merit that would be sent in the mail. One of the young film makers Will Bilton reported that after his 8mm animated film Gus & Guzzles was broadcast on November 4 1984, he received an unexpected check of £15. This motivated him to continue with his career in animation.[1]
The programme's military-style theme tune was called Marching There and Back, composed by Syd Dale.
Screen Test - one of the earliest of all children's TV gameshows in the UK when launched in 1969 - was originally intended as a temporary replacement for Blue Peter for just five weeks while the Blue Peter presenters broke for the summer. As Michael Rodd commented in 2001 on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Kids TV Shows, "We made five programmes originally in black and white, which were going to go into the summer slot that Blue Peter left when they all went on holiday. Than, we made the next five in COLOUR (BBC 2 was then the only colour channel available) - so we knew we'd really arrived then!". After a successful run of 15 years, vieweing figures began to fall by the early 1980s; at this point, the BBC decided that the series had run its course, and in 1984 Screen Test was dropped to herald in a new era of kids TV shows including the BBC's popular Beat The Teacher and ITV's phenomenally successful Blockbusters.
[edit] External links
- Screen Test at the Internet Movie Database
- Brian Trueman at the Internet Movie Database
- Mark Curry (III) at the Internet Movie Database
- Michael Rodd at the Internet Movie Database
- Will Bilton at the Internet Movie Database [1] Will Bilton interview.
