The Thames Television moving image and stills archive has been cared for and stored professionally since 1968, despite several company changes and ownership takeovers in recent years.

The TVS archive survives intact with nothing lost since its demise as a broadcaster in 1992.

Granada, Tyne Tees and Yorkshire Television’s programming and photography sits on shelves undamaged.

Of course all broadcasters back in the early years of television wiped many of the videotapes programmes were stored on. But for the Central Television, ITC and ATV archive there seems to have been further damage done to the collection since circa 1997 by subsequent owners of the archive up until it became part of the ITV Global empire [formerly Granada International]  - who now look after what is left with the rightful respect, care and attention the archive deserves.

Since the closure of ATV Centre in Birmingham in 1997 reports of lost photography, documents and even film/VT programming has come to light. It is unfortunate that years of archiving and a good policy of retaining material by Central and ITC Entertainment was ruined by short-term management of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Former ITV staff report imagery from programmes ending up in skips at the Birmingham studios, while ITC film has been noted as being lost within the last fifteen years  - and quads containing videotape recorded ATV programmes have also gone missing in recent years.

Do you know more about this? Do you know what events at the Central studios in Birmingham in 1997 or at Nottingham's Lenton Lane complex in 2003 lead to the loss of such items?

Our researchers would love to know more about how one of the most important archives in British television could be damaged further, and as late as 2003. See contact page for further details or click here to email us.