7 replies to this topic

[Alan Cox]

Alastair Weaver of Gaucho Productions reports on his new three-part documentary series scheduled for release this winter

 

Breaking News from Gaucho Productions:

Our new TV programme Touring Car Legends, a new three-part documentary series, will air on ITV4 this Winter.

The series will look back at the history of touring car racing in Britain, mixing archive footage with bespoke interviews with key drivers, team members and motorsport pundits. It will tell the story of the British Touring Car Championship from its beginnings in the 1950s through the major shake-ups of the 1980s and the so-ca...lled golden years of mainstream popularity in the early 1990s, to the cars and characters that make the championship what it is today.

John Claridge, Head of Programme Strategy, ITV4, said: “ITV4 has a solid track record of screening exciting sports documentaries and is synonymous with televising touring car racing in the modern era so we’re excited to bring this new series to viewers’ screens. It goes through the archives to show just how exciting ‘tin-top’ racing has been over the last 60 years and I’m delighted Gaucho will bring the stories and highlights to life for us.”

Alistair Weaver, Executive Producer, Gaucho Productions, said: “I fell in love with motorsport watching the likes of Andy Rouse, Steve Soper and John Cleland doing battle in cars that looked a bit like the one Dad drove. The British Touring Car Championship has always been about the cars and the characters and with the passage of time we plan to offer fresh insight into what really happened in some of the sport’s most memorable moments. We’re delighted that we are able to bring these stories to life and share them with the dedicated fans of ITV4.”

 

 

[RTH]

Doesn't sound as if that is going back anything like far enough i would have said the golden years were '65-80'

[BRG]

Doesn't sound as if that is going back anything like far enough i would have said the golden years were '65-80'

It does say 'so-called golden years' and speaks of mainstream popularity,which would mean the Formula Sierra Cosworth and the later Super 2000 days of large crowds and BBC TV coverage.

 

I suspect this show will skim over the earlier years (for which little footage probably exists) and will concentrate on those 'so-called golden years'.  Still, better that than nothing.  Touring car history has scarcely been regarded as TV-worthy in the past, after all.

[Glengavel]

Pity it's not the ETC, some Jaguar XJC footage would go down a treat.

[David Wright]

It does say 'so-called golden years' and speaks of mainstream popularity,which would mean the Formula Sierra Cosworth and the later Super 2000 days of large crowds and BBC TV coverage.

 

I suspect this show will skim over the earlier years (for which little footage probably exists) and will concentrate on those 'so-called golden years'.  Still, better that than nothing.  Touring car history has scarcely been regarded as TV-worthy in the past, after all.

 

There is a fair bit of footage available from the 60s.  The BRSCC annual films often had saloon car racing.  Year of the Cortina covers the 1964 BSCC season.  There is also a film about the 1968 BSCC and Dice with Spice covers a 1969 BSCC race at Crystal Palace.

[Alan Cox]

Doesn't sound as if that is going back anything like far enough i would have said the golden years were '65-80'

I read further detail quoted in the latest 'Historic Motor Racing News' that "..(the) series includes archive footage and interviews with those who were there to tell the story of the British Touring Car Championship from its beginnings in the 1950s through the major shake-ups of the 1980s etc.." so there is some hope.

[ExFlagMan]

Might be advisable to change the title from Channel 4 to ITV4 to avoid confusion

[D.M.N.]

Might be advisable to change the title from Channel 4 to ITV4 to avoid confusion

Done