Daniel Farson’s Guide to Britain Volume 1 on BFI Blu-ray/DVD in February

The second BFI home entertainment release from the Associated-Rediffusion television archive, Daniel Farson’s Guide to Britain Volume 1, a 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD Dual Format Edition available from 16 February, features the brash, bohemian and boozy, bon vivant ITV reporter and presenter Daniel Farson. 

Farson became a larger-than-life fixture of Soho in the 1950s, socialising with the likes of artist Francis Bacon and photographer John Deakin. But he was also a groundbreaking investigative journalist, reshaping approaches to screen reportage with the many dynamic television films he presented for Associated-Rediffusion in the late 1950s and early 1960s, finding widespread fame and acclaim along the way. 

In Volume 1, join the intrepid investigator – who paved the way for later programme makers of the Louis Theroux school – as he takes a look at subjects ranging from Soho striptease, alien visitations and the Cavern Club in the afterglow of the Beatles, to witchcraft, the cult of celebrity and much more. All but one of the programmes have not previously been released on any home entertainment format. Special features include newly recorded audio commentaries on selected programmes by a variety of contributors.

BFI Southbank launch screening, Monday 9 February, 6.20pm, NFT3
A special screening on Monday 9 February at BFI Southbank, introduced by writer, broadcaster and cultural historian Matthew Sweet, will show Farson at work, crossing swords with variety of figures in a selection of episodes. Tickets are on sale now at www.bfi.org.uk 

BLU-RAY/DVD RELEASE – THE PROGRAMMES:

• Out of Step: Witchcraft (1957)
• Out of Step: Other Worlds Are Watching Us (1957)
• Keeping in Step: The Wedding (1958)
• Keeping in Step: Stock Exchange (1958)
• This Week: Soho Striptease (1958)
• This Week: Robert Graves (Production Material) (1957)
• People in Trouble: Mixed Marriages (1958)
• Success Story: Shelagh Delaney (1959)
• Success Story: Maurice Woodruff (1959)
• Success Story: Hank Janson (1959)
• Pursuit of Happiness: People Apart (1960)
• Celebrity: Cliff Richard (1959)
• Farson’s Guide to the British: Cats (1959)
• Beat City (1963)