The Channel 4 Project

An AHRC project at the University of Portsmouth’s Centre for Cultural and Creative Research

An assessment of the broadcaster’s film policy & programming, and it’s impact on British Film culture since 1982.

In 2007 Channel Four’s twenty-fifth birthday was marked by a number of reappraisals of is broadcasting legacy.

Yet its innovation in film sponsorship and programming scarcely received mention. At a time when Channel Four’s future as a public service broadcaster is again in the media spotlight, this project directs attention specifically to its unique contribution to film culture in Britain....

Conference Feedback Form

From the Blog

Photo by Jonathan Kos-Read. Creative Commons licence.

Kate Iles – Challenging Times on Channel 4

We’re pleased to introduce here a guest blog from Kate Iles, who lectures in film and TV production at Roehampton and Southampton Solent universities. Kate... Read More »

"Two Thieves" written and direct by Matt Stokes, produced by Ashley Horner (Third). Courtesy Ashley Horner.

NEW WORK NEWCASTLE: art/film crossovers, Part 3

Innovation and Feature Films So does Channel 4′s interest and involvement in an initiative like Northern Film & Media’s The Artist’s Cut represent evidence of... Read More »

FourThoughts

Guests at our Launch Nights shared their FourThoughts on postcards, sharing their favourite moments from Film4 over the past 30 years.

On Twitter?

Use the hashtag #film4thoughts and send us your favourite moments @channel4project

So does C4 herald the resurrection of British cinema? Or is it the final death blow dealt by television in the long-running battle of the mediums? The answer, in fact, is neither. Instead, what we are about to witness is the coming of age of the film-for-television or TV-movie, a hybrid which has been with us for well over a decade, but which in this country has invariably and snobbishly been labelled ‘play’. — Martyn Auty, “Channel EuFouria”, Time Out, 29th October to 4th November 1982, p. 14.

The University of Portsmouth’s Channel 4 project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and run in partnership with the British Universities Film and Video Council.