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''The Major'' is the first
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
to be made in colour,
though it was originally screened, in 1963, in black and white,
as colour television broadcasts did not begin in the United Kingdom until 1967.
After that it became one of the
BBC Natural History Unit
The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' ...
's most repeated shows.
It describes the felling of an eponymous, three-century-old,
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
tree, which has become considered a hazard to traffic, and the effect that that has on the wildlife that lives in it, and on the fictionalised English village in which it grew.
Actor
Paul Rogers narrated a script by
Desmond Hawkins
Desmond Hawkins, OBE (20 October 1908 – 6 May 1999), born in East Sheen, Surrey, was an author, editor and radio personality.
Career
The political and artistic upheavals of the 1930s meant a proliferation of serious magazines. Desmond w ...
.
Filming was by
Eric Ashby
Eric Ashby, Baron Ashby, FRS (24 August 1904 – 22 October 1992) was a British botanist and educator.
Born in Leytonstone in Essex, he was educated at the City of London School and the Royal College of Science, where he graduated with a ...
and Leslie Jackman,
the latter filming the insect scenes at his home in
Paignton
Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignt ...
. The 35-minute
film was produced by
Christopher Parsons
Christopher Eugene Parsons OBE (23. August 1932 in Winchester, Hampshire – 8 November 2002 in Littleton-upon-Severn, Gloucestershire) was an English wildlife film-maker and the executive producer of David Attenborough's '' Life on Earth'', wi ...
.
The music was composed and conducted by
George Shears
George Penfield Shears (April 13, 1890 – November 12, 1978) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. In 1912, Shears played for the New York Highlanders. In 4 career games, he had a 0–0 record, with a 5.40 ERA. He batted right-handed and threw lef ...
and performed by the BBC's West of England Players.
Although the tree was in the
Forest of Dean
The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...
,
filming of the "nearby" village was actually done at
Eastcombe in the
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale.
The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...
,
and the village cricket match there was played by actors.
References
External links
WildFilm pagewith clips from the film.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Major, The
BBC Television shows
1963 television films
Forest of Dean
1963 films