BBC Programme Catalogue

April 26, 2006 4:20 PM

The BBC Programme Catalogue: an index of 946,614 radio and television broadcasts, dating back 75 years. (Via BB.)
posted by steef (14 comments total)

Wow. This is incredible. Just finding some of the obscure subjects that have been broadcast over the years is so tantalising. And a lot of them are summarised. If they ever get to actually releasing the media, online or otherwise, it would be a mind boggling resource.
posted by fire&wings at 4:43 PM on April 26, 2006

Plans are afoot to get as much of the BBC archives up as possible... Im not sure about fees to download tho - maybe it can be free to licence fee payers :)
posted by Meccabilly at 4:54 PM on April 26, 2006

Sitcom series. Bollo is very ill. Bob Fossil persuades Howard to dress in an ape suit so that he can continue accepting sponsorship money for the gorilla.
posted by jimmy at 5:08 PM on April 26, 2006

In related news: Murdoch group attacks BBC web relaunch.
posted by ericb at 5:25 PM on April 26, 2006

"DOES NOT INCLUDE: A guarantee of accuracy. We're very proud of it, but we know there are mistakes."
I assume they meant not very proud of it.
Um, yes it does seem to have some inaccuracies.
'The Red Hot Chilli Peppers in concert at the London Arena. First broadcast on 1930-01-01'
posted by tellurian at 6:29 PM on April 26, 2006

Also, a lot of the old stuff is lost except for the catalogue entries. Like Doctor Who, except worse.
posted by smackfu at 6:32 PM on April 26, 2006

It's quite interesting to put in your birthdate to see what the news was that day. Mine was a very slow news day, mostly about how much snow there was. The level of detail is outstanding though:

Last week when marathon runner Joe Lancaster went on his daily thirteen mile jog to work, his co-workers cheered his arrival at the Liverpool Road Railway Goods Depot.
Title, Lancaster shoes - at home, cu ditto, ms wife and kids wave Joe ta-ta (kisses kid) (waves back to wife), Joe running along road (track shot), side view pan to back view - Joe under way, cu Manchester sign, towards camera Joe running in Manchester, Joe towards train yard - mates cheer as Joe passes pan up to name of depot Liverpool Road goods dpt, Joe presentation - Mr RM Davis talking, cu Mr Davis shakes with Joe, cu Joe.

Oh, and my birth wasn't mentioned.
posted by tellurian at 6:55 PM on April 26, 2006

On my birthday:

LAURIE MAYER reps on the plight of houseboat dwellers who are protesting that there is no law to prolect boat tenants as there is to protect tenants in other accommodation; they staged a rally of 20 houseboats

Good stuff.
posted by Jimbob at 7:10 PM on April 26, 2006

Hey, I know the guy who did this. Well done to Matt B. Great use of ruby on rails too.
posted by gwildar at 12:55 AM on April 27, 2006

I assume they meant not very proud of it.
Err, no, I think they mean that they are proud of it. It being the catalogue, and not the less than 100% accuracy.
posted by imh at 5:36 AM on April 27, 2006

How are you guys searching on your birthdays? I don't see any "search by date" option.

/clueless
posted by languagehat at 6:15 AM on April 27, 2006

Cool for BBC fans, Web 2.0 enthusiasts, and archiveheads alike - but how is this useful? If media were attached, that would indeed be awesome. In the meantime, how about some episode info instead of a general blurb about the particular show? Admittedly, that would be an insane amount of work - maybe they should make it a wiki.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 6:17 AM on April 27, 2006

On this day syntax: <open.bbc.co.uk/catalogue/infax/on_this_day/1999/12/31/>.
posted by steef at 6:31 AM on April 27, 2006

Cool: I get ROZMOWY ZE SWIADKAMI HISTORII!

How'd you know to do that? Young whippersnappers... think they're so clever...
posted by languagehat at 7:24 AM on April 27, 2006