1964: Will TV Ruin Life on Shetland? (Patreon)

A 9 minute long BBC documentary, originally broadcast 15 April, 1964.

Cathal O'Shannon reports from the shores of Shetland, where television has arrived for the first time. How will this impact traditional life on the islands? Will the hand knitting industry be irrevocably damaged? Local residents give their views and an official from neighbouring Orkney gives a stark warning.

This is an example of the weekly content that I will now be sharing, as mentioned in last week's update post. It is an example of a clip in the wheelhouse of inspiration that I am using as I create my Town Without Television comic, so you get a sense of what is feeding into the book.

This video is actually not directly relevant to the case study of my comic. It is about the British island of Shetland in 1964, whereas my case study is from Canada in 1973. But it still shows some of the flavour of these "what will happen next?" pieces that I will try to capture in my book. Being on the edge of a tipping point is always interesting. I like the balance of views in this video.

A little about future updates of this kind:

I should have specified this last week, but will do so here. I'll reserve future updates of this kind for my Patreon supporters who are on the Behind the Scenes with Stuart membership tier (US$10 per month) and above. I'll, of course, continue to keep my lower-tier supporters informed about important aspects of my Town Without Television project and other work, but will keep the regular weekly updates as a perk for those who are opting-into that benefit.

You can always adjust your membership tier on Patreon at any time, using these simple steps.

As always, thanks for your attention!