Talking Pictures TV is a British free-to-air film nostalgia channel which launched on 26 May 2015 on Sky Television platform channel 343. The channel was founded by Sarah Cronin-Stanley and is run by her with assistance from her father, former producer Noel Cronin, and her husband Neill. It runs for 24 hours a day and specializes in British films, both classics and B-movies, from the early days of cinema through to the early 1990s (although it has also shown the 2001 film Arthur's Dyke). During the twilight hours the schedule often changes to American drive-in movies or straight-to-video oddities. A wide range of movies from different genres are shown including horror, comedy, drama and thriller films. In addition to films, in-house productions are sometimes shown, as are items from the Cronins' own back catalogue including Noel's Dandelion Distribution, as well as series from the Southern TV franchise archive, and early American shows such as the original Burke's Law and Honey West.
Cronin-Stanley and her father have for years run a DVD membership club, The Renown Film Club, for fans of B-movie classics. Many of the films now shown on Talking Pictures TV are available through The Renown Film Club. Renown Pictures also own much of the Southern Television library, hence its inclusion on Talking Pictures.
The channel was first only available via satellite on the Sky platform in the United Kingdom. Since 15 September 2015 it has also been available on Freeview Channel 81; it is broadcast in standard definition on a Freeview HD multiplex, and can only be received by Freeview HD equipment. It became available on Freesat Channel 306 in 2016.
A list of selected films shown on Talking Pictures TV
Au Pair Girls (1972 comedy - starring Gabrielle Drake)
Bad Blood (1982 thriller - starring Jack Thompson)
Be My Guest (1965 musical - starring David Hemmings)
The Beach Girls (1982 comedy - starring Jeana Tomasina)
Beat Girl (1960 drama - starring David Farrar)
Blood Mania (1970 horror - starring Peter Carpenter)
Blood of the Vampire (1958 horror - starring Donald Wolfit)
Blue Money (1972 drama - starring Alain Patrick)
Can You Keep It Up For A Week? (1975 comedy - starring Jill Damas)
Carry On Admiral (1957 comedy - starring David Tomlinson)
Chain Gang Women (1971 thriller - starring Michael Stearns)
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972 comedy-horror - starring Alan Ormsby)
Confessions of a Sex Maniac (1979 comedy - starring Roger Lloyd-Pack)
The Deadly Hunt (1976 thriller - starring Anthony Franciosa)
Death Machines (1976 horror - starring Ronald L. Marchini)
The Demon (1981 horror - starring Cameron Mitchell)
Dentist in the Chair (1960 comedy - starring Bob Monkhouse)
Don't Look In The Basement (1973 horror - starring Robert Dracup)
Down Among the Z Men (1952 comedy - starring Peter Sellers)
The Flying Deuces (1939 comedy - starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy)
The Frightened Man (1952 crime film - starring Dermot Walsh)
Go for Broke! (1951 war drama - starring Van Johnson)
Home Before Midnight (1979 drama - starring James Aubrey)
Incident in Shanghai (1938 drama - starring Margaret Vyner)
Lena's Holiday (1990 comedy - starring Felicity Waterman)
Little Devils (1993 horror - starring Russ Tamblyn)
Malibu Beach (1978 comedy - starring Kim Lankford)
Malibu High (1979 thriller - starring Jill Lansing)
The Man in the Mirror (1936 comedy - starring Edward Everett Horton)
Marilyn (1953 film noir - starring Sandra Dorne)
Mark of the Phoenix (1958 drama - starring Julia Arnall)
Night Boat to Dublin (1946 thriller - starring Robert Newton)
Not Tonight Darling (1971 drama - Luan Peters)
Our Girl Friday (1953 comedy - starring Joan Collins)
The Plough and the Stars (1937 drama - starring Barbara Stanwyck)
Point of Terror (1973 horror - starring Peter Carpenter)
The Pom Pom Girls (1976 comedy - starring Robert Carradine)
The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler (1971 sci-fi - starring Leslie Nielsen)
Say Hello to Yesterday (1970 drama - starring (Jean Simmons)
Sextette (1978 musical comedy - starring Mae West)
Tom Brown's Schooldays (1951 drama - starring John Howard Davies)
Tomboy (1985 comedy - starring Betsy Russell)
The Van (1977 comedy - starring Danny DeVito)
White Cargo (1973 comedy - starring David Jason and Imogen Hassall)
Talking Pictures TV also features several films from the Old Mother Riley franchise, and from the BFI (British Film Institute) archives, including several notable documentaries and a considerable number of Children's Film Foundation productions.
The channel also has themed days, such as Music Hall Monday, and An Afternoon with Patricia Dainton in which the actress came out of retirement to provide introductions to her films.
Talking Pictures TV features several classic television series from American broadcasters ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as British series from Southern Television productions for the ITV network.
Burke's Law / Amos Burke: Secret Agent (CBS 1963–1966)
Black Saddle (ABC 1959–1960)
Colonel March of Scotland Yard (ITV 1956)
The Detectives (ABC / NBC 1959–1962)
Dick Barton - Special Agent (ITV 1979)
Hogg's Back (ITV 1975-1976)
Honey West (ABC 1965–1966)
The Law and Mr. Jones (ABC 1960–1961)
Lord Tramp (ITV 1977)
Noah's Castle (ITV 1980)
Now for Nookie (ITV 1981)
Park Ranger (ITV 1979)
The Ravelled Thread (ITV 1979/80)
The Rogues (NBC 1964–1965)
Scarf Jack (ITV 1981)
Spearhead (ITV 1978–1981)
Stagecoach West (ABC 1960–1961)
Take a Letter, Mr. Jones (ITV 1981)
Take Two
Target: The Corruptors! (ABC 1961–1962)
Tell Me Another (ITV talk-show 1976–1979)
Together (ITV 1980-81)
The Westerner (NBC 1960)
