National Coal Board and British Coal Corporation: Films

COAL 105

1948-1992

This series contains a selection of films produced or sponsored by the National Coal Board and later the British Coal Corporation. Many of the films were produced as part of the National Coal Board's long-running cinemagazine 'Mining Review' (renamed 'Review' in 1972).

The National Coal Board took control of the nationalised coal mining industry in 1947. Coal mining was an important aspect of the UK's industial policy at this time as well as employing hundreds of thousands of workers. The films created by the Coal Board were intended to inform and encourage support for the coal mining industry by the British public.

In earlier years, most of the films relate to the subject of coal mining. In later years, particularly during the 1980s, the subject matter became more varied.

NOTE: If you wish to view films from the BFI National Archive, please cite BFI catalogue references found in the 'Former reference (Department)' field when contacting The British Film Institute with your request.

Some films are available online from the BFI Media Player.

Unless otherwise specified, dates listed in the catalogue are the dates when the films were released.

For miscellaneous public record films, see CD 1

Public Record(s)

English

412 film(s)

Film preservation rules apply that may restrict access. For further information about accessing BFI National Archive collections, please visit http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections

Open

Topics

Archives and libraries

Labour

Coal

Mining and quarrying

The films were transferred to the British Film Institute who hold selected public record films on behalf of The National Archives

Films which covered subjects of particular interest or films which were in themselves innovative were selected for permanent preservation.

Shortly after the creation of the National Coal Board in 1946, a requirement to produce films to inform the general public about the UK coal mining industry was identified. The main focus of this work to produce films about coal mining was Mining Review, a short informational film produced regularly and distributed to cinemas. Mining Review was first produced in 1947 with the Coal Board commissioning Data Film Productions to produce the films. In addition to Mining Review the Coal Board also commissioned individual public information films and invested in feature films such as 'Blue Scar'.

In 1952 a dedicated National Coal Board Film Unit was established in order to oversee the creation of a broader range of films relating to coal mining. The Film Unit took on the role of commissioning Data Film Productions to produce Mining Review while also producing in-house instructional and technical films for the industry itself. In producing these films the Film Unit developed unique expertise and equipment to film in the unique environment of coal mines, which in turn led to them taking on responsibility in 1956 for the production on Mining Review. Data Film Productions continued to have a role in Mining Review, taking over the distribution of the films to cinema. At one point in the late 1950s Mining Review was being screened in over 1 in 3 of all cinemas in the UK. Through out the 1960s and 1970s the Film Unit continued to produce films to inform the general public about aspects of the coal mining industry.

As a result of the general decline in the mining industry in the UK and budget cuts to the National Coal Board the Film Unit was closed in 1984.

A more detatiled account of the history of the of the Film Unit is available in COAL 74/880, which was produced by the National Coal Board in the early 1980s shortly before the Unit was closed.