LibGuides: English and Creative Writing: TV, radio, theatre and film

Box of Broadcasts (BoB)

Box of Broadcasts This link opens in a new window
Contains a permanent archive of content from nine channels: BBC1 London / BBC2 / BBC4 / ITV London / Channel 4 / More4 / Channel 5 / BBC Radio 4 / BBC Radio 4 Extra. Allows you to preview and save clips.

To access BoB you need to go to login, select your institution in the where are you from box (login using SHU username and password) and then follow the instructions to create an account.
Each user can request up to 20 new recordings (restricted to 5 in a 6hr period) or clips per day. There is no restriction on the number of existing programmes that can be viewed.

BoB is Learning on Screen’s on demand TV and radio service for education.This academically-focused system allows staff and students to record programmes from over 75 free-to-air channels; and search our archive of over 2.2 million broadcasts.

Tutorials are available here

TV and radio recordings

We have a large collection of documentaries, adaptations and recordings of TV and radio programmes. They are shelved with the main book collection at the relevant subject number. Feature films are shelved separately in the Film Studies collection in the Quiet Study area on Level 4 of the Adsetts Library.

You can use Library Search to search for media materials, and refine Library Search results by Content Type to limit to particular media formats.

Plays and productions

Digital Theatre Plus This link opens in a new window
Digital Theatre Plus offers streamed films of leading British theatre productions for educational use. Each production is supported by additional content, including interviews with the creative and production teams and written study guides.

Please note: Digital Theatre Plus will require the most up to date version of Chrome web browser to play videos properly from 6 December 2022.
Bloomsbury drama online This link opens in a new window
Drama Online includes new writers alongside the more iconic names in playwriting history. It provides contextual and critical background through scholarly works and practical guides. The collection supports theatre studies, literature courses and drama schools. Content ranges from the monologue; ensemble to one-person plays; comedy to tragedy; the historical to the contemporary; and from the highly political to the profoundly personal.

Using images and videos in your assignments and presentations

Video and images can be important and useful sources of information in your work, particularly in presentations:

showing something can be better than describing it.
images make for a more interesting and stimulating presentation.

The Video, images and audio guide has full details of library resources and support for this area, including advice on copyright.

Alexander Street Media Plus This link opens in a new window
This service contains more than 100,000 videos, images, and sound recordings.The collections include: a selection of historic newsreel from British Paramount News, Channel 4 and 5 News, Gaumont British News and Gaumont Graphic Newsreel, ITN, ITV, Reuters, Roving Report and Visnews.8,000 clips from Getty (moving images) and c.12,000 images from Getty (still images),The University of Brighton Design Archives.Wellcome Film with c. 450 titles from 1912 onwards.
It is important to check terms of use before using any of resources as copyright will vary from collection to collection. It is important to check terms of use before using any of resources as copyright will vary from collection to collection.
Creative Commons search This link opens in a new window
Multi-search tool for images, video and sound under Creative Commons licences. It includes Flickr, Google Images for images, SoundCloud and Jamendo for music, YouTube for video, and other multimedia search tools.
Do not assume that the results displayed in this search portal are under a Creative Commons licence. You should always check that the work is actually licensed under Creative Commons.
SHIMMER This link opens in a new window
Sheffield Hallam University's images and multi-media database. Over 24,000 images, copyright-cleared for educational use. A variety of subject areas includes art and design, built environment, tourism and leisure, and student degree shows. Search, select, enlarge and export images and their metadata; link to any page in SHIMMER from Blackboard; or create presentations to export en masse to PowerPoint and HTML.
Flickr This link opens in a new window
A huge collection of photographs. You can limit searches to items under the Creative Commons licence.

Shakespeare on Film

Shakespeare: An International Database of Shakespeare on Film, Television and Radio
This authoritative online database of Shakespeare-related content in film, television, radio and video recordings is international in scope and holds over 7,000 records dating from the 1890s to the present day.
BFI Shakespeare on Screen
BFI (British Film Institute) guide to Shakespeare on TV and Film. Includes links to 'Laurence Olivier and Shakespeare', 'Silent Shakespeare' 'BBC Television Shakespeare (1978-1985)' and 'Shakespeare's problem plays'. A search on just Shakespeare will bring up many more relevant results.

BBC Genome Project

BBC Genome Project
This site contains the BBC listings information which the BBC printed in Radio Times between 1923 and 2009. You can search the site for BBC programmes, people, dates and Radio Times editions.

You can use this resource to find information about that long forgotten BBC programme or research a particular person. There are more than 5 million programme listings in Genome. This is a historical record of the planned output and the BBC services of any given time. It should be viewed in this context and with the understanding that it reflects the attitudes and standards of its time - not those of today.