U-Matic videotape of British Railways television commercials from 1986 to 1992

Compilation of British Railways television commercial made between 1986 and 1992. Adverts made by various advertising agencies, including J. Walter Thompson Agency, GPCC Advertising, Saatchi & Saatchi, Gold Greenless Trott, Abbott Meade Vickers. Content: 1985 Switch plug (London connection), 1986 French Connection, 1986 Swan (London Capitalcard), 1988 Hush hour (tap dancing Network SouthEast), 1989 11 seconds (Network SouthEast), 1988 Happy returns (Network SouthEast), 1991 Supercar, 1990s ICGTI, 1985 Plane to train, 1989 Relax, 1991 Intercity 225 Black silk (British pride for new Intercity 225), 1992 Welcome to Intercity (Scarecrow, Beach; 2 versions,), 1992 Nicole and Papa. Total duration: 12 minutes.

This videotape along with others in the collection, form a representative sample of British Railways television advertising between the 1960s and mid-1990s. The different adverts feature the breadth of styles and scope of advertising companies used over the years. Some of the agencies represented are J. Walter Thompson Agency (now Wunderman Thompson), GPCC Advertising, Saatchi & Saatchi, Gold Greenless Trott, Abbott Meade Vickers, Allen, Brady & Marsh (ABM). Though, productions details have not been identified for all adverts. Some of British Railways adverts have had popular success and won awards, e.g. Relax, made by Saatchi & Saatchi 1988, promoting Intercity services, won 13 awards from various advertising competitions. The collection also includes different versions of same adverts: regional versions, short (10 seconds) and long (30-50 seconds) versions, seasonal versions.