''Bird's Eye View'' is a British television series produced by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

between 1969 and 1971, initially transmitted on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

. It was edited by Edward Mirzoeff, and was filmed entirely from a helicopter. An initial ''Bird's Eye View of Great Britain'' was shown on Christmas Eve 1967 and repeated a year later. The full series contained the following editions: ** ''The Englishman's Home'' by

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...

(5 April 1969; repeated 18 August 1971, 24 February 1974, 4 July 1983, 20 May 1987, 5 December 1992) ** ''Man on the Move'' by

Correlli Barnett Correlli Douglas Barnett (28 June 1927 – 10 July 2022) was an English military historian, who also wrote works of economic history, particularly on the United Kingdom's post-war deindustrialization. Early life Barnett was born on 28 June 192 ...

, narrated by

Leo McKern Reginald "Leo" McKern (16 March 1920 – 23 July 2002) was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. His notable roles include Clang in ...

(25 May 1969; repeated 25 August 1971, 3 March 1974) ** ''A Green and Pleasant Land'' by John Lloyd, narrated by Alan Dobie (22 June 1969; repeated 8 September 1971, 1 September 1972) ** ''

Portmeirion Portmeirion (; ) is a folly* * * tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Dwyryd in the community (Wales), community of Penrhyndeudraeth, from Porthmadog and from Minffordd railway station. Portmeirion was d ...

'' by

Clough Williams-Ellis Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Military Cross, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate architecture, Italianate village of Portmeirion in North ...

(28 June 1969) ** ''The Island Fortress'' by

John Terraine John Alfred Terraine, FRHistS (15 January 1921 – 28 December 2003John Terraine< ...

, narrated by

Robert Lang Robert Lang may refer to: *Robert Lang (ice hockey) (born 1970), Czech National Hockey League player *Robert Lang (cricketer) (1840–1908), cricketer *Robert Lang (cyclist) (1917–1997), Swiss cyclist *Robert Lang (rower) (born 1955), Australian ...

(26 October 1969; repeated 31 August 1972, 10 March 1974, 24 May 1983, 6 June 1991) ** ''John Bull's Workshop'' by Correlli Barnett, narrated by Alan Dobie (30 November 1969; repeated 30 August 1972) ** ''Beside the Seaside'' by John Betjeman (25 December 1969; repeated 8 September 1972, 25 February 1973, 19 August 1977, 5 July 1983, 18 May 1987, 13 April 1989, 21 November 1992) ** ''The

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

and Islands of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

'' by William Carrocher (25 January 1970; repeated 11 August 1971, 25 March 1973, 25 May 1983) ** ''What a Lovely Day'' by John Lloyd; main voice

John le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation com ...

(22 March 1970; repeated 3 April 1972) ** ''Eastern Approach'' by

Stuart Hood Stuart Clink Hood (17 December 1915 – 31 January 2011) was a Scottish novelist, translator and a former British television producer and Controller of BBC Television. Life Hood was born in Edzell, Angus, Scotland. His father was an infant s ...

, narrated by Gordon Jackson (17 May 1970; repeated 1 September 1971, 26 May 1983, 6 June 1989, 17 August 1990, 28 November 1992) ** ''From

Bishop Rock The Bishop Rock () is a skerry off the Great Britain, British coast in the northern Atlantic Ocean known for its lighthouse. It is in the westernmost part of the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornwall, Cornish ...

Muckle Flugga Muckle Flugga () is a small rocky island north of Unst in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the most northerly hill in Scotland and is often described as the northernmost point of the British Isles, but the smaller islet of Out Stack is ...

'' by William Carrocher (25 December 1970; repeated 5 September 1972, 20 January 1974, 10 October 1983, 12 May 1989, 12 December 1992) ** ''

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

- the Western Stronghold'' by Rene Cutforth (28 February 1971; repeated 4 September 1972, 19 May 1987, 19 December 1992) ** '' Inis Fáil (Isle of Destiny)'' by

James Plunkett James Plunkett Kelly, or James Plunkett (21 May 1920 – 28 May 2003), was an Irish writer. He was educated at Synge Street CBS. Kelly grew up among the Dublin working class and they, along with the petty bourgeoisie and lower intelligentsi ...

(17 March 1971; repeated 6 September 1972, 4 March 1973, 23 August 1992, 15 January 1993; co-produced with Raidió Teilifís Éireann) ** ''A Land for All Seasons'' by John Betjeman (18 April 1971; repeated 22 May 1972, 11 March 1973, 7 July 1983 and 17 May 1989, although the last transmission was not under the ''Bird's Eye View'' title) ** ''

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

'' by

Herbert Meier Herbert Meier (29 August 1928 – 21 September 2018)SRG SSR The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (; ; ; ; SRG SSR) is the Swiss public broadcasting association, founded in 1931, the holding company of 24 radio and television channels. Headquartered in Bern, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is a non-pro ...

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

and

Bayerischer Rundfunk (; "Bavarian Broadcasting"), shortened to BR (), is a public broadcasting, public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Bavaria, Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD (b ...

) Some editions can be seen on the BBC's website and the two 1969 editions narrated by John Betjeman are available on DVD. Some further editions are available on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

.YouTube channel containing four editions
/ref>

References

{{reflist 1969 British television series debuts 1971 British television series endings 1960s British television series 1970s British television series BBC Two original programming