Bank Holiday Films That Were Always On

A fixed set of about thirty films carried British bank holiday afternoons for thirty years, and most people can name them before reading the list.

Here they are, and here's why it was always the same ones.

The war ones

• The Great Escape - the definitive bank holiday film, and the motorbike jump everyone waits for.
• Zulu, and Michael Caine's first big role.
• Where Eagles Dare, The Dam Busters and The Guns of Navarone.
• 633 Squadron, The Battle of Britain and A Bridge Too Far.
• Ice Cold in Alex, largely for the last scene.
• The Longest Day, which took up an entire afternoon.

The Christmas and Easter staples

• The Wizard of Oz, shown at Christmas or Easter with total reliability.
• The Sound of Music, which took three hours and three ad breaks.
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins.
• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the 1971 one.
• The Railway Children, and the 'Daddy, my daddy' scene.
• Oliver!, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Doctor Dolittle.

The adventure blocks

• Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Indiana Jones sequels.
• The Bond films, rotated forever, with Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me and Live and Let Die most often.
• Jaws, shown at a time of day that it probably shouldn't have been.
• Superman and Superman II.
• Star Wars, once it finally arrived on terrestrial television, which was an event in itself.
• Back to the Future, Ghostbusters and Crocodile Dundee once the eighties films came round.

Why it was always the same films

• Broadcasters bought packages of films from studios on multi-year deals, so the same titles came back around.
• A handful of titles reliably drew a big afternoon audience, so they were re-booked.
• There were only three or four channels. Repeats were not a failure, they were the schedule.
• Families watched together, so the films had to work for a nine year old and a grandparent simultaneously.
• Nobody owned most of these on video, so a broadcast was the only way to see them.
• Multichannel and then streaming ended the shared bank holiday film entirely.

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How to write it so it lands

• The Great Escape is the definitive one and it isn't close.
• They repeated because film packages were bought in bulk.
• Nobody owned these on video, so broadcast was the only way.

Where to shop next

• 70s kids' TV shows
• 80s kids' TV shows
• 90s kids' TV shows
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• After-school TV
• Kids' TV presenters we all remember
• Scariest kids' TV moments
• Christmas TV of the 70s, 80s and 90s
• Puppets and animation we grew up with
• ITV or BBC childhood
• TV theme tunes quiz
• Adverts we can all still recite
• Test card, Ceefax and the three-channel years
• Soap moments that stopped the country
• Nostalgic quiz questions
• Growing up in the 80s and 90s
• Playground games we all played
• 80s and 90s party ideas
• Free feel good tools
• Shop cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Birthday cards for kids
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What films were always on at bank holidays?

The Great Escape, Zulu, Where Eagles Dare, The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Bond films, the Indiana Jones films and Willy Wonka were the most reliable.

Why was The Great Escape always on?

It was part of long-running film packages the broadcasters held, it reliably drew a large family audience on a holiday afternoon, and with only a few channels there was nothing competing with it.

Why are bank holiday films not the same any more?

Because multichannel television and then streaming removed the shared schedule. There's no single afternoon film that most of the country watches at the same time now.

When was The Wizard of Oz usually shown?

Christmas or Easter, almost every year, in the afternoon slot - it was one of the most reliably scheduled films on British television for decades.

Do you sell DVDs or TV merchandise?

No - we make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. This is written for the pleasure of remembering it, and the only products on this page are our own cards.