Releasing its inaugural edition in September 1972, the cinemagazine Review was a continuation of the long-running National Coal Board newsreel Mining Review - albeit with several changes along the way. The old Mining Review had finally embraced colour a few years earlier, but Review introduced an entirely new opening title montage that intercut the six individual letters of the title with a barrage of colourful images representing Britain at work, rest and play - with images of mining featuring only fitfully. Indeed, from now on, Review would no longer focus purely on the mining industry. While the first Review tackled the familiar subject of Britain's predicted future energy needs, the second issue was commissioned by the National Institute for Mental Health, and examined the provision of mental health care in Britain - with no reference to coal at all. While the next few issues returned to coal as the main theme, from now on Review would increasingly turn to other subjects, often with sponsorship from external bodies (to compensate for the NCB itself reducing its investment: its first year also saw newsreels about oil rig rescue methods and milk production and delivery. Furthermore, eleven out of the twelve issues in Review's first year consisted of a single ten-minute story, which would now become the norm. Recurring topics include analyses of Britain's energy requirements up to the turn of the millennium (in which coal would naturally play a large and growing role), the increasing importance of energy conservation and environmental issues, and the greater operational efficiency of the National Coal Board itself. Review ran for just over a decade before being judged uneconomic, the year before the miners' strike brought the coal industry to its knees. However, the NCB continued to produce a monthly magazine-style video in the form of National Newscene (1983-87) Michael Brooke
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