The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom. It has around 26,500 members who work in broadcasting, film, theatre, entertainment, leisure and interactive media.

BECTU was founded in 1991 with the merger of the Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians (ACTT) and the Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance (BETA), the history of which can be traced back to 1890 [1]. In July 1995 the Film Artists Association (FAA), founded in 1927 as a trade union for film extras transferred itself to BECTU becoming a sub-division of BECTU.

BECTU is financed entirely by individual subscriptions from members.

BECTU's affiliations include the Trades Union Congress, the Scottish Trades Union Congress, Union Network International, the General Federation of Trade Unions, the Federation of Entertainment Unions and the Labour Party.

Anyone working or seeking employment in the sectors covered by BECTU in the UK can apply for membership.

Entertainment is an action, event or activity that aims to entertain, amuse and interest a public ("public" can consist of one person). This audience can have a passive role, as in the case of a play, a show on a TV or a movie, or active, as in the case of a video game. The holidays, games, reading and viewing works of art are not generally considered entertainment, but rather as a pastime. for the entertainment generally requires that the supplier of the show is visible to the viewer, with the exception of video games. The entertainment can attract an audience and influence their actions and thoughts. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation. Activities such as personal reading or practicing a musical instrument are considered to be hobbies or pastimes.

Entertainment may also provide fun, enjoyment and laughter. The industry that provides entertainment is called the entertainment industry. There are many forms of entertainment for example: cinema, theatre, sports, games and social dance. Puppets, clowns, pantomimes and cartoons tend to appeal to children, though many adults may also find them enjoyable.

Theatre (in American English usually theater) is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance. Elements of design and stagecraft are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “a place for viewing”) and θεάομαι (theáomai, “to see", "to watch", "to observe”).

Modern Western theatre derives in large measure from ancient Greek drama, from which it borrows technical terminology, classification into genres, and many of its themes, stock characters, and plot elements. Theatre scholar Patrice Pavis defines theatricality, theatrical language, stage writing, and the specificity of theatre as synonymous expressions that differentiate theatre from the other performing arts, literature, and the arts in general.

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