OTDs in early British television
John Wyver writes: Today’s post, as I also note below, is the 195th in this series which I is a kind of extended trail for my forthcoming book from Bloomsbury/BFI, Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of Television in Britain, which is to be published in January.
Cerain of the posts have been extracts from the manuscript, while many more have been extensions of and complements to things that I uncovered in my research. I have been much cheered by the likes and shares on social media, and by the occasional comments on the blog, although I woulkd unquestionably appreciate more of both.
I started the posts at the end of November and in January I plan to mutate the project into another form, which is likely to be less demanding for both author and readers. So today’s post is something like a halfway point, and I am using it simply to select 10 of my favourite contributions since the last group of reprises in early April.
The entries are featured here in the chronological order of the events they reference, and I have included only minimal descriptors in the hope that this will encourage you to click through to the full posts.
• OTD in early British television: 19 May 1933: dancer Leslie Burrowes.
• OTD in early British television: 18 May 1935: the King’s interest in television.
• OTD in early British television: 3 June 1935: the ambitious revue Skyline from the 30-line service.
• OTD in early British television: 12 June 1935: Ted Shawn and his all-male company.
• OTD in early British television: 20 April 1937: fire-walking in the grounds of AP.
• OTD in early British television: 20 May 1937: television in public houses.
• OTD in early British television: 25 May 1938: explorer Reynold Bray in a studio mock-up of his Arctic tent.
• OTD in early British television: 13 June 1938: the Northolt Pony Derby.
• OTD in early British television: 24 April 1939: an OB from ‘varnishing day’ at the Royal Academy.
• OTD in early British television: 23 June 1939: Phyllis Sellick and Cyril Smith.
Header image: Five photograph studies of Ted Shawn’s legs and one of his hands, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library, The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1930 – 1939.
[OTD post no. 195; part of a long-running series leading up to the publication of my book Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of Television in Britain in January 2026.]
Leave a Reply