OTD in early British television: 14 August 1939

14th August 2025

John Wyver writes: Late evening on Monday 15 August 1939 saw a mobile control unit in Hammersmith for an hour-long outside broadcast from the Palais. Viewers saw dancing including the 'Palais Glide', 'Big Apple', , 'Jitter Bug', and 'Boops-a-Daisy', as more

OTD in early British television: 13 August 1939

13th August 2025

John Wyver writes: The evening schedule of Sunday 13 August 1939, with the war little more than a fortnight away, was taken up with a production of James Bridie's fantasy Tobias the Angel. Frank Napier's production for the Regent's Park more

OTD in early British television: 12 August 1939

12th August 2025

John Wyver writes: The afternoon of Saturday 12 August 1939, three weeks before the declaration of war, saw one of the BBC's mobile control units in Kensington Gardens for a leisurely hour-long outside broadcast from the edges of the Round more

OTD in early British television: 8 August 1939

8th August 2025

John Wyver writes: Intimate Interlude on the evening of Tuesday 8 August 1939 offered a bill featuring Mexican magician Kantu and Polish dancers Halima and Konarski, along with the mime artist Sherkot. As a vaudevillian whose act was almost entirely more

OTD in early British television: 6 August 1938

6th August 2025

John Wyver writes: The evening of the next day was to be devoted to the Russian ballet, and so the week's headline drama was played on Saturday 6 August 1938, rather than the traditional Sabbath. The play was J.B. Priestley's more

OTD in early British television: 5 August 1939

5th August 2025

John Wyver writes: Nearly three years on from the first 405-line broadcasts from Alexandra Palace to Radiolympia, the levels of creative ambition and achievement were exceptionally high. The producers were creating innovative drama, mounting complex OBs and, as yesterday's more