John Wyver writes: Television's main offering on Tuesday 23 May 1939 was a 45-minute studio debate titled simply Modern Art. As the billing detailed, 'Sir William Rothenstein took the chair. Mr Wyndham Lewis and Mr Geoffrey Grigson championed 'unconventional' modern more
John Wyver writes: British television's love affair with the works of Jane Austen, which today shows little signs of abating, began 87 years ago today on 22 May 1938, with a 55-minute adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The fact more
John Wyver writes: The day before the transmission variously called Bee for Boulestin or Blind Man's Buffet on the evening of Sunday 21 May 1939, the Daily Telegraph ran an excited preview. 'Mrs Mary Adams, the BBC producer,' 'Our radio more
John Wyver writes: At the bottom of column 5 on page 2 of the Thursday 20 May 1937 edition of The Era newspaper was a story headlined 'Look In When You're Passing'. Part of the Gaumont British media conglomerate, this more
John Wyver writes: The line-up for the BBC's 30-line transmission starting at 23.03 on Friday 19 May 1933 featured Russian singer Dimitri Vetter together with Lilian Lloyd-Taylor 'with songs and costumes of the seventeenth century'. But the most interesting featured more
John Wyver writes: On Saturday 18 May 1935, The Evening Star published a detailed and fascinating story headlined 'King's Interest in Television: Tests Made at Windsor Castle' which as far as I'm aware has not to date been noticed in more
John Wyver writes: Today's post is an extract from chapter 7 of Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of Television in Britain, to be published in January 2026. On or about 12 May 1937 British television changed. That was certainly more
The 150th original OTD post in this series. John Wyver writes: Monday 2 May 1938 (I know, I know) saw pianist Harriet Cohen together with the a modestly enhanced BBC Television Orchestra give a studio concert at Alexandra Palace of more
John Wyver writes: The evening of Wednesday 10 May 1939, just before a programme of Spanish music by Albeniz and Granados, offered the first programme in a series called Sunday in the Country. This was 'a walk in the country more
John Wyver writes: The evening of Tuesday 9 May was marked by an unfortunate incident in the studio at Alexandra Palace. During a 10-minute edition of Speaking Personally, in which R. B. Bennett, former Prime Minister of Canada, was more