John Wyver writes: After a lengthy hiatus and posts concerned with other matters, we need to return our attention to the pre-war television schedules. So let's look back 88 years to Thursday 25 November 1937 when the high definition service more
We are thrilled to announce that Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker! and Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty have arrived - just in time for Christmas. Both spectacular films are now available to download or stream from our Film Shop - more
John Wyver writes: Exciting news just released by the British Film Institute: throughout January BFI Southbank has a season of documentaries and early feature films linked to the publication of my monograph Magic Rays of Light: The Early more
John Wyver writes: Some six weeks ago I posted a Call for Proposals for a one-day symposium about the films of the important documentary maker Robert Vas (above). My colleagues James Jordan and Eleni Liarou and I have received more
John Wyver writes: Three weeks ago the BBC released a report titled Our BBC, Our Future (link to the report's home page) which collated responses to an online questionnaire earlier in the year. 'We asked you to tell us more
John Wyver writes: Some of you will know that I have been very involved over the past months with attempts to reverse the wrong-headed changes to access at the BBC Written Archives Centre (above, with thanks to Ian Greaves for more
John Wyver writes: After yesterday's post about Television Comes to London, let's stay in the first week of the official high definition television from Alexandra Palace, and turn our attention to the afternoon of Friday 6 November 1936. This more
John Wyver writes: The high definition television service from Alexandra Palace was just three days old on Bonfire Night 1936. That afternoon, after a performance under the name of the Mercury Ballet of Marie Rambert's dance company, the film documentary more
John Wyver writes: One of the wall-size blow-ups in the NPG's current Cecil Beaton's Fashionable World exhibition is one a well-dressed young woman, seen from behind, looking into the wartime ruins of Middle Temple (above). Nearby is a silver more
John Wyver writes: Apologies for the blog's month-long hiatus and the interruption of the daily 'OTD in early British television' posts. The last such post was on 25 September, and since then I have been immersed in a month-long process more