27th January 2026
John Wyver writes: As we recover from the centenary, today's post is just a single link to a piece I published on The Conversation yesterday:
The BBC once made the arts ‘utterly central’ to television – 100 years later they’re
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22nd January 2026
John Wyver writes: To mark Monday's Centenary of television in Britain, BBC Four this week played two programmes from the archives, The Birth of Television from 1976 (a scene from which is above) and JLB: The Man who
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12th January 2026
John Wyver writes: Tonight in the Reuben Library at BFI Southbank, I am in conversation with BFI Television Curator Lisa Kerrigan talking about, of course, Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of British Television, which was published
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8th January 2026
John Wyver writes: Publication day! And just in time, my copies of Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of Television in Britain arrived yesterday. Unsurprisingly perhaps, I am thrilled. The book feels substantial but not (I hope) intimidating;
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7th January 2026
John Wyver writes: The Magic Rays of Light season at BFI Southbank kicks off tomorrow night, Thursday 8, with a programme of four documentaries made for the early television service. On what is also publication day for the
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17th December 2025
John Wyver writes: Once again, since I have contributed here more than a year of near-daily posts recognising 'on this day' events in the first decade of British television, I am now contributing a weekly reprise round-up. All of
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10th December 2025
John Wyver writes: As I noted last week, since I have contributed here more than a year of near-daily posts recognising 'on this day' events in the first decade of British television, I am now proposing a weekly reprise
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28th November 2025
John Wyver writes: Between an appearance by the ventriloquist D'Anselmi and a short programme called The Accompanist Speaks, with pianist Ivor Newton, television's main offering on the evening of Monday 28 November 1938 was the second edition (above) of the
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6th November 2025
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
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3rd November 2025
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
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