John Wyver writes: on the afternoon of this day, Friday 3 December 1937, four members of The Irish Players came to Alexandra Palace at short notice to play Lady Gregory's one-act drama The Rising of the Moon. They were more
John Wyver writes: OTD, Monday 29 November 1937, from the BBC's 'high definition' Television service... more Shakespeare. Scenes from Cymbeline, broadcast from 3.39pm to 4.24pm, and then again from 9.31pm to 9.55pm, was a presentation of minimally restaged elements more
John Wyver writes: another gathering in of articles and other bits and pieces that have engaged me and enriched my thinking across the past week. The image is from the controversial, seemingly both complex and simplistic Civil War, released this more
I am delighted that this week the new issue of the Historical Journal of Film, Television and Radio has published my article 'Exploring the lost television and technique of producer Fred O’Donovan'. The article is developed more
I was delighted last week to receive a copy of the new Shakespeare Survey volume, no 69, published by Cambridge University Press. This is an annual collection of Shakespeare scholarship edited by Peter Holland - and for this themed more
The world's first regular television service started 80 years ago today, when BBC Television began daily transmissions from Alexandra Palace (above is AP's blue plaque). To mark the date, at 9pm tonight BBC Four broadcast Television's Opening Night: How the Box more
Among many other excellent activities, my friend and colleague Luke McKernan, who is Lead Curator, News and Moving Image at the British Library, curates the invaluable Picturegoing website. As the site succinctly explains, 'Picturegoing is an ongoing survey reproducing eyewitness more
Collective self-portraits from the BBC are always compelling. And that's exactly what the new video for BBC Music is, even as it features an all-star cast singing the 1966 Beach Boys hit 'God Only Knows'. There's already some good analysis more
British Pathé has just published a wealth of new material on its wonderful YouTube channel (there is more about this from The Drum), and among the delights (only 5 views so far) is a newsreel spot about more
In another post from the blog's archive (previously published on 17 July 2010) I take a look at the visual arts on BBC Television between 1936 and 1939. I was reminded of this because I am teaching again at the more