The 250th 'OTD in early British television' post. John Wyver writes: The Scotsman was among the newspapers that on the morning of Monday 24 August 1936 carried news of the previous day's press preview of the BBC's television operations at Alexandra more
John Wyver writes: Somewhat distracted today, so only a very brief and late OTD. The afternoon of Friday 20 August 1937 saw a 'local OB' from Alexandra Park titled Sheepdog Trial. Billed as 'a demonstration of canine intelligence', the 20-minute more
John Wyver writes: Looking back to the programmes of August 1939 you can't escape the sense of the impending war, now (as it were) little more than a fortnight away. And yet AP copntinued to turn out intriguing transmissions, including more
John Wyver writes: After a three week break. a full schedule began again from AP on the afternoon of Monday 16 August 1937. Two afternoons of Davis Cup tennis and some test broadcasts had been the only offering for more
John Wyver writes: Late on the evening of Monday 15 August 1938 (well, late for AP, in fact 10.12pm), Marjan Rawicz and Walter Landauer gave a short recital on two pianos. They were also studio guests the following afternoon, presumably more
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
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
John Wyver writes: You can sense from Alexandra Palace's schedules that August was the cruellest month for those running the service in 1938 and 1939 (and remember that Television shut down for three weeks in 1937). Producers and crews more
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
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