John Wyver writes: Some twenty months after the start of the BBC's service from Alexandra Palace, Wednesday 27 July 1938 saw the publication, in what was still proudly called the Manchester Guardian, of an absorbing article under the headline, 'Television more
John Wyver writes: On Monday 26 July 1937 the television service from Alexandra Palace started a three-week shutdown. There had been broadcasts each afternoon and evening (except Sundays) since 2 November, with test transmissions and programmes for Radiolympia before then, more
John Wyver writes: The evening schedule of Sunday 24 July 1938 was occupied by Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar (billed under its full name) given in modern dress by a strong company under the direction of the invariably innovative more
John Wyver writes: More or less from the start of the Alexandra Palace operation viewers wanted director of television Gerald Cock to schedule a regular slot for youngsters. Cock pleaded shortage of resources and airtime, but eventually offered up a more
John Wyver writes: On the evening of Tuesday 18 July 1939 Irish playwright and producer Denis Johnston presented The Parnell Commission (above), a reconstruction of the forgery investigation of 1888-89. Johnston had made this as a radio feature some more
John Wyver writes: The evening of Monday 17 July 1939 saw one of the BBC's two mobile control rooms back at the Victoria Palace Theatre for a reprise OB of the musical Me and My Girl, first broadcast on 1 more
John Wyver writes: Noting 'E.H.R.'s brief review in The Observer on Sunday 16 July 1939 of East End, a programme that was broadcast four days before, allows me both to preserve OTD-ness today while at the same time writing about more
John Wyver writes: Another first - the opening 10-minute episode on the evening of Tuesday 12 July 1938 of television's earliest serial "soap", written by venerable actor Louis Goodrich and titled Ann and Harold. The main characters are Ann Teviot, more
John Wyver writes: We have already seen how in May 1938 television's love affair with Jane Austen began with a compacted adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Less than two months later, the new medium first entered the world of more
John Wyver writes: 'Fashion' in programmes from pre-war Alexandra Palace invariably meant clothes for women, but there was an outlier on the evening of Tuesday 6 July 1937. Men's Dress Reform was a 17-minute programme produced by Mary Adams looking more