John Wyver writes: Nothing. No television broadcasts from Alexandra Palace on Monday 14 December 1936, and only an apologetic mid-evening sound announcement. A fierce gale had damaged the transmission mast and taken the service off-air. A contributor to the more
John Wyver writes: Presented on the afternoon of Monday 13 December 1937 was the most ambitious television ballet to date, act 2 of, as it was billed, Le lac des cygnes, or Swan Lake to the rest of us. The more
John Wyver writes: the afternoon and evening of Saturday 12 December 1936, just six weeks into the BBC Television service from Alexandra Palace, witnessed a spectacular demonstration on the terrace just outside the studio. Celebrated First World War pilot and more
John Wyver writes: the evening of Saturday 11 December 1937 featured an ambitious half-hour broadcast of act 3 of Verdi's Aida given by the Matania Operatic Society. Opera was an important element of the transmissions from Alexandra Palace, although this more
John Wyver writes: The Christmas quotient of programming was ramped up on the evening of Friday 9 December 1938 with a 10-minute broadcast, Presents for the Children no 1, presented by the well-regarded painter Edward Halliday. The artist recommended more
John Wyver writes: We might celebrate the television of 8 December 1937 for the one and only appearance of the Trapp Family Singers led by George von Trapp. Formed after winning a singing competition in Salzburg the previous year, more
John Wyver writes: There are some surprising names among those who appeared on the 30-line Television service operated by the BBC between 1932 and 1935. Tuesday 5 December 1933 saw the first of two appearances by the then 28-year-old more
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: on this St Andrew's Day in 1932, the 30-line Television service, which for the three months past had been operated by the BBC, presented an ambitious Scotland-themed variety show. Woolwich-born Helen McKay (real name: Ruby Ellen more
David Warner, who played Henry VI in Peter Hall and John Barton's landmark RSC production of The Wars of the Roses in 1963, has died aged 80. Broadcast by the BBC in 1965 and released on DVD and download by more