13th June 2025
John Wyver writes: For the best part of an hour on the afternoon of Monday 13 June 1938, Alexandra Palace offered an OB from Northolt, just over a dozen miles away. The occasion was the running of the Northolt Pony
more
12th June 2025
John Wyver writes: As the 30-line service under producer Eustace Robb moved towards its final broadcasts in early September 1935, the offerings became increasingly eclectic and distinctive. On the evening of Wednesday 12 June 1935, a 55-minute transmission was billed
more
11th June 2025
John Wyver writes: Friday 11 June 1937 saw the nation's broadsheets carry news of the opening the previous day of an exhibition of television at London's Science Museum in South Kensington. Television in the summer of 1937 was still a
more
10th June 2025
John Wyver writes: On the evening of Friday 10 June 1938, studio A at Alexandra Palace hosted artist couple John Piper and Myfanwy Evans presenting A Trip to the Seaside, a short talk about 'things seen during a
more
8th June 2025
John Wyver writes: Under the bare title of A.R.P., a 14-minute studio programme on the evening of Wednesday 8 June was 'a demonstration of the use of gas masks'. Sandwiched between a newsreel and the cartoon film Mother Goose Melodies,
more
7th June 2025
John Wyver writes: Seven months after the start of the schedule from Alexandra Palace, on Monday 7 June television's offerings were a typical mix of, in the afternoon between 3pm and 4pm, a local OB, a newsreel and an upscale
more
6th June 2025
John Wyver writes: For the best part of an hour on the afternoon of Tuesday 6 June 1939 lookers-in were taken off to the gardens of the Ranelagh Club for the annual Theatrical Garden Party. Among those who were observed
more
5th June 2025
John Wyver writes: Television's main event on the evening of 5 June 1938 was a presentation of two modern dance works by the company Ballets Jooss. Founded in 1933 by choreographer Kurt Jooss, the group had fled Nazi
more
4th June 2025
John Wyver writes: One of the unremarked aspects of the pre-war television service (of which there are many) is the fact that from the start of 1939 around an hour of either the National of Regional Programme radio broadcasts were
more
3rd June 2025
John Wyver writes: By the early summer of 1935 the BBC's 30-line transmissions were and confident and on oc casion truly ambitious. Overseen by producer Eustace Robb, these broadcasts marshalled an extensive range of talents and technical capabilities that, by
more