John Wyver writes: British television's love affair with the works of Jane Austen, which today shows little signs of abating, began 87 years ago today on 22 May 1938, with a 55-minute adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The fact more
John Wyver writes: The day before the transmission variously called Bee for Boulestin or Blind Man's Buffet on the evening of Sunday 21 May 1939, the Daily Telegraph ran an excited preview. 'Mrs Mary Adams, the BBC producer,' 'Our radio more
John Wyver writes: At the bottom of column 5 on page 2 of the Thursday 20 May 1937 edition of The Era newspaper was a story headlined 'Look In When You're Passing'. Part of the Gaumont British media conglomerate, this more
John Wyver writes: Today's post is an extract from chapter 7 of Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of Television in Britain, to be published in January 2026. On or about 12 May 1937 British television changed. That was certainly more
The 150th original OTD post in this series. John Wyver writes: Monday 2 May 1938 (I know, I know) saw pianist Harriet Cohen together with the a modestly enhanced BBC Television Orchestra give a studio concert at Alexandra Palace of more
John Wyver writes: The evening of Tuesday 9 May was marked by an unfortunate incident in the studio at Alexandra Palace. During a 10-minute edition of Speaking Personally, in which R. B. Bennett, former Prime Minister of Canada, was more
John Wyver writes: Thirty months into the high definition service Mary Adams' Talks programmes were becoming increasingly ambitious, with an increasing number of broadcasts featuring multiple guests. Perhaps the most ambitious was the 50-minute Salute to America on the evening more
John Wyver writes: On Sunday 7 May 1939 the critic 'E.H.R.' contributed his usual television review column to The Observer. It was a fairly run-of-the-mill filing, but it gives us occasion to take a brief look at the state of more
John Wyver writes: Saturday 6 May 1939 saw an exceptional morning broadcast from midday covering the departure from Waterloo of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, along with the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret (both only going as far as Portsmouth), more
Daily Telegraph, 6 May 1938, with a picture (and apologies for the quality of the reproduction) taken in the studio during the previous evening's Picture Page.