John Wyver writes: On the afternoon of Friday 25 March 1938, The Mercury Ballet, by this point also known as Ballet Rambert, gave the second screen performance of the 19-minute Bar Aux Folies-Bergère, choreographed by Ninette de more
John Wyver writes: Almost all pre-war television comedy came courtesy of funny men in variety bills, or in dramas taken over from the theatre. But there is one pre-war original series that points the way to the future of television more
John Wyver writes: On Thursday 23rd March 1939 the 227th edition of the magazine series Picture Page was transmitted in the afternoon and, following the usual pattern, the 228th was shown that evening. In the afternoon, the show ran for more
John Wyver writes: The afternoon of Tuesday 22 March 1938 was graced with the first performance of Dallas Bower's 75-minute production of Henry IV by Luigi Pirandello. As Wikipedia says, the drama is 'a study on madness with comic and more
John Wyver writes: Starting at 2.55pm on Tuesday 21 March 1939, the television service carried a 16-minute outside broadcast from Victoria Station where the King and Queen greeted His Excellency the President of the French Republic and Madame Lebrun. Michael more
John Wyver writes: On the afternoon of Saturday 20 March 1937, following a display of model aircraft, producer Dallas Bower oversaw the first transmission of the 35-minute Pasquinade, claimed as the first original revue for the new medium. Conceived in more
John Wyver writes: For whatever reason, it seems to be the case that 18 March was a somewhat unremarkable date for early television in each of the years between 1928 and 1939. Nothing jumped out at me as the subject more
John Wyver writes: After a concert from Jack Hylton and his band on the evening of Friday 17 March 1939, Alexandra Palace broadcast Animals, Anatomy, Artists, a talk by John Skeaping on 'the three main types of animal art - more
John Wyver writes: The afternoon of Wednesday 16 March 1938 saw a reprise of Eric Crozier's production (above), first presented the previous September, of W.B. Yeats's supernatural drama The Words Upon the Window Pane. The cast was led by Jean more
John Wyver writes: At 11pm on Monday 13 March 1933, the BBC's 30-line transmission from Studio BB in the basement of Broadcasting House featured selections from 'The British Theatrical Loan Exhibition' that was currently on view at Dudley House in more