John Wyver writes: Friday 10 March 1939 saw the publication of Radio Times issue no 806. Around one-third of the copies distributed in the south of England carried television listings and the 'diary column written by 'The Scanner'. These more
John Wyver writes: The Spring 1938 Craftsmen at Work series featured demonstrations in the AP studio of a potter at work at a wheel, of whisket-making (constructing baskets from strips of oak), withy-weiving (working with willow) and, on 9 March, more
John Wyver writes: The 8 March 1939 edition of the popular magazine The Bystander carried a quarter-page ad for the recently-installed television studio at Selfridge's in London's Oxford Street. 'TELEVISION IS *HERE', it proclaimed. 'You can't shut your eyes to more
John Wyver writes: The evening of Sunday 5 March 1939, from 9.08pm to 10.54pm, was taken up with a studio restaging of Little Ladyship (above), written by Ian Hay after the Hungarian original by Istvan Bekeffi and Adorjan more
John Wyver writes: The eclecticism and breadth of the drama produced pre-war at Alexandra Palace is indicated by the production on Friday 3 March 1939 of The King of Spain's Daughter by Teresa Deevy. This was a play that more
John Wyver writes: Sunday 1 March 1936 saw The Observer splash an exclusive interview with BBC director of television Gerald Cock (above, in his Alexandra Palace office) eight months ahead of the offical opening of the service. The article, bylined more
John Wyver writes: With 88 original OTD posts now on this blog, I thought it might be appropriate to compile this index of the February ones, to complement those for January and for December (and a bit of more
John Wyver writes: Before the war The Times did not employ a regular television critic, but occasional anonymous columns offered acute reflections on the development of the new medium. These included a piece published on Monday 27 February 1939 headed more
John Wyver writes: On Sunday 26 February 1939 Sight and Sound was a studio 'bee' hosted by Sir Kenneth Clark, youthful director of the National Gallery known to friends and peers as âKâ. Seated in a wide semi-circle with more
John Wyver writes: Today is the 93rd anniversary of the earliest Shakespeare performance on British television that I can identify. In the morning of Thursday 25 February 1932, producer Harold Bradly in the Baird studio in Covent Garden's Long Acre, more