John Wyver writes: 'Crisis in television' was, as you can see, the The Era's timeless headline on its weekly edition datelined Thursday 22 July 1937. Nine months after the start of the BBC's 'high definition' service from Alexandra Palace, the more
John Wyver writes: On the afternoon of 20 July 1937 the BBC television service mounted a new presentation of Luigi Pirandello's oblique modernist dialogue The Man with the Flower in his Mouth. Just over seven years before, more
John Wyver writes: More or less from the start of the Alexandra Palace operation viewers wanted director of television Gerald Cock to schedule a regular slot for youngsters. Cock pleaded shortage of resources and airtime, but eventually offered up a more
John Wyver writes: On the evening of Tuesday 18 July 1939 Irish playwright and producer Denis Johnston presented The Parnell Commission (above), a reconstruction of the forgery investigation of 1888-89. Johnston had made this as a radio feature some more
John Wyver writes: The evening of Monday 17 July 1939 saw one of the BBC's two mobile control rooms back at the Victoria Palace Theatre for a reprise OB of the musical Me and My Girl, first broadcast on 1 more
John Wyver writes: Noting 'E.H.R.'s brief review in The Observer on Sunday 16 July 1939 of East End, a programme that was broadcast four days before, allows me both to preserve OTD-ness today while at the same time writing about more
John Wyver writes: By Friday 15 July 1938 the BBC's mobile control unit was well-established at Roehampton Club providing the third of four days' OBs from the private sports facility in south London. The range of summer leisure activities more
John Wyver writes: Ninety-five years ago today, for 26 minutes from 3.30pm on the afternoon of Monday 14 July 1930, The Man with the Flower in his Mouth by Luigi Pirandello was broadcast. This is unquestionably a significant more
John Wyver writes: Another first - the opening 10-minute episode on the evening of Tuesday 12 July 1938 of television's earliest serial "soap", written by venerable actor Louis Goodrich and titled Ann and Harold. The main characters are Ann Teviot, more
John Wyver writes: We have already seen how in May 1938 television's love affair with Jane Austen began with a compacted adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Less than two months later, the new medium first entered the world of more