Keith Hamer and Garry Smith consider the BBC in the 1960s, looking, amongst other things, at experimental colour television broadcasts, the opening of Television Centre, and the launch of BBC-2.
Keith Hamer Keith405625.kh1@gmail.com Garry Smith Garry405625.gs@gmail.com
No new radio or television transmitters opened in 1960. The only notable new television programme during the year was Maigret, which began on October 31st. For horse-racing enthusiasts, the Grand National was televised for the first time on March 26th. The main engineering success was on March 27th with the first transmission of Colour Television between Paris and London. This was demonstrated at the Institution of Electrical Engineers. Morning transmissions began as part of the revamped Television for Schools service on September 19th. The BBC French Service for West Africa and Equatorial Africa began on June 20th, and, on the same day, Nan Winton became the first in-vision female newsreader. The most significant event in 1960 was the first transmission from the BBC Television Centre at White City in London (Fig. 1), from Studio 3 on June 29th.
First ‘Live’ Broadcast From Russia
Two VHF radio transmitters were brought into service in 1961, Swingate (August 8th) and Les Platons (relay station, October 16th). See also Table 1, for a full listing of transmitters throughout the decade). Three new television programmes began in October. Songs Of Praise was first aired on the 1st, Points of View arrived on the 2nd, and The Rag Trade first appeared on the 6th (see Table 2). The BBC French Services for Europe and Africa were amalgamated and extended on February 12th. The first ‘live’ television broadcast from Russia to be seen by BBC viewers was on April 14th. The programme showed the welcome in Moscow of the first ‘space man’, Major Yuri Gagarin, by the then Premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev (Fig. 2). As a reciprocal broadcast, the BBC transmitted the first ‘live’ television pictures from London to the USSR on June 10th: Trooping The Colour. Saturday morning ‘further education’ television programmes were introduced on May 27th. This inspired the authors to learn German, armed with the three accompanying BBC booklets, Komm Mit!. Between August 22nd and September 2nd, the BBC demonstrated for the first time ‘live’ Colour Television to the public at the Earl’s Court Radio Show.
Transatlantic Colour Television and Stereo Television
The BBC began five new programmes in 1962 (cf. Table 2). The first episode of the police series, Z Cars, was aired on January 2nd. Johnny Morris first appeared at Bristol Zoo with Animal Magic on April 13th. The series ended in 1983. A programme which was definitely not intended for children was Steptoe And Son
