ALEXANDRA PALACE AND BBC CELEBRATE 75 YEARS OF TELEVISION TOGETHER
Alexandra Palace – birthplace of the world’s first regular high-definition public television broadcast – joined forces with the BBC to celebrate 75 years of TV on Wednesday 2 November (private event) and on Saturday/Sunday 5/6 November with series of free activities for the public, staged at ‘Ally Pally’ where there was a rare opportunity to take a tour of the famous BBC Studios where history was made on 2 November 1936, and sample 1930s-inspired food from the ‘BBC canteen’ (sadly, at 2011 prices) sited in the old BBC Transmission Hall (known for a long time as the Old Boxing Club but now to be known again by its previous name).
Visitors saw audio visual displays featuring rarely-seen BBC footage, and were able to prepare to go ‘on air’, made up in authentic 1930s TV style (with blue lips and eyes and white pancake makeup) and see demonstrations of the latest innovations in 3D TV.
Members of the public also had the opportunity of being “greenscreened” and later watching their performances back on YouTube. HHS webmaster was one of them, and you can view the unscripted, unrehearsed, completely spontaneous result (you’d never have guessed, would you?!) by visiting www.alexandrapalace.com, clicking on their Youtube icon and scrolling down to video 123.
It was heartening to experience such an event at last at the palace and we must hope more use can be made of its historic areas.
Alexandra Palace CEO Duncan Wilson OBE and Alexandra Park Manager Mark Evison will be telling HHS their plans for the future at next HHS meeting on 14 December.
