Key Moments in 1940s Television

The invention of the television was the work of many individuals in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Individuals and corporations competed in various parts of the world to deliver a device that superseded previous technology. Many were compelled to capitalise on the invention and make profit, while some wanted to change the world through visual and audio communication technology.

...***Key Moments in 1930s Television***

###  1946

#### June 1

The first television licence is introduced in the United Kingdom costing £2.

#### June 7

The BBC Television Service begins broadcasting again. The first words heard are "Good afternoon everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh?". Twenty minutes later, the Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey's Gala Premiere that had been the last programme transmitted seven years earlier at the start of World War II, is reshown.

#### June 9

The BBC's children's programme For the Children returns, one of the few pre-war programmes to resume after the reintroduction of the BBC Television Service.

#### July

BBC Television revives the regular televised weather forecast. The map filled the entire screen, with an off-screen announcer reading the next day's weather.

#### October 20

Children's puppet "Muffin the Mule" debuts in an episode of For The Children. He is so popular he is given his own show later in the year on a new service Watch with Mother.

#### October 22

Having first aired for five episodes from 1938 to 1939, Telecrime returned, following the resumption of television after the Second World War, and aired as Telecrimes. A whodunit crime drama, Telecrimes showed the viewer enough evidence to solve the crime themselves. Most episodes were written by Mileson Horton. All seventeen episodes are lost. Aired live, their preservation was technically difficult at the time.

#### November 29

Pinwright's Progress, British television's first sitcom, debuts on the BBC Television Service.

### 1947

#### February 10 to March 11

The BBC Television Service is temporarily suspended for the first time since World War II due to a national fuel crisis.

#### October 7

Adelaide Hall appearing in Variety in Sepia, the first telecording by BBC (kinescope) showing black singer Adelaide Hall performing two songs with chorus and her guitar. Copies of this first English kinescope of live TV broadcast are preserved by the BBC.

#### November 9

Memorial service broadcast from the Cenotaph on the BBC Television Service, using tele-recording for the first time.

#### November 20

The Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II), daughter of George VI marries The Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey, London. The service is watched by an estimated 400,000 viewers and is the oldest surviving telerecorded programme in Britain.

### 1948

#### January 5

Television Newsreel is first shown on the BBC Television Service.

#### July 29

The BBC Television Service begins its coverage of the Olympic Games in London by broadcasting the opening ceremony. From now until the closing ceremony on August 14, 1948 the BBC Television Service will broadcast an average three and a half hours a day of live coverage from the Games, using a special coaxial cable linking the main venue at Wembley Stadium to the television service's base at Alexandra Palace. This is the most ambitious sustained outside broadcast yet attempted by the BBC, but passes off with no serious problems.

### 1949

#### September 29

The BBC Television Service first broadcasts Come Dancing, a TV ballroom dancing competition show.

#### October 26

How Do You View?, the first comedy series on British television, starring Terry-Thomas, is first broadcast.

#### December 17: Television extends out of London

The Sutton Coldfield television transmitter is opened in the Midlands, making it the first part of the UK outside London to receive the BBC Television Service.

***Key Moments in 1950s Television*...**