BBC Studios | Alexandra Palace Find us Alexandra Palace Situated between Muswell Hill & Wood Green, Alexandra Palace is well served by all forms of public transport and is easy to reach by underground, road, rail & air. Alexandra Palace Way, London, N22 7AY Tube: Wood Green Bus: W3 or Shuttle Bus Sat Nav: N22 7AY Back to Hidden gems BBC Studios Alexandra Palace is known globally as the birthplace of television. In 1935 the British Broadcasting Corporation leased the eastern part of the Palace, from which the first public television transmissions were made. Plan your journey Alexandra Palace is known globally as the birthplace of television. In 1935 the British Broadcasting Corporation leased the eastern part of the Palace, from which the first public television transmissions were made. These early transmissions were famously introduced by one of the first presenters, Elizabeth Cowell, with the words “this is direct television from the studios at Alexandra Palace…” Alexandra Palace: Birthplace of Television “I found an old tyre, no roof, no doors and could see the sky.

The smell of cat in the old banqueting rooms nearly made me sick and the whole thing looked the most dreadful mess.” Desmond Campbell, Lighting Engineer, BBC Television, 1935. It was a rather inauspicious start to BBC television, but nevertheless the BBC did hire this “dreadful mess”, which encompassed the whole of the south-east corner of Alexandra Palace for conversion into television studios. Over 73 years ago, on 2nd November 1936, the world’s first regular high definition public television service was transmitted from Alexandra Palace. The BBC chose its new home because it was high up, already built and available. But with only 18 months to prepare for its television debut, the race was on to convert Alexandra Palace’s banqueting and tea rooms in the south-east wing into two state of the art studios, make-up and dressing rooms with associated facilities. They were to remain in use for 45 years. Originally in 1936 Studio A was equipped with the fully electronic system of the Marconi –EMI Company. Across the centre of the studio was a special lighting bridge for spot and flood lights: a replica can be seen today.

High up at the far end of the studio was the plate-glass window of the control room with a panel to control sound and vision, monitor screens and desk for the producer in charge. Next door were racks of equipment for controlling the cameras and the equipment for the transmission of films on television. Further down the corridor was Studio B – equipped with the varying systems of the Baird’s Company. This studio was exactly the same size as EMI’s but laid out quite differently because the BBC was exploring different ways of using television technology. Less well-known is the role played by the TV Studios during the Second World War. Though television broadcasts were stopped during the war, BBC transmitters at the palace were used in a secret operation to jam radio signals used by German bomber pilots to identify their positions and targets. A directional beam was transmitted from various points in occupied Europe across Britain. Specially trained Luftwaffe crews few along these beams that ultimately led them to their target over Britain. These signals were received on the southern coast, fed to the transmitter at Alexandra Palace and re-radiated on the same frequency. This caused the pilots to lose their bearings and miss their target.

As a result, around four-fifths of the raids using the German navigational aid called Y-Gerät aid were unsuccessful. At the end of the war in 1945, the BBC was given the go ahead to reinstate the Television Service. Engineers wee demobbed early from the services to join their pre-war colleagues in commissioning the equipment in June 1946. By the early 1950s the BBC had begun to move the bulk of television production to other centre’s in London, most notably Lime Grove studios in Shepherds Bush. In early 1954 the television studios at Alexandra Palace officially closed. But was this to be the end of television at Ally Pally? On 5th July 1954 the first daily television news programme in Britain, Television News and Newsreel, began. In the months since the closure of the studios a great deal of work had been undertaken to transform Alexandra Palace into the headquarters of BBC Television News. For the next 15 years, until BBC TV News moved to Television Centre in west London, Ally Pally produced all news programmes on both BBC1 and, from 1964, on BBC2.

The studios were re-equipped in 1967 for the advent of colour television and the first colour signals were transmitted from Alexandra Palace in November 1956. When BBC TV News moved to the TV Centre in 1969, the studios at Alexandra Palace appeared to face yet another closure. But this was not to remain the case for long. In 1970 the “university of the air” was launched – the Open University required a studio centre. Once again, the studios at Alexandra Place came into their own, and remained in constant use for another 11 years, until 1981 when the Open University relocated to Milton Keynes. Alexandra Palace: The Birthplace of Television 75 years on from BBC television's technology battle - BBC News BBC News 75 years on from BBC television's technology battle By John Trenouth Technology Adviser, BBC Collection 2 November 2011 Close share panel Image caption Singer Helen McKay took part in trial broadcasts ahead of the official launch 75 years ago on 2 November 1936 the world's first high definition TV service was created.

A momentous occasion, but the road towards it had been rocky, with corporate uncertainty, government intervention, multiple egos and a race against time. Eventually Alexandra Palace was chosen as the the setting for history to be made. The location was chosen mainly because of its location, high above London, but also because of the project's time scale. With a mere 18-month deadline, it was deemed cheaper, easier and quicker to convert an existing building than to build new. And so 'Ally Pally' - as it was named by an early TV performer Gracie Fields - with its extraordinary TV tower, became the iconic visual for 1930s TV. Broadcast battle Then began the race for TV. Two competing systems of television were to be tested for a period of six months in two different studios. In studio A was the Marconi-EMI system, all-electronic on 405 lines. It had the advantage of being flexible: three cameras could be accommodated, and most importantly, the cameras could be moved on wheeled dollies to follow the action and to provide close-up shots.

Image caption The BBC used the Alexandra Palace studios until July 1981 Studio B housed the Baird system on 240-lines (devised by John Logie Baird), which was a mainly mechanical system, much more limited in range and capacity. Live announcements were made from a cramped "spotlight studio" which scanned the head and shoulders of the announcer with an intense beam of light. Physically uncomfortable for the presenter, it also made use of a very delayed form of TV (the Intermediate Film Technique for the cognoscenti). Under this system, the film passed into a processing tank of cyanide where it was developed, providing a TV picture only 58 seconds later. Test run The official opening ceremony was on 2 November 1936. After the toss of a coin, the pilot programme was transmitted first on the Baird system and then after a brief pause, the entire programme was done again live on the Marconi-EMI system. So the BBC's second television programme was also its first repeat. Within three months the decision to go with the Marconi-EMI system was made and the Baird studio at Alexandra palace was closed down.

Baird had been the best of propagandists for the new innovation of television, but as Rebecca West said of him he was "doomed to be the man who sows the seed but does not reap the harvest". Three years later, on 1st September 1939 World War II loomed and the staff at Alexandra Palace were instructed to switch off the transmitter and close the service down for the duration. The last programme seen on air was a Mickey Mouse cartoon; when the TV service re-opened on 7th June 1946, its first programme was that very same cartoon. Image caption The Marconi-EMI system was selected over rival technology from John Logie Baird It was followed the next day with a major outside broadcast of the Victory Parade on the first anniversary of Victory in Europe. Moving out BBC television quickly outgrew the two original studios at Alexandra Palace. Additional studios were provided at Lime Grove and the Television Theatre in west London, and then in 1949 the BBC purchased a 13.5 acre site at White City for a future "Television Centre".

News moved to Alexandra Palace in 1954 for a decade or so, and in 1970, the newly-launched Open University had its programme-making base there till 1981. Thirty years later, and 75 years after television started, much of the original structure is still there and it is now the earliest surviving example of a television station anywhere in the world. The men and women who worked there took television from a scientific novelty and set it firmly on the path to become the most powerful communications medium of the 20th Century. We owe a debt of gratitude to the scientists, engineers, production teams and performers who have given us such a wealth of entertainment, information and education over the last three quarters of a century. BBC and Alexandra Palace celebrate 75 years of television - BBC News BBC News BBC and Alexandra Palace celebrate 75 years of television 1 November 2011 Close share panel Image caption Muffin the Mule and Open University were made at Alexandra Palace An event to celebrate 75 years since the BBC's first regular high-definition television broadcast is to be held at the venue where it took place.

The broadcast was made from Alexandra Palace in north London on 2 November, 1936. A series of free activities will be staged at the venue - nicknamed Ally Pally - on Saturday and Sunday to mark the anniversary. Visitors will be able to tour studios that were leased by the BBC until 1981. The term high-definition was used in the 1930s to compare with earlier systems that were based on mechanical systems of as few as 30 lines of resolution. It has once again been adopted since the 1990s to describe a new generation of televisions that have resolution substantially higher than that of standard-definition television. 'Momentous' anniversary Alexandra Palace became the BBC's primary base for television broadcasts until the 1950s. However, during the Second World War, television equipment was commandeered for defence purposes and the Alexandra Palace transmitter was re-tuned to defend London from Nazi bombers. Over the years landmark programmes such as Muffin the Mule, The Grove Family and Open University content were made there.

Alexandra Park & Palace Trust chairman Matt Cooke said: "The BBC's place in the history of Alexandra Palace was sealed when the first public service broadcast in the world was made from the building in 1936." Head of BBC History, Robert Seatter, said: "On this momentous 75th anniversary, we are delighted to be working with Alexandra Palace to open up these unique studios where television really began." London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "The 75th anniversary of the world's first television broadcast service by the BBC from Alexandra Palace is a fantastic opportunity to reflect on London's role as a pioneer and innovator." THE HISTORY OF THE BBC: THE FIRST TV ERA 'The Man With A Flower In His Mouth', by Pirandello. Produced by Lance Sieveking in July 1930. The purpose of the BBC Tuning Signal was to give the television set time to warm up, and for the viewer to adjust all of the controls in order to get a reasonable picture. The first televised Test match from The Oval in 1938. England v. Australia. Douglas Birkinshaw in the early days at Broadcasting House (August 1932).

THE HISTORY OF THE BBC: THE FIRST TV ERA On May 18th 1922 the Post Office met representatives of eighteen companies, each with a single purpose in mind. Until now officialdom had refused permission for regular broadcasting of radio transmitters in Britain, worried that they would interfere with essential services such as the armed forces. However, by 1922 public opinion, as well as the spectacular growth and popularity of radio in the United States, had bought too much public pressure on the authorities to deny a full service any longer. After five months of deliberation a company to be known as the British Broadcasting Company was to set up eight stations in major cities around the country. Thus the BBC was born. The British Broadcasting Company started daily transmissions on November 14th 1922, by which time more than one million ten-shilling (50p) licences had been issued. In 1927 the company was restructured as a public corporation -the BBC that we know today- by its founding father, John (later Lord) Reith, but by this time an even newer technology was being developed -television.

In 1923 the Scotsman John Logie Baird began developing a system by which television would be made possible. Baird wasn't the only one developing this new system at that time; indeed, Earl Ferdinand Braun had invented the first commercial cathode ray tube as early as 1897. But it was Baird who developed the disc-scanning equipment that made television possible. In 1926 Baird enlisted the aid of Selfridges in London to put on public demonstrations of his equipment. In 1928 those amazed shoppers in the London department store were being invited to place orders for Baird's Televisor, with prices ranging from £20 to £150, on the understanding that they would be delivered as and when a service became available. However, the BBC's official line was that Baird's pictures were well below standard and that they had too little potential for improvement. In truth, the Corporation was very interested in Baird's experiments and wanted them to continue under their sponsorship, and not under that of any other company. Accordingly, Baird's company was offered the use of facilities on London's South Bank.

By 1932 the BBC were sufficiently happy to allow regular experimental broadcasting. They now offered Baird a studio in their newly acquired premises in Portland Place, W1. Studio BB, Britain's first dedicated television studio, was housed in the basement of Broadcasting House, and it was from here that Baird continued to experiment and refine the new medium. Competition came from the Electronic and Music Industries (EMI), based in Hayes, Middlesex, where they had been working with the Marconi Company on developing a high definition system. In May of 1934 the British government appointed a committee, under the guidance of Lord Selsdon, to begin enquiries into the viability of setting up a public television service, with recommendations as to the conditions under which such a service could be offered. The results of the Selsdon Report were issued as a single Government White Paper in January of the following year. The BBC was to be entrusted with the development of television, which had to transmit a definition of not less than 240 lines with a minimum of 25 pictures per second.

With the publication of this report the era of the low definition picture came to an end with ballerina Lydia Sokolova being the last artiste in Britain to appear via the old 30-line system. The committee proposed that the two new high definition systems (Baird's 240 line and Marconi-EMI's 405 line) would be chosen to alternate transmissions by the BBC over a set period, until it was decided which was the better. Looking for a suitable site for the new service, the BBC chose Alexandra Palace in Haringey, Greater London. Its position, high on a hill, made it the ideal place to place a transmitter that would cover all of London and many of its surrounding counties. Sanctioned with the monumental task of bringing high-definition broadcasting to the British public as a regular service was Director of Radio Outside Broadcasting, Gerald Cock, now appointed the BBC's Director of Television. Cock's first task was to assemble a team of experts and then summon them to a meeting where a plan of strategy could be worked out.

The team comprised of experienced stage designer Peter Bax (appointed studio manager), Cecil Madden, a playwright with more than half-a-dozen West End productions to his credit (appointed programme organiser), Stephen Thomas, Douglas Bower and Harry Pringle (appointed producers), Cecil Lewis, film cameraman Bill Barbrooke, George Moore O'Farrell and Mary Adams. In front of camera was to be experienced Movietone News commentator, Leslie Mitchell, and female announcers Jasmine Bligh and Elizabeth Cowell were chosen from thousands of hopefuls who had applied for the job. According to popular legend Cock assembled his staff and told them that since none of them knew a thing about television broadcasting, he was going to give them ample time to find out. They were given four months to study the new medium and do all the experimenting they needed in order to get it "right on the night". The meeting came to a close and each new member of the BBC staff returned to their respective offices. As Madden returned to his the phone was ringing. It was Cock.

"Wash out everything I said." "What?" "We've been asked to provide television for Radiolympia." "But - that's only ten days away!" "That's right, old chap, you'd better get cracking!" "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to the magic of television..." With those words Leslie Mitchell introduced Britain's first high-definition public television programme from Radiolympia. The date was 26th August 1936. Ronnie Hill wrote a song for Helen McKay to sing called Here's Looking at You, which also became the title of the show. Acts booked to appear were a performing horse named 'Pogo', The Griffith Brothers and Miss Lutie, The Three Admirals and the Television Orchestra, which had been hurriedly put together by Hyan Greenbaum. Baird and EMI transmitted the show from the studios to Olympia on alternate days. An estimated 123,000 visitors got their first glimpse of television in the viewing area at the show, with many more seeing it at Waterloo Station, which had been equipped with sets. The team had indeed been given a chance to do their experimenting.

They just had to do it in front of a live audience... The Opening Ceremony (click on the picture to read the opening speeches). On November 2nd 1936 the world's first regular high definition service began transmitting to the 100 or so TV sets available in Britain. Sir John Reith, who was to resign from the BBC two years later, had little enthusiasm for the new medium, noting in his diary, "To Alexandra Palace for the television opening, I have declined to be televised or take part..." With Reith's approval or not, the BBC began transmitting from Alexandra Palace for two hours every day (except Sunday's). A copy of the Radio Times dated October 30th reveals the opening day line-up. According to the publication, on this particular week the Baird System was being used. (While the plan was to transmit the opening solely via the Baird system, as described in the press releases reproduced above, a last minute decision was made to repeat it using the Marconi-EMI system. As a result, the published programme given in the Radio Times, printed before this decision was taken, is incorrect).

If you think that we get too many repeats on TV these days, it's interesting to note that Television Comes to London was shown no fewer than 3 times between Monday and the following Saturday. It's not unfair to say that this particular programme was the first 'fly-on-the-wall' documentary, as it was made to show viewers the growth of the television installation at Alexandra Palace and give 'an insight into production routine.' There were many behind the scenes shots including one of Adele Dixon as she prepared for her performance in Variety, shown earlier in the day. It seems that even in these early days television producers were fascinated by making television programmes about making television programmes. British Movietone supplied the daily and nightly news throughout the week and there were programmes featuring a display by champion Alsatians from the Metropolitan and Essex Canine Society's show, musical presentations including a 'special' starring Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, and a description by a bus driver, L.A. Stock, of how he constructed a model of Sir Francis Drake's famous ship, The Golden Hind. Heady stuff indeed! The entire week's programming output was given a budget of £1,000.

The range of the service offered by the BBC covered a radius of approximately 40 miles from Muswell Hill, although that was by no means a rigid limit. Some people reported picking up pictures from beyond that range although it seemed to depend on a mixture of freak conditions and which transmission system was being used at the time. But even in those early days it seemed to many that Baird was losing the race to have his system chosen as the definitive one, and on one fateful night the TV inventor's world came crashing down around him. On 30th November, following the final transmission of the evening, a group of BBC staff were leaving Alexandra Palace when they noticed a red glow lighting up the night sky south of the river. "Oh, God, no!" One of them said. "It's the Crystal Palace!" Within an hour, the famous London landmark, which housed every piece of Baird's television equipment, was burned to the ground. John Logie Baird was effectively out of the television business. It took the Postmaster General three months to confirm Baird's fate by announcing that the Television Advisory Committee had recommended termination of the dual-transmission period, and that a single standard -Marconi EMI's, would be adopted.

On Saturday 13th February 1937 viewers watched the last Baird programme; A Half Hour of Variety. Elizabeth Cowell before the BBC cameras in 1936. The next landmark for the BBC came one month later, 12th May 1937, when cameras were sent to cover the Coronation of King George V1. This was not the BBC's first outside broadcast. On 5th September the previous year (almost two months before the opening night), comedian Leonard Henry who had been visiting Alexandra Palace, was preparing to leave when Gerald Cox, quite spontaneously, said to cameraman Cecil Lewis, "Bring your camera out onto the terrace." The camera was wheeled out and Henry was filmed getting into his car and then driving off. Only when his car was out of sight did it dawn on Lewis the significance of the occasion. "Blimey," he said, "We've just made an OB!" So by the time the Coronation came around BBC technicians were old hands at this type of thing and had nothing to fear, right? Wrong! Apart from the fact that this was a major historical event, the day had begun with blustery showers and at times very poor visibility.

A few minutes before three a breakdown occurred and the technicians, who had planned for this sort of thing, switched over to a second channel. It too had broken down. With the transmission time now upon them and no pictures to broadcast, the technicians worked furiously (and one imagines in no small state of panic) to locate the fault. Luckily for them, EMI's Eric White located the problem and at three minutes past the hour viewers were able to see the figure of Freddie Grisewood as he introduced the programme in apologetic tones for the poor quality of the picture. However, the pictures quickly improved and viewers as far away as Ipswich and Brighton were ringing Alexandra Palace to say that they had received good vision. Following this, viewers got their first chance to witness a major sporting event when the Wimbledon Tennis Championships were first broadcast on June 21st, 1937, with a match between Bunny Austin and George Rogers. Freddie Grisewood commentated. The BBC sent three vans -a scanner with the camera's, a van housing the transmitter and another with a generator. However, the coverage was completely overshadowed when the cameras swung round to capture Queen Mary entering the Royal Box.

George Mutch wins the Cup for Preston against Huddersfield Town in 1938. It was the first penalty ever scored in a Wembley Cup Final and the first Final to be televised by the BBC. The Boat Race (April 2nd 1938) and the FA Cup Final (April 30th 1938) and Test Match cricket (June 24th 1938), were also available to viewers in the comfort of their own homes for the first time. The next truly historic occasion to be broadcast on television occurred on September 30th 1938 when Richard Dimbleby was at Heston Airport to report for both radio and television on Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's return after his historic Munich meeting with Adolf Hitler. It was here that Chamberlain made his "peace in our time" announcement. A year later Britain was at war with Germany. Neville Chamberlain's historic broadcast. By now the corporation were taking great strides in television development. Not only were there improvements in picture quality with the introduction of EMI's Super Emitron, but also there were bolder drama productions and more confident programme making.

Clive of India broke new ground when W. P. Lipscomb used camera controls that enabled him to use slow, medium and fast panning shots. He also used a montage sequence, employing no fewer than six cameras -three of them on 'live' action, two scanning films and one on the caption board. By 1939 programmes were being broadcast seven days a week from Alexandra Palace -which Gracie Fields had nicknamed 'Ally Pally'. There were 23,000 licences and the television industry now had its own slogan. "You can't shut your eyes to it." Predictions were made (not unrealistically) that by Christmas there could be as many as 80,000 receivers in use. Then on 1st September 1939 the screens went blank. Viewers waited for an announcement but none came. Britain and the BBC were about to go to war, and the first television era had come to an end. Our History | Alexandra Palace Find us Alexandra Palace Situated between Muswell Hill & Wood Green, Alexandra Palace is well served by all forms of public transport and is easy to reach by underground, road, rail & air.

Alexandra Palace Way, London, N22 7AY Tube: Wood Green Bus: W3 or Shuttle Bus Sat Nav: N22 7AY Gallery First opened as “The People’s Palace” in 1873, Alexandra Palace provided the Victorians with a great environment and recreation centre. Just sixteen days after its opening, the Palace, which had already attracted over 120,000 visitors, was destroyed by a fire in the dome. View Timeline On 1st May 1875, less than 2 years after the destruction of the original building, a new Palace opened. Covering 7 acres, it was centred on the Great Hall, home to the mighty Willis Organ which was driven by two steam engines and vast bellows. After certain financial difficulties, an Act of Parliament in 1900 created the Alexandra Palace and Park Trust. The Act required the Trustees to maintain the Palace and Park and make them “available for the free use and recreation of the public forever”. In 1935, the BBC leased the eastern part of the building from which the first public television transmissions were made in 1936.

Alexandra Palace was the main transmitting centre for the BBC until 1956, when it was used exclusively for news broadcasts. Just six months after the transfer of trusteeship to Haringey Council, on 10th July 1980, the Palace caught fire for the second time. An area comprising the Great Hall, Banqueting Suite, and former roller rink together with the theatre dressing rooms was completely destroyed. Only Palm Court and the area occupied by the BBC escaped damage. Development and restoration work began soon after and the Palace was re-opened on 17th March 1988. It continues as a Charitable Trust administered by the London Borough of Haringey. Alexandra Palace has built a reputation as one of London’s premier venues. With its beautiful setting with panoramic views of London, stunning architectural features and well proportioned halls, the Palace is now a very popular choice for both corporate and private events. The additional leisure facilities which include the Ice Rink , Bar & Kitchen , Boating Lake , Animal Enclosure and Conservation Area provide year round entertainment for everyone.

Mailing List Signup BBC 1937 -1939 - TV Outside Broadcast History TV Outside Broadcast History VIDEOS 1937 - 1939 Ever since the first programmes were transmitted from Alexandra Palace in 1936, television producers have wanted to leave the constraints of the four walls of a television studio and transmit live pictures from the ‘big wide world’. They did manage to achieve this, even before the BBC had commissioned the first television outside broadcast unit. The studio cameras were taken out into the grounds of Alexandra Palace. They were still connected by cable to the studio and could only stray 1000ft into the park, as this was the maximum length of the cable. One of first regular programmes that relied on this technique was C.H.Middleton’s gardening programme, which was first broadcast on November 21st 1936 and continued until the television service was suspended in 1939. Mr Middleton created the BBC Garden at Alexandra Palace, the equivalent of the Blue Peter Garden at the Television Centre, Wood Lane. C.H. Middleton in The BBC garden at Alexandra Palace. The Standard Emitron camera is at the end of a long cable connected back to the studio.

As television could not go to some of the big events happening in London, part of the ‘big wide world‘ had to come to Alexandra Palace. This meant part of the Lord Mayor’s Show and the Heavy Horse Parade which was an annual event in Regents Park, had to come to the park at Alexandra Palace to be televised. In 1936 there were two television studios at Alexandra Palace. Studio B used the Baird system. Studio A used Marconi-EMI Emitron cameras and it was this system which the BBC decided to adopt in February 1937. Although Baird had demonstrated an Outside Broadcast Unit at the 1931 Derby with 30-line pictures broadcast by the BBC medium wave transmitter at Brookmans Park, the Baird 240-line system in 1936 still relied on a mechanical scanning method, which was seen by the BBC as inferior to the Marconi-EMI electronic method. So, soon after the decision to choose Marconi-EMI, the BBC ordered a complete outside broadcast unit from the winning company. It consisted of three vehicles, a mobile control room or ‘scanner’ as it was called, a transmitter van and a power (generator) van.

The sound boom that replaced the hand-held mike on early television OBs The interior of MCR 1 The map showing the route of cable that was used by television outside broadcasts in central london. Radiolympia was an annual event where manufacturers of radio receivers and now television sets showed off their products. It was also an important event for the BBC. In 1937 they were able to show live pictures from London Zoo to the visitors at Olympia. The first television outside broadcasts had relied on engineers deciding which camera was selected for transmission. At the Coronation, Tony Bridgewater, Superintendent Engineer Television, filled that role. By August 1937, the BBC had appointed the first outside broadcast producer, Philip Dorte. Philip Dorte’s previous job was a sound recordist on feature films such as ‘Rhodes of Africa’ in 1936. He soon started to make his mark on the productions made by the Outside Broadcast Unit. For the London Zoo transmissions he introduced film sound techniques. The presenter, F H Grisewood, no longer had to hold a microphone. A sound technician held a pitchfork with a mike dangling on the end. The mike was poised above the head of the presenter, out of sight of the camera.

Philip Dorte said it was better to lose a little ‘close-up’ quality than to bring the mike into view. The pitchfork was changed soon for a bamboo pole. Philip Dorte brought his interests to the fore. Three of the remaining seven outside broadcasts of 1937 were film related. In September, October and November there were ‘behind the scenes’ programmes from Pinewood, Denham and Elstree Film Studios. The Unit also covered an air race from Hatfield, The Lord Mayors Show from Trafalgar Square and the Remembrance Ceremony at the Cenotaph. In December the unit travelled to various places around London to carry out test transmissions from the many outside broadcast venues that would feature in the 1938 schedule. BBC Television wanted the unit to cover the Coronation Procession of King George VI in May 1937. The EMI factory at Hayes worked day and night to deliver the unit just a couple of days before the great event. The BBC, in anticipation that many outside broadcasts would come from central London, arranged for a television cable to be laid by the GPO from Alexandra Palace to Broadcasting House and then criss-crossing the West End to Parliament Square.

The special balanced-pair cable, designed by EMI and made by Siemens Brothers of Woolwich, was in place just in time for the Coronation broadcast. The Mobile Control Room (MCR) equipment was a duplicate of that in Studio A, Alexandra Palace. All three vehicles used to house the outside broadcast equipment were on AEC bus chassis, as the AEC factory was just down the road in Southall. In the ‘scanner’, the control units for the three Emitron cameras were placed down one side of the vehicle, with other equipment down the other side, forming a corridor down to the front of the MCR where there were two monitors, one TX and one preview. The picture from the third camera could not be seen until it was put up on the preview monitor. For the Coronation, only the MCR was needed, as there was mains power and the site chosen at Hyde Park Corner was on the route of the newly laid balanced-pair cable. The transmitter van was also located at Hyde Park corner as back up, but was not needed as, despite the dull and damp weather, the live broadcast of the Coronation Procession, passing through Apsley Gate, went off without a hitch.

The next outside broadcast came from Wimbledon, covering the Tennis Championships and the Davis Cup from the Centre Court. The initial broadcasts from Wimbledon were billed in the Radio Times as 'test transmissions'. The pictures were sent by means of the transmitter van, which relayed the programmes back to a receiving aerial on the top of Alexandra Palace. The generator van was also needed to provide the necessary power. The unit remained at Wimbledon to cover the Davis Cup at the end of July. The first outside broadcasts of 1938 were a series of short programmes from Bertram Mills Circus at Olympia, starting on Tuesday 4th January and continuing until Saturday. This was probably the first time a Super Emitron was used on an OB. There was only one allocated to the Outside Broadcast Unit. The sensitivity of the new camera was about ten times greater than the Standard Emitron, making it very useful when televising events indoors. On Friday 28th January 1938, MCR 1 went to HMV’s Abbey Road Studios to bring viewers live pictures and sound of Eddie Carlisle recording his latest song. In June 1967 another BBC outside broadcast unit was parked outside the Abbey Road Studios.

MCR 28, the last BBC monochrome control room, was there to show the Beatles perform ‘All You Need is Love’ to viewers around the world. While only a few thousand people would have watched Eddie Carlisle in 1937, an estimated 400 million watched the Beatles Abbey Road performance, which was part of 'Our World', the first big world-wide satellite programme. Despite transmission tests in advance being made from the various OB locations, the loss of signal when sending radio pictures back to Alexandra Palace still interrupted programmes. When the engineers were setting up to send back pictures of the Oxford v Cambridge Rugby match from Twickenham, they found there was not a suitable high building on which to put the transmitting aerial. With just 24 hours before transmission, the engineers ordered a 110ft mast to be brought down from Daventry. This was erected in an allotment field next to the stadium in time for the start of the match. This game was the first soccer or rugby match to be televised from start to finish. Another measure that was taken to improve the radio link between the OB unit and Alexandra Palace was to install a receiving aerial on higher ground.

A temporary 75ft high mast was erected at Swain’s Lane, Highgate and connected to Alexandra Palace by a cable. This mast was replaced by a permanent 150ft tower in March 1939, with the original receiving mast being moved to Alexandra Palace as back up. Many more ‘firsts’ were to come in 1938. The finish of the Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race at Mortlake was televised in April. The start and middle of the race were shown on an animated chart in the studio at Alexandra Palace, with the radio commentary by John Snagge. The BBC’s first OB unit went on to cover many more events including the Ideal Home Exhibition, the FA Cup Final (1st half only), the Chelsea Flower Show, the Derby and Trooping the Colour. It then returned to Wimbledon for the second time to cover the Tennis Championships. Friday 24th June was the start of a very long relationship between cricket and BBC television. MCR 1 spent four days at Lords cricket ground covering the Second Test Match between England and Australia. Over the next months and years and decades MCR 1’s sister units would return on numerous occasions to cover the different test matches.

The long hours required to cover the game must have tested the endurance of the cameramen, engineers and production staff as all the equipment needed constant attention. BBC engineers brought in new ways and equipment to help make sure the pictures from these new events away from the central London vision cable, got back to Alexandra Palace. For the Polo at Hurlingham in Fulham, the horse racing from Northolt and the Test Match from Lords, the BBC borrowed an ex fire brigade extending ladder from Merryweather and Sons to get the transmitting aerial as high as possible. Where the OB was just a mile or so from the London vision cable, the BBC and GPO designed equipment that allowed the pictures to be sent down an ordinary telephone cable. This technique was used for the Chelsea Flower Show, a broadcast from The Movietone news HQ in Soho Square and eventually Olympia, where several repeaters were needed due to the distance from the permanent vision cable. By the beginning of 1938 the BBC knew it needed a second television outside broadcast unit. The first unit was becoming increasingly busy.

Normally it would take 48 hours to set up a three-camera OB but at the beginning of April that was cut to 29 hours between the Boxing at Harringey and the England v Scotland soccer match at Wembley on Saturday afternoon. So an order was placed with the Marconi-EMI Company for a second unit identical to the first. The BBC also ordered a purpose built extending ladder vehicle from Merryweather that could reach 80ft and also had compartments to carry the aerial equipment. The Aerial Ladder arrived in time to help get pictures back from the August Bank Holiday fun fair at Croydon on Monday 1st August. MCR 2 and it’s associated vehicles were delivered in time to cover the Third Test Match at the Oval at the end of August which allowed the first unit to cover the variety acts that the BBC put on in a specially built studio at Radiolympia. While previously visitors could only see programmes at Olympia that were made at Alexandra Palace or relayed from the OB at London Zoo, now visitors could actually watch live television being made. Perhaps the most significant Television Outside Broadcast of 1938 happened on Friday 30th September at Heston Aerodrome.

It was here that Prime Minster, Neville Chamberlain, made his famous ‘Peace with Hitler’ speech on returning from Berlin. The BBC’s MCR 1 and transmitter vans were there to relay the message to an anxious audience. This broadcast was not listed in the Radio Times. It was a last minute event that was the first time a BBC outside broadcast unit had been used to cover a news story. The two OB units were busy through the autumn and winter returning to old favourites like the Lord Mayors Show, Rugby from Twickenham, the Remembrance Ceremony from Whitehall and Bertram Mills Circus which this time had the benefit of three Super Emitrons to televise the indoor event. Perhaps one of the most significant broadcasts was on 16th November when the BBC made its first venture into The West End to televise part of a J B Priestly play. Many plays and musicals had been staged in the studios at Alexandra Palace, but this was the first time television had gone to the theatre. St Martins was the first theatre to allow a live transmission. One camera was in the foyer to capture the atmosphere of the audience arriving.

The second was backstage to interview the performers and the third was in a box in the auditorium to televise the first part of the play ’When we are Married’. Over the coming months the BBC OB trucks would come back to the West End to show performances at Drury Lane, The Coliseum and the Palace Theatre. On March 27th 1939 there was another first. Philip Dorte sat on a shooting stick while directing the three-hour musical ‘Magyar Melody’ from Her Majesty’s Theatre. Prior to that, the producer/director and engineers all stood in the MCR while carrying out their tasks. The 1939 Oxford v Cambridge Boat race was the first occasion that both MCRs were used at the same event. Three cameras covered the start at Putney, with the second three-camera unit at Mortlake to cover the finish. The programme was co-ordinated in the studio at Alexandra Palace, where an animated map of the course was used to illustrate the middle of the race with help from the radio commentary of John Snagge. One reason given why the two units had not been used together before was that the two transmitter vans used the same radio frequency and would therefore interfere with each other.

The solution for the Boat Race was for the Putney MCR to send its pictures via telephone cable, then the permanent central London vision cable to Alexandra Palace. The pictures from the finish were sent by the transmitter van. A Royal Visit to Canada created the next opportunity to use both MCRs. On 3rd May the King’s journey from Buckingham Palace to Waterloo Station was televised, with one unit outside the Palace and the second at Waterloo. While sport and state occasions were the staple diet of television outside broadcasts, the BBC TV OB division under the direction of Philip Dorte continued to explore different programme ideas. In 1939 there were monthly visits to a farm to find out what work was being done through the seasons. There was a broadcast from Imber Court where the Metropolitan Police trained their horses and a visit to the pond in Kensington Gardens to watch model boat builders sail their craft. On Sunday 2nd July, in between the tennis from Wimbledon and the test cricket from Lords, there was a broadcast from Hyde Park that was perhaps a foretaste of what was to come in the next six years.

The hour-long broadcast saw the King take the salute at Grosvenor Gate as detachments from the army, navy, air force and members of the home defence forces marched through the Park. Two months later on Friday 1st September during the week of regular broadcasts from Radiolympia, television suddenly closed down as war was declared on Germany. The Outside Broadcast vehicles were stripped of their equipment and the lorries used to help the transport needs of the Second World War. The MCRs would not see service again with the BBC until the Victory Parade down Whitehall on 8th June 1946.

Question: From what London building in 1936 were the first BBC TV broadcasts made?
Answer: Alexandra Palace