Radio and TV - Memories and Favourites

Consumerism is often labelled as bad but a lot of our progress is made because people want to buy. PC's, phones etc moved from business rarities to household essentials and the money available went through the roof. Even piracy played a part because there was no point buying the machine if you couldn't afford much software. As the software got more sophisticated, people bought the next model. It's a process that has been recognised as beneficial which is why there's so much free software. People get hooked and then enough pay the real price.

Mick, Sorry I cannot recall, but the probability was that it was a Bush, maybe a Pye as I believe these were the most popular at that time. I remember the edges of the screen beng very dark which reduced the size of the image you were seeing, but perhaps that was a result of this particular set. Anyway, enjoyed watching that famous match. I am sure it will be on YouTube. Regards, Ken.

Mick, ours was of the same type, a Kolster-Brandes. There used to be a large sign above the Sutton & Jones shop with a picture of a passenger liner advertising the fact that was the brand of TV on the liner. The test card is still emblazoned on my brain but I used to like the Interlude music. Remember Humphrey Lestocq. The Magic Roundabout was a favourite of my brood. "The Esso sign means happy motoring".

In 1949 my elder brother bought a 9" screen b&w View-Master TV kit which he duly finished constructing. My mum was ill with terminal cancer but when it was put on for the first time she was too ill to see it. We spent a lot of time waiting for the Interlude, which had a working windmill and I think a stream and other subjects. This was before full programmes were available. In 1953 was the Coronation, so as a family my dad, two brothers and my nan saw it all on the small screen. People imagined what colour would be like, but there were two colour full length films in cinemas of the Coronation, one by Path

belushi If you see the film Ocean's Eleven, it explains better than I the sort of job I was offered, and turned down, in 1950. I would have slotted into something like that without blinking an eyelid. It was what I was trained to do, in enemy territory. To answer others on here, Mary Pickford made the first films in America in 1911, she acted on a stage in front of cameras, as of now. We were years behind, something like 1914. The first news on radio was 1920, read out from a newspaper in front of a huge transmitter. The first woman to try out her voice on radio was Dame Nellie Melba, first operatic singer to risk her voice to possible distortion over wireless. The experiment was a successful. Many people, including those who had never heard her voice before, listened in, thrilled by her singing of the "Australian Nightingale". Both broadcasts were from Chelmsford. Nov 1922 was the official beginning of broadcasting in this country.

No one seems to have remembered Beyond Our Ken starring Kenneth Horne. After playing football for The Coventry Evening Telegraph or Lloyds Bank we would go for a pint and sit in our cars with the doors open listening to the radio programmes mentioned.

I remember listening to "The Likely Lads" on the radio in the late 1960s, having originally seen the episodes on TV. It always struck me as odd that a TV programme was broadcast on the radio, but, on checking Wiki, it seems that they were remade for radio.

Not quite true

Gangan, it's often on Radio 4 Extra (though not at the moment), however "Round the Horne" is currently broadcast on Thursdays.

Hi all, My most vivid memory of Nov 5th was an episode of "The Bumblies", where the three little folk had a disaster of a firework display. 1954, I think, when I was seven. Come in Bumbly No 1.

Ah, the Bumblies. Once you hear their voices they rattle around in your head till death. I am sure there was an article about Michael Bentine having MI5 knocking on his door to find out about espionage as his Bumblies worked by the same method as the government's secret guided missile project. Which he had perfected first.

I got talking with Michael Bentine after he did a gig in a hotel in Sharjah, UAE in 1977. I took him and his wife Clementina around the old souk (photos attached) and visited them at their home in Esher many times before they spent more time in Palm Springs. I had many interesting talks about the "fringe" sciences which both he and his father had investigated substantially. It was quite an insight and among other experiments I attempted map dowsing to locate one of the Polaris submarines during the middle of its patrol period. I presented my findings to my friend who was on patrol on the submarine and was in a position to know the boat's location. He studied my figures and said "pretty damned close" before turning white and silent, indicating I was pretty accurate with my co-ordinates. We never broached the subject again! There are quite a few possible explanations including the ability to locate an object or person, telepathy or indeed just a huge amount of luck or coincidence. Life has its mysteries!

I vaguely remember Michael Bentine's Potty Time. Was it the same thing or another show, but there was something with 'fleas' or invisible characters that just left signs they were there but you couldn't see them?

That was his "flea circus" with no fleas

Helen, I watched the 'invisible' people scenarios with much interest. The footprints appeared when levers below the sand surface were activated, there were also puffs from hidden tubing and model buildings opened up to reveal hidden radar antennae, etc. This was before "Potty Time" and I've found this link to "It's a Square World".