Programme making was precarious and frought with risk. How the BBC Began I: Accident and Opportunity, BBC 2022
Even the man at the top had to start from scratch. ibid.
The British Broadcasting Company began five years before there were talkies in the cinema. ibid.
The radio pioneers were fired up by a mission to educate and inform as well as entertain. ibid.
John Reith: his influence still guides the BBC today. ibid.
The more expensive wireless receivers were less risky than the crystal sets. ibid.
Only seven years in the BBC began experimenting with television. ibid.
It was a matter of more or less making it up as they went along. ibid.
It was in a more challenging mood: The Wednesday Play. ibid.
Watkins then moved on to The War Game … what might happen in Britain after a nuclear attack … The BBC decided initially to run with it. ibid.
1953: A young woman was ready to launch eight hours of the world’s biggest television broadcast to date. How the BBC Began II
The Queen’s coronation was a pivotal moment for the BBC. For the first time television outstripped radio. ibid.
With the launch of ITV, it’s television monopoly was over. ibid.
‘The BBC was so bad, so dull and so boring.’ ibid. Robin Day
ITN stole a march on the BBC by using a woman newscaster from the start. ibid.
‘Robert Dougall was the one, yes. He was very much against it.’ ibid. Nan Winton, sacked pioneering female newsreader
Part of the BBC building at Caversham was occupied by the men from UNCLE – Uncle Sam. ibid.
The outside broadcast team spent much of its time covering sport. ibid.
Breakdowns were part of 1950s life. ibid.
Telstar was the guinea pig for bringing live pictures across the Atlantic. ibid.
The battle for the adult audience became critical. ibid.
‘What saved the BBC was the coming of BBC2.’ ibid. man in the know
The biggest and costliest technological development to date: colour. ibid.
The plaudits Civilisation enabled by Joanna Spicer came raining in. ibid.
The first prime minister to address the nation on television was Churchill’s successor, Sir Anthony Eden. How the BBC Began III
An arcane system, incredible now, in which the BBC was under parliament’s thumb. ibid.
BBC2: It became effectively an independent pirate operation within the BBC itself. ibid.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, it’s The Black and White Minstrels Show!’ … The show lasted until 1978. ibid.
In the 1960s parts of the BBC were grappling with social change. ibid.
She is called Miriam and is at the centre of a massive scanadal that has cost Sky Television £750,000. Miriam: Death of a Reality Star I, daytime show commentary, Channel 4 2024
The beautiful woman was not all the guys thought she was. ibid.
There was not enough thought given to what the outcome could be. ibid. psychiatrist
We were totally freaked out and dreading what was to come. Miriam: Death of a Reality Star II: The Truth, rejected contestant
There was no rate limiter on what producers could do. ibid. psychiatrist
They sold her a dream without anybody telling her what could go wrong. ibid.
What have I done? It was spiralling out of control. ibid. contestant
Let’s get an injunction to stop the show coming out. ibid.
When the contestants returned home it kicked off. Miriam: Death of a Reality Star III, producer
Miriam is a Reality TV too far. ibid. newspaper headline
We were all thinking about ourselves. ibid. contestant
It makes you angry, not on your own behalf, but on behalf of the people whose voices weren’t allowed to be heard. When you had trade unions, ordinary people, rank and file, never been on television, never been interviewed, and they’re not allowed to be heard, that’s scandalous. Ken Loach, cited Guardian 2011
A 29-year-old talk-show hostess shot herself in the head live on television. The woman, Christine Chubbuck, was taken to hospital in critical condition. Miss Chubbuch wrote and starred in a daily show called the Suncoast Digest on station WXLT-TV. Kate Plays Christine, news, Sundance Festival 2016
She’s the first person who killed herself on air, and that’s like a remarkable moment. But it does seem that the story has been largely forgotten. ibid. actor Kate
So I have to learn as much about Christine Chubbuch as I possibly can, but I also have to try and understand the mind of a person who would kill herself. ibid.
Television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and incense. And television and those who finance it, those who look and those who work in it may see a totally different picture tonight. Good Night & Good Luck 2005 starring George Clooney & David Strathairn & Patricia Clarkson & Robert Downey jr & Frank Langella & Jeff Daniels & Tate Donovan & Ray Wise & Helen Slayton-Hughes & Alex Borstein et al, director George Clooney, Murrow
Fellas, the next show is going to be about Senator McCarthy. I’m going to go right at it. ibid. Fred
Twice he [McCarthy] said the American Civil Liberties Union was listed as a subversive front. The Attorney General’s list does not and has never listed the ACLU, nor does the FBI or any other government organisation. ibid. Murrow
The line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one. ibid.