Monthly Archive: August 1955

Jo Grimond, the Liberal MP for Orkney and Shetland congratulates The Observer on publishing Dingle Foot’s article about the restrictions facing the BBC and independent television companies. He says, “There are difficulties about political broadcasting, but they are not very hard to meet.” He continues, “It endangers free speech and makes Parliament ridiculous.” He concludes, “What gives a final touch of farce to the whole proceeding is that the mouthpiece for the ban is a very popular broadcaster who still likes to be called some sort of Liberal. I can’t believe he relishes his role.” (more…)

The Guardian reports that the GPO’s television control centre in the Museum Telephone Exchange, London will have “twenty visual monitors to watch for faults in programme transmissions, and by the end of the year the number of monitoring dials will have doubled.” A Mr L. C. Appleyard said that “90 percent of faults were dealt with before they got to viewers’ screens” and that even a navvy driving a pick or stake through a cable “could be restored in half an hour.”

Robert Cannell of the Daily Express is disappointed by “another American guessing game” which “came to British television last night.” (more…)

The Guardian’s London Staff report that commercial television’s first night will begin at Guildhall and “will be graced by the presence of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the Lord Mayor of London, the Postmaster-General and Sir John Barbirolli with his orchestra. The Hallé will play Elgar’s ‘Cockaigne’ and ‘God Save the Queen’, the Lord Mayor will make a speech and then the programme proper will begin.” (more…)

The 14-day rule rumbles on and under the headline “BBC’s Opposition to 14-Day Rule” The Guardian quotes a BBC spokesman who said that “it was the corporation’s opposition to the ‘fortnight rule’ which led the Postmaster-General, Dr Charles Hill, to issue a prescription ordering the corporation to adhere to what had previously been an unofficial ban.” (more…)

Under the headline “Lichfield Television Station” in The Times and “Commercial TV in Midlands” in The Guardian are reports about the new transmitter being constructed in Lichfield for Independent Television broadcasts to the midlands. The Times says that there will be low-power test transmissions from October. And both papers report that construction work is progressing well and it is hoped that their regular service for the midlands area will be in operation by January or February. (more…)

Phew! It’s Tuesday and I haven’t even looked at The Stage‘s TV Page. So let’s rectify that.

A small news item reports that the Associated Broadcasting Company’s magazine programme, which will be seen every Sunday afternoon commencing 25 September, will be called Sunday Afternoon, a title which the paper considers “provocative”. Have I missed something? (more…)

Norman Hudis’ play The Powder Magazine is the latest BBC output to come under the watchful eye of the reviewers.

Under the headline “Pamela plus Roger equals Sparks!” Robert Cannell writes in the Daily Express of “Two remarkable vivid performances by Roger Livesey and Pamela Alan” and declares the play “one of the most satisfying pieces of drama for weeks.” (more…)

The Labour MP, Fred Peart writes to the The Observer in response if not reply to Dingle Foot’s piece last week. Mr Peart says that he broadly agrees with Mr Foot but he takes issue with Mr Foot’s comments which suggests that a bias is given to unorthodox party men and what Peart describes as “[Foot’s] own fatuous comment inferring that ‘unorthodox’ politicians have fewer inhibitions.” “Why,” Peart continues, “should a M.P. or politician who is tagged ‘orthodox’ because he plays with a Parliamentary team and accepts majority decisions be at a greater disadvantage than his ‘unorthodox’ colleague when faced with an unfamiliar topic?” (more…)

Some significant news in The Times and The Guardian today – they say that yesterday the Independent Television Authority reported that nine applications had been received for the Northern and Midland contract which had been re-advertised following the withdrawal of the Kemsley-Winnick group. (more…)

More small beer in today’s Times, where there’s news of an agreement which, you’d imagine, would have been sorted out somewhat earlier: that between the actors’ union Equity and the three commercial television contractors, the Associated Broadcasting Company, Associated-Rediffusion and Granada Television Network. The press statement was jointly released by the three companies and Equity and it hints of further agreements which will be signed and announced in the coming weeks. This one provides a standard rate of two guineas a day for rehearsals and a minimum of seven guineas for his or her fee for a single performance. (more…)