The world of British television off and on the screen, as it was sixty years ago.

Capon, Bull and Kangaroo

Tuesday 28 June 1955. It’s the last day of the second test match between England and South Africa, and Brian Johnston and Peter West are once again commentating for the BBC, in between the tennis. If you want to find out how the match ended, there’s a scorecard here and a match report here.

Television for children offers nothing new with a repeated Andy Pandy in Watch with Mother and an edited telerecorded repeat of Dancers of Tomorrow with Dame Ninette de Valois. Naomi Capon wrote and produced the latter, while A. A. Tubby Englander was responsible for the film camera-work.

The evening sees number of actors getting panel show work – Janet Brown and Peter Butterworth in an Army Edition of Top Town which features “a friendly battle of entertainment” between Catterick and Aldershot. Barney Colehan produces.

Later, panellists including Nancy Spain, Avril Angers and Ian Carmichael appear in Something to Shout About! in which they have to guess which awards various members of the public have won. Television presentation was by T. Leslie Jackson while the format originated from Peter Smith.

The evening’s drama is provided by Miss Patterson, with Fay Compton in the title role and an interesting array of actors including Robert Rietty, Ballard Berkeley, William Simons and Peter Bull. Miss Patterson sells a particular brand of tea by giving lessons in English on the French Riviera. The play “shows what happens when Miss Patterson ceases for a while to be tolerant and rather staid.”

Beyond the box, The Times reports the death of Mr James Davies, a wood-turner of Abercych, Pembrokeshire. They note that “his demonstrations on television brought the name of his village before the public.”

I don’t intend to report on much beyond the UK’s shores, but I couldn’t resist a Reuters item reproduced in “the thunderer” which recounted the tale of three zoo attendants and six policemen who, for more than an hour, chased through the city streets of Baltimore in pursuit of a kangaroo which had broken loose following a television appearance. It was written that once cornered by the nine men after a chase encompassing nearly five miles, “she kicked one in the stomach, bit another, and then gave herself up.”

2 Comments

  1. Ben Rigsby

    The Cricket wasn’t shown! Just been reading Times Digital archive and it seems the test was won the day before so no cricket was shown on this day.

    Reply
  2. Simon Coward (Post author)

    Wow! You’re the first real person – rather than plagues of spammers – to comment here. Thanks, Ben. And you’re quite right too. I double-checked at http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62795.html and there’s no doubt about it. I presume the BBC must have spent extra time at the tennis.

    Reply

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *