The quickest of notes today, just to say that the third reading of the Wireless Telegraphy (Blind Persons) Bill was passed in the House of Commons on 15 July 1955 and it is expected to be given quick passage through the Lords.
The current edition of The Stage has its TV Page as usual, but also carries some television news in Georgie Wood‘s column in the theatrical part of the paper. I’ll save the main page for the weekend, but let’s look at what Wee Georgie has to say…
Wood writes briefly about a 90-minute show which will be presented by the Grand Order of Water Rats on BBC Television on 9 October. He is keen to make it clear that this production is not some kind of riposte from the BBC to commercial television – oh no, because the idea for the show was first discussed in 1939!
The idea for the programme was revived by Charlie Chester in 1950 and negotiations for this particular production were apparently started by Wood with the BBC’s Head of Light Entertainment, Ronnie Waldman, in February. As reported here, it was originally intended for live broadcast on Sunday, 25 September, because that was the nearest to the birthday of Preceptor Fred Russell, OBE, the “Father of Variety” and, also, the father of Val Parnell whose Palladium Show on ITV would be running simultaneously.
However, it’s now been moved, but there’s “no story here”, it’s simply been put back a couple of weeks because many of the Rats wouldn’t have finished their summer shows by the original date.
As a reason, it makes good sense, but it does seem odd that the people who needed to know this kind of thing when arranging the programme in the first place were completely oblivious to it.