Alexandra Palace: Birthplace of Television
‘I found an old tyre, no roof, no doors and could see the sky.
The smell of cat in the old banqueting rooms nearly made me
sick and the whole thing looked the most dreadful mess.’
Desmond Campbell, Lighting Engineer, BBC Television, 1935
It was a rather inauspicious start to BBC television, but
nevertheless the BBC did hire this ‘dreadful mess’, which
encompassed the whole of the south-east corner of
Alexandra Palace for conversion into television studios.
Over 73 years ago, on 2nd November 1936, the world’s
first regular high definition public television service was
transmitted from Alexandra Palace. The BBC chose its new
home because it was high up, already built and available.
But with only 18 months to prepare for its television debut,
the race was on to convert Alexandra Palace’s banqueting
and tea rooms in the south-east wing into two state of the
art studios, make-up and dressing rooms with associated
facilities. They were to remain in use for 45 years.
Originally in 1936 Studio A was equipped with the fully
electronic system of the Marconi –EMI Company. Across
the centre of the studio was a special lighting bridge for
spot and flood lights: a replica can be seen today. High up
at the far end of the studio was the plate-glass window of
the control room with a panel to control sound and vision,
monitor screens and desk for the producer in charge. Next
door were racks of equipment for controlling the cameras
and the equipment for the transmission of films on television.
Further down the corridor was Studio B - equipped with the
varying systems of the Baird’s Company.
This studio was exactly the same size as EMI’s but laid
out quite differently because the BBC was exploring
different ways of using television technology.
Less well-known is the role played by the TV Studios during
the Second World War. Though television broadcasts
were stopped during the war, BBC transmitters at the
palace were used in a secret operation to jam radio
signals used by German bomber pilots to identify their
positions and targets. A directional beam was transmitted
from various points in occupied Europe across Britain.
Specially trained Luftwaffe crews few along these
beams that ultimately led them to their target over
Britain. These signals were received on the southern
coast, fed to the transmitter at Alexandra Palace and
re-radiated on the same frequency. This caused the
pilots to lose their bearings and miss their target. As a
result, around four-fifths of the raids using the German
navigational aid called Y-Great aid were unsuccessful.
At the end of the war in 1945, the BBC was given the
go ahead to reinstate the Television Service. Engineers
wee demobbed early from the services to join their pre-war
colleagues in commissioning the equipment in June 1946.
Discover your Ally Pally.
For enquiries please email: [email protected] or call 020 8365 2121
www.alexandrapalace.com
By the early 1950s the BBC had begun to move the bulk
of television production to other centre’s in London, most
notably Lime Grove studios in Shepherds Bush. In early
1954 the television studios at Alexandra Palace officially
closed. But was this to be the end of television at Ally Pally?
On 5th July 1954 the first daily television news
programme in Britain, Television News and Newsreel,
began. In the months since the closure of the studios
a great deal of work had been undertaken to transform
Alexandra Palace into the headquarters of BBC Television
News. For the next 15 years, until BBC TV News moved to
Television Centre in west London, Ally Pally produced all
news programmes on both BBC1 and, from 1964, on BBC2.
The studios were re-equipped in 1967 for the advent
of colour television and the first colour signals were
transmitted from Alexandra Palace in November 1956.
The studios were unaffected by the savage fire of
1980 and currently Studio A is the most inhabitable
area of the south-east wing. Since the departure of
the Open University, the empty studio space has
remained locked away from public view. Various groups
and organizations have developed schemes for the
studio wing, from a fully fledged visitor centre to more
moderate exhibitions, but none have materialised.
When BBC TV News moved to the TV Centre in 1969, the
studios at Alexandra Palace appeared to face yet another
closure. But this was not to remain the case for long.
In 1970 the ‘university of the air’ was launched – the
Open University required a studio centre. Once again,
the studios at Alexandra Place came into their own, and
remained in constant use for another 11 years, until 1981
when the Open University relocated to Milton Keynes.
Discover your Ally Pally.
For enquiries please email: [email protected] or call 020 8365 2121
www.alexandrapalace.com