FROM THE ARCHIVE OF: The TV Room
The recording includes the 11am BBC Two junction.
Video content
[00:00:00] TELETEXT IN-VISION: with apologies for the less than desirable picture and audio quality on this recording. This is very rare footage of a 1980s BBC Northern Ireland opt-out, where the local teletext generator is used to provide Pages from Ceefax.
The generator used here was similar to that used on network BBC One and BBC Two at the time.
The Belfast generator was still in use on BBC Northern Ireland in the early 2000s. We’ll have some examples on the site at a later date.
Unfortunately, we missed the start of this local opt-out by a minute or two.
This slot was used for BBC Northern Ireland’s long-running schools programme, Ulster in Focus. However, there weren’t enough episodes to occupy the slot every week, so a local Ceefax opt was used to fill the surplus airtime.
Incidentally, BBC Northern Ireland occasionally transmitted page 219 in this slot (the Ceefax Newsreel page).
The music playing here is from side 2 of BBC Radioplay Music (TAIR 83025), tracks 1 – 6:
[00:00:00] Selections from Can-Can performed by The Metropole Orchestra. Incomplete.
[00:04:04] All of You performed by The Metropole Orchestra.
[00:07:24] It’s All Right with Me performed by The Metropole Orchestra.
[00:10:47] I’ve Got You Under My Skin performed by The Metropole Orchestra.
[00:13:36] From This Moment performed by The Metropole Orchestra.
[00:16:28] Begin the Beguine performed by The Metropole Orchestra. Faded out manually by [00:18:25].
[00:18:19] GRAPHIC: a locally generated copy of the network still used to introduce Pages from Ceefax (we’d normally exit an in-vision Ceefax transmission with a slide starting ‘You Have Been Watching…’).
Note the picture roll when cutting to this slide, which suggests no genlocking between the Ceefax generator and the slide source.
There’s a further slight picture roll when we rejoin network, for the Words and Pictures slide.
[00:18:28] PROGRAMME GRAPHIC: we rejoin network now, where they have a Words and Pictures ‘Follows Shortly’ slide and music in place.
Shortly before we cut to the ‘TWO’ ident, a 15-second countdown clock appears in the top right of screen. This was used during the Daytime on Two strand, providing a visual indication to teachers and children that the programme was about to start.
The countdown clock was operated by the continuity announcer/director.
The music playing here is Winker’s Walk performed by Roger Roger.
[00:20:15] IDENT: announcer Roger Maude introduces Words and Pictures.
Acknowledgements
With thanks to Al Dupres for the information about the music featured in this recording.
PICTURED: Pages from Ceefax. COPYRIGHT: BBC.
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