Paul Hayes
@paul-hayes
Writer and BBC radio producer. Author of Doctor Who: Star Flight, OUT NOW from BBC Audiobooks:
When the BBC's original Norwich TV studio was built in 1959, it had these TVC-style 'bumps' all over the external wall, at the back at least. Is there any point or purpose to these, or is this just how the BBC thought you decorated external TV studio walls at the time...?
Digging out the photo I took when I went there a few years ago, it looks as if it could be.
If you were out and about in Brighton on the first Sunday of December in 1962, you could have popped into the Gaiety Cinema to see a double-bill of 1950s movie adaptations of dramas which changed British television history...
And while no script or recording exists of Michael Barry's on-screen introduction to the BBC showing, we know from newspaper reports that he explicitly said they were going to do their own production until they saw the Canadian recording.
I think I can now say with certainty that the music heard on the BBC broadcast of Flight into Danger was completely different to that heard on the original Canadian broadcast, making the BBC's copy a slightly different - and no longer extant - version. Here's an example...
In an attempt to further investigate why the music heard on the CBC's kinescope of Flight into Danger seems to bear no relation to that documented on the PasBs for the BBC showing (or at least the CD rereleases of such), I have gone back to source and manged to buy copies of two of the cited 78s!
A school has sent us a press release about the success of their prom, with these magnificent images attached...
In the unlikely event that anyone's interested, I found it - it was indeed from one of Toby's "Who's Round" episodes, number 54. I have no idea, of course, but I suspect that Davies would speak differently about this today.
There's a picture up in my parents' house which appears to have The Watcher in it.
Trains to London are shafted, so I am trapped in Chelmsford for the foreseeable future. But it's quite nice sitting listening to the World Cup in the evening sunshine.
"Barabara Wright! Can you hear me? Your boys took one hell of a beating!"
In news which may not excite anyone else, but does me - the Dutch version of Flight into Danger has been released into the wild...!
Because I am a fanatical completist, I have been looking through the issue of Life magazine which James Doohan's character reads in Flight into Danger, and... I'm sorry, what...!?
I am pleased to say one of my own personal major tournament traditions has finally arrived at World Cup 2026...
Things That Surprise An Ignorant Brit: Buying an old US TV Guide for research, and being surprised by how teeny-tiny it is.
I once saw the result of a thrilling Dolphin Derby on the Isle of Wight...
A very happy 97th birthday to Corinne Conley, a star of North American stage and screen for decades, who co-starred in the original Flight into Danger and kindly spent an hour in December talking to me about it via Zoom for my documentary, which couldn't have been anywhere near as good without her!
I don't know if I'm reading too much into this, but it's *just* possible that Phil Jagielka thinks Ivan Toney is only being taken with penalties in mind...
Can anyone help with interpreting some of Richard Dimbleby's handwriting, please? I'd like to quote some of his first letter asking for TV work in a piece I'm writing, but I'm struggling with a few of the words. I've put what I've got in the alt text if anyone can fill in the gaps. Thank you!
A successul and enjoyable couple of days at Caversham. Now on the train home. On the walk from the WAC back into Reading earlier, I passed this tribute to a pair of Nerks...
Spending a couple of days down at Caversham, working on a piece for the History of the BBC website for next month. Should be fun!
A rare foray back into presenting today, with a local election results special. We even had King Arthur! Thanks to everyone who made it work. A very interesting set of results, too.