Early BBC Schools Broadcasts
The BBC started regular
television broadcasts for schools in the Autumn Term of
1957, with morning broadcasts commencing in the Autumn Term
of 1960.
Before the 1980s, schools programmes were almost always
watched live as transmitted since there was usually no
means of recording them for later use (video recorders only
became available to schools from the mid-1960s onwards,
were very expensive to purchase and the tapes were pricey
as well), so there had to be a delay of at least two
minutes before and after each broadcast gave extra time for
teachers to file a class of pupils in (and out) of a room
that contained a television.
Television sets manufactured before the 1970s made
extensive use of valves as opposed to more reliable 'solid
state' components such as transistors and integrated
circuits; these valve-based sets often required adjustment
of controls such as brightness and vertical hold before the
start of the programme as well as allowing for a period for
the TV to have warmed up properly, hence the BBC showing a
caption known as a tuning signal for a while before the
programme starts which enabled the teacher to make last
minute adjustments to the picture settings if required.
This 'angel wings' tuning signal was likely to have been
shown before the start of each days' broadcast in the
1950s.
The promotional film
This is the BBC gives us
a brief insight into the production of schools programmes
during the late 1950s; the continuity announcer pictured
here is introducing Programme 3 of the series
Transport
and Communication. Initially only one schools programme
was shown each afternoon, but this was soon to be extended
to two or more programmes per day.
Programme 3 of the aforementioned
Transport and
Communication series was all about the history of the
motor car, so an example of the very first mass produced
car - the Model T Ford - was placed in the studio. The
presenter was Arthur Garratt (pictured here next to the
car).
 |
Continuity announcement plus the start of the
Transport and Communication programme (MP3 file) |
The tuning signal caption shown here may have been
first used as early as 1960 (probably when a morning
schools programme was introduced for the Autumn Term that
year); it was used before the start of each schools
programme and consisted of a circle divided into five
segments of black, white and three shades of grey in the
style of a pie chart on a pale grey background, hence the
term "BBC Schools Pie Chart". From (at least) 1963 to 1967
there was a countdown sequence used before the start of the
programme which had the pie chart slowly disappear; the
circular chart was divided into sixty small segments, with
each small segment of the pie chart being replaced by the
corresponding segment of a plain clockface (identical to
the clockface below minus the second hand) starting from
the top, one for each second in a clockwise direction.
Various pieces of music were used to accompany the pie
chart, though by 1963 a piece of music written by Lionel
Salter simply entitled "Schools Opening Music" was commonly
used.
From 1967 onwards, the 'vanishing segments' animation
used for the final minute was replaced by this simple clock
face with a single continuously moving second hand, though
the pie chart itself was still being shown prior to the
final minute countdown to the programme start; the
accompanying music now being used was usually a percussive
piece known as Guadalajara that was written by Leonard
Salzedo (who also wrote the Open University theme that was
part of a longer piece). Occasionally an "Announcement For
Teachers" may have been read during this final minute, but
more commonly such announcements were made at other
times.
Then of course there were the programmes themselves -
BBC Schools programming caters for a wide range of subjects
and abilities, with series such as
Maths Today and
Maths Workshop (for older children); the latter
being shown well into the 1970s despite being made in black
and white. Programmes were often repeated for the benefit
of teachers so that they could try and incorporate them
into the school timetable which was often difficult since
many schools had no form of video recording at that
time.
Very occasionally the pie chart tuning signal itself
would feature as part of an engineering test startup
sequence if such a test was scheduled for a weekday morning
during term time, in which case the pie chart tuning signal
would appear on screen then very slowly fade away to leave
a black screen before appearing again shortly before the
start of the first programme. The sequence would also
feature a greyscale (sawtooth) tuning pattern with tone.
Unfortunately no recording
exists of such a sequence in the BBC archives, but if you
have in your possession any video or audio recordings of
BBC schools broadcasts that may be of interest please
contact us.
