Whatever happened to the Test Card girl I wonder? She was one of my first puppy loves as she played noughts and crosses with that pesky clown, who I was sooo jealous of!
In the static of my old memories I associate the test card with the whining peep at the end of TV at midnight.
I assume the high-pitched noise was to wake up any sleeping watchers curled up on the sofa speckled with the illuminated snow that appeared after the test girl.
I remember turning the telly off and waking my Dad up to go to bed in the late 70's when we lived on our own. "C'mon Dad, let's hit the hay" I would have said.
Forty years on I'm still hearing that whistle - or is it tinitis - and dreaming of my first crush, the test card girl.
Do you remember these readers? How did TV end at night where you are in the world?
It wasn't always just at the end of the schedule the test card was displayed. It was often during the day when interruptions occurred. I saw it on a semi-regular basis in the Granada area.
ReplyDeleteYes, that rings a bell Khusru. The test card during the day. Telly wasn't on all the time was it! I lived in Preston Lancs. Was that the Granada area too?
DeleteI loved the test card girl making an appearance in Life On Mars.
ReplyDeletehttps://life-on-mars.fandom.com/wiki/Test_Card_F
I remember the way the screen would shrink to a tiny dot on the old B&W tellys. I half remember a comedy sketch (Michael Bentine?) in which after the sets turned off, they'd turn back on by themselves and the little dot would turn into evil eyes. Then the TV set grew claws on it's legs and walk out into the streets, herding humans into frightened groups that the tellys would just... watch!
The stuff of nightmares!
ha ha, I love Michael Bentine's Potty Time when I was a kid Looey! That telly sketch sounds ace!
DeleteI remember the National Anthem would play with a waving flag, then a test pattern card with a drawn side view of an Indian's head in a feathered headdress would appear. Black and white of course!
ReplyDeleteJim David
Henderson NV
Of course, the national anthem. is that the American national anthem Jim?
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