When tellies were still young in the UK there was a test card.
I remember it so well, as much as I remember my fave TV shows.
Trouble is, I don't know why I know the test card because it only appeared at midnight or thereabouts.
The end of telly.
The cut-off point until the morrow.
Was I up at midnight or did the test card go right into my teens and beyond in the Seventies?
I recall my old Dad falling asleep during late shows like Kodiak and the test card whistling. Is that right? Did it whistle? To wake you up?
Strange how it all seemed so normal at the time, when now you can watch telly anywhere, anytime and it doesn't whistle to rouse you!
I wonder what happened to the test card girl? Did she get promoted to a proper show? Oh, I guess I could look it up but I like to ponder about her life.
The doll was strange too. A sort of green clown. Was it a commercially available toy? And did she ever finish her game of noughts and crosses?
Did you have a test card on TV at the close of the day where you are?
I remember an earlier b/w BBC Test Card in the 50's that was broadcast all day so shops selling TV's could adjust aerials when the set was installed to show a picture.
ReplyDeleteAt night when TV ended the National Anthem was played before the Test Card again was shown so engineers around the country could test their systems.
By the 70's and both colour and commercial TV, during the early hours of the day before the TV schedule began TV Commercials were test broadcast for Advertising Agencies to show clients their new ads.
Boring as the Test Card was, during the early days of just BBC TV they showed 'Interludes' which were things like a potter at the wheel creating a pot or fish in a tank. This was because the BBC only had limited studio space and they needed to change the sets between live broadcasts.
I didn't know that about adjusting aerials Terran. Fascinating. And that potter interlude rings a bell.
DeleteI remember the UK test card coming to "life" in the "Life on Mars" TV series.
ReplyDeleteIn Oz we had similar test patterns during the black and white and colour eras, but they only had lines and colours - no children or dolls on ours... On Channel 9 on Saturday mornings, the test pattern would end at 6.00am when Thunderbirds would go to air. Cheers, Tony
Are you still in Oz, Tony?
DeleteThunderbirds at 6am? Wow, that was early.
DeleteLouie - yep, still here.
DeleteWoodsy - Thunderbirds is STILL on Channel 9 stations here - on tomorrow morning at 8.00am. But I have all the episodes on DVD, so no need for me to get up early....
Tony, do you remember the B&W Channel 7 start and end of transmission cartoons?
DeleteThey started with a Kangaroo and her joey assembling the Channnel 7 logo. They ended with the joey asleep and the mother turning the logo into a bed to put him in.
I remember them from the early 70's but I guess they finally went out with 24 hour programming.
The test card was probably on in the morning before broadcasts began (no breakfast tv in those days), so maybe that's when we saw it?
ReplyDeleteI don't know that Kev. I thought it just ended the night TV. Was it on all night?
DeleteNot sure, it was possible that there was literally nothing on past a certain point, just static and a snowstorm on screen.
DeleteThe picture of the little girl was there to ensure that transmission settings were correct for flesh tones and colours.
ReplyDeleteNothing worse than green, blue or sickly yellow people on your TV screen
Most definitely remember that. I want to say it started at midnight or perhaps 1AM latest. Weekends it didn't come on 'til a bit later giving the stations time to program old monster films.
ReplyDelete