The Early Years of Television and the BBC. By Jamie Medhurst

Abstract

In this important book, Jamie Medhurst maps the relationship between the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the development of television in Britain, offering genuine insight into a period of British television history, and specifically of BBC history, that has been largely overlooked. Through extensive archival research, Medhurst interweaves the complex histories of early television technologies and the BBC during the 1920s and 1930s to construct a compelling narrative of the relationship, from laboratory-based experimentation to a regular public, high-definition broadcast service. Following a concise introduction setting out the scholarly contexts for the study, Medhurst lays the groundwork for subsequent chapters, providing an overview of a period of technological innovation and experimentation during the 1920s, drawing on a rich variety of archival sources, from the specialist journals aimed at early enthusiasts to the material held in the archives of Selfridges, the General Post Office, and the Television Society (later the Royal Television Society). The chapter provides important context for the BBC’s early relationship with the medium, and for the rest of the book, which goes on to offer a chronological account of the BBC’s television service from its collaboration with John Logie Baird’s 30-line system in 1929 to the cessation of the service at the outbreak of war in September 1939.