TV programme "Back in time for Christmas"

[1955APREN]

Just seen lots of good old tvs on BBC2 program about 1953 Christmas
hope others have seen them
Derrick

[music-centre]

Just wondered if anyone saw this program on BBC 2 this evening? Possibly a repeat but I hadn't seen it before. Showing how a family Christmas may have been in the 1940s/1950s/1960s
In the 1940s section the Family was shown to have a Murphy A40C in the living room and a Murphy A72 in the dining room - must have been a few weeks wages! There was another set in the Bedroom but I didn't recognise it.
Steve.

[Hartley118]

Surely they would have been extension speakers from the main set, not separate radios?

Martin

[music-centre]

You couldn't see if they were complete sets, seemed rather expensive models (especially the A40C) for the house they used though.

[paulsherwin]

This is a common error in settings of this period. Even middle class households mostly had a single radio until the 60s, given pride of place in the living room. That's why British radios of that time are substantial imposing wooden things. They were a major investment.

Families started to get second sets or portables so that their teenage children could listen to Pick of the Pops in their bedrooms, but that would be it. Even when transistor sets took over there was still generally one set for the adults and a pocket set for the teenage kids. By this stage the TV was dominant in the living room, of course.

[beery]

Originally Posted by 1955APREN

Just seen lots of good old tvs on BBC2 program about 1953 Christmas
hope others have seen them

Thanks Derrick,
I've looked it up and the program is called:-

Back in Time for Christmas
Episode 1: The 1940s, 50s and 60s

TVs from 38 minutes in, starting with a TV22 for Christmas. That would make a great Christmas gift even now!!!

Cheers
Andy Beer

[dave walsh]

It's not a repeat. They've done a similar series previously though about living generally and eating [of course] in each decade! Reminds me of "Ask The Family" with Eric Robinson. Back to the future! Handy for Forum set spotters though.
Dave W

[barretter]

That would be Robert Robinson ; Eric Robinson was a conductor.

[petertheorgan]

I cannot speak for any of the other sets but the TV 22 was genuine and working on set as its my set ! I set it up for them complete with aurora , dvd player and they provided the DVD of the queens speech .

I also provided the Bush TV24 and the G E C Bt302 for the previous series .

Sadly I have not seen it yet but will watch it this afternoon

My TV 22 behaved itself impeccably ( I had a spare one in the boot of my car) and everybody was amazed at how good the picture was .


Can I take the opportunity to wish everybody a Happy Christmas

regards

Peter

Ps Its the same set that you can see in my Avatar but unlike the royal pussy, the pictures were genuine

[Junk Box Nick]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

This is a common error in settings of this period. Even middle class households mostly had a single radio until the 60s, given pride of place in the living room.

My experience exactly. My uncle and aunt who were better off than us and lived in a detached house had a lovingly polished radiogram with an extension speaker wired into the kitchen - and this was the early sixties. When their teenage daughter went to work she got her own transistor portable with 'Luxembourg (and presumably Caroline) bandspread'.

[bobsterkent]

I watched it, pity the bus that was supposed to be 1950's was actually from the early 70's.. especially since I had been conducting the right sort of bus in service only a few days before! (Including using pre-decimal tickets)

[dave walsh]

Well spotted barretter! Yes Robert was the one with the dry humour-I often wondered what he really thought of his contestants I think Eric was more ebullient and wore dark framed glasses! This "lesson in festive nostalgia" [Guardian Guide] concludes tonight with the 70's 80's and 90's. Spotting errors is a sort of Forum Panel Game in itself I suppose!
Dave W

[music-centre]

I didnt realise the picture on the TV22 was genuine,it was working so well I thought it was a mock picture like they usually do!
Steve.

[G6Tanuki]

While in the post-WWII decade the "big formal radio/radiogram in the lounge/living-room" - usually tuned to the Home Service by Father, and forbidden from being fiddled-with by other residents - was commonplace, a much smaller radio in the kitchen [so Mother could listen to "Housewives Choice" or "Mrs Dale's Diary" on the Light programme while doing the washing/cooking/ironing] was also rather common. The profusion of small, generally AC/DC 3- or 4-valve-plus-rectifier (often TRF or 'short' superhet) radios from the era we still see shows this to be the case.

Similar-sized bedroom radios were also a growing trend: my parents had a battery/mains valve portable for this in around 1949/1950, which they took with them on holiday - I've got a photo somewhere of this being carried by my mother [who is wearing a seriously Dior 'New Look" dress...]

[PaulR]

I wondered about the picture on the TV22 and decided that it was genuine, and excellent quality. It makes me wonder whether I should overcome my fear of EHT!

My wife said I was being picky, but it was a shame about the modern radiator and light switches in the 1940s house! I might buy an ox heart as a surprise Christmas treat.

[AndiiT]

Hi, I watched the programme last night and I too was amazed at the picture quality of the TV22 suspecting, as others did, that the picture was not real but we now know the truth.

I am a tinker for spotting anomalies in programmes such as these much to the dismay of other members of our household.

I guess with programmes such as these many of the compilers are too young to know exactly what was used in which decade/era and additionally may only have access to limited resources.
One of the things that I did pick up on was the far too modern cooker socket in the 60's house yet in the 70's house the cooker socket was much more "in period"

The whole series of programmes has been quite interesting and informative though.

Andrew

[bikerhifinut]

What narks me isn't so much the multitude of radios as pointed out by paul sherwin (and he is absolutely right, we had ONE PYE AC/DC radio for all of us to use, and a tiny "Challenge" made by Perdio (6 transistor portable), it's the feckless wife who can't open a tin properly yet and anyway a tin of spam would be opened with a key then.

Watching the 70's one and completely bamboozled that they find a frozen turkey to be some sort of strange thing. Obviously don't shop in the same stores as the rest of the population. It's obvious the woman has never done any serious work in a kitchen. I get the idea it's him that knows what's what.

I know I know it's just entertainment but are our memories that short?

[McMurdo]

Just watched the 1970's one. The picture on their Sony 1320 was definitely added in post production; it wasn't a good enough picture for a start, and they added 'rounded' corners to the image which the sony never had.

[Gulliver]

My wife and I watched it last night and I was left with the impression that some TV pictures were simulated and some real. Though I am not sure why they'd do that.

The TV22 was certainly in tip top condition.

The simulated sound from one of the radios was very tinny, clearly the person putting the soundtrack together has never heard one!

[Okto1984]

Originally Posted by Gulliver

My wife and I watched it last night and I was left with the impression that some TV pictures were simulated and some real. Though I am not sure why they'd do that.

Filming TVs has some challenges. You can get large black bars rolling down the screen as the camera doesn't see the screen the same way we do. Bright lights in the room might also reflect off the screen.

I suspect some of the pictures were added later, it had that look at times.

The TV in the 80s house looked like a 90s or even early 2000s set to me. I've noticed some other 80s settings with TVs I believe were actually from the 90s. Maybe good working 80s TVs are harder to find?