Various: TV, cinema

TV

I first saw TV when I was about 6 in 1948 or 9. TV had come to the Midlands with the opening of the Sutton Coldfield transmitting station in 1948. TV sets were very few and households with them had to put up with expense and frequent breaks.. We were visiting my Aunt Amy and Uncle Jim in Coventry  when Amy said that a friend would welcome a visit to see their new set. Because TV was so new people who had sets were proud of the fact and were pleased to show off their acquisition

So we trooped around to Amy’s friends. The programme was the Remembrance Day Service which I thought stunningly boring as a programme but fascinating to watch the television. We didn’t have electricity so there was no chance we could have TV. Not only was the set very expensive but there were frequent technical breaks in transmission. Some of the gaps were filled with clips which became famous such as the potter’s wheel.

As time wore on gradually more people had bought sets. The Queen’s Coronation in 1953 has been attributed as the reason for a rapid increase just before. Certainly we watched the Coronation at my Aunt ( actually great Aunt )  Ethels house. It was wonderful and really made you feel part of the event. The BBC ( the monopoly broadcaster ) pulled out all the stops and had a huge commentary team anchored by Richard Dimblebly who was the “goto” man for the type of event.

Dimbleby was far more versatile than commentary at public occasions. He was a panellist on a very popular show “What’s my Line”. I went with mother to watch a recording in London. The panel of 4 had to guess the contestants occupation by a series of yes/no questions. The panel of two men, two women also had Gilbert Harding who was famously rather grumpy and Lady Isobel Barnett. The panellists did change a bit throughout the run over 1950-57, I think that Barbara Kelly was the second lady when I watched. Lady Isobel Barnett was a genuine peer who was famous for taking the show very seriously and made some extraordinary leaps of intuition. The show had Eamon Andrews as compere who introduced the contestants, and sometimes helped with answers to awkward questions.

For me as a boy I was fascinated by TV. The TV series “Quatermass” was much talked about at school and I felt I was missing out. The main attraction on visiting relatives was to watch TV. I certainly recall a young Bruce Forsyth in a slapstick comedy routine papering a room. My mother particularly enjoyed the comic “Mr Pastry” ( Richard Hearne ) dancing with himself doing the lancers.

I always enjoyed visits to folks with TV. Fairly regularly this was to Great Aunt Ethel in the nearby village where we watched the Queens Coronation in 1953. This was the event which was credited with establishing TV as the dominant mass media. Our village was geared to the event on the day with TV in the morning, sports in the afternoon and children’s tea in late afternoon.

Cinema

We are not regular cinema goers. It was a novel experience to visit over Christmas as Annette particularly wanted to see “Cats” the film of the Lloyd Webber musical. She is a great fan of Lloyd Webber and we must have seen all his musicals at least once. We had been to see a theatrical performance of “Cats” in Birmingham some years ago.

We were a bit taken aback by the prices at the Odeon Luxe, £10 each for seniors. But we are becoming rather used to most things costing more than  we expect as we refence back. We were mildly surprised at the automated ticket machines but they proved easy to use. The lobby was a mini shopping mall but things like popcorn are easy to resist

Our real surprise was in the cinema proper. Only a few seats but each with power recline and adjust; we had to seek advice on the use as the controls were not obvious. The warm environment and comfortable seating made for a soporific environment and I must admit to dozing off at one stage.

The film has been slammed by the critics. I’m not quite sure why. I guess they took exception to the actors dressed,  and trying to act like cats, without quite succeeding. They appear to be in the often remarked “uncanny valley” of semi realism. It probably doesn’t help that there is no defined plot but rather a series of songs with lyrics based on poems.

There is some speculation about the references to the “Heaviside layer” This slightly old fashioned term refers to a layer of ionised gas in the upper atmosphere which reflects medium frequency radio waves. In the show it is a poetic reference to cat heaven.