Magic Rays of Light: British Television in the 1920s and 1930s

17th March 2026, Art Deco Society UK From the earliest displays of television by John Logie Baird at Selfridges in 1925 and then before members of the Royal Institution in January 1926, the new medium of "seeing by wireless" developed rapidly in the years through to the war. Regular 30-line broadcasts by the Baird company began in 1928, and by the BBC from 1932, featuring numerous stars of variety, the stage and the emerging British ballet world, before the BBC started a daily 'high definition' service from Alexandra Palace in November 1936. Intimately entwined with the worlds of theatre, cinema, music hall, dance, opera and the visual arts, television in these early years was extensive, rich and innovative, even if it was watched by audiences in London of, at most, tens of thousands. Indeed, more people saw television at exhibitions, in department stores, in bars and restaurants, and in cinemas than encountered it in domestic settings. Drawing on extensive archival research and a host of rare visuals, John Wyver outlines the surprising story of the early years of British television. About our speaker JOHN WYVER is a writer and producer of arts and performance television, and Professor of the Arts on Screen, University of Westminster. He is the author of The Royal Shakespeare Company on Screen: A Critical History (2019) and of the recently published Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of Television in Britain (2026)