Ally Pally

[Philip Hindley]

Did the Ally have its own archive before it ceased to be a TV station ,if so where were any recordings moved to ? I know there cant have been much from the early days as most of it was broadcast 'live'.What was the very last programme to be broadc ast from there ? Nigel Kneale once said when each eps of Quatermass was over he and members of the cast would go out on to the terrace and look down at all the tv aerials of the London skyline. Where would he be referring to ? Would it be just outside the entrance of the building, or on the roof ? I would love to know I have only ever seen Ally Pally once on a visit in 1996, but all those years before this is where it began,this was where Quatermass was beamed out 'live'.

[Deleted]

He was probably referring to the view across London that you get when coming out of Ally Pally and thinking that a lot of those households had probably just watched their efforts live.

Ally Pally didn't have an archive as such, I don't think, but I daresay some recordings accumulated there over time. I think the last programme to be broadcast live from there would have been a news bulletin in the late '60s, although it was then taken over by The Open University for programme-making for a number of years (not live transmission though).

[Peter Stirling]

Yes some of the OU programmes looked like they had been made on very ancient equipment LOL

but did the job and some were compelling nonetheless

[Philip Hindley]

Thanks for that very helpful,I figured it might be the front of the building. I was impressed when we went inside, a magnificent building to say the least.

[Simon Vaughan - Archivist APTS]

Alexandra Palace ceased to be a production centre in March 1954 when a programme “Thank You Ally Pally”, was transmitted on Friday 19th, as the programmes notes in the
Radio Times state:

"A television party in which viewers meet artists and members of the production and technical staff of pre-war and post-war programmes particularly associated with Alexandra Palace.
From Alexandra Palace canteen."

The programme marked the close down of Alexandra Palace as one of the main centres for television production, or so it seemed. But this was not the case for only several months after this very public close down Ally Pally was featuring even more prominently as the home of BBC Television News. Between March and July of 1954 Ally Pally was a hive of activity as the old studios were reequipped for the advent of daily news bulletins to keep the television conscious nation informed of national and international events. BBC Television News was to occupy the already ageing studios at Alexandra Palace for another 15
years.

The final news programme to come from Alexandra Palace was a late night news on BBC 2 on Friday 19 September 1969 in colour. It was said that over this September weekend, sixty-five removal vans were needed to transfer the contents of Alexandra Palace across London. BBC Television News resumed operations the next day with a lunchtime bulletin on BBC 1 - in black and white - from Television Centre, where it has remained ever since.

The Open University was inaugurated at 11 am on Sunday 3rd January 1971 on BBC-2 with an address by the university secretary Chris Christodoulou, followed by an Introduction to Mathematics. The regular courses began the following Sunday, 10th January. The first graduates of the Open University were 903 students who received their degrees in a ceremony in the Great Hall at Alexandra Palace on 23rd June 1973.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the interesting information, Simon.