Iain Logie Baird takes a look at some of the children’s television puppets we’ve acquired as part of the BBC Collection—from Bill and Ben to the Fimbles.
We’re home to over three million items of historical and cultural significance. Our world-class collection encompasses iconic objects and remarkable archives in the areas of photography, cinematography, television, sound and new media. Peek behind the scenes and discover some hidden treasures…
As TV Licensing announces that there are now fewer than 12,000 black and white TV licensees remaining in Britain, Iain Baird looks back at the decline of black and white.
Christmas is a popular subject in the Photographic Advertising Limited archive. The photographs, unsurprisingly, suggest joy, goodwill… and overspending.
We’ll be making hundreds of images from the world’s largest public collection of Cameron portraits available online as part of a year-long digitisation project.
Christmas is number one in the UK celebration calendar, so it’s no wonder that festive photographs in our collection are as common as the Christmas jumper.
In 1975, the idea of video recording at home was unheard of. But a major development in TV’s history was just around the corner with the advent of Betamax.
In 1826, Niépce used his heliography process to capture the first photograph, but his pioneering work was soon to be overshadowed by the invention of the daguerreotype.
Believe it or not, this grotesque and surreal lantern slide was a favourite at Victorian magic lantern shows—the forerunner to cinema whose popularity lasted for 300 years.
Iain Logie Baird investigates the history of the most modern and largest TV factory in all of Europe—just down the road from the museum here in Bradford.
The use of photography to keep a record of criminals began in the 1840s when police forces commissioned portraits of offenders for so-called Rogues’ Galleries.
Filmed in 1915, Charles Urban’s Britain Prepared used military footage to promote British strength and determination in the war effort during the First World War.
If the latest influx of reality TV isn’t your bag, come in from the cold and work your way through 2,500 TV and film titles from the BFI National Archive.