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Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland

Celebrating 50 years of BBC Television in Northern Ireland

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Television was one of the most socially importantinnovations of the 20th Century. Its arrival helped shrinkthe world, and to enlarge our understanding of itscomplexity.What began as a tiny and experimental affairquickly became a dominant means of communication.Themagic box of television was transformed from anexpensive luxury, with limited programming and evensmaller audiences, to an everyday item watched by almostall of us. Over the last 50 years it has shaped ourchildhoods, connected us with big events and provided arich source of information, education and entertainment.

Television has brought everywhere to every living room. Ithas transformed our sense of time and distance, andmade the unknown and far-away, familiar. Its pictures haveallowed us to glimpse ourselves and to catch proper sightof strangers, whether at home or abroad.

Local people have been part of this story of social andtechnological change. BBCNI made its first televisionbroadcast half a century ago.Those flickering black andwhite images began a process which would, in time, turnoccasional local programmes into a year-round

production effort in drama, news, sport, education andentertainment. Today's knowledge economy andinformation society, and our creative industries, owe muchto Northern Ireland’s television pioneers.

The Magic Box is a touring exhibition to celebrate50 years of BBC television in, for and about NorthernIreland. It tells the story of our region through sound andpictures and underscores the BBC’s long-established andunique role at the heart of community life and creativity.

The Magic Box – Celebrating 50 years of BBC Television in Northern Ireland

Professor Fabian Monds CBENational GovernorBBC Northern Ireland

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When television came to Northern Ireland in 1953, fewcould have realised how important it would become. Itsrole as both “mirror and window”, in Sir KennethBloomfield’s phrase, has been massively influential.

Television has allowed us to watch the events that shapedthe second half of the twentieth century: wars,assassinations, the exploration of space, the fall ofCommunism and the coming of the new millenniumacross the globe.And through its images, the world hasseen our conflict and local efforts to create a morepeaceful future.

Television has given us opportunities to see ourselves andour neighbours in Northern Ireland. Our poets andwriters have made this new medium their own. Childrenfrom town and country have learned more about eachother through schools’ broadcasts, and all of us havebenefited from a range of programmes documenting ourhistory and celebrating local creativity, sportingachievements and cultural diversity.Television has created apowerful, living record of the ordinary and theextraordinary lives of people here. In the darkest days we

turned to it for reliable news of what was happening inour streets and countryside.And it also provided animportant source of humour and entertainment thatenabled us to laugh at ourselves and the predicaments ofcommunity life in NI.

The small screen has exerted a big influence on all ourlives.This exhibition gives us an opportunity to count thegains of its first half century and to estimate localtelevision’s promise and future direction.

Small Screen – Big InfluenceBBC Television made its debutin Northern Ireland in 1953,relaying network programmesfrom a temporary transmitterinstalled in an old Nissen hut ona hillside just outside Belfast.

The first viewers were thin on theground.Television sets wereexpensive and the reception – blackand white, of course - was far fromperfect.

A typical day that month shows aschedule that included cricket, awestern, a variety gala and news.There were long gaps intransmission and programmes hadconcluded by 10.30pm. 24 hourtelevision was still some years away.

But on 2nd June 1953, history wasmade and people could watch ithappening.

The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

was broadcast from WestminsterAbbey. It was the first BritishCoronation ever seen live ontelevision. It still is.

All over the country, peoplegathered round the nearest availabletelevision set to watch.It was a turning point.As one viewerrecalled, ‘the Royal Family were ontelevision so therefore it was okay.’

Television had become acceptable.And it was here to stay.

Anna CarragherControllerBBC Northern Ireland

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The first programme made byBBC Northern Ireland for localviewers was Ulster Mirror in1954.

Shown every fortnight, it was amiscellany of items from around theregion. However, no facilities existedin Belfast for either editing, or localtransmission, so all the material hadto be flown to London and it wasbroadcast from there.

But even that first tentative stepinto local programmingdemonstrated a commitment by theBBC to connect with its audienceand to reach into the heart ofcommunities in towns, cities andvillages across Northern Ireland.

Today, BBCNI broadcasts almost 740hours of locally producedprogrammes each year in areas as

diverse as drama, current affairs,education, sport and entertainment.It also produces popularprogrammes for Network audiences.

In Northern Ireland,with its longhistory of division,objective andinformed journalism is vital.

News and Current Affairs has been acore service over the past fifty years.

Television news remains a vital linkbetween the BBC and the communityit serves.

The first bulletin was broadcast in1957 and bore very little resemblanceto the kind of coverage viewers expecttoday.There was no film.Video had noteven been invented.A newsreader reada script illustrated only by theoccasional black and white photograph.It was like radio, on television.

The first news magazine came on theair in 1959.Studio Eight was thename of the studio and theprogramme itself.

Other news programmes were tofollow:Six Five,Six Ten,SceneAround Six, Inside Ulster,BBCNewsline.All have made their markwith the Northern Ireland audience.

So, too, the presenters.Names fromthe past and present include:

Malcolm Kellard, Larry McCoubrey, BarryCowan, Sean Rafferty,Wendy Austin,NoelThompson, Rose Neill.All becamefamiliar teatime guests in our homes.

BBCNI journalism has always beencharacterised by authority andinformed analysis – fromcorrespondents such as W.D. Flackes,Eric Waugh and Brian Walker to StephenGrimason,Maggie Taggart, Brian Rowanand Dot Kirby.

A host of distinguished broadcasterscut their journalistic teeth withBBC NI – Nicholas Witchell, JeremyPaxman, Gavin Esler and many more.

And the news that they, and others,reported was the often difficult storyof Northern Ireland itself – BloodySunday, Bloody Friday, Enniskillen,Omagh, the Good Friday Agreement.

The television images of those events,captured by camera staff operating inoften grim and dangerouscircumstances, are seared into ourmemories.They are milestones in ourtroubled journey.

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Throughout its history, BBC NIhas shown a commitment tothe big occasion, and tocapturing and sharing eventsof significance.

Live election coverage has been amajor part of that.And BBC NIhas been the only localbroadcaster to provide regularcoverage of debates from theAssembly Chamber at Stormont.Once again, keeping audiencesinformed has been, and remains, apriority.

Since June 1953, there has beencoverage of visits to NorthernIreland by the Queen and othermembers of the Royal Family.

Historic, too, was the Pope’sjourney to Ireland in 1979. BBC NIcameras brought his famousspeech in Drogheda live into our

homes. It was the single biggestoutside broadcast operation evermounted by the region.

The moments leading up to theconclusion of the negotiations onGood Friday in 1998 gave us morehistory in the making.

And who can forget pictures ofthe first visit by President Clintonin November 1995?

Since 1973,Spotlight has beenBBC NI’s flagship current affairsprogramme.

Investigating, challenging, and gettingunder the skin of important issueshave been at the core of Spotlight’spurpose.

And while politics and security issueshave often dominated the wideragenda since 1969,Spotlight has keptaudiences informed about otheraspects of life in Northern Ireland.

More recently,Hearts and Minds hasestablished itself as a uniquely engagingpolitical series.

And Let’s Talk has made a direct andintimate connection with audiences ona range of topics, providing a valuableplatform for debate.

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Throughout the past fifty years,BBC NI has been committed tofinding and nurturing local talent.

Some talent was already wellestablished,of course.

James Young was a huge success in theGroup Theatre long before hiscomedy was transferred to televisionin 1971.

But BBC NI gave his genius widerscope and a bigger stage.

It is a long time - but in many ways ashort step - from James Young to theHole in the Wall Gang and Give MyHead Peace.

In their work, his scathing wit andcultural caricature live on.

Many others were given their firstchance with BBC NI.

It was in the famous Billy plays thatyoung Kenneth Branagh’s talents firstreached a wider audience.

Hollywood star Liam Neeson made hisfirst television appearance in a BBCNIschools’ programme about the railways.

Patrick Kielty has gone from aBBCNI stand-up comedyprogramme at The Empire tonationwide fame. And ShaunaLowry, now a familiar face toNetwork audiences, began hertelevision career with BBC NI’sYouth Programmes Unit.

The search goes on…..Could you be the nextbig discovery?

We are committed to enriching thelives of our viewers and to engagingthem in what we do.

Making A Difference encouragedpeople to nominate the unsungheroes who have had a beneficialeffect on the lives of those aroundthem and the BBC’s Children inNeed provides year-round supportto young people throughout theregion.

Fair Play, our first televisionconsumer series, has struck a chordwith audiences, who have broughtcomplaints about everything fromfaulty washing machines to mobiletelephone masts.

And think of the remarkable HomeTruths documentaries which soughtto establish what really happened inthe Curran murder case and led tothe release of Iain Hay Gordon.

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