from Roger Bunce

These are stills from “This is the BBC” – from which I hope to be able to show more in the future. It was made in 1959 by Richard Cawston and is a look at a day in the life of the BBC.

(If you haven’t seen “This is the BBC”, find it here). 

Laurie Duley on the front of the Mole on “Mother Courage” a play directed by Rudolph Cartier in Studio D Lime Grove (I think). The camera is a Marconi Mk3, and the out of focus fellow in the foreground is the tracker of the motorised Vinten crane.

[Ed:  “Mother Courage ” was broadcast on 30th June 1959.  Lime Grove Studio D had changed from Marconi Mk IIIs to CPS Emitrons in 1956, so the location is more likely to have been Riverside studio R1  as it had Marconi Mk III cameras at this time. (edit made 14 November 2025)]

Two Mole Richardson booms flank Laurie here.

Here’s Doug Routledge with his CPS Emitron., using the tiller to move the ped because the steering ring hadn’t been invented yet.

This is John Hayes with the reason that headphones are called cans.

Two views of The Black and White Minstrel Show at the Television Theatre

Eddie Stewart

and Clive Stevens