The first drama ever broadcast on the BBC
Television is something that everybody has taken for granted as an established part of their daily lives, but it was nothing short of revolutionary when the first electronic set was created and demonstrated by Philo Taylor Farnsworth in San Francisco in 1927, the same year the BBC was formed in its current iteration.
Also in 1927, John Logie Baird showcased his own version to a collection of scientists in London, going on to form the Baird Television Development Company, which would then achieve the first transatlantic transmission between Britain and America.
Five years previously, the British Broadcasting Company had been formed before being renamed as the British Broadcasting Corporation on New Year’s Day in 1927, the very same annum television enjoyed its first successful experimentation. However, it would be another two years before the BBC began broadcasting daily.
In collaboration with Logie Baird, the transmitter used by radio station 2LO started sending 30-line transmissions, which was hardly the sort of thing the entire family could gather around and watch together. The following year, though, history was made when a full drama was aired.
A production of Luigi Pirandello’s The Man with the Flower in His Mouth aired in its entirety on the BBC on July 14th, 1930. Of course, it was hardly a lavish recreation similar to something that could be seen on the stage, driven by the limitations the technology faced during its formative years.
Even though it was a one-act play that only ran for around half an hour and featured three characters, the powers-that-be hardly deemed it a rousing success. Starring Earle Gray as The Man, Gladys Young as The Woman, and Lionel Millard as The Customer, The Man With the Flower in His Mouth was directed by Val Gielgud, who was the BBC’s head of radio drama at the time and filmed from the headquarters of Baird’s company in London.
Then-Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald was one of those watching on, having had a television installed at 10 Downing Street so he could literally keep a close eye on the BBC’s regular test transmissions. Thanks to the mere 30 lines that could be displayed on-screen, The Man With the Flower in His Mouth could only feature one actor at a time, who had to restrict their movements as any sudden bursts had the ability to cause the system to lose its synchronicity and render the moving images unwatchable.
Just over a week later, the BBC Control Board opted to suspend its involvement in programming to focus strictly on technical and engineering support, having been less than thrilled by the station’s first foray into broadcast drama.
As a result, the BBC Television Service didn’t air anything that wasn’t a transmission test again until August of 1932, when Baird appeared on-camera as part of a programme featuring a performing sea lion, a ju-jitsu demonstration, and assorted other interludes. Having ironed out the kinks, from then on, television became an increasingly important part of everyday life, at least for those who were wealthy enough to afford one.
