The Birth of Television: A Forgotten History

100 years ago, inventor John Logie Baird demonstrated his new 'televisor' to the public for the first time. In this special edition of Front Row, Samira Ahmed and guests explore the origins of television in the UK, charting how those early experimental days set a template for this exciting new medium. Guests: TV producer and historian Professor John Wyver, whose new book Magic Rays of Light tells the story of the early days of TV Lisa Kerrigan, senior curator of TV at the BFI Francis Spufford, whose new novel Nonesuch is partly set in the BBC studio at Alexandra Palace in 1939 Joy Whitby, TV producer and creator of iconic programmes including Play School and Jackanory Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Tim Bano

You can listen to The Birth of Television: A Forgotten History online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Birth of Television: A Forgotten History is an episode from Front Row by BBC.

This episode is 42:06 long.

This episode was published on Apr 6, 2026.

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