Our history
The BBC first arrived at the Palace in 1935, as the race to broadcast via the latest innovation in entertainment – television – gathered pace.
The corporation leased the entire East Wing of the Palace, with former dining rooms turned into two studios, fitted out with cutting-edge technology. Marconi-EMI in Studio A, and in Studio B, the Baird Company – with the competition ultimately won by Marconi-EMI’s 405-line system. The first regular “high definition” television broadcast was made from Alexandra Palace studios on 2 November 1936 – creating television as the world knows it today.
Following the launch of television, the fledgling service quickly grew in scope as experiments lead to new forms of programming. The BBC studios at Alexandra Palace created television formats still around today, such as: the first TV gardening programme, cookery shows, and the revolutionary election-night broadcast created by Grace Wyndham Goldie.
The first dedicated children’s programme was launched in 1946 with its star Muffin the Mule, moreover the BBC brought major moments of history, such as the Queen’s Coronation and news of the Kennedy assassination, into British homes. As well as studios, the BBC had to create offices, make-up and rehearsal rooms, install transmitters, generators and control rooms. Our East Court was used to park early outside broadcast trucks, and the Theatre became a carpentry workshop where sets and props for the television service were built and stored.
The News service relocated in 1969, however BBC remained at the Palace in partnership with the Open University, to realise the ‘University of the Air’ in the studios until 1981. The corporation’s presence also endures to this day. In recent times, the BBC 6 Music Festival was streamed from the Palace, including performances from Laura Marling and Michael Kiwanuka, likewise the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekender recorded performances from inside our walls and we’ve been delighted to host Later…with Jools Holland. The Top Gear team took on their Wall of Death in our Great Hall, while the inaugural Earthshot Prize, featuring former BBC director Sir David Attenborough was filmed in the Palace’s theatre.
BBC 100
In 2022, the BBC celebrates its 100th anniversary with a dedicated programme of celebrations and broadcasts. It is a chance for us to delve further into the amazing history of the BBC at the Palace, as well as reflecting on contemporary achievements and opportunities in the future, at a time when the mission to ‘inform, educate and entertain’ is as relevant to the creative industries as ever before.
OPENING NIGHT OF TELEVISION
On 2nd November 1936 the BBC launched the world’s first high-definition television service from studios at Alexandra Palace.
EVOLUTION OF TELEVISION
The launch of television from Alexandra Palace in 1936 was a landmark moment of progress for entertainment and communication. However, far from being the end of the story, pioneers in engineering and programming evolved the medium over decades to create one of the most powerful and influential tools of the twentieth century.
100 OBJECTS THAT MADE THE BBC
The Alexandra Palace transmitter mast has been selected among the 100 objects that tell the story of the BBC’s first 100 years.
THE WOMEN BEHIND TELEVISION
To coincide with Women’s History Month, Alexandra Palace curatorial manager Kirsten Forrest takes a brief look at some of the pioneering women who worked to develop television at the Palace.
ALLY PALLY AND THE BIRTH OF BRITISH TV NEWS
Taking the BBC’s mission to ‘inform, educate and entertain’ as inspiration, Professor Kurt Barling from Middlesex University explores the birth of television news at Alexandra Palace.
BEAM-BENDING DURING WW2
We’ve taken a look at the crucial, and extraordinary, role played by Alexandra Palace and resident BBC television engineers during the Second World War.
ENTERTAINMENT ON THE PRE-WAR TELEVISION SERVICE
Taking the BBC’s mission to ‘inform, educate and entertain’ as inspiration, Professor Jamie Medhurst explores ‘Entertainment’ on pre-war television.
LATER...WITH JOOLS HOLLAND
In 2022, we’ve had the utter privilege to host recordings of the iconic Later…with Jools Holland in the Palace’s Theatre.