1930 July 28

Baird at the Coliseum

First UK public demonstration of large screen television by John Logie Baird at the Coliseum variety theatre in London's West End.

   Poster for the event.

Photo Terra Media Archives

The screen is composed of an array of 2,100 lamps spaced one inch apart and operated by mechanical commutator switch to give a picture measuring 30 inches wide by 70 inches. All the display equipment is housed in a 'caravan' that can be wheeled onto the stage.

[Photo Terra Media Archives]

A special studio is equipped for the Coliseum demonstration, complete with a microphone for sound to accompany the pictures. The control room is behind the window in the panelling on the left. The performer here is Bombardier Billy Wells. Standing behind him is Baird's business associate and ardent publicist, Sydney A Moseley.
    Wells began to achieve a much larger audience from 1935 onwards as the man striking the gong in the Rank Organisation's on-screen logo.

Chronomedia 1930
Cinema-television index