It all started on Monday 2 November 1936 from a make-shift studio in the south east wing of Alexandra Palace in North London - Ally Pally as it was and still is known today. It wasn't a new invention by any means - experiments had been on going around the world since the 1850s to perfect and broadcast television pictures. In this country the work of John Logie Baird pushed the way forward and this November day was momentous as it marked the start of the world's first regular television service and it was called Â鶹ԼÅÄ Television. This title was to last until the arrival of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ's second television channel in 1964 and this first channel was re-named - Â鶹ԼÅÄ One.
Since then, of course, there's been a media revolution - you can catch up; download and watch online - how old fashioned it seems to think that viewers made an appointment to watch our schedules. But the last 80 years produced a wealth of comedy, drama, music, documentary, sport, natural history and news programmes.
Tonight Â鶹ԼÅÄ Television's older sister service - Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio - celebrates 80 years of great television and musical moments with the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Concert Orchestra conducted by Gavin Sutherland. The show includes musical themes from Quatermass; Monitor; Poldark; Mastermind; Vision On; Monty Python's Flying Circus and Blue Planet.
And casting an inquisitive eye and ear over the proceedings and no doubt adding the occasional pithy comment - John Humphrys.
