The National Museum of Computing celebrates the 100-year anniversary of the BBC with its new “BBC through the decades” exhibition

The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley, 15 October 2022 - The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) today unveiled its latest exhibition, “BBC through the decades,” to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the pioneering and globally trusted public service broadcaster. The BBC has been at the forefront of analogue and digital technology for a century, and today the BBC reaches an average audience of 489 million adults every week. Visitors to the TNMOC exhibition will witness the evolution of the technologies that have formed the backbone of the BBC over its history and get hands-on with the technology that made the BBC famous.

The exhibit will open on 1 October 2022 and showcase what it takes to build a globally recognised broadcaster. It’s a story of technology through the ages that begins with analogue radio broadcast technology of the 1920s and ends with BBC iPlayer and the internet-enabled platforms of today. It includes the first television broadcast in 1932, the move to colour in 1967, the launch of the BBC website in 1997, and the digital switchover that began in 2007.

Highlights of the nostalgia-filled exhibit include:

● Ceefax reimagined – Ceefax, which began at the BBC in 1974, will be celebrated with a special TNMOC version of the world’s first Teletext information service

● The BBC Micro, an 8-bit microcomputer which is still going strong 40 years since its launch. The museum uses several of these venerable machines in its classroom, and visitors will be able to get hands-on with retro games

● A BBC Domesday Project machine from 1986. The Domesday Project was a landmark survey of the country in the 80s. TNMOC has an original machine that still runs off its original LaserDiscs. 

The exhibition's opening* will followed by a launch event two weeks later on the 15th October which will feature a series of live Q&As with figures, including former BBC Technology Correspondent and TNMOC Honorary Fellow Rory Cellan-Jones, who will share his personal BBC story.

In true Blue Peter fashion, children will be invited to create an A4 poster showing what current technology should be preserved in a time capsule and opened in 100 years. Kids can predict how their chosen piece of technology will adapt to change how information is broadcast and create Tomorrow's World; today. The posters will be displayed both in the museum and online. Furthermore, any child participating in the microbit workshop and the BBC quiz will receive a free musical glove!

Jacqui Garrad, Director of The National Museum of Computing, said: “The BBC is an iconic British institution, with global reach, respect, and recognition. We invite the public to come and celebrate the BBC’s 100th anniversary with us, get hands-on with our exhibits and learn all about the technology behind the BBC.

“We are very excited to showcase this history and welcome former BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones to TNMOC to talk about the inner workings of this epochal British institution.”

Rory Cellan-Jones, former BBC correspondent and TNMOC Honorary Fellow, said, “For me the BBC is a key part of my family history. I worked there for forty years, and before me my mother joined the Corporation in wartime Bristol and left TV Centre in London in 1974. During a period of enormous cultural, economic, and technological upheaval the BBC both reflected and often led many of those changes. By the time I was made technology correspondent, the BBC’s R&D teams had already pioneered everything from mobile recording, as used on D-Day, to an online news service. Then as I reported the rise of the smartphone and AI, I watched the BBC adapt to this new era.

“TNMOC’s exhibition honours the remarkable technological evolution at the BBC across its 100-year history, and I’m overjoyed to be able to open such a fascinating celebration of how far we’ve come.”

ExhibitionCelebration Launch Event Schedule (Saturday 15th October)

10:30 Museum opens to the public

11:00 Refreshments served in the First Generation Gallery

11:00-11:30 Official exhibition opening

11:30-12:30 Visitors are invited to explore the Exhibition

12:30-13:30 Refreshments provided and Networking in First Generation Gallery

13:30-14:00 Live Q&A with Rory Cellan-Jones

14:15-14:45 Live Q&A with David Allen

15:00-17:00 Visitors are invited to explore the Museum

17:00-17:30 Competition winners announced & Prize giving ceremony

*The BBC exhibition at The National Museum of Computing runs from the 1st October to the 20th November.

More information and links to celebration launch event tickets can be found on EventBrite.