''Service Information'' was a weekday broadcast on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

of engineering information for the radio and television trade. These announcements were made by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

continuity announcers of the time and were read over basic in-vision captions.BBC2: Service Information - Friday 12th November 1982
/ref> The "programme" was broadcast on

during trade test transmissions and was not aimed at the general public. It was not billed in the schedule. They went out three times a day 10.00a.m., 11.30a.m., and 2.30p.m. From 20 January 1975, the bulletin was broadcast just once each day, at 10.30a.m.. The transmission times of these bulletins was moved if other programmes were being shown. For example, the Wednesday broadcast from October 1977 onwards was aired at 11.30 a.m. due to '' Gharbar'' being shown at 10.20 a.m. The final broadcast took place on 23 December 1982. The IBA (and its predecessor, the ITA) had a similar programme called ''

Engineering Announcements ''Engineering Announcements for the Radio and Television Trade'', sometimes abbreviated to ''Engineering Announcements'', was a weekly television program of news and information intended for technicians and salespeople in the United Kingdom, pro ...

''.

Format

In the days of early colour television in Great Britain the BBC2 daytime periods were filled with the colour

test card A test card, also known as a test pattern or start-up/closedown test, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active but no program is being broadcast (often at sign-on and sign-off). Used since the ear ...

and trade test colour films to help viewers and dealers to test and tune-in their television receivers.

Clock

''Service Information'' bulletins would be preceded with a clock for two minutes and a catchy theme which was called ''Walk & Talk'', played by the

Syd Dale Syd Dale (20 May 1924 – 15 August 1994) was an English self-taught composer and arranger of big band, easy listening and library music. His themes and underscore music played an important role on television, radio and advertising media of the ...

Orchestra, later replaced in 1978 with ''Swirly'' by Roger Limb. The clock was electronically recoloured in a variety of colour schemes in order to differentiate it from the clock used for BBC2's main presentation.

Transmitters and relays

The bulletin would then start with information regarding current transmitters and relays being either on reduced power or off air. This would then be followed with news of brand new transmitters and relays and when they were due to come on air. Details of trade shows or exhibitions next and anything else related to the technical development of colour television at the time. Then there would be a recap of the day's transmitter news followed by a caption showing the address of the BBC Engineering Information Department. Because the bulletin was designed for the trade, not the general public, a degree of prior knowledge was often assumed in the script - notably it was assumed people know where the transmitters mentioned despite the fact that many of them had interesting or unusual names.

Trade test colour films

The bulletin would then end with a rundown of the trade test colour films being shown on that particular day. "''And now we are returning to the colour test card and music until '' Play School'' at eleven o'clock''" would be a familiar closing phrase.

Bulletin length

''Service Information'' bulletins generally lasted an average of two or three minutes but on Wednesday 25 August 1971, the longest ''Service Information'' bulletin known was aired, which ran for 11 minutes.

Tuning information

A Monday to Friday ''Tuning Information'' bulletin was added to BBC2 in the heyday of colour coming to

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

and ITV from 10 November 1969 to 31 December 1970 at 6.15pm. with an extra transmission for a two-week period from 17 November 1969 until 28 November 1969 broadcast at 4.30pm (Mondays to Fridays).

Continuity announcers

The ''Service Information'' spots were often looked at by the BBC as a training ground for their new continuity announcers. Here they could deliver concise and informative speech for a few minutes at a time and broadcast relatively safely to a smaller than usual viewing audience. Amongst the continuity announcers who could be heard during this period were: : David Allan, Michael Birley, Peter Bolgar, John Braban, John Brand,

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

, Andy Cartledge, Malcolm Eynon, Mike Gamble, John Glover, Martin King,

John Leeson John Francis Christopher Ducker (born 16 March 1943), known professionally as John Leeson, is an English actor. He is known for portraying Bungle in ''Rainbow'' and voicing K9 in ''Doctor Who'' and spin-offs '' The Sarah Jane Adventures'' a ...

, Keith Martin,

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Tim Nichols Tim Nichols (born in Portsmouth, Virginia) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Active since the late 1980s, Nichols has written for several country music singers including Keith Whitley, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Jo Dee Messina, ...

Mel Oxley Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

Clive Roslin Clive is a name. People and fictional characters with the name include: People Given name * Clive Allen (born 1961), English football player * Clive Anderson (born 1952), British television, radio presenter, comedy writer and former barrister * ...

John Ross-Barnard John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

Clem Shaw Clem may refer to: Places *Clem, Oregon, United States, an unincorporated community *Clem, West Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community * Clem Nunatak, a nunatak in the Ross Dependency, Antarctica Other uses * Clem (hill), a categor ...

Peter Shoesmith Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

Ian De Stains Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, which is derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponds to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. This name is a popu ...

Richard Straker Richard Straker (born 4 August 1951) is a Barbadian cricketer. He played eight first-class and four List A matches for the Barbados cricket team between 1976 and 1979. See also * List of Barbadian representative cricketers This is a list of a ...

, John Trevor, Colin Ward Lewis and Robin Whitting.

Example transcript

Here's a sample transcript of a 10 o'clock ''Service Information'' bulletin from 24 August 1973 which includes the announcement concerning the last day of trade test colour films being shown. Note that in fact ''Coupe des Alpes'' – which had been revived as a finale having not been shown since 1968 – was not shown because cricket coverage began earlier than scheduled, and ''Guiseppina'' became the last trade test colour film ever shown.

References

External links

BBC Trade Test Colour Films and Service Information Titles and Schedules by Malcy B
* https://web.archive.org/web/20080613090728/http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/halcyondays/1970s/hidden.php{{Dead link, date=October 2024 BBC Two original programming British non-fiction television series British television news shows 1967 British television series debuts 1982 British television series endings Broadcasting in the United Kingdom 1970s British television series