Teletext services were of huge significance back in the day. Much more than people credit it. It served its time, and reached a natural end. But I really do enthuse over its importance in providing on demand, up to the minute information. It was groundbreaking and should never be overlooked.
when i was a child, i used to regularly wake up at 4am, sit down on the couch and put this on. i had no idea what the text even meant or what i was watching but something about it felt strangely comforting. then i usually went back to bed
I was up as a child one night with a stomach bug n this music made me feel not sick lol which was perfect but then was sick a bunch of vimto up an hour later.
Finally found this. When i was younger, going on holiday we always got an early flight out at about 10/11am so I used to get up at about 4:30 and this was always on. So many a brilliant holiday was started with this. So a lot of memories are being brought up with this.
i remember sleeping at ny grans and falling asleep with the TV and waking up to ceefax it was actuallg one of the finer points of my childhoof. I actually enjoyed sitting their listening to the music aha then the digital switchover happened... I
Mary this is great. Is there any possibility I could type in the page numbers myself[On my computer] like they do on Germany"s ARD TELETEXT SERVICE? Which is one of the last teletext service"s still being broadcast on Digital T.V. From the New Forest. Thank You and once again GOD BLESS!
We didn't have Teletext in the US and the year I studied in London (1996-1997) I was wondering what was wrong with the Telly when I accidentally activated Ceefax. One of my European flatmates explained everything to me and once I knew what I had I ended up using it and loving it! Back then I had to go to the Marylebone library to use the internet. Funny thing about that is that they had TVs in the library so you could check teletext for reference!
+TazeTSchnitzel It *can* be carried by digital TV, and many European countries do it. It's just that the UK broadcasting industry decided to kill it off in the UK.
+dunebasher1971 True. Over here in Aussie, I usually get teletext services from community TV services, they usually host a lot of useful features. Weather, News and very basic (Keyfax/Ceefax like) pictures. Until HD channels came along, teletext seems to have faded out. :(
Jensi Oquendo Actually, some digital services do broadcast Teletext info, but I don't think they set it up correctly.. The TV I have (Panasonic Plasma 32", 2008 vintage) claims that TEXT (Teletext) services are available on channels, Nine, Seven, Ten and SBS (CH: 3, 30, 32, 33)
Great Ocean Road, by Grossart/Burns and Williams, from Funtastik CD 1023. T'was a sad weekend but thanks and kudos to Dean Lydiate who kindly presented and co-ordinated the last 3 nights of Ceefax. A top man, a top teletext service that will be dearly missed. And the last ever trade test transmission too!
I agree with you paul. In Central Europe they still have Anagloge Teletext on Digitial TV. ARD/ZDF Germany,RAI Italy and ORF Austria.To name but three. A former Disabled UK Carer. GOD BLESS!
I used to suffer with bad insomnia in my teens . I would lie awake all night and this smooth fucking jazz would calm the torment of my soul . Classy as shit
Used to watch this when I was younger. It helped getting me to sleep trying to understand what I was reading and the music. I would always try exploring different pages.
The closedown of Ceefax coincided with the Digital Switchover (or as I call it Analogue Switch-off) in the UK which ended on Tuesday, 23rd October, 2012.
Ofcom were the death of it, among others. They forced the audiences that didn't go digital, to go digital, irrespective of how the older generations, loyal fans and newcomers felt. They had no say or choice. "Free Will" is a myth.
Saturday afternoon, the sun close to the horizon, a fog of cigarette smoke and my grandad asleep on the sofa with this endlessly looping on the football news in a silent room.
Digital is weak. It's feble transistors unable to handle an EMP from the Sun. there's an approximately 1 in 20 chance that within this decade we will be thrust back into the warm embrace of analog. Stay strong Brothers, the CRT, radio, and analog broadcast will be our saviors. Additionally, Teletext got a raw deal in the states and I hope to use it someday.
Oh, those were the days when returning home in the early hours; hazy, drunk or high to, muster-up something edible or just a calming hot cocoa and be amused by the command at your fingertips via the red, green and blue buttons of your remote control. And what wonderful soothing music!
I remember if I woke up randomly in the middle of the night I would be absolutely terrified of the ceefax music as my mum tended to fall asleep with the tv on her bedroom 😂
Teletext and Ceefax in the 90's, just wonderful. Dial-up was just emerging but this was where I got all my news, sports and gaming news from (Digitizer being AMAZING) . I would have all the page numbers memorised. Oh, and not forgetting playing Bamboozle. I'd cheat though and used the reveal button. LOL
Yes. I could not watch an hour of the broadcast. At the time in 1991 into 1992 Somewhere In My Heart started an hour of music, then suddenly within the next week in 1992 Winter Sun started an hour of music not realising at the time that both tracks came from same tape. That was in the 1990's I recall. The 1980's and 1970's were far better when both BBC1 and BBC2 both broadcast the test card and Ceefax with music throughout the day.
Those were the days, sitting in the lounge as a child at my parant house at weekends watching BBC Testcard F and pages from Ceefax, Teletext was the state of the art techonolgy back in the 1980's, but since the inception of the internet and Digital, Ceefax has been outcast by the internet and with techonolgy keep changing, i dont understand why the BBC couldnt have use Digital data teletext system via the Red button, itv uses the computer program for nightscreen, so why not a new text system for over night viewing on BBC2.
Even though i didn't get to see this in person, this still makes me a bit sad, even in 2023. It's also a bit weird because when i watch other tv channels shut down, i dont get sad or anything, but with this i actually get a bit sad.
Recorded this on VHS. I woke up early to watch it. This may sound childish, but when they played BART and it was the final minute... I was in tears by bye Ceefax!
I used to record Pages From Ceefax on VHS, with a minidisc recorder hooked up to the audio output. Later, I transferred those discs to my PC, then to the cloud. It's also all on my smartphone and tablet now to enjoy.
A real shame it seems we will never hear test card tapes on BBC1 or BBC2 ever again just because there are no more Ceefax broadcasts. The overnight BBC2 programme previews are a poor replacement, and in fact since the BBC replaced daytime test card and pages from ceefax broadcasts on both channels with all programmes the whole time things have gone all downhill.
Well BBC1 now shows the News or occasionally a Film then the news after it finished for the night. BBC2 no idea most channels show gambling or Teleshopping
Never got to see Ceefax live as I was around 4 years old at the time of its final broadcast so I can't really say that I miss it. It's interesting to look back at it though.
Oh the memories from the letters page Dear Ceefax. BW from Oxfordshire, ML from Dorset!!! And in true fashion, it's goodnight from you, and it's goodnight from me. Goodnight!
That was a bit of luck in late 2005. Dean Lydiate and the team were clearing out the old presentation suite when they found a few old Radioplay LP's - including SRP 7722 containing Bart... It was a Ceefax "link" track between tapes in 1985 - 8, and after the find, was used a lot in late 2005/early 2006 too with p152.
My childhood memories watching this at weekend on the BBC tv Network in the 1980's, love the jazzy music, use to love selecting the pages of Ceefax on my father tv set, Would spend hours on their until the damn tv blow up. Cheap DER TV rental crap, lol RIP Ceefax..
Just wondering, was a teletext capable tv (with a VBI decoder) needed to view the last transmission of Ceefax fully, as in users would be able to change the page that they were viewing on their televisions?
This was the decoded page broadcast as an ordinary video signal. As far as I can remember, Analogue BBC2 was already switched off at this point, hence CEEFAX 1 instead of 2. In which case this was on digital, so no interaction.
+Sanctimoniously Ceefax went out with a bang and with style. The last song was very appropriate for the end of a pioneering interactive TV service that lasted nearly 40 years. I would have expected nothing less from the BBC.
The BBC could have wheeled a lot more of the classic test card tracks than just Bart in the final few days of BBC2 Ceefax broadcasts. The BBC didn't think for even one moment during all the years that their Test Card and Pages from Ceefax broadcasts and accompanied tapes could ever gain high popularity ever since they first broadcast on TV in 1936. Even back in the day in the 1960's to 1980's they'd preferred showing a boring documentary or a repeat of Songs of Praise or a repeat of Points of View during a weekday afternoon than popping on the Test card or Ceefax.
I agree with you David. I am now a 51 year old disabled carer [Cerebral Palsy] since birth for my late and lovely Mum but back in the day in the late 1970"s to early 1980"s when I was at Langside Disability School in Bournemouth our head mistress Miss Evens a Prime of Miss Jean Broady kind of character would force to watch all of us two B.B.C. Programmes for Schools and Colleges.a week [As they were known then.] When she went away [God Bless her soul] we would sneekly turn up the T.V. and listen to B.B.C. Test Card music including Bart. A perfect choice of music for the last ever Page From Ceefax. Also to think David,on my Pan-European Satellite System bought in 1989 I can still read Digital Text Service from 29 countries around the world including A.R.D/Z.D.F. Germany [2 separate service"s R.A.I. from Italy and N.O.S. From the Netherlands. Why did the B.B.C. stop Teletext? A great sadness in my view. THOSE WERE THE DAYS! A pleasure typing with you David. Please keep in touch. From the New Forest. GOD BLESS you and my Mum. Thank You.
That because Ceefax was simulcast from BBC1 in London, Analogue tv in the UK Had already ceased at this point and was being fed to the Northern Ireland tv transmitters via Satellite from the BBC Broadcasting house in London.
