Objects and stories

Discover how amateur radio and television enthusiasts influenced the growth of broadcasting in the UK, experimenting with new technology at home before tuning in became a mainstream pastime.

Find out about the history of colour TV in the UK, including the inventions that led to its introduction, the first broadcasts in Britain, and how people watched early colour television programmes.

These examples of key women from the early days of radio and television, from the 1920s to the 1950s, show how women have been at the centre of the story of British broadcasting from the beginning.

Discover the story behind one of the biggest television events in history: the Moon landing.

Read about the first experiments in digital image technology—which took place longer ago than you might think.

The 21st century has seen a boom in digital photo manipulation. Explore the early days of this technology and find out how image manipulation became commonplace.

Discover the story of Robert Paul, the forgotten pioneer whose innovations earned him the title of ‘father of the British film industry’.

From 1950s clapometers to televised lottery draws, TV entertainment is built on technology that audiences have to trust—but how does it work?

Polaroid photography enthusiasts’ campaign to keep their cameras out of the landfill reveals how we can keep using obsolete tech.

Belief in fairies, ghosts and other supernatural phenomena may seem to have little to do with science. But as this story shows, such beliefs—often called ‘occult’—have a long shared history with science.

Science has long been used to investigate seemingly supernatural phenomena. Read about some of the most famous examples—and what they tell us about the historical relationship between science and the occult.

Find out how communications technologies such as the electric telegraph, telephone and radio were used to explain and explore communication with supernatural beings, the spirits of the dead and even aliens.