The service was launched in 1999 as BBC Text.

BBC Text originally launched on digital terrestrial services in 1999, and was later introduced on satellite and cable platforms.

A digital text service had been available since the launch of digital terrestrial television in November 1998, but the BBC Text service was not publicly launched until November 1999, due to a lack of availability of compatible set-top boxes.

BBC Text also enabled channel association, the ability for the user to retain their selected television channel visible in one section of the screen whilst viewing the text service, in contrast to Ceefax, which could only be viewed as a full-screen display, or as a semitransparent overlay ( i. e. opaque blocks of colour on top of the television channel, with the black background now transparent ; not ' translucent blocks of colour with a translucent black background ') above the television picture.

BBC Text pioneered an early form of " on-demand " interactive television, called Enhanced TV.

It was recorded for a BBC Maida Vale session on 19 May 1971 for the Sounds of the Seventies show, a bootleg version of the session can be found on The Text of Festival.

At its peak, the Electron was the third best selling micro in the United Kingdom, and total lifetime game sales for the Electron exceeded those of the BBC Micro.

The hardware of the BBC Micro was emulated by a single customized ULA chip designed by Acorn in conjunction with Ferranti.

It had feature limitations such as being unable to output more than one channel of sound, ( and provided fewer Envelope-shaping options ) where the BBC was capable of three-way polyphony ( plus one noise channel ) and the inability to provide teletext mode.

Due to needing two accesses to each chip instead of one, and the complications of the video hardware also needing access, reading or writing RAM was much slower than on the BBC Micro.

The Electron was developed during 1983 as a cheap sibling for the BBC Micro with the intention of capturing the low-cost Christmas sales market for that year.

This was a blow from which the machine never fully recovered, although games sales for it would ultimately outstrip those of the BBC Micro.

Because the WD1770 is capable of single density mode and uses the same IBM360 derived floppy disc format as the Intel 8271 found in the BBC Micro, it was also possible to run a DFS filing system with an alternate ROM, such as the P. R. E. S AP4 interface.

This behavior was the same as on the BBC Micro.

Of the capabilities present in the BBC Micro but absent from the Electron, the teletext-style mode 7 was particularly conspicuous because of the very low memory usage in that mode ( just less than 1 kB ) and the high number of BBC programs that used it.

The first used the same graphics processor as the BBC Micro in mode 7 — the SAA5050 — but used software to ensure that it was fed with the correct graphics data.

Like the BBC Micro, the Electron was constrained by limited memory resources.

On November 9, 2008, a radio adaptation of the novel was broadcast on BBC Radio 3, starring Robert Lonsdale as Paul Bäumer and Shannon Graney as Katczinsky.

Another instrumental called " Brother " was used as the theme to the BBC Radio 1 Top 20 / 40 when Tom Browne / Simon Bates presented the programme in the 1970s.

The wave of arson in the South Bronx in the 1960s and 1970s inspired the observation that " The Bronx is burning ": in 1974 it was the title of both a New York Times editorial and a BBC documentary film.

The story of the men's claims was covered by many major news networks, including BBC, CNN, ABC News, and Fox News.

Ironically, it was Hoyle who coined the phrase that came to be applied to Lemaître's theory, referring to it as " this big bang idea " during a BBC Radio broadcast in March 1949.

His last game was against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 28 April 1973, and before the game the BBC cameras for Match of the Day captured the Chelsea chairman handing Charlton a commemorative cigarette case.

It was relaunched in November 2001 under the BBCi brand and operated under this name until 2008, when it was once more rebranded as BBC Red Button.

Although the experimental service was publicly available, there were no digital set-top boxes or receivers available on the market which could decode the signal and the service was only presented to the public via BBC demonstrations using prototype receivers.

Enfield and his co-performers created another group of nationally recognised characters for these shows, such as Stan and Pam Herbert, who use the catchphrase " We are considerably richer than you " ( in an exaggerated West-Midlands accent ), Tim Nice-But-Dim, The Scousers, Smashie and Nicey, Wayne and Waynetta Slob, Annoying Kid Brother, who grew into Kevin the Teenager, and two old-fashioned BBC presenters, Mr Cholmondley-Warner and Grayson.

Despite being considerably softer in its approach than its BBC predecessor, the show broke ground in its depiction of issues previously considered unsuitable for U. S. network television comedy, such as racism, homosexuality, women's liberation, rape, miscarriage, abortion, breast cancer, the Vietnam War, menopause, and impotence.

This is considerably more than most other BBC local radio stations and reflects London's large number of sporting teams and events.

Triffids were also featured in the 1957 BBC radio dramatization of Wyndham's book, a considerably altered film adaptation which was produced in 1962, a more faithful 1981 television serial produced by the BBC, and in a 2009 two-part TV series also produced by the BBC.

This time slot is considerably more than most other BBC local radio stations and reflects London's large number of sporting teams and events.

Lownes tried to exert considerably more control over the group than they had been used to at the BBC.

* This was embellished considerably in the 1976 BBC television adaptation, where she was played by Beth Morris.

Portland Recording Studios were considerably in arrears with rent to the Prudential, who owned the building in 35 Portland Place in London, close to BBC Broadcasting House.

The style of the coat of arms has changed considerably over time ; from the style of the motto, the formality of the lion and eagles, the alignment of the shield ( it was tilted in early versions, and is now perfectly straight ) and the addition of a compartment ( the design placed under the shield, a grassy mound in the BBC coat of arms ).

The chain was expanded considerably with the 2001 takeover of the BBC Hardware group.

The series, written by Bernard Ashley, was considerably more gritty and controversial than standard BBC children's serial fare up until that time, dealing with a young girl, Patsy ( Nicola Cowper ) running away from her violent stepfather ( Brian Hall ) and trying to return to her mother's old home in Margate.

This made it possible to connect a 5¼ ” floppy disc drive as used by BBC Micro owners or a more common 3½ ” drive.

In more recent times, Boudica has been the subject of numerous documentaries, including some by Discovery Channel, History International Channel ( now known as H2 ), and the BBC.

A further announcement by Head of television news Peter Horrocks came at the same time as Bakhurst's appointment in which he outlined his plan to provide more funding and resources for the channel and shift the corporation's emphasis regarding news away from the traditional BBC One bulletins and across to the rolling news channel.

The BBC began simulcasting the channel overnight on terrestrial channel BBC One with the launch of the channel, ending the tradition of a closedown but at the same time effectively making the service available to many more viewers.

An international version of the countdown was launched on BBC World News on 5 September 2005 featuring more international content and similar music.

* BBC news article: " Colossus cracks codes once more "

With what can crudely be summed up as a clash of ideologies between an expansion of ITV's commercial ethos and a public service approach more akin to the BBC, it was ultimately something of a compromise that eventually led to the formation of Channel 4 as launched in 1982.

The units had a robust motherboard in a spacious case, reminiscent of the BBC Micro, and so were more tolerant of home-modification than some of their contemporaries, which often had their components crammed into the smallest possible space.

In addition to Egyptian programming, the Middle East Broadcast Company, a Saudi television station transmitting from London ( MBC ), Arab Radio and Television ( ART ), Al-Jazeera television, and other Gulf stations as well as Western networks such as CNN and BBC, provide access to more international programs to Egyptians who own satellite receivers.

On 15 July 2009, Encyclopædia Britannica was awarded a spot as one of " Top Ten Superbrands in the UK " by a panel of more than 2, 000 independent reviewers, as reported by the BBC.

" Author Mark Lynas said " The only reason why this became an issue is that there is a small but vociferous group of climate ' sceptics ' lobbying against taking action, so the BBC is behaving like a coward and refusing to take a more consistent stance.

Perhaps more importantly still, the film was shunned by the BBC and ITV, who declined to show it for fear of offending Christians in this country.

The Beeb's ( British Broadcasting Corporation ) ( BBC ) institutionalized leftism would be easier to tolerate if the corporation was a little more honest about it ".

An example of a comedy film that targets a more general audience is Strange Company's Tum Raider, produced for the BBC in 2004.

Until recently it was also common practice for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 to repeat classic shows from their archives, but this has more or less dried up in favor of newer ( and cheaper ) formats like reality shows, except on the BBC where older BBC shows, especially sitcoms like Dad's Army and Fawlty Towers, are frequently repeated.

A common misconception is that the Doctor Who production team at BBC Wales were so impressed by how much more resilient the toy sonic screwdriver was than the real prop, that they obtained moulds of the original prototype of the toy to use in the 2006 series, in fact, this was not the case.

* Watch more tiger ( Panthera tigris ) video clips from the BBC archive on Wildlife Finder

Diggle claimed in his autobiography that he and Shelley had only granted the BBC use of their name under the impression that it would be a one-off, probably unsuccessful pilot, and that they are now mildly disgruntled that the name is more readily associated in Britain with the TV series than with their band.

Since the 80s usage of the phrase has become more widespread, but is still often viewed as an exotic and unwelcome commercialised import, with the BBC referring to it as " the Japanese knotweed of festivals " and " making demands with menaces ".