The BBC’s teletext information service, Ceefax, launched on 23rd September, 1974 - providing the British public with a way to look up headlines, football results and TV listings, some twenty years before the launch of Internet Explorer.

Countless National Lottery winners discovered their victories via the analogue service, which was discontinued in 2012. To this day, devotees still share ancient samples of it by uploading old VHS tapes to the web.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why teletext never caught on in France; revisit the 1,445-episode ‘soap opera’ ITV Oracle ran on its rival service; and play a Teletext-style Bamboozle quiz of their very own… 

Further Reading:

• ‘The Editors: Goodbye Ceefax’ (BBC, 2012): https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2012/10/goodbye_ceefax.html

• ‘Minitel: The Old New Thing’ (WIRED, 2001): https://www.wired.com/2001/04/minitel-the-old-new-thing/

• ‘Pages from Ceefax - Three and a half hours of outdated news, sport and weather’ (No Data Available, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU8P5G-GM_g

This episode first aired in 2021

Love the show? Support us! 

Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… 

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. 

Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices