Teletextr

Teefax, the community teletext service created by Peter Kwan, has recently been signal boosted in numerous news outlets. Most significantly, its appearance on The One Show marked teletext's return to the BBC almost 8 years after the demise of Ceefax.

Does this pave the way for a 50th anniversary documentary? What would you like to see for #Teletext50?

Also, there are some 'celebrity' appearances and Carlos is the first guest on the Teletext R phone in!

In these testing times, teletext is needed more than ever. Could this signal a revival for the BBC Red Button?

Also in this episode, we discuss how teletext artists are documenting the lockdown, and Teletext R superfan Wayne Dearden performs some excellent teletext covers of popular musical tracks.

Show thumbnail is part of ‘Inattention‘ by Raquel Meyers.

Digital artist Jarkko Räsänen is a member of the FixC artists co-operative, who have been organising teletext festivals since 2012. Their most recent teletext project, TART2020 (Teletext Art 2020), proved so popular that it has been extended for another month (until 25/5) on YLE Text. Note: this episode was recorded before the extension was announced.

In this conversation with Dan, Jarkko speaks about his own practice, how the International Teletext Art Festival was born, the artform's development and future plans for the Museum of Teletext Art.

If you had to make a list of memorable teletext sections, you’d probably have Digitiser somewhere in your top 5. Today’s guest is, outside of Mr Biffo, perhaps the world’s most knowledgeable person on the subject of Digitiser. And today on this interview special of Teletext R, his specialist subject is Reversible Sedgewicks. Owner of the biggest Digitiser fansite on the web today, his name is Bellston, or to give him his full name, Chris Bell.

All music in this episode is from Mr Biffo’s freshly-released album Sound Footage, which is available on Bandcamp now. Opening theme is ‘Nautilus’ and the closing theme is ‘Are You a Baby?’

Show thumbnail by @Horsenburger

In her glittering career, Sara Scott-Rivers worked extensively with both Viewdata and teletext. Following designer-editor roles with Prestel in the 1980s, she joined Teletext Ltd prior to its launch in 1993.

However, she is perhaps best known for her unique fashion sensibilities, which might be described as ‘teletext goth geek-chic’.

Bonus: This interview also includes a special guest appearance by Arthur the cat!

Technical note: On a few occasions, I accidentally refer to Viewdata as teletext due to force of habit. Teletext R would like to stress that they are not the same thing. :-)

1:10: Early days of computing, 1981

34:00 Website design @GB Net, London, 1995

Earlier this year, we reported on the BBC Red Button teletext service, which has unfortunately been threatened with switch-off. Since then, it has stayed on the air - albeit temporarily - due to the current global situation.

In this episode of Teletext R, Sarah Gayton of the National Federation of the Blind UK provides an update on the campaign to save the Red Button for good.

We also hear from various users of the text service who explain why it is extremely important to them in their everyday lives.

You can help save the Red Button text service!

As soon as the medium of teletext started offering package vacations in the 1980s, the Ceefax Holidays legend was born. ‘Ceefax Holidays’ soon became a generic term for holidays advertised on any teletext service. Package holidays to Magaluf, weekend breaks on the English Riviera, cruises around the Mediterranean… wherever you wanted to go, Ceefax Hols could get you there for low, low prices.

Because the human brain is suggestible, the Ceefax Holidays snowball continues to roll down the steep incline that is the Internet, fuelled by speculation and a silly April Fool joke that got out of hand. Or did it…?

On today’s studio episode of Teletext R, Dan and Carl explore the Ceefax Holidays phenomenon in greater detail, analysing the societal and psychological impact of this teletext legend.

Note: Ceefax Holidays is certainly not to be confused with T******* Holidays.

Recently, Spanish prisoners have hit the international headlines for their use of teletext to communicate with the outside world. But, as Dan and Carl find out, this certainly isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened.

In a Teletext R Podcast special feature, teletext fan Thomas Boevith presents his enlightening research into Copenhagen prisons' internal teletext services.

And finally, we take a look at a few other coded messages in teletext and the general media.

Thank you to Thomas Boevith (@teksttv_dk) for the special feature on Danish prisons. His website about teletext in Denmark is here.

Who ever thought that opening teletext doors could be so much fun? Yes, on today’s episode of Teletext R, Dan and Carl revisit that childhood thrill, the teletext Advent calendar.

Prising open those doors is a simple case of pressing the REVEAL button on your remote, or even just waiting for your page to load up. It’s almost the bare minimum of interactivity, yet the eager anticipation of those pixellated icons is almost unmatched.

And through the years, most major teletext services have featured their own calendars. If you were lucky, they even changed up the icons from year to year.

Today, we’re going to explore some of the highlights (and lowlights) of the humble teletext Advent calendar.

It’s one of the most iconic moments in FA Cup history - Roy Essandoh leaping to score a last-minute goal against Leicester and earn Wycombe Wanderers a place in the Semi-Finals of England’s most prestigious cup competition. 

The ‘Ceefax Striker’, as he has been dubbed, signed for injury-stricken Wycombe after his agent spotted a story about the club’s plight on the BBC’s teletext service. 

And to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Essandoh’s heroics, Dan is joined by Paul Lewis, operator of the official Wycombe website at that time, and current owner of the Chairboys fansite.