Teletextr: Recent Episodes
Dan Farrimond
The world’s greatest (and only) podcast about the medium known as Teletext/Ceefax/Videotext/Televideo/Teledata.
Thirty measly years ago, a grand changing of the teletext guard took place. Piece by piece, ORACLE disappeared from our screens to be replaced by a new service from Teletext (Limited).
Jokingly billed as a 'nightmare' by ORACLE's TV listings, midnight on 1st January 1993 marked the end of a glorious era that encompassed legends such as Barney's Bunch, Buzz and the oft-overlooked ORACLE holidays service.
Today on Teletext R, Twitter's Russty Russ returns in this (gently edited) repeat of his tribute to the dream that was Optional Reception of Announcements by Coded Line Electronics (oof, try saying that one three times).
In hindsight, Russ's appearance should always have been its own episode, so seven years late, here it finally is!
The Max Headroom Incident has been increasing in notoriety year upon year.
Ever since pirates hijacked the signals of two Chicago television stations in November 1987, the Federal Communications Commission, and latterly the Internet, have been attempting to solve the mystery of who exactly was behind the stunt.
In this podcast, Dan and Carl posit some of their own unique ‘alternative theories’ regarding the Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion.
Music in this episode was provided by Mr Nissness.
Note: a video version of this podcast is available here.
Carlos presents a conversation with teletext legend Mort Smith, formerly of Ceefax and Intelfax, from the Sunday of Block Party 2022. This was not a scheduled panel, rather a discussion that broke out regarding Intelfax’s bid for the ITV/Channel 4 teletext offer in 1993.
Due to its impromptu nature, only the second half of this discussion was recorded. However, we are thankful for the magnificent Peter Kwan, who kindly captured it for us all to hear!
During this audio clip, you also hear the voices of Julie Morton-Smith, Peter Kwan and Jason Robertson.
It's precisely ten years since the fateful day that Ceefax disappeared from its rightful home in the Beeb's Vertical Blanking Interval once and for all.
That's a decade too long for our liking, so let's relive those golden days with a fun chat with Grim Underscore Fandango himself, the Master of Astrophysics, Jason Robertson.
The main course is Ceefax in its formative days, brought to life once more through the magic of video tape recovery. Jason talks us through a service from 1975, when Ceefax was approximately 11 months old.
But we also learn more about the man behind the Teletext Archaeologist moniker, including his band named after a badly-drawn (non-Ceefax) cartoon.
Originally broadcast on Teletext Sofa Club LIVE, 1st April 2021
Greetz to the t3l3t3xt crew! Orange roolz! Infinite lives? (Y/N)
Itʼs festival season, and teletext has been appearing at demoparties and techie events the length and breadth of Britainʼs very own Silly-con Valley.
Aided by the knowledgeable Teletext Discord, Dan and Carl investigate various communication methods that may be featured alongside teletext in a muddy farmerʼs field.
And in the second half, they catch up with every teletext appearance at demoparties in 2022, including an incredible new 5-minute demo running on Raspberry Pi.
Teletext News also makes a comeback, busting spooky Audetel ghost voices and celebrating Matti Ramoʼs birthday with a special artpack.
Originally broadcast on Teletext Sofa Club, 18th August 2022.
Dan and Carl welcome a selection of Block Party panellists to the Teletext Sofa Club for a behind-the-scenes review of proceedings at 2022's biggest teletext festival.
This hour-long session also includes an interview with the internationally-renowned Nathan Dane - how has fame changed him? What's the story behind his Ceefax Mission Control setup?
Starring: Dan & Carlos, Peter Kwan, Nathan Dane, David Walford... and Nathan's cat
Originally Broadcast on YouTube 8th May 2022 (see the full stream here)
(Guest edited by Kyra Diamondine)
Reckon you know all about Bamber Boozler? Think again, maaan!
During the 1990s, Digitiser's Mr Biffo took it upon himself to expand the Boozler family lore in a long-running series of pre-clickbait headlines. And considering he is a just a man made of yellow pixels, Bamber has led a rich and varied life.
Fervent preservationist Tim Bisley has granted us exclusive access to a long list of the Bamboozle host's crimes, criticisms and cravings. Prepare yourself for the wasp-chewing, fraud-committing, pink loving/loathing adventures of teatime's favourite quizmaster.
Fortunately for us, Sir Chris 'Bellston' Bell of Digitiser tribute site Super Page 58 is on hand to help Dan pore over the best of Boozler's worst. Press red to start...
This segment was originally broadcast as part of the Teletext Sofa Club livestream on 11th June 2021.
If you've ever seen a teletext animation, there's a very good chance Ian Irving had something to do with it. Arguably the world's first teletext art superstar, he pushed the boundaries of the medium's artistic capabilities in its formative years.
As a member of the original Ceefax team, Irving revolutionised the service with a variety of colourful header graphics, cartoons and illustrations as the medium grew from a novel experiment to a cultural and technological tour de force in the 1970s.
Participants: Dan, Carl and Ian Irving
This interview was originally broadcast as part of the #WeeklyTeletextArt livestream on 15th April 2021.
On Saturday 25th April 2020, teletexters from around the universe gathered in the Teletext Discord to make beautiful data together. Dozens of artists collaborated using browser-based teletext software to submit over 100 pages to the dedicated Chunkytext server.
Teletext archaeologist Tom begins this handy highlights package with a few of his favourite recoveries, before artist Steve Horsley drops in to to discuss his top secret techniques for hiding character codes.
In the second half, the brown carpet is rolled out for Paul ‘Biffo’ Rose, who fields a variety of questions from Discord. Why did Turner The Worm end on a cliffhanger? And what’s the deal with those weird My Parents Are Aliens episodes?
Matti Ramo has been a journalist with Finland’s YLE Text for 19 years. Not only has he written and formatted thousands of articles and teletext pages, but has somehow found the time to be an internationally renowned travel writer. His bicycle journey through the Himalayas has been the subject of a documentary on the YLE television network.
TART2020 (Teletext Art 2020) is the latest teletext art festival to be organised by FixC, edited by Matti on behalf of collaborators YLE Text. Matti speaks about his contributions to the artform and the future of teletext in Finland.
Much like a washed-up 80s rock star who’s run out of cash to pay his TV license, the Teletextr Podcast has returned for a new decade of text ‘n’ bugs ‘n’ remote controls.
We begin 2020 with the sad news that the BBC would like to close their Red Button teletext service. Having received a stay of execution in January, will it survive beyond spring?
Recorded LIVE at Block Party Cambridge 2017! Prepare yourself for more good oranges and bad apples.
Paul 'Minitel' Rose joins Carl ('C-Man') and Dan for some 18+ chat about explicit teletext art, controversial Ceefax news items, cross dressing gentlemen and enormous mice. This podcast is sponsored by Jacob's Clock Crackers.
Teletextr goes all Top Gear circa 1998 with a nostalgia-heavy teletext-head edition. Vroom! What was teletext like in Canada? Hosts Dan and Carl invite Bruno St Gelais into the studio to chat about why Telidon was the most engaging thing on national television. What was teletext like in the UK? Hosts Dan and Carl invite Russty Russ over to Teletextr HQ for tea 'n' biscuits. And to talk about Ceefax, the death of Oracle and how Teletext Ltd ruled the (pixellated) world.
It’s the Teletextr Podcast: The World at Your Fingertips! Carl and Harry are back to discuss teletext at art galleries, physical and analogue, in 2015 for our Teletext Art Special. There’s also some juicy discussion on teletext porno, such as it is, teletext’s ongoing fight against the evil lizards and the world’s first teletext song… perhaps.
"But guys," we hear you cry. "How on earth can you represent teletext, a naturally silent medium, in audio form?" Well, Carl and Dan weren't quite sure at first but, thanks to an unnatural determination when it comes to telemetext, began fumbling blindly for 'relevant' topics. And do you know what? I don't think they had any problems finding talking points... I'll let you be the judge of that, however.