BBC Apollo Coverage

Recollections by John Godson, BBC news director, 1963 - 72

ITV Apollo Coverage

Broadcast Details

Review of Apollo 11 A Night to Remember

Recordings

Can You Help?

“TV’s Most Exciting Show of All Time” [1]

Among many missing British TV programmes from the 1960s and ‘70s is the BBC coverage of the first moon landing, Apollo Eleven, in July 1969. Although pictures of the moon walk itself exist, and have been seen many times, there is unfortunately no recording of the BBC’s studio presentation of this historic event.

In 1998 an amateur video recording was discovered, and it seemed for a while that we might get our first look in 30 years at how this feat was brought to Britain’s TV screens, but.... sadly the tape wouldn’t play back properly because of its poor condition.

However, perhaps all is not lost; maybe there are other early home tapers out there who could fill a major gap in our television history? The moon landing is believed to be among the BBC’s unofficial ‘top ten’ missing programmes, and also headed a recent poll of the greatest television moments. [2] Can you help?

In 2003 a few very short telerecorded clips were discovered, which gives a glimmer of hope for finding more of this important material.

I should emphasise that it is only the BBC studio linking sequences that are missing; the NASA film record and the American TV coverage still exist. Find out more..