Remembering the day Australia had its first coloured TV in 1975 — “One of my abiding memories from childhood!”
- Replies 8
Do you still remember the first time we had coloured TV in Australia?
It was on March 1st 1975 when a spin-off episode of Aunty Jack titled "Aunty Jack Introduces Colour" aired on ABC, surprising Aussies who had not experienced watching television in colour before!
The beloved comedy series, which originally aired from 1972 to 1973, was brought back on air for the special event.
The playful plot of the episode — where a colour monster was slowly devouring the Black and White television world and spreading a disease that "infects" the characters causing them to get colourised — allowed Aussies to witness the slow transition between black-and-white TV to coloured TV.
Below is the episode when colours were first introduced in our tellies.
Credit: YouTube/ABC/Geoff CB
Almost 47 years since we first had coloured television, Reddit user @d1amiri started a conversation on the nostalgic event, getting the attention of Aussie users of the social media platform.
In the post, @d1amiri shared a snippet of the episode shown above, encouraging other Aussies to share their experiences and memories of when they first witnessed this nostalgic and somewhat "magical" moment on live television.
The playful plot allowed the characters to fully realise the “magical” moment of transitioning from black and white to coloured TV. Credit: ABC.
One person wrote: "This is quite funny & imaginative."
"Was it the 1st of march? I seem to remember it as New Year’s Eve? I remember watching this on my fathers black and white TV! I was 15 at the time…" wrote another one.
To which some users claimed that the episode is not exactly the first coloured video to air on national television as the fireworks from Sydney for New Year's Eve were broadcast in colours.
However, others pointed out that while this episode may be the first to air in colour, most tellies from that year were still in black-and-white.
One comment read: "Most TVs were still B&W though. I remember watching the Grand Final in 1977 and not being able to tell the teams apart."
"Only a very tiny minority of people would've seen this as intended," one person agreed.
A third chimed in: "I remember somehow adjusting something to give everything a hard green tinge then declaring to all we had a colour TV."
"At my house, we didn't get a colour TV until 1980," another quipped.
And another added: "I remember watching this at home on our old black and white telly. It wasn't until recently I finally understood what was going on!"
The beloved comedy sketch originally aired from 1972 to 1973. Credit: ABC.
YouTube users seem to share the same sentiments with Reddit users as they disclose their experiences in the comment section of the video.
One user wrote: "One of my abiding memories from childhood. Stayed up until midnight and watched this sketch on ABC. So much better than the mainstream blurt on commercial tv that special night."
"This is very wholesome to watch. Not sure if they knew but they would soon be part of history in my book," another added.
A third quipped: "Australia had some colour TV from October 1974 but only live TV which was mainly live sport. From memory, they allowed 1 to 2 hours per week of recorded Colour TV sometime before March 1st 1975."
One person explained that Australian networks had been testing the colour transmissions, allowing a couple of clips to air in colour in late 1974.
"I think colour TVs had been on sale since late 1974, and the networks had been transmitting portions of their shows in colour as "test transmissions" before 1/3/1975," he wrote.
Meanwhile, the users also said that they did not have a coloured TV by then, further showing that many people would have missed out on the historic moment.
One comment read: "We couldn't afford a colour telly for 3 years. It cost $300 with a 14" screen. My brother had his until the early 2000s! The colour was somewhat faded. lol."
How about you? Did you witness this historical moment on TV? Share your stories with us in the comments below!
It was on March 1st 1975 when a spin-off episode of Aunty Jack titled "Aunty Jack Introduces Colour" aired on ABC, surprising Aussies who had not experienced watching television in colour before!
The beloved comedy series, which originally aired from 1972 to 1973, was brought back on air for the special event.
The playful plot of the episode — where a colour monster was slowly devouring the Black and White television world and spreading a disease that "infects" the characters causing them to get colourised — allowed Aussies to witness the slow transition between black-and-white TV to coloured TV.
Below is the episode when colours were first introduced in our tellies.
Credit: YouTube/ABC/Geoff CB
Almost 47 years since we first had coloured television, Reddit user @d1amiri started a conversation on the nostalgic event, getting the attention of Aussie users of the social media platform.
In the post, @d1amiri shared a snippet of the episode shown above, encouraging other Aussies to share their experiences and memories of when they first witnessed this nostalgic and somewhat "magical" moment on live television.
The playful plot allowed the characters to fully realise the “magical” moment of transitioning from black and white to coloured TV. Credit: ABC.
One person wrote: "This is quite funny & imaginative."
"Was it the 1st of march? I seem to remember it as New Year’s Eve? I remember watching this on my fathers black and white TV! I was 15 at the time…" wrote another one.
To which some users claimed that the episode is not exactly the first coloured video to air on national television as the fireworks from Sydney for New Year's Eve were broadcast in colours.
However, others pointed out that while this episode may be the first to air in colour, most tellies from that year were still in black-and-white.
One comment read: "Most TVs were still B&W though. I remember watching the Grand Final in 1977 and not being able to tell the teams apart."
"Only a very tiny minority of people would've seen this as intended," one person agreed.
A third chimed in: "I remember somehow adjusting something to give everything a hard green tinge then declaring to all we had a colour TV."
"At my house, we didn't get a colour TV until 1980," another quipped.
And another added: "I remember watching this at home on our old black and white telly. It wasn't until recently I finally understood what was going on!"
The beloved comedy sketch originally aired from 1972 to 1973. Credit: ABC.
YouTube users seem to share the same sentiments with Reddit users as they disclose their experiences in the comment section of the video.
One user wrote: "One of my abiding memories from childhood. Stayed up until midnight and watched this sketch on ABC. So much better than the mainstream blurt on commercial tv that special night."
"This is very wholesome to watch. Not sure if they knew but they would soon be part of history in my book," another added.
A third quipped: "Australia had some colour TV from October 1974 but only live TV which was mainly live sport. From memory, they allowed 1 to 2 hours per week of recorded Colour TV sometime before March 1st 1975."
One person explained that Australian networks had been testing the colour transmissions, allowing a couple of clips to air in colour in late 1974.
"I think colour TVs had been on sale since late 1974, and the networks had been transmitting portions of their shows in colour as "test transmissions" before 1/3/1975," he wrote.
Meanwhile, the users also said that they did not have a coloured TV by then, further showing that many people would have missed out on the historic moment.
One comment read: "We couldn't afford a colour telly for 3 years. It cost $300 with a 14" screen. My brother had his until the early 2000s! The colour was somewhat faded. lol."
How about you? Did you witness this historical moment on TV? Share your stories with us in the comments below!
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