Britain's Oldest Working Television Discovered

The black-and-white Marconiphone 702 belongs to an avid TV collector in North Finchley, and was made in 1936, just in time to catch the BBC's first television broadcasts out of Alexandra Palace. The unit, which aside from a set-top digital box is in its original condition, would have shown goggle-eyed families many memorable moments on its 12-inch screen: the coronations of King George VI and Queen Liz, England's World Cup win, the Moon landings, even Den divorcing Angie. The Marconiphone, which is one of only 200 surviving models, would have cost a 1930s household the considerable sum of 60 Guineas, or about £11,000. You can see a video of the thing in action — the screen resolution may not be HD quality but it holds up pretty well, while the twiddly knobs and varnished wood finish demonstrate a design aesthetic that manufacturers of anonymous modern flat-screen boxes would do well to study.