I worked for Channel 4 teletext from 1986 to 1993. I worked with a team of 8 journalists, as well as writing and editing the sports and books sections of Channel 4’s national teletext service.
I loved the early years of Channel 4. Our teletext service had a ‘potential’ audience of 6 million (although ‘potential’ was doing a lot of heavy lifting!)
I was able to interview some of my TV heroes, including:
- Michael Palin, who said he “looked forward not to reading” my article
- Julie Walters, who said she read my film reviews
- Stephen Fry, who generously gave me an hour of his time (and the tape recorder battery died)
- Alan Bleasdale at the launch of Channel 4’s brilliant GBH
I also featured in the British Film Institute’s One Day In the Life of TV.
Alex White writes 