Westminster Cable Promo Video

A revolution in television viewing is taking place here and now

As promised, here’s the Westminster Cable promotional video I acquired several years ago. The subsequent decades, since its release, hadn’t been kind to the tape in question. Less than ideal storage conditions had seen it exposed to the elements and a rather nasty layer of mould had developed on the tape spools. Usually, I wouldn’t waste my time attempting to clean a tape, but this one was special.

And my amateur cleaning attempts came up trumps. Sort of. Whilst there’s still some dropouts here and there, it manages to remain fairly stable until the very end of the promo. Anyway, I’ll stop being defensive and, instead, marvel at the kaleidoscopic magic contained within these precious 10 minutes.

Westminster Cable were desperate to hammer home how singularly different their service was. And, for once, the hyperbole wasn’t entirely misplaced. Take their “screencheck” service, an example of television ingenuity if ever there was one. A live preview EPG channel, it miniaturised all the other channels and squeezed them all into a single screen in real time, letting viewers know what was currently on.

And the innovation didn’t stop there. Westminster Cable was broadcasting something every minute of the day. A seemingly minor detail, but a revelation in an era when the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 religiously tucked themselves into bed shortly after midnight, leaving nothing but a black, soulless void to fill the airwavest.

But the most exciting element? It has to be the interactive text service - one which was so mindbending, viewers could actually order takeaway meals from the comfor t of their Habitat-furnished living rooms. In an age of Just Eat and Deliveroom, it sounds quaint, but if I could order a takeaway through Teletext in 2025 then I’d be binning my apps as quickly as you could say chicken chow mein.

I’m not entirely sure when the video dates from. They reference O-Levels at one point, an educational relic which was discontinued in 1988, so it’s certainly from the early days of Westminster Cable. As such, it’s a fine testament to the early promise and ambition of Westminster Cable, a service which dared to dream big.

If you’d like to support Curious British Telly, please consider donating to the site fund via PayPal by clicking here.