Photo Gallery — Television’s Pioneering Era

Christmas Specials at AMV4, 1964

Denzil in the studio with a group of children presenting a Christmas segment — perhaps as part of the daily childrens’ program. Denzil’s daughter Clare is at his side.
A group of children perform Christmas carols for a live broadcast. The Albury studio was tiny compared to the GTV9 studio and had only two Vidicon cameras. It did, however, have an “infinity cyclorama”, another innovation Denzil brought from GTV9, which can be seen behind the children in this photo. (The cameraman is Terry Dexter.)
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A natural showman, Denzil was adept at creating entertainment around special events. At GTV9 he had established the tradition of the annual Christmas Pantomimes which drew upon the manifold talents and resources available within “Television City”.

At AMV4 Albury the resources he could draw on were modest by comparison. But the ideas kept flowing nevertheless. For Easter 1965, he wrote and directed a dramatisation of a story about Pontius Pilate, titled “Legend on Lucerne”. It was televised live (videotape being unavailable) from the small rural studio, with local performers, dry ice clouds and a pre-recorded soundtrack with narration by Denzil.

Photos in this Gallery: