Pre-war television in Europe came to an abrupt end with the animated appearance of two superstars of global cinema. In the final sequence of Wait Disney's cartoon, MICKEY's GALA PREMIERE, the goddess Creta Carbo breathes huskily into the microphone, ‘Ah tank ah go home. I vant to be alone,’ These were the last words to be broadcast from Alexandra Palace, the main BBC transmitting station, at noon on 1 September 1939, before the screens went blank and the medium of television was taken off the air for six years. At 12.10 a.m., the order to dose down was given. Only a few minutes before, an extensive programme for the following week had been announced to the approximately 20,000 Britons who owned a TV-set at that time, which included five television plays, at least two solo appearances of famous stars, two new editions of the news magazine Picture Page, various outside broadcasts, feature films, and more besides.’

At that time, the young British television industry w as firmly on course for expansion. It predicted that by Christmas 1939, a television set would be sitting next to 80,000 living-room fireplaces in Great Britain. Images were transmitted and received on the technically advanced basis of completely electronic equipment with a resolution of 405 lines and 25 pictures!sec, a standard that Great Britain retained until the 1960s. Even thereafter, the BBC continued to transmit duplicate programmes in this standard for the owners of old TV sets until 1985. This television system, which had an image resolution that compared favourably with the quality of 16 mm films, had been developed in the main research laboratories of Marconi-EMI (Electrical and Music Industries). However, when a regular public television service commenced on 2 November 1936 two competing systems were transmitted. Developed in collaboration with Marconi and following Zworykin's electronic television patents from the innovation factory of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), Marconi-EMI's system rapidly proved superior to the Baird Television Development Company's (BDTC) which was based on a mechanical system.

Although it was not apparent to the civil audience in front of the ‘box', these events for private entertainment were also serving the military defence of the isles. The close technological relationship of television and radar (radio detection and location of aircraft) had prompted the British government to follow closely research in the television sector with a committee set up for this sole purpose in 1934.