Test Card F

Uncommon card · No. 145789

Test Card F is a test card that was created by the BBC and used on television in the United Kingdom and in countries elsewhere in the world for more than four decades. Like other test cards, it was usually shown while no programmes were being broadcast. It was the first to be transmitted in colour in the UK and the first to feature a person, and has become an iconic British image regularly subject to parody. The central image on the card shows Carole Hersee playing noughts and crosses with a clown doll, Bubbles the Clown, surrounded by various greyscales and colour test signals used to assess the quality of the transmitted picture. It was first broadcast on 2 July 1967 (the day after the first colour pictures appeared to the public on television) on BBC2. The card was developed by BBC engineer George Hersee (1924–2001)—Carole's father. It was frequently broadcast during daytime downtime on BBC Television until 29 April 1983, when it was replaced with broadcasts of Ceefax pages. It continued...

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