The low-grade filler of BBC TV's programming schedule, it would be pushing things to describe "Pages from Ceefax" as a proper programme.

In essence, this is because it consists of nothing more than a selection of pages from the BBC's teletext service, Ceefax, stripped of their interactivity and transmitted as an ordinary TV picture. The audio accompaniment consists of either generically cheesy muzak or some form of intermittent test tone, neither of which are particularly pleasing to the ear.

Pages from Ceefax is a somewhat bizarre relic from the days when the BBC had many more gaps in their schedule, and teletext was new, flashy and expensive. I guess someone thought it made an interesting alternative to the test card. Personally, I always found it as dull as ditchwater (the test card would have been more interesting). The whole point of teletext was that you got to choose what you looked at.

In spite of its anachronistic nature, it still appears sporadically at night on BBC2 between the end of the ordinary programmes and the 'Learning Zone' transmissions. If you find yourself watching this, do yourself a favour and go to bed.

Additional: Vimes reports that "On the Look Around You DVD, there is an extra feature - some fake Pages from Ceefax pages, rendered in the proper font with accurate music. Very funny too."

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