There were no annoying advertisements during Wellington's first official television transmission 50 years ago – but there was a performing chimpanzee.
The programmes on Saturday, July 1, 1961, were all black and white – colour viewing did not come until late in 1973.
Previewing the night's entertainment for The Dominion, JA Kelleher observed the highest audience would be the potential one; those watching in the shops on Friday nights and at cafes and coffee bars where enterprising owners had installed television sets.
Kelleher said little live transmission would originate from the studio on night one.
Viewing began at 7.30pm with a behind-the-scenes look at the Waring Taylor St studio, where the end of the tour revealed Breena, a chimp from Wellington Zoo, as the item's producer.
A star turn at the zoo's chimps tea parties, Breena stole the first-night show with a hilarious, impromptu performance, waving to the unseen audience and pulling a face at the camera before clasping hands to announce television had arrived in the capital.
It could be called the night television got the chimpanzee. Following Breena's antics, chimps were the subject in The Animal Story: So Much Like Us, a series filmed at London and Whipsnade zoos.
