BBC Airs First Science Fiction TV Show: Before Star Trek, There Was This
BBC Television aired the world's first science fiction program on February 11, 1938. They adapted Karel Čapek's R.U.R. — the 1920 play that invented the word "robot." The broadcast was live, 35 minutes, transmitted to roughly 20,000 television sets in London. No recording exists. The actors performed it once, it vanished into the air, and nobody could rewatch it. The medium that would define sci-fi for generations started with a show that can't be seen again.
February 11, 1938
88 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Karel Capek
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BBC One
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science fiction television
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R.U.R.
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robot
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science fiction television
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R.U.R.
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Karel Čapek
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London
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Charlie Chaplin
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BBC One
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Science fiction on television
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Robot
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Tiempos modernos
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Programa de televisión
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Ciencia ficción
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