Eleven things we loved about Teletext

WHEN the UK analogue television signal was finally switched off for good in 2012, it brought to an end nearly 40 years of what was once the closest thing most we had to the internet.
Teletext played the role of the internet before there was such a thing. Picture: Contributed.Teletext played the role of the internet before there was such a thing. Picture: Contributed.
Teletext played the role of the internet before there was such a thing. Picture: Contributed.

Known as Ceefax on the Beeb and Teletext pretty much everywhere else, this much-adored marriage of television and text worked by broadcasting an extra signal to each channel and then translating it into text on your screen using a decoder. While the service used what are now the most laughably dated-looking graphics, it could provide up-to-date information on everything from news and weather to telly listings and football results. Teletext played the role of the internet long before such a thing became commercially available. Here are eleven things we loved (and some we loathed) about the now defunct television data service.