Did you know that The BBC have,on three occasions,broadcast from The Victory Hall?
The programme “Any Questions” was broadcast in July 1979. This was during a turbulent time in Northern Ireland history and on the panel was the controversial politician Enoch Powell who at that time was the Member of Parliament for Ulster.
Given that context, alarm bells were rung when the chairman of the residents association, Bill Hall, received a phone call from someone with a strong Irish accent requesting two tickets. There had been a noisy demonstration at the previous recording of this programme in Basingstoke.Consequently there were Special Branch detectives in attendance at The Victory Hall to ensure the safety of all those in attendance.
The event was compared by David Jacobs who is most associated with the programme Jukebox Jury. The other panellists were BBC executive Sir Hugh Weldon, Labour politician Shirley Williams and Conor O’Brien, Irish government minister. Thankfully the event was not interrupted and was a comparatively civilised event!
Gardeners Question Time was broadcast from The Victory Hall, without the presence of Special Branch detectives. The BBC also visited the village to broadcast an episode of “Down Your Way