By John Mcentee Denis Tuohy was anxious. As a 27-year-old TV presenter he'd been chosen as the first face to be seen on the eagerly anticipated new BBC2 channel. It was the night of 20 April, 1964, and he was due on screen in little more than half an hour, at 7.20pm. After rehearsing all day for his historic role that would inaugurate the first challenge to ITV and the BBC's single channel, his stomach was churning and every nerve jangled. Joan Bakewell, The Thinking Man's Crumpet 'I was in the studio trying to find a way to relax,' he recalls now. 'Suddenly it went black. Kaput! It was as though someone, somewhere, had suddenly switched everything off.'
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Despite being a successful TV channel, BBC2 had a rocky start
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The night the channel was due to launch they had a power cut
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Now the channel will celebrate its 50th years on air
Had the launch gone smoothly, the nation may not have known @placeholder had gone on the air.