British Garden Birds Laserdisc

Published 1982 the BBC Video Laserdisc 'British Garden Birds' was a critical influence in the development of the domesday project.

This BBC Video title featured 'active play' where any part of the programme could be selected either using chapter numbers or skip to an individual video frame by using players index function to enter the frame number. The most significant feature of this title however was that it was the first Videodisc to feature teletext data, this may not sound that significant as teletext was a pretty standard feature of broadcast TV. This however proved to be a defining moment in the development of the domesday project as it was realised that a single disc could potentially hold both images and data. This Videodisc was produced by Andy Finney who was later approached by Peter Armstrong with the proposal to produce something similar for the domesday project.

The description on the sleeve reads...
"This BBC Videobook introduces a completely new kind of birdwatching - instantly accessible at the touch of a button.
The BBC Natural History Unit is renowned for its wildlife programmes and has now used its expertise to come up with an innovative approach. This is the most authoritative video guide to British garden birds yet produced. It combines, as no ordinary book can, specially selected films of the birds in flight, birdsong and all the factual information necessary for identification in a single, easy to use unit. Add to this the expert presentation of David Attenborough and the result is a living video reference book which adds a new dimension to bird watching.
Over 70 species of birds found in British town and country gardens are covered, ranging from the common to the unusual. They are shown in the order used in current field guides.
Uniquely this LaserVision disc will also reproduce CEEFAX if you have a television set which will decode Teletext. This gives you access to a whole CEEFAX electronic magazine, specially conceived to accompany the Videobook. For full details, select CEEFAX page 101. There are three extra pages of information about each bird and, in addition, if you wish to follow the programme with the aid of sub-titles, these can be found on CEEFAX page 190."