Big Ben | Celebrating the world-famous clock tower
CHANNEL | BBC 1
FIRST BROADCAST | 27 August 1976
DURATION | 59 seconds
FIRSTBROADCAST
1976
Big Ben resumed working at noon after some three weeks of silence. The BBC's 'Nine O'Clock News' reports on the possible causes of the breakdown and the condition of the mechanism.
The BBC used the quarter-chime of Great Tom, the bell in the tower at St Paul's Cathedral, while Big Ben was out of action. Further damage, invisible to the naked eye, was discovered in the hour-striking mechanism by the Atomic Energy Research Establishment the following October.
How the Big Ben chimes were first recorded for broadcast by the BBC.
Nancy Mitford and others comment on the sound of Big Ben.
Valerie Singleton outlines the history of the world famous clock.

Repairs to the great Westminster clock are completed.
A view inside Britain's world famous Houses of Parliament.
Frosty weather has a chilling effect on the bell chimes.
A wish to see and hear Big Ben up close comes true.
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