Big Ben | Celebrating the world-famous clock tower

Breakfast Time | Big Ben under repair

Big Ben has lost its bong.

CHANNEL | BBC 1

FIRST BROADCAST | 27 October 1987

DURATION | 4 minutes 6 seconds

FIRSTBROADCAST

1987

Synopsis

Cracks in the striking mechanism mean that Big Ben needs to be repaired before it will bong again. But how long will Westminster be without the renowned chimes?

Did you know?

Big Ben was silent for seven weeks during the summer of 2007, 20 years after this report, due to maintenance work. An electric system kept the clock functioning, but the Big Ben bell and the quarter bells were silent. This maintenance was carried out to get Big Ben in perfect working order for its 150th anniversary in 2009.

Contributors

Frank Bough
Presenter
Peter Gould
Reporter
Brian Sewell
Contributor

Associated subjects

Architecture | Engineering | London | UK Politics

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Galleries

Close up of the inside of the Westminster clock face.

Big Ben

Photographs of Big Ben dating back to the 1920s.

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