Thomas Woodrooffe at the the Coronation Fleet Review 20 May 1937

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Some of the best remembered moments in broadcasting are not great programmes or events, but the times when things go wrong. One such was the Coronation Fleet Review on 20 May 1937. The solemnity of the occasion and technical achievement of the broadcast was forgotten as Lt-Commander Thomas Woodrooffe began his description of the illuminations, slurring "At the present moment the whole fleet's lit up!" He continued his drunken ramble for nearly 4 minutes, before he was faded out.