Telstar and touring - the Cape family's travellers' tale
18 Jan, 2021 03:00 PM
7 minutes to read
Telstar and Touring
[Parallels are fascinating. This time last year I'd just returned to New Zealand after two weeks in Brisbane. Little did I know how the world would change in eight weeks.
In 1962 the cold war and nuclear threats were real. The "free world" was under threat from a perceived insidious enemy. Human rights and status quos were being questioned. Communication technologies were being advanced and science on all sides of political divides was reaching for the stars.
In April 1962, in spring, the Cape family had reached England on board the MS Oranje, a passenger liner operated by the Royal Dutch Mail Netherland line. My father, Peter Cape, was to train with the BBC in London in television production techniques and return to the NZBC, where he would become senior television producer with WNTV1.