The Seventies

The Post Office TOWER... A Communications Icon
	The Seventies - Troubled Times Man had landed on the moon in 1969, and technology was the answer to most problems. However, the culture of free expression and public protests continued apace and in 1971 a bomb exploded in the Tower.
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Troubled Times

The early Seventies in the Tower were not without a few dramas...

Apollo 13

On 13th April 1970 the Apollo 13 service module (SM) Odyssey was crippled by an explosion from an oxygen tank, causing the mission to be aborted. It took all of NASA's ingenuity to return the crew safely to Earth.

A Technical Officer who worked in the Tower remembers...

"When the Apollo 13 mission was on we had a request from the US Embassy to turn off transmitters within certain frequencies (I can't remember whether it was in the 4 or 6 gig band) because the signal from the ship was so weak terrestrial stations were swamping the Apollo signals especially when it was near the horizon. This happened all over the world, that was the first indication of how dire things really were."

Bomb explodes on 31st Floor 4:30 a.m 31st October 1971

A Post Office Technician recalls...

"When the bomb went off the pair on shift that night started to rush down the stairs in the core, but they could hear debris falling (not sure if it was in the cable duct or outside) and half way down decided they were probably safer inside the Tower. The explosion punctured a water tank and the top of a horn aerial which promptly filled up with the water and I think that was the only system we lost that night."

TV Tie-ins

Giant kitten attacks Tower 12th November 1971

The Goodies (BBC tv) comedy featured a giant white kitten (Twinkle) attacking the Post Office Tower.
Kitten Kong (programme 7, #14) of series two, first broadcast on 12th November 1971, was so successful that the episode was re- filmed, with additional material a few months later as Britain's entry for the Montreaux Light Entertainment festival where it won the Silver Rose.

A Job Worth Doing 1973

Both 'stars' of the BBC TV programme (A Job Worth Doing) were invited to have lunch at the Post Office Tower by CHQ Public Relations Division to celebrate the completion of filming.

The New Avengers 1976

A visitor to Light Straw recalls...

"Watching a 'New Avengers' DVD recently, I was pleased to see a scene shot in the cocktail lounge. This was in the mid-'70s - was that still open as part of the restaurant then? It looks a little grubby in the film, but perhaps that was due to too much cigarette-smoking back then."

The episode was 'Sleeper':

The New Avengers

Steed and Gambit

Gambit and Steed

Season One: Patrick Macnee (John Steed); Gareth Hunt (Mike Gambit); Joanna Lumley (Purdey)

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Acknowledgements:

The Seventies-Photo from "The Post Office Tower London" 36 page booklet PH1676 12/70 Designed by Banks and Miles, photography by Mike Peters, printed at the Shenval Press, London and Harlow.