As many as twenty-six people across the British Isles tuned in to say a final goodbye to Ceefax. The TV text-based new service gave us many wonderful moments during its long life but enthusiasts still insist it’s final five years (2007-2012) were the true ‘golden age’ when it was used to break some truly extraordinary stories, many of which were never seen elsewhere:
• Lance Armstrong’s weekly blog on “Doping your way into a Yellow Jumper”
• Rebekah Brooks column on Intercepted Celebrity Voicemail
• Osama – a candid look around his Pakistan hiding place
• Jimmy Savile – he’s up to something, let’s all blow the lid on this while he’s still alive
• Tomorrow’s lottery numbers – a revolutionary new service which was introduced for a few months in 2009, to test whether anybody was still reading Ceefax. The minds behind the scheme anticipated a surge in the number of jackpot winners, but sadly there was none.