The earliest such transmission was made in 1956 (on the then sole BBC channel) but regular all-day-long films ran from autumn 1967 until 24 August 1973.
The short film Giuseppina (1959), which had won an Academy Award, was shown 158 times and became the last trade test colour transmission on August 24, 1973.
[3] A number of these films were produced by the oil company BP, including We've Come a Long Way (1951), The Shadow of Progress, Newspaper Run, and Skyhook.
Other films included Paint (produced by Shell), Study in Steel (produced by British Steel Corporation), Algerian Pipeline (Constructors John Brown Ltd), The Captive River (Shell), Ride the White Horses (Ford Film Unit), Something Nice To Eat (the Gas Council), It's The Tube That Makes The Colour (Mullard), On the Safe Side (1967, UKAEA), Oil Underground (1960, Shell) and Transport Ability (UKAEA).
The static test cards were typically transmitted for periods before and after regular programming, originally to permit viewers to adjust their television sets.