A picture of the past... in glorious black and white

THEY hark back to the days when there were only three channels and watching in colour was considered a luxury for those who could afford to pay extra.

But remarkably, 383 Scottish households are still watching their favourite shows on black and white televisions.

That is a drop from 420 sets last year, but old televisions remain popular with collectors and regularly change hands on online on sites such eBay and Gumtree.

Fergus Reid of TV Licensing Scotland said: ‘When BBC One launched its colour TV service in November 1969, there were only three channels available.

‘Fast forward to 2019 and more than half of TV households have in some way an internet connection to their TV and access to hundreds of channels.

‘While only accounting for a very small proportion, it’s interesting to know some households still like to watch their favourite shows on a black and white telly.’

Across the UK, the number of black and white TV licences has plummeted since the turn of the millennium, when 212,000 homes bought one.

The figure now stands at 6,586, a fall of 575 from 7,161 last year. A licence for a black and white television is still considerably cheaper than one for a colour set, at only £52 compared with £154.50.