Café Continental was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 variety show

Variety show

A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...

 on the BBC Television Service from 1947 to 1953. Broadcast live

Live television

Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...

 from the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's studios at Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...

, the programme opened with a "Maître d'hôtel

Maître d'hôtel

The maître d’hôtel in the original French language is literally the "master of the hotel". In a suitably staffed restaurant or hotel, it is the person in charge of assigning customers to tables and dividing the dining area into areas of responsibility for the various servers on duty. The plural...

" who welcomed the television audience to the "cafe" set and told them that "your table has been reserved, as always."

Devised and produced by Henry Caldwell

Henry Caldwell

Lt.-Col. Henry Caldwell, was a Canadian army and militia officer, a successful businessman and a member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada....

, Café Continental was broadcast on Saturday evenings at 8pm. Lasting for forty-five minutes, the episodes attracted many famous singers and dancers of the day: Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"....

 appeared in an edition broadcast on 26 June 1948 and the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 vocal group Quartetto Cetra

Quartetto Cetra

Quartetto Cetra, or simply I Cetra, was an Italian vocal quartet established during the 1940s.The group originated from the previous Quartetto Ritmo following the replacement of one singer. Felice Chiusano filled the vacancy left by Enrico Gentile and joined Tata Giacobetti, Virgilio Savona and...

appeared the same year.

Three scattered episodes from 1950 are known to exist.