This TV gig is confirmed in Peter Banks's diary.

(moved here from Speakeasy 12/31/1968 reviews)

According to David Watkinson's book "Perpetual Change", YES are also supposed to have made a TV appearance on this day on the "Magpie" TV show.

If you want to know more, then I can add that "Magpie" was a show on the ITV network, broadcast at around 5pm, and aimed at teenagers.

If the report is correct, then this would have been YES' TV debut, and the recording proably took place at Thames TV's Teddington Lock TV Studios in Middlesex. (Thames TV also had a studio in London's Euston Road, but that was mainly used for news programmes).

If the report is true - and the show was recorded - then it would be well worthwhile tracking down the archive footage. After all, YES had only been in existance for some four months at this point in time, and htis would be the earliest footage of YES in existance.

Either YES recorded their "slot" earlier in the day, or it was done "live" on the show (sometime between 5 and 5:45 pm). It is perfectly possible to drive from Teddington Lock to central London in under 2 hours to appear on stage at the Speakeasy on or after 7:30pm.

I would be very interested to see this TV apperance. I don't think any photos of Yes from 1968 exist . . . so film footage would be fantastic to see.

Ok now lets get this straight. Yes did play on Magpie from Teddington Studios for Thames TV. This had nothing whatsoever to do with the BBC!
Sadly, the programme was not recorded.
(I am an Ex Thames boy)

The programme was called Magpie TV and Yes played a live set on it. I've spoken with freemantle media who now own the Thames archive and they have confirmed that Yes did perform live but back then they didn't record live performances they just broadcast them. And as no one really had home tv recording facilities in the 60's it's lost forever.

I can see there's a bit of confusion here, I used to live in Teddington (Middlesex, West London), I was born there. There is a place called Teddington Lock Studios, on the river Thames but it was run by the BBC. Thames Television produced programmes for ITV (the BBC's rivals, so I doubt wether they used these studios!)and ran a childrens program called "Magpie" but I don't think it was on 'till the 70's. My Mum can remember the Beatles turning up at the same TV studios in Dec 1963, she could hear the fans screaming from our flat, I was a mere 4 month old baby at the time so I'm afraid I was blissfully unaware of such events!

Thames television! This must be the earliest TV appearance Yes ever did! I wonder if there's any way we'll be able to get hold of a copy of this TV appearance. I think it was on a BBC program called 'Magpie TV?'