The HS100 video disc was launched in the States in March 1967, being used in the coverage of the "World Series of Skiing" at Vail, Colorado. Ours arrived in 1968 and was installed in the 'viewing room' that would later become VT17. The installation was designed so that the machine and its desk could be taken out on location - in fact it made only one outing and that was to Wimbledon in the summer of 1969.
Later on a set of spare (a very large set of spares) was purchased which amounted to another machine! It can be seen in this picture by Geoff Higgs to the left of the main crate. Nick Bayston became 'Nick the disc' and cared for it for many years. One of the new SREs (Senior Recording Engineers) was attached to Nick in rotation and together they provided slow motion facilites to, mostly, sports programmes. The disc was used in drama for special effects and in "Life at Stake - Apollo 13" it was used to create scenes of weightlessness in the Lunar Module.
For Sports programmes it was operated by a Sports PA (later Sports AP) on the grounds that the studio director could swear at them without (much) risk of their walking out of the room!

The disc was mechanically quite sensitive, especially to vibration - as the heads 'flew' microns off the surface of the two rotating discs. When head met disc it was normally the end of both (see below)