Do adjust your sets: 10 years on, the test card is back

ONE of the most recognisable faces on television, seen by millions of viewers daily for three decades, is making a comeback.

Featuring on the BBC's most famous test card, eight-year-old Carole Hersee's face was broadcast between 1967 and 1998, amounting to 70,000 hours of screen time.

Now the BBC has rescanned the original transparency in high definition to help consumers set up the latest TV sets. Andy Quested of the BBC said: "The HD version uses the very famous picture of Carole, rescanned in high definition and added to an HD version of the widescreen test card. I hope we can all celebrate its reappearance after many years."

The central image shows Miss Hersee playing noughts and crosses with a clown doll, surrounded by colour scales and test signals used to ensure a satisfactory picture.

It was first broadcast on BBC2 on 2 July 1967 - the day after the first colour pictures were shown to the public.

Miss Hersee, now 49, is a theatre costume designer and the card was designed by her BBC engineer father George. It made a brief comeback and played a pivotal part in the detective drama Life On Mars.

Viewers wishing to set up their TV simply view testcard X, as it is known, then follow BBC website instructions to alter settings. "Carole's face should look natural and the primary colours should not be very bright," the BBC says.