In message , Graeme Wall
writes

It certainly went out live in the very early years, most BBC programmes did.

According to ...
http://www.relativedimensions.co.uk/newman.html

it was recorded on videotape (which was indeed unusual in the UK back
then). Almost certainly they would have used Ampex Quad machines, which
the beeb were just starting to employ, following the failure of their
own "VERA" video-taping system.

I can't be certain if that URL is right, but it seems very likely - the
quality of the early episodes matches the very poor reproduction of
early Quads (nowhere near as good as film), and they would already have
been committed to using recording for the title sequence and for the
trailers (it was one of the very few programmes to have had trailers
back in them days).

--
Paul Terry