The British broadcaster that aired the 1957 spaghetti-tree hoax was the BBC.
The three-minute report appeared on Panorama, the BBC’s current-affairs programme, on April Fools’ Day, April 1, 1957. It showed a family in southern Switzerland supposedly harvesting spaghetti from trees after a mild winter and the disappearance of the fictional spaghetti weevil.
The joke worked because spaghetti was still unfamiliar to many people in Britain. About eight million viewers watched, and hundreds contacted the BBC afterward for advice on growing their own spaghetti. The broadcaster famously suggested putting a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hoping for the best.
The report was narrated by respected broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, whose authoritative delivery made the fiction seem credible. A common mix-up is to identify Panorama, the programme, as the broadcaster; Panorama aired it, but the broadcaster was the BBC.