The first televised version of Shakespeare's play to feature a black actor playing the title role, with a white supporting cast. It would be another forty years before a theatrical film version was made with a black actor as Othello.
The original production was part-live, with recorded 'Venice' sequences because two sets could not be accommodated in the studio.
A telerecording of this broadcast still exists, and is believed to be the oldest surviving example of a BBC presentation of a Shakespeare play.