tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27440246992818345352024-03-18T20:52:44.116+01:00Random radio jottingsAndy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.comBlogger658125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-58919716499377423332024-03-15T11:00:00.001+01:002024-03-15T11:00:00.138+01:00The Not Now Show<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3SCv3SMY1l0GqAidxCucDtnxZdLSiEV6dBey0WVoNy63VqZS7jfx3TBqC1U_1taOLkg1hTnTMXS63e4Aw6g9c-Cmcq3hdlp_xHer2lyetA1AGtCOMazxCrYQSOyfsdw1sUxskcSYIZSH0SxC4zQ_OnrLf0AlCTpvcYwnQl0OR10NDAV8Y46CEJzh_ewKq/s396/NowShow.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="396" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3SCv3SMY1l0GqAidxCucDtnxZdLSiEV6dBey0WVoNy63VqZS7jfx3TBqC1U_1taOLkg1hTnTMXS63e4Aw6g9c-Cmcq3hdlp_xHer2lyetA1AGtCOMazxCrYQSOyfsdw1sUxskcSYIZSH0SxC4zQ_OnrLf0AlCTpvcYwnQl0OR10NDAV8Y46CEJzh_ewKq/w320-h179/NowShow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />So <i>The Now Show</i>
becomes The Then Show after this next series as time is called on one of
radio’s longest running comedy shows. Punt and Dennis have casting their eye
over topical news stories for the last 26 years, a remarkable run. And when you
take into account their work on <i>Live on
Arrival</i>, <i><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2012/10/fun-at-one-say-kids-what-time-is-it.html" target="_blank">The Mary Whitehouse Experience</a></i> and <i>It’s Been a Bad Week</i>
the duo have been on the radio pretty much consistently for 36 years.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Steve and Hugh are not disappearing from BBC Radio 4
however:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a second series <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Train at Platform 4</i> follows in July,
Steve will be asking the questions on series 14 of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The 3<sup>rd</sup> Degree</i> also starting in July and together
they’ll be working on a podcast (naturally) called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">RouteMasters </i>which will also be broadcast in October.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve written about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Now Show</i> before back in 2015 – see <a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2015/11/that-was-week-part-6.html" target="_blank">That Was the Week – Part 6</a> – complete
with a couple of editions of the programme from 1998 and 2012. This time I’m
offering three more recordings. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Firstly, the series two opener from 3 April 1999. It’s worth
pointing out that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Now Show</i> wasn’t
yet a Friday night comedy fixture, that happened from series four. This edition
went out on Saturday at 6.15 pm, the old <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Week
Ending</i> repeat slot, with an in-week repeat on Tuesday at 11 pm. Early
series tended to rely more on a regular team rather than a number of guest
contributors. In this show the regulars are David Quantick, Emma Clarke, Dan
Freedman, Nick Romero , Jane Bussmann and the guest is Kevin Day.</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K506qsOsabk?si=SQNUeLaigmXe6aMa" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Wikipedia entry for the show mentions the time in July
2005 when the show was recorded without an audience due to the London bombings
on the day of recording. Of course that entry should probably be updated to
mention the shows in 2020 for series 57 and 58 that had to be recorded remotely
with no audience due to Covid-19 restrictions. Anyway here is that 22 July 2005
edition with Mitch Benn, Jon Holmes, Laura Shavin and guest Andy Zaltzman. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZY5OILjvx68?si=2rC6NgVxBDHWnKvc" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">Back to 2016 and just two months before THAT referendum this
show from the start of series 48 features Gemma Arrowsmith, Marcus Brigstocke (both appear in the first show tonight) and an early appearance by Mae Martin. It’s from the period when they had the
bright idea of including a journalist or some expert talking about an issue of
the day, a spot that often drained the comedy out of the programme, in this
show its Felicity Spector from Channel 4 News on the impending US presidential
election. </p>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J-f-2NXsehU?si=k2ZpwwY7Ho7NLkyj" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">The 64<sup>th</sup> and final series of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001x5c0" target="_blank">The Now Show</a></i> starts tonight and runs for six weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-78036251049368760022024-03-10T08:00:00.003+01:002024-03-10T16:27:30.679+01:00An Everyday Story of an Omnibus Edition<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBrRNpAxvrIj8xUW0vRY2uGTfL1JsPaQPjaD6PbM9OILkToaK5eGIylCEhUPLnVjBUi-I2DGFoy0iqFTwL30FKf4UA7uLHKYlEPYUhYGb1PgG4gQiGSzqoUEfHW2QigszSsoMgl6_ZLy2Q7Mj_pD9Egub76KBHIf-qQePfrf3sN2LPEZiRI7ZVHAlrVWXx/s357/Ambridge%20on%20the%20move%20(illus%20Woodrow%20Phoenix).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="357" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBrRNpAxvrIj8xUW0vRY2uGTfL1JsPaQPjaD6PbM9OILkToaK5eGIylCEhUPLnVjBUi-I2DGFoy0iqFTwL30FKf4UA7uLHKYlEPYUhYGb1PgG4gQiGSzqoUEfHW2QigszSsoMgl6_ZLy2Q7Mj_pD9Egub76KBHIf-qQePfrf3sN2LPEZiRI7ZVHAlrVWXx/s320/Ambridge%20on%20the%20move%20(illus%20Woodrow%20Phoenix).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />As any BBC Radio 4 controller knows, you ‘refresh’ the
schedules at your peril. And what’s more, to tinker with <i><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2020/05/ambridge-revisited.html" target="_blank">The Archers</a></i> is sure to incur the wrath of any dyed-in-the-wool Ambridge
fan. Cue the letters in green ink and emails fired off to <i>Feedback</i>. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But this is exactly what <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2023/bbc-radio-4-refreshed-schedule-new-commissions" target="_blank">Radio 4 controller Mohit Bakaya</a> is
doing from next month as the Sunday omnibus edition of <i>The Archers</i> is shifted by an hour to the later start time of 11am.
Taking its place after <i>Broadcasting House</i>
is an extended one hour <i>Desert Island
Discs</i>. As a sop to listeners whose Sunday morning routines will now be in
disarray the omnibus edition will be available online at midnight, presumably
so that Archers listeners can play it out for themselves just after Paddy
O’Connell has signed off.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To be fair the omnibus edition has been at 10am on Sundays
for the last 26 years. It was moved forward by 15 minutes in April 1998 under
the controllership of James Boyle. He’d gain himself something of a reputation
as schedule meddler -in-chief, changing the time of the weekday editions of <i>The Archers </i>from 1.40pm to 2pm, dropping
the repeat of the Friday edition (reinstated in the new changes) and adding a
Sunday evening edition. Boyle also
extended <i><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2017/10/today-at-60.html" target="_blank">Today</a></i>, changed the start time of <i><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2016/10/70-years-of-womans-hour.html" target="_blank">Woman’s Hour</a></i> lopped 10 minutes off<i> <a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-world-at-one.html" target="_blank">The World at One</a></i> and dropped the likes of <i>Kaleidoscope
</i>(for <i>Front Row</i>), <i><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2015/04/that-was-week-part-2.html" target="_blank">Week Ending</a></i>, <i>Sport on 4</i> and <i><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2012/07/ts-time-to-breakaway.html" target="_blank">Breakaway</a></i>.
Interestingly <i>Desert Island Discs</i>
also moved from 12.15pm to 11.15am where it also has remained until next month. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But surely <i>The Archers</i>
omnibus edition has always been on a Sunday morning? Well, no it hasn’t, as
this dip into the schedules of Radio 4, the Light Programme and the Home
Service will demonstrate. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>7.30 pm on Saturday<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Well that surprised you. Yes, when the omnibus editions
first started on 5 January 1952 – a year after the programme had first been
nationally broadcast – it was on a Saturday night. In 1952 it was on the Light
Programme so followed programmes such as <i><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2013/01/its-five-oclock-time-for-sports-report.html" target="_blank">Sports Report</a></i>, <i>Jazz Club</i> and <i>Radio Newsreel</i>. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>4.00 pm on Sunday<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From 26 July 1953 the omnibus moves to Sunday. Why? Well
I’ll come to that.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>7.30 pm on Saturday<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yes even Light Programme controller Kenneth Adam liked to
move the radio furniture now and then as the omnibus is back to Saturday night
by the end of September 1953. That same week saw the start <i>of <a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2015/08/on-light-part-8-music-for-everyone.html" target="_blank">Friday Night is Music Night</a></i>, also recently in the news as it
re-appears on Radio 3. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>9.10 am on Sunday<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Listeners can, in July, August and September 1954, now ‘have
breakfast with <i>The Archers</i>’. But
what’s behind this Saturday night/Sunday morning swapping? Well it coincides
with the summer Proms concerts. In the 1950s the Proms were not the exclusive
preserve of the Third Programme and would also be broadcast on the Light and
the Home Service. This summer pattern continues in 1955. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>7.30 pm on Saturday<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This remains the usual slot apart from when the Proms are on
in 1955. The Sunday morning versions start at 9.10 am and run for 50 minutes
rather than the usual one hour so actually there’s a bit of editing going on
here to make the omnibus version fit the timeslot. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>8.00 pm on Saturday<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s moved on by half-an-hour from 1 October 1955. In the
summer of 1956 it again pops up on Sunday, this time at 3.15 pm. In mid July
1957 it temporarily moves to Sundays at 9.10 am. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>12.15 pm on Saturday <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For some reason, between 28 September and 30 November 1957,
the omnibus is now heard on the Home Service on Saturday lunchtime, again in a
truncated form. The weekday editions remain on the Light Programme.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>9.45 am on Sunday<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Finally, from 8 December 1957, the omnibus edition ends up
on Sundays where it has remained ever since. Back in 1957 on the Light
Programme it was followed at 10.30 am by <i>Easy
Beat</i>, so it remains very much edited down from the regular weekday broadcasts.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>9.32 am on Sunday <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 1 January 1961 it moves back a few minutes and is now just
under an hour long so presumably we’re now getting the full weekly story. It
follows <i>Chapel in the Valley</i> and a
two-minute news bulletin at 9.30 am. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>9.30 am on Sunday<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From 30 August 1964 the Home Service takes the Sunday
morning omnibus and, as it happens, <i>Chapel
in the Valley</i>. Meanwhile over on the Light they have <i>The Record Show </i>with Geoffrey Wheeler followed by <i>Easy Beat</i>. The fact that Radio Caroline,
with its all day pop programmes, had started earlier that year is purely
coincidental surely! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Meanwhile from 14 December 1964 the Home Service starts to
repeat the previous day’s Light Programme broadcast. From Monday 2 January 1967
the Home Service broadcast all editions of <i>The
Archers</i> .The Home Service becomes BBC Radio 4 on 30 September of that year.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrHME-sn1T9Tk-iY-q5h0vlIfy1LtuJqlCiXQRiD2KfxWwdxxHzKmLA6gSfwNQ_5MuOZ8Rram95hd6VKpjgq2HN6Tqu0cLXqbNGT3dqBwKi-nr7V0awCA22c_Evil9pFlYqgJyKtnJAwJ4_LXtOSme8tcWMUqQKaS3Pprj67Xhqthil9qyG360SNluTEnG/s338/The%20Archers_19771002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="338" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrHME-sn1T9Tk-iY-q5h0vlIfy1LtuJqlCiXQRiD2KfxWwdxxHzKmLA6gSfwNQ_5MuOZ8Rram95hd6VKpjgq2HN6Tqu0cLXqbNGT3dqBwKi-nr7V0awCA22c_Evil9pFlYqgJyKtnJAwJ4_LXtOSme8tcWMUqQKaS3Pprj67Xhqthil9qyG360SNluTEnG/s320/The%20Archers_19771002.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />6.15 pm on Sunday <o:p></o:p></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 1976 Ian McIntyre is appointed as the new controller of
Radio 4 and a year later, from 2 October 1977 he causes major consternation by
moving <i>The Archers</i> omnibus to Sunday
evening at 6.15 pm; at the same time dislodging <i>Letter from America</i> from Sunday morning to lunchtime. Listeners
complain in droves. Correspondents to the <i>Radio
Times</i> were not happy: ‘I feel like weeping...the most disastrous change of
all” (Renee Obard, Salisbury) and ‘change for the sake of change has no appeal’
(S.C. Russell, Bolton). Even the offering of a quadraphonic stereo transmission
– for the first omnibus edition at any rate – failed to impress: ‘the pleasure
afforded to a few listeners of hearing <i>The
Archers</i> in stereo and quad must surely be outweighed by the discomfort
caused to those who, like myself, are now denied the pleasure of listening at
all, albeit in humble mono’ (R. Collingwood, Camberley) </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The incoming Director General Ian Trethowan tells McIntyre to
think again. Bizarrely someone protests by nailing both an abusive letter and a
kipper to the door of McIntyre’s son’s room at his Cambridge college. BBC
Governor Lady Seota complains that it has “up-ended her life”. Eventually after
increasing pressure from listeners and the governors McIntrye relents and the
omnibus programme reverts back to Sunday mornings from July 1979.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>10.15 on Sunday <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This becomes the new time for the omnibus edition for the
next 19 years. Returning to Sunday morning on 1 July 1979 it is preceded by <i>Letter from America</i> (which had already
been moved back to Sunday morning) and the <i>Morning
Service</i> and followed by <i>Weekend
Woman’s Hour</i>, back on air after been dropped in late 1974. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjiOUFx1RqpN5ajkm9RQuY4q7RoZ-KxHkiaWa5oj-G7LCBkbHNhfccxG2HCa7rvHGCcolrq1rKE65yx8N8ShcowUZ6ENH05MqqMb-DBvaCTdNqiejizKRAB6pePc9JOA76EfP20mQVyZPbXZwv9uV1EhPfFNkD7KhWgZuA3nEBihZZChuRy3UwUpsIHs-/s383/The%20Archers%20billing_19980419.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="321" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjiOUFx1RqpN5ajkm9RQuY4q7RoZ-KxHkiaWa5oj-G7LCBkbHNhfccxG2HCa7rvHGCcolrq1rKE65yx8N8ShcowUZ6ENH05MqqMb-DBvaCTdNqiejizKRAB6pePc9JOA76EfP20mQVyZPbXZwv9uV1EhPfFNkD7KhWgZuA3nEBihZZChuRy3UwUpsIHs-/s320/The%20Archers%20billing_19980419.jpg" width="268" /></a></b></div><b><br />10.00 on Sunday<o:p></o:p></b><p></p>
<p>On 19 April 1998 there are changes to Radio 4 Sunday
morning’s schedule as mentioned above. At 9 am we get a brand new programmes <i>Broadcasting House</i> in which ‘Eddie Mair
presents a fresh approach to news’ followed by <i>The Archers </i>now 15 minutes earlier and also 15 minutes longer. And that is how things have
remained until now. </p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-25258998539651169042024-02-11T09:00:00.002+01:002024-02-11T15:37:55.001+01:00Wogan House<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP-t3YEGeo6pAY6gs0Ob3FOTApR34MIKFCRTv4m_ossYvOwMP7QtRNdElNVYhDQuSc1vU6x4LcSj0CK8RJMBIpRA-UjKVIh8BpbZe5VjWYDhu6937SM0mMYNB2-wxEzDmNYT4_X7CT_Bi4wWWfYVGIe8Y3_oGHa0XP9B0HenmVh9QM7now4Bjkrs8a4Ivm/s1024/Wogan%20House.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP-t3YEGeo6pAY6gs0Ob3FOTApR34MIKFCRTv4m_ossYvOwMP7QtRNdElNVYhDQuSc1vU6x4LcSj0CK8RJMBIpRA-UjKVIh8BpbZe5VjWYDhu6937SM0mMYNB2-wxEzDmNYT4_X7CT_Bi4wWWfYVGIe8Y3_oGHa0XP9B0HenmVh9QM7now4Bjkrs8a4Ivm/s320/Wogan%20House.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Wogan House falls silent this month as engineers continue to
decommission the BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music studios. The stations have been based
in what was then Western House since 2006, at the time of the Broadcasting House
re-development. Prior to that there were some production booths in the building. Radio 2 and 6 Music have been moving into new studios back over
in NBH, with the daytime news bulletins now coming from studio WG1. Any
late-night revelries in the BBC Club, also in Wogan House, ended in December 2023
prior to its move into the existing Media Cafe area by the end of April.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3I5CwaFsRl_Rz2hYBfac2nvJkxmB8kMy1-VKgstyvSY1dQw5KQnhw6rHIU5FoY9usARuYQPpnzrUfkOleQlcVqsNMiPzwYqJxzqyU7DI6tXUhbmttZaDEA5dbL2876lDgGsWQA_PSRLkoMmgS-4ocoNXsCJA-xJ2bFCZloPh7XTwXT_f2AYcTJ11aXbyA/s2048/Studio%206A%20Wogan%20House%20(2018).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3I5CwaFsRl_Rz2hYBfac2nvJkxmB8kMy1-VKgstyvSY1dQw5KQnhw6rHIU5FoY9usARuYQPpnzrUfkOleQlcVqsNMiPzwYqJxzqyU7DI6tXUhbmttZaDEA5dbL2876lDgGsWQA_PSRLkoMmgS-4ocoNXsCJA-xJ2bFCZloPh7XTwXT_f2AYcTJ11aXbyA/s320/Studio%206A%20Wogan%20House%20(2018).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Studio 6A in Wogan House (2018)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The BBC first occupied Western House in 1953 and for many
years it was the home of the Designs Group of the Engineering division. A car
showroom remained on the ground floor premises until the early 60s. Later the
Recorded Sound Effects Library moved in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixSZbKIxr0A0K9G4Fu7flNZzYPU5KFNEMnhQHi-hP6e7EQ3i1hA-ZIAFj4p2i3wWwp7bgn16CVNNKcpnTy_v-vjrXvQpTiLNl120fMGogyjp14YkUkazcjOdtWncCOCeneVRP3vb3xVSN7q1yieC5WksuEYMEOjR-VeZNNmpLaA-KKicwKqMCJT5XVDbZJ/s2592/Western%20House%202015%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="1456" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixSZbKIxr0A0K9G4Fu7flNZzYPU5KFNEMnhQHi-hP6e7EQ3i1hA-ZIAFj4p2i3wWwp7bgn16CVNNKcpnTy_v-vjrXvQpTiLNl120fMGogyjp14YkUkazcjOdtWncCOCeneVRP3vb3xVSN7q1yieC5WksuEYMEOjR-VeZNNmpLaA-KKicwKqMCJT5XVDbZJ/s320/Western%20House%202015%20(2).jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Western House in 2015. The following year on<br />16 November 2016 it was renamed Wogan House</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The lease for the building will transfer to Landmark Space
who propose to use it as ‘flexible office spaces’. It will be known as 99 Great
Portland Street.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQSs6Kjz9INdwalHBDwSdX1YEggXZw78P8_1MNWS3fRIBG5zphnivlAdofamIDuWM1cFocw__ea8fZqx_idKUf-pr5ZLaBelIpMNtXUmBdcrbzsJ5pu1zuMzkvFZ1kIoWwsZ2XSwhW4rTRwrAWB-PBo9JItqWJ8kQpE2ZlMfmW47gLpC871VbD5hJdv4m_/s2048/Studio%206B%20(Wogan%20House)%202024.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQSs6Kjz9INdwalHBDwSdX1YEggXZw78P8_1MNWS3fRIBG5zphnivlAdofamIDuWM1cFocw__ea8fZqx_idKUf-pr5ZLaBelIpMNtXUmBdcrbzsJ5pu1zuMzkvFZ1kIoWwsZ2XSwhW4rTRwrAWB-PBo9JItqWJ8kQpE2ZlMfmW47gLpC871VbD5hJdv4m_/s320/Studio%206B%20(Wogan%20House)%202024.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Studio 6B (2024)</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq041JFibtYN_P9YhZgaG_sWNkI1DxNFS-_lBwxhVj5lR46WuimBAtZ-V_GPKnfj1jzVIZa8rEpNKReiKWzN_V3U8hzeKcViSnP3HoMdpB9ubtX7eu8tYgu9xKe03C4eiJVMqloaHZVJoXJGQzJhwr19OK0axvTUmh_x3LGsugstADP6yduxKEXmoVdb-h/s2048/Studio%204D%20Wogan%20House%20(2024).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq041JFibtYN_P9YhZgaG_sWNkI1DxNFS-_lBwxhVj5lR46WuimBAtZ-V_GPKnfj1jzVIZa8rEpNKReiKWzN_V3U8hzeKcViSnP3HoMdpB9ubtX7eu8tYgu9xKe03C4eiJVMqloaHZVJoXJGQzJhwr19OK0axvTUmh_x3LGsugstADP6yduxKEXmoVdb-h/s320/Studio%204D%20Wogan%20House%20(2024).jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Studio 4D (2024)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>As far as I’m aware the last 6 Music show from Wogan House is
today with Gideon Coe, in for Cerys Matthews. The last Radio 2 shows are this
coming Friday.<p></p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-29599302081543192682024-02-09T06:00:00.002+01:002024-02-09T10:18:14.068+01:00Not the A to Z of Radio Comedy: I is for In One Ear<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1OdXvcx6Ty4GvGZemZQ85ZvXsRZpAENxGslVi0H853h77kIuTLH3HPHoFTKZBS-veAzgRSCQ3C5AEs0-xh6HmydwaUybynlQLevXyj7a0ViwEK6IxZxLIE7ooO6yK08GwkL_rjjs3fG_GLG5R879LIEyrqEmOCNQTyYD6GnhJIC46OHPd_EfxJIcfwedF/s1054/In%20One%20Ear%20poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1OdXvcx6Ty4GvGZemZQ85ZvXsRZpAENxGslVi0H853h77kIuTLH3HPHoFTKZBS-veAzgRSCQ3C5AEs0-xh6HmydwaUybynlQLevXyj7a0ViwEK6IxZxLIE7ooO6yK08GwkL_rjjs3fG_GLG5R879LIEyrqEmOCNQTyYD6GnhJIC46OHPd_EfxJIcfwedF/s320/In%20One%20Ear%20poster.jpg" width="233" /></a></div><br />I first
heard Steve Brown on Radio 4’s late-night live comedy show <i style="font-size: 12pt;">In One Ear</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. His songs, musical skits and attempts to paint
himself as the “affable sex symbol” were an integral part of the show. Press
releases of the time also described him variously as “a good natured Nicholas
Ball”, “the versatile Brown” and “the man who wrote the press release”. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In One Ear</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> enjoyed a run of three series of live
Saturday late-night shows (plus a recorded pilot and a Christmas special)
between 1983 and 1986. It brought together a cast of four: Nick Wilton principally
an actor though also in revue and a scriptwriter, stand-up comedian Helen Lederer, musician
Steve Brown and actor Clive Mantle. Mantle’s height (6’5</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">½”) and his role at the time as Little John in
ITV’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Robin of Sherwood</i> was the
subject of much ribbing in the show. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Before<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> In One Ear</i> both Nick and Steve had
worked together a number of times. In 1982 they appeared in the Perrier award-winning
show <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Writer’s Inc.</i> alongside Jamie
Rix and Vicky Pile. Rix would go on to produce <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In One Ear</i> and Vicky wrote for it. (Nick’s first professional role
was in the farce <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Simple Spymen</i>
directed by Jamie’s dad the veteran farceur Brian Rix). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wilton and Brown also worked together in the
Spring of 1982 in a two-week run at the Fortune Theatre of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">News Revue</i>, an attempt at a musical satire show with Wilton in the
cast and Brown at the piano. In July 1982 there was a limited run of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ha Bloody Ha!</i> at the Gate in Notting
Hill. This sketch and music show also featured Jan Ravens, at the time a radio
comedy producer (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Week Ending</i> etc.). The
following year she and Steve would marry (they divorced in 1993) and from 1986
to 1988 they were part of the Sunday morning <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brunch</i> crew on Capital Radio (CFM) with Roger Scott, Jeremy Pascall,
Paul Burnett and later Angus Deayton. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Steve’s
first radio gig was as a song writer on the 1982 sketch show <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2022/10/not-a-to-z-of-radio-comedy-t-is-for.html" target="_blank">Three Plus One</a></i>. Produced by Jan Ravens
it also featured the musical talents of Philip Pope, already an established
performer on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Active</i>. This led
to Steve working with Philip on future series of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Active</i> and, a few years later, on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spitting Image</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIB202Kjee6CCrsB4NGWeFlbPbjniFvzp3lauR232pyh0xat3LVGS5VuFZjizi7rEgYLKI-y2UlMW5K0RSfz196TdBi_5BUPygIxSgt-sLYUCF4Yfl4C6QOK5oYBeJkgnPzzzlE18e-0FBzqMksJaI9pCvEPFq89OM62PZ3pcq5xW_fQmIHlYaWMSNc1-/s1437/In%20One%20Ear%20cast_19840512.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1437" data-original-width="1275" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIB202Kjee6CCrsB4NGWeFlbPbjniFvzp3lauR232pyh0xat3LVGS5VuFZjizi7rEgYLKI-y2UlMW5K0RSfz196TdBi_5BUPygIxSgt-sLYUCF4Yfl4C6QOK5oYBeJkgnPzzzlE18e-0FBzqMksJaI9pCvEPFq89OM62PZ3pcq5xW_fQmIHlYaWMSNc1-/s320/In%20One%20Ear%20cast_19840512.jpg" width="284" /></a></div><br />The cast
recorded the pilot of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In One Ear</i> in
April 1983 but it had to wait until December for broadcast. By then a series
had already been commissioned to run the following May and June. Nick Wilton
was already appearing in another Radio 4 comedy show, the Grant and Naylor
scripted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Son of Clich</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">é</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> (1983-84). This show would win the 1984 Sony
award as Best Light Entertainment Programme, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Active</i> having bagged it the year before. In 1985 it was the
turn of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In One Ear</i>. </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To introduce
the first series in May 1984, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Times</i>
staff writer David Gillard wrote this article. By the way, take the reference to
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Goons</i> as the last live comedy
show with a large pinch of salt. That show was, to my knowledge, always
recorded, though interestingly enough the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In
One Ear</i> team do reference The Goons in the pilot episode. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The art of living dangerously</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The sign on
the door of one of the BBC Radio Light Entertainment offices reads: ‘Prefects
Common Room. Knock before Entering’. Inside, the wine bottles and paper cups on
the table suggest St Trinians, though the assembled ‘prefects’ seems a studious
bunch. Here, in earnest conclave are the producer, writer and performers of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In One Ear</i> – radio’s first live comedy
show since the Goons. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">‘Above all,
we have to justify going out live at 11.30,’ producer Jamie Rix, tells his
team. ‘We’re not going to hide behind the format – we’re going to be different
and we’ve got to be dangerous. The audience at home must be unsure about which
way we’re heading. We must constantly take them by surprise by going off at
unexpected tangents.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
programmes’ tongue-in-cheek publicity poster describes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In One Ear</i> as ‘somewhere between alternative cabaret and a puerile adolescent
undergraduate revue’. Jamie, in a more serious moment, prefers to call it ‘cabaret
revue with a satirical element’. The four performers Nick Wilton (late of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Carrott’s Lib</i>), stand-up comedienne Helen
Lederer<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, Radio Active</i> songwriter
Steve Brown and actor Clive Mantle –share the burden of providing Rix with ‘seamless
comedy’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Though occasionally
adopting another persona, they will all be playing themselves – or, at least
what they see as their ‘radio selves’. Nick is ‘paranoid and politically naive’;
Helen is ‘slightly embarrassed and neurotic’, modest Steve ‘a romantic crooner
and an affable sex symbol’, while Big Clive (recently seen as Little John in
ITV’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Robin of Sherwood</i>) is ‘the
thick-set, strong-voiced type’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Jamie Rix,
who produced <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Active</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Best of Bentine</i> and was once a
writer on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Not the Nine O’Clock News </i>believes
they have the recipe for a controversial, hard-hitting comedy success, though
there will be no attempt to shock for shock’s sake. ‘We’ve been put into a slot
where we can offend the least people-just before the Shipping Forecast’ he says
with a grin. ‘But we’re not out to offend. We’re out to challenge.’ </span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStHqUrIZv9aGBV63nrfPkIK5s0XBJe-KSzQ1DuKdOC3dcrtHdZ-vYsrdckSmiD_AxcIBT_h39p5neiy-vxN4UmghE-4_9YZRs9w93iTrkM6pUeBcyqy4LLmqMNww00NqZDG-u6e8WIhoXjB_qSc5JYMVgJ3eUQT1LXDydYKdrMkmoyqdrAQ69v7YWi47q/s1275/In%20One%20Ear_19840512.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="1275" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStHqUrIZv9aGBV63nrfPkIK5s0XBJe-KSzQ1DuKdOC3dcrtHdZ-vYsrdckSmiD_AxcIBT_h39p5neiy-vxN4UmghE-4_9YZRs9w93iTrkM6pUeBcyqy4LLmqMNww00NqZDG-u6e8WIhoXjB_qSc5JYMVgJ3eUQT1LXDydYKdrMkmoyqdrAQ69v7YWi47q/s320/In%20One%20Ear_19840512.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />So here is
that first episode from Saturday 12 May 1984. Although Radio 7/Radio 4 Extra
have repeated some episodes I’m not aware that this was been heard since. The
show doesn’t entirely eschew BBC comedy traditions as there’s a parody poking
fun at the recent Granada tv series <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Jewel in the Crown</i> and a Fats Waller gag straight out of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again</i>. “It’s
time for comedy....”<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6j5whcjY6s8?si=XAuuE4BDm3cOkadR" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">From a
couple of weeks later comes the third show. It includes Steve and Nick singing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hello Alexei</i>, referencing Alexei Sayle’s
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?</i> that had
charted a couple of months previously. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hello
Alexei</i> was itself released as a single on the Red Door label at the end of
1984. The B side <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nobody Ever Listens to
the B Side</i> featured Nick doing his John Cooper Clarke impression as he had
done in the pilot episode. The single didn’t chart. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/86ty-Q75QRw?si=NJoDEZfhSWFRk5ph" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Steve Brown’s
death at the age of 66 was announced last week.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In One Ear</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> episode guide:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">All
programmes (except pilot) broadcast live at 2330 on Saturday night<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Pilot:
Tuesday 27 December 1983 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Series 1: 12
May 1984 to 30 June 1984 (8 programmes)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Christmas
Special: 22 December 1984<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Series 2: 16
February 1985 to 6 April 1985 (8 programmes)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Series 3: 30
November to 1 February 1985, except 21<sup>st</sup> and 28<sup>th</sup>
December (8 programmes)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The <i>In One Ear</i> poster comes from Nick's website <a href="http://nickwilton.com" target="_blank">nickwilton.com</a></span></p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-25601843135157289192024-02-01T06:00:00.001+01:002024-02-01T06:00:00.343+01:00Tale of the Goat and Compasses<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVnAeRR71-ZZ0yyoW13XCkp3dbnCMe8sCmJ3p4EnUkDPcAuutnaK2hMwMrpedBkSBnXE_YLsfRb5nSTw1JYVopBRujSiWGNXsv3Ngpr80o7WanX5m4dYcuaKSwjvfP_Z_PQjHXGQERljn6wsGWZr4xwF5c11X2ReL356ZJsgTOY__EsFMUgkcvuoRQW0F5/s420/Tom%20Mennard_Coronation%20St.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="281" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVnAeRR71-ZZ0yyoW13XCkp3dbnCMe8sCmJ3p4EnUkDPcAuutnaK2hMwMrpedBkSBnXE_YLsfRb5nSTw1JYVopBRujSiWGNXsv3Ngpr80o7WanX5m4dYcuaKSwjvfP_Z_PQjHXGQERljn6wsGWZr4xwF5c11X2ReL356ZJsgTOY__EsFMUgkcvuoRQW0F5/s320/Tom%20Mennard_Coronation%20St.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br />This week BBC Radio 4 Extra begins a repeat of the recently
recovered second series of<i> <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001dxhl" target="_blank">Wrinkles</a></i>,
the 1981 sitcom from Grant and Naylor starring Tom Mennard and Anthea Askey. For
a comedian with nearly 30 years of experience under his belt the 1980s were a
busy period for Tom as he undertook an increasing number of acting roles.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Born in Leeds in 1918 Tom Mennard had appeared in amateur
children’s pantomimes. His wartime service was in the Royal Engineers and he
also played in Divisional Concert Party Shows. On demob he found work as a bus conductor
and then driver with Brighton & Hove Omnibus Co. but the pull of the
theatre meant he still performed in amateur revue whenever he could. His time
on the buses sounded like an episode of the LWT sitcom with Mennard getting
into trouble for his comic antics, telling stories to the local kids rather
than taking the bus out and impersonating a ticket inspector.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Coming to the attention of singer Donald Peers, who was
touring in Brighton at the time, he suggested Tom go for an audition with the
BBC; he was successful and made an appearance on the BBC tv’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Show Case</i> (15 March 1954) presented by
Benny Hill. On advice from Hill he auditioned at that well-known training
ground for budding comedians, London’s Windmill Theatre. Successful only on his
third attempt Vivian Van Damm told him to commence in the show starting in one
hour, he stayed there for a year. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Variety and theatre work followed such as the Moss Empire’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Faces of 1956</i>, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fol de Rols-</i>“the famous song and laugh
show”- <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Masquerade</i> (this was alongside
Pamela Cundall, later Mrs Fox in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dad’s
Army</i>), summer seasons back up in Yorkshire at Bridlington and Scarborough
and, perhaps most significantly in the touring revue show <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Music for the Millions</i>. Starring in the show was his idol Robb
Wilton, then nearing the end of his career. Wilton’s style of delivery of his
famous monologues heavily influenced Mennard’s act, especially his meandering <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Local Tales</i>. (see below) </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alongside the theatre
work there were tv spots including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Camera
One</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Good Old Days</i> and dozens
of radio appearances throughout the 1950s and 1960s on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Midday Music-Hall</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2015/08/on-light-part-7-from-factory-somewhere.html" target="_blank">Workers’ Playtime</a></i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Variety Playhouse</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Holiday Playhouse</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">London Lights</i>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE_BHeAb4IHtQ1WaMrFGAuQxoIZLkfZOMxlYsMImn08mCM0WqsglUYD_u8qRYmpxppCjQZDxWBIxZGN9w-ZVetXpou-pr-IYr3Nr_eNyLYp-JagphjpwBbA2pka9jrHTqjNM0PL4-KDApP9JReLrTwidWoscUBFLMmXpqEDe3dmG8SVBsEj1s4mfiNBg9I/s384/Goody%20two%20Shoes.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="259" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE_BHeAb4IHtQ1WaMrFGAuQxoIZLkfZOMxlYsMImn08mCM0WqsglUYD_u8qRYmpxppCjQZDxWBIxZGN9w-ZVetXpou-pr-IYr3Nr_eNyLYp-JagphjpwBbA2pka9jrHTqjNM0PL4-KDApP9JReLrTwidWoscUBFLMmXpqEDe3dmG8SVBsEj1s4mfiNBg9I/s320/Goody%20two%20Shoes.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">from Panto Archive</td></tr></tbody></table><br />In the latter half of the 1960s Tom hosted regular seasons
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Old Tyme Music Hall</i> in Newquay and
on Radio 2 in 1968 acted as the chairman on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Come
to the Music-Hall</i>, a radio equivalent of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Good Old Days</i>. Panto work included <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Goody Two Shoes</i> at Hull’s New Theatre in 1969 which I was in the
audience for (oh no you weren’t!). His co-stars were local lad Norman Collier,
Jimmy Thompson and McDonald Hobley.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Comedy panel show work followed in the 1970s with regular
gigs on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2021/09/youve-got-to-be-joking.html" target="_blank">You’ve Got to Be Joking</a></i>
(Radios 2 & 4 1977-80) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Funny You
Should Ask</i> (Radio 2 1978-80). From 1980 the majority of Tom’s work was as
an actor mainly on tv but also in the two series of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wrinkles</i> (Radio 4 1980-81). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wrinkles</i>
was made in Manchester by the veteran comedy producer Mike Craig. Writers Rob
Grant and Doug Naylor were apparently introduced to Tom Mennard by Mike Craig
in the BBC bar. Grant recalls: ‘Tom was a naturally funny guy, with a unique
and distinct delivery. He was always “on”. But not one of those annoying,
not-really-very-funny people who are always straining to get a laugh: he was
actually funny. He would play practical jokes constantly, weaving some
fantastical story to innocent, hapless bystanders without making them the butt
of the joke. I once saw him on his knees outside a closed lift door, shouting
“Well how did you get stuck down there?” That kind of thing.’ </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wrinkles</i>
Mennard plays the handyman in an old people’s home. His co-star was Anthea
Askey, daughter of big-hearted Arthur who Tom had worked with year’s earlier. He’d
appeared with Anthea in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dick Whittington</i>
at the Sunderland Empire just the year before. Also in the cast were Ballard
‘Morning Fawlty’ Berkeley, David Ross, Gordon Salkilld and Nick Maloney. After
a successful pilot a series was commissioned to air in April and May 1980. A
second series followed in November and December 1981. The BBC dumped or
otherwise lost the tapes of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wrinkles</i>
but off-air recordings were returned and series one was repeated late last year
and the second starts today. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGBrrwznRBmWvZVDPqWRni1rH2-plkNSkIAs6aEoYrASdhxwdqmzVlPmNWZzNxfsVMwTMlHrhS6ziv1Aw5HC1do-DQ1kuIh-Cpbij_uxQ6jxY77cQynagBSrVYyRilKVLkr0kUOw7ryvrnOd1Gszj7_JL6nTCELNB9isfrjjk6xmJehvnOqgYLWuiahg0/s769/Local%20Tales_19820505.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="550" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGBrrwznRBmWvZVDPqWRni1rH2-plkNSkIAs6aEoYrASdhxwdqmzVlPmNWZzNxfsVMwTMlHrhS6ziv1Aw5HC1do-DQ1kuIh-Cpbij_uxQ6jxY77cQynagBSrVYyRilKVLkr0kUOw7ryvrnOd1Gszj7_JL6nTCELNB9isfrjjk6xmJehvnOqgYLWuiahg0/w286-h400/Local%20Tales_19820505.jpg" width="286" /></a></div><br />It was around this time that Tom was also given his own
series on Radio 2. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Local Tales</i> was a
series of short monologues, each about 13 minutes, that aired at intervals from
1981 to 1987. The scene was his local pub the Goat and Compasses and the
rambling stories were about Tom and his mates Harry, Charlie and Fred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Throughout the 1980s most of Tom’s work was as a actor in a
number of tv series, particularly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oh
Happy Band</i> with Harry Worth (BBC 1980), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Foxy
Lady</i> (Granada 1982-84), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Open All
Hours</i> (BBC 1982-85) and, most notably, as Sam Tindall in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coronation Street </i>between 1985 and 1989.
As Sam he would often be sparring with Percy Sugden for the affections of
Phyllis Pearce. Sugden and Pearce were played by Bill Waddington and Jill
Summers whom Mennard had first met during his Windmill Theatre days. Sam
Tindall appeared in the soap, often with his dog Dougal who was, by all
accounts, Tom’s own dog, in over sixty episodes. His last appearance was in May
1989. Just six months later Tom Mennard died. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Back to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Local Tales</i>
and my recording comes from the final series in 1987. There are five shows on
YouTube including this one but I’ve also uploaded it as it includes some
continuity. The theme is Johnny Pearson’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Corn
on the Keys </i>(KPM 1008 issued in 1966).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></p>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/psBSMmObVO8?si=ZklNAX1JSjIzz4Fr" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tracking down the details of all the broadcasts of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Local Tales</i> has not been easy due to
some inconsistent labelling of repeats and industrial action affecting the
printing of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Times</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3 episodes: 5 March to 19 March 1981</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">5 episodes: 16 December 1981 to 13 January 1982. All but one
of these, the 30 December 1981 programme, are listed as a repeat but given that
only 3 episodes were in the first series this can’t be the case.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">16 episodes: 21 April to 4 August 1982 </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">8 episodes: 28 January to 18 March 1983</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3 episodes: 19 April to 10 May 1983. Not clear if these are
new or repeats as the National editions of the Radio Times have reduced listing
information.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">4 episodes: 1 April to 22 April 1984 (all repeats)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">6 episodes: 20 March to 24 April 1985</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">4 episodes: 27 November to 18 December 1985</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">6 episodes: 4 February to 11 March 1987</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There were selected repeats in late 1989 following Tom’s
death and a further six repeated shows in late 1990.</p><p class="MsoNormal">You can hear Tom in a <i>Workers' Playtime</i> revival from 1982 on my YouTube channel <a href="https://youtu.be/Rc7DIAGgMuQ" target="_blank">here</a></p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-46765252719040989312024-01-21T10:10:00.001+01:002024-01-21T10:10:00.126+01:00Radio on Record – Radio Loves You<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNUnIA-KwsCgfLw3rZWe0MmuWOeJ6DcajcyeKuqN972M8ngLzwfJYlzcqXYqWZnqBHBtX8o_KeIwetTFtH8W4rASxboigmFFSavFmEyEoFj5h1IGD_cSK0rUF27MTDAPnZdvwbhLtzZ9jCGKq-Ule-GPWOj2spoIFrLBx7vrvSZsTH6fT3nOt3srvyGJz/s383/RadioonRecord.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="383" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNUnIA-KwsCgfLw3rZWe0MmuWOeJ6DcajcyeKuqN972M8ngLzwfJYlzcqXYqWZnqBHBtX8o_KeIwetTFtH8W4rASxboigmFFSavFmEyEoFj5h1IGD_cSK0rUF27MTDAPnZdvwbhLtzZ9jCGKq-Ule-GPWOj2spoIFrLBx7vrvSZsTH6fT3nOt3srvyGJz/w200-h200/RadioonRecord.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />Writing a
song with radio in the title is a surefire way to grab some airplay. With luck
that airplay will translate into a hit record. Perhaps that thought was going
through the mind of songwriter Paul Battle when, in 1977, he penned <i>Radio Loves You</i> a paean to the joys of
listening to the radio “a love affair on the air.” <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgexAwSmjAqSzrTCtizPDgJ8Esv_tTOI1dES35WJbBR77Mikrm1nzQxOwGPChjxm-ZEPF5vUXKH9imhi4uRaCunaKb3TjjsdCKGOwbMk8W0gUmkMr9njVf884NpCUFhfc_ylP_w8eDq4kQxrvPUEF8LQy0OgIbHndysjq1Qwyk4aw5-iQtrLuipWWZWZyYv/s599/RadioLovesYou_Battle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="599" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgexAwSmjAqSzrTCtizPDgJ8Esv_tTOI1dES35WJbBR77Mikrm1nzQxOwGPChjxm-ZEPF5vUXKH9imhi4uRaCunaKb3TjjsdCKGOwbMk8W0gUmkMr9njVf884NpCUFhfc_ylP_w8eDq4kQxrvPUEF8LQy0OgIbHndysjq1Qwyk4aw5-iQtrLuipWWZWZyYv/w200-h199/RadioLovesYou_Battle.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />Promotional
copies of the single were sent round to US radio stations with a stereo mix on
one side and a mono version on the flipside, to cater for both FM and AM
stations. Paul’s version was released in the States and in Australia by A&M
and in Europe, or at least the Netherlands, by CBS. On the B side was another
of his songs <i>Baby, I’m Falling in Love
With You</i>. Paul Robert Battle (1949-2012) wrote over 200 songs but this song
remains his best known. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwINKzPQ5nd0D5T0KIkFFykhqlZm88RgIvOV-_IxOiQ-3bn_Te0mPiCwx6DYhL1m1v6e5pfDhz4penxdcXs6iZj_9aBJcPDdTX6KgdzgzQ611ICSSt3i3EV8IFsdqFGmjjEj2S0iSMWYkXw4xjmYr6ofQOYUeMyXNYbvv0aJK00rvdwIjHsCKScCIHSqn0/s790/RadioLovesYou_Gadzooks.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="790" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwINKzPQ5nd0D5T0KIkFFykhqlZm88RgIvOV-_IxOiQ-3bn_Te0mPiCwx6DYhL1m1v6e5pfDhz4penxdcXs6iZj_9aBJcPDdTX6KgdzgzQ611ICSSt3i3EV8IFsdqFGmjjEj2S0iSMWYkXw4xjmYr6ofQOYUeMyXNYbvv0aJK00rvdwIjHsCKScCIHSqn0/w200-h200/RadioLovesYou_Gadzooks.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />But it
doesn’t end there because in November of that year another version of the song
was released, this time by an act calling themselves Gadzooks. It seems likely
that Gadzooks was a group of session players and singers brought together for this
recording. Again a stereo/mono promotional copy was circulated. It went on
general release on the GRT label with <i>Holiday</i>,
written by Jack Grochmal, on the B side. Interestingly the lyrics for the
second verse were re-written for the Gadzooks version.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The
original lyrics read:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Lovely maid in your Cadillac that day was serenaded
by the sounds of I’ll be true,</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>The three of us were there, no one seemed to
care, not the radio, not me or even you.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">These were
changed to:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>You’re feeling down and your chin is on the
ground from the hassles in your life from day to day,<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Then you hear your song and you start to sing-a-long
as the radio blows all your blues away. <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Both songs
did get US airplay; according to the comments on YouTube uploads stations
WRSU-FM, WCOR, KKUA, KSTN, KACY and KHJ are mentioned. As far as I can tell
chart success eluded both releases as they failed to make the Billboard Hot 100
or the Dutch or Australian charts.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">My
attention was drawn to these recordings when they were featured recently on Jon
Wolfert’s weekly show on Rewound Radio. Jon also shows us how the Gadzooks
record was used by JAM Creative Productions to create a bespoke version for
WAKY radio in Louisville. Here’s how this played out on Jon’s show on 7 January
2024.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MCprLQ4afZQ?si=necsDm0AO69zORtn" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The song
lived again two years later when, in 1979, Swedish group <span style="color: #131313;">Säwes</span> recorded it under the title <i>Radion spelar för dig </i>with lyrics by Björn Håkanson (you can find
it on YouTube). <span style="color: #131313;">Säwes</span> seemed to specialise in
cover versions as their records also included <i>Let Your Love Flow</i>, <i>Paloma
Blanca</i> and <i>RFSU</i> (their equivalent
of <i>YMCA</i>). </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Jon’s three
hour show, a mixture of music and jingle features, can be heard online on
<a href="https://rewoundradio.com/" target="_blank">Rewound Radio</a> each Sunday at 3 pm US Eastern time. </p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-19713454612443821192024-01-12T09:55:00.004+01:002024-01-29T11:19:09.327+01:00Not the A to Z of Radio Comedy: W is for Wow Show<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIuGW07b0emnjRQ64E3oDe48-CNoh2uoSILbWj-42RRY7qy3qgTaCoiy6AaXA-ABPzkFsZxxgPysRw3gUpDR7RY9FMqL9FqFax7Bn-665DPHY4XViJ88Z__Le8Lh_BGVW-tzaD38b4fVLH-gkeq7E2ZLOEDL8DGRoFijarVTmYlFOjhoBeTK8faxUAwTsK/s721/The%20Wow%20Show_19850105.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="675" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIuGW07b0emnjRQ64E3oDe48-CNoh2uoSILbWj-42RRY7qy3qgTaCoiy6AaXA-ABPzkFsZxxgPysRw3gUpDR7RY9FMqL9FqFax7Bn-665DPHY4XViJ88Z__Le8Lh_BGVW-tzaD38b4fVLH-gkeq7E2ZLOEDL8DGRoFijarVTmYlFOjhoBeTK8faxUAwTsK/s320/The%20Wow%20Show_19850105.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />In the 1980s
any young radio light entertainment producer worth his or her salt was scouring
the comedy clubs and the Edinburgh Fringe looking for the next big thing and signing
them up for a Radio 4 series.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In 1985, the
year in question for this blog post, BBC Radio 4 was already offering listeners
the fifth series of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Active</i> and
the second of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In One Ear</i>. It was also
the year you could hear the short-lived sketch show <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In Other Words...The Bodgers</i> (though this did begat <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Absolutel</i>y) and the second series of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Don’t Stop Now-It’s Fundation</i>, an early
outing for Hale and Pace. And in January 1985 the latest show to join the
comedy schedule was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wow Show</i>. <o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The Wow Show</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> was written and performed by four
young actor/comedians who were already well known for the fringe stage show
bearing the same name. The quartet was Stephen Frost, Mark Arden, Lee Cornes
and Mark Elliott. Frost and Arden were teamed up as The Oblivion Boys and
worked together on BBC1’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Carrott’s Lib </i>as
well as appearing on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blackadder</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Comic Strip Presents...</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Young Ones</i>. Cornes also had <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Young Ones</i> and the same <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comic Strip</i> episode under his belt.
Elliott (also billed under his full name Paul Mark Elliott) had more straight
acting credits but like the others also popped up in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comic Strip</i> (the frankly bizarre s02e07 episode <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Slags</i> which can be found on YouTube). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXz-05zZE4Ns33awaCG57poVTaoKbPZoCZLwzJa0D1gYnHjAUhcgQw6DdoOQXJfWlPrv45bABXpPljITRLeFDDozTh1x11sGW3RGecihXKaidu7Das4Nm88jUGorS3lnkWTzoIhmvjOnssqcQe4Lr30qXJkjtdtjWGigihfHA2z8tf0PQiYVWKNbUTVhO/s1029/The%20Wow%20Show_19851018.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1029" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXz-05zZE4Ns33awaCG57poVTaoKbPZoCZLwzJa0D1gYnHjAUhcgQw6DdoOQXJfWlPrv45bABXpPljITRLeFDDozTh1x11sGW3RGecihXKaidu7Das4Nm88jUGorS3lnkWTzoIhmvjOnssqcQe4Lr30qXJkjtdtjWGigihfHA2z8tf0PQiYVWKNbUTVhO/s320/The%20Wow%20Show_19851018.jpg" width="320" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />The Wow Show</i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> ran for two six-part series in 1985,
the first starting in January and the second in October. The producer was Jamie
Rix who’d joined the Light Entertainment department in 1981 initially producing
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beat the Record</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pros and Cons</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Three in a
Row </i>for Radio 2 before picking up comedy duties in 1983 on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Active</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In One Ear</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Bentine
Years</i>. <o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfMpKL2C5dD7TwR7wdU7zsZ9o04a34rPj18B6u_lKkE8DrBbA4Ws2OkkQiSSdyxP6gDm3BTa7QFrN6tiR5ez_4Gt9VOmVGSfwB5Zd211hZbYr5-mlIy-cYt0flJZ-9S6qaBhUr7HW3HFN0zUSBCIkULC5-W25d_2HS-HTdOTb-GxCNlscs_w62Td2yh9ey/s2302/The%20Wow%20Show_RT_19850119.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2302" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfMpKL2C5dD7TwR7wdU7zsZ9o04a34rPj18B6u_lKkE8DrBbA4Ws2OkkQiSSdyxP6gDm3BTa7QFrN6tiR5ez_4Gt9VOmVGSfwB5Zd211hZbYr5-mlIy-cYt0flJZ-9S6qaBhUr7HW3HFN0zUSBCIkULC5-W25d_2HS-HTdOTb-GxCNlscs_w62Td2yh9ey/w295-h400/The%20Wow%20Show_RT_19850119.jpg" width="295" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Radio Times</i> 19 January 1985</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />From the
first series comes this second episode titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">For Your Hives Only</i>, a surreal tale set in a beehive. There’s a
feel of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again</i>
about this show judging by some of the puns and, a couple of minutes in, Lee
Cornes as The Queen Beatrix Herself, sounding not unlike TBT’s Lady Constance
de Coverlet. <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;">First broadcast
on Saturday 12 January and then repeated on Friday 18 January (which is the
transmission I recorded) like all of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Wow Show</i> it’s never had a subsequent repeat, the BBC having wiped or dumped
the lot. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8os04uBLAgg?si=l0N0Whj5BwwFUJHs" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>Postscript: Since I wrote this post BBC Radio 4 Extra are now due to repeat this very same episode as part of one of their <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001w79t" target="_blank">All Request Weekends</a> on 10 February 2024. I understand that some off-air recordings were returned to the BBC. </div>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-37988772264447312242023-12-31T10:26:00.000+01:002023-12-31T10:26:08.592+01:00Chimes at Midnight<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXwa-UEzBRxaHkWiodrKFy8E3MjiccXkWTP0qG1xV4ViQWj0cqPAHK5knELoEhhCyIRPliBcn83uQDPPXIuLLLf9NJEI823u5_9Lf_Cxay55sXKXcq4GEmpIpje3_MJEFKhSNpX72zsbvXQdBoExFkqpujuo2edfqOXpaP60dSZUPk4KZNrG6I0HDbTwQ/s4608/Big%20Ben_20230111%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4608" data-original-width="3456" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXwa-UEzBRxaHkWiodrKFy8E3MjiccXkWTP0qG1xV4ViQWj0cqPAHK5knELoEhhCyIRPliBcn83uQDPPXIuLLLf9NJEI823u5_9Lf_Cxay55sXKXcq4GEmpIpje3_MJEFKhSNpX72zsbvXQdBoExFkqpujuo2edfqOXpaP60dSZUPk4KZNrG6I0HDbTwQ/s320/Big%20Ben_20230111%20(1).jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />“By that extraordinary economy of association which only
sound produces the boom of Big Ben strikes right into the heart of the exiled
Englishman. “ So said a pre-war BBC Empire Service pamphlet explaining why its
broadcasts were so evocative for many of its listeners, even those who had
never set foot in Britain. Indeed, it was noted that for many years the sounds
of Big Ben, evoking both the City of London and parliamentary democracy, as
well as marking the passing of British time, was rated top amongst listener
preferences for many years. (1) <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The chimes of Big Ben have been heard over the airwaves
exactly 100 years ago when they were first broadcast to welcome in 1924.A
century later folk will turn on their radios or switch on the telly for the
midnight ‘bongs’ no doubt followed by a quick and not entirely tuneful drunken
rendition of Auld Lang Syne.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since that first broadcast the chimes of Big Ben have become
part of the radio broadcasting furniture whether marking state or royal events,
introducing the news, prefacing the silence on Remembrance Day or ushering in
the New Year. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovZC9mDyxKQJPt-w3kmWWMCKrYrD0QHosj4QJa82fqSY1bXRyjQPJ3sLFjXEguqb9tEqtxgFWss4mH3BZyRxFiPjLtNlQzS_AAsbfMWr5NEWJq7fTUFSx2XwsPxhFrkCJYASgPs3jBwCb3Jpw_hGMstXt-FqBR7254wB1wPOF1vB_FU8P10Y_q0_NZi4A/s796/BigBenFirstBroadcast.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="532" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovZC9mDyxKQJPt-w3kmWWMCKrYrD0QHosj4QJa82fqSY1bXRyjQPJ3sLFjXEguqb9tEqtxgFWss4mH3BZyRxFiPjLtNlQzS_AAsbfMWr5NEWJq7fTUFSx2XwsPxhFrkCJYASgPs3jBwCb3Jpw_hGMstXt-FqBR7254wB1wPOF1vB_FU8P10Y_q0_NZi4A/s320/BigBenFirstBroadcast.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br />Back in 1923 it fell to BBC engineer A.G. Dryland to arrange
for the first broadcast transmitted live from a rooftop opposite the Houses of
Parliament, recording the chimes amongst the general noise of Westminster.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Edward Pawley’s definitive guide to BBC engineering in its
first fifty years wrote:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">An important first was the inauguration of the long series
of broadcasts by Big Ben. This took place at midnight on New Year’s Eve at the
end of 1923 and was treated as an OB. It was followed by regular broadcasts
twice a day from 9 March 1924. The microphone and amplifier were at first
installed on the roof of Bridge Chambers, Bridge Steer, Westminster. The
microphone (a Round Sykes) was enclosed in a biscuit tin filled with cotton
wool, but was later transferred (still wrapped in cotton wool) to a football
bladder sealed with a rubber solution to guard against the inclemency of the
weather and suspended about 15 feet above the bells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By 1926 a permanent Marconi-Reisz microphone was installed
in the Clock Tower and by the mid-50s they were using STC4035 mics. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dryland spoke about that first broadcast in the 1936
programme <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scrapbook for 1924</i>. That
and other audio clips featuring or about Big Ben are included in this short
montage. </p>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Cx5ZHeUh3RU?si=zbulC92GpSA8wZQa" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">By the time the Empire Service launched in December 1932 the
chimes were heard around the world for the first time and on Christmas Day that
year they rang out at 3 pm just before the first live speech from King George
V. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the first non-English language service, the Arabic
service, started on 3 January 1938 the first news bulletin was read after the
Big Ben chimes. The worldwide broadcasts of Big Ben became an important feature
of the Empire Service (later the General Overseas Service, now the World
Service). In the 1946 BBC Year Book a Colonial Governor wrote:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">'It was in helping us to overcome this sense of isolation
that the broadcasts from home became so valued. Perhaps the biggest thrill we
got every day was hearing Big Ben strike. It carried us right back home, right
into the centre of things; and yet at the same time brought an almost
unbearable nostalgia’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The quarter hour and half hour chimes continued to be heard
during the day on the World Service as part of the general continuity as
different transmitters switched in and out of the English Service until about
20 years ago. (I’m guessing here, if you know when please contact me). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The BBC's Japanese Service also used to start
its broadcasts with the chimes of Big Ben. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For many years the complete bongs preceded the Home Service
9pm news, in what was known as the ‘Big Ben Minute’. But when the main evening
news at was moved to 10pm in September 1960 only the first stroke of the hour
was heard before being faded out. This practice continues for Radio 4’s 6pm news
and midnight news (they were re-introduced instead of the pips around June
1981). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Big Ben chimes at 10 pm were
dropped in April 1970, apart from weekends, when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The World Tonight </i>was launched. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the 1970s you could also hear Big Ben at the start of the
days broadcasting on Radios 1 and 2 at either 5.30 or 6.00. This practice ended
when Radio 2 moved to 24 hours a day in January 1979. The bells were also heard
on Sunday mornings on Radio 3, who obviously liked a lie-in at the weekend, when
programmes started at 8 am. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Until a couple of months ago for just over six years (from
August 2017), apart from some special events and New Year’s Eve, the
broadcasting of Big Ben was from recordings whilst the Elizabeth Tower and the
clock mechanism was repaired and refurbished at a cost of £80 million. The
chimes were back in action over a year ago (from November 2022), indeed I heard
them in January when I was in London taking the photographs for this post. But
it wasn’t until Radio 4’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Six O’Clock
News</i> on 6 November this year that live broadcasts returned. The delay was
partially to allow the mechanism to ‘bed in’ and also to allow for the
installation of four new microphones. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evan Davis spoke to Parliamentary Clockmaker Ian Westworth
about the restoration for Radio 4’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">PM</i>
programme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NqZ-CUKfANI?si=cX4der4y6R71AGrB" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 2013 to mark the 90<sup>th</sup> anniversary of that
first broadcast, poet Ian McMillan wrote seven poems for the BBC Radio 4 Extra
series <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Big Ben’s Chimes</i>. The seven
programmes, each running at 3 minutes, interspersed McMillan’s words with music
and archive recordings. I’ve stitched them together for this omnibus version. The
programme producer is Moy McGowan. </p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/14RrDtTg02U?si=pzdYOgPHIPA5spG-" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tonight, at midnight, BBC Radio 3 will broadcast an edition
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Slow Radio</i> devoted to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001trg0" target="_blank">The Clock</a></i>. It promises an “hypnotic
audio journey, as we tumble inside the delicate mechanism of the clock”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Notes:</p><p class="MsoNormal">The seven episodes of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Big
Ben’s Chimes</i> are titled: Maintaining Big Ben, Big Ben Seizes Up, Big Ben as
an Icon of Britain, Big Ben as Beating Heart, Big Ben - Good News, New Year in
War Time and First Broadcast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In this post I have referred to the ‘chimes of Big Ben’ but
of course strictly speaking Big Ben is the name of the large 13.7 tonne bell
that provides the ‘bongs’ in the note of E. There are the quarter bells varying
in weight from 1.1 to 4 tonnes that provide G sharp, F sharp, E and B notes
which are set are set to the following lines: “All through this hour, Lord be
my Guide. And by thy power, no foot shall slide”</p><p class="MsoNormal">UK Parliamentary blog on <a href="https://archives.blog.parliament.uk/2020/11/16/broadcasting-big-ben/" target="_blank">Broadcasting Big Ben</a></p><p class="MsoNormal">BBC Archive page on <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/big-ben/zv2dvk7" target="_blank">Big Ben</a></p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-6471704217164550282023-12-02T08:00:00.002+01:002023-12-02T16:45:38.449+01:00Broadcasting the Barricades<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAq36IbUbqOC1jt4qNvOM08TAt9PqnUZBEcpbl5eksyuC1bG-HKwNB_4JC40ncdCHmTgrD_fMoBvw8Uv6Fs2BPY-ATf-ysNIfIqk8PHYe7ZjpB_UHhfLfVhSpHQrPGtC_wx1Ff9hEByPcYSebUSYS-LGzi0rt8KQQsWxli0v9njrzCPaF_JHKcD5KnivLN/s300/RonaldKnox.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="233" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAq36IbUbqOC1jt4qNvOM08TAt9PqnUZBEcpbl5eksyuC1bG-HKwNB_4JC40ncdCHmTgrD_fMoBvw8Uv6Fs2BPY-ATf-ysNIfIqk8PHYe7ZjpB_UHhfLfVhSpHQrPGtC_wx1Ff9hEByPcYSebUSYS-LGzi0rt8KQQsWxli0v9njrzCPaF_JHKcD5KnivLN/s1600/RonaldKnox.jpg" width="233" /></a></div><br />A little over eighty five years ago,
on 30 October 1938, America was in a state of panic. Folk were taking to the
highways and driving off into the hills, there were frantic calls to the police
and to friends and family, people were taking shelter in their nearest church
or arming themselves with shotguns. The cause, a radio broadcast with the
breaking news of a Martian invasion, or at least some kind of invasion. Maybe
it was the Germans?<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Of course we know that most of this
did not actually happen. The panic following the broadcast of Orson Welles’s
Mercury Theatre Production of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The War of
the Worlds</i> was mainly stoked by the press, unimpressed and unamused by the
hype generated by the radio opposition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">War of the Worlds</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> succeeded due its blurring of fact and
fiction and by deploying the grammar of radio broadcasting of the time, ‘we interrupt
this program’, portentous bulletins, on the spot reports and so on. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But what US radio listeners wouldn’t
have known at the time was that such a spoof broadcast was not a new idea. It
had been heard on the BBC some twelve years earlier in a ‘talk’ given by a
Catholic priest, the Revered Ronald Knox (pictured above). This talk, titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Broadcasting the Barricades</i>, caused a
great deal of public consternation and stirred up a press frenzy though it
didn’t quite lead to “panic on the streets of London, panic on the streets of
Birmingham.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There’s no suggestion that Knox’s talk
directly inspired Welles and co. but in subsequent interviews he did
acknowledge that he knew of its reputation. The BBC broadcast had been reported
in the US newspapers at the time with one writing that “we are safe from such
jesting”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Knox was something of a polymath; his
sermons had been published, he wrote about Catholic doctrine, published verse
and satirical volumes as well as both writing detective fiction – his first <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Viaduct Murder</i> came out in 1925 –
and writing about detective fiction – he was a member of the Detection Club and
devised his ‘Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The idea for what became <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Broadcasting the Barricades</i> apparently
came to Knox during the last election (presumably the General Election of
October 1924) as he tried to imagine the news bulletins that might be broadcast
during a revolution. This was at a time when the threat of a ‘red revolution’ would
have seemed real to many listeners. The Communist Party of Great Britain had
not long been formed and with labour troubles already rumbling and the
ill-advised 1925 Gold Standard Act the political situation seemed febrile. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjki_7z6IK06UXoTClARwSWDNj9S4qOr5_1y4DL8CvXxe0Pde0SI8sCvucDznDKOJrrjrggfR8ilT_PEILgAFXA5GSiq5O9C63-xL7DZzVxuxWXhUncTGvZb_Uqgi1249Eka_clh2G-bPmS0W2i1XKCmbZZStqVSXHEf0iFdMG5En8i4zxSrv9swzHkweZb/s446/Barricades.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="446" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjki_7z6IK06UXoTClARwSWDNj9S4qOr5_1y4DL8CvXxe0Pde0SI8sCvucDznDKOJrrjrggfR8ilT_PEILgAFXA5GSiq5O9C63-xL7DZzVxuxWXhUncTGvZb_Uqgi1249Eka_clh2G-bPmS0W2i1XKCmbZZStqVSXHEf0iFdMG5En8i4zxSrv9swzHkweZb/s320/Barricades.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The broadcast, running for 17 minutes
in total, was made live at 7.40 pm on Saturday 16 January 1926 from the George
Street studios of the BBC’s Edinburgh relay station (call sign 2EH). 2EH
broadcast locally produced programmes as well as carrying SBs (simultaneous
broadcasts) from London. Knox’s talk was unusual in that it was an SB from
Edinburgh heard on a number of other stations, most significantly 2LO in
London. It wasn’t, though, broadcast nationwide as 2ZY Manchester, 5IT Birmingham,
2BD Aberdeen and 2LS Leeds did their own thing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">David Pat Walker (in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The BBC in Scotland</i>) describes the
programme:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The broadcast had been arranged by
Edinburgh’s Station Director George L. Marshall, who had met Knox on more than
one occasion and knew of his reputation as an author and humorist. Officially
described as a ‘Talk’ it was in fact a lengthy spoof news bulletin, complete
with effects, reporting an imaginary communist rising in London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">At the beginning of the programme some
sixth sense made George L. Marshall warn his audience that it wasn’t to be
taken seriously but he under-estimated the listeners’ unshakable belief in
everything they heard. As grave and utterly unexpected tidings flowed out of
headphones and loudspeakers throughout Britain a state of alarm bearing on
consternation swept across the country. The National Gallery was in flames. Big
Ben had been demolished by trench mortars. A communist revolution was exploding
in London and the mass forces of the unemployed had plundered the Savoy Hotel
and set it on fire. Finally, as the programme ended, there was a report that
‘unruly members of the crowd are now approaching the British Broadcasting
Company’s London station with a threatening demeanour.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Listeners up and down the country
sprang to their telephones, convinced that London had been laid waste. The
Savoy Hotel was bombarded with calls from the excited relations of guests while
the Irish Free State made enquiries through diplomatic channels to discover
whether it was true that the House of Commons had been blown up. Later that
evening the BBC issued an apology, ‘the BBC regrets that any listener should
have been perturbed by this purely fantastic picture.’</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Knox himself thought his broadcast so
far-fetched that no one would believe it was real. Unlike <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">War of the Worlds</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Broadcasting
the Barricades</i>, was a one-man affair with only live effects punctuating the
story. His characters added to the satirical nature of his theme: Sir
Theophilus Gooch, a film actress Miss Joy Gush, Mr Wotherspoon the Minister of
Traffic and a Mr Popplebury, the Secretary of the National Movement for
Abolishing Theatre Queues. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Some passages were, however, quite
dark: “the BBC regrets that one item in the news has been inaccurately given;
the correction now follows. It was stated in our news bulletin that the
Minister of Traffic had been hanged from a lamp post in the Vauxhall Bridge
Road. Subsequent and more accurate reports show that it was not a lamp post,
but a tramway post that was used for the purpose.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Meanwhile, down in London announcer
Stuart Hibberd was working that evening:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><blockquote>I was on duty at Savoy Hill and, as Knox
was speaking from Edinburgh, I did not listen at the beginning, but soon so
many phone calls from apprehensive listeners were coming through that I had to
listen. Obviously the whole thing was a spoof; you only had to listen to
sentences like ‘the mob are now swarming into Hyde park and throwing ginger
beer bottles at the ducks on the Serpentine’ to realise this; after all, it was
night, and bitterly cold, with ice and snow everywhere in the London area. But
still the telephone calls came in, and we had to put out a reassuring
announcement at the end. Sometime later that evening a call was put through to
me from a commercial traveller, who told me that he had only just got home
after a very long day. He found the wireless switched on, both his wife and his
sister-in-law, who was staying with them, drunk in the sitting room, and his
best bottle of brandy empty under the table. ‘What are you going to do about
it?’ he inquired. </blockquote><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Twenty minutes after the live
broadcast Knox and Marshall were having supper at the Caledonian Hotel when a
call was put through from BBC managing director John Reith saying that staff at
Savoy Hill had been annoyed by anxious inquiries. On Monday Reith asked for a
full transcript by telegram. Marshall despatched office boy Tony Cogle to the
post office to telegraph the script to London. It was, he later recalled, the
most expensive wire he could remember having sent. In the meantime Knox had by
now travelled over to Dublin where he was due to speak and so missed most of
the fallout that hit the press on the Monday. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Despite the initial furore there was
no official rebuke for Knox; he continued to broadcast through to the 1950s.
Indeed at a programme review board the following month the talk had been picked
out as one of the ‘outstanding items’ broadcast in January and even Reith
himself was pleased with it as it showed that people were listening. The press
attention, he concluded, only served to increase the number of public
appreciations. Anyway not too long after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Broadcasting
the Barricades</i> the BBC had far more important issues on its plate with the
General Strike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The influence of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Broadcasting the Barricades</i> didn’t just extend to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">War of the Worlds</i>. The following year,
on 30 June 1927, Australian station 5CL based in Adelaide broadcast what was
billed as a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Special Broadcast</i>. It too
used the device of interrupting a music programme for a news announcement and
then special effects to dramatise a supposed invasion. Inevitably the station,
the police and the local newspapers were inundated with calls despite the
frequent on-air reminders that it was ‘merely a play’, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnqM1pWg1YYUIUaGuOcqQ9u-r6Deoo9tkXqf_xK0onneMR21KH5zeH4HwJ4hSN5Catt51ch3ZrNCDf0lzXJFfZnbq7zlE1v8cXr9lmfmJw8sqgxDWetMlNlED40b6ZwjbPxkKP04YNtDqdIXdgUNDwV-FZvEuUrcaW3ur3sIHKStGpZD0xOWa6hnupfCwD/s546/The%20Riot%20That%20Never%20Was_20050616.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="546" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnqM1pWg1YYUIUaGuOcqQ9u-r6Deoo9tkXqf_xK0onneMR21KH5zeH4HwJ4hSN5Catt51ch3ZrNCDf0lzXJFfZnbq7zlE1v8cXr9lmfmJw8sqgxDWetMlNlED40b6ZwjbPxkKP04YNtDqdIXdgUNDwV-FZvEuUrcaW3ur3sIHKStGpZD0xOWa6hnupfCwD/s320/The%20Riot%20That%20Never%20Was_20050616.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />In June 2005 Raymond Snoddy looked at Knox’s
broadcast and the fallout from it in the BBC Radio 4 documentary <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Riot that Never Was</i>. Recreating
parts of the original broadcast was Bob Sinfield as Ronald Knox. It was
produced by Paul Slade and Nick Baker for Testbed Productions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MBX1Neip1PY?si=Sl78p1MbuhQT5L12" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The full text of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Broadcasting the Barricades</i> can be found in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Essays in Satire</i> by Ronald Knox available on the Internet Archive <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You can read more about Father Ronald
Knox and the 1926 broadcast on the <a href="http://www.planetslade.com/ronald-knox.html" target="_blank">Planetslade website</a>. <o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-74243765976390347882023-11-18T17:00:00.001+01:002023-11-18T17:00:00.138+01:00Along the Petticoat Line<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetIVPPM8QdYTsED5PHL3wn_oVVjqhySS9TsbaTx2Rghbxcpjf_ZdKbszoTIHQR2ykIjEgukJbOv2DhyphenhyphenCUiY7kArlUBztZ51AoNM-yJifHXfqNLT2QFOp4X1QLX3h3nekg-kfvS4u_Idfmrxx_0JjjfSd_9iFUxooeXSRk1qjmwEONELRwiLnyMXgGyz3P/s300/Anona%20Winn.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhetIVPPM8QdYTsED5PHL3wn_oVVjqhySS9TsbaTx2Rghbxcpjf_ZdKbszoTIHQR2ykIjEgukJbOv2DhyphenhyphenCUiY7kArlUBztZ51AoNM-yJifHXfqNLT2QFOp4X1QLX3h3nekg-kfvS4u_Idfmrxx_0JjjfSd_9iFUxooeXSRk1qjmwEONELRwiLnyMXgGyz3P/w400-h224/Anona%20Winn.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />On a BBC Radio 4 Extra all request weekend in August they
unearthed an edition of <i>Petticoat Line</i>,
the first time one had been broadcast in nearly half a century. Now largely
forgotten it was an all-woman panel programme at a time when most programmes
were male-dominated and any panel show often included a ‘token’ woman.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In style it sounded
like a more light-hearted version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Brains Trust</i> or even <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Any Questions?</i>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mixed with an agony column of the air. Remarkably
it ran for 11 years – I know this because I see I edited its Wikipedia entry to
that effect – but what I hadn’t appreciated is that it clocked up just over 250
editions. So what on earth was it all about? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The germ of the idea came from Anona Winn (pictured above) who wanted to call
it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Ombudswomen</i>. Listeners would
write in with their problems and she, acting as the chairperson, would get
advice from a panel of women. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the time - this was the mid-sixties – Anona was best
known to listeners as one of the panellists on the long-running <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twenty Questions</i> that had started on the
Home Service in 1947. (1) Born in Sydney in 1904 – and the first of many
Australian connections in this post - she had trained as a singer and actress and
appeared in musicals, revues and panto as well as making early broadcasts on
station 6WF. Anona left for London in 1926 and she made her first BBC radio
broadcasts in 1928 and even appeared on some early Baird television
transmissions in 1933 and 1934. By the time she joined <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twenty Questions</i> Anona had already made hundreds of broadcasts,
written songs and plays, appeared on stage and in films, cut dozens of
gramophone records (the discs described her as ‘The Celebrated Broadcasting
Artiste’) and achieved that ultimate distinction of being featured on
collectable cigarette cards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoRKtPct2JUA8uHFl4rwQgG3mvp8mbQBQuAqSamGbvNfVZ2Nc8qdHRTUreSuvt50VAp4TcA84yXxiZPww35S3GgXGaGxOXMkEF3uDMpghyphenhyphen9QhLlv2f8jk7iFaJVNLx0uVaoqfThQ5tZ-l3Ilbk_Qe3Inwipm9NVVEASjx61u-EiwMNBeRatf6aBjHfkbCE/s325/Anona%20Winn%20card.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="175" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoRKtPct2JUA8uHFl4rwQgG3mvp8mbQBQuAqSamGbvNfVZ2Nc8qdHRTUreSuvt50VAp4TcA84yXxiZPww35S3GgXGaGxOXMkEF3uDMpghyphenhyphen9QhLlv2f8jk7iFaJVNLx0uVaoqfThQ5tZ-l3Ilbk_Qe3Inwipm9NVVEASjx61u-EiwMNBeRatf6aBjHfkbCE/s320/Anona%20Winn%20card.jpg" width="172" /></a></div><br />Helping Anona thrash out the format of the new show was ace
quiz deviser Ian Messiter, now best known for coming up with the idea for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Just a Minute</i>. Ian had previously worked
for the BBC before resigning and trying his luck out in South Africa at
Springbok Radio. Returning to London he worked for the advertising agency
Mather & Crowther before going back to the BBC. He was still making the
occasional commercial when he met up with Anona Winn and it was an advert being
filmed at the T.V.A. studios in Wardour Street that led to Renee Houston being
drafted into the new show. Renee was filming an advert for Flash, a few years
before fellow Scottish actress Molly Weir got the gig, when Ian bumped into
her. According to Ian he thought that Renee “had few inhibitions” and that
“being clever too, she was just the solid earth anchor woman needed to help
tame the ingenious Anona Winn”. He also saw how Renee “not lady-like”,
“talkative” but “had compassion” would be an ideal foil to Anona, “lady-like
but talked too much” and convinced her to join the panel show. The other
panellists would be changed weekly. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Renee Houston had been touring the music halls since the
1920s together with her sister Billie as the Houston Sisters, ‘The
Irresistibles’. She’d gone solo in the mid-30s performing songs and comedy
routines and appeared on BBC radio’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Music
Hall </i>billed as ‘Half-singer, half-wit’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She continued to appear on radio variety shows and early television
shows throughout the 1940s by which time she’d formed a new stage partnership
with Donald Stewart – ‘variety’s sweethearts’ - who would become her third
husband. She was in demand as a film and tv actress in the 1950s and 60s,
including three <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Carry On</i> films,
before joining the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Petticoat Line</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Developing the programme format further it was agreed that
the show should be slightly anti-men. This allowed them to drop the title <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Ombudswomen</i> and go for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Petticoat Line</i>. (2) The programme opened
with a humorous question followed by a slightly more serious one. The middle
question would “rouse passions” and be something like ‘should we bring back
hanging?’ or ‘is fox hunting cruel?’. The next question would bring
light-hearted advice from the team and then they’d end with a silly question
such as ‘is it right that my husband likes to take a rubber duck into the bath
with him?’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The pilot got the green light from Head of Light
Entertainment Roy Rich and Bobby Jaye was assigned as the producer. At the
recording for the pilot Rich advised the panel not to talk over each other, not
to interrupt and, looking at Renee Houston, to “watch your language.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the recording Renee interrupted, talked
over people and said bloody a few times. But Rich relented: “I gave you the
wrong steer. You were right, you’re the joker, you’re the wild card. Keep it
that way”. Even so Ian Messiter admits that eventually they had to ration Renee
to three bloodies per show. Having said that based on the evidence of the
recordings below she doesn’t swear once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_MKs7-jWE8WOZxORJk5aecL7JdQRRfl1eYxU4Mb65_lGlFuoWsl7-aUcAXd6QpP8lcRtveBDHBuKTDQeY2TacytcNpm6IQnokC09sxH7buYNfRlG3mobbQn4h4PL9qzQOpt1tXB0mwHSbmDg6yLbo1uUWdXAdKe_5-7bAOwiQMY2Opfz4XVTj-4R4Vyh/s416/PetticoatLine_19650106.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="299" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_MKs7-jWE8WOZxORJk5aecL7JdQRRfl1eYxU4Mb65_lGlFuoWsl7-aUcAXd6QpP8lcRtveBDHBuKTDQeY2TacytcNpm6IQnokC09sxH7buYNfRlG3mobbQn4h4PL9qzQOpt1tXB0mwHSbmDg6yLbo1uUWdXAdKe_5-7bAOwiQMY2Opfz4XVTj-4R4Vyh/s320/PetticoatLine_19650106.jpg" width="230" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Radio Times</i> billing for the 1st show</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The first edition of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Petticoat
Line</i> went out on the Home Service on 6 January 1965. Alongside Renee
Houston the panel consisted of agony aunt Marjorie Proops, actress Jill Adams
and a young Jane Asher (just 18 at the time of the recording). <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For an introductory <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio
Times</i> article producer Bobby Jaye asked Anona Winn to explain the
programme’s format. And remember here that this was two years before the creation
in the UK of the Parliamentary Ombudsman.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">An Ombudsman is a Scandinavian chap who listens to citizens’
grievances and grumbles and tries to put things right. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Petticoat Line</i> will be four women discussing the grievances women
have against men and the complaints that men make about women – with me in the
chair to see fair play for both sides, we hope! They may be satisfied or
enraged, but at least these sex-war problems will get an airing. Some will end
in a laugh, while others will remain as a big headache for ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This first recording of Petticoat Line comes from the 6<sup>th</sup>
series broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 11 November 1969. Joining Anona and Renee
are Sheila van Damm, Margaret Powell and Judy Innes. Van Damm, daughter of
Vivian van Damm owner of the infamous Windmill Theatre, came to acclaim due to
her motor rallying exploits in the 1950s. Margaret Powell had come into the
public eye following the publication of her memoir <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Below Stairs</i> recounting her time in domestic service which
supposedly inspired <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Upstairs, Downstairs</i>.
Judy Innes was a journalist for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daily
Mail</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jxSZ8eW0fy4?si=birsEEhmmJh8cg4v" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">Anona Winn, ever the grand dame of panel shows, would insist
on the stage lighting being just so, presumably for the benefit of the studio
audience rather than those at home. “She need not have bothered,” exclaimed
Terry Wogan who chaired the World Service version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Animal, Vegetable or Mineral?</i>. “We recorded ...in the Playhouse
Theatre on the river near Charing Cross, and the front two rows were usually
made up of Lascars, brought in out of the cold by the Seaman’s Mission”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The second recording comes from the penultimate 11<sup>th</sup>
series broadcast on Radio 4 on 26 February 1975. On the panel are Marjorie
Anderson, presenter of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Woman’s Hour</i>,
comedienne and actress Beryl Reid and writer Janet Hitchman. </p>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CFbnpgydG0Y?si=vhqyYbXiL4ruioJt" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Petticoat Line</i> did
not shy away from difficult subjects, listen to the discussion on adoption in
the second programme, but there’s a sense in which the often homespun
philosophy often espoused by Renee Houston wins out. Note how, in the first
programme, the team are quick to blame ‘the young’, an obvious and perennial
group at which to point a wagging finger, as the lack of a Christmas Day
broadcast from the Queen (we now know this was the Queen’s own decision). Judy
Innes, the relative youngster on the panel, though she’d be 32 at the time of
recording, is in the minority here. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The discussion on foreign aid is fascinating – and still
pertinent today - with Margaret Powell arguing that payment was justified as
Britain had milked many of the countries at their expense, Anona Winn’s reply
as to the benefits of Britain’s colonial past is telling. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Over its run <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Petticoat
Line</i> featured 200 panellists many of whom were actresses and journalists.
Occasionally a politician would be asked on, Margaret Thatcher and Barbara
Castle for example. If the panel seemed be slanted towards middle-aged women of
a ‘certain age’ they did try to tip the age balance with the likes of Jane
Asher, Joan Bakewell, Erin Pizzey or Anthea Askey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHVdcSb3UmbUaxDx51qQ0gzPhAb8_bW1n2XfjEgpqAUhXJsc4PU9wHgVpPRubogF-xbnA2INz4cHAikAq6an6XUzjsGYYG8oUnwxcOHXvpmNTodoedQdoe0bpMyxInZ8pn5mOBo-IZc7AksSTMwLDoMUym3G0FIX6CJl1eWbR83pwNoiPQLlEYLcnG9KWj/s569/Petticoat%20Line_19721004.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="357" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHVdcSb3UmbUaxDx51qQ0gzPhAb8_bW1n2XfjEgpqAUhXJsc4PU9wHgVpPRubogF-xbnA2INz4cHAikAq6an6XUzjsGYYG8oUnwxcOHXvpmNTodoedQdoe0bpMyxInZ8pn5mOBo-IZc7AksSTMwLDoMUym3G0FIX6CJl1eWbR83pwNoiPQLlEYLcnG9KWj/s320/Petticoat%20Line_19721004.jpg" width="201" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Radio Times</i> billing for 4 October 1972</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The panel may have been all-female but the producers were
always male. The first producer, Bobby Jaye, would go on to head up the radio
Light Entertainment department. Next was John Cassels, at the time producing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Roundabout </i>for the Light Programme whose
other credits would include <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twenty
Questions </i>and the early series of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m
Sorry I Haven’t a Clue</i>. Looking after production from 1969 to 1973 was
Chris Serle, later better known as one of Esther’s boys on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">That’s Life!</i> He was also producing Radio 2’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Late Night Extra</i> and would also work again with Ian Messiter on the
Radio 4 panel game <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Right or Wrong</i>. In
the last three years production duties fell to Alastair Scott Johnson, mostly
associated with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Navy Lark</i>,
Trafford Whitelock and John Bridges. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Despite the long runs of each series <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Petticoat Line</i> was not universally praised. According to David
Hendy in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life on Four</i> it “sounded
more like a showcase of arch 1950s-style femininity. Winn’s faithful following
among older listeners protected the programme from the Controller’s axe since,
as (Tony) Whitby put it, he would be hanged ‘from the lampposts of Bond Street’
if she was removed. That did not stop others in Broadcasting House from damning
the programme as ‘unendurable’, and its contributors as ‘female dinosaurs’ who
belonged not to the last generation, but to the generation before the last’.” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Radio producer David Hatch recalls a visit to the Playhouse
Theatre: “It was an amazing sight – Renee Houston on the left, Anona in the
chair, all of them in hats. And an audience in the Playhouse of probably 500!
All in hats! You know it was a wonderful sight!” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBwY8qTM0yfrYJjtebqg1Wfg9BLc_81r3xQUGPW9WtVtL_EqhnB4XphSbjGWlmfVjUuAQ1yAqqRSRjtF-WSmrgzBpsNcqi8w0IEkjRJKcjfrKi1z8TpDXtLUeYlTA1jCF529WpG9YqkLe-s_iG9uehBXpKomDB5KBQRN1wDDRPMMn0o7qAA1lme8ho_Zs/s389/Be%20Reasonable_280968.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBwY8qTM0yfrYJjtebqg1Wfg9BLc_81r3xQUGPW9WtVtL_EqhnB4XphSbjGWlmfVjUuAQ1yAqqRSRjtF-WSmrgzBpsNcqi8w0IEkjRJKcjfrKi1z8TpDXtLUeYlTA1jCF529WpG9YqkLe-s_iG9uehBXpKomDB5KBQRN1wDDRPMMn0o7qAA1lme8ho_Zs/s320/Be%20Reasonable_280968.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Radio Times</i> billing for the 1st edition 28 September 1968</td></tr></tbody></table><br />In 1968 Radio 4 sought to give the men a chance to reply to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Petticoat Line</i> in a series called<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Be Reasonable! </i>Yes, for some reason it
was thought that the chaps hadn’t been offered much of a voice so they could
get to discuss the same issues as the women. In effect it was an attempt to
resurrect the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We Beg to Differ</i> format
(see below). <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Be Reasonable!</i>
would pick up on the exact same questions that had been posed to the women and
would include a clip of at least one response from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Petticoat Line</i> before chairman Michael Smee would offer it over to
the men to discuss. So on one edition we get the topics of women cleaning up after
men, whether money is best spent on art rather than housing or charity and why
are women coy about giving their age. The regular panellist was Humphrey
Lyttelton, who on the first edition was joined by Radio 1 DJ David Symonds,
Colonel Sammy Lohan (the former ‘bowler-hatted, moustachioed civil servant’ who
in the sixties had headed the Government D notice committee) and John Taylor
(not sure which John Taylor this is, perhaps the composer?).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Radio listeners in the sixties may have been thinking that
they’d heard all this ‘Battle of the Sexes’ type stuff before, and they’d have
been right. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We Beg to Differ</i>, which
had aired during the 1950s (and was resurrected in 1966), was billed as “a
lively discussion on subjects which the sexes may disagree with.” Devised by
producer Pat Dixon from an idea by actress Charmian Innes it pitted the likes
of Kay Hammond, Joyce Grenfell, Gladys Young and Innes herself against actor
John Clements (married to Hammond) and Charles Hill ‘The Radio Doctor’ but who
was soon replaced by the harrumphing Gilbert Harding. Keeping the peace was
chairman Roy Plomley. (3) </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We Beg to Differ</i>
itself was, according to Gale Pedrick writing for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Times</i>, a kind of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brains
Trust </i>with a difference. The format was not too dissimilar to that later
adopted for the comedy panel show <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Does
the Team Think?,</i> indeed questions on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We
Beg to Differ</i> were often posed as “does the team think that.....?” The
revived 1966 series played down the men vs women aspect and was just a general
talking shop. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgywW0mhFBBX8o9zXKbAdAG-Mn6T4doNVejk1aS1SnBro0f-o9e2x6b-dJON4xsmFFnCQMW689Cpc0a6a8aVzCYVohHo23ZmQ-zDKMWaBCiM6lGLP9__g1eplVeJrG7r0wRu54nleV90ar2CI2V4WtUcAQhlOPXTUX2J2O8lJC2VocgBMZ7dprLi46Sxbum/s581/HowToManageMen_19580731.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="581" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgywW0mhFBBX8o9zXKbAdAG-Mn6T4doNVejk1aS1SnBro0f-o9e2x6b-dJON4xsmFFnCQMW689Cpc0a6a8aVzCYVohHo23ZmQ-zDKMWaBCiM6lGLP9__g1eplVeJrG7r0wRu54nleV90ar2CI2V4WtUcAQhlOPXTUX2J2O8lJC2VocgBMZ7dprLi46Sxbum/s320/HowToManageMen_19580731.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>How to Manage Men</i> 31 July 1958</td></tr></tbody></table><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />How To Manage Men</i>
was a short-lived series broadcast in 1958/59 described by Denis Gifford as a
“pioneering feminist series”. Yet again the initial premise came from an
actress, or in this case two Australian actresses, Gwen Plumb and Thelma Scott.
Both enjoyed acting success in later Aussie soaps, Gwen in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Young Doctors</i> and Thelma in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Number
96</i>. Producer C.F. ‘Mike’ Meehan, veteran of such programmes as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In Town Tonight</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twenty Questions</i>, described <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How
To Manage Men</i> for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Times</i>:
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘It gives women who have a grievance
against men – husband, fiancé or office boss – the opportunity to sit at home
without fear of detection, and hear a panel of experienced women offer advice
as to how to deal with the offending male’. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The chairperson was actress Jacqueline Mackenzie (4) who read
out the problem letters and summed up the ensuing discussion. Each week a
different male guest was in attendance ‘to defend his sex, support the male
viewpoint and, if he possibly can, try to convince the panel how very wrong
they are about the wickedness of men’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The panel consisted of three actress/singers Frances Day,
Diana Decker and Vanessa Lee plus that panel show regular Charmian Innes. Other
panellists were Diana Graves and Helen Bailey. Representing the men were the
likes of Kenneth Horne, Bill Owen, Gerard Hoffnung and Peter Haigh. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(1) It finally ended on Radio 4 in 1976 with Anona still on
the panel</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(2) Ian Messiter doesn’t explain where the title comes from
exactly but you suspect they were unaware of the Regency slang ‘in the petticoat
line’ which referred to associating with women of easy virtue</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(3) Playing ‘Comedy Connections’ for a moment Plomley would
go onto work with Ian Messiter again as chair for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">One Minute Please</i>, the forerunner to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Just a Minute </i>and the panel game <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Many a Slip</i>. Charmian Innes would appear on about 30 editions of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Petticoat Line</i> and was a panellist on
earlier editions of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Just a Minute</i> and
on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We Beg to Differ</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(4) Jacqueline
Mackenzie was later, under the name Jackie Forster, ‘a trailblazing gay rights activist’.
See article by Marc Saul on the <a href="https://televisionheaven.co.uk/biographies/jacqueline-mackenzie" target="_blank">Television Heaven website</a>. There’s also a
further Australian connection which may explain Jacqueline’s involvement with
the show. Earlier that year (1958) she co-starred in the BBC tv comedy <i>Trouble for Two</i> alongside Australian
singer and actress Lorrae Desmond. She also shared the writing credits with
Johnny Whyte who would later emigrate to Australia and was a scriptwriter on <i>Number 96</i>. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Petticoat Line </i>series details<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The most frequently appearing panellists were:<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Sheila
Van Damm, Charmian Innes, Bettine le Beau, Juno Alexander and Isobel Barnett</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 1 to 3 broadcast on Home Service, all others on Radio
4. Number of episodes in brackets.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 1:<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>6.1.65
to 31.3.65 (13)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 2: 7.10.65 to 31.12.65 (13)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 3: 6.10.66 to 29.12.66<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(13)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 4: 2.10.67 to 25.36.68 (26)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 5: 24.9368 to 1.4.69 (28)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 6: 9.9.67 to 3.3.70 (26)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 7: 7.10.70 to 31.3.71 (26)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 8: 29.9.71 to 22.3.72 (26)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 9: 4.10.72 to 28.3.73 (26)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 10: 3.10.73 to 27.3.74 (26)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 11: 9.10.74 to 2.4.75 (26)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 12: 29.10.75 to 21.1.76 (13) </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Theme music: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fluter’s
Holiday</i> by Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The full list of panellists in order of appearance are:
Renee Houston, Marjorie Proops, Jill<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Adams, Jane Asher, Dee Wells, Francesca Annis, Sheila Van Damm,
Anneke<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wills, Maureen<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cleave, Molly<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Weir, Melanie<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Franklin,
Serena<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sinclair, Lucy<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bartlett, Ethel<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Revnell, Nan<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Winton, Shirley<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Summerskill,
Beryl<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reid, Brenda<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bruce, Florence<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Desmond, Carol<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Binstead, Cathy McGowan, Joy Adamson,
Heather<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jenner, Norma<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ronald, Louise<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dunn, Judy<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fallon, Virginia Lewis, Sheila Hancock, Jill Browne, Mary Stocks, Romany
Bain, Charmian Innes, Susan Messier, Fanny Craddock, Debbie Bowen, Margaret<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Powell, Joan Turner, Elisabeth Welch, Isobel
Barnett, Libby Morris, Barbara Blake, Katie Boyle, Dilys Watling, Sheila Scott,
Anne<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edwards, Unity Hall, Frankie
McGowan, Janette Rowsell, Ann Meo, Anne<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Summer, Mary Pemberton, Bettine Le Beau, Miriam Karlin, Pamela Townsend,
Vivienne Nixon, Eleanor Summerfield, June<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Murphy, Irene Thomas, Valerie Ann Fisher, Joan Bakewell, Rita Merkelis,
Winnifred Ewing, Deirdre Costello, Danae Brook, Avril Angers, Dee Annan, Ann
Nightingale, Beverley Philpotts, Teddie Beverley, Juno Alexander, Jill
Fletcher, Barbara Kelly, Diana Dors, Judy Innes, Edwina Coven, Joy Nichols,
Katherine Whitehorn, Beverley Walker, Rose Shaw, Mary Kenny, Irene Ward, Aida
Young, Drusilla Beyfus, Kay Nash, Sarah Stocks, Jacqueline Mackenzie, Sally
Beauman, Margaret Thatcher, Andree Melly, Anthea Askey, Jane Hascom, Anne Shelton,
Julia Clements, Lady Dartmouth, Anne Corfield, Hy Hazell, Roberta Rex, Nina
Francis, Jenny Russell, Hilary Bamford, Ginette Spanier, Mary Griffiths, Ailey
Wands Worster, Molly Kenyon Jones, Olga Franklin, Anna Coote, Bunty James,
Barbara Castle, Janet Hitchman, Baroness Masham, Patricia Laffan, Anne Suter,
Eileen Fowler, Joyce Lyon, Doreen Stephens, Jean Rook, Nemone Lethbridge,
Josephine Douglas, Rosemary Palmer, Evelyn Home, Denise Bryer, Elsie Waters,
Doris Waters, Dame Marie Rambert, Beryl Te Wiata, Joan Hall, Jane Lehrer,
Hephzibah Menuhin, Nancy Wise, Sylvia Anderson, Renny Lister, Barbara Cartland,
Jill Knight, Alice Hemming, Ann Holloway, Yvonne Zackerwich, Maxine Audley,
Gwen Grant, Val<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hudson, Caroline Coon,
Mary Whitehouse, Molly Parkin, Pamela Manson, Hilda Angus-Whiting, Polly Elwes,
Gwenda Goldman, Rachel Heyhoe, Esther Vilar, Jonquil Antony, Katherine Hadley,
Linda Blanford, Barbara Mullen, Joan Vickers, Renee Short, Zena Skinner,
Ninette Mongador, Adrienne Corri, Beryl Grey, Patricia Melly, Diana Cooper,
Peggy Cochrane, June Whitfield, Trixie Gardner, Christian Howard, Dr Christine
Pickard, Louisa Service, Elizabeth Taylor, Kathleen J. Smith, Nan Kenway,
Shirley Becke, Ena Twigg, Peggy Mount, Jean Marsh, Anita Lonsbrough, Betty
Knightly, Ann Burdess, Jeanne Heal, Betty Marsden, Marika Hanbury-Tenison,
Freddie Bloom, Elaine Stritch, Dame Eva Turner, Anetta Hoffnung, Claudia
Flanders, Gabrielle Sherston-Baker, Erin Pizzey, Aimi MacDonald, Jean Kent,
Myrtle Simpson, Nikki Archer, Elspeth Rhys-Williams, Elizabeth Chater, Marjorie
Anderson, Trudi van Doorn, Carrie Leonard, Pat Jacob, Susan Reynolds, Gretta
Gouriet, Doris Hare and Anne<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Valery</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Be Reasonable! </i>series details <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Broadcast Saturdays (repeat on Tuesdays) for 28 weeks: 28
September 1968 to 29 March 1969 on Radio 4</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Chaired by Michael Smee. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Panellists: Humphrey Lyttelton (appeared in 23 editions),
David Symonds (11 editions), Peter Clayton, Col Sammy Lohan, Godfrey Winn, John
Taylor, Tony Bilbow, Lord Arran, John Jensen, Barry Took, Tim Brinton, Stuart
Henry, Terence Alexander, Cyril Fletcher, Bernard Braden, Alan Pegler, Leslie
Crowther, Denny Piercy, David Franklin, Danny Blanchflower, Tony Brandon, Wolf
Mankowitz, Donald Zec, Jonathan Lynn, Jon Petwee, Nick Clarke, Kingsley Amis,
Brian Matthew, Ian Wallace, The Dean of St Paul’s, Ronnie Fletcher, John Ebdon,
Bernard Spear, Val Guest and Milton Shulman. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Theme music: A jazzed up version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ordinary Man</i> from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My Fair
Lady</i> by Helmut Zacharias and his Orchestra.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We Beg to Differ </i>series details<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All programmes on the Home Service</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 1: 23.9.49 to 10.3.50 </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 2: 20.10.50 to 6.2.51</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 3: 3.4.51 to 31.7.51</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Christmas Special: 25.12.51</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 4: 21.1.52 to 14.4.52</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">New Year Special: 31.12.52</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Christmas Special: 24.12.53</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 5: 28.12.53 to 8.2.54</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 6: 6.1.66 to 31.3.66 chaired by Kenneth Horne with
Michael Denison & Dulcie Gray, John Boulting and Juliet Harmer</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 7: 7.4.66 to 30.6.66 chaired by Michael Smee with
Bernard Braden & Barbara Kelly, Charmian Innes, Steve Race and Bernard
Levin. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How to Manage Men<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 1 broadcast on the Light Programme, series 2 on the
Home Service</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 1: 31.7.58 to 25.9.58 (9)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The male guests were (in order): Kenneth Horne, Peter Haigh,
Gerard Hoffnung, John Paddy Carstairs, Stephen Grenfell, Godfrey Harrison, Tony
van der Burgh, John Ellison and Bill Owen.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Series 2: 23.12.58 and 8.1.59 (2)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Chaired by Eleanor Summerfield with the panel of Frances
Day, Helen Bailey, Diana Graves and Charmian Innes with male guest Bill Owen</p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-18850943732191671112023-10-06T12:31:00.000+02:002023-10-06T12:31:25.495+02:00LBC – Where News Comes First<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphenIDuKUrML8ogqiIg-zaya8LSmLpo3XaIb4FmVQH8IUpPk9VpiN3h3aQB5DyxlU8d9lHWyoFwAL4hWq0-SHVrcVlSdCtDT7VrnBdh6P7IrggRoS_XaadjVwyyiIzTrLVj4tf52FnpSYTrN0bJfC1aJIuGWHpBW2-mx0QfhTK2-aRaXKwn-cYdhW457K3X/s1041/GlobalCupcakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="1041" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphenIDuKUrML8ogqiIg-zaya8LSmLpo3XaIb4FmVQH8IUpPk9VpiN3h3aQB5DyxlU8d9lHWyoFwAL4hWq0-SHVrcVlSdCtDT7VrnBdh6P7IrggRoS_XaadjVwyyiIzTrLVj4tf52FnpSYTrN0bJfC1aJIuGWHpBW2-mx0QfhTK2-aRaXKwn-cYdhW457K3X/w400-h215/GlobalCupcakes.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />This Sunday commercial radio will mark its 50<sup>th</sup>
anniversary on the day that LBC launched in London, with Capital Radio coming
along eight days later.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Courtesy of Joseph McTaggart here are some signed LBC
presenter photo cards dating from the late 1980s (based on the logo) plus this
mid-80s card featuring Brian Hayes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXAjKwh2QNifwdwNVaBlgOAwxMMfCCs32oHRuDYtcy4KhCHHIJPEVUQOs9J7o5rEJmEfrgA4nZ_o2TOhrAN1fS89cY41mM4wr03TRsnyexRB1nBCSd-SCvc669FviKPYmmBmRetuFB-j-yYxATONthWv57D6Y8oAM80ldS_mcxo-TMLB472CTXpsl8Pbds/s1156/LBC_Brian%20Hayes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1156" data-original-width="816" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXAjKwh2QNifwdwNVaBlgOAwxMMfCCs32oHRuDYtcy4KhCHHIJPEVUQOs9J7o5rEJmEfrgA4nZ_o2TOhrAN1fS89cY41mM4wr03TRsnyexRB1nBCSd-SCvc669FviKPYmmBmRetuFB-j-yYxATONthWv57D6Y8oAM80ldS_mcxo-TMLB472CTXpsl8Pbds/w283-h400/LBC_Brian%20Hayes.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><br />Brian moved from Capital, where he’d been producing <i>Capital
Open Line</i> and their General election coverage, in 1976 to host LBC’s
mid-morning phone-in. He left for BBC Radio 2 in 1990 but was back on London
News Talk in 1994. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnYb5V9kGl_zny6JMX2tO6t4XsdY5eUXzNtQJZ_OPlq2b95w3DtpAVp9-L5HsnI3KyxACEGghwXOMtELpMH531PQfP6WHiOYFlO-WPu9EtR9bAwZE1fakMZMMolDeR8qF2ZSyD12MnPHiqo0cbcM69sDcaGmAo400rXjvjYLp-dKFMSedIwUniR25KT5B/s1153/LBC_Douglas%20Cameron.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="820" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnYb5V9kGl_zny6JMX2tO6t4XsdY5eUXzNtQJZ_OPlq2b95w3DtpAVp9-L5HsnI3KyxACEGghwXOMtELpMH531PQfP6WHiOYFlO-WPu9EtR9bAwZE1fakMZMMolDeR8qF2ZSyD12MnPHiqo0cbcM69sDcaGmAo400rXjvjYLp-dKFMSedIwUniR25KT5B/w285-h400/LBC_Douglas%20Cameron.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><br />In the 1970s Douglas Cameron’s voice was one of the most
recognised and most frequently heard across the ILR stations reading the
morning IRN bulletins. Cameron had moved to IRN from Radio 4’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Today</i> programme in 1974. Mainly
associated with breakfast shows, including the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AM Programme</i> with Bob Holness, but from 1996 on drive and then
lunchtime before retiring in 2003.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 8 October 2013 Douglas Cameron made a one-off return to
read the 8am news during Nick Ferrari’s show. </p>
<audio controls="">
<source src="http://docs.google.com/uc?export=open&id=1IoDAHGenUJMXewi1vvTsoKYEFjjSz0fU " type="audio/mp3"></source>
</audio>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY9e_lB17JKB5zg4nqsW5mxH-gbi-EwBrnslh6udFbqWsmoBj27_K-L4Pm0JAv7xYcrG_FQvykm8Y51N5aK9JG4iGr2sSWMHDPF251FpLEgEW-zDmYaGMJlrE-4YqUOuJENyCh-8gx5FZYTFfCoVqqA6e24XCqqzJ3ipp9Bss8ygGl6vLlVsq8T0JQ3xoS/s1156/LBC_Clive%20Bull.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1156" data-original-width="832" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY9e_lB17JKB5zg4nqsW5mxH-gbi-EwBrnslh6udFbqWsmoBj27_K-L4Pm0JAv7xYcrG_FQvykm8Y51N5aK9JG4iGr2sSWMHDPF251FpLEgEW-zDmYaGMJlrE-4YqUOuJENyCh-8gx5FZYTFfCoVqqA6e24XCqqzJ3ipp9Bss8ygGl6vLlVsq8T0JQ3xoS/w288-h400/LBC_Clive%20Bull.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br />Clive Bull is the only broadcaster in this card collection
still on LBC after over 30 years. Clive will be on air this anniversary weekend
at 1am.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKeGZ9UZkLf3OS8t-dTMATg1cfMl6jzlETIDp3ApqVK4VIQWLWhEjodNcqj0W6pe6GILHGe7iBp4lQE8fOjwxOdrblEm_cQ_mrMqHFowo3sm7fFxSE5MgwX8VGfcy2WWK74pjGl24mvj4B5AJBLbVjoeGpvfiLnRo1hyNzu21F8ty4082JWSWK6wypePk/s1169/LBC_Steve%20Jones.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1169" data-original-width="822" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKeGZ9UZkLf3OS8t-dTMATg1cfMl6jzlETIDp3ApqVK4VIQWLWhEjodNcqj0W6pe6GILHGe7iBp4lQE8fOjwxOdrblEm_cQ_mrMqHFowo3sm7fFxSE5MgwX8VGfcy2WWK74pjGl24mvj4B5AJBLbVjoeGpvfiLnRo1hyNzu21F8ty4082JWSWK6wypePk/w281-h400/LBC_Steve%20Jones.jpg" width="281" /></a></div><br />After previous radio work at Clyde and Radio 2 Steve Jones
joined LBC in the late 80s. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI8u7VVFYwijG0kp0jULASb-J7r_DBTV_BAuFjPru9bqhLHjONG0gGTzfZTNF1zKqJuLyt-WqQPNZgXJ8EbcJ76zbMJoPxE-876EvjZfl0Dr9Nw_-l1wcI9X4HeAP1L3m__IUdJv30tE3rLahWiraDxGqc0DBPIUjZmqI_v_YhdUaSUD8rWytt8fAl4mJf/s1159/LBC_Therese%20Birch.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1159" data-original-width="819" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI8u7VVFYwijG0kp0jULASb-J7r_DBTV_BAuFjPru9bqhLHjONG0gGTzfZTNF1zKqJuLyt-WqQPNZgXJ8EbcJ76zbMJoPxE-876EvjZfl0Dr9Nw_-l1wcI9X4HeAP1L3m__IUdJv30tE3rLahWiraDxGqc0DBPIUjZmqI_v_YhdUaSUD8rWytt8fAl4mJf/w283-h400/LBC_Therese%20Birch.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><br />Therese Birch was with LBC from the mid-70s initially
presenting <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jellybone</i> for younger
listeners. She was on London News Radio and the revived LBC in 1996. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjetjshroDy2MGtaitGUUwscTw49V8DuRQMGjmuEPIqz_s33TFwzQBTsaUiI907mQYcXgVcl0Dx07uxa9SYkDHPEesccf_MoEJsRqE3qWfC1uQA-2yWZztbGpkIsJulr3vfjFYZRkM5TwC77xOR4f5WniH_x4TzWDZs10AzimGapQeXiitmvJYlWlkJeaGq/s1156/LBC_Pete%20Murray.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1156" data-original-width="825" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjetjshroDy2MGtaitGUUwscTw49V8DuRQMGjmuEPIqz_s33TFwzQBTsaUiI907mQYcXgVcl0Dx07uxa9SYkDHPEesccf_MoEJsRqE3qWfC1uQA-2yWZztbGpkIsJulr3vfjFYZRkM5TwC77xOR4f5WniH_x4TzWDZs10AzimGapQeXiitmvJYlWlkJeaGq/w285-h400/LBC_Pete%20Murray.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><br />After a long radio career at Radio Luxembourg and BBC Radio
2 Pete Murray joined LBC in 1984, continuing to appear on the station until
2002. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW8NhFklq-PBApbFw394xp8WJOTZ9JEdd5n9BGZrMyCIVU7EKYCdQNHz6zY2G6drB1c0vg1_67ZA6KF_rnrQl_cmEX-0HuRLUq7SbyZ0mNceVGjvxz93mXaxPVc4IXy9-6ujQPI34Vm82sPXxEPgg0E6XafMyxf1qb75qPevT3whgfDk00nFM8HugR_Bgg/s1161/LBC_Henry%20Kelly.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1161" data-original-width="827" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW8NhFklq-PBApbFw394xp8WJOTZ9JEdd5n9BGZrMyCIVU7EKYCdQNHz6zY2G6drB1c0vg1_67ZA6KF_rnrQl_cmEX-0HuRLUq7SbyZ0mNceVGjvxz93mXaxPVc4IXy9-6ujQPI34Vm82sPXxEPgg0E6XafMyxf1qb75qPevT3whgfDk00nFM8HugR_Bgg/w285-h400/LBC_Henry%20Kelly.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><br />Henry Kelly had two stints at LBC either side of his time at
Classic FM (1992-2003). <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZn4eJrSicPj6IHc5MFZ1E2ON6iLorVCgcV1PaXbn_i7e1_QhU-Zll7fJ7sktisHuXLMCQy7cTLAL0qUhfY1YFuuS_Loso0yv7M0BE1vsfLZQ5x5BRYDETN78yWlIE0uAQ0fP3ktpj7w3FbrPavq4efBNZjWcHsAnjxXutb81wMyoG2dcNiW2VlF9iQfg/s1166/LBC_Mike%20Allen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1166" data-original-width="806" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZn4eJrSicPj6IHc5MFZ1E2ON6iLorVCgcV1PaXbn_i7e1_QhU-Zll7fJ7sktisHuXLMCQy7cTLAL0qUhfY1YFuuS_Loso0yv7M0BE1vsfLZQ5x5BRYDETN78yWlIE0uAQ0fP3ktpj7w3FbrPavq4efBNZjWcHsAnjxXutb81wMyoG2dcNiW2VlF9iQfg/w276-h400/LBC_Mike%20Allen.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><br />Mike Allen joined LBC from Capital in 1987. Left in 1994 and
was later on Talk Radio and Talk Sport. Died in 2015. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLsLJKmHEw9u7HhwQS6y-L3_EM5w819yD0BCvS-rPbdiuqY6ToGn1wnm_O2ODAtnLe-za_7w_QBmmwTM8WeGTaN7OwmKqE0UfdkuJTdZIEj9mSdet5zcxyhBZIpOR-qiJEr2Fa5khYcZZalbwiULRrHJm8xiNVuwBXdCiOnMkwHWODF0kVc9t9K_n-KAVZ/s1154/LBC_Sue%20Jameson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="828" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLsLJKmHEw9u7HhwQS6y-L3_EM5w819yD0BCvS-rPbdiuqY6ToGn1wnm_O2ODAtnLe-za_7w_QBmmwTM8WeGTaN7OwmKqE0UfdkuJTdZIEj9mSdet5zcxyhBZIpOR-qiJEr2Fa5khYcZZalbwiULRrHJm8xiNVuwBXdCiOnMkwHWODF0kVc9t9K_n-KAVZ/w288-h400/LBC_Sue%20Jameson.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br />Sue Jameson joined LBC from Radio City. She was LBC’s Arts
Editor and heard on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">LBC Reports</i>.
Moscow correspondent for LBC 1989-96 before joining ITV at GMTV, later Daybreak
and GMB. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal">Staying with ILR, from 1992 comes this interview with John
Whitney about how he co-founded the Local Radio Association and became the
first MD of Capital Radio. John is talking to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sunday Times</i> radio critic Paul Donovan for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio 2 Arts Programme</i> on 2 February 1992.</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lVaWz3Dxva8?si=VJ06HhoBGj_Kvdsd" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdN3pSTcikktZcSoNGIrGq57iFW3mr06f-u2YrRDkImD2gyxB_QFHjWQi6XBxIe13A2etSJdwN1WYdFJx2S4YcOnax_W7XgD9IQ8d_kVSRKA8UK8yuny1HgyMSmp66hwcf8q07fN8QTXR501y7YAINCbnRq_ic5fzhDBIsUO1aW5zZGh2Yz7venuZVuztk/s836/Graham%20Dene%20+%20Michael%20Aspel%20(2023).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="836" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdN3pSTcikktZcSoNGIrGq57iFW3mr06f-u2YrRDkImD2gyxB_QFHjWQi6XBxIe13A2etSJdwN1WYdFJx2S4YcOnax_W7XgD9IQ8d_kVSRKA8UK8yuny1HgyMSmp66hwcf8q07fN8QTXR501y7YAINCbnRq_ic5fzhDBIsUO1aW5zZGh2Yz7venuZVuztk/w400-h259/Graham%20Dene%20+%20Michael%20Aspel%20(2023).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />This Sunday Boom Radio will be celebrating the anniversary
with some voices from the early days of ILR: Dave Jamieson, Phil Fothergill,
Dave Marshall, Michael Aspel and Graham Dene, Les Ross, John Peters, Mike Read,
Roger Day, Susie Mathis, Len Groat, John Rosborough, Keith Skues, Gillian Reynolds
and Bill Bingham. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p><br /><p></p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-53576583969631660932023-09-27T09:00:00.002+02:002023-09-27T10:09:08.971+02:00100 Years of Radio Times (Part 2)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZxMnLheAD0A90G9T1-Z3q8eINVBHJQf7Jgj-IAFLtvgh7waIyIlBQijl9AFWsIlnwD5Eb6efQkEliqZKWnXxhND1SorEUAu6-2F543l_DLHt_ZUxh-aCf4X_nrIVbQKv9Now-70w0opvHnksdTAmk_umBRLotoEwG5TfY-RDDORb8tK7gu0OzDhKJ42G/s1772/20230923_CentenaryEdition(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1772" data-original-width="1323" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZxMnLheAD0A90G9T1-Z3q8eINVBHJQf7Jgj-IAFLtvgh7waIyIlBQijl9AFWsIlnwD5Eb6efQkEliqZKWnXxhND1SorEUAu6-2F543l_DLHt_ZUxh-aCf4X_nrIVbQKv9Now-70w0opvHnksdTAmk_umBRLotoEwG5TfY-RDDORb8tK7gu0OzDhKJ42G/s320/20230923_CentenaryEdition(3).jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This week the UK’s oldest listings magazine celebrates its centenary. <i>The</i> <i>Radio Times</i> –‘the official organ of the BBC’ – hit the newsstands on 28 September 1923 listing the programmes for the radio stations in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Newcastle and Glasgow. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The centenary issue – which now carries listings for 86 TV channels and 63 radio stations - includes an article looking at significant events or personalities in the last century linked to some of the more memorable <i>Radio Times</i> covers. Here are Melvyn Bragg on the birth of television, Dan Snow on WWII, Jonathan Dimbleby on the Coronation, David Hepworth on The Beatles, Professor Brain Cox on moon landings, Angela Rippon on Eric & Ernie, Tony Jordan on the shared experience of watching TV, David Dimbleby on the 97 General Election, Mike Gunton on <i>The Blue Planet</i>, Seb Coe on the 2012 Olympics and Simon Schama on the Covid pandemic. </div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW2eyMWyQFZnCQ0GEEIO_WKesMCmyx_l-HerQ912AaLoDZbAJJxGYFACy8NKvnWBamUTc_GtPF88hBMl4a7AMsn2cRClDQbXjiy-GySSIvtf1MJg0Ean1JTY3LcVheqjQeVOX8IpALucfGvaOkQF82zhXvA2xjWdixlJSPHe4rk7UCSNU7RlFPPMiC9uBx/s2332/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2332" data-original-width="1700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW2eyMWyQFZnCQ0GEEIO_WKesMCmyx_l-HerQ912AaLoDZbAJJxGYFACy8NKvnWBamUTc_GtPF88hBMl4a7AMsn2cRClDQbXjiy-GySSIvtf1MJg0Ean1JTY3LcVheqjQeVOX8IpALucfGvaOkQF82zhXvA2xjWdixlJSPHe4rk7UCSNU7RlFPPMiC9uBx/w291-h400/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(1).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWuyx7llcC624XKwHZg9tsAkrUJ9fs_rI05ES644x3LuxGedoRGvsxQhHf7Wpmwy0WtODuK80ndiqsyGPvvNspN9sn7BF_GEwfchZWz1agilDzp359671Gw0pXw4eTUzDbNABOSf01b-a90qSoeODHP9770SpibYaSaZAsXllEjLBGVWlnejqChCTXsth/s2333/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWuyx7llcC624XKwHZg9tsAkrUJ9fs_rI05ES644x3LuxGedoRGvsxQhHf7Wpmwy0WtODuK80ndiqsyGPvvNspN9sn7BF_GEwfchZWz1agilDzp359671Gw0pXw4eTUzDbNABOSf01b-a90qSoeODHP9770SpibYaSaZAsXllEjLBGVWlnejqChCTXsth/w291-h400/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(2).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKhacEHnvuiJJ-Dtx_a3ElCrdq5v1DN451NLaPehYnQgcIgUzZFs_BvSomIxV-nuziWsg7Qeml3Ajh5oxS0ZwjXa0HOXnUTC92R7mlxYONVIQAgpPrx8SKXZKL22CkUFSYMXftViFBll4FFrWubLuYKm-LRdLYHV9ekGrrrFCUlNh_5EYqcn_GS5_H9xn/s2333/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKhacEHnvuiJJ-Dtx_a3ElCrdq5v1DN451NLaPehYnQgcIgUzZFs_BvSomIxV-nuziWsg7Qeml3Ajh5oxS0ZwjXa0HOXnUTC92R7mlxYONVIQAgpPrx8SKXZKL22CkUFSYMXftViFBll4FFrWubLuYKm-LRdLYHV9ekGrrrFCUlNh_5EYqcn_GS5_H9xn/w291-h400/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(3).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZeynZMUiNB94kVhGIfQ8N1ac6C76QMr7VVj2tx57qjXLArk3iEpqneNzm3qOMiiVGkE4AaEApEeABfAgQcmTEQx6guxQjqcdKg7izdqUKUJaMA9WU6EmkqAKAN1gqOBwGlVnUnRJYrfUq553tGoCRBn_Xa3BdhEJ_2QKdNjTk9aJ8Oe4_V3ju6va-ylE/s2331/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(4).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2331" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZeynZMUiNB94kVhGIfQ8N1ac6C76QMr7VVj2tx57qjXLArk3iEpqneNzm3qOMiiVGkE4AaEApEeABfAgQcmTEQx6guxQjqcdKg7izdqUKUJaMA9WU6EmkqAKAN1gqOBwGlVnUnRJYrfUq553tGoCRBn_Xa3BdhEJ_2QKdNjTk9aJ8Oe4_V3ju6va-ylE/w291-h400/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(4).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYCaxmzhABM89eaZSwdbBAP9cc0mMriz5wpVKR2axIts6f_guAY7oBLJkSbsqB_yXCq7gcjSPKgdrEePZg2Trbh5VWbz9oP6aZo-hHImleH2f6ttc_p2qrJQWoiKBHGdfI9UhMnQ-mhWd2EWJg6weQWzQGeFgDug2W0ToomMvUj9NQg06_Z_aDZ25rA_ka/s2333/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(5).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYCaxmzhABM89eaZSwdbBAP9cc0mMriz5wpVKR2axIts6f_guAY7oBLJkSbsqB_yXCq7gcjSPKgdrEePZg2Trbh5VWbz9oP6aZo-hHImleH2f6ttc_p2qrJQWoiKBHGdfI9UhMnQ-mhWd2EWJg6weQWzQGeFgDug2W0ToomMvUj9NQg06_Z_aDZ25rA_ka/w291-h400/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(5).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEzMio1BA7ZlE7jIfiGoP3Pi7QX0kHx3tPRAH9Ryfw4QEqL3CQx1CS7YC_IaVdpLW_s2tRg-JkdQ45s8HZvU_yGWQoQWFauyAnJmXxRgnnvCn6UpWwegdbFAwC9G2pdTwuPJ1V5OLhHsE8urTjNog4i_H9VXw9DhjbgSCFwwqUJE-JII5ncTT6Q8FHc52z/s2338/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(6).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="1698" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEzMio1BA7ZlE7jIfiGoP3Pi7QX0kHx3tPRAH9Ryfw4QEqL3CQx1CS7YC_IaVdpLW_s2tRg-JkdQ45s8HZvU_yGWQoQWFauyAnJmXxRgnnvCn6UpWwegdbFAwC9G2pdTwuPJ1V5OLhHsE8urTjNog4i_H9VXw9DhjbgSCFwwqUJE-JII5ncTT6Q8FHc52z/w290-h400/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(6).jpg" width="290" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnvjQacSKh_AwDvyAW0UUnn38rPxICw4c-86-wPE0X30ESKi3s5RHigOyxvXpJ-oFlOD-9rVQu4h-sLUItJjtGCY-O-z2Ek-KdC_ds7Qpl-mqU7fJi40GczSkPefVSys2Fkf0CcDWclkWwI5RIgWQtbXamnnZiTaw_YD7Ytc7-lYrWH9dxOIMOzUOpxIn/s2333/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(7).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="1672" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnvjQacSKh_AwDvyAW0UUnn38rPxICw4c-86-wPE0X30ESKi3s5RHigOyxvXpJ-oFlOD-9rVQu4h-sLUItJjtGCY-O-z2Ek-KdC_ds7Qpl-mqU7fJi40GczSkPefVSys2Fkf0CcDWclkWwI5RIgWQtbXamnnZiTaw_YD7Ytc7-lYrWH9dxOIMOzUOpxIn/w286-h400/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(7).jpg" width="286" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIm4MAcdcpgs81j8OjKrgQKWAU8AiXD6d77hfyXKv23YC84nCwfCFxUvUJzfsrhRqGp9qo5pzmhHSchlhngEkiUtBoelUFkhvR7HTDGcs6zzDF6B9IVBEWPI6C8wgt9s70ERvBwdEKyMLbZZ9xDtXwF-zzREq5Nun5oux5CKhpf3NmTtetoa96mUkoQtHb/s2309/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(8).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2309" data-original-width="1680" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIm4MAcdcpgs81j8OjKrgQKWAU8AiXD6d77hfyXKv23YC84nCwfCFxUvUJzfsrhRqGp9qo5pzmhHSchlhngEkiUtBoelUFkhvR7HTDGcs6zzDF6B9IVBEWPI6C8wgt9s70ERvBwdEKyMLbZZ9xDtXwF-zzREq5Nun5oux5CKhpf3NmTtetoa96mUkoQtHb/w291-h400/100%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20230923(8).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal">Following the disagreement with the Newspaper Proprietors’
Association of the printing of radio schedules (see <a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2023/09/100-years-of-radio-times-part-1.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>) Reith and
the BBC were determined to take matters into their own hands. In May 2023 the
Board of the BBC minuted that “it was resolved that the General Manager make
the appointment of an individual to deal with propaganda publicity and the
production of a magazine. ”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John Reith sought a deal with a publisher on the basis of a
share of profits and a minimum annual sum guaranteed to the BBC. That deal was
with George Newnes Ltd who already published <i>Tit-Bits</i> and it was that magazine’s editor, Leonard Croscombe, who
became the first editor of the <i>Radio
Times</i>. More accurately he was the first joint editor as an article recently
added to the <a href="http://www.radiotimesarchive.co.uk/" target="_blank">Radio Times Archive</a> website notes the BBC also made their own
internal appointment for editor in the person of Herbert Parker. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Croscombe’s grandson, journalist and broadcaster Justin
Webb, writes about him There’s also a nod to the magazine’s colourful third
editor, “songwriter, spy, Hollywood screenwriter and more” Eric Maschwitz in an
article by Paul Hayes (aka Radio Norfolk’s Questmaster).</p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNP6-7SMA6XOdIzKbaWd7j3AUjinE-zr1t5eiD5QpzdhN7LOgs88YG6bsAHTehhSOP_r8G1i_MvR9DwjgmCigWcYkWFvVh2N24_VGc3FotwfxFUPaDoxvRDgkjFSih_jAsPL9Rkes_y-6N6Pwf6YQbiF6bdaD_wrYDbFa9wIY95cKAfjHnOgdmeIoNicxJ/s2333/Radio%20Times%20Editors_RT_20230923(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNP6-7SMA6XOdIzKbaWd7j3AUjinE-zr1t5eiD5QpzdhN7LOgs88YG6bsAHTehhSOP_r8G1i_MvR9DwjgmCigWcYkWFvVh2N24_VGc3FotwfxFUPaDoxvRDgkjFSih_jAsPL9Rkes_y-6N6Pwf6YQbiF6bdaD_wrYDbFa9wIY95cKAfjHnOgdmeIoNicxJ/w291-h400/Radio%20Times%20Editors_RT_20230923(1).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8YaTY7PS8XEf29J4E7a6jb1rjoJv5HhsrLSyymxCLEEljXoHMhOCfyPdW_BCCP0vNNGVLaLCFrXaQOJiPUH5eS8WWAOb1KzpJYfoUjXGHpMTQgbeka3zDkgRX7mbUpfTpQZdenAok2UjoNyYhTWlM8RHZvvyI7rvzmKrSrnGI9kDjYVOUM5UX7JXYAt1/s2328/Radio%20Times%20Editors_RT_20230923(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2328" data-original-width="1698" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8YaTY7PS8XEf29J4E7a6jb1rjoJv5HhsrLSyymxCLEEljXoHMhOCfyPdW_BCCP0vNNGVLaLCFrXaQOJiPUH5eS8WWAOb1KzpJYfoUjXGHpMTQgbeka3zDkgRX7mbUpfTpQZdenAok2UjoNyYhTWlM8RHZvvyI7rvzmKrSrnGI9kDjYVOUM5UX7JXYAt1/w291-h400/Radio%20Times%20Editors_RT_20230923(2).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal">Finally Caroline Frost recounts how the <i>Radio Times</i> stills proves indispensible to the National Grid, the
police and continuity announcers. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0capO75rSvCuuzFA6m76Zt9xfzxKaTqE2erEWZ0wPrQa44VyQaM898prpCC4vCEBA2XEZ7_ILNgSltP9o3ppXlZHxpF5LpWeEehihpvpFjg9la5_kg10MVx-cGQiH17na_8VFQCMWu63ehUdQLwWSiv7cwA6SvWYVdLUt8Zsd2yJGXO9DzX_RVmKkSqG/s1913/Radio%20Times%20is%20Our%20Bible_RT_20230923.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1913" data-original-width="1683" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0capO75rSvCuuzFA6m76Zt9xfzxKaTqE2erEWZ0wPrQa44VyQaM898prpCC4vCEBA2XEZ7_ILNgSltP9o3ppXlZHxpF5LpWeEehihpvpFjg9la5_kg10MVx-cGQiH17na_8VFQCMWu63ehUdQLwWSiv7cwA6SvWYVdLUt8Zsd2yJGXO9DzX_RVmKkSqG/w353-h400/Radio%20Times%20is%20Our%20Bible_RT_20230923.jpg" width="353" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-26813553397370317992023-09-23T11:35:00.001+02:002023-09-23T11:35:00.138+02:00100 Years of Radio Times (Part 1)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc35lsQ4MHndTejde6TvFPICIE0knVqI68ONrkOzukCEyw-jHDAXlefaojAts2Ald-H8kKwQTI7syyTTVM4iqBMiR4icXjDjB8o7gxExn4CeoCIu0e5TgeYjFHcIN-iVJ5CgPmnHSnGvIkIj6zk_I0J2Pxk_f8hvOva2cjfmVBODmZOsRnIwYZXK1kVi8g/s1000/RT100Years.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc35lsQ4MHndTejde6TvFPICIE0knVqI68ONrkOzukCEyw-jHDAXlefaojAts2Ald-H8kKwQTI7syyTTVM4iqBMiR4icXjDjB8o7gxExn4CeoCIu0e5TgeYjFHcIN-iVJ5CgPmnHSnGvIkIj6zk_I0J2Pxk_f8hvOva2cjfmVBODmZOsRnIwYZXK1kVi8g/s320/RT100Years.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The <i>Radio Times</i>
was “launched in a fit of pique”. So says Joe Moran writing for the listing
magazine’s 90<sup>th</sup> anniversary edition. This week the <i>Radio Times</i> celebrates a full century on
the nation’s newsstands. In this post I am dipping into the magazine’s history
to look how it marked its 90<sup>th</sup>.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In his article Moran continues: “In January 1923, the
Newspaper Proprietors’ Association announced that it would be charging the
three-month old British Broadcasting Company the standard advertising rates for
publishing its radio listings in newspapers. Although the newspapers
capitulated the following month, realising that not including broadcasting
schedules would affect their circulations, the BBC’s general manager, John
Reith, was irritated by their attitude and it gave him an idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On 10 September he wrote in his diary:
‘Everything is now in shape for a BBC magazine, and from various alternatives I
chose <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Times</i> for the title.’” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From the 28 September 2013 edition here’s a look at some
classic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Times</i> covers over the
decades. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAdyIUH4Rvg2zaHmm6wydW4P2xd2g73QnU_8IqpjNpHlgoRjwVsiqk9v6_ViW_3XoI0YOuXsBSaEcDL3IyjhCUQFjEnVzX5XJigE23vJuIUCGC8YOpFRq8um-OkNx5Vx3qP7E9Qzox2_eLff-OqmNRHyoy7oG_ST91Wu1MoUB8nqKrAx0eqdRIaX0jmQv/s2325/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2325" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAdyIUH4Rvg2zaHmm6wydW4P2xd2g73QnU_8IqpjNpHlgoRjwVsiqk9v6_ViW_3XoI0YOuXsBSaEcDL3IyjhCUQFjEnVzX5XJigE23vJuIUCGC8YOpFRq8um-OkNx5Vx3qP7E9Qzox2_eLff-OqmNRHyoy7oG_ST91Wu1MoUB8nqKrAx0eqdRIaX0jmQv/w291-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(1).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshnDsZ-_6ko0k7UUSO5__T3Zp_FfDvDAZrgHFuXwjfjxQ2FHL0c7PNxrXXdVdcNPHHVSLUgVE4sxRhyqOBtpzyAeiXu2SeineY4XRWWYr5V6SkxHOdQTtCctj5iX-FhAX539-tkk7MB5rXxF4Zd5_zOfz7dhql3UXDoQWb7eByPnbJvZ_E81WR1rU4bzf/s2320/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="1697" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshnDsZ-_6ko0k7UUSO5__T3Zp_FfDvDAZrgHFuXwjfjxQ2FHL0c7PNxrXXdVdcNPHHVSLUgVE4sxRhyqOBtpzyAeiXu2SeineY4XRWWYr5V6SkxHOdQTtCctj5iX-FhAX539-tkk7MB5rXxF4Zd5_zOfz7dhql3UXDoQWb7eByPnbJvZ_E81WR1rU4bzf/w293-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(2).jpg" width="293" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZEF3s5ajiiasz3B7FP1FY8Xsc4K7kzZdqraD-j4e8o6LL69-woEqJ6CzYbXGZDxDA4wfVTyyZw8rtTA7r7GXeaXkBUyOY-wuIwjhlCeVUREs_Ze4s41KO7_xHEIK3nMnsPhu0n5AsoC2YixVpgHA25HZljho6fEUHEeqCfotT_987xmEBZUgpQlZKXIu3/s2338/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZEF3s5ajiiasz3B7FP1FY8Xsc4K7kzZdqraD-j4e8o6LL69-woEqJ6CzYbXGZDxDA4wfVTyyZw8rtTA7r7GXeaXkBUyOY-wuIwjhlCeVUREs_Ze4s41KO7_xHEIK3nMnsPhu0n5AsoC2YixVpgHA25HZljho6fEUHEeqCfotT_987xmEBZUgpQlZKXIu3/w290-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(3).jpg" width="290" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRETCWMmBw_R8OqqG5DufXFKf9NstAXUSKVe3nol0JHrv99i0dxQVefBmnBZBqhcqnrWoiLYkF-1qz3AvwCZkQBPGvUuAlAGyg7O9hYwvNcUzpXccAR0YSS-7tbmbUncrjI0Jlz7Esls2f11SHJgf7WQaKAlFQaEBX66adOwlstB4bweKstzSa-ID98ncC/s2333/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(4).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRETCWMmBw_R8OqqG5DufXFKf9NstAXUSKVe3nol0JHrv99i0dxQVefBmnBZBqhcqnrWoiLYkF-1qz3AvwCZkQBPGvUuAlAGyg7O9hYwvNcUzpXccAR0YSS-7tbmbUncrjI0Jlz7Esls2f11SHJgf7WQaKAlFQaEBX66adOwlstB4bweKstzSa-ID98ncC/w291-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(4).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCuiHA6sb3kRKKCZ2SVNksjgWMt2-vZ6AfhTX_Zqwhi4yDliXhwsFtsf6zdhIRjKLG8KhY87TQ0SucL85bXp1xbt9SLkJV8mFJufMs4OoybHNVaeFymhDpycH4c9wDA8IKduBJHbTdQWCTwTEn9bqUXTaJrCMMB0pBby3xG5-UNqCwHQukUOwk0ndos6I3/s2333/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(5).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCuiHA6sb3kRKKCZ2SVNksjgWMt2-vZ6AfhTX_Zqwhi4yDliXhwsFtsf6zdhIRjKLG8KhY87TQ0SucL85bXp1xbt9SLkJV8mFJufMs4OoybHNVaeFymhDpycH4c9wDA8IKduBJHbTdQWCTwTEn9bqUXTaJrCMMB0pBby3xG5-UNqCwHQukUOwk0ndos6I3/w291-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(5).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiFsF3G_Q8UUCp-GGhCNnHdN-dQMOTYa5ip2bq3h13AWoVmtI0eaBxOzMYqzlrpZ__EE0NdxcmEwndDEIt0HNeA-9nRpEmmmMFRZGCtEPrOYGXde63dRqy-FHiTDLaQMy6p83d9mzRBmU3TMwLcEeNXtSA3q18BfmEeUNrNQzlWWu3y4_Dd4fAzzFYBQmK/s2323/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(6).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2323" data-original-width="1694" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiFsF3G_Q8UUCp-GGhCNnHdN-dQMOTYa5ip2bq3h13AWoVmtI0eaBxOzMYqzlrpZ__EE0NdxcmEwndDEIt0HNeA-9nRpEmmmMFRZGCtEPrOYGXde63dRqy-FHiTDLaQMy6p83d9mzRBmU3TMwLcEeNXtSA3q18BfmEeUNrNQzlWWu3y4_Dd4fAzzFYBQmK/w291-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(6).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKU0MAi6rFGfLT1cGsZMxK0W-yGrjL7e_cAREvwpq_GgAmGzbI4gYHtxvAbBm-sD5myIS8MBCjxqpSttnhdBkV5rw8ZQINc5s_kT7Vhyjda8fd36Yyt-qqLmNnFQbXCrOqlphWNV8RcJzz_pbdTsOc3mV9C74PIWFEOUNKtc36JiMx5DMc2YMyEH6A5sPr/s2330/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(7).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2330" data-original-width="1700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKU0MAi6rFGfLT1cGsZMxK0W-yGrjL7e_cAREvwpq_GgAmGzbI4gYHtxvAbBm-sD5myIS8MBCjxqpSttnhdBkV5rw8ZQINc5s_kT7Vhyjda8fd36Yyt-qqLmNnFQbXCrOqlphWNV8RcJzz_pbdTsOc3mV9C74PIWFEOUNKtc36JiMx5DMc2YMyEH6A5sPr/w291-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(7).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI7jjK9IlS0wWn-50YmtTOOXPy26sQsxGKYeOa-4shCS7pMmyCl07FMZLIrRRYYuCMAwNUP534Qbf4Zlg4uza1vwbJ_9YaJBP2vv3oKpHplTFu0Na325wNF-rjyjT6Q7VgbKN8yHRTp_1FfT0yOszmTf9hflLL_3DV2NJp03UdKzlR0WTCsA_szsYCiKIR/s2323/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(8).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2323" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI7jjK9IlS0wWn-50YmtTOOXPy26sQsxGKYeOa-4shCS7pMmyCl07FMZLIrRRYYuCMAwNUP534Qbf4Zlg4uza1vwbJ_9YaJBP2vv3oKpHplTFu0Na325wNF-rjyjT6Q7VgbKN8yHRTp_1FfT0yOszmTf9hflLL_3DV2NJp03UdKzlR0WTCsA_szsYCiKIR/w293-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(8).jpg" width="293" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUFAWzsoR2moNiI6n-LcsJA81pXwQUs224UWYTufvnJdVz3jT7CXL6e4Vs7WAsMgn-L4QYTiCEBJv8s5RQVHYC3XKXJT9J7yODrzfcDfDyxYhP0lxVSpsHn8L2_k_a9ysW9rvKQqDkY_efZp6Fvu2mP2LDjjeYAOL7ktU5tblSNomP19GyGQlpaxvJUA1/s2325/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(9).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2325" data-original-width="1700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUFAWzsoR2moNiI6n-LcsJA81pXwQUs224UWYTufvnJdVz3jT7CXL6e4Vs7WAsMgn-L4QYTiCEBJv8s5RQVHYC3XKXJT9J7yODrzfcDfDyxYhP0lxVSpsHn8L2_k_a9ysW9rvKQqDkY_efZp6Fvu2mP2LDjjeYAOL7ktU5tblSNomP19GyGQlpaxvJUA1/w293-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(9).jpg" width="293" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbK1O_Ib2mf3i1HDgNETBi0xs4wL4hDCq1ilv0GcZjsHSIBD38om05x2EkMWXtSc4l2ZTyShMW-Dm13zMxX1dnyHmzCVwevRfTJaRT6H85YFifzGGQC2Vfplrw4Y13GvdtKgLcKke-bWFtdnjheNRX5RLlE7I8gBbjQ-EgOmB8LMJbfBDjkSQfE-TqdDD/s2333/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(10).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="1691" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbK1O_Ib2mf3i1HDgNETBi0xs4wL4hDCq1ilv0GcZjsHSIBD38om05x2EkMWXtSc4l2ZTyShMW-Dm13zMxX1dnyHmzCVwevRfTJaRT6H85YFifzGGQC2Vfplrw4Y13GvdtKgLcKke-bWFtdnjheNRX5RLlE7I8gBbjQ-EgOmB8LMJbfBDjkSQfE-TqdDD/w290-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(10).jpg" width="290" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXnhnOPjvFuwqsWyyPQTkLFH_LAw8Rq3wAVMIrUBA_jTcP0hl9SHQJk3grLmkeGe2Fx0oZUEQZ3nCd0XmDy6qvsIyHi54cSGHAEV-zRZ7WxuGJ-IGbE93j_h4shJX_QcyWyu8NOPBLbbF0eIyzymWHn2fLyJOxtSEFSwDre9vgdYrPgr2WGVn6onqS957P/s2333/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(11).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXnhnOPjvFuwqsWyyPQTkLFH_LAw8Rq3wAVMIrUBA_jTcP0hl9SHQJk3grLmkeGe2Fx0oZUEQZ3nCd0XmDy6qvsIyHi54cSGHAEV-zRZ7WxuGJ-IGbE93j_h4shJX_QcyWyu8NOPBLbbF0eIyzymWHn2fLyJOxtSEFSwDre9vgdYrPgr2WGVn6onqS957P/w291-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(11).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB-if4p5JFJ7-egnBEV4JvzbxubFKnoE5BuHPPuiA28zSyENyGfeqm7VrDbaXkRiDtsjW13LhZE-ZvP6bB3H3zZnxWVyA7fWsu3MCbOdcjBGoDDTb0AriZf7S_iMBDYTlRk1fsfeYX4rA_xsmj0xXcnieykwoa05ifaWRsss4UQ0NI1UKvOQ2q3oU7KSxB/s2336/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(12).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2336" data-original-width="1698" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB-if4p5JFJ7-egnBEV4JvzbxubFKnoE5BuHPPuiA28zSyENyGfeqm7VrDbaXkRiDtsjW13LhZE-ZvP6bB3H3zZnxWVyA7fWsu3MCbOdcjBGoDDTb0AriZf7S_iMBDYTlRk1fsfeYX4rA_xsmj0xXcnieykwoa05ifaWRsss4UQ0NI1UKvOQ2q3oU7KSxB/w291-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(12).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaXO86g6dSblNm0DDIJPxK352sLEtvV_WjH8gsj0CmsPPrMSu2OQ2YZj0IraEWuEVlhrt2v-87_qIW-okb_wRIotckL0m4ORrixekXveInZ-wGTeqsfNEdXM619EMaikacPzoBa7hle3stp1T3FNs_oaVDcLn4Qmdu8QBzeOP1Ur08hO_PBkfvpQqVIwE/s2338/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(13).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="1698" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaXO86g6dSblNm0DDIJPxK352sLEtvV_WjH8gsj0CmsPPrMSu2OQ2YZj0IraEWuEVlhrt2v-87_qIW-okb_wRIotckL0m4ORrixekXveInZ-wGTeqsfNEdXM619EMaikacPzoBa7hle3stp1T3FNs_oaVDcLn4Qmdu8QBzeOP1Ur08hO_PBkfvpQqVIwE/w290-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(13).jpg" width="290" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuDw5PFJCvSvN97_jGzSQ46MRxqkeIHdVybmCjI_iDIMdz3prHCxGglwUvGyQ2xX2YE9lY4-TUlhYi9RKCtAQ_s1aGJcVe-79ohEMAJiLgDvY5FCM2iNb7ggPTESqpadz95RLh2BZTuj0j0gZoBA0brumRbweLAVSzmlLBc3MvuhEm3aj76YbynpB6x5l/s2325/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(14).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2325" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuDw5PFJCvSvN97_jGzSQ46MRxqkeIHdVybmCjI_iDIMdz3prHCxGglwUvGyQ2xX2YE9lY4-TUlhYi9RKCtAQ_s1aGJcVe-79ohEMAJiLgDvY5FCM2iNb7ggPTESqpadz95RLh2BZTuj0j0gZoBA0brumRbweLAVSzmlLBc3MvuhEm3aj76YbynpB6x5l/w291-h400/90%20Years%20of%20Radio%20Times_RT_20130928(14).jpg" width="291" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve written about the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio
Times</i> before back in 2013 considering my own <a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2013/04/radio-times.html" target="_blank">archive of back issues </a>and
looking at the first issue in <a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-bradshaw-of-broadcasting.htm" target="_blank">The Bradshaw of Broadcasting</a>. </p><p class="MsoNormal">In the next post a look at some of the pages of the centenary edition. </p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-21226067915759525412023-09-05T08:00:00.002+02:002023-09-05T16:00:53.868+02:00Newsbeat<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzwXY2ezpYyiZ_s6QLDHCjymej-V1zuJQcoJF6gOIiLow4gLa92lBWhD67z1CwJj6erEFloXND3K6piffdFZO-_6fv3odHAvGoiv90dusN0YnAJ_46eqXfeJL3OJ2e4hN_lYeG72AE7sxIfW9674c0u1jU8MKxwnUYlMmFCs3Lbqwlslw0Bp49NUU2EnVV/s1920/Newsbeat-Logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzwXY2ezpYyiZ_s6QLDHCjymej-V1zuJQcoJF6gOIiLow4gLa92lBWhD67z1CwJj6erEFloXND3K6piffdFZO-_6fv3odHAvGoiv90dusN0YnAJ_46eqXfeJL3OJ2e4hN_lYeG72AE7sxIfW9674c0u1jU8MKxwnUYlMmFCs3Lbqwlslw0Bp49NUU2EnVV/s320/Newsbeat-Logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Fifty years ago the UK had joined the EEC, the IRA was
bombing London, a Cod War with raging with Iceland and mortgage rates were
running at 10%. In the midst of this, on 10 September 1973, BBC Radio 1
launched its extended news programme, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat</i>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat</i> was,
according to network controller Douglas Muggeridge "something I wanted to
bring in for some time. We shall not flinch from covering any sort of news
story." A cynic will also spot that the BBC’s timing may have also been
influenced by other events, the start of independent local radio just a month
later. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Airing for 15 minutes twice a day on weekdays at 12.30 pm,
during Johnnie Walker’s show, and at 5.30 pm during <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio 1 Club</i> (Rosko’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Round
Table</i> on Fridays) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat </i>extended
Radio 1’s news coverage beyond the existing 1 or 2 minute bulletins on the
half-hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mike Chaney, who’d been with the Corporation for 14 years,
was drafted in as the programme’s first editor. (1) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told the press that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat </i>“will be a new sound on Radio 1 - and, we hope, a fresh
approach to radio journalism. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat</i>
will be direct, outspoken, un-solemn and always ready for a laugh!" Mike’s
deputy was Colin Adams who’d been at Radio Sheffield and then news editor at
Radio Humberside. Both would go onto work on Radio 4’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Today</i> programme, Mike as editor and Colin as deputy editor. (2) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXDYjjMUvYgfuo3HNzgplMcr2IJ9q_AGciYDY4UFhHMA556m13QC1s8fA6q6_a3EJPszTPh5TB0T1-fUPpZ4uepnSdNTOiEoa6IvEvSu3aNCMhJ0aC4-w3jueUZ3uwVt8gR1Z5Aoz9zw8IcUbDjEzNZBtOaAIw16Yztsw5dCWbzpcfsEMu1ZqLIUlToHs/s520/Ed%20Stewart_Newsbeat%20(1973).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="520" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXDYjjMUvYgfuo3HNzgplMcr2IJ9q_AGciYDY4UFhHMA556m13QC1s8fA6q6_a3EJPszTPh5TB0T1-fUPpZ4uepnSdNTOiEoa6IvEvSu3aNCMhJ0aC4-w3jueUZ3uwVt8gR1Z5Aoz9zw8IcUbDjEzNZBtOaAIw16Yztsw5dCWbzpcfsEMu1ZqLIUlToHs/s320/Ed%20Stewart_Newsbeat%20(1973).jpg" width="320" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />Newsbeat</i>’s first
presenters were Ed Stewart and Laurie Mayer (ex. Radio London) with Ed
initially doing four days a week and Laurie one day. Although Ed didn’t have a
journalism background he was chosen to make the programme seem part of the
network and less of an intrusion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Drafted in as news producers were Karolyn Shindler and Roger
Gale. Gale had also been at Radio London with Laurie Mayer and had spent some
time in the mid sixties bobbing up and down in the Irish Sea working for Radio
Caroline North and then Radio Scotland. Was it coincidence that Radio Caroline
had also billed its news bulletins as ‘Caroline Newsbeat’? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ed continued on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat
</i>until January 1974 by which time Richard Skinner had joined from Radio
Solent. Together with John Walmsley (from Radio Brighton) who joined in
February 1974, Laurie and Richard presented <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat
</i>for the most of the remainder of the decade. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat </i>format
remained unchanged for six years by still using Radio 2 announcer/newsreaders
to do a straight read of the headlines. That ended in November 1978 just before
the wavelength changes and a planned extension to Radio 1’s hours. (3) In the
event, due to industrial action, the schedule didn’t change until late January
1979 when an extra 10 minute <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbe</i>at
was added at 9.50 pm. (4) By this time, though still mostly reliant on Radio 2
newsreaders, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat</i> was providing
some Radio 1 bulletins throughout the day and the early evening. (5)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t until September 1980 that Radio 1
had totally separate news bulletins read by the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat </i>team on weekdays. (6) They still shared on weekends until 1984
(anyone have an idea of the exact date?). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Other voices you’ll have heard presenting <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat</i> or reading bulletins during its
first decade include Peter Mayne (from 1978), Stephen Cape (1979),Neil Bennett
(1979), John Andrew (1980), Bill Bingham (1980), Andrew Turner (1980),Ian
Parkinson (1981), Janet Trewin (1981) and Frank Partridge (1981).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So back to the start on 10 September 1973. The first edition
came during Johnnie Walker’s lunchtime show so he, for one, wasn’t happy with
having to stop the music for 15 minutes. “Just as I got the rhythm and atmosphere
going, it would all stop”. The schedule at that time had Johnnie start at 12
noon, then <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat </i>at 12. 30
followed by another hour and fifteen minutes of Johnnie. At 2 pm it was over to
David Hamilton. The BBC seemingly didn’t retain the first edition in their
archives. Fortunately the teatime edition on day two, during <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio 1 Club</i> with Alan Freeman did make
it into Sound Archives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This edition shows the light and shade, the mix of serious
and lighter items, that the team was aiming for. So we get the financial
pressures on mortgages, the aftermath of the Pisces mini submarine rescue mixed
with a lad who got into trouble for having a David Bowie haircut and a champion
butty maker. The reporters include Steve Bradshaw (another ex-Radio London recruit),
Nick Ross (at the time also reporting for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
World at One</i>) and Mike McKay. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat</i>
also relied on reports from BBC local stations so there are contributions by
Tony Cartledge (Newcastle), Ernie Brown (Cleveland) and Dennis McCarthy
(Nottingham). The newsreader is Peter Latham. </p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NksjkHT6KKU?si=UCfNFeYxB48v12rJ" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>From Radio 1 Vintage here the story of <i><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p06w9lgs" target="_blank">Newsbeat</a></i>. </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(1) BBC publicity of the time of his appointment to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat </i>seemed obsessed with Mike
Chaney’s offspring stating “he is married with 12 children whose ages range
between 20 and 4”. Similarly when he joined <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Today</i>
in 1976 the press release read: “Mike Chaney is married and lives in Dulwich.
They have 12 children, 3 from his previous marriage, four by his wife and
another 5 by his wife’s previous marriage”. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(2) Another Radio Humberside staff member, Paul Heiney,
would also move down to join <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat</i>
as a reporter. He too moved onto Today when Mike Chaney left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(3) Sheila Tracy was the last Radio 2 newsreader to read the
headlines on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsbeat</i> on Friday 10
November 1978.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(4) The first 9.50 pm edition was Monday 29 January 1979
read by Peter Mayne.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(5) The<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Newsbeat</i>
bulletins at 11.30 am and 4.30 pm allowed whoever was presenting that day to
plug the main programme the following hour.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(6) The first separate news bulletin was at 7.30 am on
Monday 1 September 1980 read by Andrew Turner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-66243571534241803022023-08-09T09:10:00.002+02:002024-02-27T09:59:48.091+01:00Composer of the Week<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYJVa7Epz3XK9ZIRuCx32Ubj0_3xXmuq1oUZ3Pjbp3Nnx3b7-UoTZxYwb0oO8vy4cdmDrXtO2srrNlThR4hJPVxYZQYrDQliEq-P_dnllugMq5IvjHtpUJcLGGb0uj9pqv04dMMhWZN4dKbw3KtItzvcEPM6sGzNAeinFkaAxFOZXEzMFTTTgbiTHOrwX/s1200/Composer%20of%20the%20Week%20logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYJVa7Epz3XK9ZIRuCx32Ubj0_3xXmuq1oUZ3Pjbp3Nnx3b7-UoTZxYwb0oO8vy4cdmDrXtO2srrNlThR4hJPVxYZQYrDQliEq-P_dnllugMq5IvjHtpUJcLGGb0uj9pqv04dMMhWZN4dKbw3KtItzvcEPM6sGzNAeinFkaAxFOZXEzMFTTTgbiTHOrwX/s320/Composer%20of%20the%20Week%20logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />There are, by my reckoning, eight BBC radio programmes that
started in the 1940s that are still on air (see note 1). The second oldest of
those <i>Composer of the Week</i>, which
started life as <i>This Week’s Composer</i>,
was first scheduled on the Home Service on Monday 2 August 1943. It was,
according to the BBC “an innovation which proved that lovers of serious music
are awake in large numbers as early in the morning as 7.30 a.m.” The first
week’s programme featuring Mozart was just a short (only 25 minutes) morning
musical interlude. It has now been running for 80 years. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq5dNNJf65lSYvI7JQojfsaYPmLbah8JGGYglvUldqWr0w8MOyYGQ9_p4VEGoBAZLo31nj8gNU6-Nm6KkA1S-kUbh_qdH1I4iqHuvfkW1lfLQkQL9mBqFsGMa_WI18i0-xeQudnLxMHrgrqyb9QQfgTGdfl0G6oZ6sOre6mCON7ZI4AZ6vRxnOQEQo_qKW/s693/COTW_020843.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="607" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq5dNNJf65lSYvI7JQojfsaYPmLbah8JGGYglvUldqWr0w8MOyYGQ9_p4VEGoBAZLo31nj8gNU6-Nm6KkA1S-kUbh_qdH1I4iqHuvfkW1lfLQkQL9mBqFsGMa_WI18i0-xeQudnLxMHrgrqyb9QQfgTGdfl0G6oZ6sOre6mCON7ZI4AZ6vRxnOQEQo_qKW/s320/COTW_020843.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><br />The running order for that first programme lists the two
movements of Mozart’s Violin Sonata No. 27, his Violin Sonata in B flat major
and ending with Violin Sonata No. 42 in A flat major. The two latter pieces
feature the violin playing of Yehudi Menuhin. Subsequent week’s featured all
the greats of classical musical (see note 2). <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Like many of the gramophone programmes of that time there
was no presenter as such and links were provided on scripts to be read by
whichever continuity announcer was on duty that day. This was how the programme
ran for the next half century. It was only when the role of the Radio 3
announcer was changed in 1992 that named presenters were associated with the
programme. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Post-war, in September 1945, the start time was shifted on
two hours to 9.30 am and it remained a mid-morning fixture in the schedules
until 1995 when it was shifted to its current midday slot. The only exception
to this was in the late 40s (September 1947 to April 1950) when it was “promoted”
to an evening slot after the six o’clock news “a much more convenient time for
most people than the early morning”. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the early 1960s the BBC was seeking to utilise the
daytime frequencies of the Third Programme for “programmes of serious music” in
a service that would be called the Music Programme (note 3). It was also a case
of use it or lose it with a BBC committee concluding that “the unused time on
the Third Network was a standing invitation for as take-over bid by commercial
operators”. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Music Programme was
phased in during 1964 after much discussion with the Musician’s Union, who
objected to an increase in needletime to play more gramophone records, and the rejuvenation
of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amongst
the programmes transferred over from the Home Service to the Music Programme in
December 1964 was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This Week’s Composer</i>
(note 4). The Music Programme title lingered even when it became Radio 3 in
1967 and was finally dropped in April 1970 but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Week’s Composer</i> had found its new 9 am home that it would
occupy for the next 31 years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In January 1988 the title of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This Week’s Composer</i> was flipped over to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Composer of the Week</i>. Then four years later changes were afoot at
Radio 3 as a third of the continuity announcing team were made redundant (Malcolm
Ruthven, Tony Scotland and Peter Barker) with the remaining staff taking on new
presenter/producer roles (Andrew Lyle, Piers Burton-Page, Chris de Souza, Paul
Guinery, Penny Gore and Susan Sharpe).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The impact on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Composer
of the Week</i> was that as well as some of the presentation team presenting
the programme a number of voices, many new to the Radio 3 audience, would
present a week’s worth of programme depending on their specialist knowledge and
interests. So we hear composers, musicians, music critics and musicologists
including (in the year 1992/93): Lindsay Kemp, Richard Alston, Stephen Johnson,
Adrian Thomas, John Thornley (later one of the producers of the programme), <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Richard Wigmore, Michael Oliver, Richard
Langham Smith, Jeremy Siepmann, William Mival, David Fanning, John Warrack and
Roxanna Panufnik. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the BBC’s Sound Archives there’s nothing of the 45 year
run of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This Week’s Composer</i>, probably
because it was just seen as part of the daily continuity announcement duties
rather than a built or pre-recorded programme. One of the earliest recordings of<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Composer of the Week</i> dates from 1988
and features Mozart. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p01dlch8" target="_blank">This clip</a> is one the BBC website but is vague as to exact
date and who the announcer is. It appears to be the evening repeat on 27
January 1988 (mention of Mozart’s birthday on that date confirms this) of the
previous week’s morning broadcast from 20 January 1988. The announcer sounds
like Susan Sharpe.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Another 1988 <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p01dlc42" target="_blank">clip here</a> features Donald Macleod presenting
the music of three Hollywood greats, Max Steiner, Miklos Rozsa and Erich
Korngold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time Donald was part of
the announcing team, having joined in 1982. This one is easier to date and
comes from Monday 12 December. By co-incidence I recorded much of that week’s
programmes but sadly, in retrospect, cut out Donald’s introductions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 1999 Radio 3 decided to give <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Composer of the Week</i> a dedicated presenter. By now Donald Macleod
had left his post as Presentation Editor and was freelance. With the help of
the production team he would be responsible for researching and writing his own
scripts. Finding the “way in” to a composer’s life is his favourite part of the
process. “It’s absolutely not my job to tell people what to think about the
music. I’m there to paint pictures and I often start with a visual image”. His
first composer, in September 1999, was Edvard Greig and for his script Macleod
discovered that “he had a good luck charm that he carried around in his pocket,
a little stone frog. I thought it was such a charming image. So I started from
there. “<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the programme’s 70<sup>th</sup> anniversary in 2013 the
team produced <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radio3/entries/e5ddb16f-cbf8-305c-a694-f0d10246ce34" target="_blank">a list of the nearly four hundred</a> individual composers and over a
hundred groups or schools of composers featured since 1943. They also reached
out to listeners to suggest any overlooked composers though, as Macleod
explained “it’s often tricky because if a composer is obscure, there won’t be
enough music in good performance to fill the best part of five hours.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQG5qC_9JVBPutCTn49wc2bTL7Ydbrhg_jLU2Upabf1XSjWDRWjs0s7JSv98COGfFPrdwtg0kc_e8iRDQ66XgmlWWzSqqrX9ROiFbYzXLJx8ic8vSK1pOq5uAbofSy6pUIyxnUGLHP_00eNdFSbfdusdsV8dvHpYLAkhC_gTVrrQGmVQga64qHFvdbJRQ/s2333/Composer%20of%20the%20Week_RT_20130727(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="1694" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQG5qC_9JVBPutCTn49wc2bTL7Ydbrhg_jLU2Upabf1XSjWDRWjs0s7JSv98COGfFPrdwtg0kc_e8iRDQ66XgmlWWzSqqrX9ROiFbYzXLJx8ic8vSK1pOq5uAbofSy6pUIyxnUGLHP_00eNdFSbfdusdsV8dvHpYLAkhC_gTVrrQGmVQga64qHFvdbJRQ/w290-h400/Composer%20of%20the%20Week_RT_20130727(1).jpg" width="290" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6VKeT-aS3pGPYxMEoGCG_VmWHSQFkQQexkq55wD9JH823-9DhTL77zH9j3xjx0GSoRrPS3N36icC1yUOkp3YXSJvjy98FnakKFw96MV0SEEUBiSxXonnOrRbDuz863uMQ8heF3Es4i1Z12xZAjZZE8vWaZxb7cwadCCy0Rk_m7fVxDtVD0rBcOfLpR-06/s2333/Composer%20of%20the%20Week_RT_20130727(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="1142" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6VKeT-aS3pGPYxMEoGCG_VmWHSQFkQQexkq55wD9JH823-9DhTL77zH9j3xjx0GSoRrPS3N36icC1yUOkp3YXSJvjy98FnakKFw96MV0SEEUBiSxXonnOrRbDuz863uMQ8heF3Es4i1Z12xZAjZZE8vWaZxb7cwadCCy0Rk_m7fVxDtVD0rBcOfLpR-06/w196-h400/Composer%20of%20the%20Week_RT_20130727(2).jpg" width="196" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Marking the 70th anniversary of <i>COTW</i><br /><i>Radio Times</i> 27 July 2013 </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Here’s a clip of Donald introducing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Composer of the Week</i> on the 70<sup>th</sup> anniversary which
featured the music of Robert Schumann. <p></p>
<audio controls>
<source src=" https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ xudi8dn421qwcxx99gnvc/COTW_20130802.mp3?rlkey=pqz1ba8uffxqi3vcrqr1j3155&dl=0
" type="audio/mp3">
</audio>
<p class="MsoNormal">In a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Times</i>
feature for the programme’s 80<sup>th</sup> anniversary a number of programme
landmarks were listed:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Composers featured to
date</b> Around 1,400</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">First female
composers featured</b> Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann in August 1988</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">First black composer</b>
Duke Ellington in May 1985</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">First non-European</b>
Four Americans: John Alden Carpenter, Samuel Barber, Roy harris and Edward
MacDowell in May 1945</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">First South American</b>
Heitor Villa-Lobos in April 1977</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">First Australian</b>
Percy Grainger in November 1996</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">First Asian</b> Toru
Takemitsu in February 2018</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This year Donald Macleod, aged 70, has decided to ease off a
little and Kate Molleson has joined the programme. For her first <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Composer of the Week</i> in May the subject
was Gyorgy Ligeti. “We decided we weren’t just going to tell the story
straight. I had pianist Danny Driver with me, sitting at the piano, opening the
music up in a really unintimidating way”.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3pAZ4MOjd_4piioSOH3AVriWylKqo-W0rBRTQ7moJCslrgVsGW-wVE5lJdY0a6QzAk2pMDccG2kkckaUH8P7MYA8BpDHtx9pz-iw0oaK66raZqvQ11oyhFSYSwqqHOngdEg8GBavf-EoilJkHt1pb7l6JG9nnapDKXeQY6bnaZxfVbU7W8aITl1NI6emK/s2333/Composer%20of%20the%20Week_RT_20230729.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3pAZ4MOjd_4piioSOH3AVriWylKqo-W0rBRTQ7moJCslrgVsGW-wVE5lJdY0a6QzAk2pMDccG2kkckaUH8P7MYA8BpDHtx9pz-iw0oaK66raZqvQ11oyhFSYSwqqHOngdEg8GBavf-EoilJkHt1pb7l6JG9nnapDKXeQY6bnaZxfVbU7W8aITl1NI6emK/w291-h400/Composer%20of%20the%20Week_RT_20230729.jpg" width="291" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Radio Times</i> 29 July 2023</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />For the programme’s 80<sup>th</sup> anniversary, last week,
Donald Macleod recalled some of the composers he’s interviewed during his 24
year tenure. This is a short clip from the first programme. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<audio controls>
<source src=" https://dl.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ xudi8dn421qwcxx99gnvc/ mlyhbbubzfkeyzqqj2d1d/COTW_20230731.mp3?rlkey=90y9zpxbcrzowjozs8c0fp6ty&dl=0
" type="audio/mp3">
</audio>
<p class="MsoNormal">(1) When I write about this I always seem to miss out one
programme or another. However, I reckon the other programmes from the 1940s
are: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Desert Island Discs</i> (1942), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Today in Parliament</i> (1945), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2016/10/70-years-of-womans-hour.html" target="_blank">Woman’s Hour</a> </i>(1946), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-answer-lies-in-soil-gqt-at-70.html" target="_blank">How Does Your Garden Grow?</a></i> (1947) which
became <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gardener’s Question Time </i>in
1951, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2015/10/round-britain-quiz.html" target="_blank">Round Britain Quiz</a></i> (1947), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2013/01/its-five-oclock-time-for-sports-report.html" target="_blank">Sports Report</a></i> (1948) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Any Questions?</i> (1948).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(2) August 1943- February 1944: Beethoven, Schubert, Bach,
Haydn, Schumann, Handel, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Brahms, Elgar, Grieg,
Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Liszt, Verdi, Chopin, Ravel, Cesar Franck, Rossini,
Rimsky-Korsakov, Saint-Saens, Berlioz, Puccini, Mussorgsky, Delius, Bizet,
Vaughan-Williams, </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(3) At the time the Third Programme only broadcast in the
evening. In the daytime and early evening, under the umbrella title of <a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-university-of-air-network-three-and.html" target="_blank">Network Three</a>, the BBC also offered the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Study
Session</i>, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sports Service</i> (on
Saturday afternoons) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Test Match Special</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(4) Other transferred programmes included <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Music Magazine</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Talking About Music</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Your
Midweek Choice</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Midday Prom</i>. </p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-35906460439834215102023-07-15T10:45:00.000+02:002023-07-15T10:45:25.899+02:00The Swingin’ London Scene<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwoeUYvDhav87ryyuqdOpkQuuBDJE47m2zrUA1G7IV1rKBvcBmXYRuzwYG0p6QLCnkRAxI1cnhcaPlKxkaS8AQ5IC9ue3oPPc1gsMugFl9MhQMA8hrBqQEyPr9-9N1vqVMlDkNOZ3-WmG_OnDwjnXAqS6hgnpwRE0eDDYoLAyJ3BQj_t310zcNwabggFC/s472/I%20Love%20Radio%20Tip%20Top%20sticker.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="472" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwoeUYvDhav87ryyuqdOpkQuuBDJE47m2zrUA1G7IV1rKBvcBmXYRuzwYG0p6QLCnkRAxI1cnhcaPlKxkaS8AQ5IC9ue3oPPc1gsMugFl9MhQMA8hrBqQEyPr9-9N1vqVMlDkNOZ3-WmG_OnDwjnXAqS6hgnpwRE0eDDYoLAyJ3BQj_t310zcNwabggFC/s320/I%20Love%20Radio%20Tip%20Top%20sticker.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />It’s time to fire up the Lunewyre technology once again.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Back in 2014 I dipped into the BBC Radio 1 version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2014/10/fun-at-one-when-it-aint-tip-top-then-it.html" target="_blank">Radio Tip Top</a></i> that aired in 1995 and
1996. But in 1993 and 1994 the unlicensed Radio Tip Top could be heard across London
on a Wednesday night beaming out in mono on 105.6 FM. Series one ran from
sometime in May, or possibly April, 1993 through to October and was transmitted
for three hours on a Wednesday evening (9 pm to midnight). It was also, at
least for a while, also heard from noon to 3 pm on Sundays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second, delayed and shorter, season
kicked off in October 1994 going out 10 pm to midnight on a Wednesday. In
between times <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Tip Top</i> club
members could send off for cassette compilation versions and attend live
events. There were also occasional roadshow specials such as the one from the
summer of 1993. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Needless to say recordings of the pirate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Tip Top</i> shows – ‘free from the
forces of law and order’ - are rare. At the time of writing there are recordings
from September 1993, excerpts from two 1994 shows and two of the tape shows on
Mixcloud. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fortunately due to the diligence of Mark O’Shea we can now
enjoy a complete recording of Kid Tempo and The Ginger Prince hosting the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Tip Top Summertime Special Roadshow.</i>
This was broadcast at noon on Thursday 19 August 1993 (a date only established
after a bit of detective work and digging out old TV schedules) from “a
magnificent marquee in the glorious grounds of a Tip Top secret location, just
outside the capital and beamed into London by the magic of Lunewyre
technology”. Mark’s recording was rescued from an VHS tape, the soundtrack with
a Tip Top recording whilst the picture was of Channel 4’s output that
afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the recording starts we can just about hear the sound of
Jazz FM on 102.2 before the Tip Top transmission begins. The show kicks off
with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">San Tropez</i>, better known as the
theme to Channel 4’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eurotrash</i> which
started this year. Can this be a co-incidence? The first track is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Swingin’ London Scene</i> by First
Impression, a Tip Top favourite. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Over at the Radio Tip Top tent with The Ginger Prince we
hear performances that range from the kitsch to the obscene with Mae West (check
out her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Way Out West</i> album if you
really want to hear more) and Ice T’s Ice <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">M.F.T.</i>
The Peter Lorenzo Dancers strut their stuff to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Glamour Bubble</i> by Keith Andrew Roberts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All the show regulars are here including Rev. Ray Floods,
Norman Barrington, Penny Rider, Mitch Michelmore, Veronica Valentine, Warren
Smooth, the classic jingles, the Tip Top members request line and the Tip Top
Ten “as voted by the readers of Corsair magazine”. In case you’re thinking of joining
“London’s fastest growing club” by sending off for your Radio Tip Top club
members pack to The Back Building, 150 Curtain Road, London, please don’t. It’s
now an architect’s office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Listen out also for the Moog Interlude with Perry and
Kingsley’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Toy Balloons</i>. That’s
preceded by a version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Think I’m
Going Out of My Head</i> by Spanish pop star Raphael. </p>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zm-g4Wg0_kY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">The following year Radio Tip Top would go ‘legit’ with a
pilot show, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tip Top TV</i>, airing on
some ITV regions on 30 September 1994. In February 1995, just before joining Radio 1, they presented the NME Brat Awards. In late 1997 Kid Tempo and The Ginger
Prince were hosting <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tip Top</i> on the
Paramount Comedy Channel, essentially providing some quirky links between some
of the evening comedy shows. The same year there was talk of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s A Tip Top World</i> feature film but it
failed to get off the ground. And that, after just five years, was it for the
Tip Top Organisation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVfOmPab6qxRMITEzSDazSgGsSG6Qce9gisGS7SPPyc0NpbkGcAh7RzKaFDrCx88lG1hezf_kUVFxJAXcD0ZCFUApaYKbau0KL5PL2n4RRry2wy0RXd4tyK1rFneDyQPBT-z9lfN5ndpCQs3yqx_sA51E_M2104qLryg7E2vmAa6gmXs0Zm1j0Co072iar/s2335/Welcome%20to%20Tip%20Top.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2335" data-original-width="1665" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVfOmPab6qxRMITEzSDazSgGsSG6Qce9gisGS7SPPyc0NpbkGcAh7RzKaFDrCx88lG1hezf_kUVFxJAXcD0ZCFUApaYKbau0KL5PL2n4RRry2wy0RXd4tyK1rFneDyQPBT-z9lfN5ndpCQs3yqx_sA51E_M2104qLryg7E2vmAa6gmXs0Zm1j0Co072iar/w285-h400/Welcome%20to%20Tip%20Top.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><br />I’ve posted several show of the Radio 1 show on YouTube and
Mixcloud. Tip Top club members can also seek out the Facebook page dedicated to
the programme.<p></p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-56926185729925581372023-06-22T08:00:00.002+02:002023-06-24T18:16:39.842+02:00Not the A to Z of Radio Comedy: L is for Long Hot Satsuma<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0auKaZQoKo5mLUDoJsDBbk_iRmB3t7cGM9qeJTN06OuTfTYtIDnOUtHHiEVKjwHfrhvIY09xzjXTfq1ePHTVNQKnNGvdHl3cXYiRmmB51CASajT5wOFLTMSPPjs2D1OfiMEalKr0yOGWt1KuUopccoaJdIwSR4rVHyZdDCGMJwYVRDx_EtmoOkDtHpw/s650/LongHotSatsumabilling.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="650" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0auKaZQoKo5mLUDoJsDBbk_iRmB3t7cGM9qeJTN06OuTfTYtIDnOUtHHiEVKjwHfrhvIY09xzjXTfq1ePHTVNQKnNGvdHl3cXYiRmmB51CASajT5wOFLTMSPPjs2D1OfiMEalKr0yOGWt1KuUopccoaJdIwSR4rVHyZdDCGMJwYVRDx_EtmoOkDtHpw/s320/LongHotSatsumabilling.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Long Hot Satsuma</i>
was a short-lived sketch comedy series that combined the talents of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Clue</i> chums Graeme Garden and Barry
Cryer. Just eight episodes aired on BBC Radio 2 in the summer of 1989 in the
Thursday night 10 pm comedy slot that was most often occupied by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The News Huddlines</i>. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Garden and Cryer were of course on the writing team along
with fellow cast member Paul B. Davies, Dan Patterson (who produced the pilot episode)
and Martin Booth (the comedy writer who later became a parish priest). Also taking
part were Alison Steadman and Julia Hills. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Although Alison Steadman is fixed in the public imagination
as Beverly in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abigail’s Party</i> or Pam
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gavin & Stacey</i> but she had a
long stretch in radio sketch comedy. Her credits included Eddie Braben’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Worst Show on the Wireless</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2013/05/eddie-braben.html" target="_blank">The Show with Ten Legs</a></i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Show with No Name</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The News Huddlines </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2022/10/not-a-to-z-of-radio-comedy-t-is-for.html" target="_blank">Three Plus One</a></i>, which I wrote about last
October. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Julia Hills had, at this point, been in the Channel 4 sketch
show <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who Dares Wins </i>and would go on
to play Bill Porter’s best friend Rona in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">2point4
Children</i>. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Paul B. Davies was a comedy writer and actor much in
evidence in the 1980s. He wrote for dozens of episodes of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Week Ending</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The News
Huddlines</i>, as well as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Don’t Stop Now
It’s Fundation</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In One Ear</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Good Human Guide. </i>He appeared in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Fosdyke Saga</i> and co-wrote and
starred alongside Jeremy Hardy in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unnatural
Acts</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">At Home with the Hardys</i> and
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation</i>. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMlEj-aLYL8oWq2qbUU2swkfX4ZllO-h-GLXzmwE9D-rBgvnyV1SfoBIOymJ93VX2HjTNO2cvoihOkvUGj1TmBlToC8WWaaXGRBLmB-Th3V4MElHlELkxLvQ0q5MkANd6hC38h0PP-NFkiE5g7Mg6lkUovyXhCoTwzGA7wPY5OcrqssjaPBMwyeuuikw/s1404/The%20Long%20Hot%20Satsuma_RT%20200589.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1404" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMlEj-aLYL8oWq2qbUU2swkfX4ZllO-h-GLXzmwE9D-rBgvnyV1SfoBIOymJ93VX2HjTNO2cvoihOkvUGj1TmBlToC8WWaaXGRBLmB-Th3V4MElHlELkxLvQ0q5MkANd6hC38h0PP-NFkiE5g7Mg6lkUovyXhCoTwzGA7wPY5OcrqssjaPBMwyeuuikw/w400-h164/The%20Long%20Hot%20Satsuma_RT%20200589.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The series is previewed by David Gillard for the <i>Radio Times</i></td></tr></tbody></table><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />The Long Hot Satsuma</i>
was broadcast on Radio 2 between 25 May and 13 July 1989. It seems that the BBC
only kept a couple of episodes and these would appear to be the ones issued by
the BBC Transcription Service (no. CN5425S1) comprising the first pilot episode
and (I think) the second episode. The two episodes finally got a repeat on BBC7
in 2006 and again in 2007 and 2008. By 2009 the ‘missing’ episodes came back to
the BBC from home recordings and the full series was heard once again that year
and in 2011 and 2012. Back in 1989 I recorded just a couple episodes, the first
and third. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So here’s how <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Long
Hot Satsuma</i> sounded in the third episodes from 8 June 1989 complete with
opening Radio 2 jingle and some post show continuity with Tim Gudgin. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In this episode the inspiration for the skits come from the
Orson Welles radio production of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The War
of the Worlds</i>, Radio 4’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In the
Psychiatrist’s Chair</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Antiques
Roadshow </i>and a sketch about déjà-vu that you may have heard before. The
producer is Dirk Maggs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Alf60aVtdvw" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-81141821903958984202023-05-05T08:00:00.001+02:002023-05-05T08:00:00.146+02:00Coronation Day Across the World<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZVckXMiVoa1m6xi3oHIpnIF2yO0uJtYM5xsYWAlxkyS_uWs6jXH0Ta2rjlRkErOMpLFw__BnanNYUVe4FQRjbzBm2EJ3FeZA2d5LmtQK6QpOPtvUQtPjX-GA6IvfimKa79YQUYJ9Kg7fAxiHIQnnLnK2Bh-T1ZeucIEQFw-QH6-ZdoZbadEDoRwzGw/s1492/London%20Calling%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1492" data-original-width="1214" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZVckXMiVoa1m6xi3oHIpnIF2yO0uJtYM5xsYWAlxkyS_uWs6jXH0Ta2rjlRkErOMpLFw__BnanNYUVe4FQRjbzBm2EJ3FeZA2d5LmtQK6QpOPtvUQtPjX-GA6IvfimKa79YQUYJ9Kg7fAxiHIQnnLnK2Bh-T1ZeucIEQFw-QH6-ZdoZbadEDoRwzGw/s320/London%20Calling%20cover.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br />The crowning of King Charles III and Queen Camilla this
weekend will only be the third time that a Coronation has been broadcast.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The first, on 12 May 1937, was for King George VI and Queen
Elizabeth. It was, according to Engineer in Charge of Outside Broadcasts Robert
Wood, “the most complicated broadcast the BBC had ever attempted”. Two control
rooms were set up, one at Westminster Abbey for the National Programme and
Empire Service, and one at Middlesex Guildhall for all the foreign
commentators. The sound from 58 microphones – 11 along the route for
commentators, crowd noises and music, 15 for overseas use and 32 in the
Abbey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">BBC radio commentary
was provided for the procession to and from Westminster Abbey by the team of John
Snagge, Howard Marshall, George Blake, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A.W. Dobbin, Michael Standing , Harold
Abrahams and Thomas Woodrooffe. As Snagge would later recall: “All the
commentators were as nervous as kittens, because there was no rehearsal, but we
came away with a feeling the broadcast had been pretty well done, under the
circumstances”. There was no commentary during the actual service though
microphones were installed in the Abbey to pick up the speech and music. The
BBC’s Director of Religion, the Rev Frederick Iremonger, was on hand to read
and explain ‘the rubrics’. For the Empire Service broadcast additional
shortwave transmitters were installed at Daventry to ensure coverage. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOzf5xIRJHV-WK4k93XH8zY7NgorK6A08z3MIuEkw88-Wt5RxC1p7O0NR3vVT6shbTj6FXzkPiPld0UQjJ9_0yBq92U9yloKf_l2LD5SMaWBo_6Zg0Ic6ALK_05XjndDgyhs1XOaVlldvOmn1M5M7ygX6_HTiYvjulc0WzHkzxYjzITX0dz7iCukJDEg/s678/1937%20Commentators%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="374" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOzf5xIRJHV-WK4k93XH8zY7NgorK6A08z3MIuEkw88-Wt5RxC1p7O0NR3vVT6shbTj6FXzkPiPld0UQjJ9_0yBq92U9yloKf_l2LD5SMaWBo_6Zg0Ic6ALK_05XjndDgyhs1XOaVlldvOmn1M5M7ygX6_HTiYvjulc0WzHkzxYjzITX0dz7iCukJDEg/s320/1937%20Commentators%201.jpg" width="177" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVoqR-Yk42R_PsrNBQuKhOiLcEtA0xZoH7bR4mvbG9cyn9leRP1MVU3v6S26v2j5yc5j_iKfPhc6cZy3hNYHL4uiH71lj6iy4dNwRrvSmwDFHB4MjtIkD0a0qyyXta7pNfj8coKcuc_4kcltV6ACeIMpED773tGIm9LvyR0029zKHzmdK8G_89Cb3oaA/s515/1937%20Commentators%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="325" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVoqR-Yk42R_PsrNBQuKhOiLcEtA0xZoH7bR4mvbG9cyn9leRP1MVU3v6S26v2j5yc5j_iKfPhc6cZy3hNYHL4uiH71lj6iy4dNwRrvSmwDFHB4MjtIkD0a0qyyXta7pNfj8coKcuc_4kcltV6ACeIMpED773tGIm9LvyR0029zKHzmdK8G_89Cb3oaA/w177-h279/1937%20Commentators%202.jpg" width="177" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>This was also the first televised Coronation so for any of
the 10,000 or so people in the London area with access to one of the
new-fangled television receivers three cameras were on hand to transmit
pictures of the procession near Hyde Park Corner. Permission to install a
further three cameras inside Westminster Abbey had been refused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Providing the tv commentary was Freddie
Grisewood. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The BBC radio coverage of the 1937 Coronation was issued on
78 rpm discs and recordings of the ceremony are online. Shortwave recordings of
the full day’s coverage as relayed by NBC in the States are also possibly
online somewhere, though I’ve failed to locate them. So I’m grateful to Sandy
Finlayson who kindly sent me some audio files five years ago. This sequence is
what was broadcast before and during the procession to Westminster Abbey. Note
that none of the ‘observers’ are actually named though John Snagge is
immediately recognisable. Making the opening ‘This is London’ announcement is
Stuart Hibberd. As the BBC was also sending sound output to the Office of Works
loudspeakers along the processional route, listen out at 12 minutes for in
instruction to turn down the loudspeakers near the Abbey annexe as “they’re
causing some interference”. </p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TWPE4GIp9kE" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 the radio
and television coverage was a major logistical exercise. In <a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2013/05/coronation-day-radio.html" target="_blank">May 2013</a> I wrote
about the domestic radio coverage so in this post I’m dipping into the pages of
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">London Calling</i> to see what listeners
around the world heard.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QvRVXxD-NyNPqdVyOutdY4r0RmyKiZiBB0gwAETZSiYkH62-VPT45-WRY8SRfUldS6-JRXh7FlV966lYgscxY89CHeaaA1gkSfF86xbO_zPr-mJSA9eAQ-HlHT_K7dwt53RQrWcXAzs_ViSX0tz5DiONN9Teryq7sHUrWrYrZhxubOqAjzajgIy4Hg/s1975/Coronation_London%20Calling_June%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1975" data-original-width="1286" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QvRVXxD-NyNPqdVyOutdY4r0RmyKiZiBB0gwAETZSiYkH62-VPT45-WRY8SRfUldS6-JRXh7FlV966lYgscxY89CHeaaA1gkSfF86xbO_zPr-mJSA9eAQ-HlHT_K7dwt53RQrWcXAzs_ViSX0tz5DiONN9Teryq7sHUrWrYrZhxubOqAjzajgIy4Hg/w260-h400/Coronation_London%20Calling_June%202.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Programmes for Coronation Day, 2 June 1953</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigLXXa3jhMY9l_RMlLB60MDEIB4bSNeTvDa3DaPCBzpIXzZVpSIlS0lKQL9zZGGxd11_B7FFfpTxG0gCsk3NtvSdGkCS-Evfyau4zL8F8MK9cHUisUg_s7p3m2H-IEUgiCYDoT9iz_mgsySEjPLj4kvTslYJ1kDyYDU2m3uRrEmmBYAWvBcpDHokOgaw/s1986/Coronation_London%20Calling_June%203.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1986" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigLXXa3jhMY9l_RMlLB60MDEIB4bSNeTvDa3DaPCBzpIXzZVpSIlS0lKQL9zZGGxd11_B7FFfpTxG0gCsk3NtvSdGkCS-Evfyau4zL8F8MK9cHUisUg_s7p3m2H-IEUgiCYDoT9iz_mgsySEjPLj4kvTslYJ1kDyYDU2m3uRrEmmBYAWvBcpDHokOgaw/w258-h400/Coronation_London%20Calling_June%203.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Programmes for 3 June 1953</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>At this time the General Overseas Service relied quite
heavily on rebroadcasting programmes already heard on the Home Service or Light
Programme. So on Coronation Day we inevitably have the same coverage of the
procession, the crowning service and the RAF fly past, the speeches by Winston
Churchill and the Queen and the fireworks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZm0lbdhTmP8-bAjtFr8Vdrxwng4khibEsZ2nj_Bnz0yXaeI5Cciw_otZy3frNLokW4RKUQkiirSdFTKnE0aKmjv1khEXfFk0g7K5Ldyu6Fa0-RESZ1-fPT3X6ZEvgrrxyZXgdqIwQYCFGyzbnWaScbiRo2YTTUdd98u3QGEtRRCMLJsCj72FtE60ZHQ/s1688/Coronation_London%20Calling_JB%20Clark%20Intro.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1688" data-original-width="1133" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZm0lbdhTmP8-bAjtFr8Vdrxwng4khibEsZ2nj_Bnz0yXaeI5Cciw_otZy3frNLokW4RKUQkiirSdFTKnE0aKmjv1khEXfFk0g7K5Ldyu6Fa0-RESZ1-fPT3X6ZEvgrrxyZXgdqIwQYCFGyzbnWaScbiRo2YTTUdd98u3QGEtRRCMLJsCj72FtE60ZHQ/w269-h400/Coronation_London%20Calling_JB%20Clark%20Intro.jpg" width="269" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Director of External Broadcasting John Clark<br />had his own personal memories of the 1937 Coronation</td></tr></tbody></table><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />London Calling</i> provides
a list of the large commentary team that includes sports commentators, former
war correspondents and some Commonwealth radio guest broadcasters. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whilst Richard Dimbleby was the senior
television commentator, on the wireless it was John Snagge, by now a veteran of
royal occasions. With John at Westminster Abbey were Howard Marshall, Audrey
Russell and Ted Briggs. Near Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial were
Jean Metcalfe, Wynford Vaughan Thomas, William Richardson and the
splendidly-named Australian broadcaster Talbot Duckmanston. Others on team were
Raymond Baxter, Rex Alston, David Lloyd James, Alun Williams, Frank Gillard,
Tom Fleming, Charles Gardner, Henry Riddell and John Arlott.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGe1XwYhDr6FbSy_NaXBFqxletAOWF8t1cC0VRldha3C2NB3Thp2v3TWVD4EuSITmZVuGpIRG4lVEM_zbJ5xvmY3TgfGjWyS4oL6L2caJsK7wWuJGJuKzuN5y87SHpEasBTudX8PnYE4OOmrCbpDsVYBH5SZzq9ANCjCNRFuzxDLUEVr17FeenwQp_fA/s1720/Coronation_London%20Calling_Commentators%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="1720" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGe1XwYhDr6FbSy_NaXBFqxletAOWF8t1cC0VRldha3C2NB3Thp2v3TWVD4EuSITmZVuGpIRG4lVEM_zbJ5xvmY3TgfGjWyS4oL6L2caJsK7wWuJGJuKzuN5y87SHpEasBTudX8PnYE4OOmrCbpDsVYBH5SZzq9ANCjCNRFuzxDLUEVr17FeenwQp_fA/w400-h174/Coronation_London%20Calling_Commentators%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdiToD21_eZlBARKl0zx6GBhCAMjjn_VPqctHWbiwNKYAN9GxRiNp444XdcppcyHonugI7P3IkmwSQTIXwvhinF3LCDR55c8m80tHYc-c0Fg5jEO00lqDwccjYScp4LbJ1K1AoEh4rLUVBfalzHZi7B_gB2ZVKkPeqT3QrAW_LNZQn1GJBzk6jHzIpg/s1457/Coronation_London%20Calling_Commentators%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1457" data-original-width="853" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdiToD21_eZlBARKl0zx6GBhCAMjjn_VPqctHWbiwNKYAN9GxRiNp444XdcppcyHonugI7P3IkmwSQTIXwvhinF3LCDR55c8m80tHYc-c0Fg5jEO00lqDwccjYScp4LbJ1K1AoEh4rLUVBfalzHZi7B_gB2ZVKkPeqT3QrAW_LNZQn1GJBzk6jHzIpg/w234-h400/Coronation_London%20Calling_Commentators%202.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcABTy041FIM9Nl2ao8IGscwinbLi1Wu9Gr9Zsov1RQLN1BqYDyP9VNW2ODva95rMMmFRoEv-0X3rv2ULhcCiPG8X27PQSFJDCL1G3nduamvBzAYfsdrhHHaRzrKurvdnPLDRtSWmj-FFd1s_tHdZyM5wE21cgpGwqwFiJ2ZZuE8ALQ-YF5VTH9byZw/s1702/Coronation_London%20Calling_Commentators%203.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1702" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcABTy041FIM9Nl2ao8IGscwinbLi1Wu9Gr9Zsov1RQLN1BqYDyP9VNW2ODva95rMMmFRoEv-0X3rv2ULhcCiPG8X27PQSFJDCL1G3nduamvBzAYfsdrhHHaRzrKurvdnPLDRtSWmj-FFd1s_tHdZyM5wE21cgpGwqwFiJ2ZZuE8ALQ-YF5VTH9byZw/w400-h179/Coronation_London%20Calling_Commentators%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DMWNlBX3DuWontHugiEYejxfBXLfMXv9r55Irj9oDHojFUAsykxqggchDLTOuPcD_7ImZEMrKLC4sNhTqHNB6VFtauORRg7VDKAZabHkY4_ubfZmCUtw1qe080DkDRaKDbfj_CUaWS5u4sQkYT4Y2bAGcBCQ4v0zpuFn3Sfh0hkIqKzM57Ys0A1cNg/s1261/Coronation_London%20Calling_Commentators%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="1261" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DMWNlBX3DuWontHugiEYejxfBXLfMXv9r55Irj9oDHojFUAsykxqggchDLTOuPcD_7ImZEMrKLC4sNhTqHNB6VFtauORRg7VDKAZabHkY4_ubfZmCUtw1qe080DkDRaKDbfj_CUaWS5u4sQkYT4Y2bAGcBCQ4v0zpuFn3Sfh0hkIqKzM57Ys0A1cNg/w400-h221/Coronation_London%20Calling_Commentators%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzFJs76a-rmZg8LMpN-GIFxVVCumoe_cjQSSwi82Rg_lDRdM0NnI-nLPfjBu-8ZLlDi91mxhxkKiYYwmN9Lk2596U88gSUq-2nrIpdoOsno5FPIp2gY6cYzPQ988WdFVuTuKtEtyo6OPQWg29rQ6fTo5MlPwLY-_E-MVgTcu9S99I2Ge-uGW1xvzuHw/s836/Coronation_London%20Calling_Commentators%205.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="836" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzFJs76a-rmZg8LMpN-GIFxVVCumoe_cjQSSwi82Rg_lDRdM0NnI-nLPfjBu-8ZLlDi91mxhxkKiYYwmN9Lk2596U88gSUq-2nrIpdoOsno5FPIp2gY6cYzPQ988WdFVuTuKtEtyo6OPQWg29rQ6fTo5MlPwLY-_E-MVgTcu9S99I2Ge-uGW1xvzuHw/s320/Coronation_London%20Calling_Commentators%205.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Aside from the coverage of the Coronation itself the
Features Department, working with News and OB, made two major contributions. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Long Live the Queen!</i> was a ‘radio
pageant’ linked by Robert Donat’s narration and the music of William Alwyn. The
programme was “a series of close-ups of men and women of many lands, putting
into words their feelings, and the feelings of those for whom they speak, about
the Queen”. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coronation Day Across
the World</i> was an ambitious live programme – with some pre-recorded elements
– described as “using all the facilities of short-wave radio, (to) build up a
living, instantaneous sound-picture of the world’s rejoicing on Coronation Day”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was similar in scope to the hour-long
features that had preceded the King’s Christmas Day speech for the previous decade.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coronation Day
Across the World</i> which was not without the odd technical hitch. Four
minutes in commentary passes to Wynford Vaughan Thomas outside Buckingham
Palace but evidently although he’d heard his cue at the time he was unable to
secure his position on the Victoria Memorial so large was the crowd. </p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7Jg4uK2DGFA" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">At intervals during the day on the General Overseas Service are
extracts from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Commonwealth Gala</i>
which had been heard on the Light Programme on the Sunday evening and featured
artists from Britain and the Commonwealth. Those on the bill included Elsie and
Doris Waters, Dick Bentley, Bernard Braden, Hutch, Ted Kavanagh, Gladys Young
and Cecily Courtneidge. Dick Bentley was also on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Take It From Here </i>which was also heard over on the Light Programme.
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc2KV7mrofnNTTnOSFI1vX1QNWbPJfG2KyzyoCTewy0OnFy6XJ5GKTo1mhu_YvkYtHhDivDVxjJD-EUpeeOofRdmoP3ZrC1Dmp56jf6hoQpVUK0h2p_hk6aYXas8qJfKjzwGD_1MQuPGrjXqABfx40KpTLOvMC9yOsj3ftPj52Zk2tFmGbBxj5u3TBmQ/s1626/London%20Calling%20Wavelengths.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1626" data-original-width="1210" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc2KV7mrofnNTTnOSFI1vX1QNWbPJfG2KyzyoCTewy0OnFy6XJ5GKTo1mhu_YvkYtHhDivDVxjJD-EUpeeOofRdmoP3ZrC1Dmp56jf6hoQpVUK0h2p_hk6aYXas8qJfKjzwGD_1MQuPGrjXqABfx40KpTLOvMC9yOsj3ftPj52Zk2tFmGbBxj5u3TBmQ/w298-h400/London%20Calling%20Wavelengths.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">London Calling</i>
provided a couple of pages of wavelength information, one listing the usual
wavelengths for the majority of the week’s programmes, the second showing all
the details for the Coronation broadcasts on 2 June. These included all the
wavelengths specifically directed the different regions or countries as well as
those which may be heard under favourable conditions, designated ‘secondary
coverage’. Listeners were also advised that many other organisations were
planning to re-broadcast the BBC transmissions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Staying with royal events a little longer last year I posted
pages from the June 1977 issue of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2022/05/silver-jubilee-london-calling.html" target="_blank">London Calling</a> t</i>o mark the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. Again thanks to Sandy Finlayson
I now have copies of some of the World Service programmes featured in that month.
One of the programmes comes from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Theatre
of the Air</i> drama stand and is a production of Laurence Housman’s 1934 play
about Queen Victoria, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Victoria Regina</i>.
The play, essentially as series of vignettes about the queen’s life over a
sixty year period, had been performed on BBC radio before, but this was the
first production in nearly thirty years. In this adaptation directed by John
Pitman, Jane Wenham stars as Queen Victoria. The cast includes John Castle as
Albert, Lockwood West as Gladstone, Betty Bascomb as Mrs Gladstone, Garard
Green as Palmerston, Manning Wilson as Melbourne, Brian Haines as Russell and
Denis McCarthy as Beaconsfield with Joan Hart as the Narrator. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This recording of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Victoria
Regina</i> was made in Canada and taken from a BBC World Service transmission
via the now defunct relay station at Sackville, New Brunswick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BTJidD_96ns" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">For more on the 1937 Coronation this <a href="https://transdiffusion.org/2017/05/12/the-coronation-broadcasts/" target="_blank">Transdiffusion article</a>has extracts from the 1938 BBC handbook. And for an over view of Coronation broadcasts
please listen to the latest podcast from Paul Kerensa’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://podfollow.com/bbcentury/view" target="_blank">British Broadcasting Century</a></i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-13644581667081523422023-04-08T10:00:00.001+02:002023-04-08T10:00:00.166+02:00Citizens<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZTiU7gNRI1XC_flh0Bt8QZf9WzY-k7EbvxXACcfYRM-cfErX6zg--d58eUiS0C2L1cVTifwxTxixXAU9cSM4oP3iAE1fgZC3BMrqkb7oC7t7vqs8y9ZJqYasWS1OrYLSykbMnte-QCvkyP7NCYWnVCWIiNLcLdnr1Ea79YutPRuksHW0LAd55glOoA/s2299/Citizens_5%20Limerick%20Road,%20Ditcham%20Heath.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2299" data-original-width="1696" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZTiU7gNRI1XC_flh0Bt8QZf9WzY-k7EbvxXACcfYRM-cfErX6zg--d58eUiS0C2L1cVTifwxTxixXAU9cSM4oP3iAE1fgZC3BMrqkb7oC7t7vqs8y9ZJqYasWS1OrYLSykbMnte-QCvkyP7NCYWnVCWIiNLcLdnr1Ea79YutPRuksHW0LAd55glOoA/w295-h400/Citizens_5%20Limerick%20Road,%20Ditcham%20Heath.jpg" width="295" /></a></div><br />Whenever the quiz question that starts “name the radio
soap....” comes up you know the answer’s going to be <i>The Archers</i>. But BBC Radio 4 did have another drama serial, another
soap. <i>Citizens</i> is largely forgotten
as it ran for just under four years and clocked up only 300+ episodes. Next
month <i>The Archers</i> will hit the 20,000<sup>th</sup>
episode.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i> has gone
down in radio history as the drama experiment that didn’t work; the series that
was “grey, drab and miserable”. But is that assessment fair? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The programme had been commissioned in March 1987 by the
recently appointed Radio 4 network controller Michael Green.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He thought that there was room for a second
serial as the station’s drama output was skewed towards the single play. He
also wanted to address the issue of the mid-morning audience dip and to attract
a younger audience, those in their twenties and thirties. Aiming for something
to balance the rural setting of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Archers</i> the new serial would, perhaps buoyed by the recent success of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">EastEnders</i>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>be more urban, more working class and
grittier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCNx3v9jtS85HiLjGWrB9nV5m237sREc18bAQg8LWbehW5B9ZdU60iMgxPSAatPQNZhtfe92rY7pZAfXiL2x-cTnw3dFDZP0HwoPlQGha5oqL4Jj_cBCB4iPv720cgNQc8NxLuqPN5kA-pBUms4t-E4CEWk9NVdK9zBIlu6as0royVu66RyPOgeLpJQ/s1625/Citizens_LC%20Oct%201987.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1625" data-original-width="1576" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCNx3v9jtS85HiLjGWrB9nV5m237sREc18bAQg8LWbehW5B9ZdU60iMgxPSAatPQNZhtfe92rY7pZAfXiL2x-cTnw3dFDZP0HwoPlQGha5oqL4Jj_cBCB4iPv720cgNQc8NxLuqPN5kA-pBUms4t-E4CEWk9NVdK9zBIlu6as0royVu66RyPOgeLpJQ/w388-h400/Citizens_LC%20Oct%201987.jpg" width="388" /></a></div><br />Tasked with getting the series on the air were drama
producers Marilyn Imrie, who’d been working for the BBC in Scotland, and
Anthony (A.J.) Quinn, a more recent recruit and former RSC assistant director.
According to publicity at the time Imrie and Quinn “decided from the start that
the story would be based on five young hopefuls living in London but that it
would not revolve exclusively around the capital. The lives of the central
characters are inextricably linked with those of their families, in East
Anglia, the Midlands, Merseyside and Scotland, and regular listeners will get
to know their families on their home turf”. A working title for the series had
been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mind the Gap</i> but that was
rejected (1) and a last minute decision was made to call it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i>. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By May of 1987 a synopsis was ready but it wasn’t until
July, just three months before transmission, that the characters were set and
cast auditioning started. Two researchers joined the team to build up files on
the characters, their back stories, their likes and dislikes, their habits.
Script meetings were held nine weeks before launch and episodes recorded six
weeks ahead, though this dropped to three weeks to ensure some degree of
topicality. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The initial setting was 5 Limerick Road, a shabby South London
house – “no proper heating and the wiring’s about to blow-up” - in the
fictional London district of Ditcham, a prophetic title as four years down the
line Radio 4 would indeed ‘ditch ‘em’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdDy2h_f7ITXhh7bunYzlv57jkSfoclxidyY_RLxATh0qTq0Ic-cetNot5p0CL6FCIffKY27p4KKOxAAJ4es3LAqTeGH3KGZHXZx3TNcdUUHcirutCO_QMiAn7Kl1mvpF1wO5oetkBt9oWl6qdGnnO5rws-MfXvLvEaMwJ6OkgioD-pgOPP_mcuLGeA/s1065/Citizens_271087.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="1065" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdDy2h_f7ITXhh7bunYzlv57jkSfoclxidyY_RLxATh0qTq0Ic-cetNot5p0CL6FCIffKY27p4KKOxAAJ4es3LAqTeGH3KGZHXZx3TNcdUUHcirutCO_QMiAn7Kl1mvpF1wO5oetkBt9oWl6qdGnnO5rws-MfXvLvEaMwJ6OkgioD-pgOPP_mcuLGeA/s320/Citizens_271087.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The characters living at that address were:<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Alexandra Parker played by Kate Duchêne. Alex is the
daughter of a well-off family from East Anglia. She is the ‘landlady’ of the
group. Her father is letting her live in the property but that she must be
self-supporting. She has a three-month old baby, William, but the father is
absent. She managed a poor degree in English just before the birth and spent a
miserable summer with her folks before leaving for London. She juggles
motherhood with her job at the Bread Street community arts centre.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Anita Sharma played by Seeta Indrani. Alex’s friend from
university she’s the youngest daughter of an Asian family from Birmingham.
She’s spent the last five years studying medicine in Leicester and now has a
houseman’s job at a nearby hospital. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Julia Brennan played by Beverly Hills. From a Liverpool
Irish Catholic family she’s down in London with her twin brother Michael. Julia
read history and is determined to fulfil herself professionally. She’s a retail
management trainee at Bott & Co. department store. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Michael Brennan played by Russell Boulter. Julia’s
idealistic twin brother is the apple of their parents’ eye. Studied philosophy
but dropped out before his finals and goes to London to search for direction in
his life. Unlike Julia, who rejects her Catholic upbringing, Mike has a great
interest in the church. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hugh Hamilton played by James MacPherson. A working class
Scot from Kilmarnock with a first in economics he has secured a job with a
merchant bank. He is drawn to the idea of a high-powered lifestyle with all the
hi-tech trimmings but always short of ready cash. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ernest Bond played by Brian Murphy. The freelance catering
manager lives in the basement flat with his cat Salome. (2)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Episodes of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i>,
running at about 22 minutes, aired at 11.02 each Tuesday and Thursday with an
omnibus edition going out at 18.25 on Saturday evening. Many of the weekday
editions were heard on long wave only (FM carried schools programmes) so will
have impacted on audience engagement. A synopsis of the current storylines was
on CEEFAX page 144. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The jazzy theme was written and performed by Harvey Brough,
of the vocal jazz group Harvey and the Wallbangers fame. The group had already
had a couple of series on Radio 2 and they’d provided the music on two BBC
Scotland dramas, one directed by Marilyn Imrie and the other by her husband
James Runcie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(3)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the first year each set of episodes were all titled and
the writing duties mostly fell to one of Leigh Jackson, Charlotte Keatley,
Marcia Kahan, Mark Power or Mike Walker with either Marilyn Imrie or Anthony
Quinn directing. Others who contributed scripts in that year included Meera
Syal, Kay Trainor, Ginne Hole, Rona Munro and Alan Clews. (4)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To introduce the series Radio 4 broadcast the feature <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Making of Citizens</i>. It looks at how
the characters, plots and even locations were researched, the script meetings
and workshops. This is a recording of the Saturday evening 24 October 1987
broadcast. It was repeated the following Thursday morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8T_yo4eoi9I" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">The first episodes, titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A-Z</i>, are of course, the scene-setters that focus on the key
characters, all friends linked by their time studying at university in Leicester.
Mike Brennan is down from Liverpool but there’s a question as to why he’s left
the family home. Expect nothing too dramatic other than a lost London A-Z and a
builder’s estimate for £15k. This is the omnibus version from 31 October 1987.
The writer is Leigh Jackson and the director Marilyn Imrie. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dm1seOmIsBM" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">The next recording I have is part two of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Couples </i>from 18 August 1988. This was
from one of the weeks, every third week at the time, where some of the action
moves away from Limerick Road to one of the families. Here Alex is back in
Norfolk with her father played by Jack Hedley, grandfather (James Grout) and
grandmother (Mary Wimbush). There are some other familiar names in the cast
such as John Baddeley, Anthony Jackson (a veteran of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Waggoners’ Walk</i>), Stuart Milligan, Jane Wenham and David Rintoul.
Meanwhile Hugh has financial worries. This story was scripted by Mike Walker
and directed by Anthony Quinn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/grsz_DbHLok" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unusually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i>
was also heard on the World Service with the episodes also going out on Tuesday
and Thursday (each having two repeats). (5) It garnered a cover on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">London Calling</i> for October 1987 though
oddly the title wasn’t given as, apparently, it was “cloaked in mystery – only
the producers know and they aren’t telling until the last minute”. The World
Service carried the series until it bailed out early in March 1989. One
correspondent to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">London Calling</i>
missed it. Writing from Saudi Arabia Mrs E. Jalal said: “I’m very disappointed
to see that the BBC has decided to take <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i>
off the air...tuning in every Tuesday and Thursday has become very much a part
of my life here. I know there are other dramas on World Service, but it’s not
quite the same.” Merchant Navy man Fred Laugharne was scathing: “May I say how
delighted I was to hear that the detestable series <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i> has at last been axed from the World Service. I can hardly
express my loathing with which I have long regarded this programme and pray it
will never sully the air waves again. The idiotic posturing and supermarket
philosophies of the lifestylers of Limerick Road would be more appropriate to a
teenage girls’ magazine.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTA6uRSn_UO4HnjTxXfFNx4DhBVyv_KVD98MwKXKBnoKRNmxIhsszN2fv4AIQKwEwvOpbFIFEemQV2aDLmiAL4TjUT44Tug_OkEzxPKxUzVyI4H70d8iBqLP6z4KAuGb5gCZ1_hAYhIeQAPP9tk8fnBieHnxCsB3FAPta4-rScK9syyGaR_iePmHkmUQ/s2338/Citizens_London%20Calling%20Cover_Oct%201987.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="1660" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTA6uRSn_UO4HnjTxXfFNx4DhBVyv_KVD98MwKXKBnoKRNmxIhsszN2fv4AIQKwEwvOpbFIFEemQV2aDLmiAL4TjUT44Tug_OkEzxPKxUzVyI4H70d8iBqLP6z4KAuGb5gCZ1_hAYhIeQAPP9tk8fnBieHnxCsB3FAPta4-rScK9syyGaR_iePmHkmUQ/w284-h400/Citizens_London%20Calling%20Cover_Oct%201987.jpg" width="284" /></a></div><br />It’s fair to say that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i>
was not the success that was hoped for. Radio 4 listeners are largely change
averse. The twice-weekly scheduling wasn’t great. Younger listeners were
unlikely to be tuning in at 11 am on weekdays. And to cap it all the storylines
were seen as “more soap box than soap opera” and “radio’s answer to watching
paint dry.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Critic Hilary Kingsley
summed it up as “excellent dialogue and outstanding acting but the effect is
slightly dull.”<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">According to Michael Green, speaking in January 1989 on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Call the Controller, </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the weekday audience for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i> was ½ million- no worse than other programmes in that slot
- whilst the Saturday omnibus, which had been between 100,000 and 200,000,had
increased to 300,000 by Autumn 1988. However <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Archers</i> omnibus grabbed one million. (6)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Discussions on how to sharpen the scripts and the characters
continued and early in 1989 Clive Brill, who’d been directing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Archers</i>, was drafted in. The cast of
characters was expanded and more locations introduced including the local bar <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Chariots of Fire</i>. Brill himself
would direct some episodes but as Imrie and then Quinn moved on the directing
duties fell to David Hitchinson, Sally Avens, Adrian Bean, Tracey Neale and
Mike Adams. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvsdvKSmN10-7zV1r7nuqLsUC9bYzZHWWEjofi_RIT8cnacD3YsaElXywyquCprRWxODPNAJnX3fjuQSI3yaBElaGGVD8TKLjIu8omJ37NzTD8uSOsbpmZtdgc8LSb8i0mshu9ah1WnIVheZf4SbfFxca-8AhqFnm2aQpBE_7Udp8x3XiLQP1VYCLD-w/s995/Citizens_090288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="995" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvsdvKSmN10-7zV1r7nuqLsUC9bYzZHWWEjofi_RIT8cnacD3YsaElXywyquCprRWxODPNAJnX3fjuQSI3yaBElaGGVD8TKLjIu8omJ37NzTD8uSOsbpmZtdgc8LSb8i0mshu9ah1WnIVheZf4SbfFxca-8AhqFnm2aQpBE_7Udp8x3XiLQP1VYCLD-w/s320/Citizens_090288.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />In 1990 a regular <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Times Backstage</i> feature introduced
some of the actors and the characters they played in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i> including:<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tara Dominick as Mireille ‘the Joan Collins of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i>’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ben Onwukwe as Colin Jones ‘a likeable, likely lad’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John Hollis as Joe Sweeney, Ditcham’s Mister Big ‘a
self-made man who hasn’t made a very good job of it’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Adjoah Andoh as JJ ‘a black Yuppie’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mark Fletcher as Steve ‘a young Jack the lad scratching
around for a few bob here and there’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Marcella Riordan as Pat Brennan ‘long-suffering wife to
feckless Tony’ </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Richard Tate as Tony Brennan ‘he’s a compulsive gambler and
a terrible womaniser’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hetty Baynes as Suzi, ‘a bit of a lost soul who’s been
through all sorts of phases and crazes, trying to find herself’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Scott Farrell who, in July 1989, took over the role of Mike
Brennan ‘used to be a very right-on Christian, but he’s really upset his mother
recently by getting involved with Mary (played by Alice Arnold) and her baby’ </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The next episode moves the action forward to July 1991, the
final month for the series, and its now high drama with a kidnap situation at
Limerick Road with Helen Morgan (played by Jenny McCraken) held captive by
Cliff Crowley (Jeffrey Gear). This episode was written by Mark Power and
directed by Adrian Bean. (7) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-JZVsjy9zjk" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">Other well known actors popping into the series included Adrienne
Corri, Polly James, Nicholas Courtney, Sean Barrett, Norman Beaton, Carmen
Munroe, Margaret John, Jo Kendall, Cyril Nri and Holly Aird. Lenny Henry
appeared as himself in a Comic Relief themed episode on 4 February 1988 and
Alexei Sayle on 20 December 1988.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXPYVcLn6DKOnRK0nFunqceEJd2UHazzvHSc6X-G0MGYXSk9rPoEV9AvUkUAAJgd9QCurQVrWm66cFCSDpXtVgF8moa8W4EoHbfgIdVoRvfeCCaPqpOfsyQzmXSwFMCFjZtaDZnKRyQexpqNY9Qz1_sSQVGirA9Xb--h94HQ2OtcpgwshNUkAp7OYnHA/s650/Citizens_19880204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="643" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXPYVcLn6DKOnRK0nFunqceEJd2UHazzvHSc6X-G0MGYXSk9rPoEV9AvUkUAAJgd9QCurQVrWm66cFCSDpXtVgF8moa8W4EoHbfgIdVoRvfeCCaPqpOfsyQzmXSwFMCFjZtaDZnKRyQexpqNY9Qz1_sSQVGirA9Xb--h94HQ2OtcpgwshNUkAp7OYnHA/s320/Citizens_19880204.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><br />By 1991 the axe came down on Limerick Road. According to
Michael Green “to schedule something twice a week wasn’t enough” and that “we
all agreed in the end, the storyline wasn’t absorbing enough, those characters
were not characters that people felt sufficiently close to.” Green reflected
that: “It created the opportunity to start to do more series and serials, to
demolish one or two bricks in the edifice, and that allowed you to try other
experiments. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i> was an attempt
to say something a bit more contemporary about British life, but I would argue
that it has allowed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Archers</i> to
come of age in some ways. And radio drama suddenly became slightly more open
and contemporary. So all was not lost even in things that didn’t quite work at
the time”. David Hendy sums it up as “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i>
had failed to establish a foothold but...it had not really disappeared without
leaving a footprint”. (8)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The final episodes aired on 23 and 25 July 1991. There are
fractious rehearsals for a show at the arts centre. Julia is heading off for
Spain and Hugh is heart-broken. Alex is breaking up with Neville and in the
final scene it’s just her and son William. This recording, kindly donated by
Nigel Hall, is of the final omnibus version. It was written by Christophe Reason
and directed by Adrian Bean. </p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T0ZUjY7w60I" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i> 27
October 1987 to 25 July 1991</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(1) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mind the Gap</i>
wasn’t totally forgotten as it was used as episode titles in June 1988.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(2) Three of the original cast went on to play TV law
enforcers with Seeta Indrani<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>joining <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Bill</i> to play WPC Datta in September
1989, just a month after Anita’s character was written out. Also in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Bill</i> was Russell Boulter as DS John
Boulton. Meanwhile James MacPherson would play DC Mike Jardine in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Taggart</i>. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(3) The productions were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Archangels
Don’t Play Pinball</i> (1986) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Porch
Song</i> (1987). For <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i> Harvey
Brough composed a short opening and closing theme plus a slower piano only
version that I’ve tagged onto the end of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Making of Citizens</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(4) Other writers included Christopher Reason, Graeme Curry,
Scott Cherry, Christina Reid, Greg Snow, Shaun Prendergast, Jonathan Wolf,
Steve Chambers, Carolyn Sally Jones, Jonathan Myerson and Shelagh Stephenson.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(5) By default <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i>
was also on Radio 5 when it started in August 1990 as they took some Radio 4
programmes during the day. The simulcasts ended in March 1991. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(6) That edition of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Call
the Controller</i> became infamous as Victor Lewis-Smith posing as Harold
Coltart of Driffield harangued Green about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(7) I had this labelled as 4 July 1991 but I think it’s
actually from 9 July or possibly 11 July</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(8) Quotes from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And
now on Radio 4</i> by Simon Elmes and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
Life on Air</i> by David Hendy. It’s also worth pointing out that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizens</i> was recorded in stereo at a
time when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Archers</i> was still in
mono and it didn’t switch over until 1992. </p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-53709421642263612612023-03-06T07:00:00.001+01:002023-03-06T07:00:00.158+01:00This is 5SC Calling<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaQsA3EZ0OAJKK_SLItuC_4dWMJUlAkfN49bOBOrii8iVdp2ffyg5hJhFM2rgYZWdaOIEvQdaPaF-Ws-rL_qTDcqHbzqUBpIBamRgcXKTnZiTr7FSokr9oiLKvZYHSvTFHGoeH2D8E6QNTU1azgWy7Vq1bf2ZQBU4k2xt1ulF5oofscUioom8rZ3yPpw/s640/Plaque%20BBC%20202%20Bath%20Street.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="640" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaQsA3EZ0OAJKK_SLItuC_4dWMJUlAkfN49bOBOrii8iVdp2ffyg5hJhFM2rgYZWdaOIEvQdaPaF-Ws-rL_qTDcqHbzqUBpIBamRgcXKTnZiTr7FSokr9oiLKvZYHSvTFHGoeH2D8E6QNTU1azgWy7Vq1bf2ZQBU4k2xt1ulF5oofscUioom8rZ3yPpw/s320/Plaque%20BBC%20202%20Bath%20Street.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><blockquote>“Swifter than mercury from high Olympus the strains of the
pipes bore their message to John O’Groats and Maidenkirk ushering in a new
medium of social life and expanding civilisation”.</blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On this day in 1923 the skirl of the bagpipes – playing the
folk song <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hey, Johnnie Cope, Are Ye
Waking Yet?</i> - heralded the opening of station 5SC, the BBC’s first Scottish
radio station. John Reith announced that 5SC, the Glasgow station of the
British Broadcasting Company, was calling before the usual introductory remarks
and speeches of congratulations from the BBC chairman Lord Gainford, the Lord
Provost of Glasgow, the Principal of Glasgow University and Sir William Noble
interspersed with orchestral and vocal items. The report in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Glasgow Herald</i> (above) was positively
lyrical. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In fact 5SC wasn’t Scotland’s first licensed radio station.
Just a few weeks before the BBC arrived on air the Daimler Motor Company, in a
joint venture with Marconi, hosted a temporary low-power station, with the
call-sign 2BP. Thus ran for just over a week at the end of January/beginning of
February 1923. Opened to coincide with the Scottish Motor Show at Kelvin Hall,
and broadcast from a makeshift studio built in Daimler’s Hughenden Road depot
and showroom, it allowed them to demonstrate the new Marconi-installed in-car
radio receivers. 2BP broadcast during the day with a programme of announcements,
musical items and children’s stories. Such was its success – it could be heard
in Edinburgh, Dunfermline and even up to Inverness – there were calls for it to
continue until the BBC arrived on the scene but the licence was not extended. (1)
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5J9Nw8vGQwfC36af11Ip6T8d-1Jszzs9hPFtbyGXTMtaHGQBTpjojmwM-jkAiaXbq6jsUGLbtoQkrUjXGnftTMs0RZXvE-204Lif2zHuxHhFQrVqouEsLTE0WX4_y-sWYmnnxl5BhhJJMJExb3RGO7AIuwWQrLXR1e0GlPvIl9dnmmVhWcjopp778Q/s976/Herbert%20Carruthers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5J9Nw8vGQwfC36af11Ip6T8d-1Jszzs9hPFtbyGXTMtaHGQBTpjojmwM-jkAiaXbq6jsUGLbtoQkrUjXGnftTMs0RZXvE-204Lif2zHuxHhFQrVqouEsLTE0WX4_y-sWYmnnxl5BhhJJMJExb3RGO7AIuwWQrLXR1e0GlPvIl9dnmmVhWcjopp778Q/s320/Herbert%20Carruthers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />More significant was station 5MG which had been in operation
from about October 1922 (the exact date remains uncertain). It was the
brainwave of wireless equipment dealer Frank Milligan (owner of Milligan’s
Wireless Shop in Renfrew Street) and his friend George Garscadden, a household
appliance business owner based at Rex House, 202 Bath Street, Glasgow. They
broadcast for a few hours a week over a transmitter designed by fellow
enthusiast James Cameron. One of the voices heard on air was that of George’s
daughter Kathleen, a pianist and singer at the local Park Parish Church.
Occasionally they would also feature organist and choirmaster Herbert
Carruthers (pictured at the microphone above), who also played at the same church. The Minister at that church was
the Rev George Murray Reith, cousin of one John Reith, the then Managing
Director of the BBC. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is perhaps no coincidence that when the BBC came to set
up 5SC they took both equipment and staff from 5MG. George Garscadden leased
the top floor and attics at 202 Bath Street to the BBC to use as studio and
office space. Cameron would become the station engineer, Kathleen would perform
and in time would look after the women’s programmes and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Children’s Corner </i>(when she was known at first to her young
audience as Auntie Cyclone until the BBC decided it might confuse listeners-in)
and Carruthers would be the station director. The two station assistants, appointed
a few weeks after the launch, were Mungo Dewar and Alex Swinton Paterson.
Multi-tasking was the key to these early stations so they would either be
announcing, news reading, performing or presenting – all took turns on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Children’s Corner</i>. (2)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkctPUy5vF-EEGtE_rIzMxqil0JoSZuIG9OSH8KEf-H-3IsiAih5SSkUYWMRoBr2I4rqykX3l7hoAScIdWu6EjYynPVsNIW2cs5EBNjBzP1-DUWDDKZY8GWMn6tRGljFOKk5VdptdL5UFdoJkGjZWpZyOt0f5GOjBxHEjBG6-IZdqSMHN9kjh-Qu52FQ/s500/Kathleen%20Garscadden.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="500" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkctPUy5vF-EEGtE_rIzMxqil0JoSZuIG9OSH8KEf-H-3IsiAih5SSkUYWMRoBr2I4rqykX3l7hoAScIdWu6EjYynPVsNIW2cs5EBNjBzP1-DUWDDKZY8GWMn6tRGljFOKk5VdptdL5UFdoJkGjZWpZyOt0f5GOjBxHEjBG6-IZdqSMHN9kjh-Qu52FQ/s320/Kathleen%20Garscadden.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The initial 5SC team would all go on to long careers with
the BBC. Kathleen Garscadden (pictured above) continued to be involved with children’s programmes
from Scotland - becoming the Children's Hour Organiser in 1940 - until her
retirement in 1960. James Cameron would also help set up the other Scottish
stations, move to London to head up the administration of the Engineering
Division before returning north as Deputy Regional Director. Part-way through
the war he was Area Director at Bangor. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mungo
Dewar held several posts in Belfast, the Empire Service and a number of
administration roles before becoming Head of Sound Broadcasting Administration
in 1955 and retiring in 1963. Alex Swinton Paterson was the Edinburgh
Representative and, for many years, the Aberdeen Representative until retiring
in 1959. Herbert Carruthers, on the other hand, became the Musical Director
when 5SC moved to larger premised at Blythswood Square in November 1924.
Although his musical credentials were not in doubt his managerial qualities were
and eventually he was dismissed in 1929. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The 5SC transmitting station was a little over a mile away
at the Pinkston Power Station at Port Dundas, used to generate electricity for
the city’s trams. The cage type aerial was slung between two tall chimneys
above the glass roof of the power station. The BBC’s Director of Programmes,
Arthur Burrows recalls visiting the site: “the final approach is by a spiral
staircase of iron, and the hum of the transformers and the weird glow which is
thrown over everything by the lemon-yellow lights from the valves, make a
fitting climax to the little adventure which the visit to the station entails”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjvWnB5CO9xSVP7-l4emubDPfUP7IR9gsSpegYJIS41XPWGxIURWHOIRGsXKazD_6rQAFL4ZVF6MQfgDkVL1vTnikctOgu6LKTaUQmj-qvuNr7hci_Qqwg4r4JSFA9pLh6aERZNjtrr6nc8vu15DQVUcjUrdIPTi56HKs_VGLYKG68HNlhHTOZEHEXLg/s825/5SC%20Opening%20Night.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="825" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjvWnB5CO9xSVP7-l4emubDPfUP7IR9gsSpegYJIS41XPWGxIURWHOIRGsXKazD_6rQAFL4ZVF6MQfgDkVL1vTnikctOgu6LKTaUQmj-qvuNr7hci_Qqwg4r4JSFA9pLh6aERZNjtrr6nc8vu15DQVUcjUrdIPTi56HKs_VGLYKG68HNlhHTOZEHEXLg/s320/5SC%20Opening%20Night.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />That first night’s broadcast on Tuesday 6 March 1923 came
from the small studio, about 30 feet square and draped with hessian, at the top
of Rex House. According to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Popular
Wireless</i> “speech and music alike were heard clearly and loudly throughout
Glasgow and the neighbourhood. The results achieved show that the Glasgow
station will give a satisfactory service over a very large area”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In Sir William Noble’s opening speech he alluded to an issue
that would dog the BBC for many years, that of why the BBC’s headquarters would
not be in the capital. (It has switched between the two cities over the
intervening years). (3) The policy at the time was, according to Noble “to
provide eight stations centrally situated so that they might to the greatest
good to the greatest number at the smallest cost to the public”. Noble also
reminded his audience the many leading the BBC were Scottish: “the head of the
broadcasting department was a Scot from Glasgow, two of the six directors were
Scots and the four other directors loved Scotch” (cue laughter). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The early days of 5SC’s output was confined to musical items
from the orchestra and solo artists, news bulletins and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Children’s Corner</i>. There were occasional talks, the first from Rev
John Smith, Moderator of the Church of Scotland on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Progress of Education</i>. The first OB was on 19 March with a live
relay from the Coliseum Theatre in Eglinton Street, Using just a single
microphone excerpts of the opening night of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Das
Rheingold</i> by British National Opera Company were broadcast. The orchestra
that evening was conducted by Percy Pitt, who would shortly after join the BBC
as Musical Director. The broadcast had a mixed response: “The singing was heard
very clearly when the microphone in the footlights was approached but was less
distinct up stage, while the orchestra, probably owing to the fact that they
were playing behind the microphone, was usually heard as a flat sound” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Glasgow Herald</i>). Glaswegians obviously
loved their opera as 5SC was back for more live BNO productions that month with
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Valkyrie</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Madame Butterfly</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Marriage of Figaro</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Il Travatore</i>,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Il Seraglio</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seigfried</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One person that gave 5SC its first national radio success
was R.E. Jeffrey, an actor, theatrical producer, playwright and elocutionist.
He made his first broadcast on 30 March billed as ‘elocutionist’ when it’s
likely he’ll have read some poetry or prose. That spring he was appointed as
the drama producer. He was keen to take radio drama beyond the staples of
Shakespearean speeches and relays from local theatres and to create dramatic
presentations designed for the microphone. His first major production was based
on Scott’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rob Roy</i> - “the largest
production that any station has yet attempted” - which Jeffrey adapted and
directed as well as playing the title role, whilst his wife played Helen
MacGregor. It also featured the Wireless Station Orchestra, the Pipers and the
Military Band of the 1<sup>st</sup> Royal Scots Fusiliers and the Choir of the
Lyric Club. Quite how this ensemble fitted into the studio space remains
unclear. Its success led to a repeat on 6 October carried by other BBC’s
stations as by now Simultaneous Broadcast circuits were in operation. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By the time of the repeat Jeffrey had already moved on to be
station director as 2BD in Aberdeen where he continued his artistic ambitions
even at such as small station. By the following June he’d moved down to London
and was appointed as the new Dramatic Director. “In the interests of listeners
who like plays and play-going, a special department for the investigation of
microphone effects and the development of radio drama generally has been
created.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One area of broadcasting that 5SC led the way on was
programmes for schools. By January 1924 the BBC had established an Educational
Advisory Committee at which Reith himself travelled to Glasgow to address the
inaugural meeting. With the support of Glasgow Corporation’s Director of
Education the station set up an experimental closed circuit broadcast on 26
February with Alex Swinton Paterson presenting a programme for pupils of
Garnetbank School. Regular schools broadcasts from 5SC followed from 9 May
usually on the Wednesday and Friday afternoon of each week. (4) </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">5SC’s life was relatively short as the BBC moved to a
regional operation from March 1930 and in June 1932, when the new transmitter
at Westerglen came on stream, the Port Dundas site was de-commissioned. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">BBC Radio Scotland will be marking the 100<sup>th</sup>
anniversary during the day and there’s a special edition of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001js6n" target="_blank">Breaking the News</a></i> on both the radio and television.
BBC Scotland television celebrates with <i><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001jxxy" target="_blank">The Big Birthday Bash</a></i> as 8pm.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1) The 2BP call-sign
had been allocated before for use by Marconi and Daimler at the Olympia Motor
Show in November 1922, again to demonstrate the potential of car radios, though
I’ve not yet found conclusive evidence that it broadcast. It was used again in
August 1923 for a temporary licence by Marconi during the RDS (Royal Dublin
Society) Horse Show in Ballsbridge, Dublin with the studio set up a little
further down the coast at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(2) For the first three years or so 5SC used the title <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Children’s Corner</i> rather than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Children’s Hour</i>, or indeed 5WA’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2023/02/corbett-smith-and-his-5wa-comradios.html" target="_blank">Hour of the Kiddiewinks</a></i>. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(3) Edinburgh would get a relay station, 2EH, on 1 May 1924.
Aberdeen station 2BD started on 10 October 1923 and Dundee’s relay station 2DE
on 12 November 1924.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(4) 2LO London, 2ZY Manchester, 5NO Newcastle and 5WA
Cardiff carried the programme. 5IT Birmingham carried a concert by the Band of
the RAF. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(5) 2LO started experimental schools broadcasts over 6 weeks
in April and May 1924 and the first BBC schools programme is often quoted as
being by composer Sir Henry Walford Davies on 4 April 1924. Regular schools
broadcasts from 2LO started on 6 October 1924 by which time 2ZY was also
carrying them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For further reading on the history of the BBC in Scotland see:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://wiki.scotlandonair.com/wiki/Main_Page" target="_blank">The Scotland On-Air</a></i>
Wiki site by Graham Stewart</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The History Of BBC Broadcasting
in Scotland 1923-1983</i> by W.H. McDowell (Edinburgh University Press, 1992) </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The BBC in Scotland:
The First Fifty Years</i> by David Pat Walker (Luath Press, 2011)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aberdeen Calling</i>
by Gordon Bathgate (Lulu, 2013)</p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-53939794733854143762023-02-27T08:00:00.001+01:002023-02-27T08:00:00.183+01:00Beyond Our Ken<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FkHjDK2O_3xnHtlk1hWcwgXVWRibTHlnQSLOGAaO4KuMM-NqX8UBQckJtuS6ECnHXJDye_LdjhXx_zwGRBn5Ruo6afIW3isch_N-agTW2jjwhrahgNHNniCsaNwM3kVZxodVUWzcTwSvJsziuOjcNw2b6MlEMCBXZQ0tpxtiqnu68F8AY_KvDHMIIg/s1024/Ken%20Bruce%20(2022).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FkHjDK2O_3xnHtlk1hWcwgXVWRibTHlnQSLOGAaO4KuMM-NqX8UBQckJtuS6ECnHXJDye_LdjhXx_zwGRBn5Ruo6afIW3isch_N-agTW2jjwhrahgNHNniCsaNwM3kVZxodVUWzcTwSvJsziuOjcNw2b6MlEMCBXZQ0tpxtiqnu68F8AY_KvDHMIIg/s320/Ken%20Bruce%20(2022).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The announcement on 17 January this year sent shockwaves
throughout the nation. People were asking: “just what the hell are Radio2
playing at?” Others were saying what a feather in the cap it was for Bauer.
Yes, after 31 years on the mid-morning show, Ken Bruce was leaving. And taking <i>PopMaster </i>with him!<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Coming as it did on the heels of the departure of Steve
Wright (from weekday afternoons at least), Paul O’Grady and Vanessa Feltz, the
loss was a major blow for the station. Ken’s show has Radio 2’s largest
audience at 8.2m listeners, about a million ahead of the breakfast show. The
world really did seem to stop for <i>PopMaster</i>.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ken has been heard on Radio 2 for 43 years, has been
full-time for 38 of them and on mid-mornings for a total of 35 years (a four year
run from 1986 to 1990 and then back from 1992). Three decades on the same show
on the same station is pretty remarkable so you can understand Ken’s decision
to quit whilst he’s ahead, and well before he’s inevitably given the push. No
doubt Radio 2’s daytime music policy was also behind the decision. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ken got his break into radio by volunteering at Glasgow’s
Hospital Broadcasting Service. One of his contemporaries at HBS was a young lad
named Charles Nove. In 2018 they got together for an hour as part of an HBS
48-hour charity marathon. Here’s what they had to say: </p>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="120" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?hide_cover=1&feed=%2Fandy-walmsley2%2Fken-bruce-and-charles-nove-hbs%2F" width="100%"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was through BBC Scotland announcer Iain Purdon, himself a
former HBS volunteer, that Ken got a job as radio announcer. His first
broadcast was “a badly read 10 o’clock news” and, typically for that time, his
other duties ranged from programme links, introducing concert to reading
football results. In 1977, and into 1978, Radio Scotland had Radio 4 as its
sustaining service so the announcers were expected to not only introduce any
Scottish opt-outs, but to also cover all gaps between programmes emanating from
London. From November 1978, coinciding
with a number of other wavelength changes across the BBC network, Radio
Scotland became a full single service for all of the country. Ken was one of
the voices heard on the opening gala night and he secured both a weeknight show
<i>Night Beat</i> – ‘music and chat for your
late night entertainment’ – alternating duties with Iain Purdon and later
Charles Nove, plus the Saturday morning edition of <i>Good Morning, Scotland</i> with ‘news and interviews, music to suit all
tastes, a look at the gardener’s world, information for the traveller and a
guide to what’s on in Scotland’. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYNGnoqSBLdfVwDnpakcpO6ec__EAdM-tstFOfstbSQTc6gw36qAEKoOaGgBgNnqyPYOSsQorebRXKOUAx90J9NVLHiEqlLt8QBXRPk1Fl26kOn9XZ2A4IDuAQyLjzFSmFE23fqJxRghmhy6Ry6Dj_EBgKm1NpmUwdnf_NFjJ2QjfbLPMNqmGMTsfC-g/s590/Ken%20Bruce%20(bw).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="590" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYNGnoqSBLdfVwDnpakcpO6ec__EAdM-tstFOfstbSQTc6gw36qAEKoOaGgBgNnqyPYOSsQorebRXKOUAx90J9NVLHiEqlLt8QBXRPk1Fl26kOn9XZ2A4IDuAQyLjzFSmFE23fqJxRghmhy6Ry6Dj_EBgKm1NpmUwdnf_NFjJ2QjfbLPMNqmGMTsfC-g/s320/Ken%20Bruce%20(bw).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />By February 1980 Ken was presenting his own afternoon show on
Radio Scotland, initially 3 days a week then every weekday later that year. By
now freelance rather than on the staff, he switched to mid-mornings in 1981, ultimately
achieving a listenership of 500,000, and was then back to afternoons in January
1983. Ken was also presenting the Sunday morning show <i>Beat the Band</i>. The concept here was that listeners would phone in
and challenge the studio band, the Bernard Sumner Quartet, to play whatever
tune they named. If they didn’t know it the caller could claim a £4 reward.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ken had already started to make the occasional appearance on
national radio in 1980 when he took over the presenting duties from David
Findlay, who’d tragically died earlier that year, on the occasional (every 6
weeks or so) Scottish editions of <i>Radio 2
Ballroom</i> featuring Jim MacLeod and his Band. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 1982 Ken was keen to move south and went down to London
to meet Radio 2 boss David Hatch. The result was some holiday cover for Ray
Moore on Radio 2’s early show for a couple of weeks that September and a full
month the following May. It was something of a baptism of fire on his first day
as Terry Wogan, who was due to follow on the breakfast show, had slept in and
Ken had to cover for an hour. It got his name known. Ken and Ray’s styles were
not dissimilar and their careers would continue to cross until Ray untimely
death in 1989. It would be Ken that presented the tribute programme to
Ray. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN_y7t8D8MWidV_8Dah5-nW-Pnin5TDN0bhv19Q8VYc2JQhhC0A7oyfEwoUMb_WfY2I_FH8tmDczkRsYjwuqFS-PgwdnpEU7dIZj5HFqB3qL9cEr9ms8dyFW4BYYihfWSdaUfuHTRv4b0kjYP_OXXkejcs7d1wXJ1v7JT36vDThF9JaKf0Kj6AJNXhkg/s1479/19840121_Ken%20Bruce.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1479" data-original-width="682" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN_y7t8D8MWidV_8Dah5-nW-Pnin5TDN0bhv19Q8VYc2JQhhC0A7oyfEwoUMb_WfY2I_FH8tmDczkRsYjwuqFS-PgwdnpEU7dIZj5HFqB3qL9cEr9ms8dyFW4BYYihfWSdaUfuHTRv4b0kjYP_OXXkejcs7d1wXJ1v7JT36vDThF9JaKf0Kj6AJNXhkg/w185-h400/19840121_Ken%20Bruce.jpg" width="185" /></a></div><br />By now a known name at Broadcasting House it was Incoming
Radio 2 controller Bryant Marriott that offered Ken his first regular show on
the station, a Saturday late-night show to start in January 1984. Publicising
the show in the <i>Radio Times</i> the
article opened on the unscheduled Wogan cover and let the rest of the country
know about his mammoth three hour and 20 minute afternoon show on Radio
Scotland. As to his broadcasting style he described it to be “as natural as
possible under the circumstances. I like to think of the people I’m talking to
as rather like me. That way it’s easy to relate to them.” <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1984 proved to be a busy year for Ken with his daily show in
Scotland, weekend commutes to London for the Saturday show as well as covering
for Steve Jones on Radio 2’s lunchtime show for a couple of weeks and then a
fortnight in for John Dunn at drivetime. The reward was to be offered the prime
slot, weekday breakfast starting in January 1985 when Wogan left to start his 3
times a week BBC1 chat show. The move meant an end to his time at Radio
Scotland. Wogan’s natural successor had been seen as Ray Moore – David
Hamilton’s name was also in the frame – so Ken’s promotion was big news. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVmEZc0YX0HonZPXZKxWBX8bNjLeHM4mLR-THEtMmCguMdLb37_LMzhmTRB7ndOX4Xm7HqALNJHO2V_acqt2H9Hm3uEojlkX9LgRGXBQDJoeeatswe3qekB92BEEoFI1wgHHhrKZKWkJSNEQ35mES3saWh94q7nAONxUxJCfuQmLLTUFKSDFEGB8M2Qw/s1814/Ken%20Bruce%20R2%20Breakfast_050185.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1814" data-original-width="670" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVmEZc0YX0HonZPXZKxWBX8bNjLeHM4mLR-THEtMmCguMdLb37_LMzhmTRB7ndOX4Xm7HqALNJHO2V_acqt2H9Hm3uEojlkX9LgRGXBQDJoeeatswe3qekB92BEEoFI1wgHHhrKZKWkJSNEQ35mES3saWh94q7nAONxUxJCfuQmLLTUFKSDFEGB8M2Qw/w148-h400/Ken%20Bruce%20R2%20Breakfast_050185.jpg" width="148" /></a></div><br />The scheduling of the breakfast show was a little crazy, starting
quite late at 8.05 and running to 10.30 am but in the event Ken’s tenure was
short, just fifteen months. From April 1986 they’d offered it to ex-Fleet
Street editor Derek Jameson. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To compensate for the loss of the breakfast slot Ken was
moved to a weekday mid-morning show, a time that would become his natural home
for most of the next 30+ years, The show was mainly requests and dedications
(what we now seem to call ‘shout outs’), billed as ‘a mid-morning mix of
melodic music, featuring your favourite Golden Moments’. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This was a busy time for Ken. In addition to his regular
music shows he also appeared elsewhere on the network. In 1986 he took over as
team captain, and later as quizmaster, on the long-running quiz <i>Pop Score</i>. He also chaired <i>The ABC Quiz</i> which ran for six series
between 1986 and 1991. From 1997 through to 2018 he was a semi-regular
presenter of <i>Friday Night is Music Night</i>.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFI-NwnM-mXf8leFZE8SQT1DrlySniAW4UP1hsbhDftM81qElw2jSbOCxOLSD-6fhBvQJd6yO06ljO2Mr6ramIvfJlq_lk9d_nN5HMgLkc8f5sa_ZwtFAp8bPLzxTHgTjYo9by7x1FWh6k2jq54rFTrI-RouBTbcTQgt5QrlA7VXSlabj6oVmoI0auHw/s1024/Ken%20Bruce%20At%20Your%20Request.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1020" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFI-NwnM-mXf8leFZE8SQT1DrlySniAW4UP1hsbhDftM81qElw2jSbOCxOLSD-6fhBvQJd6yO06ljO2Mr6ramIvfJlq_lk9d_nN5HMgLkc8f5sa_ZwtFAp8bPLzxTHgTjYo9by7x1FWh6k2jq54rFTrI-RouBTbcTQgt5QrlA7VXSlabj6oVmoI0auHw/s320/Ken%20Bruce%20At%20Your%20Request.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><br />Of course Ken has also been linked with the radio commentary
for the <i>Eurovision Song Contest</i> for
over three decades. He took over from Ray Moore in 1988 and has covered them
all since. Prior to that he had been involved with <i>A Song for Europe</i> when he was the Scottish spokesperson in 1978 and
first appeared in-vision in the role in 1983. He continued to be associated
with <i>A Song for Europe </i>for many
years, either providing the radio commentary whilst Terry Wogan covered the TV
side or in previewing the entries on his mid-morning show. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In this montage of clips you’ll hear Ken from 1984 through
to 1990. The recordings date from 18 August 1984, 22 December 1984, 29 December
1984, 27 January 1986, 7 April 1986, Olympics coverage 24 September 1988, 9
February 1989, 2 April 1990, <i>The ABC Quiz</i>
18 August 1986 and the <i>Eurovision Song
Contest</i> 5 May 1990.</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3rz-nXVtsx0" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">Over on Radio 4 Ken presented the Saturday morning travel
show <i>Breakaway </i>between September 1990
and April 1992. Meanwhile on the BBC World Service he had a weekly 30 minute
show starting in May 1988 and running through to August 1993. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAtAb_DfhFrI3eRjHybh5OLIXzLzrwPZTGHdE_pc6q-GVUbUbLAUMALuX36ZL61sM_WIrKqRntyb3QVLge3ONgh40FmnPGMPmun28Km2UXLpR8Vn-KxVAHeqnLokSRe7W16KmyELYhkDPYMdKkNI_WBGhF05p7urWU7BslpkN5BKCzitbm_q5TLxS6BQ/s655/Ken%20Bruce_London%20Calling_May%201988.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="655" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAtAb_DfhFrI3eRjHybh5OLIXzLzrwPZTGHdE_pc6q-GVUbUbLAUMALuX36ZL61sM_WIrKqRntyb3QVLge3ONgh40FmnPGMPmun28Km2UXLpR8Vn-KxVAHeqnLokSRe7W16KmyELYhkDPYMdKkNI_WBGhF05p7urWU7BslpkN5BKCzitbm_q5TLxS6BQ/s320/Ken%20Bruce_London%20Calling_May%201988.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>London Calling </i>(May 1988) announces the start of<br />Ken's BBC World Service show</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Ken would occasionally appear as a panellist on radio
quizzes or game shows including <i>Some of
These Days</i>, <i>The Press Gang</i>, <i>Quote...Unquote</i> and, in this example, <i>On the Air</i>. This was a quiz about radio
and in this recording from the fourth series from 1987 he’s appearing with
three broadcasting veterans: Michael Aspel, Barry Took and Nigel Rees. <i>On the Air</i> was devised and presented by
David Rider. <p></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DfiE7eFCtTs" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was change again in April 1990 when a reshuffle under yet
another controller, this time Frances Line, saw Ken moved to a weekday late
show with a 10 pm start, taking over from Brian Matthew’s highly successful <i>Round Midnight</i>. He was told that it was “a chance to launch a
brand new programme into a new area”. Ken saw it as a demotion. It offered some
features such as reports from the BBC’s regional correspondents, a short story,
a newspaper review but by Ken’s own admission he struggled with the hours. “I
was a morning person.” </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That show only lasted nine months as from January 1991 he
did a swap with Chris Stuart, who’d been looking after the early show since the
death of Ray Moore. Finally after a year of early shifts from 6 January 1992 Ken
was moved back to weekday mid-mornings with a 9.30 start. Exactly where he’s been
ever since, until this week. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At first those mid-morning shows picked up he’d left off in
1990 with requests and dedications. The main feature was <i>Pick of the Hits</i> (1992-96) with listeners also asked to send in
their <i>Pick of the Year</i> letters. 1998
saw a bit of an overhaul as the show gained an extra 30 minutes –Jimmy Young’s
show start time being moved from 11.30 to noon – and the introduction of <i>The Headline Hunt</i> (1998-2001), though
I’m scratching my head to recall what this was all about. Two others features
that year have become part of the radio landscape: <i>Love Songs</i> and, of course, <i>PopMaster</i>.
<i>Tracks of My Years</i> would follow in
2000. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZVnvXPVE6YmM0DlxDL6xO1WW7yyFIsuh0pDvLksaK7e4JtWAPryXcAduJV0almcTcFRsIBc4b5H7L0P2xlKsOsZcJJMuJ7PY9StZE5T_ApoPQXnDz2gXhsShl5sFPMMplTjw5VFcbxzq7cGG4fSkRV1RNLfiHg1X4Qy1bkcWhI9Kqzx9pUQTJfMD3A/s680/PopMaster2022Trophy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="579" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwZVnvXPVE6YmM0DlxDL6xO1WW7yyFIsuh0pDvLksaK7e4JtWAPryXcAduJV0almcTcFRsIBc4b5H7L0P2xlKsOsZcJJMuJ7PY9StZE5T_ApoPQXnDz2gXhsShl5sFPMMplTjw5VFcbxzq7cGG4fSkRV1RNLfiHg1X4Qy1bkcWhI9Kqzx9pUQTJfMD3A/s320/PopMaster2022Trophy.jpg" width="272" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The 2022 PopMaster trophy</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />On the origins of <i>PopMaster</i>
Ken recalls a meeting with his producer Colin Martin. “Colin suggested a quiz
might bring some added value to the show, so between us, with the invaluable
additions to the think tank of pop maestro Phil Swern, we came up with the
format and title for <i>PopMaster</i>.”
First heard on 16 February 1998 the format has hardly changed since with its
straightforward scoring system, six point bonus questions and the 3 in 10. The
prizes have changed, from an inflatable chair, shower radio, Radio 2 watch, CD
wallet, digital radio, through to Bluetooth headphones and the much sought
after <i>One Year Out</i> Tee Shirt. Showing
great foresight Ken, Colin and Phil trademarked <i>PopMaster</i> in July 1998 which is why radio’s most listened to quiz
is going with Ken over to GHR. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMy7urYYg5zLNYTE0DRcDM1mElMbJhBZhh_rFbqypAwU_t_GZNiEze1RCG2uYyzL5X9VJ8biC_ehPLBGmhBGOw-SL15zhNKIZm6tKE4zwxe571YjTXPdEaM9HA1fTg0axydanHZ1cJlhqg2ZztJyKZ1NjWHpF4J0W91alFMPV3eaGcx8LO3vdEyCweJg/s2048/Ken%20Bruce_GHR%20(2023).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMy7urYYg5zLNYTE0DRcDM1mElMbJhBZhh_rFbqypAwU_t_GZNiEze1RCG2uYyzL5X9VJ8biC_ehPLBGmhBGOw-SL15zhNKIZm6tKE4zwxe571YjTXPdEaM9HA1fTg0axydanHZ1cJlhqg2ZztJyKZ1NjWHpF4J0W91alFMPV3eaGcx8LO3vdEyCweJg/s320/Ken%20Bruce_GHR%20(2023).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />On 28 May 2021 Ken hosted a <i>PopMaster</i> rematch between the first ever contestants back in 1998,
brothers David and Mark Taylor. It’s not exactly a high-scoring contest. <p></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7WnbmU_-Zd8" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ken’s last show on BBC Radio 2 is this Friday (3 March). His
first show on Greatest Hits Radio is on Monday 3 April. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 2020 Ken spoke to David Lloyd for his Radio Conversations
series. You’ll find that online on Audioboom, Podfollow etc. in 2013 Tim
Blackmore spoke to Ken for the Radio Academy podcast. I’ve uploaded that
interview on YouTube.</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KTUncdMAfdo" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here’s Ken in action on this selection of airchecks.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(1) From 18 February 1985 just six weeks into Ken’s run on
the breakfast show.</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SW7aNPL4GKo" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">(2) Later that year on 14 November 1985 a scoped version of
the first hour of the breakfast show. </p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hVOjEZ2DBYo" title="YouTube video player" width="420"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">(3) From 24 December 1990 Ken is covering the early show a
couple of weeks ahead of him taking over the programme.</p>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="120" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?hide_cover=1&feed=%2Fandy-walmsley2%2Fken-bruce-bbc-radio-2-24-december-1990%2F" width="100%"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">(4) Moving on a year here’s Ken again on the early show on
17 December 1991.</p>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="120" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?hide_cover=1&feed=%2Fandy-walmsley2%2Fken-bruce-17-december-1991%2F" width="100%"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">(5) A mid-morning show from 30 January 2004 with all the
regular features. <i>Tracks of My Years</i>
features Gary Jules and listeners can vote for the final <i>Something for the Weekend</i> record. Note how <i>PopMaster </i>is in two separate parts and contestants get a choice of
three bonus categories.</p>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="120" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?hide_cover=1&feed=%2Fandy-walmsley2%2Fken-bruce-bbc-radio-2-30-january-2004%2F" width="100%"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">(6) Almost exactly five years later from 28 January 2009
with <i>Tracks of My Years</i> chosen by
Craig David. We hear the tail end of Terry’s show, Lynn Bowles has the traffic
and the news is read by Charles Nove and Fenella Fudge.</p>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="120" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?hide_cover=1&feed=%2Fandy-walmsley2%2Fken-bruce-bbc-radio-2-28-january-2009%2F" width="100%"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">(7) Ken celebrates his 70<sup>th</sup> birthday from his
home studio in this recording from 2 February 2021.</p>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="120" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?hide_cover=1&feed=%2Fandy-walmsley2%2Fken-bruce-bbc-radio-2-2-february-2021%2F" width="100%"></iframe>
<p class="MsoNormal">Radio 2 show dates:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Saturday night late show 21 January 1984 to 29 December 1984</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Breakfast Show 7 January 1985 to 4 April 1986</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mid-morning show 7 April 1986 to 30 March 1990</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Late show (Monday-Thursday) 2 April 1990 to 27 December 1990</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Weekday Early show 7 January 1991 to 20 December 1991</p>
<p>Mid-morning show 6 January 1992 to 3 March 2023 </p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-80607635520200016082023-02-13T06:00:00.001+01:002023-02-13T06:00:00.191+01:00Corbett-Smith and his 5WA Comradios<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHKA28uBfEq80202pqUPOQFatZIPwdhj1oMpXy2Uhened4cixtJF2sQ2EreHTH8MazxpNWkqLHXcdknAssj6nVrGt_rq1nsGzpAAW9c92Onb5HV6b_LcQhQrDjlfXjLMdZlsjHUqTzrb4RNPvaoIW5rlrpSMRTzqWRNomHNCVfPBGLQk_ZykmPFauwXQ/s3001/5WA%20Plaque_20230116%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1324" data-original-width="3001" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHKA28uBfEq80202pqUPOQFatZIPwdhj1oMpXy2Uhened4cixtJF2sQ2EreHTH8MazxpNWkqLHXcdknAssj6nVrGt_rq1nsGzpAAW9c92Onb5HV6b_LcQhQrDjlfXjLMdZlsjHUqTzrb4RNPvaoIW5rlrpSMRTzqWRNomHNCVfPBGLQk_ZykmPFauwXQ/w400-h176/5WA%20Plaque_20230116%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On Tuesday
13 February 1923 from a cramped studio over a cinema opposite Cardiff Castle
came the sound of a new BBC station, station 5WA. (1) Anyone tuning in their
crystal radio sets to 353 metres will have heard some children’s stories and a
concert from the Wireless Orchestra (sounds grand but it was just seven
players) and the Carston Quartet that featured Welsh baritone Mostyn Thomas, contralto
Gladys Palmer and entertainer Tom Jenkins. There was a brief introduction from
John Reith himself (announcing “Hello 5WA, the Cardiff station of the British
Broadcasting Company calling”) and speeches from BBC chairman Lord Gainsford,
BBC director Sir William Noble and the Mayor of Cardiff, Alderman Sir John
James Edgerton Biggs, and two news bulletins.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Station 5WA
was the fifth BBC station on air, following 2LO in London, 5IT in Birmingham,
2ZY in Manchester and 5NO on Newcastle. Cardiff was effectively chosen as the
base by a 1922 House of Commons Wireless Sub-Committee which proposed a “number
of radio-telephone broadcasting stations” in areas centred on London, Cardiff,
Plymouth (though in the event this moved to Bournemouth), Birmingham,
Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow or Edinburgh and Aberdeen. At the time Cardiff
was the most populous city in Wales but still some three decades away from
being declared the capital. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rGnyWxOppZ_il1TXwBOTaE0S4Ru1wTWyxWWvoPKrKaHaZCx1UrZA_gvP1utWK-vcHYA0HmTybW_UsVauBjL9IZucoJCu_HSPQGjiog2HPe1w5RN202a1RZpRD3gCcOjZGdjdQS9m5QJOfcESDmKGwvIoLlXffJgLW0qEal6pBsnCvvexGG8IQoyrCw/s2746/Castle%20St_20230116%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2746" data-original-width="2227" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rGnyWxOppZ_il1TXwBOTaE0S4Ru1wTWyxWWvoPKrKaHaZCx1UrZA_gvP1utWK-vcHYA0HmTybW_UsVauBjL9IZucoJCu_HSPQGjiog2HPe1w5RN202a1RZpRD3gCcOjZGdjdQS9m5QJOfcESDmKGwvIoLlXffJgLW0qEal6pBsnCvvexGG8IQoyrCw/s320/Castle%20St_20230116%20(1).jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Castle Street premises are now home to<br />the Mad Dog Brewery & Taproom</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />One of the
men responsible for getting 5WA on air was Rex Palmer, the BBC’s sixth employee
who would become station director of 2LO. ‘Uncle Rex’ was sent over from London
to find the accommodation, where he leased that studio space at 19 Castle
Street. The first station director, appointed by Director of Programmes Arthur
Burrows at the end of January, was Frederick Roberts, a well know local musician
and conductor. (2) It was Fred that would conduct the orchestra and read those
children’s stories on the opening night. However, after the station went on air
he lasted just 48 hours, dismissed after being found drunk in his office,
presumably still enjoying the launch party hospitality! To steady the ship both
Palmer and then Cecil Lewis (‘Uncle Caractacus’ on 2LO’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Children’s Hour</i>) were sent out from London. From 26 March a new
station director had been appointed, yet another ex-military type as so many
where in the early days of the BBC, a Major Arthur Corbett-Smith.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Corbett-Smith
would bring considerable imagination and flair to the station but his
“distinctive outlook towards broadcasting” would ultimately see him moved back
to London when the BBC bigwigs became more concerned about standardisation and
formality. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Born in Cheltenham
in 1879 and educated at Winchester and Christ Church College, Oxford Corbett-Smith
had a colourful working career before becoming an artillery officer in the
First World War. Those jobs included being called to the Bar (Middle Temple)
and deputy secretary to the Shanghai Municipal Council. His time in China would
prove useful when he provided background assistance for the 1913-14 production
of the Anglo-Chinese play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mr Wu</i> at London’s
Strand Theatre. (3) He lectured on Public Health Law – his father had been a
leading public health reformer – and in 1914 published the book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Problem of the Nations: A Study in the
Causes, Symptoms and Effects of Sexual Disease, and the Education of the
Individual therein</i>. Post-war he wrote a number of military history books
about the conflict and was the director of publicity for the British National
Opera where he produced a number of National Opera Handbooks. No wonder that
his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who’s Who</i> entry listed his
recreation as ‘change of work’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He had
married Neath-born Tessie Thomas, a violinist of some renown, in 1921. She was
the daughter of conductor Oscar Thomas who, under the name Oliver Raymond,
would go on to conduct the 5WA Station Symphony Orchestra. The Corbett-Smiths
had one son and one daughter. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As 5WA
station director Corbett-Smith saw his role as “to energise and innovate”.
Assisting him was his deputy, and programme announcer, Norman Settle. Whereas
other stations would offer ‘talks’ the Cardiff station broadcast ‘chats’. So
there was, for example, a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chat on
Gardening, Chat on Bees and Bee-Keeping</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chat on Wireless for Amateurs</i>, and even a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chat on "Five Minutes Exercise for the Busy Man"</i>. The
station greeting was changed from “Hullo Everybody” to the less formal “Hullo
Comradios” or even “Cymradios”. Like all BBC stations they adopted a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Children’s Hour</i> but this was later
billed as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hour of the Kiddiewinks</i>. (4)
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72sHd4WPlkVgoYmLW2icfoSaKP_yjr-B-hNs5Er-ATndqhsS3WTVvmnWH1J32sdmFaSDdyswDi8thwMSOTq8MFsW2oVOXfs9ME6RF4PD-2OObD3AQ20uyQgRHYAVX4BPdMuK2RkVcu59DI7K8Cq4TgiiW5XBQwndB1VP6cNFHpbchnsSWtsh3HrPWQQ/s1173/Arthur%20Corbett%20Smith%20Modern%20Wireless%20edit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1173" data-original-width="823" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72sHd4WPlkVgoYmLW2icfoSaKP_yjr-B-hNs5Er-ATndqhsS3WTVvmnWH1J32sdmFaSDdyswDi8thwMSOTq8MFsW2oVOXfs9ME6RF4PD-2OObD3AQ20uyQgRHYAVX4BPdMuK2RkVcu59DI7K8Cq4TgiiW5XBQwndB1VP6cNFHpbchnsSWtsh3HrPWQQ/w281-h400/Arthur%20Corbett%20Smith%20Modern%20Wireless%20edit.jpg" width="281" /></a></div><br />Corbett-Smith
would himself take to the microphone with a regular series of chats in which <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mr Everyman Looks at the World</i>. In
addition, showing a pioneering zeal, he would do some of the continuity
announcing, present <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Children’s Hour</i>,
conduct the orchestra, act (including, unlikely as it seems, appearing as Romeo
in a re-enactment of the Balcony Scene alongside Marjory Unett as Juliet),
produce and direct adaptations of an astounding twenty Shakespeare plays
performed by the ‘Station Repertory Company’ and even write <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elizabeth</i>, a one act opera. He also
composed the Cardiff Station March known as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comradios</i>
under the alias Aston Tyrrold (a number of his compositions use this name). He
truly was 5WA’s everyman. <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The station
also ran a regular <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Women’s Hour </i>(albeit
running for 30 minutes). Corbett-Smith would later write that he was an
advocate of more women being involved in broadcasting which might in turn
encourage more to listen. Of the female listener he reckoned: “</span>A radio
item, even more than a good gramophone record, demands concentration in the
listener. Women do not concentrate; except in the things which really matter to
them-such as motherhood (sometimes), their men folk, dress, and care of the
person”. However he laid this lack of engagement as the door of the
predominantly male broadcasters: “since radio, both in manner and in matter, is
so patently lacking in personality and vivid human interest, it is only natural
that woman should find in it little to interest her”. <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Modern Wireless
</i>November 1928) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijSTWWcFTy7YH8pBd8YHC7F6Xc1rMla1wNVj1G5rgeM1aY1PeGMvDlV5DrPOrPIiU4pBbIosJMHfyx5G4ezoruAJWY83Iw_QcH30oG6wdCMw2hYADA8WrMfnuXMRFekwumqxEjPZGedGvsncI5lCi5Elj7hDFIDARtLbXoD32LXCjiafWWDjkgGAhs8g/s1247/5WA%20Opening%201.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1247" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijSTWWcFTy7YH8pBd8YHC7F6Xc1rMla1wNVj1G5rgeM1aY1PeGMvDlV5DrPOrPIiU4pBbIosJMHfyx5G4ezoruAJWY83Iw_QcH30oG6wdCMw2hYADA8WrMfnuXMRFekwumqxEjPZGedGvsncI5lCi5Elj7hDFIDARtLbXoD32LXCjiafWWDjkgGAhs8g/w400-h234/5WA%20Opening%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BBC chiefs and civic dignitaries gather for the launch of 5WA </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />Station 5WA and
had regular theme nights and there was an ambitious and strong emphasis on live
classical music with performances devoted to composers ranging from Beethoven
to Wagner. Writing in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Musical News
and Herald</i> a year before joining the BBC, Corbett-Smith had declared that
“every town should make an effort to form (an orchestra). Good music is not a
luxury but a necessity.”<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Popular
music was not neglected so listeners could also hear the likes of Viona’s
Syncopated Banjo Trio, the Cymmer Colliery Military Band and regular programmes
of dance music. An early radio feature, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Magic Carpet</i>, was broadcast over 19 weeks long before the BBC started a
Features Department. It mixed speech, song and music with the idea being that
listeners would take an audio magic carpet ride to different countries
‘piloted’ each week by a presenter or expert on that country with appropriate
musical accompaniment from the studio orchestra. The 1924 series was, said the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Times</i>, “highly popular”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There’s no
doubt that Corbett-Smith’s approach was noted at BBC headquarters. In <i>Broadcasting from Within</i> Cecil Lewis described
him as having a personality and determination that “have resulted in a high level
of programmes being transmitted from that station, which have assumed a
particular character somewhat different from those of other stations, owing to
the wide experience and artistic qualifications of their director”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-VVyZ4FGP6DCa_gCRrjAO8nEnqLn8EfGjdtkVe4i7_4Hu547-6s3xtd4UNm2DqC4NL8LExSaFMSUy0ApTdTisQTivoMItAYdhOuXWMLRfDzKuznGTZ3EnfUmeKLlMz0a7apCEU9SllJFComzwG_nI0dWs-I1A-P6fRNvDlW64uwsmZE7F8d_M8c6c_w/s1082/5WA%20Opening%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="808" data-original-width="1082" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-VVyZ4FGP6DCa_gCRrjAO8nEnqLn8EfGjdtkVe4i7_4Hu547-6s3xtd4UNm2DqC4NL8LExSaFMSUy0ApTdTisQTivoMItAYdhOuXWMLRfDzKuznGTZ3EnfUmeKLlMz0a7apCEU9SllJFComzwG_nI0dWs-I1A-P6fRNvDlW64uwsmZE7F8d_M8c6c_w/w400-h299/5WA%20Opening%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The musicians and singers performing the opening concert </td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />In 1923 it
was not possible to receive programmes by line from London until the late
summer of that year, so all early programmes were locally produced. The first outside
broadcasts, starting in June 1923, were from the Capitol Cinema with the
Orchestra conducted by Lionel Falkman. (5) These afternoon programmes, heard 4
or 5 times a week, ran until May 1926. The engineer tasked with broadcasting
the music would switch on his control room equipment, go down to the Capitol
Cinema (about a 5 minute walk away) and switch on the amplifier and microphone
to announce the opening and then go off to the auditorium to watch the film,
popping back to make the closing announcement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Notable in
these early broadcasts was the absence of spoken Welsh. Welsh songs and music
were plentiful and filled the schedules but virtually all the speech was
English. This situation persisted under the next station director, Ernest
Appleton, who, although claiming to be fluent in the language, was reluctant to
permit spoken Welsh on the station. In the 1928 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BBC Handbook</i>, he rather pointedly writes: “At present various prominent
people in Wales are striving to influence broadcasting, but unfortunately they
are often divided against themselves”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">By the end
of 1923 land lines between the BBC stations were now well established allowing
for the Simultaneous Broadcast of programmes from one station by another,
though programmes from London dominated. With BBC management increasingly
wishing to stamp a corporate approach across the network some of what were seen
as eccentric decisions of Corbett-Smith were frowned upon. In Reith’s words
what was important was “the periodic supervision of stations, the inspection on
the spot, the rooting down to all details and the setting matters right”. In
his mind “only persons of distinction should be allowed to broadcast”. There
was also some criticism of the station’s output in the local Welsh press though
the Major dismissed this: “We don’t care two little pins for that”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTPgfdMTxVs8nVrZtPU-PCS0Z2prmfMzEPHQlx8QcHdbWMpIqSCwZumLfBKCHxNqoSPA0WEdqnGO4i32mH8hahxlMrD5rq7A57owSxDLEtAIaH-LmPnwGlqlYNraHeXk6keawSla-9bydUHwkDgeWpRc5nZcKW9_-ohMniCOUqVXNyFzbzmdjOmgs6A/s4152/Savoy%20Hill%20staff%20from%20Broadcasting%20From%20Within.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4152" data-original-width="2472" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTPgfdMTxVs8nVrZtPU-PCS0Z2prmfMzEPHQlx8QcHdbWMpIqSCwZumLfBKCHxNqoSPA0WEdqnGO4i32mH8hahxlMrD5rq7A57owSxDLEtAIaH-LmPnwGlqlYNraHeXk6keawSla-9bydUHwkDgeWpRc5nZcKW9_-ohMniCOUqVXNyFzbzmdjOmgs6A/w239-h400/Savoy%20Hill%20staff%20from%20Broadcasting%20From%20Within.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the BBC staff at Savoy Hill with <br />Corbett-Smith pictured bottom-left</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />In March
1924 – weeks before 5WA moved into larger premises at 39 Park Place – and just
a year after his appointment, Corbett-Smith was encouraged to move back to
London and offered a central role as Artist Director. At 5WA chats were again
talks and “kiddiewinks and comradios were consigned to oblivion”. A later BBC
review noted that Corbett-Smith’s “exuberant personality was found to be a
little overwhelming for a Station Director’s post”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">According to
Peter Eckersley (the BBC’s first Chief Engineer and yet another creative
maverick) “Corbett-Smith was asked to come to Head Office, where he would have
more scope” but that “the scope was, in fact, curiously limited so he left.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arthur Burrows, more diplomatically said “he
was called to London to undertake more specialised work”. (6) Reith would write
that the first choice of Station Directors had to be “a matter of trial and
error” and that many mistakes were made. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Whilst
Artistic Director, Corbett-Smith did concern himself with a couple of
significant areas of programme policy. On the matter of classical music he
issued a memorandum with this call to action: “</span>we pour out a mass of
educational matter, of talks by notable authorities, of noble music. But all
this remains a misshapen and unwieldy mass, with no steady driving force behind
it directed towards a definite end”. On the hugely popular <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Children’s Hour</i> programmes he issued some of the first guidance on
how to present to children. He warned that “Buffoonery and noisy ensemble
talking must not be permitted” and that presenters should be natural and not
talk down to children. A story should be told and not read out, so the
presenter was advised to adapt the script themselves to ensure their
personality came through. He recommended only expert artists be used and that BBC
officials should not do it for their own amusement. An obvious dig at some of
the Uncles and Aunties no doubt. (7)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After only a
few months in post as Artistic Director he moved again in December 1924 to the
BBC’s Intelligence section; nothing to do with espionage but a team concerned
with the criticism of programmes. He was, however, still involved in some
programme-making such as what sounds like an ambitious night’s broadcasting in
September 1924 with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sportsmen All!</i> ‘a
comedy of sporting memories.’ (8) In the summer of 1926 he was back at the
microphone with a series of “Six Radio Recitals with Music” on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sea Affair and Harry Binns</i>. But by that
September he’d been dismissed by the BBC in view of his “general attitude,
brought to a head during the recent emergency (the General Strike)” and that
“it was decided to dispense with his services as a critic at the earliest
possible moment”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He would
write about his time in radio in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My Radio
Year</i> (1925) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our Radio Programmes:
What is wrong, and why</i> (1926). In the latter he summarised his thoughts on
the company that had employed him thus: “Those men were all men of note in
commerce and industry, engaged in the manufacture or sale of radio apparatus.
Their interests were wholly industrial or commercial. They began the creation
of a great machine. They created that machine – and a machine it remains: a
machine without a soul. And that is what is wrong with the BBC”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In the
thirties and forties Corbett-Smith continued to advise on matters of public
health and wrote a number of books ranging from a study of Lord Nelson and a
book of verse (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A People’s War</i>) to,
and here demonstrating that no topic was off limits for him, the volum<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">e Women: Theme and Variations</i> (9) and
even <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love Technique: an introduction</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Apparently
he was in the habit of making periodic announcements in the press about his
imminent suicide. Sadly he did follow up on that threat. In January 1945, aged
65, and by now living in Herne Bay, he shot himself. His note to the police
read: "I've had a very wonderful life, but I'm too old now. . . . I view
with loathing the incidence and stigmata of old age. Age, with rare exceptions,
is repulsive to look upon, and its so-called wisdoms are very problematical.
Every man and woman at the age of 60 should show cause why he or she should
continue to exist. . . ."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So what
happened to pre-war radio in Wales? Briefly this. In December1924 5WA was
joined by the Swansea relay station 5SX, the last of the BBC’s original
stations. By now plans were already in train to move to regional broadcasting,
a plan driven both internally with the desire to rationalise station management
and to better dictate policy from the centre and externally with the need to rationalise
the use of wavelengths under the proposed Geneva Plan (and the later 1929
Prague Plan). Rolling out from 1927, by which time the BBC was now a
Corporation, South Wales would be part of the West Region, under the
directorship of Ernest Appleton, and based in Cardiff – much to the annoyance
of Bristolians on the other side of the channel. Meanwhile North Wales would effectively
come under the Northern Region based in Manchester (though a studio in Bangor
was opened in November 1935). This meant mid-Wales was not actually in a region
at all and left listeners tuning in to the National Programme (5XX) from
Daventry. Eventually, with the opening of a second transmitter at Washford in
Somerset and a new site at Penmon on Anglesey, in July 1937 it was possible to
split off a true Welsh region service. (10) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(1) BBC
Director of Programmes Arthur Burrows recalled that “No amount of shuttering
proved sufficient to cut out the rumbling noises of trams passing below.” The
studio space was small and, according to a contemporary report on the launch “would
not comfortably hold more than the officials, the musicians, and the two or
three guests” Most sources say the studio was above a cinema but Davies quotes a source referring to it being above Mr Kinshot's music shop. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(2) Fred
Roberts was 31 when appointed to the job. He’d served as an Army bandmaster and
was an experienced concert and theatre orchestra conductor. The Roberts Band
was well-known in South Wales and played at dinners, dances and social
functions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(3) In the
programme for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mr Wu</i> (a play written
by Harold Owen and Harry Vernon) the producer (and actor who played the leading
role) wrote this dedication: “Mr Matheson Lang desires to acknowledge valuable
assistance rendered to him by Mr A. Corbett-Smith in arranging details and
Customs of Chinese life of the present day in Hong Kong.” Corbett-Smith would
also write about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Chinese and Their
Music</i> for the September 1912 edition of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Musical Times</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(4) Later as
Artistic Director for the BBC he would write in a memo on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Children’s Hour</i> that “to adopt a tone of superiority or aloofness is
to court immediate disaster”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(5) Lionel
Falkman (1892-1963) would later make regular broadcasts (142 in total) with his
Apache Band (formed in 1933) on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2015/08/on-light-part-6-calling-all-workers.html" target="_blank">Music While You Work</a></i> plus dozens of broadcast on the Forces Programme, Home
Service and Light Programme simply billed as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Falkman</i>. The Capitol Theatre was demolished in 1983. The site is
now the Capitol Centre indoor shopping mall. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(6) Writing
further about Corbett-Smith in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Story
of Broadcasting</i> (1924) Burrows described him as follows: “</span>Major
Corbett Smith is one of the new -comers to headquarters, but is one of the
senior officials of the company, having spent over a year at Cardiff as
director of the Cardiff station. It was evident from the outset that Major
Corbett Smith had a distinctive outlook towards broadcasting and an unusual
variety of interests, ranging from music, art, and literature to things naval
and military. As the programmes developed so it became evident that an artistic
director was needed to clothe ideas in appropriate garments and to link
harmoniously together the variety of material which is usually to be found in a
night's broadcast entertainment. Major Corbett Smith is a strong believer in
continuity programmes on special occasions, and has backed his faith by
producing feature nights on festivals such as Empire Day. These programmes bear
the same relation to broadcasting as the old diorama did to other contemporary
forms of entertainment. Major Corbett Smith's brain is never resting. He finds
recreation in writing books and composing operas”.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(7) For more
on this see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbchistoryresearch/entries/cf4a5612-fdd9-47ec-88c8-a576e4bf7bd0" target="_blank">The BBC and the Child RadioListener in the 1920s</a></i> by Zara Healy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(8) The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Times</i> featured this programme in
its <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gossip About Broadcasting</i> page
and at the same time offered yet another glimpse into Corbett-Smith’s past: “With
the atmosphere of an English country house of fine sporting traditions, a
birthday dinner-party, and a dozen or so famous sportsmen round the tables
spinning yarns of old days and singing the famous old songs, there is an
entertainment which should certainly make a wide appeal. Sir Theodore Cook,
Editor of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Field</i>, will be our
host. The programme has been arranged by our Artistic Director, who was by the
way something of a notable sportsman in his younger days and so may be presumed
to know what he is talking about”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(9)
Publicising this book his publishers claimed that Corbett-Smith had 14
occupations, had written 35 books on 12 subjects and nine musical compositions.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq4JiGxYAyKDuHmdJ2LPie7OJ6t3taQHTQTdA7ldShJAGKDTFQYqvzaXCoeDEDEfOPLFe9PflHSj7TOVjCpupm9o4NB6wr0P_-sDETH-2MxGzc6igeVpv9jY2Xtiu6LdWn30fw_mAYDRN_QGi1I03K346oe3pzE1BxNrcsGDG0uclU-Bo2XGcWGIEN_A/s1034/Washford%20Cross.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1034" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq4JiGxYAyKDuHmdJ2LPie7OJ6t3taQHTQTdA7ldShJAGKDTFQYqvzaXCoeDEDEfOPLFe9PflHSj7TOVjCpupm9o4NB6wr0P_-sDETH-2MxGzc6igeVpv9jY2Xtiu6LdWn30fw_mAYDRN_QGi1I03K346oe3pzE1BxNrcsGDG0uclU-Bo2XGcWGIEN_A/s320/Washford%20Cross.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />(10)
Washford transmitting station (above) was notable for its garden which used to attract
many summer visitors. The former transmitter hall, control rooms and office
block, a Grade II listed building, is now home to the Tropiquaria Zoo. The site
still transmits DAB services and on AM talkSPORT and Radio Wales. The Penmon
site closed in June 2021. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You can hear
historian John Davies talking about the history of broadcasting in Wales in
this 1994 edition of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p02k73fc" target="_blank">Meet for Lunch</a></i>
with Vincent Kane. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve only
scratched the surface about the life of Arthur Corbett-Smith. I know that he
wrote his memoirs, written in the third person, but I’ve not had sight of them.
A copy exists at The British Library.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There’s also
far more to say about 5WA and 5SX. The best source of information is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Broadcasting and the BBC in Wales</i> by
John Davies (University of Wales Press, 1994). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The story of
the early history of 5WA is told in a ‘2-part sitcom-documentary’ written by
Gareth Gwynn called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001hyp0" target="_blank">The Ministry of Happiness</a></i>. Part 1 was broadcast last week and Part 2 airs this evening. It
will be available for 30 days on BBC Sounds. Last week Gareth spoke to Mishal Husain on the Today programme. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<audio controls>
<source src="http://docs.google.com/uc?export=open&id=1kuzKmuBBjcwGWehxAbhGZgW2Mr7fJJRp " type="audio/mp3">
</audio>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">With thanks
to Dr Andrea Smith and Alan Stafford for their help in tracking down photos of
the Major and to Al Dupres for taking the Cardiff photos. The photos of the station opening come from <i>Popular Wireless Weekly</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-68887349120915600112023-02-11T08:00:00.002+01:002023-03-09T17:26:20.733+01:00Death at Broadcasting House<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFK75axE_xD_xEQeasKDetiSrSFicJ2-BPO0Ci92kHZYMPPOtnTr5Mv76RDycc9Ykm6QXf2AaKt5oW-HxxwgooRNHtFKc272LQr8LKlPL7S7PM10ajxSGHtdTneKwUxbrZyDqj8_istmgaZ4nb0cxGAt-Z-VrmiUKocVBWyriGfHv9Ka0ssqx67V85pg/s908/DeathBH3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="908" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFK75axE_xD_xEQeasKDetiSrSFicJ2-BPO0Ci92kHZYMPPOtnTr5Mv76RDycc9Ykm6QXf2AaKt5oW-HxxwgooRNHtFKc272LQr8LKlPL7S7PM10ajxSGHtdTneKwUxbrZyDqj8_istmgaZ4nb0cxGAt-Z-VrmiUKocVBWyriGfHv9Ka0ssqx67V85pg/s320/DeathBH3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>The door into 7C was flung open, and Hancock burst into the passage. “Come here, Julian, for God’s sake!” he said. “Quickly. There’s been an accident!”</p><p>That accident turns out to be murder. The victim is actor
Sidney Parsons, alone in studio 7C and on air at the time. But who amongst the
cast and staff is the murderer? This is the opening premise of the story <i>Death at Broadcasting House</i>, filmed in
1934, adapted for radio in 1996 and now this week being read on a <i><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001j3m9/episodes/guide" target="_blank">Book at Bedtime</a></i> by Tim McInnerny.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTcIqvv1PF3aT-yUV_JBXWrFy4FKzHNK6I610r_ZVILmZhxZnIh44zwqIIq9I3QLKPX3eUs8fwfphDEbsOiWVRpnMzOkUk1nhs61-B1pug-LoJuTyQw0at6ok85VTsu9S6fRsVAehOowBk3WOQNvUt585VCInnPAbMyiw0p30W2AN8Yl3MC25MeCvU1w/s583/DeathBH1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="359" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTcIqvv1PF3aT-yUV_JBXWrFy4FKzHNK6I610r_ZVILmZhxZnIh44zwqIIq9I3QLKPX3eUs8fwfphDEbsOiWVRpnMzOkUk1nhs61-B1pug-LoJuTyQw0at6ok85VTsu9S6fRsVAehOowBk3WOQNvUt585VCInnPAbMyiw0p30W2AN8Yl3MC25MeCvU1w/s320/DeathBH1.jpg" width="197" /></a></div><br />Broadcasting House had been in use just over a year and the
suite of studios used for drama productions provided the setting for much of
the action. The more technically complex the drama the more studios were used
for different acoustics, live musicians and sound effects with the main studio
overlooked by a viewing room. The whole production would be mixed and
controlled from the dramatic control panel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So it was two people with a good inside knowledge of the building that
came up with the germ of the story whilst on a 16-day holiday in the south of
France – dictating the 70,000 words to a BBC secretary. Concocting the mystery
were friends and colleagues Val Gielgud, at the time in charge of drama at the BBC
and Eric Maschwitz, who often wrote under the name of Holt Marvell, the head of
the Variety department. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1pdL2hZFanDkXDQKycdrQtiy0UYLRW8FBowcmkVJs1vFq7Pnzvx7ES6iyEMv_DFVza9SGiUfyxbUJ0XBMOO65tY7PkgIMIOnhmvrjC50irV_nB-MRZBHCbyY3nu1RDY6-pOkiIEZZDF8bGZXajbtgiEpu4q2qPXgKzkEzv1f6rD98CRjcDQsW6_PwmA/s913/DeathBH4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="913" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1pdL2hZFanDkXDQKycdrQtiy0UYLRW8FBowcmkVJs1vFq7Pnzvx7ES6iyEMv_DFVza9SGiUfyxbUJ0XBMOO65tY7PkgIMIOnhmvrjC50irV_nB-MRZBHCbyY3nu1RDY6-pOkiIEZZDF8bGZXajbtgiEpu4q2qPXgKzkEzv1f6rD98CRjcDQsW6_PwmA/s320/DeathBH4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Most sources say that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Death
at Broadcasting House</i> was published in 1934, and indeed it was published in
book form by Rich & Cowan in February 1934. But it first appeared in
serialised form in the pages of the October, November and December issues of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Modern Wireless</i> magazine in 1933. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Death at Broadcasting
House</i> is a story of professional rivalries, illicit affairs, blackmail,
Scotland Yard inspectors, amateur sleuthing, gloves and mystery phone calls. The
story opens during a live broadcast of the play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Scarlet Highwayman</i> written by Rodney Fleming. Directing is
Julian Caird, the BBC Dramatic Director. At the controls is the Balance and
Control Engineer Desmond Hancock. The cast of actors includes Sidney Parsons
and the husband and wife team of Leopold and Isabel Dryden. The BBC staff
include General Sir Herbert Farquharson (presumably Sir John Reith), Stewart
Evans of the Programme Research Department , sound effects man Guy Bannister,
studio manager Ian Macdonald and studio attendant Joe Higgins. Called in to
investigate is Detective Inspector Simon Spears. (Spears would appear in three
further books including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The First
Television Murder</i> set in the BBC’s studios at Alexandra Palace).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTf-E28bi4nvVyxo6Tt3-t0jAnlZ02jY1301WQSU69deW5xQja4H023pCmlMNra_TS3oXmYeQuPt-QtIOonwesrGTxBk1B5jbolFHXrxFB2wlJ5ze_EGq716MD7KAmDR8wkhjagJee-VqM3Ocxi2XcIr363pF-K5bvhQPIuOopT3qAqURaktP4Tfw1ig/s702/DeathBH2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="667" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTf-E28bi4nvVyxo6Tt3-t0jAnlZ02jY1301WQSU69deW5xQja4H023pCmlMNra_TS3oXmYeQuPt-QtIOonwesrGTxBk1B5jbolFHXrxFB2wlJ5ze_EGq716MD7KAmDR8wkhjagJee-VqM3Ocxi2XcIr363pF-K5bvhQPIuOopT3qAqURaktP4Tfw1ig/s320/DeathBH2.jpg" width="304" /></a></div><br />To add extra realism to both the serialisation and book
versions we have copies of internal memos, running orders and studio maps,
these closely follow the real Broadcasting House layout. We’re also introduced
to a new piece of technology that proves critical in cracking the case, the
Blatterphone. These steel tape recording devices were really only in use by the
Empire Service as they allowed for the re-broadcast of domestic programmes to
the world and for programmes to be transmitted in different time zones without
calling broadcasters, actors or musicians back into the studio at all times of
the day or night. “We blatterphoned the transmission of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Scarlet Highwaymen</i> and we are transmitting it to the Empire in”
– he glances at his wrist-watch – “exactly seven minutes’ time.”<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The book enjoyed, according to Gielgud, “considerable
success” and thought that a film version would be “a copper-bottomed commercial
proposition”. Eventually they found a willing producer in Hugh Perceval at the
newly formed Phoenix Films. It was filmed over 29 days at the Wembley Park
Studios in North London (later used by Associated-Rediffusion and LWT before
becoming Fountain Studios and closing in 2017) at a cost of £18,000. Getting a
general release in November 1934 it would gross £90,000 at the box office. A
shorter five reel version was also issued, presumably to run as a second
feature, with cuts to the cameo appearances and all the songs to achieve a 42
minute running time (as against the 75 minutes of the eight reel version).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40Czf4FJGjGmBOzOZF4KZpdJpXkWzEwYMKtxZN_FUdlvLNO7JNBwUSW18a8AGj58Q10VuaSQqkaFJGLdx02kcr_d2SlqzSUUrVwLhv-EUxm3uKbN6vn6ClqD_mLbhd9RTMjYLteF0Cg9e4dYFOf2f2BAA_hlIoUew01qxeSPLRU-g1HaPd3fCQ7QA1Q/s736/DC%20Panel.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="736" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40Czf4FJGjGmBOzOZF4KZpdJpXkWzEwYMKtxZN_FUdlvLNO7JNBwUSW18a8AGj58Q10VuaSQqkaFJGLdx02kcr_d2SlqzSUUrVwLhv-EUxm3uKbN6vn6ClqD_mLbhd9RTMjYLteF0Cg9e4dYFOf2f2BAA_hlIoUew01qxeSPLRU-g1HaPd3fCQ7QA1Q/s320/DC%20Panel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the dramatic control panels at Broadcasting House.<br />Photo copyright BBC.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The film was able to pretty accurately portray the Art Deco
interior of Broadcasting House with its maze of studios and the dramatic
control panel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ‘death’ occurs in
studio 7C. This really was a studio used by the drama department. It was a speech
small studio (19’x19’) and had a totally dead acoustic. 7C was later combined
into the larger two-storey drama studio 6A.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">According to Gielgud “expenditure was very sensibly allotted
rather to the settings than to the cast.” Gielgud appeared in the film,
effectively playing himself, as Julian Caird. The only real stars of the day
were Ian Hunter who played the (renamed) Inspector Gregory and Austin Trevor as
Leopold Dryden. Donald Wolfit, yet to start his famous touring company, played
Parsons and a young Jack Hawkins was Evans. This being a thirties film it was
almost obligatory to have at least one song and dance routine and this film
offered two, including an early performance from American singing star Elisabeth
Welch. Radio stars of the day also make cameo appearances including comedian
Gillie Potter and journalist Vernon Bartlett. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKylARmuj3gbfGi_hQoPIvVqrvneQWZu_HwCi28m87w3Lge6ub0uV-J-3enT_w_6ZXswozxCDMRDXwRUi7kHvsWY3if-tUVm7DFUfK5n6SuQtXB7X2r4GfO4ySMJvmq65ZKhZQs9UffW9kK7zyEjdrLeHod_eJCiySDBe5-fuYpYHbwJ9kEDAhcrT-g/s741/DeathBHFilm(reduced).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="741" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKylARmuj3gbfGi_hQoPIvVqrvneQWZu_HwCi28m87w3Lge6ub0uV-J-3enT_w_6ZXswozxCDMRDXwRUi7kHvsWY3if-tUVm7DFUfK5n6SuQtXB7X2r4GfO4ySMJvmq65ZKhZQs9UffW9kK7zyEjdrLeHod_eJCiySDBe5-fuYpYHbwJ9kEDAhcrT-g/s320/DeathBHFilm(reduced).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The film adopts a lighter tone than the source material,
Basil Mason was tasked with writing the screenplay, and it benefits from the
production design of R. Holmes Paul and the photography of Austrian émigré Günther
Krampf, whose films included the expressionist horror classic Nosferatu (though
he was uncredited). Halliwell described the film as an “intriguing little
murder mystery with an unusual background”. Elizabeth Welch was less enamoured
with it: "It was so awful that I told everybody they should have left
Broadcasting House out of the title and released it as Death!” It is the
Broadcasting House setting that provides the real interest rather than the
plotting and the performances. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Surprisingly the film doesn’t appear to have been shown on
television until nearly four decades later. It finally aired on 3 September 1982
– which isI when I first saw it – on BBC2 as part of a season of films marking
the BBC’s 60<sup>th</sup>. That seems to have been its only BBC showing, and
perhaps it’s only terrestrial tv showing, unless you know otherwise. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, the film hasn’t been completely forgotten. In
recent years the wonderful Talking Pictures TV have given it the occasional run
and in 2013 Network issued it on DVD. A Blu-Ray edition was issued in 2020. At
one time it was on YouTube but at the time of writing, it can be found on
Arhive.org.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIL6p8K1P7BsXjdWDm4nTNuro-dLzq2NIJXpOwwzlpHukjpwVB7CcY7zXjOYzMIdPeSl4NY2c01nhrBrDo9sbRd8105PZF2zHjLZqCPinINdqGLConG9haLbpxuGWVA5YPy56p1_TswMU5CnNTzLlqtLDn7qI95LsppL7jasmDlhywrj9ENdoJoE_95g/s610/DeathBH_020396_Billing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="488" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIL6p8K1P7BsXjdWDm4nTNuro-dLzq2NIJXpOwwzlpHukjpwVB7CcY7zXjOYzMIdPeSl4NY2c01nhrBrDo9sbRd8105PZF2zHjLZqCPinINdqGLConG9haLbpxuGWVA5YPy56p1_TswMU5CnNTzLlqtLDn7qI95LsppL7jasmDlhywrj9ENdoJoE_95g/s320/DeathBH_020396_Billing.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br />Although BBC television never gave <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Death at Broadcasting House</i> a second showing, BBC radio did revisit
it in 1996 as a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saturday Playhouse</i>
production on Radio 4 as part of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cinema
100 </i>season. The play, running at 86 minutes, was adapted by crime writer Sue
Rodwell – she would later adapt some of Ted Willis’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dixon of Dock Green</i> scripts for the radio. Appearing as Julian
Caird is John Moffat (radio’s Hercule Piorot) and there’s a star-studded cast:
Peter Sallis (Inspector), Graham Crowden (Director General), Jeremy Clyde
(Fleming), Roger May (Bannister), Bill Nighy (getting all indignant as Dryden),
Diana Quick (Isabel), Julian Glover (Evans) and Nicky Henson (DS Ring). The
great thing about this version is that it was recorded in drama studio 6A where
the majority of the studio action is set in the original story. This programme has
been repeated a couple of times on <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07grh62" target="_blank">Radio 4 Extra</a>. You can, at the time of
writing, find it on YouTube. Bill Nighy would come across another corpse at Broadcasting House in the 2008 Charles Paris series <i><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ft5bj" target="_blank">Dead Side of the Mic</a></i>.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBGbHJrKZim9ugD8ZuLl0D3ZGkkIk9AgIQcNoeu7OWfGenGe3MegPiiint7FSLQsqB1sbe3sBAumKJb2J1X7syniO6HU-zlOYI6tP55jr-Icc18_Wm69R1RwVBe2eutjoC3o8GweG5HYDUuAD-BJiBKrNZRgZX2538U5okEIGX_8KL8Illuc81UM1H5w/s461/DeathBH_2023%20(Sam%20Kalda).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="287" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBGbHJrKZim9ugD8ZuLl0D3ZGkkIk9AgIQcNoeu7OWfGenGe3MegPiiint7FSLQsqB1sbe3sBAumKJb2J1X7syniO6HU-zlOYI6tP55jr-Icc18_Wm69R1RwVBe2eutjoC3o8GweG5HYDUuAD-BJiBKrNZRgZX2538U5okEIGX_8KL8Illuc81UM1H5w/s320/DeathBH_2023%20(Sam%20Kalda).jpg" width="199" /></a></div><br />Back in the present, this week on Radio 4 we get another
chance to hear the story, as abridged by Lucy Ellis and read by Tim McInnerny. It
can be heard in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001j3m9/episodes/guide" target="_blank">Book at Bedtime</a></i>
slot Monday to Friday at 22.45 and will be available on BBC Sounds. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Staying with radio drama history for the moment its worth
picking out a couple of programmes that go out today (Saturday). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comedy for Danger</i> (also sometimes just
called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Danger</i>) by Richard Hughes is
regarded as the first play written for radio to be broadcast by the BBC. It was
part of an evening of plays produced by Nigel Playfair broadcast by 2LO on 15
January 1924. This short play was set in a mining quarry and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Times</i> suggested that listeners”
might well sit in darkness to correspond with the play’s setting, which will
also be in the darkness of a mine.” A 1973 re-recording of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001j3dw" target="_blank">Danger</a></i> is repeated for the first time since 1973 today on 4 Extra.
Produced by Raymond Raikes it stars Christopher Good, Carol Marsh and Carleton
Hobbs. It was originally heard on Radio 3 on 1 October 1973 under the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stereo Drama</i> strand. [Whether <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comedy for Danger</i> was the first play
written for radio remains in dispute. An earlier contender is the Christmas Eve
1922 2LO broadcast <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">of The Truth About
Father Christmas </i>written by Phyliss Twigg. Sadly no script survives so we
have no record as to how this was performed].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Taking inspiration from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Danger
</i>is a new drama called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001j3cq" target="_blank">Danger 2023</a></i>
by Michael Symmons Roberts. Here the lights go out on a party visiting a remote
'doomsday' bank deep under the desert containing a vast collection of
historical and cultural data about our lives. It’s the Saturday afternoon drama
on Radio 4. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The story of how <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Danger
</i>came to be made was told in last year’s play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0014wmx" target="_blank">A Leap in the Dark</a></i> which is on BBC Sounds. It does, however,
contain a number of factual errors that will make any radio or drama historian
wince. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">About the Authors:<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eric Maschwitz<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ygoy4F-PbfeM8I4SOQoG8shxVw5wT6_bfj4zjmQTOuTbTCtj1zjMorgX4MFC5sZO7HfsPKQ6_LtfW8s4W_Wtl-Qq68YuLrDQNSR4V0ooDUdMECdCocBPV8XG2FbUo0UVpWH8BUaed3zifKGGtoTRreriRxWhogv7zW1yDOlKNi1TqlRksRu1sJt4lA/s501/Maschwitz.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="398" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Ygoy4F-PbfeM8I4SOQoG8shxVw5wT6_bfj4zjmQTOuTbTCtj1zjMorgX4MFC5sZO7HfsPKQ6_LtfW8s4W_Wtl-Qq68YuLrDQNSR4V0ooDUdMECdCocBPV8XG2FbUo0UVpWH8BUaed3zifKGGtoTRreriRxWhogv7zW1yDOlKNi1TqlRksRu1sJt4lA/s320/Maschwitz.jpg" width="254" /></a></div><br />Eric Maschwitz had a CV that one can only marvel at (pun
intended). He was a songwriter and scriptwriter often using the nom de plume of
Holt Marvell and is best known for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">These
Foolish Things</i> and the screenplay of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Goodbye,
Mr Chip s</i> (1939) for which he has a co-writing credit. He’d worked as a
freelance writer for the Hutchinson’s magazine group. In 1924 he wrote the
best-selling novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Taste of Honey</i> a
year before he married actress Hermoine Gingold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He started at the BBC in 1926 in the Outside
Broadcasts department. From September 1927 he’d been the acting and then
permanent editor of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Times</i>.
With the creation of a separate Variety Department in 1933 Eric was offered the
head of department. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There he introduced
a number of well known programmes such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In
Town Tonight</i>, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scrapbook </i>series
as well as opening a new base for variety shows across Langham Place at St George’s
Hall.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He and Val Gielgud were already firm friends before working together
at the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Radio Times. </i>On air Maschwitz
contributed to many broadcasts under Gielgud’s department or direct production.
Those programmes included talks, plays (including an adaptation of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rupert of Hentzau</i> and Compton
Mackenzie’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Carnival</i>), musicals and
the romantic operetta <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Good Night Vienna!</i>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Maschwitz was Director of Variety for four years until June
1937 when he left for Hollywood to work for MGM after they’d offered to buy the
film rights for his musical <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Balalaika</i>
and a writing contract more than ten times his BBC salary. During the war he
was recruited by the intelligence services (SIS, SOE and the Army’s
Intelligence Corps).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was assigned to
the <a href="https://www.militaryintelligencemuseum.org/eric-maschwitz" target="_blank">British Security Coordination</a> (others included Roald Dahl, Noel Cowerd and
Cedric Belfrage, brother of BBC newsreader Bruce Belfrage) where he was head of
the forgery section running Station M (M for Maschwitz) in a Toronto suburb. In
1942 as a Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) he was head of a War Office
Broadcasting Section in the Army Directorate of Welfare and Education where he
was instrumental in setting up the Field Broadcasting Unit. He moved to the Political
Warfare Executive preparing propaganda leaflets from the secret HQ in Woburn
Abbey. At the end of the war he helped requisition Hamburg’s Musikhalle as the
first HQ for the British Forces Network (later the BFBS).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Post-war he was Chairman of the Songwriters' Guild of Great
Britain which at times put him at loggerheads with his old employer. On the
broadcast of popular music programmes he decried they were “flooded with
ready-made and degraded American successes” whilst variety shows were all
“hectic talk and semi-hysterical laughter.” Nonetheless he rejoined the BBC in
1958 as Head of Light Entertainment, Television and then in 1962 under a
special contract as advisor with the title Special Duties (Programmes). He left
the Corporation in 1963 to work for commercial rivals Associated Rediffusion as
a producer of special projects as well as the comedy series <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our Man at St. Mark's</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Eric Maschwitz 1901-1969</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Val Gielgud<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMqG7NFSpg9Jep87x9YQn5eKtkwxmBG2EmMHA4iK1Zb-JJyfS323bZb2O_SSFkJBY6r-N7ifnF3sxiFkNEXzf3Vthm6S49sTj1puSs9Qe4-UrOK1km1unkX_wg7FCRMzmQmFxLnRyp6nB0aWavT-SnPv3gi7ouZnusTb_jcS0L_BBUYsuug33BFFcvw/s480/Gielgud.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="375" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMqG7NFSpg9Jep87x9YQn5eKtkwxmBG2EmMHA4iK1Zb-JJyfS323bZb2O_SSFkJBY6r-N7ifnF3sxiFkNEXzf3Vthm6S49sTj1puSs9Qe4-UrOK1km1unkX_wg7FCRMzmQmFxLnRyp6nB0aWavT-SnPv3gi7ouZnusTb_jcS0L_BBUYsuug33BFFcvw/s320/Gielgud.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><br />Val Gielgud spent most of his working life involved in drama
production and was the department head for a remarkable 35 years. He’d started
at the BBC in 1928 as an assistant at the Radio Times under Maschwitz’s
editorship, though he’d already appeared on air delivering a number of talks. He
was an “out of work actor” before joining the Corporation and got the job without
an interview, the old boy’s network coming into play as he knew both Maschwitz
and the BBC’s head of publicity Gladstone Murray. He worked on the editorial
pages including the letter’s page and later admitted to writing a number of
letters under various names complaining bitterly about radio drama.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He helped with some of the BBC’s amateur theatrical
productions in which even the austere John Reith took part. During rehearsals
for the comedy <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tilly of Bloomsbury</i>,
in which Reith played a drunken broker’s man, Gielgud rebuked him for being
late. This actually helped Gielgud’s job prospects when in 1929 they were looking
for a new department head. “This fellow Gielgud will do. If he can be rude to
me, he ought to be able to tell a lot of actors what to do.” The job was as
Productions Director, a wide-ranging brief that included drama as well as the revue
and vaudeville section. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By 1933, following the move from Savoy Hill into
Broadcasting House the previous year, Gielgud wanted to concentrate on drama
“without troubling himself with ukulele players and comedians” so was appointed
Director of Features and Drama, with Variety hived off to his chum Maschwitz. Here
he set about helping forge a new style of radio drama mixing standard works by
the likes of Ibsen, Chekov, Noel Cowerd, Edgar Wallace, Somerset Maughan, and,
of course, Shakespeare with more experimental work. He was particularly keen to
encourage new writing for radio and declared “the future of broadcast drama
lies with authors who are prepared to write directly for the microphone”.
(Early 30s drama was often billed as “written for the microphone”). His books <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How to Write Broadcast Plays</i> and the
later <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Right Way to Radio Playwriting </i>were
standard references for any aspiring radio dramatists. When television came
along he was also involved in that, including the first experimental drama
production of Pirandello’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Man with
the Flower in his Mouth</i>, broadcast simultaneously on the National Programme
and the Baird television transmission in July 1930.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He still occasionally worked with Eric Maschwitz on
programmes such as the ambitious broadcasts over four nights live from Hungary
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Night Falls in Budapest</i> (1935). He
would direct his rather more famous brother John on three occasions: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Importance of Being Earnest</i> (1936), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Great Ship</i> (1943) and for the Third
Programme in 1959 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oedipus at Colonus</i>.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Gielgud was also a prolific writer of both radio plays –
such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Exiles</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Red Tabs</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mr Pratt’s
Waterloo</i> – and novels, usually thrillers. His books, written over a period
of about 40 years included series featuring Anthony Havilland and Inspector
Gregory Pellew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the start of World War II the drama department was
evacuated first to Wood Norton and then to Manchester though difficulties in
getting artists to go north meant they eventually moved back to London,
occupying studios at Maida Vale. During the war the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saturday Night Theatre</i> strand started (Gielgud would produce over
30 of them), the Drama Repertory Company was re-formed and there were the
beginnings of drama series rather than one off productions such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Appointment with Fear</i> in which Gielgud
would collaborate with John Dickson Carr.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After the war when the television service re-started Gielgud
also had tv drama within his remit, not something he relished and in 1952 he
was back to radio with the title Head of Drama (Sound). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One of the post-war developments was the daily serial,
notably <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mrs Dale’s Diary</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Archers</i>. Gielgud dismissed both,
especially the former which he though “sociologically corrupting” as it
encouraged “mediocrity of mind” among listeners. Millions listened to both. At
the same time he eschewed the avant-garde of the 1950s so he increasingly left
the production of such drama to others. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Looking at his contribution to the BBC, Hannah Khalil wrote
(in 2013) of Gielgud’s many contradictions: “he claimed to want to move away
from theatre-style productions on radio, but was from a theatre background; he
pushed the boundaries and experimented with the form, and yet he was more at
home with Shakespeare than he was with contemporary writing; he recognized that
radio was for the masses, but he loathed soap operas or anything too populist”.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Gielgud retired from the BBC in 1963, passing over the drama
baton to Martin Esslin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Val Gielgud 1900-1981</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With thanks to Roger Beckwith</p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-19133162861854322172023-01-01T02:30:00.001+01:002023-01-01T02:30:00.168+01:00By Strauss – New Year in Vienna<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZ1PgZ0zKMVUPN1pGvCQHy5rbGn0haLNBEiIVHEVNYU0BAUo3zNR0lzTllNqMWmfMHMsfSQzqb4kZTUdhtcIIEbU3B4h7IteA2FB1qUh8Q5STqY9FEjxmFi17b3ugBNctJJwCgHPgWjZXK7ocuVPBc28MzWLjxxc4pCA5mZfkgqkLjTdhd28o-KWFQw/s734/ConcertHall.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="734" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZ1PgZ0zKMVUPN1pGvCQHy5rbGn0haLNBEiIVHEVNYU0BAUo3zNR0lzTllNqMWmfMHMsfSQzqb4kZTUdhtcIIEbU3B4h7IteA2FB1qUh8Q5STqY9FEjxmFi17b3ugBNctJJwCgHPgWjZXK7ocuVPBc28MzWLjxxc4pCA5mZfkgqkLjTdhd28o-KWFQw/w400-h191/ConcertHall.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">Whether you’re starting the morning all bright-eyed and
bushy-tailed or nursing a Hogmanay hangover there’s no finer way to usher in the
New Year than a with a Strauss waltz. This morning’s New Year concert from
Vienna, now in its eighth decade, offers its usual menu of marches, polkas and
waltzes from the opulent Musikverein in Vienna’s first district. It’s been a
staple of New Year’s Day broadcasts in the UK for 64 years. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The early wartime concerts – the first was on New Year’s Eve
1939 – were tainted by their Nazi associations. Post-war the concerts were
re-invented under concertmaster Willi Boskovsky who conducted on 25 occasions
between 1955 and 1979. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Broadcasts of the concert are hosted by Austria’s ORF and
relayed worldwide via the EBU to over 90 countries. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The BBC has been broadcasting the concert
since it was first televised in 1959. The programme was always a recorded
version shown later on the 1st until 1987 when it started to be shown live,
though there was a one year hiatus in 1982.From 2003 BBC Four broadcast an
evening highlights version; this moved to BBC Two in 2019, but it’s back on
Four this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">BBC Radio was a little slower to pick up the concert but has
been broadcasting it live every year since 1972. (It had first been broadcast
by Austrian radio in 1953).It’s always, I’d you’d expect, on Radio 3 though with
one exception; in 1995 it appeared on Radio 2 instead. There had been a couple
of earlier radio broadcasts. In 1966, on 2<sup>nd</sup> January, the Light
Programme carried highlights of the New Year’s Eve concert and a few days later
more excerpts were heard on the Home Service. In 1969 there was live coverage
on Radio 4 and then highlights over on Radio 2 during Sam Costa’s lunchtime
show. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Remarkably only five people have introduced the concert for
BBC tv and radio over the last six decades. First was Lionel Salter a former
conductor turned BBC administrator and at the time was Head of Music
Productions, Television. In 1964 for one year only, it was the turn of Antony
Hopkins, musician and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Talking About Music</i>
presenter. The microphone then passed to Richard Baker who introduced the
concert for an incredible 30 years. Richard’s last Vienna duty was on that 1995
Radio 2 broadcast. Here’s Richard Baker saying Grüß Gott to listeners in 1992.</p>
<audio controls="">
<source src="http://docs.google.com/uc?export=open&id=1qfDNzhiU9kGG6uLJYI0Yuopyv_egRQcS " type="audio/mp3"></source>
</audio>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 1996 former King’s Singer turned broadcaster Brian Kay
took up the gig. Since 2011 Petroc Trelawny has been doing the honours throwing
himself into the part by tracking down a second-hand Loden coat and black
fedora “so I’d look suitably <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Third Man</i>-ish”.
This year Petroc is back in Vienna after
two years of providing the commentary from London (at the Olympic Park studios)
due to Covid restrictions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To get you in a suitably Viennese mood from a year ago comes
this programme in which Moira Stuart celebrates the music of Vienna and of the
Strauss family. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moira Stuart’s Viennese
Concert</i> was broadcast on Classic FM on 1 January 2022.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="120" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?hide_cover=1&feed=%2Fandy-walmsley2%2Fmoira-stuarts-viennese-concert%2F" width="100%"></iframe>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2744024699281834535.post-69944117401407566222022-12-28T10:36:00.000+01:002022-12-28T10:36:57.032+01:00Auntie through the Looking Glass<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy2D8uvosb5SYJzfK4qBUk8Cm8jm2EchKY7I_z5-y_CScPkY_wfesWfep0mydDfzM48ySPG2F568hrPcCLfFM5fkq2MlUGRMflpo11nRYOQ4QmiZTS9NzF4tb6c0MSSAMRN7Jp9TrAVwhYpmL-ZYlH9J6kBv1Y-fP88Y18rE6kUrY9ptF2QVFC9VWM6g/s1275/AuntieLookingGlass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="1275" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy2D8uvosb5SYJzfK4qBUk8Cm8jm2EchKY7I_z5-y_CScPkY_wfesWfep0mydDfzM48ySPG2F568hrPcCLfFM5fkq2MlUGRMflpo11nRYOQ4QmiZTS9NzF4tb6c0MSSAMRN7Jp9TrAVwhYpmL-ZYlH9J6kBv1Y-fP88Y18rE6kUrY9ptF2QVFC9VWM6g/w640-h210/AuntieLookingGlass.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />One final nod to the BBC’s centenary year with this
programme, broadcast back in 1997 to mark the 75<sup>th</sup> anniversary. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In <i>Auntie through the
Looking Glass</i> Jeremy Nicholas looks at how the BBC has been portrayed in
popular culture from films, novels, poems, songs, cartoons and even cigarette
cards. We hear about <i>Death at
Broadcasting House</i> and <i>The Killing of
Sister George</i> and meet novelist Penelope Fitzgerald. There are poems from
D.H. Lawrence and Alfred Noyes, a song from Robert Wyatt and a <i>Week Ending</i> sketch. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This nostalgia-fest does tend to focus on pre-war wireless
so there’s the usual comic songs: <i>Little
Miss Bouncer</i> (Flotsam and Jetsam), <i>We
Can’t Let You Broadcast That</i> (Norman Long) and <i>We’re Frightfully BBC </i>(The Western Brothers). But you’ll also hear
some less familiar tunes: <i>Auntie Aggie of
the BBC </i>by Scottish comedian Tommy Lorne and a couple of songs from the
1938 Herbert Farjeon revue <i>Nine Sharp </i>called
<i>Thank God for the BBC</i> and,
remarkably, <i>There’s Never Been a Baddie
at the BBC</i>. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Auntie through the
Looking Glass </i>was broadcast on Saturday 18 October 1997 on BBC Radio 4. The
readers aren’t credited but one is certainly Jon Glover. The producer is Sue Foster. </p>
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/23yAyHrZEd4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><i>Nine Sharp</i> was a
1938/39 revue for the Little Theatre production company with book and lyrics by
Herbert Farjeon and music by Walter Leigh. Part One of the revue included <i>Thank God for the BBC</i>. The cast was
Berry Ann Davies as Mother, Michael Anthony as Father, Peggy Willoughby as
Daughter, Eric Hoy as Crooner, Eric Anderson as 1<sup>st</sup> Orator, Gordon
Little as 2<sup>nd</sup> Orator, George Benson as Captain Snaggers (surely
based on announcer John Snagge) and the Director, Hermione Baddeley as Miss
Bennett, Cyril Ritchard as Vaudeville Eric and Ronald Waters as Radio Val
(radio drama producer Val Gielgud?) </p>Andy Walmsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647763223166778941noreply@blogger.com0