The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa

As this podcast lands, it's 75 years to the day since the first 'God slot' on the BBC Light Programme. It was first called Five to Ten, and is now Pause for Thought on BBC Radio 2. Podcast host Paul has been Pausing for Thought for over a decade, with Chris Evans, Zoe Ball and Scott Mills, and was recently asked to present a history of Pause for Thought to a roomful of Pause for Thoughters, the Radio 2 boss, and today's Breakfast Show host Scott Mills. So a version of that is on this episode, with some golden oldie clips, including Ray Moore and Derek Jameson. And even a bit of Steve Wright, because why not. It's a mini-sode ahead of our Christmas special, so we look ahead to that, with a little more info on Paul's upcoming Radio 4 drama about the first radio drama, The Truth About Phyllis Twigg. The companion episode will be next time on the podcast, but for now there's info on where in London you can go to listen to the story version of that original radio drama - ME London, the hotel on the site of Marconi House and the BBC's first studio. You can go this December, and listen to our exclusive recording, by, Paul, Carina Saner (Phyllis' great-granddaughter) and Flora Saner (Phyllis' great-great-granddaughter). ...And if you can't make it to London, we'll play it for you on the next episode.  A little too on our moment-by-moment timeline of British broadcasting - we're in November 1923 and it's GK Chesterton from Manchester, a Welsh talk from Wales, the first radio novel, and some comments in the Radio Times on the benefits of radio opera. (This WAS going to be an episode about the first BBC Armistice broadcast - but with all the above to tell more immediately, I decided to hold back the Armistice episode till the New Year. I know - it's not November - but we have a timeline to follow. In early 2026)   SHOWNOTES: Random Radio Jottings’ blog post on Pause for Thought’s history - with clips! https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2020/04/pause-for-thought.html ME London hotel host our recording of The Truth about Father Christmas, Dec 2025 only! Some more details from the manager: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mattba_melondon-takemetothemoon-activity-7402369630956326913-n1OS/ ...Pop by the hotel, have a listen! Get in touch with them first to be sure: https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/united-kingdom/london/me-london The BBC listings page for The Truth about Phyllis Twigg - 2:15pm, Christmas Eve 2025, Radio 4: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002ntmx An article from Downthetubes about The Truth about Phyllis Twigg: https://downthetubes.net/the-truth-about-phyllis-twigg-lifts-the-lid-on-secrets-of-early-bbc-radio/ Paul on Radio 4 Extra's Daily Service, inc a little on The Truth about Father Christmas: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002n6kc A few selected highlights of Paul's History of Pause for Thought slide show at Broadcasting House: https://bsky.app/profile/paulkerensa.bsky.social/post/3m6orjdhkxs2m Original podcast music is by Will Farmer.  Any clips are other oooooold and out of copyright, or recent and the copyright is the BBC's - tiny excerpts hopefully qualify as fair use. Right? Right. Our survey of what you like/don't about this podcast is here: http://tiny.cc/bbcenturysurvey Paul's live show on the BBC origin story visits Norfolk and Leicester in 2026 - and maybe your place? Get in touch: www.paulkerensa.com/tour Substack: www.paulkerensa.substack.com  This podcast is not made by today's BBC. It's just about the old BBC. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth - thanks if you do!), for bonus videos, writings, readings etc - it all helps support the podcast, and without that, there's no this. So thanks if you do! Or a one-off tip to Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks for supporting us. I mostly use any kind £ to buy books. Then read books. Then absorb books. Then convert them into podcasts. Thanks for keeping the wheels turning. Please share/rate/review this podcast - it all really helps. Next time: Episode 111: The Truth About The Truth About Phyllis Twigg - our new radio drama about the first radio drama. More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio  

In October 1923, first BBC General Manager John Reith wrote to both 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace, inviting the Prime Minister and the King to broadcast on the near year-old BBC. Both refused. In November 2025, 17th BBC Director General Tim Davie resigned because... well we're still trying to find out exactly why. Again, politics is at play - though it's difficult to know if that's at the White House, the House of Commons or Broadcasting House. Dr Tom Mills, sociologist at Aston University and author of The BBC: Myth of a Public Service, joins us to whizz through 17 Directors General, their own politics and their battles with politics. Meet: John Reith, Frederick Ogilvie, Cecil Graves, Robert Foot, William Haley, Ian Jacob, Hugh Greene, Charles Curran, Ian Trethowan, Alasdair Milne, Michael Checkland, John Birt, Greg Dyke, Mark Thompson, George Entwistle, Tony Hall and Tim Davie. (Add some 'sirs' and 'lords' in there - I've only de-titled them here as we're often talking about them while they were DG, and it's confusing who was appointed what and when. No disrespect intended) All men, you may notice. There are a few women in this tale too - though not many, and usually by such names as Margaret Thatcher and Mary Whitehouse. It's a complex tale - I hope we make it less so for you. Oh and we have news of your festive audio treat - coming soon (to Radio 4!)   SHOWNOTES: Dr Tom Mills' book is The BBC: Myth of a Public Service Tom has co-written this article on a potential future for the BBC: https://www.common-wealth.org/publications/our-mutual-friend-the-bbc-in-the-digital-age Paul's Substack article on the 17 Directors General: https://paulkerensa.substack.com/p/who-let-the-dgs-out-the-17-bbc-directors Paul's Substack on last episode's Mass Telepathy broadcast re-enactment: https://paulkerensa.substack.com/p/the-bbcs-mass-telepathy-broadcast Apply to be BBC Director General! The job ad: https://careers.bbc.co.uk/job/Director-General/34415-en_GB/ Details of your audio festive treat - my new Radio 4 drama, about the first radio drama: https://www.facebook.com/paul.kerensa/posts/pfbid0MKWEGmjSgXaBGJqMS6FPpbga8XcRaDdqMkAqb6GT6ZNYcW65yfQKKnbrF6B7J4jal The BBC listings page for The Truth about Phyllis Twigg - 2:15pm, Christmas Eve 2025, Radio 4: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002ntmx Original music is by Will Farmer.  Our survey of what you like/don't about this podcast is here - because like the 1925 panel, we can't read your mind: http://tiny.cc/bbcenturysurvey Paul's live show on the BBC origin story visits a variety of tour stops: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. This podcast is not made by today's BBC. It's just about the old BBC. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth - thanks if you do!), for bonus videos, writings, readings etc - it all helps support the podcast, and without that, there's no this. So thanks if you do! Or a one-off tip to Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks for supporting us. I mostly use any kind £ to buy books. Then read books. Then absorb books. Then convert them into podcasts. Thanks for keeping the wheels turning. Please share/rate/review this podcast - it all really helps. Next time: Episode 110: The first BBC Armistice broadcast. More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio  

On 12 November 1925, the BBC broadcast one of its most bizarre programmes yet: 'MASS TELEPATHY: An Experiment in Thought Reading in which every Listener will be invited to assist' On 12 November 2025, we present a dramatic re-enactment, based on newspaper articles of the day, and brought to life with a cast of marvel and a guest radio drama producer. Appropriately, the one believer on the celebrity panel was the first BBC dramatist - Phyllis Twigg. We first landed on this story on episode 72 of this podcast, exploring her tale, her innovations and her interest in spiritualism. Alas no one else on the panel took it seriously. Like The Celebrity Traitors of 1925, a bunch of celebs (a Shakespearean actress, a panto star, the BBC's drama critic, the BBC's Director of Education, an MP, and so on) gathered in a fancy hotel with a gothic atmosphere and played a spooky game around a table, with a glass or two of fizzy rosé. Or is it more Derren Brown: Mind Control? Either way, the celebrity jury mostly played it for laughs - and enjoyed the hospitality of the Savoy Hotel a little too much. The listeners weren't happy - especially those taking it seriously at home, beaming their thoughts into the ether. With no recording, we bring it to life for the first time in a century. In exactly a century. If you enjoy this dramatisation, do let us know (paul at paulkerensa dot com) and/or consider joining us on Patreon.com/paulkerensa - if you like it, and if we can afford to, we'll do more like this, in and amongst our regular episodes - which right now is meant to be telling the tale of November 1923. We'll pick that up next time... For now, we have a centenary drama to bring you! So concentrate your thoughts, open your mind, and open a bottle. They did.   MASS TELEPATHY: RE-ENACTED THE CAST Sir Alfred Robbins - Adrian Mackinder Cecil Lewis - Will de Renzy-Martin Lady Tree - Helen Lloyd Zena Dare - Natalie Chisholm Phyllis Twigg - Carina Saner (playing her own great-grandmother) Dorothy Warren - Marta da Silva Lt Commander Kenworthy MP - Will Harrison Wallace James Agate - Paul Kerensa J.C. Stobart - Anthony Hewson Roger Eckersley - Anthony Rudd   Written by Paul Kerensa Produced/Directed/Edited by Helen Quigley A Soundliness co-production with the British Broadcasting Century     SOME OF THE GUESSES, AS REPORTED IN THE LONDON DAILY NEWS, 13 NOV 1925, AND OTHER NEWSPAPERS:   1. Letter - K: James Agate IOU Dorothy Warren, F then G, then K Lady Tree Z Miss Zena Dare G Kenworthy B    2. Day - Saturday: Four guessed Sunday, one Friday   3. Number - 7: 49-13-300-13-19-33-9400   4. Playing card - Three of Diamonds: Stobart – 4 of Diamonds. Others failed to follow suit...   5. Shape - Triangle: Circles or polygons, a shilling (Lady Tree), a rugby ball... and an isosceles triangle (Dorothy Warren)   6. Uncategorised - The Game of Bridge: Charlie Chaplin? Lamp on the Cenotaph? A banjulele? A white leghorn pullet?     SHOWNOTES: Episode 72 of this podcast - from 26mins in - has more on the true tale behind the Mass Telepathy broadcast... if want to know how much is accurate: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-2dyrq-1478971 Prof Tim Crook's article on Phyllis Twigg quotes extensively from newspapers of the day - again if you'd like to read more on the genuine event and how it was reported: https://kulturapress.com/2022/09/24/phyllis-m-twigg-the-bbcs-first-original-radio-dramatist/ (about 2/3rds down the page) Soundliness Productions made this dramatisation: https://soundliness.com/ Original music is by Will Farmer.  Our survey of what you like/don't about this podcast is here - because like the 1925 panel, we can't read your mind: http://tiny.cc/bbcenturysurvey Paul's latest Substack posts include a history of BBC DGs: https://paulkerensa.substack.com Paul's live show on the BBC origin story visits a variety of tour stops: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. This podcast is not made by today's BBC. It's just about the old BBC. Please like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all really helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth - thanks if you do!), for bonus videos, writings, readings etc - it all helps support the podcast, and without that, there's no this. So thanks if you do! Or a one-off tip to Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks aplenty. Next time: Episode 109: Reith invites the PM and the King on the air - and other Directors-General over the century... More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

October 1923: The BBC's on-air critics go national... These aren't critics OF the BBC (there were - and are - plenty of those), but critics ON the BBC - a literary critic, a music critic, a drama critic, a film critic... Think Front Row, Barry Norman, The Old Grey Whistle Test, but decades earlier. These weekly shows went national via simultaneous broadcasting - SB - and the BBC's London-centric regular programming started to take over the regional schedules. On London 2LO from 14 June 1923 - and nationally on Thursdays from 18 October - was music critic Percy Scholes. On London 2LO from 18 July - and nationally on Fridays from 19 October - was film critic G.A. Atkinson ('Seen on the Screen'). On London 2LO from 8 August - and nationally on Wednesdays from 17 October - was drama critic Archibald Haddon ('News and Views of the Theatre'), and later James Agate. On London 2LO from 3 September - and nationally on Mondays from 15 October - was literary critic John Strachey. And in more recent years, we add comedy criticism to the list - with some comedy writers. James Cary has written BBC sitcoms for TV and radio, inc his own Bluestone 42, Hut 33, Think the Unthinkable, and for others Miranda, My Hero, My Family and more. He joins us with his opinions on comedy, the BBC, and what he'd do if he were DG. And Miranda Hart - once our boss (I also wrote for the show Miranda) - joins us in a conversation I had for my previous podcast, The Heptagon Club (a podcast of conversations with 7 guests per episode - it was exhausting, so I stopped, for the simpler task of chronicling the history of the BBC...) And our latest clue to our audio festive treat. Ooh...   SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  James Cary's books include The Gospel According to a Sitcom Writer and The Sacred Art of Joking, and his podcasts include The Stand-up Theologian. Our survey of what you like/don't about this podcast is here - do please spare 5mins to let me know your thoughts: http://tiny.cc/bbcenturysurvey Thanks to Andrew Barker, our Newspaper Detective, for finding the press extracts.  Paul's Substack: https://paulkerensa.substack.com/ Paul's live show on the BBC origin story visits a variety of tour stops: www.paulkerensa.com/tour... INCLUDING new show Four Monarchs and a Mic: The BBC's Royal Engineer at Leicester Comedy Festival on Sat 8th Feb 2026. This podcast is not made by today's BBC. It's just about the old BBC. And occasionally what's ahead. Please like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all really helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth - thanks if you do!), for bonus videos, writings, readings etc. It helps us fund books, web hosting, and oddities like... things coming soon... Or a one-off tip to Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks! All keeps the podcast going. Next time: Episode 108: An Evening of Mass Telepathy - a centenary dramatic re-enactment of a lost legendary broadcast!  More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio  

"6BM Bournemouth sends hearty greetings to the world... We do hope you can smell the pines!"   On 17 October 1923 (oh and look at the date this podcast landed - 102 years apart), the BBC opened its eighth station: 6BM Bournemouth.   It was the last of the first, after the original plan for eight station. Now the map atop the Radio Times cover would be proven correct! When the magazine launched, it featured eight stations... but only six were in operation.   For perhaps the first time, we'll unite some of the first voices from each station - from London's Arthur Burrows to Bournemouth's Auntie Lulu - as well as hear some of pioneering voices from 6BM, thanks to Seán Street, Emeritus Professor of Radio at Bournemouth University. Seán's wonderful recent article and 1973 documentary are essential further reading and listening - and any early voices you hear on this podcast are from interviews he recorded then. We're so glad he did.   Hear the children's presenter in trouble for mentioning religion and booze in her children's tales (no 'Yohoho and a bottle of rum' here...) and the offers from France to pay a licence fee, so enamoured were they with the Bournemouth station.   As for radio's future, who better than the radio futurologist to enlighten us? James Cridland is in-demand as a radio consultant and speaker, and has both intriguing thoughts on where radio (or audio) is going, and wonderful tales of working in radio, including being at the cutting edge of radio's move online two decades ago. I hope you enjoy our chat as much as I did (and yes he will be back).   Elsewhere, we talk about not only this podcast's survey, but the BBC's survey, and its results. What do we want the BBC to be? The people have spoken... We dig into that a little.   And our next clue in our audio Christmas gift. What will it be? Keep listening to puzzle it out. (Email me any guesses by all means - or feedback generally on the podcast, or any queries we can ponder on a future episode)    I like all the episodes I make for this podcast. But I REALLY like this one. Hope you do too.   SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Professor Seán Street's wonderful 1973 documentary on 6BM Bournemouth is a must-listen: https://soundcloud.com/seans-wireless/6bm-calling His brilliant article on 6BM Bournemouth is here: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/celebrating-centenary-bbc-our-work-creative-industries/question-of-anniversaries James Cridland's website is james.cridland.net, and his daily podcast newsletter is the excellent Podnews. Our survey of what you like/don't about this podcast is here - do please spare 5mins to let me know your thoughts: http://tiny.cc/bbcenturysurvey The BBC's slightly bigger survey has its results now in: https://www.bbc.co.uk/ourbbcourfuture/ Thanks to Andrew Barker, our Newspaper Detective, for finding the press extracts. Copyright may belong to a newspaper conglomerate somewhere that bought up old newspapers. I can't tell. I just know it's not mine. But fair use, right? Paul's latest Substack is on the Boat Race and the BBC: https://paulkerensa.substack.com/p/the-boat-race-drifts-from-the-bbc Paul's live show on the BBC origin story visits a variety of tour stops: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. This podcast is not made by today's BBC. It's just about the old BBC. And occasionally what's ahead. Please like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all really helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth - thanks if you do!), for bonus videos, writings, readings etc. Coming soon to the podcast: a dramatic re-enactment! That involves me paying a producer for this one-off episode. I intend to give her one month's Patreon £. So now's a great time to chip in, and she'll get a good £... and might then do more for us! If you'd consider? Thanks. Guilt trip over. (...FOR NOW) Or a one-off tip to Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks! All keeps the podcast going. Next time: Episode 107: The early BBC criticism programmes: Drama, Music, Film, Books... More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

"Aberdeen Calling!"   On 10 October 1923, the BBC opened its seventh station: 2BD Aberdeen.    Its station director R.E. Jeffrey was fresh from the success of Rob Roy - a drama he'd produced and starred in - and in later years he'd head up BBC drama, with contributions arguably including radio's first sci-fi and first sitcom (not at the same time - Red Dwarf was a while away yet).   Our experts include author Gordon Bathgate (whose book Aberdeen Calling is recommended - link below)... academic Dr Aleksandar Kocic of Edinburgh Napier University on why the BBC doesn't really do local radio in Scotland... plus notes from Prof Tim Crook on R.E. Jeffrey's later career... and much more.   We recreate for you Aberdeen's opening night - hear the songs and some of the voices. We look at the challenges of the weather, and the shrinking nature of BBC local radio - both in 1923 and in 2025.   Thoughts on any of this? Email me: paul at paulkerensa dot com. And see the below links for more on this marvellous tale...   SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Gordon Bathgate's excellent book Aberdeen Calling: 100 Years of the BBC in Aberdeen is available for your bookshelf: https://amzn.to/42mDDuJ Dr Aleksandar Kocic's thesis - 'What perceptions of local radio by its journalists and listeners tell us about its role and future' - is here: https://dspace.stir.ac.uk/handle/1893/35995?mode=full Graham Stewart's website Scotland On Air has more on the 2BD Aberdeen story here: https://wiki.scotlandonair.com/wiki/2BD Prof Tim Crook's article on R.E. Jeffrey and his pioneering sci-fi dramas is here: https://kulturapress.com/2022/08/29/r-e-jeffrey-pioneer-science-fiction-audio-playwright/ Our survey of what you like/don't about this podcast is here - do please spare 5mins to let me know your thoughts: http://tiny.cc/bbcenturysurvey Paul's latest Substack is on the Boat Race leaving the BBC... and how it first arrived: https://paulkerensa.substack.com/p/the-boat-race-drifts-from-the-bbc Paul's live show on the BBC origin story visits a variety of tour stops: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC. Y'hear? Please like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos etc. Coming soon: a thing that involves me paying for a few things to make a one-off fuller bigger episode. Help fund it? Thanks if you do! Or a one-off tip to Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks! All keeps the podcast afloat. Next time: Episode 106: The launch of 6BM Bournemouth, and an interview with radio futurologist James Cridland. More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

On 28 September 1923, a new magazine hit news-stands.   The Radio Times was a BBC publication, born out of a listings ban seven months earlier, when the press tried to charge the Beeb advertising rates to print what was on. The BBC’s General Manager John Reith saw an opportunity: they’d just print their own.   We previously (on episodes 75 and 76) brought you the history of the Radio Times for its centenary, but as our moment-by-moment timeline of British broadcasting finally reaches September 1923, we just had to zoom in a little further on issue number one.   So join us for a look at the first listings, the first letter (a listener from Spain!), ads including headphones and - oddly - height-lengthening, the first cartoon (about listening to the wireless en masse in a village hall), plus listeners complaints mourning the “murder” of composer Tannhauser at the hands of the London Wireless Orchestra. Everyone’s a critic…   Our guests include Radio Times editor Shem Law, Radio Times collector Dr Steve Arnold, Radio 4’s Justin Webb and Dr Martin Cooper author of Radio’s Legacy in Popular Culture.    SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Books referred to include Those Radio Times by Susan Briggs and The Radio Times Cover Story by Tony Currie. Martin Cooper’s book is Radio’s Legacy in Popular Culture https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/radios-legacy-in-popular-culture-9781501360442/ Steve Arnold’s website is radiotimesarchive.co.uk/. Martin Cooper’s website is prefadelisten.com Paul's latest Substack is here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-171149075 Paul's live show on the BBC origin story - at time of writing, soon in Ealing, Petersfield, Norfolk, Hertfordshire: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC.  Please like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos and things - and thanks if you do! Or a one-off tip to Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks! All keeps the podcast afloat Next time: Episode 105: The launch of Aberdeen 2BD. Advance reading: see Gordon Bathgate’s book Aberdeen Calling: https://amzn.to/4pi9FBW More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

Back in 1923, between SB and RT - that's 'Simultaneous Broadcasting' (networking nationally via landline) and The Radio Times (the BBC listings mag still had the 'The' back then), a month went by... ...But did nothing happen in that month? Of course not! So between these two bigger landmarks, on this episode we bring you some smaller but notable ones. Also on the Beeb in Aug/Sept 1923: Rob Roy live from Glasgow - with fight scenes Reith reads the news... again. Because his mum forgot to listen. Sir Ernest Rutherford: first public figure to broadcast nationally. New time signal: weights, counting and a bell on the hour Sheffield, Aberdeen and Bournemouth prepare for the air Newcastle's beloved boss heads south Reith has his height measured at the Postmaster-General's house. Reith wins. Announcer sacked, while another commended for "an impression of virility, keenness, and a suggestion of fresh breezes on the moors".  The Radio Times gets an editor The first cat on radio? (Thanks to Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker for most of these) ...I think that's everything we cover. You don't have to listen now... Oh but wait! Then you'd miss our amazing guest. Conductor and arranger of note (and of notes) Gavin Sutherland has a new album out of old TV themes: The Next Programme Follows Shortly. It's a joy. Hear Gavin guide us through half a dozen or so tracks, from Grandstand to the Channel 4 ident, from the first song on television to the secret code hidden in The Two Ronnies theme. Have a listen, buy his album - and enjoy our chat. And the first cat on radio. Miaow.   SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Gavin's music is by various writers, and reproduced here with kind permission of Gavin Sutherland and Fast Tunes Ltd. Buy Gavin's album The Next Programme Follows Shortly from Bandcamp: https://fasttunes.bandcamp.com/album/the-next-programme-follows-shortly Paul's latest Substack is on 37,451 days of BBC vs politics: https://substack.com/home/post/p-171149075 Paul's live show on the BBC origin story: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. Paul's walking tour of old BBC sites: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pks-walking-tour-of-old-bbc-and-pre-bbc-buildings-pwyw-tickets-1401875560539 (or get in touch to request the next - paul at paulkerensa dot com) This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC. Any BBC copyright content is reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. We try to use clips so old they're beyond copyright, but you never know. Copyright's complicated... Do like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos and things - and thanks if you do! Or a one-off tip to Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks! All keeps the podcast afloat Next time: Episode 104: The Radio Times is launched! More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio  

On 29 August 1923, the BBC officially launched SB: Simultaneous Broadcasting.  They'd been testing SB for months, via crossed lines and cross conversations with the General Post Office. It would dramatically change the shape and big idea of what broadcasting was and could be. Using landlines, they linked stations - so a Covent Garden concert could be heard nationally for the first time, as other stations gave over the schedules to big concerts, or news bulletins, or... whatever London wanted. Generally speaking. Yes, other stations could take over too - Birmingham or Glasgow might offer a concert of play. But questions were asked, even back then, of whether listeners would prefer their regular local programming, or news/concerts from the capital. Oh but we can provide you big stars, said the Programme Department. It's a move forward. But a move backward for local programming, alas - even if it was pitched to them that they could enjoy a night off. Hmm... As we explore and unpack that, we also welcome a guest - Mary Englsh, who began at the BBC in 1973 as a studio manager, wrote for The Two Ronnies, and nearly bled over Margaret Thatcher thanks to an editing accident. We hear from her, including the timely observation that the BBC perhaps win trust by "broadcasting their defeats". (In the week this podcast lands, the BBC has broadcast two of their defeats - with news reports about their Gaza documentary and Gregg Wallace. Would another channel amplify their failures quite so much? Should they? Answers on a postcard...)   SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Paul's recent talk at the Early Recordings Conference, on the earliest BBC recording and what happened to it: https://youtu.be/JdJVGhPKtjM Our Substack: paulkerensa.substack.com Paul at Camden Fringe with An Evening of (Very) Old Radio, in August 2025 - come! https://camdenfringe.com/events/an-evening-of-very-old-radio/ Paul on elsewhere on tour: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. Our walking tour of old BBC sites, 9 Aug and 6 Sept 2025 - come! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pks-walking-tour-of-old-bbc-and-pre-bbc-buildings-pwyw-tickets-1401875560539   This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC. Any BBC copyright content is reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. We try to use clips so old they're beyond copyright, but you never know. Copyright's complicated... Comments? Email the show - paul at paulkerensa dot com. Do like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos and things - and thanks if you do! ...Latest Patreon video is an even deeper dive into the Sykes Report - we read the lot (well, most of it): https://www.patreon.com/posts/vid-1923s-sykes-132182661 Next time: Episode 103: Aug/Sept 1923 - Rob Roy and the first cat on radio! More info on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio  

Episode 101 finds us in late August 1923...  The first government inquiry into the BBC has just finished four months of interviewing dozens of interested parties about what the Beeb should/would/could be. Should it have a competitor? How do you solve the licence problem? Did the BBC have a monopoly? And isn't it time 'listeners-in' were just called 'listeners'? We give you a potted summary of Sir Frederick Sykes' inquiry, committee and report - somehow known as The Sykes Inquiry, The Sykes Committee and The Sykes Report.  And our special guest, talking about three decades earlier, is Dr Inja Stanović of the University of Surrey, Surrey Future Senior Fellow, Director of Performance, and most crucially for us, Director of the Early Recordings Association. She brings reconstructed recordings and info about the Early Recordings Association (join free, click below) and its Conference.   SHOWNOTES: Original music is by Will Farmer.  Early Recordings Association - join! https://www.surrey.ac.uk/early-recordings-association Early Recordings Association Conference - come! https://www.surrey.ac.uk/events/20250701-early-recordings-association-era-conference-2025 The album 'Austro-German Revivals: (Re)constructing Acoustic Recordings' by Inja Stanović & David Milsom - listen for free! https://unipress.hud.ac.uk/plugins/books/30/ Paul Kerensa on Substack: paulkerensa.substack.com Paul Kerensa at Camden Fringe with An Evening of (Very) Old Radio, in August 2025 - come! https://camdenfringe.com/events/an-evening-of-very-old-radio/ Paul Kerensa on elsewhere on tour: www.paulkerensa.com/tour. Paul's walking tour of old BBC sites, 9 Aug and 6 Sept 2025 - come! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pks-walking-tour-of-old-bbc-and-pre-bbc-buildings-pwyw-tickets-1401875560539   This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC. Any BBC copyright content is reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. We try to use clips so old they're beyond copyright, but you never know. Copyright's complicated... Comments? Email the show - paul at paulkerensa dot com. Do like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos and things - and thanks if you do! ...Latest Patreon video is an even deeper dive into the Sykes Report - we read the lot (well, most of it): https://www.patreon.com/posts/vid-1923s-sykes-132182661 Next time: Episode 102: Simultaneous Broadcasting, on the BBC in August 1923. More info on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio