The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa

Episode 64 dwells in 1st-16th March 1923: the last days of the first BBC HQ of Magnet House. So this packed show takes a walk from Magnet House to the studios at Marconi House, just as the early broadcasters would have done. We take a look at the early broadcasting philosophy of first staff - "the upper side of taste" (no grizzly murders or divorce cases). We revisit broadcasts from the Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition and head on tour with a laundry basket packed with sheet music (just don't send it to the laundrette like they did). Hear the voices of a few who were there: Rex Palmer, Peter Eckersley, Arthur Burrows, Cecil Lewis, A.E. Thompson, Percy Edgar, Leonard Crocombe... that's about 10% of the entire BBC workforce at the time! You'll also hear a bit from Radio 4's Justin Webb... ...our main special guest is JEFFREY HOLLAND, star of Hi-de-Hi, You Rang M'Lord, Oh Doctor Beeching... and he tells how he even played Private Pike AND Private Walker onstage with the original Dad's Army cast of Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier and Clive Dunn. It's a packed episode, but then a lot happened in early March 1923! Next time, late March 1923... Stay tuned to this frequency.   LINKS: Find out more about Jeffrey Holland's tour as Stan Laurel at https://www.jeffreyholland.co.uk/   For more on Leonard Crocombe/Justin Webb, here's our previous episode of the podcast about grandfather and grandson, both BBC stars 100 years apart: https://pod.fo/e/120761     The complete Leonard Crocombe record can be heard on AusRadioHistorian's Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/6N1-hGjP_2M   London Calling, Jimmy Perry's 1922-set sitcom about the early BBC starring Jeffrey Holland, can be heard on Youtube: https://youtu.be/qFSTtd69U_0 For the full video of my walk from Magnet House to Marconi House (as was), join us on Patreon - join then cancel if you like! Here's the video: https://www.patreon.com/posts/magnet-house-to-68777192 ...that all helps support the podcast and keeps us in books and web hosting. One-off tips delightfully welcomed too! At http://ko-fi.com/paulkerensa I'm booking in a mini-tour this year recreating the first religious broadcast, and/or a more general talk/show/presentation An Evening of (Very) Old Radio. More info at https://www.paulkerensa.com/tour or just email me on https://www.paulkerensa.com/contact.php - you can use that for any podcast comments, heckles, anecdotes etc too. We must bring back Airwave Memories/Firsthand Memories too. Record a thing or write some words about your early broadcast memories, if you like. Get in touch! Oh and we're nothing to do with the BBC. Did I mention that? BBC content is used with kind permission, BBC copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. Original music is by Will Farmer.   Next time we'll have the tale of late March with the first daily weather broadcasts, SOSs and an interview with a former BBC archivist. ...Subscribe so you don't miss it! www.podfollow.com/bbcentury

On episode 63, we've reached 6th March 1923: Glasgow 5SC launches - the BBC's first station in Scotland. It's not Scotland's first radio station (see episode 48 for the tale of how Daimler, Glasgow Motor Show and a couple of electrical shop owners made a couple of pre-BBC pop-up stations). But this sixth BBC station mattered to John Reith more than any other. He'd grown up in Glasgow. His mum came to visit the radio station. He opened the station himself - apart from the bagpipes playing Hey Johnny Cope. You have two fantastic guides through this episode: GRAHAM STEWART, a BBC journalist whose new book Scotland On-Air is out very soon. Details at https://wiki.scotlandonair.com/wiki/Main_Page + TONY CURRIE, of Radio Six International, and author of The Radio Times Story. Details at https://www.radiosix.com/   SHOWNOTES: - I mention an early 1980s children's retrospective that Kathleen Garscadden appears on. It's called Jubilee! 60 Years of Children's Programmes, it's from 1983, it's got Floella Benjamin, Sarah Greene, Mike Read, Keith Chegwin. Tony Hart and many more, including Auntie Cyclone herself, it's fab, and it's here to watch: https://youtu.be/tNZD70HiFsw  - My novel on all this, Auntie and Uncles, is out soon! But not yet. Depending when you read this. More info may be here, unless I've missed Amazon's deadline to upload it, in which case Jeff Bezos might delete this from sale. But it will return! When ready. It's going to be great... https://amzn.to/3EODANc - Support us on www.patreon.com/paulkerensa to keep us afloat and in return get extra writings, videos and ample more! Thanks to all who support us there.  - We're on www.facebook.com/groups/bbcentury, where our Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker is chronicling newspapers on this day 100 years ago. - Follow us on www.twitter.com/bbcentury, where I post LOTS of old radio things. - More on this entire project at www.paulkerensa.com/oldradio - This is not a BBC podcast - we're talking about them (though very much from a favourable viewpoint), not with them. - BBC content is used with kind permission of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved... - ...and preserved. This podcast is the origin story of British broadcasting, told the very slow way - but hopefully in a way that informs, educates and (winks, clicks fingers like the Fonz) entertains. Next time: We're still in March 1923 (a lot happened in March 1923) with broadcasts from the Ideal Home Exhibition, tales of touring variety acts around the early BBC stations, and a fab guest in Hi-de-Hi's Jeffrey Holland. Subscribe to get this podcast as soon as one's uploaded - we plan on being here a while yet: www.podfollow.com/bbcentury  

On 22 February 1923, the BBC tried something new: the first broadcast political debate. What could possibly go wrong? Let's find out! And we chat to Reeta Chakrabarti - a mainstay of BBC news for over 30 years. She's anchored news from the studio, broadcast from Ukraine, and recently voiced radio pioneer Hilda Matheson on the BBC100 Prom. We talk about her career highlights and the place of BBC journalism in the world today. Back in 1923, we're telling the origin story of British broadcasting, landmark moment by landmark moment, so this episode includes: That first political debate: Sir Ernest Benn and J.T. Walton Newbold MP on "That Communism would be a Danger to the Good of the People” - but the audience are a little one-sided, and bring not only heckles but a rousing musical finale - The Red Flag. There are complaints... Thanks to the press of the day, we recreate the key moments of that first political debate for (we presume) the first time ever. Back at HQ, Caroline Banks joins to head up the female clerical staff. The BBC listings ban continues in the press. Pip, Squeak and Wilfred make the jump from a Daily Mirror cartoon strip to on-air children's programme. The launch of Musical, Dramatic, Literary and Film Talks. The first broadcast in Welsh (hear Rev Gwilym Davies). The first daytime programmes... and more. It was quite a week! Next time: Early March 1923, the BBC gains its sixth station and Scotland gains official broadcasting, as Glasgow 5SC launches. We'll bring the speeches and juicy details. Support us? £5/mth on Patreon.com/paulkerensa keeps us going. And/or share this if you like it - find us fresh ears! We're on Facebook and Twitter, and a reminder that this is nothing to do with the BBC. It's a one-man non-BBC project. Part of that also includes Paul's new novel, Auntie and Uncles: The Bizarre Birth of the BBC (out this spring, ish): https://amzn.to/3ZsF335 Another part is Paul's live show on early radio: this year that includes 'The Beeb: Year 1 - 1923 Repeated' (a stand-up history show whizzing through that first year) + a re-enactment of the first religious broadcast. To book either, or with any comments on the podcast, get in touch. Subscribte/Rate/Review if you like this episode - thanks! paulkerensa.com

Welcome to Season 5! Centenary specials behind us, we deep-dive back into mid-Feb 1923, in our moment-by-moment story of British broadcasting's birth. On episode 61, we hear from: GARETH GWYNN on his new sitcom on the launch of broadcasting in Wales, The Ministry of Happiness (catch it on BBC Sounds)... ANDREW BARKER on the BBC listings ban... and DAVID JERVIS on his grandfather 'The Tame Wizard', Capt H.J. Round. Hear an excerpt here, or the full section in David's recording on Youtube. And some of the landmark moments we cover include: Feb 13th: Cardiff 5WA launches - hear clips from The Ministry of Happiness, including a sneak-peek of episode 2. Feb 14th: The Pall Mall Gazette stops printing BBC listings, after a feud between press + broadcasters. Our Newspaper Detective will tell you what, why and when. Feb 15th: The listings ban comes in... Feb 16th: As Shakespeare is first broadcast, one of The Pall Mall Gazette's most famous advertisers comes to the rescue. Feb 17th: The first broadcast appeal, for the Winter Distress League. Feb 20th: Sir Oliver Lodge broadcasts... and John Reith battles the press, and gets an idea in the process. The Radio Times idea is born.  Subscribe, share, rate, review, tell your friends, join us on Facebook, Twitter and Patreon - and thanks if you support us there. ...There on Patreon you can have Cecil Lewis' Broadcasting from Within read to you (with explanatory interruptions). Hear an extract this episode from the grandson of the chap being mentioned.   FINAL THINGS: - Paul's new novel Auntie and Uncles will be out this Spring. Hopefully. That date may shift. Still writing it. Details: https://amzn.to/3zIY9Hq - Paul's got two touring showatunities this year - dates TBC but for now we want BOOKINGS! The First Religious Broadcast: Re-enacted... AND The Beeb: Year 1 are both available. Fancy either at your place? A village hall? A church? A club/group/society? Get in touch: https://www.paulkerensa.com/contact.php - Oh and we're nothing to do with the BBC. Never heard of them.   Next time we'll pick up the tale on February 22nd, for the BBC's first political debate (it doesn't go to plan), and guest Reeta Chakrabarti. Don't miss it. podfollow.com/bbcentury

In the beginning... religious broadcasts were there ever since Marconi said, "Let there be sound!" (He never said that.) Whether you're a faithful or heathen, you're very welcome here and I think you'll enjoy this whizz through a century of British broadcasting blessings (and some early US ones too) - including some very rare clips and new discoveries of old things/names/juicy geeky details. From Reginald Fessenden's violin to Justin Welby's sermon to half the planet, via Dr Boon, Revs Dick Sheppard, W.H. Elliot, Bramwell Evens and many more, hear rare clips of the pioneer preachers, the tale of how Reith shaped religious broadcasting in his own image, and the challenges of war, TV, competition and changing attitudes. Plus the shocked Archbishop, how hats prevented a royal wedding broadcast, and where to look for some undiscovered Paul Simon music. It's a mostly Christian tale (for historical editorial reasons), but we explore how and why the Beeb sometimes wrangled with that issue - and the rare Jewish service the BBC aired during WW2. Helping us on our journey, three wise men (can you tell this was meant to be a Christmas, then Epiphany special?): Dr Ian Robertson - broadcaster and author of With God on Our Side: A Comparative Study of Religious Broadcasting in the USA and the UK 1921-1995 Michael Wakelin - ex BBC Head of Religion & Ethics, Exec Chair of the Religion Media Centre, Exec Producer at TBI Media Dr Martin Cooper - broadcaster and author of Radio's Legacy in Popular Culture: The Sounds of British Broadcasting over the Decades Buy their books! They're great. Paul's book Auntie and Uncles: The Bizarre Birth of the BBC will be available soon. That will be great, when finished. (More of these guests on future episodes - I'm holding back some gold. And frankincense. And myrrh.) Due to limits of time, we've barely scratched the surface this episode. There could be another few episodes on this story (in fact, maybe there should be - hello radio producers. Shall we? Drop me a line...) This is a helicopter view of 100 years of God on the air. Maybe we'll come back to it to add further details - and look out for our Christmas special later in 2023, with more on Britain's first religious broadcast. Paul is touring this year with The First Religious Broadcast: Re-Enacted. For info on booking it for your venue/group/church/village hall/anywhere, get in touch with Paul. You can support this podcast by joining us on Patreon.com/paulkerensa for extra behind-the-scenes videos and writings. Or tip at ko-fi.com/paulkerensa - and thank you! We're on www.facebook.com/groups/bbcentury, where our Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker is chronicling newspapers on this day 100 years ago. Enjoy! We're also on www.twitter.com/bbcentury - do say hi. Huge thanks to Will Farmer for the original music. Archive clips are either public domain or used with kind permission from the BBC, copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. We are nothing to do with the BBC - just talking about them, not with their 'blessing', to use a religious term. That's what this episode is about, you see? Next time: Season 5! We're back in the 1923 timeline to bring you all the key landmark moments of the BBC's first year, starting with the battle with the press. It's going to get feisty... Stay subscribed, do rate/review/recommend/share, and bless you for listening. paulkerensa.com  

Episode 59 is the final part of our trilogy of info-dashes through the first British Broadcasting Century. Here we span 1988-2022: the digital years. Enjoy hearing from experts, those who were there and contributions from you marvellous podcast listeners. (Part 1 was more archive-heavy - but rights issues get trickier as we get more recent - oh and do go back and listen to part 1 (1922-54) and part 2 (1955-87)). Some excerpts are from longer interviews that you'll hear on the podcast soon (eg. ex Radio 1 boss Johnny Beerling, sitcom star Jeffrey Holland). Some are from previous episodes (go back and hear Lee Mack or Chris Jarvis). Some have been specially sent in for this episode (thanks Jon Dear, Alan Stafford, Dr Andrea Smith). And some are on loan from my other podcast, A Paul Kerensa Podcast - formerly known as The Heptagon Club (eg. Tim Vine, Miranda Hart). In the below list, asterisked names are from that latter podcast - head to podfollow.com/paulkerensa and scroll back to older episodes to hear those fuller interviews...   YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO: 1980s: Johnny Beerling, Jeffrey Holland, Simon Dunn   1990s: Jon Dear, Steve Legg*, James Cary, Tim Vine*, Dave Thompson*, my son, Dr Andrea Smith   2000s: Paul Hayes, Chris Jarvis, Stevyn Colgan*, Alan Stafford, Richard Woods*, Milton Jones*, Lee Mack, my wife Zoë*, Dr Amy Holdsworth, Alan Stafford, Miranda Hart*   2010s: David Whitney*, Rev Kate Bottley*, Tim Reid*   2020s: Mark Carter, Roger Bolton, Justin Webb, Prof David Hendy, my daughter, Joe Lycett*, Peter Eckersley   FURTHER LINKS:  Those fuller interviews with Miranda Hart, Tim Vine, Milton Jones etc can be heard on A Paul Kerensa Podcast. Like what we do? Support us on Patreon.com/Paulkerensa Do share our episodes on social media - we're on Twitter and Facebook. The novel based on this podcast is due out in 2024: Auntie and Uncles: The Bizarre Birth of the BBC, 1919-23: see paulkerensa.com/oldradio for latest on its publication We're nothing to do with the BBC - we're talking about them (and others), not with them, as such. Do stay subscribed, because we return soon in 2023, with the finer details of the 1923 BBC, including Savoy Hill, Women's Hour and the Radio Times. Some great stories to tell, with great guests. But first, next time: The History of Religious Broadcasting, including three wise men, plus clips so rare, I don't think the BBC have them. Thanks for listening, sharing and/or being part of this. Couldn't do it without you. And happy centenary, Auntie Beeb! paulkerensa.com/oldradio

Part 2 of our mad dash through the British Broadcasting Century, spanning 1955-87 - the competition years. Part 1 contained more archive; this contains more guests, as we creep nearer the present-day and rights issues become more prevalent.    YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO: 1950s: John Reith, Fanny Cradock, Paul Hayes, Justin Webb, Dr Amy Holdsworth, my daughter, Alan Stafford, David Hamilton   1960s: Michael Wakelin, Simon Dunn, Charles Huff, Gareth Jones, Johnny Beerling, Roger Moffat, David Dunhill, Emperor Rosko, Cindy Kent, James Cary, Jeffrey Holland, Reeta Chakrabarti, Alec Reid   1970s: Maurice Blisson, Norman Green, Belinda Campbell, Andrew Barker, Roger Bolton   1980s: Neil Jackson, Bob Richardson     FURTHER LINKS:  Belinda Campbell's chat on Jim'll Fix It is from Paul's other podcast, A Paul Kerensa Podcast (formerly known as The Heptagon Club). Hear it here: https://pod.fo/e/fe7e9 Like what we do? Support us on Patreon.com/Paulkerensa Sharing is caring. Do share our episodes on social media, or send an email to someone, or down the pub in conversation... We're on facebook.com/bbcentury, with a separate group on facebook.com/groups/bbcentury, and on twitter.com/bbcentury. The novel based on this podcast is due out in 2024: Auntie and Uncles - details at paulkerensa.com/oldradio   Next time though, to conclude our end of centenary year, join us for part 3 (1988-2022). paulkerensa.com/oldradio  

As the BBC turns 100, enjoy 100 Years in 100 Minutes! This is just part 1, 1922-54 - from the company years of Magnet House then Savoy Hill, to the corporation years up to the eve of commercial competition, the last time the BBC was the sole official broadcaster. For the early years, enjoy the archive clips, some very rare - from the first presenters, John Reith and early performers. As time goes on, extracts give way to insights: from experts, podcast listeners and those who were there...   YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO: 1920s: John Reith, Arthur Burrows, Kreisler's Liebesleid (first music on the BBC), A.E. Thompson, Leonard Hawke (Drake Goes West - first music from London), Charles Penrose (The Laughing Policeman), Helena Millais as Our Lizzie, Rev John Mayo, Rev Archibald Fleming, Harold Bishop, Cecil Lewis?, Peter Eckersley, Kathleen Garscadden, Lord Gainford, Dr Kate Murphy, Dr Andrea Smith, Archibald Haddon, Marion Cran, Percy Scholes?, Justin Webb, Nightingale and Cello, Rev Dick Sheppard (first broadcast service), Richard Hughes’ Danger (first play), A.J. Alan, King George V, Alan Stafford, Tommy Handley, John Henry and Blossom, Dr Martin Cooper, Harry Graham, Arthur Phillips, Filson Young, H.L. Fletcher, Flotsam and Jetsam, Christopher Stone, Henry Wood, Prof David Hendy, Vita Sackville-West, Clapham and Dwyer, Mabel Constanduros, Toytown   1930s: Norman Long and Stanelli, Harold Nicolson, Simon Rooks, Val Gielgud, Gillie Potter, Henry Hall and the BBC Dance Orchestra, King George VI, Gerald Cock, Elisabeth Welch, Caroll Gibbons and the Savoy Orpheans, Lew Stone, Murgatroyd and Winterbottom, Nelson Keys, Sandy Powell, The Western Brothers, Stuart Hibberd, Charles Siepmann, King Edward VIII, Elizabeth Cowell, Tommy Woodroffe, Bandwaggon, ITMA (Mrs Mopp), Neville Chamberlain, John Snagge   1940s: J.B. Priestley, Winston Churchill, Music While You Work, Edward Stourton, Charles Gardner, Bruce Belfrage, Princess Elizabeth, C.S. Lewis, Stephen Bourne, Una Marson, Nightingale and the Bomber, Charles Huff, Lilliburlero, Romany, Richard Dimbleby, Edward R Murrow, Frank Gillard, Guy Byam, Johnny Beerling, George Elrick, Norman Shelley, Michael Standing, Paul Hayes   1950s: Jeffrey Holland, Julia Lang, Roger Bolton.   (...+ various unknown announcers)   FURTHER LINKS:  Like what we do? Share it! We're on facebook.com/bbcentury, with a separate group on facebook.com/groups/bbcentury, and (while it lasts) on twitter.com/bbcentury. Tag us in, let people know you listen. Love what we do? Support us at patreon.com/paulkerensa The novel based on this podcast is due out in 2024: Auntie and Uncles - latest on its publication at paulkerensa.com/oldradio   We look forward to continuing to unpack this century of broadcasting in our usual slower way on the podcast. But next time, join us for part 2 (1955-87) and part 3 (1988-2022). paulkerensa.com/oldradio

Episode 56 has BBC100 recommendations (on iPlayer and BBC Sounds for a limited time), 3 poems about the early BBC/radio, and from the Beeb Watch podcast, ex-Radio 4 presenter Roger Bolton. Past, present and future, all mixed in here as Auntie Beeb turns 100 around us. But our celebrations are a little muted due to some of the changes at Beeb towers - like the cuts to local radio, BBC News and the World Service... But our guest is keeping a watchful eye from afar. Roger Bolton has just left the BBC, but moved from Radio 4's Feedback to his own independent podcast Beeb Watch. Hear what he thinks the BBC gets right, wrong and what we need to keep a close eye on. Listen to him on this episode, then find his podcast...   SHOWNOTES: - Roger Bolton's Beeb Watch is available from all good podcast outlets, eg: https://shows.acast.com/rogerboltonsbeebwatch - The 3 poems you hear are: - 'I am radio' by Eric H. Palmer (publisher in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, 30/09/27) - A Radio Times letter by Lilian L. Cornelius (August 1928) - 'In the early days of '23' by Olive Bottle (who signs it as the widow of C. Bottle, Assistant Engineer-in-Charge, London Control Room, Broadcasting House) - Like us? Considering supporting on Patreon.com/paulkerensa and gain access to videos, readings from old books and monthly behind-the-scenesy updates. - Or share what we do on Facebook or Twitter. Search for 'bbcentury' and you'll find us on both. - Paul's new novel will be out in 2024: paulkerensa.com/oldradio should give you updates - Last tour dates of The First Broadcast are at paulkerensa.com/tour Next time, 100 Years in 100 Minutes (part 1: 1922-54)

Landing on centenary day (well, 100 years aince the BBCompany was formed), episode 55 is the tale of the first Bard on the Beeb. Dr Andrea Smith joins us to talk us through the first broadcast Shakespeare - but it's only part 1, as on Feb 16th 1923, it's just excerpts: scenes from Julius Caesar and Othello. Andrea will return for the first full-length play, when we reach May 1923 in our podcast timeline. Plus as the BBC finally turns 100, we consider some BBC100 celebration programming, including the redicovered Hancock's Half Hour episode - so Steve Arnold of the Radio Circle tells us the how and the why when it comes to finding and preserving such lost episodes.   SHOWNOTES: - More info on the Radio Circle, of which Steve Arnold is part, who rescue 'lost' programmes: http://www.radiocircle.org.uk - Hear Dr Andrea Smith on BBC Radio 3's The Essay - The Bard and the Beeb, in late October 2022: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001d68d - The last dates of my tour of The First Broadcast live show are at www.paulkerensa.com/tour - My novel Auntie and Uncles will be out in 2024. More details on its availability/readiness at paulkerensa.com/oldradio - Support us on www.patreon.com/paulkerensa to keep us afloat and in return get extra writings, videos and ample more! Thanks to all who support us there.  - We're on www.facebook.com/groups/bbcentury, where our Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker is chronicling newspapers on this day 100 years ago. - Follow us on www.twitter.com/bbcentury, where I'll keep you updated with some TV/radio spots I'm doing to talk about the Beeb's birth tales - inc. BBC's Songs of Praise, BBC Breakfast and Radio 4's The Media Show. Next time: the centenary specials! 100 Years in 100 Minutes... Stay subscribed, and if you haven't rated/reviewed us, go on - it helps bring new ears to this pod-project. Happy Birthday, Auntie!