On 23 April 1924, a landmark broadcast took place - the biggest so far. And on day of podcast release, it's the centenary!100 years ago at time of writing, King George V opened the Empire Exhibition at Wembley, becoming the first monarch to br

#084 Women's Hour on the BBC: 1923-24

17 days ago 30m 58s

When Dr Kate Murphy became a BBC's Woman's Hour producer in 1993, the received wisdom was that women's programming began in 1946, when Woman's Hour launched. Kate did some digging in the archives, and discovered the long lost tale of the early

#083 The Launch of Savoy Hill: The BBC's New Home, 1 May 1923

Mar 25th, 2024 39m 8s

Welcome to the Savoy Hill era of the BBC!Episode 83 opens the doors to the first permanent home of Auntie Beeb, with a grand launch night on 1 May 1923. I think it's one of the most crucial - and funniest - 24 hours in the BBC's history. So w

#082 The BBC at Marconi House: 14-11-1922 to 30-04-1923

Mar 2nd, 2024 40m 4s

Welcome to season 6 of The British Broadcasting Century Podcast - and our 82nd episode.Back in our podcast timeline, telling the moment-by-moment origin story of British broadcasting, we reach a bittersweet moment: the BBC moves out of its fi

#081 The Pips at 100! A Brief History of Time at the BBC

Feb 5th, 2024 15m 56s

Pip pip pip pip pip piiiiiiiiip!Is that the time? It must be 100 years (to the day, as I release this episode) since six baby pips were born onto the airwaves. As the Greenwich Time Signal - aka The Pips - turns 100, we look back at their ori

#080 SPECIAL: The First Religious Broadcast: Re-enacted

Dec 25th, 2023 55m 57s

Welcome to 2023's Christmas special/2024's Epiphany special. (Come on, what podcast doesn't have an Epiphany special?)It's all just a chance to turn episode 80 into a re-enactment of this remarkable untold tale of Britain's first religious bro

#079 Three More Authors: Doctor Who | R4 Sunday | Radio 1+2

Dec 11th, 2023 40m 41s

Episode 79 is our second special of three authors - whose books you may wish to put on your Christmas wish list - especially if you're fans of Doctor Who, religion on radio, and/or ye olde Radio 1. Last time we had three doctors; this time our

#078 Three Authors on Broadcasting History: Love | Films | Education

Nov 21st, 2023 40m 51s

You need more books in your life. So here are three authors to shout about theirs and enthuse about their research. This time we have three academics. (Next time we'll have three presenters/producers, covering music radio, Radio 4’s Sunday a

#077 Loose Ends 2: 1920’s SS Victorian to 1980’s Tardis via Frank Milligan

Oct 17th, 2023 38m 36s

Episode 77 is a surprise pop-up episode, with nuggets spanning 1920, 1922 and 1980, from the mid-Atlantic to Glasgow, and from music to horse-racing. We had a few too many tales to tell, so couldn't wait. We're meant to be on a break. Whoops.

#076 Radio Times at 100 - Part 2

Sep 28th, 2023 29m 43s

Episode 76: On RT centenary day itself, part 2 of our back-story of back issues, as Radio Times turns 100.Catch part 1 if you haven't already: https://pod.fo/e/1f20d1 - there we journeyed from 1923 to 1991, when the monopoly was ended and the

#075 (The) Radio Times at 100 - Part 1

Sep 26th, 2023 32m 55s

Happy 100th to (The) Radio Times! (The 'the' vanished in 1937) Britain's favourite magazine is a century old this very week, at time of recording.So it's a bumper edition - not dissimilar to the fat two-weeker that lands on your doorstep or

#074 The BBC and Music: from Percy Pitt to Johnny Beerling

Sep 14th, 2023 43m 6s

The genesis of music on the BBC for episode 74... On 30 April 1923, celebrated conductor Percy Pitt joins the BBC as Musical Advisor/Director/Controller (his job keeps changing), bringing new scope and scale to the nation's favourite music pro

#073 Comedy on Air: Hysterical History from The Co-Optimists to Bottom

Aug 26th, 2023 49m 4s

Episode 73: Comedy tonight! And comedy back then, particularly 26 April 1923...It's a royal wedding so the BBC celebrate in style, with a gala concert, sponsored by Harrods (yes, sponsorship on the BBC!), given by The Co-Optimists, the legenda

#072 The First Radio Dramatist: The Truth about Phyllis Twigg

Aug 10th, 2023 48m 25s

Britain's first writer for radio was Phyllis M Twigg. An unusual name, and yet... she seemed to pretty much vanish after her debut broadcast play, 'The Truth About Father Christmas' on 24th December 1922.So much so, that the official record -

#071 Yesteryear in Parliament: The BBC vs The Government, April 1923

Jul 7th, 2023 44m 54s

Sometimes we get nerdy. Sometimes we get very nerdy.This episode is one of those where media meets politics meets history - and we're giving you all the nit-picking details, because if we don't, who will?! We only pass this way once......And

#070 The Press vs the BBC vs the Govt: 1923 + 2023

Jun 23rd, 2023 40m 40s

Episode 70 is a biggie.In April 1923, the five-month-old BBC faced a two-pronged attack.The Daily Express ran an anti-BBC campaign, with front page stories questioning its existence, and even offering to take over broadcasting themselves. Ove

#069 Children’s Hour to Bedtime Hour: Uncles, Aunts and Iggle Piggle

May 26th, 2023 39m 49s

Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin...Episode 69 of our deep dive into British broadcasting's back-story brings us to 5th April 1923, and the hiring of Ella Fitzgerald (not that one), to organise and centralise Children's Hour.T

#068 Major Arthur Corbett-Smith: Reith’s Rival

May 12th, 2023 40m 52s

Episode 68 and STILL in March 1923 - March 26th to be precise, as Major Arthur Corbett-Smith is hired to be the 5th Cardiff station director in about as many weeks. It's not going well there......Corbett-Smith to the rescue? Trouble is, he's a

#067 SPECIAL: A Brief History of Coronation Broadcasts

May 3rd, 2023 25m 7s

Episode 67 is a special:A Brief History of Coronation Broadcasts (or Broadcast Coronations)How the BBC has brought two such ceremonies to the air, as they (and others) now tackle a third, for King Charles III.We'll tell you all about the two

#066 The BBC’s News, Weather and SOS Broadcasts of March 1923

Apr 15th, 2023 31m 37s

Here is the news. And the weather. And the SOS messages...Our timeline continues into late March 1923 - which means that as well as news, we now have daily weather forecasts on the early BBC. It's just in time for the end of the Ideal Home Exh

#065 A Brief History of the BBC’s Archives

Apr 3rd, 2023 44m 57s

Episode 65 welcomes the BBC's only ever Sound Archivist (the title changed a few times), Simon Rooks. For 33 years he was lost in the archives and now he's found his way out, he's here to tell us the way.This episode is more interview than usu

#064 Farewell Magnet House, Hello... Laundry Baskets? + Jeffrey Holland

Mar 16th, 2023 38m 23s

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 t

#063 Glasgow 5SC: The BBC Launches in Scotland

Mar 6th, 2023 31m 46s

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 own

#062 Radio’s First Political Debate... and Reeta Chakrabarti

Feb 22nd, 2023 36m 31s

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 stud

#061 The BBC’s Listings Ban... and Gareth Gwynn’s Ministry of Happiness

Feb 11th, 2023 35m 39s

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