The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa

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 broadcast. It also stands as the oldest surviving recording of a BBC broadcast - and the only excerpt of the BBC from the 1920s. The BBC could

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 BBC's Women's Hour (rather than Woman's Hour), which ran from 1923-24. Why so brief? What impact did it make? Which listeners did it cater f

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 we recreate as much as we can of that one day: A last-minute dress code sees senior management in far-too-big suits... John Reith's tee-total

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 first studios, the temporary studio on the top floor of Marconi House. We pay tribute with a look at the Beeb's final day at MH, 30 April 1923

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 origin story, thanks to horologist Frank Hope-Jones and also his overlooked contribution to broadcasting itself. Plus Big Ben's bongs, heard by

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 broadcast. Contrary to what some records say, it wasn't the BBC who began religious broadcasting in Britain - it was lone Peckham pioneer preac

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 first guest is definitely someone who's seen The Three Doctors... PAUL HAYES' book is Pull to Open: 1962-1963: The Inside Story of How the B

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 and Doctor Who...) But this is a different episode of The Three Doctors. And they are… DR CAROLYN BIRDSALL, Associate Professor of Media Stu

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. Like our previous 'Loose Ends' episode, we've a few threads to pull on: The tale of Arthur Burrows on SS Victorian, breaking records and play

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 British government opened up the TV listings market. In part 2, we're joined again by today's Radio Times co-editor Shem Law and RT enthusia