The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa

Feb 16 2025 97 ep. 35 mins 604
The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa Podcast artwork

100 Years of the BBC, Radio and Life as We Know It. Be informed, educated and entertained by the amazing true story of radio’s forgotten pioneers. With host Paul Kerensa, great guests and rare archive from broadcasting’s golden era. Original music by Will Farmer. www.paulkerensa.com/oldradio

  History  Society & Culture
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#096 Books on Broadcasting - and the Bodleian Library's 'Listen In' Exhibition

Feb 16 2025 49 mins  
We're back! Season 7 begins with a Books Special - plus a visit to a special exhibition at Oxford's magnificent Bodleian Library - 'Listen In: How Radio Changed the Home'. It's curated by Beaty Rubens, who has also written a book of the same name. I joined her at the exhibition for a tour and an interview, recorded live at the Bodleian. Thanks to them for their hospitality - and fo

#095 Five Gold Airings: Vintage BBC Christmases 1922-42

Dec 14 2024 25 mins  
Episode 95 is our Christmas special for 2024 - looking back to five vintage BBC Christmases of 1922-42. Well, I say 'five'. I mean nine. Christmas is a time for giving, so have four extra... Nine Gold Airings didn't sound as catchy. You'll hear: - 1922 – Rev John Mayo - the BBC's first religious broadcast for Christmas Eve - 1926 – Christmas Overture by Coleridge-Taylor, The B

#094 Wireless Manhunts on the BBC - in 1923 and 2023

Nov 14 2024 46 mins  
Episode 94 finds us hunting presenters on the run... in 1923 and in 2023. But first, the tale of July 1923 in British broadcasting, which includes a pop-up non-BBC station in Plymouth (5DJ), the first BBC film critic G.A. Atkinson, a comedian asks an orchestra to laugh for him, the BBC's first Sunday afternoon radio concert, new nicknames for 'listeners-in' ('ethonians', anyone?),

#093 On-Air Symphonies and 'Seeing By Wireless' in June 1923 - and Stuart Prebble

Oct 17 2024 39 mins  
June 1923 at the BBC saw the first symphony concerts on-air (with an 'augmented orchestra'), musical criticism from Percy Scholes, 2,500 voices broadcast at once, and new staff led by Admiral Charles Carpendale as Reith's deputy. Plus Scot John Logie Baird advertises for help with his 'Seeing By Wireless' invention. You may know it as television... ...Our guest is celebrating 50 ye

#092 The First Sports Broadcasts: from 'Yachts Slowly Drifting' to MCR21

Sep 22 2024 39 mins  
Episode 92 The First Sports Broadcasts: from 'Yachts Slowly Drifting' to MCR21 Our moment-by-moment origin story of British broadcasting reaches 6th June 1923 - and what's sometimes thought to be the BBC's first sports broadcast: author Edgar Wallace giving his 'reflections on the Derby'... ...The trouble is, it wasn't the BBC's first sports broadcast. But then... what is a sport

#091 The Electrophone: The 1890s' Streaming Device

Aug 29 2024 40 mins  
Episode 91 goes back over 130 years to the 'broadcasting' device that far predates radio broadcasting. But the same ideas were there: entertainment, religion, news even, brought to your home, sent one-to-many, live from West End churches and London's churches. Meet the Electrophone! Dr Natasha Kitcher is the Electrophone expert - she's a Research Fellow at the Science Museum, form

#090 The BBC's First Shakespeare (part 2) & John Henry: First Radio Comedy Personality

Aug 07 2024 36 mins  
Is this the first full-length Shakespeare on the BBC I see before me? Yes it is. And the first radio comedy personality, in John Henry. We're in late May 1923 - 28th to 31st to be precise - and the BBC has suffering from a boycott of theatre producers. Performers are hard to come by, so the Beeb brings drama and comedy in-house. The result? Cathleen Nesbitt (later from Upstairs Do

#089 A History of Election Night Specials: 28 in 102 Years

Jun 23 2024 48 mins  
Vote The British Broadcasting Century! Episode 89 is our Election Night Special special, covering Britain's 28 general election results broadcasts over 102 years. Broadcasting in both USA and UK have both launched were pretty much launched with election results. On 2 November 1920, KDKA Pittsburgh launched regular commercial broadcasting with the presidential election results, gi

#088 Boycotts, Bands and The Sunday Committee: May 1923 at the BBC

Jun 09 2024 38 mins  
On episode 88, it's May 1923, and the six-month-old BBC is settling into its new home at Savoy Hill. But it's not all plain sailing. This time, 2-24 May 1923 is retold via press cuttings (thanks to our Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker), showing us that: Some corners of the press were mounting an anti-BBC campaign, complaining it was offering "poor fare". A few days later, other ar

#087 The Cello and the Nightingale: A Centenary Celebration

May 17 2024 38 mins  
100 years ago the weekend of this podcast, the Cello and the Nightingale became one of the most cherished broadcasts in radio history. It first took place on 19 May 1924, live from the Surrey garden of cellist Beatrice Harrison. In this centenary special, we celebrate the musician, the muse and the microphone that made this incredible feat possible: the first major outside broadca