The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa

And did the Beeb, in ancient times, broadcast to England's* mountains green?... ...Till Reith has built Jerusalem, transmitting to England's* green and pleasant** land.   *and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland's**and the less green and unpleasant bits too === In the third and final part of our General Strike special, 100 years on, we look at 10-12 May 1926, in a week that changed the BBC forever - as John Reith walked a tightrope of independence and impartiality. Plus the legacy of the strike, how it changed the BBC, and of course we couldn't resist bringing you the iconic moment of Reith announcing the strike's end, by reading Jerusalem with accompanying orchestra and choir. While there was no recording at the time, Reith re-enacted it in 1932. The newspapers, the bulletins, the occasional later reminiscence (Peter Eckersley, Stuart Hibberd...), this aims to be the most thorough - and yet I hope entertaining - retelling of the BBC and the General Strike. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did putting it together.   With thanks to these excellent resources... Radicalstroud.co.uk Warwick Digital Collections at the University of Warwick The Trades Union Congress The BBC Written Archive Centre 1926 The General Strike edited by Jeffrey Skelley Into the Wind by John Reith Asa Briggs’ The Birth of Broadcasting Ian McIntyre’s Expense of Glory Peter Eckersley’s The Power Behind the Microphone The BBC A People’s History by David Hendy Our Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker - and the various newspaper articles Trevor Howard and his article Immovable object, irresistible force: Reith, Churchill and BBC ‘impartiality’ Nine Days in May – radio drama by Robin Glendinning Churchill vs Reith – radio drama by Mike Harris Random Radio Jottings: https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2025/01/churchill-and-bbc.html   SHOWNOTES: Original podcast music is by Will Farmer.  Broadcasts over 50 years old are beyond copyright, but anything that is BBC copyright content is reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.  See Paul on tour in An Evening of (Very) Old Radio - or book it: paulkerensa.com/tour Our latest Substack summarises these 5 over-steps of the BBC in the General Strike: paulkerensa.substack.com Our Facebook group has ample marvellous photos and newspaper articles - thanks to Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker: facebook.com/groups/bbcentury Find us on BlueSky: bsky.bbcentury.social Find Paul on Instagram: instagram.com/paulkerensa Join Paul's mailing list This podcast is not made by today's BBC. It's just about the old BBC. Support the podcast by joining as a Patreon subscriber - for extra videos, writings, readings etc: patreon.com/paulkerensa - £5/month, cancel whenever. Or support this project without that regularity, with a one-off tip: ko-fi.com/paulkerensa Please share/rate/review this podcast if you have a mo - it all helps. Next time, Episode 121: Ask Elvis, The Archers, The Cultures of Early Television conference, and An Evening of (Very) Old Radio - all live events you come to this summer. We'll chat to those behind these do-please-come-along happenings. Then on Episode 122, we're back in our chronological retelling in Nov 1923, for the launch of the first relay station, Sheffield 6FL.   More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio

6-9 May 1926, in a week that changed the BBC forever... this is part 2 of our 3-part special on the BBC and the General Strike 100 years ago this week (at time of podcast release), two million strikers were out in solidarity with the miners. It brought unique challenges to the BBC - with Winston Churchill trying to take it over, a tightrope of independence and impartiality, and broadcast requests from the Archbishop of Canterbury (no), the Leader of the Opposition (no), the TUC (no) and the Prime Minister (come on in sir!). John Reith welcomes the PM to his own home, even rewriting his speech for him while he's on air. It's all part of what we're calling The BBC and the General Strike in 5 (Over-)Steps. This episode, we'll discover over-reaching editorialising of the news, Reith the rewriter and those notably absent voices of opposition. Hmm. But then again, what would you do differently... and would that hand to Churchill the BBC on a plate? All will become clear, in our day-to-day guide through the middle of the General Strike during those nine days in May 1926. This episode looks at 6-9 May. Last episode we looked at 3-5 May. Next episode we'll look at 10-14 May plus the General Strike's legacy (and Reith's apologies). I hope you'll agree it's a fascinating tale, worth us taking the long way round. The details - from the role played by Reith's creaky office chair to his mum listening to the PM through the study door, and from Earl Grey's doorstep duel to Peter Eckersley's shock when he discovers imbalanced news - are deserving of retelling. So thanks for listening, if you do. And you should. Join us!  Part 3 follows on 10 May 2026 - 100 years on from the moments featured. Be subscribed to get the episodes when they land.   With thanks to these excellent resources... Radicalstroud.co.uk Warwick Digital Collections at the University of Warwick The Trades Union Congress The BBC Written Archive Centre 1926 The General Strike edited by Jeffrey Skelley Into the Wind by John Reith Asa Briggs’ The Birth of Broadcasting Ian McIntyre’s Expense of Glory Peter Eckersley’s The Power Behind the Microphone The BBC A People’s History by David Hendy Our Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker - and the various newspaper articles Trevor Howard and his article Immovable object, irresistible force: Reith, Churchill and BBC ‘impartiality’ Nine Days in May – radio drama by Robin Glendinning Churchill vs Reith – radio drama by Mike Harris Random Radio Jottings: https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2025/01/churchill-and-bbc.html   SHOWNOTES: Original podcast music is by Will Farmer.  Broadcasts over 50 years old are beyond copyright, but anything that is BBC copyright content is reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.  See Paul on tour in An Evening of (Very) Old Radio - or book it: paulkerensa.com/tour Our latest Substack summarises these 5 over-steps of the BBC in the General Strike: paulkerensa.substack.com Our Facebook group has ample marvellous photos and newspaper articles - thanks to Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker: facebook.com/groups/bbcentury Find us on BlueSky: bsky.bbcentury.social Find Paul on Instagram: instagram.com/paulkerensa Join Paul's mailing list This podcast is not made by today's BBC. It's just about the old BBC. Support the podcast by joining as a Patreon subscriber - for extra videos, writings, readings etc: patreon.com/paulkerensa - £5/month, cancel whenever. Or support this project without that regularity, with a one-off tip: ko-fi.com/paulkerensa Please share/rate/review this podcast if you have a mo - it all helps. Next time, Episode 120: The General Strike at 100, part 3: Reith wins? More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio  

100 years ago to the day (at time of podcast release), Britain began to grind to a halt. Our first and only General Strike. But while it was a time of national crisis, it was also an opportunity for the BBC - and particularly John Reith. With most newspapers ceasing publication, the BBC gained a news division, and a reputation, for independence and impartiality - at least, that's what Reith hoped. But it meant opponents and critics at every turn - from strikers believing they were being unfairly ignored, to Winston Churchill thinking the BBC were too generous to the strikers. Surely, thought Churchill, it was better for the government to commandeer the BBC, and become an audio version of his pop-up partisan paper The British Gazette? There's a lot to this tale. So to do it justice, we're breaking it into four podcasts. This is part 1 - with the birth of the BBC's news-gathering squad, and Reith locking horns with Churchill, though cosying up to the PM. And he announces the strike - and other interruptions - from his own home studio. Our guest is Professor Michael Tracey, of the University of Colorado at Boulder, and former head of the Broadcasting Research Unit. Part 2 follows in a few days' time - 100 years on from the moments featured. Be subscribed to ensure you get the episodes when they land.   With thanks to these excellent resources... Radicalstroud.co.uk Warwick Digital Collections at the University of Warwick The Trades Union Congress The BBC Written Archive Centre 1926 The General Strike edited by Jeffrey Skelley Into the Wind by John Reith Asa Briggs’ The Birth of Broadcasting Ian McIntyre’s Expense of Glory Peter Eckersley’s The Power Behind the Microphone The BBC A People’s History by David Hendy Our Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker - and the various newspaper articles Trevor Howard and his article Immovable object, irresistible force: Reith, Churchill and BBC ‘impartiality’ Nine Days in May – radio drama by Robin Glendinning Churchill vs Reith – radio drama by Mike Harris Random Radio Jottings: https://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2025/01/churchill-and-bbc.html   SHOWNOTES: Original podcast music is by Will Farmer.  Support the podcast by joining as a Patreon subscriber - for extra videos, writings, readings etc: patreon.com/paulkerensa - £5/month, cancel whenever. See Paul on tour in An Evening of (Very) Old Radio - or book it: paulkerensa.com/tour Read Paul's Substack: paulkerensa.substack.com Find our Facebook page: facebook.com/bbcentury Find us on BlueSky: bsky.bbcentury.social Find Paul on Instagram: instagram.com/paulkerensa Join Paul's mailing list This podcast is not made by today's BBC. It's just about the old BBC. BBC copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. Share/rate/review this podcast if you have a spare 5mins - it all helps. Next time, Episode 119: The General Strike at 100, part 2: Reith v The Archbishop More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio  

#117 The BBC's First Homosexual: a new play - with Dr Stephen Hornby and Professor Marcus Collins A special episode about a new play about on the true tale of Britain's first broadcast debate on homosexuality. We're outside of our moment-by-moment timeline (currently anchored in November 1923 - we return there soon) to highlight this under-appreciated moment at the 1950s BBC. After much deliberation, BBC producers planned and recorded an experimental discussion programme, but it wasn't broadcast until three years later, as an edited version called 'The Homosexual Condition'. The content may be rather shocking to today's ears, but progressive as far as its producers were concerned. The recordings are long lost, but the transcript survives and was discovered by Professor Marcus Collins (Professor of British History at Loughborough University) at the BBC Written Archives Centre. Marcus brought it to Dr Stephen Hornby (Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Practice at the University of Salford) who put pen to paper. They both join us this episode tell us how history met drama in this new play: The BBC's First Homosexual. It's on tour this year to Dublin and Edinburgh after a sell-out five-star-reviewed tour of England. Find it at: 11-16 May - Teachers Club, Dublin 5-16 August - Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Details: linktr.ee/inkbrewtheatre   SHOWNOTES: Original podcast music is by Will Farmer.  See Paul on tour in An Evening of (Very) Old Radio - next stops Corsham (Wilts), Weston-super-Mare, Gloucester... paulkerensa.com/tour Read Paul's Substack - the latest one is on early media predictions - paulkerensa.substack.com Find our Facebook page: facebook.com/bbcentury Find us on BlueSky: bsky.bbcentury.social Find Paul on Instagram: instagram.com/paulkerensa Join Paul's mailing list This podcast is not made by today's BBC. It's just about the old BBC. Share/rate/review this podcast if you have a spare 5mins - it all helps. Next time, Episode 118: The BBC and the General Strike: Reith v Churchill v PM v TUC... A centenary special! More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio  

Our moment-by-moment retrospective of British broadcasting has reached the BBC's first birthday - 14 November 1923. We started covering that first year back on episode 18! It's taken a while to get here - but what a year it was. From the first BBC news bulletin, songs and children's programmes to outside broadcasts, simultaneous broadcasting, new stations in Scotland and Wales, a government enquiry, new premises, wireless manhunts, the Radio Times and so much more, we've covered the lot across nearly 100 episodes. This episode we lead up to the first birthday with plans for the pips, a Shakespearean anniversary, and a raucous farewell do for Marconi boss Godfrey Isaacs. Then the birthday broadcast features speeches from John Reith and Guglielmo Marconi - hear some of that this episode, as well as reflections from Birmingham station chief Percy Edgar. Some lovely voices from the archive here - including Reith, Edgar and Peter Eckersley, who wrote all of the early BBC birthday broadcast shows, achieving the impossible: making John Reith laugh.   SHOWNOTES: This podcast contains an excerpt from Marconi's BBC debut - his speech about the origins of broadcasting. Hear Paul read the full text of the speech on this Patreon video (£5/month - all supports the podcast, thanks if you support us there!): https://www.patreon.com/posts/vid-marconis-bbc-155370052 (also on that video: thoughts on Romany at the BBC, and Paul's latest (failed) Radio 4 pitches) Read Marconi's speech on this Facebook post by our Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bbcentury/posts/854152096155912 (and do join the group, if you're on Facebook...) We mention the campaign against access changes at the BBC Written Archives Centre - more info on this open letter.   Original podcast music is by Will Farmer.  This podcast is not made by today's BBC. It's just about the old BBC. See Paul on tour in An Evening of (Very) Old Radio - next stops Chelmsford, Weston-super-Mare, Corsham Wilts... paulkerensa.com/tour Read Paul's Substack - the latest one is on early prophecies of what broadcasting might become - paulkerensa.substack.com Find our Facebook page: facebook.com/bbcentury Find us on BlueSky: bsky.bbcentury.social Find Paul on Instagram: instagram.com/paulkerensa Join Paul's mailing list Share/rate/review this podcast if you have a spare 5mins - it all helps. Next time, Episode 117: The BBC's First Homosexual - a new play bringing a lost controversial BBC documentary to light... and then it's the centenary of the General Strike - a key moment in the making of the BBC. More on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio