We have another centenary to celebrate today, dear reader - that of dear old Auntie Beeb, the BBC!
The world's oldest national broadcaster, it was born out of a desire by the government's licencing authority (then the General Post Office (GPO)) to avoid the chaotic situation in the US (where literally hundreds of rival commercial broadcasters were all licenced in different ways and it took ages to sort out the clashing airwave frequencies), and to create a single entity out of a consortium of former rival companies.
Its birth pre-dated television, of course, and it was to the array of educational and entertainment radio programmes it offered to a boggled nation that Britain (and later the world) became hooked.
Here are just a few of their enduring themes:
Of course, the "golden age of the wireless" wasn't to last - the era of television was upon us, and with it, myriad more classics. This selection can merely "scrape the surface"...
Many happy returns, the British Broadcasting Corporation (born 18th October 2022)
I remember being allowed to "stay up late" to listen to "Much Binding in the Marsh"...circa 1950
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I had to look it up, and yes, there's a lot of it on YouTube if you would like to reminisce... Jx
DeletePerhaps, after I put me dentures in a glass of
DeleteSterident...(and if you spread this on blogisphere, I shall com after with my hockey stick and show you exactly how I lost a few teeth! You cheeky whipersnapper!)
Ta very much for the Youtube thing xx)
DeleteYou're welcome, dear. Now put your teeth in! Jx
DeleteAll that and two classy headquarters.
ReplyDeleteWell, not exactly - Television Centre was closed in 2013. There are still studios there (mainly used by ITV), but much of the building was demolished to build a hotel, restaurants, a swanky private members' club a cinema and the inevitable "luxury apartments". Jx
DeleteI'd quite forgotten Mrs. Dale had a theme tune (if I ever knew). All I remember is the opening harp glissando - and that because in one music appreciation class at school, the teacher's choice included one, at which some wag up the back shouted "I'm terribly worried about Jim..."
ReplyDeleteI don't even remember Mrs Dale's Diary. It ended when I was six years old. Jx
DeleteLook at you! Such an astute aural historian. It's like you've been doing it all your life! Adore Wendy and Are You Being Served. Nothing makes me smile more than a Saturday night when PBS does a marathon. Kizzes.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved oral, I mean aural research... Jx
DeleteDespite finding Ski Sunday, Grandstand and the new Doctor Who crushingly dull, I love their theme music!
ReplyDeleteMars, Bringer of War by Holst is a perennial favourite (as is the Are You Being Served? theme)
I love all of 'em - and I could have posted hundreds more, given the immense wealth of history to pick from. Everything from the Tony Hancock tuba to The Likely Lads, from Dad's Army to Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, The Life and Times of David Lloyd George to Grange Hill and so on, and on, and on... Jx
DeleteA wonderful institution with a wealth of music to choose from.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the potted history
As I say, this is merely scraping the surface of what delights and brilliance the BBC has provided the world with over its remarkable life... Jx
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