Podcast appearances and mentions of Paul Kerensa

In this episode, Danny is joined by writer and comedian Paul Kerensa. Paul has written extensively for TV, including Miranda, Top Gear and Not Going Out and has published a number of highly popular books, including several children´s books. He claims to be the only stand-up comic without a naval and has performed in numerous countries. Paul is also the host of The Great British Broadcasting Century podcast, which is all about BBC history. Naturally, because Paul is a bit of a BBC history nerd, this episode is peppered with fascinating insights into the subject. They also discuss the 3 types of gigs Paul does, including lots of church gigs, and his insights into how he adapts his act for these venues include several funny anecdotal stories. If you can´t get enough of these podcasts, head to https://www.patreon.com/DannyHurst to access my exclusive, member-only, fun-filled and fact-packed history-related videos. KEY TAKEAWAYS The BBC has had a strong influence on British culture e.g. The London-centric, Victorian/Dickensian feel of a traditional Christmas is partly down to them. Bush House, which became the BBC´s home in 1940 was the most expensive building in the world. Comedy is a great way of getting people to think, including about religion. Most churches and cathedrals are better venues than comedy clubs. The BBC was not behind the first radio broadcast in the UK. The birthplace of the microphone is now a Chinese supermarket. What people will laugh at has changed drastically, making modern audiences trickier. The BBC once hosted an evening of mass telepathy. BEST MOMENTS “It´s one of those tours that never ends.” “I couldn’t find a way of saying “oh by the way I go to church” without it killing the room.” “He thought he had to speak the language of comedians to us, which he thought was just swearing.” “People aren’t going to laugh if they feel unsettled.” “There´s a community in Sussex that’s a little bit Amish.” “It´s the only building outside of Israel that has been a church, a synagogue and a mosque.” “I can’t sell one-liners like they do.” “Guildford cathedral is still selling itself for film locations for spiritual battles.” “You go from amateur questioner to procrastinator.” “I´ve got no belly button…I once did a gig where there were three of us, quite rare.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.paulkerensa.com HOST BIO Historian, performer, and mentor Danny Hurst has been engaging audiences for many years, whether as a lecturer, stand-up comic or intervention teacher with young offenders and excluded secondary students. Having worked with some of the most difficult people in the UK, he is a natural storyteller and entertainer, whilst purveying the most fascinating information that you didn't know you didn't know. A writer and host of pub quizzes across London, he has travelled extensively and speaks several languages. He has been a consultant for exhibitions at the Imperial War Museum and Natural History Museum in London as well as presenting accelerated learning seminars across the UK. With a wide range of knowledge ranging from motor mechanics to opera to breeding carnivorous plants, he believes learning is the most effective when it's fun. Uniquely delivered, this is history without the boring bits, told the way only Danny Hurst can. CONTACT AND SOCIALS https://instagram.com/dannyjhurstfacebook.com/danny.hurst.9638 https://twitter.com/dannyhurst https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-hurst-19574720

Episode 97 finds the BBC in August 1923... There are two studio moves - 2ZY Manchester and 5IT Birmingham leave their old premises in style ('The Etude in K Sharp by Spotsoffski'... "The studio ghost looks round - burial forever of the carrier wave...") and find new city centre studios, including a heavy goods lift with a pulley that visitors need to pull themselves, so put down your briefcase or cello and get hoisting... At the Birmingham station, we check in with Uncles Edgar and Thompson and their innovative Children's Hour, who now has a Radio Circle - the origins of Children in Need, perhaps? We visit London 2LO to find Marion Cran, one of the first gardening presenters, as well as a wireless elephant. We visit Glasgow 5SC, with guest expert Graham Stewart. We're grateful to other experts: comedy historian Alan Stafford, Children's Hour historian Dr Zara Healy, and Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker - among others. This podcast is a group effort! If you listen, you're part of that too, so do get in touch... ...In fact DO get in touch ahead of our 100th episode. We'd love to hear from you with your favourite parts of the story so far. Write an email or record a voice memo, send to paul at paulkerensa dot com - anything about a moment from early broadcasting that you particularly found marvellous. Peter Eckersley on 2MT Writtle? Gertrude Donisthorpe the WW1 DJ? The drunken launch of Savoy Hill? The first BBC Christmas? What's your favourite? Do tell. Email us!   SHOWNOTES: I'm now posting on Substack: https://substack.com/@paulkerensa - My first post is on the bizarre history of the BBC Concert Hall/Radio Theatre/WW2 dormitory. Do subscribe if you'd like a fortnightly long-form blog post type of reading thing. Last episode's guest Beaty Rubens brought this to Radio 3 recently: Between the Ears: Listen In Alan Stafford's biography of John Henry is Bigamy Killed the Radio Star: https://www.fantompublishing.co.uk/product/bigamy-killed-the-radio-star/ Paul Kerensa's books include Hark! The Biography of Christmas: https://amzn.to/4iuULoB - with the audiobook read by Paul: https://amzn.to/4gdlYud Original music is by Will Farmer. Paul's on tour: An Evening of (Very) Old Radio visits these places: www.paulkerensa.com/tour - come and hear about the first firsts of broadcasting, live. This podcast is nothing to do with the BBC. Any BBC copyright content is reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. We try to use clips so old they're beyond copyright, but you never know. Copyright's complicated... Comments? Email the show - paul at paulkerensa dot com. Do like/share/rate/review this podcast - it all helps! Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), for bonus videos and things - and thanks if you do!     Next time: The first Irish broadcast - on 2BP in Dublin, with guest Eddie Bohan. Seek out his books to grace your bookshelf! More info on this broadcasting history project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio  

Join Marilyn and the Torch Trust team as they bring you readings, messages and a Christmas special sermon. We're also joined by comedian Paul Kerensa for the tale behind one of the greatest Christmas songs too!

The second part of our chat with Paul hears him chatting about eye sight, WW1, his book Hark! The Biography of Christmas and the history podcast, The British Broadcasting Century, and much more!

Paul Kerensa travels around the UK constantly on tour with his various shows, currently it's carols and comedians visiting churches which is a whole heap of fun and gets you in the mood for Christmas, but away from that he's written for top TV shows like Miranda, Not Going Out, Top Gear, TFI Friday, The Royal Variety Performance. Over the next couple of weeks, Paul chats with us about his health, faith and of course Christmas!

This one covers BBC election night broadcasting from 1922 all the way up to the present day. It's a crossover episode with Paul Kerensa of The British Broadcasting Century Podcast and we were joined by Gary Rodger, author of the book Swing: A Brief History of British General Election Night Broadcasting.   Support the Show.

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 couldn't record anything until 1932, when the Blattnerphone came along. So how did this 1924 broadcast manage to be retained? For decades, it wasn't. A 1964 episode of Desert Island Discs tells the tale, of how their 1936/1955 Scrapbook for 1924 programme aired without the recording, but with a sad admission that there was none... till a listener got in touch. Dorothy Jones' husband had recorded the king off-air via a home-made device. Thanks to him, and her, and Scrapbook producer Leslie Baily, we have this sole recording of the 20s' Beeb. It's quite a tale. The broadcast alone was revolutionary - with 10 million people listening via loudspeakers on street corners, brand new radio sets for their homes... even Downton Abbey hired in its first wireless set (but will Lord Grantham keep it? Oh go on then...) Hear all about the momentous exhibition, the broadcast, the recording, and a rundown of royals who ruled the airwaves - and it goes back further than you might think. Hear too of brand new research into an unheralded royal radio encounter from 1906 - before even 'the world's first broadcast' took place, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra (Palace) were enjoying a 'radio' whistling solo and a personalised greeting. Thanks for listening. Do share, rate, review, rant, rave, tell people about the podcast. It's a solo operation - not made by the BBC, just by comedian & writer Paul Kerensa. So thanks!   SHOWNOTES: If you enjoyed this, make sure you've listened to our episode on The History of Coronation Broadcasts and A Brief History of the BBC Archives. Listen to the 1924 recording of the Prince of Wales and King George V. Listen to the 1923 gramophone record of King George V and Queen Mary. Listen to the 1923 recording of President Woodrow Wilson - the world's earliest recording of broadcast radio. See the picture of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra encounter 'the talking arc' via our Facebook group or on Twitter. (search for 'talking arc') We try to only use clips long beyond copyright - but any BBC copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. Original music is by Will Farmer. Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), and gain bonus videos and writings in return - we're reading the first book on radio, Cecil Lewis' Broadcasting from Within, for example. Hear all instalments read to you: patreon.com/posts/patron-vid-savoy-75950901 ...Interested in joining a live actual walking tour around those first BBC landmarks? I'm thinking of running one, summer 2024. Email paul at paulkerensa dot com for details of when. Paul's on tour: An Evening of (Very) Old Radio could be playing in your town. If not (likely), book it! Details: www.paulkerensa.com/tour More info on this radio history project at:  paulkerensa.com/oldradio

Is religion funny? Or are some subjects just too sacred for satire?Religious institutions are large establishments, but does this give people the right to joke about them? And can religion itself be seen as funny? Aleem Maqbool talks to Eman El Husseini, Muslim comedian, and wife of Jewish comic Jess Salomon who together hosted Comedians vs The News on BBC World Service, about her belief that religion itself is funny and how this influences her stand-up material. Comedians Rachel Creeger, Paul Kerensa, and Aatif Nawaz join our panel to discuss when they started to joke about faith, whether they think religion is funny and whether we should draw a line between what we should and shouldn't joke about. Producers: Katharine Longworth and Rebecca Maxted Assistant Producer: Ruth Purser

Snaking across 4,000 miles and 11 African countries, the River Nile is perhaps the most famous river on planet earth. The 80 billion gallons of water that flow through its banks each day give life to countless animals and ecosystems - from crocodiles and hippos, to rare species of fish, plants, and people. But who has tried to harness the power of this river, and why have so many failed? What cultures have grown from the Nile's waters? And why are emperors, prophets, writers, Kings and Queens, drawn to its famous banks? This is a Short History Of the River Nile. Written by Paul Kerensa. With thanks to Robert Twigger, author of Red Nile: A Biography of the World's Greatest River. Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You'll also get ad-free listening, bonus material, and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you're on Spotify or Android, go to noisier.com/subscriptions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here in America, the day after Christmas is simply that: the day after. The party's over. But in England, it's an official holiday. December 26 — Boxing Day — is the Christmas afterparty you've been missing out on. What's the story? And what does it have to do with boxing? Paul Kerensa joins Christmas Past to...unpack the box.   Mentioned in this Episode Paul Kerensa Hark! The Biography of Christmas, by Paul Kerensa Music in this Episode "Good King Wenceslas" — U.S. Army Band, via Wikimedia Commons "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" — DJ Williams, via Youtube Audio Library "In the Bleak Midwinter" — Julius H., via Pixabay "Emotional Piano Improvisation" — Alexander Nakarada, via Film Music "Holiday Gift" — Kai Engel, via Free Music Archive Section from A Christmas Carol read by Peter John Keeble, courtesy of Librivox

A 3-minute synopsis of Season 4 Episode 1 with Paul Kerensa.  Get a flavour of the fun, albeit no substitute for the full-fat version. #fun #faith #podcast #christianity #comedy #lifestory #snapshotThanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and find more Take A Pew stuff on https://www.youtube.com/@thetakeapewpodcast/

Yes - the pew is back.  Huzzah!  And what a great way to kick off the new season with none other than Paul Kerensa.  Comedian, writer, podcaster, broadcaster, historian. Oh, and Occasional Preacher.  Cue a laughter-laden chat about the world of stand-up, some behind-the-scenes insight into TV comedy, amazing snippets of BBC history, and the all-important debate as to whether prawns can ethically eat prawn cocktail crisps.Check out Paul's rich and varied work at www.paulkerensa.comThanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and find more Take A Pew stuff on https://www.youtube.com/@thetakeapewpodcast/

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 legendary interwar comedy troupe. The cast includes Stanley Holloway (later of My Fair Lady) and, weirdly, the ex of the prince getting married. Whoops. We also explore a landmark pre-BBC broadcast by The Co-Optimists, in the summer of 1921. It's London's first broadcast, and pretty much the only legal broadcast of 1921. We'll explain why, and you'll hear them in full flow. Plus, for those who prefer their comedy more recent, we've got comedy writers James Cary and Simon Dunn, as well as Hi-De-Hi's Jeffrey Holland, telling us about later BBC comedy from The Goons to Bottom, via Steptoe, Dad's Army and Roy Clarke's ovens. It's a lot to pack in, so it's a longer episode than we usually go for, but we trust you'll be entertained, or at least informed about being entertained, or educated about being informed about being entertained...   SHOWNOTES: Simon Dunn's books include Proctology: A Bottom Examination. James Cary's books include The Gospel According to a Sitcom Writer. Paul Kerensa's books include Hark! The Biography of Christmas - also available as an audiobook. Hear The Co-Optimists via this Youtube channel. Alan Stafford's article on John Henry and the first BBC topical comedy.  A photo of 'Listening to the Gala Concert at Harrods' (thanks Andrew Barker!) - 26 April 1923. A photo of the Beaver Hut, Strand (the site of the later Bush House) - Summer 1921. Sidney Nicholson's wedding anthem - Beloved Let Us Love One Another - hosted by the English Heritage Music Series at University of Minnesota. We are nothing to do with the BBC - this is a solo independent operation. Support us at Patreon.com/paulkerensa - £5/mth gets you videos galore. Paul's on tour this Sept/Oct with An Evening of (Very) Old Radio - paulkerensa.com/tour. Music by Will Farmer. Subscribe, Rate, Review, Thanks! NEXT TIME: Music! With Percy Pitt in 1923 and ex Radio 1 boss Johnny Beerling in the present day, reflecting on 1967+. paulkerensa.com/oldradio

Ian talks to writer and comedian Paul Kerensa on the Hope FM Breakfast Show. FIRST BROADCAST: 28/03/2023

In this our 16th episode of Season 2, we look back over the previous episodes. Thanks to our guests: Melody Reed, David Nussbaum, Marneta Viegas, Hannah Pekary, Joanne Gilchrist, Emma Major, Cassie Swift, Dr Rebecca Dinsdale, Seb Barwick, Cara Jackson, LucyKate Newland, Zara Salloway and Paul Kerensa. You can find our previous episodes on Anchor (https://anchor.fm/the-raise-podcast/), Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-raise-podcast-with-carol-barwick/id1539218179) and Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/22nHtD7rxmbNjlnKEQKkEh?si=622a0a41ecf54d9b). You can find Raise on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/raise_raisingconfidence/) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/raise4all).

In this our 16th episode of Season 2, we look back over the previous episodes. Thanks to our guests: Melody Reed, David Nussbaum, Marneta Viegas, Hannah Pekary, Joanne Gilchrist, Emma Major, Cassie Swift, Dr Rebecca Dinsdale, Seb Barwick, Cara Jackson, LucyKate Newland, Zara Salloway and Paul Kerensa. You can find our previous episodes on Anchor (https://anchor.fm/the-raise-podcast/), Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-raise-podcast-with-carol-barwick/id1539218179) and Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/22nHtD7rxmbNjlnKEQKkEh?si=622a0a41ecf54d9b). You can find Raise on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/raise_raisingconfidence/) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/raise4all).

British Comedy Award-winning writer, comedian and broadcaster Paul Kerensa has co-written TV shows including Not Going Out, Miranda, Top Gear and TFI Friday, as well as radio shows including The Now Show, The News Quiz and Dead Ringers. As a comedian he's performed at The Comedy Store, Jongleurs, Montreal Comedy Festival, Edinburgh Festival, as well as churches and cathedrals. On Radio 2 Breakfast Show he broadcasts regular Pause for Thought slots, and presents on BBC Radio Sussex/Surrey. He's written ten books, including bestseller Hark! The Biography of Christmas. His new book is his first novel - Auntie and Uncles: The Bizarre Birth of the BBC, based on his podcast The British Broadcasting Century. PaulKerensa.com paulkerensa.comfacebook.com/paul.kerensainstagram.com/paulkerensatwitter.com/paulkerensayoutube.com/paulkerensatv

British Comedy Award-winning writer, comedian and broadcaster Paul Kerensa has co-written TV shows including Not Going Out, Miranda, Top Gear and TFI Friday, as well as radio shows including The Now Show, The News Quiz and Dead Ringers. As a comedian he's performed at The Comedy Store, Jongleurs, Montreal Comedy Festival, Edinburgh Festival, as well as churches and cathedrals. On Radio 2 Breakfast Show he broadcasts regular Pause for Thought slots, and presents on BBC Radio Sussex/Surrey. He's written ten books, including bestseller Hark! The Biography of Christmas. His new book is his first novel - Auntie and Uncles: The Bizarre Birth of the BBC, based on his podcast The British Broadcasting Century. PaulKerensa.com paulkerensa.comfacebook.com/paul.kerensainstagram.com/paulkerensatwitter.com/paulkerensayoutube.com/paulkerensatv

If you turned on your wireless set 100 years ago, what would you have heard? Katie Razzall looks back at the earliest days of the BBC as it celebrates its centenary, hearing how the idea of a single, national broadcaster came into being. Early broadcasts involved reading out railway timetables and mocking up Big Ben's chimes on tubular bells, but very quickly the power of wireless broadcasting became apparent. From debates about the difficulties of enforcing the licence fee to fraught deals with newspapers and live performers who feared competition and losing audiences to the newly-formed BBC, some of the discussions have never gone away. But will the BBC last another century? Guests: Mark Damazer, executive at the BBC for more than 30 years, including as controller of Radio 4; Jean Seaton, professor of media history at the University of Westminster and an official historian of the BBC; Paul Kerensa, broadcaster on BBC Radio Essex and producer of the podcast British Broadcasting Century, which tells the story of the BBC from the beginning; Emily Bell, founding director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School. Presenter: Katie Razzall Producer: Tim Bano

Welcome to Body Talk with Becks , brought to you by Becks Carlyle ! In this week's episode Navelless Gazing we chat with Paul Kerensa about growing up with Bladder Exstrophy and trying to bring the topic into the entertainment industry. Thank you for listening! If you wish to come on the show as either an expert or to share your story, please use the contact page on https://body-talk-with-becks.captivate.fm (Body Talk with Becks website) .

After an extended break to allow our massive team to shift its attention to our most recent podcast series, https://www.kinoquickies.com/ (Kino Quickies), we return to Soho Bites with the 1948 murder mystery, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0178645 (It Happened in Soho). It's safe to say, the film had a very small budget and doesn't have the highest of production values but it does boast a major star, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Murdoch (Richard “Stinker” Murdoch). At the time the film was made, Murdoch was a big BBC radio star, having starred, at this stage, in two huge radio comedy hits - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band_Waggon (Band Waggon) with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Askey (Arthur Askey) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh (Much Binding in the Marsh) with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Horne (Kenneth Horne). To talk about It Happened in Soho, we welcomed https://www.paulkerensa.com/ (Paul Kerensa) to the show.  Paul is a stand up comedian and, most importantly for our purposes, is the creator of the epic https://bbcentury.podbean.com/ (British Broadcasting Century) podcast - who better to talk to about a film starring one of early broadcasting's biggest names. At the time of writing, It Happened in Soho is available to watch on https://www.tptvencore.co.uk/Video/It-Happened-In-Soho?id=fecf033c-c9a6-417a-aef5-ca40c260a1ab (TPTV Encore)... ... and Band Waggon is on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUP8n9mmwa0 (YouTube). Watch Richard Murdoch, in later life, talking about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nEJYkHtzns (Much Binding in the Marsh). To begin the show, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Mark-Brisenden/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3AMark+Brisenden (Mark Brisenden) makes a return visit to Soho Bites talk about the London venue at which nearly all BBC radio comedies were recorded between 1946 and 1995 - https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/buildings/paris-studios/ (The Paris Studios) on Lower Regent St. Mark worked on https://www.angelfire.com/pq/radiohaha/WE.html (Week Ending) and https://www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk/still-going-strong-at-80 (The News Huddlines) and was the creator of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flywheel,_Shyster,_and_Flywheel_(1990_radio_series) (Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel) - all of which were recorded at the Paris. During our conversation, Mark points out that the 1950 film, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043078/ (The 20 Questions Murder Mystery), was set at the Paris.  You can watch that film at https://archive.org/details/20-questions-murder-mystery-1950_202106 (Archive.org). https://dominicdelargy.wordpress.com/farewell-to-the-paris/ (The pictures) Mark brought from the last night of the Paris. Between March & May 2022,  we ran a series of screenings of 1930s quota quickie films at thehttps://www.kinodigital.co.uk/cinema-venues/kino-bermondsey/ ( Kino Cinema) in Bermondsey.  Each screening was followed by a Q&A with our resident quickie expert, Dr Lawrence Napper of Kings College London and a specially invited expert guest.  We will be returning to the Kino in the autumn for season 2 but, in the meantime, you can hear the Kino Quickies podcast athttps://kinoquickies.com/ ( KinoQuickies.com). You can also follow us onhttps://twitter.com/KinoQuickies ( Twitter) and https://www.facebook.com/KinoQuickies (Facebook). The originator of Soho Bites,https://twitter.com/jinganyoung ( Dr Jingan Young), has a new book coming out all about.... guess what? Films set in Soho!  Get your copy athttps://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/philosophy-psychology-social-sciences/soho-on-screen-cinematic-spaces-of,jingan-young-peter-bradshaw-9781800734777 ( Foyles). Thank you for listening. Follow us onhttps://my.captivate.fm/Twitter ( Twitter) Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com Leave us ahttps://ratethispodcast.com/sohobites ( rating & review) Please make a teeny weenyhttps://ko-fi.com/sohobitespodcast ( donation)...

On the podcast this week, the comedian and writer Paul Kerensa talks about the expanding and lucrative world of the Christian film industry. Paul has written two features for the Church Times exploring a century's worth of Christian film. The first part was on cinema, and the second part on the rise of streaming services. Both can be read at https://www.churchtimes.co.uk Paul is a writer of books including So a Comedian Walks into a Church, TV shows including Not Going Out and Miranda, and plays including The First Broadcast, which is on tour now: https://paulkerensa.com/tour Try 10 issues of the Church Times for £10 or get two months access to our website and apps, also for £10. Go to churchtimes.co.uk/new-reader.

On January 8th 1923, British broadcasting left the studio for the first time. William Crampton had the idea, Arthur Burrows seized on it, John Reith approved it, Cecil Lewis kept interrupting it with stage directions and synopses... Hear all about it here on episode 43, with the voices of Peter Eckersley, Harold Bishop, Arthur Burrows, A.E. Thompson and Percy Edgar. Plus Dr Kate Murphy tells us about the first radio 'aunt', Aunt Sophie/Cecil Dixon. And what John Reith did for the first time on January 6th. You won't believe it... This episode is drawn from over a dozen books and the like, including research at the marvellous BBC Written Archives Centre in Caversham. What a place! What a team. Cecil Lewis' book Broadcasting from Within is quoted from extensively, and I'm reading it IN ITS ENTIRETY for our matrons and patrons on Patreon.com/paulkerensa at the 'superhero' level. If you sign up, even for one month and cancel, you're helping keep this podcast afloat, so thank you. BUT I'm making part 5 of my reading of it available to EVERYONE. This is the except that's all about this first outside broadcast, so if you'd like to hear me read it and talk about it, it's all here for you, whether you're a Patreon subscriber or not: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63268433 - Enjoy! My play The First Broadcast is touring the land - details at https://www.paulkerensa.com/tour - or get in touch to book it in for your venue.  Find us on social media at www.twitter.com/bbcentury or www.facebook.com/bbcentury or www.facebook.com/groups/bbcentury And do subscribe, share, rate and review us. It all helps spread this little project, which is NOTHING to do with the BBC - it's just a one-man band. OTHER THINGS: Original music is by Will Farmer. Many of our archive clips are old enough to be public domain. BBC content is used with kind permission, BBC copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. This podcast is 100% unofficial and NOTHING to do with the present-day BBC - it's entirely run, researched, presented and dogsbodied by Paul Kerensa. Be on the show! Email me a written ‘Firsthand Memory' (FM) about a time you've seen radio or TV in action. Or record a voice memo of your ‘Airwave Memories' (AM), 1-2mins of your earliest memories of radio/TV. Get in touch! Next time: The Birmingham and Holland stations. Yes, Holland... Happy listening!

Episode 41 (aka Season 3 episode 2): On January 2nd 1923, John Reith interviewed Miss Frances Isobel Shields for a job at the BBC, to be his secretary. At the time the BBC had four or five male staff members. Miss Shields started work on January 8th, instantly making the BBC a 20% female organisation. It's been greater than that ever since. This episode's fab guest is Dr Kate Murphy: academic, former producer of BBC's Woman's Hour and author of Behind the Wireless: A History of Early Women at the BBC. Her book is brilliant and highly recommended for a deep dive into the subject. Hear Isobel Shields' tale, plus the women who broadcast before her: Britain's first DJ Gertrude Donisthorpe, 2LO's first children's presenter Vivienne Chatterton, and one of our first broadcast comedians Helena Millais. (You can hear their fuller tales if you go back to the earlier episodes on this podcast.) And hear about some of the women who joined the BBC soon after Miss Shields, like telephonist Olive May and women's staff supervisor Caroline Banks. Plus hear about some of John Reith's unusual management practices, from taking his secretaries to the cinema to his brutal firing criteria. But we dwell on his hiring not firing, as well tell the origin story of British broadcasting.  And Dr Murphy will return on future episodes! With tales of the first Women's Hour (not Woman's Hour) in May 1923, and the early female managers, like Mary Somerville and Hilda Matheson. To catch those episodes, you'll have to stay subscribed to this podcast.  While you're there, would you give us a review where you found this podcast? It all helps bring new listeners on board. And that helps grow the project. If you'd consider sharing what we do too, please do tell anyone who might like this - either on social media or in a real-world conversation! Just drop us in. You never know, next time you meet, you could be discussing the inner workings of Marconi House. If you REALLY like what we do, please consider supporting us on patreon.com/paulkerensa or ko-fi.com/paulkerensa. It all helps equip us with books and web hosting and trips to the amazing BBC Written Archives Centre. In this podcast I mention my latest Patreon video, going behind-the-scenes of my broadcasting history trawl, inc. a glimpse at my new (old) crystal set radio, 'on this day' on the 1923 BBC (with a nice surprise), and a reading about Reith. This video's available to all Patreon folks whatever their 'level' - www.patreon.com/posts/60853999 - so if you like, join, watch, then cancel. Or stick around for more videos and writings each month. You can follow us on Twitter or our Facebook page or join our Facebook group, and say hi, or share anything of broadcasting history. Paul's one-man play The First Broadcast tours the UK in 2022. There's now an official trailer you can watch here. The first date's in Surbiton on Feb 2nd, then Leicester Comedy Festival on Feb 3rd, Banbury on March 3rd, Barnes on March 25th, London's Museum of Comedy on April 21st AND Nov 14th, plus Bristol, Bath, Blandford Forum, Kettering, Guildford... and your place? Got a venue? Get in touch. We also mention the BBC 100 website - inc. the 100 Objects, Faces and Voices. Who's missing? Let us know!   OTHER THINGS: Original music is by Will Farmer. Many of our archive clips are old enough to be public domain. BBC content is used with kind permission, BBC copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. This podcast is 100% unofficial and NOTHING to do with the present-day BBC - it's entirely run, researched, presented and dogsbodied by Paul Kerensa. Be on the show! Email me a written ‘Firsthand Memory' (FM) about a time you've seen radio or TV in action. Or record a voice memo of your ‘Airwave Memories' (AM), 1-2mins of your earliest memories of radio/TV. Get in touch! Next time: All change! Mics, Callsigns and Phone-in Requests - we race through week 1 of 1923 as the BBC prepares for the first Outside Broadcast...   More details on this whole project at paulkerensa.com/oldradio  

Happy New Year, 1923! And Happy New Season: 3, that is, as we tell the story of the BBC's 3rd-6th months. Formative times at Auntie Beeb, as the staff grows from 4 in one room to a new premises at Savoy Hill. Season 3 begins with this, episode 40 overall, on New Year's Day 1923. John Reith, Arthur Burrows, Cecil Lewis and Major Anderson begin work in the one-room BBC, like an Amish schoolhouse. Each day, the number of staff and visitors grow - and helpfully Reith, Burrows and Lewis all wrote vividly about the manic days of Magnet House - home to the BBC for the first four months of 1923. We're grateful to the books: Broadcasting from Within by C.A. Lewis The Story of Broadcasting by A.R. Burrows The Reith Diaries, edited by Charles Stuart Broadcasting over Britain by J.C.W. Reith Into the Wind by J.C.W. Reith Plus you'll hear from the 5th (or 6th) BBC employee, Rex Palmer in a rare clip of 1920s broadcasting. More up to date, 'Diddy' David Hamilton is our guest - the man with the greatest listening figures in the history of British radio. David's books, The Golden Days of Radio 1, and Commercial Radio Daze, are available at ashwaterpress.co.uk.  Part 1 of our interview with David was on episode 30, and part 3 will be on a future episode. Want to watch, in-vision, the full interview? Join our band of matrons and patrons on Patreon - the full video is here. And THANK YOU to all who support us there, and keep us afloat as a one-man-band of a podcast. You'll also find on Patreon, my readings-with-interruptions of Cecil Lewis' book Broadcasting from Within - the first book on broadcasting. Part 1 and Part 2 will be followed, of course, by Part 3 - and if you want it sooner, dear Patreon subscriber, just ask and I'll read/record/upload pronto. We also mention in this episode: Paul Kerensa's interview with BBC Radio Norfolk's Paul Hayes on Treasure Quest: Extra Time, about the making of this podcast. Available for a limited time on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0b8qc1d The first regular listings of London 2LO in The Pall Mall Gazette. See the full listing on our Twitter profile or in our Facebook group - and thanks to Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker for sending them our way. Paul's one-man play The First Broadcast, touring the UK in 2022. The first date's in Surbiton on Feb 2nd, then Leicester Comedy Festival on Feb 3rd, Banbury on March 3rd, Barnes on March 25th, London's Museum of Comedy on April 21st AND Nov 14th, plus Bristol, Blandford Forum, Kettering, Guildford... and your place? Got a venue? Get in touch.   OTHER THINGS: Be on the show! Email me a written ‘Firsthand Memory' (FM) about a time you've seen radio or TV in action. Or record a voice memo of your ‘Airwave Memories' (AM), 1-2mins of your earliest memories of radio/TV. Get in touch! Please do rate/review us where you get your podcasts - it helps others find us. We are a one-man operation! We need your help. Archive clips are old enough to be public domain in this episode. This podcast is NOTHING to do with the present-day BBC - it's entirely run, researched, presented and dogsbodied by Paul Kerensa. Original music is by Will Farmer. Next time: The story continues with the first female employee of the BBC, Isobel Shields...   www.paulkerensa.com

Hullo hullo-ho-ho! Welcome to 2021's Christmas special, unwrapping a dozen Christmas broadcasting presents, from the past, to see what makes a classic BBC Christmas schedule. Our guest Ben Baker is a podcaster and author of festive books including the new Ben Baker's Christmas Box: 40 Years of the Best, Worst and Weirdest Christmas TV Ever (available on Amazon or Linktree). Like the Ghost of Broadcasting Past, he guides us through the Queen's Speech, Top of the Pops, Noel Edmonds, Christmas films, bizarre hospital visits, and ample more. Your host Paul Kerensa is a Christmas cultural fanatic - and quotes amply from his book Hark! The Biography of Christmas, especially the bits on royal Christmas speeches and Morecambe and Wise viewing figures. Paul's book is available in paperback, ebook or audiobook. Or get a signed copy direct from Paul (£10 inc p&p). Buy both books! Ideal Christmas present - any time of the year... Plus do you hear what I hear? Two monarchs with their landmark Christmas messages - the first on radio and the first on TV. And back by popular demand, some genuine 1923 ads from Popular Wireless magazine brought to vocal life, by broadcaster Paul Hayes and my kids. Paul Hayes also has a blog we mention - he's watching every version of A Christmas Carol that he can find, and reports the results on watchingthecarol.blogspot.com. That's a lot of humbug. Speaking blogs, host Paul Kerensa has a 'Yule blog', on festive history, going back far beyond the birth of broadcasting. This is our last special before we embark on season 3, and 1923. So next episode, it's full steam ahead into Magnet House as the six-week-old BBC gets a staff and one office. Aw. Join us!   OTHER WAYS TO BE PART OF THIS BROADCASTING HISTORY MEGA-PROJECT: Be on the show! Email me a written ‘Firsthand Memory' (FM) about a time you've seen radio or TV up close, a recording, a live broadcast, a studio, an OB. What surprised you about it? Or record a voice memo of your ‘Airwave Memories' (AM), 1-2mins of your earliest memories hearing/seeing radio/TV. Get in touch! Paul's new one-man play The First Broadcast is now booking for dates in 2022. Got a venue? Book me for your place. Here's one - The Museum of Comedy. Join me there on November 14th 2022, the exact date of the BBC's 100th birthday! Please do rate/review us where you get your podcasts - it helps others find us. We are a one-man operation! We need your help. Some of you actually like the podcast enough to financially support it! Just a few quid a month all adds up and keeps us on books, research and web-hosting. I'll soon be visiting the BBC Written Archives Centre at Caversham - but it all costs! Fancy chipping in? Patreon.com/paulkerensa means I give you extra video, audio, advance writings etc in return for a few pounds... ...or Ko-fi.com/paulkerensa tips me the price of a coffee as a one-off. Thanks! It all helps make more podcasts. Join our Facebook group! Follow us on Twitter! Join Paul's mailing list! inc info on his writing, writing courses (one starts in January), stand-up, radio etc. Archive clips are old enough to be public domain in this episode. This podcast is NOTHING to do with the present-day BBC - it's entirely run, researched, presented and dogsbodied by Paul Kerensa. Original music is by Will Farmer. Next time: Season 3 begins with New Year 1923 at Magnet House. Join us...    www.paulkerensa.com  

This week's podcast returns to a Christmas interview from 2017, when Ed Thornton spoke to Paul Kerensa, the stand-up comic and comedy writer, about his book, Hark! The biography of Christmas (Lion Books) (Books, 24 November 2017). They also talked about comedy gigs in churches, comedy and evangelism, and whether preachers should tell jokes in sermons. Paul's latest book, written with Ruth Valerio, is Planet Protectors: 52 ways to look after God's world (SPCK) (Features, 22 October). His other books include Noah's Car Park Ark (SPCK) (Books, 22 June 2018) and So a Comedian Walks Into a Church . . . Confessions of a kneel-down stand-up (DLT) (Books, 12 July 2013). Paul hosts the podcast British Broadcasting Century, and more information about his work, including upcoming gigs, is available at paulkerensa.com. Paul has also written for the BBC sitcom Not Going Out, some CBBC shows, and some pre-school animations for churches out next year. Treat friends and family to a gift subscription this year. We'll send a Christmas card announcing your gift - and your choice of one of two free books! https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/christmas

Marconi may have invented wireless, and the wireless, but he didn't see broadcasting coming. A special for episode 38, as we bring to life an interview with Guglielmo Marconi on what he made of broadcasting, two months into the BBC's existence. Our source is Popular Wireless magazine, January 27th 1923 issue. Read along if you like (plus bits from December 1922) - thank you to WorldRadioHistory.com for housing this long lost magazine. Needless to say, we don't claim any rights to the wonderful old magazine, and while we THINK it's either public domain or its rights owners are untraceable, we humbly defer to whoever DOES own the rights - and are ever grateful to the original journalists, editors, owners... and of course to Marconi himself. Given that Popular Wireless magazine was full of ads for radios and parts - and given the BBC then and now is ad-free - we thought it might be fun to bring some of those ads to life too, thanks to listeners who've sent in recordings. Applause for Gordon Bathgate, Alan Stafford, Andrew Barker, Paul Hayes, Lovejit Dhaliwal, Neil Jackson, Philip Rowe, Richard Kenny, Wayne Clarke, and my kids. There's a grateful thanks to Radio Times for making us their Podcast of the Week - and a little more about the pictures they featured of radio's female pioneers (see below for links to episodes about them). We wrap up with a summary of what the BBC has planned for its BBC100 season, now that its centenary programming has been announced - everything from Dimbleby to Horrible Histories.   OTHER THINGS WE MENTION: CRH News - Andy Stephens has some lovely Marconi history videos and features on his Youtube channel. Marconibooks.co.uk is where you'll find Tim Wander's fab books, including the recent From Marconi to Melba. I point you to a few of our previous episodes: on the first BBC Christmas, on Britain's first DJ Gertrude Donisthorpe, on radio's first professional singer Winifred Sayer, and on first radio comedian Helena Millais. See our feature in the Radio Times here on our Facebook page - Podcast of the Week! Buy my festive history book Hark! The Biography of Christmas from an indie bookshop like St Andrews (£6.99), from Amazon (inc audiobook), or a signed copy direct from me (£10 inc p&p). You can email me to add to the show. eg. Your ‘Firsthand Memories' - in text form, a time you've seen radio or TV being broadcast before your eyes: a studio, an outside broadcast - what were your behind-the-scenes insights? Or record your ‘Airwave Memories' (AM) - a voice memo of 1-2mins of your earliest memories hearing/seeing radio/TV. Be on the podcast! My new one-man play The First Broadcast is now booking for dates in 2022. Got a venue? Book me for your place. Here's one - The Museum of Comedy. Join me, in April or in November on the very date of the BBC's 100th birthday! Thanks for joining us on Patreon if you do - or if you might! It supports the show and keeps us in books, which I then devour to add the podcast melting pot. In return, I give you video, audio, advance writings etc. Buy me a coffee ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks! It all helps make more podcasts. Join our Facebook group... Follow us on Twitter... Rate and review this podcast where you found it... It all helps others find us.  My mailing list is here - sign up for updates on all I do, writing, teaching writing, stand-up, radio etc. Archive clips are either public domain or used with kind permission from the BBC, copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. Oh yes they are. This podcast is NOTHING to do with the present-day BBC - it's entirely run, researched, presented and dogsbodied by Paul Kerensa. Original music is by Will Farmer. Next time: The Twelve Shows of Christmas: Your Fantasy Schedule, from Noel Edmonds to the Queen's Speech via Mrs Brown's Boys. Alright not 'fantasy'...    www.paulkerensa.com

Paul Kerensa of the British Broadcasting Century podcast gives an engaging and brisk march through the early years of British Broadcasting. https://bbcentury.podbean.com/ Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

1922 (and season 2 of the podcast) closes with, you guessed it, New Year's Eve. But this one's special. For the first time, Brits don't need to go out to celebrate. They can stay home and listen to the wireless: concerts, dance music, no Big Ben's bongs yet (the only BBC New Year without them)... and a preach from Rev Archibald Fleming. We bring you all this - including the voice of Rev Fleming himself, along with Reith, some newspaper cuttings of the day, and everything you never knew you needed to know about December 31st 1922 on the air. Plus a guest! BBC producer and presenter Paul Hayes has written a new book on the birth of the modern Doctor Who. We talk about The Long Game - 1996-2003: The Inside Story of How the BBC Brought Back Doctor Who. Get your copy by clicking that link, from Ten Acre Films publishing. Paul also tells us about his radio documentaries, Eric Maschwitz, John Snagge, Emperor Rosko (who you can hear on our early episodes) and lots more. A huge thanks to Andrew Barker for being our Newspaper Detective again and finding the listings in this episode. This may be the end of season 2, but the specials begin very soon, then very soon we'll be embarking on 1923: the year that made the BBC. So stay subscribed for more of this, and see below for transcript and shownotes. Thanks for listening!   SHOWNOTES: This podcast is NOTHING to do with the present-day BBC - it's entirely run, researched, presented and corralled by Paul Kerensa, who you can email if you want to add something to the show on radio history. Your contributions are welcome. My new one-man play The First Broadcast is now booking for dates in 2022. Got a venue? Book me for your place. Here's one - The Museum of Comedy. Join me, in April or in November on the very date of the BBC's 100th birthday! Thanks for joining us on Patreon if you do - or if you might! It supports the show, keeps it running, keeps me in books, which I then devour and add it all to the mixing-pot of research for this podcast. In return, I give you video, audio, advance writings, an occasional reading from C.A. Lewis' 1924 book Broadcasting From Within etc. Thanks if you've ever bought me a coffee at ko-fi.com/paulkerensa. Again, it all helps keep us afloat. We talk about the Doctor Who memos on the podcast this time. The reports in 1962 on a possible sci-fi show. Want to read them? Here they are! Five reports - just scroll down to 'Doctor Who'. Fascinating reading. We post more interesting links like that in our British Broadcasting Century Facebook group. Join us there! I post similar things on Twitter too - The British Broadcasting Century Twitter profile is here. Do follow. My other podcast of interviews is A Paul Kerensa Podcast. Have a listen! Please rate and review this podcast where you found it... and keep liking/sharing/commenting on what we do online. It all helps others find us.  My mailing list is here - sign up for updates on all I do, writing, teaching writing, stand-up, radio etc. My books are available here or orderable from bookshops, inc Hark! The Biography of Christmas. Coming in 2022: a novel on all this radio malarkey. And don't forget Paul Hayes' book The Long Game - 1996-2003: The Inside Story of How the BBC Brought Back Doctor Who is available now. Archive clips are either public domain or used with kind permission from the BBC, copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.   APPROXIMATE TRANSCRIPT: Previously on the podcast... 1922, what a year! In January, PostGen Mr Kellaway announces he'll allow 15min of speech and music alongside 15min of Morse, from just one station, and only to calibrate wireless sets. In February, 2MT Writtle goes on the air, with that weekly 30min transmission, again, just for calibration purposes. Yeah right. In March, Peter Eckersley seizes the mic on 2MT Writtle, and wins over the hearts and minds, but mainly ears of the nation In April, Reith leaves Scotland for London to find work. In May, Marconi's begins a second station, 2LO London, and MetroVick began 2ZY Manchester. In June, the PostGen insists the companies get together and thrash out how to get along! In July, the companies decide to form not two companies, but one. In August, the BBC is formed – when govt tell them to get a move on. In September, a big wireless exhibition, to sell radios to the masses. In October, the press problem is hammered out. In November, the BBC launches! In December, the first four staff are hired. What a year!   This time, year's end – the sun sets on British broadcasting's birth year. We'll bring you the programming for the first BBC New Year's Eve, including the voices of those who rang the year out.   No Big Ben's bongs just yet. Just the end of the beginning, and the end of season 2, pretty much.   Plus our special guest, BBC Radio Norfolk's Paul Hayes, with tell of his new book on Doctor Who.   This is the last episode of Season 2. See, my original plan was to call it season 2 all the way to end of 1923. But now we've reached the end of 1922, it does feel, a change is coming in the fledgeling British Broadcasting of the early 20s.   For 10 or so episodes, we've covered the pre-Reith BBC. The pre-Magnet House BBC. The make it up as you go along BBC.   So I feel we should mark the move to the Reith era with a new season. Season 3! A line in the sand, as they cross the threshold into the New Year, and into Magnet House.   Here's the plan – you'll recall we had a few specials on the podcast between seasons 1 and 2. Well I think let's have at least one special, next time, and we've got one ready and waiting.   So after New Year this ep, next ep will be the special episode we recorded for The History of England podcast. It's essentially the entire podcast so far told in half an hour. Some clips you'll have heard her, some you won't have. If you've heard The H of E podcast special, you'll have heard most of next time's episode, but a) it's nice to have it all in one place, and b) I'll add some new bits.   Meanwhile, one more episode of season 2 then – this one, on the first BBC New Year.   Dec 30th: John Reith's first day of work.   Well one thing we didn't mention last time is he ended his first day in charge by writing a letter, to his former best friend, and perhaps one-time lover, Charlie Bowser. See episode 15: John Reith Mastermind for details of Charlie.   He was Reith's best friend and then some. Reith was always finding Charlie deputy roles in every job Reith worked in – from the army to Beardsmore's Glasgow factory. Reith wanted Charlie Bowser by his side. Until, that is, they had a massive falling out, over, you guessed it, women. They both got married, and maybe they were never destined to. Reith's wife Muriel seemed to fit in ok – though both John and Charlie loved her – John Reith even thought Charlie loved Muriel more than he did, and he was married to her.   But when Charlie married a woman Reith nicknamed ‘Jezebel', it drove a wedge between the two men.   Still, Reith always wrote to Charlie on his birthday. So he did in late 1922, and got a rather blunt reply from Charlie.   “Smug little cad” wrote Reith in his diary after his first day of work. “Of course if only things had been otherwise, he could have been Assistant General Manager of this new concern.”   He had left Charlie behind.   If they hadn't had such a falling out, I've no doubt Charlie would have been Deputy DG, and Reith-era BBC would have been somewhat different – possibly more relaxed.   Instead, the no2 job of the BBC, would ultimately go, in 1923, to Admiral Charles Carpendale – a man who came to see each BBC building as a ship, with decks, and crewmates. And some say Broadcasting House was even constructed that way. You see NBH today, it still looks like a small ocean liner. With a Starbucks.   But Charlie was not to be part of it – and Reith gloated about that fact.   But on a more optimistic note, the BBC was booming, with demand for licences sky-rocketing.   By Dec 31st, 1922: 35,774 licences issued by GPO... With just 4 employees What 2LO London had for their first New Year's broadcast: For the kids, Baden-Powell gave a message to the Scouts. Then the original listings say that NYE closed after a concert, bedtime at 10:30pm.   As NY grew nearer though, a plan formed to stay up late.   But it was a Sunday, so forget dance music, Reith knew what he wanted.   Dec 31: ‘I had told Burrows – my first order to him – that we would observe Sundays and that we should ask Dr Fleming of Pont Street to give a short religious address tonight.'   Yes, the first order of Reith's reign! To engage an End of Year Watchnight religious talk from Rev Dr Archibald Fleming, of the Church of Scotland, London branch.   Just before midnight, the hymn was sung solo: O God Our Help in Ages Past. Then there were no Big Ben chimes – but there were Burrows' tubular bells in the studio.   Popular Wireless magazine: “2LO's chimes sounded the hour and then gave a lifelike imitation of the local belfry in full swing. The peals came out excellently on a loudspeaker, and the bagpipe solo must have been a joy to any Scotsman listening-in.”   Oh yes, there were bagpipes, from Mr R Marshall, an actual piper in the studio, alongside a Mr Kenneth Ellis who sang Auld Lang Syne.   2LO's Musical Director Stanton Jefferies announced in the New Year, then Burrows said: “Hullo everybody! 2LO, the London Broadcasting station speaking. We hope you have enjoyed our little concert. I expect this is the most original way of passing watchnight you have ever experienced. 2LO wishes you a happy and prosperous New Year. May you have the best of luck! Goodbye everybody. Goodbye and the best of luck!”   Next time: The specials! Beginning with The Story So Far... So stay subscribed, tell others, and join us then. Next episode released on the 99th birthday of the BBC...

December 29th-30th 1922: General Manager John Reith begins work! The good ship Broadcasting finally gets its captain. On Episode 35 of The British Broadcasting Century, we bring you the complete tale of not only Reith's first day - the liftsman, the lone office, the "Dr Livingstone, I presume" moment - but also his commute to work, from Scotland to London via Newcastle. Here he investigates/interviews/interrogates poor Tom Payne, director of Newcastle 5NO, a BBC station that's only five days old, temporarily running from the back of a lorry in a stable-yard. We'll hear from Reith, Payne (who claims to be the only person to bank-roll a British radio station), Birmingham director Percy Edgar, early BBC governor Mary Agnes Hamitlon. Plus we'll hear from Mark Carter of BBC Radio Sussex, BBC Radio Surrey, Susy Radio, Wey Valley Radio, across which he's been presenter, producer and now Executive Editor. There's also a treasure trove of radio memoribilia including 'the green book' of what you can and can't say on the radio - in 1948 - courtesy of the collection of former BBC Head of Heritage Justin Phillips. We're ever so grateful to his family for sharing that with us.   SHOWNOTES: This episode leans on several books, the chief of which is probably Garry Alligan's 1938 book Sir John Reith, but also Asa Briggs' various books, Brian Hennessy's The Emergence of Broadcasting in Britain, and The Reith Diaries edited by Charles Stuart. Plus about a dozen others.  Join us on Patreon for a tour of my radio history bookshelf, plus extras, audio, video, an occasional reading from C.A. Lewis' 1924 book Broadcasting From Within, plus the glowing feeling of supporting this podcast. Thanks to all who support us there and keep us ticking over. For a one-off contribution, you could buy us a coffee at ko-fi.com/paulkerensa. Thanks! It all helps keep us afloat. This podcast is NOTHING to do with the present-day BBC - it's entirely run, researched, presented and corralled by Paul Kerensa, who you can email if you want to add something to the show on radio history. Your contributions are welcome. The British Broadcasting Century Facebook page is here. Join us there. The British Broadcasting Century Facebook group is here. Join us there too. The British Broadcasting Century Twitter profile is here. Join us there three. My other podcast of interviews is A Paul Kerensa Podcast. Have a listen! My mailing list is here - sign up for updates on all I do, writing, teaching writing, stand-up, radio etc. My books are available here or orderable from bookshops, inc Hark! The Biography of Christmas. Coming in 2022: a novel on all this radio malarkey. Archive clips are either public domain or used with kind permission from the BBC, copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. Please rate and review this podcast where you found it... and keep liking/sharing/commenting on what we do online. It all helps others find us.      APPROXIMATE TRANSCRIPT: Previously on the BBCentury...   The 6-week-old BBC now has 4 plucky stations! Yes, the Geordies have joined the Cockneys the Brummies and the Mancunians... Except 5NO Newcastle has had a few teething troubles. No one there's run a radio station before! So on Christmas Eve Eve 1922, their first is broadcast from the back of a lorry in a stableyard.   But fear not, with Christmas behind us, Head Office are on the case! And the BBC's first and only General Manager John Reith is well-rested, he's even asked a friend what broadcasting is, and he reckons he's ok to take control. He's always liked fishing. That's what broadcasting is... isn't it?   THIS TIME... Still puzzling out what his job is, John Reith begins work! We've got all the info on his legendary first day, his ‘Dr Livingstone I presume' moment... and his first task of running the Beeb: fixing Newcastle. He seeks to inform, educate and entertain, but first troubleshoot.   Plus bang up to date, we'll hear from a man with radio in his very fibre... local radio executive editor and presenter, from BBC Radio Sussex and BBC Radio Surrey, and Susy Radio, and Wey Valley Radio... Mark Carter   As we mark the start of the Reith era, buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride. Here on the BBCentury   TITLES   Hullo, hullo...   We've seen a few eps ago, how Reith, and Burrows, and Anderson and Lewis were all hired as the first 4 founding fathers at the BBC. But they start work at New Year. Of course, we know that those of them who were broadcasters, Burrows and Lewis – they were already workig super-hard, planning and presenting almost 7 days a week, even through Christmas.   But the start of the BBC's new era, with a head office at Magnet House, till Savoy Hill opened, all of this happens after Christmas 1922, going into New Year 1923.   So this ep, I'll tell you about Reith's first day, Dec 29th. Next episode, we'll round off with a rather sweet New Year's Eve bit of programming. Then I think we'll have a bit of a recap and a breather, before starting 1923 proper, when the BBC exploded into life, with a booming staff, the first proper live concerts from the royal opera house, and so much more.   What a tale! What an era! I wish I was there. I can't be, so next best thing, I'll spend a pandemic researching and recording this... The BBCe, now with the first day of work from John Reith!   STING   But before he starts in London, we're going super-geeky, super0detailed, and I'll actually tell you about Reith's JOURNEY to London. Because that's really notable too.   Having been appointed, and spent a day or two with Burrows and co, scouting for offices, puzzling out what broadcasting is, Reith has spent Christmas in Scotland, staying with his mum...   “I told her that I wanted her to live to see me a knight anyhow. I feel if this job succeeds and I am given grace to succeed in it, I might nt be so far off this. I do want a title for dear mother's sake, and Muriel's...”    That from Reith's diary, Dec 28th 1922. So he's keen on this job, for the authoritative position it gives him, it seems, to begin with, at least. He's turned down good deputy jobs before this point. He wanted to lead something. Anything. Even a thing he doesn't understand.   Here's a snapshot what Reith would have been completely unaware was on that Christmas, on each of the BBC's stations:   We told you all about the London Christmas last time, but from Boxing Day, you'd hear more from the brand new 2LO Orchestra, and a triumphant Boxing Day Peter Pan, Uncle Jeff and Uncle Arthur holding the fort, rewarded with many gifts from the listeners. Demand for radio sets outstripped supply. The radio boom was booming. In Brum: Percy Edgar gives his Dickens, artistes don't turn up. Callout on air. Frederick Warrander turned up, with his pianist! Manc: Christmas stories for kids, then grownups, Handel's Messiah, ghost stories Newcastle: Hawaiian band   Then there's 2MT Writtle, who've had the week off for Christmas – that's not a BBC station, but they've done the groundwork earlier in the year, and now Peter Eckersley is there pondering whether he should keep going, in this Marconi station out in Essex, now that proper broadcasting has begun – and the big boss is on his way to start work.   So Friday 29th December, Reith says bye mum, I'll come back when I'm knighted, and leaves Dunardoch for London – raring to start work the next day, a Saturday, but he wanted to get in before his small staff turns up after the weekend.   But, his Director of Progs Arthur Burrows, who knows more than almost anyone about how all this runs, he's asked his boss to make a stopover en route to Magnet House in London. Burrows wants Reith to get off the train at Newcastle, and check in on the baby station, 5NO. We talked about their launch last time – so at this point it's only 5 days old, and it's the first BBC station to be built from scratch.   Burrows has his doubts about the Newcastle staff. New station director Payne is out on a limb, setting up this new station in the northeast – with the smallest, most abandoned staff.... Probably adding to Burrows' doubts were Tom Payne's announcing habits: he kept repeating the callsign over and over: ‘This is 5NO calling, this is 5NO calling, this is 5NO calling...”   Payne was popular locally already in amateur radio circles – but would he have the chops to broadcast nationally, on radio? To fit in, with what Burrows had set in motion?   Reith's a bit reluctant to break his journey in Newcastle. Doesn't quite see why. Doesn't quite know what a radio station is. But he's quite keen to see one in action – although Newcastle's version is a stableyard, so not really your typical radio station...   ‘Newcastle at 12:30. Here I really began my BBC responsibility. Saw transmitting station and studio place and landlords. It was very interesting. Away at 4:28, London at 10:10, bed at 12:00. I am trying to keep in close touch with Christ in all I do and I pray he may keep close to me. I have a great work to do.'   Reith is dumbfounded. He's got off the train, and found Tom Payne alternating between announcing what's on the radio, playing some live musical instruments, and trying to shut up a howling dog in a nearby kennel. So did he let Mr Payne off the hook?   “As the temporary Station Director knew more than I did, as he had produced programmes of some kind or another for 5 days already... I rather naturally left him in possession for the time being.”   As for the tech setup in Newcastle, that doesn't improve too quickly. Reith will be shocked in the New Year of '23 to discover their new control room is in fact a standard public phone box installed in the middle of the studio. Forget the engineer through the glass. This was an engineer in the glass, in a glass box, closed in from before the programme started till after it finished, no ventilation, no seat, no dignity.   Come January, Reith would personally seek new premises for those provincial stations that were lacking. Eventually.   For now though, on Dec 29th, Reith leaves Newcastle, after a stopover of less than 4hrs, and continues to London.   So Reith has arrived in London, slept off his train journey, and awoken ready for his first day at the BBC. London at 10:10, bed at 12:00. I am trying to keep in close touch with Christ in all I do and I pray he may keep close to me. I have a great work to do.' At 9am that Saturday, Reith arrives at the GEC offices in Kingsway, London. “where I had been informed temporary accommodation had been at our disposal.” This is Magnet House., first offices of the BBC.   He has doubts what he'll find, but is pleased to see a large notice in the foyer: “Brit Broad Company, 2nd floor”   “This was rather reassuring. One was therefore not altogether unexpected and there really was such a thing as the BBC. Before I was permitted to enter the elevator, an enquiry was naturally made regarding my business. ‘BBC', I said deliberately. “Nobody there yet, sir,” he replied. So I told him that this was it, or part of it, one quarter approximately.”   How delightfully drole, of both Reith and the liftsman.   “A room about 30fr by 15, furnished with 3 long tables and some chairs. A door at one end invited examination: a tiny compartment 6ft sq, here a table and a chair, also a telephone. ‘This,' I thought, ‘is the general manager's office'. The door swung to behind me. I wedged it open; sat down, surveyed the emptiness of the outer office. Though various papers had accumulated in the past fortnight, I had read them all before. No point in pretending to be busy with no one to see.”   It's an unusual start for Reith then, still a little clueless as to what's required of him. He needs his staff to arrive before he can quite figure out what to do, how to run this BBC. So he picks up the phone, a bit like Manuel when he briefly takes charge of Fawlty Towers. “Manuel Towers! How are you today!” Or Alan Partridge picking up the hotel phone to find he's reached reception.   In Reith's case, he's delighted a female voice answers. Yes? “Having been unexpectedly answered, I trued hurriedly to think of a number which at 9:15am I might be properly expected to call up, on BBC business. Naturally without success. As there was no BBC business to anything with. So I enquired, somewhat fatuously, and with some embarrassment, if she had had any intrusctions about calls for the BBC or from them, and that if so, the BBC was there.” Now. Just.     This receptionist would connect many calls to R over the coming months, and years, Miss Isobel Shields.   Reith was a fan of Mr Gamage of the GEC. He was not a fan of Major Anderson, his new, brief secretary.     1/2hr later, Major Anderson, Sec, arrived 9:30am, “with some manifestation of authority”.  Silk hat, two attache cases, legal-looking books under his arm. Reith described it as a bit “Livingstone and Stanley”, each presumed the other was the Secretary or General Manager.  ‘I hadn't seen him before. It was an awful shock. I saw at once that he would never do... Conversation was not brisk...”   Then Mr Gamage, Secretary of the GEC, lovely welcoming fella. For 10 weeks, Gamage sees to their every need, and refuses all offer of payment for the room, lunch, tea, phone calls. GEC's guest.   That night Major Anderson the Sec goes home to type a letter, to invite Miss Isobel Shields to stop working for General Electric, be poached by the BBC, and become one of the first six staff members, and the first female employee.   Next time: New Year 1922!

It's Christmas! (Well not now, it's Sept 2021 as I write/record this, but it was Christmas, in 1922.) Time for a 4th BBC station... the first to be constructed from scratch under the BBC banner. Hear the voices and the troubled tale of Newcastle 5NO's shaky start, on the back of a lorry in a stableyard. Plus we'll see what 5IT Birmingham and 2ZY Manchester looked like six weeks into the BBC's being. So we'll hear from original BBC pioneers like Percy Edgar, Victor Smythe and Tom Payne as they tell us all about it. We've also got an Airwave Memory from Leila Johnston, aka The Punk Hotelier. New this time, below, a transcript. Of sorts...   SHOWNOTES: We mention Paul Hayes' marvellous documentary on BBC Radio Norfolk, on Nexus: Norfolk's Forgotten TV Station. Dead Girls Tell No Tales is the dramatisation of ITV's launch night vs The Archers special. The full Amateur Wireless article from Dec 30th 1922, on the Manchester Broadcasting Station in all its technical geekery, is here on our Facebook group. Do join it and join us! Join us on Patreon for extras, behind-the-scenes things, bonus video and audio, and the British Broadcasting Century Book Club, where I'm currently reading at you Broadcasting From Within by C.A. Lewis. And thanks to all who support us there, keeping us ticking over. For a one-off contribution, buy us a coffee at ko-fi.com/paulkerensa? Thanks! It all helps keep us (me) in books and caffeine. This podcast is NOTHING to do with the present-day BBC - it's entirely run, researched, presented and corralled by Paul Kerensa, who you can email if you want to add something to the show on radio history. Your contributions are welcome. The British Broadcasting Century Facebook page is here. Do like. I post things there. The British Broadcasting Century Facebook group is here. Do join. You post things there. The British Broadcasting Century Twitter profile is here. Do follow. My other podcast of interviews is A Paul Kerensa Podcast. Have a listen! My mailing list is here - sign up for updates on all I do, writing, teaching writing, stand-up, radio etc. My books are available here or orderable from bookshops, inc Hark! The Biography of Christmas. Ho ho ho. Archive clips are either public domain or used with kind permission from the BBC, copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. Alright? Sreserved. Please rate and review this podcast where you found it... and keep liking/sharing/commenting on what we do online. It all helps others find us.  Next time: Reith begins!   =======   Now, we've never done a transcript before. But then I just thought... I have oodles of notes each episode, so why not just post that? It's 80% of the podcast right here. So transcript fans, read on for essentially the podcast in text form (without the articles and guest bits)   LOOSE TRANSCRIPT (it's loose, so excuse spelling errors or weird word clangs): Previously on the podcast... Christmas 1922, and the BBC has been on the air for 6 weeks, in London, Birmingham and Manchester. But when the govt agreed this BBCo could exist, the deal wasn't for 3 stations that already existed, but for 8! All across Blighty. So where the blazes are they? Isn't it time for a new pop-up radio station to, well, pop up? Wouldn't that be the best Christmas present a Geordie radio listener could ask for?   This time... Let it 5NO, let it 5NO, let it 5NO! Newcastle 5NO joins the airwaves, in time for Christmas? Just. Maybe. Plus behind-the-scenes at 5IT Birmingham and 2ZY Manchester as we tune into Christmas 1922 – AND hear the voices of the three wise station directors of the BBC's 2nd, 3rd and 4th stations. Christmas Eve 1922 is where we find ourselves this episode, which is why we've broken out the jingling bells in our backing music! So whether it's Christmas or not, hop on our time-sleigh set for 99 years ago – Christmas in Newcastle! On the British Broadcasting Century...   TITLES   Hullo hullo, PK calling. Are we coming through clearly? That's how they'd start their test transmissions in 1922, and over the past 33 episodes we've seen how those early voices and wireless manufacturers all brought together science, art and a bit of magic to make British broadcasting a thing.  Thanks for your lovely feedback on last couple of eps, btw. We got very geeky about the studio design of Marconi House, ...thanks to Andrew Barker our Newspaper Detective, article after article has been available to us of when the printed press were invited in in late Dec '22, so we had a lot to get across. And we've got a bit more along those lines this episode, but further north. Before we get to Newcastle and the launch of their new station, there was more than just London on the dial... This episode we'll tour the other BBC stations, and hear rare clips of each of their station directors: the 2nd BBC station in Brum, the 3rd in Manc and the 4th in Newcastle, which has yet to begin...   STING   But we'll begin then in Birmingham – it'll help us appreciate their civilised environs, when you see the ramshackle joint Newcastle have to deal with.   In December 1922, Birmingham is a primitive setup... I don't mind the whole city, but er, well, see Peaky Blinders for details.   The Birmingham 5IT station, out in Witton, was just a month or so into its life, as its first station boss Percy Edgar later recalled from a comfier space...   CLIP: EDGAR: modern studio vs old   Back then, the station director did most things – announce, book the acts, sing, play... and Percy Edgar found it a real song and dance hiring performers who loved a song, and a dance...   CLIP: EDGAR: 5IT studio: player-piano, platform - soubrette up and down   Well the listeners couldn't tell – and in fact those who switch between London and Birmingham stations often find that Brum had the edge. The stations, all part of one BBC, are slightly in competition with each other at this stage. No bad thing if it encourages a boost in quality....   Boston Guardian, 16th December 1922     ...Praise indeed for the Birmingham's announcer, who likely by this point, is Percy Edgar.   CLIP: Edgar: “Within a few weeks, Harold Casey joined me as Assistant Station Director...”   So while Percy edgar is adding to his Birmingham team with a loyal Ass St Dir, up in Manchester, another of the first 3 BBC stations, the team is expanding too.   On Dec 19th, that's the same Tuesday when the London squad find their new home of Savoy Hill. the Manchester station also gains a new employee: Victor Smythe... He'd been interested from the start a month earlier...   VICTOR SMYTHE CLIP   Victor Smythe catches the bug in late Nov, by mid-Dec he's applying for a job at 2ZY Manchester. On Dec 19th he starts work. In one show, he'd read the news, do a funny story, do a talk as Mr X... And when they started doing full days, he was known to be announcer from 9:30am to midnight!   Now I said earlier we'd have the voices of 3 station directors. So, alright, Victor Smythe became deputy station dir at 2ZY Manchester. The station dir Kenneth Wright, we've had on here before – go back to our 2ZY episode for his voice. But as deputy, Victor Smythe was a Manchester stalwart for 3 decades. So this episode, you're getting him.   So what was 2ZY Manch like at the month-old BBC? Well just as the London station invited the press into the studio, likewise in mid-December...   Now, the long article they published was very technical. Too technical for me. Too technical for you? Difficult to say. I don't know the threshold of our listeners. So if you want to read the full article, join our Facebook group – I'll post a link to the article in the shownotes – join our group for more like that, and thanks Andrew Barker for sharing these articles with us.   So that's Birmingham and Manchester that first BBC Christmas, with London, making the first 3 stations.   But the summer before, the Post-Gen in the H of C said the BBC would consist of 8 stations across the country. It was to be a broadcasting service for everyone – or at least most, though the first Chief Engineer Peter Eckersley would have plans soon enough to reach even the furthest farmer – but the tale of relay stations, and longwave, and Daventry... is all a few years away yet.   Here's an even later Chief Engineer of the BBC, Harold Bishop – who back in 1922 was an engineer at the London studio:   CLIP: Harold Bishop Dec 24th 1922 on 5NO, then Cardiff, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Bournemouth   So yes it's about time they built that 4th studio – the first to start life under the BBC! The first of a new plan to build stations in city centres, unlike Birmingham and Manchester, which were out in industrial works far from travel hubs, and needing artistes to travel after dark to the middle of nowhere.   You want a nearby railway station, a hotel, the bustle of a city – or at least near as 1920s cities got to a bustle – to welcome a regular turnover of guest performers. For that, Newcastle 5NO turned to W.P. Crosse's Concert Agency, and a separate local agency to receive and transcribe the news from Reuters.   So far so good. But you also need a high point for the aerial – a giant chimney or tower of some kind.   The Marconi Company are the ones to build this, and the local station-in-waiting is promised to Newcastle's ears by Christmas. A bit of a rush, but they rise to the challenge.   The plans begin on Dec 10th – so only a fortnight before the promised launch date. Impressive!   24 Eldon Square is rented at £250/year, that's to be a studio and artistes' waiting room, with 4 offices above it for the Station Director and support staff.   Peel Conner microphones are installed – not too reliable, ok for speech but can't get the full range when music was attempted.   This is the first station to have the studio and transmitter at separate sites, a mile apart, linked my phoneline. So over in West Blandford St, the 1½ kw transmitter, there's the stableyard of the Co-operative Wholesale Society, surrounded by horses and carts. Their 140ft chimney was perfect for the aerial.   That transmitter is the new Marconi Q type transmitter – the first of its kind, a slimmed-down version of the prototype used at London's 2LO. The London version was vast and unwieldy and the result of lots of trial and error to get the best quality, low hum – the quality of a radio broadcast had to be more pleasant than the quality of a phone call. So London's transmitter, while legendary and still in the Science Museum today, was a bit of a bodge job. It's a Frankenstein of a transmitter.   So in Dec 1922, the plan was for Newcastle, then Cardiff and Glasgow, to have slimline versions of this same transmitter – now they knew it could work.   It was of course developed by our good old friend Captain H.J. Round, remember him? There at the start, giving us speech test broadcasts from Chelmsford in our first few episodes. You'll have heard Round's mega-talk in one of our specials, and at this point he was working a new better microphone to roll out in the New Year, having just designed these new Marconi Q type transmitters, for Newcastle and the other new stations. Round was always working on the next technological breakthrough.   As you heard from Brum and Manc, BBC station directors were normally also the main announcers – they did everything! But in station director Tom Payne's case, he was setting up ex nihilo, building something from nothing. So he was a little out of his depth, I think it's fair to say. London, Birmingham and Manchester had all grown out of existing wireless manufacturing companies: Marconi's in London, MetroVick in Manchester, Western Electric in Birmingham. But Newcastle? Just a skeleton crew who'd never done this before... principally the Marconi engineer E.O.P. Thomas, and the station boss Tom Payne.   Word reached head office that Tom Payne was having troubles. December 23rd, they tried to launch...   E.O.P. Thomas, Marconi engineer puts it like this: “A hitch arose and there was  no hope of connecting studio and transmitter. As a last resort I had several empty horse drays wheeled into the stable yard, chairs were placed on them and microphones connected to the nearby transmitter. The inaugural programme of 5NO was punctually carried out.”   A howling dog in a nearby kennel ruined much of the broadcast.   Thankfully next day, Christmas Eve, the link-up to the studio is fixed and Newcastle 5NO is officially launched, after this pre-show from the stableyard.   Technical limitations persist though - it restricts hours of broadcasting too, so station boss Tom Payne recalls, when dealing with Marconi engineer Mr Thomas.   Yes, Newcastle has a greater limit on time than its southern cousins.   So as we stampede forward in our tale, let's leave Newcastle, and check in what was on air from the BBC in London for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Now we featured this in much fuller detail in our Christmas special, episode 20, but it'd be rude not to mention what was on while we're here chronologically here.   So, the first London BBC Christmas, in a nutshell!   Christmas Eve in a nutshell – Truth About FC, John Mayo...   Hear the fuller version of Rev John Mayo's Christmas address, and more on Peter Pan, the 2 stations with different versions of O Come All Ye Faithful, and much much more on our Christmas special about 10 episodes ago.   Next time, Reith begins! But en route to Head Office, his first task will be a stopover in Newcastle, to inspect that station: that stableyard, that lorry, that howling dog, that Tom Payne.   Plus Reith's incredible first day at the London office. The end of the beginning, the start of the BBC proper. Finally!   If you like what you hear, please spread word of us. It's the best way for new listeners to discover us. And if you like us, your friends are going to love us. We're on Facebook, Twitter, Patreon, buy us a coffee at ko-fi.com – links to all in the shownotes, and join us next time for the beginning of Reith...

Ryan tackles the tricky subject of humour in Mauritania between 500-600CE with the help of a very special guest humour expert - PAUL KERENSA! How many jokes can you squeeze out of sand? ​Join them to find out!   Thanks: Paul Kerensa (https://www.paulkerensa.com/) Julia Scott-Russell The community of https://www.reddit.com/r/Mauritania/  Belkhere & Nvarre music traditionnel de mauritanie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc2CDC68hcc)   Contact us: hhepodcast.com hhepodcast@gmail.com instagram.com/hhepodcast tiktok (https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMegovGJ6/) twitter.com/HHEPodcast facebook.com/HHEPod Reddit.com/r/hhepodcast  

Our story of early British broadcasting reaches the week before Christmas 1922. The BBC staff of four have found Savoy Hill, made an offer, but for now have one room at GEC's Magnet House lined up for the first few months of 1923. But while Reith goes off on his hols, and Major Anderson the secretary puzzles out the new BBC accounts (see last episode), the other two head office staff won't wait for a Head Office, because they're still broadcasting down the road at Marconi House... Arthur Burrows as Uncle Arthur and Cecil Lewis as Uncle Caractacus. Here we meet other broadcasters, including the first couple of the BBC, L Stanton Jeffries (Uncle Jeff) and Vivienne Chatterton (not an official radio 'Auntie', even though she was second voice on London's first Children's Hour - AND married to an 'Uncle'). Married in 1921, on air in December 1922, you'll hear their voices from years later. Plus we have reminiscences from Harold Bishop, Cecil Lewis and Arthur Burrows, and press cuttings of the day courtesy of our Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker. There's also the return of our AMs and FMs - Airwave Memories and Firsthand Memories. Send us yours, in word form or voice form via an emailed Voice Memo to paul at paulkerensa dot com. That's what Poppy did, and she brings her tale of trying to Michael Bentine back on air. Poppy's podcast is confessionsofaclosetromantic.com. This podcast is NOTHING to do with the present-day BBC - it's entirely run, researched, presented and corralled by Paul Kerensa, who you can email if you want to add something to the show on radio history. Your contributions are welcome. Thank you to all who support us on Patreon - discover extra things there, including our new British Broadcasting Century Book Club, where I read and explain/interrupt Cecil Lewis' Broadcasting From Within, the first book on broadcasting, from 1924. You can hear Cecil Lewis' voice on this podcast. THANK YOU if you support us there, or with one-off chip-in tips at ko-fi.com/paulkerensa. The British Broadcasting Century Facebook page is here. Do like. I post things there. The British Broadcasting Century Facebook group is here. Do join. You post things there. The British Broadcasting Century Twitter profile is here. Do follow. My other podcast of interviews, from Rev Richard Coles, Miranda Hart, Milton Jones and more is called A Paul Kerensa Podcast - and the latest episode there is the FULL chat with Gareth Jones, who appeared on this podcast some episodes ago, with tales of children's broadcasting in the 1990s, ITV companies, and his wonder for all things science. Have a listen! And subscribe there for more like that. My mailing list is here - do subscribe to keep up with things. My books are available here or orderable from bookshops. Archive clips are either public domain or the BBC's or someone's domain but the mists of time has hidden from us whose they are. Thank you, all rights holders! And we hope this is ok with you... Do please rate and review this podcast where you found it... and keep liking/sharing/commenting on what we do online. It all helps others find us.  Next time: All I want for Christmas 1922 is a new radio station: Newcastle 5NO is born! Just.

Quarantine Comix' Rachael Smith, and Comedy Award-winning writer & comedian Paul Kerensa, bring in panels from an exciting web comic, and an adaptation of the best selling book of all time, and talk comics with Kev F the comic artist.See the images from all shows here at kevfcomicartist.com (they're also in the podcast artwork).Every episode, the guests reveal a panel from a comic, we try and guess where it's from, then we chat about it. Half an hour later hopefully we've learned something, or just shown off and had fun along the way.If you've enjoyed this, why not buy us a virtual coffee at Kev F's Ko-Fi page.Your host, and series creator, is Kev F Sutherland, writer and artist for Beano, Marvel, Oink, The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, and most recently author and artist of graphic novels based on Shakespeare. kevfcomicartist.com

December 22nd 1922: The Chairman of the Broadcasting Committee writes to the Postmaster General urging him to address the licence fee problem. "Listeners-in" are already dodging the tariffs... and John Reith hasn't even started yet! Here on episode 32, aka season 2 episode 5, we look at the problems facing the pre-Reith BBC with regard to income. Gladly a hundred years later, the BBC has solved that licence fee problem... er... nearly. And the return of radio reverend Cindy Kent, with tales of commercial radio, announcing celebrity deaths and the joys of pandemic Poirot. Plus we have news of a meet-up! May 22nd-ish 2022 - Writtle, Essex. More info soon. AND radio historian Alan Stafford plays us on his piano one of the earliest songs about radio: Ernest Longstaffe's 'Everybody's List'ning In'. We are a one-man band - we're NOTHING to do with the present-day BBC - this podcast is entirely run by Paul Kerensa, who you can email if you want to add something to the show on radio history, offer any correspondence, or send us a short audio clip of your earliest broadcasting memories (not as old as 1922, don't worry) for inclusion on a future episode. Thank you to all who support us on Patreon - if you'd like to join this growing band of marvellous people, I upload extra things there, about half of which are to do with this podcast and radio history (the latest of which is a reading of Cecil Lewis' Broadcasting From Within, the first book on broadcasting, in 1924), and about half of which are general comedy/writing things more like to the weekly Facebook Live I do. Join us on Patreon, and keep us in books and web hosting. It all helps keep us making episodes - we'd genuinely have stopped by now if no one had! So THANK YOU. The British Broadcasting Century Facebook page is here. Do like. I post things there. The British Broadcasting Century Facebook group is here. Do join. You post things there. The British Broadcasting Century Twitter profile is here. Do follow. My other podcast of interviews, from Rev Richard Coles, Miranda Hart, Milton Jones and more is called A Paul Kerensa Podcast - and I'm adding more interviews all the time. Do listen. My mailing list is here - do subscribe to keep up with things. My books are available here or orderable from bookshops. Archive clips are either public domain or the BBC's or someone's domain but the mists of time has hidden from us whose they are. Thank you, all rights holders! And we hope this is ok with you... Do please rate and review this podcast where you found it... and keep liking/sharing/commenting on what we do online. It all helps others find us.  Next time: The staff grows! We look at Marconi House in late December 1922, with the first couple of the BBC. Aw... Subscribe / share / thanks! Closing down now, closing down.

Season 2 Episode 4 (aka Episode 31 in total) flashes us back to Arthur Burrows' pre-BBC days, and brings us to December 17th-20th 1922, when 4/5 of the BBC workforce (ie. 4 people of the 5) tour central London searching for a building. They can use Magnet House for now, on loan from General Electric, but after that, where? After deciding against a gold-flatting mill (now a Gym Box), they discover a nice little premises on Savoy Hill. But before that, Arthur Burrows shows John Reith the ropes, via a chart, of everything this new BBC will need, from engineers to commissionaires a lady's assistant. Reith is still baffled. But before THAT - several years before that - Burrows was the lone voice trying to convince the Marconi Company that broadcasting was a Good Thing. The Marconi bosses didn't agree. Our special guest knows all about this: Professor Gabriele Balbi, Associate Professor of Media Studies at USI in Switzerland, has written a paper called 'Wireless' Critical Flaw: The Marconi Company, Corporation Mentalities and the Broadcasting Option'. He fills in Burrows' back-story, explains how several voices can be heard within a company's culture, and is a lone voice in academia too, suggesting that the Marconi Company still didn't get behind broadcasting even when the Melba concerts showed it was possible. Even then, he argues, the transmissions were just to show home-users that wireless communication was easy. So perhaps when Burrows was explaining to Reith everything about broadcasting, he was STILL fighting the corner for his vision of what radio was, and could be. And broadcasting has clearly reached its pinnacle in this podcast, so thank you for supporting it... We are a one-man band - we're NOTHING to do with the present-day BBC - this podcast is entirely run by Paul Kerensa, who you can email if you want to add something to the show on radio history, offer any correspondence, or send us a short audio clip of your earliest broadcasting memories (not as old as 1922, don't worry) for inclusion on a future episode. Thank you to all who support us on Patreon - if you'd like to join this growing band of marvellous people, I upload extra things there, about half of which are to do with this podcast and radio history (the latest of which is a reading of Cecil Lewis' Broadcasting From Within, the first book on broadcasting, in 1924), and about half of which are general comedy/writing things more like to the weekly Facebook Live I do. Join us on Patreon, and keep us in books and web hosting. It all helps keep us making episodes - we'd genuinely have stopped by now if no one had! So THANK YOU. I guest-presented an episode for The History of England podcast. Hear it here! It's essentially the entire first season of this podcast, squidged into half an hour. (If it vanishes from their feed, we'll be posting it as a special episode on this podcast in a few months' time). 30,000 people have heard that episode now - 100 times the listenership of our episodes here! So welcome if you've joined us from there... The British Broadcasting Century Facebook page is here. Do like. I post things there. The British Broadcasting Century Facebook group is here. Do join. You post things there. The British Broadcasting Century Twitter profile is here. Do follow. My other podcast of interviews, from Rev Richard Coles, Miranda Hart, Milton Jones and more is called A Paul Kerensa Podcast - and I'm adding more interviews all the time. Do listen. My mailing list is here - do subscribe to keep up with things. My books are available here or orderable from bookshops. Memos included in this episode are BBC copyright content, reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation, all rights reserved. Archive clips are either public domain or someone's domain but the mists of time has hidden from us whose they are. Thank you, all rights holders! And we hope this is ok with you... Do please rate and review this podcast where you found it... and keep liking/sharing/commenting on what we do online. It all helps others find us.  Next time: The staff grows! We look at Marconi House in late December 1922, as Rex Palmer joins, but experimental licences cause a headache for those hoping for any income from this new 'BBC' experiment. Subscribe to get this next time. Closing down now, closing down.

Today we hear from some children whose activism took them to Britain's Got Talent, and has led to children all over the world singing their music and learning about Climate Action. I also speak to Paul Kerensa about his new book, Planet Protectors, written with Ruth Valerio.With thanks to Freemantle and Britains Got Talent for permission to use their audio.And thanks to SOS From The Kids Choir for permission to use their music and for being brilliant.Find the music from SOS from the Kids on Spotify, or via their website:sosfromthekids.com/song-releasesBuy Ruth and Paul's book here:spckpublishing.co.uk/planet-protectorsThe launch event details are here:ruthvalerio.net/environment/planet-protectors-special-launch-event/To support this podcast please visit:praxiscentre.org

Hi, I'm Kev F and I'm here to tell you about Comic Cuts The Panel Show, your new favourite podcast about comics.Every week I get two guests to bring a panel from a comic into the show. We try and guess where it's from, then we talk comics. Sometimes we get nerdy and knowledgable, and you learn a lot about comics you've probably never heard of, and more often we get inspired by what we see and the conversation goes off at wild tangents.My guests so far have included comic creators like Brian Bolland, Rachel Smith of Quarantine Comix, Metaphrog, Jessica Martin, Julius Zebra's Gary Northfield, The Beano's Nigel Auchterlounie, Laura Howell, Rianne Rowlands & Nigel Parkinson, manga artists like Sonia Leong & Laura Watton, Comics Laureate Hannah Berry, Psycho Gran's David Leach, Resident Alien creator Peter Hogan,  and loads of comedians including Bethany Black, Will Hodgson, Paul Kerensa, Iszi Lawrence, Doug Segal, Ashley Storrie, Juliet Burton, Juliette Myers, Susan Murray, Bennett Arron.  I've had The Secret History of Hollywood's Adam Roche, and legendary singer songwriter Dean Friedman - and the guest list grows every week.And the comics they've brought in have ranged from Marvel and DC to The Bunty and The Eagle, from Robert Crumb to Viz, from brand new webcomics to obscure manga, indy to classic, and all points in-between. There are so many comics out there, and so much love for them.So listen in, have fun guessing what comics we're looking at, and enjoy the conversation with this stellar cast of guests, in a show that - did I mention - is only half an hour long?Subscribe to Comic Cuts The Panel Show, wherever you get your podcasts, and we'll see you every Friday. Expect the unexpected. 

Paul Kerensa of the British Broadcasting Century podcast gives an engaging and brisk march through the early years of British Broadcasting See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Yellow highlighters at the ready - the listings have arrived! Except it's weeks 2 + 3 of the BBC, back in Nov/Dec 1922, and the Radio Times is nearly a year away. So how do we know what's on the wireless? And is it called radio yet? A few trusty local newspapers printed a few listings - though watch this space, as they'll decide differently in a few episodes time. From The Pall Mall Gazette to The Derby Daily Telegraph, we've cobbled together the first BBC listings, thanks to our newspaper detective Andrew Barker. Plus a few memos read by the early BBC staff who received them, an insight into the first Children's Hour, and the debuts of comedian Norman Long and the 2LO Wireless Orchestra. There's also the return of the Parliamentary Podcast Players to shine a light on some dodgy dealing in Westminster (Government sleaze? At least that's no longer with us). It's all down to ex-Postmaster General F.G. Kellaway, who negotiated with the Marconi Company and co to help set up the BBC, now becoming a Marconi Company director. Could he have set up his own company for a windfall? We also whizz back to the Marconi Scandal of 1912, when shares were scooped up by government ministers thanks to some alleged insider dealing. Our guests are Andrew Barker and Alan Stafford (Alan's books include It's Friday, It's CRACKERJACK). Hear rare archive clips from: 2LO Musical Director Stanton Jefferies 5IT Chief Engineer A.E. Thompson 5IT Station Director Percy Edgar Comedian Helena Millais Percussionist Billy Whitlock Comedian Norman Long   And thanks to our Parliamentary Podcast Players: Mr Speaker - Wayne Clarke Captain Benn - Edi Johnston Mr Short - Lynn Robertson Hay Mr Hurd - Philip Rowe Mr Middleton - Paul Stubbs The PM Mr Bonar Law - Daniel Edison Mr Neville Chamberlain - Pete Hawkins   SHOWNOTES: Our Norman Long excerpt is from AusRadioHistorian - see his Youtube channel for hundreds more old gramophone records. We mention singer Topliss Green - you can see and hear him sing, later, in this footage from British Pathe.  The British Broadcasting Century Facebook page is here. Do like. I post things there. The British Broadcasting Century Facebook group is here. Do join. You post things there. The British Broadcasting Century Twitter profile is here. Do follow. Paul Kerensa's other podcast of interviews, from Miranda Hart, Sally Phillips and Tim Vine (scroll way back for those) to more recent mid-pandemic catch-ups with comedians and writers, can be found here. Paul's mailing list is here - do subscribe to keep up with his (my) goings-on. Paul's books are available here or orderable from bookshops. The first few chapters of Paul's new historical novel on the BBC origin story - the novelisation of this podcast, pretty much - will be available soon on patreon.com/paulkerensa - and joining there also helps support this podcast...  ...or one-off tips of a few quid are most welcome at paypal.me/paulkerensa - it all keeps us (me) in web-hosting and books. The more I can research, the more complete this podcast gets.   We're unconnected to the BBC - we're talking about the BBCompany, not made by or anything to with the BBCorporation. I thank you for rating and reviewing this podcast where you found it... or liking/sharing/commenting on what we do online. It all helps bump us up the social medias. Email the podcast here. Your comments are always welcome. Next time: the first four employees... including the arrival of John Reith. Subscribe to get the podcast in your in-tray. Thanks for listening! Now stand for the National Anthem.

Season 2 begins! So please welcome to the microphone: entertainment! The very first. Journey back to November 16th 1922 - Day 3 of the BBC - to meet Auntie's first entertainers. But history being history, nothing's easy... Discover why the BBC's first entertainers weren't the first after all, whether London, Birmingham or Manchester brought us the BBC's first entertainment concert - and why each of them has a claim to it. Our fabulous guest is comedian, actor, writer and professional liar Lee Mack, with tales from Not Going Out, Would I Lie To You and his earliest memories of broadcast comedy (who remembers Wait Till Your Father Gets Home?). You'll also hear rare clips of the original broadcasters (there are hardly any recordings from 1920s' broadcasts, so these are clips looking back), including Percy Edgar, Peter Eckersley, Hugh Bell, Leonard Hawke, Helena Millais, Ernie Mayne, Tommy Lorne and the Ziegeld Follies. Plus BBC Radio Norfolk's Paul Hayes brings us a follow-up from the previous Percy Edgar special, with tales of Barrie Edgar, footballing firsts and archive clips of Jimmy Jewell and Richard Dimbleby. From Billy Beer to Bobby Ball, via the first BBC song (Drake Goes West - or was it?), the first song about the BBC (Auntie Aggie of the BBC), the world's first radio song (List'ning on Some Radio) and the earliest live British TV football coverage still available (from 1949), we've compiled everything that kickstarted British broadcast entertainment.   SHOWNOTES: Read more of Billy Beer, the BBC's first comedian, written by his descendant Bill Beer. Lee Mack joined us as part of a fundraiser for a young woman called Jenny. Read more and donate here. Your host Paul contributed a guest episode to The History of England podcast - a summary of our season 1 on half an hour, via some new (old) clips. It sums up the story so far - you can hear that here from summer 2021. Paul Hayes' documentary The Lost Voice of Football can be heard here. Paul Kerensa's other podcast of interviews, from Miranda Hart, Sally Phillips and Tim Vine (scroll way back for those) to the full Gareth Jones interview, can be found here - do subscribe. The British Broadcasting Century Facebook page is here. Do like. The British Broadcasting Century Facebook group is here. Do join. The British Broadcasting Century Twitter profile is here. Do follow. Paul's mailing list is here. Do subscribe. Paul's books are available here or orderable from bookshops.   We're a lone operator, unconnected to the BBC - we're talking about the BBCompany, not made by the BBCorporation. We're just one person really, who you can help with the podcast via tips at paypal.me/paulkerensa... or via monthly shrapnel in exchange for extra audio/video/writings on patreon.com/paulkerensa... or via rating and reviewing this podcast where you found it... or via liking/sharing/commenting on what we do online - it all helps bump us up the social medias. Email the podcast here. Your comments are always welcome. Next time: the first listings - nearly a year before the Radio Times. Subscribe to make sure you get the podcast in your in-tray. Thanks for listening!

HOPE FM - THE ARTIST INTERVIEW Paul Kerensa FIRST BROADCAST: 28/04/21 (Please note: Due to licencing these interviews are edited and contain only samples of music)

Part 2 of our parliamentary re-enactment is a dense and complex beast - but then so is Parliament. Good luck! Following last episode, we're re-enacting every political discussion on broadcasting in 1922: the year the word caught on, and the year the BBC was launched. So this episode is like listening to radio in the 1920s... expect to not get every word, but enjoy trying. You may need to tune your ears to catch what the House of Commons was echoing with a century ago.  We're between seasons, with a few specials. Here for the first time, our cast of 20 bring to life the MPs of a century ago. These are the full works, no editing to the highlights - we'll leave that for your brain to do. This episode the MPs accuse the Postmaster-General of a power-grab, over-regulation, and stopping greater discussion by scaremongering. The PMG says how awful (and dangerous) the airwaves will be if left to run wild, and defends the so-called monopoly he's put together by assembling this 'B.B.C'. The PMG is determined that only British manufacturers of wireless radios will be permitted for the first two years... but will that prevent foreign innovation? Our four debates are: July 28th 1922 - Our biggest debate, half an hour on The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1904. It's under this act that the PMG has assumed control of broadcasting, and this act forms the basis of the early licences. But he's being called out - is he seizing too much control? https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1922-07-28/debates/4d8137d9-017d-494c-8eed-fb52ef2c9e27/Clause3—(CertainActsToBeContinuedTemporarily)?highlight=broadcasting#contribution-08349217-2ba4-41d0-9afd-c7f72b485063 July 31st - A snappier few questions about the Britishness of this company, concerns over forcing wireless manufacturers to join this 'combine', and whether buyers of radio sets will get a fair price: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1922-07-31/debates/b501f399-7f6c-42da-a635-64e351276ad8/WirelessBroadcasting?highlight=broadcasting#contribution-09b16f81-a3a1-4d71-bc51-d6cef6723c6e Aug 1st - Doubts over The Marconi Company's dominance of this new B.B.C... and what's taking so long in getting this broadcasting malarkey started? https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1922-08-01/debates/5ac33a1e-790a-4064-ae15-a99e11698bfa/RelessBroadcasting Aug 4th - Mr Foot (Michael Foot's father) and Captain Benn (Tony Benn's father) are the main two MPs taking issue with price-fixing, the licence fee and government control of broadcasting. The PMG Mr Kellaway defends his decisions, gives his plans for eight radio stations, and offers a summary of how we've reached this point. Lastly, Captain Benn has a long rant at the PMG's attitude and actions, especially regarding overseas markets: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1922-08-04/debates/d3ec5956-d274-4b63-b554-f412313385bc/WirelessBroadcasting?highlight=broadcasting#contribution-3a20aee3-3859-4068-9f77-3d62486003be The text is all courtesy of Hansard; this episode contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 (https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright-parliament/open-parliament-licence/).   Our cast this episode: Wayne Clarke - The Speaker of the House Cameron Potts - Capt Benn Philip Rowe - Sir William Lane-Mitchell (his podcast: The History of European Theatre) Shaun Jacques - Mr Kiley (his podcast: Tell Me A Bit About Yourself) Jack Shaw - Sir Donald Maclean (his podcast: Wrong Term Memory) Paul Hayes - Sir Douglas Newton Alan Stafford - The Deputy Chairman James Maidment-Fullard - Mr Malone Philip Corsius - Mr Hailwood and Mr Raffan Andrea Smith - Lt Comm Kenworthy David Kirkland - Mr Ashley and Mr Percy Mike Simmonds - Lt Col Murray Daniel Edison - Lt Col Ward Paul Savage - Mr Foot Lynn Robertson Hay - Lt Col Hall Paul Kerensa - The Postmaster-General Mr Kellaway ...Thanks to them all!   You can support our work at patreon.com/paulkerensa, where you'll currently find our full unedited video interview with Diddy David Hamilton - we'll extract some audio nuggets of David's interview for future podcast episodes, but the full version will only be viewable on Patreon (after all, this is audio, that's video). It helps keep us in web-hosting and research books. We don't turn a profit on this podcast - it's just for the love of it, so thanks for keeping us afloat! For a one-off tip, there's also paypal.me/paulkerensa, and I thank you. Please do rate/review us too. It really helps get us out there, and this podcast is just a one-man band, run by me, Paul Kerensa. Thanks for your fab ratings thus far - all 5 stars on Apple Podcasts! Aw, you guys. We're nothing to do with the BBC, BTW, FWIW, ICYMI. Thanks for listening, if you did. And congrats for making it. You've done incredibly well. Next time: the recently discovered never-before-heard memoirs of the second voice of the BBC, Percy Edgar. Subscribe to have it land when it arrives. And do tell people. Don't keep us to yourself... Meanwhile, find us on Twitter, on our Facebook page and on our Facebook group. Do join/follow/like.

Westminster, 1922: Parliament learns a new word, 'Broadcasting'. And they LOVE to argue about new words. In this special, our cast of 20 brings to life EVERY broadcasting debate from 1922, no matter how big or small. No editing here. On our specials we outstay our welcome and we dig a little deeper. So approach this episode as if you're tuning into the BBC Parliament channel, only it's a century ago and they're deciding if and how there should be a BBC. Some parts may be an easier listen than others. You may need to tune your ears to their 'old-fashioned Parliament' setting. But listen closely and your ears will be rewarded with never-before-heard insights into how and why we've ended up with today's broadcasting landscape: how the licence fee, protectionism, public service broadcasting, innovation, French weather reports, and so much more all jostled for attention a hundred years ago. MPs' decisions then affect us now. While the engineers and broadcasters were pioneering this new tech, Postmaster-General Frederick Kellaway adopted a strict approach. You'll hear how the chaos of America was to be avoided, but how MPs differed on whether the PMG was taking too firm a line on this fledgeling invention. We have eight debates of varying sizes to bring you - too many for one podcast, so part 2 will pick up the tale. We're grateful to our cast; in this episode you'll hear: Paul Hayes - Sir Douglas Newton Mike Simmonds - Lt Col Murray Paul Stubbs - Mr Kennedy Wayne Clarke - The Speaker of the House James Maidment-Fullard - Mr Malone Andrea Smith - Lt Comm Kenworthy Adam Hawkins - Capt Guest Paul Kerensa - Postmaster-General Mr Kellaway + Sir Henry Norman The text is all courtesy of Hansard; this episode contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 (https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright-parliament/open-parliament-licence/). You'll hear the following moments: The first written mention of 'broadcasting' in Parliament, April 3rd 1922, ten days after Peter Eckersley seized the mic of 2MT Writtle, starting a broadcasting craze in Britain: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1922-04-03/debates/5fa46744-068c-45f7-be31-daef38c64cc6/WirelessTelephony?highlight=broadcasting#contribution-54b7ff39-2321-4503-8114-4a0625d01fc4 May 4th, the first verbal mention of 'broadcasting' in Parliament: https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1922/may/04/wireless-messages-broadcasting May 23rd, a fob-off answer while the 'big six' wireless manufacturers meet to thrash it all out, settling on one British broadcasting company: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1922-05-23/debates/f6abd513-b5f3-41e3-902a-0a07404868dd/WirelessBroadcasting  June 16th, a reading of the Wireless Telegraphy and Signalling Bill is seen by some to be a power-grab by the Postmaster-General, but by others as a necessary part of the development broadcasting, something many MPs in the house, like Sir Douglas Newton, were keenly interested in: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1922-06-16/debates/4a1e7b29-0c59-4681-b86f-7acdd98a06e1/WirelessTelegraphyAndSignallingBill?highlight=broadcasting#contribution-71376b97-ca94-4d9d-938b-f6b2a727a4d6   June 28th, Parliament started looking across the Channel for what radio could do next: Weather Reports... https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1922-06-28/debates/d34b1736-e64e-4547-8e75-e6bfcb5bf117/WirelessTelephony(WeatherBulletin)?highlight=broadcasting#contribution-2d1571f4-9a60-45e6-b820-c3ef39ce450b July 26th, the PMG wants to keep British broadcasting British: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1922-07-26/debates/14a1dd4a-2a48-4602-87aa-450aeb2c89e1/WirelessBroadcasting?highlight=broadcasting#contribution-f77d3eb0-a4cc-4db4-8c98-2b6cf61a94e8 Part 2 will pick up the story. Elsewhere in this episode we mention the Irish Broadcasting Hall of Fame blog, re May 16th 1922's first Irish singer of the wireless: Isolde O'Farrell. Do have a read of their marvellous blog and support their work. You can support our work at patreon.com/paulkerensa, where you'll currently find our full unedited video interview with Diddy David Hamilton - we'll extract some audio nuggets of David's interview for future podcast episodes, but the full version will only be viewable on Patreon (after all, this is audio, that's video). THANK YOU if you support us there... It helps keep us in web-hosting and research books. We don't turn a profit on this podcast - it's just for the love of it, so thanks for keeping us afloat! For a one-off tip, there's also paypal.me/paulkerensa, and I thank you. We also mention Shaun Jacques' Tell Me A Bit About Yourself podcast (which includes an interview with Paul, host of this podcast) and Jack Shaw's Wrong Term Memory podcast. Have a listen. We're on Twitter and have a Facebook page and a Facebook group. Do join/follow/like. + Subscribe to get all of these podcasts in your podtray. Next time, the Parliamentary debates continue! Please do rate/review us too. It really helps get us out there, and this podcast is just a one-man band, run by me, Paul Kerensa. We're nothing to do with the BBC, BTW, FWIW, ICYMI. Thanks for listening, if you did. And well done. More soon.

Our enjoyment of an event is heightened simply by sharing it with others. It's the reason we love gigs, cinemas, theatres - you name it! Indeed, our love of shared experiences is what brings five million visitors a year to London's Southbank Centre. The centre comprises three main performance venues, the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room. Sadly recent global events have put a pause on its programme of music, dance and literature. Elaine Bedell, CEO of the Southbank Centre, tells us how it's coping in the midst of lockdown and the pandemic. She brings us an insight into how the centre's offering has changed to cater for an online audience, and how the move to digital has actually increased its audience. In this episode, learn how the emotional attachments we hold for places change with time and circumstance, find out why it's important to establish a community around your work, and discover why we should never say “but we've always done it this way”. Also in the episode we shout out Paul Kerensa's podcast ‘The British Broadcasting Century' - listen here. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epGuid: 'behindthespine.podbean.com/8d1525e6-64f9-3da8-90b5-156284fd50d5', rssUrl: 'https://feed.podbean.com/behindthespine/feed.xml', backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

There were crosses, “Jesus Saves” signs and “Jesus 2020” flags that mimicked the design of the Trump flags. Christian symbols were on display as the world watched rioters storm into the US Capitol on Wednesday. As many of the President's allies withdraw their support for him in the dying days of his presidency Edward investigates the religious rhetoric and symbolism that Trump and his supporters have embraced. The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. She criticises what she says was the 'grievous misappropriation of the Christian faith.' And Robert P Jones, author of 'White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity' argues that the mob was motivated not just by loyalty to Trump, 'but by an unholy amalgamation of white supremacy and Christianity that has plagued the United States since its inception and is still with us today.' For decades, the Catholic Church rarely acknowledged the fact that supposedly ‘celibate’ priests were fathering children. The scale and impact of these secretive births is only now coming to light. In what is thought to be the first ever book about the phenomenon, called ‘Our Fathers’, Vincent Doyle, himself a child of a Catholic priest, argues that the Church needs to wake up to the reality that it cannot stop priests fathering children. And as we adjust to weeks of winter lockdown, comedian Paul Kerensa presents a theological argument as to why we can keep the Christmas lights on until February. Producers: David Cook Olive Clancy Editor: Tim Pemberton

What is the Origin of Christmas? How did we get the christmas traditions we have today, and was christmas almost cancelled? In this podcasts first Christmas special we dive in to the origin of Christmas, what does ø Ancient Rome has to do with the christmas we have today? This is a story you don`t want to miss.Link to Pauls podcast: http://podfollow.com/bbcenturyLink to Pauls Website ; http://paulkerensa.com/Link to Pauls Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulkerensa?fbclid=IwAR1h6dHSRADWF17uT8owl-tCIKtvGLHxSeuBcp_NQmv_K-827e6xZ7hfiVI Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/well-that-aged-well. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/well-that-aged-well. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stand up comedian, writer & podcaster Paul Kerensa stops by to discuss his career in comedy, his love of Christmas and to share some bad gift stories of his own! 

On this week's show, Don is joined by Paul Kerensa of "The British Broadcast Century" podcast. Thing 1: The religious sect who believe the Garden Of Eden was in Bedford, England Thing 2: The BBC started as a drunken race to the pub. Thing 3: The century long connection between Native American nations, and... Ireland?

The first drama, the first comedian... Journey with us to October 1922 for the rarely told tale radio's first play (Cyrano de Bergerac, courtesy of Peter Eckersley) and British broadcasting's first comedian. Helena Millais played Cockney character Our Lizzie - and you'll even hear a bit of her act. We'll look at the few before her too - entertainers and storytellers - and those who came after. Cultural historian and comedy writer Alan Stafford is your guide, and his fab books It's Friday, It's Crackerjack and Wilson, Keppel and Betty: Too Naked for the Nazis are available now. Also available is Lorne Clark's book Shareholders of the British Broadcasting Company, plus explore his amazing Early Wireless museum - and he's sent us a marvellous clip of his wax cylinder: recorded in 1890, trumpeter Martin Lanfried plays the bugle he sounded at The Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854. Wow. That makes the 1920s sound modern. You'll also hear our regular broadcasting historian Tim Wander, and his fab books include the brilliant From Marconi to Melba. Find us on Facebook and Twitter, and please support the show if you can via ko-fi.com/paulkerensa for one-off £, or patreon.com/paulkerensa for regular perks - including advance writing and things from Paul. Your host Paul Kerensa's mailing list has monthly updates of his writing, gigs, podcasts, etc. Sign up! Paul's festive history book Hark! The Biography of Christmas is now in audiobook form. There's an Audible free trial here if you've not had one before - so you can get Hark! for free, then cancel, and pay nowt. Paul's Facebook Live show is at PK's Uplift Live, every Tuesday from 8pm.  Thanks to Will Farmer for composing the original music. Archive clips are either public domain or we don't know whose domain. If you think a clip is yours, apologies/thanks - everything's takedownable. We're unaffiliated with the BBC... ...but Paul is writing a TV drama script (and novel) based on all this, so if you're a drama producer or commissioner... Well don't you look lovely today? Email me. Let's make the BBC history. So to speak.

My podcasts seem to be taking a turn towards entertainment at the moment. Paul Kerensa talks about his road to how he became a prominent writer for TFI Friday, Not Going out and Miranda as well as working the stand up comedy circuit. He also tells us about his Faith and how he has worked Faith and Comedy together to make a great combination. For me this podcast is amazing as it highlights how your Faith can be celebrated in so many different ways. #Neilspodcasts #Paulkerensa #Notgoingout #Miranda #Highcross #Lovecamberley #Camberley #Comedian #Writer

Paul Kerensa and Rory Jones join the gang this week

In this episode of Watching The Wireless, Jamie Dyer chats to comedian, writer and podcaster Paul Kerensa. BBCentury Link: https://bbcentury.podbean.com/

Paul Kerensa is a British Comedy Award-winning writer for BBC's Miranda, Not Going Out, Top Gear, ITV's Royal Variety Show, C4's TFI Friday. Paul talks about his identity and shares how Jesus has shaped who he is today.

Welcome to This Week: The Musical, the topical show where The 2 LJs musically enhance tech news and social media stories. We've a feast of festive songs to tuck into, whether you're stuck behind a screen, shopping for high-tech gifts, or remembering departed science-fiction heroes. Includes lighthearted analysis, Santa's answering machine, and against-the-clock innovation. This week’s special guest is Paul Kerensa, comedian and Christmas trivia expert. The Two LJs are LJ Rich and Leila Johnston.    God Rest Ye Gerry Anderson Lyrics: God rest ye Gerry Anderson, Joe 90 and Stingray We’ll never let those Mysterons… Get their evil way We hope you’re feeling F.A.B. On Island of Tracy As it’s time for a sci-fi eulogy. Oh, too many Remembering those who thought differentlyGod rest ye Douglas Adams, though your jokes still feel so new We didn’t like that Hitch Hiker remake but we love you So long and thanks for all the fish I hope you can forgive that actor frooom the British office (crap Arthur Dent)whatshisname off the office tried his best Carrie Fisher, Margot Kidder, on another plane Princess Leia chillin out up there with Louis Lane Oh Kenny Baker R2D2 you were brave and true Garry Kurtz we remember you as crew course we do Produced Star Wars movies what a dude Oh Servalan, we loved you as Blake’s Federation boss, So Smart and cool and powerful Your passing is our loss From Blake’s seven to Star Trek we can Tell you all this day That we miss you Anton Yeltchin, Leonard Nimoy, and Ricky Jay Deborah Watling, Jon Paul Steuer Gone away. The final verse is dedicated to a special man His superhero franchise grew from such a lowly plan Your ideas meant, we saw you in the movies and TV We will never forget you Stan Lee, Stan Lee You’ll forever live on in our memory   Coding Carol Lyrics: Silent screen, holy night No more lines left to write Syntax perfect, program compiled Low-key wired in, everything filed Code in heavenly peace, yeah Code in, heavenly peace   Silent screen, holy screen Soft fans whirr on my machine Crypto mining so quiet and true All the work done on my GPU Code in heavenly peace Code in heavenly peace   Silent screen holy chair Friends online, always there Called all arguments everything works Signing out of mechanical Turk Shutting down is so sweet Time to get something to eat     Oversharer's Carol I took a picture of my food  And it looked pretty sweet I’ll post it up on social media Cos everyone must see I took a picture of my house Location clear to see So now when I say I’m away I’m susceptible to burglary   I like to share my every thought And all my best friends news I posted carol wanted a divorce Before her husband knew And when you tell me a secret I’ll blurt it out online But I’m still shocked when I get blocked For the seven hundredth time

With Sir Ken's wife Lady Anne; Paul has Christmas trivia & Emily talks about Mary Poppins

It's May and the start of Festival season so Steve hits the road and chats to singer/songwriter, Rob Halligan and comedy genius Paul Kerensa at Butlins, Minehead after their Spring Harvest shows, plus CEO of Sports Chaplaincy UK, Warren Evans.

This month is a bumper edition as we are joined in studio by Paul Kerensa and Lynda Davies to chat the move to the north by Channel 4, the decline of the NME in print and the results of the first Church of England Digital Labs, plus recommendations from the team. If you enjoy the show please leave a rating and review somewhere on the internet or share with someone else via post, carrier pigeon or social network of your choice. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Yolande Knell soaks up the atmosphere in Bethlehem's Manger Square as Christians worldwide prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Reporter Vishva Samani talks to women sleeping rough in Manchester and asks why their numbers are increasing. A Muslim, a Jewish and a Hindu family each describe what they get up to on the 25th December. Two years ago, the Butrus family fled persecution Iraq and Syria because of their Christian faith. As they prepare to celebrate their second Christmas in this country, they tell Edward Stourton about their flight and their hopes for the future. In recent years, Islamic extremist such as ISIS and Boko Haram have attacked Christians in the Middle East and Africa but there is growing concern for Christian communities in India, Pakistan and China too. John Pontifex from Aid to the Church in Need tells Edward why persecution against Christians is on the rise. Since 1983, the choir of King's College Cambridge has performed a new carol at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. This year's is by Welsh composer Huw Watkins, Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, we get a sneak preview. In the early years of the 20th century, 'the wizardry of Mr Marconi' enabled the BBC to celebrate a very British sort of Christmas with the rest of the world. To take a look at those first festive offerings from Auntie Beeb, Edward is joined by Paul Kerensa, author of a new book called 'Hark! The Biography of Christmas'. Sarah Mullally has just been appointed to the one of the top jobs in the Church of England - she is going to be the next Bishop of London. She talks about the challenges ahead and how her background in nursing will impact on her new role. Producers: Helen Lee Lissa Cook Series Producer: Amanda Hancox.

On this week's podcast, Ed Thornton talks to Paul Kerensa, the stand-up comic and comedy writer, about his new book, Hark! The biography of Christmas. They also talk about comedy gigs in churches, comedy and evangelism, and whether preachers should tell jokes in sermons.

It's Christmas and our hero chats with Paul Kerensa, Mark Stibbe and the wonderful Rob Parsons OBE on Christmas, new books and the art of storytelling.

Barry & James talk about Thanksgiving and the importance of gratitude, and then look ahead to Christmas with an interview with comedian Paul Kerensa.The Most Repeated Command in the Bible https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-most-repeated-command-in-the-bibleThat Episode of Freakonomics about gratitude http://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-is-my-life-so-hardPeople might also enjoy this TED talk by David Steindl on being grateful https://www.ted.com/talks/david_steindl_rast_want_to_be_happy_be_grateful”Paul Kerensa’s book Hark!: The Biography Of Christmas http://amzn.to/2i3kn2CPaul Kerensa’s Comedians & Carols http://paulkerensa.com/gigguide.phpSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/cooperandcary)

It's a bumper Christmas-y edition as Sam, Claire and Justin debate the best time to put up your tree and hear from funny man Paul Kerensa about why he's written a book about Christmas traditions. Plus we look at amazing dreams that led people to Christ and hear from pastor to sceptical millennials John Mark Comer. Claire tells her personal story of taking off her mask and Rob Parsons wraps things up with a Christmas story. See the full Dec edition at https://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2017/December-2017 Get a free copy of the magazine at www.premierchristianity.com/freesample Get the MP3 podcast of Premier Christianity magazine, or Subscribe Via iTunes

We chat to comedian and author Paul Kerensa about life in the freelance world, what it's like dealing with writing for famous folks and the Pause For Thought Christmas Party. All that plus we preview what's coming up at the upcoming Church and Media conference (more info at http://themedianet.org) and we chat the death of Glamour and the rise of dis-connecting. Oh, and Sam and Ruth are back. With several embarrassing tales. Like, Subscribe and review! It all helps, and join the conversation on twitter @themedianet with #Signal See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Steve Legg and pals bring you a show that is like joining your mates for a chat over a mug of coffee. So get the kettle on, sit back and enjoy the podcast with special guests comedian Paul Kerensa and Dr Krish Kandiah

Writer/comedian/broadcaster Paul Kerensa (Miranda, Not Going Out and yes, Top Gear) talks to James about writing, performing, podcasting... and luck.

Happy New Year! We’ve packed a lot of good stuff into the January 2017 edition. Sam, Katie and Justin discuss the conversation we hosted between comedians Milton Jones, Sally Phillips and Paul Kerensa. We’re all a bit worried about Sam after he went to a new age fair, Joe Ogborn has an atheist friend he takes to church every Sunday and we hear how Rev Richard Coles went from 80s popstar to media missionary. See the January edition at http://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2017/January-2017 Get a free copy of the magazine at www.premierchristianity.com/freesample Get the MP3 podcast of Premier Christianity Magazine, or Subscribe Via a href=“https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/premier-christianity-podcast/id959882582?mt=2”>iTunes

Premier Christianity is your source of unique Christian content to help you grow deeper in your faith, engage with the Church, tackle current issues from a Christian perspective and be inspired by the faith stories of others. Request your free sample copy of Premier Christianity magazine at premierchristianity.com/freesample

Following a chance remark from a Ukranian flatmate on the stereotypical characteristics of her neighbouring countries (sleazy Lithuanians, tidy Hungarians...), the comedy writer Paul Kerensa decided... Things Unseen. For people who have a faith, and those who just feel there’s more out there than meets the eye.

We talk about Rachel & Andrew Wilson's article "When life gives you Oranges" on the practical and spiritual challenges of parenting special needs children. Louie, Justin and Sam leaf through other articles from the latest mag including Sam's investigation into how churches are reaching people on the streets, and Louie's lowdown on the best Bible apps on the Internet. Plus comedian Paul Kerensa pops up... Again! Read the November edition of Premier Christianity mag http://www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2015/November-2015 Get a FREE copy of Premier Christianity Magazine at http://www.premierchristianity.com/freesample Get the MP3 podcast of Premier Christianity Magazine, or Subscribe Via a href=“https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/premier-christianity-podcast/id959882582?mt=2”>iTunes

Today I’m talking to comedy writer and stand up, Paul Kerensa co-writer of award winning BBC 1 sitcoms Not Going Out and Miranda. He’s authored many books on comedy and can often be heard on Chris Evan’s Radio 2 show providing the ‘pause for thought’.

Who was Huey Long and how did Tigger save lives? Getting to know people from history is tricky, particularly when heroes turn out to have rather horrid personal lives. Can we separate the art from the artist? Featuring Huey Long - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Long Eric Gill - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Gill Paul Winchell - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Winchell With thanks to Dan Carlin @hardcorehistory, Simon Dunn @sighdone and Paul Kerensa @paulkerensa. Dan Carlin is a journalist, historian (although he'd describe himself as a mere History Fan) and podcaster. He is creator and host of the award winning History Podcast, Hardcore History available from www.dancarlin.com. Paul Kerensa is a comedian and television writer (credits include Not Going Out and Miranda). He also writes interesting books about Christianity you can get from www.paulkerensa.com Simon Dunn is also a television writer. He also churns out a lot of fun ebooks www.simondunn.me.uk Iszi Lawrence is a comedian and podcaster www.iszi.com Thanks for Listening to this podcast - for more info please visit www.zlistdeadlist.com. To support the show do share this episode on social medai and write us a review on iTunes. To help financially please use the paypal button on the website. The Z List Dead List a Podcast about obscure people from History created and hosted by Iszi Lawrence. Music All Licenses can be viewed on www.freemusicarchive.org. Theme: Time Trades Live at the WFMU Record Fair - November 24, 2013 by Jeffery Lewis (http://www.thejefferylewissite.com) Podington bear (http://podingtonbear.com/) Chris Zabriskie (http://chriszabriskie.com/) The F*cked Up Beat (https://thefuckedupbeat.bandcamp.com/)

Just in case you're suffering withdrawal symptoms from our 12 Days of Christmas series, and are slumped listlessly in front of your now empty mp3 player, we've got one final Christmas treat for you. We asked standup comedian and BBC comedy scriptwriter, Paul Kerensa, to record a wee Christmas Day message for you...   If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.  Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page. As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

Paul Kerensa is a stand-up comedian and BBC scriptwriter for shows like Miranda and Not Going Out. So he seemed like just the chap to talk to about the relationship between humour and religion, and to ask 'What would Jesus laugh at?' If you want more from Nomad, check out our website, and follow us on Facebook and twitter If you're looking for other people to share this journey with, then register on our Listener Map, and see if any other nomads are in your area.  Nomad can only keep going because a small group of faithful listeners help us pay the bills. If you want to join them, you can make regular donations at Patreon or a one-off or regular donation through PayPal, the links to which you can find on our support page. As a thank you, you'll have access to Nomad Book Club, our online community The Beloved Listener Lounge, and Nomad Devotionals, where we're attempting to reconstruct worship through a creative mix of songs, music, readings, prayers and guest reflections.

It's 25 years of Back to the Future! To celebrate, we're joined by the geeky and innovative stand-up comic, Paul Kerensa, whose 2005 Edinburgh show "Back to the Futon" involved a real-life DeLorean and a Gray's Sports Almanacful of in-jokes. Since then Paul's been focused on collecting and comparing every moment in time from every [...]