The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa

Out with the Old: The First BBC New Year’s Eve

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...

Reith Begins!

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!

Newcastle‘s Christmas Launch: Let It 5NO, Let It 5NO, Let It 5NO!

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...

The First Couple of Marconi House: December 1922

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.

The Licence Fee Problem... of 1922

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.

The Hunt for BBC Premises, Burrows vs Marconi + Prof Gabriele Balbi

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.

The First BBC Staff: Reith, Burrows, Lewis, Anderson, White (+ David Hamilton)

"I had little idea what broadcasting was." So said John Reith after his job interview to become General Manager of the brand new BBC.
On this exciting episode, meet your first General Manager (Reith), Director of Programmes (Arthur Burrows v Cecil Lewis - who'll get the job?), Secretary (Major Anderson beats 245 others to it, but doesn't last six months) and Chief Engineer (R.H. White - nothing to do with the lemonade - he's appointed but doesn't last the weekend...).
Spanning December 7th-16th 1922, we've got the nerves, the prayers, the interviews, the winks, the nudges, the near-misses (discover who turned down the top job before it was offered to Reith - how different it could have been...) and the programmes.
You'll hear Charles Penrose's The Laughing Policeman, Peter Eckersley spoofing the chimes, A.E. Thompson literally nailing down where the police band sit... plus complaints, correspondence and memos about the broadcasts one month into the BBC's being.
Our special guest is 'Diddy' David Hamilton (who was not one of the first staff, to clarify our episode title). David's a delight, and brings tales of playing Elvis to Elvis, introducing the Beatles and the Stones, and his latest radio home, Boom Radio.
 
LINKS FOR YOUR CLICKING PLEASURE:
Watch the full David Hamilton interview, including his face, my face + audio from a future episode, here on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/posts/47583443. You'll need to sign up to our Patreon, but a) you only need sign up to the minimum level to watch the video, b) you can cancel any time, and c) it all helps support this podcast and keeps us in web-hosting and books. Books like...
David Hamilton's fab radio books are The Golden Days of Radio 1 and Commercial Radio Daze - recommended.
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 Britishbroadcastingchallenge.com is on a mission to open up the future of public service broadcasting
Want to hear the full version of Charles Penrose's The Laughing Policeman? Course you do...
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.
Support us at patreon.com/paulkerensa or paypal.me/paulkerensa - Thanks to those who do/have/will!
We're nothing to do with today's BBC - we're talking about the BBCompany, not made by or anything to with the BBCorporation. But they have loaned us the memo we read out - so that's BBC copyright content, reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation, all rights reserved. Archive clips are either public domain or someone's domain and we don't know whose. But we thank them and reiterate that all copyright belongs to them, whoever they are...
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. We are a one-man band. I mean, I am. Not we. I.
Email the podcast here. Your comments are always welcome.
Next time: Burrows' broadcasting company vs Marconi's messaging company. Who'll win? Both! 
Subscribe to get the podcast in your in-tray.
Thanks for listening! Now stand for the National Anthem.

The First Listings: from Norman Long to Neville Chamberlain

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.

The First BBC Entertainers... and Lee Mack

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!

Season 2 Trailer (aka Season 1 Recap)

Ahead of season 2 (covering the first year and a bit of the BBC, from November 16th 1922 to December 31st 1923), here's a recap of season 1 - told by the people who were there: eleven broadcasting pioneers.
 
GUGLIELMO MARCONI: Inventor of 'wireless'
H.J. ROUND: First to send speech west across the Atlantic
PETER ECKERSLEY: First regular British radio broadcaster
WINIFRED SAYER: First woman on the radio, first professional radio performer
DAME NELLIE MELBA: First star broadcaster
ARTHUR BURROWS: First voice of the BBC
KENNETH WRIGHT: First director of the BBC in the North
JOHN REITH: First General Manager then Director General of the BBC
ERNIE MAYNE: First British novelty record about broadcasting 
HELENA MILLAIS: First broadcast character comedian 
A.E. THOMPSON: Second voice of the BBC
+
LEE MACK
DAVID HAMILTON
...who are a little more recent in terms of broadcasting.
Hear them on season 2 of the podcast, as we explore the first entertainers, the first staff, Magnet House, Savoy Hill, Women's Hour, the Radio Times, battles with the press and the government and much more.
 
As ever, we are nothing to do with the current BBC.
As ever, we're on Twitter.com/bbcentury and Facebook.com/bbcentury, with a more interactive group at Facebook.com/groups/bbcentury
As ever, your support at patreon.com/paulkerensa is very much appreciated. Watch the full David Hamilton video interview there, tour Paul's radio history bookshelf, and know you're helping to keep us (me - there's no one else here) making podcasts. 
 
Stay informed/educated/entertained/subscribed.
 
Season 2 soon...

SPECIAL: Percy Edgar - BBC and the Midlands from Day 2 to 1948

Percy Edgar was there right at the start of the BBC. One of the first voices, he booked the acts, managed the station, then became Director of the Midland Region. He was the most influential regional director from 1922 to 1948, far outlasting Reith and, well, every other early radio pioneer I can think of.
His grandson, the playwright David Edgar, has dusted down Percy's memoir and reads it for us on this our final special. Hear all about the foggy first night, the first children's programmes (including Susan the Blue Cat with Yellow Spots), the dancer who wouldn't stop moving, Edgar's encounters with Reith, his double act with A.E. Thompson, and the involvement of Percy's son (David's father) Barrie, who helped inspire the first regular children's programme, then went on to produce Come Dancing, Songs of Praise and Muffin the Mule amongst others.
Most of this episode has David read his grandfather's words, but now and then we have cameo clips from Percy Edgar and A.E. Thompson too.
We are indebted to David and the Edgar family for sharing the memoir with us. You can read along in its typewritten/hand-scrawled marvellousness on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BBCentury/posts/197527178633126
While you're there, join our group facebook.com/groups/bbcentury. We're also on twitter.com/bbcentury - and our host Paul can be followed at facebook.com/paul.kerensa and twitter.com/paulkerensa
We hasten to add we have no connection to the BBC - we're talking about them not with them. Even then, we're talking about the BBCompany, not the BBCorporation... yet. We'll get to how what happens in about 50 episodes' time.
Thank you for supporting the podcast, either via tips at paypal.me/paulkerensa or via monthly shrapnel in exchange for extra audio/video/writings on patreon.com/paulkerensa (some are broadcasting-specific, like my video interview with Diddy David Hamilton, some are wider writings and advance articles I write elsewhere). It all helps keep us in web-hosting and books - there's no profiteering here.
Your ratings/reviews really help spread word of the podcast too - we're a one-man operation. Not that dissimilar from when Percy Edgar ran the show...
Enjoy the episode! The full works are at bbcentury.podbean.com

SPECIAL: Part 2 of 1922‘s Parliamentary Broadcasting Debates

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.

SPECIAL: Part 1 of 1922‘s Parliamentary Broadcasting Debates

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.

SPECIAL: Gertrude Donisthorpe: Britain‘s 1st DJ?

A special minisode championing Gertrude Donisthorpe: one of the world's first female broadcasters and arguably Britain's first DJ. Yet she's hardly to be seen in any of the history books.
Google her now, go on. What do you find? Radio silence.
We mentioned her a couple of episodes ago but didn't even know her first name. So thanks to a tweet from Dr Elizabeth Bruton of the Science Museum, I now know what the history books and the internet at large couldn't tell me. So now I want to tell you.
Gertrude Donisthorpe. This one's for you.
In 1917, she was spinning discs (of a sort), announcing the hottest tracks (the valve in the radio set was quite hot anyway) and doing shout-outs for her audience (of one, her husband). Later, wireless concerts for local troops increased her (and his) audience. But I think they need a bigger audience yet.
No recordings exist from back then, so all you have is my impression - but her words.
Also on this episode, a sneak-peek of next episode's Parliamentary reconstruction, plus Alan Pemberton's glossary of our Captain Round episode. If you struggled with any of the old lingo last episode, Alan's here to help - here on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BBCentury/posts/246631957055981 
...which you can of course 'like', or 'join' our Facebook 'group'. We're also on Twitter and on Patreon with extra bonus things, including unedited video interviews with some of our previous guests, who you'll have heard in bitesize audio form on the podcast. Or your tips are always welcome on Paypal, to keep us in books and web-hosting. Thanks if you do!
Here's a little blog post I've written about Gertrude Donisthorpe. Why? Because: see bit above about her ungooglability. If she is Britain's first DJ, and one of the first female broadcasters IN THE WORLD, she needs a bit more on the internet about her.
+ I mention in the episode a 1922-23 booklet written by Captain H Donisthorpe: Wireless at Home - one of the earliest books on radio, a how-to guide written before there was much to listen to. Well I couldn't resist - I found a copy online, and there's a video of me flicking through bits of it here.
We're unaffiliated with the BBC - in fact we're just one person, more an I than a we - it's Paul, hello.
So your help with this podcast is hugely appreciated. Tell the world! Your ratings and reviewings are most welcome, and subscribe to each episode direct to your podbox.
Happy listening!
 
facebook.com/groups/bbcentury
 

SPECIAL: Capt H.J. Round, a speech from Dec 1952

Our first special stars radio pioneer Captain H.J. Round, in a true piece of history.
 
We're on a break between seasons, so here's the first of a few specials... about one of the last of a few, a genius cigar-chomping engineer who shaped the modern world.
 
We've mentioned Captain H.J. Round on season 1 of the podcast, but we've not heard from him till now - in fact few people have ever heard him. This recording, as far as we know, hasn't been publicly released in its entirety before.
 
Henry Joseph Round worked with Marconi since the turn of the 20th century. His radio direction-finding innovation helped decide the fate of the First World War in The Battle of Jutland, earning him the Military Cross in 1918.
 
Round co-created broadcasting in 1920, when his test transmissions 'went viral', with amateur radio owners tuning in (oh, he helped invent 'tuning in' too) and listening in.
 
He designed the first BBC transmitter and early BBC microphones. Away from broadcasting, he developed radar and sonar, and stumbled on electroluminescence 50 years before it was rediscovered in the modern LED.
 
In this episode, you'll hear his acceptance speech after being awarded the Armstrong Medal by the Radio Club of America on December 12th 1952. Many thanks to Captain Round's grandson David Jervis for sharing this recording with us.
 
If you understand even most of it, I'll be very impressed! It's technical, and it's thorough.
There are tales too of Dame Nellie Melba's famous broadcast, of Marconi, of applying for a job with Edison (but Edison wasn't paying enough), and so much more. My advice: lose yourself in a nostalgic, sometimes unfathomable world of thermionic valves and often incomprehensible jargon. Treat it like a hedge maze: enjoy being lost, knowing someone has carefully built this.
 
You'll hear:
- Harry Hobb’s citation and awarding of the medal
- Round on working for Marconi’s in America, inc transmitters in Babylon, NY and Riverhead, NY 
- Round in search of food at Cape Race, Newfoundland
- Marconi’s in England, inc. the Melba broadcast
- The Marconi Company later years
- Other places referenced include Glace Bay in Nova Scotia, Clifden in Ireland, and Chelmsford in Essex.
 
Then you'll hear E Howard Armstrong's tribute. On the night that came first, but for this podcast I've moved it to the end of the podcast. Armstrong covers WWI's Battle of Jutland and Round’s radio direction-finding innovation.
 
There is plenty more reading matter here:
http://www.r-type.org/timeline/time-012.htm
http://www.r-type.org/timeline/time-119.htm
https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap30311/round-henry-joseph
 
Listener Alan Pemberton has kindly made us a helpful glossary, explaining a few of the terms in Captain Round's speech: Find it here on our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/BBCentury/posts/246631957055981 
 
We're unaffiliated with the BBC - in fact we're just one person - it's me, Paul, hello.
 
So to help us spread word of this small project, please do rate/review/rant about it on social media - it's always hugely appreciated and really helps us reach more ears.
 
If you LOVE the podcast and find some £ in your pocket, paypal.me/paulkerensa helps keep us in books and web-hosting (and the more books we get, the more accurate we'll be!) or patreon.com/paulkerensa also adds extra writing extracts, articles and advance videos from me (not just broadcasting-based, across my other writings too...). Lately that includes a full interview with Diddy David Hamilton - to be included in extracts on season 2 of the podcast.
 
We're on Twitter and have a new Facebook group as well as our Facebook page.
 
My mailing list has more on my upcomings, books, TV shows etc.
 
The recording in this episode has been sent our way by David Jervis - thank you David!
 
Subscribe where you found this podcast to automatically get the next episode - another special.