The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa
By Paul Kerensa
100 Years of the BBC, Radio and Life as We Know It.
Be informed, educated and entertained by the amazing true story of radio’s forgotten pioneers. With host Paul Kerensa, great guests and rare archive from broadcasting’s golden era. Original music by Will Farmer. www.paulkerensa.com/oldradio
Be informed, educated and entertained by the amazing true story of radio’s forgotten pioneers. With host Paul Kerensa, great guests and rare archive from broadcasting’s golden era. Original music by Will Farmer. www.paulkerensa.com/oldradio
Latest episode
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Children’s Hour to Bedtime Hour: Uncles, Aunts and Iggle Piggle
Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin... Episode 69 of our deep dive into British broadcasting's back-story brings us to 5th April 1923, and the hiring of Ella Fitzgerald (not that one), to organise and centralise Children's Hour. That le… -
Major Arthur Corbett-Smith: Reith’s Rival
Episode 68 and STILL in March 1923 - March 26th to be precise, as Major Arthur Corbett-Smith is hired to be the 5th Cardiff station director in about as many weeks. It's not going well there... ...Corbett-Smith to the rescue? Trouble is, he's a littl… -
SPECIAL: A Brief History of Coronation Broadcasts
Episode 67 is a special: A Brief History of Coronation Broadcasts (or Broadcast Coronations) How the BBC has brought two such ceremonies to the air, as they (and others) now tackle a third, for King Charles III. We'll tell you all about the two previ… -
The BBC’s News, Weather and SOS Broadcasts of March 1923
Here is the news. And the weather. And the SOS messages... Our timeline continues into late March 1923 - which means that as well as news, we now have daily weather forecasts on the early BBC. It's just in time for the end of the Ideal Home Exhibitio… -
A Brief History of the BBC’s Archives
Episode 65 welcomes the BBC's only ever Sound Archivist (the title changed a few times), Simon Rooks. For 33 years he was lost in the archives and now he's found his way out, he's here to tell us the way. This episode is more interview than usual, in… -
Farewell Magnet House, Hello... Laundry Baskets? + Jeffrey Holland
Episode 64 dwells in 1st-16th March 1923: the last days of the first BBC HQ of Magnet House. So this packed show takes a walk from Magnet House to the studios at Marconi House, just as the early broadcasters would have done. We take a look at the ear… -
Glasgow 5SC: The BBC Launches in Scotland
On episode 63, we've reached 6th March 1923: Glasgow 5SC launches - the BBC's first station in Scotland. It's not Scotland's first radio station (see episode 48 for the tale of how Daimler, Glasgow Motor Show and a couple of electrical shop owners ma… -
Radio’s First Political Debate... and Reeta Chakrabarti
On 22 February 1923, the BBC tried something new: the first broadcast political debate. What could possibly go wrong? Let's find out! And we chat to Reeta Chakrabarti - a mainstay of BBC news for over 30 years. She's anchored news from the studio, br… -
The BBC’s Listings Ban... and Gareth Gwynn’s Ministry of Happiness
Welcome to Season 5! Centenary specials behind us, we deep-dive back into mid-Feb 1923, in our moment-by-moment story of British broadcasting's birth. On episode 61, we hear from: GARETH GWYNN on his new sitcom on the launch of broadcasting in Wales,… -
A History of Religious Broadcasting: 100 Years of God on the Beeb
In the beginning... religious broadcasts were there ever since Marconi said, "Let there be sound!" (He never said that.) Whether you're a faithful or heathen, you're very welcome here and I think you'll enjoy this whizz through a century of British b…