The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa

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 a...

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 kn...

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...

Ending season 1, here's episode 21 to tie up some loose ends, correct some clarifications and clarify some corrections from our previous 20 episodes on the prehistory of the BBC, radio and life as we know it. There's also an exclusive wide-ranging interview with TV presenter (Get Fresh, How 2), podcaster (Gareth Jones on Speed) and science enthusiast Gareth Jones, known for a brief spell on childr...

Merry listening! Now, do you hear what I hear? Join our sleigh ride back to Christmas 1922, and delve deep into our pod-sack to discover what the BBC was broadcasting in its first Christmas. Includes: the first religious broadcast from Rev John Mayo, the first play written for radio in The Truth About Father Christmas, the BBC's first celebrity guest, the first radio talk ('Christmas among the Bli...

...and the Midlands, as Birmingham and Manchester join the party. We revisit the second day of the BBC: November 15th 1922. Also, how Manchester launched the first BBC children's programmes, how Birmingham had the BBC's first live music, and how London needed to tweak their microphone. All on election day, so just before the first Election Night Special. You'll also hear of the bizarre Birmingham...

"You know, this broadcasting is going to be jolly good fun." ...That adlib ended the very first BBC broadcast, given by Arthur Burrows on November 14th, 1922 - and re-enacted on this special birthday episode.  Yes we've made it! After 17 episodes building up to the big launch, the BBC is on air. This episode lands on the Beeb's 98th birthday - and to celebrate, we've done something that we THINK i...

We're nearly there! Episode 17 zooms in on the pre-BBC fortnight. You'd have thought everything's in place by now, right? Not quite - just the tiny non-controversial matters of the licence fee and allegations of bias to deal with first. Good job they're all sorted now... We've got archive reminiscences from pioneer Peter Eckersley and the return of Newspaper Detective Andrew Barker, who also gives...

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. Cul...

For ep 15, our story of broadcasting reaches one John Reith, who spots a job advertisement in the Morning Post. He's never heard of broadcasting. But what led him to that point? Revisiting landmark moments of our story so far, we'll trace Reith's unusual, unorthodox, unexpected life. From son of the manse to voice of the nation, via love, friendship, war... and all three of those are somehow mixed...

We're back, and we're a little muffled. (I'll be hitting my microphone with hammers, promise.) As I struggle with 2020 tech, the Great British public were struggling with theirs, getting to know their first radio sets in Sept/Oct 1922, at the First All-British Wireless Exhibition and Convention (FABWEAC, for short). So this time, hear the sights, smell the sounds and meet the artistes, such as sin...

In episode 13, we're in August/Sept 1922, which means: - Manchester's first broadcast concert - The pre-BBC battles the printed press. Has the BBC got news for us? Erm... Not yet, and not easily. - The Reithian values arrive - 'to inform, educate & entertain' - except somehow they're knocking about before John Reith's even heard of broadcasting. Our guest is Andrew Barker, a former BBC produce...

Part 2 of the pre-BBC's summer of music covers June and July 1922. As The Spice Girls once nearly sang, tonight (this episode) is the night (the episode) when 2 (BBCs) become 1 (BBC). Hear the voices of those who weren't just there - they were pushing the buttons. This episode includes: - How we got the licence fee! - Garden party demonstrations - Elstree - the arrival of Cecil Lewis Plus an Airwa...

Two British Broadcasting Companies! That's the result of the negotiations of summer 1922. Part one of this two-parter brings us two parallel storylines: boardroom debates (a la The Apprentice) and studio sing-songs (a la Top of the Pops). In this exciting episode, hear the voices and reminiscences of John Reith, Peter Eckersley, Arthur Burrows, Lord Gainford - those who were there as the BBC final...

In episode 10, we journey through the round window... 2ZY Manchester arrives in mid-May 1922, then children's broadcasting in mid-November: Kiddies Corner, as part of a night of General Election results. Weird.   Hear the voices that started children's broadcasting: Kenneth Wright (aka Uncle Humpty Dumpty) and Reginald Jordan (a 10-year-old radio announcer).    Back in the present day, CHRIS JARVI...

Episode 9 brings us to the famous '2LO': London is calling the world, on our journey towards the BBC's birth. Hear the voices that launched broadcasting in the UK, plus rivalry and pranks, including Arthur Burrows and Peter Eckersley recreating a 1922 moment via clips from 1938 and 1960. (It looks weird written down, but trust me.) This episode's 'AM' (Airwave Memories) comes from radio producer C...

Feb 14th, 1922: Britain finally gets a regular broadcast service. Only it's a little dry. Till Peter Eckersley gives his engineers gin and tonics (also dry), runs to the mic, and brings entertainment radio to the masses with jokes, songs, impressions and severe over-running. Hear all about it - including archive clips aplenty - including more from broadcasting historian Tim Wander ( buy his books...

Thank Eckersley for the BBC! It's almost entirely down to him. Never heard of him? Then listen on, to the original PPE... We chat to broadcasting historian Tim Wander (who knows more about Eckersley than anyone on the planet). Plus hear clips from Captain Eckersley himself, both in wild action on air, and looking back over his amazing career as first BBC Chief Engineer, first regular voice on Brit...

A minisode that somehow ends up longer than a normal episode... Instead of telling you all about 1922's pioneer extraordinaire P.P. Eckersley, we're putting him back a week. Well, the radio hams of the day had to wait 18 months - you can wait 7 days. Before him, we bring a tale of William Le Queux, amateur broadcaster of 1921 - oh and he was a writer from Guildford. Like your host... Plus a tale o...

Meet the guv'nor: BBC's first newsreader, children's presenter, actor, Head of Programmes... but before all that Arthur Burrows was one of broadcasting's lone prophets, convincing journalists, ministers and future listeners-in that mass entertainment from a small box was A Good Thing. Plus we exclusively hear from a pirate radio legend. Emperor Rosko tells us his journey from naval ship DJ to Radi...

Hip hip hurrah! Our centenary special, landing on the 100th birthday of professional public broadcast radio in Britain. Hear the best/only (possibly) re-enactment of the Melba Concert, sent from Chelmsford to the world on June 15th 1920 - exactly a century before this episode lands. Relive the songs, the fire, a genuine joke, the panic when it goes off-air... and discover how an attempt at Daily M...

The 1st woman on British radio! Radio's 1st professional artiste! The 1st listings! The 1st programme with a title! Journey back to early 1920 for episode 3 of the story of pre-BBC broadcasting, and meet W.T. Ditcham, Captain H.J. Round and Winifred Sayer - the girl from the ball-bearings factory who brought song to our radio sets.  We're here to inform, educate + entertain on the origins of the B...

Episode 2 of our journey towards British broadcasting's birth: Dr Crippen, Titanic, war, a ghost + 2 brilliant engineers.  Be informed, educated + entertained on the origins of the BBC, radio and life as we know it. (We've no affiliation with the BBC, to be clear.) Original music by Will Farmer    - Email  an audio clip of your early broadcasting memories, or send your questions/comments Support t...

Episode 1: Morse, Marconi + Reg Fessenden's first entertainment show.  This episode covers 1830-1906, yes, we're not even in the last 100 years yet... but first we have to invent wireless telephony. Be informed, educated + entertained on the origins of the BBC, radio and life as we know it. (We've no affiliation with the BBC, to be clear.) - Email  an audio clip of your early broadcasting memories...