BBC Radio History

1945-1967

Light Programme

Following the end of the war, the BBC reintroduced the six pre-war regional services, on the same transmitters and frequencies as before, retaining the wartime name BBC Home Service. So for example the Welsh regional station on Medium Wave was now called the Welsh Home Service. 

The long wave frequencies of the pre-war National Programme became the BBC Light Programme which launched on Sunday, 29th July 1945.

There can be no doubt that the war changed the sound of BBC radio dramatically, the Light Programme style being very much based on the informal American style of the Forces Programme. This new station offered general entertainment with a plethora of shows not heard before the war on the old National Programme.

22 Years of the Light Programme

Sunday, 27 July 1945 and the new BBC Light Programme launched on 1500m Long Wave and 247m Medium Wave with 'filler' medium wave transmitters. Offering an alternative output for listeners, the Light provided the music and comedy not heard on the speech based Home Services. During the difficult post war years the station broadcast the comedy and music which provided a welcome light relief to listeners.

Launch day programmes included Sandy Macphearson at the theatre organ and an afternoon performance by the Torquay Municipal Orchestra.

Housewives' Choice (1946-1967) was aired 9.00 am on weekday mornings. Record requests and dedications were played for the nation's housewives who were left at home while their husbands were at work. The creator and producer was Pat Osborne. The first presenter on Monday, March 4th 1946 was Robert Macdermot. The first record played was 'Greensleeves' by the Hallé Symphony Orchestra. Early presenters on a fortnightly rota were Neal Arden, Roy Rich, Franklyn Engleman and Brian Mickey. The famous theme tune was In a Party Mood by The West End Celebrity Orchestra. The show was renamed  Family Choice with the launch of Radio 2 in1967.

Have a Go (1946 to 1967) With his broad Yorkshire accent, Wilfred Pickles had been the first non 'standard BBC' speaker to read the news. He is, however best remembered as compere of this travelling radio quiz where he interviewed ordinary people around the country, rewarding undemanding questions with cash prizes. The show attracted audiences of 20 million; contestants were asked to tell the world their most embarrassing moments, secrets and treasured memories in return for 'having a go' at the quiz which gave each correct answer 5 shillings up to a jackpot of £1/19/11d. His catch-phrases included 'How do, how are yer?', 'Are yer courting?' and 'Give him the money, Mabel'. By the time the show was axed in 1967, over 400,000 miles had been travelled between venues!

Much Binding in the Marsh (1944-1954) was a farcical comedy starring Kenneth Horne and Richard Murdoch originally based at an RAF station. In peacetime the crew moved to a social club and were last heard publishing a newspaper.

The Al Read Show (1950's) his weekly stand-up comedy shows were heard by 35 million listeners during the 1950s and ‘60s. An ex-sausage maker from Salford, Al drew on his working-class roots for his shows and described his humour as ‘pictures of life’.

The Archers (1950-1967) billed as  an everyday story of country folk this longest running serial was first heard on the Light Programme but in 1967 it was moved to Radio 4 where it remains today.

Beyond Our Ken (1958-1964) later renamed Round the Horne (1965-1968) starred amongst others, Kenneth Horne and Kenneth Williams. This influential Sunday afternoon  comedy series featured characters such as Julian and Sandy, Rambling Syd Rumpo, and J. Peasmold Gruntfuttock!

The Billy Cotton Band Show (1949-1968) was another popular Sunday afternoon radio programme . Band leader, Billy Cotton started each show with the cry “Wakey! Wakey!”, followed by the band’s signature tune “Somebody Stole My Gal”. Alan Breeze sang (and sometimes slaughtered) the hits of the day.

Children's Favourites (1954-1967) This Saturday morning show  was hosted by Children's Hour presenter 'Uncle Mac' (Derek McCulloch)  who played record requests from children of all ages. The signature tune was Puffin' Billy by Edward White. Renamed Junior Choice with the launch of Radio 2 in 1967.

The Clitheroe Kid (1957-1972) featured the antics of diminutive adult comedian Jimmy Clitheroe in his role as a cheeky schoolboy living with his family.

Mrs Dale's Diary (1948-1969) is the BBC's earliest long-running radio serial. The storyline was based around Doctor's wife Mrs Mary Dale, her husband Jim, and the comings and goings in their London suburb of Parkwood Hill in Middlesex.  A new 15-minute episode was broadcast each weekday afternoon with a repeat the following morning. First broadcast in January 1948, it was renamed the Dales in 1962. In 1969 it transferred to the new Radio 2 where it ran until April 1969 after 5,531 episodes!

Music While You Work (1940-1967) this half-hour show featured a different band playing a non-stop medley of popular tunes. Launched during the war, it could be heard on the Light weekdays at 10.30am  and again at 3.45pm. The lovely theme tune was by Eric Coates and titled Calling All Workers. The show format was resurrected briefly under the title Music All The Way weekday afternoons on Radio 2 in 1985.

Listen with Mother (1950-1982) was a fifteen minute programme of stories, songs and nursery rhymes aimed at the under-fives. It was transmitted at 1.45 pm for 32 years with out a break. During the 1950's the show became a national institution with a million listeners. Stories were read by Daphne Oxenford, Dorothy Smith and Julia Lang. From 1963 it was moved to the Home Service and then Radio Four, until it's demise due to TV rivalry in 1982. 

Educating Archie (1950-1961 & 1966) was a Sunday lunchtime show with weekday repeats featuring ventriloquist Peter Brough and his dummy Archie Andrews. The show was the most popular radio series of 1952, pulling in a phenomenal number of listeners and a fan club of 250,000 members.  Peter Brough once said: People always said 'why a ventriloquist on the radio?' I always used to say 'why not?' Radio is all about painting pictures for the mind.  Guests included Hattie Jacques, Tony Hancock and Peter Madden.

Two-Way Family Favourites (1945- 1984) was a record request programme designed to link families at home in the UK with British forces posted overseas in West Germany and further afield. The half - hour Tuesday evening show was expanded in 1960 to a longer 90 minute Sunday show with a radio announcer telephone link from the linked BFPO Country.  It was presented amongst others by Cliff Michelmore, Jean Metcalfe, Michael Aspel, Sarah Kennedy and finally Jean Challis. In the 1950's and early 1960's Family Favourites was one of the few BBC radio programmes devoted exclusively to records, so its audience was in consequence huge, going far beyond the audience at which it was aimed. It offered the 'real thing', the popular records themselves which by the late 1950s were what people wanted to hear, as against versions of the songs being played live in a studio in London. Theme - With A Song In My Heart by Andre Kostelanetz.

Saturday Club (1958-1969) followed on from the  success of the short-lived 1957 series Skiffle Club. Brian Matthew was the compere of this two hour 'experimental teenage music show'. He chatted with guest artistes in the studio and introduced their live performances often before they had established themselves as recording stars. Almost every pop star in Britain appeared on the programme which was always broadcast live. Keith Skues took over on the first Radio 1 show 1 in 1967 and the show completed 500 editions on 4 May 1968 but was axed on 18 January 1969.  

Sing Something Simple (1959 - 2001) featured the most popular melodies of the last 70 years, performed by The Cliff Adams Singers (four female, 12 male), accompanied by Jack Emblow and the music director. The show was broadcast at the same time every Sunday evening and earned itself the title of longest-running continuous music programme in the world. By 1979 Sing Something Simple had already celebrated its 1000th programme. With it's close in December 2001, there had been over 2,100 shows broadcast on BBC Radio.

Easy Beat (1959-1967) This Sunday mid-morning pop music show was launched in 1959. Originally produced and compered by Brian Matthew, the show regularly featured Kenny Ball’s Jazzmen,  the Johnny Howard Band, Laura Lee, Tony Steven, Danny Street, guest artistes  and BBC top tunes. It was later Introduced by Keith Fordyce. When Radio 1 was launched in 1967, the show remained for a few months under the new title Happening Sunday.

Pick of the Pops (1955-1972) This famous name chart show began as a pop record segment during late Saturday night music shows. First presenter was Franklin Englemann, closely followed by Alan Dell, David Jacobs, Don Moss. In 1962 a Top Ten was introduced when the show was moved to Sunday afternoons with Alan Freeman. The programme was renamed Top 20 when Alan left the show in 1972, but the original name was resurrected in 1989 when he recalled charts gone by on Radio 2.

Record Roundabout (1948-1977) Bandleader Jack Jackson's shows included recorded comedy clips interspersed with music of the day. He went on to broadcast on Radio 2 from 1971 to 1977. Jackson's lightning cutting between comedy extracts and music has been described as an inspiration to succeeding generations of disc jockeys like Kenny Everett who have used advanced production techniques to 'mix' music, speech and sound.

Woman's Hour (1946 - date) a weekday 2pm show, early items included cooking with whale meat, I married a lion tamer and how to hang your husband's suit. Over the years it has been presented by Olive Shapley, Jean Metcalfe  Marjorie Anderson, Judith Chalmers, Sue MacGregor , Jenni Murray and Martha Kearney. The show moved to Radio 4 in 1973 where it is still going strong.

Semprini Serenade (1957-1982) `Old ones, new ones, loved ones, neglected ones' - Semprini's opening lines to his weekday evening programme which ran for 25 years. Albert Semprini was of Italian descent born in Bath. He studied both Piano and Cello and was to graduate from the Verdi Conservatory in Milan in 1928 as an expert concert pianist composer and conductor. In 1957 the Semprini Serenade series was aired with arrangements of old and new songs, light classics and themes from films and shows were exceedingly popular. The show was well received and well loved by his audience it ran for 25 years and over 700 programmes.

The Navy Lark (1959) All at sea on the HMS Troutbridge were Stephen Murray's Number One, Petty Officer Jon Pertwee and silly-ass Sub-Lieutenant Leslie Phillips, whilst below decks Ronnie Barker worked his passage as (Un)Able Seaman Johnson and Tenniel Evans was making mischief as Able Seaman Goldstein.

Your Hundred Best Tunes (1959-2007) Sunday evening classic music show broadcast on Sunday evenings. The show was created and presented by Alan keith until his death in 2003.

Workers’ Playtime (1941-1964) was a live morale-boosting music, comedy and variety show. The show was broadcast weekday lunchtimes from different factory canteens and ran for 23 years. Originally broadcast on the Home Service, it transferred to the Light in 1957. The producer was Bill Gates who would finish each programme by wishing Good Luck All Workers!.

Hancock's Half Hour (1954-1959) followed the comedic goings on at 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam. Down-at-heel comedian Antony Aloysius St John Hancock was pompous, petty, argumentative, and loved by a nation. He was supported by the rogue Sid James, his secretary Miss Pugh, played by Hattie Jacques, and the almost as well known snide, Kenneth Williams (stop messing about). On Thursday and Sunday evenings Hancock was heard getting into difficulties and turning to Sid for help. However he would inevitably find himself in deeper trouble as a result..
 

Friday Night is Music Night (1952- date) Friday night has, in fact, been music night for half a century, first of all on the Light Programme and then on BBC Radio 2, making it the world's longest-running 'live music' programme on radio. It features the famously versatile BBC Concert Orchestra, and is frequently broadcast from theatres and concert halls throughout the UK. The BBC Concert Orchestra, which was formed in 1952, has a wide and flexible repertoire, ranging from classical works and grand opera to light music and popular songs. Its Principal Conductors over the years have been Gilbert Vinter, Sir Charles Mackerras, Vilem Tausky, Marcus Dods, Ashley Lawrence and, since 1989, Barry Wordsworth.
 

Other popular shows included: The Glums (1950's) with Jimmy Edwards as the beer-swilling head of the Glum household, Dick Bentley as Ron and June Whitfield as Eth.

Be My Guest presented by Brian Matthew, Night Ride presented by John Curle, Round The Horne with Kenneth Horne, Top Of The Form school quiz, Does The Team Think?, Album Time with Brian Matthew,  I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again, Ray's a Laugh, The Goon Show, Ballroom music requests with Victor Sylvester and his Orchestra. In Town Tonight.

Heard for more hours than any other artiste in 1949/1950, Saturday night on the Light, Meet the Huggets, Glamorous Nights

VHF

The Light Programme benefited from the improved audio quality of VHF from 1955 when a new transmitter at Wrotham serving the Home Counties began transmissions on 89.1 MHz.

Rock and Roll

Elvis Presley released That's all right Mama in 1954 and a new genre of music, rock and roll was born. The younger generation began to buy different records than their parents; records which which offered teenagers more than just music - it was a new attitude of youthful rebellion which ran into films, fashion, lifestyle and language. The record buying public had become divided, but the BBC's light music station did not fully reflect the change for this new, young audience. Pop music fans in the UK during the 1950's and early 1960's who tuned in to hear the latest hit discs on their radio could only listen to them on certain Light Programme shows like Pick of the Pops and Family Favourites. At night continental Radio Luxembourg faded in and out, but gained an enormous audience share with it's rock and pop music output.

New Shows

The BBC reacted to this new trend in the early and mid 1960's with 'specialist' pop programmes featuring rock and roll, such as The Beat Show, Easy Beat, From Us To You, Here We Go, The Ken Dodd Show, On The Scene, Parade Of The Pops, Pop Go The Beatles, Side By Side, Steppin' Out, Swinging Sound '63, The Talent Spot and Teenagers Turn. However these shows were broadcast for relatively short runs and often included live music as opposed to records, from one or two artistes. Shows like Here We Go, Pop Go The Beatles and others were entirely live with no records played, while the longer running Saturday Club and Top Gear were a mixture of records and pre-recorded live sessions. This was because a certain amount of live music time had to be alloted to counter the growing amount of time given over to the playing of records, or 'needle time'.

Thus many of the newer pop shows featured BBC bands playing cover versions of hits, bands like the Northern Dance Orchestra and the Midlands Dance Orchestra, who were Musicians Union members and had to be employed to fulfil the BBC commitment to live music. By 1967 The BBC was only allowed five hours per day of commercial gramophone records playing on air.

Rock and roll could not fit in so well with the existing Light programming style. Much of the traditional audience, many of whom had listened since the War, found this new, loud and raucous style of music an annoying interruption when played next to light orchestral pieces or a magazine show.

New Radio Stations

The situation was soon to change, however, following the coming of the pop pirate ships in 1964. First came Radio Caroline and Johnny Walker promising 'all day music'. More ships came along; Radio London, Swinging Radio England, Scotland, 270, 390, 355, BBMS, These broadcast to highly populated coastal areas, taking advantage of a legal loophole enabling them to broadcast offshore. The owners had no agreement with the Musicians Union and played original recorded rock and pop records for most of the day.

In 1966 Parliament debated that legal action was required to thwart the broadcasters since the stations were using former WWII installations (forts), wavelengths allocated to other broadcasters by international treaty and were playing copyrighted recorded music. Other charges implied that the offshore radio ships were a danger to shipping on the high seas and their spurious signals could interfere with aircraft and land based emergency communications by police, fire and ambulance services.

End of the Light

The Postmaster General, Edward Short, asked the BBC to create a 'Popular Music Service' on 247m during the hours outside peak-viewing of television. The BBC reported in August 1966 that they were finalising plans for a 24-hour radio music station to replace the condemned pirate "pop" ships. It was originally to be called Radio 247, (name favoured by Controller Robin Scott) aimed to attract the millions then listening to pirate broadcasts. It would use all the present music programmes broadcast by the Light Programme, including Housewives' Choice and Double Spin. But when the Light broadcast talks or drama, such as Radio Newsreel or The Dales, Radio 247 would put in music and leave the main service to the Light Programme 1,500-metre waveband. But, the BBC stated, Radio 247 would not be all "pop." It would carry news headlines and 'occasional classical music'.

The Marine Broadcasting Offences Act became law on Monday, August 14, 1967. As a result of the Act, the offshore radio stations would become criminal enterprises if they continued operating as before. All but one, Radio Caroline, immediately closed down.

Radio 2

Six weeks later, the Home Service was renamed Radio 4 and The Third Programme Radio 3. Most of the the existing pop shows were taken away from the Light for broadcasting by a new radio station called Radio 1. The Light Programme was renamed Radio 2.