upfront
Feature BBC 100 In Wales
Opening on Sat 10 Dec and running until Sun 16 Apr as part of a seven-year partnership between the two organisations, BBC 100 In Wales is a major exhibition at National Museum Cardiff that will celebrate the corporation’s centenary in Wales, which falls on Mon 13 Feb 2023.
From radio to television to streaming, with content in both Welsh and English, the exhibition will provide a whistlestop tour through time via ‘keys’ in Welsh entertainment history, including objects from Amgueddfa Cymru collections and archival materials from BBC Wales; featuring everything from Bagpuss to Doctor Who alongside the technology used over the decades to beam these family favourites into regional homes. To mark this and the Beeb’s big 100 in Wales, allow Hannah Collins, Eve Davies and Josh Williams to whet your appetite with some historical insights and personal
picks… National Museum Cardiff, Sat 10 Dec-Sun 16 Apr. Admission: FREE. Info:
museum.wales/bbc
The BBC is born - but not as you know it...
On 18 Oct 1922, the British Broadcasting Company was formed by the GPO (General Post Office). This was done to streamline broadcasting licence requests, which were pouring in after the first live public broadcast two years prior – featuring the warblings of Aussie soprano Dame Nellie Melba – at the Marconi Telegraph Factory, Chelmsford. Previously, these were reserved for public information; now, listeners were enthralled by the idea of live radio entertainment. Broadcasts in Wales began on 13 Feb 1923. (Fun fact: Rudyard Kipling served on one of the GPO’s committees.)
Towards going public.. The first BBC broadcast went out on 22 Dec
1922 under the stewardship of John Reith, its first General Manager. Reith instigated the company’s mission statement to “inform, educate and entertain”, which it’s upheld to this day. What followed in the next four years was a battle that would shape the very soul of the organisation as we know it, fuelled by funding disputes, a General Strike and Winston Churchill’s desire to take “advantage” of the BBC’s mouth to the public’s ear. Controversies aside, the company eventually became a chartered corporation by New Year’s Day 1927, promising to deliver ad-free content and impartial news. Famous last words…?
BBC Cymru Wales: a
1920s: First BBC broadcast from Wales
history in 10 decades
Around the BBC in five historic programmes…
Gavin & Stacey The Welsh-English duo Ruth Jones and
James Corden certainly know how to write a script. Packed with humour, emotion and drama, Gavin & Stacey has become a true BBC icon – the pinnacle, I would say, of British sitcoms. From Billericay to Barry, this comedy captures, albeit hyperbolically, Essex and Welsh stereotypes with dexterous hilarity. Each character is likeable in their own way, making it almost impossible to pick a favourite: that said, Bryn, Nessa, Smithy, and Pam are probably my top four. I’ve rewatched the boxset countless times whenever needing a little pick-me-up; my sister and I have long prided ourselves over our ability to recite Gavin & Stacey quotes whenever they seem fitting.
In Our Time The BBC Radio 4 knowledge juggernaut
hosted by the profoundly intelligent Melvyn Bragg, who is joined by an array of scholarly guests each week at 9am on Thursdays for a live radio discussion. In Our Time covers topics from philosophy, culture, science, history, and religion and has done so since 15 Oct 1998 – there is a comprehensive store of ideas and wisdom in their archive, to say the least. The host is not afraid to challenge guests, making for some of the most interesting and
– Dafydd y Garreg Wen sung by Welsh baritone Mostyn Thomas – goes out at 5pm on 13 Feb from a radio shop at 19 Castle Street, Cardiff. BBC NOW is formed.
14
1930s: Calls for a ‘Welsh Region’, and
content in English and Welsh, are answered by a new transmitter in Anglesey.
1940s: Regional broadcasting is
enlightening discussions on any station. Bragg and guests will never know how much they have helped me through my A-Levels and undergraduate English Literature degree!
Woman’s Hour Every weekday at 10am is Woman’s Hour, on
BBC Radio 4. A radio magazine programme that spotlights women’s voices and lives with topical conversations about sports, health, safety, motherhood, menopause, careers, and more, the show continues to highlight how gender inequality is still relevant in contemporary society, while demonstrating how women empower with each other to tackle these issues – ‘girly-chat’ but with a political twist. Thanks to Woman’s Hour, I feel encouraged not to be complacent when there is still so much to be done to tackle gender discrimination.
Roy Plomley in 1942, Desert Island Discs asks celebrities of the day which eight tracks, book, and luxury they would take – alongside the complete works of Shakespeare and the Bible – as a castaway to a desert island. The programme has been hosted by Lauren Laverne since 2018 and she has amply filled the boots of the four wonderful presenters that came before (Roy Plomley 1942-85, Michael Parkinson 1985-88, Sue Lawley 1988-2006, Kirsty Young 2006-2018). The very first castaway was Vic Oliver and notable
Desert Island Discs Another BBC Radio 4 classic, created by
nixed during WWII; however, Bangor becomes the BBC Variety Hour’s home until 1943.
1950s: Recognising TV’s appeal, the
BBC expands to a 10-acre Llandaff site, Broadcasting House. Public opinion on Welsh-language programming is divided.
1960s: BBC Cymru Wales is
born, broadcasting five shows in Welsh and seven in English each week. Prince Charles’ investiture at Caernarfon Castle is watched by a global audience of 500 million.
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