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Press Releases
Radio 4's 1968 – Myth Or Reality? season to mark 40th anniversary of a momentous year of change
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BBC Radio 4 will broadcast a six-month season of programmes to mark the 40th anniversary of 1968, a year of remarkable upheaval around the world, starting tomorrow (Saturday 15 March).
1968 – Myth Or Reality? will reflect upon a year which witnessed protests, revolutions, the rise of the black and women's civil rights' movements, the Vietnam war, the inception of the underground press and major cultural changes. The season will also assess whether the year which is claimed to have shaped the thinking of a generation did, in fact, exert such a strong influence.
In 1968, riots swept across the globe, the Russians crushed the Prague Spring, Vietnam protestors clashed with police, black people and women struggled for equality and the world was stunned by the assassinations of US Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy and civil rights activist Martin Luther King.
1968 – Myth or Reality? revisits some of the most significant episodes of the year and examines what impact these events really had on subsequent decades in terms of politics, philosophy and culture. The season will ask if 1968 was a year which had significance for a minority of activists rather than the majority of citizens.
A landmark series narrated by Sir John Tusa, 1968: Day By Day, will broadcast daily for six months at 4.55pm from 17 March to the beginning of September. The series blends archive news items and music to give a snapshot of the news and cultural issues from the corresponding day in 1968. Each Sunday there will be a half-hour omnibus edition of that week's news from 1968 at 11.00pm. The omnibus will be available for podcast in the UK.
Sir John Tusa, Chairman, University of the Arts London, also presents four studio discussions – 1968: The Year Of Revolutions – which tell the story of protests and upheavals around the world.
The series includes the demonstrations against the Vietnam War at the American Embassy in London; the May student uprisings in Paris; Czechoslovakia's experiment in "socialism with a human face" and the subsequent suppression by the Soviet authorities; and the events which took place in the USA – the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy; the anti-war protests; and the civil rights movement.
The first programme airs on Tuesday 18 March, at 9.02am and guests include Peter Hain, David Edgar, Anthony Barnett, Tony Benn, Martin Kettle, Douglas Hurd, Joan Bakewell, Donovan and Ann Leslie.
The remaining three programmes will be broadcast later in the year and will be recorded in Paris, Prague and Chicago.
1968: The Archive Hour – The My Lai Tapes will broadcast extracts from the recordings of the US Army's investigation into the My Lai massacre – the Peer's inquiry – which have lain forgotten for 40 years until now. Presented by Vietnam war journalist David Hodierne, the programme recounts the brutal massacre of some 500 unarmed Vietnamese civilians in March 1968.
The rapes and murders were kept quiet for a year with details only becoming public during the court martial of Lieutenant William Calley, two years after the bloodbath. Prior to Lt Calley's court martial, the US Army held its own investigation behind closed doors – the Peer's inquiry.
These recordings reveal that US troops raped and killed hundreds of civilians from three villages in one day. 1968: The Archive Hour – The My Lai Tapes is broadcast on Saturday 15 March at 8.00pm.
On Desert Island Discs on Sunday 16 March, Tariq Ali discusses the motivations that led him to becoming a radical thinker and his role in the political upheaval of 1968.
Saturday Live will be inviting listeners to recount their own memories of 1968 via the BBC Memory Share website at bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/memoryshare_1968.shtml from Saturday 22 March. Listeners with interesting tales from the era could find themselves invited to recount their stories on the programme during the 1968 – Myth Or Reality? season.
A major three-part series, due to begin on 31 May, presented by Miranda Sawyer – 1968: Sex, Telly And Britain – examines the British cultural scene focusing on areas such as the media, the impact of television and attitudes towards sex and how they were reflected in films and art.
Two programmes will look at magazines that came to represent the voices of a generation.
1968: Notes From The Underground, presented by Rosie Boycott, explores the rise of underground press such as International Times, Oz and Frendz and considers what impact the underground press had at the time and what influence these publications have had on journalism today.
The programme includes contributions from Barry Miles, John Hopkins, Jim Haynes, Jonathon Green, Marsha Rowe, Felix Dennis, Mick Farren and Joe Boyd.
1968: It's Not Just About The Music, going out on 10 April, will look at the inception, rise, influence and 40-year history of Rolling Stone Magazine.
A one-off special on 30 April, 1968: May 68 – Philosophy In The Streets, presented by Nick Fraser, looks at the intellectual revolution that spread from Paris throughout the world, particularly to the USA and then Britain.
Lenny Henry embarks on a journey of discovery in 1968: What's So Great About Bob Dylan? Lenny freely admits that he has never "got" Bob Dylan, so he sets out to find out more about the man and his music.
A two-part series, 1968: The Sixty-Eighters At Sixty, presented by David Aaronovitch, explores what impact the British and German young radicals of 1968 believed they would make to the world and assesses what influence their aspirations have had on the world today.
Veterans of both the hard right and hard left discuss how the 1968 generation played a decisive role in defining modern Germany.
The season also includes three dramas, two of which are black comedies selected because they were first seen in 1968.
1968: Let's Murder Vivaldi, written by David Mercer, will be aired in June, and tells the story of two couples who work out their animosities in very different ways, potentially with deadly consequences.
1968: Funeral Games is a black comedy by Joe Orton that links Orton's hit successes Loot and What The Butler Saw.
1968: 4.4.68 is a powerful drama charting the week that ultimately culminated with the assassination of Martin Luther King. 1968: 4.4.68 features Danny Sapani as Martin Luther King and will be broadcast on 29 March.
1968: Rivers Of Blood – The Real Source, first broadcast in March, will be repeated on 20 April. This programme examines what drove Enoch Powell to deliver his attack on immigration and tries to uncover the real source of his infamous "Rivers of Blood" speech.
BBC Radio 4 Publicity
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