September 30 2007
4 at 40 at 7.15pm
Radio 4: This Is Your Life at 9.00pm
4 at 40
Eddie Mair celebrates the birth of Radio 4.
September 30 1967 was the start of a revolution in speech broadcasting. Though the change of name, from the Home Service to Radio 4, was small enough and there were no identifiable changes in the schedule (it was a mixture of magazine programmes and drama, the occasional news bulletin, and programmes for schools), the change of name signalled a change of direction, tone and style.
Eddie talks to:
Dame Liz Forgan, former Managing Director, BBC Network Radio, and former Director of Programmes at Channel 4
Lord Chris Smith, former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and current Director of the Clore Leadership Programme
Miranda Sawyer, author, broadcaster and radio critic for The Observer
Sarfraz Manzoor, writer and broadcaster
Sean Street, poet, broadcaster, writer and teacher at Bournemouth University Media School
Radio 4 Controllers Monica Sims, 1978-83; Michael Green, 1986-96; James Boyle, 1996-2001; Mark Damazer, 2004-present)
Ian Peacock races through a rapid history of The Archers, Jeremy Hardy wanders through Broadcasting House in search of the soul of Radio 4, and Eddie Mair considers the hits – and the misses.
Pic shows: John Timpson, Jack de Manio and Pat Simmons, on the Today Programme, 1971.
Radio 4: This Is Your Life
Stephen Fry and Matt Lucas open the Big Red Book at the page for Radio 4.
Stephen catches Radio 4 unawares, and whisks it off to the Radio Theatre where an audience of old friends awaits.
Stephen and Matt take an irreverent romp through the station's broadcasting history, sweeping up along the way such jewels as Today, Any Questions, Desert Island Discs and - of course - The Archers.
Guests include John Humphrys, Sue Lawley, Jonathan Dimbleby, Barry Cryer, Rabbi Lionel Blue, James Naughtie and Martin Jarvis, and performers Sue Perkins, Michael Fenton Stevens, Dave Lamb and Richie Webb.
Written by Bill Dare (The Mary Whitehouse Experience, Dead Ringers and The Now Show), John Finnemore (That Mitchell and Webb Sound), Nev Fountain (Dead Ringers), Jon Holmes (The Now Show) and Tom Jamieson (Dead Ringers).
