On 19 December 2002, BBC World Service broadcast a day of special live
programming from the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa
to mark its 70th anniversary
During the inaugural broadcast in 1932, the BBC’s
first Director General, Sir John Reith, said that
radio would become “a connecting and coordinating
link between the scattered parts of the
British Empire”. Twelve months later, a programme
was broadcast back to London for the first time.
Produced by the Africa Broadcasting Company, it
was transmitted from the top of Table Mountain.
In 2002, it was the turn of Ben Dotsei Malor, a
producer and presenter with the African Service,
to wish listeners a good morning as the sun rose
over the ocean to mark another historic occasion.
Highlights of the programming on 19 December
included interviews with Archbishop Desmond
Tutu, actress Angelina Jolie, singer and UN Special
Envoy Geri Halliwell and footballer Thierry Henry.
A special edition of the interactive programme
Talking Point gave listeners across the globe the
opportunity to put their questions to Mark Byford,
Director, BBC World Service and Global News.
And during the day, the presenters read out
listeners’ emails and broadcast calls from around
the world.
The anniversary season began with two
special broadcasts which gave listeners a unique
opportunity to question two world leaders.
From 10 Downing Street, the British Prime
Minister, Tony Blair, answered calls and emails
sent in to a special Talking Point. Days later, UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan gave the World
Service 70th Anniversary Lecture from New York,
offering his perspective on the challenges facing
the world, and then engaged in discussion with
listeners around the globe.
“The 70th anniversary programmes showcased the best of what
we’ve done in the past but also highlighted what we are capable of today”
The other highlight of the 70th anniversary
celebrations was the global concert, broadcast
live on 15 December from five cities. “It was the
most ambitious live outside broadcast we have
ever done,” comments David Stead, the season’s
editor. “We were broadcasting via satellite from
Mexico City, Dakar, Kabul, Mumbai and London.”
The event necessitated a huge amount of
collaboration between BBC departments and
other media providers, with many working
together for the first time. Roger Short, a
producer with the BBC’s domestic station Radio 3,
travelled to Dakar with two studio managers from
the African Service to organise broadcasts from
there. In Kabul, the Pashto and Persian services
worked with the Afghan Educational Trust to
co-ordinate the concert in Afghanistan.
The concert was a resounding success. Anchored
by broadcasters John Peel and Emma B from
London, the event featured many leading names
from world music, including the acclaimed
Senegalese musicians Youssou N’Dour and Baaba
Maal, the Mexican band Los de Abajos, Indian
drummer Trilok Gurtu, UK star Ms Dynamite, and
renowned Afghan musicians, who had not played
live in their country since the Taleban seized
control in Kabul in 1996.
“The 70th anniversary programmes showcased
the best of what we’ve done in the past but also
highlighted what we are capable of today,” says
Nigel Chapman, Deputy Director, BBC World
Service, who led the co-ordination of the season.
“We connected our listeners with the world
leaders who shape their lives, put on major
concerts, mounted technically challenging
broadcasts from unlikely places and produced
a range of programmes of celebration and
reflection. The feedback was very positive with
listeners telling us that we continue to make
a big difference to their lives.”
