What do you want to see from BBC Religion and Ethics programmes, Doctor Who and Panorama in the future?
Which programmes from the past really stand out for you?
Are there series which mark a special moment in your life?
Doctor Who at 60
Doctor who sonic screwdriver remote app is a good one and a good friend.. and I love you love you love you love you love you.
Andrew
I remember the first Doctor Who's movie I saw, Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. I was 5. In Italy the title was Dalek: the future in a million years (bah). My father was a great fan of Science Fiction, and I've seen this movie with him, so Doctor Who remember me my father. Since that time I've always been a fan of the Doctor, I love its lightness and depth, its philosophy of life, I grew with the Doctor. We, the mankind, need more Doctor.
Rolando, Rome
My earliest memory - not even of Doctor Who, but of life in general - was watching Robert Shearman’s “Dalek” when it broadcast in 2005 and screaming to turn the TV off because I was so terrified. I think it was so terrifying because the Doctor was so clearly distressed. But ever since, Doctor Who has been a mainstay in my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. My dad grew up watching it, and has often told the story of how he was banned from watching Doctor Who after the decayed version of the Master gave him nightmares in The Deadly Assassin. The earliest classic story I watched was Revelation of the Daleks, which is my favourite Colin Baker story, maybe due to how nostalgic it makes me feel? I remember being terrified as a kid watching that on DVD. During lockdown, I finally decided to sit down and watch the entire series from 1963 to today, and that’s just made me fall in love with the show even more. Jamie McCrimmon quickly grew to become my favourite companion as well as Patrick Troughton as The Second Doctor. I’m glad these stories have had the chance to be brought back to life through animation, because their chemistry was immaculate. Since I was younger, I’ve struggled a lot with reading, with the words all blending into each other, and unfortunately that meant that I didn’t pick up a book for years, until late 2022 when I picked up a copy of Russell T Davies’ novelisation of “Rose”, which helped me form a system to be able to read the book, and has made me fall in love with reading once again. This was huge for me, and I got the chance to thank Russell personally when he attended Manchester Pride last year. That’s probably my favourite memory associated with Doctor Who. Not to mention, as a filmmaker, I wouldn’t be doing what I do now if it wasn’t for watching Doctor Who Confidential every Saturday after the new episodes. That got me obsessed from a very young age.
J Pollitt, Manchester
Tom Baker was my doctor although all of the actors who play the Iconic time traveler are brilliant, tom Is my favorite as he was In the role when I was a wee kiddie he was awesome, Thank you Mr Baker for making my doctor who childhood so fun.
Roger Cutler, Sheffield
My first memory of Doctor Who was when I was about 8 years old. I remember it was the first science fiction I got accustomed to.
Tola
My first memory of Doctor Who was when I was around 2 or 3 and it was a brief scene from the end of Part One of the 1984 story "Warriors of the Deep" starring Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson. But my cousins had been fans for years before I was born so I was pretty much educated about Doctor Who from a very young age and I was listening to audio stories read by and/or starring Tom Baker and Colin Baker before my memories of watching really started and that happened from Part One of "Time and the Rani" which introduced Sylvester McCoy. From then on out I was a true Whovian and I watched as he, Bonnie Langford and then Sophie Aldred had their adventures. I immensely enjoyed Doctor Who for the next three years it was on TV until 1989 when the conclusion of "Survival, Part Three" very sadly marked the start of a very long hiatus. In those Wilderness Years, thanks to my cousins collecting of VHS's and recordings, I was able to look back and immerse myself in the first 23-years of Doctor Who and learn about everything from William Hartnell onwards and also continue the adventures I enjoyed on TV via books, audios, and comic strips. The hope for Doctor Who’s return never faltered once. Then in 1996 the TV movie aired starring Paul McGann and my hopes for Doctor Who having a full return were boosted even further...it took a little bit longer than expected and then in 2003 the news myself and millions of my fellow Whovians had been waiting for - Doctor Who was coming back! From 1996 there were only the adventures of eight incarnations of the Doctor and 26 series to watch and enjoy...now in 2023 with the arrival of Ncuti Gatwa and from 2024 we'll have the adventures of *fifteen* incarnations and 40 series of adventures to enjoy over and over again and not just on TV but in multiple other medias too alongside the wonderful spin-offs too! So much Whoniverse entertainment! The miracle of regeneration - it not only keeps the Doctor alive but also helps keep the show reinvent and move with the times it is made in! Doctor Who has gloriously navigated 60-years so far and I am sure it will do so again in the next 60! Lots of love and a massive Thank You go out to all of the cast and crews across the years for all of their hard work since 1963! Happy Anniversary, Doctor Who!
Alan Kelly, North Wales
As a 70 year old die hard Whovian. "One of the originals, you might say". The perfect catchment. I was hooked as a 10 year old boy, after seeing An Unearthly Child two weeks in a row due to the JFK assassination. It's such a shame that people can't see this total forward thinking on RTD's part. I'm all for it 100% I have no time for this anti-woke nonsense. It's 2024 and the more inclusion we see in TV programs the better. And Doctor Who is at the forefront again. BRILLIANT Get ye behind me nay sayers, the future is rosy for our little blue box. 60 years of pure creativity across many mediums, by numerous talented people. Ongoing MAGIC! I think Doctor Who studies should be on the curriculum ;) Love it Love it Love it..... Cheers to the Beeb for sticking with it
Trevor Carter, Edinburgh
My first Doctor Who episode ever was The Eleventh Hour. It was such an unique and magical experience that I immediately fell in love with the show. The Eleventh Doctor and his era are something that I link with my late childhood, and it is such a nice thing. A second defining moment of my fan-life is when I started to re-watch the show from series 1 (with the Ninth Doctor). During the whole summer, my sister and I spent our evenings watching Doctor Who episodes. That's why, to me, Doctor Who has such a familiar and hearthwarming feeling. I always feel super involved with the stories. Man, I cried so much at Rose's and then Donna's departure! I'm so happy about those specials, beause we get to see one of the best Tardis teams ever: the Doctor and Donna! They both hold a very special place in my heart, and I feel that at the end of it, some more tears will be shed. It is such a great exploration of our nostalgia and our love for these characters. The Doctor (I mean, all of them) is, to me, the most important fictional character I know. The Doctor has defined my moral systems, they're an example and an inspiration for me.
Shae, France
I first saw doctor who broadcast in 1988 aged six with Sylvester McCoy as the seventh doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace battling the Daleks… I fell in love with the leads and with the show. Sylv was my doctor and over the next couple of years I saw him save the universe from gods and monsters and discovered he was Merlin (in his future). It was the best thing on television and the bottom dropped out of my world when it was cancelled. The next 16 years were filled with VHS releases, books audios and a huge world of stories. It was like an Aladdin’s cave but always missing the excitement of new Doctor Who. I’m so happy it’s back and new generations of children have their own Doctor to follow on adventures through time and space. Thank you Russell and the BBC!
James Main, Bristol
My Doctor is the Second Doctor. I was very young when it was his turn. I remember him dancing about on the flickering black and white screen with his Beatles haircut and floppy bow tie. No matter how scary the monsters got he always stayed cool and good humoured and saved the day! The Cybermen were the first fictional beings I had nightmares about.
Jessica
I was 10 years old and my first memory is watching episode one of the Ark in Space. Absolutely Loved It.
DP
I have watched and enjoyed every episode from the very first one. I do not have a favourite Doctor. Every one has been perfect in his own way. All the enemies have been terrifying, each in its own way, though perhaps the Weeping Angels frightened me the most.
Olivia Richardson, Teddington
I quite liked Dr Who as a small child - but the title music terrified me. Once Tom Baker arrived, I was transfixed as he was clearly a Time Lord on my wavelength. I lost my Dad the first year Tom was on screen and, in many ways, for the next 7 years, the Fourth Doctor was a surrogate father: wise, witty, with no respect for authority, child-like, furious at injustice and immensely charming. I was 14 when Tom regenerated and although I still followed the series religiously, it was clearly time to put aside childish things, but I can never thank Tom Baker enough for making Saturdays such a wonderful escape for a young lad with his head in the stars.
Ian Cawood, Stirling
Davidson - White iTardis decor, cricket jumper, celery and nice guy Doctor. Baker - Trial of the Time Lord and sinking in quick sand = very scary! McCoy - Remembrance of the Daleks was great especially Ace beating a Dalek with a baseball bat and oh hell... Daleks being able to climb stairs! Eccleston - Amazing energy and a positive alien persona mixed with a Crystal Maze host who saw the best in us - Fantastic!!! Matt Smith - A thoughtful, thrill seeking and very human alien but evidently an old soul! There was some great interaction with River Song and great reverse relationship story! David Tennant's episode "The Waters of Mars" with the Doom Video Game "doors closing" sound effect! Great scary episode with tension and some real threat! ...Bring back a more scary/thoughtful/scheming Doctor Who where the humans respect, trust, fear and are wary of him all at the same time! He's not ours to control but we're grateful he watches over us!
David Boswell
I remember, when working in Spur Film Despatch at Television Centre, a couple of guys came in looking around. We assumed they were film editors looking for their deliveries of film or rushes but, on sighting our large ball of packing string, asked if they could take it? Puzzled, we agreed and they grabbed the ball and went away. Later in the afternoon, they returned, with a much depleted ball, and thanked us for the string. One of my colleagues asked what they were wrapping and was told they were the set designers of Doctor Who and needed the string to resemble vines in a forest. I’m not certain if this was true, or we were being duped, but I’ve dined out on that story for decades!
Robin James, Greater London
I have vague recollections of the opening credits to Jon Pertwee's last season as the Doctor, but my first memory of Doctor Who was watching Jon Pertwee regenerate into Tom Baker at the end of Planet of the Spiders. It was just before my 3rd birthday, looking at the transmission date, and I was probably seated in a high chair in front of the TV being fed. I saw a lot of the Tom Baker stories in the years following, whether actively or in the background, but it was Tom Baker's departure, the announcement of Peter Davison as the Doctor and "The Five Faces of Doctor Who" season on BBC Two in November and December of 1981, with the repeats of An Unearthly Child, The Krotons, Carnival of Monsters, The Three Doctors and Logopolis that turned me into a fan. Still watching it at the age of 52, and my three kids are all fans of varying degrees.
Dave Dyke, Walsall
A slightly tangential Dr Who memory. I was working at Television Centre in the Film Recording Quality Control Unit when I received a phone call just before lunch from a friend working as a studio floor assistant, asking if I was going out at lunchtime. On being told yes, a sigh of relief came from the other end followed by a request to get a pound of jelly babies. I was bemused but the explanation followed: Tom Baker was eating his way through the supply and there was concern amongst the production team that they would run out during the afternoon recording. (Part of Tom Baker’s portrayal of The Doctor was frequent snacking on jelly babies!)
Robin Hall, Hertfordshire
My first memories of Doctor Who began in 1972 - going with my brother to my Aunt's house every Saturday to watch it on her colour TV. I remember being mesmerized by the swirling titles in saturated red and green, that unforgettable music, and being immediately captivated by a world of strange monsters, and wonderful images: the TARDIS tumbling down a mountainside; a reptilian creature burning through a metal door; dragon-like monsters bursting out onto the deck of a ship; a Dalek having rocks dropped on top of it and hurtling down a shaft. For every frightening and exciting moment the reassuring figures of Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning were always present and then suddenly they were gone, replaced by firstly Elisabeth Sladen and then Tom Baker, his arrival coinciding with that of our own colour TV! I immediately accepted the new cast and the thrills and chills became even greater! In my adult life I've not lost my love of the show, building scale models of TARDISes, Daleks and other series icons. I've since built full size prop Daleks and TARDIS consoles, arranged Dr Who fan exhibitions in loads of locations, some staged when the series was off-air and its sheer scope and range was definitely not appreciated by those in charge of programming. It's brilliant to see the series reach it's 60th birthday in such great health. So here's to 60 more years!
Ray MacFadyen, Stepps, North Lanarkshire
Not long after the series began I was working at BBC Broad Street studios in Birmingham. This was before the days of Pebble Mill. The entrance to the BBC was set back from the pavement by about 30 or 40 feet. So to get to work I walked along the pavement across the front of a car showroom, and then turned left to walk down to the entry. As I turned the corner, I met just in front of me, a full size Dalek! I didn’t know that it had just been delivered to appear on Midlands Today, but for a split second I thought that it was all true! My heart was racing as I continued down the entry to the BBC door. Second story! I did several courses at ETD Wood Norton, and on one occasion having arrived I saw a phone box outside the main building. It wasn’t there the last time I was on a course, so thinking it was new, I went inside to ring my parents and say I had arrived safely. I couldn’t get any dial tone, so I looked round the back to see if it had been connected yet. On the back in big letters were the words, “Dr Who Set 7”. It wasn’t the Tardis (I would have noticed that was bigger inside than out!), but it had a phone number Epping Forest 2500! When I got to the restaurant and saw Captain Lethbridge Stewart and several soldiers with “UNIT” on their uniform, all became clear.
Colin Pierpoint, Cheshire
27/11/23 Point of observation Have watch DR Who Star Beast, Saturday and Sunday episodes, and I have notice Units special investigator 46, the lady in the wheelchair had a small pivotal role in this episode. She seemingly unwittingly crosses her legs, which largely went un-notice, but seemingly strange. Normally people in wheelchairs are there because they lost the ability to stand up, or move their legs? But this lady Units special investigator 46 move her leg quite freely? And secondly at nearly end of that episode, she breath in Donna & Rose power, hence the forethought is this lady going to play an integral part in Dr Who future programmes, or am I over thinking the plot line…
Colin Kennedy, Liverpool
I remember a terror called the Zarbies (sp?) but nobody else I know remembers them. They were giant ants or ant-like creatures. Are there any episodes with Zarbies being broadcast?
Lee, London
Best Doctor Who and Assistant pairing: Jon Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen Best adventure ever: The Great One (Planet of the Spiders) Whole family watched Doctor Who on a Saturday evening. My brother and I starting out hiding behind settee, but progressing to remaining seated and stacking up piles of cushions in front of us. To this day, scary movies (and new episodes of Doctor Who) are rated as two-cushions, three cushions etc.
Jen Lewis, Caerdydd
I was 4 years old and my first memory is watching episode one of the Ark in Space. This remarkable, silly, scary, poignant, clever show has stayed with me for almost 50 years and It has shaped my life.
Kevin Mullen, Bootle, England
My best memory of Doctor Who is an episode of Big Bang Theory where a regular female character says something along the line "...for a guy who can travel anywhere and any time in space and time he sure spends a lot of time in 21st century London...." And my own personal favourite of the many many (MANY!) ridiculous scenes over the years is when the guy with an eye patch doesn't realise he didn't need one - he has a perfectly good eye underneath - he was being lied to by aliens over the last 15 years - it took a Doctor to point that out!! A joy to watch and see the crappy bits to laugh at.
Nash P
Growing up in the 1990s, I was very much a child of the 'wilderness years', but was fortunate to be introduced by my mum to the series with the repeats of some Jon Pertwee stories in the early 90s. I was lucky enough to watch every Doctor on VHS, and can safely say without growing up with my "own" Doctor that Tom Baker was the greatest. The show returned triumphantly in 2005, just in time to keep me on as a fan through adolescence when I ought to have been putting aside childish things. Here's to the next 60 years!
Mohamed Ansar, Harrow
I just remember as a secretary for BBC Enterprises Publicity Department in Ealing (became BBC Worldwide) taking groups of children around the studios and to meet Tom Baker (who was so genuinely nice to them). They were winners of "design a monster" competition held at the Dr Who exhibition in a stately home l wonder if any became designers! They were a bit disappointed to see how small the studio was, made to look bigger by mirrors! Another memory, apart from BBC Enterprises, when l was working for the BBC Press Office we had a press conference in a large Central London venue (it was a while ago!) and someone decided to have a Dalek meet people as the lift opened to the floor. To keep the guy inside happy he was given a half a bottle of something quite alcoholic and some time later the Dalek was reeling around the floor slightly inebriated!
Pippa Reid
I'm very proud of doctor who but, my dad was watching doctor who one day and my dad told me i was watching it and that made me quiet..i was 5 or 6 when the first time i watched doctor who..and im obsessed with doctor who now!
James O'Brien, Walsall
I worked on several episodes of Doctor Who when it was shot in studio D at Lime Grove. It would have been early on as I worked in operations from March 1963 to June 1966. I remember studio D because the camera control room was at studio floor level so in the back of my mind I thought those Daleks might come through the door into my work space. It never happened. I thought the Daleks were pretty phony but when they added effects to their voices it became spooky.
Michael Du Boulay, Ontario, Canada
The Autons absolutely terrified me. I would run past 'Burtons' screeching, "Autons! Aautons!" when I as little. Million of years later I turned on BBC 3 to see there was a repeat of an old episode of Dr Who. Wondering which era it would be I had look and it was the flipping Autons and they still scared me. Cybermen on the other hand, I always found quite engaging. Children, eh?
Mandy, London
I assisted June Hudson for a short while on Doctor Who Season 18. She asked me to organise the scarf. I have a friend who has always been a whizz at knitting so I sent the wool to her. She was a music teacher at a school in Doncaster and I thought it would be fun if it was knitted by her and the school children. They knitted random rows as and when they had spare time. I wonder where those children are now..?
Ann Guise, Glamorgan
I vividly remember watching Matt Smith's first story, The Eleventh Hour, when I was 7 years old. I was captivated by it and thought it was a new show: something I soon discovered to be a massive mistake! Over the years I have slowly but surely made my way through all of the show, and love nearly every piece of it. Describing everything and everyone I love from this majestic, magical show would take far too long, so I'll limit myself to saying that I adore this show for its boundless imagination and glorious characters. Matt Smith remains my Doctor, but my absolute favourite now is William Hartnell (nobody beats the original!) and my favourite era is Jon Pertwee's. Can't wait to see what Ncuti Gatwa has in store for us as the Fifteenth Doctor, and I will always stay tuned in to the greatest show ever made.
Michael Bissell, Herefordshire
In 1965, My brother, 2 years older than me, was sat on the sofa with me watching a Doctor Who episode entitled "Mission to the Unknown", where 3 astronauts land on a hostile planet inhabited by the Daleks and Varga Plants. By the end of the episode, where two of the astronauts had been pricked by a thorn from a Varga Plant and mutated into them, my brother (and I) were well and truly ensconced behind the sofa. My brother had to sleep with a night-light on for at least 6 months. He's now 67, and still shudders at the memory.
Louise Dickinson, Oxford
I stayed with the show [as Grams Operator] for about three years, had a break and came back to it again in 1968. As a rule, the usual routine for working on the series, was attendance at ‘outside rehearsals’ in a drill-hall somewhere, to witness a run-through, a chat with the director if anything special was required in the way of sound FX, then back to Television Centre for a pie and pint in the club, before hitting the Gram Library to audition FX recordings needed. After that, a short walk down to Studio R in Lime Grove, a dedicated sound facility, to assemble the reels of tape to be used at the studio recording, which was done in one day for a half-hour episode. There was a steel cupboard there which held a library of all sound effects needed. The programme was videotaped to 2” Ampex (405 line B/W in those days!) and any recording breaks meant that the videotape had to be physically cut and spliced. Spot FX were played in at the time, and any bridging music links or changes in b/g atmos were added over the edits in a re-recording session later. Many of the sound effects were created by the Radiophonic Workshop at Maida Vale Studios and I often drove over to liaise with Brian Hodgson and collect any specialised material. I do remember belting my mother’s twin-tub AEG washing machine which produced the most wonderful array of motor whines, switch clonks and whooshes, when I could take home a Uher or Nagra tape recorder. The end music was continued to a repeating vamp, and terminated by playing in, from another deck, a final chord, to match the length of the roller captions, which could be very variable with a long cast list. The Dalek voices were largely down to the actor Peter Hawkins, who produced most of the characteristic metallic rendition, helped a bit with a ring-modulator which put in the ‘broken-up’ pattern. If there were multiple Dalek speeches, then some were pre-recorded and played in off-tape. I remember one occasion when I looked down at my script, realised that I had not cued the last dialogue line of the scene, and left Deborah Watling (Victoria) with egg on her face, waiting to react! As most sound FX were relayed to the studio floor (foldback) for actors to react, I did have a bit of fun with Carole Ann Ford, who was due to leave the show, as ‘she had fallen for a chap on another planet’ and was not going to travel with grandfather anymore. Her dialogue line: “Oh, David, I love you, I really do!” was absolutely asking for the addition of the soupiest, schmaltziest Hollywood strings that I could find – and she got them! It stopped the rehearsal, with her saying: “Well, I’ve never been sent up like that before!” I was recently asked to join in to a ‘bonus’ extra commentary item for the DVD release of “The Ice Warriors”. It was good to link up again with Deborah Watling and Frazer Hines. I related a story involving Deborah. Technicians were discouraged from fraternising with artistes – BBC protocol rules! On one occasion, I was having a snack in the Club after a Doctor Who rehearsal and Deborah came in with her father, Jack. They asked to share my table, whereupon, she proceeded to play ‘footsie’ with me under the table! Very sadly Debbie passed away in July 2017, from lung cancer.
Pat Heigham, Surrey
Happy anniversary!
Laura
I started watching the series a few weeks before my fourth birthday in 1988, at a time when the Powers That Be wanted to kill it. The plan to schedule the show five minutes after Coronation Street started ended up being the best news for me, because our family had just started RENTING a VCR, so my parents taped Remembrance of the Daleks to watch after Corrie, and I was immediately hooked. I loved The Professor and Ace, and the next two series were a joy to watch before the show was axed. But it lived on, through occasional repeats and VHS releases, then DVDs before finally returning in 2005. It took me about 25 years to get to experience every classic era episode, so it blows my mind to think that most of them are now available on iPlayer so new fans can binge their way through the lot, and the rest of us can just dip in and revisit our favourites whenever and wherever we like. I've never stopped watching Doctor Who, and enjoy every era of the show. Some people tuned out when David Tennant left, but in doing so they missed some amazing stories featuring Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker. The last series, Flux, was criminally underrated and contains my favourite character in the show's history - Karvanista, a giant grumpy space dog with a northern accent, who is on a mission to save humanity, and turns out to be a former companion to The Doctor in a time she can't remember. And that's the beauty of Doctor Who. Sixty years in, it can still surprise you with new ideas, and it has a rich history to draw from which allows characters we haven't seen in decades to return and tug at your heartstrings like no other show can. Now... when does Jo Martin get her own spin-off show?
Didymus Holmes, Bury, Greater Manchester
I first saw it in 1963 as a 8 year old I was hooked straight away. The first episode stands up well today thanks to the actors creating a believable story. And here we are 60 years later celebrating its anniversary.
Andrew Lockwood, UK
I was first aware of Doctor Who the week it started, with the iconic picture of William Harnell in the Radio Times. I couldn't watch it though, because my father had sent the TV back. He worked at Aberystwyth University and only hired one for his long summer holidays so he could watch the test matches. The first episode I watched was a few weeks later at a friend's house. It was the Daleks and I was petrified. Soon after, my father was pressured into getting the TV back from the hire shop, and I was a regular viewer from Marco Polo, and enjoyed all the historical stories. Monsters, such as Senorites, gave me nightmares. The change to Patrick Troughton worried me at first, but I accepted it mainly because I knew Peter Cushing was the Doctor as well. I do think the films ensured that the TV series continued after Hartnell. The Pertwee era was always my favourite. I liked the Earthbound and more grown-up adventures in the style of the Quatermass films which often got TV airing. The Daemons was Peak Who for me. When the show returned in 2005, I was watching it with my two children who became avid Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant fans, but as they moved on to secondary school, their interest waned. But for me, Peak Who of the revived series has to be Peter Capaldi's second series and Heaven Sent/Hell Bent. The second coming of RTD is looking amazing, and I'm sure it's my grandchildren who will soon join me from behind the sofa.
Simon Bor, Devon
I turned 8 just a few days after the episode Dalek aired, so I grew up with New Who. I had started watching from Rose, but had seen the Dalek movies with Peter Cushing as a child a couple of times. I'm now 26 years old and Doctor Who has shaped my life and been with me through so much. I wouldn't be here today without Doctor Who. My favourite televised story is City of Death, which one of my university lecturers also had as a favourite. I have worked with children in recent years and one of the things that would give me so much joy was during Flux,m I'd go to work on a Monday and the kids would be excited to tell me what they thought about the episode the night before and ask me about things they didn't understand because they knew I'd seen a lot more Doctor Who than them. Seeing the excitement in them about the show always adds to the enjoyment of the show for me because it warms my heart to think that younger generations still get to feel the way I did back when I was their age.
Louise Romana Wade, Blackwood
I had this vivid memory of me watching tv as a young kid and something very terrifying was on, a story about a spaceship and a green blob alien eating people... I was amazed and this kinda shaped my interest in sci-fi I guess, years after I found out it was The Ark in Space episode, and I have been a big fan since that day!
Matteo, Bologna, Italy
I studied Doctor Who for my final year at university and my essay was on Jodie Whittaker. Frequently dressing up in her costume and reading her scripts - it was so magical. My friends and I also have been on holidays in Wales going to filming locations for Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures - it’s just a magical experience.
Daniel King, Stevenage
Favourite Radio and Television
I once had a lucky opportunity to visit BBC TV Centre in the summer of 1982. I was thirteen years old and lived in a village in Oxfordshire many miles from London. I had only been to London once before on a school trip in the late 1970s. In the early 1980s a BBC production assistant moved in to our village and befriended myself and my parents. She was called Sue and was a lovely lady. She had a small dog which I loved. Me and my friends would walk the dog around the local fields. I would talk with Sue for hours about her job and what it involved. She was always busy and would commute to TVC nearly every day. I remember that she was a Production Assistant on a BBC drama called Beau Geste. She talked about the show a lot. She then arranged to take me to TVC for a day. I was so excited and could hardly sleep the night before. The day arrived on a hot summers day in June and we drove up to the amazing Television Centre. Sue had to do some work and then promised me a behind the scenes tour. We first went to some production offices where Sue used a vintage Shibaden video tape recorder to view some monochrome video footage. She took timings and wrote notes. I’m sure the Shibaden was very state of the art at the time. Sue showed me round every studio. I think there were seven or eight and everyone seemed to be buzzing with activity. I was lucky enough to visit the gallery of the huge studio one, and go to one of the video suites in the basement. I was in total awe! Then we visited the canteen for lunch. I think there were maybe two or three different canteens. We ended up in one of them and saw many famous people. At the time I went they were recording Hi-de-Hi! and I saw the actor Paul Shane and his wife having lunch. I can’t put names to anyone else but I used to like Paul Shane because he was loud and funny. I was in total awe and will never forget my visit to Television Centre. Sue moved away from our village around 1984. I never saw or heard from her again but I hope she is well.: I went with 3 friends to see Steptoe and son the one where Albert taught Harold to ballroom dance. So funny.
Jan Woods, UK
Avid radio listener recognising all the Drama Rep players voices in the forties. Favourite progs, - Paul Temple, Man In Black. Whilst in Train queue at Euston in 1982 told Hugh Weldon how much I had enjoyed his Sunday children prog, 'All Your Own '; he was with Bill Cotton and the scriptwriter of Oscar winner film 'Chariots of Fire', all of us waiting to board train to M/cr! (I had run Radio Valley at RAF Valley 59-60 whilst doing my National Service: only a M/cr grammar school boy so stayed in the Civil Service instead of my true love of Radio!
David W Kelly, Hazel Grove Cheshire
I remember the first time Radio 1 came on the air in 1967. I was on a bus going to work.
William Bidwell, Weston-super-Mare
Princess Margaret’s Wedding On May 6, 1960, I got to Alexandra Palace early as we had to pack a van full of equipment needed for a special outside broadcast (OB) in 1960: a single large heavy plumbicon TV camera, A large heavy tripod and pan head., microphones, microphone stands, eight millimetre magnetic sound Bolex movie camera, video and audio amplifiers, myriads of power and video cables. When all this was checked and carefully packed, we took the second vehicle full of operators and technician engineers to assemble it and operate it, in the middle of New Scotland Yard. Yes! We went out through a big window, onto a small balcony, the second floor, off the police canteen in New Scotland Yard. The drive down to central London was slow with extra heavy traffic. We arrived at the vehicle entrance to the inside courtyard of Scotland Yard without incident and were already behind scheduled. We seemed to be accepted in BBC vans without much security to hurriedly unpack and haul all our equipment up stairs to th second floor police canteen. Hundreds of uniformed “Bobbies” lounged about smoking and resting. We set up our tripod, pan head and put our TV camera on the pan head, facing Whitehall across from number 10 Downing Street. We had the view from the cenotaph to Number 10 Downing Street (not blocked off but open at this time) north through the Women’s of WWII memorial looking north on Whitehall. It was the day that the Royal Wedding procession of Princes Margaret would be coming toward us on Whitehall. I am not sure how many BBC TV cameras were located along the route but enough that it was covered for the entire route. I would think it must have been around fifteen to twenty sites. The procession came south on Whitehall. We were on the air for a minute, maybe less or more and we were done! We packed up all our equipment drove back to Alexandra Palace to check all the equipment back into stores at Alexandra Palace and we all worked as usual in other jobs at the news studio rest of the day. Most likely I mixed the 18:00 and 21:00 evening news that day in history.
Don Cheeseman, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada
Detonation of the First French Atomic Bomb. At 07:38, on, February 13, 1960, it was wet and just above freezing, as I got off my motorbike in the parking lot at the east side of the entrance to the BBC News Studios at Alexandra Palace. I had just driven up the hill from Wood Green tube station on the Piccadilly Line, in London. The old security guard at the door gave a little half-hearted salute of recognition. I could not call it a salute of respect, as I dripped a trail of cold water off my motorcycle waterproof pants and jacket, into the heart of the BBC quarter of the building. With me having a mere twenty-one years under my belt, I did not really deserve anything more than a recognition of my right-to-enter nod from the security-man who was two to three times my own age. My work and TV transmission started at eight o’clock for a 10 day shift until transmission ended usually around ten with shut down and clean up until eleven in the evening. Today, I was to work at a very slow, boring job. But the outcome was rather exciting. BBC had arranged a single voice radio-signal from our BBC camera-crew located at the bomb test-site in the desert to send a real-time video signal of the detonation of the first French atomic bomb near Reggane, in the middle of the Algerian Sahara. The name of the test was the Gerboise Bleue or blue jerboa. The jerboa we knew to be a grey-brown jumping desert rat. The BBC TV picture at this time took about three million hertz a second bandwidth to faithfully convey a TV picture. But that TV signal could not be transmitted more than to the horizon, typically 50 to 80 miles in these years, certainly not from the Sahara Desert. Instead they would send the TV picture information in the same format as a regular signal but a thousand times slower over a three thousand hertz bandwidth voice radio. At Alexander Palace we would receive the TV picture information that would modulate the brightness of a long-persistence orange cathode ray tube beam. As we watched, a bright orange dot would move back and forth across the screen at varying brightness filling the screen ever 18 seconds where an eightmillimetre movie film camera was set up to photograph each stationary picture or frame. In this way, each still picture frame took about 18 seconds and every 25 of those frames made one second of TV video. (BBC used every picture twice to make the 50 hertz frame rate) This mean that every 7.5 minutes of our receiving this signal we had one second of TV moving video. Several of us technicians took turns at looking after the need for constant care and adjustments in the receiving machine. In eight hours of watch the wandering orange dot we had one minute and four seconds of video. As we watched this slow-motion explosion over the hours, we could see the bright flash of the bomb slowly grow into a ball and then into a mushroom cloud, then we watched as test planes and tanks were systematically destroyed by the blast in this extreme slow motion. This 64 second of movie film was then rushed off to be developed, dried and edited in time to put it on the nine o’clock news as a few seconds of black and white video clip with no sound. Such was a day that I remember and put to paper for the first time in 2019.
Don Cheeseman, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada
Cbbc and Cbeebies in 2003.
Sahal Ahmed, London
In pride of place, was the image of my father as one of the head announcers of the World Service Italian section during the Second World War. He had escaped from Italy and this was his way of fighting the fascists who had overrun much of Europe. His voice ringing over the German jamming, stood for moral clarity and freedom from oppression. Now it forgives the barbarism of Islamo-fascists! What happened and why? When we have clarity from our prime minister in terms of the terminology, best used to describe Hamas, terrorists, the BBC fails to call out this hideous group, and their heinous acts against Israeli citizens. My father, Cavaliere del Lavoro, Massimo Coen CBE would be devastated to see the lack of standards now being applied.
Fiorella Massey, London
In the early 60s, I tuned into the BBC World Service for high-quality radio shows. I do miss your wonderful news programs. But, the show I miss most, is the weekly sounds of Victor Silvestre Orchestra... In the early 70s, I had the honor of working for the Corporation as a program assistant with the Brazilian Service of the BBC in London.
Flavio V. Barros
I remember the beautiful movies on Channel 2 and 3 of BBC Television when I was attending the Bristol technical college in Unity Street.
Michele Circelli
Our family in Cardiff rented our first TV in 1960, to watch the Rome Olympics. I was just 2, so I don’t remember that, but I do remember my first exposure to TV as being Watch With Mother. That was just after lunch, (at 1.30?). After that it was schools’ programmes, or the return of the TV test card for the afternoon. I had started school by the time BBC 2 and Play School came along, but I have fond memories of watching after-school children’s programmes like Pet Pals (with Jim Dale), and Junior Points of View, as well as imported American cartoons. The US import “Top Cat” was “Boss Cat”; the same no-advertising rule led to “coloured chocolate button sweets” and white unbranded washing-up. liquid bottles being used for makes on Blue Peter. Understanding why wasn’t easy. Years later, I watched Blue Peter with my children, and those I cared for as a registered childminder. Terry Nutkins and Chris Packham’s Really Wild Show had taken over from Johnny Morris’ Animal Magic. Superb programmes, remembered for making learning fun. Time passed. My grandchildren loved Horrible Histories, and I did too, when I was able to catch an episode. Some great memories there, and many of them shared with those I love. At its best, children’s TV on the BBC wasn’t a cheap babysitter, but something to enrich young lives.
Andrea McCulloch
I was actually at Alexandra palace for the opening in 1936 I was 4 years old!
Adelaide Lane
My Favourite BBC Online, TV and audio content during my lifetime is looking at the Regional News like BBC South Today because i like watching the regional news because Sally Taylor is my hero. The BBC Programmes that I really stand out was The Hit List, Pointless Celebrities and Strictly Come Dancing. The Big National Events that i watched and fondly remember was the London 2012 Olympics, The Commonwealth Games in Manchester 2002, Glasgow 2014 and Birmingham last year and HM Queen's Final Jubilee. I think in future that the BBC will have Adverts.
Todd Brooks
Recall 1950s presentation in vision announcers Mary Malcolm Sylvia Peters Macdonald Hobley Beautiful days.
Roger Sweet
By a long long way, the best programme on television in 1947/8 or thereabouts was called ‘Television is Here Again’, particularly the first 15 minutes or so with its portrayal of how it all worked, the radio/television waves travelling over north London from the aerial on the roof of Alexander Palace. Very inspirational. And it was repeated on several weekday mornings.
Ted Parker, Canterbury
I have so many memories of the BBC, but the ones that remain with me the most are: watching Top of the Pops every Thursday night with my family (in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire) as a young child right up until when I left home; listening to the Top 30 then the Top 40 rundowns on Radio One every Sunday; and discovering music both new and old courtesy of Peely (RIP) and Annie Nightingale on Radio One when I was a teen in the late 1980s, followed by Jo Whiley and Steve Lamaq when I was a student and had relocated to Manchester in the early 1990s. Eurovision was also a big hit in our household back when I was a wee one, and I still watch it every year without fail to this day. Viva Auntie Beeb!
Angie Cooke, Manchester
Worked as junior secretary to S.G. Williams, Controller of Television Administration (my first job). We were in the Television Centre (TC) block intended eventually for the Design Department. Joined in August '58 I think. Can't remember exactly when we moved to the Sixth Floor - '59? The statues below Helios were nicknamed 'Joanna' and 'Grace' after the two most senior women in TV. Everyone v polite and I found it embarrassing in those long corridors when the men would hold the doors open each time (on the whole they were v senior and I was v junior). Apparently the fountains had to be turned off as meetings were so frequently interrupted by men having to go and relieve themselves. Moved to Lime Grove in '60. Worked again in TC in '64 when my then boss, Paul Fox, took over the (v late) General Election from Michael Peacock who then had to contrate on BBC2. Left the BBC in August '65. It'd been fun and I made some v good friends.
Paddy Fraser, East Kent
The return of Waterloo Road is my memory.
Ben Oakes, Shewbury
Fantastic building from Swap Shop, Blue Peter, Top Gear (the lift episode), and not to forgot Record Breakers. More recently Ant and Dec, Saturday Night Takeaway.
Paul Moss, Plymouth
I miss Red dwarf, but BBC3 returning was cool!
Char, Stockport
I have been a long time listener to Radio 4, indeed it might be said to form the background noise of my life. When able I have been listening to Women's Hour for about forty years now. Even when the World was experiencing me as a man I would listen, and enjoy being part of the "sisterhood". Much of the content has been supportive of same sex attracted women, and initially of trans people as well. This made it all the more painful a few years ago when the presenters turned against Trans Women and joined in the attacks on our very right to exist in society. It was like and old friend, or favourite aunt turning against us, because of the nature of radio and women's hour in particular it felt very much like a personal attack and betrayal. The current presenters are clearly trying to take a balanced stance but so much damage has been done, it's still hard to listen.
Paula J Goodwin, Croydon
Remember going to see several recordings of TV Comedy shows at TV Centre. Usually they were recorded in Studio 8, sadly no more. Dad's Army and Steptoe and Son were my favourites and now are a part of TV History. Thanks to that great invention of video tape they can be enjoyed by future generations.
Alan Barber, Southend-on-Sea
TV Centre was a huge part of my life as I vividly remember the old CBeebies and CBBC studios and used to think they were magical!
Ethan, Ballymena, Northern Ireland
Did not have TV until I was 11 years old. Various comedy series e.g. Educating Archie, Take It From Here, I particularly liked the Goon Show, and Journey Into Space. Nothing memorable from TV. Many years later threw out the TV, but listened regularly and frequently to radio. On further reflection, I did enjoy Tonight with Cliff Michelmore and Derek Hart.
Celia Gould, Hertford
London. Sunday afternoon, we visited my mother's parents, and I was not to watch the BBC on a black and white television. Walking around our house as a teenager, with a radio tuned to Radio 4 in every room. (Could have been Home service then). Listening to the Goon Show as a family. The night President Kennedy was assassinated - writing a report for the primary school news notice board on the radio reports. The almost physical shock of early BBC TV (TW3 [That Was The Week That Was]).
Paul Wernick, Hertford
Listening when I came home from school. Worker's Playtime, Listen with Mother, Children's Hour, Journey into Space.
Harold Schickler, London
Listen with Mother, Children's Hour, Mrs Dale's Diary; Workers’ Playtime; Having my favourite song 'I tought I saw a puddy cat' being played for me on Children's Favourites when I was ill for a long time… Women's Hour - opening of women's issues.
Pam Schickler, London
I think of the BBC (especially radio) as a companion.
Nick Till, London
I hid mint (menthol) cigarettes in my transistor radio, which I was allowed in my bedroom, so radio has a distinctly exotic and forbidden connotation for me. I'd set my alarm for 3 am as a teenager and listen to England v. India cricket (Botham et al) under my 80's bedcovers - again v. illicit.
Tom Ottway, Brighton
Radio 4 was a huge part of our lives at Home. The Archers during dinner or whilst cooking. We listened to Desert Island Discs, the News, I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, and many other shows over the year. It was the source for news for the family, and I learned a huge amount from a young age, about current affairs and politics - also a big feature at home. It sparked many conversations around our table. My Dad always listened to Radio 4 and World Service. He never shielded me from any of the broadcasts, and was always honest with regards to content. As a child, I didn't even know about alternatives to the BBC. It was hugely important.
Ruth Price, Brighton
I used to make a cake every Sunday and listen to The Archers, and also Desert Island Discs. As a teenager (and younger) always the Charts on a Sunday with my sister. My grandad insisted on BBC News at 9pm. The Voice of the broadcasters, then and now: if you listen to anything historical from wartime - very specific voices. I can only mimic rather than describe!
Joy Rigby, Brighton
The BBC around the world
I grew up in Somalia in early 1999 and I remembered very my family members used to listen BBC World Service, BBC Arabic and BBC Somali section. BBC World Service is the only source and reliable place to receive world news. Congratulations for 100 years.
Abdi Hassan, Minnesota , USA
My location is in North East Indian state of Tripura, very much adjacent to Indo-Bangladesh border. I still remember those days of Bangladesh liberation war in 1971. I was reading in 8th standard and was living in a remote village where there was no electricity, no pucca road, no transportation system. Only 3/4 transistor sets were there in the whole village. When situation deteriorated after 25 March, lakhs of refugees started entering in Tripura state, we the people of Tripura also became a part of that struggle. BBC was the only source of getting latest first hand reliable information about the happenings around Bangladesh during that period. All the Bengali speaking people kept waiting for BBC Bangla program in the morning and evening for the news. I am sure BBC became known to everyone at that time. It became part and parcel of our everyday life in days. BBC's immense popularity started in Tripura since that time. I will not be able to forget it as long as I remain alive.
Pradip Chandra Kundu, India
BBC Radio in the 1960s
I think it as in 1962 or 3 that my friend Lilian and I went up to The Paris in Lower Regent Street to a programme called The Talent Spot. I think the host was Paul Gambaccini. I remember sitting on chairs in front of the stage and one of the acts was The Beatles. W had never heard of them but thought their music was quite good. As we were leaving the venue, crossing Lower Regent Street, the boys drove past us in a van and I think it was John who called out “want a lift girls” . How I wish we’d said yes!
Anne Howes, Croscombe, Somerset
I just like the old pirates stations, so down to earth with great music all day, when Radio 1 started it was a total joke, it sounds were so plastic, so in my late teens when the last of the pirates finish I started to switch to Radio 2 or the old Light programme, I always like the more easy sounds so it worked for me, however as time went on and Radio 1 started to change and a lot of people from Radio 1 went to Radio 2 this for me is when the rot set in, the people like myself were push to one side and Radio 2 was set up for what I call the old Radio 1 crowd, this was great for them but for people like me with a like for James Last, Andy Williams ect,. ect,. it was all change, from what I can see with Radio two now days its all about the DJs just going on all day talking about themselves or non stop phone calls to anyone who would like to talk about nothing, would be nice if we could go back to a two type Radio 2s! , the one we have at this point and one which you could call Radio 2 [ light ] with nice easy music , very little talk? Oh well I live in hope, to end my little say you may ask what station do I like now ?? Classic FM, so refined, nice music, and DJs who do not think they are God.
Antony Horton, Nuneaton
I grew up with Radio 1. It was my musical education and got me through my commute to school as well as when my mum died. The sound of the breakfast show in the weeks after my mum's death, got me through that time and was the reason that I worked to get into radio as a career. I did manage to get into Radio, before I followed my heart and a girl to Australia, instead of following my head to stay in the UK and in radio. One of my fondest memories was listening to 31 Days in May when studying for my A Levels in 1990. I also was addicted to the summer line up of Simon Bates' 80 Days Around the World, followed by the Radio 1 Roadshow. I still get chills when I hear the jingle with Adrian Just saying "today...live from the car park in Bude, with Gary Davies!!..." I ended up working at BBC GLR, which was fantastic. But one of my school mates worked for the audio/visual company that provided the tech stuff for the Roadshow, and travelled with it for a summer. That was my dream job! After emigrating to Australia, I still listened to Radio 1 via the net, and I loved listening to Chris Moyles. I related to his love of Radio 1 and how he provided echos of the golden period of Radio 1, but helped to start a new golden age. I'm a bit old for Radio 1 now. But I do still get a warm, excited feeling when I hear 'BBC Radio 1' on a jingle.
Dan Ellis-Jones, Perth, Australia
My first memory of Radio One was around 1972 When we listened to Tom Browne doing The Top 20 on Sundays from 6pm till 7pm.. we used to record on a Reel to Reel Tape.. It made Sundays exciting.. there wasn't much else to do in a small Village in Somerset in the 1970s.
Andrew Sansom, Dublin
First time was when Tony Blackburn played the first record on Radio 1 I was working in a garage in Exeter,I am now 69 I also went on to be a Sales rep covering the West country and I saw the Radio 1 Road show in Exmouth,Torquay.Plymouth St Ives and many other seaside resorts.
Phil, Teignmouth
I discovered Radio 1 as a young teenager on Saturdays. I used to listen in the mid-80's to the Pub Quiz and can even remember the Gotcha live on air with Noel Edmonds. When I was working in the late 80's in a sport centre, we used to have the Radio 1 Road Show on every day during the summer months, and I always scored minimum 8/10 on Bits and Pieces. I attended two Road Shows (one with (ooooo) Gary Davies and the other with Simon Mayo) at Bournemouth Pier and got onto Bits and Pieces, only to score a terrible embarrassing 3. Another memory is taping the Top 40 with an old cassette recorder on Sunday nights! Nowadays I tune into Radio 2 almost every day at work. Radio 1 and 2 have kept me sane through the years :)
Susan, Istanbul (ex-Poole, Dorset)
The original version of Radio 1 was the best Radio station EVER with the best djs EVER. Then along came Matt Banister who proceeded in ruining the Radio station that I had listened to and loved for years and just rode willy nilly over it.
Darren Plumpton, Pontefract
My earliest memories of listening to Radio 1 would be with my Mum, in the kitchen in the mid 70's. I used to love Tony Blackburn (or 'Ony Blackberry, as I called him) & Arnold especially. To this day, I remember my Mum singing along to 'Save All Your Kisses For Me'! I then listened right through & remember always having it on in the background. When Pete Tong started up it was the sound of our weekend - getting ready whilst listening to the show was a ritual!
Victoria Bramley, Leicester
I listened to as much of the weekend as I could. I was amazed at how long I have listened to radio 1. I am 56 and started listening to radio 1 in the 70's on an AM transistor radio. I was an avid listener to Radio Luxemburg prior to that, I understand the demographic is a young one now, however I grew up through the beginning of the transition stage of music therefore still enjoy the music radio is playing today. I love listening to Annie Mac, Pete Tong and Danny Howard and the weekend crew as well and the night time during the week with the new music coming through. Whilst John Peel and Alexis Korner night time shows were unmissable in their time, Huw Stephens and Daniel P Carter do a good job. I also miss Rankin Miss P's Reggae show and Trevor Nelson's R&B show. Two great shows! I love Nick Grimshaw, he is doing the Breakfast show proud. Keep on truckin'.
Paul Dellimore, Doncaster
I'm from the States and lived in London when I was in 3rd form, 1973-74. I attended a grammar school in Ealing... my friends and I listened to the radio nearly non-stop and hung out outside Broadcasting House whenever we could get there... collecting photos of, and with, Rosko, Stuart Henry, Johnny Walker, Noel Edmunds, & their compatriots and the musicians who appeared - Leo Sayer, Sparks, Alvin Stardust, Billie Connolly! Every week I wrote down the top 30 tunes from the BBC lists and from Radio Luxembourg... I still have them all these years later. It's remarkable the effect radio has on people...
Rebecca, Milwaukee, USA
I've been listening to the fantastic radio 1 vintage station for the last 3 days .. some great memories and forgotten gems from over the years . on average i've probably clocked up 50/60 hrs a week of R1 listening time over the last 22 or so years .. i was "made" to go to school in the years prior to that, but radio 1 has always been a massive part of my musical education and a constant source of entertainment too.. my main point to this comment is listening to the vintage station this past weekend. it occurred to me my main reason for listen in the evenings is for education. new music . which personally i think it's as good now as it's ever been, I listen more from an entertaining perspective during the day . i think is a tried and tested format which the bosses at R1 recognise and have nurtured and crafted over many years now . like i say the evening programming is to be commended however the quality of the daytime shall we say more entertaining aspects have fallen over recent years . my main point is lack of entertaing creativity on offer . in years gone by there have been some greatly talented and entertaining presenters and duo's on during the day time . listening back you can appreciate the hours and hours of writing ,prep work, and pre- recording of segments to regularly go out on air .. eg Kenny Everett, steve wright, Kevin Greening, Mark and Lard , Chris Moyles, early Scott mills. to name a few where as in recent times the focus has seamed to be more of straight delivery and presenting styles, is because the younger generation of presenters aren't given the opportunitys to produce that kind of pre written pre recorded amusing material on daytime R1 ? or is it lack of talent to choose from. ? are the younger generation more media savvy ? do their interests lie more with tv and other mediums ? rather than radio being their first choice ? if this is so , what does this hold for the future of daytime entering , funny,amusing must listen too radio 1 ?
Martin Clayton, Southampton
As a young boy living in Falmouth Cornwall, I owned a small transistor, and listening to Radio Luxemburg on the Medium Wave (208 Metres) getting to know the many DJ's that would eventually make their way onto Radio One. Radio Caroline and Radio London were also particular favourites. Remember fondly when Caroline went off the air. Loved the early years of Radio One - Favourite day was Saturday morning - Tommy Vance, Dave Lee Travis (Hairy Monster) Kid Jenson and Kenny Everitt all spring to mind. Then later, Steve Wright's show with all the characters (Mr Angry - Sid the Manager particular favourites) Wonderful Radio One - Thank you for 50 wonderful years!
Paul Yeoman, Scarborough
My parents listened to radio 2 in the 60s. My Dad bought me a small transistor radio in 1970 and I'd listen to radio one, regularly tuning into to Tony Blackburn's breakfast show before school (OK, I was only 8 at the time). As I got older John Peel's weekday evening programme was a huge fave from 1977 onwards. I once sent him a letter asking for a particular track and was amazed when he read it out on air and played the song too. Also loved Kid Jensen's late 70s evening show which was on before Peelie's. I remember him running a penfriend club in 1978. Nearly 40 years on I'm still in touch with one of the contacts, although not by letter writing. Anne Nightingale's Sunday show was another fave. Also loved Mark Radcliffe's weekday evening programme early 90s. Stopped listening to radio one and defected to 6Music in 2004 when Marc and Lard (hilarious) left and Peelie died. My hubby and I have organised a John Peel night in Brighton to commemorate his life since 2009.
Shelley Guild, Brighton
I first heard Radio 1 in 1988 when Simon Mayo was starting on the Breakfast show, and I fell in love with it. I remember listening to Chris Evans during Euro 96, then Zoe and Sara through the Laddet days, and staying with Chris Moyles from when he started on Breakfast all the way to his Last Breakfast show which I saw on the Red Button.
Alan Caddick, Birmingham
Being from north east England, I listened to Caroline north and our very own station Radio 270. I listened to 270 closing down at midnight in August 1967 and got up early to listen to radio 1'st broadcast. Enjoyed tony Blackburns show but was not happy when jimmy young came on. Enjoying the happy memories this weekend. Paul Burnett, an ex dj from radio 270, was and still is my favourite.
David Kirkbride, Spennymoor, co. Durham
Was only born in 74 but have fond memories of Radio1 in the 80's, listening out for the chart countdown on a Sunday, or Steve Wright in the afternoon-with his assortment of wacky characters, happy days!
Mark T, London
I recall the launch of Radio One as it was the day I did a 20 mile sponsored walk as a ten year old in the Cubs. A long time ago now. Happy 50th Radio 1!
Chris, London
I discovered Radio 1 in 1983 on medium wave 1395 khz, listening early Sunday evenings to Tommy Vance hosting the UK Top 40. Although the quality of transmission - especially during the evenings - wasn't always good, I very much enjoyed the sound of '80s British pop through Radio 1. Sometime during the early 1990s the MW transmissions were switched off meaning I couldn't listen anymore for a couple of years - until online listening came along. Although Radio 1 has changed over the years (just as technology, music and musical tastes have), BBC Radio 1 still has a special place in my heart!
Johan van Slooten, Urk, The Netherlands
In 1967 I was 22 and a photographer in the Royal Navy. At the time I was based at Fraser Gunnery Range in Portsmouth. I lived in a wooden hut [a "mess"] along with about a dozen other young men roughly the same age. We shared a communal radio which was large and had a good robust sound. Each morning an early riser would turn the radio on just before 7am. On the morning of September 30th I woke up to the distinctive cheery voice of Tony Blackburn welcoming us to Radio One and without further ado launched "Flowers in the Rain" by The Move. From then on every morning we were woken to Tony Blackburn, his cheery voice and the pop songs of the Swinging Sixties. In the early days, Radio One "merged" with Radio Two after Tony Blackburn for the Jimmy Young show, which was a quirky mix of records, live music with Jimmy singing, interviews and the days recipe, "What's the recipe today Jimmy?" The mix of live music with records was essentia! l as the BBC was restricted to so many hours "needle time". This was a law to protect musicians from being pushed off the air-ways by records. It was this restriction that had been the cause of the Pirate Stations springing up earlier in the decade, Radio Caroline and Radio London gave the public what they wanted. Before then I, like millions of teenagers had had to tune into the ever-fluctuating airwaves of Radio Luxembourg to get our Pop Music fix. Before that, in my childhood the only BBC programs which actually played records was Children's Choice on a Saturday morning and Two-Way Family Favorites on a Sunday Lunchtime. At that time the BBC (and Government) had a sanctimonious attitude to broadcasting recorded music. The quick rise in popularity of the Pirate Stations which took a massive chunk of the listening audience from the BBC, which until then had had a virtual monopoly, showed the Government and the BBC what the public wanted to listen to. The Pirate Stations w! ere outlawed and official "needle time" laws were relaxed to enable the BBC to try to replicate the popularity of the Pirate Stations. However it took a few years before the law was dropped and Radio One and Radio Two were able to play records all day long. Like in so many other areas it took the rebellious attitude of my generation, those born just after the war (the baby boomers) and who became teenagers in the sixties to batter down the stuffed shirt attitude of the pin-stripe and bowler hatted brigade of the fifties, who considered it knew what was best for the general public. Unfortunately, like in so many other areas, once these old attitudes are removed, the flood gates are opened and things go too far. Nowadays it is left almost exclusively to the BBC to provide anything other than wall to wall pop music played 24 hours a day on hundreds of commercial stations using it as a cheap means of gaining advertising revenue. From the days of having to strain your ears to catch a faulty rendition of a record in the charts on Radio Luxembourg la! te at night under the blankets to a position today where you can't escape it, on the air waves, in the shopping mall in the coffee shop and in your local pub.
Victor Hunt, Weston-Super-Mare
At the end of 1969, the US Air Force posted me to England. I lived off base since there was a billeting shortage. I thought it was highway robbery to have to buy a TV license - TV in the states was free. Having come from New York, with several top 40 music stations, I found the only pop station, Radio 1, unlistenable for technical reasons. Back then, the thing mostly ran on 247 meters. Couldn't get used to that - I thought in kilohertz, so it was 1214 kHz to me. The problem was our base was half way between two high power transmitters on 1214 kHz. There was constant fading during the day as you would be used to hearing on shortwave radio. Shortly after I arrived, Radio North Sea International went on the air. I had read about pirate radio in the states and found it fun to be listening to something illegal. At night, I listened to AFN Frankfurt (150 kW), which remained on the air until May 31st, 2013. It was nice to hear American! voices. At the time I left England, I felt that BBC television was better than American TV, but BBC radio was not there yet.
Seymour Riis, Rockville, USA
I first started to listen to Radio 1 in the seventies . I loved it . My favorite music era was the eighties . I would listen to the charts every Sunday . When I was working we would have radio1 on all the time . .I loved Tony Blackburn . I liked the new Romantics of the Eighties . I still listen today . I am over 50 now and music has been a very important part of my life .Thank you Radio1.
Richard James, Cardiff
Although it improved, at first Radio 1 fell well short of the pirates Radio London and Radio Caroline. The worst thing was that all the transmitters on the same frequency interfered with each other so in Northampton where I grew up (and large parts of the country) reception was awful, a BBC Engineering disgrace.. The combined programmes with Radio 2 pleased nobody. I hated the middle aged Jimmy Young trying to sound hip and singing songs. Fortunately eventually the stations became separate and 11 years later Radio 1 two frequencies both of which could be heard perfectly.
Tim Reynolds, St Albans
Sorry beeb, loyal pirate advocate. Never did like your superior attitude.
Graham Horne, Wakefield
I can remember hearing Flowers in the rain after Tony Blackburn introduced the opening phrase for Radio one. There was a buzz of excitement about the station it was fresh and obviously new. As the years went by my tastes in the popular market waned and ended up listening to John Peel, Tommy Vance and Alan Freeman. Sadly the powers that ran Radio One decided upon a bizarre action and refused to play anything over 5 years old. The three presenters, mentioned earlier, were never replaced and did more damage to the music industry and education of the listener than anything else. Inevitably I migrated to Radio 2 where the music choice was far superior. I voiced my complaints at the time, but the complaint fell upon deaf or ignorant ears. As far as I was concerned Radio one shot itself in the foot and made it unpopular. It was a case of "You will listen to this and lump it, or you know what you can do..." I chose the latter, and have rarely listened in since, and that was since John Peel sadly passed away. Radio One severed its connections with a lot of the music fans which caused tens of thousands to leave the station to its own devices.
Nik Gibson, London
My best friend Nigel and I went into the west end one summer lunchtime in 1969 for the Radio One club. It was in a basement room on Lower Regent Street or Haymarket. Tony Blackburn was spinning the records and The Casuals mimed Jesamine. Outside, a gang of skinheads tried to start a fight but we walked away. Radio One Club was a romantic notion but the reality was tacky. A bunch of young teens gawping at each other and the DJ. It seemed childish to me. Tony Blackburn wasn't fashionable for us. We were into Jimi Hendrix and the underground sound, whilst Tony was the Prince of Pop. His redeeming feature was a love of Motown. Today his voice defines an era but there was more to it than that.
Peter Krijgsman, Taunton
We got little diamond shaped stickers numbered one to four - in different colours, to stick to the wavebands of our radios so we could more easily tune to the new stations in 1967. Some of our household radios at the time were still wooden valve sets from earlier decades which were still giving good service. Transistor radios were still new. After all the hype, we found that when it came to radio 1, we couldn't get it. Not at all. Only some parts of the country could receive it. I was only eleven at the time and a friend said his radio got it - I didn't know whether to believe him or not. Even in the 1970s on 247 MW the signal was still poor. Radio Luxembourg during evenings was stronger, but even then the reception faded in and out.
Alan Graham, Leyburn
RADIO 1 remains absolutely central to my life - even though I'm older (49) than its current target audience. I hear it in the car when driving to and from work, but I also choose to listen to it at home in the evenings and at weekends. I'll write firstly about the earlier years of my listening and then finish with my current listening. I'm now aged 49 and I'm writing these comments in September 30, 2017, on the weekend of the Radio 1's 50th anniversary and the Radio 1 Vintage weekend.There's a lot of nostalgia with this celebration - but there's much more than that too. I started listening to Radio 1 as a child around the late 1970s, listening to Junior Choice with my family, and then more regularly from around 1979-1980 onward, when I started secondary school in Stokesley, near Middlesbrough. I've listened to Radio 1 regularly ever since. In the mid 1980s, I liked presenters such as Peter Powell, who I think had a tea time show which mixed pop, indie and dance music. I liked a lot of new wave and punk bands like Blondie, XTC, The Damned and Adam & The Ants but also electronic pop by acts such as Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, The Human League etc. By the late 1980s, I'd got into Northern Soul, disco, electro, house and other dance music (which had a similar DIY ethos to punk) and like DJs such as Gary Davies in the daytime (who played 808 State) and Jeff Young's Friday night dance show (Big Beat). I also loved Andy Peebles' Soul Train. His programme was perhaps the biggest source of musical education and influence on me. I wrote to him asking about Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions CDs and he gave me a lengthy reply about the CDs on radio, which I was delighted about. In the later years, Andy Peebles' Soul Train was broadcast very late on Friday or Saturday nights, which was a challenge. But I stayed up routinely to listen to it for years until it was ended. But I loved other types of programmes too, especially Adrian Juste's Saturday comedy show and Steve Wright's afternoon show. They mixed music with comedy sketches and characters, sound effects, epic jingles and played around with radio itself - like Kenny Everett. In some ways Adrian Juste's programme was a relic from earlier Light Programme schedules which had comedy at 1pm on Saturday lunchtimes - but I absolutely loved it. I thought it was sad when Adrian Juste got the axe from Radio 1 in the early 1990s but I understood all the other changes that were made, such as the departure of Simon Bates etc. I think they were at risk of becoming cliched dinosaurs. Saturday afternoon's were great on Radio 1 in the 1908s and early 1990s because they included documentaries and DJs like Richard Skinner, who played a wide range of stuff including the Stone Roses. The documentaries were fascinating and educational, which is what I loved about Radio 1. In the late 1990s-early 2000s, I thought Radio 1 was sometimes a bit soulless, bland and suburban, perhaps with too many TV crossover stars like Zoe Ball, Chris Evans and Danny Baker? They had no appeal whatsoever to me. However I think Radio 1 improved again when it got new presenters who's focus appeared to be music again. I think it's excellent today in the late 2010s, I think it's generally got the right balance between daytime and night times output, music mix, presenters etc. It's also rediscovered a sense of playfulness again with people like Nick Grimshaw and especially Greg James, who has lots of sounds effects, comedy bits etc. Perhaps he will become a new Steve Wright? And the evening programmes are good too - especially Annie Mac. Finally, I've always rated Radio 1's Newsbeat. I've listened to it regularly since 1980 or so. Radio 1's Newsbeat always had its own news agenda which is hugely refreshing and I have huge respect for it. I'm a news journalist by profession, working in northern England. I've worked right across the north, from Tyneside to Merseyside. I'm a huge champion of local and regional news and media, and I get very frustrated with the Westminster-centric, establishment content of Radio 4 news programmes such as Today. I'm deeply interested in current affairs and politics - but not the stuff broadcast daily on Radio 4. In my opinion, Radio 1's Newsbeat could teach Radio 4's Today many, many lessons about finding alternative news to the predictable, tedious content of Today. Anyway, I'll end my comments on a positive note. In summary, Radio 1 is hugely important to me in many ways. I'm not especially nostalgic but I've enjoyed hearing old favourites on Radio 1 Vintage. I love all music - pop, dance, classical, folk, old and new. But new music remains essential to me - which is why I keep listening to Radio 1. I value Radio 1 far more than any other radio or TV channel. I accept the need for other channels but Radio 1, for me, is head-and-shoulders above all others. Anyone who is seriously interested in a wide range of new music, youth culture, popular culture and broadcasting diversity must value it.
Robbie MacDonald, Manchester
When we were kids my Mam had radio on all day and early evening, it was an old brown Bakelite Bush radio. I feel in love with radio age 5 or 6 when radio 1 began. I just loved everything about it! The music, the jingles, the DJ's. I loved how they made you feel part of the show. I became hooked! Me and my brother also listened to radio Luxembourg on our littel tranny radio's under the covers, listening to such greats as Stuart Henry. It did change my life, yes. I still now have a deep love of radio and music! So thank you! We've been with you all the way listened to them all, Noel Edmonds, Kenny Everett, Mike Read, Steve Wright in the afternoon, The Hairy Monster -DLT, with his 'whack whack, oops! jingle. Tony Blackburn, Diddy David, Peter Powell, Johnny Walker, Fluff - Not arf! As kids we loved Arnold on Tony's show. It was great to hear all the old jingles and stuff today thank you, brought back many happy memories. I even stood my late mothers photo next to the radio today in honour of her, cos without her we'd never have been introduced to radio! Yes, it gave me a life-long love of music, going out buying records everytime you heard a new one you loved. I still have all my vinyl collection and would never part with it. I'm glad I grew up in the era I did.
Patricia Allenby, Caistor
I'm currently 18 and my first memories of Radio 1 were fearne and reggie. Every sunday i'd tune in to listen, hear so much new music. Radio 1 was what kickstarted my love for music, loved the show. Listening to it today bought back so many good memories.
Joshua Codner, Northamptonshire
An avid listener of the Light programme and pirate radio, under the blankets to get a good signal on the transistor, I waited with bated breath on 30th September 1967 for Radio 1 to come on air. I was late for school that morning, but I didn't care! I couldn't always afford to buy records, but Radio 1 changed all that for me and I could hear all the music I wanted to. I was a huge fan of Tony Blackburn and Arnold the dog, but an even bigger fan of Emperor Rosko and Stuart Henry, I liked the sounds they played. Oh an not forgetting Pick of the Pops with "Fluff" (Alan Freeman). Stopped listening to Radio 1 when all these great broadcasters disappeared form the station for one reason or another. I listened to Radio 2 for years, but stopped because the life had gone out of it, until Tony Blackburn re-emerged with Sounds of the Sixties on Saturday mornings. Hoorah!. I listened this morning to the 50th anniversary show hosted ! by Tony, and was late for work, who cares!
Bridget Sanderson, Saltburn by Sea
I was waiting for the switch over with my tranny radio, I was 14 yrs old, when I began work I had it on all day due to job being a one man welding company, I loved the Radio 1 roadshow, me and my Girlfriend Lorraine used to go St Ives Cornwall and see it, I still have Ed Stewart pictures, Bits and pieces was a favourite of ours, amazing how quick you had to be..I haven't lost it...ah ah!
Phil Clark, Manchester
I will never forget the excitement at school guessing what was going to be the first record played on the new Radio 1! I woke up early specially (aged 13) with my little brown radio under the bedcovers feeling literally sick with anticipation - a new station - for us kids!!! Such a cool song 'Flowers in the Rain' - my aunt bought it for me the next week in celebration. Loved Tony B and his chart show too. That first day though is one I will literally never forget - it was a landmark media moment and led in many ways to everything we have today.
Carla O'Brien, Nottingham
Like every teen, Radio 1 was the staple of my teenage life and centre of our social conversations. From the breakfast show each morning, to doing your homework to John Peel at night. And the highlight of the week - the anticipation of the Sunday Top 40 chart show. My first memory of Radio 1 was Dave Lee Travis's breakfast show, when "The Hairy Cornflake" used to do the Monday Morning Cringe. (STILL remember cringing indeed to "Donuts make my brownies blue! :-D "). His Record of the Week was the first song I ever heard on Radio 1- that week it was Crystal Gayle, "Talking in Your Sleep."
Christl Nagendra
My earliest recollection of Radio1 was circa 1968 listening to Leslie Crowther presenting Junior Choice ( pre Ed "Stewpot" Stewart ) as we had weekend breakfasts with Dad, consisting of cornflakes, Ready Brek or Weetabix followed by half a grapefruit. I didn't start listening regularly until March 1974. Highlights of those years were the Noel Edmonds breakfast show with Flynn the Milkman, Welly Stickers, Radio 1 Garden Gnomes & the Funny Phone calls. Later I was immersed into Dingley Dell & Perkins Grange on Noel's Sunday morning show, where Noel created a magical world that he could never quite replicate with Crinkley Bottom on Noel's House Party on TV, because nothing matches the "theatre of the mind" that is radio!! I also had a particular affection for Paul Burnett ( with his dry sense of humour ), Simon Bates ( with his ridiculous pomposity ) & Mike Read ( with his school boy humour ). My other favourite presenter was Tom Browne, with his James Mason-esque dulcet tones & concise song links, who presented the Top 20 chart show ( including Solid Gold Sixty in the early years ) between 1972 & 1978. 6pm on a Sunday on Radios 1 & 2 was "must listen to" radio, with fingers poised over the record button of my Decca Radio Cassette Recorder to tape my favourite songs. Thank you for the memories Radio 1 & for providing me with the soundtrack to my formative years.
Simon Sterlan, Nottingham
I was nearly five years old, my parents were waiting with excitement to hear the beginning of Radio One. I remember the opening of Theme One and Arnold the Dog, and when I hear Flowers In The Rain by The Move I'm taken back to that autumn morning, in the living room of a flat in Coventry. It was good to hear it again today on 4Extra's Radio One: The First 10 Years with Alan Freeman. I just mailed my dad, who now lives in the US, the link to the program.
Neil Williams, Truro
I have listened to Radio One since day one (especially the breakfast show) I remember it starting. As a teenager I took my small transistor Radio everywhere I went. I would listen to Radio One breakfast throughout the day when j could and a crackly Radio Caroline at night. I was in St Ives(Cornwall) when the Roadshow was on the Island and the whole town appeared to be awash with girls in tartan thanks to the Bay City Rollers. I was gutted when Chris Moyles and his team departed the Radio One Breakfast show, he was my favourite Presenter by far.......I loved his brand of humour, straight talking and silliness, they were a great team. Highlights: Carrie at Wimbledon and kicking off the Festive season with a rendition of Dominic the Donkey! 50 great years of continually playing great music ......What's not to like? Congratulations!
Ruth Jagger, Stockport
My earliest memory of a pop song on radio is listening to My Name is Jack (1968) from Manfred Mann on BBC-R1 on medium wave in my parent's back garden in Dublin and just being grateful for the good radio reception ... I reckon that was was the late 60s ... I was born in Leicester 1957 so I would have been pre-teens then ;-)
David Wilkes, Dublin
I remember religiously listening to the charts on a sunday night from when i was about 8 years old and living in Glastonbury in the late 70s/early 80s. When John Lennon died I seem to remember a vigil on-air that me and my two older sisters sat around and observed feeling very sad. Then when I went to boarding school at 10 it continued to be part of every day life, keeping me up to date with life on the outside world. We used to tape the charts on sunday evening when we had to go to boring old Chapel and the we'd listen to it when we got back. I am now 46 and still listen to it from when I get up to about 7ish and my kids are big fans too. And I managed to get tickets to go to the sam Smith Live Lounge last night whenich was immense! I am a total Radio one fan!
Sarah Christophers, London
I have vague recollections of the Light Programme - I am 64 - but I loved pirate radio. Maybe it was the name, made me seem more of a rebel than I can ever be! The summer of 67, when I was 14, I think of as being wall-to-wall sunshine, sitting on the beach with my younger brother and our friends listening to Radio London mainly, but also Caroline. Then later Radio North Sea International. I tuned in for the start of Radio 1 and listened to the station for many years through what I call the golden era, hanging on Peel's every word, enjoying the daytime shows, but hankering after the different sort of music he played. It's not Radio 1's fault, but I really don't think the modern type of music is made for radio. Now if that doesn't show I am getting old what does?
Dave Edmonds, Guernsey
I started listening to Radio 1 in 1980 as a14 year old. My favourite shows through the 80's were Annie Nightingale, Sunday nights, 7-9pm and Tommy Vance's Friday Rock Show. Together with John Peel they were responsible for a lot of the great music played on the radio in those days.
Dean Barnes, Lichfield
I remember Bruno Brooks Chart Show, Simon Mayo breakfast and Steve Wright in the afternoon. Radio one roadshows @ Barry Island, would always get there early so we could be at the front. Saw Kylie, Blur and many others. Brilliant times.
Dee Lally Osborne, Cardiff
Bits and Pieces during the Roadshows always had me scrambling for a piece of paper and a pen. Simon Bates's our tune making the theme from Romeo and Juliet a household tune. Chris Morris cancelling the news on his Wed evening show...
Llewellyn Morris, Swansea
I remember tuning in to hear Tony Blackburn playing Flowers in the Rain. I turned on Radio 1 to hate it and I never really took to it, probably out of principle. I listened to DJ's I liked like TB, Johnny Walker and one or two other Radio Caroline DJ's. I never forgave Edward Short who was a pathetic little whimp yes-man who just couldn't bear us teens and twenties enjoying ourselves. Maybe his teens and twenties were so bad that he just thought that no-one should have a better time than he had had. It is no wonder that many of us secretly or overtly reviled Radio 1.
Selwyn Carter, Oakham
I am now 55 and Radio was such a big part of my younger life, I always had my little radio on tuned into radio 1. We would chat about the music at school and to me the djs were as big as the music that they played. I can remember when the chart was on at lunch time rushing home to hear what was in the chart and led to me helping to run school disco's to in the end running my own. And the Roadshow. WOW that was it for me, a massive part of the summer and when I started work we all lived for bits and pieces. Not sure I ever got a full house. I love music and I think it was all to do with Radio 1. I still love my music but today its Radio 2 that is a must in our house. Thanks Radio 1 and all the wonderful Dj's that made it happen.
Graham Pengelly, Bletchly
I think I probably first subconsciously heard Radio 1 in my parents room in the morning when I was about 5 or 6 in 1975 when I reckon Noel was on the breakfast show. We then went abroad for a few years and the next time I really got into it was 10 years later in the mid eighties. Unmissable listening for me: Simon 'big boy Bates - Our Tune, his outside broadcasts, Rod McKenzie's headlines. Gary Davies Bit in the Middle - perfectly in tune with the time of day he was broadcasting. Steve Wright in the Afternoon - I mean blimey, what a show.....EVERYDAY! The work that went into that. I would actually feel quite upset if I missed one. We would have it on at school while doing whatever we were doing. Brilliant characters and a staggeringly positive vibe every single day. Not sure he is getting enough credit on this vintage weekend. Bruno Brookes doing the Top 40. SO slick. Simon Mayo's breakfast show. Significant for me as it was the breakfast show in my life as I commuted to my first job. I'm 46 BTW! Happy memories.
James Heming, Whitstable
As a child I used to love listening to Tony Blackburn on a weekend with all the different jingles Arnold the dog barking, the young lad saying "Ello darlin" andthe Happy Birthday jingle. I loved listening to the junior showtime and the tiny tot spot. Happy memories :-)
Diane Richmond, Leeds
Alan Freeman 1968 or 69 I think.. weekend afternoons mid' summer. Mum switching him off complaining it was just a row!
Richard C, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
I arrived in England aged 16, beginning of 1967 on my own from Kenya. After months of listening to Radio Caroline on a small crackly transistor radio, living in a dingy bedsit in Tufnell Park, North London, I heard the very first live transmission of Tony Blackburn firing up Radio 1 with The Move's song, Flowers In The Rain, whilst working in Tottenham Court Road at an engineering workshop. I used to listen to it regularly on my small pocket radio via headphones walking down along Seven Sisters Road, etc. at weekends,wandering alone, passing time, as other than workmates, I knew no one. So,Radio 1 and all its ex-Caroline jocks were my 'friends'. I then enlisted in the RAF in December 1967.I left London completely never to return and life moved on but I still listened to my favourite jocks like Ed Stewart, Blackburn, Murray, Read, Skues, Emperor Rosko, Everett, Cash, etc, much later Robbie Vincent, a DJ introduced me to new eclectic jazz-funk names. Before him, a DJ called Dave Symonds who started me off on jazz-funk, soul, R&B, et al. Bought many an expensive imported LP on the back of their playlists!! I stopped listening to as often and as much it in the late 80s-early 90s but listened to 'Stewpot' often. Only time I returned to it was Friday evenings to listen to Pete Tong, or bit of Annie. I now live in the North and still listen to radio from a variety of stations from Australia to Ireland as I never watch tv every single day for at least 12 -14 hours a day. Yes, the birth of Radio 1 has been like diary of my life, as well as changing my aural inputs. Happy 50th, Radio 1 and good to see Blackburn still there while others are sadly no longer around. but they remain in my memories.
Rick, Preston
Looking forward to the opening show recreation as I heard it first time round. I asked living in Seaford in Sussex at the time and used to listen to Radios Caroline, London and Luxembourg on a véy small transistor radio. Reception was full of crackles and used to fade in and out. Radio 1 on 247m medium wave cured these problems and I soon deserted my old favourites. The first song played by Tony Blackburn was a bonus as it was by the Move who were from my home county. Opening day for Radio 1 was a first for me as at the age of 11 I was awake before 7 !
Keith Richards, Solihull
First memories were of listening on a Sunday evening to Tom Browne presenting the Top 20 show. This was my first taste of my enthusiasm for pop music and continued listening until maybe 5 years ago (quite a late leaver, I guess). I used to record the programme every few weeks (unlike other kids who'd hit pause when the DJ spoke, I always recorded them in full - I still have these shows). As when it started in 1967, I think Radio 1 still does what it's supposed to - perfectly.
Andy Thacker, Mold, north Wales
I was at my coed boarding school in the boys changing room getting ready for breakfast and the tones of Tony Blackburn bounced round the ancient tiles of our school. My class will be returning to school for the Easter Reunion next year as it will be 50 years since we left. We all see each other a lot and one of my school friends drums for a band called The Retros. It all started there. Great times.
Alistair Maclaurin, Exeter
Thank you Tony Blackburn and all the other Disc Jockeys of Radio 1 for this wonderful memories. I listented to the first Radio 1 "Breakfast Show" on September 30, 1967, in my hometown Einbeck together with my friend Rüdiger. We were late in school that day.
Horst Müller, Hamburg, Germany
My memories of BBC radio are that of its breakfast shows for the innovative new ways of broadcasting and the chart show which beat all others hands down including that of radio Luxemburg's.
John MacLeod, Inverness
Fifty years ago as a 12 year old Radio Caroline fan I moved to Radio 1 to follow some of my favourites and have listened ever since. The station is the soundtrack of my life and of so many others of my generation. What a great part of our culture, and thanks of course to Radio Caroline which caused the BBC to create Radio One. Radio One helped shape my own career as after university I became a BBC local radio presenter/producer before moving into TV. Great station, great times, great music and the soundtrack to our lives. Thank you! xx
Phil Johnson, Norwich
My early memories of Radio 1 was Live Aid being simulcasting on BBC TV and Radio 1 in 1985, I was 7-8 at the time and remember my father tuning the sound down on the TV and allowing the audio from the HiFi to fill the living room with sound in stereo, I can also remember Bruno Brooks doing the Top 40 on Sundays but I finally grew up with Radio 1 when I turned 18 and we had Radio 1 blasting through the public address system in a foodstore I use to work at night stacking the shelves when some of the greats like John Peel, Mark and Lard, Annie Nightingale playing all night also shows like Andy Kershaw world music and Tim Westwood .. those days will never be re-created.
Paul George, Cheltenham
On the morning Radio 1 started my friend and I were fishing at our local gravel pit but we took a transistor radio to hear the first disc played.
Steve Orton, Bicester
I was 11 years old on the very day Radio One began programmes because we share the same birthday! It was a great day. This was the first time that I could hear Pop music freely wherever I wanted. Before then it was listening to Radio Luxembourg late in the evening and sometimes barely receiving it. Additionally we had Radio Caroline, when it was on the air and listenable and the other Pirate stations based off the coast in International waters.
Dave Bradburn, Saloinen, Finland
I can clearly remember the day of the launch of Radio 1. I was a 13 year old and I knew I would be out on my bike doing my paper round and decided I would take my Benkson transistor radio in my anorak pocket so that I wouldn't miss the 7:00 launch. From then on the "trani" always accompanied me on my paper round.
John Gordon, Kirkmichael, Scotland
I was a young lad back in 1967 when Tony Blackburn opened the station. Remember there was a countdown, and you had to choose Radio 1 or Radio 2. Even remember Tony's theme tune with Arnold the dog, then Flowers in the Rain by the Move. This new station meant the world to me as up until then we only had Radio Caroline or Radio Luxembourg with very dodgy receptions, and on the Light Programme we only really had Pick of the Pops with Alan Freeman. I grew up with this station. As I grew up and became a driver, Radio One went everywhere with me. I was a faithful listener up until the mid nineties, when it became a station for a much younger audience. Great memories of an iconic station though. Radio 2 is my favourite station nowadays.
Sandy Mearn, Buckie, Scotland
I grew up in Dodworth, South Yorkshire with my mum listening to Radio 1 in the 1970s- via Diddy David Hamilton, Tony Blackburn and several other great DJs, including DLT. Also into the 80s with Steve Wright and metal through Tommy Vance. I know everything now about chart music in the 1970s and 1980s,- even to present day. All thanks to my mum listening to Radio 1.
Stephen Foster, Okehampton
Hi My name is Paul Guest, I was born on Saturday 30th September 1967 at 04:30 in the Mirfield Maternity Home. My mum tells me that as she was nursing me, the midwives and nurses were setting up the tannoy system so that at 07:00 everyone could listen to Tony Blackburn when he played "Flowers in the rain" by The Move. This is exactly what happened and so I know exactly where, when and what was the first song I heard (Even if I couldn't understand it at the time). Due to my age I no longer listen to Radio 1 much, but I am a follower of Radio 2. Regards Paul Guest.
Paul Guest, Stoke-on-Trent
I first heard Radio 1 when it started at 7am on that memorable morning. In Plymouth where I was a student and lived in lodgings, I could not receive the pirates although I had frequently listened to them when I was at home during the holiday season in Liverpool where reception was fine. I woke up in time to put the transistor radio on just prior to 7am and heard the 'Radio 1, Radio 2, go' announcement, followed by Tony Blackburn saying a few words and then playing Flowers in the Rain. What was unexpectedly disappointing was just how short-lived Radio 1 was! Barely an hour or two later, the transmission was back to Radio 2! I became a regular listener to Radio 1, only giving it up in later decades when the music had changed too much for my liking.
Lawrence Harris, Stowmarket
I used to listen to BBC one all the time. My favourite memories though were listening to Mark and Lard in their 10-midnight slot. I would often fall asleep to them but would try my best to stay awake. that show introduced me to all kinds of quality music, such as Belly. I also incorporated some of their phrases into every day life. I live in America now and miss quality radio. I tune in online to BBC as much as possible. The fact I will be able to hear Mark and Lard again this weekend has put a massive smile on my face.
Anna Girdwood, Saint Charles, USA
Having been devoted to the pirate radio stations - Big L (Radio London) in particular - it was an exciting time for me to have, essentially, the same station now on the BBC. I knew very little about the politics involved in the closing down of the pirate stations. I was only 12 when Radio 1 launched and l was fortunate (?) to be sick at the time. Having a heavy cold meant that l could stay off school and listen to the first ever broadcast. Although it was broadcast on Medium Wave, the sound quality was better than that received from the North Sea where the pirate stations were based. Listening to a new station start broadcasting has become something of a habit for me. I followed this up in later years by catching the opening moments of Capital Radio, Jazz FM and, best of all, BBC 6 Music.
Alan Jacobs, Oldland Common
I wasn't born until 1974, so, i grew up listening to radio 1, people like Simon Bates with Our Tune, the country ground to a halt at 11am every day, who knew that radio could bring the nation to a halt?? Jakki Brambles, loved her, Adrian Juste - i NEVER missed his shows, even when they started repeating them, Steve Wright was hilarious and my absolute favourite - Lynn Parsons. I don't think the BBC recognised her talents as well as they could have. I went off radio 1 when Matthew Bannister came along and sacked Adrian Juste, but, i kept listening until 1996 when Lynn Parsons left. She was an inspriation to me as i always wanted to do radio and now i work on an internet radio station and we are applying for an FM licence. She encouraged me to follow my dream. Beautiful lady.
Scott McMillan, Carluke
Fifty years ago as a 12 year old Radio Caroline fan I moved to Radio 1 to follow some of my favourites and have listened ever since. The station is the soundtrack of my life and of so many others of my generation. What a great part of our culture, and thanks of course to Radio Caroline which caused the BBC to create Radio One. Radio One helped shape my own career as after university I became a BBC local radio presenter/producer before moving into TV. Great station, great times, great music and the soundtrack to our lives. Thank you! xx
Phil Johnson, Norwich
One of the DJs who broadcast on the first day of Radio 1 was Mike Raven. I am sad to see that he does not feature on the BBC 'Vintage Radio' schedule. Up until then, I was mostly aware of American blues only through covers by The Rolling Stones and others during the British beat boom. Mike Raven introduced our generation to the music and his legacy lives through until today. (Although some credit must also go to the budget 'Marble Arch' records label and the record collections in local libraries.) I attended one of the last BB King concerts in this country and when I looked at the audience I reflected that I was a probably participating in one of the last meetings of the 'Mike Raven' clan.
Terry Johnson, Eccles
I was 12 when radio 1 first went on the air. I had recently started at a high school in Bexley SE London. Before radio 1 I had listened to the pirate radio stations and was sad to see them go, but radio 1 soon satisfied my need for the steady diet of pop music and all things "young." My transistor radio soon became permanently tuned to 247 medium wave. Some of my earliest radio 1 memories were Tony's shows, and Kenny Everett's and Noel Edmond's subtle and not so subtle humor. Noel had a section where people would send in stories that ended up unexpectedly with a popular saying or catch phrase. One of the boys at school had his story read by Noel - ending up with a play on Robin Hood "Bobbing pud, bobbing pud, gliding through the glen." Later when I lived in Southampton I used to tune into Johnny Walkers "pop the question" radio game without fail. Some of the contestants were hilarious. I moved to the US in 1979 but thanks to the! internet I still catch Tony, Johnny and the gang now on radio 2. I also remember some of the "older" DJs including Alan "fluff" Freeman, David Jacobs and Pete Murray. May they rest in peace in pop picker, juke box jury, and top of the pops heaven. I left England in 1979 for the US where I met my wife and raised a family. My wife sometimes listens along to Johnny Walker as I tell her about some of my radio and television memories from the late sixties and seventies.
Bill Abraham, Windham, NH USA
Radio 1 has played quite a role in my life on way or another. I'm five and a bit years older than the station and started listening to it from day one because my Mum always had it on. And I'm still listening to it in 2017 (sorry I've not been filtered off to Radio 2) and throughout nearly all of that period have listened to the breakfast show in particular and still do. My particular moment with the station came in 1993 when after winning 31 Days in May on the breakfast show I ended up on tour with Lynn Parsons and INXS in Philadelphia. A rather great time was had by all and the whole experience (and some other things that happened afterwards) led to me programming what was the first 24 hour 7 day a week radio station (via two month long RSLs) in London on 104.9FM in 1995. I did some further radio afterwards too. So thank you Radio 1 and keep it up!!
Tim Purcell, London
I don't remember a specific date as to when my love for Radio 1 began but i would say grew around 1988. I used to love recording my favourite records on to cassette to playback at a time of my choosing, and around 1991, i became a hoarder by recording the Official UK Top 40 every month on to cassette. Shortly after, i became wise that if i recorded ALL the new entries every week, i would have every record ever released. I can remember taking my cassette to school on Monday and getting my friends to listen to all this brand new music i had recorded the night before. I even used to take my cassettes to work! I felt like i was a part of the whole music/Radio 1/pop star movement and i utterly loved it. I recorded the charts from 1991 to 2008 so as you can imagine, i have a ton of recordings/interviews/one offs and all sorts of gems. Radio 1 was a huge part of my life however, now i'm in my 40s, I'm more of a Radio 2 man. Happy birthday BBC Radio 1.
Gary Lee, Bridgwater
I listened to Radio 1 in the 80s loved it. I miss it. I like Top of the Pops BBC4. Bring all DJs back on Radio One. Bring back the 80s, I miss them. Happy days. Life is rubbish now, too much stress.
Rob Sutton, West Midlands
In all the publicity about Radio 1's 50th birthday, there's been no mention of Radio 1 Club! I wish I'd still got my membership card - Radio 1 Club, in the Paris Studio, Lower Regent Street was a favourite haunt in the school holidays for us teenagers! Ed Stewart, The Troggs, Tony Blackburn, etc!
Maggie Church, Ely
On Saturday 30th September 1967 I got up out of bed at 6.45 am so I could hear the very start of Tony Blackburn as he launched Radio One. My Dad thought I was either mad or ill 'cos most morning it would take almost an earthquake to get me out of bed especially at that time. I was two weeks into my 16th year. The one thing I didn't agree with was putting Jimmy Young & Terry Wogan on Radio One. I loved listening to The Stuart Henry Show on Sunday nights & my absolute favourite DJ was 'Cuddly' Kenny Everett, he was a genius. I'm now 66 & I still tune into Radio One now & then to listen to Cel Spellman on Sunday afternoons. So congratulations to all at Radio One then & now & keep on spinning those discs LOL
Richard Taylor, Birmingham
BBC and the Coronation
I was a schoolboy, at the Bluecoat School, Horsham, and spent a night in London with a schoolfriend, getting up very early in the morning, and somehow getting to Whitehall at about 5 or 6 am. We stood opposite the Cenotaph for hours until the great procession of soldiers and horses and bands and coaches came by, ending up with Queen Salote of Tonga in her open carriage, about whom Noel Coward reputedly said, when asked who the little man sitting opposite her was, replied, "That, dear boy, is her lunch!" it drizzled slightly most of the time but it was tolerable. The service from the Abbey was relayed to the crowd - six or seven deep where I was, with soldiers and police in front of us - on loudspeakers fixed to the lampposts. I remember the shout of "Long live the Queen", from within the Abbey, and the chanting of "Vivat Regina!". I considered for King Charles's coronation going back and standing on the very same spot that I stood 70 years ago - but it would have been too much of a strain.
Peter Hill, Petersfield, Hampshire
I was 8 years old and attended a Street party in North London that Richard Attenborough and his wife joined the celebration.
Ken Rowles, Sittingbourne
I was only six years old but have very vivid memories of the day. I lived in a Welsh coal mining valley. My aunt was the only person in the street with a television so, as a child, I was able to sit in front of the black and white television whilst all the neighbours stood shoulder to shoulder behind me in the small sitting room. Even in these crowded conditions, my aunt was the perfect hostess and the neighbours kept checking that I was comfortable. These images have been so memorable all my life but in contrast, on Saturday, I sat in a comfortable chair ( coloured television of course) and watched the ceremony with just as much excitement as I did all those years ago.
Lesley Williams, Blaenffos
When the coronation came in 1953 two children were selected by ballot from every class in every London school to go to the area along the Thames embankment to see the procession enroute to Westminster Abbey . It was a great day out despite the dreary weather. We all cheered for Winston Churchill , Queen Salote of Tonga and the Queen, then through the crowd came the word that the BBC Outside broadcast cameras were approaching, this was the que for the kids to go absolutely wild, thinking we would be appearing on national television. I have often wondered if that moment gave me the desire to work for the BBC which I later did as a Film Editor for 35 years.
Colin Jones, Purley
I wasn’t born but my Mum always told me the story of how her parents bought their first television especially for the occasion. It had a tiny screen and lots of friends and family crammed into their flat in Peabody Buildings in Hammersmith to watch the Coronation.
Clare Goldsack, Pinner
BBC and World War Two
My great aunt, Marianne Blampied lived with her husband, Edmund Blampied, artist, during the German occupation. of Jersey. In the mid 1970's she described to me how they contributed to the success of the D Day landings in 1944 at great risk to themselves. Their friends included the Head of the Jersey government, later titled Lord Coutanche and his wife, and Pere Rey, a French Jesuit priest, a well known scientist who studied weather and climate. He was the only person on the island who was allowed by the Germans to keep a radio in the last years of the occupation. In June 1944 Coutanche had a conversation with the Head of the German army which occupied Jersey. He told Coutanche that the Germans knew that the British armies were preparing for an invasion of France. Coutanche asked him whether he needed to prepare the people of Jersey about the forthcoming battle. The German in charge said that there was no need to do that. They knew that the British army was going to invade Calais. Next day, Coutanche and his wife came for "tea" with Edmund and Marianne and half way through the afternoon he excused himself and went to the bathroom. On the way he put a message on a small piece of paper behind one of Edmund's paintings in the hall. The next day the scientist came to see Edmund and Marianne and he also went to the bathroom and then retrieved the paper behind the painting in the hall. (which I remember seeing as a child). He then used his radio to send a message to a trusted contact in France and it was passed quickly onto the contacts in England. The D Day landings went ahead. The British army knew that the Germans had expected them to invade near Calais.
Annette Blampied, England
What sticks with me as a war child are the BBC News broadcasts. Here is a broadcast word for word. “This is BBC London, Philip Ardell reading the news” [News readers had recognizable voices, so if we were invaded, they would be spirited away so we would know who the news was coming from]: “During the night a force of Lancaster Bombers bombed targets at Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Essen, and targets in the Ruhr Valley. Attacks were pressed home with determination. Eight aircraft failed to return”. It was probably more like twenty. This upset my Mum. It does me today.
Michael H Caplan, London
My family always talked about the radio as a constant and important connection to the world in the Second World War and as someone who grew up in the 1950s, in the shadow of the war, I didn’t expect my country to be involved in war ever again. (I was too young to understand Suez, which was, after all only a 'crisis') I have never forgotten listening to the radio in 1982 while feeding my one year old son in his high chair. The explosions were part of a report on the sinking of the Belgrano and my son asked "What’s that mummy?" and how profoundly sad, angry, ashamed and distressed I felt that violence and death were still perpetrated, in our name, where peaceful solutions may well have been possible, and mothers somewhere will lose their sons until we learn to use our minds and words to resolve conflicts instead of weapons which make a few people very rich.
Viv Thom, Sheffield
Just after the war. I remember the BBC broadcasting Dick Barton Special Agent when I was at school. It was wonderful. I also remember coming home from school and sitting with my ear to the wireless to hear Wimbledon. The commentators were so good I felt I saw every shot. Thirdly, I loved Ray’s a Laugh. “If you aven’t been to Manchester you aven’t lived” stayed with me until I finally went there in my 50s. Ted Ray was right.
Joan Butcher, Chiswick
I took part in a BBC Radio 5 phone in with Victoria Derbyshire about employment. After speaking on the radio in the afternoon of the same day, I received a call from BBC News asking if I could appear News 24. Television center interviewee! Karin Giannone. Never forget it, ever.
Mason Walsh, London
I was born in 1935 and I well remember ITMA. My father was away quite a lot driving a big lorry taking supplies to different camps around the country and to the London docks so he was not around very much but when he was at home he would listen with us. I remember Mrs. Mop “can I do you now sir’ and colonel Chinstrap. One particular programme we always listened to on a Sunday at lunchtime was “Have a go’ and my brother and I used to giggle a lot when we heard the name Wilfred Pickles. There was a lady who played the piano on this programme, Violet Carson who later went on to play the part of Ena Sharples in Coronation Street. Another of my favourites was Valentine Dial in ‘Appointment with Fear’. I was a little older then and allowed to stay up later than usual to keep my mother company. Some of the stories were quite creepy but I loved them. We did listen to the radio quite a lot especially when the news came on and when I wasn’t at school, mother and I used to sing along to the songs we heard on ‘Workers Playtime’. It was always played at lunch time. Happy Days.
Maryrose Hine, Taunton, Somerset
I was born in London in 1944 and lived for the first six years of my life in Beaufort Street, off the Kings Road. BBC radio was a VERY important and formative influence on my life. My mother worked pre-war in the Latin America department of the BBC and was evacuated with them to Evesham, and my grandmother worked with David Scoby - I know she was involved for instance with a programme called 'English by Radio' (I think - I have several photos both of my mother at the BBC and of my grandmother) We all listened everyday. I always listened to 'Listen with Mother,' for instance, and later, if I was ill in bed, the great treat was to have my father's newly acquired transistor radio next to the bed, and to listen all day - in between sleeping. Later still, age about 8, I was sent to a convent school, and all the nature study geography was from BBC radio programmes, from a radio in the corner of the classroom. Of course, I was fortunate that my grandmother took me as a youngster to visit the BBC.
Frances Price, Lewes
Memories of Call the Midwife
Call the Midwife gave Sister Mary Cynthia power after her assault which is something I never got to feel. Although her mental health declined severely, her storyline was written with compassion and insight I have literally never seen on a screen before. LGBTQIA: I sobbed like a child when Nurse Crane read the Lorca poem to Delia. I sobbed and sobbed and couldn’t even tell my mother why because I know my mother will never understand what it means to see that kind of tenderness in acceptance. Thank you for letting my watch it. Racism: I am mixed race. I cannot tell you what it meant to see a mixed race family in a historical show, especially the one where Nurse Crane hits a young boy with her car. I vividly remember kids asking, “what ARE you?!” in disgusted voices as they tried to place me. I never felt welcome, and seeing both adults and the children affected by discrimination, regain their voices and demand better treatment was everything I could have wished for. I couldn’t pass up a chance to tell you what this show has meant to me. There are so many more points I could make about what makes this show incredibly unique, but I will stop here, and simply wish you all the best.
Shonali, Sweden and USA
It’s my favourite show. I came late to it and didn’t start watching until 2019. I find it a real comfort to watch. I laugh and cry in equal measure. I love the characters past and present. It’s really interesting to think about illnesses and treatments in the past. It makes me think of my grandparents and how it must have been for them in the past. I almost smugly thought it must have been so difficult as things are so much more advanced now. That’s definitely not what I think now, especially after the pandemic. I realise the past had more of a community spirit which came back a bit with Covid and this is very apparent in Call The Midwife. I had my 3rd child in 2009 two weeks early. My husband works away and wasn’t back. My mum was looking after my other 2 children, so I was alone. Two midwives who I’d never met expertly helped me through using gas and air. Then to my great disappointment half my placenta had stayed behind so I had to go straight to theatre. I had to completely trust the midwives to look after my minutes-old newborn. I still feel a bit guilty about this, who else would we trust to do this but these wonderful midwives. After the ghastly procedure one of the midwives brought my baby straight to me as soon as I was being wheeled out of theatre and I was able to feed my very hungry little girl! I often think of those lovely ladies that helped me through a traumatic experience.
Sarah, Edinburgh
Call the Midwife, especially Patsy and Delia’s storyline, helped me come to terms with my sexuality and peeked my interest in LGBT+ and Women’s history. I watch Call the Midwife for the stories and history, it’s played a massive part of my life and has shaped me.
Maureen, Australia
I have a family history of diabetes and my aunt had a stillbirth that was very traumatic. I LOVE this show! (Call the Midwife) These nurses and Sisters have become so special to my heart. I know that sounds crazy but they reach right to your heart! Perfect cast to play the parts! Perfect!!! Storylines are amazing! Please don’t ever stop! My heart can’t take it if you do! I LOVE these ladies and families of the East End! They have all become a part of my heart as crazy as that sounds!
Lisa, USA
My 2 children were born with Phenylketonuria (PKU) in 2018 & 2019. You featured the disorder in a (Call the Midwife) episode last series, a little girl was undiagnosed and suffered severe learning and mental disabilities because of this. We are extremely lucky that since the 60s it has been tested for on the newborn heel prick test, however the treatment for PKU has remained quite unchanged since then. I have watched Call the Midwife since the very first episode and have always loved it. It is incredible at raising awareness of so many issues around childbirth and parenthood, most of which are still relevant now, and I have learnt an awful lot.
Jen, Bradford-on-Avon
Doug helped with the (Call the Midwife) episode regarding deformed children being born from a Nuclear Test Veteran. His experience of losing a child to cancer was the catalyst for the show. John lost his son Stephen to cot death and he was arrested for his murder. It is fantastic, the show is incredible, the cast, and the storylines are so well rehearsed. You have brought knowledge of the nuclear tests and its effects to millions of people. We met Heidi and Stephen at an event in London and thanked them for their wonderful show.
Alan, Doug and John, Carmarthen and Spalding
(Call the Midwife) takes me back to my midwifery days. As a student midwife in 1973/74 I ended up having to deliver undiagnosed twins on my own. Under supervision by a qualified midwife the first baby was born. Then I felt the fundus of the uterus was too high. I informed the midwife I thought there was another baby and she doubted me which led to an argument and her having an asthma attack and leaving the room! The poor parents were distraught. I rang for help as I had no delivery pack for the second baby and continued to deliver the baby when the door burst open with several medical staff and no pack! They all left to get it and returned to praise me for saving the day!!
Rachel, Aberdeen
We are American, moved here during the pandemic. Call the Midwife has been one of the only shows that my daughter and I watch together because of its truthful storytelling about women and healthcare here in the UK. It’s a bonding time for us and has helped me approach her about sensitive topics related to abortion, our faith and having compassion for others. It’s a weekly time for us to spend immersed in a story that matters, has helped us understand culture here in the UK and the history of medicine from WWII. We just really appreciate the show!
Stephanie and Beth, London
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