X-Nico

56 unusual facts about BBC Radio 4


1978 in radio

8 March – The first episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - the radio series later to be turned into a book, a television programme, a game, and a film - is broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Abby Mann

While announcing Mann's death, BBC Radio 4 news presenter Charlotte Green caused controversy by laughing after what is believed to be the world's earliest recording, played during the preceding item, was described off-air as sounding like "a bee trapped in a jar".

Alan Watson, Baron Watson of Richmond

He also reported on LWTV, Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, and wrote and presented award-winning documentaries over many years.

Alfred Broughton

On 8 June 2009 an afternoon play called 'How Are You Feeling, Alf?' about Broughton and the 1979 no confidence vote was aired on BBC Radio 4.

Antonio James

In the UK the BBC broadcast a 40 minute piece on 18 April 1996 on Radio 4 about this case, with particular reference to the role of the British lawyer Clive Stafford Smith in providing adequate defence for such cases.

Beryl Burton

On 27 November 2012 a radio play about Burton written by actress Maxine Peake was broadcast by BBC Radio 4, with Peake playing Burton.

Beth Porter

A number of her radio plays and short stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Billy Marsh

In December 2008 Marsh was the subject of the BBC Radio 4 programme Great Lives, nominated by Michael Grade, the nephew of his long-time employer Bernard Delfont.

Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond

In February 2013 she was assessed as the 4th most powerful woman in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.

Broadcasting in the Soviet Union

The second channel was called Radio Mayak (Radio Beacon in Russian) and was a music and speech entertainment channel intended to be the "beacon" of Soviet culture, similar to BBC Radio 4 in the UK or Radio National in Australia.

Carole Boyd

She has had a career in theatre, television and radio, and plays Lynda Snell in BBC Radio 4's The Archers.

Celia Pacquola

She has written and performed for BBC Radio 4 shows including Shappi Talk, What’s So Funny?, It's Your Round, The Headset and The Unbelievable Truth.

Chattenden

The village of Chattenden was mentioned in a BBC Radio 4 Programme 'The Cost Of Housing' on the mismatch of housing stock, 20 Mar 2007.

Colin Tudge

In the 1980s he was a regular broadcaster for the BBC, including the BBC Radio 4 science series Spectrum; he wrote and presented The Food Connection; he made one-off documentaries and guest appearances.

Creswell Crags

The site was the subject of the BBC Radio 4 documentaries Unearthing Mysteries and Nature and featured in the 2005 BBC Two television programme Seven Natural Wonders, as one of the wonders of the Midlands.

David Willcocks

A notable broadcast took place on BBC Radio 4 on 21 September 2010 in a series called Soul Music, when Willcocks profiled Fauré's Requiem.

Dennis Silk

These formed the basis of a BBC Radio 4 programme on the subject: Siegfried Sassoon: a Friend.

Dinsdale Landen

He also portrayed Rupert Purvis in the 1982 production of Tom Stoppard's play The Dog It Was That Died and played the urbane Ambassador McKenzie in BBC Radio 4 series of Flying the Flag.

Dr. Freud Will See You Now, Mrs. Hitler

The play was broadcast on 31 March 2007 in cut-down form by the BBC on Radio 4 as part of The Saturday Play.

Economy of Saint Helena

A campaign is currently underway (reported on BBC Radio 4, Today programme, 10 July 2004) to encourage emigration from the UK to Saint Helena to aid development of the economy.

Elspeth Thompson

She also presented a popular four-part series on trees for BBC Radio 4, and wrote on gardening and interiors for The Sunday Telegraph, the Observer and the Guardian.

Ethel Lina White

Her works have enjoyed a revival in recent years with a stage adaptation of The Lady Vanishes touring the UK in 2001 and the BBC broadcast of an abridged version on BBC Radio 4.

Flight to Arras

The work was later adapted, by Rod Wooden, in 1998 as a radio drama by BBC Radio 4, with David Threlfall playing the role of the pilot.

Gale warning

In the United Kingdom, the Meteorological Office issues gale warnings, and radio broadcasts them four times a day at fixed times on 198 kHz in the Shipping Forecast, part of the broadcast output of BBC Radio 4.

Glyn Worsnip

He made the programme, A Lone Voice, about his struggle with the disease, which would claim his life in 1996 at the age of 57, and which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1988.

Grant Naylor

The collaboration began in the mid-1980s when the duo co-wrote BBC Radio 4 programmes such as Cliché and its sequel Son Of Cliché, and television programmes such as Spitting Image, The 10 Percenters, and various Jasper Carrott projects.

I Guess That's Why They Call It The News

I Guess That's Why They Call It The News is a BBC Radio 4 satirical panel game hosted by Fred MacAulay and created by James Sherwood.

Kenneth Dover

Dover featured in an edition of the BBC Radio 4 programme "In the Psychiatrist's Chair", presented by Anthony Clare.

Larry Stephens

According to a BBC Radio 4 programme on Stephens' life, it was while working on the second season of The Goon Show that Stephens, doubling both as a key contributor and as Milligan's agent, began to drink so heavily it affected his work.

Leslie Gilbert Illingworth

In 1963 Illingworth was invited onto the popular BBC Radio 4 entertainment programme Desert Island Discs choosing a track by Wally Fawkes and his Troglodytes, a jazz band lead by a friend and fellow Punch illustrator.

Lothair Crystal

The Lothair Crystal was Object 53 in the 2010 BBC Radio 4 programme A History of the World in 100 Objects, chosen and presented by the Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor.

Lynmouth Flood

In 2001, a BBC Radio 4 documentary suggested that the events of 1952 were connected to government operation Project Cumulus involving cloud seeding experiments being conducted in southern England at the time.

Lynne McTaggart

In an interview on BBC Radio 4, GP and author Dr. Margaret McCartney stated: "I'm astounded that Lynne thinks this is an evidence-based publication. It's anything but," she said.

Michael Sims

He has appeared on many radio and television programs, including a multi-part documentary about women's bodies on BBC Radio 4's popular program Woman's Hour, as well as on The Early Show on CBS and Inside Edition.

Nicholas Tucker

Tucker is a regular broadcaster and participated in Stop the Week on Radio 4.

Nick Warburton

His radio plays, On Mardle Fen are one of the few recurring series on BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Play strand.

Odaline de la Martinez

First, music to a radio play commissioned by BBC Radio 4 (1998), followed by the Hansen Variations for Piano (1999) - commissioned by the Music Department of Tulane University.

Oldest Member

BBC Radio 4 aired an adaptation of some of the short stories and novels.

Phil Tanner

In 1976, he was remembered in a BBC Radio 4 tribute by the Welsh radio broadcaster Wynford Vaughan-Thomas recalling "the voice of the sanest, happiest, kindest eccentric I ever knew, the voice of Phil Tanner, the Gower Nightingale".

Prayer for the Day

Prayer for the Day is a religious radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom.

Rani Moorthy

:* Broadcast between 1 and 5 October 2007 as part of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour Drama strand.

Raw Spirit

Jimmy Chisholm read an abridgment by Laurence Wareing in the BBC Radio 4 "Book of the Week" slot between 8 December and 12 December 2003.

Sarah Kendall

From 2010 she took the role of Libby McKenzie, an Australian character introduced in Series 6 of the BBC Radio 4 series Clare in the Community.

Something Understood

Something Understood is a weekly radio programme on BBC Radio 4 which deals with topics of religion, spirituality, and the larger questions of human life, and takes a particular spiritual theme, exploring it through speech, music, prose, and poetry.

Sparsholt College

The long-running BBC Radio 4 program Gardeners' Question Time has a base at the college known as the Potting Shed, and a demonstration garden.

Spithead and Nore mutinies

In 1982, BBC Radio 4's Saturday Night Theatre broadcast a dramatised account of the book called The Floating Republic.

Stephen Milligan

Still working for The Economist, he took a position as presenter of The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4 from 1980 until 1983.

Sue Devaney

In 2009 she played the role of Peggy in hit Channel 4 drama Shameless, and lent her voice to the role of Jane in Carol Donaldson's BBC Radio 4 play Normal and Nat.

The Blunkett Tapes

The diaries were also the subject of two episodes of the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary in October 2006, and were read on BBC Radio 4 as book of the week in October 2006.

The Death of Grass

In 2009, as part of a BBC Radio 4 science fiction season, the station broadcast a drama in five episodes, based on the novel and narrated by David Mitchell.

The Etymologicon

The book was chosen and adapted in December 2011 by BBC Radio 4 for its Book of the Week series.

The Goose Steps Out

It was the last appearance for Charles Hawtrey in any of Hay's films when Hay dropped Hawtrey for wanting a bigger role, it was most recently mentioned on "Charles Hawtrey: That funny fella with the glasses" broadcast in April 2010 on BBC Radio 4, it was also Hay's last film on the subject of World War 2.

The Hay Wain

The Hay Wain was voted the second most popular painting in any British gallery, second only to Turner's Fighting Temeraire, in a 2005 poll organised by BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

The Pillow Book

The Pillow Book is also the name of a series of radio thrillers written by Robert Forrest and broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour Drama.

The Tractate Middoth

On 25 December 2007 the story was read on BBC Radio 4 by Derek Jacobi as part of the M R James at Christmas series.

Wesley J. Smith

Smith is a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows, having appeared on national programs such as Good Morning America and Nightline, as well as internationally on BBC Radio 4.


2013 in Scottish television

Those restored are BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 4 Extra, BBC Radio 5 Live Extra and BBC Asian Network, while BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and BBC World Service remain unavailable while BBC Alba is broadcasting.

Al Matthews

He has also worked in British television, appearing in Grange Hill as the father of Benny Green, as well as in theater and radio; for the latter, as both an actor (on BBC Radio 4) and a presenter (on BBC Radio 1 and Capital Radio).

Ben Helfgott

As a guest on the BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs programme on 1 April 2007, he chose to be stranded with a copy of Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy and a bar with two discs for weight training.

Conor Woodman

Woodman regularly reports back on his travels for the BBC's flagship current affairs show From Our Own Correspondent and is also a guest presenter on Radio 4's Costing the Earth.

Cover Her Face

BBC Radio 4 produced a radio serial, with Hugh Grant as Felix and Siân Phillips as Mrs Maxie, releasing it on CD shortly after airing.

El-Amra clay model of cattle

In 2010 the model was included as the eighth object in the series A History of the World in 100 Objects by British Museum director Neil MacGregor, broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Hans Georg Nägeli

One version of the tune, sung by a bird (feathered) on Today, was described by its presenters as a "Folk Song", but also appears in various music editions of the Metrical psalter (as the tune "Zurich"), where it is correctly attributed to Nägeli.

Julian and Sandy

According to a BBC Radio 4 programme on the characters, they were named after the writers Sandy Wilson and Julian Slade.

Lorraine Bowen

She has also made many appearances on BBC Radio 4 including John Shuttleworth's show Radio Shuttleworth and the 1999 all-female sketch show Heated Rollers, starring Lynda Bellingham, Gwyneth Strong and Joanna Monro.

Mark Power

Between 1992 and 1996, Power embarked on The Shipping Forecast — a project that involved travelling to and photographing all 31 areas covered by the Shipping Forecast broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Mary Cadogan

She was interviewed for Gyles Brandreth's programme on the centenary of Billy Bunter that was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2008.

Media coverage of the Gulf War

In Britain, the BBC devoted the FM portion of its national speech radio station BBC Radio 4 to a 18h rolling news format creating Radio 4 News FM.

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose told Paddy O'Connell on Radio 4's Broadcasting House programme that he went to school with the Indian cricketer Sunil Manohar "Sunny" Gavaskar.

Na'ima B. Robert

She has spoken in support of the niqab in numerous British media, including The Daily Telegraph, BBC News, The Times Online, BBC Radio 4's The Moral Maze and Channel 4’s Undercover Mosque series; as well as speaking to Muslim and international media outlets, such as for Islam Channel and AIM TV.

Nanny Ogg

In the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Wryd Sisters she was played by Lynda Baron.

Natasha Courtenay-Smith

Courtenay-Smith has appeared as a media expert on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Breakfast.

Norman Collins

The second famous programme Collins initiated was the incredibly long-lived Woman's Hour, first broadcast in 1946 and still running every weekday on BBC Radio 4.

Not After Midnight

The short story "Don't Look Now" has been adapted in several media: a classic 1973 film directed by Nicolas Roeg; a radio adaptation by Ronald Frame, first broadcast 9 December 2001 on BBC Radio 4 as part of the Classic Serial series; and a stage play by Nell Leyshon in 2007.

Notes from a Small Island

Heavily abridged, the book was read in five fifteen-minute episodes by Kerry Shale for BBC Radio 4.

Palace of Laughter

Palace of Laughter was a radio comedy aired by the BBC on Radio 4 from 2002 to 2003.

Paul Kingsnorth

In recent years, he has written for or contributed to the Guardian, Independent, Daily Telegraph, Daily Express, Le Monde, New Statesman, Ecologist, New Internationalist, Big Issue, Adbusters, BBC Wildlife, openDemocracy, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 2, BBC Four, ITV and Resonance FM.

Roland Buerk

He is the son of former BBC newsreader and current BBC Radio 4 presenter Michael Buerk.

Ron Donachie

He is known for starring as Inspector Rebus in the BBC Radio 4 dramatizations of the Ian Rankin "Rebus" mystery novels and for his supporting roles in films Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, Titanic and television series Doctor Who and Game of Thrones.

Shane Rimmer

In 1989, Rimmer was reunited with Bishop and another Gerry Anderson associate, Matt Zimmerman, during the production of a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study In Scarlet.

Soldiers of the King

BBC Radio 4 comedy programme The Harpoon, a show lampooning boys' magazines from Britain's Empire days of the 20th century, also used the piece as its opening theme—which is harshly interrupted mid-stanza by a page-turn.

Sophie Cooke

In 2006 her short story Skin And Bones was broadcast on BBC Radio 4, performed by the actress Laura Fraser.

Sweet Gene Vincent

Dury chose Vincent's first single, "Woman Love" as one of his 8 songs when he appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs show.

Talk to the Press

Founder Natasha Courtenay-Smith has appeared as a media expert on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live and also appeared on BBC Breakfast to discuss the public fascination with the daily dramas of peoples' lives.

The Daily Service

The Daily Service is a short Christian church service, often from Emmanuel Church in Didsbury, Manchester, England, broadcast every weekday morning between 9.45 and 10.00 by BBC Radio 4 (long wave only) and on the Radio 4 DAB breakout.

Yvonne Antrobus

She has made over 100 abridgments and dramatisations for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4 and for independent audio publishers, including Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre, The British Journalist by Andrew Marr and Days From A Different World by John Simpson.