The British Broadcasting Century podcast
@bbcentury.bsky.social
Informing, educating + entertaining re British broadcasting's origin story: the first firsts of radio, early BBC, interwar bits & pieces + occasional pictures of Reith looking grumpy.
By paulkerensa.bsky.social
Podcast/tour/book: paulkerensa.com/oldradio
By paulkerensa.bsky.social
Podcast/tour/book: paulkerensa.com/oldradio
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
Happy Friday podcast loving friends. Edition no. 338 of Find That Pod is out!
Discover 5 great podcasts:
🎙️ Deep Dream State
🎙️ The Last Invention
🎙️ Not Another Medical Podcast
🎙️ The British Broadcasting Century @bbcentury.bsky.social
🎙️ Havoc Town
Till next week.
Discover 5 great podcasts:
🎙️ Deep Dream State
🎙️ The Last Invention
🎙️ Not Another Medical Podcast
🎙️ The British Broadcasting Century @bbcentury.bsky.social
🎙️ Havoc Town
Till next week.
November 14, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Happy Friday podcast loving friends. Edition no. 338 of Find That Pod is out!
Discover 5 great podcasts:
🎙️ Deep Dream State
🎙️ The Last Invention
🎙️ Not Another Medical Podcast
🎙️ The British Broadcasting Century @bbcentury.bsky.social
🎙️ Havoc Town
Till next week.
Discover 5 great podcasts:
🎙️ Deep Dream State
🎙️ The Last Invention
🎙️ Not Another Medical Podcast
🎙️ The British Broadcasting Century @bbcentury.bsky.social
🎙️ Havoc Town
Till next week.
Happy 103rd birthday, BBC!
(...well, I hope it's happy)
Here are our podcasts on:
🎙️ How it began: tiny.cc/bbcentury037
📻 Its first day (inc re-enactment) - 14 Nov 1922: tiny.cc/bbcentury018
🔊100 years in 100 minutes: tiny.cc/bbcentury057
Thanks for so much, Beeb.
Here's to the next, er, 103 years?
(...well, I hope it's happy)
Here are our podcasts on:
🎙️ How it began: tiny.cc/bbcentury037
📻 Its first day (inc re-enactment) - 14 Nov 1922: tiny.cc/bbcentury018
🔊100 years in 100 minutes: tiny.cc/bbcentury057
Thanks for so much, Beeb.
Here's to the next, er, 103 years?
The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa: #037 SPECIAL: The Prehistory of the BBC (extended cut)
It's the BBC’s 99th birthday! Well it was on the day this episode landed. So for episode 37, here’s the podcast’s story so far... Between season 2 (covering the BBC in 1922) and season 3 (th...
tiny.cc
November 14, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Happy 103rd birthday, BBC!
(...well, I hope it's happy)
Here are our podcasts on:
🎙️ How it began: tiny.cc/bbcentury037
📻 Its first day (inc re-enactment) - 14 Nov 1922: tiny.cc/bbcentury018
🔊100 years in 100 minutes: tiny.cc/bbcentury057
Thanks for so much, Beeb.
Here's to the next, er, 103 years?
(...well, I hope it's happy)
Here are our podcasts on:
🎙️ How it began: tiny.cc/bbcentury037
📻 Its first day (inc re-enactment) - 14 Nov 1922: tiny.cc/bbcentury018
🔊100 years in 100 minutes: tiny.cc/bbcentury057
Thanks for so much, Beeb.
Here's to the next, er, 103 years?
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
Had a lot of fun being a part of this, recorded in almost a single take.
Our fab cast:
Sir Alfred Robbins - @adrianmackinder.bsky.social
Cecil Lewis - @willvoice.it
Lady Tree - @helenlloyd.bsky.social
Zena Dare - @nattychisholm.bsky.social
Phyllis Twigg - Carina Saner, playing her own great-grandmother!
Dorothy Warren - @martadasilva.bsky.social
...
Sir Alfred Robbins - @adrianmackinder.bsky.social
Cecil Lewis - @willvoice.it
Lady Tree - @helenlloyd.bsky.social
Zena Dare - @nattychisholm.bsky.social
Phyllis Twigg - Carina Saner, playing her own great-grandmother!
Dorothy Warren - @martadasilva.bsky.social
...
November 12, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Had a lot of fun being a part of this, recorded in almost a single take.
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
This episode written (and recreated by @paulkerensa.bsky.social) directed and edited by me, all put together in just over a week! Have a listen, it’s lots of fun.
In a tough week for BBC present, there's a centenary of BBC past on Wed.
12 Nov 1925 saw a bizarre broadcast:
'Mass Telepathy: An Experiment in Thought Reading In which every listener will be invited to assist'
We're recreating it on the podcast.
Subscribe to get it, free:
podfollow.com/bbcentury
12 Nov 1925 saw a bizarre broadcast:
'Mass Telepathy: An Experiment in Thought Reading In which every listener will be invited to assist'
We're recreating it on the podcast.
Subscribe to get it, free:
podfollow.com/bbcentury
November 12, 2025 at 9:18 AM
This episode written (and recreated by @paulkerensa.bsky.social) directed and edited by me, all put together in just over a week! Have a listen, it’s lots of fun.
NEW PODCAST AHOY!
A dramatic centenary re-enactment of an odd lost broadcast...
On 12 Nov 1925, a celebrity panel tried to read the minds of BBC listeners. It was a disaster.
On 12 Nov 2025, we dramatise it, based on newspaper articles.
Enjoy! We did. Hic.
bbcentury.podbean.com/e/108-mass-t...
A dramatic centenary re-enactment of an odd lost broadcast...
On 12 Nov 1925, a celebrity panel tried to read the minds of BBC listeners. It was a disaster.
On 12 Nov 2025, we dramatise it, based on newspaper articles.
Enjoy! We did. Hic.
bbcentury.podbean.com/e/108-mass-t...
November 12, 2025 at 1:22 AM
NEW PODCAST AHOY!
A dramatic centenary re-enactment of an odd lost broadcast...
On 12 Nov 1925, a celebrity panel tried to read the minds of BBC listeners. It was a disaster.
On 12 Nov 2025, we dramatise it, based on newspaper articles.
Enjoy! We did. Hic.
bbcentury.podbean.com/e/108-mass-t...
A dramatic centenary re-enactment of an odd lost broadcast...
On 12 Nov 1925, a celebrity panel tried to read the minds of BBC listeners. It was a disaster.
On 12 Nov 2025, we dramatise it, based on newspaper articles.
Enjoy! We did. Hic.
bbcentury.podbean.com/e/108-mass-t...
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
Interesting nugget from BBC staff call this morning: Tim Davie said the biggest number of complaints the BBC is handling right now concern the corporation giving Nigel Farage's Reform too much airtime. bsky.app/profile/jake...
New: BBC employees in open revolt about Robbie Gibb on all-staff call this morning. BBC chair Samir Shah said attacks on board members are "disrespectful" and shut down talk of a Conservative coup as "fanciful." deadline.com/2025/11/bbc-...
BBC Chair Shuts Down “Disrespectful” Attacks On Board Amid Staff Anger Over Robbie Gibb’s Role In Trump Scandal
BBC chair Samir Shah dismisses talk of Conservative coup on staff call, during which unrest over a Donald Trump-shaped crisis was on display.
deadline.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Interesting nugget from BBC staff call this morning: Tim Davie said the biggest number of complaints the BBC is handling right now concern the corporation giving Nigel Farage's Reform too much airtime. bsky.app/profile/jake...
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
November 10, 2025 at 6:46 PM
"No one, but no one, gives viewers and listeners a wider choice..."
November 11, 2025 at 12:40 PM
"No one, but no one, gives viewers and listeners a wider choice..."
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
Whether or not intended, there are layers of meaning in the hunting press pack being placed under George Orwell’s statue and quote at BBC Broadcasting House, London.
November 11, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Whether or not intended, there are layers of meaning in the hunting press pack being placed under George Orwell’s statue and quote at BBC Broadcasting House, London.
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
2000-now: Storyville, I May Destroy You, In Our Time, Springwatch, 6 Music, Happy Valley, RuPaul's Drag Race UK, Gardener's World, A House Through Time, Fleabag, WILTY, Top Gear, Gone Fishing, This Country, CBBC, Dr Who, The Office, Sherlock, Wolf Hall, Glastonbury, Only Connect, The Traitors.
November 11, 2025 at 12:10 PM
2000-now: Storyville, I May Destroy You, In Our Time, Springwatch, 6 Music, Happy Valley, RuPaul's Drag Race UK, Gardener's World, A House Through Time, Fleabag, WILTY, Top Gear, Gone Fishing, This Country, CBBC, Dr Who, The Office, Sherlock, Wolf Hall, Glastonbury, Only Connect, The Traitors.
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
A nice little mention of the podcast on Chortle - the dramatisation will be out tomorrow on the centenary of this odd old broadcast...
www.chortle.co.uk/punching-ups....
www.chortle.co.uk/punching-ups....
When the BBC tried to read minds... : Punching Up 2025 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide
When the BBC tried to read minds... - Comedian's podcast recreates lost 'mass telepathy' experiment
www.chortle.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 12:25 PM
A nice little mention of the podcast on Chortle - the dramatisation will be out tomorrow on the centenary of this odd old broadcast...
www.chortle.co.uk/punching-ups....
www.chortle.co.uk/punching-ups....
In a tough week for BBC present, there's a centenary of BBC past on Wed.
12 Nov 1925 saw a bizarre broadcast:
'Mass Telepathy: An Experiment in Thought Reading In which every listener will be invited to assist'
We're recreating it on the podcast.
Subscribe to get it, free:
podfollow.com/bbcentury
12 Nov 1925 saw a bizarre broadcast:
'Mass Telepathy: An Experiment in Thought Reading In which every listener will be invited to assist'
We're recreating it on the podcast.
Subscribe to get it, free:
podfollow.com/bbcentury
November 10, 2025 at 11:40 PM
In a tough week for BBC present, there's a centenary of BBC past on Wed.
12 Nov 1925 saw a bizarre broadcast:
'Mass Telepathy: An Experiment in Thought Reading In which every listener will be invited to assist'
We're recreating it on the podcast.
Subscribe to get it, free:
podfollow.com/bbcentury
12 Nov 1925 saw a bizarre broadcast:
'Mass Telepathy: An Experiment in Thought Reading In which every listener will be invited to assist'
We're recreating it on the podcast.
Subscribe to get it, free:
podfollow.com/bbcentury
My latest Substack...
Who Let the DGs Out? The 17 BBC Directors-General... (as Tim Davie prepares to regenerate into the 18th)
Including the role of Panorama in making/breaking DGs... and a GREAT joke about the only joint Directors-General.
Here for you:
open.substack.com/pub/paulkere...
Who Let the DGs Out? The 17 BBC Directors-General... (as Tim Davie prepares to regenerate into the 18th)
Including the role of Panorama in making/breaking DGs... and a GREAT joke about the only joint Directors-General.
Here for you:
open.substack.com/pub/paulkere...
Who let the DGs out? The 17 BBC Directors-General...
...as Tim Davie prepares to regenerate into the 18th
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:30 PM
My latest Substack...
Who Let the DGs Out? The 17 BBC Directors-General... (as Tim Davie prepares to regenerate into the 18th)
Including the role of Panorama in making/breaking DGs... and a GREAT joke about the only joint Directors-General.
Here for you:
open.substack.com/pub/paulkere...
Who Let the DGs Out? The 17 BBC Directors-General... (as Tim Davie prepares to regenerate into the 18th)
Including the role of Panorama in making/breaking DGs... and a GREAT joke about the only joint Directors-General.
Here for you:
open.substack.com/pub/paulkere...
Great call for DG…
Floella Benjamin
November 9, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Great call for DG…
Alan Carr for DG.
November 9, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Alan Carr for DG.
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
OK FINE! I’ll be the next BBC Director General.
Day 1: funnel the budgets into a load of new comedies, dramas & documentaries. New Play for Today / Screen One type strand, new Comedy Playhouse pilots series once or twice a year.
Day 2: resign
Day 1: funnel the budgets into a load of new comedies, dramas & documentaries. New Play for Today / Screen One type strand, new Comedy Playhouse pilots series once or twice a year.
Day 2: resign
November 9, 2025 at 6:51 PM
OK FINE! I’ll be the next BBC Director General.
Day 1: funnel the budgets into a load of new comedies, dramas & documentaries. New Play for Today / Screen One type strand, new Comedy Playhouse pilots series once or twice a year.
Day 2: resign
Day 1: funnel the budgets into a load of new comedies, dramas & documentaries. New Play for Today / Screen One type strand, new Comedy Playhouse pilots series once or twice a year.
Day 2: resign
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
Long live terrestrial TV!
Mr Beast gives away $10m, no one’s really bothered.
Celia Imrie farts and us Brits go bananas for it.
An earned win on #celebritytraitors.
Roll on next series, hopefully starring Lorraine Kelly, Guy Goma and Bob Carolgees & Spit the Dog (as separate players)
Mr Beast gives away $10m, no one’s really bothered.
Celia Imrie farts and us Brits go bananas for it.
An earned win on #celebritytraitors.
Roll on next series, hopefully starring Lorraine Kelly, Guy Goma and Bob Carolgees & Spit the Dog (as separate players)
a group of people are dancing in a field and one of them is wearing a pink jacket
ALT: a group of people are dancing in a field and one of them is wearing a pink jacket
media.tenor.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Long live terrestrial TV!
Mr Beast gives away $10m, no one’s really bothered.
Celia Imrie farts and us Brits go bananas for it.
An earned win on #celebritytraitors.
Roll on next series, hopefully starring Lorraine Kelly, Guy Goma and Bob Carolgees & Spit the Dog (as separate players)
Mr Beast gives away $10m, no one’s really bothered.
Celia Imrie farts and us Brits go bananas for it.
An earned win on #celebritytraitors.
Roll on next series, hopefully starring Lorraine Kelly, Guy Goma and Bob Carolgees & Spit the Dog (as separate players)
My BBC day - past and present:
Morning at Broadcasting House with Scott Mills.
Afternoon at Marconi House (well, next door) with the great-granddaughter & great-great-granddaughter of Phyllis Twigg, who wrote the first radio drama, broadcast live from the 7th floor, Dec 1922…
Morning at Broadcasting House with Scott Mills.
Afternoon at Marconi House (well, next door) with the great-granddaughter & great-great-granddaughter of Phyllis Twigg, who wrote the first radio drama, broadcast live from the 7th floor, Dec 1922…
November 6, 2025 at 8:29 PM
My BBC day - past and present:
Morning at Broadcasting House with Scott Mills.
Afternoon at Marconi House (well, next door) with the great-granddaughter & great-great-granddaughter of Phyllis Twigg, who wrote the first radio drama, broadcast live from the 7th floor, Dec 1922…
Morning at Broadcasting House with Scott Mills.
Afternoon at Marconi House (well, next door) with the great-granddaughter & great-great-granddaughter of Phyllis Twigg, who wrote the first radio drama, broadcast live from the 7th floor, Dec 1922…
On my latest Patreon video, we look at John Reith's wedding, as told in 6 different books.
From Allighan's 1938 hagiography 'Sir John Reith' to McIntyre's 1993 biography 'The Expense of Glory', from happy marriage to prayers of renunciation, they do vary:
www.patreon.com/posts/vid-re...
From Allighan's 1938 hagiography 'Sir John Reith' to McIntyre's 1993 biography 'The Expense of Glory', from happy marriage to prayers of renunciation, they do vary:
www.patreon.com/posts/vid-re...
VID: Reith's wedding... in 6 different books | The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa
Get more from The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa on Patreon
www.patreon.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:42 PM
On my latest Patreon video, we look at John Reith's wedding, as told in 6 different books.
From Allighan's 1938 hagiography 'Sir John Reith' to McIntyre's 1993 biography 'The Expense of Glory', from happy marriage to prayers of renunciation, they do vary:
www.patreon.com/posts/vid-re...
From Allighan's 1938 hagiography 'Sir John Reith' to McIntyre's 1993 biography 'The Expense of Glory', from happy marriage to prayers of renunciation, they do vary:
www.patreon.com/posts/vid-re...
Tomorrow - I'll be on the present-day Beeb at BH, then recreating some early Beeb at Marconi House.
Then watching the Beeb's latest favourite site: Ardross Castle...
Then watching the Beeb's latest favourite site: Ardross Castle...
Tomorrow sums up my odd niche life:
7am: Broadcasting House, R2 Pause for Thought (theme: Celebrity Traitors. Do listen!)
am: bladder hospital (check-ups. TMI? Tough)
pm: Marconi House (site of the first BBC broadcast) to record a re-enactment
eve: Celebrity Traitors!
What a day
7am: Broadcasting House, R2 Pause for Thought (theme: Celebrity Traitors. Do listen!)
am: bladder hospital (check-ups. TMI? Tough)
pm: Marconi House (site of the first BBC broadcast) to record a re-enactment
eve: Celebrity Traitors!
What a day
November 5, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Tomorrow - I'll be on the present-day Beeb at BH, then recreating some early Beeb at Marconi House.
Then watching the Beeb's latest favourite site: Ardross Castle...
Then watching the Beeb's latest favourite site: Ardross Castle...
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
Life during wartime: a post that brings together early BBC television from Alexandra Palace with the National Portrait Gallery's 'Cecil Beaton's Fashionable World' through a striking image of announcer-turned-Air-Ministry-driver Elizabeth Cowell.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/life-during-...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/life-during-...
Life during wartime - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: One of the wall-size blow-ups in the NPG’s current Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World exhibition is one a well-dressed young woman, seen from behind, looking into the wartime ruins of...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 4, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Life during wartime: a post that brings together early BBC television from Alexandra Palace with the National Portrait Gallery's 'Cecil Beaton's Fashionable World' through a striking image of announcer-turned-Air-Ministry-driver Elizabeth Cowell.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/life-during-...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/life-during-...
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
After a month-long hiatus imposed by the labours of proofing and indexing 'Magic Rays of Light', I have re-booted the Illuminations blog, to continue my notes about pre-war television but also to broaden the focus and interests.
Do take a look:
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/otd-in-early...
Do take a look:
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/otd-in-early...
OTD in early British television - and more - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Apologies for the blog’s month-long hiatus and the interruption of the daily ‘OTD in early British television’ posts. The last such post was on 25 September, and since then I have b...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 9:53 AM
After a month-long hiatus imposed by the labours of proofing and indexing 'Magic Rays of Light', I have re-booted the Illuminations blog, to continue my notes about pre-war television but also to broaden the focus and interests.
Do take a look:
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/otd-in-early...
Do take a look:
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/otd-in-early...
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
Fancy your very own Delia Derbyshire and Radiophonic Workshop diorama? 😍
www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1...
www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1...
November 2, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Fancy your very own Delia Derbyshire and Radiophonic Workshop diorama? 😍
www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1...
www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1...