#064 Farewell Magnet House, Hello... Laundry Baskets? + Jeffrey Holland

The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa

Episode 64 dwells in 1st-16th March 1923: the last days of the first BBC HQ of Magnet House.

So this packed show takes a walk from Magnet House to the studios at Marconi House, just as the early broadcasters would have done. We take a look at the early broadcasting philosophy of first staff - "the upper side of taste" (no grizzly murders or divorce cases).

We revisit broadcasts from the Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition and head on tour with a laundry basket packed with sheet music (just don't send it to the laundrette like they did).

Hear the voices of a few who were there: Rex Palmer, Peter Eckersley, Arthur Burrows, Cecil Lewis, A.E. Thompson, Percy Edgar, Leonard Crocombe... that's about 10% of the entire BBC workforce at the time! You'll also hear a bit from Radio 4's Justin Webb...

...our main special guest is JEFFREY HOLLAND, star of Hi-de-Hi, You Rang M'Lord, Oh Doctor Beeching... and he tells how he even played Private Pike AND Private Walker onstage with the original Dad's Army cast of Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier and Clive Dunn.

It's a packed episode, but then a lot happened in early March 1923! Next time, late March 1923... Stay tuned to this frequency.

LINKS:

• Find out more about Jeffrey Holland's tour as Stan Laurel at https://www.jeffreyholland.co.uk/
• For more on Leonard Crocombe/Justin Webb, here's our previous episode of the podcast about grandfather and grandson, both BBC stars 100 years apart: https://pod.fo/e/120761
• The complete Leonard Crocombe record can be heard on AusRadioHistorian's Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/6N1-hGjP_2M
• London Calling, Jimmy Perry's 1922-set sitcom about the early BBC starring Jeffrey Holland, can be heard on Youtube: https://youtu.be/qFSTtd69U_0
• For the full video of my walk from Magnet House to Marconi House (as was), join us on Patreon - join then cancel if you like! Here's the video: https://www.patreon.com/posts/magnet-house-to-68777192
• ...that all helps support the podcast and keeps us in books and web hosting. One-off tips delightfully welcomed too! At http://ko-fi.com/paulkerensa
• I'm booking in a mini-tour this year recreating the first religious broadcast, and/or a more general talk/show/presentation An Evening of (Very) Old Radio. More info at https://www.paulkerensa.com/tour or just email me on https://www.paulkerensa.com/contact.php - you can use that for any podcast comments, heckles, anecdotes etc too. We must bring back Airwave Memories/Firsthand Memories too. Record a thing or write some words about your early broadcast memories, if you like. Get in touch!
• Oh and we're nothing to do with the BBC. Did I mention that? BBC content is used with kind permission, BBC copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.
• Original music is by Will Farmer.

Next time we'll have the tale of late March with the first daily weather broadcasts, SOSs and an interview with a former BBC archivist.

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