The BBC Tour

[Brock]

This looks promising: "Made for 4 Extra. From 1922 to the present day, Nick Baker presents a tour of the BBC archives, including Savoy Hill, Broadcasting House, Lime Grove, TV Centre and more." Three hours long, at either 9am or 7pm this Saturday:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04d0kl7

[Don Satchley]

Would have been even better if it had been produced for tv imho. That said, the duration of the programme would be much shorter.
Don

[brigham]

Would have been even better if it had been produced for tv imho. That said, the duration of the programme would be much shorter.
Don

So it's just talking? Talking on the radio? Three hours of talking about all the things I'd love to have seen but missed?

For Cliff's sake!

[Bernie]

The few times I went to Brentford, I walked through the film archives randomly picking up cans of film and being amazed. So much stuff sitting around in rusty tins on miles of shelves being ignored. Of course, no-one would have commissioned a series which consisted of some producer randomly walking through the archives and picking up films and playing them.

B

[bent_halo]

Very much looking forward to this. You can get away with a lot more on the radio, anyway. Last year's Arena on the National Theatre was nothing compared to Daniel Rosenthal's three-hour trawl through the archives on 4Extra.

[Simon36]

Seconded. This is going to be a treat.

[Richard A]

I half listened to it while pottering about this morning and found lots of interest, so much so that I think I'll listen to it again.

The programme included a short piece about Death at Broadcasting House (released by Network) and the wealth of 1930s operational detail there is to be found in it, including use of the Blattnerphone.

Surprisingly, for such a factual piece, it's only available on iPlayer for 7 days - though it may be repeated before long.

[Bob Richardson]

Listened to this last night as I did my ironing and was startled to hear myself talking about the gloomy sub-basement corridors of TV Centre. A big chunk of the soundtrack to Richard Marson's "Tales of Television Centre" was neatly recycled. Sadly it's a case of SNF (Staff: No Fee) so I won't expect a cheque to arrive any time soon.

[bent_halo]

Listened to this last night as I did my ironing and was startled to hear myself talking about the gloomy sub-basement corridors of TV Centre. A big chunk of the soundtrack to Richard Marson's "Tales of Television Centre" was neatly recycled. Sadly it's a case of SNF (Staff: No Fee) so I won't expect a cheque to arrive any time soon.

A large chunk of The Lime Grove Story too, which I realised halfway through I could have been watching on the laptop instead.

It was enjoyable background listening when I was working that morning, though. I had to switch off the 'personal journey' Maida Vale doc, mind, as I remembered the blood pressure levels I reached first time round. (I think Cerys is a bright and interesting person but I've never liked her presenting style)

[Bob Richardson]

I had to switch off the 'personal journey' Maida Vale doc, mind, as I remembered the blood pressure levels I reached first time round. (I think Cerys is a bright and interesting person but I've never liked her presenting style)

Ditto. It's not the Welsh accent that irritates, but the missin "g" at the end of words like playin, runnin, singin. It's a big part of why I can't watch The One Show, as Alex Jones can't say "ing" either. Maybe I'm just a grumpy old man...

[Private Frazer]

On BBC 4 Extra again today; will have a listen.