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
British Broadcasting Century Podcast ep 109 is out soon: a history of 17 Directors General.
Ep 108 is our latest then: a full fab cast re-enactment of a lost 1925 broadcast - a bizarre celebrity attempt at telepathy.
Catch it if y'aven't:
pod.fo/e/350fce
Ep 108 is our latest then: a full fab cast re-enactment of a lost 1925 broadcast - a bizarre celebrity attempt at telepathy.
Catch it if y'aven't:
pod.fo/e/350fce
The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa: #108 Mass Telepathy: Re-enacted - A Centenary Dramatisation of a BBC Broadcast
On 12 November 1925, the BBC broadcast one of its most bizarre programmes yet:'MASS TELEPATHY: An Experiment in Thought Reading in which every Listener will be invited to assist'On 12 November 2025...
pod.fo
November 27, 2025 at 10:21 AM
British Broadcasting Century Podcast ep 109 is out soon: a history of 17 Directors General.
Ep 108 is our latest then: a full fab cast re-enactment of a lost 1925 broadcast - a bizarre celebrity attempt at telepathy.
Catch it if y'aven't:
pod.fo/e/350fce
Ep 108 is our latest then: a full fab cast re-enactment of a lost 1925 broadcast - a bizarre celebrity attempt at telepathy.
Catch it if y'aven't:
pod.fo/e/350fce
Reposted by The British Broadcasting Century podcast
See one of BBC radio's early stars, Richard "Stinker" Murdoch on @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social at 5am tomorrow in "It Happened in Soho" (1948). Our guest when we spoke about this back in ep 34 was @paulkerensa.bsky.social, host of @bbcentury.bsky.social podcast www.sohobitespodcast.com/episode/34
November 26, 2025 at 7:40 AM
See one of BBC radio's early stars, Richard "Stinker" Murdoch on @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social at 5am tomorrow in "It Happened in Soho" (1948). Our guest when we spoke about this back in ep 34 was @paulkerensa.bsky.social, host of @bbcentury.bsky.social podcast www.sohobitespodcast.com/episode/34
Thanks for the kind words about the forthcoming Radio 4 drama (about the first radio drama) - more about how it came to be on m'latest Patreon video.
(£5/mth, all helps buy books etc... which have led to this radio drama! So thanks all who support there)
www.patreon.com/posts/vid-tr...
(£5/mth, all helps buy books etc... which have led to this radio drama! So thanks all who support there)
www.patreon.com/posts/vid-tr...
VID: The Truth about The Truth about Phyllis Twigg - coming soon to BBC Radio 4! | The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa
Get more from The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa on Patreon
www.patreon.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Thanks for the kind words about the forthcoming Radio 4 drama (about the first radio drama) - more about how it came to be on m'latest Patreon video.
(£5/mth, all helps buy books etc... which have led to this radio drama! So thanks all who support there)
www.patreon.com/posts/vid-tr...
(£5/mth, all helps buy books etc... which have led to this radio drama! So thanks all who support there)
www.patreon.com/posts/vid-tr...
News just in! My new radio drama about the first radio drama! On wireless sets this Christmas...
I can finally announce!
This Christmas Eve, 2:15pm, BBC Radio 4, a drama I've written - 'The Truth about Phyllis Twigg' - will inform, educate and entertain about the first ever radio drama! 103 years later to the day.
If you like this classy image, you should see our cast...
This Christmas Eve, 2:15pm, BBC Radio 4, a drama I've written - 'The Truth about Phyllis Twigg' - will inform, educate and entertain about the first ever radio drama! 103 years later to the day.
If you like this classy image, you should see our cast...
November 24, 2025 at 6:39 PM
News just in! My new radio drama about the first radio drama! On wireless sets this Christmas...
The BBC's Mass Telepathy Broadcast of 1925: Re-enacted in 2025
Our centenary dramatisation of a bizarre lost broadcast - so how authentic was it?
My latest Substack: paulkerensa.substack.com/p/the-bbcs-m...
(+ listen to the re-enactment: pod.fo/e/350fce)
Our centenary dramatisation of a bizarre lost broadcast - so how authentic was it?
My latest Substack: paulkerensa.substack.com/p/the-bbcs-m...
(+ listen to the re-enactment: pod.fo/e/350fce)
The BBC's Mass Telepathy Broadcast of 1925: Re-enacted in 2025
Our centenary dramatisation of a bizarre lost broadcast - so how authentic was it?
paulkerensa.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:42 AM
The BBC's Mass Telepathy Broadcast of 1925: Re-enacted in 2025
Our centenary dramatisation of a bizarre lost broadcast - so how authentic was it?
My latest Substack: paulkerensa.substack.com/p/the-bbcs-m...
(+ listen to the re-enactment: pod.fo/e/350fce)
Our centenary dramatisation of a bizarre lost broadcast - so how authentic was it?
My latest Substack: paulkerensa.substack.com/p/the-bbcs-m...
(+ listen to the re-enactment: pod.fo/e/350fce)
With my BBC present hat on, I'll be on BBC1 Sunday Morning Live tomorrow for the news review.
With my BBC past hat on, a new podcast too at podfollow.com/BBCentury and a new Substack coming this week to paulkerensa.substack.com
Do read/listen/watch
With my BBC past hat on, a new podcast too at podfollow.com/BBCentury and a new Substack coming this week to paulkerensa.substack.com
Do read/listen/watch
I'll be back on the BBC Sunday Morning Live sofa tomorrow, Sunday, morning, live, BBC1, 10:45ish, with my trademark sideways glance (and it is trademarked - no nicking) at news stories of the week, with @dawnneesom.bsky.social @seanfletchertv.bsky.social Jennifer Reoch
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC One - Sunday Morning Live, Series 16, 23/11/2025
Have refugees become political scapegoats? And is now a good time for a wealth tax?
www.bbc.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 3:13 PM
With my BBC present hat on, I'll be on BBC1 Sunday Morning Live tomorrow for the news review.
With my BBC past hat on, a new podcast too at podfollow.com/BBCentury and a new Substack coming this week to paulkerensa.substack.com
Do read/listen/watch
With my BBC past hat on, a new podcast too at podfollow.com/BBCentury and a new Substack coming this week to paulkerensa.substack.com
Do read/listen/watch
Leigh Graham's Youtube channel has a nice new video on early BBC star Mabel Constanduros, and the birth of sitcom...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqBO...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqBO...
Mabel Constanduros and the Birth of Sitcom
YouTube video by Upstaged by a Dog
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Leigh Graham's Youtube channel has a nice new video on early BBC star Mabel Constanduros, and the birth of sitcom...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqBO...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqBO...
Apropos of nothing, here's 'The Fair of the Air' - Earls Court's Great Radio Show 1959
November 19, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Apropos of nothing, here's 'The Fair of the Air' - Earls Court's Great Radio Show 1959
Next few podcasts (podfollow.com/BBCentury), if you like a plan (we're zipping back and forth for a few specials):
#109 (out late Nov) - Nov 1923 - Reith tries to get the King + the PM onto the BBC. Fails. So it's a good time to look at a history of DGs and politics. What can possibly go wrong...
#109 (out late Nov) - Nov 1923 - Reith tries to get the King + the PM onto the BBC. Fails. So it's a good time to look at a history of DGs and politics. What can possibly go wrong...
podfollow.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Next few podcasts (podfollow.com/BBCentury), if you like a plan (we're zipping back and forth for a few specials):
#109 (out late Nov) - Nov 1923 - Reith tries to get the King + the PM onto the BBC. Fails. So it's a good time to look at a history of DGs and politics. What can possibly go wrong...
#109 (out late Nov) - Nov 1923 - Reith tries to get the King + the PM onto the BBC. Fails. So it's a good time to look at a history of DGs and politics. What can possibly go wrong...
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.