How do programmes survive? We know that a vast amount of material has been returned to the BBC through off-air recordings but publicly we still don't exactly know everything which is missing, especially in radio (TV Brain covers television very well). Ideally, there'd be a flag of some description in the BBC Programme Index to the effect so that if someone who was interested in these things stumbled across something which they own or which had been made available online, they could contact someone at the BBC and let them know.
Does the BBC Archive know about the recording of The Quest for Corbett that's on YouTube? Have they downloaded it themselves or contact the owner of the recording to see if they can make a copy? Or do they still retain an original copy and so this isn't the only one in existence? If they knew it was there, why hasn't there been a copyright claim (although there's plenty of stuff in Alphabet's servers for which that question could be asked.
What about the material which is still held on vinyl records produced by the BBC Transcription Service which were used to send material to licensees overseas. Although they were directed to destroy them after the licensing period ended, the BBC having already wiped their own tapes, looking at eBay and YouTube plenty of them survived. Are their programmes here the BBC don't have themselves? Judging by the Discogs page, there were a lot of them.
What does any of this have to do with this project? The nagging question whether I should be linking to these materials or indeed any programmes which aren't directly about the making of the BBC, the product rather than the production. My feeling has been that if it's from an "institution", a museum, library or university archive, then yes. If it's just something someone has uploaded from an off-air recording to YouTube due to its inherent ephemerality, no.
But it still feels like there should be some exceptions and something from the mid-fifties preserved on reel-to-reel tape with a cool story behind it seems like one of them even if its only available for a short time. It shows that even then, people were trying to find ways of keeping programmes they've enjoyed or have an interest in even though it wasn't the easiest endeavour, which feels in and of itself to be an important part of the BBC history.
Eurovision Begins
"The first ever Eurovision Song Contest took place in Lugano, Switzerland, at the Teatro Kursaal, on 24th of May 1956."
Reaching Eurovision the week after the actual event this year was entirely coincidental. If it had been on purpose, this would have posted last Monday.
[Eurovision]
"No complete video footage of the entire contest is known to exist, with the only known footage being clips of the reprise performance of the winning song via newsreel and other recordings. Audio of most of the contest have however survived, missing only part of the interval act, and a large cache of photographs has also been uncovered in recent years. As such, this is one of only two editions of the contest, along with the 1964 contest, to not have video recordings of the full event retained."
[ESC Stuff]
"As Turin hosts the 66th edition, Italy’s 1956 contestant (pictured) recalls taking part in what would be world’s biggest music contest."
[The Guardian]
Suez
"The 1956 Suez Crisis caused long-simmering tensions between the BBC and the government to boil over – and, as David Hendy explores in part nine of our 13-part series on the history of the BBC, marked the start of a shift in the relationship between politicians and the public."
[History Extra]
"Nick Robinson, BBC Political Editor, continues his series on relations between broadcasters and politicians. In this programme he looks at the bitter clash between the broadcasters and Sir Anthony Eden, Prime Minister (pictured) during the Suez crisis in the autumn of 1956."
[BBC Sounds][BBC Programme Index]
"As the world’s oldest national broadcaster, The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is unique in its contribution to British life and its level of international influence."
[French Journal of British Studies]
Archive
"An enquiry for radio" by Harold Lang and Kenneth Tynan, first broadcast on the BBC Third Programme on Sunday 15th July 1956 at 10.15pm and repeated the following Thursday at 7.15pm. Preserved on reel-to-reel tape by Allan Hailstone in Coventry, this is believed to be the only recording still in existence. The interference was caused by his father using a television in an adjacent room."
[Chris Goddard][BBC Programme Index]
"A varied selection of excerpts from the sound-tracks of musical films new and old
Presented by Desmond Carrington."
[Toothy TTP][BBC Programme Index]
People
"Sir Hugh Carleton Greene was Director-General of the BBC for over nine years. A champion of liberal values, his time in charge is often seen as an embodiment of the 1960s zeitgeist. At the height of his career he lived at 25 Addison Avenue in Holland Park, where he is now commemorated with a blue plaque."
[English Heritage]
We look at the extraordinary career of the inimitable Bob Monkhouse.
[BBC Clips]
"Sean Street delves into the archive of one of the most innovative and controversial BBC radio producers, reviewing Charles Parker’s work from the Radio Ballads to his sacking in 1972."
[BBC Sounds][BBC Programme Index]
Places
"During the 1956/57 refurbishment of Television Theatre, production moved to the King’s Theatre, Hammersmith."
[TV Studio History]
"... the studios began to have diminishing success around 1955 and were in financial difficulties. This coincided with the realisation at the BBC that they had run out of room at Lime Grove to keep the film department working efficiently."
[TV Studio History]
"Visiting Lime Grove, Princess Margaret was received by Sir Ian Jacob and Sir George Barnes. The Princess's visit lasted three hours, during which many artists had the honour of presentation."
[AP]
Programmes
"In 1956, Panorama turned the cameras on BBC TV itself, with a focus on a decade’s worth of technological advancements in the medium."
[BBC Archive]
Politics
"The BBC's development plan was in full swing during the year 1955-56. In its Report a year ago, the Corporation described in some detail the accelerated progress which had been made possible during the year 1954-55, following the Postmaster-General's statement of March 1954, in which he announced new arrangements for financing the BBC's services for the following three years."
[hathitrust]
"The information assembled in this book is intended to give a clear and authoritative picture of recent achievements in broadcasting, and to provide a guide to the policy and workings of the Corporation
[World Radio History]
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