BBC Archive

It’s 75 years since The Goon Show graced the airwaves. Originally known as ‘Crazy People’, the surreal radio comedy show would go on to influence other comedians, notably Monty Python’s Flying Circus.


Image 1: Goon Show stars Michael Bentine (Captain Pureheart), Spike Milligan (Yogut Muleboot), Peter Sellers (Mr Herschell and Sir Harold Porridge) and Harry Secombe (Mr Jones).
Image 2: Producer Dennis Main Wilson tries to decipher a script whilst writers Jimmy Grafton, Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens try to explain what the weird Goon hieroglyphics mean. Spike’s fellow Goons Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine and Peter Sellers watch on from the background.
Image 3: Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan and Michael Bentine being suitable silly.
Image 4: Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers at the Camden Theatre on 30th April 1972 when the Goons were reunited after a lapse of twelve years. The show was recorded specially for the BBC's 50th anniversary celebrations.


Episodes of The Goon Show are available on BBC Sounds:
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b0072vdz

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3 hours ago | [YT] | 126

BBC Archive

It’s a bank holiday weekend! In 1976 an observational documentary looked at how the seaside town of Scarborough dealt with the huge influx of tourists:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KUz2...

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5 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 943

BBC Archive

As Eurovision celebrates 70 years, we look back at how the sparkly music contest has evolved over the years.

To read more about the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, check out canvas-story.bbcrewind.co.uk/esc70/

Image 1 - Jacqueline Boyer of France, singer of the winning song 'Tom Pillibi' in the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Prix, 1960.
Image 2 - Katie Boyle hosting during the Eurovision Song Contest in 1968.
Image 3 - ABBA members Benny Andersson, Agnetha Faltskog, Frida Lyngstad, Bjorn Ulvaeus at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 along with conductor Sven-Olof Walldoff.
Image 4 - Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran, the United Kingdom's 1977 Eurovision Song Contest entry, on an open top bus outside BBC Television Centre. Lynsey and Mike's song, 'Rock Bottom', finished 2nd in the competition with 121 points.
Image 5 - Terry Wogan, much loved commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest coverage for the UK, photographed in 1993.
Image 6 – Memo from 1968 when the BBC first broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest in colour. Guidance is given on what performers should wear to show up best on the screen… imagine Eurovision without the sparkle!

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1 week ago | [YT] | 409

BBC Archive

#OnThisDay 1974: A film about the "biggest domestic upheaval of the century" was broadcast, charting the conflict between the residents of the Hulme and Ardwick areas of Manchester and the local authorities during the now notorious regeneration project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0SOm...

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 356

BBC Archive

As Sir David Attenborough celebrates his 100th birthday, we look back across the decades at some of the moments throughout his career as a producer and broadcaster.

See more on Sir David Attenborough’s work in natural history at www.bbc.co.uk/attenborough100archive

Image 1: David Attenborough discusses plans for the Trans-Antarctic Expedition with Dr. V.E Fuchs. 1955
Image 2: Harry Hastings (Production Assistant), David Attenborough (Editor of Unit) and Brian Branston (Producer), from the BBC Travel & Exploration Unit, working with film. 1962
Image 3: David Attenborough with a lively Ring-Tailed Lemur during the Annual Christmas Lecture to Young People at the Royal Institution in London. 1973
Image 4: David Attenborough experiencing weightlessness in NASA’s astronaut training aircraft whilst filming for ‘The Living Planet: The Sky Above’. 1984
Image 5: Sir David Attenborough swimming underwater in 'The Trials of Life' - a twelve-part series outlining the natural history of animal behaviour. 1990
Image 6: Sir David Attenborough combining his love of music and natural history in a search for the origins of human music for the programme ‘The Song of the Earth’. 2000

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 2,016

BBC Archive

#OnThisDay in 1972, planners and residents had their say when Man Alive took a look at the potential redevelopment of Covent Garden, after the original market had moved out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYs7_...

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 358

BBC Archive

Images from the world of fairy tales which have been featured in BBC radio and television programmes over the decades.

Image 1: 1937 - Hansel and Gretel. Jean Haynes as Hansel, H.D.C. Pepler as the Witch and Muriel Pavlow as Gretel.
Image 2: 1936 - Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. Styx Gibling busy making sound effects for the recording.
Image 3: 1943 - Jack and the Beanstalk. Petula Clark and other children of men serving in British Forces overseas, take part in the pantomime during the Christmas Day edition of ‘It's All Yours’ which was designed for men serving in remote regions of the world.
Image 4: 1951- The Three Bears Ballet. A revival of the ballet originally performed in 1938 to Eric Coates' 'Three Bears' phantasy. Anne Negus as Baby Bear, Julia Farron as Mother Bear, Leslie Edwards as Father Bear and Angela Walton as Goldilocks.
Image 5: 1963 - Cinderella. Blue Peter presenter Valerie Singleton showing the viewers small figurines based on the Cinderella story.
Image 6: 1982 - Puss in Boots. Andrew Sachs as Puss in Boots in the Radio 4 Christmas Pantomime.

What's your favourite fairy tale?

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 636

BBC Archive

80 years ago in 1946 British broadcaster Alistair Cooke began his long-running and much-loved radio series ‘Letter From America’. Documents and photographs from the BBC Archive show the progression of his successful career.

Image 1: Memo on Cooke’s first talk on the BBC ‘The Cinema’ in 1934.
Image 2: American Ambassador Robert W. Bingham with Alistair Cooke, during the broadcast of 'The American Half Hour', in April 1935.
Image 3: Memo about ‘American Half Hour’ in 1935 – the precursor to ‘Letter from America’.
Image 4: Alistair Cooke in 1955.
Image 5: Audience research report for ‘American Letter’, 24 March 1946 (later renamed Letter from America, which ran for 58 years).
Image 6: Alistair Cooke in 1972, at the time of filming ‘America’, a TV series written and narrated by Cooke tracing the history of the United States.

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2 months ago | [YT] | 616

BBC Archive

Lost Doctor Who episodes, that haven't been viewed since airing in the 1960s, have been found in an 'eclectic' collection. Restored versions of the episodes will be released on ‪@BBC‬ iPlayer this Easter.

They were found through the work of Leicester charitable trust Film is Fabulous(FIF). Read more about their discovery here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g7kwq1k11o

Image 1: William Hartnell appeared as the first incarnation of the Doctor alongside assistant Steven Taylor, played by Peter Purves
Image 2: Jean Marsh as Sara Kingdom
Image 3: Adrienne Hill as Katarina

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2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,134

BBC Archive

Silent Witness, the long-running crime drama, first broadcast #OnThisDay in 1996. Thirty years on, and you can now watch all 29 series following the forensic pathologists on the BBC iPlayer:
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b007y6k8/silent-wit…

Photo: John Mcglynn as Tom Adams, Amanda Burton as Sam Ryan and Clare Higgins as Detective Superintendent Farmer in series 1.

2 months ago | [YT] | 275