1946 in British radio explained

This is a list of events from British radio in 1946.

Events

January

• 3 January – American-born Nazi propagandist William Joyce is hanged at HM Prison Wandsworth in London for high treason for his English-language wartime broadcasts on German radio.
• 20 January – Composer Granville Bantock writes to fellow composer Rutland Boughton criticising the BBC Music Department's attitude towards some newer composers.^[1]

February

• No events.

March

• 5 March – Have A Go with Wilfred Pickles and his wife, Mabel, is introduced; it is the first British quiz show to offer prizes (although these are limited to a few pounds and some home-made produce).^[2] Initially broadcast as Have a Go, Joe! on BBC Home Service North until August, from 16 September it is produced by BBC Manchester for national transmission on the Light Programme.^[2]
• 24 March – BBC Home Service radio in the UK broadcasts Alistair Cooke's first American Letter. As Letter from America, this programme will continue until a few weeks before Cooke's death in 2004.

April

• No events.

May

• No events.

June

• The BBC's regional director for Wales tells Welsh MPs that there is "not enough talent... to sustain a full continuous programme".^[3]

July

• No events.

August

• No events.

September

• 29 September – The BBC Third Programme launches at 6pm. The evenings-only service is devoted to broadcasting cultural and intellectual content, serious classical music and programming about the arts.^[4] Its first controller is George Barnes and its chief announcer is Alvar Lidell.^[5]

October

• 7 October – The BBC Light Programme transmits the first episodes of the two daily programmes:
  • The magazine Woman's Hour (initially presented by Alan Ivimey), which will still be running 75 years later.
  • The early-evening 15-minute serial thriller Dick Barton, which will achieve a peak audience of 20 million, predominantly schooboys.^[6]
• The BBC begins broadcasting a 2-month comedy series Heigh-Ho, its first script by Frank Muir, featuring Peter Waring, Kenneth Horne and Charmian Innes, and produced by Charles Maxwell; no further series is commissioned after Waring's criminal convictions come to light.^[7]

November

• No events.

December

• December – BBC correspondent Edward Ward with a sound engineer is landed on Bishop Rock lighthouse to give a report on life there but is trapped there for a month by the weather.^[8]
• 31 December – BBC General Forces Programme closes down.

Unknown

• The BBC adopts the Paris Theatre, a former cinema in London's Regent Street, as a studio for recording comedy and other shows before a live audience.^[9]
• Bush DAC90 bakelite radio introduced in the UK: it becomes the best-selling model for some years.^[10]

Station debuts

• 29 September – The BBC Third Programme

Debuts

• 4 January – Housewives' Choice (1946–1967)
• 5 March – Have A Go (1946–1967)
• 24 March – Letter from America (1946–2004)
• 7 October
  • Dick Barton – Special Agent (1946–1951)
  • Woman's Hour (1946–Present)
• 29 December – Down Your Way (1946–1992)

Continuing radio programmes

1930s

• In Town Tonight (1933–1960)

1940s

• Music While You Work (1940–1967)
• Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
• Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
• Family Favourites (1945–1980)

Births

• 25 January – Pete Price, Merseyside media personality and radio presenter
• 4 February – Peter Allen, radio broadcaster
• 18 February – Michael Buerk, journalist and broadcast presenter
• 22 March – Jonathan James-Moore, radio comedy producer (died 2005)
• 11 April – Bob Harris, broadcast music presenter
• 17 April – Henry Kelly, Irish-born broadcast presenter
• 7 May – Michael Rosen, children's poet and radio presenter
• 26 May – Simon Hoggart, journalist and broadcaster (died 2014)
• 26 August – Alison Steadman, comic actress
• 7 October – Jenny Abramsky, BBC Director of Audio and Music
• 13 October – Edwina Currie, Conservative politician, author and radio personality
• 31 December – Eric Robson, broadcast presenter
• Sue Limb, scriptwriter

Deaths

• 3 January – William Joyce, 39, American-born propagandist
• 16 October – Sir Granville Bantock, 78, composer

See also

• 1946 in British music
• 1946 in British television
• 1946 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1946

Notes and References

1. Book: Schaarwächter, Jürgen. Two Centuries of British Symphonism: From the beginnings to 1945. A preliminary survey. 2. 2015. Georg Olms Verlag. 978-3-487-15228-8. 779–.
2. Web site: Have A Go. UK Game Shows. 2020-10-30.
3. Book: Briggs, Asa. Asa Briggs

   . Asa Briggs. The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom. IV. 1995. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-212967-3. 92.

4. Book: Hewison, Robert. Robert Hewison

   . Robert Hewison. 1995 . Culture and Consensus: England, Art and Politics Since 1940 . . London . 0-413-69060-1 . Google Books.

5. News: 1957-02-21. ...Alvar Lidell Reading It. 7. Torquay Herald Express. 2023-05-09. Newspapers.com. 2023-05-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20230509181036/https://www.newspapers.com/article/herald-express-alvar-lidell-reading-it/124306792/. live.
6. James. Chapman. 2006. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 26. 537–559. ‘Honest British Violence’: Critical Responses to Dick Barton – Special Agent (1946–1951).
7. Web site: Peter Waring – magic, comedy and crime, 1916–1949. Peter. Brunning. Davenport Collection. 2019. 2021-06-19.
8. Book: Nicholson, Christopher P.. Rock Lighthouses of Britain: the end of an era?. Latheronwheel. Whittles. 1995. 2nd. 1870325419.
9. Web site: Paris Studios. History of the BBC. BBC. 2020-12-11.
10. Book: Paul. Evans. Doyle. Peter. The 1940s Home. Oxford. Shire Publications. 2009. 978-0-7478-0736-0.