#084 Women’s Hour on the BBC: 1923-24

2024-04-10

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When Dr Kate Murphy became a BBC's Woman's Hour producer in 1993, the received wisdom was that women's programming began in 1946, when Woman's Hour launched. Kate did some digging in the archives, and discovered the long lost tale of the early BBC's Women's Hour (rather than Woman's Hour), which ran from 1923-24. Why so brief? What impact did it make? Which listeners did it cater for? She's here to tell us everything. Hear the topics, the tales, some of the voices, how the regional stations nipped in first, how Men's Talk didn't last quite as long, and ...

When Dr Kate Murphy became a BBC's Woman's Hour producer in 1993, the received wisdom was that women's programming began in 1946, when Woman's Hour launched.

Kate did some digging in the archives, and discovered the long lost tale of the early BBC's Women's Hour (rather than Woman's Hour), which ran from 1923-24. Why so brief? What impact did it make? Which listeners did it cater for? She's here to tell us everything.

Hear the topics, the tales, some of the voices, how the regional stations nipped in first, how Men's Talk didn't last quite as long, and how it Women's Hour had one of the first examples of listener feedback.

Next time: The earliest BBC recording, as we leap forward a year for one episode, for the centenary of King George V's landmark broadcast - plus the bizarre tale of how we now get to hear it.

SHOWNOTES:

Dr Kate Murphy's books are a must if you're interested in this area (and if you're reading this, sorry to break it to you, but you're interested). Behind the Wireless: A History of Early Women at the BBC and Hilda Matheson: A Life of Secrets and Broadcasts. Buy them both - I did.
This is an independent podcast, nothing to do with the BBC.
Any BBC copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.
Original music is by Will Farmer.
Support us on Patreon (£5/mth), and bonus bits include this video meander around (the outside of) Savoy Hill: patreon.com/posts/patron-vid-savoy-75950901
...Interested in joining a live actual walking tour around those first BBC landmarks? I'm thinking of running one, early 2024. Email paul at paulkerensa dot com for details of when.
These recently uploaded plans of Savoy Hill show you everything from Reith's Thames view to the office of Women's Hour boss Ella Fitzgerald: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bbcentury/posts/932696548301466/
Catch Paul on tour with An Evening of (Very) Old Radio - for where/when, see www.paulkerensa.com/tour
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