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A season of George Orwell on BBC Radio 4

2013-01-24T16:54:49+00:00

Orwell and a group of writers and critics (see below for details)

On Saturday 26 January, the animals of Manor Farm will overthrow Farmer Jones to the tune of ‘Beasts of England’ and The Real George Orwell season on BBC Radio 4 will have begun. I know that’s a spoiler but it happens fairly near the beginning so hopefully I’ll be forgiven! Following hot on the heels (hooves?) of Animal Farm is a new production of Homage to Catalonia on Sunday and the first of four biographical dramas about Orwell’s life on Monday.

Not only does the season include a Start the Week on Orwell’s political writing and the first ever radio dramatisation of Nineteen Eighty Four starring Christopher Eccleston as Winston but it also shines a light on the man behind the writing and attempts to explain the influences and experiences which led Orwell to write his final book.

As an Assistant Producer working on extra content for The Real George Orwell season, I’ve learnt a lot through this project. I didn’t know that Room 101 (where Big Brother’s torture takes place in Nineteen Eighty Four) was based on an office in Broadcasting House (only a few floors below where we’ve recorded the dramas). I didn’t know that Rachel Whiteread had made a plaster cast version of that very room (of which we have photos). I didn’t know that there is no recording of Orwell’s voice. I knew he had worked for the BBC and that he had his throat shot during the Spanish Civil War but didn’t realise that Joseph Millson, who plays Eric Blair, wouldn’t be able to listen to Orwell himself when researching the role. I didn’t know that there’s a letter objecting to Orwell’s voice in the BBC archive (along with his resignation letter and other amazing pieces of history!). I’ve interviewed Orwell’s biographer DJ Taylor who explained to me how Eric Blair chose his pen name and marvelled that this amazing body of work could have been written by ‘H Lewis Always’.

Apart from these discoveries, I’ve had the pleasure of becoming re-acquainted with Orwell’s writing (which I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t read since school). I’ve read Down and Out in Paris in London ahead of the Book at Bedtime and will never feel quite the same about eating in a Parisian restaurant again! I’ve remembered how great the characters in Animal Farm are, how difficult and confusing all the in-fighting in Catalonia must have been and how moving Winston and Julia’s relationship in Nineteen Eighty Four is.

The picture shows - Standing, L to R: Writer George Woodcock; novelist Mulk Raj Anand; George Orwell and the poet William Empson. Sitting: The critic Herbert Read and the poet Edmund Blunden.

See also Mark Lawson on Orwell and the BBC on the About the BBC blog

A new series for Radio 2 - Sounds of the 20th Century

2011-04-06T16:42:49+00:00

As a producer for Trevor Dann's Company, a radio production company founded by the UK radio veteran of that name, I have the opportunity to work across an array of audio projects; however, I'm most excited about our new series, Sounds of the 20th Century. It's essentially an audio journey through five decades of music and events on BBC Radio 2 - every Thursday at 2200 for the next year.

One of the most challenging and unique things about the show is that - apart from Jeremy Vine giving a short intro at the start - there's no presenter. This means that each programme - dedicated to one year from 1951 to 2000 - doesn't feature anything that wasn't heard, seen or read at the time. It's just the music, the news, the radio, the TV and the movies as they were first experienced.

Our first task was to work out what happened each year. I trawled the internet, spent ages in my local library, and made use of the BBC's own mini research library (it's really small!) and other event diaries, to come up with the definitive list of what happened when... getting myself covered in lots of yellow highlighter in the process!

A massive spreadsheet of music and events followed, which I used to guide my search through the BBC TV and Radio Archive, the Newspaper Archive at the British Library, and the British Pathe and Movietone newsreel archives. Luckily for me, much of this is now available online, so I was able to search their collections without having to physically go to their preservation sites.

From all this research, we then selected the key stories that were really relevant in that year, balancing news and cultural events with clips from entertainment programmes and films. And at the heart of it all is the wonderful music of the time, sourced from the BBC's own music archive.

All these items were called in (electronically where possible) and then we sat listening very carefully. With no presenter, the clips really had to sell themselves in order to be considered for the final cut. They needed to explain what they were and deliver the great atmosphere we want to create for each programme. Much ended up on the cutting room floor.

Finally a running order was created, taking the listener on a journey that would contain the highs and lows, the clips that looked back and others that strove forwards. We took this into the studio and laid the tracks out, tweaked, considered, and tweaked some more. We're really proud of the final product.

We'll stay true to the music and plan to make a full and detailed running order available after each show (so you can work out what that clip was!).

Heather Davies is a Producer on Sounds of the 20th Century

Listen to part one of the Sounds of the 20th Century - 1951, the year of the Festival of Britain, the first hit single with multi-tracking (Les Paul's How High The Moon) and the first real rock 'n' roll record (Jackie Brentson's Rocket 88) - on BBC Radio 2 this Thursday at 2200.

Cinema began in Leeds - vote for the best West Yorkshire film

2011-03-28T15:05:02+00:00

West Yorkshire is arguably the home of cinema. Actually, not even arguably. Whatever claims the French or the Americans might make, Louis Le Prince, who made the first motion pictures the world had ever seen, did his groundbreaking work in Leeds in 1888, producing two short films, Roundhay Garden Scene and Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge.

The latter, three lovingly preserved seconds of which can still be seen here does exactly what the title suggests. It shows (horse drawn) vehicles going over the bridge, without the benefit of Dolby sound (or indeed any sound) or any special visual effects. 3D specs not needed.

Now, to celebrate Leeds's unique contribution to the most popular and successful art form ever, BBC Radio Leeds is hosting a celebration of film at Leeds's magnificent Hyde Park Picture House, which is a slice of movie history itself, dating back to 1914, and one of Britain's few surviving suburban cinemas.

On Tuesday April 19th, the film voted by listeners to BBC Radio Leeds's breakfast show as the most popular of all the films shot in West Yorkshire will be shown. Among special guests joining us on the night are stars from the BBC Four remake of the film Room At The Top, of which we will be showing a special clip. Katherine Hannah and I will provide popcorn on the night, and present the winning film, as decided by your votes.

The list of films in contention range from the 1959 version of Room At The Top to the 2009 film The Damned United, taking in Billy Liar (1963), The Railway Children (1970), A Private Function (1984) and LA Without A Map (1999). Far be it from me to influence the voting, but Billy Liar is not only my favourite film shot round here, but in my personal top ten of all time. Director John Schlesinger, who went on to big Hollywood productions like Midnight Cowboy and Marathon Man, caught the spirit of the times beautifully, Tom Courtenay was never better, and the film brought us incidental pleasures like Wilfred Pickles and Rodney Bewes in supporting roles.

But I am sure you have your personal favourite. Be part of it: listen in to our breakfast show (92.4/95.3 FM, weekdays, 6.30-9am, or on the iPlayer) or go to the BBC Radio leeds web site from today to find out how you can vote and join us in the cinema on the night.

Martin Kelner presents the Radio Leeds breakfast show with Katherine Hannah

The picture is a publicity still from John Shlesinger's Billy Liar, with Tom Courtenay.

The hundredth object approaches

2010-10-13T15:33:45+00:00

Without doubt, my highlight of the week will be going to the British Museum on Thursday as we reveal the last object in our series A History of the World in 100 Objects. The Radio 4 series has been a centrepiece of our radio programming over the last year and it is destined to be remembered as one of BBC Radio's landmark pieces of broadcasting.

Initially, the idea of a world history brought alive through objects described on radio appeared too demanding for some. However, the use of objects as the starting point for important stories that draw in broader themes while remaining, by their very nature, personal, has been uniquely powerful. As someone who completed history A-Level with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the causes of World War Two but with little or no sense of global or early history, the series has been a revelation.

Thanks to the quality of production including masterful presentation by Neil MacGregor, the series, which has never shied away from more demanding detail and themes, has caught the public's imagination. We have seen an amazing 10 million podcasts downloaded and the involvement of over 500 museums across the country. Online, thousands of people have been submitting their own objects from a miniature 15th century prayer book to a 19th century Ale Jug.

This week we have been revealing some of the objects that are being considered for our last selection. We have heard about objects on the short list such as Didier Drogba's Chelsea shirt, the latest polar clothing and a mobile phone. Also numerous people have been making suggestions about what the object should be. Predictably, the last time I asked, the iPhone seemed to be coming out top. Importantly, and unlike reality TV, although we are getting numerous suggestions from the public, the final item will the choice of Neil MacGregor and the programme team, thus preserving the value of a strong curatorial hand across every episode the series.

Also, while some may question the value of some of the final possibilities, each offers great story-telling potential. Take Drogba's shirt; it is worth pausing and thinking just how many themes it embodies: the globalisation of sport, Russian oligarchs, the cult of celebrity to name but a few. I have no idea if it will be picked. I have asked not to know as I want to enjoy the drama of the announcement on Thursday morning at around 0745 on the Today programme. I hope that you will be listening not only to the news about number 100 but to all of these memorable programmes.

Tim Davie is Director of Audio & Music at the BBC

Lose an hour or two in the library of objects on the A History of the World web site and keep up with the project on the blog.
Add your own object - something that tells a story from your family's history - to the collection.
Download every episode of A History of the World to keep.
The picture shows two of the thousands of suggestions for the 100th object received from listeners. Make your own suggestion.