Three Microphones

Historian Robert Seatter selects three more objects from the BBC’s archive store and tells the stories behind their creation

What do they tell us about the changing history of the organisation, and about the expansion of the media and the nation at large?

Robert’s choices are unexpected, revelatory and sometimes, with the cruel benefit of hindsight, funny.

In this selection, Robert focuses on three early microphones developed by BBC engineers.

1) The MEATSAFE Microphone - first used at the BBC’s Savoy Hill studios in 1923, it had a microphone stand which resembled a domestic meat storage container, hence the nickname.

2) The EDWARD VIII abdication microphone - a special microphone, used only once on that momentous occasion.

3) And the LIP Mic - a clever piece of kit that solved a very real technical problem- how to deliver commentary in a noisy environment.

Robert explores themes of innovation, intimacy of the medium, the BBC voice and the nation.

With special guest: sound artist Nick Ryan

Producer: Mohini Patel

Made to mark the BBC Centenary, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2022.