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Bonds, buses and Bassey banned

Greg James returns to the BBC archives. This time: James Bond, banned songs, and the weather forecast that changed the course of history.

Greg James has a licence to...fill the airwaves with rare audio as he returns to the BBC archives in search of forgotten gems inspired by the week's headlines.

With a new 007 due to be announced any day, Greg rewinds to past James Bond announcements, including a lively press conference, Roger Moore's bus-driving stunt double, and where the name 'James Bond' actually came from. Plus: the overlooked importance of scrambled eggs.

You can't talk about Bond without talking about Bassey, and Greg revisits Dame Shirley's first ever single, released in 1956, which was immediately banned by the BBC.

A new university year begins, and students from the past reveal what uni life was like across the decades, from fears about wild parties to the luxury of having separate television rooms for BBC and ITV.

And as new film Pressure hits cinemas, telling the story of the meteorologist James Stagg whose weather forecast persuaded Eisenhower to launch the D-Day invasion, Greg uncovers some extraordinary reports from D-Day itself captured by BBC reporters carrying specially made portable recorders as they joined the invasion in boats, bombers and gliders.

Producer: Tim Bano

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28 minutes

Last on

Last Monday16:30

Broadcasts

  • Sat 19 Sep 202610:30
  • Last Monday16:30

BBC producers branded Elton John 'dreary' in 1968

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