Radio Plays & Drama

NEWSDESK 2012
2011..... 2010..... 2009..... 2008..... 2007.....

CURRENT REVIEWS.... THIS YEAR'S PLAYS....LIST.... COMMENTS

Click for:

Radio Plays by WRITER.. TOPIC.. YEAR.. PRODUCER

Saturday Night Theatre 1943-1960... 1960-1970 ... 1970-1988 ... 1988-1996
Afternoon Theatre 1961-1984... 1984-2002... 2003... 2004... 2005... 2006... 2007... 2008... 2009... 2010... 2011... 2012...
Thirty Minute Theatre 1960-1998 .... Midweek Theatre 1961-1976.... Serials 1945-1997
Saturday Playhouse 1990-1998.... Saturday Play 1998-2007.... Saturday Play 2008 - ....
The Monday Play 1945-1998 ....Just Before Midnight 1964-1980

Radio 3 plays 1946-2008 (about 500 plays)..... 2009-2012..... The Wire, 2000-2012

We are grateful to Roger Bickerton compiled most of these lists
- an enormous amount of work over many years.

MORE RADIO DRAMA TOPICS
Lost Radio Plays
Jeremy Stevenson Archive.
Plays we can't identify
The Cast: Actors.
Digital Cleanup of sound recordings

If you are interested in particular aspects of radio broadcasting, click on the following...note that some of these articles load up in pairs, two on a page, for convenience...
A.J.Alan's Short Stories
A Sting In The Tale
Shouting Quietly - Mike Bartlett
It's Grim Up North: scheduled for Feb 2012
Archiving: How long does a CD last? Nigel Deacon
Beyond Borders - Mike Walker
The Song of Roland: Alan Garner's Elidor- Roger Howe
Martin Jenkins talks to Mike Lloyd of VRPCC
Radio Drama - Mike Harris
Independent Radio Drama in the 1980s -Roger Harvey
Bringing a Radio Drama script to life - Bert Coules
Working as a Radio Writer - Michelene Wandor
You only listen to comedy? Try these Plays - Nigel Deacon
The Brilliant Darkness of Radio Drama- Steve Walker
Richard Wortley's production of "The History Boys"
Radio Drama at the BBC in the Fifties: Jocelyne Tobin
London Rules - Catherine Czerkawska
More RADIO ARTICLES

EXTERNAL LINKS
A listener in Turkey: Laurence Raw's Reviews
A BBC fan in New York - Larry Slade's reviews

The best radio plays in the world are from the BBC. Around three hundred have been commissioned each year for as long as I can remember.

Authors such as Henry Cecil, Giles Cooper, R.D.Wingfield became well-known for their radio work in the 60s and 70s, and the tradition has continued, with Neville Teller, Michelene Wandor, Marcy Kahan, Nick Warburton, Martyn Wade and others providing excellent entertainment on a regular basis.

There are enthusiasts all over the world who listen to BBC comedies, dramas and features, and some of them have interesting collections of recordings. The British Comedy Website www.Britishcomedy.org.uk is used by aficionados of Round the Horne, Just a Minute, Dad's Army, and other vintage comedies. The Vintage Radio Programme Collectors' Society (VRPCC) has collectors of programmes in all categories, but particularly radio drama and features.

If you want to refer to the output of particular playwrights, click on WRITERS.

STUDIO MANAGERS (SMs) have an important role in making good plays for radio. Bert Coules has written about this for us in one of the articles below, and Jocelyne Tobin has written for us an article about working in radio drama in an earlier era.

I was also aware that the actor Ken Cumberlidge had a big pile of scripts which he'd kept (for Performing Rights reasons) and I've persuaded him to share some of the information with us. He's typed out play titles, studios used, and the SMs involved... thanks, Ken. This is online at :

http://www.steamingaudio.myzen.co.uk/rdc

The 'Old SMs' website has reappeared and can be found at http://www.oldsms.co.uk .

If you would like to read short radio reviews, arranged by year, click on
2012. 2011. 2010. 2009. 2008. 2007. 2006. 2005. 2004. 2003. 2002. 2001. 2000. 1999. 1998. 1997.

Over the last few years readers will have seen notes on many of my radio pages by 's-j', aka Jim. I'm now putting some of his longer items on a separate page.

The well-known producer Richard Wortley has contributed an extended essay (15,000 words - a fascinating reminiscence) about his radio career and the people has had worked with - entitled
Some Reflections on a Lifetime in Radio

Graham Gauld, who brought us Sherlock Holmes (and much more) has also written for us:
My time as a Radio Producer

David Spenser, sometime child actor and well-known radio producer has written for us a long piece about his life in Radio Drama.

If you are not listed but would like to be, please send an email.
We would like as many radio writers as possible to be represented on this site.

Crimson Cats Audio Books

If you collect recordings and would like to contact others who share your interest in radio drama, or other vintage radio programmes,click on
VRPCC..

MISSING RADIO DRAMA

Over the years, thousands of radio plays were discarded by the BBC. Before the year 2000, most radio plays (well over 90%) were not kept; if they still exist it will be in private collections only. Here are lists of missing plays ... please email if you can supply recordings. Those marked "FOUND" have been located and safety copies made.

lost afternoon theatre 1961-1984 (4000 entries -big file)
lists of more missing items: Saturday Night theatre, Thirty Minute Theatre, etc...

If you are interested in cricket commentaries past and present, or the well-known series "View from the Boundary", click on the links:
"View from the Boundary" or Test Match Special.

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