BBC Radio Drama is a London-based group within the

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

operational

business division A division, sometimes called a business sector or business unit (segment), is one of the parts into which a business, organization or company is divided. Overview Divisions are distinct parts of a business. If these divisions are all part of th ...

of the

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. BBC Radio Drama oversees the production and broadcast of

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

s aired on the BBC Radio network. Radio dramas had been broadcast even before the public service company had an officially established

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broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

network in the United Kingdom. Thus, the work of the BBC Radio Drama group also pre-dates the 1967 conversion of BBC Radio from a single national station into four separate, specialized national stations; since 1967, the BBC radio dramas are broadcast on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

and

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

History of BBC Radio Drama

BBC Radio Drama has a long history. The earliest radio drama surviving in the BBC Sound Archives is "The Purple Pileus" by H.G. Wells, with Philip Wade, Ann Trevor, Harold Scott, Myrtle Richardson, Douglas Burbridge, Peter Ridgeway, Edward Craven, Lilian Warde. It was broadcast 6/8/1935; it is 37:04 in duration and the BBC identifier is T13646. Also from 1935, there is "Reconnaissance" by Geoffrey Askew and E.J. King-Bull with Holland Bennett, Robert Speaight, Ivor Barnard, broadcast 24/12/1935 on the Regional(N & LR) Service; it is 27:24 in duration, and the BBC identifier MT13855. Earlier extracts & trailers exist in the BBC Sound Archives. For example, trailers recorded in October 1932 & broadcast in 1933 - 4:30 of Tyrone Guthrie's "The Flowers are Not For You to Pick"; 4:20 of P.H. Lennox's "Matinee"; 2:55 of L. du Garde Peach's "The Path of Glory" - all part of the series "Twelve Plays for Broadcasting" and produced by

Lance Sieveking Lance Sieveking (19 March 1896 – 6 January 1972) was an English writer and pioneer BBC radio and television producer. He was married three times, and was father to archaeologist Gale Sieveking (1925–2007) and Fortean-writer Paul Sieveking (194 ...

. There is also a 3:36 trailer for "Trent's Last Case" adapted from the novel by E.C. Bentley from 14/12/1933.

Heads of BBC Radio Drama

The following is a (partial) list of BBC drama heads and the dates they started as head. *R E Jeffrey, 1924 *

Val Gielgud Val Henry Gielgud (28 April 1900 – 30 November 1981) was an English actor, writer, director and Television presenter, broadcaster. He was a pioneer of radio drama for the BBC, and also directed the first ever drama to be produced in the newe ...

, 1929 *

Martin Esslin , birth_date = , birth_place = Budapest, Austria-Hungary , death_date = , death_place = London, England, UK , education = University of ViennaMax Reinhardt Seminar, ...

, 1963 * Ronald Mason, 1976 *

John Tydeman John Peter Tydeman OBE (30 March 1936 – 1 April 2020) was an English producer of radio and director of theatre plays. He was responsible for commissioning and directing the early plays of Caryl Churchill, Joe Orton, Tom Stoppard and Sue Towns ...

, 1986 *Caroline Raphael, 1994 *Kate Rowland, 1997 * Gordon House, 2001 *Alison Hindell, 2005 *Sue Roberts

Third Programme drama

The Third Programme was launched on 29 September 1946 as part of the post war re-organisation of BBC radio. An early radio production of Shakespeare's ''

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

'' was broadcast in 1947 starring members of the Old Vic Theatre Company including Alec Guinness (King Richard), Margaret Leighton (Queen), Ralph Richardson (John of Gaunt) and Harry Andrews (Henry Bolingbroke).Richard II BBC radio (1947) https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/81de470182404b99a79afd4107fc7eb5, accessdate=29 August 2021

References

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