Charles Chilton

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(15 June 1917 – 2 January 2013) was a British presenter, writer and producer who worked on

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 ...

. He created the 1950s radio serials ''Riders of the Range'' and ''

Journey into Space ''Journey Into Space'' is a BBC Radio science fiction programme written by BBC producer Charles Chilton. It was the last UK radio programme to attract a bigger evening audience than television. Originally, four series were produced (the four ...

'', and also inspired the stage show and film ''

Oh, What a Lovely War! ''Oh, What a Lovely War!'' is an epic musical developed by Joan Littlewood and her ensemble at the Theatre Workshop in 1963. It is a satire on World War I, and by extension on war in general. The title is derived from the "somewhat satirical" ...

''.

Early life

Born in Bloomsbury in London, England, he never knew his father – who was killed during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

– and when he was six his mother died as a result of having a botched abortion,Interview with Charles Chilton, ''What Did You Do in the Great War, Daddy?'', BBC Four, 2007 with the result that Chilton was brought up by his grandmother. He was educated at St. Pancras

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

School. Chilton left school at the age of 14, and after a brief apprenticeship making electric signs, he joined the BBC as a messenger boy. A year later he became an assistant in their gramophone library. He had a passion for

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

music, and in 1937 formed the BBC Boys' Jazz band.

Career

His first role as a producer was for ''I Hear America Singing'', after which he moved to the BBC variety department. He then presented his own show between 11pm and midnight called ''Swing Time'', and a weekly jazz programme called ''Radio Rhythm Club''. Next came five years' war service with the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, after which he was sent to Ceylon to run the forces radio station with broadcaster David Jacobs, later to participate in Chilton's radio series ''

''. Back in the BBC he wrote and produced programmes for, among others,

Roy Plomley Francis Roy Plomley, ( ; 20 January 1914 – 28 May 1985) was an English radio broadcaster, producer, playwright and novelist. He is best remembered for devising the BBC Radio series ''Desert Island Discs'', which he hosted from its inception i ...

Michael Bentine Michael Bentine, (born Michael James Bentin; 26 January 1922General Register Office for England and Wales – Birth Register for the March Quarter of 1922, Watford Registration District, Reference 3a 1478, listed as "Michael J. Bentin", mother ...

and

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997, born Stefano Grappelli) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the fi ...

. He also met and married his wife, Penny, who was a secretary at the corporation. He was then sent to the United States to research, write and produce a number of series based on American western history. One of these, ''Riders of the Range'', lasted for five years until 1953. During its run, ''Riders of the Range'' attracted audiences of around 10 million. Chilton wrote a comic-strip version of the series drawn by for the ''

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

'' which outlasted the radio version, and wrote another western series, "Flying Cloud", for the ''Eagle'''s sister comic ''

Girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...

''. Chilton was also briefly a producer on the comedy series ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 19 ...

''. Major international recognition came with his science-fiction trilogy ''Journey into Space'', which he wrote and produced between 1953 and 1958. His interest in space travel also led him to join the

British Interplanetary Society The British Interplanetary Society (BIS), founded in Liverpool in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest existing space advocacy organisation in the world. Its aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration. Str ...

.Interview with Charles Chilton, ''Round Midnight'', BBC Radio 2, 1989 He was presented with an

in 1972. He spent his last years acting as a tour guide for the Original London Walks company.

Legacy

In January 2014, BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast a selection of programmes to celebrate the life and work of Charles Chilton. This included ''The Long, Long Trail'', telling the story of the

through the songs sung by soldiers, broadcast for the first time since its original transmission on the BBC Home Service in 1961. On 4 January 2014, in conjunction with BBC Radio 4 Extra,

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' ...

broadcast ''Archive on 4: The Long, Long Trail''. Roy Hudd told the story of Chilton's ground-breaking 1961 musical documentary. Interviewees included satirist

Ian Hislop Ian David Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is a British journalist, satirist, writer, broadcaster, and editor of the magazine ''Private Eye''. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programmes and has been a team captain on the BBC quiz sho ...

, Chilton's widow Penny and their children Mary and David Chilton, and the producer was

Amber Barnfather Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In M ...

. In a five-star review, the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'' said "Chilton ... merits this tribute – as does the British soldier's stoic humour that so movingly illumines the four-year hell." ''Archive on 4: The Long, Long Trail'' won a Silver Radio Award in the New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards 2014.

Production/writing credits

* ''Follow the Fun'' (writer) play. * ''Fledgling'' (writer) play based on ''Follow the Fun'' (1940). * ''The Long Long Trail'' (writer) – a musical about the First World War featuring popular songs of the time interspersed with scripted material. * ''

'' (originator and producer) * ''Round the Bend in Thirty Minutes'' (producer, series 2 and 3, 1958 to 1960) – starring

* ''Riders of the Range'' – a cowboy series that found its way into the 1950s ''

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

. * ''Shakespeare's London'' * ''Dickens' London'' * ''London's Pleasure Gardens'' * ''Cries of London'' * ''Ballad History of Samuel Pepys'' * ''

'' (producer) – series 3 episodes 18 and 19, series 8 episodes 1–5 and 17–26, 'Vintage Goons' series episodes 1–2 and 9–14. * ''How Jazz Came to Britain'' (presenter, 8 July 2000) * ''

'' (writer/producer) * ''

Space Force A space force is a military branch of a nation's armed forces that conducts military operations in outer space and space warfare. The world's first space force was the Russian Space Forces, established in 1992 as an independent military service. ...

'' (writer/producer, 1984 and 1985) * ''Whistle and I'll Come To You - The Life and Loves of Robbie Burns'' Additional production/writing credits: These 30-minute radio programmes were broadcast on NZBC in the 1970s, presumably from transcription disks from the Overseas Service of the BBC / BBC World Service (these discs should still be available somewhere): * ''Botany Bay'' by Charles Chilton. The founding of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. * ''The Victory'' by Charles Chilton. A musical presentation about ''

HMS Victory HMS ''Victory'' is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is best known for her role as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. She ...

'', Nelson's flagship.

References

External links

*
Radio Plays by Charles Chilton
*
Charles Chilton Interview on URY
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chilton, Charles 1917 births 2013 deaths BBC radio presenters BBC radio producers British comics writers English radio personalities English science fiction writers Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Bloomsbury Royal Air Force personnel of World War II British male dramatists and playwrights English male novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights Presidents of the Royal Society of New Zealand 20th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers 20th-century British businesspeople