''Housewives' Choice'' was a
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 ...
record request programme, broadcast every morning between 1946 and 1967 on the
BBC Light Programme
The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...
. It played a wide range of mostly popular music intended to appeal to
housewives
A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying a ...
at home during the day. Like many other BBC radio shows of the era of very limited broadcasting competition, it achieved massive audiences, and is very closely identified with the time in the public mind.
[Elrick, Geroge. ''Housewives Choice'' (1991)]
Theme
The distinctive theme music was "In Party Mood" by
Jack Strachey
Jack Strachey (25 September 1894 – 27 May 1972) was an English composer and songwriter
Born John Francis Strachey in London on 25 September 1894, he began writing songs in the 1920s for the theatre and the music hall, scoring his first success ...
. This music, much like "Puffin' Billy", the theme to ''
Junior Choice
''Junior Choice'' is a BBC Radio programme originally broadcast from 1967 until 1982 with Christmas specials from 2007 until 2015 and again since 2017. Originally broadcast on the BBC Light Programme on Saturday mornings from 9.10 to 9.55 (later, ...
,'' has latterly been used frequently in other media as a signifier for 1950s
Middle England
The phrase "Middle England" is a socio-political term which generally refers to middle class or lower-middle class people in England who hold traditional conservative or right-wing views.
Origins
The origins of the term "Middle England" are ...
, for example in a number of TV adverts and in
the Comic Strip
The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The ...
's parodies of the
Famous Five, ''
Five Go Mad in Dorset
''Five Go Mad in Dorset'' was the first of three ''Five Go Mad'' specials from the long-running series of '' The Comic Strip Presents...'' television comedy films. It first aired on the launch night of Channel 4 (2 November 1982), and was writ ...
'' and ''Five Go Mad on Mescalin''.
Conception and presentation
The programme was conceived by the Controller of the Light Programme,
Norman Collins
Norman Richard Collins (3 October 1907 – 6 September 1982) was a British writer, and later a radio and television executive, who became one of the major figures behind the establishment of the Independent Television (ITV) network in the ...
, who had heard a similar programme on
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
radio.
The show had a different presenter − often referred to at the time as a
compere − every week who was a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
staff announcer, contracted broadcaster, actor, comedian, singer or musician. Amongst the more than 250, mostly male, presenters were a number who made repeated appearances including
. One of the most popular was
, who sang his own lyrics over the theme music, beginning with "Dooodle-dum-de-doodle-dum" and ending with "I'll be with you all again tomorrow morning".