Derek Ivor Breashur McCulloch

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(18 November 1897 – 1 June 1967) was a BBC Radio producer and presenter. He became known as "Uncle Mac" on ''

Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childre ...

'' and '' Children's Favourites'' and provided the voice of "Larry the Lamb" in ''

Toytown ''Toytown'' was a BBC radio series for children, broadcast for '' Children's Hour'' on the Home Service. The plays were based on a set of puppets created by S. G. Hulme Beaman, who also wrote the stories for the series. The first ''Toytown' ...

''. He was the head of children's broadcasting for the BBC from 1933 until 1951.

Early life

McCulloch was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, Devon, the youngest child of (William) Lionel Breashur McCulloch and his wife, Bertha Russell. The First World War interrupted his education at

Croydon High School Croydon High School is an Independent school (UK), independent day school for girls located near Croydon, London, England. It is one of the original schools founded by the Girls' Day School Trust. History The school was founded in 1874 in Welles ...

, and he enlisted in 1915 in the

Public Schools Battalion The Public Schools Battalions were a group of Pals battalions of the British Army during World War I. They were raised in 1914 as part of Kitchener's Army and were originally recruited exclusively from former public schoolboys. When the battalions ...

of the 16th Middlesex Regiment at the age of 17. He was wounded at the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

in July 1916 within 20 yards of the German front line. He was then shot by an enemy stretcher party and lost his right eye. During three days and nights in a shell hole, he incurred further injuries from shrapnel. He crawled back to his own lines. He served until 1921 with the infantry, where he was commissioned into the Green Howards, and in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

as an equipment officer, including a spell on

HMS Valiant Seven vessels of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Valiant''. * , a schooner launched at Oswego, New York, Thirteen Colonies and captured by the French in 1756. * , launched in 1759 at Chatham, Kent, Chatham, was a third-rate ship of t ...

. After the war, he travelled in Europe and South America. He was working for Central Argentine Railway when his health deteriorated, and he returned to England where a bullet was extracted from his lung.Mckenzie, Jim
Biography by Jim Mackenzie at The Wee Web
. Retrieved 30 October 2012

Career

BBC

McCulloch joined the BBC in 1926 as an announcer. He was the commentator on the first radio broadcast of the FA Cup Final in 1927.The Radio Academy: Derek McCulloch
. Retrieved 30 October 2012 His health worsened while working for the Belfast station in 1929 but a job was found for him in ''

''. By 1931, he became second-in-command of the programme and took charge of it in 1933. The programme included talks, plays, music and drama serials. He was appointed head of children's broadcasting in 1933, serving in that position until 1951.Strinati, D
''Come on Down?: The Politics of Popular Media Culture in Post-War Britain''
Psychology Press, 1992, pp. 153, 157. He regarded the department as a microcosm of all broadcasting, stating: "Nothing but the best is good enough for children ... our wish is to stimulate their imaginations, direct their reading, encourage their various interests, widen their outlook and inculcate the Christian virtues of love of God and their neighbours." In 1938 he lost a leg as the result of a road accident, and thereafter remained in constant pain. One of the favourite segments of ''Children's Hour'' was Sydney George Hulme Beaman's Toytown playlets, in which McCulloch played the central role of

Larry the Lamb ''Toytown'' was a BBC radio series for children, broadcast for '' Children's Hour'' on the Home Service. The plays were based on a set of puppets created by S. G. Hulme Beaman, who also wrote the stories for the series. The first ''Toytown' ...

. In 1939, the audience for ''Children's Hour'' reached four million. His sign-off line, "Goodnight children, everywhere," became more poignant after the

evacuation Evacuation or Evacuate may refer to: * Casualty evacuation (CASEVAC), patient evacuation in combat situations * Casualty movement, the procedure for moving a casualty from its initial location to an ambulance * Emergency evacuation, removal of per ...

of many children from their homes at the start of the Second World War. He resigned from the BBC in 1950 due to ill health, and to become the children's editor for the '' News Chronicle''. However, he continued to chair ''Nature Parliament'', which ran roughly every month on ''Children's Hour''. In 1954, McCulloch returned to the BBC to present a music request programme for children, ''Children's Favourites'', on Saturday mornings. By 1964, the audience for the daily ''Children's Hour'' had decreased to 24,000, in favour of television. Despite questions in Parliament, the programme was dropped. The following year, he ceased to present the Saturday show. After his retirement, it was hosted by Leslie Crowther and it became '' Junior Choice'', hosted by Ed Stewart, when the BBC Light Programme was replaced by

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

and Radio 2 in 1967.

Writing

McCulloch wrote the book ''Every Child's Pilgrim's Progress'' in 1956, a simplified version of John Bunyan's '' The Pilgrim's Progress'', which in McCulloch's words was one of the "greatest stories ever written". He also wrote two children's stories, ''Cornish Adventure'' (1941) and ''Cornish Mystery'' (1950), and gave his name to a series of

Ladybird Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles ranging in size from . They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in Great Britain. Some entomologists prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as they ...

children's books in the 1950s.

Personal life and death

McCulloch was the subject of the BBC television programme ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' in February 1964. He married Eileen Hilda Barry, a BBC secretary, on 13 June 1931. They had two daughters. He was awarded an

in 1964, and died at St Francis Hospital,

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, Crawl ...

on 1 June 1967, aged 69. McCulloch was cremated at Bramley,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Early life

Career

BBC

Writing

Personal life and death

References

Further reading