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''Listen with Mother'' 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. ...
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radio programme for children which ran between 16 January 1950 to 10 September 1982. It was originally produced by
Freda Lingstrom Freda Violet Lingstrom OBE (23 July 1893 – 15 April 1989) was a BBC Television producer and executive, responsible for pioneering children's programmes in the early 1950s. She and her friend Maria Bird together created ''Andy Pandy'' and ''Flowe ...
and was presented over the years by
Daphne Oxenford Daphne Margaret du Grivel Oxenford (31 October 1919 – 21 December 2012) was an English actress, known for her early stage roles, and later her radio and television work. She was the voice (''"Are you sitting comfortably ...?"'') of BBC ra ...
, Julia Lang, Eileen Browne, Dorothy Smith and others.


History

It was first broadcast on 16 January 1950 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 ...
in a fifteen-minute slot every weekday afternoon at 1.45, just before ''
Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by ...
''. Consisting of stories, songs and nursery rhymes (often sung by Eileen Browne and George Dixon) for “mothers and children at home”, at its peak it had an audience of more than a million listeners. Roger Fiske assisted with the music. From 7 September 1964 the programme moved to the BBC Home Service (later
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' ...
). ''Listen with Mother''s final week's programmes (widely reported in the press) featured Wriggly Worm stories, presented by
Nerys Hughes Nerys Hughes (born 8 November 1941) is a Welsh actress and narrator, known primarily for her television roles, including her part in the BBC TV series ''The Liver Birds''. Biography She was born in Rhyl, Flintshire. Her parents were Myfi and ...
and
Tony Aitken Tony Aitken (born 20 June 1946) is an English actor, known for playing a variety of parts in popular television programmes. He attended Belmont Abbey School, Hereford, 1959–64. He was active in the amateur dramatic society, appearing in many ...
and directed by David Bell. These stories were broadcast on the ''Listen with Mother'' programmes throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. ''Listening Corner'', which replaced ''Listen with Mother'' on 13 September 1982, began with repeats of the Wriggly Worm stories. Collections of ''Listen with Mother'' stories have been published by Hutchinsons/Random House. Two collections of Wriggly Worm stories ('Wonderful Wriggly Worm' and 'Wonderful Wriggly Worm Rides Again'), by Eugenie Summerfield, have been published by Book Guild. ''Listening Corner'' continued until 24 August 1990, ending three days before the launch of BBC Radio 5.


Theme music

At the start of each programme a short introduction on piano was played. The tune went to the rhythm of the words ''quarter to two'', which of course was the time of the broadcast, and many children were helped in learning to tell the time by this ingenious devic

A piece for piano duet, the ''Berceuse'' from Gabriel Fauré's ''
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'', Op. 5

was played at the conclusion of each broadcast and became synonymous with the programme. It was recorded for the programme by Eileen Browne and Roger Fiske, However Julia Lang, in an Anglia Television interview in the 1990s, said that during her tenure when she finished reading the story she had to get up (noiselessly), rush across to the piano in the studio and play the ''Berceuse'' live.


"Are you sitting comfortably?"

Each story on ''Listen with Mother'' opened with the phrase "Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin" (sometimes "...Then we'll begin"). The question, originally an ad lib by Julia Lang on 16 January 1950, became so well known that it appears in ''
The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations ''The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations'', first published by the Oxford University Press in 1941, is an 1,100-page book listing short quotations that are common in English language and culture. The 8th edition was published for print and online ...
''"January Anniversaries: Listen with Mother 16 January 1950"
The BBC Story. Archived fro
the original
on 2014-01-09. It has been incorporated and sampled by many artists and musicians; for instance, * in the episode "
The Idiot's Lantern "The Idiot's Lantern" is the seventh episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on 27 May 2006 on BBC One. It was written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Euros Lyn. Th ...
", in the revived series of ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'', it was used by the alien presence known as "The Wire" appearing on a television screen and addressing its first victim, the hapless Mr Magpie. * in a later episode of ''Doctor Who'', "
The Timeless Children "The Timeless Children" is the tenth and final episode of the twelfth series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 1 March 2020. It was written by Chris Chibnall, and directed by Jamie ...
", the line was reformulated by The Master as "Are you suffering comfortably? Then I'll begin" on addressing The Doctor in the
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. * as the opening of the narration by Stanley Unwin of the
Small Faces Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...
' "Happiness Stan" song cycle on Side 2 of their ''
Ogden's Nut Gone Flake ''Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake'' is the third studio album, and only concept album by the English rock band Small Faces. Released on 24 May 1968, the LP peaked at number one on the UK Album Charts on 29 June, where it remained for a total of six we ...
'' album, rendered in Unwin's characteristic style "Are you all sitting comftybold two-square on your botty? Then I'll begin." * as the opening line in the film '' The Others''. * by English actor John Wood in the 1983 film ''
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''. * in the song "It Doesn't Really Matter" by the Canadian band Platinum Blonde on their 1983 '' Standing in the Dark'' album. * as the title, and included in the lyrics of, the Moody Blues song "Are You Sitting Comfortably?" from the 1969 album ''
On the Threshold of a Dream ''On the Threshold of a Dream'' is the fourth album by The Moody Blues, released in April 1969 on the Deram label. Content The album begins with a poem accompanied by electronic sounds, and these sounds also appear at the close of the album ...
''. * at the beginning of the
Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...
song "Did Your Mama Ever Tell Ya?", which appeared on the band's 1976 album ''
Nobody's Fools ''Nobody's Fools'' is the sixth studio album by the British rock group Slade. It was released in March 1976 and reached No. 14 in the UK. The album was produced by Chas Chandler. Musically, the album showed the band dropping their "loud" and "r ...
.'' * in the band alt-J's song "Hand-Made", from the 2012 album "
An Awesome Wave ''An Awesome Wave'' is the debut album by English indie rock band alt-J, released on 25 May 2012 through Infectious. The album includes the singles " Matilda"/"Fitzpleasure", " Breezeblocks" and "Tessellate". It peaked at number thirteen on the ...
". * in the opening monologue in the episode "
The Narrow Escape Problem "The Narrow Escape Problem" is the fourth episode of the Fargo (season 3), third season of the FX (TV channel), FX anthology series ''Fargo (TV series), Fargo'', and the twenty-fourth episode of the series overall. It was directed by Michael Uppen ...
" of the TV series '' Fargo''. * in the soundtrack of PlayStation game
Jet Moto 3 ''Jet Moto 3'' was released exclusively for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console on September 1, 1999. It was the only ''Jet Moto'' title released by developer Pacific Coast Power & Light and publisher 989 Sports. It has been ...
at "Shipwreck Cove" arena. * in the Monty Python sketch "Children's Stories", from season 1, episode 3: "How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away". Performer Eric Idle opens the sketch with the words: "Hello children, hello. Here is this morning's story. Are you ready? Then, we'll begin". * in the graphic novel "V for Vendetta", at the beginning of V monologue "Good evening, London".


See also

*''
Watch with Mother ''Watch with Mother'' was a cycle of children's programmes created by Freda Lingstrom and Maria Bird. Broadcast by BBC Television from 1952 until 1975, it was the first BBC television series aimed specifically at pre-school children, a developme ...
'' *''
Sandmännchen ''Unser Sandmännchen'' ("Our Little Sandman"), ''Das Sandmännchen'' ("The Little Sandman"), ''Der Abendgruß'' ("The Evening-Greeting"), ''Abendgruß'' ("Evening-Greeting"), ''Der Sandmann'' ("The Sandman"), ''Sandmann'' ("Sandman"), ''Sandm ...
'' The German equivalent to ''Listen with Mother'', which starts with the opening "Nun, liebe Kinder, gebt fein Acht. Ich habe euch etwas mitgebracht" (Now, dear children, pay attention. I have brought you something) in the same way that ''Listen with Mother'' started "Are You Sitting Comfortably? Then I'll Begin".


References


External links


Clips from the series
{{Authority control 1950 radio programme debuts 1982 radio programme endings British children's radio programmes BBC Light Programme programmes BBC Home Service programmes BBC Radio 4 programmes