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''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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 ...

, BBC Radio 2, and 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' ...

. It has been on the air since 1946.

History

Created by

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 ...

and originally presented by Alan Ivimey, ''Woman's Hour'' was first broadcast on 7 October 1946 on the

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. ...

...

's Light Programme.

Janet Quigley Janet Muriel Alexander Quigley MBE (1902–1987) was a British radio broadcaster associated with the ''Today'' programme and ''Woman's Hour''. Life Quigley was born in Belfast in 1902, in the then United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Sh ...

, who was also involved with the birth of the UK radio programme ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'', has been credited with "virtually creating" the programme. The programme was transferred to its current home in 1973. Over the years it has been presented by Mary Hill (19461963),

Joan Griffiths Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters *:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine *Joan (surname) Weather events *Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multiple ...

(19471949), Olive Shapley (19491953),

Jean Metcalfe Jean Metcalfe (2 March 1923 – 28 January 2000) was an English radio broadcaster. Early life Jean Metcalfe was the eldest child of Guy Vivian Metcalfe, a railway clerk with the Southern Railway at Waterloo station, and Gwendoline Annie, ...

(19501968),

Violet Carson Violet Helen Carson, OBE (1 September 1898 – 26 December 1983) was a British actress of radio, stage and television, and a singer and pianist, who had a long and celebrated career as an actress and performer during the early days of BBC Rad ...

(19521956),

Marjorie Anderson Marjorie Anderson (7 November 1913 – 14 December 1999) was a British actress and leading BBC radio broadcaster for over thirty years, including on the programme ''Woman's Hour'' from 1958 to 1972. Early life Marjorie Enid Anderson w ...

(19581972),

Teresa McGonagle Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

(19581976),

Judith Chalmers Judith Rosemary Locke Chalmers (born 10 October 1935) is a British television presenter who is best known for presenting the travel programme '' Wish You Were Here...?'' from 1974 to 2003. Early life Chalmers was born in Gatley, Cheshire. Her ...

(19661970), Sue MacGregor (19721987),

Jenni Murray Dame Jennifer Susan Murray, (''née'' Bailey; born 12 May 1950) is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known for presenting BBC Radio 4's ''Woman's Hour'' from 1987 to 2020. Early life Murray was born in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorks ...

(1987–2020),

Martha Kearney Martha Catherine Kearney (born 8 October 1957) is a British-Irish journalist and broadcaster. She was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news programme ''The World at One'' for 11 years, and in April 2018 became a presenter of the ear ...

(1998 to March 2007), and Jane Garvey (8 October 2007 to December 2020). Fill-in presenters have included

Andrea Catherwood Andrea Catherine Catherwood (born 27 November 1967) is a Northern Irish television presenter and journalist. Early life Andrea Catherwood was born and raised in Belfast where her mother, Adrienne McGuill, was an announcer and newsreader at Ul ...

,

Sangita Myska Sangita Myska is a British television and radio presenter and journalist. She currently hosts an early afternoon weekend phone-in show on LBC Radio. Early life Born in Tanzania, Myska is of African and Indian heritage and speaks Marathi and, to ...

,

Sheila McClennon Sheila McClennon (born 13 May 1960) is a British radio presenter, notable for her work on BBC Radio 4. Early life She was born in Clatterbridge, in Wirral (then in Cheshire). She attended West Kirby Grammar School, where Jan Ravens was two year ...

, Carolyn Quinn,

Jane Little Jane Emma Little (born 1972) is an English broadcaster and writer. Biography Born in Kendal, Kendal, Cumbria, then in the county of South Westmorland Rural District, Westmorland, she read Theology and Religious Studies at King's College, Cambri ...

Oona King Oona Tamsyn King, Baroness King of Bow (born 22 October 1967) is a business executive and former British Labour Party politician. She was a Labour Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow from 1997 until 2005. Early life Oona King was ...

, and Amanda Platell. In September 2020 it was announced that

Emma Barnett Emma Barnett (born 5 February 1985) is a British broadcaster and journalist. She has been the main presenter of ''Woman's Hour'' on BBC Radio 4 since January 2021. Barnett worked for BBC Radio 5 Live for six years, beginning in 2014, after th ...

would become the lead presenter of ''Woman's Hour'' after the retirement of Jenni Murray, who presented her final edition on 1 October 2020. Barnett, who had been a fill-in presenter a number of times previously, became the youngest woman to regularly present the programme in January 2021.

Anita Rani Anita Rani Nazran (born 25 October 1977), better known as Anita Rani, is an English radio and television presenter. Early life Rani was born and brought up in Bradford, West Yorkshire to a Hindu father and a Sikh mother. In an episode of ...

became the successor to Garvey as the second presenter in the same month. In the early years the topics for the programme were arranged well in advance and printed in the '' Radio Times'' but by the 1980s there was a change to greater topicality. Clare Selerie-Gray became the producer in 1987 and steered the programme away from its tendency to include merely whimsical topics and ensured that the books read in the last section were more relevant to women's lives rather than ordinary novels. She responded to criticism that the programme was too feminist by asserting that it avoided "'' Spare Rib'' didactics" but that a feminist influence on the people who made it had occurred. On 31 December 2004, the show became ''Man's Hour'' for one day only, on which it was presented by

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

anchor Jon Snow. On 18 July 2010, after 64 years of ''Woman's Hour'', the BBC began broadcasting a full series called '' Men's Hour'' on BBC Radio 5 Live, presented by Tim Samuels. For one week in April 2014, the programme was guest edited by

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

, Kelly Holmes,

Naomi Alderman Naomi Alderman (born 1974) is an English novelist and game writer. She is best known for her speculative science fiction novel '' The Power'', which won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2017. Biography Alderman was born in London, the daught ...

, Doreen Lawrence and

Lauren Laverne Lauren Cecilia Fisher (née Gofton; born 28 April 1978), known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, model, television presenter, author and singer. She was the lead singer and additional guitarist in the alternative rock ba ...

. It was the first time the programme had a guest editor since its initial decade of broadcast. In September 2015, the programme hosted "Woman's Hour Takeover" with a week of guest editors, including

Kim Cattrall Kim Victoria Cattrall (; born 21 August 1956) is a British-Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones on HBO's ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), for which she received five Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Awa ...

Rachel Treweek Rachel Treweek (née Montgomery; born 4 February 1963 at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire) is an Anglican bishop who sits in the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual. Since June 2015, she has served as Bishop of Gloucester, the first female diocesan bi ...

, Michelle Mone and

Jacqueline Wilson Dame Jacqueline Wilson (née Aitken; born 17 December 1945) is an English novelist known for her popular children's literature. Her novels have been notable for featuring realistic topics such as adoption and divorce without alienating her lar ...

. '' Late Night Woman's Hour'', a spinoff series, was launched in 2015, presented by

Lauren Laverne Lauren Cecilia Fisher (née Gofton; born 28 April 1978), known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, model, television presenter, author and singer. She was the lead singer and additional guitarist in the alternative rock ba ...

. The series is broadcast in an 11pm timeslot and each episode takes a single topic for discussion. The lateness of the broadcast allows for more freedom to handle topics considered unsuitable for the morning broadcast. The programme has an annual "power list" of highly achieving women. The annual power list is determined by a panel of judges. On 18 March 2011, ''Woman's Hour'' was the first live broadcast from the new dock10 studios at Media City in Salford. In October 2016, it was recorded that the programme has 3.7 million listeners weekly and is the second most popular daily podcast across BBC Radio. A quarter of its audience were reported to be under 35 and 40% male. In 2013, the programme had 3.9 million listeners, 14% of whom were men. In 2006 it had 2.7 million listeners.

Format

The bulk of the programme has always consisted of reports, interviews and debates on health, education, cultural and political topics aimed at women and mothers. However, until 2021 these occupied only the first 45 minutes of the hour. The final 15 minutes consisted of more lightweight entertainment, usually fiction, still broadly directed at women. Prior to 1998, this slot featured readings. From 1998 to 2021 it featured short-run drama serials, known initially as ''Woman's Hour Drama'' and later as ''

15 Minute Drama ''15 Minute Drama'', previously known as ''Woman's Hour Drama'', was a BBC Radio 4 Arts and Drama production strand that was broadcast between 1998 and 2021. It consisted of 15-minute episodes, broadcast every weekday 10:45–11:00 am (i.e. ...

''. One of the most popular of these was the recurring ''

Ladies of Letters ''Ladies of Letters'' is a comedy series that ran for 13 years on BBC Radio 4; based on the series of books of the same name written by Carole Hayman and Lou Wakefield, and starring Patricia Routledge and Prunella Scales. Routledge stars as Ver ...

'' serial, starring

Prunella Scales Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English former actress, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy '' Fawlty Towers'', her nomination for a ...

and

Patricia Routledge Dame Katherine Patricia Routledge, (; born 17 February 1929) is an English actress, singer and broadcaster. For her role as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom '' Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995), she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Awar ...

. The drama slot was dropped in 2021, since when the full hour of ''Woman's Hour'' has been given over to reports and interviews etc.

Schedule

''Woman's Hour'' has been broadcast at 10am Monday to Friday since James Boyle's revision of the Radio 4 schedules in April 1998. Between September 1991 and April 1998 it was broadcast at 10:30am, having previously gone out for many years in an early afternoon slot (2pm). The programme's move to a morning slot was unpopular among some listeners who, for family or other reasons, work only in the morning. Michael Green, the then controller of Radio 4, made his decision the previous year and considered the elimination of the programme title. ''Weekend Woman's Hour'' is broadcast on Saturday afternoons at 4pm, features highlights of the previous week introduced by one of the presenters and lasts almost an hour. Additionally, episodes are made available as a podcast following the broadcast of each programme.

Music

In its earlier years, it used a variety of popular light classics as signature tunes, including such pieces as H. Elliott-Smith's ''Wanderlust (Waltz)'', Anthony Collins' ''Vanity Fair'', and the lively Overture from Gabriel Fauré's '' Masques et Bergamasques.'' From the early 1970s, specially composed pieces were used, several of which were provided by the

BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...

. There is also a band called Woman's Hour, based in the UK and signed to the record label

Secretly Canadian Secretly Canadian is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Secretly Canadian is a label included in Secretly Group, which ...

, who took their name from the radio show.

Controversies

Breach of BBC impartiality rules

A listener complained about the 1 October 2018, edition of ''Woman's Hour'', which featured an item discussing the nomination of Judge

Brett Kavanaugh Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since ...

to the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

. The feature included an interview with a law professor who had worked with

Anita Hill Anita Faye Hill (born July 30, 1956) is an American lawyer, educator and author. She is a professor of social policy, law, and women's studies at Brandeis University and a faculty member of the university's Heller School for Social Policy and ...

, in her pursuit of a sexual harassment complaint against an earlier nominee, Judge

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 1 ...

. The listener believed that allusions to the earlier case were immaterial and prejudicial, that the selection of interviewee was biased, and that presenter Jane Garvey had expressed her personal view on a controversial topic. The BBC Executive Complaints Unit partially upheld the listener's complaint, stating that Garvey gave the impression of sympathising with the interviewee's viewpoint, and "did not challenge the interviewee in a manner which would have ensured due impartiality". As a result, the ''Woman’s Hour'' team and production staff attended a briefing on impartiality.

Sinead O'Connor

In 2021

Emma Barnett Emma Barnett (born 5 February 1985) is a British broadcaster and journalist. She has been the main presenter of ''Woman's Hour'' on BBC Radio 4 since January 2021. Barnett worked for BBC Radio 5 Live for six years, beginning in 2014, after th ...

interviewed Sinéad O'Connor on ''Woman's Hour'', during which Barnett mentioned a recent comment by a music critic referring to O'Connor as "the crazy woman in pop's attic". O'Connor felt that bringing this up was "unnecessary and hurtful". The interview prompted O'Connor to announce she was quitting music, though she later retracted this, stating that Barnett had been to blame:

Feminism

''Woman's Hour'' presenter Jenni Murray is a former

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of the charity Women's Aid and is president of the

Fawcett Society The Fawcett Society is a membership charity in the United Kingdom which campaigns for women's rights. The organisation dates back to 1866, when Millicent Garrett Fawcett dedicated her life to the peaceful campaign for women's suffrage. Original ...

. In April 2014, Radio 4's Roger Bolton noted on the BBC's '' Feedback'' Blog: "As you well know BBC programmes are supposed to be impartial but I'm not sure if that can be said of ''Woman’s Hour'', at least when it comes to feminism. ''Woman's Hour'' is in fact a powerful advocate for women’s empowerment and this week as part of that campaign it produced its second power list."

Awards and nominations

See also

*'' Late Night Woman's Hour'' *'' Woman's Hour Drama''

References

External links

* * {{BBC Radio 4 BBC Light Programme programmes BBC Radio 2 programmes BBC Radio 4 programmes Women's mass media Women in the United Kingdom 1946 radio programme debuts