NATIONAL PROGRAMME. On 9 March 1930, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) streamlined its radio services by creating the National Programme, which as its name suggests, carried a full service uniformly nationwide. In the same year, to complement this the Regional Service was born, creating the opportunity for geographical variation. This system of networking continued until September 1939 when both programs were absorbed into the newly named Home Service.
NATIONAL RADIO AWARDS. Established in 1950, and running for five years, the National Radio Awards were sponsored by the Daily Mail, and were the first awards for broadcasters in Britain. The first radio awards, presented by Lady Rothermere, went to:
Outstanding Actor: |
James McKechnie |
Outstanding Actress: |
Gladys Young |
Voice of the Year: |
Richard Dimbleby |
Outstanding Variety Series: |
Educating Archie |
In the second ceremony, by now opened up to television in addition to radio, in 1952, the radio awards went to:
Personality of the Year: |
Wilfred Pickles |
Outstanding Radio Program: |
Take It from Here |
In 1953, radio gained the following awards:
Personality of the Year: |
Gilbert Harding |
Outstanding Actor: |
Howard Marion Crawford |
Outstanding Actress: |
Gladys Young |
Most Popular Musical Entertainer: |
Tom Jenkins |
Most Entertaining Program: |
Educating Archie |
Most Promising New Program: |
The Al Read Show |
The fourth series of awards, issued in January 1954, produced the following results for UK radio:
Personality of the Year: |
Gilbert Harding |
Outstanding Actor: |
James Mckechnie |
Outstanding Actress: |
Marjorie Westbury |
Most Popular Musical Entertainer: |
Tom Jenkins |
Most Entertaining Program: |
The Archers/Take It from Here |
Most Promising New Program: |
The Name’s the Same |
The fifth and final year of the awards took place in January 1955. The radio prizes went to the following:
Personality of the Year: |
Jean Metcalfe |
Outstanding Actor: |
Richard Williams |
Outstanding Actress: |
Marjorie Westbury |
Most Popular Musical Entertainer: |
Cyril Stapleton |
Most Entertaining Program: |
The Archers |
Most Promising New Program: |
Hello Playmates |
NAUGHTON, BILL (1910–1992). Born in County Mayo, Ireland, but brought up in Bolton, Lancashire, Naughton is an important example of a writer whose work has transferred successfully from radio to film and television. He is noted for his graphic and realistic stories describing working-class life in postwar Britain. His first piece of radio was Timothy, broadcast on the Home Service in 1956. He was a member of an elite group of new writers who were given opportunities by the development of the Third Programme in the 1950s and early 1960s. (Others included Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, and John Osborne.) Notable among more than 15 radio plays has been Alfie Elkins and His Little Life, produced by Douglas Cleverdon, which was ultimately to become the film Alfie, starring Michael Caine, in a role originally created by Bill Owen on the Third Programme in 1962. Other “cross-overs” have been All In Good Time (Radio 3, 1973), which became the film, The Family Way, and My Flesh, My Blood, later to become a successful stage play and film as Spring and Port Wine.
NAVY LARK, THE. This spoof of life in the Royal Navy was one of the most popular UK radio comedy series of all time, as well as being the longest running (prior to Weak Ending gaining the distinction) from 1959–1977. Set aboard “HMS Troutbridge,” the series was successful less because of its innovative writing and production than for the brilliance of its ensemble of actors and the quality of the characterization. The three leading characters were “The No. 1,” initially played by Dennis Price and after the first series, by Stephen Murray, “Sub-Lieutenant Phillips,” played with suave idiocy by Leslie Phillips, and Chief Petty Officer Pertwee, played by Jon Pertwee. Other parts were in the hands of Richard Caldicott, Heather Chasen, Michael Bates, Ronnie Barker, and Tenniel Evans. The program was conceived by Laurie Wyman.
NAVY MIXTURE. This wartime series began in February 1943 on the General Forces Programme. In its time, it provided early exposure for many variety artists who were to become household names in postwar Britain, among them Peter Brough, David Jacobs, and Jimmy Edwards. The last series started in July 1947 and ended in November of the same year. Elements of the program were incorporated and revived into a new format, which became the successful comedy series, Take It from Here.
NETWORK CHART SHOW. This program, created by the Unique Broadcasting Company, was a rundown of the UK’s top-selling records, and was notable in that it was the first syndicated show on Independent Local Radio (ILR). It began in 1984, hosted by Capital Radio’s David Jensen, and, from the following year, sponsored by the coffee company, Nescafé. Broadcast from 5:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. on Sunday evenings, it was taken by almost the entire ILR network, at a period when consolidation of ownership had not been approached as an issue, thus creating effectively the first real national commercial competition to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). At its peak, it claimed to reach 20% of the nation’s 10- to 24-year-olds. It was also broadcast by a number of other countries.
NETWORK THREE. This British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) service was introduced in 1957 on the Third Programme frequency. The idea behind it was to provide a daytime service that would draw an audience that might consider the high cultural evening schedule of the Third to be intimidating.
NEWS. The first news to be broadcast by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) was also the first program; Arthur Burrows read a bulletin on 14 November 1922 from Marconi House. It was, however, to be some years before the BBC had complete freedom to develop a news policy unrestricted by agreements with newspaper proprietors and press agencies. During the General Strike of 1926 it had, of necessity, to develop independent sources of news, but this was short-lived.
It was with the coming of World War II that major breakthroughs occurred that were to define the future of newsgathering and the use of location-based reporters as a key factor within the process. (See WARTIME BROADCASTING). The program, War Report, was particularly significant in this respect. It was the necessities of the situation and the requirement for portability and durability of reporters’ equipment during the Allied advances after D-Day that shaped news programs thereafter. In more recent military conflicts the use of bimedia reporters, “embedded” with troops in situations directly linked to action, have provided material of an immediate nature to both radio and television, using satellite technology to provide coverage virtually instantaneously.
Subsequently technology has continued to play a major part in the way news is gathered, both within the BBC and beyond. With the coming of commercial radio—and in particular the first station, the London Broadcasting Company (LBC), and Independent Radio News (LBC) in October 1973—news styles of radio journalism developed, with the growing use of reporters from ethnic backgrounds, etc.
Forms of news presentation have varied over the history of UK radio; during World War II, the major BBC bulletin was at 9:00 p.m., and it was at this time that news readers began to identify themselves by name, guarding against the possibility of their material becoming confused with propaganda broadcasts. In recent years, the concept of rolling news services, such as the service provided by Radio 5 Live, have provided an alternative to the set-piece bulletins and news programs to be heard on Radio 4, or the on-the-hour short summaries to be heard on many music stations. The continuing technological advances in web usage have provided radio broadcasters with further mechanisms for the dissemination and complementary development of news stories.
NEWSBEAT. This 15-minute program of hard and soft news was created by Radio 1 in 1974, with the aim of engaging its youth audience in current affairs. Always fast moving, the format was highly successful and enduring.
NEWS QUIZ. This long-running topical game show began in 1977. Panelists comment on current affairs in an amusing format devised by John Lloyd. It was subsequently adapted for television as Have I Got News for You?
NIGHTINGALE, ANNIE (1943– ). Formerly a newspaper journalist, Brighton-born Nightingale joined Radio 1 in 1970, becoming the network’s first female disc jockey. Her Sunday Request Show ran from 1982–1994 and gained something of a cult following. In 1996, she was seriously injured in a mugging incident in Cuba. She has continued her association with Radio 1 into the 21st century, as well as working on other British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) networks, including work on Woman’s Hour, Pick of the Week, and Front Row. In the 2001 New Year Honours list, she received an MBE for services to radio broadcasting and in 2004 was inducted into the Radio Academy Hall of Fame.
NIGHT THOUGHTS. This radio poem, a “radiophonic poem” as its author called it, was written by David Gascoyne (1916–2001) and was first broadcast on the Third Programme on 7 December 1955, with music especially composed by Humphrey Searle. Produced by Douglas Cleverdon, the cast included Robert Harris, Hugh David, David William, Frank Duncan, Alan Reid, Peter Claughton, Norman Shelley, Robert Marsden, Gladys Young, Jill Balcon, and Leonard Sachs. Gascoyne later spoke of the pain of writers’ block the commission produced in him, and the compassionate tolerance of Cleverdon, enabling him to complete the work at his own pace. The result was one of British radio’s great masterpieces.
NORDEN, DENIS (1922– ). With his writing partner, Frank Muir, Norden created many of the most famous British radio comedies, including Take It from Here and Breakfast with Braden. He also became increasingly known as a broadcaster in his own right and regularly appeared in radio game shows such as My Word and My Music. In television, he was host of a successful occasional series of programs that exposed TV fluffs and errors, entitled It’ll Be Alright on the Night.
NORMAN, R. C. (1873–1963). Ronald Collet Norman was chairman of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) from 1935 to 1939. He had a good relationship with John Reith and proved to be an intelligent and knowledgeable chairman. He had worked in local politics, notably with London County Council from 1907 to 1922. After leaving the BBC, he served with a number of cultural institutions in Britain, including the National Trust.
NORMAN AND HENRY BONES. This long-running series of stories about two boy-detectives, sons of the Reverend Henry Bones, was the creation of a schoolmaster, Anthony C. Wilson. The first in the series, Mystery at Ditchmoor, was broadcast on Children’s Hour in July 1943, produced by Josephine Plummer. The two boys were played by Charles Hawtrey as Norman and Peter Mullins as Henry. Mullins was later replaced in the part by Patricia Hayes.