Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Series tracing the roots of light entertainment. This edition looks at the continuing connection between radio and light entertainment, and its competition with TV.

In the 1930s and 1940s the biggest names in entertainment were the stars of the radio and over 60 years later it is still home to some of the biggest names around. But why does radio still appeal to TV stars like Jonathan Ross, Chris Evans, Michael Parkinson, Ricky Gervais and Terry Wogan? Maybe it's because radio is the real hotbed of ideas that television feeds from.

This episode shows why the old-fashioned wireless has survived and flourished in the face of competition from television. It looks at what radio entertainers have given to TV over the decades and at the talent from TV that has invigorated radio. We discover how radio can be as ruthless and unforgiving as anywhere else in the entertainment world and the truth about those who got burned along the way.

Featuring interviews with Terry Wogan, Jimmy Savile, Tony Blackburn, Dave Lee Travis, David Jacobs, Pete Murray, Matthew Bannister, Annie Nightingale and many more.

1 hour

Credits

Role Contributor
Series Editor Anna Gien
Producer Elaine Shepherd
Director Elaine Shepherd

Broadcast