BBC Radio Four

BBC Radio 4 is a radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is Gwyneth Williams; and the station is part of BBC Radio and the BBC Radio department. The station is broadcast from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London.

It is the second most popular domestic radio station in the UK, broadcast throughout the UK, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands on FM, LW and DAB; and can be received in eastern and south eastern counties of Ireland, the north of France and Northern Europe. It is also available through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media and on the Internet. Its sister station, BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7), complements the main channel by broadcasting repeats from the Radio 4 archive, extended versions of Radio 4 programmes and supplements to series such as The Archers and Desert Island Discs.

It is notable for its news bulletins and programmes such as Today and The World at One, heralded on air by the Greenwich Time Signal "pips" or the chimes of Big Ben....(Read more)

Links to Peel
During the industrial strictures of 1973, television ceased at around 10.30 p.m., which meant that radio audiences received a boost. Peel's comment on this from 18 December 1973 included a swipe at what he perceived to be Radio Four's anodyne content: "'It's around this time that we collect a whole handful of listeners that we wouldn't normally get if the television was working, and I'd like to tell you that, I'm very very sorry, but there's no television on. (chuckles) I'm very disappointed that you can't watch it, but, seeing as you can't, you can either listen to us, and we don't talk very much but we do play quite a lot of music. Or you can turn over to Radio Four, where they've got a talk on spinach or something like that.'"

>>WORK ONGOING