principal narrator is the late Anna Massey, a star Worried you might miss an episode? Don’t Committee to Protect Journalists, in 2011 alone of radio and the stage. She lends a sense of gravi- Panic! Don’t Panic! Sign up for the Radio 4 (as of Nov 1), 36 journalists were killed in which tas to the script. Another frequent participant in Extra newsletter so you will never miss your a motive has been confirmed, 32 more have been the program is the late Paul Eddington, who favorite comedy (or other programs you like). killed, motive unconfirmed. Spare a thought for may be remembered as the frequently flustered All programs are available in streaming audio or all these brave souls putting their lives on the line Jim Hacker in both Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime on demand for 7 days after the broadcast. www. to keep the public informed about what’s going Minister. With a considerable number of national .co.uk/4extra There is a link on the 4 Extra on in the world. This sobering reading can be networks and local stations available, the BBC home page for the weekly e-newsletter. found at www.cpj.org/killed/2011/ is one of the few organizations that could devote the time to broadcasting a program on this scale. ❖ ❖ With a 212 total episodes at roughly four epi- Polish External Service Back to Russia… sodes per week, this series will be meandering “RIP Polish Radio External Service, at While looking through the Radio Rossii through 2000 years of British history for the next least for most of us. According to their website website mentioned last month, I clicked on few months. This is about the fourth go-round (www.thenews.pl) the only shortwave transmis- “Radio Show” under the heading Radioteatr on for the series since I started listening to BBC sion for B11 is on 3955 kHz from 1800-1900 the left-hand menu. I thought perhaps “Radio Radio 7/4 Extra in 2002. via Sitkunai, Lithuania. This is sad, as I was a Show” might be a program about Russian media, A similar series aired on BBC Radio Ulster semi-regular listener to their programs having but instead I discovered a series of radio plays and subsequently on the then BBC Radio 7. It grown to like them when the CBC’s Overnight which are audible on demand. Some interesting was called A Short History of Ireland…in 240 Service used to carry them at 4:30 a.m. (local).” radio plays are available here, including “Ber- parts! Sure the episodes were only 5 minutes (Mark Coady, ODXA) muda Square” written by a Ukrain- each, but still, only the BBC could devote this I agree that Polish Radio External ian playwright, Anna Yablonskaya kind of time to a series. Service is well worth listening to. I’ve (who was killed Jan 24, 2011 in a been listening to them for years either suicide bombing at Moscow’s main through the CBC Overnight Service or the World airport), and a Russian-language version of Gul- ❖ Dad’s Army Radio Network online and more recently via the liver’s Travels. My Russian was not good enough The BBC has a long tradition of comedy PRES website. to follow the whole thing, but it was interesting both in radio and television. Starting in the 1940s There was a semi-regular feature in my to listen to. with ITMA (It’s That Man Again, “That Man” ODXA column over the years called Languages Russia is not only a land of history and being Hitler) and the 1950s with shows like of Shortwave. I was reminded of this when politics, but also one of culture and the arts. The Hancock’s Half Hour, starring Tony Hancock, Mark pointed out that while Polish Radio is a number of hours of programming devoted to the Sid James, Hattie Jaques and a young Kenneth difficult catch in English, it is still audible in arts and culture by Radio Rossii and Voice of Williams. In the 1960s Round the Horne and Polish. Polish is an interesting language, similar Russia is commendable, and well worth check- Beyond Our Ken with Kenneth Horne and in many ways to Russian. There is also a large ing out. www.radiorus.ru/ Kenneth Williams preceded gems from the late first, second and third generation Polish com- It’s wonderful to discover programming sixties and early seventies like the classic sketch munity here in North America. My hometown like this quite by accident. Be sure and let us comedy I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again, star- even has a “Little Poland,” where one is more know what YOU discover while tuning your ring among others John Cleese and Tim Brooke- likely to hear Polish than any other language in radio or surfing the net! Taylor. The 1970s also gave us treasures such its Polish community halls, shops and churches. as I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue (the antidote to Polish Americans number over 11 million, and panel games) and Just A Minute, both of which according to census data almost a million people are alive and well and which continue to this day. in Canada and the United States speak Polish in In North America, many early radio pro- the home. grams eventually migrated to television. In Mark also reports: There is a one hour Pol- Britain in the 1970s, a number of programs went ish broadcast at 2200 on 7330 via Skelton and in the opposite direction. Successful television 15260 via Sackville. (via Cumbre DX Facebook programs like To the Manor Born, Yes, Minis- group) ter and Dad’s Army were re-recorded as radio programs, in most cases featuring the original ❖ casts. So you want to be a Dad’s Army is a particularly endearing Foreign Correspondent… program. The stories revolve around a group of Long-time CBC Principal Foreign Corres- mostly elderly misfits who comprise a Home pondent David Halton told a chilling story from Guard unit in the early days of World War II. his long radio and television career, on CBC Many of the were elderly themselves Radio’s The Current. In 1977, Halton scored when the program was made in the early sev- an interview with Anwar Sadat, just before the enties. Ironically, two of the surviving cast mem- latter had announced his plans to seek peace bers are the actors who played the youngest and with Israel. Halton, who was in Jerusalem, had oldest members of the platoon. Ian Lavender to get to Cairo as soon as possible. He crossed played , a teenaged mama’s boy and the frontier into Jordan in order to get a flight to played Lance-Corporal Jones, born Egypt (there were obviously no direct flights). in 1870, who had been a drummer boy in Lord When he arrived in Cairo he was picked Kitchener’s Sudan campaign (1896-98). He was up by two people from the “Foreign Ministry.” responsible for the catch phrase “Don’t Panic! Halton asked how they knew he was coming to Don’t Panic!” which he always did anyway. Egypt. “Aren’t you David Holden (UK Tele- Dunn was much younger than his character was graph Foreign Correspondent)?” they asked. He supposed to be and (at last check) is still with said “No, I am David Halton from the CBC.” us! They seemed surprised. One week later, Holden You can view a number of episodes of himself arrived in Cairo on a similar assignment Dad’s Army on youtube…it combines a brilliant and was assassinated between the airport and his cast, with great writing. The radio version can hotel, a crime still unsolved. often be heard on BBC Radio 4 Extra, along Newsgathering remains a very dangerous with all of the classic comedy mentioned above. occupation. According to the website of the

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