We interrupt this broadcaster: why did Winston Churchill try to seize the BBC?

In 1926, with the General Strike looming and the right warning of a Bolshevik revolution, the BBC found itself in a dreadful dilemma. Writer Jack Thorne on why he turned this into ‘a love letter to people in authority’Jack Thorne is a furiously busy scriptwriter and, although he’s celebrated for bringing Harry Potter to the stage and His Dark Materials to the screen, he loves a chewy subject. In recent years, he’s tackled child abuse, the plight of care homes in the pandemic, and a Grenfell-like catastrophe that devastates a community. At the moment, his play The Motive and the Cue, about the famously rocky process of putting together John Gielgud’s production of Hamlet starring Richard Burton, is at the National Theatre in London.He will soon have another play on in the city. When we meet, Thorne – tall, gangly, scrappily bearded, wearing a T-shirt with a printed design that instantly calls to mind the armoured bear in His Dark Materials – is on a break from watching a run-through of his newest work, When Winston Went to War With the Wireless. It stages an early crisis for the BBC that shaped its future and set the tone for the way it handles political pressure to this day. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-06-05 07:00:22 UTC ]
News tagged with: #love letter #dark materials #national theatre #newest work #harry potter

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BBC Studios options Chowdhury's prize-winning The Waiter

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-07 14:28:57 UTC ]
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BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Gaiman's fairytale to be released as digital download

BBC Audio will release the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sleeper and the Spindle as a digital download in January 2021, with an exclusive introduction from the author.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-30 14:33:55 UTC ]
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Bonnier's Mann signs up to BBC allyship scheme

Bonnier Books c.e.o. Perminder Mann is part of a new scheme which aims to unite organisations inside and outside the creative industries to promote allyship. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-30 00:21:01 UTC ]
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‘We seized on podcasts’: How Slate used audio as the foundation of its first-party data strategy

At least 60% of Slate's podcast audience also visits its site, giving the news publisher a strong foundation for its new first-party data strategy. The post ‘We seized on podcasts’: How Slate used audio as the foundation of its first-party data strategy appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2020-11-06 05:01:12 UTC ]
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The biggest threat to the BBC's independence is the corporation itself | George Monbiot

It follows a news agenda set by media oligarchs. Instead it should be investigating power, money and their influence on our livesThey don’t want balance, they want possession. The oligarchs who own the newspapers will never accept the BBC, because it does not belong to them. However tame and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-10-07 06:00:30 UTC ]
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Sarah Hall wins BBC National Short Story Award for second time

Sarah Hall has become the first author to win the BBC National Short Story Award twice in its 15-year history.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-06 01:38:09 UTC ]
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Chatto & Windus to publish BBC Radio 4's Covid chronicles

This November Chatto & Windus will publish a collection of lockdown stories and experiences from BBC Radio 4’s "PM", with a foreword from the programme's presenter Evan Davis. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-17 13:23:06 UTC ]
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Hall gets fourth shortlisting for BBC's £15k short story award

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The BBC's commitment to books

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-10 20:42:44 UTC ]
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BBC Books goes Behind the Sequins with Ballas

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-27 09:09:12 UTC ]
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Unnamed to Donate Half of 'The Happy Broadcast' Preorder Proceeds

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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MCB scoops new Winston from Smith and signs screen rights deal

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-25 10:20:45 UTC ]
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Story of Churchill's daughter-in-law to Virago

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-22 04:52:06 UTC ]
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HQ scoops memoir from broadcaster and campaigner Sarpong

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-18 07:55:25 UTC ]
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Evaristo, Webb and Gaiman join BBC Arts Big Book Weekend

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-25 10:45:46 UTC ]
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BBC Arts launches Culture in Quarantine with Big Books Weekend

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BBC follows Mantel for six months in new documentary

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-26 12:50:21 UTC ]
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Can Rupert Murdoch and Boris Johnson Team Up to Kneecap the BBC?

Over the past five years, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has been quietly building a major position in the U.K. radio Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2020-02-25 22:25:24 UTC ]
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