1953 in British radio

This is a list of events from British radio in 1953.

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Events

• 6 January – The Broadcasting Council for Wales meets for the first time.[1]
• 2 June – The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is broadcast on the BBC Home Service and The Light Programme, with seven hours of coverage provided.[2][3]
• 12 November – Writers Frank Muir and Denis Norden introduce the dysfunctional family of The Glums into comedy series Take It from Here and they become the most popular segment of the show.[4]
• Late 1953 – Lesley Saweard joins the cast of BBC serial The Archers to take over the part of Christine Barford; she will still be playing the role more than 65 years later, making her the world's longest-serving soap opera actor in any medium.[5]

Programme debuts

• 2 May – Variety Playhouse on the BBC Home Service (1953–1962)[6]

Continuing radio programmes

1930s

• In Town Tonight (1933–1960)

1940s

• Music While You Work (1940–1967)
• Sunday Half Hour (1940–2018)
• Desert Island Discs (1942–Present)
• Family Favourites (1945–1980)
• Down Your Way (1946–1992)
• Have A Go (1946–1967)
• Housewives' Choice (1946–1967)
• Letter from America (1946–2004)
• Woman's Hour (1946–Present)
• Twenty Questions (1947–1976)
• Any Questions? (1948–Present)
• Mrs Dale's Diary (1948–1969)
• Take It from Here (1948–1960)
• Billy Cotton Band Show (1949–1968)
• A Book at Bedtime (1949–Present)
• Ray's a Laugh (1949–1961)

1950s

• The Archers (1950–Present)
• Educating Archie (1950–1960)
• Listen with Mother (1950–1982)
• The Goon Show (1951–1960)

Births

• 6 January – Paul Mayhew-Archer, comedy writer and producer
• 22 February – Geoffrey Perkins, comedy producer (d. 2008)
• 21 April – Jim Lee, radio continuity announcer and newsreader

Deaths

• 9 April – C. E. M. Joad, philosopher and broadcaster (b. 1891)
• 30 September – Robert Mawdesley, stage and radio actor (b. c.1900)
• 9 November – Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet and radio broadcaster (b. 1914)

See also

• 1953 in British music
• 1953 in British television
• 1953 in the United Kingdom
• List of British films of 1953

References

1. British Broadcasting Corporation (1954). Annual Report and Accounts.
2. BBC Genome Project - BBC Home Service listings 2 June 1953.
3. "Queen Elizabeth takes coronation oath". On This Day. BBC. 1953-06-02. Archived from the original on 2009-06-07. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
4. Whitfield, June (2000). ... and June Whitfield. London: Bantam Press. p. 94. ISBN 0-593-04582-3. [Their creation resulted from irritation] with cosy radio and TV families, like the Dales, the Archers, the Huggetts and the Lyons. The family they created was, of course, the thoroughly unpleasant and indolent Glums. Whitfield played Ron Glum's long-term fiancée Eth.
5. "Lesley Saweard". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
6. The Times (London) 1953-05-02 p. 10.