The Connected Histories of the BBC

I've recently had the privilege of working on the Connected Histories of the BBC website (CHBBC) alongside a team of academics at the University of Sussex. This website is a collection of Oral Histories about the BBC, which has now been made available to the public.

The tradition of telling our stories dates back for centuries. An oral history is essentially a recorded version of someone telling us their recollection of events. We selected interviews about the BBC from several different archives: BBC History's archives; Alexandra Palace Television Centre Collection and from the British Entertainment History Project archives. These oral histories tell us the story of the BBC, but also tell us about the development of broadcasting; how society has changed and provide unique insights into major historical events.

I've now managed to read or watch most of the interviews in the collection and have found them to be a fascinating collection. Some of my favourite stories include David Attenborough telling us how Anthony Eden's wife painted his moustache with mascara to make him look less ill, when he was filmed during the Suez Crisis. Dylan Thomas is one of my favourite poets, and there are stories about him, and his infamous pub crawls, along with recollections about a range of now famous poets and writers.

My grandfather used to love listening to horse racing. I used to play with building blocks while he listened to the radio, and I remember hearing the thunder of the hoofbeats in those races. Through the archive, I discovered that the engineers actually buried microphones in the turf to get that sound. Those early radio and TV pioneers displayed an incredible amount of ingenuity – including using an old-fashioned washing machine mangle to create an autocue for Peter Dimmock.

One of my favourite interviews is with Robin Duff, a war correspondent, whose descriptions of events - such as Gandhi's funeral and the heat of the flames of his funeral pyre - make the event so real. He was a war correspondent, and also writes about his time in France. It is particularly poignant to read how the French people in occupied France told the American soldiers where to find the Germans, only for the Americans not to believe them. I have to wonder how different the war would have been if there had been more trust of the locals.

I come from a line of soldiers – the grandfather mentioned earlier fought in the Second World War; my father and husband in the Rhodesian wars. I grew up in a war zone, and heard war stories, and I find the stories of the war correspondents particularly moving. They are also interspersed with minor comedies. Frank Gillard's sense of mischief is evident when he talks about annoying the great generals by getting information ahead of them, but also in his anecdote about buying a puppy for General Montgomery, and his shenanigans getting the BBC to cover the cost under his expenses.

The interviews capture so much contemporary history. It is fascinating to read new perspectives from behind the scenes of history we have witnessed in the news. Bridget Kendall, diplomatic correspondent, talks about the fall of the Berlin wall, Perestroika, and events in Russia which seem especially pertinent in light of recent events.

Whatever your history and experience, the collection is sure to have stories that will interest you and offer new insights into historical events.

You can access the collection here

We've created a video to help use the website here.