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Book Review: All Our Todays - Forty Years of the Today Programme, by Paul Donovan
I had been leaning towards a re-read of this for a while. It seems inconceivable that there was a before time: in fact Today began broadcasting in 1957, with two half-hour slots at 07:15 and 08:15. The programme was subject to evolution rather than revolution, beginning earlier in the morning, becoming a continuous programme absorbing the news bulletins into its schedule, adding a Saturday edition. It was intended to be rather diverse and not particularly political or especially news-oriented; the current format is recognisable probably from the 1970s onwards. (It's interesting to note that the programme has certainly evolved since Donovan wrote about it in 1997: gone are the travel bulletins, and news on the half-hour has become quite a moveable feast, for example.)
Inevitably, the programme has been the creature of its presenters over time. Mis-telling the time has been a constant, even if it is mostly attributed to Jack de Manio. (Why have they never got themselves a digital clock?) The era of political heavyweights probably began with John Timpson and Brian Redhead, and may in part have been a reaction to the launch of breakfast television. It's difficult to know -or care - whether rivalries were real or exaggerated in the era of John Humphrys, Jim Naughtie and Sue MacGregor. Some of the more controversial interviews are reviewed and reconsidered, along with the BBC's general response to any complaints. There's a whole chapter on Thought for the Day; it's mostly (though not always) harmless, and I should perhaps just be grateful that it has been reduced in duration over the years.
One final self-referential legend that Donovan mentions, but is sceptical of, is the suggestion that the UK's nuclear submarines would, in an apparent communication breakdown, try to tune in to the Today programme to discover whether a nuclear war had broken out. As I recall when this story emerged, the News Quiz posed the question "Why, if there is no Today, would there be no tomorrow?". One of the panel observed that if the Today programme was not on air, the submarine commander would open the sealed instructions from the Prime Minister, which might say "let 'em have it", or possibly "head to New Zealand, if it's still there".
I had been leaning towards a re-read of this for a while. It seems inconceivable that there was a before time: in fact Today began broadcasting in 1957, with two half-hour slots at 07:15 and 08:15. The programme was subject to evolution rather than revolution, beginning earlier in the morning, becoming a continuous programme absorbing the news bulletins into its schedule, adding a Saturday edition. It was intended to be rather diverse and not particularly political or especially news-oriented; the current format is recognisable probably from the 1970s onwards. (It's interesting to note that the programme has certainly evolved since Donovan wrote about it in 1997: gone are the travel bulletins, and news on the half-hour has become quite a moveable feast, for example.)
Inevitably, the programme has been the creature of its presenters over time. Mis-telling the time has been a constant, even if it is mostly attributed to Jack de Manio. (Why have they never got themselves a digital clock?) The era of political heavyweights probably began with John Timpson and Brian Redhead, and may in part have been a reaction to the launch of breakfast television. It's difficult to know -or care - whether rivalries were real or exaggerated in the era of John Humphrys, Jim Naughtie and Sue MacGregor. Some of the more controversial interviews are reviewed and reconsidered, along with the BBC's general response to any complaints. There's a whole chapter on Thought for the Day; it's mostly (though not always) harmless, and I should perhaps just be grateful that it has been reduced in duration over the years.
One final self-referential legend that Donovan mentions, but is sceptical of, is the suggestion that the UK's nuclear submarines would, in an apparent communication breakdown, try to tune in to the Today programme to discover whether a nuclear war had broken out. As I recall when this story emerged, the News Quiz posed the question "Why, if there is no Today, would there be no tomorrow?". One of the panel observed that if the Today programme was not on air, the submarine commander would open the sealed instructions from the Prime Minister, which might say "let 'em have it", or possibly "head to New Zealand, if it's still there".