Happy birthday You & Yours
Our 40th anniversary programme on four decades of telephony has generated a good deal of response. It didn't seem like the kind of subject to inspire poetry but it seems one extract may now be studied at secondary schools.
Listener and writer Esther Menon was one who got in touch, prompted by Steve Punt's column on the frustrations of the automated switchboard.
Esther is writing a chapter on poetry in a textbook designed for Year 9 pupils studying English. "I am keen to find lively interesting poems to support the work on form, language, structure etc that will prepare students for GCSE," she writes. And apparently Steve's effort fits the bill. You can't just put BBC material in a book without permission and we're currently being advised, before, hopefully, we give Esther the go-ahead.
Alan Windsor wrote us a happy birthday song
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions
And we heard from Elizabeth Smith who was "one of the producers* on that first ever edition of You and Yours. She's now secretary general at the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association. We're hoping for some reflections and recollections about the early You and Yours from her, on this blog soon.
Any use of the superlative on You and Yours is calculated to provoke "Oh no it's not" correspondence and there was no sign of slack being cut for us on our birthday. Julian said, not unreasonably, that the art gallery, installed in a phone box in Yorkshire was the smallest in Britain. But no, said Rebecca Birch, she has an art gallery on her - wait for it - on her window sill. And she's sent us a link to her Ledge Project. And before you ask, no Mark Lawson hasn't interviewed her yet. It's a You and Yours exclusive! The phone box story also prompted Mark Illingworth to send us his photograph of a Swiss version converted to a shower (click on the image to get a closer look).
I've just been told Radio 4's Feedback may be doing a piece on the anniversary and Daily Mail columnist Craig Brown couldn't resist the landmark as a chance to have a laugh at You and Yours' alleged fixation with safety.
Though the impact was softened when I turned a couple of pages to find the Mail covering Toasted Skin Syndrome. Which apparently occurs when you balance your laptop on bare thighs for hours at a time. Thankfully none of our producers suggested we include a piece on laptop burns on You and Yours.
Finally I should say that the Comprehensive Spending Review has forced a re-jig in our schedule next week. The Anniversary edition on disability has been moved from Wednesday October 20th to Friday October 22nd. And we'll be looking at the implications of Government spending plans over two days, starting on the 20th.
Andrew Smith is the Editor of You and Yours, In Touch, Fact the Facts and The Media Show on BBC Radio 4.
Comments Post your comment