BBC Bristol celebrates 80th Anniversary
The BBC in Bristol announce today (Friday 12 September) a series of programmes and events to mark its 80th anniversary on Thursday 18 September.
Published: 12 September 2014
Bristol at 80 celebrates that relationship by highlighting key moments and outstanding talent at the heart of eight decades of hits, classics and landmarks that are the envy of the programme-making world.
Throughout the coming months there will be opportunities for audiences in Bristol to help mark the 80th Anniversary with a series of free events highlighting the range of iconic programmes made by the BBC in Bristol.
This will include an exclusive screening in Bristol of the Natural History Unit’s landmark series Life Story, presented by Sir David Attenborough. The series will broadcast on BBC One this autumn but will have its premiere in Bristol. Free tickets to this unique event will be allocated via a ballot, details of how to apply will be announced shortly.
Tickets are already available for another event marking the 80th Anniversary, the opportunity to see Countryfile’s John Craven in conversation with Points West presenters David Garmston and Alex Lovell. John started his career as a Points West reporter and continues his association with Bristol as a presenter with the hugely popular BBC One series Countryfile. Tickets for this event, on Wednesday 1 October, are free of charge and are available via Eventbrite.
Peter Salmon, BBC Director of England, said: “Eighty years on the BBC is proud to sit at the heart of life in Bristol from our base in Whiteladies Road. Anyone like me who has spent a substantial amount of time working and living in the city knows how much Bristol has contributed to our success and creativity too - from the world famous Natural History Unit to The Antiques Roadshow, Points West to Poetry Please, Radio Bristol to Flog It - popular, authoritative and informative programmes and services that have stood the test of time.
"Bristol at 80 celebrates that relationship by highlighting key moments and outstanding talent at the heart of eight decades of hits, classics and landmarks that are the envy of the programme-making world.”
The Lord Mayor of Bristol officially opened the BBC’s Whiteladies Road base on 18 September 1934. Back then it contained four radio studios - three for speech and drama and one big enough to hold an entire orchestra. The outbreak of the Second World War transformed Bristol’s role. With London under heavy bombing, the BBC sent its entire Entertainment Department to the comparative safety of Bristol. Since then it has grown to encompass the world-famous Natural History Unit, and household names such as Antiques Roadshow, Gardeners’ World, Countryfile, The Hairy Bikers, DIY SOS, Flog It!, Farming Today, Poetry Please and Any Questions, as well as BBC Radio Bristol, Points West, Inside Out, Politics Show West and BBC websites for local and regional news, food, and nature.
In addition to the events above, this weekend BBC Bristol will have original studio equipment from the early decades of broadcasting on display when the site on Whiteladies Road takes part in the annual Bristol Doors Open Day on Saturday 13 September.
The BBC Bristol Doors Open Day event is now sold out, but audience tours are bookable all-year round via the BBC Shows and Tours website.
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