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Bong! The Condensed History of Big Ben

Adam Long celebrates The Great Clock of the Palace of Westminster. With Simon Jermond and Giles Terera. From 2009.

Big Ben's Bongs were first heard on BBC Radio on 17th February 1924.

Adam Long, co-founder of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, and his two friends Simon Jermond and Giles Terera, celebrate the Great Clock of the Palace of Westminster and takes a whirlwind musical tour of all things Ben.

It is a story of arduous neo-Gothic design, bells that kept cracking and the invention of something called a double three-legged gravity escapement mechanism.

Originally broadcast to celebrate 150 years of almost continuous time telling by Big Ben.

Producers: Mandy Baker & Giles Terera

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2009.

15 minutes

Last on

Sun 25 Feb 202402:15
BBC Radio 4 Extra

Broadcasts

  • Wed 3 Jun 200920:45
    BBC Radio 4
  • Sun 7 Jun 200905:45
    BBC Radio 4
  • Sat 24 Feb 202407:15
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Sat 24 Feb 202412:15
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Sat 24 Feb 202418:15
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Sun 25 Feb 202402:15
    BBC Radio 4 Extra