Nadiya Hussain and Jamie Ballard

Well, I enjoy a good bit of history, Zoe - whether that’s period dramas on the telly, blue plaques around London or historic houses with those sprawling gardens. So, I loved discovering that today – 2nd November – is a pretty important day when it comes to this gem of an institution, the BBC. Because 85 years ago, it was the first day that the BBC launched its television service from Alexandra Palace. Before this, it was a radio only affair. And whilst we all know that radio is the true round-the-clock companion (!) I don’t know where I’d be without the ritual of autumnal Saturday nights in front of Strictly. 

This historical nugget made me appreciate afresh how lucky we are to still have these radio and tv channels we flit between – each honouring that BBC trinity to educate, inform and entertain. (And didn’t Rose’s twisted tango deliver on the latter last Saturday!?) Closer to home, piled up on the kitchen table in front of me, is my own reminder of the steadfast yet ever evolving nature of the Beeb – thanks to three dog-eared books, compilations of old Pause for Thoughts. The oldest of the three, (which cost its original owner just 25 pence back in the 70s), contains bits that don’t half give away its age! Like a line insisting young men give up their seats to women… 

But what stopped me in my tracks in the week of the COP 26 summit were the timeless words of Reverend Murray Grant – some listeners may even remember him - who, over twenty years ago thanked God for environmentalists who’d alerted us to, as he puts it, “what we are doing to this, our one and only earthly home… this masterpiece of creation.” What an amazing full circle then to have last month tuned into (our now rather higher definition) BBC1, to gaze again into Alexandra Palace for the first ever Earthshot Prize – where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (with help from Dermot and Clara) kickstarted this global prizegiving, incentivising the repair of our planet. Times might’ve changed but it’s very special indeed that the BBC’s power to inform and educate is being harnessed to sustain our world. Let’s hope that in 20 years time - ‘this masterpiece of creation’ – is in better shape…