11 October: Children's Hour

One for people of a certain age. In 1922, Children's Hour started on BBC Radio. 10 things you might not know about it:

1. Children's Hour was broadcast from 1922 to 1964.
2. The programme is named for a poem by Longfellow, which reads "Between the dark and the daylight, When the night is beginning to lower, Comes a pause in the day's occupations, That is known as the Children's Hour."
3. Presenters went by "Auntie" or "Uncle", as in Uncle Mac, Uncle Arthur and Auntie Kathleen.
4. The target audience was kids aged 5 to 15 years.
5. In the United Kingdom, Children's Hour was broadcast from 5 – 6 pm every day of the week, at a time when kids would be home from school. The biggest listening figures, though, were at the weekends when parents used to listen as well.
6. Among the featured serialisations and dramas was Worzel Gummidge, who would later become a 1970s TV show, starring Jon Pertwee. Other popular features included Norman and Henry Bones, boy detectives; Jennings at school; Sherlock Holmes and Winnie the Pooh.
7. The presenters included Wilfred Pickles, Violet Carson (who went on to play Ena Sharples in Coronation Street) and Norman Shelley (also Colonel Danby in The Archers).
8. The music for Children's Hour was composed by Peter Maxwell Davies. As an unknown, he submitted a piece of music called Clouds. At first, BBC bosses weren't sure if he was a genius or mad, and invited him for an interview to find out. The conclusion was the former.
9. From 1961 to 1964 the title changed to For the Young.
10. The programme was often criticised for promoting paternalism and middle-class values (though it was the BBC pre-1960s so only to be expected, really). That didn't stop people tuning in, however, and turning its presenters into celebrities. Towards the end, though, there was a sharp decline in listeners. Children, said Frank Gillard, the BBC boss who decided to end the show, had switched their allegiance to television. Most of the listeners, he reckoned, were "middle-aged and elderly ladies who liked to be reminded of the golden days of their youth". It wasn't a popular decision and questions were raised in Parliament.

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