Radio 4 was the BBC Home Service, and may be again if in times of national emergency all other channels are forced to close. If that happens I hope the BBC controllers follow the precedent set 40 years ago and continue with an uninterrupted schedule. In particular, I would emphasise the necessity of continuing to broadcast ‘The Archers’, ‘The News Quiz’ and ‘I'm sorry I haven't a clue’. BBC radios 1–4 may be 40 years old, but the daddy of them all is Radio 4, at almost 70.
It is almost impossible in this technological age to imagine what would have to happen to precipitate a crisis so deep that we'd be restricted once again to a single radio station. The need for light relief, the British ability to laugh in the face of adversity and to laugh at our leaders and ourselves, could be our saving grace. While boosting national morale with my three favourite radio programmes I could also see a role for them in issuing coded messages and feeding misinformation to our enemies (how could they ever begin to comprehend ‘Mornington Crescent’?). Therein lies the heartbeat of Radio 4. Is it really just a comforting relic of the empire and what it means to be British?
My Archers addiction is already on record, but now is the time to admit to a weekday schedule dictated by Radio 4. I wake to John Humphrys and James Naughtie on ‘The Today Programme’ and am regularly irritated by their subtle attempts to subvert my own opinion on matters of national importance. Nonetheless, it saves reading a newspaper, enabling me to multi-task, keeping up with the news while showering, dressing and having breakfast.
During the day, ‘Women's Hour’ or ‘You and Yours’ are treats while driving to off-site meetings, but in the evening, routine returns. My evening meal is prepared during the 18.30 slot and eaten in the company of my Ambridge friends. Thereafter, it's ad hoc listening only if an advance announcement has whetted my appetite for something (most often ‘Front Row’). I'm usually sound asleep before ‘Book at Bedtime’, but I have to confess to looking forward to insomniac old age when I plan to train myself to doze off to ‘Sailing by’ and the late night ‘Shipping Forecast’.
- © British Journal of General Practice, 2007.
