BBC Genome Project

[Paul Stenning]

http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/

This site contains the BBC listings information which the BBC printed in Radio Times between 1923 and 2009. You can search the site for BBC programmes, people, dates and Radio Times editions.

We hope it helps you find that long forgotten BBC programme, research a particular person or browse your own involvement with the BBC.

This is a historical record of both the planned output and the BBC services of any given time. It should be viewed in this context and with the understanding that it reflects the attitudes and standards of its time - not those of today.

A bit sparse on details, some have radio, some have TV. I was rather hoping for a scan of the originals along with adverts and articles. I don't think I will bother looking anymore.

[robjkmannering]

Well it brought back memories of Saturday night BBC One viewing as a teen with my parents. As has been said, scans would have been nice.
Five minutes is plenty to satisfy curiosity.

Rob

[emeritus]

It retrieved the info for "Lysistrata", a TV play I remember seeing as a schoolboy in the 1960's. There is a feedback box where you can enter anything you wish to comment on about the programme, in particular whether it was actually transmitted on that date. I did make a comment, as my recollection is that the play had to be restarted from the beginning after a few minutes due to a technical fault. My problem is remembering the titles of programmes I recall seeing, but that's my problem, not the site's!

[McMurdo]

features a nice Ekco B67 (?) as well

[Nickthedentist]

Very interesting! Thanks for pointing it out.

Have to say that the modern logos for defunct stations (e.g. Daventry & Light) are a bit ridiculous though.

It doesn't appear to include the World Service though which is a shame, as I'd hoped to find out when a tape I have of my dad giving a talk about lizards was broadcast.

It did allow me to do this for a tape of a concert from the Albert Hall which our school choir did, which is great.

N.

[dave walsh]

A very useful resource thanks. The Westminster Library [not the House of Commons] used to have a complete run of RT's. The Music Librarian dug out some very helpful datings for me and I managed to buy the relevant issues as a hard copy original elsewhere. One was £6 and the other £10 . That was some time ago. You still can't beat the RT for detailed listings [especially Radio] but it has its faults. Don't we all?
Dave W

[Tractorfan]

Hi,
It's well worth a look if only for the Radio Times' covers. I'm sure I've got one or two of them here somewhere.
Cheers, Pete.

[dave walsh]

Further to my previous comment and as I get the [possibly quite mistaken] impression that not many Forum Users buy the Radio Times I'll report that the Genome Project has been a big hit with their general readers since it was mentioned a few issues back.
There have been continuing references to it in the letters pages re the ease in which old schedules can be re-visited to revive personal memories. I suppose this may also tie in with the great interest in Family history these days but it has surprised me that the site is such a hit with the general population and not just dedicated enthusiasts like ourselves.

One person commented that they had tried to locate hard copies of the mag but now didn't have to! There is something very democratic about all this. It's not just the Downton types who can access and record their family activities over the generations these days.

Like the Car Phone Warehouse, Radio Times is such a strong brand that it still exists beyond it's original definition. Some people can't grasp this!

A woman once beautifully illustrated the point in a letter to the Guardian.
The young girl at her newsagents constantly asked her about TV quiz shows etc when she picked up her weekly copy of RT. Eventually she snapped and said "I've told you over and over again that I don't have a television set!!!"
Shocked and taken aback, the assistant defended herself with a genuinely puzzled "Well... why do you buy a Radio Times then?".

Although not a joke in itself I find this incident very funny. It's even funnier when you tell it to someone who [like the assistant] doesn't get it.

Dave W

[Mike Phelan]

Despite the fact it's called Radio Times!

We've taken RT most of our lives despite the fact that there were many years when we didn't have a television.

[dave walsh]

Yes indeed Mike! no doubt you will have noticed yet another appreciation of this archive on the letters page of next weeks RT.
Dave W