19July
We've been researching the career of David Hatch, who died last month. By turn, he was head of BBC Light Entertainment, and Controller of Radios 2 and 4. In the last role, he introduced the Rollercoaster
experiment, where Radio 4's morning schedule was abolished for twenty-six Thursdays during 1984. Rather than have fixed and demarcated programmes, Hatch's idea was to have a seamless three hours with Richard Baker fronting the programme. The programme was aimed at the casual listener, rather than someone who knew the schedule off by heart.
There had been continuous but relatively spontaneous speech programmes on commercial broadcaster LBC for many years, Rollercoaster
was the first time it had been attempted with more studio discussion than phone-in. There was still an interactive element, but it was not the focus of the programme. Though the critics found it not as bad as they expected, the experiment came to its scheduled conclusion at the end of September. A second series was proposed for summer 1985, but cancelled at short notice, officially for financial reasons.
A similar idea, the 100-minute Colour Supplement
fell into the schedules on Sunday mornings between The Archers
omnibus and The World This Weekend
; it was somewhat less favourably received, and though revived for a brief run in summer 1985, was let drop afterwards. We should also mention Pirate Radio 4
, a mix of speech and contemporary music, which went out on Radio 4's FM frequencies for three Thursdays in July and August 1985. Targetted at teenagers and students on summer holidays, the show is remembered now only as the place one could have heard three new Adrian Mole readings, later printed in True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole
(1989). Mr. Hatch moved to a more senior role in 1986, and new controller Michael Green did not pursue the single programme idea, preferring the continuing drama Citizens
(390 episodes, 1987-91).
At the time of his appointment, there was a rumour that Radio 4 might become a pure news-and-current-affairs station. The governors tried their best to quash it, but the mutterings persisted. Appointing a light entertainment man such as Mr. Hatch was a symbol of their faith in a more mixed approach to the senior service. The concept of a rolling news programme continued to rumble around in the 1980s, but no proposals crystalised until after the 1991 conflict in the Gulf.
The idea in spring 1991 was to convert Radio 4's long wave frequency into an Events programme, which would have covered parliament, party conferences, set-piece events, and run additional news programmes during the day – hosted news programmes in a similar style to The World at One
would replace regular programmes at around 10am, 3pm, and mid-evening. The plans got as far as a three-week pilot giving extended coverage of the 1992 election campaign. However, a rear-guard action by French fans of The Archers
and British luddites prevented the proposal from going through. The axe eventually fell on fledgling education-and-youth service Radio 5 – nipped in the bud after 3½ years, just as Nigel and Earl were beginning to sort out the world. Mr. Hatch regarded this as a betrayal of future audiences, and left the BBC.
In retrospect, Rollercoaster
's mix of current comment, lighter features, and heavy debate formed the outline template for the early years of Radio Five's news-and-sport incarnation, at least until the station succumbed to the cheap option of rolling phone-in programmes in the early 2000s.
Here's how the schedule changed. Radio 4, Thursday 27 October 1983:
9am News, Checkpoint – a weekly investigation into listeners' problems with Roger Cook.
9.30 The Living World with Peter France
10am News, In Business
10.30 Morning Story – Only Make Believe
by Margaret Danks, read by Kate Binchy.
10.45 Daily Service
11am News, Travel, That Reminds Me – Swedish soprano Elisabeth Soderstrom introduces some favourite operatic entrances.
11.48 Enquire Within, with Neil Landor answering listener's questions.
Radio 4, Thursday 5 April 1984:
9am News, Rollercoaster – first edition of a new three-hour sequence – a six-month broadcast experiment in which listeners are invited to participate. Join Richard Baker and guests for entertaining and provocative conversation. Including 10, 11 News; 10.30 Morning Story Harry Comes Home
by Nan Woodhouse; 10.45 An Act of Worship – music and prayers.
