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Do you remember seeing or hearing any of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ programmes featured on this website? Was Apna Hi Ghar Samajhiye on the television at home? Were you a fan of Empire Road or Open Door? Might you have tuned-in to Caribbean Voices or listened to the reports of Mark Tully and Satish Jacob many years ago?

Did you perhaps catch this wonderful poem, 'Grey', written and read by John Agard in a 1998 edition of Video Nation?:

Your memories

I am British and have lived in England all my life, so the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is part of the cultural fabric of my existence.The ´óÏó´«Ã½ plays an important part in my life. I listen to radio daily for news, live sport and entertainment, and also listen to many podcasts.

Celia Gould, Hertford

Very little representation of the mixed race experience. Most attempts self-sourced of flimsy. A notable exception was a character from David Tennant's run of Doctor Who.

Ivan Phillips, London

I occasionally represented the ´óÏó´«Ã½ abroad or visited places while I worked for it. People abroad after equated the ´óÏó´«Ã½ with Britain. In Soviet Russia I was regularly asked if I knew a certain ´óÏó´«Ã½ correspondent. I didn't.As I worked for it for a long time, it had a real influence on me of course. I am very proud to have done so across many variants of radio and TV, and I still 'research' the early-mid history of it.

Andy Finney, Peterborough

As a child in the 80s I loved ‘Grange Hill’, ‘Biker Grove’, despite not attending that kind of school. Programming for people with visual impairments were always too boring, so I never watched.

Rebecca Grisedale-Sherry, London

My earliest memory is of watching the 'Flowerpot Men' on ´óÏó´«Ã½ in black-and-white during school lunchtime.

Philip Barnes, Hove

For my teenage years - the ´óÏó´«Ã½ was my 'window to the world'. I began to appreciate how the rest of the world 'perceived' the identity group I had hitherto been part of. My religious and political identity / awareness was beginning to 'form' during the 1970s.I do remember Mark Tully reporting but I was not aware of many of the programmes mentioned above - this is I am sure, due to my living in a part of Britain where race/colour was not, and still is not, an issue/point of debate. In Northern Ireland it was religion/politics.The ´óÏó´«Ã½ belongs to us all - it is a 'cementing' force and the one item we all missed when abroad. It is one of the most important forms of media in my cultural heritage. Like the NHS it is irreplaceable, I believe.

Elaine Denison, Weybridge

It has- through radio - been fairly central to my cultural life, and I hugely grateful for it.

Sheena Evans, Surbiton

In the late 60s, I as a young graduate, was offered the opportunity of a lecturing post at a University on the West Coast of Canada, and I asked my University Professor for his advice. "You'd miss the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and ournational press" he said. I didn't give the chance of this job a second thought.

Frances Price, Lewes

Distinct memory of Northern accents on Home Service (North Region - Wilfred Pickle)… Otherwise not relevant to my affinity group, as a child of Jewish refugees from Hitler in a town with a small Jewish Community, most of whom were from an earlier generation of immigrants - so a minority within a minority.

Harold Schickler, London

Where were the regional accents? Why was I sent for elocution lessons to drop my Yorkshire accent and be more acceptable?

Pam Schickler, London

As a white, (upper) middle class male I've never had to question or consider my identity and I can't say that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ has ever challenged me to do so, but then Cathy Come Home made a big impact on me, so maybe something did make me question my class privilege… I recall the Black & White Minstrel Show very well, and think it ended much later than I imagine possible.

Nick Till, London

I was born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and my views of British life were influenced by the glimpses I had of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ on TV. My Grandfather listened to the radio non-stop, which included the ´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service, and I remember the beeps before the news. When something significant happened, like the Royal Wedding in 1981, we were brought into the school hall to hear it on the radio. We moved to South Africa in 1982, where we saw a wider range of shows… We regarded ´óÏó´«Ã½ reporting as superior to local coverage, and when I was in Rhodesia, ´óÏó´«Ã½ 'Received Pronunciation' was regarded as the way to speak. Quite a few ´óÏó´«Ã½ programmes made it to us, although at the time, I didn't know they were ´óÏó´«Ã½. I loved Doctor Who (Tom Baker) The Avengers, The Saint, and my brother loved The Wombles when it was broadcast in South Africa. What we saw gave me the impression of a very 'white' culture, but given that we only saw selected programming, and the attitudes to race in Africa, this is probably more a reflection of what was imported as opposed to the image the ´óÏó´«Ã½ portrayed.

The only show I remember showing a Multicultural Britain was a comedy called 'Love thy Neighbour,' and 'Mind Your Language' which tended to make fun of cultural differences.I think what we saw of ´óÏó´«Ã½ programming gave us a very limited view of being British - perhaps a selection of 'colonial views', trying to recreate 'British' values in Africa. When we moved here, I found the reality was quite different to the boarding school and public school country I thought it would be. The irony is, even though Britain is far more racially integrated that parts of Africa, I have more friends of colour in Africa, than I do here.

Denice Penrose, Newhaven

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