大象传媒

Greg James searches through the 大象传媒 Archive to track down audio gems, using listener requests, overlooked anniversaries and current stories to guide the way.

Last week Greg asked for your nostalgic theme tune requests. Charlie remembers the theme for a show called People, but can't remember what People actually was. As Greg discovers, it involves bald men, nudist beaches and Hell's Angels. Or how about the theme to Jossy's Giants, a children's footballing drama about the new manager of the Glipton Grasshoppers, written by darts commentator Sid Waddell?

It's 60 years since Sir Ian McKellen's TV debut in a 大象传媒 adaptation of a Rudyard Kipling story in 1964. Greg charts Sir Ian's career, both as an actor and as an activist, including the moment he came out publicly on a 大象传媒 Radio 3 debate about Section 28. We also hear his memories of filming The Lord of the Rings, and meet a 10-year-old Daniel Radcliffe.

A listener asks Greg to find the source of a sample used in a Lemon Jelly song, which leads him to a programme called Children Talking. Cue the sweetness.

And this year marks the 50th anniversary of a defining moment in television: the invention of reality TV. In 1974, the 大象传媒 broadcast a new documentary series called The Family, in which a camera crew followed a real life family as they went about their lives. There were arguments, weddings, scandals - and a very divided viewing public.

Producer: Tim Bano
Series archivists: Tariq Hussain and Gordon Edmonds

An EcoAudio certified production