More radio nostalgia

Sound files from 22 and 23 November 1978, when BBC radio reallocated its wavelengths - as much of a shake-up as that of 30 September 1967, much remembered last weekend. Of particular interest to Radio 4 fans is the recording of the handover of 1500 metres / 200 kilohertz from Radio 2 to Radio 4, emphasising that for the first time that day Radio 4 served 'the whole of the United Kingdom', welcoming listeners in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; BBC Radio 4 Scotland and BBC Radio 4 Wales became BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio Wales that day. The second part includes the introduction to the first ever Radio 4 shipping forecast, treated as only of interest to their new maritime audience, addressed cautiously as 'Gentlemen'; 'Sailing By' is played for the first time without fanfare.

EDIT Correction - the change of name from BBC Radio 4 Scotland to BBC Radio Scotland happened in 1974, says Tony Currie in his history of Radio Times; and as a leading Scottish broadcaster and collector of Radio Times and other listings magazines, he is in a better place to know. Radio Scotland opted in to Radio 4 for some programmes from then on; Radio 4 was not available in Scotland until the frequency change of 1978, and as 'Radio 4 UK' was the lineal heir of the London Home Service, midnight on 23 November 1978 was the first time that Scotland heard the station.

Intellibrain

I have work to do this weekend, but am amusing myself instead with memes and broadcasting history...

Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz The higher of these two numbers below indicates which side of your brain has dominance in your life. Realising your right brain/left brain tendancy will help you interact with and to understand others. Left Brain Dominance: (8) Right Brain Dominance: (8) Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz

Well, that helps me with decision-making, doesn't it?

Robin Hood 2.1: Sisterhood

A doubtfully welcome return for the series with perhaps the strongest sense of period ever - that is, if you think all historical periods run concurrently and everyone was dipping into the same dressing-up box. This must be the first twelfth-century drama in which henchmen walk around wearing what look like berets that might be worn by some continental national guard. While Robin and his men's attire is a little less Marks and Spencer than last year, Guy of Gisborne is still desperately seeking his motorbike. Davina, the Sheriff's sister, seems to be a pioneer in cosmetics, in latex, and in whatever combination of fibres her Queen of Sin outfit was made from (a tribute, I suppose, to the Saturday nights of the 1960s and Diana Rigg's encounter with the Hellfire Club in The Avengers); Mark Wright at The Stage blog applauds her sexiness, but I found her performance and its presentation largely stale and, like her make-up, overdone. I made allowances, as I thought she was going to be developed in future episodes, but I was proved wrong.

Jonas Armstrong shows a bit more spirit as Robin - and the fact that he bites his fingers at times of stress, like me, makes him sympathetic - but remains notedly uncharismatic. Lucy Griffiths is improved as Marian. Pre-publicity emphasised that both had put on bulk; this isn't noticeable with Armstrong, but Lucy Griffiths is more curvaceous and this helps her look older and gives her more physical strength to support Marian when she needs to be forceful. Unfortunately it makes it more difficult to disguise that she is female when garbed as the Night Watchman; during one fight scene I was expecting the Sheriff or Gisborne to exclaim that the Watchman was, in fact, a Watchwoman.

Armstrong's best scene was the one which potentially laid the scene for his elimination from the ongoing series, when he led the outlaws in proclaiming that they were all Robin Hood. There is evidently a little more attempt at character development this time; the Sheriff's leadership of the Black Knights and their ambitions for England provide a bit more focus to Robin's fight, and the treason of one of the 'merry men' will at least help differentiate them a bit. The new title sequence is an improvement, and the greenwood looks a bit greener this time, though the landscape remains mostly unEnglish. The new signature graphic of Robin's brilliant green iris indicates what the production is trying to get at; but Robin Hood's new camp, hidden by mounds of brown autumn leaves, is definitely at the poorer end of Camp Nonsense, and to survive the series concept needs a good deal more coherence and substance.