"Never has anything approaching this piece of lunacy ever been accomplished in any country. It is a piece of insanity." (Beecham on the BBC)
"His contempt for the BBC and his absolute inability to collaborate has made his rehearsals a nightmare." (BBC internal memo)

Sir Thomas Beecham made no secret of his dislike of the BBC. All the same, for more than 30 years, the BBC continued to engage him for concerts and opera performances. Inevitably there were quarrels and misunderstandings. This programme, compiled from material in the BBC's Written Archives, tells for the first time the story of this unlikely, yet fruitful, association. With Norman Shelley as Sir Thomas Beecham
Narrator MANNING WILSON
with ROD BEACHAM, GARARD GREEN, WALTER HALL, FRASER KERR, JANE KNOWLES, JONATHAN SCOTT, IRENE SUTCLIFFE and STEPHEN THORNE
Written and produced by ALAN HAYDOCK (Rptd: Wed 11.5 am)