Past Forward: A Century of Sound

Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Documentaries

Podcasts

Factual

Factual: History

Greg Jenner dives deep into the BBC archive to explore what it says about who we are now.

Greg Jenner takes a deep dive into the BBC archive to explore what it can tell us about who we are now.

Marking the Centenary, Past Forward uses a random date generator to alight somewhere in the BBC's vast archive over the past 100 years. Historian Greg Jenner hears an archive clip for the first time at the top of the programme, and uses it as a starting point in a journey towards the present day. The archive captures a century of British life in a unique way -  a history of ordinary people's lives, as well as news of the great events.  Greg uncovers connections through people, places and ideas that link the archive fragment to Britain in 2022, pulling in help from experts and those who remember the time - and sometimes the speakers themselves, decades later - along the way. What he discovers are stories, big and small, that reveal how the people we were have shaped the people we have become.

BBC Radio 4 FM

Past Forward: A Century of Sound: Dinner Is Served

Dinner Is Served

BBC Radio 4 - Past Forward: A Century of Sound, Dinner Is Served

Greg Jenner dives into the BBC archive to explore the changes between then and now.

Historian Greg Jenner hears a fragment of archive recorded at Smithfield Market in 1935 and reflects on British food supply chains then and now.

Historian Greg Jenner hears an evocative fragment of archive recorded at Smithfield Market in 1935, and reflects on British food culture and supply chains then and now, with his guests, the food historian Annie Gray and Professor of Food Policy at City University Tim Lang 

Marking the centenary of the BBC, Past Forward uses a random date generator to alight somewhere in the BBC's vast archive over the past 100 years.  Greg Jenner hears an archive clip for the first time at the top of the programme, and uses it as a starting point in a journey towards the present day. The archive captures a century of British life in a unique way - a history of ordinary people’s lives, as well as news of the great events. Greg uncovers connections through people, places and ideas that link the archive fragment to Britain in 2022, pulling in help from experts and those who remember the time, and looking at how far we've come since then.  

Produced by Megan Jones

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Past Forward: A Century of Sound

Dinner Is Served

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4