Rewinder

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Greg James digs into the BBC's archives, using current stories as a portal to the past.

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Rewinder: Trifle and Tripe and Tracy Island

Trifle and Tripe and Tracy Island

BBC Radio 4 - Rewinder, Trifle and Tripe and Tracy Island

Greg James delivers festive treats from the BBC Archives.

Greg James heads into the BBC archives using stories of the week and listener requests to guide the way. This week: Fanny Cradock, Tracy Island and scandal with The Sound of Music.

Greg James dives into the BBC Archive to track down audio gems, using listener requests, overlooked anniversaries and current stories as inspiration.

This week, as Christmas approaches, Greg looks at the cost of Christmas dinner in years gone by, encountering a 24-year-old Jeremy Paxman tucking into turkey and trimmings in 1974. Fearful festive favourite Fanny Cradock takes out her troubles on a goose, as well as her long-suffering assistant Sarah, and Greg encounters a 1950s paean to tripe. 

He also uncovers the national scandal that erupted when the BBC paid more than $4 million for the rights to broadcast The Sound of Music, meanwhile delving into the history of the film - featuring archive interviews with Julie Andrews and the real Maria Von Trapp - and the staggering public reaction to it. 

A listener request sends Greg into the nightmares of children as he seeks out Sketch Club from 1957, in which kids were invited to send in drawings of their dreams and nightmares. And he revisits some of Blue Peter's festive makes, from a cufflink box to an Advent crown (fetch the wire cutters!) and Anthea Turner's iconic Tracy Island. 

Producer: Tim Bano

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