What was on telly the day you were born?
- Publication: Radio Times
- Date: 2014-10-25
- Author: Jonathan Holmes
- Page: 168
- Language: English
YOU ASK US
One of the pleasures of working for Radio Times is flicking through our massive archive of bound volumes, seeing what we were watching and listening to decades ago, from Bagpuss to Blue Peter, Only Fools to the Light Programme. Now, thanks to a new website, everyone can do so with a couple of clicks — even from home!
This new website, BBC Genome - you can find it at genome.ch.bbc.co.uk — is an archive that offers the listings from every issue of RT from 1923 to 2009, and they're searchable in one place online. BBC Genome includes RT covers and listings pages from more than 4,400 editions.
BBC archive development editor Hilary Bishop says, "Radio Times is an incredible publication, a weekly living history of broadcasting, and if it hadn't existed, we wouldn't have been able to get this catalogue to this point."
Many RT readers collect back issues, but this project scanned 350,622 pages and 4,423,653 programmes. Genome users can search by programme title, actor or contributor, or look up a specific issue by date if they want to know what was being shown at a particular time. So, for example, if you grew up with The Virginian in the 1960s or want to pinpoint the exact moment your teenage years began (Leela on Doctor Who, 1 January 1977), now's your chance to look up your favourites.
The website was tested by BBC staff, where it won fans including RT's own Eddie Mair. "I've spent many a happy hour delving through the archive," he says, "and I recommend similarly minded RT time-wasters to indulge themselves in this broadcasting nostalgia-fest!" Now it's open to everyone. And the BBC is asking for your help. Despite all RT's efforts, breaking news and overrunning sports are as disruptive to the schedules today as they ever were. So the BBC is asking users to contribute corrections, which will be added after they are verified.
Bishop explains: "This is one of the first times that the BBC has ever done crowd-sourcing on this scale. I can imagine that that community will clean up the Doctor Who entries in no time at all!"
It's also hoped people who worked on the shows will contribute behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and your own personal memories are welcome, too. By now you may have read our editor's reflections on the moment of his birth on the contents page of this issue. Maybe you have even recovered. So get searching and find out what was on the telly on the day you were born!
Some of your memories will be included in a future update to the project, along with more regional variations and local shows. And eventually it's hoped that all RT's feature pages will be up online, too.
Happy searching — and make sure to write and tell us what you find!
Caption: DOCTOR THREE Jon Pertwee in 1970 and (below) in 1972
Email feedback@radiotimes.com
What was on telly the day you were born?
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: Holmes, Jonathan (2014-10-25). What was on telly the day you were born?. Radio Times p. 168.
- MLA 7th ed.: Holmes, Jonathan. "What was on telly the day you were born?." Radio Times [add city] 2014-10-25, 168. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Holmes, Jonathan. "What was on telly the day you were born?." Radio Times, edition, sec., 2014-10-25
- Turabian: Holmes, Jonathan. "What was on telly the day you were born?." Radio Times, 2014-10-25, section, 168 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=What was on telly the day you were born? | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/What_was_on_telly_the_day_you_were_born%3F | work=Radio Times | pages=168 | date=2014-10-25 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=24 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=What was on telly the day you were born? | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/What_was_on_telly_the_day_you_were_born%3F | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=24 April 2025}}</ref>
