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Mark Sutherland
A Willing Herbivore? The BBC and the Festival of Britain
Research centre
Humanities Research Centre
Discipline/professional area
History
Outline of research project
The aim of my study is to further our understanding of post-war British culture and national identity by examining the role that the BBC played in the 1951 Festival of Britain. It will concentrate on how the event was covered at a local, national and international level, how the BBC embodied the spirit of the festival through its programmes, and assess its relationship with the festival organisers and the Government. A comparative study will be made with the BBC's coverage of the Coronation. As part of this process the study will challenge the assumption that the BBC was subservient to the Government's festival aims and played an essential role in its overall success.
Key references
- Banham, Mary and Bevis Hillier (eds) (1976) A Tonic to the Nation: The Festival of Britain, London, Thames and Hudson
- Briggs, Asa (1979) The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom Volume IV: Sound and Vision 1945-1955, Oxford, Oxford University Press
- Carpenter, Humphrey (1996) The Envy of the World: Fifty Years of the BBC Third Programme and Radio 3, London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson
- Conekin, Becky, E. (2003) The Autobiography of a Nation: The 1951 Festival of Britain, Manchester, Manchester Universtiy Press
- Hewison, Robert (1981) In Anger: Culture in the Cold War 1945-60, London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson
Director of studies
Dr John Baxendale
Supervisors
Dr Anthony Taylor
