A lovely space
RADIO HENRY TUBE '
In spite of all appearances to the contrary, it is just possible that the reincarnation of the Light Programme as a two-headed monster—Radio
1 and 2, or Pop and Pap as they will no doubt be known—may be cause for rejoicing. lf, for instance, the effect was to take the stuffing out of the Home Service—Radio 4 as of 30 Septem- ber—a mighty blow would have been struck. For although the new controller of the Home Service, Mr Gerard Mansell, has achieved iso- lated pockets of improvement in his arthritic old groaner, he has so far failed to give it a new lease of life. Who can blame him? The problems must have been immense in inheriting a pro- gramme which to a large part of its audience, rightly or wrongly, had come to stand for the last yellow streak of a golden age, while to Mr Mansell's superiors it represented rather a con- venient heap on which to stack junk from the Light Programme. Between streak and heap Mr Mansell had hardly room to wield a penknife, let alone the carver that was called fee. But surely now his chance has come? Quietly dropping the name Home and all it implies, and politely posting every scrap of junk he surveys to its true bourne on Radio Pap, he will find himself master of a great and lovely space, ready to make an amazing impact on the last third of the twentieth century.
The very fact that such an idea sounds ludi- crous as applied to radio, let alone to the Home Service, is a measure of how much we now treat the whole institution as a kind of village mag., suitable for the physically or mentally sub- normal, but in no sense central to our own lives, except at moments of low resistance, such as early in the morning or when cooking or motor- ing. Need this be so? If radio were to be invented afresh tomorrow, would this be all we would ask of it? With only one channel, to cater for the lowest common denominator might seem inevitable—though one could argue that to cater for it is to create and perpetuate it—but with four channels on a state broadcasting service relieved of competition, there can be.uo argument for more than one stream of uncon- sciousness. Whether Radio 1 will supply a second remains to be seen, but let it go, the reclamation of Radio 4 will be compensation enough.
The form such a reclamation could take is already apparent within the present framework of the Home Service in the shape—the generous shape—of Mr William Hardcastle and his World at One. And from this week his firm tread is to be heard over the old fens of Sunday lunch time in The World This Weekend.'Butit is not enough to praise Mr Hardcastle, we must try to pin him down, so as to spread his influence the further. In the first place, he is a law unto himself, he not only thinks, he says what he thinks, he not only says what he thinks, he means what he says. Nothing broadcasts better than a man who means what he says what he thinks, but it is a curious quirk in those who are ultimately responsible for what is broadcast, that they show more fear of wound- ing their customers' susceptibilities than desire to exploit their medium's strong points.
Mr Hardcastle has perhaps only got under their guard because he is that rare phenome- non, your true John Bull, cOnservative to the core, liberal to the finger-tips, and socialist from the ankles down. Thus he is able to approach every subject and topic with a decent mixture of admiration and scepticism, reserving more of the former for war-heroes and feats of solid achievement, more of the latter for flying saucers and politicians, as is only right and proper. We had a fine illustration of his ap- proach to politicians in the first edition of The World This Weekend, when a straight inter- view with Mr Callaghan followed immediately on extracts from the forthcoming production of Mrs Wilson's Diary. Opining, 'I suppose I could run on for- perhaps another twenty- tive years before I need give up,' the Chan- cellor broke into hysterical laughter. With only the faintest shimmer of irony Mr Hardcastle murmured: 'I hope you have a good trip,' and passed to the next item.
Mr Hardcastk's second great asset is that he obviously enjoys his job. Broadcasting has be- come a large industry and much of it is carried out by men and women whom we can only term wage slaves, those for whom a regular income, a pension and a comfortable retreat are more important than the nature of their work. Mr Hardcastle's salary is no doubt adequate, but his first concern is unquestionably his passion for current affairs. If this sometimes leads him into a rather comical over-dramatisation of the wonders of modern communication—'I spoke to so-and-so on the London-Aden circuit' . . . 'on the transatlantic telephone' . . . 'so-and-so came on the line from Brighton'—his sense of excitement could only infect the rest of Broad- casting House for the good.
There are weaknesses in both programmes. In The World at One, Mr Hardcastle's team of 'experts' tends to be limited to a few recurring names, whose fields of expertise have a slight habit of shifting to fit the subject, while the coverage of the arts and sciences is lamentable, as it is throughout journalism. Here Mr Hard- castle could do with some experts, and critical ones. The World This Weekend is young yet, but it betrayed uncomfortable debts to that rather floppy programme Today, in its use of unwitty ballads and its unfocused and cursory treatments of home social problems, such as teenagers and loneliness. More evidence of the world and less of the weekend would be welcome.
Nevertheless, let Mr Mansell, as he clears his great and lovely space, contemplate the 'Virtues of Mr Hardcastle. (That the virtues do belong to him more than to the current affairs depart- ment is clearly proved by the considerable drab- ness of the otherwise identical programmes at six and ten o'clock.) Let him draw the con- clusion that a new audience, possibly a huge audience, is waiting to be fed, that excellence is not only a good thing in itself, it is actually popular, and that if. in spite of all, people will • have pap, they shall have pap, but on another channel.
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