Portal:BBC

Selected article

The Radio 1 Madonna controversy was a series of events that occurred as a result of BBC Radio 1's decision not to playlist American singer Madonna's single "Living for Love" in February 2015. Despite receiving moderate airplay from commercial radio in the United Kingdom, the single was not added to Radio 1's playlist, leading to accusations of ageism. The controversy stemmed from an article in the Daily Mail , which quoted an unnamed Radio 1 insider describing Madonna as "old" and "irrelevant". In response, the singer's fans posted numerous requests for the song on Radio 1's social media accounts, and several artists criticized Radio 1's music policy, prompting the station to release a statement defending their decision not to play the track.

The controversy received significant media coverage in the UK and internationally, sparking a wider discussion about ageism in the music industry. "Living for Love" was subsequently added to BBC Radio 2's C-list, before being promoted to the B-list. The station targets audiences aged 35 and higher. Commercially, the single peaked at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart for the week ending 28 February 2015. (Full article... )

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Dakota Blue Richards as April, a troubled teenager who was abandoned in a dustbin as a baby, in the 2008 BBC film Dustbin Baby . The film, based on Jacqueline Wilson's novel of the same name, won an International Emmy and a BAFTA Children's Award.

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Selected biography

Rudolph Cartier (born Rudolph Kacser, renamed himself in Germany to Rudolph Katscher; 17 April 1904 – 7 June 1994) was an Austrian television director, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer who worked predominantly in British television, exclusively for the BBC. He is best known for his 1950s collaborations with screenwriter Nigel Kneale, most notably the Quatermass serials and their 1954 adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four .

After studying architecture and then drama, Cartier began his career as a screenwriter and then film director in Berlin, working for UFA Studios. After a brief spell in the United States he moved to the United Kingdom in 1935. Initially failing to gain a foothold in the British film industry, he did some scripting work for BBC Television in 1939 before the service was suspended at the outbreak of the Second World War. After the war, he occasionally worked for British films before he was again hired by the BBC in 1952. He soon became one of the public service broadcaster's leading directors and went on to produce and direct over 120 productions in the next 24 years, ending his television career with the play Loyalties in 1976. (Full article... )

Selected building

Broadcasting House on Portland Place in London is the headquarters of the BBC. Opened in 1932, the building is also the home to Radio 3, Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra. For the past decade, the building has seen massive change, with sections demolished and a large extension added.

Did you know

Highlights from Wikipedia's Did you know

• ... that Anita West, one of the presenters of Blue Peter , was on the show for such a short period that no footage of her exists in the BBC archives?

• ... that Andrew Lloyd Webber was concerned about casting a dog in the BBC television series Over the Rainbow ?

• ... that BBC traffic reporter Sally Traffic has also narrated poetry albums for the blind?

• ... that Clothes-Line , aired in 1937, was the first television programme on fashion history and also probably the first to feature a heavily pregnant female presenter?

• ... that the BBC Sound Archive was founded in 1936 by Marie Slocombe while she was working as a temporary secretary disposing of sound recordings?

• ... that BBC One initially passed on Line of Duty , whose finale would become its highest-rated drama in 19 years?
• ... that technical issues in the minute before their November 2024 BBC Radio 1 performance meant that South Arcade had to set up while the presenter was announcing them?
• ... that soprano Sarah Fischer sang excerpts from the title role in Carmen for the very first televised BBC broadcast of opera music?
• ... that working broadcast journalists were used as extras for the portions of the Doctor Who episode "73 Yards " that were filmed at the BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House?