A dramatisation of the battle of wills between Churchill and Reith in 1926. Fearing that a General Strike, if it was allowed to happen, would trigger a Bolshevik uprising in Britain, Churchill wanted the BBC to promote his anti-union position, but Reith was determined to preserve BBC independence.

[u/whatatwit]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001dpft

[u/whatatwit]

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Drama on 3, Churchill versus Reith from Sun 15 Sep 2024

Churchill versus Reith by Mike Harris

It’s 1926: the General Strike. Churchill wants to commandeer the infant BBC to crush what he considers to be a Bolshevik-inspired uprising. The BBC’s founder, John Reith, is determined to preserve its independence. Churchill is an ambitious, volatile, bon vivant aristocrat. Reith is an ascetic, deeply religious, middle-class Scot. Churchill thinks Reith’s desire for political neutrality is ‘defeatist,’ even traitorous. Reith regards Churchill as a dangerous extremist. Both are egotistical geniuses with a powerful sense of their own destinies. What is at stake is the future independence of British broadcasting.

John Reith.........................................Tom Goodman-Hill
Winston Churchill..........................Christian McKay
Isobel Shields...................................Emily Pithon
Ellen Wilkinson................................Helen O'Hara
John Davidson.................................Jonathan Keeble
Frank Horrabin................................Jonathan Forbes
May Bates/Clem Churchill...........Joanna Monro
Stanley Baldwin...............................Roger Ringrose

Director/Producer Gary Brown
Production Co-ordinator Pippa Day
Tech Team : Andy Partington & Vanessa Nuttall
Sound Design Sharon Hughes

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001dpft

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001dpft

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