Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

2. Wartime Propaganda

Ed Stourton on the ±«Óãtv’s wartime journey, investigating propaganda and coded messages sent across Europe. From 2018.

The ±«Óãtv is a British institution unlike any other, and its story during the Second World War is also the story of Britain's people.

Edward Stourton is a sharp-eyed and affectionate companion on the ±«Óãtv's wartime journey, investigating archives, diaries, letters and memoirs to examine what the ±«Óãtv was and what it stood for.

In this episode, Ed investigates wartime propaganda, coded messages sent across Europe, and relaying less than truthful information to the enemy.

These were the years when Auntie (the ±«Óãtv's enduring nickname) earned a reputation for bossiness. It was also a period of remarkable voices - Churchill's fighting speeches de Gaulle's broadcasts from exile, George Orwell, Ed Murrow, Richard Dimbleby and Vera Lynn.

During these extraordinary times, eyewitness testimonies gave a voice to everyone, securing the ±«Óãtv's reputation as a reliable purveyor of the truth.

Auntie's War is more than a portrait of an institution at a critical time, it is also a portrayal of the British in wartime and an insight into why we have our broadcast culture today.

Read by Edward Stourton.

Abridged by Anna Magnusson.

Producer: Pippa Vaughan

A Loftus production for ±«Óãtv Radio 4, first broadcast in January 2018.

15 minutes

Last on

Wed 9 Nov 2022 02:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Reader Edward Stourton
Author Edward Stourton
Abridger Anna Magnusson
Producer Pippa Vaughan

Broadcasts

  • Tue 9 Jan 2018 09:45
  • Wed 10 Jan 2018 00:30
  • Tue 8 Nov 2022 14:00
  • Wed 9 Nov 2022 02:00