Children's Hour

Children's Hour was the name of the BBC's main leisure service for children (there were also "Schools broadcasts") during the period when radio dominated broadcasting.

Children's Hour was broadcast from 1922 to 1964, originally on the BBC's National Service, and then when separate stations were introduced, on the Home Service. Parts of the programme were also broadcast on the BBC World Service. Within the United Kingdom, Children's Hour was broadcast from 5pm to 6pm on weekdays, this being a time when children could be expected to be home from school, and was aimed at an audience from about 5 to 15 years of age - at least in its earliest years, the concept of a teenager had scarcely been invented. Programming was imbued with Reithian virtues, and Children's Hour was often criticised, like "Auntie" BBC herself, for paternalism and middle class values. It was nonetheless hugely popular, and its presenters were national figures, their voices universally recognisable.

Among popular series on Children's Hour were:

• Jennings at School
• Just So Stories
• Larry the Lamb
• Nature Parliament
• Romany and Raq
• Sherlock Holmes
• Winnie the Pooh

and serialisations of stories by children's authors such as Malcom Saville,Rosemary Sutcliffe and Arthur Ransome. Well-known musicians such as Peter Maxwell Davies composed music for the programme.

Among actors and presenters who were famous for their work on Children's Hour work were:

• David Davis
• Carleton Hobbs
• Derek McCulloch (Uncle Mac)
• Jon Pertwee
• Wilfred Pickles
• Norman Shelley