Title: Bernard Shaw and the BBC /
Authors: Conolly, L. W.
Publisher: University of Toronto Press,
Year: 2009
Subjects: Shaw, Bernard,; Shaw, Bernard,; British Broadcasting Corporation History.; British Broadcasting Corporation Histoire.; Radio broadcasting Great Britain History; Radio plays, English History and criticism.; Dramatists, Irish Biography.; Radiodiffusion Grande-Bretagne Histoire.; Audiodrames anglais Histoire et critique.; Dramaturges irlandais Biographies.
Abstract: "Drawing on extensive archival materials held in England, the United States, and Canada, Bernard Shaw and the BBC presents a vivid portrait of many contentious issues negotiated between Shaw and the public broadcaster. This is a study of how controversial works were first performed in the infancy of both radio and television. It details debates about freedom of speech, the editing of plays for broadcast, and the protection of authors' rights to control and profit from works performed for radio and television broadcasts. Conolly also scrutinizes Second World War-era censorship, when the British government banned Shaw from making any broadcasts that questioned British policies or strategies." "Rich in detail and brimming with Shaw's irrepressible wit, this book has substantial appendices with details of Shaw's broadcasts for the BBC, texts of Shaw's major BBC talks, extracts from German wartime propaganda broadcasts about Shaw, and the BBC's obituaries for Shaw." --Book Jacket.
Contents: In the beginning, 1923-1928 -- Saint Joan, 1929 -- 'Saying nice things is not my business' : Shaw talks, 1929-1937 -- 'Radiogenic Shaw' : broadcast plays, 1929-1939 -- 'GBS has been very kindly disposed' : pre-war television -- 'I won't have that man on the air' : the war years -- Television returns, 1946-1950 -- Radio finale, 1945-1950 -- Epilogue -- Appendix1: Shaw's broadcast plays and talks, 1923-1950 -- Appendix 2: Texts of selected Shaw broadcasts -- Appendix 3: German wartime propaganda broadcasts about Shaw, 1940 -- Appendix 4: BBC obituaries of Shaw.