Last BBC Home Service Closedown

This is delicious. The last words on the station which got listeners through thick and thin. The end of the BBC Home Service as 29th September 1967 drew to a close; ready for the start of Radio 4. David Dunhill was on late continuity duty, and he'd clearly given more than a passing thought to what he might say as he drew the curtains on this powerful station. It's beautifully done, with British under-statement. 

There were those who suggested that 'Radio 4' was a name which ill-suited the legacy of the fine service, and, at the time, it must have sounded a pretty weak solution. Amazing how time changes the meaning imbued into a brand name. Few would disagree that the Home Service's calm, reassuring and trustworthy DNA is still firmly part of its successor.

David Dunhill, who died in 2005, was a fine man. Son of a composer and brother of the chap who'd founded the familiar Dunhill tobacco firm, he'd worked across the Light Programme, the Third Programme and the Home Service as a staff announcer. In later life, he was often called upon as a voice coach; and I treasure a typed report he compiled of my performance, having spent some time with me. What a gentleman.