The History of Radio Drama

Radio Drama was initially developed in the 1920's.

By the 1940's it had become the leading form of entertainment, releasing 50 new drama's a year (incl musicals, variety performances, comedians etc).

In WW2, the public feared going out and so they gained all their information and entertainment from the radio (incl. Winston Churchill's speech).

In 1951, over 300 radio dramas were produced a year.

Post war, radio stations changed their names to attract a steadier audience to shows such as 'Curtains up' (reaching 7.5 million listeners) and 'Saturday night theatre' (reaching 6.75 million listeners).

The first weekly serial dramas begun in 1946 with 'Dick Barton, Special Agent' by Edward J Mason. This was popular due to the post war spy craze that was occurring both on screen and radio. In the 1950's we saw the birth of 'The Goons' a very successful radio comedy that launched Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers into the limelight of the public eye, kick starting their careers.

As the famous Space Race began as did the trend for scifi to hit the scene, as seen with 'War of the Worlds'.

In the 1980's, radios became stereos and, with the added option of a left and right speaker, so evolved the use of sound. Radio dramas were able to have fading sounds and simultaneous sounds to create more complex aural scenery, as seen in 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'.

In today's society however, radio dramas don't appear to be as popular with the younger audience as it once used to be, unless it comes to comedy shows such as Miranda and Little Britain. There is, however, 'The Archers' still running, conducting agricultural knowledge to the masses, and successfully being the longest running radio drama known to date.