From Women's Hour to Other Women's Lives: BBC Talks for Women and the Women who Made Them, 1923-1939.

Abstract

Women listeners were the key daytime audience for the BBC during the inter-war years. Within months of the BBC’s formation, talks aimed specifically at women were an integral part of the daily schedules; the first regular series for women, Women’s Hour (not to be confused with today’s Woman’s Hour) began in May 1923. Although rarely overtly feminist, these talks of the 1920s and 1930s aimed to empower women as mothers, citizens and home-makers. Prior to the Second World War, four women Talks Assistants had responsibility for their programming: Ella Fitzgerald, Elise Sprott, Margery Wace and Janet Quigley. In addition, Hilda Matheson, the BBC’s first Director of Talks, 1927-1932, played a pivotal part in expanding and broadening this gendered output. This chapter will consider the roles of these five women and how their understanding of the audience, their personal style and particular interests were reflected in the programmes they made.