Radio Times 100: Test your knowledge with our centenary quiz

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1920s and '30s

1920s

1. Priced at tuppence, the first issue of The Radio Times contained a week’s listings for six regional radio stations and a message to “listeners” from BBC Chairman Lord Gainford: “This periodical will each week produce in advance the company’s programmes in a compact and attractive form for the convenience of the public. There will therefore be no chance that particularly interesting or unusual programmes will escape notice.” Which word is missing from RT’s strap line in the image above?

a. Arm

b. Journal

c. Organ

2. In an attempt to boost sales, RT editor Leonard Crocombe commissioned artist Kay to create the first colour cover. It led to a regular Christmas colour cover and established RT as a place to showcase new British graphic art. In which year was the first Christmas and New Year double issue of Radio Times published?

a. 1959

b. 1963

c. 1969

3. This second illustrated RT cover became one of the most famous in the magazine’s history. American artist Edwin Austin Abbey’s cheery, colourful Christmas family image was reworked 70 years later by artist Bob Venables and appeared on the cover of the Christmas and New Year double issue in 1994. Artist Vince McIndoe paid tribute to this issue for the 2011 Christmas cover with a pastiche based on which BBC TV series?

a. Doctor Who

b. Gardeners’ World

c. Top Gear

4. The cover was designed by American-born artist Edward McKnight Kauffer. Known as “The Poster King”, he is mainly remembered for the work he produced for both the London Underground and London Transport. The issue included an article from author and humourist Jerome K Jerome, who reminisced on his younger days in The Art of Merrymaking. Jerome K Jerome is best known for a comic travelogue novel, published in 1889, which has been adapted multiple times for film, TV, stage and radio. What is its title?

a. Three Men in a Boat

b. Three Men in an Omnibus

c. Three Men on the Bummel

1930s

5. The issue included an article on the Football League’s concern over the possibility of diminished gate money for matches that were broadcast. RT stated: “Commentaries are not, and can never be, anything but ‘next best’ to attending an event in person.” In the final, Birmingham City lost 2—1 to which team, whose nicknames include The Baggies?

a. Derby County

b. West Bromwich Albion

c. Huddersfield Town

6. On 15 May, the BBC took up residence at Broadcasting House, Portland Place, leaving behind their old studios of nine years at Savoy Hill, London. When construction began of Broadcasting House on 21 November 1928, which publication was placed under the foundation stone?

a. The Bible

b. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

c. The first edition of Radio Times

7. The laughing cat became one of the most memorable RT covers of the 1930s. Inside, ten consecutive pages of humour from 24 radio comedians were presented in the forms of monologues, duologues, poems and cartoons. In November 2020, RT announced the results of a poll to find the top 40 best British radio comedy shows ever made. Which of these three shows topped the poll?

a. I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue

b. Just a Minute

c. The News Quiz

8. The coronation of King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth was held at Westminster Abbey on Wednesday 12 May 1937. It was the first time that the coronation of a British sovereign was broadcast on radio and also the first outside broadcast for BBC Television Services. RT celebrated the event with a striking full-colour cover by the war artist Christopher Nevinson. How long was the reign of King George VI?

a. 15 years

b. 20 years

c. 25 years

9. RT dedicated this issue to women, with articles offering tips on how to adjust to life in wartime Britain. Women on the home front were advised on food economy, on how to keep their fingertips in good condition and on wearing clothes that would defy the blackout but wouldn’t make them look dowdy. During the Second World War, what was the function of the Women’s Land Army?

a. To manufacture munitions

b. To provide medical services

c. To support agricultural production

Answers - 1920s & 1930s

• 1 c. Organ
• 2 c. 1969
• 3 a. Doctor Who
• 4 a. Three Men in a Boat
• 5 b. West Bromwich Albion
• 6 c. First edition of Radio Times
• 7 a. I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue
• 8 a. 15
• 9 c. To support agricultural production.

Answers - 1940s & 1950s

• 1 b. Bing Crosby
• 2 a. Beer
• 3 b. Mickey Mouse
• 4 c. It's That Man Again
• 5 a. Channel Islands
• 6 c. Winston Churchill
• 7 b. Prince Philip
• 8 c. Father Time
• 9 a. To bring back live animals for London Zoo
• 10 c. Tomorrow's World

Answers - 1960s

• 1 b. The Blood Donor
• 2 c. The Sun
• 3 b. Juliet Bravo
• 4 a. Millicent Martin
• 5 a. A Hard Day's Night
• 6 b. Patrick Troughton
• 7 b. Kangaroos
• 8 a. Hercules
• 9 a. Martin Peters
• 10 b. 2002
• 11 b. Petula Clark
• 12 c. Tony Blackburn
• 13 b. To make the royals more popular
• 14 a. Caernarfon Castle
• 15 a. Edwin Aldrin
• 16 c. Grieg

Answers - early 1970s

• 1 a. "Don't panic! Don't panic!"
• 2 b. Tower of London
• 3 c. In Sickness and in Health
• 4 b. Neddie Seagoon
• 5 a. Three-day week
• 6 b. Step Inside Love
• 7 b. Manchester
• 8 a. John Cleese
• 9 c. 5 years

Answers - late 1970s

• 1 a. Gerald Ford
• 2 b. Blue Peter
• 3 a. Spartacus
• 4 c. Mike Yarwood
• 5 b. Draughtsman
• 6 a. Beyond the Fringe
• 7 b. Flay Otters
• 8 a. Patrick Trueman

Answers - early 1980s

• 1 c. Porky Pig
• 2 a. Ireland
• 3 b. Mastermind Sketch
• 4 a. The Abbey's maximum seating is 2,000
• 5 c. The mismatch between visually appealing videos and poor songs
• 6 b. Blush
• 7 b. Green Goddess
• 8 a. Her winkled stockings
• 9 c. Spandau Ballet

Answers - late 1980s

• 1 a. Boléro
• 2 b. Status Quo
• 3 a. Borsetshire
• 4 c. To Hull and Back
• 5 a. The Beales
• 6 b. Jules Maigret
• 7 a. Jack and the Beanstalk
• 8 b. The Searchers
• 9 a. Alan Whicker

Answers - 1990s & 2000s

• 1 c. 1955
• 2 c. That's Life!
• 3 a. Physical and visual
• 4 a. A richness
• 5 c. Cave slippers
• 6 b. Emma Barnett
• 7 c. Anne Robinson
• 8 b. Dinnerladies
• 9 a. Christopher Timothy
• 10 c. Ricky Gervais
• 11 c. Penelope Wilton
• 12 b. The Queen's Handbag
• 13 b. Terry's Old Geezers/Gals
• 14 a. Richard Curtis

Answers - 2010s & present

• 1 c. Steven Spielberg
• 2 a. Florizel Street
• 3 c. Poplar
• 4 a. 2006
• 5 b. Abbey Clancy
• 6 a. A Close Shave
• 7 a. 100m
• 8 a. David Beckham
• 9 c. Having the longest TV career for a male entertainer
• 10 b. The Queen's Christmas TV Messages
• 11 b. 1964-1977
• 12 c. Thursdays at 8pm
• 13 a. Billy Connolly
• 14 c. Undercut
• 15 a. One with hairy feet
• 16 b. 1937

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