h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

On this site I regularly plug the radio shows you can access using BBC iPlayer. There’s a variety of music, drama, comedy and documentary to choose from, but unfortunately most of these are available (for rights reasons) for only 4 weeks after they are broadcast.

Some shows, however, are permanently available - one such example is their long-running documentary series Archive on 4. This is wonderfully diverse collection of documentaries, using archive radio recordings to tell the story.

You’ll find political history in the moon landings, the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War. Programmes too, on British institutions like Test Match Special, Peter Sellers and the Scouse Accent. There’s relatively up-to date stories on the Millennium Bug and the selfie. And all sorts of weird and wonderful profiles of people, places and events.

I’ve downloaded and listened to many on my journey to work. Some are better than others, but I’ve always been enlightened by what I’ve heard.

There are 152 in all - find them here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00hg8dq/episodes/player


And if you find any gems, let me know!

[Amy P]

And a brief test shows that apparently they were generous enough to include even foreigners in their largesse.