A Book at Bedtime

Book at Bedtime | History | Authors | Readers

75 years ago, at 11pm on Monday 31st January 1949, the BBC Light Programme began a 15-part adaptation of the John Buchan novel, “The Three Hostages”, read by Arthur Bush.

So began “A Book at Bedtime”, a programme with a format that hasn’t changed over the eight decades it has been on air.

Curiously, its first week was actually billed in the Radio Times as simply “Late-Night Serial”. The following issue introduced the more familiar title of “A Book at Bedtime” which was shortened in 1993 to just “Book at Bedtime”.

Going back to 1949 there was only one television channel in the UK and that closed down each day at 10pm, leaving radio as the only broadcast entertainment. The three BBC stations were Home Service, Light Programme and Third Programme. The Home Service went off-air after the 11pm news summary, leaving only two BBC services that broadcast until midnight.

On Friday, 29th March 1957, the Light Programme ended “A Book at Bedtime” with Carleton Hobbs reading the last instalment of “Cry, the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton. Although both the Light Programme and the Home Service included story-telling during the day, the late-night serial wasn’t revived until Monday, 22nd March 1962, when “A Book at Bedtime” re-appeared in the listings on the BBC Home Service, each week-night at 11pm until Friday, 29th September 1967 when the three radio services ended, to be replaced the following morning by the launch of BBC Radios 1, 2, 3, and 4.

In 1973 it was moved to an earlier 10.15pm slot. It also toyed with 10.30pm for a couple of weeks before trialing 10.45pm for a few years. By 1978 it was back at 11pm.

Then in 1984 when, appropriately, Radio 4 began a 15-part adaptation of Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, read by Kenneth Haigh, it began at the earlier time of 10.15pm. Finally, in 1989 it settled into its current time-slot of 10.45pm, with Joanna Lumley reading a 10-part adaptation of Ian Fleming’s “On Her Majesty's Secret Service”.

Of course, not all broadcasts were exclusive to “A Book at Bedtime” with some adaptations having been heard already, or being repeated later, at other times of the day, and on other stations. There are now even omnibus editions and podcasts for today’s generation, but nothing beats the original bedtime story - a tradition that will hopefully continue until the end of time...