Radio Week

Radio Week was a bilingual, weekly magazine produced by the South African Broadcasting Corporation in Cape Town.

History

Radio Week was a bilingual, weekly, 32-page magazine produced by the South African Broadcasting Corporation in Cape Town to advertise the week's radio highlights, was registered at the GPO as a newspaper and sold for 3 pennies (also called a "tickey," thruppence or written as 3d). A yearly subscription to Radio Week could be had for 6/- (six shillings) if you were a "licensed listener" (1½d per copy). Non-licensed listeners could purchase a subscription at the regular price of 12/6 per annum.

Each week Radio Week carried detailed schedules for the South African Broadcasting Corporation's (SABC) radio stations: Cape Town "A" (English), Cape Town "B" (Afrikaans), Durban and Pietermartizburg "A" (English), Durban and Pietermartizburg "B" (Afrikaans), Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and Grahamstown "A" (English), and Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and Grahamstown "B" (Afrikaans).

Although a Black radio station was introduced in the winter of 1940 for wartime propaganda purposes, Radio Week completely ignored any news regarding its broadcasts.

Vol 1, No 1,was launched on Friday, 26th October, 1945, just eight weeks after World War 2 ended on September 2. This was quite remarkable when considering the worldwide shortage of paper since South Africa was totally dependent on Britain for her paper supply. After the Germans occupied Norway, the world's major supplier of wood pulp, Britain's supply was drastically curtailed and it was not till the end of the war when supplies slowly started returning to normal.

After the first edition of Radio Week appeared, Mr R S du Toit of the farm Ventersvlei, Philipstown, Cape Province, wrote that he was looking forward to the appearance of Radio Week. "Here on the faraway farms, we don't have large power stations, and only one battery. We just need to know where and when certain things play or speak that can be useful or give us pleasure." (ED: In all likelyhood, Mr Du Toit probably used his truck or tractor battery.)

SABC Station Programmes and Personalities

Each of the three transmitting centres, 1) Cape Town, 2) Durban and Pietermartizburg, and 3) Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and Grahamstown, broadcast two stations, one in English and the other in Afrikaans. Each of the stations operated independently as far as their selection of programmes was concerned but probably shared news items (This is a guess). Sometimes Afrikaans shows were broadcast on the English stations and sometimes English shows were transmitted on the Afrikaans stations, probably in an attempt to improve the fluency in the other language. Transmissions began at 7.20AM and continued non-stop until closing time, which varied but which was usually around midnight.

Cape Town "A" (English)

November 6, 1945: The Man Who Could Work Miracles was adapted for radio by Lawrence Gillian and produced by Rene Ahrenson. The Man Who Could Work Miracles is a British fantasy-comedy short story by H. G. Wells first published in 1898 in The Illustrated London News. It carried the subtitle A Pantoum in Prose. The story is an early example of contemporary fantasy (not yet recognized, at the time, as a specific subgenre). In common with later works falling within this definition, the story places a major fantasy premise (a wizard with enormous, virtually unlimited magic power) not in an exotic semi-medieval setting but in the drab routine daily life of suburban London, very familiar to Wells himself.

November 5, 1945: The Young in Heart a serial play by Hugh Stewart from J. A. R. Wylie's Novel, Ep 6, (Finale).

November 5, 1945; Hay Fever a 1924 farcical stage comedy by Noel Coward adapted for radio by Cleland Finn.

November 6, 1945: Silas Marner by George Eliot and produced by Joyce Bradley.

November 13, 1945: Stand Easy (most likely a music show) presented by Cleland Finn.

November 14, 1945: Expert Opinion a 1939 play by True Boardman and produced by Cleland Finn, is about a con-man and swindler who feigns insanity and plans to convince the "alienists" that he's manic depressive.

Cape Town "B" (Afrikaans)

November 5, 1945: Boumeester Solness (The Master Builder), a drama by Henrik Johan Ibsen, the famous Norwegian playwright and theatre director, and translated by dr. Con de Villiers was directed by Truida Pohl. Ibsen was one of the founders of modernism in theatre and as well as being of one of the most influential playwrights in Western literature, is often referred to as "the father of realism" and the most influential playwright of the 19th century.

November 8, 1945: Die Leunstoel - Speuder (The Armchair Detective) arranged by P. C. du Plessis (M. Postma).

November 9, 1945: Die Spook van Willem Welgemoed (The Ghost of Willem Welgemoed), a comedy for radio by Pauline Gibson and Fredrick Gilsdorf (D. Fuchs).

November 12, 1945: Dr Naude Se Moelikheid (Dr Naude's Difficulties) produced by John van der Berg.

November 16, 1945: Wie Het My Vermoor (Who Murdered Me) by Lucien Chantel. Lead voice by Dawid Fuchs.

November 17, 1945: Noue Ontkomings en Spannende Oomblikke (Close Escapes and Exciting Moments) by W A de Klerk

Durban and Pietermartizburg "A" (English)

November 5, 1945: Forces Favourites (Series) a selection of music presented by Yolande d'Hotman.

November 5, 1945: Soldate Keuse (Soldier's Choices) (Series), a selection of music presented by Bokkie Els.

November 5- ?, 1945: Michael Strogoff (Series) (Michael Strogoff: The Courier of the Czar) is a novel written by Jules Verne in 1876 about Michael Strogoff, a 30-year-old native of Omsk, who was a courier for Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The book was later adapted to a play by Jules Verne assisted by Adolphe d'Ennery and adapted for radio broadcast by (?) of the SABC's Durban and Pietermaritzburg "A" and serialised over several days.

November 8, 1945: The Man on the Bench was a play written by the English writer, Delphine Lethbridge and was directed by Yolande d'Hotman for a radio broadcast by the SABC's Durban and Pietermaritzburg "A" station.

November 10, 1945: Appointment With Fear consisted of nine radio shows originally broadcast on BBC Radio in the 1940s and 1950s. It was dramatised horror stories approximately half an hour long and was introduced by a character known as the Man in Black. The plays themselves were a mixture of classic horror stories by writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, M. R. James and W. W. Jacobs.

November 10, 1945: Fire Burns and Cauldron Bubble was written by John Dickson-Carr and initially broadcast by the BBC. The play was introduced by a character known as the Man in Black and the original broadcast can be heard on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WenYOaEQ44Y

November 1945: An interview with two 2nd World War PoW's from Natal, South Africa, Sandy Hay and Eddie Currie Wood was broadcast, possibly under the name Radio in Prison Camps (This is unclear). However, H W D Longdon wrote an article under that name which was published in Radio Week on 9th November 1945. Although this article is not directly linked to theatre, it is about South Africans and about radio and it was decided to publish the article in full, along with another article published at the same time, about how PoW's published "Clink," their camp "newspaper". To read, click Radio in Prison Camps.

November 15, 1945: Nothing But the Truth is a 1914 comedy novel by the American writer, Frederick Isham. James Montgomery, the American playwright, screenwriter, theatre producer and actor adapted Nothing But the Truth into a play which was a hit on Broadway in 1916 and which was the basis for multiple film adaptations, including the 1920 silent film Nothing But the Truth by Metro Pictures, starring Taylor Holmes and Poppy Wyndham. J. B. Pennefather adapted the play for SABC radio in 1945.

Durban and Pietermartizburg "B" (Afrikaans)

The vast majority of the Afrikaans radio station transmissions consisted of musical shows with very little in the way of drama. Transmission of the Afrikaans station was frequently switched over to the English service Durban and Pietermartizburg "A".

November 10, 1945: Oom Kaspaas (Uncle Kaspaas) the Capetonian comedy series by T. O. Honiball.

November 12, 1945: Die Droom van Nebukadnezar (The Dream of Nebuchadnezzar) a king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who ruled from 605 to 562 BCE and is famous for his conquests, including the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile of the Jews. Staged by Dana Niehaus for the SABC radio station, Durban and Pietermartizburg "B" (Afrikaans).

Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and Grahamstown "A" (English)

November 8, 1945: No Flowers for Carmen a murder drama set in an opera house, written by Ralph Trewelha, He was also the composer of the song So Long, Sarie.

November 9, 1945: Die Gelukkige Huwelik (The Happy Marriage) a play by W.A. de Klerk, directed by Anna K Pohl (Anna S Pohl?) later Anna Neethling-Pohl?

November 5, 1945: Barchester Towers, a daily drama read by Dorothy Spring.

November 5, 1945: Forces and Ex-Forces Favourites presented by Haidee Cassell.

November 7, 1945: Show Time - For Military Hospitals a music show presented by Sybil Seecker.

November 10, 1945: Chief Inspector French's Cases was a series of broadcasts based on the 1924 mystery detective novel by the British author, Freeman Wills Crofts, and featured Inspector Joseph French, a Scotland Yard detective known for his methodical techniques.

November 13, 1945: I Never Suspected, a scary drama, was broadcast along with Appointment With Fear a series of nine radio shows originally broadcast on BBC Radio in the 1940s and 1950s. It was dramatised horror stories approximately half an hour long each and was introduced by a character known as the Man in Black.

November 7, 1945: Love Makes the World Go Round (Humphrey Kynaston).

November 15, 1945: The Country of the Blind a short story by English writer H. G. Wells was first published in the April 1904 issue of The Strand Magazine and included in a 1911 collection of Wells's short stories, The Country of the Blind and Other Stories. It is one of Wells's best known short stories, and features prominently in literature dealing with blindness. The story was adapted for radio by Jack Bligh.

November 16, 1945: Die Glasoog (The Glass Eye), an Afrikaans comedy by Frits Steyn and staged by J. van den Berg.

November 16, 1945: Die Karoor Landskap in die Afrikaanse Poësie (The Karoor Landscape in Afrikaans Poetry) by Prof. W. E. G. Louw. (Transmitted from Grahamstown).

Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and Grahamstown "B" (Afrikaans)

November 5, 1945: Vir Ons Soldate in die Hospitale (For Our Soldiers in the Hospitals), a selection of music presented alternately by Esme Euvrard, Eugenie Hauptfleish and Kathleen Lee.

November 5, 1945: Weer Tuis (Home Again), a musical selection for returned soldiers presented by P. Bothma.

November 7, 1945: Simba, a children's adventure series read by G.R.A. Moll.

November 7, 1945: Die Geheim van Madonna (The Secret of Madonna) was an adventure about detective Ren le Roux, directed by P. Bothma.

November 7, 1945: Die Mielieblaarklub Vergarder (The Mealieleaf Club Meeting) directed by A.M. Burger from the Bloemfontein studio of the SAUK (SABC).

November 8, 1945: Van Ons Land en Ons Volk (From Our Land and Our People) directed by A.M. Burger from the Bloemfontein studio of the SAUK (SABC).

(These entries still to be correctly placed.)

"Fish with Leonard Flemming"

"Nuwejaarskets" with Freda Linde.

Sources

Radio Week, 2nd November, 1945.

Radio Week, 9th November, 1945.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspector_French%27s_Greatest_Case

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Could_Work_Miracles_(short_story)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hay_Fever_(play)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Strogoff

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appointment_with_Fear_(radio)

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