I mean, here's the book about them. How can you not want to read on with a title like this?? <Hurries off to amend library list>

"A stage comedian can use the same piece of patter for ten years. On the wireless it is ‘killed’ after one night. If you don’t hear a new joke every day, it means that you haven’t a wireless set." (John Henry 1934) #WorldRadioDay #BigamyKilledTheRadioStar www.amazon.co.uk/Bigamy-Kille...

"If a man can’t keep away from the theatre once he’s had a taste of it, how much less can he keep away from the theatre where the biggest audience of all awaits him – the broadcasting studio?" (John Henry 1926) #WorldRadioDay #BigamyKilledTheRadioStar www.amazon.co.uk/Bigamy-Kille...

Finally, if you want to celebrate #WorldRadioDay with an audio play, search Drama on 3 on BBC Sounds and you’ll find a wealth of great productions ranging from Shakespeare to Churchill – and a wide range of original and adapted drama in between. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b... Enjoy! (3/3)

And as it is #WorldRadioDay I can’t miss the opportunity to mention my book #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 – perfect for anyone interested in #RadioDrama As well as paperback, it's now on Kindle too: www.amazon.co.uk/Shakespeare-... It's also been awarded Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2025 📘📻 (2/3)

Happy #WorldRadioDay 📻 Earlier today I was one of the speakers at a fab event for audio/radio researchers celebrating this. Such a wide range of really interesting people. My paper looked at how new audio drama producers are unaware of its history and are devising techniques that already exist (1/3)

"I thought of the thousands of listeners and, after a convulsive gulp, heard a voice that I didn’t recognise as mine repeating lines that seemed vaguely familiar but not at all funny." (John Henry's first broadcast 1923) #WorldRadioDay #BigamyKilledTheRadioStar www.amazon.co.uk/Bigamy-Kille...

“Ohh, he’s looping the loop! Tell the driver to stop. I want to get out here.” (John Henry and Blossom broadcasting live from a biplane flying over London in 1924) #WorldRadioDay #BigamyKilledTheRadioStar www.amazon.co.uk/Bigamy-Kille...

Anything good on the wireless? 📻 For World Radio Day, a 1950s reproduction magic lantern slide by Harry Penhaul. By 1939, 3/4 of UK homes had a radio — the heart of family life, sharing news, music, and laughter before streaming existed! 🎶 #WorldRadioDay #VintageRadio #Nostalgia #RadioHistory

This is our working crystal radio and spare permanite crystal. You can listen to the radio in our Sargent Gallery. #WorldRadioDay

#WorldRadioDay: Women tuning in for news of #CharlesKingsfordSmith’s round-the-world flight https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000599776. He landed at Portmarnock before completing his historic journey in California: https://www.nli.ie/news-stories/stories/exploring-aviation-ireland-nli-collections

Joe Murgatroyd picked up my wireless set and shook it. ‘It's finely made, but there's too much wire,’ he said. ‘The aerial is the first thing to fix,’ he said. ‘Where do you keep your roof?’ (John Henry 1924) #WorldRadioDay #BigamyKilledTheRadioStar www.amazon.co.uk/Bigamy-Kille...

"I’ve got a fine wireless set that I made myself. A lot of people like me prefer to make their own wireless sets, rather than buy one that will work." (John Henry 1925) #WorldRadioDay #BigamyKilledTheRadioStar www.amazon.co.uk/Bigamy-Kille...

As ever, had a fab time at #WolseyWriters earlier, this time talking #RomeoAndJuliet Thanks to all who came 🎭 If you want more on the play, I can recommend: #InOurTime www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... Radio R&J www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 #Shakespeare #RadioDrama #AudioDrama

My biography "Bigamy Killed the Radio Star" as modelled by Ahir Shah on last night's Mock the Week. #MockTheWeek

All three of my Fantom Books (Bigamy Killed the Radio Star, It's Friday It's Crackerjack, and Wilson Keppel & Betty: Too Naked for the Nazis) are in the Fantom sale, running until the end of January. www.fantompublishing.co.uk/product-cate...

Lovely chat with Sarah Lilley on BBC Radio Suffolk this morning about #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 and winning a Choice Outstanding Academic Title award. You can hear the interview in full on #BBCSounds starting at about 1hr 40: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... Or you can listen to this snippet...

A very happy new year, courtesy of a fantastic Christmas present - this Radio Times tinplate calendar. Any idea when these were made? (It can't be later than 1960, because Radio Times changed its logo in 1961.)

New year, new series of posts on #AudioDrama For 2026 I'm going to avoid #Shakespeare and suggest new plays and adaptations, including some by his contemporaries. January: Love and Information by Caryl Churchill. Available for free on #BBCSounds #RadioDrama #DramaOn3 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

At 5:40 on this BBC Radio 4 Extra repeat episode of The Right Time - a sketch I have no memory of writing! I had to look up the script to check it was actually mine. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Possibly my favourite #CharlesParis series is on #BBCRadio4Extra at the moment - The Cinderella Killer. If you like a reference to #Shakespeare and his contemporaries you'll enjoy this snippet where Charles' agent tells him he's been offered a part in a verse drama 📻🎭 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...

This year several writing projects have come to fruition – the most significant of which has been my book, #ShakespeareOnTheRadio💀🎧 Thanks to @edinburghup.bsky.social for the support – and to anyone who’s bought it. edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-shakesp... #Shakespeare #AudioDrama #RadioDrama

A truly fascinating article that is, especially the ‘Crackerjack’ part. Good one, Alan!

... and not forgetting Nellie the Elephant!

2025 has been a busy year, not least for spreading the word about #AudioDrama. As well as a couple of articles for @thestage.co.uk I did quite a few pieces for #radio and podcasts, including an introduction to #Hamlet on #BBCRadio3 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 #Shakespeare

Two years ago, the BBC celebrated the start of #RadioDrama - but didn't get their facts quite right (see video below). Today #JusticeForTwigg at last. Finally Phyllis Twigg is recognised for her roll in establishing #AudioDrama. Tune into #BBCRadio4 at 2.15pm today 📻🎧🎙️🎭 See next post for corrections

At 02:25 my sketch on this week's rerun of The Right Time is dedicated to all those radio DJs who have long outstayed their welcome. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Know your Phyllis Twigg? @b7media.bsky.social @soundliness.com @paulkerensa.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Every month in 2025 I’ve been posting a #Shakespeare play recommendation on Instagram – along with a suggested audio version. If you head to my profile page you’ll find all my videos to watch in full. www.instagram.com/audio.andrea #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 #Shakespeare #RadioDrama #AudioDrama

This was a really lovely event - and a proper celebration for a radio drama pioneer. Very much looking forward to The Truth About Phyllis Twigg on Christmas Eve. #JusticeForTwigg #RadioDrama #AudioDrama #BBCRadio4 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

I've occasionally been confused with another Alan Stafford who performs in American adult movies. I'm not sure this eBay listing of my book will help matters.

My book #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 has been named as a 2025 Outstanding Academic Title by Choice. It’s described as offering “a fascinating history in an underrepresented area of Shakespeare studies”. “Highly recommended.” #ChoiceOAT2025 @edinburghup.bsky.social #Shakespeare #RadioDrama #AudioDrama

At 23:12 a coincidentally festive quickie of mine with Eleanor Bron and Paula Wilcox from The Right Time, repeated this week on BBC Radio 4 Extra. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

"It is 1923 and the BBC is at war!" Learn about the birth of broadcast comedy in Bigamy Killed the Radio Star. Full blurb on Amazon. www.amazon.co.uk/Bigamy-Kille...

Amazon seems to be offering an incredible range of spinoff merchandise for Bigamy Killed the Radio Star. Or you could just buy the book.

Wilson and Keppel.

Some lovely tributes to Prunella Scales, including this in @radiotimes.bsky.social But the best has been the extended interview with her son Samuel West for #BBCRadio4's #TheLastWord Essential listening not only for fans of Prunella but for anyone interested in acting www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Naturally disappointed that journalist Betty Knox, who reported on the Goering trial, is not portrayed in the Russell Crowe 'Nuremberg' movie. But, seeing as characters include Corporal Jones and Camp MP, they've obviously decided to play it for laughs.

The Stafford Wives

For me, Peter Goodwright is the real star of this show - making comedy out of Freddie Starr's undisciplined chaos.

Searching for the perfect Christmas comedy gift? How about 'Bigamy Killed the Radio Star' (the birth of BBC comedy)? Or 'It's Friday It's Crackerjack' (the entire history of a teatime TV classic). Or everyone's favourite sand-dancing trio 'Wilson Keppel & Betty - Too Naked for the Nazis.' Sorted!

My biography of BBCs first comedy celebrity - Bigamy Killed the Radio Star - is currently 3,062,500 in the Amazon best-sellers list. Let's see if we can get it into the top 2 million before Christmas!

It’s great. I write for it sometimes, but don’t let that put you off.

I thoroughly recommend series recording this. Some great impressions by veteran Peter Cavanagh in Show 1.

Take advantage of this special offer and you get TWO articles written by me.

I love @chortle.bsky.social - but, seeing as they're a comedy website, I hope they won't mind too much if I share a couple of typos from stories published today.

Next month on the podcast, something different: an audio drama. Re-enacting the BBC’s bizarre mass telepathy experiment, 100 years on. So next month’s £Patreon will help fund a guest producer. Fancy helping fund it? If goes well, may do more. So now’s a good time to join us: Patreon.com/paulkerensa

Not heard in nearly three decades, today BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcasts Are You Still Awake? 15 minute plays starring real-life couples written by Russell Davies First episode with Prunella Scales & Timothy West was broadcast on Radio 3 28.11.94

#wolseywriters The BBC Writers Open Call submissions window runs between Tuesday 4th November 2025 at noon and Tuesday 2nd December 2025 at noon. Drama or Comedy/Drama scripts written for Film, TV, Radio, Stage or Children’s TV/Radio scripts, minimum of 30 pages. www.bbc.co.uk/writers/oppo...

*New Publication!* Lovely end to the week - 'John Gielgud on Air: 65 Years of Performing Shakespeare on Radio' out now in Shakespeare Survey. It shows that not only was he a leading stage actor, but he was an audio drama pioneer too. If you have access, here's the link: doi.org/10.1017/9781...