Throughout his career Basil Dean wrote about the theatre and addressed the public, giving lectures and broadcasts, and later appearing on television. This extensive series contains writings by Basil Dean that span eight decades. As well as three diaries, 1908-1910 (DEA/12/1/6-8), there are typescript and holograph drafts and printed copies of radio broadcasts, speeches, lectures, discussions, newspaper and magazine articles, and letters to newspapers editors. Among the many topics covered are the effects of the Depression on the theatre, the birth and post-war development of television in Britain (including the first live broadcast of a theatre performance in 1938, DEA/12/1/82), the impact of the Second World War on the performing arts, the state of the British film and theatre industries, and the case for a publicly subsidized theatre. There are also reminscences of Dean's own career and of other leading figures of the theatre, such as Annie Horniman, Lesley Henson, Alec Rea, Sir Bronson Albery, George Bernard Shaw, and H.G. Wells.
The volumes of press cuttings also contain copies of many of the speeches and articles Basil Dean produced.