B.B.C. African Service scripts

The scripts of programmes transmitted on the African Service as part of the African Theatre and the Writers' Club.

The African Theatre was first broadcast on the B.B.C.'s African Service in 1960 after John Stockbridge, a B.B.C. producer, was asked to devise a new drama series. The early scripts were written by Stockbridge, but other writers soon contributed their own plays, many of which had a strong political dimension. The number of transmissions was reduced during the 1970s, and African Theatre was renamed African Performance in 1994, when music, readings and drama-documentaries were added to the broadcasts. The Writers' Club was broadcast weekly on the African Service from 1959 to 1971, and featured interviews, plays and recordings of conferences.

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

The provenance of the collection is unknown.

Includes index.

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.

Copyright resides with the B.B.C. The scripts should not be published in any way without the permission of the B.B.C.

This collection level description was created by RAS. The biographical history was compiled with reference to the B.B.C. website (www.bbc.co.uk/).

British Broadcasting Corporation