Main content

The 成人快手 broadcasting through the Iron Curtain

Broadcasting to countries behind the Iron Curtain without a free or independent media between 1947 and 1991 involved secret letter-writing and playing games with Soviet censors.

It is the 90th anniversary of the 成人快手 World Service. Broadcasting to countries behind the Iron Curtain without a free or independent media between 1947 and 1991 was arguably the service鈥檚 finest hour.

The corporation was on the front line of the information war as the 成人快手鈥檚 former Moscow correspondent Bridget Kendall recalls.

Programmes such as the German Service鈥檚 Letters Without Signatures created a sense of community among isolated East Germans who could not air their views publicly at home.

Meanwhile, Peter Udell, the former controller of European Services, had the challenge of trying to overcome the Soviet censors. Produced and presented by Josephine McDermott.

Archive recordings of former employees in the 成人快手 Oral History Collection were used courtesy of Sussex University.

(Photo: A West Berlin policeman looks at an East German watchtower at night, 1961. Credit: Getty Images)

Available now

9 minutes

Last on

Wed 21 Dec 2022 03:50GMT

Broadcasts

  • Tue 20 Dec 2022 08:50GMT
  • Tue 20 Dec 2022 11:50GMT
  • Tue 20 Dec 2022 12:50GMT
  • Tue 20 Dec 2022 18:50GMT
  • Tue 20 Dec 2022 23:50GMT
  • Wed 21 Dec 2022 00:50GMT
  • Wed 21 Dec 2022 03:50GMT

Podcast