Resources

Sound Collection | Written Archive | Resources | Access Guide

BBC Timeline as resource material posted on the walls of the BBC Written Archives at Caversham. Photo taken by author in 2022.

Welcome to the BBC in Southeast Asia Resource Page. This expanding, annotated guide offers a curated selection of primary and secondary sources that explore  the BBC's coverage and presence in South East Asia from  Great Britain's late colonial and early post-colonial periods (1927-1961).

Primary Sources

Digital Archives and Repositories

  • BBC Genome Project - Radio Times Written Archives
    This section of the BBC Genome Project provides access to the written archives of Radio Times, offering a detailed record of BBC radio and television listings from 1923 to 2009. It includes information on programs broadcasted by the BBC Empire Service and offers valuable insights into its programming history.

  • BBC Sound Effects Archive
    A huge database of sound effects, many of which come from the BBC's Incidental Sound Recordings that were used for broadcast ambient sound.  Licensing use is not as stringent (https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/licensing), and some of the sound files can be traced to actual events/ field recordings done in South East Asia. 

  • BBC Archive
    The BBC Archive offers a  collection of audio, video, and written materials from the BBC’s history, including content related to the Empire Service.

  • British Library Sound Archive
    The British Library Sound Archive holds a wealth of audio recordings, including historical broadcasts from the BBC Empire Service.

  • National Archives (UK)
    The National Archives contain records and documents related to the BBC and its broadcasting history, including the Empire Service.

  • Internet Archive
    The Internet Archive hosts a variety of media, including recordings of BBC broadcasts and other historical audio and video materials.

  • Media History Digital Library
    This site offers free access to digitized media publications and documents, which may include references to the BBC Empire Service.

  • National Archives of Singapore - Archives Online
    The National Archives of Singapore hosts a collection of materials, including the Straits Times newspaper, which provides insights into the BBC's presence and coverage in British Malaya during the colonial period

  • WorldRadioHistory.com
    WorldRadioHistory.com is an extensive online archive of historical radio-related documents, magazines, and publications from around the world. It contains a wide range of resources, including radio station yearbooks, industry journals, and broadcasting manuals, which may include references to the BBC Empire Service and its impact on global broadcasting history.  

 

BBC Television Broadcasts about South East Asia

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  • Zoo Quest for the Komodo Dragon ( Bali, Indonesia)  First transmitted , David Attenborough's search for the legendary Komodo dragon reaches Bali, where he witnesses a procession in honour of an 'invisible god' and explores a temple that provides shelter to a colony of bats believed by the locals to be sacred. Back in the studio, Attenborough meets a fruit bat that is a resident of London Zoo
    (Part 1) https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/p00dgmd9 (29 minutes)
    (Part 2) https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/p00dgmdd (30 minutes)

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  • Zoo Quest for a Dragon (Java, Indonesia) First transmitted , David Attenborough and his cameraman Charles Lagus explore the island of Java in their quest for the largest lizard in the world.They see gibbons having a leisurely breakfast in the treetops, stop off at the 8th century Buddhist temple Borobudur and take a glimpse into Bromo, a sulphur-spewing volcano. Attenborough also captures a fully grown python to bring back to London Zoo. This creature later makes a wriggly appearance as a guest in the studio.
    https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/p00dgmd6 (24 minutes)

 

Secondary Sources

Books 
  • Briggs, A. (1979). The BBC: The First Fifty Years. Oxford University Press.
  • Johnston, G., & Robertson, E. (2019). BBC World Service: Overseas broadcasting, 1932–2018. Palgrave Macmillan.

  • Kitley, P. (2000). Television, nation, and culture in Indonesia. Ohio University Center for International Studies.

  • Lent, J. A. (1991). Broadcasting in Asia and the Pacific: A continental survey of radio and television. Temple University Press.

  • Nelson, E. S. (2013). Broadcasting in the Malay world: Radio, television, and nation building, 1923-2013. Praeger.

  • McDaniel, D. O. (1994). Broadcasting in the Malay world: Radio, television, and nation building, 1923-2013. Praeger.

  • Postill, J. (2006). Media and nation building: How the Iban became Malaysian. Berghahn Books.

  • Potter, S. J. (2012). Broadcasting empire: The BBC and the British world, 1922-1970. Oxford University Press.

  • Scannell, P., & Cardiff, D. (1991). A Social History of British Broadcasting: Volume 1: 1922-1939, Serving the Nation. Blackwell.
Articles
  • Potter, S. (2012). The BBC and the Empire: British Broadcasting in the 1930s. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 32(2), 231-248.
  • Hajkowski, T. (2006). The BBC, the Empire, and the Second World War, 1939-1945. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 26(1), 1-22.
Reports
  • BBC. (2007). BBC Trust Review of the BBC's World Service. Retrieved from BBC Trust.
Theses
  • Murphy, K. (2010). The BBC, the Empire, and the Cold War, 1945-1975. (Doctoral dissertation, University of London).
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