Sport and the British Week Six

Week Six: Globalisation and other contemporary themes

Details of the five programmes to be broadcast 5 - 9 March

Episode 26. Sport for All, 5 March

Clare Balding examines the British government's involvement in sport, revealing that by the 1950s, post-war politicians had begun to consider physical recreation and games a cure for young people's apathy and discontent. DMU’s Professor Tony Mason explains the importance of the 1957 Wolfenden Committee's report in broadening access to sporting facilities for all sectors of society.

Episode 27. Golden Girls, 6 March

In this programme, Clare Balding looks at the rise of women’s athletics since the 1960s. She meets coach Norma Blaine at Birchfield Harriers in Birmingham to discuss her friend Diane Leather's record-breaking five-minute mile run – which was overshadowed by Roger Bannister breaking the male world record in the same week in 1954. The presenter also explores the legacy of golden-age sportswomen Anita Lonsborough, Dorothy Hyman, Anne Packer, Mary Rand and Lillian Board.    

Episode 28. Rugby’s Big Bang, 7 March

It resisted the call of professionalism for 100 years but in 1995, rugby union went pro. Clare Balding and DMU’s Professor Tony Collins look at the decision to remove the restrictions on payments that allowed the authorities to keep control of rugby union and that thwarted Rupert Murdoch’s rumoured plans to finance a professional league in the Southern Hemisphere.

Episode 29. Globalisation, 8 March

Rupert Murdoch’s success in using sport to sell Sky has had a global impact on the way we watch sport. The satellite broadcasters have changed how we watch sport – and when we watch it. In this programme, Clare Balding looks at the impact of global television, not just on our viewing habits but also on the bankrolling of sport.

Episode 30. The State of Play, 9 March

Clare Balding is joined by DMU’s Professor Richard Holt, Professor Tony Collins and Professor Mike Cronin to explore the cultural importance of sport. Last in the series.

Details of previously broadcast episodes

Week One: The Birth of Modern Sport in 18th Century England

Broadcast 30 January - 3 February 2012

Week Two: Victorian sporting values and the role of Britain’s public schools

Broadcast 6-10 February 2012 

Week Three: The advent of professionalism and modern spectator sport

Broadcast 13-17 February 2012

Week Four: The National Cultures of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales

Broadcast 20-24 February 2012

Week Five: Sport and Society in Modern Britain

Broadcast 27 February – 2 March 2012

Sports historians from DMU’s International Centre for Sports History and Culture (ICSHC) have been working on the scripts with the BBC for more than three years. Learn more about our historians  

BBC Radio 4 logo

Sport and the British has been produced by the BBC as part of its programme of events in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics. The production team at BBC Birmingham comprises Lucy Lunt, Sara Conkey and Garth Brameld.

Clare Balding

Clare Balding talked about life, sport and her new series on BBC Radio 4 at a special event at DMU.