Paul Kerensa
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paulkerensa.bsky.social
Paul Kerensa
@paulkerensa.bsky.social
Writer/Comedian/Broadcast Historian
Also posting BBC history things here as bbcentury.bsky.social, so follow that too, or don’t. And breathe.
paulkerensa.com/oldradio
Alright, I'll bite. For the next few days, I'll offer a...
LATE BLACK FRIDAY+ DEAL!
Book my solo stand-up show for YOUR-YES-YOUR venue in 2026 + save a whopping 20% on the arbitrary £ we discuss to begin with.
Yes, 20%! Or more! Haggle! I don't mind.
My diary + DMs are open.
November 29, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Reposted by Paul Kerensa
New podcast ahoy!
Ep 109 of The British Broadcasting Century
Reith to Davie: 17 BBC Directors General - with Dr Tom Mills (@tommills.bsky.social)
From Oct 1923 (Reith asks both PM and King on the air; both refuse) to Nov 2025 (Davie's resignation) via Milne, Birt & co
Hear here:
pod.fo/e/35c09b
The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa: #109 Reith to Davie: 17 BBC Directors General - with Dr Tom Mills
In October 1923, first BBC General Manager John Reith wrote to both 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace, inviting the Prime Minister and the King to broadcast on the near year-old BBC. Both ref...
pod.fo
November 28, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Pause for Thought annual get-together yesterday - what a great squad to be part of.
Chatted to many fine folks: bishops, rabbis, Scott Mills, R2 boss Helen and dozens more!
I was delighted to be asked to do a history of 75 years of the God slot on Radio 2/Light Programme too...
November 28, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Reposted by Paul Kerensa
British Broadcasting Century Podcast ep 109 is out soon: a history of 17 Directors General.
Ep 108 is our latest then: a full fab cast re-enactment of a lost 1925 broadcast - a bizarre celebrity attempt at telepathy.
Catch it if y'aven't:
pod.fo/e/350fce
The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa: #108 Mass Telepathy: Re-enacted - A Centenary Dramatisation of a BBC Broadcast
On 12 November 1925, the BBC broadcast one of its most bizarre programmes yet:'MASS TELEPATHY: An Experiment in Thought Reading in which every Listener will be invited to assist'On 12 November 2025...
pod.fo
November 27, 2025 at 10:21 AM
If you have a church that might want a last-minute Comedy & Carols show, unusually I have a few gaps:

Tue 9 Dec
Tue 16
Thu 18 (London only)
Tue 23

Discount available due to late notice, though I'm sure folks are hungry for festive fun-times...
Want info? Send a letter up your chimney/email me.
November 26, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Sometimes you see a job advert and wonder if you should apply...
Anyone fancy it?
careers.bbc.co.uk/job/Director...
Director-General
Director-General
careers.bbc.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 11:27 AM
M'latest Patreon video has a little more on what's led to the forthcoming radio drama about the first radio drama...
...and I honestly think without the patrons & matrons who've supported there, this research wouldn't have happened & the drama wouldn't have happened. So thanks!
Thanks for the kind words about the forthcoming Radio 4 drama (about the first radio drama) - more about how it came to be on m'latest Patreon video.
(£5/mth, all helps buy books etc... which have led to this radio drama! So thanks all who support there)
www.patreon.com/posts/vid-tr...
VID: The Truth about The Truth about Phyllis Twigg - coming soon to BBC Radio 4! | The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa
Get more from The British Broadcasting Century with Paul Kerensa on Patreon
www.patreon.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:27 AM
I can finally announce!
This Christmas Eve, 2:15pm, BBC Radio 4, a drama I've written - 'The Truth about Phyllis Twigg' - will inform, educate and entertain about the first ever radio drama! 103 years later to the day.
If you like this classy image, you should see our cast...
November 24, 2025 at 6:38 PM
My latest Substack…
The BBC's Mass Telepathy Broadcast of 1925: Re-enacted in 2025
Our centenary dramatisation of a bizarre lost broadcast - so how authentic was it?
My latest Substack: paulkerensa.substack.com/p/the-bbcs-m...
(+ listen to the re-enactment: pod.fo/e/350fce)
The BBC's Mass Telepathy Broadcast of 1925: Re-enacted in 2025
Our centenary dramatisation of a bizarre lost broadcast - so how authentic was it?
paulkerensa.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:21 PM
I'll be back on the BBC Sunday Morning Live sofa tomorrow, Sunday, morning, live, BBC1, 10:45ish, with my trademark sideways glance (and it is trademarked - no nicking) at news stories of the week, with @dawnneesom.bsky.social @seanfletchertv.bsky.social Jennifer Reoch
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC One - Sunday Morning Live, Series 16, 23/11/2025
Have refugees become political scapegoats? And is now a good time for a wealth tax?
www.bbc.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Woking locals (or Loking wocals) - I'll be headlining at the Fiery Bird this Thu 20 Nov for Whole Lotta Comedy:
www.wholelottacomedy.com
Comedy Club | Whole Lotta Comedy | Kingston & Surbiton
Whole Lotta Comedy. Great nights for everyone. Comedy, Cabaret, Fringe, Music and more! Kingston Surbiton Esher Cobham
www.wholelottacomedy.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:23 PM
I've updated www.comediansandcarols.com with links: Farnborough, Billericay, Knaphill, Hailsham, Much Wenlock, Kettering, Battle, Andover, Guildford.
+ I now a few gaps: Wed 3, Tue 9, Wed 10, Tue 15 or Thu 18 (London only) Dec... if you'd like a Christmas comedy show at yours?
November 18, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Thanks, Beeb, for 103 years of informing, educating, entertaining... + occasional employment.
I'm sure that what the BBC could be is always > than what it is. Its goals are immense + often unachievable. But 1000s of staff do what they can to get it there.
And I've loved delving into how it began...
November 14, 2025 at 10:13 AM
The #CelebrityTraitors line-up we may have had:
These are celebs who've confirmed they were approached but turned it down...

Miriam Margolyes
Richard Osman
Alastair Campbell
Rory Stewart
Karren Brady
Lorraine Kelly
Daisy May Cooper
Charlie Cooper
Ricky Gervais
Martin Lewis
November 13, 2025 at 3:36 PM
For the whereabouts of my comedy shows this weekend, follow my face:
November 13, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Reposted by Paul Kerensa
So, happy 48th anniversary of That Lovely Diary Entry From Michael Palin
November 13, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Reposted by Paul Kerensa
This episode written (and recreated by @paulkerensa.bsky.social) directed and edited by me, all put together in just over a week! Have a listen, it’s lots of fun.
In a tough week for BBC present, there's a centenary of BBC past on Wed.
12 Nov 1925 saw a bizarre broadcast:
'Mass Telepathy: An Experiment in Thought Reading In which every listener will be invited to assist'
We're recreating it on the podcast.
Subscribe to get it, free:
podfollow.com/bbcentury
November 12, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Today is THE day to listen to this centenary re-enactment. Ideally tonight at 10:15pm. But why wait...
NEW PODCAST AHOY!
A dramatic centenary re-enactment of an odd lost broadcast...
On 12 Nov 1925, a celebrity panel tried to read the minds of BBC listeners. It was a disaster.
On 12 Nov 2025, we dramatise it, based on newspaper articles.
Enjoy! We did. Hic.
bbcentury.podbean.com/e/108-mass-t...
November 12, 2025 at 2:46 PM
The latest @bbcentury.bsky.social podcast is a centenary dramatisation of a lost BBC broadcast...

On 12 Nov 1925 a celeb panel in a fancy hotel enjoyed wine + a gothic parlour game. The Celebrity Traitors of 1925!

On 12 Nov 2025 we re-enact 'An Evening of Mass Telepathy'.

Enjoy!

pod.fo/e/350fce
November 12, 2025 at 10:26 AM
A nice little mention of the podcast on Chortle - the dramatisation will be out tomorrow on the centenary of this odd old broadcast...
www.chortle.co.uk/punching-ups....
When the BBC tried to read minds... : Punching Up 2025 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide
When the BBC tried to read minds... - Comedian's podcast recreates lost 'mass telepathy' experiment
www.chortle.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 12:25 PM
New podcast episode late tonight - with a drama we've made with a fab cast, re-enacting a bizarre lost broadcast.
Subscribe here, and it'll be yours as soon as it lands...
podfollow.com/bbcentury
In a tough week for BBC present, there's a centenary of BBC past on Wed.
12 Nov 1925 saw a bizarre broadcast:
'Mass Telepathy: An Experiment in Thought Reading In which every listener will be invited to assist'
We're recreating it on the podcast.
Subscribe to get it, free:
podfollow.com/bbcentury
November 11, 2025 at 9:34 AM
My latest Substack...

Who Let the DGs Out? The 17 BBC Directors-General... (as Tim Davie prepares to regenerate into the 18th)

Including the role of Panorama in making/breaking DGs... and a GREAT joke about the only joint Directors-General.

Here for you:

open.substack.com/pub/paulkere...
Who let the DGs out? The 17 BBC Directors-General...
...as Tim Davie prepares to regenerate into the 18th
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 PM
£40k = reported fee for each Celebrity Traitors player
x 19 players = £760k total
£1.5m = Nigel Farage's reported fee for I'm a Celebrity 2023
so
£Balding+Beaumont+Bonnar+Burns+Carr+Church+Codd+Daley+Empson+Faith+Fry+Garraway+Imrie+Marler+Mohammed+Omilana+Olusoga+Ross+Wilkinson = 1/2 £Farage
November 7, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Next gigs...

This weekend (comedy clubs, with other acts):
Fri 7 - Southern Maltings, WARE
Sat 8 - Riverside Arts, SUNBURY

Next weekend (church solo shows):
Fri 14 - St Boniface, BUNBURY nr Chester
Sat 15 - ASHBOURNE Elim, Derbyshire

Do come out to play
paulkerensa.com/gigguide
November 7, 2025 at 10:32 AM