Dubbing Gerry Adams
<p>The ‘broadcasting ban’ on 11 Northern Irish organizations including Sinn Fein was finally lifted by Prime Minister John Major on 16th September, 1994, one fortnight after an IRA ceasefire had been achieved.</p><br><p>The regulations, implemented six years earlier by Margaret Thatcher and her Home Secretary Douglas Hurd, prevented British TV networks from broadcasting interviews with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, lest they drum up sympathy for Republicanist terrorism. So the broadcasters found a workaround: they employed voice actors to dub over the interviews.</p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly re-examine some of the absurd circumstances in which the ban was implemented and avoided; consider the pushback to the policy from the Labour party and miffed BBC staffers; and explain how the ban played into Cuba’s hands…&nbsp;</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p>• ‘Northern Ireland, the BBC, and Censorship in Thatcher's Britain By Robert J. Savage’ (Oxford University Press, 2022): <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Northern_Ireland_the_BBC_and_Censorship/UJtjEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%27sinn+fein%27+and+%27broadcast+ban%27&printsec=frontcover" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Northern_Ireland_the_BBC_and_Censorship/UJtjEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%27sinn+fein%27+and+%27broadcast+ban%27&printsec=frontcover</a></p><p>• ‘The 'broadcast ban' on Sinn Fein’ (BBC News, 2005): <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4409447.stm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4409447.stm</a></p><p>• ‘Sinn Fein Leader Gerry Adams Voiced By An Actor’ (BBC): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdf4xOdas1g" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdf4xOdas1g</a></p><br><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.</em>&nbsp;</p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
Today In History with The Retrospectors
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Show Notes
The ‘broadcasting ban’ on 11 Northern Irish organizations including Sinn Fein was finally lifted by Prime Minister John Major on 16th September, 1994, one fortnight after an IRA ceasefire had been achieved.
The regulations, implemented six years earlier by Margaret Thatcher and her Home Secretary Douglas Hurd, prevented British TV networks from broadcasting interviews with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, lest they drum up sympathy for Republicanist terrorism. So the broadcasters found a workaround: they employed voice actors to dub over the interviews.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly re-examine some of the absurd circumstances in which the ban was implemented and avoided; consider the pushback to the policy from the Labour party and miffed BBC staffers; and explain how the ban played into Cuba’s hands…
Further Reading:
• ‘Northern Ireland, the BBC, and Censorship in Thatcher's Britain By Robert J. Savage’ (Oxford University Press, 2022): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Northern_Ireland_the_BBC_and_Censorship/UJtjEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%27sinn+fein%27+and+%27broadcast+ban%27&printsec=frontcover
• ‘The 'broadcast ban' on Sinn Fein’ (BBC News, 2005): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4409447.stm
• ‘Sinn Fein Leader Gerry Adams Voiced By An Actor’ (BBC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdf4xOdas1g
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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