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Source: Reuters
Britain's public broadcaster banned famous children's author
Enid Blyton for nearly 30 years because it considered her work
small beer.
Newly released documents from the BBC archives reveal Blyton - who
penned the hugely popular Famous Five, Secret Seven and Noddy books
- made several unsuccessful attempts to have her work broadcast on
radio.
She first pitched ideas in 1936 but did not appear on Woman's Hour
until 1963.
A memo about a short story stated: "Not strong enough. It really is
odd to think that this woman is a best-seller. It is all such very
small beer."
BBC schools department head Jean Sutcliffe said in an internal memo
dated 1938: "My impression of her stories is that they might do for
Children's Hour but certainly not for Schools Dept, they haven't
much literary value."
She added that they were competently written.
In August 1940, BBC radio show Children's Hour rejected her play
The Monkey and the Barrel Organ, saying it was "stilted and long
winded".
Blyton said in a memo to a BBC producer: "I and my stories are
completely banned by the BBC as far as children are concerned - not
one story has ever been broadcast, and, so it is said, not one ever
will be."
In 1954, responding to a query from the Woman's Hour editor as to
whether Blyton could be interviewed, Sutcliffe said she was
concerned the BBC would become just another victim of the amazing
advertising campaign which has raised this competent and tenacious
second-rater to such astronomical heights of success.
