This archive contains a vast collection of audio-visual materials.
John became a successful writer in the 1970s working for publications such ‘New Musical Express’ (NME) and becoming editor of ‘Let It Rock’ in 1973. His real launch into the comedy world came in the 1990’s where he began to write and produce ‘Talking Comedy’, a BBC Radio 2 show which ran from 1996-2004. Many of the original DAT tapes in the John Pidgeon Collection are recordings of the interviews for this programme including comedians such as Mark Thomas, Eddie Izzard, John Hegley and Alan Davies. Interviews for a similar show, ‘Laughing Matters’, broadcast on British Airways Radio, are also included in the collection.
In 1999 John became the head of BBC Radio Entertainment, a post which he held for 6 years, where he supported and produced for acts such as Ross Noble, Little Britain and Flight of the Concords. As well as original recordings from his career in Radio production, John has given the archive a large collection of published cassettes and CDs from the country’s most popular comedians, many of whom he had worked with.
Collection in brief
Contents: Audio-visual material
Period: 1980s onwards
Subjects: comedy, performance
