| Genre | Factual |
|---|---|
| Running time | 41 minutes |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Hosted by | Kirsty Wark Sue MacGregor (former) |
| Produced by | David Prest |
| Original release | 27 July 2003[1] – present |
| Opening theme | Franz Liszt - "Canzonetta del Salvator Rosa" from Années de pèlerinage[2] |
| Website | The Reunion |
The Reunion is a radio discussion series presented by Kirsty Wark which reunites a group of people involved in a moment of modern history.[3][4] It has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 since July 2003, with 163 episodes presented by the first presenter, Sue MacGregor.[5]
The series brings together four or five participants, sometimes from opposing sides. The first episode reunited the team behind the world's first IVF baby, Louise Brown.[1] Other examples include Robben Island prisoners in Cape Town, South Africa, representatives from Labour and BBC to discuss the Hutton Inquiry,[6] perpetrators and victims of the Brighton hotel bombing, and maids of honour from the 1953 Coronation.[5] The panel discussion is interspersed with archive audio and narration of the event by the presenter.
MacGregor announced that the series of 2019 would be her last.[5] Kirsty Wark was appointed as the new presenter in May 2020, and her first episode, bringing together participants in the Black Wednesday exchange rate crash of 1992, was broadcast on 16 August 2020.[4]
The format for The Reunion was conceived by the series producer David Prest and is owned by Whistledown Productions, who license the programme to BBC Radio 4. The programme won a gold award for the Best Speech Programme at the 2007 Sony Radio Academy Awards[7] and was also voted radio programme of the year at the 2016 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards.[8] In a Radio Times poll in February 2019, The Reunion was voted the 27th greatest radio programme of all time.[9][10]
The Reunion has inspired two feature films. Made in Dagenham (2010) was based on an episode broadcast in September 2003 featuring the women machinists who went on strike at the Ford factory in Dagenham in 1968. The film's producer Stephen Woolley heard the programme, and his company, Number 9 Films, optioned the script from Whistledown Productions, who became consultants to the film and were credited as Associate Producers.[11] Misbehaviour (2020) was similarly inspired by a particularly tense 2010 edition of the programme that brought together the women's liberation protesters who disrupted the 1970 Miss World competition, with former tournament host Michael Aspel, Mecca employee Peter Jolley, and that year's Miss World, Jennifer Hosten.[12]
- ^ a b "The Reunion:Louise Brown". BBC Genome. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
- ^ Mahoney, Elizabeth (25 April 2012). "The Reunion: an unmissable radio show that gets better with every listen". The Guardian.
- ^ "The Reunion". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- ^ a b "Kirsty Wark to host Radio 4's The Reunion". BBC Media Centre. 17 May 2020.
- ^ a b c "Sue MacGregor stands down as host of Radio 4's The Reunion". BBC Media Centre. 23 October 2019.
- ^ Carr, Flora (19 August 2018). "'The space shuttle disaster Reunion was heartbreaking': Radio 4's Sue Macgregor recalls her most memorable The Reunion moments". Radio Times.
- ^ "Sony Radio Academy Awards 2007". The Guardian. 1 May 2007.
- ^ "The 42nd Broadcasting Press Guild Television and Radio Awards". Broadcasting Press Guild. 12 March 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
- ^ O'Hagan, Simon (16 February 2019). "The 30 Greatest Radio Programmes of All Time". Radio Times.
- ^ "Commercial radio ignored in Greatest Radio Shows list". RadioToday. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ^ "Whistledown Productions". BFI. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
- ^ Moorhead, Joanna (26 February 2020). "'I heard the signal – and threw my flour bombs': why the 1970 Miss World protest is still making waves". The Guardian.
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