A Very Different Britain

Neil Clark writes:

"A jubilant burst of celebrations in London and all over the country officially marks the start of the jubilee week revelries. Bonfires, fireworks and traditional pageantry are all part of the week's programme which has full coverage on BBC TV and radio." So proclaimed the Radio Times of silver jubilee week in 1977.

A comparison of the television and radio listings of that week 35 years ago with those of diamond jubilee week in 2012 shows that, even though the Radio Times published its own "souvenir issue", coverage of the event occupied significantly less broadcast time in 1977.

On spring bank holiday Monday in 1977, the only jubilee-pegged programme in the BBC1 schedules was Silver Jubilee – Fires of Friendship at 9.50pm, which featured the Queen lighting the first bonfire in a nationwide chain of beacons. Elsewhere, there wasn't a crown in sight. That evening's entertainment kicked off with Disney Time, at 5.25pm, followed by the film Scott of the Antarctic, The Music of Morecambe and Wise and those "tough and rough – but likeable and friendly" cops, Starsky and Hutch at 8.50pm.

On silver jubilee bank holiday itself, the BBC1's live coverage ran from 10.10am until 3.35pm when Black Beauty (the 1971 feature film) galloped along to whisk us away from waving royals on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. There was then a one-hour jubilee highlights package at 9.40pm on BBC2, allowing BBC1 viewers to focus on "a special holiday presentation" of the film My Fair Lady.

By contrast, this year on bank holiday Monday, on BBC1 we have A Jubilee Tribute to the Queen by the Prince of Wales at 1.45pm (repeated again at 12.40am the following morning for anyone who misses it), Fiona Bruce exploring The Queen's Palaces at 3.45pm, and from 7.30pm onwards three hours and fifteen minutes coverage of The Diamond Jubilee Concert.

On Tuesday, we have live jubilee coverage running on BBC1 from 9.15am until 3.45pm to be followed by ... highlights of the previous night's diamond jubilee concert. Just in case there are viewers who still haven't had enough, at 6.30pm we have Rolf Paints… the Diamond Jubilee, and then starting at 10.35pm and lasting for an hour and a half, The Diamond Jubilee Weekend Highlights: "a look back at a spectacular weekend of festivities".

Another noticeable difference between then and now was the absence of celebrities in the BBC's coverage in 1977. Penelope Keith, then going strong as a star of The Good Life, did present Jubilee Jackanory at 5.20pm on silver jubilee bank holiday, but that was about it. Guests taking part in The Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant, (broadcast on Sunday afternoon on BBC1 and repeated at 10.55pm in the evening) were due to include "Sue Johnston, Omid Djalili, Griff Rhys Jones, Frank Skinner, Richard E Grant and the Horrible Histories team", according to the Radio Times. That would have been like inviting Noele Gordon, Tommy Cooper, Peter Cook, Albert Finney and the cast of Rentaghost to take part in the 1977 jubilee coverage. Instead, in The Queen and The Thames – Royal River Pageant and Fireworks, we got a commentary from newsreader Richard Baker, while Raymond Baxter described proceedings from the water, with not a celeb in sight.

In 2012 big names are everywhere. If the three-and-a-quarter hours of Sir Elton, Sir Paul, Sir Cliff, Kylie and co performing on Monday night won't be enough for you, you can also watch The One Show beforehand, in which presenters Alex Jones and Matt Baker "join the stars getting ready to appear". Those away from their TV sets, or who want to get going even earlier, can tune in to Live from the Palace on Radio 2 at 5pm where Chris Evans will, we are told, "be interviewing some of the big-name performers".

As there were no "big-name performers" to interview in 1977, Pete Murray and Jimmy Young, in a three-hour programme on Radio 2, invited listeners "to join them outside Buckingham Palace and St Paul's Cathedral and chat to people in the crowd watching the royal procession".

The Radio Times of silver jubilee week 1977 gives us an insight into a very different Britain: one not dominated by celebrity culture, and where major national events, like jubilees, tended not to be over-hyped. Of course, we're now celebrating a diamond jubilee and not a silver one, so we'd expect more events to be laid on and more grandiose coverage. That said, I think I still prefer the Beeb's quieter programming schedule of 35 years ago. Bring back Black Beauty.