1 9 5 3 – 1 9 6 1 (UK)
The first Asian magazine programme on BBC Television was an External Services radio programme which was televised for the first time on 22 April 1955, with the Radio Times declaring, “Young men and women from Asian countries put questions to Professor GJ Renier, author of “The English: Are They Human?”
Some notable Western speakers were invited as guests with a live studio audience of young people from India and Pakistan to Japan and China, and topics for discussion included “Western Education”, “The Mystery of Clothes”, “The Problems of Living in Britain” and “Have You a Camera?”
The Hostess was the gracious and mellow-voiced Indian journalist Shakuntala Shrinagesh, and the show was produced by Sunday Wilshin and Donald Baverstock.
The series was broadcast infrequently (usually at six weekly intervals), with the last programme broadcast on 21 July 1961.
Host
Shakuntala Shrinagesh