Scholars urge BBC to rethink changes to archive access

The BBC Written Archives Centre at Caversham, Berkshire, has been described by cultural historian Mark Lewisohn as “the mother lode of all 20th-century archives, packing the richest tapestry of our nation and our way of life, together with much spectacular global content”. Yet researchers are concerned that much of this fascinating material will no longer be available to them.

At the heart of their concerns, explained John Wyver, professor of the arts on screen at the University of Westminster, is the removal of the process of on-request vetting. In the past, researchers would go to the WAC and consult the ring binders containing lists of the files or “the very knowledgeable and helpful archivists”. They would then ask to look at whatever files seemed relevant.

Those that had already been vetted were rapidly made available. In the case of material that had not yet been opened for research, academics could ask for it to be reviewed – and, after a few weeks, make an appointment to see it, if necessary in redacted form.

Although Wyver had “no definite idea of how much was held back”, he suspected that the material underwent only “a very light process of redaction”. The personnel file of one early producer, for example, still contained details about his wife’s mental illness and how his struggles with money meant he had had to borrow some from the BBC.

As part of an audit of its holdings starting in January 2024, however, the WAC completely suspended its prior system of on-request vetting. Even after completion of the audit, these “temporary” measures remained in place, and there is currently no way to view vast amounts of valuable material.

This is likely to have a huge impact on many ongoing research projects and deter people from embarking on new ones. The scholarship of Wyver’s own recent book, Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of Television in Britain, “would have been significantly diminished” under the new regime, he said, since it involved “consulting some 400 or more files and about 200 of those had not previously been opened for research”.

A similar story is told by another of the leaders of the BBC Written Archives Centre Campaign: Kate Murphy, visiting fellow at Bournemouth University. She is the author of Behind the Wireless: A History of Early Women at the BBC and, for the corporation’s centenary in 1922, was asked to co-curate a section on the website on its history devoted to Pioneering Women, which drew extensively on her own research.

Yet even though it was welcomed by the BBC, stressed Murphy, such work was “totally dependent on the archives”. Nearly all of the files specifically about women were opened for me. If the new system had been always in place, none of what I uncovered would have been known. I would not have been able to do any of my research – full stop...my research career is effectively over, though I’ve got so much more I want to do.”

He and his fellow campaigners “have tried to raise the issue in different fora and have had half a dozen online discussions with executives,” reported Wyver, but “they have remained obdurate about reviewing the policies they have introduced”. The campaign has therefore raised the stakes and recently made a formal submission to a consultation organised by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. This is designed to feed into the review of the BBC Royal Charter, due to expire at the end of 2027.

Although the current charter requires the BBC to maintain an archive, Wyver said it gave few further details about what responsibilities this entailed. Nonetheless, “the BBC built their own submission to the consultation process around the ideas of transparency and trust and we have tried to argue that, while the specific issue of on-request vetting is quite small, it does speak to such questions”.

Asked for comment, a BBC spokesperson said: “We are taking a new approach to make a wider selection of BBC history accessible and searchable, with an ambition to open up more of the written archive from 30 to 50 per cent over the next five years.

“Given the level of resource available, we are moving to a series of structured content releases rather than individual requests for specific content, which will open up the written archive further and deliver greater value for licence fee payers.”

Although he theoretically welcomed the release of “a substantial number of previously closed files”, noted Wyver, the BBC “have not released, and tell us they have no plans to release, a list of what is in those files. That makes them almost useless as a research offering”.