Derek Ivor Breashur McCulloch OBE (18 November 1897 – 1 June 1967) was a

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

producer and presenter. He became known as "Uncle Mac" on ''

Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childr ...

'' and '' Children's Favourites'' and provided the voice of "Larry the Lamb" in '' Toytown''. He was the head of children's broadcasting for the BBC from 1933 until 1951.

Early life

McCulloch was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, the youngest child of (William) Lionel Breashur McCulloch and his wife, Bertha Russell. The

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

interrupted his education at

Croydon High School Croydon High School is an independent day school for girls located near Croydon, London, England. It is one of the original schools founded by the Girls' Day School Trust. History The school was founded in 1874 in Wellesley Road just north of th ...

, and he enlisted in 1915 in the Public Schools Battalion of the 16th Middlesex Regiment at the age of 17. He was wounded at the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place be ...

in July 1916 within 20 yards of the German front line. He was then shot by an enemy stretcher party and lost his right eye. During three days and nights in a shell hole, he incurred further injuries from shrapnel. He crawled back to his own lines. He served until 1921 with the infantry, where he was commissioned into the

Green Howards The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under vario ...

, and in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

as an equipment officer, including a spell on HMS Valiant. After the war, he travelled in Europe and South America. He was working for

Central Argentine Railway The Central Argentine Railway, referred to as CA below, (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Central Argentino) was one of the ''Big Four'' broad gauge, British companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The company had been establis ...

when his health deteriorated, and he returned to England where a bullet was extracted from his lung.Mckenzie, Jim
Biography by Jim Mackenzie at The Wee Web
. Retrieved 30 October 2012

Career

BBC

McCulloch joined the BBC in 1926 as an announcer. He was the commentator on the first radio broadcast of the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

in 1927.The Radio Academy: Derek McCulloch
. Retrieved 30 October 2012 His health worsened while working for the

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

station in 1929 but a job was found for him in ''

''. By 1931, he became second-in-command of the programme and took charge of it in 1933. The programme included talks, plays, music and drama serials. He was appointed head of children's broadcasting in 1933, serving in that position until 1951.Strinati, D
''Come on Down?: The Politics of Popular Media Culture in Post-War Britain''
Psychology Press, 1992, pp. 153, 157. He regarded the department as a microcosm of all broadcasting, stating: "Nothing but the best is good enough for children ... our wish is to stimulate their imaginations, direct their reading, encourage their various interests, widen their outlook and inculcate the Christian virtues of love of God and their neighbours." In 1938 he lost a leg as the result of a road accident, and thereafter remained in constant pain. One of the favourite segments of ''Children's Hour'' was Sydney George Hulme Beaman's Toytown playlets, in which McCulloch played the central role of Larry the Lamb. In 1939, the audience for ''Children's Hour'' reached four million. His sign-off line, "Goodnight children, everywhere," became more poignant after the evacuation of many children from their homes at the start of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He resigned from the BBC in 1950 due to ill health, and to become the children's editor for the ''

News Chronicle The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 b ...

''. However, he continued to chair ''Nature Parliament'', which ran roughly every month on ''Children's Hour''. In 1954, McCulloch returned to the BBC to present a music request programme for children, ''Children's Favourites'', on Saturday mornings. By 1964, the audience for the daily ''Children's Hour'' had decreased to 24,000, in favour of television. Despite questions in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, the programme was dropped. The following year, he ceased to present the Saturday show. After his retirement, it was hosted by

Leslie Crowther Leslie Douglas Sargent Crowther, CBE (6 February 1933 – 29 September 1996) was an English comedian, actor, TV presenter, and game show host. Biography Crowther was born on Monday, 6 February, 1933 in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, son of ...

and it became '' Junior Choice'', hosted by Ed Stewart, when the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

was replaced by Radio 1 and Radio 2 in 1967.

Writing

McCulloch wrote the book ''Every Child's Pilgrim's Progress'' in 1956, a simplified version of

John Bunyan John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In addition ...

's ''

The Pilgrim's Progress ''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a progenitor of t ...

'', which in McCulloch's words was one of the "greatest stories ever written". He also wrote two children's stories, ''Cornish Adventure'' (1941) and ''Cornish Mystery'' (1950), and gave his name to a series of

Ladybird Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles ranging in size from . They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in Great Britain. Some entomologists prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as th ...

children's books in the 1950s.

Personal life and death

McCulloch was the subject of the BBC television programme ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' in February 1964. He married Eileen Hilda Barry, a BBC secretary, on 13 June 1931. They had two daughters. He was awarded an OBE in 1964, and died at St Francis Hospital,

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, Cra ...

on 1 June 1967, aged 69. McCulloch was cremated at Bramley,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

Early life

Career

BBC

Writing

Personal life and death

References

Further reading