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Professor celebrates birth of the modern radio feature.
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Professor Sean Street presents a special Archive Hour on Radio 4 celebrating the feature that changed radio.

When The Ballad Of John Axon was broadcast on the BBC Home Service in July 1958, it changed the possibilities and sound of radio. It told the story of a heroic train driver, John Axon, who was killed when the brakes failed on his engine. He refused to abandon his post and managed to save the lives of children on a passenger train. For his bravery, he was awarded the George Cross.

Axon's story was put to music by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, with documentary material gathered and edited by BBC radio producer Charles Parker. The programme features the voices of railway colleagues in a programme style which had never been tried before. Until then, the voices of ordinary people had been replaced by actors for broadcast and the mixing, which is taken for granted in today's digital age, had never been so complex and layered.

"Like Blackpool went through rock... " were the words used by one railwayman, when asked by Parker to describe how his job ran through his life and community. That was 50 years ago, and to mark the anniversary, Charles Parker's daughter, Sara, a distinguished radio producer in her own right, has collaborated with Sean Street – poet, broadcaster and Professor in Radio at Bournemouth University – to make a special edition of Archive Hour.

Contributors include Peggy Seeger, Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker, Melanie Axon, folk singer Ian Campbell, original sound engineer John Clark, TV producer Philip Donnellan, Dave Rogers of Banner Theatre, radio feature-maker Piers Plowright and radio critic Gillian Reynolds.

Details and audio recordings from this year's Charles Parker Day including the winner of the Charles Parker Prize for most innovative student feature are here.

Archive Hour – Like Blackpool Went Through Rock
Saturday 21 June
8.00-9.00pm
BBC Radio 4