Family Favourites

Successor to the wartime show Forces Favourites, Family Favourites (remembered by its later name Two-Way Family Favourites) was broadcast at Sunday lunchtimes on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2 and the British Forces Broadcasting Service until 1980. It was a request programme designed to link families at home in the UK with British Forces serving in West Germany or elsewhere overseas. It was a big success.

It had the memorable signature tune "With a Song in My Heart" (original played by Andre Kostelanetz and his Orchestra) and was presented by a variety of well-known radio personalities including Cliff Michelmore, Jean Metcalfe,^[1] Bill Crozier in Cologne, Michael Aspel, Judith Chalmers^[2] and Sarah Kennedy. The final UK presenter was Jean Challis, although both Pete Murray and Ed Stewart continued to use the title for segments of their shows , often linking up with places such as Australia & New Zealand, for another couple of years during the 1980s - during this time, the song "Hurry Home" by Wavelength became popular with the families of troops returning from the Falklands War.^[3]

Internationally

When it expanded it encompassed far-flung corners of the Commonwealth with, amongst others, Bill Paull being the link man in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June Armstrong-Wright from Hong Kong, Ross Symonds from Australia, Don Durbridge from Gibraltar and Marama Martin from New Zealand.

References