Content and talent company Somethin’ Else is producing a documentary series for Radio 4 on the history of the Post Office.
The series, which contains 15 x 15 minute packages, will air in late 2011.
Produced by Joby Waldman, with exec producer Robert Abel, the features tell how the post office has been a consistently progressive and democratizing social force. It’s called Royal Mail but it should be known as the People’s Post.
Launched in 1516 by Henry VIII, it was intended to support Royal communications and bolster intelligence. It was only a rise in literacy, trade and interest that stimulated a demand for a public service, and it wasn’t until the advent of the Penny black in 1840 that it became affordable to the general public.