Independent radio production company Made In Manchester makes its debut on BBC Radio 4 this week, with a documentary presented by Sir David Frost. "I Got Up Out of My Seat" traces people who responded to American evangelist Billy Graham's preaching at Haringey in 1954 and tells their stories.
At the insistence of Billy Graham himself no records were ever kept of those who responded to his preaching. So producer Andrew Graystone gathered scores of individual stories to assess the long-term impact of the crusade.
Andrew tells us, "Our estimate is that at least 80,000 people 'got up out of their seats' at the Haringey Crusade. It’s been fascinating to research what became of them and how it impacted their lives for good or ill. A great many people contacted us to say that hearing Billy Graham preach at Haringey was a defining moment in their life."
One of those who was deeply touched by Graham's preaching was Sir David Frost, who presents the Radio 4 documentary. He went to Haringey with his church youth group at the age of 15, and says that he would probably have responded if he hadn’t been afraid of missing the bus home! He remains fascinated by Billy Graham and has interviewed him many times.
"This is a rare opportunity to hear one of the great figures of 20th Century broadcasting exploring his fascination with one of its great religious statesmen." says Andrew Graystone.
Made In Manchester Productions is run by radio journalist and presenter Ashley Byrne, former Olympic swimmer James Hickman, and the creator and voice of radio's The Bradshaws Buzz Hawkins.
"I Got Up Out of my Seat" is broadcast on Friday 25th Mat at 1100 on [link=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4]BBC Radio 4.[/link]
–
[link=https://radiotoday.co.uk]RadioToday.co.uk – non-stop radio news[/link] radionews@tmssvr.co.uk or call 0871 315 6 315