The Coventry Blitz
Martin Hoyle, Financial Times, 17 xi 2000
Remembrancetide is always interesting on radio. This year's crop of related programmes ranged from The Archive Hour's riveting evocation of the Coventry blitz to a one-man play by Peter Tinniswood … As ever, the voices of ordinary people were more powerful than any actor could be, sometimes to surreal effect. In The Archive Hour, a practical Scots voice recounted enjoying Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in Strike Up the Band in a Coventry cinema, vaguely aware of a 'rumpus' outside. The manager announced that a raid was on; the audience could leave or stay as they wished. When the film-goers emerged, they found a world altered beyond recognition.
Gillian Reynolds, Daily Telegraph
"A marvellous programme ... Charles Wheeler on top form as a narrator, Alan Hall's production and use of material quite outstanding."