Charles Chilton, MBE, (born 1917) is a BBC radio presenter, a writer and a producer. Born in Bloomsbury, he never knew his father - who was killed during World War I - and when he was six his mother died of the 1920s flu epidemic, so he was raised by his grandmother. He was educated at St. Pancras Church of England school. Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in decreasing order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand... 1917 was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... This article is an overview article about the Crown chartered British Broadcasting Corporation formed in 1927. ... The Bloomsbury, a corner pub Bloomsbury is an area of central London, in the London Borough of Camden, named after early landowner William de Blemund who acquired the land in 1201. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties. // Events and trends Technology John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as Tommy gun John Logie Baird invents the first working mechanical television system (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to... Negatively stained flu virions. ... St Pancras was a Roman citizen who converted to Christianity, and was beheaded for his faith at the age of just 14 around the year 304. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ...

When he was 15 Chilton joined the BBC as a messenger boy. A year later he became an assistant in their gramophone library. He had a passion for jazz music, and in 1937 formed the BBC Boys' Jazz band. Edison cylinder phonograph from about 1899 The phonograph, or gramophone, was the most common device for playing recorded sound from the 1870s through the 1980s. ... Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. ... 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

His first role as a producer was for I Hear America Singing, after which he moved to the BBC variety department. He then presented his own show between 11pm and midnight called Swing Time, and a weekly jazz programme called Radio Rhythm Club.

Next came five years' war service with the RAF, after which he was sent to Sri Lanka to run the forces radio station with broadcaster David Jacobs. The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the UK Armed Forces. ... David Henry Jacobs (April 30, 1888 - June 6, 1976) was a British athlete, winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1912 Summer Olympics. ...

Back in the BBC he wrote and produced programmes for, among others, Roy Plomley, Michael Bentine and Stephane Grappelli. He also met and married his wife, Penny, who was a secretary at the company. He was then sent to the United States to research, write and produce a number of series based on American western history. One of these, Riders of the Range, lasted for five years until 1953. Roy Plomley (1913-1985) devised the long-running BBC Radio 4 series Desert Island Discs in 1942 and he also presented it, until his death from pleurisy in 1985, aged 71. ... Michael Bentine Michael Bentine (January 26, 1922 - November 26, 1996) was a comedian, comic actor, and member of the Goons. ... Stephane Grappelli (January 26, 1908 - December 1, 1997) was a pioneer jazz violinist who founded the quintet of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with Django Reinhardt. ... 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

However, major international recognition came with his science fiction trilogy Journey Into Space which he wrote and produced between 1953 and 1959. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... A trilogy is a set of three works of art, usually literature or film, that develop a single theme even though they are generally created at different times. ... Journey Into Space was a science fiction BBC Radio series written by BBC producer Charles Chilton. ... 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

He was presented with an MBE for his services to the radio by the Queen Mother (the Queen was abroad at the time) in 1976, a year before retiring from the BBC after 46 years. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) as Queen Elizabeth was the Queen consort of George VI of the United Kingdom from 1936 to 1952 and the mother of his successor, Queen Elizabeth II, the current British monarch. ... Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor), styled HM The Queen (born 21 April 1926) is the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and... 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

He now also spends time acting as a tour guide for The Original London Walks company.

Production/writing credits:

• Follow the Fun (writer) play.
• Fledgling (writer) play based on Follow the Fun (1940).
• The Long Long Trail (writer) - a musical about the First World War featuring popular songs of the time interspersed with scripted material.
• Oh! What a Lovely War (producer)
• Round The Bend in Thirty Minutes (producer, series 2 and 3, 1958 to 1960) - starring Michael Bentine
• Riders of the Range - a cowboy series that found its way into the Eagle comic.
• Shakespeare's London
• Dickens' London
• London's Pleasure Gardens
• Cries of London
• Ballad History of Samuel Pepys
• The Goon Show (producer) - series 3 episodes 18 and 19, series 8 episodes 1-5 and 17-26, 'Vintage Goons' series episodes 1-2 and 9-14.
• How Jazz Came to Britain (presenter, July 8, 2000)
• Journey Into Space (writer/producer)
• Space Force (writer/producer, 1984 and 1985)