The BBC Home Service was the original name for Radio 4 and was on the air from 1939 until 30 September 1967. Unlike Radio 4, it had regional variations and was broadcast on medium wave rather than long wave, with a network of FM (then known as VHF) transmitters being added progresively from 1955.

Some of its announcers

• Lionel Marson
• Ronald Fletcher
• Wallace Greenslade
• Stuart Hibberd
• Frank Phillips
• Joy Worth
• Colin Doran
• Kenneth Kendall
• Harry Middleton

Some of its most remembered programmes

• The Archers (1966-67)
• The Brains Trust
• The Goon Show
• In Town Tonight

See also: BBC World Service