GE 1995 Season 2 Episode 5: Intro and Ron Gellately
Note: this is not a transcript, but a working draft of the script, so there may be differences in the aired version.
SHOW 5: THE BCN'S 60th ANNIVERSARY
DOUG: It's 10:35 NF Standard Time. Stay tuned for the Great
Eastern: Newfoundland's Cultural Magazine, with
OTHER VOICE: Interim host Erling Biggs.
DOUG AGAIN: You are listening to the Broadcasting Corporation of
Newfoundland, 520 on the long wave.
MUSIC: VAMP BEGINS.
DOUG: (OVER VAMP) This week on the Great Eastern:
CLIPS, THEME IN AND ERLING'S BILLBOARD OVER
THEME. THEME OUT
ERLING: Hello radio listeners of Newfoundland, Canada, and Iceland,
my name is Erling Biggs, welcome to the Great Eastern
where today, we help the BCN commemorate its sixtieth
anniversary as the broadcaster of record in Nfld. Old hosts
make a comeback and we'll hear some of the golden
moments that have made the BCN and the Great Eastern
household names. All this and much more, for you, with me,
Erling Biggs, on The Great Eastern.
SFX: THEME
SFX: KISH KISH OF TAPE MACHINE ... ELECTRONIC WANGS
... TWO VOICES THAT ALMOST CANNOT BE HEARD
# 1: Go ahead.
# 2: Not yet, not yet ... is it time ?
SFX: RUSTLING OF PAPERS
# 1: Go on, do it.
# 2: (HESITANTLY) Good morning, New Foundland. You are
listening to the Broadcasting Corporation of New Foundland,
transmitting at 520 megahertz on the long wave.
MUSIC: THE ODE TO NEWFOUNDLAND
ERLING: The Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland was
established by an order in council at Westminster, under the
recommendation of the Commission of Government in 1934.
Almost a year later, on July 29, 1935, we went to air.
What you have just heard was the original wire tape
recording of the inaugural sign-on of the BCN. The voice
was that of our first station manager, Jabez Lundrigan.
Our friends at all the other programs at the station have
been offering their tributes to the BCN this week. And today,
we at The Great Eastern take the time to offer ours. 60
years of the BCN ... and ... of The Great Eastern.
Because, the Great Eastern goes back almost to the
beginning. It was in the depths of the days of the dole that
the Great Eastern's signal first sailed out across the island.
Jabez Lundrigan did double duty as our original captain, but
in 1937, a young man named Ron Gellately was given the
helm. Through good times and bad, Ron Gellately was the
skipper of the Great Eastern ... until 1964, off and on. Ron
was the most loved personality in BCN history. He was
famous. He was also infamous.
It is 1939. Ron Gellately, tit-deep in local Fenian intrigue,
receives startling news from Dirk Pilgrim, later famous in his
own right, but who was then our man at City Hall.
SFX: OLD TAPE TIME AGAIN
RON: Could you speak up, Dirk ?
DIRK: There's quite a commotion here, a surprise development at
tonight's meeting of city council. Stating that the Allied
Forces prospects for victory in the European theatre were at
best poor, St. John's Mayor Adam Fry has surrendered the
city to the Germans. A telegram is now being sent to Berlin
inviting an occupational force to be dispatched as quickly as
possible.
RON: What great news, Dirk!
DIRK: Say again Ron, there's quite a commotion down here. Oh, I
see some Newfoundland Rangers have arrived scene now.
RON: I say, I'm sure all our listeners will join me in welcoming the
people of the great German nation to our shores. You want
Lebensraum? Look no further, meine Freunde. If our
Bavarian brethren are monitoring this broadcast, from me
and everyone here at the BCN, a great big warm
Newfoundland Heil Hitler to you all.
ERLING: Not surprisingly, both Mayor Fry and Ron Gellately were
detained after that episode. Mayor Fry, a physician,
declared himself "neurologically unbalanced" and withdrew
from office, making way for the twenty year term of Cliff
"Boss" Duffett. Ron Gellately returned to Broadcasting after
being interned for the duration of the war.
But Ron had his good side, too. His warmth and
congeniality were legendary. He really believed each and
every citizen of Newfoundland was his friend. People
quickly forgave his war crimes.
In 1950, as a result of confederation, the BCN faced a major
budget shortfall. The station was forced to make up for it by
putting on a huge advertising push. You can sense that in
this extraordinary excerpt from 1951. Here's the reformed
Ron Gellately, firmly in control of the Great Eastern, with his
minder and assistant captain, Bill Reddigan.
SUNBEAM