ABSTRACT
BBC interest about language can be found from the earliest days of its institution, as Simon Elmes (this volume) notes, and regional programmes on local usage were being made as early as the 1930s, but nothing quite matches the flowering of interest in linguistic issues during the 1980s, which helped form the climate for the Voices project. This was a decade when the BBC was becoming increasingly concerned about what to do with the volume of correspondence it was receiving from listeners about English usage. Hundreds of letters were being received every week, and there was nowhere for them to go but the Pronunciation Unit. However, many of the topics had nothing to do with pronunciation. Although regional accents, sound changes, and perceived errors (such as intrusive r) were common themes, most letters dealt with topics in grammar and vocabulary, which went well beyond the Unit’s remit. What should be done with them?
