Mr. H.G. Wells

Beginning last autumn, several series of talks with a unified purpose behind them have been broadcast in the National Programme, and talks in this section are still to go on. Distinguished speakers, each a specialist in his own particular line, have been taking stock as it were: examining the past glories of Britain, looking frankly at our assets today; and comparing, all with an eye on the future. Under various headings a wide range of subjects has been appraised: the British Empire; Some British Institutions; National Character; Rural Britain; Scientific Research and Social Needs; Music; Poetry and Prose from Chaucer down to the present day.

And now, in the Whither Britain? series commencing this evening, comes the climax of all this 'Taking Stock'. Past and Present have been brought to the microphone and been put under the microscope; the time has come to look into the future. And what prophet among our great men can more fittingly make the first broadcast than the writer so many of whose prophecies, made a generation ago, have come true; whose Utopias rest on serious social thinking; and who is the outstanding imaginative writer of our time?