BBC Written Archives Centre

Our documents have been selected for permanent preservation because of their value as evidence or as a source for historical or other research. The archive provides a rich resource for the history of broadcasting and the BBC, as well as 20th and 21st century social and political history, biography, music and the arts.

To get started, click the links below to find out more about what we hold and how to use the archive.

We have made some changes to our services.

We are moving to a new model where we will be releasing archive content in a programme of regular releases of material.

We are also looking at our vetting processes to see if it is possible to make more of the collection available for research.

Please see our News and File Releases page for details of what we’ve newly released for research.

External enquiries that meet the access criteria will have access to materials from the Written Archives collection which have previously been opened.

If you require access to parts of the collections because you are working on a BBC commissioned project, please contact us and provide details of the commission and your BBC contact.

Unfortunately we are no longer able to answer any personal interest enquiries, supply copies of documents, or undertake any research on behalf of external users.

You can find out more information about the BBC on the BBC's About the BBC page.

You can find out more details about BBC programmes on The Programme Index