Daphne Oxenford

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.

Daphne Oxenford was remembered fondly for her 'Listen with Mother' appearances. Huddled round the Rediffusion speaker in the corner of the infant school classroom, sat cross-legged on the parquet flooring, a generation grew up to her tones, alongside Julia Lang, Dorothy Smith and Eileen Browne.

The programme was aired just after lunch, where it attracted an audience of more than a million at its peak. It was first heard on 16 January 1950 on what was then the 'Light' programme (now Radio 2), before moving to Radio 4. The show ended in 1982.

Daphne was an actress, appearing on TV in ‘To the Manor Born’, ‘Man About the House’ and ‘Coronation Street’. On radio, her voice, redolent of an era, was heard in ‘The Clitheroe Kid’. From 1950 to 1971, she appeared on ‘Listen with Mother’, telling stories which kept her young audience seen and not heard. Although the now-satirised ‘sitting comfortably’ injunction was coined by Julia Lang, Daphne made it her own with ease.

Daphne died on 21st December 2012. Here, from Radio 4’s brilliant 'Last Word' programme, Daphne’s daughter reflects; and we hear again those delightful tones.