Five milestones from BBC's 100 years in Aberdeen

A radio play image taken in the BBC's original home in Aberdeen in 1935

It is exactly 100 years since the BBC began broadcasting from Aberdeen.

Listeners heard live music and light entertainment during the first broadcast from the Granite City at 21:00 on 10 October 1923.

Since then the BBC in Aberdeen has played a major role in producing programmes for radio and television, and content for the BBC Scotland website.

Here are some of the most significant milestones.

Beechgrove Garden

The BBC's Beechgrove home pictured in 1938

For many people, the BBC's home in Aberdeen is inextricably linked with The Beechgrove Garden.

One of Scotland's most popular TV shows, it has been broadcast from the back garden of the BBC building in Beechgrove Terrace from 1978.

Presenter Jim McColl finally hung up his trowel at the age of 83 in 2019, after more than 40 years with the programme.

• Longest-serving garden presenter bows out

Jim McColl in the early days of The Beechgrove Garden

Beechgrove Terrace was not the BBC's original home in Aberdeen however - its original broadcast on station 2DB came from the attic of the Aberdeen Electrical Engineering Company in the city's Belmont Street.

As 2DB fast outgrew its home in the 1930s, it was time to move to Beechgrove Terrace.

The outbreak of World War II saw local programming suspended, and Broadcasting House Aberdeen staff were assigned to fire watch duties.

Resumed production continued to expand, and in 1962 the television studio came to life.

Landward

Landward has been running since 1976

In April 1976, Landward - a programme initially focusing on farming - first appeared on television screens.

The longest running TV programme in Scotland, it continues to evolve.

Reflecting the huge shifts in agriculture, policy changes, disease outbreaks and increased access to the Countryside, it follows the seasons covering farming, forestry, wildlife, environment, rural living and heritage, with the Scottish landscape at its heart.

Take the Floor

Robbie Shepherd died earlier this year

Meanwhile, radio continued to thrive, helped by greats such as the late Robbie Shepherd.

The veteran broadcaster went on to host BBC Radio Scotland's Take the Floor music show for 35 years.

The 87-year-old - who was a champion of north-east Scotland's Doric dialect - died earlier this year.

He was described as a "national treasure" during his funeral service.

• Veteran broadcaster Robbie Shepherd dies aged 87

Piper Alpha

In 1988, local reporters covered the Piper Alpha offshore disaster, in which 167 men died.

The North Sea tragedy happened on 6 July that year, when explosions and a fireball ripped through the rig.

It remains the world's worst offshore disaster and continues to make headlines today.

• Piper Alpha remembered 25 years on

• Protection for Piper Alpha memorial in redesign row

Death of the Queen

The Queen's death led to an outpouring of emotion in Ballater near Balmoral

The turn of the century saw production move into a new, purpose-built building.

The BBC Scotland news website also launched a north-east and Northern Isles page, staffed from the new building and viewed by a global audience.

That comprehensive local online coverage was brought into particularly sharp focus with the Stonehaven train derailment in 2020, in which three men died, and then death of Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral last year.

• 'She was a neighbour, more than just the Queen'

Coverage continued from the Thursday evening of The Queen's death into the deeply affectionate reaction of the local community the following day, and then the coffin procession from Royal Deeside to Edinburgh on the Sunday.

A plaque was unveiled in Belmont Street

A plaque marking the BBC's long and continuing association with Aberdeen was unveiled at its original home in Belmont Street on Tuesday.

BBC Scotland director Steve Carson said: "100 years of programming production from Aberdeen is a huge achievement and our presence in this city and the work we do here remains just as important today as it did a century ago.

"We are hugely proud of the contribution our teams in Aberdeen make to the BBC and we know the content they produce is highly valued by our audiences both locally but also across the UK."