Sir Mark Tully
It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Sir Mark Tully, who presented many of the episodes of Something Understood from 1995 until production was cut in 2019. His vision of probing questions at the heart of our humanity through music, verse, prose and conversation, has brought much comfort and inspiration to so many of us. We grieve the loss of a man of great intellect and principle.
After the death of Mark Tully in January 2026, people were prompted to write to me, about him and about Something Understood. He, of course, was so much more than a presenter of a much-loved radio programme. His love of India and the people of India was seen for decades through his work as the BBC’s bureau chief in the country. His style was stress-free, dispassionate, but not without the ability to stir the passions of those who listened to him. One writer said this:
“Mark Tully (similar to the late John Peel) was one of those rare broadcasters whom you (when you listened to his words) felt he was actually speaking to you personally in your room. His journalistic style was conversational.”
As a producer and presenter of audio in my own research, I value the exemplars of good broadcasting and journalism of such people as these. Mark Tully’s Wikipedia biography is worth reading for an insight into his character. He stood up to bullies and had the courage to go freelance when these were the right thing to do. His respect for others is captured very well in the words of a recent correspondent:
“The best tribute I can make and send to Mark Tully today is: ‘I never ever heard you deride or undermine any religion or faith group, you truly welcomed the Samaritan in the true sense. May God rest you!’”
Something Understood episodes
Following the spike in interest in Mark Tully and Something Understood following the news of his death, there have been suggestions that past episodes should be made available for people to appreciate. One correspondent wrote:
“the apparent almost total unavailability of the programmes to listen to, on BBC Sounds or otherwise, reveals a huge gap.”
I agree that the loss of the programme from production was ill-considered against the otherwise excellent broadcasting of the BBC. The continued airing episodes from the back catalogue was fairly short-lived, and I can only assume the removal of the back catalogue from BBC Sounds is due to rights considerations, or some other lawyer-poisoned thinking.
It has been suggested that a podcast could be made from the programmes downloaded by various means by members of the public. I have retained for personal listening pleasure over 300 episodes myself, roughly half of the output catalogued here. What I don’t have is a ton of cash to defend myself against the aforementioned lawyers should they come to my door.
Having created and recorded for research my own Something Understood inspired programmes of music, verse, prose and conversation, I recognise the difficulty with broadcasting and publishing when the work of others is used in the production. I respect the rights of creators and artists to license their work properly, and to earn what they can for their efforts. What I hope is that the BBC might see their way to making publicly available once more, some of the back catalogue of Something Understood, which remains an outstanding example of great programming, and which has been a source of great comfort and inspiration to so many.