Page "Dylan Thomas" Paragraph 23

In the second half of 1945, Thomas began reading for the BBC Radio programme, Book of Verse, broadcast weekly to the Far East providing Thomas with a regular income and bringing him into contact with Louis MacNeice, a congenial drinking companion whose advice Thomas cherished.

On 29 September 1946, the BBC began transmitting the Third Programme, a high-culture network which provided opportunities for Thomas.

Thomas appeared in the play Comus for Third Programme, the day after the network launched, and his rich, sonorous voice led to character parts, including the lead in Aeschylus ' Agamemnon and Satan in an adaptation of Paradise Lost.

Thomas remained a popular guest on radio talk shows for the BBC who regarded him as " useful should a younger generation poet be needed ".

Thomas had an uneasy relationship with BBC management and a staff job was never an option, with drinking cited as the problem.

Despite this, Thomas became a familiar radio voice and within Britain was " in every sense a celebrity ".