Editing Ewan MacColl (section)

==Radio==
MacColl had been a radio actor since 1933. By the late 1930s he was writing scripts as well. In 1957 producer [[Charles Parker (producer)|Charles Parker]] asked MacColl to collaborate in the creation of a feature programme about the heroic death of train driver [[John Axon]]. Normal procedure would have been to use the recorded field interviews only as source for writing the script. MacColl produced a script that incorporated the actual voices and so created a new form that they called the [[radio ballad]].

Between 1957 and 1964, eight of these were broadcast by the [[BBC]], all created by the team of MacColl and Parker together with Peggy Seeger who handled musical direction, conducted a great many field interviews, and wrote songs, either together with MacColl or alone. MacColl wrote the scripts and songs, as well as, with the others, collecting the field recordings which were the heart of the productions.