When I walked into the Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House there were many 'unknowns'. Would there be enough people in the audience? Would the main guest be able to join us? Would John Simpson be arrested?
We were about to play the first Reith Lecture in the 2011 'Securing Freedom' series to an audience who were hoping the lecturer, Burmese democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, could join them, somehow, to discuss the lecture.
By now I'm used to 'unknowns'. Back in January, we decided to approach Aung San Suu Kyi, recently released from house arrest, to give this year's Reith Lectures. I turned to both Fergal Keane and John Simpson for advice and it was Fergal who led me to the family of Michael Aris, Suu Kyi's late husband. They offered to put the proposal to her. At the same time Tin Htar Swe, the head of the Burmese Section, also tried to contact her on our behalf.
It took weeks before finally... 'yes, she would be delighted. She knows what the Reith Lectures mean.' I'd already enlisted the help of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Newsgathering, who offered to send in a team experienced in evading the secret police. They would record two lectures. And it was to protect their safety that we kept the whole thing secret. Any secret mission worth its salt needs a code name and rather randomly, Aung San Suu Kyi became a.k.a. Maggie Philbin. Naturally, we also considered carefully the security implications for Aung San Suu Kyi, but, true to form, she wasn't concerned in the least.
I learned that Daw Suu, as she's known affectionately, wanted to talk about dissent and the struggle for freedom. We sat back and waited again. For an editor having no control over content is not easy. One day I grew impatient and rang Suu's house on a number I'd been given. 'Ah, the Reith Lectures, yes, we know about them, please send an email to this address....' So I emailed the NLD (the National League for Democracy) from a gmail account, making no mention of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. Back came a reply to my Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ address from someone called 'John'!
Communication by email was sporadic and presumably monitored by the authorities, but, finally, I arranged to speak to Suu. It was quite a moment. She told me she was very nervous about giving the lectures and apologised for being so busy. When I told her they would be filmed, she groaned and said, 'but I thought this was radio!'
By the time the Newsgathering team went into Burma, in secret, I'd only seen a draft version of one lecture. We'd sent back some suggested changes and then waited. The two days that the team were in Burma were nail-bitingly tense. Even if they managed to record successfully at her house, would they get the lectures out intact? And would they be any good?
They did and they are, as the audience at the Radio Theatre can testify. The final unknown: would we get Daw Suu on the line to answer questions about her lecture. And this is where John Simpson stepped in. He and his producer bravely, under the noses of the Burmese authorities, took satellite equipment to her house to enable us to link up with her. The line dropped off a few times, but as the lecture ended, she was there, asking not to be given any 'nasty questions'. There were tears. Nail-biting gave way to goose bumps. It was a truly moving and memorable experience.
In the run-up to the broadcast of Aung San Suu Kyi's Reith Lectures, Radio 4 is exploring the themes of Burma, democracy and dissent.
Aung San Suu Kyi's will be broadcast at 0900 BST on on Tuesday 28 June and 5 July and will be available for download via the programme . During each live broadcast, the will be hosting a live discussion - join in on the Radio 4 blog, or on Twitter, using #Reith. Follow the Reith Lectures on .
Sue Ellis is Editor of the Reith Lectures
- Listen to Radio 4's podcast of exploring the themes of Burma, democracy and dissent.
- Follow the Reith Lectures on