C.S. Lewis’s wartime BBC radio series was called Broadcast Talks.
Lewis delivered the talks that became Mere Christianity in a series known as Broadcast Talks. The first series was broadcast in 1941, followed by additional talks in 1942 and 1944. Their purpose was to explain central Christian ideas to a general British audience during the Second World War.
The talks were later revised and collected in book form. The resulting volume became Mere Christianity, a title that did not serve as the original name of the first radio series. Lewis’s clear speaking style and ability to address ordinary moral questions made the broadcasts unusually influential.
This history creates a frequent naming confusion: “Mere Christianity” is the well-known book title, while “Broadcast Talks” identifies the early radio series. The talks did not present a detailed denominational program; instead, Lewis aimed to describe beliefs shared across historic Christian traditions. The broadcasts greatly expanded his public reputation beyond Oxford’s academic world.