The BBC Italian Service was marked by the charismatic personality of Harold Stevens - famous in Italy as Colonnello Buonasera (in English Colonel Good Evening) - a British military officer who had lived in Rome and who, through his calm and reasonable comments, very different from Fascist rhetoric, conveyed a sense of serenity and hope in the future.

"Candidus" (the pseudonym of John Marus) was another charismatic figure of Radio London, who, with his relentless dialectical skills, contrasted the attempts of Nazi-Fascist propaganda to distort the reality and seriousness of the situation.

Radio London's role in the war also became crucial in sending special messages, drafted by the Allied High Command, for Italian resistance groups.

[1] Radio London's broadcasts were opened by the first notes of Beethoven's 5th Symphony (probably because they represented the letter "V" in Morse code, which evoked the idea of "V" for "Victory", also strongly associated with the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill).

The BBC continued its broadcasts in Italian with a nightly programme called L'Ora di Londra (London's Hour) until 31 December 1981, when it was cut, despite the protests of many listeners.