Born in British Malaya, Wavell became a broadcaster with Radio Malaya, presenting programmes about the course of the Malayan Emergency in 1953, establishing their Sound Library, and pioneering their phone-in broadcasting.
[1] Between 1954 and 1962 he also produced or participated in a number of programmes or segments for the BBC, including coverage of the royal tour of the Commonwealth in 1954,[2] and a profile of Tom Harrisson broadcast on 30 September 1960.
[3] His main interests were folklore, cultural anthropology, and exploration, and he was known for his field recordings in these areas.
[4][5] In 1960 he was the BBC's Burmese programme organiser,[6] and in 1963 he accompanied a Cambridge University expedition to locate the ancient "lost" kingdoms of Langkasuka and Tambralinga.
[7] By 1976 he was living in Surrey, England,[8] and working as head of the BBC's Far Eastern Service.