The BBC Radio Orchestra was a broadcasting orchestra based in London, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1965 until 1991. The BBC Radio Orchestra was formed in 1965 as a large, flexible studio orchestra in the Nelson Riddle / Henry Mancini mode, featuring a full jazz Big Band combined with symphonic strings. The various sections of the Radio Orchestra, prefixed A-E, could be used for different kinds of recordings and sessions. Of all these sections, only the "C1" big band section of the Radio Orchestra had its own real identity and was known as the BBC Radio Big Band. The orchestra’s primary function was to accompany popular singers in ‘cover versions’ and play instrumental arrangements of the popular tunes of the day on BBC Radio 2, as in the 1960s, broadcasting regul