(1 September 2009 8:00 pm)

MUMBAI: The BBC Heritage website, now called The BBC Story, will relaunch next month with new content and design.

The new site will give audiences a greater insight into the BBC and provide a range of dynamic routes into the history of the corporation.

The site was soft launched in June 2009. During its first feature on the BBC homepage, the site generated more than 3,000 page impressions, claims the UK pubcaster.

The site relaunch will coincide with the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War on 3 September 1939 – a seminal moment in BBC's history which transformed the corporation's profile and its public impact.

Other BBC 'great moments' to be celebrated on the site will include the appearance of Elizabeth Cowell, the first female TV announcer in 1936 (with behind-the-scenes footage including her wardrobe test – never before broadcast on the BBC), the 40th anniversary of Monty Python's Flying Circus, the info text innovation that was Ceefax, and the 25th anniversary of the BBC's most popular soap ever, EastEnders.

BBC History head Robert Seatter says, "The history of the BBC is the nation's history, and we wanted to reflect that in the new site, offering topical stories as well as a chance for audiences to tell us how the BBC has touched their lives."