I used to work at Science Line which was lots of fun

Edit: 30 Jan 2022 - bit added at end about the parent company BSS (Broadcasting Support Services).

In clearing out some old papers I found a one-page guide to the origins of Science Line (also known as Science Net) which is where I had my first job after leaving the laboratory world of lipid biochemistry. It was great - I got to answer a few questions in addition to my main involvement with the Planet Science Whodunit.

Here's the history of Science Line which folded in 2003 due to lack of funding (as far as I'm aware). Thanks to the Wayback Machine, this is what it looked like around the time I was there http://web.archive.org/web/20030729085758/http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/

The nearest modern equivalent would be the awesome 'I'm a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here' which lets school kids ask science questions of professional scientists and science communicators.

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A bit about Science Line

A brief history of Science Line
Science Line is the product of a unique collaboration between the worlds of the public understanding of science and broadcasting. This is a reflection of its dual origins. Part of the impetus for its launch came from the public understanding of science community, in particular, Professor John Durant. He had conducted a survey (published in Nature in 1989) showing that the public were more interested in science, technology and medicine than sport, politics and new films; but at the same time their understanding of science was poor.

Around the same time the Science Museum in London had experimented with science information services linked to some of their exhibitions; and the Dutch had started a government funded service which wasw regularly attracting over 7,000 calls a year.

In the Autumn of 1991 John Durant contacted Dr Laurence Smaje at the Wellcome Centre for Medical Science: would Wellcome be interested in supporting a telephone-based science enquiry service? The answer was "yes, in theory" - but how could it be done in practice?

The breakthrough came at the 1992 British Association Annual Meeting when Derek Jones, the then editor of Channel 4 Support Services, expressed an interest in starting an information service for members of the Channel's Science Club and viewers of its science programmes. The meeting was attended by Dr Smaje, who encouraged Derek Jones to make a formal application to the Wellcome Centre to fund a pilot scheme, to be run by Broadcasting Support Services.

Science Line opened for the first time during a special Channel 4 weekend of dinosaur programmes in July 1993. Nearly 800 viewers rang a team of 20 scientists, experts in fields from ancient DNA to palaeontology, with questions both simple and complex. The potential for using television to stimulate scientific conversation was clearly demonstrated and further opportunities to engage viewers were grasped after programmes on memory, space exploration, air traffic control and gene therapy.

The success of the pilot scheme led to the setting up of a weekday service, open between 1.00pm and 7.00pm and accessible from anywhere in the UK for the price of a local telephone call. This was launched in March 1994, during set7, the first national science, engineering and technology week, by the then junior science minister, David Davis MP.

Present
Science Line continues to be managed by Broadcasting Support Services (BSS), an educational charity specialising in the management of telephone information services and back-up for viewers and listeners.

Science Line now has a freephone number, 0808 800 4000. We are now open Monday-Saturday, 1-7pm and are funded by a grant from NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) until 2003. We also carry out commercial contracts such as providing editorial content for websites and anything else that is vaguely sciencey and will bring in some cash.

Science Line 1993-2003.

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I'm clearing out some more old papers and found some payslips from April and May 2003, which included the London address of BSS. Here's an archive of its website which said, in June 2003 "bss is a not for profit organisation specialising in devising and providing information to the public on behalf of our clients. We offer a full range of services including short- and long-term telephone helplines, contact centre services, distribution, fulfilment, publishing, online services, charitable appeals processing, training and consultancy."

Charity Commisson record for Broadcasting Support Services - charity is insolvent (March 2014) 

Manchester Evening News on "Broadcasting Support Services call centre goes into administration risking more than 100 jobs" (24 July 2015)

I worked part-time and in April I did 90.5 hours at £9.45, earning £855.23 with a take home pay of £615.40, in May I did 104 hrs (£982.80), take home pay was £701.00.