BBC Productions - Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
"Birds & The Battlefield" - January 2009 - 1x30mins
Presented by Frank Gardner / Produced by Merilyn Harris
BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner, himself a bird watcher, looks at the sometimes surprising links between soldiers and birds and the comfort soldiers get from such an interest in times of extreme stress. It’s a thread that can be traced from those who served in the trenches of the Western Front in the First World War, through other twentieth century engagements, to those now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Interviews with today’s servicemen and women are combined with letters from the Front, poetry, music and birdsong.
"Twin Sisters, Two Faiths" - April 2009 - 1x40mins
Presented by Anna Scott-Brown / Music by Matthew Ferraro / Produced by Adam Fowler & Anna Scott-Brown
Identical twins, Elizabeth and Caroline, chose to follow two very different faiths – Islam and Christianity. They talk frankly to Anna Scott-Brown about their strongly-held but separate beliefs, and how this affects their relationship within the family. As their own lives unfold, during the course of the programme they also have to confront their mother’s terminal illness and come to terms with what her death will mean to them
"Who's My Half-Brother? Where's My Half-Sister?" 2009 - April - 1x30mins
Presented & Produced by Kati Whitaker
Children conceived through a sperm donor are aware that they may have a number of half-brothers and sisters with whom they can make a new family bond. Kati Whitaker talks to those in the UK and the USA about the ways in which these contacts can be made, and the difficult choice for both parents and children. For some there is the reward of discovery of a half-sibling, but for others the search is a journey into the unknown.
"Three Rivers" - June 2009 - 3x30mins
Presented by Hardeep Singh Kohli / Produced by Richard Bannerman
Hardeep explores three rivers from their source to their past, and meets the people who love them, know their story and look to their regeneration in the 21st century.
"Protected By Faith" - September 2009 - 1x30mins
Presented by John Waite / Produced by Neil Gardner
John Waite visits the Vatican Secret Archives to learn that, far from hiding the treasures of history, the Church is leading the way in preserving and conserving priceless artefacts.
"Tea & Biscuits" - August 2009 - 5x15mins
Presented Hardeep Singh Kohli / Produced by Richard Bannerman
Tea and biscuits underpin British culture. Hardeep visits people and places where a cup of tea - and a biscuit - smooth the way, offer a welcome, soothe the upset, lead to a conversation, make the peace.
"Home Grown" - 2009 - 1x30mins
Presented by Yasmeen Khan / Produced by Yasmeen Khan & Neil Gardner
Yasmeen Khan investigates the growing trend amongst British Asian men to marry women from their native countries...forget arranged/forced marriages, this is something completely different!
"Metaphor For Healing" - 2009 - 1x30mins
Presented by Dr Phil Hammond / Produced by Jane Feinmann & RIchard Bannerman
The transformative power of the right metaphor, long exploited in poetry, politics and marketing, is increasingly recognised in health care, coaching and therapy - engaging the unconscious to activate self-healing, reclaiming optimism and fuelling the imagination with the energy necessary to attain goals. Dr Phil Hammond investigates.
"Inside The Bermuda Triangle - The Mysteries Solved" - September 2009 - 10x15mins + 2x60mins
Presented by Tom Mangold / Produced by Adam Fowler
Tom Mangold takes one of the most iconic legends in the world and debunks the myths that have given the Bermuda Triangle such endurance.
"The Great Game In A Cold Climate" - January 2008 - 1x30mins
Presented & Produced by Adam Fowler
Adam Fowler travels to the town of Churchill in Northern Canada to discover the potential benefits of global warming for this tiny community on the Hudson Bay. As the Arctic ice cap melts, northern sea routes will open up and mineral deposits will become accessible, turning Churchill into the new Klondike. And while nation states begin staking their claim to sovereignty in and around the North West Passage, Adam finds out just how important Churchill could become in the scramble for the Arctic.
"The Miracle Berry" - April 2008 - 1x30mins
Presented by Tom Mangold / Produced by Adam Fowler
Tom Mangold encounters a fruit which turns sour tastes to sweet, and the entrepreneurs who planned to market it in the United States in the 1970s. Their dreams of producing a sweetener enabling diabetics to eat what they want, and the rest of us to consume as much confectionary as we can without gaining weight were shattered when the US Food and Drug Administration suddenly banned their product. Mangold investigates a tale of dirty tricks and industrial espionage in the far from sweet world of sugar and its artificial alternatives.
"The Divine Detective" - January 2008 - 1x30mins
Presented by Tom Mangold / Produced by Adam Fowler
Tom Mangold shadows private investigator and un-ordained Presbyterian minister, Jim McCloskey on his quest to free innocent people from United States’ jails.
"A Failure To Provide?" - June 2008 - 1x30mins
Presented by Yasmeen Khan / Produced by Yasmeen Khan & Neil Gardner
2nd & 3rd generation British Asians are facing a new problem...how to care for their elderly parents now that the extended family has split up and become more Anglicised and less traditional. Yasmeen Khan travels around the UK to learn first-hand if culturally-specific care services are provided for elderly Asians, and asks whether there is a failure to provide for those whose language, nutritional and religious needs are varied and complex? If there is a failure, then who is doing the failing...the families, the communities, the local councils or national government?
"That's No Job For An Asian!" - November 2008 - 1x30mins
Presented by Yasmeen Khan / Produced by Yasmeen Khan & Neil Gardner
Yasmeen Khan explores the current state of British Asian comedy and asks whether the job of being a comedian has become an acceptable alternative to the more traditional professions of doctor, lawyer and accountant? Along the way she meets up with comedians who are new to the scene, those who have been doing the rounds for many years, and those at the top of their game, including Sanjeev Bhaskar, Paul Sinha, Sajeela Kershi and Ahir Shah.
"To Err Is Human" - August 2008 - 1x30mins
Presented by Dr Phil Hammond / Produced by Jane Feinmann & Richard Bannerman
There are claims that many patients die each year because doctors and nurses, although technically skilled, are not alert to the risk of a potentially life-threatening error. This happened to the wife of airline pilot Martin Bromiley, who talks to Phil Hammond, writer on medical matters and a practising GP, about his experiences. Also in the programme and at the forefront of the campaign to understand and prevent human error, are the Health Minister Lord Darzi, Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson, and American surgeon and leading authority Dr Atul Gawande.
"Where Scoland Meets England" - July 2008 - 2x30mins
Presented by Hardeep Singh Kohli / Produced by Richard Bannerman
Hardeep Singh Kohli traces the story of border country, beginning at the easternmost point just north of Berwick-upon-Tweed in the first of two programmes. Scottish devolution and the promise of an Independence referendum has brought renewed attention to the Borderline, and Hardeep, who was brought up in Glasgow and whose heart is in Scotland, meets those who live and work on both sides - walkers, politicians, cooks and football supporters – to explore the history, the countryside, the cooking and the different points of view.
"A Garden In New York" - April 2007 - 1x30mins
Presented by Stephen Evans / Produced by Judith Kampfner
Less than a mile from Ground Zero, a small square in the Wall Street area of New York has been transformed into a garden of remembrance for the 67 British citizens who lost their lives on 9/11. The BBC's Stephen Evans , who was at the World Trade Center when the attack happened, considers how a garden can help the process of grieving, and visits the garden with Camilla Hellman, the driving force behind the project. The garden has been made with stone, plants and trees traditional to Britain, but the true test is in how the relatives and friends, who lost loved ones, respond to this square in New York, dedicated to the memory of those who died, and who have no other grave.
"Crossing The Border" - July & August 2007 - 3x30mins
Presented by Hardeep Singh Kohli / Produced by Richard Bannerman
In August 1947 a line was drawn which partitioned India. The result was a new independent India, and the creation of West and East Pakistan. In the three-programme series ‘Crossing The Border’ (part of the R4 India/Pakistan Partition season), the writer and broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli makes a personal journey across the borders of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and hears the stories of those who were affected by Partition 60 years ago and how the consequences are still being felt by the new generation.
"Giants On Our Hands" - April 2006 - 1x30mins 
Presented by Adam Fowler / Produced by Anna Scott-Brown
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From Sri-Lanka's forests to the streets of Bangkok, from India to indonesia, Adam Fowler uncovers the plight of the working elephant. Once the work horse of Asia, many thousands are now redundant and face an uncertain future. He walks this twilight zone with them as ancient culture and modern politics struggle to find the answer.
"The Other S.A.S. - Serving in the T.A." - 2006 - 2x30mins
Presented by Mike Nicholson / Produced by Adam Fowler
At one time the Territorial Army was seen as a social club and a chance to shoot off a few real weapons. Not any more. With TA members being compulsorily drafted to fight in combat zones, these 'Weekend Warriors' are being asked to provide more and more of the British army's fighting strength. Mike Nicholson discovers the consequences for Territorials, their families and their employers, and asks the policy-makers if this is good defence policy or just a way of getting an army on the cheap. He also considers how their commitment to the TA affects the lives of the soldiers themselves and their families, and asks how the 'One Army' notion of the Territotirals and the Regulars fighting together is born out in training and suppport, when injury and even death have to be faced.
"Bridging The Gap" - August - 2006 - 1x30mins
Presented by Simon Fanshawe / Produced by Tamsyn Challenger
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'On The Streets' in Gorton, Manchester, tries to re-address the cavernous void between the young and old. It's originators could be described as the surrogate parents of a generation of Manchester tearaways. Simon Fanshaw discusses the key contribution they are making to a generation of would-be ASBO kids, and guides us through a story fo hope and positivity in an area that has come under increasing media scrutiny since Manchester was declared the ASBO capital of Britain.
"Kitchen Connections with Ainsley Harriot" - 2006 - 5x15mins
Presented by Ainsley Harriot / Produced by Clare Csonka
Chef Ainsley Harriot travels around the UK to meet 5 immigrant families to learn how they are integrating their traditional cooking into their new lives, and just why they left their home countries to come to the UK.
"Driven By Oil" - September - 2006 - 4x30mins
Presented by Tom Mangold / Produced by Adam Fowler
A landmark series presented by investigative journalist Tom Mangold, analysing how the age of oil has driven how we live, where we live, how we travel, and how political and military struggles for power and wealth have always been linked to it. And with oil supply peaking, where do we look now for a replacement power source?
"Mishkids - Living With The Consequences" - 2005 - 1x30mins
Presented by Edi Stark / Produced by Anna Scott-Brown
Edi Stark investigates the impact of being a child of a missionary. From those who see it as a blessing, to those who loathe it as a curse. With personal recollections and incredible stories, being a Mishkid was a mixture of fun and hardship.
"The End" - 2005 - 1x30mins
Produced by Richard Bannerman
Everything ends eventually - from the ultimate ending of death, through to more mundane endings, like final chapters, end of sports events and finishing a song. This montage piece takes the listener through the varied endings we all reach in our lives.
"Painting The Sky" - 2005 - 1x30mins
Presented by Rob Brydon / Produced by Richard Bannerman
Lighting up the sky with stars and streamers are the competing fireworks teams at the annual Pyromusical Firework Championships. Mat Lawrence and Mac McNally are the best of friends except on this one night at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire when their respective firework installations send thousands of pounds up in smoke in their 15 minute displays to music. The public watches and votes via mobile phones for this year's champion. Rob Brydon tells their sotry from the visit to China to choose the latest inventions, to six months later, when in pouring rain wires are laid and fuses primed. Who will win? Will the fireworks even go off?!
"The Loneliness of the Goalkeeper" - October 2008 - 1x30mins
Presented by Hardeep Singh Kohli / Produced by Adam Fowler
Hardeep Singh Kohli, brushes the grass from his knees, trudges to the back of his net, picks up the ball, and watches the backs of his team mates disappear towards the centre circle in a tragi-comic look at just how isolated the job of a goalie can be.
"Memo From David O Selznick" - 1995
No programme information at this time - bear with us, it's on its way!
"On Their Wavelength" - 1992-1994
No programme information at this time - bear with us, it's on its way!
"Don't Hang Up" - 1992-1994
No programme information at this time - bear with us, it's on its way!
"On Ego" - June 2009 - 1x45mins
Written by Mick Gordon & Paul Broks / Music by Jon Frankel / Directed by Mick Gordon
On Ego is a co-operation between a non-playwright, in this case the neuropsychologist Paul Broks, and the theatre director and writer, Mick Gordon. Mick has taken the argument about the existence of the ego from the book Into The Silent Land by Paul Broks, and fashioned a dramatic scenario through which the arguments are explored. The play is a contemplation on love, identity and what it is to be human, and the narrative grapples with, and is driven by, questions about self, ego and consciousness. The play peers into the human mind and suggests that, no matter how science is able to analyse existence, the construction of feelings of love and pain remain unfathomable.
"Cancer Tales" - January 2009 - 1x45mins
Starring Dona Kroll / Written by Nell Dunn / Directed by Merilyn Harris
Nell Dunn’s powerful play based on real-life experiences of cancer patients and those close to them. By talking to those involved and through the act of writing this play, she says ’I began to fathom out what it is people can do for one another.’ Three separate stories unfold through the play, authentic voices of people learning ‘how to be’ with someone with a life-threatening illness.
"Cry Babies" - March 2009 - 1x45mins
Starring Alex Jennings & Natasha Little / Written by Kim Newman / Music by Jeremy Paul Carroll / Directed by Neil Gardner
Angela & Barty Flitcroft are busy, successful people. They want a child but don’t have the time to look after it. The solution is a genetically enhanced daughter, Joy, birthed by a surrogate mother and reared to adulthood in a cryogenic chamber. Joy experiences brief moments ‘out of the machine’, and as time passes each opening brings shocks and surprises as her parents and their society undergo incredible changes. And for Joy, stuffed with education by the machine but denied everyday experiences, life is not just a strange new country, but a frightening, confusing and often funny one too.
"Mayflies" - March - 2009 - 1x45mins
Starring Sir Derek Jacobi, Catherine McCormack & Jason Isaacs / Written by Mike Maddox / Music by Jeremy Paul Carroll / Directed by Neil Gardner
Douglas Scofield has retired from the world of astronomy and, following the death of his wife, now runs a fish farm with his daughter, who is expecting her first child. All Douglas wants is peace and quiet and a chance to write his book about fishing. However, a visit from an old colleague, Stephen Mole, brings news of a message from a distant world, the very sign of life Douglas spent his career searching for. Is it safe to reply? Indeed, should they reply at all - and to what purpose?
"Grace" - April 2008 - 1x45mins
Starring Paola Dionisotti & Trevor Peacock / Written by Mick Gordon & AC Grayling / Directed by Mick Gordon & Andy Jordan
Issues of faith, love, and humanity are at the core of this intimate family drama in which Grace, a scientist and champion of atheism, is faced with the decision of her son Tom to become a priest. A collaboration between philosopher A.C.Grayling and theatre writer and director Mick Gordon, the characters offer solutions to their deeply opposed ways of looking at the world even as they rage.
"Devices & Desires" - 1997 - 6x30mins
Written by PD James / Adapted by Neville Teller /Produced by Matthew Walters
A serial killer has claimed four victims and created a climate of mounting fear in the small community of Larksoken on the Norfolk coast. Staying nearby in a newly-inherited cottage, Adam Dalgliesh is drawn into contact not just with the local population, but also, inevitably, with the investigating team.
ALSO released as a BBC Radio Collection Audio Cassette.
"Berkoff's Macbeth" - 1995
Directed by and starring Steven Berkoff / Produced by David Benedictus
No programme information at this time - bear with us, it's on its way!
"The Deighton File" - May 2009 - 1x30mins
Presented by Patrick Humphries / Produced by Neil Rosser
For nearly half a century, Len Deighton has been entertaining and enthralling readers with his spy novels, cookery books and World War II histories. Deighton, who turned 80 in February 2009, is a notoriously reclusive figure, who long ago turned his back on the publicity process. But in an exclusive for Radio 4, Deighton talks about his life and a writing career which stretches back to 1962, when ‘The Ipcress File’ was first published.
"Scott Of Slimbridge" - 2009 - 1x60mins
Presented by Frank Gardner / Produced by Merilyn Harris
To mark the centenary of the birth of Sir Peter Scott, ornithologist, conservationist, painter, sportsman and broadcaster, on September 14th 2009, Frank Gardner, fellow birdman, delves into the voluminous Scott archives and discovers the great influence he has had on the movement for wildlife conservation.
"In Search Of A Shtetl" - 2009 - 1x30mins
Presented by Michael & Jonathan Freedland / Produced by Neil Rosser
Broadcaster Michael Freedland and his journalist son Jonathan, who also presents The Long View, set off to find the East European places - the shtetls - where their forebears came from.
"Blondin of Niagra Falls & Ealing" - 2009 - 1x30mins
Presented by Hardeep Singh Kohli / Produced by Richard Bannerman
Hardeep demonstrates the art of presenting while on a tightrope, even if only a foot above the ground, in honour of Blondin, the man who first crossed Niagara Falls, on the 150th anniversary of the crossing.
"The Best Years Of His Life" - April 2008 - 1x30mins
Presented by Patrick Humphries / Produced by Neil Rosser
Patrick Humphries explores the life and career of an author whose works are household names but about whom little is known. Paul Brickhill wrote three of the most famous novels centred on the Second World War - "The Great Escape", "Reach for the Sky" and "The Dambusters", all of which were made into iconic films. Shot down over North Africa, Brickhill was imprisoned in the notorious Stalag Luft III - scene of the the great escape itself - but claustrophobia prevented his own escape. A journalist and writer, Brickhill stopped writing in 1962 and never published anything again – the programme asks why?
"Under Investigation - The FBI at 100" - March 2008 - 10x15mins + 2x60mins
Presented by Tom Mangold / Produced by Adam Fowler
Tom Mangold tells the story of the FBI, America’s main law enforcement agency, from its creation in 1908 when its powers were strictly limited, through the controversial Hoover period and the rise of the G-man, through to the disaster of 9/11 and the 21st century’s ‘war on terror’.
"The Stone of Destiny" - May 2007 - 1x60mins
Presented by Jim Naughtie / Produced by Richard Bannerman
The Stone of Destiny had lain under King Edward I’s Chair in Westminster Abbey for over 600 years, since its removal from Scone in Scotland in 1296. On Christmas Day 1950 it vanished. James Naughtie tells the story of how three young men and one woman planned and carried out the audacious raid, bringing the cause of Scottish independence to the front pages. Through their own account, and a rich audio and visual archive, the journey of the sacred stone is followed to its hiding places in Scotland, its return to the Abbey, and finally, in 1996, its celebratory installation in Edinburgh Castle. In the week of the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union and the Scottish elections, the Stone remains a symbol of the pride of Scotland in its nationhood.
"The Joke Book" - June 2007 - 1x30mins
Presented by Barry Cryer / Produced by Neil Rosser & Michael Pointon
Barry Cryer explores the history of the joke book from the earliest surviving compilation, the fourth century A.D. Philogelos, to the present day on-line system of sharing jokes on the internet, via the eighteenth century Joe Miller book and the classic works of Larry Wilde and Robert Orben. Oh and also via a load of great jokes - more than you can shake a non-PC stick at! With contributions from Michael McIntyre, the B3ta ‘Ginger Fuhrer’ Rob Manuel, Brad Ashton, Larry Wilde, Robert Orben, Laurie Bellew, Jack Seaton, Mark Brisenden and Hattie Hayridge.
"Thinking In Rhymes" - September 2007 - 1x30mins
Presented by Peggy Reynolds / Produced by Nicky Barranger
Writer & academic Peggy Reynolds examines the life and work of the popular poet Patience Strong in this the centenary year of her birth. She hears from those who knew Strong to find out why her poetry remained so popular for so long. Contemporary poets also discuss the role of her poetry in the modern world.
"A Quarrel In A Faraway Place" - 2007 - 1x60mins
Presented & Produced by David Vaughan
For nearly seventy years, hundreds of archive recordings have lain hidden away in the cellars of the Czech Radio building in Prague. Many are in English, dating from the early days of Czechoslovakia’s international broadcasts, and few have been heard since. Yet they offer extraordinary and vivid insights into one of the most tragic episodes in the months leading up to World War II. David Vaughan uses these unique Czech archives to tell the story of the events leading up to the Munich Crisis of September 1938 from the point of view of the ‘far-away country’ that Neville Chamberlain sacrificed to Nazi Germany for the illusion of ‘peace for our time’.
"Laurie's Loose Change" - 2007 - 1x30mins
Presented by Laurie Taylor / Produced by Richard Bannerman
Forty years after the first hole-in-the-wall cash machine led to the revolution in how to get your hands on your cash at any time of the day or night, Laurie Taylor wonders whether his loose change is safe. There are those who see plastic as the future, and cash as dirty, old-fashioned, troublesome stuff. Oyster cards have virtually removed cash from London’s trains and buses, and ‘contactless payment’ cards are hitting the streets and shops. Laurie meets those on both sides of the cash divide, and queues up outside the 40 year old hole-in-the-wall.
"The Rainbow Tribe" - 2007 - 1x30mins
Presented & Produced by Kate Meynell
The cabaret star Josephine Baker adopted twelve children of different nationalities in the 1950s and 60s. They were brought up in a chateau in the Dordogne, taught their native languages and paraded for tourists to take their photograph. Called the Rainbow Tribe they were part of her mission to show that different nationalities and religions could live together. Members of the Tribe recall this strange upbringing, the traumatic eviction from the chateau, and life with an increasingly eccentric mother
"The Tragi-Comic Life of Bert Williams" - May 2006 - 1x30mins
Presented by Lenny Henry / Produced by Neil Rosser
Lenny Henry tells the story of the first great Black comedian, Bert Williams, As part of a double act with George Walker, Bert became a star in musical comedy and vaudeville in the latter years of the nineteenth century. But when a solo career led him to record monologues and comedy songs, he became a huge success, even though that success was built on playing the racial stereotype. his biggest hit 'Nobody' encapsulated both the isolation of the everyman, and the plight of the Black man in America at the beginning of the 20th Century.
"Betjeman the Broadcaster" - 2006 - 1x60mins
Produced by Richard Bannerman
Uncovering the unparallelled audio journey taken by Sir John Betjemen on radio and TV on the occassion of the 100th anniversary of his birth.
"The Old Bill" - Series 2 - 2006 - 5x15mins
Presented by Richard Foster / Produced by Judith Kampfner
A second series where historian Richard Foster brings history to life though old bills and documents, revealing how much or how little we have changed.
"Under The Skin" - December 2006 - 1x30mins
Presented by Bernie Clifton / Produced by Douglas Mounce
The English fascination with people wearing animal costumes stretches back into folklore. Bernie Clifton, famous for his performing Ostrich, explores the world of 'skin' performers and discovers the techniques required by those appearing as pantomime horses and sports mascots.
"The Poles & The Planet" - December 2006 - 1x60mins
Presented by Adam Fowler / Produced by Adam Fowler
In this archive hour, vivid and remarkable archive from the 1957 Polar expedition is used to recall the event as the first major international scientific collaboration connects with the 2007 Interntaional Polar Year and the planetary challenges facing Earth's inhabitants.
"Strolling With Sartre" - 2005 - 1x60mins
Presented by Miles Kington / Produced by Clare Csonka
On the 100th anniversary of his birth, Miles Kington retraces the steps of Jean-Paul Sartre across Paris, revealing old haunts, meeting those that knew him, and reliving some of JPS' favourite past-times.
"The Old Bill" - Series 1 - 2005 - 5x15mins
Presented by Richard Foster / Produced by Clare Csonka
Historian Richard Foster makes superb use of an old historian's tool, the bill! By investigating bacl from accounts and receipts, Richard tells the stories of five people - a Tory MP, a harpsichord tuner, a churchwarden, a police constable and an Irish doctor.
"The Sound of America - The Story of NPR" - 2005 - 1x60mins
Presented byJoe Queenan / Produced by Neil Gardner
National Public Radio in the US has had a tumultuous 35 year history. Nothing like the BBC, NPR is a schism of liberal-agenda news and cutting edge cultural programme making. This archive hour looks at the key moments from NPR's history, including the very first broadcast, the Watergate scandal, Washington riots, kidnapped repporters, global link-ups, 9/11 and much more. Plus the programme delves in to the incredibly rich collection of NPR music and arts documentaries.
"Surrounded" - 2005 - 1x30mins
Presented by Robert Powell / Produced by Richard Bannerman
Fifty years ago Britain's first professional theatre-in-the-round was foudned in Scarborough by the pioneering Stephen Jospeh. Actor Robert Powell, who began his career 'in the round', visits the Stephen Joseph theatre in Scarborouogh and talks to playwright Alan Ayckbourn, actor Tom Courtenay, director Peter Cheeseman, designer Alison Chitty and folk singer Martin Carthy about their experience of this intimate and unusual space, where the audience surrounds the action in a uniquely involving way.
"6000 Postcards" - 2005 - 1x30mins
Presented by Chris McManus / Produced by Richard Bannerman
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Stacked in shoeboxes in a dusty cupboard, Richard Rawles of the Psychology Dept of University College London stumbled upon 6000 old postcards, all dating from 1953. On the back seemed to be answers to a questionnaire about left and right-handedness, but the cards had lain there ignored for 50 years. An early example of viewer participation and a revealing survey in its own right, Chris McManus describes how he and his colleagues tracked the postcards to an early BBC TV science programme presented by Jacob Bronowski, and 50 years later put them through a computer analysis to find out what they could tell us about the poeple and the time in which they lived.
"Ainsley's First Kitchen" - December 2005 - 1x30mins
Presented by Ainsley Harriott / Produced by Clare Csonka
Chef Ainsley Harriott returns to his childhood home in South london and relives some of the food and family experiences that made Christmas special for him, and set him on the path his adult life would take. He swaps his TV kitchen for the one in the house in which his mother prepared the family's special Christmas fare, and cooks up a couple of his mother's recipes for fellow chef Roopa Gulati and comedian Arthur Smith.
"The King of Light Music" - February 2008 - 1x30mins
Presented by Alasdair Malloy / Produced by Richard Bannerman
Eric Coates is best known for his signature tune to Desert Island Discs and The Dambusters March, but his orchestral music is coming back to the concert hall. Alasdair Malloy talks to those who knew him, revealing a man who had to wear shirt, tie and tweed jacket and light up a cigarette before he could sit down and compose, as well as a man keen on photography, fast cars and the Charleston. And he explores the music, from those famous signature tunes to the lesser known songs and suites.
"Page To Performance" - July 2007- 3x30mins
Presented by Lowri Blake / Produced by Richard Bannerman
A 20th century musical blockbuster, a miniature masterpiece, and a concerto full of Latin-American passion are the three pieces of music that make up the new series of Page to Performance. Lowri Blake opens the series with that gift to advertisers, as well as performers and audiences, Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana’. Following that are Delius’s ‘On Hearing The First Cuckoo in Spring’, and Astor Piazzolla’s Concerto for Bandoneon and orchestra.
"Why Is the 1812 So Popular?" - May 2006 - 1x30mins
Presented by Alasdair Malloy / Produced by Richard Bannerman
Tchaikovsky called it 'very noisy and loud' and considered it to have 'no artistic merit', but with its cannons, muskets and orchestral battlefield, the 1812 Overture has become by far his most popular piece. Alasdair Malloy finds out from the players and the conductor Barry Wordsworth whether its performers emerge ready for battle each time they face it, and how those bangs and effects are co-ordinated at the piece's climax without hazard to players or audience.
"Finding Her Voice" - October 2006 - 1x30mins
Presented by Barbara Dickson / Produced by Richard Bannerman
Barbara Dickson tells the story of female empowerment through music. Women used to sing about 'losing their man'...now they kick him out and move on!
"From Composer to Concert Hall" - December 2006 - 2x30mins
Presented by Lowri Blake / Produced by Richard Bannerman
Classical musician Lowri Blake investigates a piece of well-loved classical music from the composer's earliest sketch through to the most passionate performance in the concert hall.
"The Wild Blue" - 2005 - 1x60mins
Presented by Cy Grant / Produced by Paul Kent
Emory Cook was a pioneer of early recording techniques, including developing one of the very first portable stereo recorders. But it was his love for esoteric sounds and the music of the Caribbean that this programme delights in. From the sound of trains and trumpets to the strains of Calypso and more.
"I Will Survive" - 2005 - 1x30mins
Produced by Richard Bannerman
This iconic song has been the saviour of many a person facing tough times. This moving and amusing montage piece takes a look at those people who have had their own 'Survive' moments, and hears their stories alongside the song's own story, as told by Gloria Gaynor herself.
"Pomp & Circumstance" - 2005 - 1x30mins
Presented by Paul Vaughan / Produced by Richard Bannerman
The truth behind the lyrics of Elgar's masterpiece. Just who wrote them, and what do they really mean? Is their original meaning still relevant today? Featuring Paul Daniel, the conductor of the 2005 Last Night of the Proms.
"Lomax At Christmas" - December 2005 - 1x60mins
Presented by Martin Carthy / Produced by Paul Kent
The folk-song collector Alan Lomax loved the traditional songs and carols of Christmas, and sought out music from around the world that summed up the spirit of the season. British folk musician Martin Carthy introduces a vintage radio programme which lomax made in 1957 for the BBC, as well as other music he collected on the theme of Christmas. Lomax brought together artists like Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger and Seamus Ennis in a celebration of Christmas from different parts of the UK, and further afield. Irish jigs, Christmas calypsos and italian carols are performed alongside the traditional music of Great Britain. The programme includes an interview with Lomax's daughter, Anna Lomax Wood, who talks about her father's work.
"My Male Muse" - July 2007 - 1x30mins
Presented by CLare Pollard / Produced by Tamsyn Challenger
CHOSEN for 2007's PICK OF THE YEAR on BBC R4
When we think of a muse we immediately go to the image in our minds of a captivating, curvaceous and sensual woman - or do we? The poet Clare Pollard sets out to prove that there is hirsute beauty and inspiration to be had from the male muse, proving the likes of the writer and poet Robert Graves very wrong, when he said that the male muse cannot exist.
"Revelations" - 2005 - 1x30mins
Presented by Thomas DeFrantz / Produced by Richard Bannerman
The story of the revolutionary Black dance company from the United States, coinciding with their 2005 UK tour. From civil rights to dance routines, a look at how art really has changed the world.
"Next Question Please!" - 2005 - 1x30mins
Presented by Simon Fanshawe / Produced by Richard Bannerman
The story of the people behind the questions. The UK is quiz mad, but just who comes up with all those brain-teasers, cryptic clues and questionable questions? Simon Fanshawe investigates and gets into a few quizzes along the way!