Programme Information

American songwriter Jimmy Webb plays a live session for Zoe Ball as she sits in for Ken Bruce. Jimmy Webb has been writing hit songs for 40 years, including Wichita Lineman and Galveston for Glen Campbell. He performs some of his classic hits, including The Highwayman, live in the studio.

Presenter/Zoe Ball, Producer/Gary Bones

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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As part of BBC Radio 2's Faith In The World Week, John McCarthy explores the relationship between childhood and faith. Despite being baptised as a child, religion never really captured his attention until he read the Bible while a hostage in Lebanon. Now with a child of his own and plenty of questions about faith unanswered, he's keen like many parents to put his own child on the right track and asks if it's right to bring up children to believe.

The programme includes visits to faith-based schools, a Christian baptism and a Jewish Bat Mitzvah ceremony, a family-friendly mosque and a club for young people with no religion at all. It also indulges in some godly play and features "Camp Quest" and a humanist naming ceremony, alternative options for those who question or reject religion's answers along with the voices of children themselves and a soundtrack of music reflecting childhood from the cradle to the verge of adulthood.

Presenter/John McCarthy, Producer/Norman Winter

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Michael Aspel continues the story of how a poor, shy, bespectacled Greek girl became one of the most successful female singers of all time.

During her 50 year career, Nana has achieved worldwide sales of more than 300m records in 15 different languages, leaving Madonna and Celine Dion trailing behind her. She is a heroine in her native Greece, and loved throughout the world. Her charmingly elaborate, shyly delivered introductions to songs are as distinctive as her trademark glasses.

Nana has sung on all the great stages of the world, but her success has not come without a price. Her attempt to balance her professional and domestic life, and later a political career as well, created tensions and unhappiness and threatened her most precious possession – her voice.

In episode two, Nana Mouskouri reflects on how she changed her image, when she hit the big time and how she buckled under the pressure. The programme includes contributions from many stars of the music world who played significant roles in her life and career, including Michel Legrand, Harry Belafonte, Charles Aznavour and Quincy Jones.

Presenter/Michael Aspel, Producers/Lisa Meyer and Brian King

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Bernard Haitink conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony and Mahler's Das lied von der erde, in a concert recorded at London's Barbican Hall.

Schubert began his Symphony in B minor in 1822, six years before his death, and although he finished only two movements, they have become some of the best-loved music in the repertoire. Mahler's preoccupation with symphonies and song-cycles converged in Das lied von der erde (The Song Of The Earth). A moving farewell to life, it premièred soon after his death in 1911.

Presenter/Catherine Bott, Producer/Tony Sellors

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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From the infamous Myra Hindley to the shocking recent case of paedophile Vanessa George, society is both fascinated and horrified by the minds of women involved in these most serious crimes – especially when they involve abuse of children. BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival pushes aside the media frenzy around this topic and offers the perspective of an inside expert.

Dr Gwen Adshead is Consultant Psychotherapist at Broadmoor high security psychiatric hospital and works with people in violent and frightening states of mind. In a talk she has called The Woman's Right To Be Evil, Dr Adshead attempts to confront some of the most uncomfortable implications of our attitudes to violent women.

Recorded in front of an audience at The Sage, Gateshead, as part of Free Thinking Festival 2009, the programme is hosted by Night Waves presenter Philip Dodd.

Presenter/Philip Dodd, Producer/Lisa Davies

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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FREE THINKING 2009
The Essay – Free Thinkers Of The North East Ep 2/5

Monday 26 to Friday 30 October

11.00-11.15pm BBC RADIO 3

• www.bbc.co.uk/freethinking

This week's series of Free Thinking essays continues with a look at Gertrude Bell, who was instrumental in drawing up the controversial map of modern Iraq in 1921, the consequences of which still resonate today. She was also an archaeologist, linguist and the greatest female mountaineer of her age.

Born in County Durham in 1868, Gertrude Bell was the first woman to gain a first in modern history from Oxford and the first female army officer to work for British Military Intelligence. And yet, she was opposed to votes for women.

Writer Kitty Fitzgerald gets inside the mind of a north-east enigma.

Presenter/Kitty Fitzgerald, Producer/Allegra McIlroy

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

At the age of 28 Alex Bell made the remarkable decision to battle social services for permission to adopt a baby with Down's Syndrome.

Now 25 years later she has single-handedly adopted and fostered seven children with the condition and two with other disabilities. She still cares for them all at her home.

Michael Buerk talks to her about how that choice has transformed her life.

Presenter/Michael Buerk, Producer/Amanda Hancox

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Science Vs The Stradivarius tries to discover if modern technology can identify the elusive components that give Stradivarius violins their unique voice.

Scientists submit Stradivarius violins to a battery of tests such as CT scans and electron microscopy. Some are in pursuit of a component in the particular wood, others believe it's in the varnish and have burnt original samples to find out.

Professor of Acoustic Engineering at Salford University, Dr Trevor Cox, meets musicians, instrument makers and scientists to investigate.

Trevor meets violinist Tasmin Little who plays on different violins, including a Stradivarius, to see if he can tell the difference. He also visits Professor Colin Gough at the University of Birmingham, who has tested the frequency resonance of the Stradivarius violin's strings and talks to Joseph Nagyvary, scientist and elite violin-maker himself, who has made a detailed study of violins since the Sixties.

Trevor also talks to violin-maker Terry Borman in America who has used medical imaging to get exact measurements of the Stradivarius and apply them to his own craftsmanship.

Many of today's greatest violinists perform on Stradivari in preference to modern instruments and some violins have recently changed hands for more than a million pounds. However, Brian Moore, Professor of Psychology at Cambridge argues that players are predisposed to prefer traditional genuine instruments and it is very difficult to do a blind test on them, because signals such as smell or touch can influence their choice subconsciously.

Presenter/Dr Trevor Cox, Producer/Erika Wright

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Art Attack Ep 1/2

Tuesday 27 October

11.30am-12.00noon BBC RADIO 4

In light of the recent assault on the Mona Lisa with a teacup, this programme tries to find out why people attack art.

In two programmes, art historians and broadcasters Tim Marlow and Lawrence Pollard investigate centuries of attacks on art works from the earliest times to the present day.

They chart the reasons why and tell the stories of some of the most sensational and provocative attacks. They also explore how the wilful destruction of art is as old as art itself and how it shows no signs of stopping.

In the first programme, Tim Marlow looks at some of the most renowned attacks on art carried out in the name of politics and religion. He speaks to Professor Eamon Duffy in the Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral, which was desecrated in the 16th century during the Reformation.

On 10 March 1914, suffragette Mary Richardson attacked Velazquez's Rokeby Venus with an axe at the National Gallery in London. Her motive was to bring to public attention the cruelty and hypocrisy of the Government's treatment of Emily Pankhurst. Professor Lynn Nead discusses the wider political issues of this act and the public outrage that followed.

The Bamiyan Buddhas, which were arguably Afghanistan's most important historical monument, were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, causing an international outcry.

In the second programme Lawrence Pollard investigates some of the more bizarre assaults on contemporary art including attacks on Marcel Duchamp's Fountain which has been both urinated on and whacked with a hammer. In this age of anti-art, it is increasingly common for vandals to claim their actions as "art".

Lawrence also visits the Tate Liverpool for its Joyous Machines exhibition, which features the work of Jean Tinguely – one of the most radical, inventive and subversive sculptors of the mid-20th century. Discussing his work is Michael Landy, artist and co-curator of the exhibition whose own work has been influenced by the artist and his constructive and destructive tendencies.

Presenters/Tim Marlow and Lawrence Pollard,
Producers/Alison Crawford and Sara Davies

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend

His music became the sound of a generation and sold more than 100m records.

But what is not so well known is that the music of rock star Peter Townshend was influenced by a Baroque composer.

Discussing The Who's illustrious career, Pete reveals that a love of Henry Purcell has been at the centre of his songwriting.

As guitarist and songwriter of The Who, Pete helped write the rule book of Sixties pop music. By the Seventies he'd sold millions of records, racked up nearly 30 hit singles and composed the landmark rock opera, Tommy.

Although much is already known about this internationally famous band it is surprising that throughout this incredible career Pete Townshend took inspiration from a composer born 350 years ago this year.

Over the course of this half-hour documentary, Pete explains how Purcell influenced his songwriting. He was originally turned on to Purcell by his manager Kit Lambert. It was Kit's recommendation of Purcell's Gordian Knot Untied that struck the loudest chord with Pete, awakening him to a lineage in English music that seemed strangely familiar. Immersing himself in the music, he set about writing The Who's first album.

Since then Purcell has often inspired Pete's work. Through an exclusive new interview Pete reveals how he drew on Purcell's dramatic genius for his most intriguing compositions. From his first mini "rock opera" to his masterpiece Tommy and from his enduring Lifehouse project through to his current musical endeavour, there has always been a Purcellian presence.

Baroque And Roll – Townshend On Purcell is a unique look at the music of one of England's most revered composers from one of England's most celebrated songwriters.

Presenter/Pete Townshend, Producer/James Hale

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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The Fantastic Book Of Everybody's Secrets Ep 1/3

Tuesday 27 to Thursday 29 October

3.30-3.45pm BBC RADIO 4

Each of these stories for the Afternoon Reading, taken from The Fantastic Book Of Everybody's Secrets by Sophie Hannah, contains a mystery that must be solved.

Rooted in the detail of everyday life, these are intriguing, chilling tales with a twist that uncover dark obsessions and strange longings behind the most ordinary relationships.

The Octopus Nest, read by Helen Bradbury, is a domestic chiller about a young family's brush with an unidentified stalker. Claire and Timothy have no idea why there's a strange woman appearing in so many of their family photographs. As Claire investigates further, she stumbles across the answer, but it's too shocking to compute.

In Friendly Amid The Haters, read by Kathryn Hunt, a woman asks a highly recommended joiner to re-hang some doors, but when she challenges his laid-back approach with sarcasm, he flips and she is left in fear of her life. Worse still is that she somehow feels she deserves her shame and humiliation.

In You Are A Gongedip, read by Charles Swift, William is a self-absorbed writer who needs his routines. When his daily contemplative bike ride is interrupted by a curious figure in a snood, he is irritated and annoyed. He finally shakes her off but vastly underestimates her capabilities. Months later she exacts the revenge of a jilted lover using the very means by which he earns his living: language.

Readers/Helen Bradbury, Kathryn Hunt and Charles Swift, Producer/Karen Rose

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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The fall of the Berlin Wall made revolution look easy. But behind the scenes, people power and the sudden end of Cold War certainties posed all kinds of political and security challenges.

In a special discussion as part of BBC Radio 4's 1989 season, Sir John Tusa discovers what happened with key insiders from the British, German, US, Soviet and other governments.

Among those taking part are Horst Teltschik, German chancellor Helmut Kohl's right-hand man who rushed back with him to Berlin from a visit to Poland; Andrei Grachev, adviser to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev; Jack Matlock, then US Ambassador in Moscow; and Miklos Nemeth who, as Prime Minister of Hungary, made key decisions that began to weaken the Iron Curtain before the Berlin Wall fell.

All had ringside seats and real influence as the revolutions erupted, Germany rushed towards reunification amid widespread international angst, and everyone wondered whether Gorbachev would survive the apparent collapse of Soviet power. They will reveal the inside story of those momentous weeks.

Presenter/John Tusa, Producer/Chris Bowlby

BBC News Publicity

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Dr Phil Hammond finds out how the use of metaphorical language in health care is increasingly accepted as a powerful aid to healing.

Through interviews with patients, doctors, coaches and therapists, Phil discovers why doctors should pay closer attention to the answer to their routine question: what does it feel like?

He is persuaded that the public should be wary of metaphors used by others to describe health problems and their solutions – and why developing our own metaphors could give us the best chance of recovery and healing.

He looks at the inter-therapy debate about metaphor since the psychiatrist Milton Erikson first discovered the usefulness of investigating the description of one thing in terms of another. Above all, he confirms what he says he already knew from his experience as a comedian, writer, broadcaster, doctor and parent: the central importance of storytelling as a means of conjuring up metaphor and thereby adding meaning to our lives.

Among those Phil talks to are Dr Grahame Brown, musculo-skeletal specialist at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham. He quotes evidence to show that using language alone, including the use of powerful metaphors, helps him save 100 people from surgery for every six that truly need joint replacement.

Phil also meets Jan Alcoe, who decided, when being treated for cancer, that she didn't want to hear her doctors' version of the story about her therapy: the toxic chemicals, the depressing survival statistics. Creating her own metaphors allowed her to believe in the healing potential of her body, and, she believes, enhanced her recovery. Dr John Launer, senior lecturer in primary care at the Tavistock and author of the influential book, Narrative Based Primary Care, explains the new and growing field of narrative-based care.

Presenter/Dr Phil Hammond, Producer/Jane Feinmann

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

5 Live Sport

Tuesday 27 October

7.00-10.30pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Mark Pougatch presents all the day's sports news and live League Cup fourth-round commentary.

Presenter/Mark Pougatch, Producer/Graham McMillan

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Football

Tuesday 27 October

7.55-10.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

Uninterrupted commentary of Tottenham versus Everton comes, live, from White Hart Lane in the fourth round of the League Cup.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

Tap Tap grace the Manchester Hub to play a live session for Marc Riley.

Tap Tap is Tom Sanders from Pete And The Pirates. Originally from Reading but now living in London, Tap Tap released a new album, On My Way, in September on Stolen Recordings.

After the 2007 album Lanzafame Tom Sanders was pretty busy with Pete And The Pirates. Over the last two years he has written songs in tour vans, hotels and occasionally at home, and has released his second album.

Presenter/Marc Riley, Producer/Michelle Choudhry

BBC 6 Music Publicity

Sway accuses Jodie of avoiding Kuljit by finding excuses not to be at the cafe, as the drama continues.

Roopa, Bina and Krishan are painting the Sheesha Lounge but Krishan is left to it, as Bina successfully uses her charm on Vinnie.

Bina tells Roopa to at least try adult chat-line work, she will make money! They enter the cafe to find Kuljit winding up Sway about early morning calls from Nadia in Pakistan. Suddenly Jodie blurts out a proposition...

Sway is played by Mark Monero, Jodie by Vineeta Rishi, Kuljit by Sartaj Garewal, Roopa by Rakhee Thakrar, Bina by Sana Raja, Krishan by Rahual Das and Vinnie by Saikat Ahamed.

BBC Asian Network Publicity