Wednesday 29 Oct 2014

Jonathan Ross is joined by Welsh comedian Rhod Gilbert, who releases his first DVD this month, and former Smiths' front-man Morrissey, who released his ninth studio album, Years Of Refusal, earlier this year.
There's also live music from jazz musician Jamie Cullum.
Presenter/Jonathan Ross, Producer/Fiona Day
BBC Radio 2 Publicity
This week, Dermot O'Leary features live tracks from Will Young and Jimmy Webb and also chats to Dave Grohl about the release of the Greatest Hits album from American rock band the Foo Fighters.
Young first rose to fame as the winner of ITV's Pop Idol in 2002 and, after four multi-platinum albums, he releases a Greatest Hits album this month. Never one to fit the manufactured pop-star mould, Young has also appeared as a panellist on Question Time, alongside Dame Judi Dench in the Stephen Frears film Mrs Henderson Presents and also in a sell-out Noel Coward revival at Manchester's Royal Exchange.
American singer-songwriter Webb is the composer behind popular hits such as Wichita Lineman, The Highwayman and By The Time I Get To Phoenix. He is the only artist ever to receive Grammy Awards for music, lyrics and orchestration and has also written for film and television. His latest album, which features The Webb Brothers, was released last month.
Presenter/Dermot O'Leary, Producer/Ben Walker
BBC Radio 2 Publicity
Chris Stuart presents highlights from the annual Royal British Legion Festival Of Remembrance, in the year when the UK bade farewell to its last First World War veteran, Harry Patch, and marked the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War.
This is a time when the nation once again offers its thanks and pays tribute to all those who risk their lives in the service of their country. The nation remembers the great sacrifice made by all who have died as a result of conflict, and the pain and suffering of those left behind, especially in the act of Remembrance when thousands of poppies are dropped, representing the lives lost not only in the two World Wars, but also in more recent conflicts.
As well as the annual displays of rousing military band music from, among others, the Royal Marines and RAF, the evening features male vocal group The Soldiers, all three of whom are on active service in Her Majesty's Forces and who released their first album at the end of October. Other voices include Jamie Cullum, Faryl Smith and Hayley Westenra. Joined by the Fron Male Voice Choir, Hayley sings the much-loved favourite of another Forces' sweetheart, We'll Meet Again, made famous by Vera Lynn.
Remembrance Sunday 2009 is marked on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4 tomorrow.
Presenter/Chris Stuart, Producer/Rosemary Foxcroft
BBC Radio 2 Publicity
On 8 August 1991, British journalist John McCarthy was freed in Beirut by the militant group Islamic Jihad, after more than five years in captivity.
Now Patron of the Medical Foundation For The Care Of Victims Of Torture, John presents Behind Enemy Lines, a documentary which sheds light on the experiences of other survivors of captivity; hostages, civilian detainees and prisoners of war, conflict and conscience. The programme includes John's first meeting with journalist Alan Johnston, who was held in Gaza for four months.
Listeners will be notified of the potentially disturbing content of the programme before transmission.
Presenter/John McCarthy, Producer/Hilary Robinson
BBC Radio 2 Publicity
Sir Cliff Richard And The Shadows reunited for an arena tour to celebrate their 50th anniversary earlier this year. As part of BBC Radio 2's Great British Songbook, listeners have the chance to enjoy Cliff, Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett in a recording of their Wembley Arena concert from Friday 23 October.
Initially called The Drifters, The Shadows were formed as a backing band for Cliff in 1958. Together, they dominated the charts in the late Fifties and Sixties, notching up seven No. 1 hits before splitting up in 1968 to pursue separate careers. This tour is the first time they have performed together in 20 years and the group have said the Wembley performance is their last ever UK show.
Producer/Sarah Gaston
BBC Radio 2 Publicity
Leading this performance of David McVicar's acclaimed production of Britten's chamber opera, The Turn Of The Screw, live from English National Opera, is veteran conductor Sir Charles Mackerras, who knew and worked closely with Britten in the Fifties and has been a leading interpreter of the work for more than 50 years.
He is joined by a cast including soprano Rebecca Evans as the Governess, Michael Colvin (tenor) and Cheryl Baker (soprano) as the ghosts Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, and treble Charlie Manton as the boy, Miles.
Presenter/Martin Handley, Producer/David Papp
BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Johnny Vegas asks whether Benidorm is the elephant's graveyard for entertainers who just don't know when to call it a day, or a shining tribute to the glory of comedy that came before. And he tries to fathom if this is the fate that awaits him.
Johnny is at a turning-point in his professional status. He has a thriving career but knows, deep down, that audiences are getting younger and his shelf life within showbusiness could be too close to perishable for comfort.
He sees that, with the demise of the great British Working Men's Clubs, and the unforgiving nature of popular culture, many household names have followed their audiences to the Spanish coast, where they are still revered and can play once more to packed houses of grateful punters.
Presenter/Johnny Vegas, Producer/Sally Harrison
BBC Radio 4 Publicity
The novel All Quiet On The Western Front, published in 1929, quickly established itself as one of the greatest anti-war novels of all time, selling more than two million copies in 25 languages.
It is a First World War story told from the German point of view about four 18 year olds and their company on the Western Front, fighting in the trenches over a period of years.
The schoolboys, which they essentially still are, go to war only to be disabused of all notions of Kaiser and country. All finally perish in the mud of Flanders.
The story is told from the perspective of Paul Baumer, who leads listeners through years of fighting, resting behind the lines, going on leave, fraternising with local girls, arguing about the meaning of their lives and, in the end, dying.
Alongside the inevitable carnage there is a reflective, more lyrical, quality to this story as these young Germans try to understand what they are involved in and how they must come to terms with the sheer waste of their youth.
The novel has been dramatised by Dave Sheasby.
Producer/David Hunter
BBC Radio 4 Publicity
BBC Radio 4 continues to recreate 1989 in sound – drawing on the BBC and other news archive and music of the time. The daily programmes, presented by Sir John Tusa, re-trace the year's major political, cultural and social events as they happened.
This week's events from 1989 include the first crossings of the Berlin Wall; the Church of England Synod voting to ordain women priests; the politburo resigning in East Germany; and the Army being called in to answer 999 calls in Britain.
On 9 November, 1989, East Berlin's party chief declares all citizens can leave immediately and, at 9pm, the first border crossings take place; the news causes spontaneous cheers in the West German Bundestaag and messages of support from Moscow and Washington.
Hundreds of thousands of East Germans arrive in West Berlin amid scenes of shock and joy. Bulldozers tear down sections of the Berlin Wall to make more crossing points. The mayors of East and West Berlin shake hands at a new border crossing at Potsdamerplatz.
Elsewhere, El Salvador declares a curfew as fighting between troops and leftist rebels leaves 78 dead in the capital; and pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy returns to Moscow for the first time in 26 years to conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Some 300,000 protestors meet in Leipzig to demand further reforms from the East German government; bidding starts for the Berlin Wall, with an American coin dealer offering $50m – he plans to quadruple his money by selling chunks – and new EU regulations demand tough new health warnings on tobacco packets ... to the dismay of French manufacturers.
Presenter/Sir John Tusa, Producer/Peter Law
BBC Radio 4 Publicity
To complement BBC Radio 4's news and current affairs output, this weekly series presents a dramatic response to a major, current news story.
The form and content is entirely led by the news topic so listeners can expect drama in a number of different guises, as well as poetry and prose.
The 15-minute drama is created from scratch in the days leading up to transmission; an instant reaction to the mood of the moment.
This breadth of approach is echoed in the range of writers that have participated so far. They include: David Edgar, Amelia Bullmore, Mark Lawson, Bonnie Greer, Laura Solon, Will Self, Alistair Beaton, Lemn Sissay, April de Angelis, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Adrian Mitchell, Stewart Lee, John Sergeant, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Kate Mosse and Lin Coghlan.
Previous series have also featured actors such as Philip Glenister, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Samuel West, David Soul, Henry Goodman, Alistair McGowan, Robert Bathurst, Stephen Mangan and Sally Hawkins.
Producer/David Hunter
BBC Radio 4 Publicity
Actor and entertainer John Barrowman tells the story of Irving Berlin's ground-breaking army show that came to bomb-ravaged London in 1943, before setting out on a world tour that raised military morale from Glasgow to Guam.
The Second World War production This Is The Army was born out of one of Berlin's earlier shows, written for the First World War. It featured a unit of soldiers, many with a theatrical background, who sang, danced and pattered their way through every theatre of war in which the US army was involved.
For the first time in American history, it was an integrated mixed-race unit. And rather than stay safely back in the States raising money for army welfare, Berlin encouraged the top brass to take his show as near to the front lines as possible.
In this programme, the show's choreographer, Robert Sydney, and Berlin's daughter, Mary Ellin Barrett, recall how the show was put together and the effect it had in places as far afield as Washington DC and Tehran, via Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow, London and the fiercest area of fighting in the south of Italy, shortly after the British and American landings there.
Also remembering the show are members of the audience in Birmingham, Glasgow and London, where a young airman by the name of Denis Norden was spellbound by the sheer dazzle of the show at The Palladium.
Producer/Tom Alban
BBC Radio 4 Publicity
Mark Pougatch presents today's show live from Twickenham, ahead of the opening match of rugby union's autumn test series between England and Australia. There's regular updates from the day's early football kick-offs; the Edinburgh derby between Hearts and Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League (kick-off 12.30pm) and the South Wales derby, Swansea City versus Cardiff (kick-off 12.45pm) in the Championship.
At 2.30pm there's commentary of England versus Australia, live from Twickenham, with Ian Robertson, Alastair Eykyn and England World Cup winner Matt Dawson. There are also updates of the afternoon's 3pm football kick-offs including Manchester City versus Burnley and Tottenham versus Sunderland in the Premier League and Rangers versus St Mirren in the Scottish Premier League.
At 5.30pm there's commentary of the Premier League's late kick-off between Wolves and Arsenal, live from Molineux, plus regular rugby league updates as England face New Zealand in the Four Nations tournament from the Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield.
Presenter/Mark Pougatch, Producer/Mark Williams
BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity
Uninterrupted Championship commentary of the South Wales derby between Swansea City and Cardiff City comes live from the Liberty Stadium.
Producer/Jen McAllister
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra brings uninterrupted commentary on one of the afternoon's top matches in the Premier League.
Producer/Jen McAllister
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity
Uninterrupted commentary of Wales versus New Zealand comes live from the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, with Jonny Saunders, Nick Mullins and former Welsh captain Robert Jones.
Producer/Jen McAllister
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra brings uninterrupted second-half commentary of England versus New Zealand in the Four Nations tournament, live from the Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield.
Producer/Jen McAllister
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity
Live commentary from the Paralympic World Track Cycling Championships comes from the Manchester Velodrome.
Producer/Jen McAllister
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity
In this new edition of World Book Club, Harriet Gilbert talks to acclaimed Egyptian writer Alaa Al-Aswaany about his bestselling novel The Yacoubian Building. The novel was the Arab world's No. 1 bestseller for five years running after it was published in 2002.
The Yacoubian Building interweaves the stories of a group of diverse characters who live and work in downtown Cairo. It is a moving study of politics and power, sex and revenge, and centres on the apartment block, the Yacoubian building, which still stands in Cairo today. The novel offers a compelling yet daringly scathing portrayal of modern Egypt since the 1952 Revolution.
Presenter/Harriet Gilbert, Producer/Karen Holden
BBC World Service Publicity
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