Programme Information

The Advent season marks the beginning of the Church's liturgical year, as preparations get under way for Christmas. The themes celebrated throughout Advent include hope, joy and peace. On this, the first Sunday in Advent, Brian D'Arcy looks specifically at Advent hope.

Featuring music from the Glasgow Chamber Choir, hymns include O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Hark The Glad Sound and Lo He Comes With Clouds Descending. The choir is directed by Michael Bawtree and the organist is David Hamilton.

Presenter/Brian D'Arcy, Producer/Janet McLarty

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Michael Berkeley meets stand-up comedian, musician and actor Bill Bailey, who is currently touring his latest show, Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide To The Orchestra.

A talented musician who plays several different instruments, including keyboards, guitar and clarinet, Bill's amusing and highly idiosyncratic introductions to orchestral instruments and deconstructions of musical genres, from classical to TV themes and jazz, have delighted audiences around the country.

Presenter/Michael Berkeley

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

To top

A Service For Advent With Carols,
Live From The Chapel Of St John's College, Cambridge

Sunday 29 November

4.00-5.30pm BBC RADIO 3

St John's' Choir Cambrige

In the college chapel, glowing by candlelight, the choir, college members, friends and family mark the first Sunday of Advent with a service of readings, music and prayer.

The music for the service this year echoes through the ages with meditations on the themes of judgement and our ultimate destiny. It opens with Laetentur coeli (Lassus), the choir singing far away in the ante-chapel. Then follows a procession up the nave to the great Advent hymn, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. The carol Adam lay ibounden has been specially commissioned from Giles Swayne for this service.

The service is led by the Dean of Chapel, the Reverend Duncan Dormer, with the Chaplain and the Reverend Dr Grant Bayliss. The college's Director of Music is Andrew Nethsingha and the senior organ student is Timothy Ravalde.

Producer/Clair Jaquiss

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

To top

Stephen Johnson and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra are joined by composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies during the celebrations of the composer's 75th birthday in Glasgow. They explore the ideas and workings of Sir Peter's half-hour orchestral tone poem, A Reel Of Seven Fishermen.

The work was composed in 1998 and was inspired by the composer's home in Orkney and verses by Orcadian poet George Mackay Brown.

Presenter/Stephen Johnson, Producer/Chris Wine

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

To top

Aled Jones talks to one of the UK's leading Handelian experts, Laurence Cummings, about English National Opera's current stage production of Messiah, directed by Deborah Warner. He finds out what makes Handel's music so appealing.

There's also an update on Sing Hallelujah, a project led by BBC Radio 3 and the English National Opera that invites everyone to celebrate Handel's most famous chorus.

The programme also features a report from Oban in Scotland where the 106th Royal National Mod took place in October. Founded in 1892, this annual festival celebrates the Gaelic language, literature and music.

Presenter/Aled Jones, Producer/Johannah Smith

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

To top

Drama On 3 – The Changeling By Thomas Middleton

Sunday 29 November

8.00-9.45pm BBC RADIO 3

Actress Anna Madely

Tonight's Drama On 3 is a new radio production of the defining study of sexual obsession, lust and madness, a dramatic tango of death, by a writer whose reputation is undergoing a thorough overhaul.

The Changeling is one of Thomas Middleton's last plays and the Renaissance playwright creates a world where evil has a transformative power. This radio production is set in Alicante, Spain, in the late Twenties, when it is love at first sight for Beatrice-Joanna and Alsemero. The only problem is that she is due to marry another man.

The two outsiders in the drama, Alonzo and Tomazo de Piracquo, are played as wealthy young Americans travelling through Europe. They attempt to purify the rotten and self-serving world of the Spanish aristocracy. They fail, however, as they themselves become victims.

Anna Madely stars as Beatrice-Joanna and Zubin Varla as Deflores in this adaptation by Jeremy Mortimer.

Producer/Jeremy Mortimer

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

To top

British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg grew up in East London to the sound of his nan singing old music hall songs such as Don't Dilly Dally and Any Old Iron. In this programme he goes on a journey to explore the hidden history of this seminal but often misunderstood part of Britain's popular music heritage.

Perceptions of music hall were shaped by the long-running TV series The Good Old Days. Billy strips away the cosy nostalgia to reveal what was, in fact, Britain's first pop music – an urban folk culture in which raucous song vied with cut-throat commercialism.

His journey takes him from Abney Park cemetery, resting place of several music hall stars, to the Museum of London and Wilton's Music Hall, the last big music hall in the East End that survives from the mid-19th century. Among the experts he talks to are Professor Jacqueline Bratton of the University of London, Professor Derek Scott of the University of Leeds and Professor Jeffrey Richards from the University of Lancaster. The journey culminates in a specially staged performance in which Billy dons a pearly suit and gives his own characteristic take on some classic songs.

Presenter/Billy Bragg, Producer/Adam Lively

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

The Living World is a natural history strand that revels in rich encounter, immersion in the natural world and warm, enthusiastic storytelling.

In autumn, bird migration is at its peak and, with this in mind, Lionel Kelleway travels to meet Colin Wells of the Royal Society For The Protection Of Birds for an unadulterated immersion into natural sound in a truly wild place; a place where the greatest numbers of black-tailed godwits in Europe descend to spend the winter.

The sound of waders on a British estuary is one of the great wildlife wonders. The programme follows Lionel as he enters a wader's soundscape of piping and fluting as the high tide makes these birds of the estuary restless.

Presenter/Lionel Kelleway, Producer/Andrew Dawes

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

To top

Former Smiths' front-man and iconic singer-songwriter Morrissey

This week's castaway is iconic singer-songwriter Morrissey.

Born in 1959, Steven Patrick Morrissey grew up in Stretford, Manchester, and enjoyed enormous success with The Smiths as the band's lyricist and vocalist and received media attention for his views on animal rights and vegetarianism.

He launched a solo career after the band's break up in 1987 and has 10 Top 10 singles to his name. Music magazine NME has described Morrissey as "one of the most influential artists ever".

Morrissey talks to presenter Kirsty Young about his life, his career and about how he would cope on BBC Radio 4's mythical desert island.

Presenter/Kirsty Young, Producer/Leanne Buckle

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

To top

Tarring and feathering was a brutal medieval form of vigilante justice but, for years, it was also one of the most notorious ways in which communities in Northern Ireland were controlled by paramilitaries.

Presenter Ruth McDonald investigates how these communities are policed since the ceasefires, and why some people – far from being glad those days are gone – would like to return to the days of tarring, feathering and punishment shootings.

In 1971, a woman was dragged from her home, tied to a lamp post, covered in paint and then feathers. Her "crime" was that she was dating a soldier.

As the conflict escalated, and areas like the Bogside and West Belfast became no-go areas, such relationships became rarer. Instead, the punishment was meted out on petty thieves, drug dealers and joy-riders.

"Even if we had called the police, they wouldn't have come," recalls a former IRA member. "Instead, we had to come up with our own form of community justice. The IRA became known as the alternative authorities."

But with the ceasefires came an end, supposedly, to tarring, feathering and the so-called punishment shootings which followed them. Instead, politicians were working towards a "normal" society in which the police would be allowed into these areas.

Some 10 years on and punishment shootings are back on the agenda. Callers to a local phone-in show ask for more such street justice. In Derry, an organisation called RAAD – Republican Action Against Drugs – is a group of former Provos who say they aren't political but believe the police are failing to deal with the drug issue. They have shot 10 people in the last year, an old-style warning against drug-dealing.

This programme explores what the future might hold for these communities.

Presenter/Ruth McDonald, Producer/Rachel Hooper

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

To top

The Complete Smiley –
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Ep 1/3

Sunday 29 November

3.00-4.00pm BBC RADIO 4

Simon Russell Beale plays George Smiley

Continuing BBC Radio 4's dramatisation of all John Le Carré's George Smiley novels, Simon Russell Beale returns to star in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Wrestling with retirement and disillusionment, Smiley is summoned to a secret meeting with a member of the Cabinet Office. Evidence has emerged of infiltration at the highest level by a Russian agent.

"Find the mole, George. Clean the stables. Do whatever is necessary," Smiley is told. Reluctantly, he agrees, embarking on a dark journey into his past – a past filled with love, duplicity and betrayal.

Told across three hours, this is an epic depiction of the complicated moral dilemmas of the people quietly out-manoeuvring each other in the Cold War. Smiley's investigation takes him through the post-war world of espionage from old colleagues to current adversaries.

This three-part drama also stars Anna Chancellor, Alex Jennings, Michael Feast, Kenneth Cranham, Maggie Steed, Bill Paterson, Jamie Foreman, Anthony Calf, Ewan Bailey, John Rowe and Vera Filatova.

The Complete Smiley is Radio 4's flagship drama for 2009-10, in which full-cast dramatisations of all eight of John le Carré's George Smiley novels, with Simon Russell Beale playing George Smiley throughout, will be aired.

Producer/Steven Canny

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

5 Live Sport

Sunday 29 November

12.00noon-6.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Colin Murray presents an afternoon of live sport kicking off at noon with regular updates from the West Midlands derby between Wolves and Birmingham, live from Molineux.

At 1.30pm there's more Premier League derby action with commentary from Everton versus Liverpool, live from Goodison, with updates of Cardiff versus Ipswich in the Championship (kick-off 3pm) and reports from the men's tennis finals at the ATP World Tour Final at the O2 Arena.

The programme completes a hat trick of Premier League derby coverage with Arsenal versus Chelsea live from the Emirates Stadium from 4pm.

Presenter/Colin Murray, Producer/Steve Houghton

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Cricket

Sunday 29 November

7.45am-4.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

Uninterrupted commentary of South Africa versus England, in the fourth One Day International, comes live from St George's, Port Elizabeth, with the Test Match Special commentary team.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

To top

Tennis

Sunday 29 November

4.00pm-6.30pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra brings uninterrupted commentary of the final of the ATP World Tour Finals, live from the 02 Arena, London.

The commentary team is led by Jonathan Overend.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

To top

NFL American Football

Sunday 29 November

9.00pm-12.30am BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

Arlo White presents coverage of week 12 of the NFL season. Arlo is joined by Neil Reynolds and Greg Brady with all the news from around the NFL.

Presenter/Arlo White

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

Matt Everitt and Julie Cullen report from Homecoming Live, the Glasgow festival that brings together some of the biggest artists in Scottish music. The line-up includes the likes of Teenage Fanclub, Idlewild and The View.

They also look back over the week in music news with comment and analysis of the biggest stories.

Presenters/Matt Everitt and Julie Cullen, Producer/Tom Green

BBC 6 Music Publicity

To top

Foppish freeman of Bury and Mercury Prize-winner Guy Garvey introduces his weekly scamper through his record collection.

He'll have a theme, a Beckypedia and a That Was The Sky At Night The Week That Was. He may even have a new feature or two...

Presenter/Guy Garvey, Producer/Michelle Choudhry

BBC 6 Music Publicity

To top

Bob Dylan takes the theme of Noah's Ark for the first of two programmes. Among his selections are The Monkey Speaks His Mind by Dave Bartholomew, Too Many Fish In The Sea by The Marvelettes, Fattening Frogs For Snakes by Sonny Boy Williamson II and Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport by Rolf Harris.

Presenter/Bob Dylan, Producer/Frank Wilson

BBC 6 Music Publicity