Programme Information

Dermot O'Leary introduces live music from Mercury award-nominated electropop duo La Roux.

Dermot also speaks to comedian Al Murray who, under the guise of The Pub Landlord, has recently written a self-help book entitled Think Yourself British.

There's also new music from Ella Chi, a 23-year-old British singer who describes her sound as new-wave pop, with strong funk and soul leanings, and cites influences including Erykah Badu, Mark Ronson, Prince and Portishead.

Presenter/Dermot O'Leary, Producer/Ben Walker

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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In Shedding Hippie Blood Huey Morgan tells the story of the 1969 Rolling Stones Let It Bleed tour; a milestone in rock history that defined an era and its tragic finale at the Altamont Speedway.

The band's previous tours had been brief, incandescent sets. However, as the Sixties drew to a close, the music of the Stones had evolved into longer sets, which charted their influences by including tracks by their blues heroes.

The year of the free rock festival was 1969. The Rolling Stones Hyde Park concert in London in July was followed, a month later, by Woodstock and, as their Let It Bleed tour rolled triumphantly across America, the Stones decided to end the decade with a massive, free concert to thank their US fans for their continuing support.

The concert, held at Altamont Speedway, in the scrublands of Northern California, on 6 December, was meant to be the West Coast's answer to Woodstock. But the event turned out very differently and some believe it signalled the end of the peace and love era.

This programme features contributions from those who were on the road with the Stones on their ground-breaking tour, including: Mick Jagger's personal assistant, Georgia Bergman; the tour's business manager, Ron Schneider; production manager Chip Monck; tour manager Sam Cutler; journalist Michael Lydon; photographer Ethan Russell; director Albert Maysles; and the Guardian's Eamonn McCabe.

Presenter/Huey Morgan, Producer/Des Shaw

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Sam Carter has spent the last few years honing his craft, both as a writer and performer, studying guitar with Martin Simpson and touring with Bellowhead, while holding down his post as Emerging Artist in Residence at London's Southbank Centre.

Tonight, the east London-based songsmith is joined by Scottish singer-songwriter Dot Allison to preview his debut album, Keepsakes, for Bob Harris's After Midnight Acoustic Session.

Presenter/Bob Harris, Producer/Mark Simpson

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Lucy Duran joins a huge crowd at the 2009 Timitar Festival in Agadir. Acts include Berber songs from local diva Raissa Aicha Tachinouit, Saharawi music from Rachida Talal and a rare, live appearance by Morocco's biggest star of the Arab world, Samira Said. It's a free festival where one hundred thousand local inhabitants, and a sprinkling of tourists and international festival-goers, gather to hear performances stretching into the early hours of the morning.

Presenter/Lucy Duran, Producer/Roger Short

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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Listeners can enjoy a rare chance to hear Tchaikovsky's only comic opera, his fairytale Christmas story, The Tsarina's Slippers (Cherevichki), which is performed for the first time at London's Royal Opera House.

Inspired by one of Nikolai Gogol's most famous short tales, Christmas Eve, it's a mix of village comedy and fairytale fantasy. The beautiful Oxana will only marry her besotted blacksmith, Vakula, if he finds the Tsarina's little leather slippers for her. The desperate Vakula finally uses the Devil to help him fulfil his beloved's wish. There is much devilry, mistaken identity, hiding of lovers and drunken villagers along the way.

The Royal Opera House has brought together both their companies, opera and ballet, for this enchanting new production by director Francesca Zambello and choreographer Alastair Marriott.

Performed in Russian, the almost entirely Russian cast includes soprano Olga Guryakova as Oxana and tenor Vsevolod Grivnov as Vakula. Alexander Polianichko conducts the Orchestra of The Royal Opera House and The Royal Opera Chorus.

Presenter/Martin Handley, Producer/Anthony Sellors

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Reggae legend Bob Marley

BBC reporter and reggae fanatic Jonathan Charles tells the story of Bob Marley's wilderness year of 1966, working in Wilmington, Delaware, as a lab assistant and on the Chrysler assembly line as a fork-lift driver.

The world was almost deprived of the talent of reggae singer Bob Marley. In 1966, he gave up his music career in frustration. He'd already had a No. 1 hit with single Simmer Down but he was finding life hard. He was short of money and, leaving Jamaica, he went to live in the United States.

There he became a night-shift worker in the Chrysler car plant in Wilmington, Delaware, where his mother was also living. His plan was to live in America and earn money until he'd earned enough to finance a record label.

The year in the US was to change his life and influence his music. Life was tough and his time working for a major corporation introduced him to capitalism and what he saw as the evils of the free-market society.

Jonathan goes to the annual Bob Marley reggae festival in Wilmington where they remember his music. He meets Ibis Pitts, a resident of Wilmington who was a close friend of Bob during his time there. Jonathan also talks to Junior Marvin (The Wailers) about how Bob changed during his year in the States; to some of his former car plant colleagues; and further explores some of the music which this period in his life inspired.

Presenter/Jonathan Charles, Producer/David Prest

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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As the Turner Prize reaches its 25th year, art critic Waldemar Januszczak considers the biggest cultural turnaround of his critical life – the public's u-turn on modern art.

In new interviews with Damien Hirst, Tate director Nicholas Serota and art critic Sarah Kent, Waldemar considers how influential the Turner Prize was in raising public awareness of contemporary art. He looks back to when it began in 1984 and remembers the almost universal derision the Prize attracted. He analyses why the Prize was so unpopular in the Eighties and recalls the criticism levelled at it by the press.

In 1988, the Turner Prize reached its nadir. The directors at the Tate decided to drop the idea of a shortlist and the winner was simply selected without any preamble.

But in 1992, a new generation of talented British artists began to breakthrough. Damien Hirst was on the shortlist, and in 1993, Rachel Whiteread won the Prize. Waldemar argues the turnaround moment came after Channel 4 began broadcasting the awards and these artists managed finally to engage the public with their new art.

Listeners hear memorable moments from the awards ceremonies, including Tracey Emin's infamous drunken rant – and some of the criticism levied at modern art and the Turner Prize in particular, such as the perennial question: "But is it art?"

Waldemar concludes by asking whether the Turner Prize has moved the debate past this level of criticism to a more serious discussion of the work itself.

Presenter/Waldemar Januszczak, Producer/Susie Matthews

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

5 Live Sport

Saturday 5 December

12.00noon-7.20pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Mark Pougatch presents an afternoon of live sport, kicking off with live commentary of Portsmouth versus Burnley from Fratton Park at 12.45pm and regular updates from Falkirk versus Rangers in the Scottish Premier League (kick-off 12.30pm).

There's live coverage of all the day's 3pm kick-offs, including West Ham United versus Manchester United in the Premier League and Celtic versus Aberdeen in the SPL, plus updates from rugby union's Premiership matches, including Northampton versus Bath and London Irish versus Worcester.

From 5.30pm, there's Premier League commentary on Manchester City against Chelsea, live, from the City of Manchester Stadium.

Presenter/Mark Pougatch, Producer/Mark Williams

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Football

Saturday 5 December

12.55-2.45pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

Listeners can enjoy live Championship commentary on Nottingham Forest versus Leicester City from the City Ground.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

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5 Live Football League

Saturday 5 December

2.45-5.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

Live commentary comes from one of the day's top matches in the Championship, plus reports and score updates from across the Football League.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

Sony Award-winner and BBC 6 Music presenter George Lamb

Sony Award-winner George Lamb's show transfers to the weekend breakfast slot.

In a move to avoid the weekday clash with This Morning, George transfers his show to the weekend breakfast slot. Regular listeners can expect more of George's inimitable banter and new acquaintances are in for a lively start to their weekends.

Presenter/George Lamb, Producer/Alicia Brown

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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In the week of World Peace Day and the anniversary of John Lennon's death, musician and artist Yoko Ono presents a special edition of the 6 Mix, talking about her work and playing music which has influenced her new album, Between My Head And The Sky.

Yoko – the widow of John Lennon – has had a varied musical career, from her work with her late husband and the Plastic Ono Band on Double Fantasy to her later experimental music and collaborations with Ornette Coleman, The Flaming Lips and John Cage.

In this programme, she plays tracks from a range of artists who inspired her musically, including Jimi Hendrix, Courtney Love and Anthony And The Johnsons, as well as new music from Sean Lennon and The Low Anthem.

Yoko talks about the making of her new album, how she's dealt with media criticism and her relationship with Lennon and their son, Sean. There's also a chance to hear her unlikely collaboration with Basement Jaxx and her views on Amy Winehouse and Beth Ditto.

(This programme was originally scheduled for October 2009.)

Presenter/Yoko Ono, Producer/Rowan Collinson

BBC 6 Music Publicity

This month's World Book Club features acclaimed American writer James Ellroy, who, for the last 15 years, has been working on a fictional chronicle of Sixties America.

American Tabloid, the first of the three books, exposes the underbelly of a country on the threshold of John F Kennedy's "golden age" and follows three men close to the tentacles of power in a conspiracy with the Mafia that leads to the Bay Of Pigs invasion of Cuba and the assassination of JFK in Dallas. Brutally brilliant and profane, the book is peopled with crooked policemen, corrupt politicians, mobsters and hitmen, all driven by a desire for power, money and the settling of old scores.

BBC World Service Publicity

Aled Jones says Good Morning Sunday to the UK's best-selling cookery writer, Delia Smith, as she celebrates 40 years in the business. Delia talks about her career and the influence of her faith.

Kate Saunders reviews a selection of books for Christmas, while Rabbi Pete Tobias discusses the week's news from a faith and ethics perspective and gives the Moment Of Reflection.

Presenter/Aled Jones, Producer/Hilary Robinson

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Dame Shirley Bassey joins Paul O'Grady in the studio

In a special edition of his show, Paul O'Grady is joined in the studio by Dame Shirley Bassey and plays tracks from the diva's recently released new album, The Performance.

Presenter/Paul O'Grady, Producer/Malcolm Prince

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Brian D'Arcy introduces more hymns for Advent. This week, he looks at the joy of the nativity as preparations for Christmas get underway.

Sunday Half Hour also makes its contribution to the BBC's Sing Hallelujah weekend, which encourages singers of all abilities to join together to perform Handel's famous chorus.

This week's featured choir is from the Blue Coats School, Coventry, with the choir of Holy Trinity, Coventry, directed by Philip Formstone. The organist is Christopher Howard. Hymns featured include On Jordan's Bank and Come Thou Redeemer Of The Earth.

Presenter/Brian D'Arcy, Producer/Janet McLarty

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Michael Berkeley's guest today is the DJ, producer, remixer and garage artist MJ Cole, whose debut was best-selling album Sincere.

He now DJs regularly at festivals including Glastonbury and The Big Chill, and has worked as a remixer with Mariah Carey and Amy Winehouse, among others. A classically trained musician, he has chosen piano music by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Rachmaninov, Ravel's String Quartet, John Adams's A Short Ride In A Fast Machine and music by Radiohead and Sting.

Presenter/Michael Berkeley

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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Catherine Bott chairs a round-table discussion about how period performance practice, and our perception of it, has developed since the somewhat experimental days of the early music "revival" in the Sixties, and on the impact it has had on music making across the board.

Catherine's guests are all violinists with very different musical backgrounds. Alison Bury has been a member, leader and soloist with some of the best-known ensembles on the circuit, including the Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment and the London Baroque Soloists.

Bjarte Eike is a Danish musician whose own ensemble, Baroque Fever, has performed to great acclaim all over Europe.

Daniel Hope is an incredibly experienced international soloist and chamber musician, who has performed and recorded a huge range of repertoire from Schnittke to Bach.

Presenter/Catherine Bott, Producer/Les Pratt

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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The Choir

Sunday 6 December

6.30-8.00pm BBC RADIO 3

Aled Jones introduces a live edition of The Choir, celebrating Sing Hallelujah, a nation-wide project, led by BBC Radio 3 in association with English National Opera, which encourages people to find their voice and discover the joy of singing through Handel's famous Hallelujah Chorus.

Following two major singing events held over the weekend in Glasgow and London, The Choir features the first broadcasts of unique versions of the Hallelujah Chorus, recorded by massed choirs of largely amateur singers.

Aled talks to participants and studio guests in Manchester, and BBC Radio 3 Breakfast presenter Sara Mohr-Pietch is on hand to bring all the news from London. There's music from the BBC Singers, and Aled will be making a sweep across the UK looking at some of the hundreds of groups who registered their performances of the Hallelujah Chorus online.

This diverse collection of performers and performances includes Cantate Girls' Choir, who recently performed the Hallelujah Chorus at Portsmouth Cathedral; Singing For The Brain groups, run by the Alzheimer's Society; and Renewal, a Bristol-based community gospel choir, currently preparing for their Soulful Celebration of Handel, due to take place later this month.

Presenter/Aled Jones, Producer/Johannah Smith

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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Actor Dominic West

Actor Dominic West stars in Eugene O'Neill's expressionist classic, The Hairy Ape, which tells the tragic tale of Yank, a "stoker" whose world is turned upside down by the appearance of the daughter of a steel magnate in the engine room of the trans-Atlantic ocean liner on which he serves.

O'Neill, who went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936, is one of America's greatest writers of drama. Although he was fundamental to the development of realism in American drama, The Hairy Ape (written in 1921) is highly stylised and had much in common with the expressionist drama flourishing in Europe at the time.

Producer/Toby Swift

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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As well as reading poetry in books or hearing it read, poetry can also be found on websites, buildings, the tube, toilet doors, even the backs of sheep. Julian May investigates the changing relationship of poetry and its audience.

Perhaps, these days, the significance of the collection of poems is changing. Poetry is often encountered at a public event rather than as a private reflection, at a reading, or online, as an aspect of a virtual community. Poetry is located on websites, underground stations, carved into public buildings or projected onto walls. At the doctors, or even when you close the bathroom door, poetry is there – the waiting room and the public convenience are just two milieux where poetry initiatives have placed new work.

Julian asks whether poetry's increased presence indicates that people care more for it and whether the audience has altered along with the means of delivery.

Presenter and Producer/Julian May

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

The final episode of the autumn series of Living World explores Tufty of Thirlmere – the red squirrel.

Under siege from its North American cousin, the red squirrel manages to maintain a foothold in the wilder areas of England, such as the Lake District. Lionel Kelleway travels to remote woodland near Thirlmere reservoir, well away from the better-known tourist trails, where, with Charlotte Widgery of the Save Our Squirrels project, he opens up a window on the squirrels' world.

As Lionel and Charlotte walk through the beautiful woodland in full autumnal colour, they discover how important Cumbria's Lakeland area is as a refuge for this rare squirrel and, if Lionel's luck holds, he may just encounter the most enigmatic of British mammals at first hand.

However, the red squirrel doesn't live in isolation; Lionel explores the full richness of the woods, capturing the sound and the hoarding behaviour of many animals at this time of year.

Presenter/Lionel Kelleway, Producer/Andrew Dawes

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Libby Purves finds out how the money from last year's BBC Radio 4 St Martin-In-The-Fields Christmas Appeal has been spent to help homeless and vulnerable people across the UK.

For 82 years, radio listeners have been supporting the St Martin-In-The-Fields Christmas Appeal. The money raised helps transform the lives of thousands of homeless and vulnerable people across the UK.

This programme shows how homelessness can happen to anyone. Jason taught humanities and PE. Ironically, he even taught students about homelessness on a citizenship course. For months, he tried to maintain a dual identity, staying on sofas, riding night buses and trying to pretend that he wasn't homeless. When people asked about his big bag, he told them he was going on holiday.

Jay ran a market stall in Devon. But, when his long-term relationship broke down, he had nowhere to live. He explains that it's hard to stay in your own town when homeless, bumping into old friends or customers. So he arrived in London with no birth certificate and just a few clothes.

Both men talk about the pride that stops people from asking for help.

Libby Purves finds out how the Connection at St Martin's provides both practical and emotional support to people who arrive in Trafalgar Square with nowhere to go. She also hears how the money from last year's appeal has supported the work of the Vicar's Relief Fund, which helps people all over the UK who are in desperate need.

Presenter/Libby Purves, Producer/Sally Flatman

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Kirsty Young talks to Attorney General Baroness Scotland about her life, her favourite music and how she would cope on BBC Radio 4's mythical island.

Presenter/Kirsty Young, Producer/Leanne Buckle

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

5 Live Sport

Sunday 6 December

12.00noon-6.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Colin Murray presents an afternoon of live sport, including regular updates from Hamilton versus Hearts in the Scottish Premier League from 12.45pm and Scunthorpe versus Coventry in the Championship from 1.45pm.

From 3pm, there's live Premier League commentary on Fulham versus Sunderland at Craven Cottage, plus updates from rugby union's Premiership matches between Leeds and Harlequins and London Wasps against Leicester.

At 5pm there's second-half commentary on Everton versus Tottenham Hotspur, live, from Goodison Park.

Presenter/Colin Murray, Producer/Steve Houghton

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

NFL American Football

Sunday 6 December

9.00pm-12.30am BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

Darren Fletcher presents coverage of the New York Giants versus the Dallas Cowboys, live, from the Giants Stadium, New Jersey.

Darren is joined by Greg Brady with all the news from around the NFL.

Presenter/Arlo White

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

LA rockers The Bronx have borrowed stylings from pirate Mexican radio for their new album, El Bronx, under the band name Mariachi El Bronx.

Billed as a "vehicle for a border-bending journey of the senses", the band is visiting the UK for a short tour after finding UK success with its Mariachi sound.

Huey Morgan talks to front man Matt Caughthran about The Bronx's successful 2008 Warped tour and their new Mariachi incarnation.

Presenter/Huey Morgan, Producer/Becky Maxted

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Bob Dylan takes Noah's Ark as his theme for the second of two weeks. Among his selections are: White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane; Carried Water For The Elephant by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell; Coyote by Joni Mitchell; and Monkey Man by The Maytals.

Presenter/Bob Dylan, Producer/Frank Wilson

BBC 6 Music Publicity

Martin Kemp, EastEnders actor and member of pop group Spandau Ballet, joins Ken Bruce this week to discuss his Tracks Of My Years. His choices include songs by David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Bon Jovi and Marvin Gaye.

Presenter/Ken Bruce, Producer/Gary Bones

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Clare Teal presents the second part of the BBC Big Band's Johnny Mercer tribute, with guest vocalist Peter Grant.

The programme features classic songs from Mercer's collaborations with songwriters including Harold Arlen (Blues In The Night), Henry Mancini (Moon River), Johnny Mandel (The Summer Wind), Jerome Kern (I'm Old Fashioned) and Duke Ellington (Satin Doll).

Presenter/Clare Teal, Producer/Bob McDowall

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Jools Holland presents an hour-long boogie-woogie special, featuring members of The ABC Of Boogie Woogie – pianist Axel Zwingenberger and Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts.

Also joining them is Albert Ammons's granddaughter, Lila Ammons, on vocals and Peter Silvester, writer of The Story Of Boogie Woogie – A Left Hand Like God.

Presenter/Jools Holland, Producer/Sarah Gaston

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Lead Belly – A Secret History Of Rock And Roll Ep 1/2

Monday 7 December

11.30pm-12.00midnight BBC RADIO 2 (Copy update 24 November)

The lead singer of The Animals, Eric Burdon, begins a two-part examination of the life, music and legacy of seminal American folk singer Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, in the week of the 60th anniversary of his death. Lead Belly had a major influence on popular music on both sides of the Atlantic during the 20th century.

Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Nirvana have all cited him as an inspiration, while many others, including Led Zeppelin, The Beach Boys and ABBA, have re-worked songs that he popularised.

The first part of the documentary traces Lead Belly's roots back to the American Deep South of the late 19th century, where he was born into a farming family on the borders of Louisiana and Texas. Picking cotton was the main trade of the time and Huddie soon found himself doing exactly that. It's while picking cotton that he became acquainted with some of the songs for which he eventually become famous.

This episode includes contributions from singer Arlo Guthrie – son of Lead Belly's close friend Woody Guthrie – who examines how Lead Belly's tough life influenced much of his early musical repertoire. Songs discussed in this episode include Black Betty, Pick A Bale of Cotton, Cotton Fields (which would later be popularised by The Beach Boys), CC Ryder, Gallis Pole and Midnight Special.

Presenter/Eric Burdon, Producer/Dan Manicolo

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Tomaso Albinoni is best known for the famous Adagio, a work he didn't actually compose, and, indeed, couldn't have done – as it sounds nothing like the rest of his music. So, armed with a healthy sense of scepticism, Donald Macleod sets out to explore the life and music of the real Tomaso Albinoni.

In Monday's programme, he examines the few recorded facts of Albinoni's life, most of which he spent in his native Venice. Despite the lack of biographical information, he's an interesting and rather anomalous figure. His father had inherited a business manufacturing playing cards, which Albinoni seems to have been lined up to take over.

In the event, he disengaged himself from commerce fairly early on, presumably to concentrate on his music. But he nonetheless continued to earn from the family business and, as a result, he enjoyed the status of dilettante – he wrote music because he wanted to, not because he had to.

Later in the week, Donald explores the composer's elusive operatic output, considers Albinoni's contribution to the concerto and reveals his patrons.

Presenter/Donald Macleod, Producer/Chris Barstow

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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BBC Radio 3 presenter Petroc Trelawny

Thierry Fischer conducts the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in three works from the heart of the Viennese tradition, crowned by the ageless classicism and passionately elegiac Symphony No. 4 by Brahms.

Mahler's youthful songs, Lieder eines fahrenden gesellen, bring alive the gentle folk poetry of the fields and woods, a young man's music of love and loss sung tonight by young British baritone Roderick Williams.

Rarely has the full kaleidoscopic brilliance of the modern symphony orchestra been better captured than in Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra, ranging from its mysterious half-lights opening through to its emotional, exuberant helter-skelter close.

Presenter/Petroc Trelawny, Producer/Brian Jackson

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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Jez Nelson presents a gig by the Helge Lien Trio, recorded during the 2009 London Jazz Festival. Fresh from the success of their award-winning album, Hello Troll, the Norwegian group, formed by pianist Helge Lien, bassist Frode Berg and drummer Knut Aalefjaer, bring the forests and fjords of home to their records with beguiling and expressive soundscapes.

In taking influence from Scandinavian landscapes, they inevitably share some traits with the late Esbjörn Svensson's Trio, with a similar atmospheric blend of powerful and peaceful moods and melodies. Helge Lien's musical prowess was rewarded earlier this year with a Norwegian Grammy for their empathic musicianship on Hello Troll.

Presenter/Jez Nelson, Producer/Peggy Sutton

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Book Of The Week –
The Pantomime Life Of Joseph Grimaldi Ep 1/5

Monday 7 to Friday 11 December

9.45-10.00am BBC RADIO 4

This week's Book Of The Week presents Andrew McConnell Stott's fascinating account of the life of one of England's most famous clowns, Joseph Grimaldi.

Joseph Grimaldi was introduced to the stage at the age of two by his ballet-master father, a cruel disciplinarian. His unexpected death made Joseph the main breadwinner of the family, at the age of nine and, in spite of the dangers of life as a child on the stage, he worked his way up the theatrical rankings to become a superstar of Georgian pantomime.

An innovator, acrobat and comic genius, equally treasured by the fashionable set and the provincial public alike, his clowning brought national celebrity, enormous fees and a social circle that included Lord Byron.

Regardless of his fame, Grimaldi was a profound depressive, whose tragic life was marked by incapacitating bouts of insecurity and self-doubt. Poor business sense left him penniless. And, by his early forties, he was prematurely crippled by the leaps and pratfalls that had once so delighted his audience. Despite a successful benefit performance at Sadler's Wells to fund his retirement, Grimaldi ended his life as a depressive alcoholic in the slums of Islington.

Nevertheless, Grimaldi's legacy to popular culture is unique and lasting – the notion of the stereotypical sad clown, the funny man who, despite the laughter and adulation, cannot find happiness himself, is personified by many modern-day comedians.

Reader/Kenneth Cranham, Producer/Justine Willett

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Writing The Century –
All My Trials By Pat Cumper: 1963-1966 Ep 1/5

Monday 7 December

10.45-11.00am BBC RADIO 4

BBC Radio 4's major drama series, Writing The Century, returns to explore the 20th century through real correspondence from the great, the good and the ordinary.

Amy Barbour-James was born in Acton, in 1906, to Guyanese parents.

Her father, John Barbour-James, was a British civil servant on the Gold Coast and a founder member of the League of Coloured Peoples (1931). Amy lived in London and worked as a civil servant and concert singer. She died in 1988 with no living relatives. However, the Black Cultural Archive added her letters and papers to its collection. With the assistance of the Archive, Pat Cumper has been able to research Amy's life and dramatise her story for Writing The Century.

These letters tell the story of black migration to Britain. Amy and her sister, Muriel, both work as civil servants and share a home in London. They escape the "big freeze" of 1963 to visit friends in the Caribbean. However, once there, Muriel becomes ill and is diagnosed with dementia. Amy has to return to England and makes the heart-breaking decision to leave Muriel in the care of a number of friends in the hope that she will get better – she never does.

Following her sister's death, Amy visits Nigeria and the story concludes with her departure for the United States on a quest to contact friends and family to discover more about the rapidly changing world and her place in it.

The cast stars Janice Acquah as Amy Barbour-James, Ellen Thomas as Muriel Barbour-James and Mona Hammond and Audrey Jeffers.

Producer/Stefan Escreet

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Policing Britain – Police And The Public Ep 1/3

Monday 7 December

11.00-11.30am BBC RADIO 4

When Andy Hayman retired from the Metropolitan Police in 2008, he was the assistant commissioner in charge of the anti-terrorist team in Britain's capital. In his illustrious 30-year career, he tackled crime at every level and worked his way up from Essex Bobby on the beat to Chief Constable.

In this series, Andy examines the big challenges facing policing in Britain today. He looks at whether the police meet public expectations on issues like youth crime and anti-social behaviour; he tackles the question of community relations and fighting terrorism; he looks at criticism of the criminal justice system and how the police handle public order issues; and he ventures into the controversial area of the relationship between police and politicians.

To explore these issues, Andy travels round Britain meeting police officers on the front line and those in charge of the nation's forces. He talks to people who work with the police and those who have strong views about what is right and what is wrong with policing today.

His interviewees include: the Inspector of Constabulary who oversees all the forces in England and Wales; the last Director of Public Prosecutions; a former Home Secretary; and the head of the City's anti-fraud squad. Many of the contributors have not previously outlined their thoughts about whether the UK police get it right or wrong in public.

Next week's programme explores Policing For The 21st Century and the final programme in the series examines The Justice We Deserve.

Presenter/Andy Hayman, Producer/Richard Clemmow

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Three community writing groups – in The Isle of Mull, Ballycastle (Northern Ireland) and London – create and perform three short plays set in their communities for today's Afternoon Play.

The Isle of Mull writing group presents The Bank Van. Calum is just turning 21. Raised on a remote croft by his grandfather, Calum needs to grow up, find a life for himself and maybe find his mother, who he has not seen since she left the island when he was a toddler. In a desperate attempt to escape, he encounters some homespun wisdom when he arrives at the island's travelling bank with his grandfather's shotgun in a sack.

Ballycastle Writer's Group presents Crosswords. An outsider causes suspicion on New Year's Eve with his enquiries about local history at the town library. When he later reappears at the pub, Rosen, the librarian, and her twin brother, Malachie, the landlord, decide to find out exactly what he is after. They need to know – they have their own secrets to protect.

The Original Writer's Group in Battersea present Shame On You. When Becky is sacked from her highly paid job in a merchant bank, she steps out of her office into the thick of the G20 riots and encounters a homeless woman. These two unlikely allies help each other find a way out – and discover something about themselves.

Producer/Nick Russell Pavier

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

Arlo White presents all the day's sport news and is joined by John Motson and Steve Claridge for The Monday Night Club to discuss all the latest football news and issues.

From 9pm, Arlo is joined by Mark Clemmit for 5 Live Football League, with the latest news and reaction from the Championship and Football League.

Presenter/Arlo White

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Lauren Laverne invites Leicester lads Kasabian into the studio for an exclusive, live, session.

Tom, Serge and the boys come in to tell Lauren about the year they've had, which has included a successful UK tour and a Mercury Prize nomination for their third album, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum.

Presenter/Lauren Laverne, Producer/Gary Bales

BBC 6 Music Publicity

Newly weds Shazia and Hassan are struggling to find time for each other due to their work commitments, in today's visit to Silver Street.

Elsewhere, Roopa makes the cafe look festive and Jodie tells Sway exactly what she wants for Christmas. Sway tells Jodie that he is going to speak to Kuljit today.

Later, Sway tries to pick the right moment to tell Kuljit about him and Jodie but keeps getting interrupted. Will Sway get a chance to come clean?

Shazia is played by Shobu Kapoor, Hassan by Youssef Kerkour, Roopa by Rakhee Thakrar, Jodie by Vineeta Rishi, Sway by Nicholas Bailey and Kuljit by Sartaj Garewal.

BBC Asian Network Publicity

Former Take That member and singer-songwriter Robbie Williams

Singer-songwriter Robbie Williams joins Ken Bruce for a live session from BBC Broadcasting House in central London. Robbie performs a selection of songs from his recently released album, Reality Killed The Video Star, along with some old favourites.

Presenter/Ken Bruce, Producer/Gary Bones

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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This week's show has a Latin-American twist as Desmond Carrington celebrates the 99th birthday (on 7 December 2009) of musician, vocalist, arranger and bandleader Edmundo Ros.

Presenter/Desmond Carrington, Producer/Dave Aylott

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Monty Python's Wonderful World Of Sound Ep 1/2

Tuesday 8 December

10.30-11.30pm BBC RADIO 2

Mighty Boosh duo Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding

Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt from The Mighty Boosh meet Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam from Monty Python in this two-part series telling the story of their classic comedy albums.

In the days before video recorders were commonplace, fans could only enjoy the aural side of Python on repeat. Sketches like Dead Parrot, Nudge Nudge and the Lumberjack Song became regarded as classics on account of the LPs, not the TV show. It was the albums that eventually broke the Pythons in America.

The Python team talk about making the world's first "three-sided" LP; upsetting John Denver; giving farming in the Middle Ages its groove back; and raising the bar for what comedy albums could achieve: all from a garden shed in Finchley.

The series also features interviews with Python songwriter Neil Innes; record producers Andre Jacquemin and Alan Bailey; and composers Dave Howman and John Du Prez.

Presenters/Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, Producer/Simon Barnard

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Ray Benson, the founder and lead singer of the Grammy Award-winning band Asleep At The Wheel, presents the conclusion of this series which charts the history and development of western swing music.

In the final programme, Ray remembers Bob Wills's last recording session and his own near meeting with his musical idol. He also traces the Seventies western swing revival, which was kick-started by Merle Haggard's album, A Tribute To The Best Damn Fiddle Player In The World, in 1970. The album was a huge influence on Ray himself, and moved the musical direction of his band towards western swing.

Asleep At The Wheel went on to record two tribute albums to Bob Wills and are now regarded as the world's leading western swing band, with a history spanning almost 40 years.

The programme also looks at contemporary artists who are performing and recording their own style of western swing music, such as Lyle Lovett, Hot Club Of Cowtown, Cornell Hurd and Willie Nelson, whose album, Willie And The Wheel, was produced by Ray earlier this year.

The series features contributions from Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett and The Hot Club Of Cowtown, plus former members of Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys – Johnny Gimble, Herb Remington, Bobby Koefer, Louise Rowe and Leon Rausch.

Presenter/Ray Benson, Producer/Al Booth

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

One of North America's great orchestras, the Minnesota, begins an exclusive series of performances on BBC Radio 3 in the first of two concerts on consecutive nights (see also Performance On 3 on Wednesday 9 December on BBC Radio 3 at 7pm). Tonight's programme opens with a new work, Minea, by Kalevi Aho, a favourite composer of the orchestra's music director, Osmo Vänskä.

There is a strong Finnish flavour to the concert – both Aho and Vänskä were born there, as was early 19th-century composer and clarinettist Bernhard Henrik Crusell, whose Clarinet Concerto No. 2 is performed by the star principal clarinet of the Minnesota Orchestra, Burt Hara.

Two orchestral works, forged from operas by their composers, complete the programme. Stravinsky's Song Of The Nightingale is a symphonic poem with music from his opera based on a fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen, while in Richard Strauss's Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, the composer reworked some of the best tunes from his comic opera, suffused with lush romanticism and the Viennese Waltz.

Presenter/Petroc Trelawny, Producer/Brian Jackson

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Dr Warren Hern is a controversial American abortion doctor. He runs the Boulder Abortion Clinic in Colorado and takes a very public stand on the issue. He's one of a handful of doctors in the States who carry out late-term abortions – sometimes as late as 34 weeks.

He's been shot at through the windows of his clinic, had armed US Marshalls outside his door and has been subjected to numerous death threats over the past 30 years. He sleeps with a rifle by his bed and worries about travelling to and from work.

Earlier this summer, his close friend and colleague Dr George Tiller, who also carried out late abortions, was shot dead while handing out books in his church in Kansas. Hern believes he will be next.

In this episode of The Choice, presenter Michael Buerk asks why Hern became involved in such controversial and dangerous work and why he chooses to continue his work, despite death threats.

Presenter/Michael Buerk, Producer/Amanda Hancox

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Benjamin Zephaniah examines why Jamaican patois is the slang of choice for British teenagers and asks what is to be gained, if anything, from its use.

In 2007, Manchester Academy banned the use of street slang from its classrooms and reported soaring exam results the following year.

Meeting teachers and pupils, this programme hears how the ban works and how it affects the children in and outside of school. Benjamin also travels to London, where linguists have been charting the emergence of a new kind of speech pattern called "multi-cultural London-English". It is not merely a new lexicon, it's a dialect based largely on African-Caribbean rhythms.

Most linguists agree the key to using street slang is "appropriacy" – the ability to turn slang on and off. The programme asks why young people today are less able to discern this ability than they were 20 years ago and questions whether banning slang is the answer or if, as some experts suggest, parents and teachers should try to learn it.

Contributors include: linguist Tony Thorne; MP Ann Widdecombe; BBC 1Xtra DJ Ras Kwame; and Professor Paul Kerswill from Lancaster University.

Presenter/Benjamin Zephaniah, Producer/Joby Waldman

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Janet Ellis – host of hit Eighties children's BBC series Jigsaw – presents a celebration of the history and art of the jigsaw puzzle.

More art has probably made its way into more homes via the jigsaw puzzle than almost any other medium, and while it has since become the purveyor of comforting landscapes to the masses, it started life as an educational tool championed by the likes of philosopher John Locke.

In 1760, London map-maker John Spilsbury mounted one of his maps on hardboard and cut it into pieces to help children learn geography.

Going To Pieces In The Box tells the story of how, since then, jigsaws have become a core feature of childhoods across the world.

The programme hears how jigsaws hit their first major peak in the Great Depression, when 10 million a week were sold to families looking for cheap pastimes; how they were used by immigration officers on Ellis Island to determine mental capacity; and the story behind the £1m prize puzzle, Eternity.

Presenter/Janet Ellis, Producer/Geoff Bird

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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This drama is based around one extraordinary afternoon in the life of a Scottish poet, Andrew Younger, who takes a year-long tenure as writer-in-residence at a university in the American Midwest.

Back home in Scotland, Andrew left a difficult relationship with Lorna – with whom he's desperately in love but who won't, or can't, commit to him.

It is mid-winter in the prairie, the temperature has dropped to -22 degrees, a storm is approaching and the university has been closed. Andrew has been advised to go home but he's Scottish and isn't unduly troubled by the prospect of a bit of snow. Besides, he's waiting for a phone call from Lorna, who is due to give her decision on whether she'll take a sabbatical and join him in Iowa or, instead, take a temporary teaching job and stay in Scotland. The phone refuses to ring, though; its silence mocks his hopes and loneliness.

Striding out into the quad – it's only an eight-minute walk to the bus stop – Andrew becomes immediately lost in the blizzard, floundering amidst the world of academia as well as the rapidly accumulating snowdrifts. Just as he slumps defeated into the snow, he is rescued by the Literature Department's cleaner, a Native American woman whose traditional knowledge prove superior to the teachings of academia.

John Gordon Sinclair plays Andrew and Maureen Beattie plays Lorna in a cast that also includes Wendy Seager and Melody Grove.

Producer/Kirsteen Cameron

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Defining Moments Ep 1/3

Tuesday 8 to Thursday 10 December

3.30-3.45pm BBC RADIO 4

Colin Carberry, Anne Harris and Hugo Kelly, three talented, new writers from Ireland, pinpoint pivotal moments in relationships where paths can change forever in this new, three-part series.

Tuesday's story, The Lost Weekend, written by Hugo Kelly and read by Katherine Parkinson, tells the tale of a single woman who grabs the chance to escape for a while, only to find reality waiting on her return.

Wednesday's story, The Westlink Upgrade, written by Colin Carberry and read by Ciarnan McMenamin, is about a young couple who realise they have fallen in love.

Art, written by Anne Harris and read by Jemma Redgrave, tells the story of a woman who meets her lover in Italy.

Readers/Katherine Parkinson, Ciaran McMenamin and Jemma Redgrave, Producers/Gemma McMullan and Heather Larmour

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Great Lives Ep 1/9

Tuesday 8 December

4.30-4.55pm BBC RADIO 4

Famed British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes

Matthew Parris returns with a new series of BBC Radio 4's acclaimed biographical strand, in which he asks well-known people to talk about their heroes.

Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes selects King Henry V as his hero, in the first programme. Historian Juliet Barker joins Matthew to try to separate fact from myth.

Presenter/Matthew Parris, Producer/Beth O'Dea

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Sneakiepeeks Ep 1/6

Tuesday 8 December

6.30-7.00pm BBC RADIO 4

Three surveillance operatives are on an unspecified job, working for an unspecified employer. Together, they are Beagle Team.

Good surveillance operatives have patience, alertness and discretion – this is a series about the other type of surveillance operatives.

Bill, career snoop and technical specialist, has long carried a torch for beautiful yet disconnected fieldworker Sharla, who doesn't know he exists, despite sharing the back of a van with him for most of their working life. Mark, an enthusiastic, wily, slightly criminal trainee, has been assigned to them by their unknown employer, who goes by the codename of "Huntsman".

Each episode introduces fresh targets, situations and locations. The objects of the team's surveillance are guaranteed to stretch their improvisational skills. However, the team still finds time to indulge in the usual round of office politics; bitching, backstabbing and scapegoating, usually directed at whichever member is out in the field with the microphones.

Producer/Katie Tyrell

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

5 Live Sport

Tuesday 8 December

7.00-10.30pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Mark Pougatch

Mark Pougatch presents all the day's sports news and live Champions League group-stage coverage of Wolfsburg versus Manchester United and Chelsea versus Apoel FC, plus updates from the night's Championship games.

Presenter/Mark Pougatch

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

5 Live Football League

Tuesday 8 December

7.30-9.45pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra brings live commentary from one of the night's top matches in the Championship, plus reports and score updates from across the Football League.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

Shazia's work is affecting her marriage, as the drama continues. Hassan, meanwhile, understands that she can't change her life for him, but Shazia wonders if that is exactly what she needs...

Later, Jodie and Sway head to the studio together, ready to tell Kuljit about their relationship. But where is he?

Later, Kuljit tells Arun that Jodie and Sway seem worried about him finding something out. He is determined to discover the truth...

Shazia is played by Shobu Kapoor, Hassan by Youssef Kerkour, Jodie by Vineeta Rishi, Sway by Nicholas Bailey, Kuljit by Sartaj Garewal and Arun by Naithan Ariane.

BBC Asian Network Publicity

BBC Radio 2 presenter Mike Harding

Mike Harding brings listeners highlights from the final of the 2010 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award, held at the BBC Radio Theatre in London on Friday 4 December.

Highlights include performances by each of the six finalists as well as the announcement of the winner and presentation of the trophy by special guest musician and singer Jon Boden.

The finalists this year are Cinnte, a six-piece group from County Derry, Northern Ireland; Niamh Boadle, a singer-songwriter and guitarist from Lancashire, aged 15; the Carrivick Sisters, twins Charlotte and Laura, aged 20, from Devon, who sing and play the fiddle, mandolin, guitar and dobro; sisters Mairi (15) and Steaphanaidh (16) Chaimbeul from the Isle of Skye, who play clarsach, saxophone and who sing; Chris Keatinge, a button accordion player, aged 20, from the Scottish Borders; and 20-year-old James Findlay, a singer, guitarist and fiddle player from Dorset.

Please note: Tonight's programme details were originally billed in BBC week 46 Radio Programme Information.

Presenter/Mike Harding, Producer/Kellie While

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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In the year that Pete Seeger celebrates his 90th birthday, singer-songwriter Billy Bragg tells the story of a remarkable life in folk music and politics.

Pete Seeger was born during the great depression and, in the 90 years since, he has become an influential and iconic figure. His forthright lyrics about civil rights, unions and ordinary Americans, sung with the aid of a banjo, ensured that he was blacklisted for decades. Never able to play on mainstream TV or radio, he took to the road, bringing his message to the very people he was writing and singing about.

Billy helps explain the importance of Seeger, and examines many different versions of his classic songs. The programme includes interviews with singers who have joined him on stage, or taken to the stage because of him, as well as those who have sung his songs.

Contributors include: Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith; Roger McGuinn of The Byrds; and Tom Paxton, who was part of the Greenwich Village scene in the Sixties, and who explains how important We Shall Overcome was to the whole civil rights movement.

Presenter/Billy Bragg, Producer/Richard McIlroy

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

The Minnesota Orchestra give their second concert this week, recorded in Minneapolis, USA. The Orchestra has a long history of commissioning and performing new music and the central work in the concert is a world première by British composer Sally Beamish – the second cello concerto she's written for tonight's soloist Robert Cohen – entitled The Song Gatherer. The cello is cast as a traveller in a piece that draws on folk tunes from several continents – it is a journey of lament, meditation and joyful reflection.

The concert opens with Sibelius's incidental music based on Maeterlink's drama Pelleas And Melisande, which tells a tale of tragic lovers in nine short movements. It ends with Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5, Reformation, written to mark an anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

Presenter/Petroc Trelawny, Producer/Brian Jackson

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Peter Kesterton's drama is a fast-moving crime thriller about guilt, mathematical proof and statistics.

The accused is Jonathan, a maths lecturer, who is arrested for an attempted assault on a young woman. The case against him is overwhelming: the attacker's DNA has been found on the victim and the forensic scientists show that there is a million-to-one chance that the DNA is not Jonathan's.

Jonathan uses his statistical knowledge to argue that the case against him is weaker than it looks. He urges the investigating police officers to look into Bayes's Theorem – a statistical method which he thinks will exonerate him. But, as the police learn more about maths, the case against Jonathan seems to get stronger, rather than weaker, until it appears to be a near certainty. Jonathan is backed into a corner.

Jonathan is played by Andy Morton and Robinson by Christian Rodska.

Producer/Jolyon Jenkins

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

5 Live Sport

Wednesday 9 December

7.00-10.30pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Mark Pougatch presents all the day's sports news and live Champions League group-stage coverage of Liverpool versus Fiorentina, Olympiacos versus Arsenal and Seville versus Rangers. There are also regular updates from the night's Championship games including Coventry City versus Newcastle United.

Presenter/Mark Pougatch

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Kuljit approaches Jodie and tells her he knows what's going on, in today's visit to Silver Street. Jodie is relieved but upset – she and Sway were just waiting for the best time to tell him about them. Kuljit's stunned silence, however, tells Jodie that he knew nothing.

Sway, meanwhile, arrives and Kuljit gets angrier as the truth sinks in. Roopa ushers customers out of the cafe as Kuljit attacks Sway, who doesn't defend himself.

Kuljit is played by Sartaj Garewal, Jodie by Vineeta Rishi, Sway by Nicholas Bailey and Roopa by Rakhee Thakrar.

BBC Asian Network Publicity

Exploring the frontiers of science and their impact on society, philosopher AC Grayling questions the world's leading scientists about their work, as Exchanges At The Frontier, recorded as part of a unique series of events created by BBC World Service and the Wellcome Collection, continues.

The subjects of climate change, the origin of the universe, life on other planets, the nature of consciousness and Earth's most ambitious and expensive science project, the Hadron Collider at Cern, are all explored with the world's leading authorities in the relevant fields.

US cosmologist Lawrence Krauss, Ghanaian-British nuclear physicist Tejinder Virdee, Canadian neurophilosopher Patricia Churchland, Indian economist and Nobel Prize-winner Rajendra Pachuri and American astronomer Seth Shostak complete a truly international line-up for exploring the frontiers of science.

Tonight, Lawrence Krauss, leading astro-physicist and world specialist in the mysterious force of dark energy, tells AC Grayling and his audience about how the universe began.

Presenter/Anthony Grayling, Producer/Charlie Taylor

BBC World Service Publicity

BBC Radio 2 presenter Bob Harris

Austin-based band Reckless Kelly, whose country rock style has been described as "red dirt music", join Bob Harris on his Country show this week.

Formed in Oregon by brothers Willy and Cody Braun and their drummer, Jay Nazz, the band named themselves after Australian outlaw Ned Kelly, and relocated to Austin in 1997.

The three lived together and established the band on Austin's live scene, releasing their debut album in 1998. Their latest album, Bulletproof, came out last year on the Yep Roc label and includes the anti-war anthem American Blood, which explores the government's treatment of returning troops.

Presenter/Bob Harris, Producer/Al Booth

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Two of Europe's greatest female vocalists, soprano Dame Felicity Lott and mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager, join forces with one of Britain's finest accompanists, Graham Johnson, for a recital of German solo lieder and duets, in tonight's Performance On 3, recorded at London's Wigmore Hall last month.

Titled Two Women's Lives And Loves in a nod to Schumann's volume Frauenliebe und leben, it looks at women's love through the eyes of romantic poets and composers from Schumann himself through to Hugo Wolf. Each group of songs is given a title reflecting its place in the journey of love – from first meeting through to love everlasting.

Presenter/Petroc Trelawny, Producer/Brian Jackson

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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Baroness Julia Neuberger

Baroness Julia Neuberger is a high-profile social and medical reformer, a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords and one of the first female rabbis in Britain. She argues that it is vital people rediscover the art of including people of all ages in everything they do – in order to end the prejudice, dismissiveness, disrespect and neglect with which many old people are treated today.

In tonight's lecture, delivered in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking festival, Baroness Neuberger forcefully makes the case that only when people value the contribution the elderly can make will they enjoy a healthy society.

In the 2001 census, the number of Britons aged over 60 outnumbered those under 16 for the first time. And yet, as Baroness Neuberger points out, the elderly are often portrayed in the media as a "problem" issue – with a preoccupation with the ethics of euthanasia for the old, the difficulties of dealing with dementia and the cost of nursing care.

Presenter/Rana Mitter, Producer/Fiona Mclean

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Open The Vaults looks back at the tradition of banks as patrons of art, as the Royal Bank of Scotland finally agrees to make its collection more accessible.

Since the Government bail-out last year, the bank has been under increased pressure to display their art work. But what is actually in the vaults has been shrouded in secrecy and there’s concern that the NatWest Collection, acquired in 2000, could have been damaged in storage.

As the bank unwraps its rumoured David Hockney, LS Lowry and Jack Vettriano, BBC arts correspondent Razia Iqbal examines the history of banks' patronage and asks what responsibility comes with owning great art.

Presenter/Razia Iqbal, Producer/Henrietta Harrison

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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As the United Nations Climate Change Conference continues in Copenhagen, some reports now predict that it's already too late to achieve the previous target global temperature rise of two degrees Celsius. They suggest that the world is now facing an average global temperature rise of four degrees Celsius – or more.

Kate Ashfield and Don Gilet star in this play by Sarah Woods, in which three real-life Climate Change specialists – Professor Kevin Anderson, writer Mark Lynas and Dr Emma Tompkins – imagine the possible futures for one very ordinary fictional British family: the Williamses.

The Williams family – dad Ian, mum Sue and children Chloe and Jack – have appeared in a previous BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play earlier this year from the same writer, called Getting To Zero, in which they were challenged to get ready for a zero-carbon life. This time they are spun into the future to have a look at the possible predictions that can be made about life at four degrees hotter – or more.

Professor Kevin Anderson is Professor of Energy and Climate Change and director of the Tyndall Energy Programme at Manchester University; Mark Lynas is the author of three books on climate change; and Dr Emma Tompkins is a senior lecturer in Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability at the School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds. She is also a member of the Advisory Group for the UK Climate Impacts programme and sits on the Editorial Board of Ecology and Society.

Kate Ashfield plays Sue and Don Gilet plays Ian.

Producer/Jonquil Painting

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Andy Zatzman's History Of The Third Millennium Ep 1/4

Thursday 10 December

6.30-7.00pm BBC RADIO 4

Critically acclaimed political comedian Andy Zaltzman launches the first instalment of a decade-by-decade comic analysis of the Third Millennium, covering 2000 to 2009.

Ably assisted by a team of comic performers, this four-part series serves up a combination of stand-up, sketches, facts and blatant lies to round up the decade in style.

Each week, Andy examines the last 10 years in relation to the major events, characters, trends and developments in a different sphere of human existence – world politics, British society, the global economy and the general state of the planet – and looks ahead to what the next 10 years are likely to bring.

At the end of each episode, Andy gives the decade a score out of 10 for the issue covered. At the end of the final show, he tots up the decade's overall score and judges whether it has passed or failed.

Andy has firmly established himself in the vanguard of British stand-up with his unique brand of political comedy. Alongside John Oliver, Andy has co-written and starred in two series of the BBC Radio 4 show Political Animal and three series of The Department, also for Radio 4.

Presenter/Andy Zaltzman, Producer/Richard Grocock

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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What Scientists Believe Ep 1/3

Thursday 10 December

9.00-9.30pm BBC RADIO 4

Stephen Webster is a philosopher of science at Imperial College London and wants to know how an individual scientist's personal, psychological and intellectual qualities map onto their chosen area of science.

In this new, three-part series, Stephen talks to six scientists about themselves and their scientific work.

In tonight's opener, Stephen discusses motivation and asks what it was in their backgrounds that pushed these scientists towards a career in science and if there was an influential figure who set them on a scientific path.

In the second programme, Stephen discusses whether individual scientists can, or should, project their personal values onto their science.

In the final programme, Stephen shifts the focus to scientists' opinions about their scientific work and its impact on the world. It's easy enough to justify your work if you are developing malaria treatments or a clean water technology, but not all scientific enterprise is so clear cut. Scientists have to make moral judgements about what they do.

Stephen concludes that even though people continue to think of scientific knowledge as objective, science remains a product of human values and it is implemented in a value-loaded world.

Presenter/Stephen Webster, Producer/John Watkins

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

5 Live Sport

Thursday 10 December

7.00-10.30pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Eleanor Oldroyd

Eleanor Oldroyd has the latest sports news and is joined by special guests for The Headline Hour, discussing the latest big sports issues making the news.

From 8pm, Mark Pougatch presents a special programme, live, from the City of Manchester Stadium to celebrate the life of broadcasting legend Stuart Hall, who turns 80 on Christmas Day. Stuart is the guest of honour in front of a specially invited audience, which includes special guests Francis Lee, Mike Summerbee and Graeme Souness.

Presenters/Eleanor Oldroyd and Mark Pougatch

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Jodie and Roopa clear up the cafe after Kuljit trashes it, as the drama continues. Sway, meanwhile, turns up for work only to be handed his belongings – he's no longer required at the studio and Kuljit has fired him.

Hassan tells Kuljit he can't sleep at the studio and takes him home – telling Shazia they are putting him up for a few days. But Shazia has a big surprise of her own...

Jodie is played by Vineeta Rishi, Roopa by Rakhee Thakrar, Kuljit by Sartaj Garewal, Sway by Nicholas Bailey, Hassan by Youssef Kerkour and Shazia by Shobu Kapoor.

BBC Asian Network Publicity

Brian Matthew continues to celebrate the golden age of British dance bands this week with a two-part profile on Lew Stone, arguably rated today as the best of the Thirties bandleaders.

Stone took charge of the band at Piccadilly's The Monseigneur Restaurant by accident when the American trumpeter/leader Roy Fox fell ill and Stone stepped up from the piano stool to take his place. He went on to set the style for one of the most successful broadcast and recording dance bands of the pre-war years, when the congenial atmosphere and unique swirl of talent that centred on the West End spread out to ballrooms and theatres nation-wide.

Tonight, Brian tells the first part of the Lew Stone story, in which his widow, Joyce, now 97, recalls the glorious musical atmosphere of the Thirties.

Presenter/Brian Matthew, Producers/Tony Staveacre and Roy Oakshott

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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BBC Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce

Fairfield Halls in Croydon is the venue for this week's edition of Friday Night Is Music Night, presented by Ken Bruce, featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Barry Wordsworth, and guests Alfie Boe (tenor), Rebecca Evans (soprano) and the Croydon Philharmonic Choir.

The programme includes popular Viennese hits from The Merry Widow, by Franz Lehar, as well as Zadok The Priest and the choruses from Handel's Messiah.

Presenter/Ken Bruce, Producer/Bridget Apps

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Current Scottish champions The Co-Operative Funeralcare Band perform a programme of specially recorded music in this week's edition of Listen To The Band, presented by Frank Renton.

The band has been making music for over 90 years and, over that time, has proved to be the most successful band in the history of Scottish brass-band music. They have been Scottish champions 29 times and, during the Nineties, twice won the National Championship of Great Britain – the only Scottish band ever to win this prestigious championship.

Conducted by Raymond Tennant, they perform music from the hit musical Jesus Christ Superstar, A Gaelic Blessing and the classic, Prelude, Toccata And Fugue, by Philip Sparke.

Presenter/Frank Renton, Producer/Terry Carter

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Charlie Gillett presents tonight's edition of World On 3, which features sounds from around the world and a studio session with Staff Benda Bilili – a new band from the Democratic Republic of Congo who have become something of a world music sensation.

Five members of the band are paraplegics, who perform in wheelchairs, and the others include former street kids who met the band in their home in the grounds of Kinshasa Zoo.

Benda Bilili means "look beyond appearances", literally "put forward what is hidden", and the members of Staff Benda Bilili have brought a new sound to the rich texture of Congolese music. They started in 2004, meeting in one of the regular haunts of street kids and homeless people in Kinshasa, the grounds of the city zoo.

They made money busking in the streets, before a film crew brought them to the attention of a Belgian record company. The band's first CD has just been released and they are currently on a major tour of Europe. Their music is founded on Congo's traditions of rumba and soukous, with the distinctive sound of the satonga – a home-made, one-string instrument. Their songs are mostly about social issues, such as encouraging children to have the polio vaccine and the plight of the homeless.

Presenter/Charlie Gillett, Producer/Roger Short

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

James Marsters, Fred Willard and comedian Sandra Tsing Lo star in Jeff Young's adaptation of this tragi-comic novel.

Then We Came To The End tells the story of a dysfunctional company of misfits in an advertising agency, as boom turns to bust and the lay offs begin.

Among the advertising agency staff are: disgruntled Tom Mota, who everyone fears will come back and "go postal"; Karen Woo, who everyone hates and feels guilty about hating in case they're being racist; Chris Yop, a desperate, middle-aged copywriter who keeps coming back in long after he's been fired; Carl Garbedian, who is secretly taking everyone else's medication; and Lynn Mason, the boss, whose footwear is the envy of the place but whose story provides an unexpected emotional ambush.

Producer/Kate McAll

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Colin Murray

Colin Murray is joined by Pat Nevin and Perry Groves for Kicking Off With Colin Murray, previewing the weekend's football, including Chelsea versus Everton, Manchester United versus Aston Villa and Liverpool versus Arsenal.

From 9.30pm, Colin is joined by Tim Lovejoy for Murray And Lovejoy's Sports Express, in which they take a quick-fire look at the current burning issues in sport.

Murray and Lovejoy's Sports Express is also available as a podcast to download at bbc.co.uk/5live.

Presenter/Colin Murray, Producer/Louise Sutton

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

British electronica musician Little Boots

Tracing the lineage of electro, from pioneer Gary Numan to modern torchbearer Little Boots, BBC 6 Music brings the two artists together at the BBC's Maida Vale studio for a night of unique collaboration.

Producer/John Pearson

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Hollywood actress-turned-rock star Juliette Lewis joins Bruce Dickinson on his Friday Rock Show this evening.

Having turned her attention to music alongside acting, Juliette started out as a guest vocalist for the Prodigy and featured in a video by H.I.M during the early Nineties. She released her debut album five years ago and has since performed alongside acts including The Killers, Foo Fighters and Muse.

Juliette tells Bruce about her new album, Terra Incognita, which means "unknown territory". She also reveals how her European tour has been going and what it was like working with Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, of the Mars Volta, who has produced the new record.

Presenter/Bruce Dickinson, Producer/Ian Callaghan

BBC 6 Music Publicity

Arun brags to Roopa about his work at the recording studio but she chastises him for getting his priorities wrong, in the final visit of the week to Silver Street. Kuljit turns up and just wishes Arun would get on with the job in hand.

Later, Kuljit tells Hassan he is leaving. Hassan has an idea about where he can go next, but what will Kuljit think?

Sway, meanwhile, packs up his things at Nadia's flat but is stopped in his tracks by a voicemail message from Nadia.

Arun is played by Naithan Ariane, Roopa by Rakhee Thakrar, Kuljit by Sartaj Garewal, Hassan by Youssef Kerkour, Sway by Nicholas Bailey and Nadia by Sohm Kapila.

BBC Asian Network Publicity

State Secrets Ep 1/2

Friday 11 December

8.00-8.30pm BBC WORLD SERVICE

It's estimated that up to one million people were killed during Communist rule in Eastern Europe but there is no clear figure about the number of people who were imprisoned, persecuted or spied on. While few have been put on trial for those crimes, many countries have begun to open their secret police archives and some have limited the participation of former communists and informers to public office.

This new, two-part documentary examines the issue of how to deal with this past and the different approaches taken by countries across Eastern Europe.

In tonight's opener, BBC World Service's European Affairs correspondent, Oana Lungescu, goes home to Romania to investigate some of the amazing personal stories – including her own – that are only now beginning to emerge from the archives of the dreaded Securitate.

She discovers that the secret police files are vast, intimate – and incomplete. So, in part two, Oana asks what use they are in vetting today's public officials. Is it best to forget, forgive or confront the reality of what took place? Reporting from Bucharest and Prague, the series examines the issues that are being grappled with across Eastern Europe today.

Producer/Neal Razzell

BBC World Service Publicity