Programme Information

This week's theme is trumpeter Harry James, who formed his own band in 1939 with a gifted but little-known vocalist – Frank Sinatra.

Presenter/Desmond Carrington, Producer/Dave Aylott

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Martin Sheen explores the story of when the King of Rock 'n' Roll met the President of the United States to offer his services to his country as a special secret agent. Elvis Presley expressed his desire to be made a "Federal Agent at Large" in order to communicate with, and report on, what he felt were harmful factions threatening America. He believed his star status would allow him a non-threatening entrance into the closed environment of these groups.

When Elvis arrived at the White House gate with his two bodyguards, he carried some family photos and a commemorative Second World War pistol, intended as gifts for the President.

The programme includes contributions from Egil "Bud" Krogh and Dwight Chapin, President Nixon's aides, who were in the meeting with Elvis on the day they met. Jerry Schilling, one of Elvis's inner circle, who was with him in the Oval Office, also reveals why the meeting was so important to the King and how the relationship continued beyond the first meeting.

Presenter/Martin Sheen, Producer/Jo Meek

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Nature Ep 1/6

Tuesday 5 January

11.00-11.30am BBC RADIO 4

Some of Britain's trees are among the rarest in the world. In the first programme in a new series of Nature, Brett Westwood travels not to a remote tropical island or Amazonian forest, but to the cliffs of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales to search for Ley's Whitebeam, of which only 17 specimens exist in the wild.

With botanist Tim Rich as his guide, Brett explores the Avon Gorge near Bristol where more Whitebeams are still being described. He also visits the strange Whitty Pear tree in Worcestershire, which was only known from a single specimen for centuries, until a dramatic discovery in the Eighties.

Next week, Paul Evans visits the Juan Fernandez Islands to explore the unique wildlife as well as the threats it faces.

Presenter and Producer/Brent Westwood

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Journalist Melanie McFadyean begins an investigation into the strange life of Opal Whiteley, a child prodigy from Oregon whose idiosyncratic diary was a huge hit in the Twenties. Her aristocratic claims were disputed, however, and ultimately brought her to a pitiful end in a British psychiatric hospital.

Opal wrote an extraordinary book and was at the heart of an unsolved mystery which this programme will attempt to solve. From Opal's grave in Highgate Cemetery, the programme looks back at her rise to fame in America, her celebrity life in India, her strange disappearances and final years in Napsbury Hospital, St Albans, where she died in 1992.

The book, a diary describing her early childhood in Oregon, was published in 1920, entitled The Story Of Opal: The Journey Of An Understanding Heart. It was an instant bestseller, but many readers wondered whether it was really an elaborate hoax.

In this programme, Melanie tracks down some fascinating information from documentary sources, including Opal's written archive stored in the University of London. Melanie interviews one American admirer who actually got inside Napsbury Hospital and met Opal; locates one of Opal's nurses who attended her funeral; and talks to writer Kathrine Beck, who believes Opal to have been a fraud. Melanie also hears from academics at the University of Oregon on Opal's reputation and standing today.

Presenter/Melanie McFadyean, Producer/Bob Dickinson

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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(l-r) Peter Donegan, son of Lonnie Donegan, and band member of The Quarrymen Rod Davies

Folk singer Huw Williams traces the origins of the song that changed the face of popular music forever – Lonnie Donegan's skiffle anthem, The Rock Island Line.

Huw's travels begin with a meeting with The Quarrymen. Band members Colin Hanton and Rod Davies argue that without this song, there would have been no Beatles and no rock 'n' roll revival in Britain.

Huw also meets Lonnie's son, Pete Donegan, and picks up a washboard to join a new recording of The Rock Island Line song with The Quarrymen.

Huw's travels take him to Washington DC to meet two of America's foremost musicologists, Kip Lornell (Leadbelly biographer) and Jeff Place, a senior archivist at the Smithsonian Institute, to discuss the importance of the railroad songs genre to American popular culture. He also learns about the cryptic messages contained in the song.

He travels to Rock Island Illinois and to Burlington Iowa where he discovers the fabled Rock Island Line railway is no more, having succumbed to economic changes and closed in 1980.

Huw's journey ends with a ride in the cab of a freight train for the Iowa Northern Railroad as it travels a section of the "old rock island line".

Presenter/Huw Williams, Producer/Darren Broome

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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An Asian man walks into a police station and says he wants help. PC Sonia Maan, an Asian police officer, asks if she can help. The man says: "Yes, I think I'm about to murder."

The subject of today's Afternoon Play, written by Tajinder Singh Hayer, cannot remember his name and has no identification on him. He is agitated. The station's sergeant thinks he's either a lunatic or an amnesiac, but PC Maan isn't so sure, there is something genuine about him. When she later questions him, he remembers that he is Dr Vijay Raja, and that there has been some sort of mistake. He leaves, but Maan is intrigued.

Later, PC Maan gets a phone call from the man, who this time calls himself Mushtaq Ali, a teacher. Maan goes to meet him. He has no recollection of their previous meeting. When she questions him, he becomes confused and runs away.

Maan tracks down the real Mushtaq Ali, who has scars on his hands as a result of being caught in an infamous bus bomb. The trail eventually leads to Robert Carlson, the true identity of the man who came to the police station. It transpires that he was the driver of the bus that blew up.

Maan has a psychologist friend who reckons that Carlson is dealing with the trauma in a strange and unusual way. He has multiple personality disorder. Maan realises that the next personality Carlson will take on is that of Bilal Iqbal, the bomber. Maan must act before Carlson's disorder has devastating consequences.

I.D. features Zubin Varla as Robert Carlson and Shivan Ghai as PC Sonia Maan.

Producer/Gary Brown

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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The Time Being Ep 1/3

Tuesday 5 to Thursday 7 January

3.30-3.45pm BBC RADIO 4

The Time Being returns to showcase new voices – none of them previously broadcast. Today's story is Jules by Tamara Pollock, read by Nicola Walker.

Jules has been diagnosed with cancer but, for a number of reasons, not all of them noble, her best friend, Kate, finds it hard to be as supportive as she should.

Tomorrow's story is The Painter And The Dybbuk by Claire Griffiths, read by Nicholas Farrell. In Jewish folklore, a Dybbuk is the wandering soul of a dead person that enters the body of a living person and controls his or her behaviour. A painter's talent has so far kept him alive in Auschwitz but, as he starts on a portrait of one of the guards, he wonders just who is in control of the painting.

The final story on Thursday is Smell My Fleece by Anna Towers, read by Claire Foy. Dentistry, stalking and poetry collide in this curious tale. With four fewer teeth and a mouth stuffed with cotton wool, Debra isn't having the easiest of days. And then she meets Dale...

Previous series have brought new talent to a wider audience and provided a stepping stone for writers who have since gone on to enjoy further success, both on radio and in print, such as Tania Hershman, Heidi Amsinck and Sally Hinchcliffe.

Readers/Nicola Walker, Nicholas Farrell and Claire Foy, Producer/Jeremy Osborne

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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In this week's Great Lives, Christopher Biggins presents the Roman emperor Nero.

Biggins was never happier than when he took on the role of Nero in I, Claudius. So how will he react to the news that the infamous emperor banned pantomime actors from the streets of Rome?

Matthew Parris puts the record straight with the help of biographer Dr Miriam Griffin.

Presenter/Matthew Parris, Producer/John Byrne

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Journalist and writer Phil Harding investigates and evaluates Britain's rapidly increasing CCTV systems tackling crime and asks whether they are really being effective.

It is often said that Britain is the most surveyed country in the Western world. Closed-circuit television has become part of our everyday lives – walking down any high street in the country, on the bus and in most shops, people are likely to be watched by CCTV cameras.

In this programme, Phil travels to Bristol and looks at the city's CCTV operation – from the control room, out on the streets with the police and talking to the council.

He speaks to Superintendant Nigel Rock who headed the investigation into the Westbury-on-Trym bomber and meets the police who are trialling "drone" cameras in Liverpool.

The programme also hears from Professor Martin Gill who wrote an influential report on CCTV; Dr Gavin Smith, a sociologist specialising in CCTV; Graham Gerrard from the Association of Chief Police Officers; Spencer Chainey, criminologist from the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science; and Dr James Orwell, who is researching future applications of CCTV.

Presenter/Phil Harding, Producer/Laura Parfitt

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Jon Ronson On... Ep 1/5

Tuesday 5 January

11.00-11.30pm BBC RADIO 4

Jon Ronson On returns with more interesting and incredible stories and interviews, all served up with the usual Ronson wit and mixed with a late-night soundtrack.

The series begins with Jon Ronson On... Living In A Movie. He looks at the story of conflict photographer Jason Howe and his relationship with Marilyn, a Colombian paramilitary. Jason is a self-confessed thrill-seeker. As a young man he worked in a camera shop in Ipswich, where he yearned to take pictures in exotic and dangerous places. He eventually got his chance in Colombia where he photographed rebels from The Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) but he wanted to document the other side, the right-wing paramilitaries.

He met Marilyn at a bus stop – she said she could give him the contacts. They became romantically involved but she then revealed she was not only a paramilitary herself but also one of their ruthless assassins, with numerous confirmed kills. Suddenly, he was living his life as if it were a movie, going down a dangerous path that would end in tragedy.

Next week's programme tells the story of Denis Filion, who was behind the first major internet hoax of 1999.

Contributors across the series include writer Graham Linehan (Father Ted); comedian Josie Long; writer and comedian Danny Robins; Charlie Brooker; Vicky Coren; and David Quantick.

Presenter/Jon Ronson, Producers/Laura Parfitt and Simon Jacobs

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

5 Live Sport

Tuesday 5 January

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, from 8pm, there's live League Cup semi-final, first-leg commentary.

Presenter/Mark Pougatch, Producer/Claire Ackling

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Test Match Special

Tuesday 5 January

8.15am-4.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra brings ball-by-ball commentary of the third day's play of the third Test between South Africa and England, live from Newlands, Cape Town. Jonathan Agnew leads the commentary team alongside Simon Mann and Gerald De Kock, with expert summary from Michael Vaughan, Geoffrey Boycott and Duncan Fletcher.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

Gideon Coe chooses concert highlights from Spiritualized at the 2007 Summer Sundae festival and the Fiery Furnaces recorded live on BBC Radio 3's Mixing It show. Session tracks come courtesy of The Butthole Surfers and Rasta poet Benjamin Zephaniah, plus Jack Rose and windswept Aussies Howling Bells.

Presenter/Gideon Coe, Producer/Frank Wilson

BBC 6 Music Publicity

Shazia offers to say a few words at the New Year event but Deepika declines, having heard a rumour, as the drama continues. Later, Deepika tries to rope Sean into helping her but Mary overhears and gives Sean some advice.

Meanwhile, Cyrus leaves messages for Jaggy and Darren telling them there's another exclusive poker game this week. Darren says he's not interested – he knows people who have suffered because of Cyrus's games – but what will Jaggy do?

Shazia is played by Shobu Kapoor, Deepika by Babita Pohoomull, Sean by Lloyd Thomas, Mary by Carole Nimmons, Cyrus by Nigel Hastings, Jaggy by Jay Kiyani and Darren by Samuel Kindred.

BBC Asian Network Publicity