Programme Information

Veteran BBC Radio 2 presenter Desmond Carrington

Desmond Carrington moves to Friday nights, launching BBC Radio 2's new Friday evening schedule which sees Friday Night Is Music Night extended to two hours.

Desmond introduces a selection of records from his collection of some 250,000 titles. This week's theme is Up, Up And Away, the title of the Johnny Mann Singers' record with which he launched his All Time Greats show, back on 4 October 1981.

Presenter/Desmond Carrington, Producer/Dave Aylott

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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In this first Friday Night Is Music Night in its new extended time slot, Clare Teal presents a programme recorded last month at LSO St Luke's in London.

Tonight's guests include young Welsh soprano Gwawr Edwards, tenor Bonaventura Bottone and guest instrumentalists Simon Mayor and The Mandolinquents.

The concert includes Suppe's Overture Beautiful Galatea; Robert Farnon's Westminster Waltz and Johann Strauss II's Tales From The Vienna Woods.

Presenter/Clare Teal, Producer/Bridget Apps

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

In today's Lunchtime concert, French pianist Jacques Loussier performs his own unique versions of JS Bach and other composers, now classic works themselves, to a packed City Halls audience in Glasgow.

Loussier and his trio are world-renowned for their amalgam of classical works with brilliant jazz improvisations. His original Play Bach Trio, first created in 1959, was a resounding success resulting in 15 years of tours, six million records sold and several gold disc awards.

Loussier himself has composed more than 100 scores for film and television. His most famous recording is the version of Air On A G String that was used for the Hamlet cigar advertisements in the UK for more than 35 years.

Presenter/Louise Fryer, Producer/Lindsay Pell

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

The British are mad about curry or, as it is known in Cockney rhyming slang, Ruby Murray. Alkarim Jivani investigates how curry came to be so intimately linked with the British sense of identity.

Historically, the English have been seen as distrustful of foreigners and wary of foreign food. So the nation's long love affair with curry is a surprising one. Even more curious is how this passion for curry is now recognised as part of the British identity.

Vindaloo was the unofficial song of England's 1998 World Cup team – an unlikely battle cry for English football fans. In April 2001, the then Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, announced that "chicken tikka masala is now a true British national dish...". In fact, chicken tikka masala is even included by the Ministry of Defence in its operational ration packs to give troops some home comfort.

Alkarim Jivani speaks to curry lovers north and south of the border – historians, restaurant owners, chefs, and consumers – to find out why the British are so mad about curry.

Contributors include Madhur Jaffrey, whose enormously popular 1982 BBC series, Madhur's Jaffrey's Indian Cookery, revolutionised British Indian cuisine; Michelin-starred chef, Atul Kochhar; Namita Panjabi, Group Director of Masala World; and Neil Hind from Defence Food Services, Defence Equipment and Support, Ministry of Defence.

Presenter/Alkarim Jivani

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Joe, who has been deaf since he was born, works in an ordinary council office. Every day he makes the same journey to work on the bus, seeing the same people. Then one day a young girl signs her name to him, A-N-G-E-L.

Joe has been working in the council's housing office for 17 years. Apart from one small promotion he has remained in the same job surrounded by the same people. Vernon has been there for the same amount of time. He eats Joe's food and talks too fast in the pub but Joe goes along with it.

Into their world comes new office recruit Shelly who begins to fall for Joe. Until Joe realises that she is having a relationship with Richard Humble, the leader of the council

At the end of Shelly's first week there is a huge fire in a nearby block of flats and Joe discovers, through the news, that the name of one of the people who has died is called Angel. He embarks on a quest to find out what has happened.

Written by Katie Hims, A Small Piece Of Silence stars David Bower as Joe, Maxine Peake as Shelly, Ralph Ineson as Vernon, Deborah McAndrew as Brigitta, Ruth Alexander-Rubin as Marion and Terence Mann as Richard and the bus driver.

Katie wrote the play especially for David Bower after his striking performance as Quasimodo in BBC Radio 4's production of The Hunchback Of Notredame.

Liran Donin provides specially composed music and a soundscape that illustrates Joe's view of the world. Joe suffers from tinitus and Liarin underscores this condition in sound.

For the first time ever, the broadcast will be accompanied by a signtheatre film of the play, available online, with David Bower and Isolte Avila.

The script will also be available online to allow hearing-impaired audiences to access the play more fully. Signtheatre language is a mix of Sign Supported English (SSE), British Sign Language (BSL) and international sign. The film can be accessed via bbc.co.uk/radio4/afternoonplay.

Producer/Susan Roberts

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

5 Live Sport – 5 Live In Liverpool

Friday 9 April

7.00-10.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

In front of a live audience at Liverpool John Moores University, Colin Murray presents a special edition of Kicking Off With Colin Murray.

Colin is joined by two racing legends, former Gold Cup and Grand National-winning jockey Mick Fitzgerald, and, 14-times champion jockey Tony McCoy to look ahead to tomorrow's Grand National at Aintree.

Regular guests Pat Nevin and Perry Groves will be on hand to preview the weekend's football action, including Hull versus Burnley, Blackburn Rovers versus Manchester United and Liverpool against Fulham in the Premier League and Saturday's FA Cup semi-final between Aston Villa and Chelsea.

Presenter/Colin Murray, Producer/Louise Sutton

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Golf

Friday 9 April

9.00pm-12.30am BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

Uninterrupted commentary of the second round of The Masters 2010 continues on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.

Live from Augusta, Georgia, the commentary team is led by 5 Live's golf correspondent Iain Carter, alongside Andrew Cotter, John Murray and Alistair Bruce Ball. Jay Townsend and Andrew Magee contribute the expert analysis.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

In a packed edition, Steve Lamacq runs through the results of BBC 6 Music's Axe Factor Poll.

Forty years on from their heyday, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton continue to top the best guitarist polls. But what about Jonny Greenwood or Slash? Surely John Squire and Johnny Marr are every bit as influential as the greats from the Sixties and Seventies?

Contemporary fret wizards are often over-looked, so 6 Music, with the help of its trusted listeners, has endeavoured to find the best guitarists of the last 30 years. Steve unveils their ultimate guitarist at the end of the show.

Presenter/Steve Lamacq, Producer/Paul Sheehan

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Bruce Dickinson is joined on the Rock Show tonight by Ian Hill and KK Downing from Judas Priest.

Formed in Birmingham in the early Seventies, Judas Priest is one of the most influential and successful rock groups in the world. Having just won a Grammy award, MTV selected them as their second Greatest Metal Band of all-time, sandwiched between winners Black Sabbath and Metallica who came third.

Ian and KK tell Bruce about their celebrations for the 30th anniversary of their massively significant British Steel album and the fun they had putting it together.

Presenter/Bruce Dickinson, Producer/Ian Callaghan

BBC 6 Music Publicity