Programme Information

This evening of shows celebrates the 40th anniversary of Annie Nightingale on BBC Radio 1.

The evening begins at 7pm with The Story Of Annie Nightingale – a two-hour documentary presented by Zane Lowe providing an intimate portrait of Radio 1's "First Lady". The programme tells the extraordinary story of Annie by joining up the dots of her musical passions, from hanging out with rock legends in the Sixties to discovering and championing a myriad new music and cultural trends, from punk in the late Seventies through to dance music in the Eighties and beyond.

Contributions to the documentary include some of the artists, musicians and people Annie has connected with along the way – including Irvine Welsh, Cassius, Primal Scream, Underworld, Shaun Ryder, Andrew Weatherall and Beth Orton.

The celebration continues at 9pm with a three-hour tribute concert from Maida Vale studios, featuring an eclectic line-up of artists personally selected by Annie. Performing at what will be an unforgettable night are Fatboy Slim, Tinchy Stryder, Professor Green, Sub Focus, I Blame Coco, Bookashade, DC Breaks, Freestylers and special guests Primal Scream making a rare UK performance.

From midnight until 2am, The Decade Mixes present a soundtrack of the best music Annie has played over the last 40 years. The night ends on a high with the best of the guest mixes from 2am until 4am.

Presenter/Zane Lowe, Executive Producer/Rhys Hughes for BBC Radio 1

JM5

Bob Harris previews the ninth Americana Music Association Awards

Tonight's programme comes from Music Row in Nashville on the day of the ninth Americana Music Association Awards. The ceremony, which includes awards for artist, album and song of the year, takes place later tonight at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville.

Nominees this year include Rosanne Cash, The Avett Brothers, Steve Earle and Levon Helm, with lifetime achievement awards going to queen of rockabilly Wanda Jackson and Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famer John Mellencamp.

In this special preview of the awards, Bob Harris is joined in the studio by guitarist, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and former AMA award-winner Will Kimbrough and roots rocker and radio DJ Webb Wilder. With his guests, Bob reflects on the current Americana music scene and plays music from some of this year's nominees and lifetime achievement award recipients.

Presenter/Bob Harris, Producer/Al Booth for the BBC

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Grammy Award-winning American rock band Maroon 5

Jo Whiley introduces Maroon 5, live from The Scala in King's Cross, London, as the Grammy Award-winning American rock band prepare to release their eagerly awaited third album. Since debuting in 2002, Maroon 5 have sold nearly 15 million albums worldwide.

Presenter/Jo Whiley, Producer/BBC Radio 2 Live Music

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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The British Open Brass Band Championships is the longest-running brass band competition in the world and last weekend was the 158th time that bands have competed for the honour of winning.

The Sunday Gala Concert associated with the Championships features three of the world's most famous bands in concert and this year it's The Grimethorpe Colliery, Cory and The Black Dyke bands who take to the stage in the Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

In the first of three programmes featuring music and conversation from the weekend, Frank Renton presents the music, players and conductors of the competition itself and catches up with BBC Radio 2 Young Brass Soloist Matthew White before he plays his prize-winning piece with The Black Dyke Band next week.

Presenter/Frank Renton, Producer/Terry Carter for the BBC

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Just days before the BBC Philharmonic plays a Prom In The Park in Buile Hill Park, Salford, poet Anjum Malik brings this historic and beautiful location to life.

Drawing on her own childhood picnics in the parks of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Bradford, she reflects on the importance of parks in city life and what Buile Hill Park means to the different cultures of Salford. Walking in the footsteps of Lowry, this first-person essay recorded on location defines what the city has lost and – more importantly – found.

Presenter/Anjum Malik, Producer/Rebecca Stratford

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Jasper Carrott is in his home city of Birmingham to tell the story of how the city's workers kept the munitions factories going during the worst of the Birmingham Blitz.

Birmingham was a crucial centre for the manufacture of armaments during the Second World War; everything from anti-aircraft shells to Spitfire planes was made there.

Workers – many of them young women – were brought from across Britain to keep the factories of England's manufacturing powerhouse going. By 1944, 400,000 people were involved in war work there – a greater percentage of the population than anywhere else in the country.

Jasper meets some of those who undertook this gruelling work. They recall how they worked round the clock to keep the nation's armed forces supplied; and they remember the dangerous nights of the Blitz when the city's factories were often the bombers' targets and workers would sometimes carry on through the air raid sirens in order not to lose production.

Jasper also hears about one of the darkest episodes of the Birmingham Blitz – the bombing of the Birmingham Small Arms Company's factory at Small Heath on the night of 19 November 1940. Many of the workers were trapped inside the burning building, and tremendous heroism was shown by the rescuers, with two George Medals being won that night. Nonetheless, more than 50 workers were killed in a vivid demonstration of the bravery shown and risks taken by those who worked on the home front through the Blitz.

This programme is part of a season of special programmes on BBC Radio 4 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Blitz.

Presenter/Jasper Carrott, Producer/Louise Adamson for Juniper Productions

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Miles Warde tracks down the British members of a touring French circus described as the sickest show on earth.

Chainsaws, fork-lift trucks and semtex – 20 years ago the French ripped into the traditional circus format with a demented vitality that outraged authorities across the UK. Archaos were the creation of Pierrot Bidon, described by their British publicist, Mark Borkowski, as: "part gypsy, part street urchin, very hairy". Mark saw it as his job to get them out of the cultural pages and onto the front pages instead.

Tabloid headlines followed Archaos wherever they went. As a result local councils banned them again and again – a cunning ploy to sell huge numbers of tickets wherever they went.

Miles discovers the British participants who made Archaos more successful here than anywhere else – including their producer Adrian Evans, and performers such as Mischa Eligoloff, who moved from backstage to fire-eater, hiccupped during a performance and felt the paraffin enter his lungs. As Pierrot Bidon used to say: "A life without danger is not a life; a show without danger is not a show."

Presenter and Producer/Miles Warde for the BBC

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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What The Bishops Knew and tomorrow's Afternoon Play, What The Nun Discovered, were commissioned together – one explores the collapse of faith, while the other explores a rebirth of faith in the Irish Catholic Church.

Hugh Costello's play investigates how, for several decades, abuse by Catholic priests was covered up in an attempt to protect the Church's reputation in Ireland.

What The Bishops Knew traces the Irish Catholic Church's profound anxiety about loss of status, as painstakingly detailed in the recently published Ryan Report.

The cast includes: Brid Brennan as Mary Dowdall; Mark Lambert as Bob McCabe; Patrick Fitzsymons as Barry Glynn; Peter Gilmore as Barry (aged 10); Kevin Flood as Fr Brand; Pat Laffan as Monsignor Milligan; Niall Cusack as Professor McGovern; Gerard Murphy as Bishop Culleton; and Des Nealon as Cardinal Finnerty.

As well as being a regular writer for BBC Radio 4, Hugh is an Emmy Award-nominated screenwriter (for Bernard And Doris). His interest in the Catholic Church's affairs has led him to write a number of plays about the Vatican, including Conclave and My Dear Children Of The Whole World.

Producer/Eoin O'Callaghan for the BBC

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

Eleanor Oldroyd has all the latest sports news and discussion on the big sports stories that have been making the headlines.

At 8pm The Ryder Cup Years looks back at key moments from Europe's rivalry with the USA in the prestigious golf competition.

Presenter/Eleanor Oldroyd, Producer/Danny Garlick

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Tennis

Thursday 9 September

4.00pm-12.00midnight BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

Uninterrupted commentary from the US Open comes live from Flushing Meadows, New York.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

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5 Live NFL

Thursday 9 September

12.30-5.00am BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

American football action returns to the airwaves with live commentary on Minnesota Vikings versus New Orleans Saints from the Louisiana Superdome in the opening match of the new NFL season.

Producer/Simon Crosse for USP

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

Lauren Laverne welcomes actor John C Reilly into the studio. The legendary actor, who has starred in films such as Chicago, Talladega Nights and Magnolia, returns to the big screen this month with his new film, Cyrus, which also stars Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei.

Presenter/Lauren Laverne, Producer/Gary Bales

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Gideon Coe presents concert archive from the Bhundu Boys at Glastonbury 1989 and Wire playing live in 2000. On the session front he plays tracks from The Teardrop Explodes, Richard Thompson and Czech ambient group The Ecstasy Of Saint Theresa.

Presenter/Gideon Coe, Producer/Mark Sheldon

BBC 6 Music Publicity