Programme Information

Nashville is Michael Freedland's destination this week, as he continues his journey to mark the 75th anniversary of the birth Elvis Presley.

In Nashville, Michael visits the famous RCA Studio B, where Elvis recorded so many of his famous hits such as Are You Lonesome Tonight? and It's Now Or Never. At the studio, Michael talks to Ray Walker of The Jordanaires, who sang backing vocals on many of Elvis's recordings; singer TG Sheppard and Elvis's former girlfriend Ann Ellington Wagner.

Other contributors to the programme include Million Dollar Quartet producer Cowboy Jack Clement; Ryman Auditorium marketing manager Brian Wagner; Grand Ol' Opry singer Carol Lee Cooper; bodyguard Sonny West; and country singer and impersonator Ronnie McDowell. Michael also takes a visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Ernest Tubbs Record Store, where Elvis used to appear on the radio show The Midnight Jamboree.

Presenter/Michael Freedland, Producer/Neil Rosser

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Friday Night Is Music Night this week pays tribute to the arranger Angela Morley, who died last year.

Angela was born Wally Stott in Leeds in March 1924. Following a sex change operation in 1960, Wally took the name Angela Morley and became one of the great orchestral arrangers, working mostly in the United States.

During his career at the BBC, Wally was the musical director for the Goon Show and wrote the signature tune and accompanying music to Hancock's Half Hour. As a musical director in the Fifties, he worked with the cream of British pop, including the likes of Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfield and Ronnie Carroll. He also composed a number of tuneful light music pieces including Rotten Row and Canadian In Mayfair.

As Angela Morley, she won two Emmy Awards for her work with Julie Andrews and was nominated twice for an Oscar for her work on The Slipper And The Rose with the Sherman Brothers; and The Little Prince with Lerner and Loewe. She also provided the scores for classic Seventies television shows such as Dallas, Dynasty and Cagney And Lacey.

From the Seventies onwards, Angela was closely associated with the composer John Williams and aided him in the production of many of his classic film scores – including Star Wars, Superman and ET, which began a long association with the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Keith Lockhart is the current principal conductor of the Boston Pops and in tonight's show he and the BBC Concert Orchestra perform some of Angela's finest work from the Boston Pops Library, as well as some Friday Night favourites, including music from The Slipper And The Rose and Watership Down.

Presenter/Paul Gambaccini, Producer/Bridget Apps

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Frank Renton discusses music by top trombonist Brett Baker and flugel player John Lee in tonight's edition of Listen To The Band. He also listens to The Black Dyke Band's new album, Within Blue Empires, and celebrates The Greater Gwent Youth Brass Band's 50th anniversary.

Presenter/Frank Renton, Producer/Terry Carter

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Performance On 3

Friday 5 February

7.00-9.15pm BBC RADIO 3

Vassily Sinaisky, the Chief Guest Conductor with the Manchester-based BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, returns to the Bridgewater Hall with a reappraisal of Moeran's Symphony In G Minor, which he first conducted last summer with the orchestra at the BBC Proms.

Moeran's piece is balanced by Elgar's In the South (Alassio) and Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, performed by the young Chinese violinist Tianwa Yang, who makes her debut with the orchestra.

Presenter/Martin Handley, Producer/Juan Carlos Jaramillo

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Concluding this week's programmes looking at the growing sophistication of humans around the globe between 5000 and 2000BC, Neil MacGregor finds the earliest example of writing – a 5,000-year-old tablet about beer.

A History Of The World In 100 Objects celebrates the arrival of writing as Neil describes a small clay tablet made in Mesopotamia about 5,000 years ago. It is covered with sums and writing about local beer rationing.

Philosopher John Searle describes what the invention of writing does for the human mind and Britain's top civil servant, Gus O'Donnell, considers the tablet as a possible example of the earliest bureaucracy.

Presenter/Neil MacGregor, Producer/Anthony Denselow

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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With the start of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the world may discover that there are still many uncomfortable realities in Canadian society both past and present. In this programme, Lovejit Dhaliwal looks at what it means to be a person of First Nation status in Canada today.

Land rights battles for First Nation people are reportedly dogged with bureaucratic filibustering. First Nation identity cards are considered by many to be an acknowledgement of second-class status.

In June 2008, Canada's Prime Minister delivered an unqualified apology to Canada's First Nation people.

These are some of the signs of how the people of the First Nation are becoming more widely recognised and acknowledged. However, it is also an indication of how vocal this community is becoming as it becomes more media savvy and works in partnership with green groups to stop developments.

Presenter/Lovejit Dhaliwal, Producer/David Prest

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Afternoon Play – Bad Faith Ep 1/4

Friday 5 February

2.15-3.00pm BBC RADIO 4

Actor and comedian Lenny Henry

This new action-packed series follows Peter Jukes's successful single play Bad Faith, broadcast last year.

Lenny Henry stars as Jake Thorne, Methodist minister and police chaplain, whose job is to offer counselling and solace to victims, young offenders and officers in trouble. But Jake is the epitome of the bad priest and is battling with his own demons at the same time as trying to resolve the problems of his parishioners.

Bad Faith, developed by Peter Jukes with Lenny Henry, Steven Canny and Simon Elmes, is a humorous exploration of contemporary morality. These stand-alone, dark and compelling stories have a twist in the tail as each morally dubious scenario turns to the good, despite the bad offices of the chaplain.

The first episode of the series is a repeat of last year's play.

Next week in Vengeance Is Mine, Jake gets involved in the restorative justice programme, which tries to reconcile a bereaved mother and the woman responsible for killing her daughter. And Jake falls in love with his counsellor – a female rabbi.

The cast also stars Danny Sapani as Michael, Jenny Jules as Ruth Thorne, Oscar James as Isaac Thorne, Helen Longworth as Helen, Rosie Cavaliero as Denise, Kerri McLean as Chantelle, Ben Crowe as Declan, Daniel Anderson as TJ and Edward Clayton as Barry.

Producers/Steven Canny and Mary Peate

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

Colin Murray is joined by Pat Nevin and Perry Groves for Kicking Off With Colin Murray previewing the weekend's action, including the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton, Manchester United versus Portsmouth, Tottenham versus Aston Villa and Chelsea against Arsenal.

From 9.30pm, Colin Murray is joined by Tim Lovejoy for Murray And Lovejoy's Sports Express, in which the pair 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.

Presenters/Colin Murray Producer/Louise Sutton

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

The Friday Remix makes a welcome return to the lunchtime show, showcasing the best new remixes around. Joining Nemone on the decks will be DJs Jody Wisternoff and Nick Warren, otherwise known as Bristol progressive house and breaks DJs Way Out West. Originally named Echo, the name Way Out West was coined after one of their remixes.

Presenter/Nemone, Producer/Jax Coombes

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Synth legend Gary Numan, who took electronic music overground in the UK with his No. 1 single Are "Friends" Electric?, and emergent electronic pop sensation Little Boots join forces at the BBC's Maida Vale studios for a special session of collaborations.

In creating a unique collaboration between the artist who led the popularisation of electronic music and one of today's leading electro-pop torchbearers, BBC 6 Music illustrates the lineage of the genre from the Seventies through to the present day.

They each play their own material and then collaborate over each others songs, including Are "Friends" Electric? and Stuck On Repeat. They also work together to deliver a unique take on The Velvet Underground classic Venus In Furs. This programme is a different version to the one originally broadcast on 11 December 2009.

Presenter/Shaun Keaveny, Producer/John Pearson

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Australian retro rockers Wolfmother join Bruce Dickinson on the Rock Show this week.

Formed 10 years ago, their self-titled debut album earned them substantial industry praise and a Grammy Award. Since then it all seems to have fallen apart for them with two of the three original members leaving the group.

Recently, three new members have joined lead singer Andrew Stockdale. Bruce asks them all about the dramatic new line-up, their latest album Cosmic Egg and how they enjoyed touring the UK in January.

Presenter/Bruce Dickinson, Producer/Ian Callaghan

BBC 6 Music Publicity

Simran visits Cyrus and eventually reveals that she is Jaggy's wife, in the final visit of the week to Silver Street. She wants to claim their villa back, which wasn't Jaggy's to gamble in the first place. Will Cyrus take her request seriously?

Elsewhere Darren and Deepika are taking things slowly. Meanwhile, Sandra tells Brian that she didn't leave Kenny for him. Brian cancels his date with Isabel but does this mean he is hoping that he and Sandra can pick up where they left off?

Simran is played by Balvinder Sopal, Cyrus by Nigel Hastings, Darren by Samuel Kindred, Deepika by Babita Pohoomull, Sandra by Anita Dobson and Brian by Gerard McDermott.

BBC Asian Network Publicity

He was a Muslim, a eunuch and possibly a giant. Most importantly, he ranks among the world's greatest seafarers, although his epic voyages of the early 15th century are only patchily remembered round the world. In this one-off documentary, Nick Baker asks "why don't more of us know more about Zheng He?"

Nearly a century before the European explorers with their tiny ships and small crews started their journeys, Zheng He was commanding fleets of huge ships – some more than 400ft long – with tens of thousands of men and high class cargo. He was travelling epic distances, discovering new routes and establishing Chinese dominance. He certainly travelled from the east coast of China as far as the coast of Africa – and some say he went far beyond. China's influence across a great swathe of the globe was immense, but it stopped abruptly.

Zheng He's legacy is not well known around the globe. Those who live in China or South East Asia may well know the name, although China has been through periods of overlooking (or even deliberately forgetting) one of the world's most important naval figures. It is only since the Eighties that Zheng He's story has been revived in the People's Republic.

To find out more about Zheng He, Nick Baker travels to China, where he clambers aboard a great (reconstructed) ship, talks to historians and meets a man in his fifties who claims an extraordinarily close link with China's forgotten Admiral.

Presenter and Producer/Nick Baker

BBC World Service Publicity