Programme Information

Tuesday 23 December 2008

BBC RADIO 2 Tuesday 23 December 2008

For the fourth consecutive year, Jeremy Vine dedicates the final hour of his last show before Christmas to British troops serving overseas.

The show is broadcast simultaneously on the Forces Broadcaster BFBS Radio to tens of thousands of troops worldwide. Jeremy reads out special messages of love and support from families in the UK to their loved ones serving overseas, and also speaks to the troops in Afghanistan about how they will be spending Christmas Day.

Presenter/Jeremy Vine, Producer/Phil Jones

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Christopher Eccleston reads a haunting story about a writer who is tortured by a Christmas story he can't seem to finish, in the third of this series of tales with a Christmas kick.

John Kendrick Bangs's short story, Thurlow's Christmas, is about a demon, a mysterious stranger and a magical manuscript. Or is it..?

Reader/Christopher Eccleston, Producer/Frank Stirling

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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BBC RADIO 3 Tuesday 23 December 2008

Anton Lesser continues to read John Milton's Paradise Lost to mark the 400th anniversary of the writer's birth.

In Book Two, Satan and his cohorts debate whether another battle should take place to recover Heaven. Satan goes on a journey to find a new world, and passes through the gates of Hell.

Reader/Anton Lesser, Producer/Nicolas Soames

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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Performance On 3 – Bach At ChristmasEp 2/3 Monday 22 to Christmas Eve Wednesday 24 December 7.00-8.45pm BBC RADIO 3

This is the second of three programmes recorded at Hawksmoor's glorious Christ Church as part of the Spitalfields Winter Festival. John Eliot Gardiner conducts The Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloists in three all-Bach programmes. Each features one of the cantatas that make up the Christmas Oratorio, as well as one of the Motets and a Brandenburg Concerto.

Nowadays, Bach's Christmas Oratorio is usually performed in one (rather long) sitting. In reality, it is a composite work, consisting of six cantatas which Bach conceived in groups of two or more, linked thematically or by their structural patterns. He composed these six cantatas for performance in Leipzig on their appropriate feast days – from Christmas to Epiphany – between 1734 and 1735. In the spirit of the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage (2000), John Eliot Gardiner places three of these consecutive cantatas as close to their original liturgical days as possible, recorded in the glorious baroque splendour of Christ Church Spitalfields, Hawksmoor's 1729 masterpiece.

Today's programme includes: Motet – Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, BWV 230; Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, BWV 1049; and Christmas Oratorio – Cantata No. 2 "Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend", with tenor Nicholas Mulroy as the Evangelist.

Presenter/Martin Handley, Producer/Kevin Bee

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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BBC RADIO 4 Tuesday 23 December 2008

At the beginning of the year, Dominic Prince was 47 years old, weighed 16-and-a-half stone and felt that his life was churning in neutral. As a child, he had a dream: to become a jockey and ride competitively. But the dream didn't even come close to being realised – until this year, when he decided to give it one last shot.

Jumbo To Jockey follows Dominic as he confronts his mid-life crisis, tries to lose a quarter of his body weight, learns to ride like a professional and seeks to fulfil his dream, 30 years behind schedule.

Dominic is put through his paces on a horse simulator at the British Racing School and receives riding tips from top jockeys and trainers, but discovers that some of the stable lads have misgivings when he turns up for work.

Producer/Ian Bent

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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As the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College Cambridge reaches its 90th birthday, former choir member Brian Kay uncovers the wartime origins of the service.

Ninety years ago, the first Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in Henry VI's glorious King's College Chapel was born in very specific circumstances.

A young college student, Eric Milner-White, returned to King's after the First World War and was made Dean. Horrified by the number of college members who had lost their lives, he felt something was needed to help the college come to terms with its losses and to renew the college spirit. Milner-White knew of a service used in Truro Cathedral from the 1880s, which was designed to keep Christmas revellers out of the pub. This, in adapted form, became the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.

War has been an ever-present background to the service. According to the current Dean, Ian Thompson, who leads this year's service, Milner-White's brilliantly constructed words are rich in symbolism. Others remember dark years from the Second World War.

Also sharing their memories are: former director of music Philip Ledger; organ scholar-turned-conductor Sir Andrew Davis; and Roy Goodman, whose steely nerve as soloist for Once In Royal David's City led to his own international conducting career.

Presenter/Brian Kay, Producer/Michael Surcombe

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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David O'Doherty – It's David O'Doherty TimeEp 1/4 Tuesday 23 December 11.00-11.30pm BBC RADIO 4

David O'Doherty combines stand-up, documentary and song to introduce himself and to tell the story of the entire day he once spent trying to tidy his bedsit.

This show combines a live comedy performance, recorded in the BBC Radio Theatre and featuring material from David's award-winning Edinburgh Fringe show, It's David O'Doherty Time, with material recorded in David's Dublin bedsit. He takes up his neighbour's challenge to really tidy the place up, giving listeners a guided tour along the way.

Presenter/David O'Doherty, Producer/Colin Anderson

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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BBC RADIO 5 LIVE Tuesday 23 December 2008

Mark Saggers presents all the day's sports news and views, including reports from the final day's play in the Second Test between India and England in Mumbai.

Presenter/Mark Saggers, Producer/Colin Patterson

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

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Soldiers who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq tell their powerful, inspiring and often harrowing stories of war.

The programme features the testimonies of, among others: the soldier blinded by a sniper while trying to save his comrades; the proud Para fighting for the public's support, not its pity; and the amputee who has been inspired by his injury to set up a company to help prepare soldiers facing war for the first time.

There are also contributions from families who have lost loved ones, as well as the experiences of former soldiers trying to reintegrate back into society.

Richard Bacon's phone-in, broadcast after the programme (10pm-1am), gives listeners the chance to discuss issues raised in Soldiers' Story.

Producer/Richard McIlroy

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

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BBC 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA Tuesday 23 December 2008

Test Match Special Tuesday 23 December 3.50-11.30am BBC 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

The Test Match Special team brings listeners uninterrupted commentary on the final day's play of the Second Test between India and England, live from Mumbai.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

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BBC 6 MUSIC Tuesday 23 December 2008

Laura Marling chats with Nemone about her amazing year, which saw her nominated for the Mercury Music Prize for her debut album.

Presenter/Nemone, Producer/Jax Coombes

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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St David's Day isn't for another three months, but that's no excuse not to treat listeners to an evening of classic Welsh music, including live tracks from Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Super Furry Animals, Young Marble Giants and John Cale.

Presenter/Gideon Coe, Producer/Mark Sheldon

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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