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BBC Radio 7 Newsletter - Friday 6th November
New to Radio 7
The Selection
Classic Comedy
Comedy Zone
Comedy Club
7 Drama
7th Dimension
Crime And Thrillers
Fact And Fiction
Children's
and finally
================================================
Hello again
With the glorious golden autumn days some of us have been enjoying recently showing few signs of fading away, I find it hard to believe that Christmas is only 7 weeks away.
However, I was reminded that the festive season will soon be upon us, when last Tuesday evening, crowds were jostling around just up the road from Broadcasting House to catch a glimpse of "celebrities" switching on Christmas lights in Oxford Street and Regent Street.
The theme of the lights this year is "A Christmas Carol", and the stars the crowds had turned out to see were Jim Carrey and Colin Firth who both have voice-over roles in the new film animation of the Dickens classic.
I didn't brave the crowds, but later on, when the mayhem had died down, I walked up to see the display.
It really is rather lovely; A large silhouette of Scrooge is there, clutching a flickering candle, and in another frame he is flying through the air accompanied by a ghost.
Huge snowflakes help to set the scene.
A Christmas Carol is our most requested radio drama at this time of year. Last Christmas, we did not include it in our schedule, as an excellent reading by David Jason had already been planned for Radio 4. For those of you who had asked for the dramatisation, we are pleased to be able to deliver it to you this year. It will be broadcast on Sunday afternoon, 20th December, and stars Freddie Jones as Charles Dickens, with Michael Gough as a suitably crotchety Scrooge.
Our drama coincidentally ties in with the Oxford Street Christmas lights, and the release of the animated 3D film which is now on general release.
With a great cast which, in addition to Jim Carrey and Colin Firth, includes Bob Hoskins I'm sure the film will be wonderful, but of course, we all know that " the pictures are better on the radio"
Christmas planning starts early on an archive network, and since August, we have had fun building our schedule. Old favourites which you can look forward to include two much-loved dramas: a re-working of Good King Wenceslas,
Crisp and Even Brightly, and the story of the loveable teddy bear,
Theo.
We also have a few surprises for you, programmes new to Radio 7, packed away in the Christmas stocking for your listening pleasure.
More details nearer the time.
Although our schedule is fairly full, we can probably still squeeze in a few requests, so if you have any festive favourites you'd love to hear over the Christmas period, do let us know, and we'll see what we can do.
Send your requests to Radio 7 Christmas Requests at:
radio7@bbc.co.uk
And now on to my selection for the week ahead:
New to Radio 7
Sunday - Rudyard Kipling's The Gardener
Sunday - Rudy's Rare Records
Monday - The Tape-Recorded Highlights Of A Humble Bee
Monday to Friday
- JB Priestley's Postscripts
Monday to Friday - George MacDonald Fraser's Quartered Safe Out Here
The Selection
Comedy Controller: Jenny Eclair
The sharp-witted comic, author and actress chooses some of her favourite radio shows: Angus Deayton leads the way as the
Radio Active team investigates village life (23/7/1984); there’s a double helping of laughs when
The Shuttleworths experience
Ping Pong Pangs (15/10/1997) and set off in search of
Caravan Capers (29/10/1997); Roy Mallard wonders if estate agents are
People Like Us (29/06/1996); Alan Partridge is
Knowing Me, Knowing You in Las Vegas (29/12/1992);
Lee And Herring’s Fist Of Fun is as near the knuckle as ever (27/10/1993); and falling in love with a brown paper bag is one of the subjects we’ll be
Hearing With Hegley (09/09/1998).
Saturday at 10am and 8pm
Classic Comedy
The Men From The Ministry
Seal Of Office
The hapless civil servants are instructed to organise a military display. The chosen venue is down the road from a circus. What could possibly go wrong? Richard Murdoch and Deryck Guyler star as the bumbling duo in an episode first broadcast in 1976. Producer Edward Taylor co-wrote the script with John Graham.
Sunday at 12pm and 7pm
The Goon Show
The Starlings
This is one of the more unusual Goon Show episodes. It was not recorded in front of an audience and there are no musical contributions from series regulars Max Geldray and Ray Ellington. Spike Milligan’s surreal satire of political incompetence sees the House Of Commons ignoring international tensions to tackle the plague of starlings on the roof. Prepare for rubber snakes, exploding bird lime and other barmy schemes from the Ministry Of Grit, Filth And Exportable Heads. Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe co-star in this special episode, produced by Peter Eton and originally broadcast in 1954.
Thursday at 8am, 12pm and 7pm
Stop Messing About
Kenneth Williams is joined by his old
Round The Horne colleagues Hugh Paddick and Douglas Smith and
Carry On co-star Joan Sims (pictured above) for musical spoofs, camp banter and satirical sketches. Will the series succeed in becoming the world’s first “All Nude Radio Show”? John Simmonds produced this opening episode, first heard in 1969.
Friday at 8am, 12pm and 7pm
Comedy Zone
Ayres On The Air
1/4: Human Deterioration
Pam Ayres (pictured) is joined by Felicity Montagu and Geoffrey Whitehead for songs and sketches. This week, the subject is ageing and Pam applies her unique comic talents to obstructive modern technology and the terrors of the gym. She also recalls a memorable encounter with Ronnie Barker. Produced by Claire Jones, this series was first heard in 2004.
Friday at 9.30am and 5.30pm
Comedy Club
The News Quiz
Sandi Toksvig (pictured) hosts another edition of the topical quiz, with panellists Hugo Rifkind, Miles Jupp, Jeremy Hardy and Paul Sinha. First heard on Radio 4 on October 30
th, this episode was produced by Victoria Lloyd and Sam Bryant.
Sunday at 10pm
Rudy’s Rare Records
NEW TO RADIO 7
Ser1.1/4: Take Me Home, Country Roads
Three generations collide at the family record shop. Comedy with an impressive soundtrack, starring Larrington Walker, Lenny Henry and Joe Jacobs. Written by Danny Robins and Dan Tetsell and produced by Lucy Armitage, this series was first broadcast last year on Radio 4.
Sunday at 10.30pm
Dead Ringers
Alan Bennett,
The Lord Of The Rings and Tony Blair are amongst the many targets for Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Mark Perry, Kevin Connelly and Phil Cornwell in this 2003 edition of the impressions show. The producer was Katie Tyrell.
Monday at 8.30am and 10pm
The Mark Steel Solution
Ser 2. 2/4 Transport
Sketches and stand up from the radical comedian who considers the power of bus drivers and the stages of annoyance when sitting in a stationary train. Mark Steel is joined by Maria McErlane, Kim Wall and co-writer Pete Sinclair. The producer was Phil Clarke and the series was first broadcast in 2004.
Monday at 11pm
The Tape-Recorded Highlights Of A Humble Bee
NEW TO RADIO 7
1/6: Introducing Me and The Dinner Date
Mark Williams (pictured) stars as Bee in this quirky series, sharing through some eccentric home recordings his opinions and adventures, including a love of jazz and his alarming encounters with crows. But what type of humble bee is the Humble Bee? Tim Whitnall co-stars in Brendan O’Casey’s offbeat comedy. The director was Roxana Silbert and the series was originally transmitted in 2003.
Monday at 11.30pm
Hair In The Gate
2/6
Another glimpse behind the scenes of TV culture show Arting About. Bazzer’s attempts to get Jack Nicholson on the show lead to confusion – and impersonation. Alistair McGowan stars with Harriet Thorpe in this 1993 comedy, written by Andy Parsons and produced by Paul Schlesinger.
Wednesday at 10.30pm
Rigor Mortis
Ser 3. 2/6
Matilda Ziegler, Peter Davison & Geoffrey Whitehead star in the hospital mortuary sitcom. Ruth tries to talk about babies to her partner Anthony, but he’d rather discuss pathology. Laurence Howarth’s comedy was produced by Dawn Ellis and first broadcast in 2006.
Thursday at 11pm
7 Drama
"Lest we forget" - for Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day on Wednesday we are broadcasting readings and drama reflecting the impact of war on people's lives.
Rudyard Kipling’s The Gardener
NEW TO RADIO 7
Patricia Hodge reads Rudyard Kipling’s heart-felt account of grief in the aftermath of the carnage on the Western Front. This 1925 short story, partly inspired by the loss of its author’s own son on active service in 1915, was described by eminent critic Edmund Wilson as possibly “the best story that Kipling ever wrote”. Produced by Di Speirs, this reading was first heard in 2000.
Sunday at 10.15am and 9.15pm
The Golden Days Of Radio – The Laughter Front
Robin Boyle takes an affectionate look at the great radio shows that kept the nation entertained during World War Two.
ITMA,
Garrison Theatre and
Merry-Go-Round all feature, with vintage clips of Tommy Handley, Robb Wilton, Kenneth Horne, Max Wall and many more. A feast of classic comedy, produced by Richard Edis and first broadcast in 1994.
Sunday at 2.30am, 1pm and 1am
Book Club: Sebastian Faulks
In the first ever edition of Book Club, James Naughtie talks to author Sebastian Faulks about his acclaimed novel
Birdsong, discussing the inspiration for the book and the challenges involved in writing it. Olivia Seligman was the producer and the programme was first transmitted in 1998.
Sunday at 3.30am, 2pm and 2am
Birdsong
1-3/3
In 1910 a young Englishman named Stephen Wraysford visits Amiens, where his love for a local woman leads to a passionate affair. When Stephen next travels to France, however, it is with the British Army to the horrors of the trenches in 1916. Toby Stephens and Sophie Ward star in Sebastian Faulks’s profoundly affecting story of love, memory and war. Nick Stafford’s dramatisation was produced by Claire Grove in 1997.
Wednesday to Friday at 10am, 3pm and 3am
I Am David
A young boy escapes from a concentration camp and embarks on a journey across Europe in search of freedom. Anne Holm’s inspiring novel of humanity, courage and survival is dramatised by John Peacock. Rory Copus stars as David, alongside Anthony Calf, Frances Jeater and Stephen Critchlow. This production, originally broadcast in 2003, was produced by John Taylor and directed by Celia de Wolff.
Monday and Tuesday at 11.15am, 9.15pm and 2.15am
Memorials To The Missing
Stephen Wyatt’s play won the Tinniswood Award in 2008 for the year’s best original radio drama script. It re-enacts the principled struggle of Major-General Fabian Ware (Anton Lesser) to establish proper cemeteries for the combatants killed in battle during the Great War. Mixing fact and fiction to present the history of the Major-General’s campaign with the imaginatively conjured thoughts and dreams of the soldiers and their loved ones, this is a production of great emotional power. The director was Martin Jenkins.
Wednesday at 11.15am, 9.15pm and 2.15am
Our other drama highlights this week include:
Mary Barnes
Mary Barnes has struggled for years with mental illness when she meets the unorthodox psychiatrist RD Laing. Accompanying him to his experimental therapeutic community, she undergoes intensive therapy that has a revelatory effect on her. Based on Mary’s own memoirs, this is a powerful, forthright and often shocking study of disturbance and self-discovery. Patti Love stars as Mary and John Hannah (pictured) as Laing, with Claire Skinner, David Morrissey, Nicholas Le Prevost and Stephen Critchlow. Award-winning playwright David Edgar’s intense drama was first broadcast in 1995.
Saturday at 1pm and 1am
Anita And Me
1-5/10
Goodness Gracious Me star Meera Syall reads her first novel, the tale of a young Asian girl growing up in a Midlands mining village in the 1970s and attempting to cope with the culture clashes around her. The producer was Di Speirs and this production was first heard in 1996.
Monday to Friday at 11am, 9pm and 2am
7th Dimension
The Man In Black
New Radio 7 Commission
Ser 2. 2/5
-
Death Us Do Part
Mark Gatiss is the mysterious Man In Black, appearing from nowhere to recount strange and unsettling tales. In Mike Bartlett’s
Death Us Do Part, Carl Prekopp stars as a man who is about to propose to his girlfriend when he hears insistent voices attempting to dissuade him. Where do these voices come from? Lucy Collingwood’s production was specially commissioned for Radio 7 and is broadcast here for the first time.
Sat at 6.30pm and 00.30am
The Drowned World
2/4
Robert Glenister (pictured) continues his reading of JG Ballard’s first novel, originally published in 1962. Global warming has caused London to become a lush tropical jungle, where soaring temperatures trigger extreme psychological reactions in the survivors. The Drowned World is a Radio 7 commission, produced by Gemma Jenkins and first heard earlier this year. This extraordinary vision of ecological chaos is broadcast in tribute to JG Ballard, who died last April.
Sunday at 6.30pm and 00.30am
The Woman In Black
1-4/4
Susan Hill’s long-running theatre success is adapted for radio by Jon Strickland. A young solicitor, Arthur Kipps (Robert Glenister), is sent to sort through the effects of a recently deceased recluse, Mrs Drablow. The following day, attending the old lady’s funeral, Kipps observes a strange, silent woman dressed entirely in black, who creates a creeping sense of unease. This chillingly atmospheric ghost story co-stars John Woodvine and Paula Tilbrook. It was produced by Chris Wallis and first broadcast on Radio 5 in 1993.
Tuesday to Friday at 6pm and Midnight
The Canterville Ghost
1-3/3
When an American millionaire, Hiram B Otis, buys an ancient English estate, he finds that he’s also acquired a ghost. This troublesome spirit does its best to rid the house of the newcomers, but Otis is determined not to be spooked. Oscar Wilde’s charming story, a comic and heart-warming tale, is read by Alistair McGowan. This R7 commission was originally broadcast in 2004.
Wednesday to Friday at 6.30pm and 00.30pm
Crime And Thrillers
Agatha Christie
1-4/4
Four one-off Agatha Christie dramas, updated to contemporary settings by Mike Walker and first heard in 2003.
Tuesday: Magnolia Blossom – Adultery in the world of finance. With Emilia Fox (pictured) and Alex Jennings.
Wednesday: Philomel Cottage – A woman tries to choose between two men. With Tom Hollander and Adam Godley.
Thursday: In A Glass Darkly – A man sees a vision of murder. With Neil Dudgeon and Rebecca Egan.
Friday: The Dressmaker’s Doll – A sinister doll causes chaos on the catwalk. With Beth Chalmers and Juliet Aubrey.
Tuesday to Friday at 1.30pm, 8.30pm and 1.30am
Fact And Fiction
Further commemorations in the week of Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day:
Postscripts: JB Priestley
NEW TO RADIO 7
1-5/5
So popular were JB Priestley’s wartime broadcasts that soon after they began in 1940 it was estimated forty per cent of the adult population was listening. These spirited, morale-boosting talks combine commentary on the progress of the war with amusing and absorbing observations of everyday life. Patrick Stewart’s readings superbly capture this range of content, from reflections on the Dunkirk evacuations to an account of a day at Margate. The series was produced by Emma Harding and originally transmitted in 2003.
Monday to Friday at 2.15pm and 4.15am
Goodnight Mister Tom
1-5/10
David Brierley reads Michelle Magorian’s touching story of a young boy, Willie Beech, evacuated to the country during the Blitz. After a deprived and unhappy life in London, Willie enters a different world when the elderly recluse who takes him in proves to have hidden reserves of compassion. Peter Fozzard produced this delightful series, first broadcast in 1990, for Radio 5.
Monday to Friday at 2.30pm and 4.30am
Quartered Safe Out Here
NEW TO RADIO 7
1-5/10
George MacDonald Fraser reads his own frank and lively account of his military career during World War Two. Having served as an infantryman in the Border Regiment during the Burma Campaign, he writes with first hand experience of both the terrifying realities of war and the heroism and comradeship that result. Patrick Rayner produced this series, first heard in 1995.
Monday to Friday at 2.45pm and 4.45am
Children's
CBeebies
Join all your CBeebies friends for an early breakfast of songs, rhymes and stories on Radio 7.
Daily at 5am
Big Toe Books
Kirsten O'Brien (pictured) presents an hour of children's stories every day.
Saturday and Sunday at 8am and Monday to Friday at 4pm:
Saturday and Sunday
Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr, read by Sam Stoyan.
Monday to Friday
The Quigleys at Large by Simon Mason, read by Kate Harbour;
The Witch Of Wuthery Heights by Wendy Eyton, read by Elizabeth Bower; and
Truckers by Terry Pratchett, read by Philip Pickard.
www.bbc.co.uk/bigtoe
and finally
And finally,
Last Friday's Maida Vale celebration day was very successful, with a wonderful range of "Maida Vale-made" programmes broadcast from every national BBC radio station throughout the day. I went along with some Radio 7 colleagues in the evening, and the entire building was vibrant with activity. Performers and presenters there to mark the day ranged from Nigel Havers, Jenny Seagrove and Jamie Cullum to Janice Long, Ken Bruce and Nina Myskow.
The Craig Charles Fantasy Funk Band was being recorded for Craig's show on 6 Music, and the music they belted out was, well, funky! And most enjoyable, as you can see if you click
here
On Radio 4, Front Row was broadcast live from a Maida Vale studio, as was a production of Noel Coward's
Brief Encounter for Radio 2.
Included as part of the Radio 7 contribution, were interviews with drama producers Jane Morgan, Ned Chaillet and Martin Jenkins who regaled us with their Maida Vale tales.
Two of our programmes which seemed particularly popular were
Selected Radiophonic Works and
The Digitisation of a Radio Station.
Comments on these from the Radio 7 Message Board included:
Radiophonic Workshop: "
Wonderful this aired. These radiophonic guys (and gals) did so much for Radio Drama over the years"
The Digitisation of a Radio Station: "
The one on behind-the scenes workings of BBCR7 was excellent - a little gem which makes one want more"
Those of you who missed the 15-minute "little gem" can still catch it on the iplayer - but be quick - as this is the final day it will be available.
Before I sign off, just a reminder that we are still looking for a title for our interactive drama Chain Gang. Please send any suggestions you have to us at Radio 7 headed Chain Gang Title:
Radio7@bbc.co.uk
I leave you now with the
Schedule and the
iPlayer.
Happy listening!
Mary Kalemkerian
Head of Programmes, BBC Radio 7
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