Programme Information

American roots singer-songwriter Carrie Elkin joins Bob Harris on his Country show this week.

Having moved around the United States for several years creating a following in places like Cleveland, Athens, Taos, Steamboat Springs, Colorado Springs and Boston, Carrie finally settled in Austin, Texas, in 2007. She's now become a familiar part of the city's live music community, collaborating with musicians on the alternative scene including her producer Colin Brooks – a member of one of Bob's recent session bands, The Band Of Heathens.

Presenter/Bob Harris, Producer/Al Booth

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

BBC PROMS 2009
Prom 29 – BBC Philharmonic

Thursday 6 August

7.30-10.00pm BBC RADIO 3

• www.bbc.co.uk/proms
• Press pack

The BBC Philharmonic's Italian-born Chief Conductor Gianandrea Noseda pays tribute to his native land – and continues the BBC Proms cycle of Mendelssohn symphonies – with the sun-drenched work that the 21-year-old Mendelssohn composed while holidaying in Rome, his Symphony No. 4 in A major.

Inspired by his own student days in Rome, Peter Maxwell Davies's palindromically entitled Roma amor is a serenade to the city, and the first of a cycle of Respighi's Roman trilogy over three consecutive nights begins with his vivid tableaux celebrating the capital's famous pines. American mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux joins the orchestra for Rossini's operatic retelling of the Cinderella story – his third stage work for Rome's Teatro Valle.

This Prom will be repeated on Friday 14 August at 2.30pm.

Presenter/Martin Handley, Producer/Mike George

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Fifty years after the publication of Keith Waterhouse's Billy Liar, writer Blake Morrison goes in search of the world it evokes – the story of a frustrated young man in a Northern town, who escapes from reality into vivid fantasies of power and glory.

Blake travels to Leeds, where he traces two stories – that of Billy, who dreams of going to London but never makes it; and his creator, Keith, who did leave and found the kind of success that Billy can only imagine. Walking around the city with his friend Dr Richard Brown, Blake uncovers tales of Keith's life there and how it overlaps with Billy's story.

During the programme, long-term residents and local historians point out the site of the undertakers-cum-estate agents where Keith and Billy worked and the dance hall where Billy and Keith went to meet girls. They reflect on how the society depicted in the novel has changed in 50 years – and how the city has changed as well.

Contributors to the programme include novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford, comedian Barry Cryer and Sir Gerald Kaufman MP.

Presenter/Blake Morrison, Producer/Kate Taylor

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

To top

When Nat reveals she hears voices in her head, people around her panic and her life spirals out of control, in today's Afternoon Play. A sympathetic teacher then helps to unlock the obsessive musical way Nat thinks, which is the gift behind her "voices".

Nat is withdrawn and unresponsive and, when she explains what is in her head, her world fills up with concerned professionals and anxious adults worried about her mental health. As pressure builds, Nat feels increasingly unheard and undermined and the voices in her head become discordant and menacing.

She is put on medication which seems to work as the voices stop. But in the silence, Nat's spirit is dulled, she decides she doesn't like the silence and stops the medication. With the help of the supply music teacher, Nat begins the process of finding ways to express what she experiences in her head and control the voices.

The role of Nat is played by Rebecca Ryan, with Elizabeth Berrington playing Miss Davies. Jamil Thomas plays Mix, Wunmi Mosaku plays Shanice, Sue Devaney plays Jane, David Fleeshman plays Paul/head teacher, Jonathan Scott plays the pianist and Emma Johnson is the voice in Nat's Head.

This play is a collaboration between writer Debbie Oates and musician/composer Carol Donaldson. The songs are performed by Chorlton High School, Manchester, and the Royal Northern College of Music Gospel Choir.

Producer/Nadia Molinari

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

5 Live Sport

Thursday 6 August

7.00-10.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Arlo White is live from Headingley to preview the fourth Ashes Test between England and Australia, which starts tomorrow.

From 8pm, on the Phil Tufnell Cricket Show, Tuffers is joined by special guests to discuss the latest news from the Ashes series.

At 9pm, listeners can enjoy 5 Live Sport's regular look at the latest moves and gossip from the football transfer market, in Window Shopping.

Presenters/Arlo White and Darren Fletcher, Producer/Alex Rice

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Seventies folk super-group Pentangle are in concert alongside Liverpuddlians The Coral, in acoustic mode at last year's Summer Sundae festival.

Gideon Coe also brings listeners some more laid-back vibes from BBC 6 Music's archive session artists, including the multi-faceted North Sea Radio Orchestra, Quickspace, The Voluntary Butler Scheme and the not-as-fierce-as-they-sound Grizzly Bear.

Presenter/Gideon Coe, Producer/Mark Sheldon

BBC 6 Music Publicity