Programme Information

Dale Winton counts down the charts from this week in 1972 and 1991, with hits from Donnie Elbert, Badfinger, Slade, Queen and R.E.M.

Presenter/Dale Winton, Producer/Phil Swern

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Dermot O'Leary presents the final show of BBC Radio 2 programmes live from Los Angeles.

This week, he is joined in the studio by former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne and has live music from American indie band She & Him, featuring actress and star of the film (500) Days Of Summer, Zooey Deschanel.

Presenter/Dermot O'Leary, Producer/Ben Walker

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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BBC 6 Music presenter Gideon Coe sits in for Bob Harris and is joined in session by American indie folk band Musée Mécanique.

First conceived in a museum of antique arcade machines and later actualised in a small Victorian home on the banks of the Willamette River, Musée Mécanique's new album, Hold This Ghost, began its journey in a high school literature class, where members Sean Ogilvie and Micah Rabwin met.

Their early friendship fostered a creative partnership that has endured distance, estrangement and more than a decade of their lives. While living in the bay area of California, the two songwriters developed an affinity for the collection of vintage coin-operated games, player pianos and novelties housed at the Musée Mécanique (Mechanical Museum) located on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf.

Their Portland, Oregon, home studio, itself a collection of interesting instruments and antiques, is peppered in every corner with second-hand flotsam. Tack pianos, trumpets, musical saws and garage sale keyboards mingle among forgotten amateur landscape paintings, broken Thirties-era radios and hand-cranked ice cream makers.

Presenter/Gideon Coe, Producer/Mark Simpson

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Opera On 3 – Live From The Met: The Nose

Saturday 13 March

6.00-9.30pm BBC RADIO 3

Live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Valery Gergiev conducts Shostakovich's powerful adaptation of Gogol's absurdist short story, The Nose, with tenor Gordon Gietz in the title role.

Kovalyov (sung by baritone Paulo Szot) has a shave in Yakovlevich's (Vladimir Ognovenko) barber shop. The following morning, Yakovlevich discovers Kovalyov's nose in his freshly baked loaf of bread, much to the annoyance of his wife, who demands that he gets rid of it. He eventually manages to throw it into a river, by which time Kovalyov has noticed that it's missing and begun to hunt for it.

The nose turns up in the Cathedral, human sized, dressed as a State Councillor, and wanting nothing to do with its desperate owner. It then escapes from Kovalyov, who spends the rest of the opera being outwitted by it.

Margaret Juntwait presents and is joined by guest commentator Ira Siff.

Presenter/Margaret Juntwait, Producer/Ellie Mant

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Clare Balding heads for Derbyshire to join the Sheffield Dog Walking Group in the last programme of this series.

When dog owners Chris Bird and Victoria Cooper discovered that their four-footed friends were not always warmly received by all ramblers clubs, they decided to set up their own, where all well-mannered dogs and their owners would be welcome.

They enjoy exploring further afield than just the local parks and they discuss with Clare the joys and downfalls of dogs in the countryside.

Presenter/Clare Balding, Producer/Lucy Lunt

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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This is the tale of an unexpected encounter between 20th-century legends – a meeting which created a new template for global celebrity.

In February 1964, The Beatles flew into Miami sparking Beatlemania as they prepared to perform on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Meanwhile, in a low-rent Miami gym, the underdog Cassius Clay (who later became Muhammad Ali) was training to fight reigning champion Sonny Liston for the world title. The pundits said Clay hadn't a hope. Quite unexpectedly, the paths of these legendary figures crossed.

The Beatles decided to visit Cassius Clay in the gym. Clay picked up Ringo and swung him around the ring as if he was no heavier than a toddler as the other band members lay at his feet. A British photographer captured the scene.

The Beatles were a triumph on TV – and Cassius Clay amazed boxing writers by defeating Liston. They both suddenly found themselves on the cusp of a new kind of stardom – they were young, outspoken and able to capture the global imagination.

John Wilson reports from Miami on the background to this unique encounter, with guests including Sir Paul McCartney; photographer Harry Benson, who was travelling with The Beatles; and writer Robert Lipsyte, who covered the fight for the New York Times as a rookie reporter and also witnessed the moment when Cassius met The Beatles.

Presenter/John Wilson, Producer/John Goudie

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Acclaimed actor Bill Nighy

Bill Nighy and Robert Glenister star in award-winning novelist AL Kennedy's gothic and darkly comic drama about illusion, delusion and desire.

Confessions Of A Medium is based on a true story and set in 1870s London.

Mr Parker (Robert Glenister) is a sincere and kind man. In search of a higher meaning to life, he has moved from conventional religion to seances and spiritualism. He believes he has met his saviour in the guise of Mr Thomson (Bill Nighy), a charming, erudite and utterly mesmerising medium. Unbeknown to Parker, Thomson is a complete fake.

Thomson, the greatest medium of his age, is dashing and entirely convincing. One moment he's a small boy whose mother is desperate to get in touch with her deceased young son, the next he's a lover – a dying soldier with a message for his sweetheart. Both Thomson and Parker are brought together through a deep need – Parker needs to believe in eternal life and Thomson needs an assistant who can deal with the public.

Gently and quietly Thomson begins Parker's first lessons in a medium's technique. But do the spirits ever really appear or is it all a lie – how does Thomson know the unknowable?

Producer/Pauline Harris

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

5 Live Sport

Saturday 13 March

12.00noon-7.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Mark Pougatch presents an action-packed afternoon of live sport from Edinburgh, ahead of the day's Six Nations action.

From 12.45pm there's live Premier League commentary of Tottenham Hotspur versus Blackburn Rovers from White Hart Lane.

At 2.30pm there's live commentary of Ireland versus Wales in the Six Nations live from Croke Park, Dublin. There's also coverage of the afternoon's 3pm football kick-offs, including Chelsea versus West Ham, Burnley versus Wolves and Stoke versus Aston Villa in the Premier League.

At 5pm there's more Six Nations action as Scotland take on England live from Murrayfield with Ian Robertson, Alastair Eykyn, Matt Dawson and Gavin Hastings.

Presenter/Mark Pougatch, Producer/Mark Williams

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Test Match Special

Saturday 13 March

3.15-11.00am BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

Uninterrupted commentary on the second day of the first Test between Bangladesh and England comes live from Chittagong with the Test Match Special commentary team.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

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Formula 1

Saturday 13 March

11.00am-12.05pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra brings uninterrupted commentary on the qualifying session of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the opening race of the Formula 1 season.

Producer/Jason Swales

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

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Football

Saturday 13 March

2.55-5.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra brings uninterrupted commentary on one of the afternoon's top matches in the Premier League.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

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Football

Saturday 13 March

5.25-7.30pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

Uninterrupted Premier League commentary on Hull City versus Arsenal comes live from the KC Stadium.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

Legendary dance duo Orbital return to the 6 Mix for two shows, recounting their personal history of dance music and the part they played in the genesis of the genre.

Best known for seminal dance tunes including Chime and Halcyon, Orbital reformed last year after a five-year hiatus to headline festivals all over the world, including the Big Chill Festival and Get Loaded In The Park. The band also entered the world of BBC 6 Music, presenting three 6 Mix programmes in which they played the music which inspired them, from punk to dub.

In this show, brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll play tunes from React To Rhythm, Joi, Frankie Knuckles and Aphex Twin, sharing their memories of those tunes and the part they played in shaping Orbital's sound.

In the second hour Phil takes to the decks for an exclusive hour-long mix of his current favourite club tunes, including the debut of a brand new Orbital track – their first in five years – called Don't Stop Me.

Presenter/Orbital, Producer/Rowan Collinson

BBC 6 Music Publicity