The BBC need look no further for the next host of Desert Island Discs
Something else Tennant said (“Pop music now is very narcissistic, which can be a bit tedious”) was ringing in my ears as I tuned into Dream Fuel…
The BBC need look no further for the next host of Desert Island Discs
Something else Tennant said (“Pop music now is very narcissistic, which can be a bit tedious”) was ringing in my ears as I tuned into Dream Fuel…
The thorny issue of Margaret Thatcher’s rose rage
Most surprising of all was Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Austen (Radio 4, Friday) a new sitcom by the comedy writer David Quantick and starring, rather wonderfully,…
British Gas boss is a smooth operator but his excuses don’t wash
Lewis was in the news because of his very public exasperation at being unable to help people much in the face of a perfect storm of price…
Achingly liberal, eagerly inclusive: the BBC can stress its merits, but it can’t rewrite its history
Almost as interesting as her story is the way in which it has been laid out. Monday’s opening episode began with an impassioned, rather racy extract from…
Remember when Bond and Doctor Who were Geordies? Our Friends in the North is as relevant as ever
Above all, though, neither the intervening years nor the adaptation to radio, seems to have blunted its sharp edge. Indeed, even though it starts out in 1964,…
The BBC is replacing arts criticism with bland cheerleading
I think that there are two things going on here. There is now a mission that listeners must hear from the people who are more closely connected…
The new battlefront: how influencers, trolls and social media help Putin to wage war online
The ethics of online warfare was also explored, in a different context, by Aleks Krotoski in her always interesting The Digital Human (Radio 4, Monday). Looking into…
The lost female composer we should all have heard of
It began on Monday with a Composer of the Week (Radio 3, Mon-Fri) series devoted to a wonderful but sadly overlooked pianist and composer whose talent got…
How did Justin Welby’s much-hyped grilling of Tony Blair fail to mention the word ‘morality’?
“Post-9/11, I decided we had to be with America in this moment. You know, the whole issue to do with the use of chemical, biological weapons, development…
At a time of crisis, we still huddle round the wireless
Of course, there’s been no shortage of alternatives in a week that’s seen radio consumed by reaction to the crisis, whether in a superb Woman’s Hour segment featuring a…
The Archbishop of Canterbury has bared his soul – and it doesn’t make for easy listening
Moving on to talk about Shafak’s experience of hatred – as a result of speaking out in Turkey about the Armenian genocide and her declaration of bisexuality…
Super-agent Beryl Vertue: ‘People don’t give British comedy a chance’
Now 85, she is still highly active and is the executive producer of Sherlock, which is produced by her daughter Sue, and was conceived by her son-in-law…
Why do we love live radio? It has both great drama and coronation chicken
Last week, the radio research body Rajar released its latest figures, revealing that 89 per cent of us in the UK still listen to live radio, on…
Would you have a sixth sense for a fake psychic?
Today is the 100th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce’s pinnacle of literary modernism, Ulysses – a book whose reputation as a bog of wilful literary…
Spike, review: cosy tribute to a very un-cosy talent
“The Goon Show,” drawls a pretentious critic in Spike, “is essentially shell-shock on radio.” That’s the play’s thesis, too. The explosive anarchy of that 1950s radio series…
Bach, the Black Eyed Peas and a martini: the hosts of Desert Island Discs reveal their castaway picks
Kirsty Young, 2006-2018 Wild is the Wind, Nina Simone “I would absolutely have to have her voice on the island to survive. She’s unsurpassed as an artist….
War, epidemics and society in collapse – why 1922 looks curiously familiar
It was also, perhaps most importantly of all, the birth of radio. The BBC and Radio Moscow made their first broadcasts in 1922 and 500 radio stations…
Mark Watson, ArtsDepot review: putting the amble into preamble
Like many older millennials, Mark Watson is now closer to death than birth. He knows this because – as with everything – there’s an app for it….
The doctor who can literally feel other people’s pain
As a teenager he was an outsider. He finally found a friend to attach himself to, a nerd just like himself who liked anime and other geeky…
Forget the TV licence – we must protect the BBC’s public radio
Perhaps most closely comparable to the UK, Australia has the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which in addition to its TV output runs 54 local radio stations, four national…
Jack Dee: ‘I feel eternally guilty that I played a part in making reality TV popular’
Jack Dee is the self-proclaimed “grumpiest man in comedy”. He wrote and starred in the sitcoms Lead Balloon and Bad Move, and hosts the panel show I’m…
Does The Princess Bride work even better as a radio drama? Inconceivable!
There was a similarly melancholy undertow to the soothing Moominland Midwinter (Radio 4, Saturday), in which young Moomintroll wakes from hibernation early, and wanders in a lonely,…
Thank the Lord for the escapism of The Archers
As always, there’s something immensely reassuring about the existence of a (fictional) community where the great, the good and everyone in between pulls together at Christmas. Ambridge…
Relax, Maureen Lipman – ‘offensive’ comedy is in rude health
Still, once people start saying you’re “cancelled”, it’s often a career boost. Controversy sells: look at Dave Chappelle’s multi-million-dollar Netflix deal. And this year, a Sheffield venue…