Whistledown Newsletter - April 2005 Janet Street-Porter’s a regular listener and Sue Arnold of The Observer described it as, “Full of knotty problems that make compulsive listening.” When we started Questions, Questions four years ago, no-one could have guessed what a phenomenon it would become. At one time or another, cabinet ministers, philosophers, Oscar winners, Olympic champions, and our finest legal minds have all contributed answers to some of the random curiosities of everyday life. As if QQ’s return wasn’t enough, this month we’ll also be youth hostelling, discovering the world of The Electrophone, and finding out about a 1940s kitchen celebrity whose withering looks would have had Jamie Oliver and a whole army of Turkey Twizzlers running for the hills. David Prest
Your chance has finally come to listen again to a whole bundle of our programmes, as BBC 7 repeats some classics from the Whistledown back catalogue. Digitally enhanced, there’s Mark Gatiss’s tribute to the ultimate Dr Who adversary in ‘My Life as Dalek’, Mark Little’s three part romp through the history of Aussie comedy in ‘Laughing at Dingoes’, and be enthralled as Dave Spikey goes all misty eyed for Northern folk club comics in ‘Follow that with Your Sealions.’ Check the BBC 7 listings for transmission times. More stuff on Whistledown by clicking to www.whistledown.net |
The “amiable” Mr. Henderson is being dusted off and dragged down from his Highland hideaway for the new season, with Emily Williams and Sarah Cuddon producing. We’ve already been digging around for answers to some of the great questions of life such as Why left-handed people are more creative than right-handers? Was there ever a real Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang? and Why does the moon affect the behaviour of oysters? Answers and more of the same please to 
We did a hard sell on the commissioning folk, and someone even suggested Chris Eubank might be good to present it, but he wasn’t available this time around, so the brilliant Barnsley bard Ian McMillan has kindly stepped into the breach. Thanks Ian! With inspired scheduling, Radio 4 is broadcasting this nostalgic look at the world of the youth hostel just as these remarkable institutions are opening their doors for the spring season. Adam Fowler has produced this sparkling salute with contributions from among others former Arts Minister and YHA warden Chris Smith. 
Before the world went wireless, we had The Electrophone - a subscription only service offering opera, light classics, music hall and political addresses piped down the phone. Dismissed for years as a “queer system that never really got off the ground”, it’s now being re-assessed. Thanks to the archive unearthed by people like Tim Crook of Goldsmiths’ College, we are now able to bring you some of the remarkable material that caused such a stir in Victorian and Edwardian parlours. Presented by Mathew Parris and produced by Christina Captieux, the programme features some remarkable recordings and Time Out has already picked it out as “priceless stuff”. 
She was the endearing mother figure who supplied tea and comic nourishment to a grateful nation. The writer and actress Mabel Constandouros created the character of the South London matriarch Mrs Buggins during the war. Running her family kitchen like a military campaign, she soon became an influential voice in the world of rationing and make-do and mend. Constandouros was a one-woman repertory company of voices, and is still renowned as the most prolific writer in British radio history. Emily Williams produces this timely tribute, which features contributions from Barry Cryer, Desmond Carrington and Marguerite Patten.