Programmes

Programmes 2004

BBC Radio 4 - Conservation Pioneers

Saturday, 14th of February 10:30am

Julian Pettifer presents a landmark three part series based on the stories of the unsung pioneers of the post war British conservation movement, from those who cleared polluted reed beds to the amateur lobbyists who badgered Governments to listen to their cause...

BBC Radio 4 - Married to Teacher

Thursday, 4th of March 8.00pm

A frank and revealing look at the subject of student-teacher liaisons as seen through the experiences of couples who met in the classroom. Rosie Goldsmith considers the great taboo subject in the light of recent tightening of government regulations and discovers why it provokes such strong feelings from people.

BBC Radio 4 - Follow that with Your Sealions

Tuesday, 6th of April 11:30am

From Harding and Connolly to Boyce and Capstick. Phoenix Nights star Dave Spikey presents a two part series on the history of the Folk Club Comedian of the sixties and seventies and re-assesses the important part they played in the comedy lineage between club comics and 80’s stand-ups.

BBC Radio 4 - Fender Heaven

Saturday, 22nd of May 10:30 am

When, in 1997, Tony Blair appeared before the cameras with a Fender Stratocaster, he, or Alistair Campbell, had chosen the guitar well. The Strat has, for 50 years, stood for authority, cool, hip, and gut-churning erotic possibility. In this programme, David Stafford tells the intriguing story of Leo Fender’s invention, and traces it’s rise to become one of the most potent symbols of modern America.

BBC Radio 4 - The Reunion: The Mary Rose

Sunday, 8th of August 11:15 am

Sue MacGregor goes back to 1982 and the rising of Henry VIII’s tudor warship The Mary Rose from its grave at the bottom of the Solent in Portsmouth harbour. Just a few months after ships of the Falklands Fleet returned to the same harbour, this pioneering act of marine archaeology had the nation gripped and the raising was broadcast live on the BBC. What was brought up from the sea-bed was an astonishing array of Tudor artefacts from cutlery and shoes to ropes that still smelt of tar and syringes.

BBC Radio 4 - The Reunion: Christmas Island

Sunday, 15th of August 11.15am

Six people who’s lives were changed by one momentous event are brought together. On the 8th November 1957 they were witness to Britain’s first megaton Hydrogen bomb test at Christmas Island, a tiny coral atoll in the mid-Pacific ocean. Nothing could have prepared them for what they were about to experience, and nothing has made such an impression on their lives in the years since. Frank Corduroy pushed the button which released the bomb from his RAF Valient jet, National Serviceman Nick Harden and regular Sergeant Harry O’Sullivan were sitting under coconut palms 48,000feet below, District Officer Michael Ward and his wife Eileen Ward were on the bridge of HMS Messina, responsible for the Islanders who had been ushered into the ships hold to be shown films to distract their attention from the explosive power being detonated above them; and Aldermaston scientist Peter Jones, was closest to Ground Zero in an 8ft metal cube, recording data from the blast.

BBC Radio4 - The Reunion: The Everyman Theatre

Sunday 22nd of August 11.15

These were ‘rough and ready’ days. No changing rooms and little pay but in 1974 the Everyman theatre in Liverpool really did celebrate its poverty. The theatre was dedicated to new work, a collective style and a young local audience. 1974 was a halcyon time for the theatre with such names as Julie Walters, Peter Postlethwaite, Matthew Kelly, Barbara Dickson, Anthony Sher and Bill Nighy cutting their teeth, young writers including Willie Russell and Chris Bond and radical directors such as Alan Dosser and Jonathan Pryce. They had no idea they were making theatrical history.

BBC Radio 4 Congo Story

Sunday, 28th of August 5:40pm

Over a six year period the bloody tribal war in the Congo led to the death of over 3.5m people – mostly from disease and starvation. Through the writings of Timothy Ndrundru, a young doctor who has been working to preserve the lives of hundreds of Congolese citizens, we gain an intimate picture of one of the world’s forgotten civil wars.

BBC Radio 4 - The Reunion: Terrence Higgins Trust

Sunday, 29th of August 11.15

Terry Higgins was one of the first people in the UK to die with AIDS. A group of his friends wanted to prevent more people having to face the same illness as Terry and named a Trust after him. The Terrence Higgins Trust is now the UK’s leading HIV & AIDS charity and the largest in Europe. Throughout its history its profile has tended to be disproportionately high given its resources, income and size, it has been at the forefront of the fight against HIV & AIDS in this country ever since it started in 1982. In this programme Sue MacGregor re-unites the men and women drawn together by one mans death to begin a committed fight against AIDS. hoping to personalise and humanise AIDS in a very public way

BBC Radio 4 - The Reunion: European Referendum

Sunday, 5th of September 11.15

In June of 1975 the people of Britain took part in a referendum on one of the most contentious issues of post-war politics – Europe. It was the first – and so far the only – UK wide referendum – and provoked strong feelings on both sides of the argument. In this edition of ‘The Reunion’, Sue MacGregor brings together campaigners from the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ sides, to hear their memories of that historic vote on whether to Britain should stay in the European Community. Among those joining Sue are two leading members of the Labour government of the day – Tony Benn, who was one of the main figures campaigning for a ‘no’ vote and Baroness Williams, who as Shirley Williams was a passionate supporter of Britain staying in Europe.

BBC Radio 4 - The Reunion: Sixties supermodels

Sunday, 12th of September 11.15

The 1960s was the decade when a bolshy generation of babyboomers reached teenager-hood. In fashion, it was out with the careful smartness of the fifties and in with the mini skirt, the catsuit and the geometric hairdo. And there, splashed over the cover of every magazine, were the stunning faces at the front of this frenzy of innovation - a new breed of supermodels. Jill Kennington leapt from airplanes and danced half naked on pub tables,German-born Veruschka took to the modelling world to escape the horrors of her childhood. Celia Hammond, thought her peculiar nose meant she could never make it but became the heart-throb of a generation, and Edina Ronay, dubbed “the British Brigitte Bardot” dived into the swinging London scene with a vengeance. Forty years on, in the Reunion Sue MacGregor brings them back together.

BBC Radio 4 - The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Monday, 27th December 2004 3.00pm

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is unique in children's literature and was recently cited by George W Bush as the most influential book he had ever read. Poet John Hegley investigates the phenonmenon of the simple picture book that has been adopted by nutritionists, preachers, ecologists, actors, satirists and teachers... and is still a favourite among parents and children.