A round-up of BBC announcements and press releases and blogs, plus some highlights from our TV, radio and online output this week.
BBC micro:bit
Tuesday was a big day for BBC Digital and 12 year olds in the UK: up to one million BBC micro:bits were delivered free to every year 7 student in England and Wales, year 8 students in Northern Ireland and S1 student in Scotland.
The BBC micro:bit, launched as part of the BBC Make it Digital initiative, is a pocket-sized codeable computer that allows young people to get creative with technology, whatever their level of experience, and aims to help develop a new generation of digital pioneers.
An event to mark the moment was held at the Stock Exchanged in London. We were there to capture the moment in pictures.
Awards
We received the first Autism Award this week, recognising our efforts to make the BBC in Salford an easier place to visit and work in for those with autism.
The BBC also secured 10 wins at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards earlier this week including awards for all of our TV networks.
Looking ahead to future awards, Radio 4 launched the BBC Radio New Comedy Award 2016. The BBC Radio New Comedy Award is a nationwide stand-up comedy competition which has helped launch the careers of comedians such as Sarah Millican, Rhod Gilbert and Peter Kay. You have until Tuesday 19 April 2016 to submit your application.
Arrivals and Departures
On Tuesday Mark Linsey named new Director of BBC Studios. We also announced that Clare Pizey, Head of Factual Entertainment at the BBC for seven years, has taken on editorial control of Top Gear, working alongside series editor Alex Renton and Studio Editor Martin Dance.
Elsewhere, BBC Newsnight appointed Nick Watt as new Political Editor.
Announcements and blogs
On the About the BBC Blog, we marked the 70th anniversary of BBC Russian on Thursday, looked ahead to Easter programming on BBC Local Radio, and, ahead of her Good Friday documentary about Judas Iscariot, we spoke to Rev'd Kate Bottley about her career has a vicar and the impact of BBC sitcom 'Rev.' on the perception of the clergy in the UK. We also published a post originally written for the Indepedent by Head of Religion and Ethics Aquil Ahmed about the BBC One documentary broadcast earlier this week, 'The Battle for Christianity'.
Elsewhere in TV, we announced a new BBC Four series for former Top Gear presenter James May. 'The Reassembler' is a three-part series featuring James in a workshop constructing everyday gadgets we take for granted from scratch and seeing what it takes to get them working.
BBC Two published a casting announcement for series two of 'Top of the Lake' earlier this week. The new series - by See-Saw Films for BBC Two in association with BBC First in Australia, BBC UKTV in New Zealand, SundanceTV and Hulu in the United States, ARTE in France and BBC Worldwide - will see Elisabeth Moss reprise her role, joined by Gwendoline Christie.
Also in drama, more details were made available about Peter Moffat's new thriller 'Undercover' featuring Sophie Okenedo and Adrian Lester. A full press-pack including interviews with the production team are available via the Media Centre website.
Ahead of chef James Martin's final presenter appearance on Saturday Kitchen today, BBC One announced the roster of guest presenters who will take his place on the much-loved live Saturday morning cooking show including Lorraine Pascale, Michel Roux Jr, John Torode, Rick Stein. James offered an emotional goodbye at the end of his last show earlier on today. Thank you James, for your ten years on the programme. You will be missed.
In music, Radio 2 announced Mark Knopfler would appear at the Radio 2 Folk Awards. Also, ahead of Radio 1's Big Weekend in Exeter next week, tickets will be released during The Radio 1 Breakfast Show on Monday 4 April - with more free tickets than ever available to local people living in Exeter and Teignbridge. Over on The Voice UK blog, the guest performers for the remaining live shows were revealed including series 4 winner Stevie McCrorie, Zara Larsson, and series 5 winner Shawn Mendes.
And finally, keep an eye out next Saturday (2nd April) for a day of creative events across the UK and online - a day celebrating the first year of the Get Creative campaign which sought to inspire creativity amongst the UK population. The Get Creative Day on Saturday 2 April, 2016 celebrates a year of Get Creative – a campaign encouraging participation in arts, creativity and culture – initiated by the BBC and cultural movement What Next? and delivered in partnership with key cultural organisations including Voluntary Arts, Fun Palaces and the Crafts Council.
a-ha perform live in the Radio Theatre at BBC Broadcasting House in London for BBC Radio 2's In Concert and BBC Red Button.
Broadcast highlights
Twitter was alight when 'Line of Duty' returned to BBC Two on Thursday. Jed Mecurio's compelling drama got off to a swift start and had us gripped right up until the end of the first episode. The episode saw the Gogglebox viewers on the edge of their seats, and rightly so.
BBC Radio 2 producer Malcolm Prince's much-anticipated documentary about the 30 year career of the Pet Shop Boys got underway on the network with two hour-long episodes. A must-listen for anyone sucked-in to pop in the late 80s, the documentary charts the many albums the pop duo released, cutting much-loved tracks with first-hand accounts of their creation from Neil Tenant and Chris Lowe. The final two parts of the documentary series will be broadcast on Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 March respectively. A playlist of the tracks the duo picked for the documentary series is available via BBC Music.
Whilst we're talking about Radio 2 and the late 80s, be sure to listen to the network's In Concert this week featuring Norwegian pop trio A-Ha. The lucky audience who congregated in Broadcasting House's Radio Theatre bounced along excitedly to the likes of 'Take on Me'. The blissful trip down memory lane is available 'in vision' via the BBC Radio 2 website, BBC Red Button or as a catch-up of the live radio broadcast of the gig.
On BBC Two this week, the first episode of 'Employable Me' in which Britain's most extraordinary jobseekers attempt to prove that they are not unemployable. Also on BBC Two this week in Horizon, Professor Uta Frith explored life for those people with autism and asked whether more people are on the autism scale than we assume. The first episode of a new drama series about autism - 'The A Word' - was broadcast on BBC One on Tuesday.
BBC Three's Live at the BBC series saw Sofie Hagen delve into the world of 'super-fans'. All five episodes of BBC Three's drama 'Thirteen' are now available on BBC iPlayer. Episode 5 will air on BBC Two on 3rd April at 10pm (and 11pm in Northern Ireland).
Some of our Easter programming included 'The Battle For Christianity' in which Professor Robert Beckford looked at how immigration, radical social action, conservative morality and charismatic worship are transforming the face of Christianity in the UK. The two-part 'Mary Berry's Easter Feast' on BBC Two surveyed a range of Easter culinary specialities from of a variety of Christian churches - episode two is also available on BBC iPlayer.
And for comedy fans, episode three of the series exploring Jimmy Perry and David Croft's work often chronicled Britain in the 20th century continued by examining how they saw the British in love. Episodes one, and two are available on BBC iPlayer.
