Archives for December 2010

Join us on The Archers blog between 10am and 7.30pm on Sunday 2 January to celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Archers as it happens.

Consider yourselves warned (and warmly invited). The special 60th anniversary episode of The Archers is only days away and we want you to join in.

All day, from the beginning of the Radio 4 omnibus episode at 10am until the climax of the 30-minute special episode at 7.30pm we'll be running a live chat on the Archers blog, keeping time with Radio 7's simultaneous day-long Archers epic (classic episodes and omnibuses from the history of the programme running up to the big episode).

We'll be publishing your comments about characters and storylines plus the building speculation about the event expected to 'shake the Archers to the core.' We'll also bring you pictures and stories from the history of the drama all day. Visit the Archers blog at any time from 0945 on Sunday to join in - and tell your friends.

Then, during the anniversary episode itself (an unprecedented double-length programme starting at 7pm), visit The Archers homepage for a 'tweetalong' - The discussion about the anniversary episode on Twitter (which is sure to be lively) will be animated on the page in an app developed specially for the anniversary. Join in by using the hashtag #TheArchers on Twitter.

Steve Bowbrick is editor of the Radio 4 blog

• The Archers has five million weekly listeners. It's the longest-running broadcast drama anywhere in the world. Listen on Radio 4 at 7pm Sunday to Friday (and Monday to Friday at 1400 for the repeat) and on Sunday at 1000 for the weekly omnibus.
• Download The Archers to listen to on your computer or MP3 player. Subscribe to podcasts for the daily programme and weekly omnibus
• The Archers messageboards are among the most popular at the BBC. Follow @BBCTheArchers on Twitter for behind-the-scenes updates, links and RTs.
• The picture shows the party to celebrate the 2000th episode of The Archers in 1958. It's from the BBC's picture archive and the caption reads: "picture shows (left-right) Patricia Green (Jill Archer), Norman Painting (Philip Archer), Joy Davis? (Mrs Fairbrother), unidentified female, and Thelma Rogers (Peggy Archer)." Update: Tim Bentinck, who plays David Archer, points out that the unidentified female is Leslie Saweard, who has been playing Christine since 1953.

Editor's note - the second instalment of Ed Reardon's midwinter odyssey. There are more to come. Still no fee - SB.

Readers of my previous posting, or message in a bottle... actually message in the hope of a bottle would be more accurate (white or red, either gratefully received) - but a hope destined to be dashed, judging from the vehemence of the response when I had the temerity to ask for a small fee for contributing these words. The 'BlogMaster' as he styles himself, no doubt hankering after all those wasted years at 'uni' playing Dragons and Dungeons, left me under no illusion that far from embracing some silly outdated concept like 'being paid for writing', the invitation to do this was a privilege and one for which Ed Reardon should count himself lucky.

Well, I suppose it's not every day that I get to rub shoulders with the likes of Melvyn Bragg whose erudite 'In Our Time' blog posts range far and wide from the cute office puppy to 10th century Viking funeral ships and back to the cute puppy again. So, to recap... readers of my previous posting will be on tenterhooks - or 'tender hooks' as I heard someone on Radio 5 Live say the other day, though to be fair (as their football pundits are so fond of interjecting), the accurate usage does contain a daunting three syllables.

Incidentally, when I tuned in to 5 Live Sports Extra for the test match commentary good and early the other morning I heard the station being described as 'From the creators of 5 Live' no less! For the Corporation to blow its own trumpet about the World Service, say, might be understandable, but is this particular act of creation, the home of phone-ins for the compassionately challenged, anything of which to be proud? The Almighty must be turning in his grave.

Anyway, readers will be on tenterhooks to discover how went my foray into Broadcasting House, the dual purpose being to record some promotional 'trailers' for the forthcoming series of Ed Reardon's Week and more importantly to come back with a substantial haul of party food - the latter in lieu of payment for the former - to keep Elgar and me going over the tricky festive period.

The omens seemed propitious. The studio I was led into had played host to The Moral Maze's Christmas Special the night before, and was thus in sore need of BBC cleaners (or more probably eager volunteers from the Big Society to come in off the streets) to clear up the empty wine bottles, wreckage of pulled crackers and torn paper hats - and, cryptically, the legend 'MP Fancies MB' in shocking-pink lipstick letters smeared on the glass window between studio and engineer's booth.

The identity of this fun-loving couple would have to wait until I'd had a look through the Christmas Radio Times at the Euston station bookstall (a quick flick, as they've started recognising me) because time was getting on and the snacks would no doubt be disappearing down 12 year-old gullets like hapless warblers feeding a giant baby cuckoo.

In my party-going days in London some twenty years ago, sound advice to a would-be gatecrasher was 'Say you know Dave'. Now in my experience, it is either 'Ben' or 'Matt' (or both to be on the safe side) that has the desired effect at a media function, and all was going swimmingly until I tried to pass through the metal detector at the entrance to the Radio Theatre. It was a moment of sheer Hardyesque frustration as yet again the fates conspired against me. If only I'd taken the rubber dice or the tangled-pieces-of-plastic puzzle from the remains of those crackers instead! But no, I'd been too clever by half and pocketed the bottle opener - which being from a cracker was already bent and useless.

But the damage was done and I was ejected as a potential thief, which was technically correct though I would have preferred not to have it loudly announced in the foyer of Broadcasting House while genuine infant friends of Matt and Ben swanned through Security clutching their Hamleys bags.

So, back home to Berko, tail between legs. But on the mat, a welcome surprise for once from the BBC. Back in 1974 a sketch the teenaged Ed Reardon had sent in about Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips appearing on The Generation Game had been used on Week Ending. Moreover since the advent of Radio 7 it had apparently been repeated eighty-six times.

Unbeknownst to their client, my agents had held onto the fees until the total passed ten pounds. And there it was, showing up in my bank account which I dared broach on-line for the first time in months. Enough for a meal, a half-decent bottle of Barolo and a handful of charity Christmas cards for my nearest, dearest, and agent.

Ed Reardon is an author, pipe smoker, consummate fare-dodger and master of the abusive e-mail

• Read Ed's previous blog post.
• Ed is back in a new series of Ed Reardon's week, written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas, on 10 January and you can hear his Edinburgh special 'An Audience with Ed Reardon' on 3 January at 1130.
• Subscribe to Melvyn Bragg's newsletter (the one with the puppy) on the Radio 4 web site.
• The picture shows Bruce Forsyth and Anthea Redfern on The Generation Game - root cause of Ed's life-saving royalties cheque - in 1976.
• More pics of Ed on Flickr.

Editor's note: securing a Thought for the Day from Pope Benedict XVI wasn't a simple matter. Head of Radio, Religion and Ethics Christine Morgan explains - SB

When I first began to talk three years ago about the possibility of the Pope doing Thought for the Day everyone laughed. I was told it was impossible. But I kept raising the idea with senior figures in the Catholic Church in this country and then in Rome. Three years on, after various trips and endless conversations, letters and calls we found a way of making it happen.

The call to say it was definitely going ahead came on Monday lunchtime. It was a bit like moving house; after months of tortuous preparation suddenly it was all happening very fast. I didn't even know for sure if I'd be able to get out there with the weather conditions causing so much chaos. Then we found there was one seat left on the last flight to Rome that day. I had 40 minutes to pack and get to the airport.

I arrived late Monday night. Unfortunately my luggage didn't. The airline managed to lose my bag so, next day, Pattie Parttee from the BBC Rome office marched me across the city to the shops to get on with finding something suitable to wear to meet the Pope.

This time last year I was in Rome to see some of the key people. The British Ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Campbell's advice and assistance through the labyrinthine paths of Vatican diplomacy was invaluable. The visit to the Vatican in February by the Director General Mark Thompson was a game-changer. But the success of the Pope's four-day visit to Britain in September clearly made a big difference to the Pope himself. He developed a genuine warmth for the people of Britain and was receptive when David Willey, the BBC's Rome correspondent, asked again. He then agreed to this morning's historic broadcast. It's the first time any Pope has ever written a script for a particular broadcaster - let alone an individual programme.

Over the past 20 years I've produced so many exceptional contributors on Thought for the Day. But I never thought that on Wednesday I would be sitting with Benedict XVI in the Vatican recording the first 'Thought' ever done by a Pope. The atmosphere was amazingly warm and relaxed and in conversations with officials beforehand it was clear he had agreed to do this because he likes radio.

It's a real real endorsement of the very distinctive nature of Thought for the Day and its profile as a key part of Britain's morning agenda. As I listened to it coming out of my bedside radio this morning it felt, quite simply, amazing!

• Listen to the Pope's Thought for the Day on the Radio 4 web site.
• Download Thought for the Day to listen to on your computer or MP3 player by subscribing to the podcast.
• The picture shows a view of Saint Peter's square at the Vatican as Pope Benedict XVI celebrates a mass on Easter Sunday (Getty Images).

I don't think I've ever done this before. I'm lying in bed at a quarter past five in the morning, dictating the newsletter before I've done the programme. This is because we are doing a live programme, pausing for an hour or so and then recording a programme. After which mince pies with the In Our Time team. After which diving into the West End to take one of my daughters for a Christmas lunch. Then a meeting. Back to Poland Street to clear up the week's work and more mince pies, and jingling through the snow to Euston and into the deep North.

So there wouldn't be time for me to do it afterwards and it would be unfair to Ingrid to ask her to bang this out on Christmas Eve. Hence the prologue form. It has possibilities. What are they going to say? My view of the Industrial Revolution is hero-based. Men like my father who left school at the age of about fourteen but were full of invention and intelligence, thwarted in the established system, turned their hands to invention and exploring the mechanical world.

Out of the cottages and small coalitions in the northern counties and parts of Scotland came a revolution which eventually rippled round the world. Aircraft hangar factories in China are based on factory systems established in Derbyshire. We live still in an age wrought by coal, iron, steel and the almost inexplicable surge in intelligent design by a few northern men. Yet again, a small cluster making a seismic difference.

There's something about the North that I'd like to write about one day. It's not a nation, of course. And it is part of England. But whenever you go there it's such a separate place. Not only the landscape - the Lake District, the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, the expanses of Northumbria. And not only accents and the dialects obdurate still and still spoken well. Perhaps it's the Norse infusion. Perhaps it's because it has taken such a battering over the last thousand years, being laid waste by William the Conqueror and, in its own terms, laid into on and off ever since.

It's been a place from which rebellions have come and a place where individuality of religion, for instance, has persisted most strongly. And then there's this great Industrial Revolution. I wonder what they're going to say? In the briefings and the extracts that I've read, there is a tendency to play down the contribution of individuals. There is talk of how the colonial possessions of Britain gave it a flying start. Of how the slave trade brought in goods which plumped the economy and the Indian textile industry fed, and was fed by, Britain in protectionist and unfair ways. There is talk about mercantile nexus. On it goes. With some historians it's a bit of a fight to foreground individuals. All is flow. Perhaps I'm being unfair. One of the pleasures of this programme is to have your own ideas and find them expertly proved to be wrong when you hit the air at 9:02.

Looking at the bleak midwinter outside my bedroom window, it's difficult to believe that the days are lengthening. Hilly Hampstead has been Dickensian. Over the weekend, trying to post Christmas cards, I had to go from one postbox to another as the Post Office had sealed up the main boxes for ergonomic reasons (I hope that's how they spelled it; it was to do with health and safety). The pavements had become slides, like the great slide in A Christmas Carol. And kids whizzed down them while we, their elders, tiptoed tentatively, looking for a post box with an open mouth. Hampstead Heath was wonderfully child-full. Sledges galore and snowball fights wherever you looked. One young American girl was expertly making a pile of snowballs and instructing a young boy, who was rather nervous, I thought, and was probably her brother, but the thing was to have "a stockpile of snowballs".

One great lack this year has been no sighting of a Salvation Army band. It never fails to turn up in Hampstead High Street. But either the weather put it off (which I doubt) or I didn't turn up when they happened to be there. It's a big miss. There was a brass band on the concourse of Leeds Station a week or so ago, so perhaps that will have to do. But it's not the same as the Salvation Army band. Perhaps they were playing to the passengers lining up outside St Pancras Station. Interestingly, it was the Salvation Army who turned up with tea and biscuits as they have done in the East End of London for more than a century now.

So, out of bed, back to the notes, off to work and a Merry Christmas to everybody. I hope you don't mind if for my New Year newsletter I enclose a link to a couple of photographs. If anything sensational does happen after the programmes, then I'll try to persuade Ingrid into a postscript. Otherwise a Happy New Year.

PS: Well, that first programme certainly went in a direction we had not anticipated. By "we" I mean the producer, Tom Morris, and myself. We wanted to go steadily through coal, steam, canals, iron ... Instead I think what happened was that we hit the crunch of what is going on in historical interpretation today. On the one hand, there seems to be the cutting down of the value and importance of individual contributions.

On the other, the building up of a form of knowledge which masses various strands together and considers the interconnections between these masses to be, in themselves, instigators of particular change. It's a question of balance and we got rather overheated, I think; in the context of a live programme where opinions are strongly held, disagreements sometimes come out rather heatedly. But it's worth disagreeing about. Clearly there is more to come and as I dictate this I'm trying to get ready for programme 2 - the consequences and the legacy. But I think that's it for 2010. Back to the dogs and I'll be back on January 6th.

Melvyn Bragg is presenter of In Our Time

• Listen to yesterday's episode of In Our Time, the first of two about The Industrial Revolution, on the Radio 4 web site. Part two is on Radio 4 next Thursday at 0900.
• The pictures show Marcel, the puppy featured in many recent newsletters.
• In Our Time has been on-air since 1998 and you can listen to every single programme on the web site (the largest online programme archive at the BBC).
• Read and subscribe to Melvyn Bragg's newsletter and subscribe to the podcast.

Editor's note: I have asked Radio 4's favourite journeyman-scribe Ed Reardon to document his festive season in four blog posts, to be published here between now and the first episode of his new series in the new year. Licence fee-payers may be gratified to learn that no fee was paid - SB.

It is that time of year when Elgar's tin of cat-food has snow on the letters of the word 'VALUE' and sprigs of holly round the dents. In short, 'tis the season to be jolly... jolly inventive that is, when blagging one's way uninvited into television or radio drama department parties. 'Blagging' is in fact a clue to the Reardon modus operandi, a term dating back to 1970s' crime series, when young writers such as myself sat in agreeable houses in North London and imagined scenes set in disagreeable South London lock-up garages.

TV producers' offices then bore a more than passing resemblance to said lock-ups, only with cases of wine and whisky piled high behind the desk rather than some dodgy but lovable villain's stash of music centres, church-roof lead and in one memorable episode of Minder, talking parakeets. The Christmas parties were lavish and Bacchanalian and it was a point of honour among writers never to leave empty-handed. I well remember two young Turks of British theatre stumbling away from Teddington Lock in a Jake the Peg arrangement, one Afghan coat between them concealing four bottles of Southern Comfort in an empty trouser leg.

Being extremely well-rewarded for putting words like "Leave it out, Tel" into colourful geezers' mouths, we didn't actually need to go to any of those lengths, but back then the thrill of the chase was all, and with it the warm glow of triumph at having successfully made off with a carafe of Paul Masson, a pocket full of king prawns and a toothsome PA with whom to share them in an account taxi home.

Of course this was in the palmy era when each ITV company had its own plush office block. These days it is not the whisky that is twelve years old but the producers, all crammed like oily and headless sardines onto one floor on the South Bank, the rest of the building being reserved for the personal and private use of Messrs Jason and, latterly, Clunes. Ed Reardon too has felt the chill wind of financial reality in recent years (17 of them to be precise) with the result that more often than not it's been a case of no Christmas party, no Christmas dinner.

But then, a sudden chink in the curtains hitherto firmly drawn in front of the window of opportunity! A call arrives from a person at the BBC, possibly male although as the voice is barely broken it's hard to tell, informing me that it would be 'plugtastic' if I were to promote the next series of Ed Reardon's Week by travelling to Broadcasting House at my own expense from Berkhamsted and recording some 'bijou trailerettes' - argot I thought had disappeared with Round the Horne, so presumably this is an example of post-post-post-modernism.

I have no need of Skype or whatever asinine nomenclature it goes under to be able to picture this offensively salaried creature: betrainered feet up on the desk (undoubtedly the only use for it) and shortie scarf knotted invitingly at the throat. However, I do not quite justifiably slam the 'phone down, my usual reaction, as a metaphorical lightbulb has appeared above my head - albeit only 30 watts and one which I'm obliged to carry with me from kitchen to bathroom, the finances being what they are. Entering the BBC on official business means a one-day badge, and to an old pro like myself that also means Access To All Areas.

If I were to set out early enough that would give me time to find a route from the studio - traversing the wasteland of football tables, cartoon furniture and empty work-stations like a modern-day Patrick Leigh Fermor - to the ultimate destination of the BBC Radio Theatre where doubtless some thoroughly undeserved Christmas party should be in full swing. Or failing that the recording of an episode or two of Brain of Britain, where it will be possible both to scoff at the appalling ignorance on display and fall asleep in comfortable warmth.

So: Check-list for the day ahead. Padabag sewn inside overcoat - it protects the pockets from anything too greasy and keeps purloined sausage rolls or pieces of sushi intact. Home-made 'Out of Order' sign for the train toilet to allow free travel (carefully remembering to take a choice of two, one in italic lettering in case it's a Virgin Pendolino). A last look outside to check that Roger Bolton isn't coming up the hill - when Feedback isn't on the air he's always on the cadge for a couple of drinks and a chance to put the world to rights.

And - over the top!

Ed Reardon is an author, pipe smoker, consummate fare-dodger and master of the abusive e-mail

• Ed is back in a new series of Ed Reardon's week, written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas, on 10 January and you can hear his Edinburgh special 'An Audience with Ed Reardon' on 3 January at 1130.
• The picture is by Mary Thompson. Some rights reserved.
• More pics of Ed on Flickr.

We were planning to update you on the Christmas Appeal as we did last year on the 12th day of Christmas but we couldn't resist sharing our news. We are almost at last year's record total of £900,000 and it is not yet even christmas and as you will see from the picture - there is still a lot of post to open.

Currently you have raised £850,000 for the Radio 4 St Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal! As ever the donations come in all shapes and sizes... one of the volunteers told me how he opened one cheque for two pounds and then the next was two hundred - it's all those donations big and small that have got us to this amazing total.

The other lovely thing we wanted to share with you are the quotes from the letters we receive:

I used to have a good friend, Dennis, a homeless man who spoke so highly of you. He used to say if you are in the gutter, look up and you will see the stars.

Hello, I'm writing from a little village in Devon. There's over a foot of snow outside & the roads are frozen. I cannot imagine how anyone can be sleeping on the street tonight. Herewith my paltry contribution"

No donation is paltry to us, of course.

This is the money I would have spent on Christmas cards if I hadn't made them myself. I'm sending it after listening to your appeal on the radio.

Many of us are set for hard times ahead; I don't have much but at present have more than some so am happy to give when I can. Keep up the good work.

If you are in sight of a BBC big screen - there are 18 of them around the UK - look out for Jamie's audio slideshow. It is the first time this 84 year-old Radio appeal has appeared on the big screens... but why not? (If you happen to have a camera with you when you see it - perhaps you could take a picture for us?) So thank you so much for all your support and kind words. We will continue to open post over the Christmas period and we will be back to update you on the 12th day of Christmas.

Sally Flatman is producer of The Radio 4 Appeal

• Make a donation on the Radio 4 web site.
• Pictures by homeless photographers from The Connection's photography group are on Flickr.
• The BBC Radio 4 Appeal has a Facebook page. Visit the page and click the 'Like' button for updates on the weekly appeal which raised a total of £1.5M for 52 charities last year.

BBC Radio 4 has just made this announcement:

Pope Benedict XVI, will deliver his Thought For The Day on Radio 4, Friday 24th December at 7.45am.

Pope Benedict's Christmas message to the British people follows his UK visit in September. In an unprecedented move - the Pope has not presented material specifically written for a radio or television audience before - Pope Benedict recorded Thought For The Day in Rome on Wednesday 22nd December.

Gwyneth Williams, Controller, BBC Radio 4 said: "I'm delighted Pope Benedict is sharing his Christmas message with the Radio 4 audience. It's significant that the Pope has chosen Thought for the Day to give his first personally scripted broadcast - and what better time to do so than on the eve of one of the biggest celebrations on the Christian calendar."

Thought for the Day is broadcast within the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 at 7.45am Monday - Saturday. It offers approximately three minutes of personal reflection from faith leaders and believers from a range of religious denominations. Those contributing to the programme have included Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Indarjit Singh and Mona Siddiqui.

Thought for the Day was first broadcast in 1970, succeeding earlier religious thought strands Ten to Eight (1965-1970) and Lift Up Your Hearts on the BBC Home Service (1939-1965).

• Listen to Thought for the Day during Today on the Radio 4 web site.
• Download Thought for the Day to listen to on your computer or MP3 player by subscribing to the podcast.
• The picture shows Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the UK in September 2010.

Robin Brooks dramatised 'I, Claudius' for BBC Radio 4. Here, he writes about the pleasures of adapting Graves for radio. His post begins with a clip from the current episode - SB

As material for dramatisation, one of the best things about 'I, Claudius' is that it starts very well and then gets better as it goes on. As the dynasty unravels - Graves produces more and more splendid villains for our delectation: grandma-serial killer Livia, her son the morose and sexually perverted Tiberius, ghastly Gnaeus Piso (to whom the telly version devotes virtually an entire episode), Tiberius's slimy sidekick Sejanus, nephew Caligula, who can now be heard waiting about on the fringes of the action, ready to reveal himself as the most glorious psychopath of all, even Claudius's monstrous, murderous wife Urgulanilla, will now get her moment in the spotlight. Livia herself is still hanging grimly on, and in episode 3 she has a long scene with Claudius, in which she finally reveals to him the extent of her villainy. These characters are a gift to the writer, and to the actors, who, as I hope you've noticed by now, attack them with delightful relish.

One of the more unusual aspects about this production has been the golden memory of the television version. I have heard some people claim that this is definitive, and that no further version need be made. I think that's nonsense; I, Claudius is a classic, and deserves re-interpretation as much as any other. But there's no denying that the 70's series is remembered vividly by everyone who saw it, and that it is a very, very hard act to follow.

One of things that makes it possible to attempt our own version is the difference between the two media. Take the scene in episode 1 in which soothsayer Thrasyllus announces Tiberius's recall to Rome because of the drowning of his rival. In the book, Thrasyllus talks to a little wren which perches close by to deliver the good news. (One of the things I like most about Graves is that he takes magic and ancient superstition very seriously). In the TV version a trained wren is not a practical possibility. Jack Pullman has a centurion come in and deliver the news, and then turns this to his advantage by showing the centurion's appalled reaction to Tiberius's delighted laughter at the drowning.

With the magic of radio, the original presents no problem - the wren arrives, chirrups, flutters off - and the same might be said of many more such scenes: gladiatorial combat and mutinying legions are all rather easier to do on radio than elsewhere, unless you have Ridley Scott or Charlton Heston on board, of course. I suppose what I'm saying in a nutshell is that radio adaptation - certainly as far as 'I, Claudius' is concerned - allows one to be more faithful, really extremely faithful, to the book, and this is very satisfying to me personally, because I have always loved the novel. What it comes down to in the end, is that Robert Graves wrote a truly wonderful book.

Robin Brooks

• Listen to 'Sejanus', the third episode of 'I, Claudius' on Sunday at 1500 and listen again on the Radio 4 web site.
• The picture shows Tim McInnerny as Tiberius.
• There's a very handy 'I, Claudius' family tree on the Radio 4 web site (PDF).

Editor's note: Sally Flatman, producer of all the Radio 4 Appeal programmes, brings us news from St Martin's. Make your own donation to the appeal on the Radio 4 web site - SB.

We've had an amazing start to this year's appeal - on Sunday, taking calls in London and Belfast from 8am till 10pm we received over £100,000. That is a record but you'll understand why we are still holding our breath - we don't underestimate the challenge of reaching last year's total of £900,000 particularly in the current economic climate.

The job of opening the post is really only just beginning but the team of volunteers is in place and working hard. (there are usually sacks of mail) As ever there are extraordinary donations like the postal orders which total £750 from someone who simply says that they: "spent two nights in the night shelter in 2001... thank you very much all involved".

We will keep in touch as the post gets opened. Thank you to all of you who have given via the web - again we are seeing more donations this year from the web but does this mean there will be fewer cheques? We still don't know at this stage.

If you haven't yet given and would still like to then please call 0800 082 82 84 or send your cheque made payable to St Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal to Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 4JJ. If you are giving via the web do spare a couple of minutes to watch Jamie Winter's slideshow: The World Through the Eyes of a Homeless Photographer.

In the meantime we thought we would share this picture with you - the post being answered back in 1950 ...note the sign on the wall - 'PLEASE DON'T TALK' And what a lot of hats...

Sally Flatman is producer of The Radio 4 Appeal

• Listen to the Radio 4 St Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal and make a donation on the Radio 4 web site.
• Listen to Libby Purves' Received with Thanks about how your donations are used.
• The BBC Radio 4 Appeal has a Facebook page. Like the page for updates on the weekly appeal which raised a total of £1.5M for 52 charities last year.

A rare voice from the internet underground on Today this morning. Cold Blood is a member of the informal alliance of hackers that goes by the name Anonymous. The loosely-coordinated group came together to attack the Church of Scientology's web site in 2008 and is now taking credit for 'Operation Payback' - the attacks on the web sites of organisations withdrawing their services from Wikileaks.

Cold Blood is a twenty two year-old software engineer and, when asked who he admired, named Kevin Mitnick (jailed hacker legend) and Linus Torvalds (originator of the Linux operating system). When asked about his politics, he professed not to know. An intriguing insight into the mind of thecounterculture that supports Wikileaks.

Steve Bowbrick is editor of the Radio 4 blog

• The clip is from this morning's Today programme. Listen to the programme on the Radio 4 web site, follow @R4Today on Twitter and download daily highlights.
• The picture shows members of the anonymous group at an anti-Scientology protest in 2008. It's from the Wikimedia Commons.
• On the BBC News web site, Wikileaks spokesman Kristin Hrafnsson is questioned about the attacks on Mastercard.com and other sites.
• The Guardian's page of Wikileaks coverage and The Telegraph's story about 'Operation Payback'.

You always feel nervous at 7.55am when you are waiting for the Vicar's Radio 4 Christmas Appeal to go out on air - will the phones really start ringing any second. But I need not have worried, our Radio 4 listeners don't let us down - they were ringing to give to this the 84th annual appeal all day on Sunday.

The Reverend Nicholas Holtam says: "The volunteers answering the phones were marvellous. I kept hearing snippets of conversation. Someone gave £5, someone else £1,000, I was really struck that as the volunteers left at the end of their shift answering the phones they nearly all said, "Thank you. It is a privilege to be able to help." This is a very personal appeal with a lot of warmth and generosity."

Many were moved by the story in Received with Thanks, Libby Purves' report back programme how the money from the appeal is spent, of the homeless man who gives his shoes to an older homeless man whose shoes had been stolen. One listener wrote a cheque but also sent two pairs of men's shoes with a note which read: "I hope you can make good use of these – I wish you well."

Others liked hearing from Rosemary Morgan who first heard the Christmas Appeal when she was growing up in Wales, "it touched a spot" and she has been giving to it ever since. She is now 81 years old. The current vicar of St Martins thinks she must have been listening to the Rev Eric Loveday who was at the church from 1941-1947.

If you haven't seen Jamie Winter's photographs and slideshow do spare a couple of minutes to take a look. We knew we wanted to put a slideshow together for this year's appeal and the idea emerged to give clients at the Connection disposable cameras. A photography group was set up and very quickly we realised how powerful these pictures were. Now that photography group has won the Talk Talk Digital Heroes award.

Ben Richardson who runs the group said: "the group are bowled over - it's a huge recognition and everyone is very excited about the potential for doing something in the new year... it opens doors."

These pictures have the power to reveal to us things we don't know about homelessness. Libby Purves says:

Meeting people at the Connection is always fascinating and - despite the harshness of the lives they have come from - oddly heartening. It is extraordinary to meet a young man like Jamie, emerging from a loneliness and alienation so traumatic that he did not speak for months, and find him friendly, creative, and above all filled with hope that he will have a home and a job before long. His achievement - still in progress - is considerable, but so is the achievement of those who over those long months stuck by Jamie, encouraged him, and suggested outlets for his considerable gift of quirky creativity. I felt honoured that he was willing to talk to me and show me his witty, thoughtful photographs.

Sally Flatman is producer of The Radio 4 Appeal

• The Vicar's Christmas Appeal will be repeated at 3.25 on Thursday afternoonMake a donation on the Radio 4 web site.
• Received with Thanks will repeat at 3.45 on Thursday afternoon.
• Pictures by The Connection's photography group are on Flickr.
• The BBC Radio 4 Appeal has a Facebook page. Like the page for updates on the weekly appeal which raised a total of £1.5M for 52 charities last year.
• Picture of telephones by Dan Brady. Some rights reserved.

For many listeners to Feedback, it will be many years since they listened to Radio 1 - if they ever did. That's a problem for us on the Feedback team because we're here to represent the views of listeners of all the national networks. But because it's broadcast on Radio 4 - what happens on that station is inevitably what we hear about most from you. So how to introduce other networks into the mix without scaring the horses?

Well prepare for a bit of whinnying because that's what we're trying to do more of - starting with the station you like least - if your comments on the Radio 4 Facebook page are anything to go by. Some of you are very happy with Radio 4 thank you very much. But you might be surprised to know how many people do like to mix and match what they listen to switching - from Today to Fearne Cotton and PM to Scott Mills.

It's something we discovered as part of the Feedback RadioSwap Challenge when we asked two listeners to swap their favourite radio stations for a week. We launched our call to action on Twitter - which is a good place to start. Follow @BBCR4Feedback.

Radio 4ophile Heather Dontenville and her Radio 1 loving stepdaughter Jenni couldn't resist. It was a stroke of luck for us that they were both supertechie types and willingly kept other listeners up-to-date with their adventures across the dial. They are both on Twitter and not only that, they willingly uploaded daily audio diaries during the long seven days between Feedback programmes.

Heather AKA MrsCordial was several days in to self-imposed exile in Radio 1-land when she tweeted:

"Aha, first international news I've hrd on @BBCR1, Korea+Gay Pride India

But she also confessed that she was:

"Really surprised at how many old songs @BBCR1 is playing!"

And that she'd developed a particular liking for a band called The Wombats.

Their daily audio diaries were not up to Radio 4's preferred broadcast quality but we used short excerpts of them on last week's programme to give us an on-the-spot insight into how they were getting on.

Heather mentioned Radio 1's latest social action campaign 'Relationships Week' where presenters talked about everything from dating to divorce. Lots of presenters invited their parents on to their shows with them. Heather particularly enjoyed Greg James's Radio 1 slot which turned into a "bring your Dad to work day".

And still on parenting, one of the highlights for A-level student Jenni was a discussion on Woman's Hour about Ed Milliband and paternity leave. She also enjoyed a lot of Radio 4 comedy - and The Archers although that was partly so she could trade Borchester gossip for news of last week's number one single.

For us at Feedback it was a very interesting experiment not only to discover who likes what and why but also to identify a communications divide on the matter. There are many ways to feed back. Emails on the topic were very slow but the chatter on Twitter and the Radio 4 Facebook page was very lively. @barkingbabs tweeted:

"Swap @BBCRadio4 for @BBCR1 ? I'd rather swap vital organs!"

And on Facebook Andrew Stagg said he'd rather walk naked upon the wolf-infested steppes of Kazakhstan with pieces of raw meat dangling from his body than listen to Radio 1.

Listen to some more of the highlights from Heather and Jenni's interview with Roger Bolton from last week's Feedback. And keep in touch - which ever way suits you.

Are you a one-station man or woman or do you like a bit of a mash-up? The RadioSwap has brought lots of younger Radio 4 fans out of the woodwork - should Radio 4 do more to attract them or is the network perfect as it is?

Feedback is off air now until January 28th but don't forget the programme caters for your views on all of the BBC's national stations. We're hoping the controllers of all of them will come onto Feedback next year so we need to know what you want to hear from them.

Karen Pirie is producer of Feedback

• On Twitter, Jenni is @Smidge_xo and Heather is @MrsCordial.
• Their audio diaries are on Audioboo: Jenni, Heather.
• Jenni's written a blog post about the experience - today is day four.
• Listen again to this week's Feedback, produced by Karen Pirie, get in touch with Feedback, find out how to join the listener panel or subscribe to the podcast on the Feedback web page.
• Feedback is now on Twitter. Follow @BBCFeedback.
• Picture Horse, by Roadside Pictures. Some rights reserved.

Have you ever wondered who will be on the end of phone when you ring up to give to the Radio 4 St Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal? Well if you hear the bells in the background you are through to the offices of St Martins in Trafalgar square where volunteers will answer the phones all day on Sunday - you might even get the vicar taking your call!

Gill - who is Assistant to the Controller of Radio 4 has answered the phones for many years she says:

What's special is getting a chance to talk to people all over the country, and it's lovely when in the background they can hear the bells of St Martins! We often talk about Radio 4 and the weather! Often callers have heard the broadcast and they say:'there but for the grace of God go I'. There's no complacency about our listeners, being homeless is not something that happens to other people, they understand how easily these things can happen.

Pam Rutherford is a BBC radio producer in the Science Unit:

Pam Rutherford.

I answered the phones a few years ago for the Radio 4 Christmas appeal and it was great fun and also quite moving at times. A few people who phoned up to make donations had similar stories of homelessness and had been helped out in the past by charities like the Radio 4 appeal. Their stories were inspiring. The vicar comes round and chats to you in the small gaps between taking phone calls! Basically it's great to help out with a charity that obviously does so much great work. I work about 500 metres down the road so I regularly walk past St Martin's and of course you often see homeless people around London so it's great to know there are places like The Connection and funds like the VRF which working to help them.

Last Sunday (28th Nov) Pam ran a marathon, raising money for the Christmas Appeal. Post marathon she said:

Err... it was very painful! I've done them before but this was the hardest ever - very cold and rainy. The charity was definitely a factor in keeping me going so thanks!

But don't be surprised if you get a Belfast accent. This year due to the volume of calls we took in 2009 we have recruited volunteers at the Capita call centre in Belfast where they answer our Radio 4 Appeal calls each week. They had plenty of desks and phones available on Sunday and offered to help out which is great.

Conor at Capita in Belfast:

We're looking forward to taking your calls on Sunday!

Sally Flatman is producer of The Radio 4 Appeal

• The Radio 4 Christmas Appeal begins on Sunday morning at 0755. Make a donation on the Radio 4 web site.
• Pictures by The Connection's photography group are on Flickr.
• The BBC Radio 4 Appeal has a Facebook page. Like the page for updates on the weekly appeal which raised a total of £1.5M for 52 charities last year.
• Picture of telephones by Dan Brady. Some rights reserved.

I am staring at a pile of papers on my desk. It's 5 inches high. To anyone passing by, it's just a rather tedious heap of orange and blue folders. But to me, it represents a period in my life when I became utterly obsessed with making a single radio documentary. So obsessed that at one point my boss feared that I was losing my marbles.

It all started about 5 years ago. I heard about a legendary tale of escape and endurance, a book called The Long Walk. It tells the story of Slavomir Rawicz, a Polish cavalry officer captured by the Soviets in 1939. He was tortured and sent to Siberia then made a dramatic escape from the gulag and started a mind-boggling trek south. He and his companions walked 4000 miles across Siberia, Mongolia, the Gobi Desert and even traversing the Himalayas before reaching the safety of British India.

The book had been a bestseller and stunned readers across the globe. But there was one niggling question. Was it true? Perhaps arrogantly, I thought with the BBC's investigative resources we could find out. And so the madness began...

Radio 4 commissioned a documentary, and I started work early, looking up databases, sending out letters and emails and visiting potential interviewees. The brilliant reporter Tim Whewell was presenting the programme and as a Russian speaker, he had access to further sources. There were leads everywhere. The Polish museum in London? Check. A high school in Warsaw? Check. State archives in Belarus? Check. A veterans association in Latvia? Check. Human rights groups in Moscow? Check. US Army Department? Check.

And on it went. More leads. More dead ends. Lists of phone numbers. Conversations with elderly survivors of appalling atrocities - but of no relevance to our story. Leads. Dead ends. Some of the blind alleys were not surprising - such as the polite but firm rejection of requests for information from the French Foreign Legion. Others were entertaining - such as a sheaf of confidential wartime intelligence reports from across South Asia. As I leafed through the documents at the National Archive, I noticed that each month's despatch was accompanied by a comic poem written by the anonymous compiler.

And then there were some results. A bundle of documents from Pinsk! A hand-written note in a card file in Hammersmith! An amnesty paper from a Californian library! Amazing! Amazing! I remember jumping up from my desk and charging into my boss's office, eyes flashing as I told her the earth-shattering news of our latest discovery... and her gazing at me sadly, as she wondered when the mania would end.

The whole thing was probably made worse by the fact I had a comrade in madness. An independent American researcher called Linda Willis was on the same trail. Was it her incredible energy and resourcefulness that led her to write to hundreds of people, email many more and dig around in dusty archives across the globe over the course of 10 years?

Hugh Levinson - driven to the edge.

Or was she as bonkers as I was?

Well, we did find out some facts in the end. Linda wrote a book, Looking for Mr. Smith. And I finally managed to produce a documentary, which aired in 2006. Now Tim and I have made a new version of the programme.

One reason is that the great director Peter Weir has made a film inspired by The Long Walk. He decided to direct his movie after listening to our documentary and consulting us about what was true and what wasn't.

The other reason for a new programme, is that since 2006 we have made some tantalising new discoveries.

New discoveries? I can feel the madness starting again...

Hugh Levinson is producer of The Long Walk

• Listen to The Long Walk at 1330 on Sunday December 5th
• Spoiler alert: Hugh wrote an article for the BBC News web site in 2006 at the height of his madness. Don't read it if you'd rather not know the outcome of his original research before you've heard the programme.
• Rawicz's book, The Long Walk, was published in 2006.
• The film of the book is called The Way Back and is due for release at Christmas. The picture shows the stack of papers that torments Hugh.

Editor's note: this blog post begins with a slideshow made by homeless photographer Jamie Winter, a member of a photography group run by The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields - SB

I once edited a Radio 4 debate about homelessness... We based it in the heart of London near Shaftesbury Avenue. The platform was filled with good people who worked hard and we drew out policy differences and approaches in the way we do at the BBC. A little way into the discussion the hall began to fill up with homeless people. Soon it was packed and the debate took a different turn as we responded to the voices of those who lived on the streets.

The atmosphere sharpened and simmered. A young woman, dark, with long hair, spoke up. I recall she said something like this: "If we took all you do-gooders and put your salaries together and split them up we could buy a flat for all of us homeless... why don't you just stop talking for once and think about that." I often think of her when it's cold - good time now perhaps to stop talking and support the Radio 4 Christmas Appeal.

Gwyneth Williams is Controller of BBC Radio 4 and Radio 7

• The Radio 4 Christmas Appeal begins on Sunday morning at 0755. Make a donation on the Radio 4 web site.
• Pictures by The Connection's photography group are on Flickr.
• The BBC Radio 4 Appeal has a Facebook page. Like the page for updates on the weekly appeal which raised a total of £1.5M for 52 charities last year.

There was once a head of BBC News, called Tahu Hole, who implemented a regime of extreme caution. In his, much resented, view it was the job of his staff only to report what others had found out rather than what they had uncovered for themselves. Each story would only be broadcast if there were already at least two other outside sources. The BBC did not break news.

Even 25 years ago, when I was editor of Panorama and then Nationwide, I found there was a tendency to believe news was what was written in the papers, rather than what my own journalists had discovered. Mind you, if we did have a good story, we were pretty ruthless in keeping it to ourselves and not letting our colleagues in News know about it until after transmission.

All that has now changed. For example, when File on 4 has a good story the reporter will often be interviewed about it on the Today programme and play clips from the programme, before the original report has actually been transmitted. In the last few days the Today programme, and other BBC news outlets, have given considerable space to a Panorama investigation into corruption among Fifa officials who would be deciding, as it turns out, that England would not be hosting the 2018 World Cup. Some of our listeners were worried that the report could damage England's chances, others note how many stories about the BBC are on the BBC.

The Corporation is often in the headlines, whether it be over a controversial play, like the recent one about the army in Afghanistan by Jimmy McGovern, or because of executive salaries, or because of a radio presenter's lapse of taste. So how should the BBC report stories its journalists have originated and controversies in which it is embroiled?

I discussed those questions with the Deputy Director of BBC News, Steve Mitchell, who is, among other things, responsible for both Panorama and the Today programme.

This week's Feedback is the last of this series. We are back on air on the 28th January, but please keep in contact. We read everything you send us and our agenda is decided by you the listener.

Also if you fancy doing a report for Feedback (for love not money), investigating an issue that concerns you, then do let us know. Even I am getting bored with the sound of my voice, so yours would provide a welcome relief!

Roger Bolton is presenter of Feedback

• Listen again to this week's Feedback, produced by Karen Pirie, get in touch with Feedback, find out how to join the listener panel or subscribe to the podcast on the Feedback web page.
• Watch Panorama: Fifa's Dirty Secrets, on iPlayer.
• Feedback is now on Twitter. Follow @BBCFeedback.
• In the press: ESPN (a US sports network) blogger Mark Young says England's humiliation had nothing to do with the media. Alan Cochrane in The Telegraph says: "The BBC was absolutely correct." Ian Wright in The Sun disagrees: it was "Brainless, betraying, cretinous". HR Magazine says that the loss of the World Cup is a disaster for British business.
• The picture is a still from the Panorama programme.

A few weeks ago, at the Bristol Old Vic, Sue MacGregor announced to the audience that this was to be her final programme as the regular presenter of A Good Read. Our guest reviewers were the acclaimed actor Timothy West, who has a strong connection with the theatre and with Bristol, and the best selling novelist Amanda Craig. But, for many in the audience, the chance to see a Radio 4 legend in the flesh and watch an edition of a Radio 4 favourite being made was their main reason for being there. The demand for tickets exceeded the capacity of the theatre. That edition was broadcast on Radio 4 this week and, not surprisingly, listeners have been in touch with us expressing both their regret that Sue is stepping down from the programme and their concern that she is leaving Radio 4 (definitely not true) and asking who could possibly fill her shoes?

Here in Bristol, where A Good Read has been made for more than 30 years, we're also sad that Sue has decided to finish this particular chapter of her long and illustrious career. I'm glad to say we will still be working with her on other programmes for Radio 4. In fact we're making a programme with her right now about the legendary broadcaster John Freeman and, of course, she still presents her superb series "The Reunion" but we also understand, better than most, why she has called it a day.

Sue holds the record for being the longest serving presenter on the programme. Seven years. She narrowly beats Edward Blishen who presented A Good Read between 1990 and 1996. Over that period she has read and reviewed around 500 books from cover to cover. That works out at roughly 70 books a year. How many of us, in our time pressured lives, get through more than one book a week? Another challenge for the presenter of A Good Read is that, for each programme, there is a personal book choice to make. At the beginning this isn't too difficult. If, like Sue, you are a genuine lover of books, titles come thick and fast. But, by the fifth year, it starts getting harder. You can't, of course, choose any title that has been featured in previous programmes and, faced with a reading list that never diminishes, finding time to read books for personal pleasure becomes impossible. You become a reading machine. I remember Sue telling me that the concept of holiday reading was a distant memory as she was voraciously devouring books to see if they were good enough to recommend to Radio 4 listeners. Sue did find 150 original titles for her own personal choices which is a feat in itself. And, like the consummate professional she is, it sounded effortless.

A Good Read is a special programme and guests are happy to come on to talk about their own choices and curious to read what others have picked. Lord Carrington, Prue Leith, Fay Weldon, Jo Brand, Nick Horby, P D James, Sir Roy Strong, Jon Snow and Sir Digby Jones are just some of the people who have appeared on the programme while Sue has been presenting. They enjoy it because the programme is driven, at its core, by a personal passion for books and a basic need in most of us to talk about something we love. Of course, at times, not everybody agrees but fervent differences of opinion make for compelling radio.

The programme began in Bristol in 1979 so, in effect, A Good Read was the first popular broadcasting book club long before anyone had even heard of Oprah Winfrey or Richard and Judy. Listeners often write to tell us how they've discovered their own personal all-time favourite through a recommendation on the programme. There was an extraordinary reaction from listeners when Josephine Hart presented Bernard Schlink's novel 'The Reader' as her choice back in September 2003. Sue and her guests have dissected and discussed all genres - biography, historical novels, fiction, romance, crime, graphic novels and even self-help manuals. As long as the books are still in print, widely available and in paperback then they are eligible for review on A Good Read.

Sue MacGregor has been a wonderful ambassador for the programme and A Good Read has flourished with her at its helm over the last seven years. Her intelligence, warmth and genuine enthusiasm for books could be heard in every programme. Her preparation was meticulous. No short-cuts or skim reading for Sue. She read every book properly. Her ability to chair each discussion with authority and inquisitiveness but always putting listeners first is what makes her one of our best broadcasters. So who can follow her? Well, for us, the search has begun but we intend to take our time to get it right. Ultimately A Good Read is about wonderful writers and wonderful books and conveying the passion we share for them.

Clare McGinn is Editor of Audio & Music Production at BBC Bristol

• Listen to Sue MacGregor's final edition of A Good Read on the Radio 4 web site.