Blog posts by year and monthSeptember 2010
Posts (10)
My first week at Radio 4
"Unforgettable, that's what you are..." Mark Damazer's 'Inheritance Track' on last week's Saturday Live was characteristically charming and fluent, hinting at the warmth that makes him my friend as well as the highly successful Radio 4 controller that he has been for the last six years. He leave...
Welsh cakes with Jones the voice
The chairs in our Desert Island studio have had some legendary bottoms sitting on them in their time, but few more legendary than that of Sir Tom Jones. His recording was a joy - from the 'sexually voracious' image back in the days ("you're creating a monster," he says "without even realisi...
Lisa Jardine's chocolate cake recipe
I think this is a first. A recipe for chocolate cake with shiny chocolate icing from the learned presenter of Radio 4's A Point of View. We asked Lisa to write this out for us and she did so between appearances on various news programmes at TV Centre. Here's the hand-written version and here's a...
Pilgrim - the final episode: Hope Springs
Editor's note: Marc Beeby is Co-Producer of Radio 4's dark, myth-inspired drama series Pilgrim. He's been keeping a production diary. And it has a happy ending - SB. The cast is blessed by two more extraordinary actors: Jamie Foreman, who has taken time out from developing a film to play Puck f...
Damazer departs
Here it is. Mark Damazer's final interview as Radio 4 Controller. Twenty minutes of fascinating discussion with Broadcasting House presenter Paddy O'Connell, touching on pressure from politicians and civil servants, on opening up Thought for the Day to secular voices and on not cancelling Wom...
Pilgrim, episode three: The Lady in the Lake
Editor's note: Marc Beeby is Co-Producer of Radio 4's dark, myth-inspired drama series Pilgrim. He's keeping a production diary. Here's part three - SB. A difficult start to episode three. One of our actors has been forced to drop out for personal reasons. Fortunately, Claire Price, who was in ...
Radio 4 comedy in Edinburgh
Here's the quite lovely video that the Radio 4 comedy gang shot on The Royal Mile at the beginning of the Edinburgh Festival. It was made specially for use on the red button and it was a hit. Well over half a million people pressed the red button on their digital TVs and watched it there - somet...
The Taliban debate
UPDATE: the Taliban debate on Radio 4 has now finished and I've closed the live chat. The chat will be archived here permanently and we've lifted the seven-day limit on the radio debate so you'll be able to listen again whenever you like. If you listened, or took part in the online debate, pleas...
Has the Taliban Won in Afghanistan? Join the debate
We'd like you to join tomorrow's Radio 4 debate about the outcome of the war in Afghanistan. Host Eddie Mair is heading over to Chatham House to record the programme after he's finished on PM this evening, for transmission at 2000 tomorrow. We'll be opening the discussion here on the blog half a...
Pilgrim, episode two: The Lost Hotel
Editor's note: Marc Beeby is Co-Producer of Radio 4's dark, myth-inspired drama series Pilgrim. He's keeping a production diary. Here's part two - SB. We begin the recording of episode 2. This is a very different world from episode one - more urban, more obviously modern, touching on concerns l...
