Ongoing television productions for BBC One and Two include 'Songs of Praise', which for forty years has provided inspirational music and stories, and 'The Heaven & Earth Show', a live sixty minute weekly magazine show on BBC1 that aims to be high on entertainment and style, ethical and spiritual insights and is fronted by Ross Kelly and Alice Beer. Radio plays a large part of this department's output with over four-hundred and thirty hours of radio for the BBC network stations each year and includes BBC Radio productions like 'The Moral Maze', 'Beyond Belief', 'Good Morning Sunday' and 'Thought for the Day'. These programmes are a vital part of Religion and Docs and highlight a wide range of religious and philosophical beliefs in a dynamic and relevant way and are produced by Christine Morgan, Philip Billson and Clair Jaquiss, with presenters that have included Don MacLean and Michael Buerk. The department also produces festivals programmes across Radio and Television which celebrate religious diversity in the UK by marking the key celebrations across a range of different religions, including Sikh, Muslim, Christian and Jewish dates. Television productions have included 'Sikhs and the City', 'A Letter to Lilli' (Passover) and 'Fast Friends' (for Ramadan) and were produced by Roger Childs and Chris Loughlin. The TV documentaries unit within Religion & Ethics specialises in making factual programmes about the world of faith and values, across all BBC channels. These have included documentaries such as 'The Battle for Britain's Soul' and 'Mediums: Talking to the Dead'. This unit has also explored the mysteries of the Bible, the rise of the great religions such as Christianity, Buddhism and Islam, and examined the appeal of legend and mythology as well as the fascination with spiritualism, meditation, and healing. Presenters have included Jonathan Edwards and Peter Owen-Jones. All the above programming for Radio and Television is supported by the award winning Religion website, which not only provides features about the department's television and radio output but also has an up-to-date religious news section in addition to articles about a wide variety of religious and ethical issues. |