Radio 4 announces spring highlights including From Our Home Correspondent with Mishal Husain

These include:

• Mishal Husain to present From Our Home Correspondent, a new domestic sister strand to the internationally focused From Our Own Correspondent (FOOC)
• An ambitious dramatisation of Primo Levi’s masterpiece The Periodic Table, introduced by Oscar-nominated Janet Suzman
• Harvard’s Michael Sandel leads first Global Philosopher debate for BBC Radio 4 using pioneering digital technology
• Jaime Winstone and June Whitfield star in five-part dramatisation of food blogger Jack Monroe’s A Girl Called Jack
• Sir Ian McKellen and David Tennant cast in Look Back In Anger, John Osborne’s provocative play from 1956, directed by Richard Wilson
• Professor Timothy Garton Ash examines one of the most contested arguments of our times in Free Speech
• Lenny Henry performs darkly comic, genre-bending monologues in a four-part series

From Our Home Correspondent

Following the 60th anniversary of BBC Radio 4’s internationally focused From Our Own Correspondent presented by Kate Adie, the much loved strand will get its domestic edition this spring.

From Our Home Correspondent will chart stories about modern life in a monthly episode, getting under the skin of contemporary Britain, and it will be presented by Mishal Husain. It will launch on Radio 4 on Tuesday morning 3 May, followed by a regular monthly Sunday lunchtime slot starting on Sunday 29 May. In each episode, a series of short essays from BBC correspondents across the country and other invited writers will bring audiences the stories behind the news headlines. The new domestic episodes will be broadcast in addition to the regular episodes of FOOC. Produced by Richard Vadon, BBC Radio Current Affairs.

Mishal Husain said: “From Our Home Correspondent will build on the heritage of the much-loved FOOC. I know from my experience as a contributor that it is a unique outlet for the thoughts and observations that come to you in quiet moments in far-flung parts of the world. Being asked to 'do a FOOC' brings out a sense of contemplation and reflection beyond any news agenda, and I look forward to hearing the same thought-provoking insights from within the UK.”

Gwyneth Williams, Controller of Radio 4, said: “I’m delighted that Mishal Husain has agreed to present our new domestic sister strand to the brilliant From Our Correspondent with Kate Adie. FOOC is storytelling at its best with vivid and intimate accounts from our knowledgeable foreign correspondents.

“It is a personal favourite of mine as it is for so many Radio 4 listeners around the world who have been loyal to the programme for the last six decades. I want From Our Home Correspondent to bring to our audience the same level of excellence in reporting and writing about the UK.”

The Periodic Table

Radio 4 presents an ambitious dramatisation of Primo Levi’s masterpiece, The Periodic Table. Introduced by Oscar-nominated Janet Suzman, and starring Henry Goodman, the collection of short stories makes event radio out of one of the great works of 20th century European literature. In 2006, The Royal Institution of Great Britain named Levi’s short story collection the best science book ever, and the adaptation mirrors its deceptively simple structure. The stories vary from autobiographical episodes in Levi's life as a Jewish-Italian chemist under Mussolini's regime, his time as a partisan and a survivor at Auschwitz, as well as fictional flights of fancy, each taking one of 21 different chemical elements as its starting point.

Broadcast this spring, there will be 12 episodes of varying length, each introduced by Janet Suzman, and all intertwined in BBC Radio 4’s schedule. It stars Henry Goodman and Akbar Kurtha as the older and younger Levi; Juliet Aubrey; David Horovitch; John Rowe; Nicholas Murchie; Paul Hilton; and Paul Copley.

A BBC Radio Production, dramatised by Graham White, produced and directed by Emma Harding and Marc Beeby.

The Global Philosopher

Harvard’s Michael Sandel leads the first Global Philosopher debate for BBC Radio 4 using pioneering digital technology, building on the success of his established Radio 4 series, The Public Philosopher.

In the first programme, recorded last month, Professor Michael Sandel hosts an international debate on the moral justification for national borders. It was filmed and recorded using a pioneering studio developed by Harvard Business School, and producers brought together 60 participants from over 30 countries to debate. In the debate, each participant is able to see and speak to every other contributor, as well as to Professor Sandel, replicating the experience of a face-to-face debate.

The Global Philosopher will be available on the Radio 4 website to watch as a video from next Tuesday and will be broadcast on Radio 4 on Tuesday 29 March.

A Girl Called Jack

This five-part dramatisation will bring alive the story behind the author of the bestselling book of the same name, food campaigner and blogger Jack Monroe. Starring Jaime Winstone as Jack, and June Whitfield as her Grandma, the radio production will tell Jack’s story from a food blogger living on the breadline to a successful, celebrity campaigner. The dramatist is writer Sarah Daniels and the producer is Polly Thomas. This Somethin’ Else production will be broadcast in April.

Look Back In Anger

In April, Radio 4 will also broadcast John Osborne's provocative 1956 play Look Back In Anger, starring David Tennant and Sir Ian McKellen, and directed by Richard Wilson. Although at first disliked by critics, the play is now considered the masterpiece that sparked the Angry Young Men movement - and now, almost 60 years to the day - Radio 4 will broadcast the latest version. David and Sir Ian will be joined by Nancy Carroll as Alison, Daniel Evans as Cliff and Claire Price as Helena. Clive Brill is the producer on behalf of Brill Productions.

In addition to the play, in an episode of Archive On 4, David Tennant looks back at the controversy sparked by the play's initial production, and its genesis in Osborne's personal life. Produced by Jo Wheeler for Bite Media.

Free Speech 

In five essays on free speech broadcast throughout a week in April, Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of Modern European History at Oxford University, will examine one of the most contested arguments of our times – and one with real consequences for personal liberty, intercultural understanding and intellectual exploration. Who has the right to free speech? Who has the right to offend? When does my joke turn into your insult? When does your artwork become my obscenity? Professor Garton Ash will discuss some of the recent test cases on the issue and put forward a set of common principles on which he hopes different sides can agree. A BBC Radio Current Affairs Production by Nina Robinson.

Lenny Henry: Rogue’s Gallery

A series of darkly comic, genre-bending monologues from the mind of Lenny Henry. Every episode will feature a new character telling their tale, each of which have a sting in their tail. The four-part series of 15-minute episodes all acted by Lenny Henry will be broadcast in May. Produced by Sam Michell, BBC Radio Comedy.

LZ