The Ballad of the Radio Feature

A close listen to the history and evolution of the radio documentary feature, a hybrid form which can sometimes appear closer to music or poetry than to news reporting.

Originally broadcast in 2008, The Ballad of the Radio Feature includes contributions from some of the finest feature-makers of their generation: the late Chris Brookes, from Newfoundland; Berit Hedemann of NRK in Norway; Kaye Mortley, an Australian living in Paris; the Australian poet and radio-maker Robyn Ravlich, Edwin Brys from Belgium; a trio of BBC producers - Simon Elmes, Mark Burman and Sarah Taylor - and the legendary British feature-maker Piers Plowright who died in 2021.

Including extracts of productions from the 1930s onwards (courtesy of the BBC Sound Archive) and from around the world.
Voice-over: Sophie Black
Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio Four