TODAY’S RADIO

PRIVATE PASSIONS

12 NOON, RADIO 3 ★★★★ Ballet dancing can take its toll on the body. After decades of seemingly effortless dancing, the Royal Ballet’s former principal dancer, Darcey Bussell, has done a lot of damage to her feet, and has undergone a hip operation. Darcey, who served seven years as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, talks about the price a ballerina pays for her art, then chooses some of her favourite music. It’s a wide-ranging choice that includes Faure’s serene, uplifting Requiem, and the heartbreaking Mad About The Boy by Dinah Washington.

MARTIN FREEMAN: DECADES

1PM, BBC 6 MUSIC ★★★

The actor Martin Freeman, of Bilbo Baggins and Dr Watson fame, gives us three hours of his

Martin Freeman (1pm, 6 Music) favourite music from the 1990s. He’ll include tracks by the Fugees, the James Taylor Quartet and Blur.

SOUNDS OF THE 70S

3PM, RADIO 2 ★★★★

The veteran music journalist David Hepworth always brings added value when he’s a guest on Johnnie Walker’s shows.

He has a fund of (not always flattering) anecdotes about the music business, and has just brought out a new quiz book called The Rock & Roll A Level. This afternoon, for this lull between festivities, he has set listeners a Twixmas Quiz. Should be a laugh.

THE VOICE OF JOE GRUNDY

7.15PM, RADIO 4 ★★★★

It would be easy to underestimate just how good the late Ted Kelsey was at playing Joe Grundy. Ted played the Grundy patriarch with total conviction for 34 years, bringing out the nuances of a character who was curmudgeonly yet soft-hearted, and sly yet also honourable to his own code. Felicity Finch, who plays Ruth Archer – and knew Ted well – pays tribute to a great actor who died last April, aged 88.