today’s radio

GRAHAM NORTON

10AM, RADIO 2 HHHH

This morning, Graham’s joined by the Pet Shop Boys – with news of their 14th studio album, Hotspot – plus the author Alex Wheatle, who’s been awarded the MBE for his writing, having discovered the power of books while serving time in prison. The singer and actress Kerry Ellis is also on the show to talk about her new tour.

LA BOHEME

6.30PM, RADIO 3 HHHH

A group of young Bohemians live for love and art in the garrets of Paris. Tragedy is just round the corner in this story of the doomed relationship between a penniless poet and a young seamstress. Puccini’s gorgeous, melting music carries us along to the final, tragic deathbed scene.

ARCHIVE ON 4: THE SCIENCE OF EVIL

8PM, RADIO 4 HHHH Grim experiments using stooges and what appeared to be powerful electric shocks, carried out in the early 1960s, implied that perfectly ordinary people could be turned into torturers. David Edmonds takes a closer look at the work of pioneering social psychologists who sought to find an explanation for the evils of the Holocaust. We hear accounts of research carried out on the way a desire to conform can lead to horrifying actions – but hearteningly, we also learn that the electric shock experiments were deeply flawed and their conclusions suspect.

GARY BARLOW – WE WRITE THE SONGS

9PM, RADIO 2 HHHH Gary Barlow winds up his fourpart series on songwriters with an interview with Barry Manilow. Barry talks about his early days – when he earned a living writing advertising jingles – and about becoming an accompanist and arranger and then, reluctantly, finding himself centre stage and, eventually, getting used to being in the spotlight. SUSAN JEFFREYS

Barry Manilow (9pm, Radio 2)