The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Review
CHARLOTTE RUNCIE
RADIO CRITIC
Alas, no Eurovision this year, for obvious reasons. But our usual commentator Graham Norton hasn’t just been twiddling his thumbs. As part of a weekend of programmes on Radio 2 celebrating past Eurovision glories, for Graham Norton, Douze Points (Saturday,
Radio 2, 9.00pm), Paddy O’Connell interviews Norton about his first 10 years working at the glittery coalface of European pop.
What could be more cheering than a spot of PG Wodehouse of a Sunday afternoon? Electric Decade: Leave It to Psmith (Sunday, Radio 4, 3.00pm) is part of a new season from Radio 4 celebrating the 1920s. Edward Bennet stars as Psmith, who advertises himself to
“go anywhere, do anything. Crime not objected to!”, and Martin Jarvis, Patricia Hodge, Susannah Fielding and Nigel Anthony also feature in events at Blandings Castle, where Lord Emsworth needs to collect a famous poet from London. Emsworth’s son,
Freddie, sees Psmith’s advert, and recruits him for some aunt-related skulduggery.
My Generation (Monday, Radio 4, 3.00pm) is a new quiz programme mixing nostalgia with curiosity, aiming to unite families and friends across generations so that everyone can listen together. Stuart Maconie presents questions that draw on the events of different decades, all within living memory. Three contestants of different ages each answer questions on their own particular chosen decade, and then on a randomly chosen decade out of their comfort zone. How much will different generations prove to know about each other’s cultural references?
As lockdown means that many of us are spending more time with our partners than ever before, You’ll Do (Tuesday,
Radio 4, 11.00pm) is a timely and upbeat series about relationships and what makes them work. Comedians and real-life couple Catherine Bohart and Sarah Keyworth discuss topics such as living together and getting older together, as well as smaller things – setting alarms for the morning and how much to spend on food, for example.
Louis Theroux continues with his new radio series, Grounded with Louis Theroux (Wednesday, Radio 4, 8.00pm), in which he attempts to catch up with a selection of people he’s been particularly keen to talk to since lockdown. This week’s guest is actress Helena Bonham Carter, and together the pair discuss going to the same school, handling criticism, and working with your significant other.
There’s a glorious chance to relive Rumpole (Thursday, Radio 4, 2.15pm) over the next few weeks, too. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Timothy West, this week’s episode joins Rumpole and Hilda in the late 1950s, as Rumpole mixes with Yorkshire aristocracy distantly connected to Hilda’s family. Rumpole represents a Lord in the Coroner’s Court as a body is found in the grounds of Sackbut Castle.
And Bill Nighy returns to star in another delightful instalment of A Charles Paris Mystery (Friday, Radio 4, 11.30am), the thespian crime drama about the louche actor turned amateur detective. Charles is aghast to have been cast for a role in an immersive production of Hamlet, but when an actress goes missing, his detective skills come to the fore.
Read The Week in Radio by Charlotte Runcie every Wednesday in
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