The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Review
CHARLOTTE RUNCIE
RADIO CRITIC
Much of this week’s radio celebrates the art of performance in music, theatre and sport, all things we’ve missed so terribly of late.
Sir Tom’s Musical Years (Radio 2, 9.00pm) celebrates the 80th birthday of Sir Tom Jones, as Sir Tom joins his great friend, and fellow Welsh musician, Cerys Matthews, in conversation about the music and the people that have shaped his career. The programmes were recorded remotely during lockdown, but benefit from the shared intimacy of two friends.
The BBC’s Culture in Quarantine initiative turns a new play by David Greig, originally commissioned by the Pitlochry Festival, into a radio drama recorded using all social distancing precautions after its planned theatre run was ended by lockdown. In Adventures with the Painted People (Sunday, Radio 3, 7.30pm), Lucius (Olivier Huband) is an educated Roman soldier captured by the Picts, about to be sacrificed; Eithne (Kirsty Stuart) is a wise Pictish woman who wants to record her people’s history, and makes a deal to rescue Lucius if he will teach her to write.
Whisper it joyfully, but live music may be back: every weekday in June, Radio 3 is broadcasting a magical live recital from London’s Wigmore Hall for Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert (Monday to Friday, Radio 3, 1.05pm), which was kicked off last week by the pianist Stephen Hough. In each of the 20 concerts, one or two performers take to the stage, with no audience present. On Monday it’s cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Mishka Rushdie, playing pieces by Faure, Beethoven and Schumann.
Following the death of the great musical innovator and rock’n’roll pioneer Little Richard in May,
Radio 4 marks his life and influence by broadcasting 50 Years of Little Richard (Tuesday, Radio 4, 11.30am), Sarfraz Manzoor’s interview with the man himself, covering the racial prejudice he experienced, his flamboyant life and performance style, and the faith that led to him becoming a minister. Acts such as The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Prince owe him a huge debt.
The highly engaging interview series What’s
Funny About (Wednesday, Radio 4 Extra, 10.30pm) continues, with TV executives Peter Fincham and Jon Plowman in conversation with the makers of hit television comedies. This week the focus is Goodness Gracious Me, and Fincham and Plowman are joined by Meera Syal and Anil
Gupta. Syal and Gupta tell the story of a series that was made against the odds and triumphed, and discuss how they feel they were treated by the BBC.
In Behind the Scenes (Thursday, Radio 4, 11.30am), Matthew
Sweet interviews the phenomenally successful composer Max Richter, with his wife, the artist Yulia Mahr, in their home studio. Richter discusses the films and film soundtracks he has made; how his music combines classical and electronic elements; and his highprofile collaborations.
And the lockdown has to led to an opportunity for reflection on all kinds of things, but for some football fans, it’s been the perfect chance to reassess the controversial role of VAR in football. In Life, Uncertainty and VAR (Friday, Radio 4, 11.00am), journalist Tom Chivers argues that any promises to eliminate uncertainty, in life and in football, are likely to end in tears. He explores how we think about risk, precision, fairness and how to measure what’s really important.
Read The Week in Radio by Charlotte Runcie every Wednesday in
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