The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Review
On My Wavelength
The wireless is filled with royal goodies this week, celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Today’s crown jewel is The Documentary: The Royal Diplomat (Saturday, World Service, 12.06pm), in which Emma Barnett hails seven decades of Her Majesty’s “soft power”. From Suez to Ireland, the Queen has always seen her role as reconciliatory, and we hear here from those who have walked the international stage with her. As one contributor puts it: “I cannot think of an occasion where Her Majesty put a foot wrong.” No faint praise when you consider what the rest of the family have been up to.
There is aural heaven (and environmental hazard) with Between the Ears: The Lark Descending (Sunday, Radio 3, 6.45pm) as naturalist Lucy “Lapwing” Hodson considers the link between Ralph Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending and the number of skylarks in the UK. In 1914 they were ubiquitous, now they are endangered. However, it’s also a celebration, culminating in the premiere of Hinako Omori’s magnificent electronic reimagining of Vaughan Williams’s piece. Headphones on for this one.
Heard the one about Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Pink Floyd in the Lincolnshire farmshed? Docudrama Barbeque 67: The Original Summer of Love (Monday, Radio 4, 2.15pm) tells the true story of a one-off rock festival at the Tulip Bulb Auction Hall in Spalding, from the perspective of a former tulip farmer (Robert Glenister) and the Romanian vegetable picker with whom he forms an intense bond (Anamaria Marinca). There are also tales from those who were there, including Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason. Peas out?
“He’s seven minutes older than me… but a lot heavier.” If you’re familiar with the identical twins and TV doctors Chris and Xand Van Tulleken, you’ll have noticed that, recently, they have become less identical. Xand is 20kg heavier than Chris – clinically obese. In
A Thorough Examination with Drs Chris and Xand (Tuesday, Radio 4, 3.30pm) they try to find out why, and just what Xand can do about it. The answer lies in UPF – ultra-processed food – which most of us eat every day.
Book of the Week is Black Gold by Jeremy Paxman (MondayFriday, Radio 4FM, 9.45pm), the broadcaster’s erudite “biography” of British coal. Wednesday’s episode is the least soot-caked, as it concentrates on steam, which was propelling the nation (and its navy) forwards at ever greater speeds. Such power, of course, would still require an enormous amount of the black stuff.
Sheer joy as The Frankie Howerd Show (Thursday, Radio 4 Extra, 8am) is broadcast for the first time since its original transmission in 1974, to mark 30 years since the death of the great comedian. Ostensibly the show is Howerd compiling his memoirs, but in reality it is a masterclass in having an audience eating from the palm of your hand, as the crowd roar at Howerd’s every utterance. The writing is still superb: “My mother won’t like it,” says his lover in one skit. “Your mother isn’t getting it,” he replies.
St Paul’s Cathedral is the venue for A Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen’s Reign (Friday,
Radio 4FM, 11.10am), presented live by Eleanor Oldroyd. She will describe the scene as the Royal family and Commonwealth representatives gather. The service will include hymns and anthems sung by St Paul’s Choir, and a brand new work composed by Judith Weir, the Master of the Queen’s Music.