Radio Week
The picks of the best of this week’s radio
ENTERTAINMENT
Words And Music
SUNDAY, 5.30PM, BBC RADIO 3 ★★★★ Dolly Parton reminds us that ‘love is like a butterfly’ in this selection of prose, poetry and music inspired by butterflies and moths. Music from the films The Silence Of The Lambs and Papillon strike a dramatic note, while arias from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly take a more tragic tone. Harrison Birtwistle’s The Moth Requiem has a haunting chorus, listing some of the moths fluttering on the edge of extinction, while cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s butterflies dance above the Silk Road.
Princess
WEDNESDAY, 11.30AM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★
Grace Kelly (pictured) had to pay a lot of money to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco. The Prince had asked the actress’s father to pay a dowry of $2 million before the marriage could go ahead. Grace’s father, though a wealthy man, resented the request. In the end, Grace had to find half the money herself. Made In Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo joins Anita Anand in this series on princesses, to hear about the 1956 marriage between the prince and the actress.
FACTUAL
Made Of Stronger Stuff
TUESDAY, 3.30PM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★ Our knees are complicated joints and get
subjected to a lot of injury and general wear and tear. In his continuing series, Dr Xand van Tulleken takes a look at some of the things that can go wrong with our knees, such as osteoarthritis. On a brighter note, Xand hears about developments in knee surgery and shares news of research that offers new hope for creaky knees.
Ramblings
THURSDAY, 3PM, BBC RADIO 4
★★★★
Harry and Hermione (Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson) pitched their tent above Yorkshire’s Malham Cove in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows; this natural amphitheatre provides a stunning backdrop. Clare Balding joins three mountain leaders for a walk around the cliff and pavement, and the walk is made all the more dramatic by a determined and hungry peregrine falcon.
Seoda Mhaigh Eo
FRIDAY, 1.30PM, RNAG ★★★★
An interview with Irish-American Professor, Séamus Ó Direáin, who learned Irish from a Mayo man in Africa.
DRAMA
Being Jackie Wilson
THURSDAY, 11.30AM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★ People were always telling Bobby Brooks that he looked just like the singer and performer Jackie Wilson. Bobby had had a grim childhood — he never knew his mum or dad, was sickly and in the foster care of an alcoholic, but got his life on track by joining the US Navy. One night, when his ship was in Hawaii, Bobby sang in a karaoke bar, when it was noticed that as well as looking like Jackie Wilson, he sounded like him. There was, as we hear when this strange tale unfolds, a very good reason for that.
MUSIC
BBC Proms
FRIDAY, 7.30PM, RADIO 3 ★★★★★
The Ode To Joy will lift our hearts as the Chorus and Orchestra of Chineke! perform Beethoven’s glorious Ninth Symphony. The soprano Nicole Cabell is one of the solo singers in this concert given by the ethnically diverse ensemble, who’ll make sure that you enjoy every triumphant note of this exuberant work.