Radio Week
The picks of the best of this week’s radio
ENTERTAINMENT
Supercharged
SUNDAY, 6PM, RTé RADIO 1 ★★★★
Ireland knows Anna Geary as the sports woman and trainer who loves to be active. However, the Supercharged Anna also loves to sit and talk, to listen, and to learn about — and share — the best ways to improve our physical and mental health. Listener interaction is a core element of the show, which returns today for a new six-week run. It aims to reflect the real concerns of people in Ireland today, and give them the tools to feel and be better, as well as offering a platform to share lived experiences, explore previously taboo topics, and provide tangible and attainable advice for everyone. The Frost Tapes
MONDAY, 11.30AM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★
At one point in his career Michael Caine considered quitting acting, but Jack Nicholson talked him out of it. In these interviews with the late David Frost, Michael looks back on his childhood in Blitz-torn London and being called up to fight in the Korean War when he was a teen. He recalls his struggles to find a footing in the world of acting and his many, varied and often awardwinning roles.
FACTUAL
The Life Scientific
TUESDAY, 9AM, RADIO 4 ★★★★
When the pharaohs reigned over Egypt, their land wasn’t a drought-ridden desert but a
place of vast lakes, bubbling springs and trees, teeming with wildlife. The geoarchaeologist Dr Judith Bunbury has spent many years studying the soil, rocks and ruins of Egypt, as well as charting the ever-altering course of the River Nile, to discover how Tutankhamun and other pharaohs ruled over a realm that, like the Nile itself, was always shifting and changing.
DRAMA
Princess
WEDNESDAY, 11.30AM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★ Princess Caroline, wife of the ghastly fat prince who would become George IV, was rumoured to have had many lovers. One wit wrote, Most Gracious Queen/ We thee implore/ To go away and sin no more/ Or if that effort be too great/ To go away at any rate. Caroline grew up with an adulterous father and was then married off to the awful George, who despised her. This shabby treatment drew a great deal of sympathy from the masses. Rachel Fairburn tells Anita Anand why this German princess deserved so much better.
MUSIC
Sunday Night is Music Night
SUNDAY, 8PM, BBC RADIO 2 ★★★★
Guy Barker and the BBC Concert Orchestra fly us to the moon in this tribute to the genius of Frank Sinatra, recorded at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. Kurt Elling, Clare Teal and Anthony Strong are the singers who’ll take us through the many stages of Sinatra’s long, hit-strewn career. For Once In My Life and It Never Entered My Head are among the hits on the bill, for a show that looks at the way Ol’ Blue Eyes transformed popular music. The Hamilton Scores
SATURDAY, 10AM, RTé LYRIC FM ★★★
Let The Hamilton Scores become one of your regular weekend fixtures as George kicks off an unbeatable line-up of musical greats and tales from his travels. The Alternative
THURSDAY, 11PM, RTé2 ★★★★
The Blaze are the French Paris-based duo Guillaume and Jonathan Alric. The cousins are renowned for both their music and videos. They scored great success with their 2017 album Territory and this set was recorded at the 2022 Sonar Festival in Barcelona. Dan Hegarty brings us highlights on tonight’s show.