Today’s radio

TALES FROM THE STAVE

11.30AM, RADIO 4 ★★★ American theatrical impresarios shamelessly exploited a loophole in copyright laws, putting on British plays and operettas without paying a penny in royalties. Gilbert and Sullivan, who had missed out on a fortune because of this loophole, decided to debut The Pirates Of Penzance in New York on New Year’s Eve of 1879, then open in London in the spring of 1880. They hoped this would secure them the American copyright for the work. Clemency Burton-hill visits the Morgan Library in New York to look at the score for The Pirates Of Penzance, and to hear if the duo’s wheeze worked.

BAYEUX: EMBROIDERING THE TRUTH

2.15PM, RADIO 4 ★★★★ There is a theory that the Bayeux

Embroidery, often incorrectly referred to as the Bayeux Tapestry, was commissioned and worked on by Queen Edith, widow of Edward the Confessor. This clever comedy drama, starring Katy Brand as Edith, goes along with that theory, and has a group of war-weary women stitching away to save their lives. The play also comes up with a larky theory about all the naughty stuff carefully stitched into the borders of the longest piece of embroidery in the world.

PEOPLE FIXING THE WORLD

8PM, WORLD SERVICE ★★★★ A ray of hope about the climate crisis beams out from Finland. Engineers in Vaasa, on the Finnish coast, say they’ve developed a battery that is carbon neutral, lasts for millions of cycles, and uses water as an electrolyte, rather than lithium. This programme sheds light on their claims.

THE COUNTRY SHOW

9PM, RADIO 2 ★★★★ ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris plays old favourites and new releases from the world of country and Americana music. SJ

Katy Brand (2.15pm, Radio 4)