RADIO CHOICE

IT’S been 20 years since the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales were established. Hopes were high when these institutions — and the Northern Ireland Assembly — opened their doors, yet many voters have been disappointed with the reality of devolution. James Naughtie begins a threepart exploration of THE DEVOLUTION DECADES (RADIO 4, 11AM) looking at the ever changing political landscape of the UK.

REBECCA TREHEARN (pictured) and Gary Williams are the guest singers for this week’s FRIDAY NIGHT IS MUSIC NIGHT (RADIO 2, 8PM) as Ken Bruce introduces a concert of dance music live from the Chichester Festival Theatre. The pair include a medley of Irving Berlin’s witty and tuneful songs from Top Hat, backed by the BBC Concert

Orchestra, who will play waltzes, polkas, sambas, tangos, jigs, a pas de deux, a Mexican hat dance and Erik Satie’s hauntingly graceful Gymnopedie No 1. IT’S not all bonnets and balls in Jane Austen’s work. She was a writer of fierce wit and intelligence and a worthy candidate for an episode of GREAT LIVES (RADIO 4, 11PM). The feminist campaigner Caroline Criado Perez, who admires the way that Austen ‘spent her time poking fun at the Establishment’, talks about the writer’s work with presenter Matthew Parris.