RADIO CHOICE

THE Madness frontman Suggs (pictured) turns his attention to Soho in the second episode of his fascinating series LOVE LETTERS TO LONDON (RADIO 4, 11.30AM). His guest this week is fellow musician Paul Weller; the pair will be sharing their memories of — and their love for — this bustling haven for society’s nonconformists, and will team up to sing a song.

THE past 250 years have been very bad for our backs. Sitting in chairs for hours on end has forced our bodies into unnatural positions, and we pay the price in pain. THE COMPASS: CHANGING WORLD, CHANGING BODIES (BBC WORLD SERVICE, 1.30PM, 10.05PM) follows Dr Vybarr Cregan-Reid to a remote Kenyan village where people’s backs are so strong that they have been

the subject of an international study, and meets workers in Nairobi who suffer worse back pain than their grandparents did. Plus: Australian research that claims half of all back pain is in the mind, and why simple movement could cure many a bad back.

JOHN FINNEMORE’S SOUVENIR PROGRAMME (RADIO 4, 6.30PM) returns for an eighth series. In this week’s episode of his polished, multi-awardwinning sketch show, John cooks a particularly good lasagne, while the ghost story that ends the show is a triumph.