RADIO CHOICE

AN OLD violin cast a spell over the author Helena Attlee when she heard it played at a music festival in Wales. Helena discovered the violin had been made in Cremona, Stradivarius’s home town, but according to experts was of no value. It had, though, a seductive tone and, as we hear from Helena’s account of LEV’S VIOLIN (RADIO 4, 9.45AM (FM), 12.30AM), a long and strange history.

DEBORAH FRANCESWHITE (pictured) is a stand-up comedian and a mesmerising storyteller. She’s so good at spinning her tales that she has captivated packed audiences at the Royal Albert Hall, the Sydney Opera House and the London Palladium. Tonight, she begins a new, daily series DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE INTRODUCES (RADIO 4, 10.45PM), in which she

gives us one of her yarns, as well as introducing performance artists whose work she admires.

THE strange goings-on at 63 Wycliffe Road, which began in 1956 and went on for years, remain one of the cold cases of paranormal investigation. In a house in a quiet South London street, objects were hurled through the air, fires broke out, and strange tappings and knockings disturbed the residents. The eightpart drama-documentary

THE BATTERSEA POLTERGEIST (RADIO 4, 11.30PM) takes a fresh look at these mysterious events.