The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Review
CHARLOTTE RUNCIE
RADIO CRITIC
Archive on 4: So Bad It’s Good? (today, Radio 4, 8.00pm), Steve Punt presents a celebration of films, song and books that seem, on the surface, to be objectively awful, but yet are strangely enjoyable.
With guests Grace Dent, Robin Ince and Laura Snapes, he analyses the films of Michael Winner, the songs of Rick Astley, and the poetry of Danielle Steele.
Lauren Laverne’s castaway on Desert
Island Discs (Sunday, Radio 4, 11.00am) is the eminent conductor Charles Hazlewood. Hazlewood has conducted orchestras around the world and defined his career by working to include more people in orchestral music, and he’s perhaps best known for including people with disabilities in orchestras. In particular, he founded the British Paraorchestra, which played at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games.
A Royal Appointment (Monday and Tuesday, Classic FM, 8.00pm) is a special pair of programmes in which
His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales talks about his love of classical music, in conversation with Alan Titchmarsh on Monday, before presenting the show solo on Tuesday. The Prince will make personal music selections, performed by orchestras and ensembles from his own patronages, and during the programmes he will discuss the effects of classical music on well-being and the contribution of music to the British economy.
We’re all familiar with the stock “everyman” character in fiction: normal, relatable. But is there an “everywoman” equivalent? In The Everywoman (Tuesday, Radio 4, 11.30am), the novelist Sarah Hall goes in search of the literary everywoman, speaking to fellow writers including Eimear McBride, Katherine Rundell and Bernardine Evaristo; hearing from theatre-maker and performance artist Bryony Kimmings about women on stage; and talking with publishers about whether male authors should be nervous about writing female protagonists.
This week on The Essay: The Diarists (Monday to Friday, Radio 3, 10.45pm) there are five pieces based on one of the oldest literary traditions: keeping a diary. All were written during recent weeks and reflect our present moment, while reaching out to a historical diarist for inspiration. In Wednesday’s edition, the poet Helen Mort writes about her daily exercise walks with her toddler, and finds companionship in the daily diary of Dorothy Wordsworth.
Also this week, AL Kennedy considers the restless wanderings of Robert Louis Stevenson.
Dr Alixe Bovey explores the world of medieval marginalia in Knight Fights Giant Snail (Thursday, Radio 4, 11.30am), a documentary that delves into the weird and wonderful detail of medieval manuscripts, and the strange things to be found around the edges – including knights fighting giant snails. Some of the images are ornate and delicate, while some are demonic, playful or crude.
And Personal Shopper (Friday, Radio 4, 2.15pm) is a topical drama, written by Hugh Costello, exploring how living in enforced isolation can change relationships and ignite new ones. The story is told through phone calls and an audio diary kept by Nina (Monica Dolan), whose husband Frank (Phil Davis) is ill, maybe with the virus. She gets a note through her door from a teenage neighbour offering to do her shopping. The drama follows the relationship that develops between
Max and Nina through the first weeks of isolation.
Read The Week in Radio by Charlotte Runcie every Wednesday in
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