The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Review
On My Wavelength
As the Duke of Edinburgh is laid to rest today, at Windsor Castle, The Funeral of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (Radio 4), sees Martha Kearney host live coverage of the Procession and Service at St George’s Chapel Windsor, with commentatary from Clare Balding, Eleanor Oldroyd, Clive Myrie and Allan Little. Radio 2, meanwhile, will mark a minute’s silence at 3pm.
Stephen Mangan presents The Confessional (Sunday, Radio 4, 7.15pm), a new comedy chat serious on shame and guilt. He asks his guests – a mixture of writers, comedians and public figures – to tell him the three things that they are most ashamed of, and to reflect on the nature of embarrassment and regret. Following a pilot episode with David Tennant, guests in this series include Marian Keyes, Cariad Lloyd, Anthony Horowitz and Dr Phil Hammond.
Historian Dr Kathryn Ferry specialises in architecture and seaside culture, and in Walking the Plank (Monday, Radio 4, 8pm) she explores the motivation behind building piers reaching out across the water. A government grant in 2015 offered funding for the revival of piers across the country, recognising that a pier can be fundamental to a seaside town’s identity as a leisure resort. Could restored piers revive some neglected seaside towns’ fortunes? Ferry hears some of the challenges of pier building and how communities have come together to rejuvenate pier history.
Justin Rowlatt concludes his series on the history of how we have harnessed energy to benefit the species and expand the possibilities of civilisation and endeavour in A Pyrotechnic History of Humanity (Tuesday,
Radio 4, 11am). Having looked at fire, solar energy, and fossil fuels, he considers the future and the challenge of weaning ourselves off a life dependent on fossil fuels.
Jane Garvey’s mesmerising new interview series, Life Changing (Wednesday, Radio 4, 9am), continues with another striking personal story. Garvey speaks to Harriet Ware-Austin, who grew up between the UK and Ethiopia, where her father worked. In April 1972, East African Airways Flight 720 departed from Addis Ababa airport carrying Harriet’s two older sisters, who were travelling back to the UK for school. WareAustin watched as the aeroplane took off, and then almost immediately crashed. Here, she reflects on the effect of the tragedy as a turning point in her life.
Following the Black Lives Matter protests last summer, the American author James Baldwin has gained a new and increased readership for his writing on race and black identity. In James Baldwin’s Last Amen (Thursday, Radio 4, 11.30am), Clarke Peters recalls when Baldwin came to London in 1987 to meet the all-black production of his 1954 play The Amen Corner. Baldwin stayed with Peters during his visit, and died a few months later. Here, the actor recalls their relationship and Baldwin’s legacy.
And in Prison Break (Friday, Radio 4, 11am), Josie Bevan details her experience as a “prison wife” after her husband was sentenced to nine years in prison for fraud. She reflects on the experience for their family and what she learned about how the prison system works. There are contributions from Carl Cattermole, author of Prison: A Survival Guide; Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust; and Dave Merritt, whose son Jack was working with former prisoners when he was killed in a terror attack in London in 2019.