THIS WEEK’S RADIO PICKS
TODAY RADIO SHUTTLEWORTH RADIO 4 EXTRA, 10.30PM
John Shuttleworth – aka singer-songwriter and comedian Graham Fellows – was ahead of these Lockdown times in this 1998 series when he broadcast from his Sheffield front room with a blend of tunes and chat. Guests over the next five weeks include ‘Prince of Perms’ Leo Sayer, Wendy Craig, Patrick Moore and Vanessa Feltz.
THE FIRST TIME WITH JEFF GOLDBLUM RADIO 6 MUSIC, 2PM
As well as film and TV roles, Jeff Goldblum has in recent years also enjoyed a burgeoning music career, with a No1 Billboard US Jazz Chart album and live performances with the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. Here he talks about the music and moments that have meant the most to him.
THE REUNION RADIO 4, 11AM
Sue MacGregor meets 1960s singers Sandie Shaw (above right), Petula Clark and Helen Shapiro, plus songwriter Jackie Trent and Vicki Wickham, producer of the groundbreaking pop show Ready Steady Go! and later Dusty Springfield’s manager. Non-swimmer Shaw almost comes to blows with Trent, alleging that the composer once pushed her into a pool.
MONDAY 7TH DIMENSION: NEVER TRUST A RABBIT RADIO 4 EXTRA, 6.15PM (MON-FRI)
In 2000, The League Of Gentlemen’s Jeremy Dyson wrote a collection of creepy stories intriguingly called Never Trust A Rabbit. Five of them have been adapted for radio, kicking off with the cautionary tale of an American magician who pays an English student £1.25million to help him with a dangerous illusion.
TUESDAY RADIO 3 IN CONCERT: LIANNE LA HAVAS RADIO 3, 7.30PM
Lianne La Havas is joined by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a recently recorded concert at London’s Barbican Hall. The soulful London singer performs songs from her acclaimed
2012 debut album, Is Your Love Big Enough?, plus new single Bittersweet.
THURSDAY THE FORUM: 1918 PANDEMIC BBC WORLD SERVICE, 10.05AM
Putting the current health crisis in perspective, the 1918 flu pandemic (called ‘Spanish’ flu even though it didn’t start there) infected a third of the world’s population and killed tens of millions of people – mostly younger adults – over almost three years. Three experts discuss what it can teach us about today’s coronavirus spread – not least that there was a deadly second wave.
SATURDAY GREAT LIVES
RADIO 4 EXTRA, 5.30PM
Former MI5 chief turned spy writer Stella Rimington talks to Matthew Parris about her fascination with crime writer Dorothy L. Sayers, who created the amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. Her novels dealt with themes including war veterans’ trauma, the ethics of advertising and women’s education, while she also wrote a controversial radio drama about Christ.
OPERA ON 3: TURANDOT RADIO 3, 6.30PM
Franco Zeffirelli directed this 2016 production of Puccini’s final masterpiece at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, in which Nina Stemme portrayed the proud princess of Ancient China and Marco Berti, as Calaf, got to belt out that karaoke favourite, Nessun Dorma, through which no one does indeed sleep.