Saturday 29 February 2020

Dan Dare: 21st Century Spaceman

DAN DARE: 21ST CENTURY SPACEMAN (320kbs-m4a/116mb/50mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 21st & 28th December 2019

Science journalist, Richard Hollingham explores whether the reality of space exploration is catching up with the futuristic Dan Dare universe of the distant past.

Featuring extracts from the audio dramas as well as interviews with British spacecraft engineer Alan Bond, plus actors Ed Stoppard (Dan Dare), Geoff McGivern (Digby), Robert G. Slade (Major Stranks), co-lead writer Richard Kurti and producer/director Andrew Mark Sewell.

A B7 Media Production in association with Boffin Media.

DAN DARE: 21ST CENTURY SPACEMAN - 1. EPISODE 1 (320kbs-m4a/56mb/24mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 21st December 2019

The first of a two-part exploration.

DAN DARE: 21ST CENTURY SPACEMAN - 2. EPISODE 2 (320kbs-m4a/60mb/26mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 28th December 2019

Science journalist, Richard Hollingham concludes his two-part exploration.

Friday 28 February 2020

Graeme Park - BBC Radio Manchester Special: Dancing Through The Decades

GRAEME PARK - BBC RADIO MANCHESTER SPECIAL: DANCING THROUGH THE DECADES 01.01.20 (320kbs-m4a/138mb/60mins)
BBC Radio Manchester broadcast: 1st January 2020

Graeme Park hosts another music mix featuring great Mancunian artists and more.

Kraze - The Party (Jo Manji's Warehouse Project Remix)
Happy Clappers - I Believe (The Cube Guys Remix - David Penn Re-Edit)
CASSIMM - Shined On Me (Kevin McKay Remix)
Mary J. Blige & The Discoboxers - Doctor Love
Sylvester - You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) (Michael Gray Remix)
The Vision (Feat. Andreya Triana) - Heaven (Danny Krivit Edit)
Clubland - Let's Get Busy 2019 (Grant Nelson Remix)
A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray (Tall Paul Remix)
Weiss (Feat. Kariya) - Let Me Love You (Original Mix)
Todd Terry (Feat. Martha Wash, Jocelyn Brown & Roland Clark) - Something Going On (K&K Remix)
Joe Smooth - Promised Land (Gerd Janson Remix)

Thursday 27 February 2020

DJ Yoda - Desert Island Disco

DJ YODA - DESERT ISLAND DISCO 24.01.20 (320kbs-m4a/47mb/20mins)
BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 24th January 2020

DJ Yoda takes us to the Desert Island Disco ahead of playing the 6 Music Festival 2020.

Ludwig Göransson - You’re A Creed (DJ Yoda Remix)
Jackson Sisters - I Believe In Miracles
Mark Capanni - I Believe In Miracles
Jeff Redd - You Called And Told Me (Instrumental)
20th Century Steel Band - Heaven And Hell Is On Earth
Joyce Sims - All & All
Whodini - Five Minutes Of Funk
Brentford All Stars - Greedy G
Slick Rick - Children’s Story
Hot 8 Brass Band - Can’'t Nobody Get Down
Big Daddy Kane - Smooth Operator
Three Rivers Project - Drain Hog
Patty Duke - Cloud One
De La Soul - Potholes In My Lawn
Big Dada Sound - Showtime
Stretch & Bobbito - Anna From Woohside (Beat Suite)
DJ Yoda - Afrika
DJ Yoda - Croxley Green
Quincy Jones vs Jay?-?Z - Soul Bossa Shoulder (Sam Redmore Mashup)
Dawn Penn - You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)
Bob Dylan - Mr Tambourine Man
Tricky - Overcome (DJ Yoda Remix)
Lalo Schiffren - Danube Incident
Common & J Period - The Next Chapter (Still Love H.E.R.)
Juls & Worlasi - Nyafu Riddim
Little Simz - Offence
Michael The Lion - Do What U Wanna Do
Kenny Rogers - Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)


Intro (320kbs-m4a/6mb/2min)

Wednesday 26 February 2020

Optimo - Friday Guest Mix

OPTIMO - FRIDAY GUEST MIX 07.02.20 (320kbs-m4a/46mb/20mins)
BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 7th February 2020

We have an exclusive mix from JD Twitch and JG Wilkes aka Optimo. The duo founded the legendary Glasgow night Optimo (Espacio) at the city's much loved Sub Club, a night that was well known for its sense of freedom and its wildly eclectic sounds. They've brought both these things to their Friday mix, so expect everything from Beyoncé drops to The Beatles. We also caught up with one half of the duo - Jonnie Wilkes - to find out what inspires their sets and why Glasgow is so great.

Marcus Worgull - Yaam Dai [Optimo Music Digital Danceforce]
Beyoncé - Formation [Parkwood Entertainment]
Tornado Wallace - Midnight Mania
Bicep - Just [Aus Music]
Free Love - Bones
Zillas On Acid - Black Cat [OMDD]
The Source (Feat. Candi Staton) - You Got The Love [React]
Sharon - I Feel Love
Vanessa Worm - In Heaven We Are
Kelis - Milkshake [Virgin]
Night Scars - Pleasure Pool
Bergsonist - La Rave
The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows [Parlophone]
Second Citizen - Bella Ciao


Intro (320kbs-m4a/3mb/1min)
Outro (320kbs-m4a/4mb/2min)

Tuesday 25 February 2020

Plaid - Friday Guest Mix

PLAID - FRIDAY GUEST MIX 17.01.20 (320kbs-m4a/48mb/21mins)
BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 17th January 2020

Electronic duo Plaid kick start your weekend with a Friday mix, which takes you to euphoric heights before gently dropping you back down to earth, all in the space of twenty minutes.

Plaid are known to their mates as Ed Handley and Andy Turner. They began life as two thirds of The Black Dog and were key players in Warp's Artificial Intelligence series in the 1990s, alongside label mates Autechre and Aphex Twin. As Plaid, the duo continue to explore the very edges of electronic music, whilst fusing their sound with a long held love of funk, soul and classic songwriting structures.

Mason Bee - Star Rover
Max De Wardener - Free Radicals
Ariadne’s Labyrinth - Tiny Car
Aphex Twin - minipops 67 [1202][source field mix]
Beewip - Block By Block
Kettel - Id Bitte
Autumn Is Coming - Exm


Intro (320kbs-m4a/2mb/30secs)
Outro (320kbs-m4a/2mb/30secs)

Monday 24 February 2020

Riton - Power Up Mix

RITON - POWER UP MIX 31.01.20 (320kbs-m4a/70mb/30mins)
BBC Radio 1 broadcast: 31st January 2020

Bob Sinclar & Thomas Bangalter - Gym Tonic (Thomas Bangalter Remix) [EastWest]
MANT - Dance On It
Armand Van Helden - Witch Doktor (Illyus & Barrientos Remix) [Strictly Rhythm]
Chris Lake & Solardo - Free Your Body [Black Book]
Steve Poindexter - Computer Madness [Muzique]
Anti Up - Concentrate [Up The Anti]
Valentino Khan & Chris Lorenzo - Flip The Switch
Technotronic - Whomp Up The Jamz (Riton Edit)
Marie Davidson - Work It (Soulwax Remix) [Ninja Tune]
KC Lights - Sol
Mr. Oizo - Positif [Ed Banger]
Riton Presents Gucci Soundsystem - Mr Todd Terry [Ministry Of Sound]
Riton - Up & Down
Missy Elliott - Work It (Stooki Sound Remix)

Sunday 23 February 2020

Neil Gaiman And The BBC Symphony Orchestra - Playing In The Dark (Part 2)

NEIL GAIMAN AND THE BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - PLAYING IN THE DARK (PART 2) (320kbs-m4a/128mb/56mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 1st January 2020

Neil Gaiman is one of the great storytellers of our time, his work loved by fans of all ages in books, films, on TV and in the theatre.

In this second part of a very special concert (the first part was broadcast on Christmas Day), he joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mihhail Gerts, for a walk on the dark side, reading from his best-selling books, weaving together his dystopian visions with music to thrill and excite the senses.

He is joined on stage by Amanda Palmer who sings A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square and David Tennant, reading from Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett's work "Good Omens".

This is an edited version of the full concert, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 23 December 2019.

All written works: Neil Gaiman (with Sir Terry Pratchett for Good Omens)
BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mihhail Gerts
Producer for BBC Radio 4: Steve Doherty
Producer for BBC Symphony Orchestra: Ann McKay
General manager, BBC Symphony Orchestra: Paul Hughes

A Giddy Goat and BBC Symphony Orchestra production for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4

Music played in part two of the concert:
Richard Wagner - The Ride Of The Valkyries
Bernard Herrman - Prelude From Fahrenheit 451
Benjamin Britten - Sinfonia Da Requiem (2nd Movement)
Sherwin & Maschwitz - A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square

Neil Gaiman And The BBC Symphony Orchestra - Playing In The Dark (Part 1)

NEIL GAIMAN AND THE BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - PLAYING IN THE DARK (PART 1) (320kbs-m4a/130mb/56mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 25th December 2019

Neil Gaiman is one of the great storytellers of our time, his work loved by fans of all ages in books, films, on TV and in the theatre.

In this first part of a very special concert (the second part is broadcast on New Years's Day), he joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mihhail Gerts, for a walk on the dark side, reading from his best-selling books, weaving together his dystopian visions with music to thrill and excite the senses.

He is joined on stage by Amanda Palmer who reads Gaiman's poem The Mushroom Hunters and Simon Butteriss for a stunning rendition of The Nightmare Song from Iolanthe.

This is an edited version of the full concert, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 23 December 2019.

All written works: Neil Gaiman
BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mihhail Gerts
Producer for BBC Radio 4: Steve Doherty
Producer for BBC Symphony Orchestra: Ann McKay
General manager, BBC Symphony Orchestra: Paul Hughes

A Giddy Goat and BBC Symphony Orchestra production for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4

Music played in part one of the concert:
David Arnold - Good Omens (Opening Titles)
Gilbert & Sullivan - The Nightmare Song From Iolanthe
Jherek Bischoff - Underscore To The Mushroom Hunters
Jean Sibelius - Valse Triste
Paul Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Neil Gaiman And The BBC Symphony Orchestra - Playing In The Dark

NEIL GAIMAN AND THE BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - PLAYING IN THE DARK (320kbs-m4a/288mb/2hrs5mins)
BBC Radio 3 broadcast: 23rd December 2019

Neil Gaiman is one of the great storytellers of our time, his work loved by fans of all ages in books, films, on TV and in the theatre. He joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra, along with special guests David Tennant and Amanda Palmer, for a walk on the dark side, reading from his best-selling books, weaving together his dystopian visions with music to thrill and excite the senses on a chilled December day. On the music menu the BBC SO performs music by Dukas, Gershwin, Sibelius, Sullivan, Wagner, Herrmann, and Britten.

Recorded at the Barbican on Tuesday 12th November 2019.

Neil Gaiman (narrator)
Amanda Palmer (singer)
David Tennant (narrator)
Simon Butteriss (baritone)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Mihhail Gerts (conductor)

Paul Dukas - The Sorcerer's Apprentice
George Gershwin - Walking The Dog (Promenade)
Arthur Sullivan - Iolanthe - The Nightmare Song
Jherek Bischoff - The Mushroom Hunters
Jean Sibelius - Valse Triste
Jean Sibelius - Belshazzar's Feast - Oriental Procession
Richard Wagner - The Ride Of The Valkyries
Bernard Herrmann - Prelude From Fahrenheit 451
Benjamin Britten - Sinfonia Da Requiem (2nd Movt)
Manning Sherwin - A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
David Arnold - Good Omens

Saturday 22 February 2020

The Freedland Files

THE FREEDLAND FILES (320kbs-m4a/408mb/2hrs58mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 14th September 2019

Made to mark the 90th Academy Awards ceremony in 2018, Michael Freedland, the prolific author and broadcaster, opens his audio archives for the very first time.

As a writer, presenter and interviewer for over fifty years Freedland has an extensive collection of material which contains the biggest Oscar winning names in film, great entertainers and leading public figures.

In this special 4 Extra showcase recorded from his Bournemouth home he explores the private recordings made for his book and article research along with extracts from his radio documentaries and reveals some of the lesser-known tales of the great stars of stage and screen.

Many of the selections from his archives have never been broadcast before and along with key material from the iconic names of Hollywood such as Julie Andrews, Fred Astaire, Hope and Crosby, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, James Cagney we also hear exclusive interview recordings with Morecambe and Wise and a fascinating not to be missed conversation with Margaret Thatcher before she became prime minister.

Michael Freedland passed away in October 2018.

Producer: Stephen Garner

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in March 2018.

Friday 21 February 2020

The Lennon Visitors

THE LENNON VISITORS (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 6th December 2019

Every year, around 8,000 people from 50 countries pay homage to John Lennon at his childhood home, Mendips. But who are these visitors and what do they seek from an ordinary suburban semi in Liverpool?

Comedian, Alexei Sayle, took the National Trust tour in 2009 and was so taken with its 1950s charm and with the spirit of it, that he's gone back; this time meeting custodian, Colin Hall and finding out what it's like to live in one of the most famous houses in Liverpool.

He also talks to some of those who visited the house when John Lennon lived there - John's cousin Mike; Colin Hanton, the drummer in John Lennon's band, the Quarrymen; and Freda Kelly, the Beatles' Club Secretary. And of course just a few of those 8000 visitors.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2010 to mark Lennon's 70th birthday.

The Beatles - Penny Lane
The Beatles - In My Life
The Beatles - Please Please Me
The Beatles - I Feel Fine
The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever
The Beatles - Come Together

Thursday 20 February 2020

The Soviet James Bond

THE SOVIET JAMES BOND (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 26th December 2019

In the depths of the Cold War, the Soviets had their own version of James Bond, a superspy whose adventures thrilled readers from Minsk to the Urals.

But whereas Bond enjoyed champagne, gambling and beautiful women, the spy codenamed Stierlitz was a Russian patriot of austere tastes (though he does enjoy vodka and singing Russian songs). In novels like “Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat,” Stierlitz carved a parallel path to that being followed by the great 007.

Spy fan Miles Jupp explores the extraordinary legacy of the Soviet James Bond and his creator Julian Semyonov.

Producer: David Stenhouse

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2014.

Wednesday 19 February 2020

The Woman Who Invented James Bond?

THE WOMAN WHO INVENTED JAMES BOND? (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcat: 25th December 2019

He is the most famous spy of all time, a double "O" agent licensed to kill for his country, who has thrilled readers since his debut in 1953.

But could James Bond have been invented by another writer a full seven years before Ian Fleming introduced him to the world?

Miles Jupp investigates the strange case of Bottome...Phyllis Bottome and asks if she is the woman who invented James Bond.

Producer: David Stenhouse

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2016.

Tuesday 18 February 2020

James Bond: Licence To Kilt

JAMES BOND: LICENCE TO KILT (320kbs-m4a/65mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 24th December 2019

If you think about Scotland and James Bond you'll inevitably think about Sean Connery but what we want discover in this programme is just how Scottish the character of Bond really is?

In this exploration of 007's Scottish roots, we've assembled a team of experts to delve into Bond's literary birth and explore the life and the characters who inspired his creator, Ian Fleming.

They include biographers, historians, adventurers and even Ian's own nephew Fergus Fleming who has a tale to tell surrounding the retired armourer in Glasgow who went on to inspire Fleming to invent Bond's faithful boffin 'Q'.

You'll hear about the Bond family tree, the so-called 'Connery Effect' on the character and about a legacy, which continues both in print and on screen some 60 years later.

We'll take you on a journey from the Jute mills of Dundee to the high society of Mayfair. From the battlefields of World War II to the sun kissed beaches of Jamaica and from the Hollywood hills all the way back to the Highlands

And we'll answer the question, how Scottish is James Bond?

First broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland in October 2015.

Monday 17 February 2020

Ian Fleming - Goldfinger

IAN FLEMING - GOLDFINGER (320kbs-m4a/200mb/1hr27mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 26th December 2019

Toby Stephens returns as agent 007 James Bond in a thrilling dramatisation of Ian Fleming's 1959 novel, with a glittering cast is led by Ian McKellen in the title role.

Auric Goldfinger is not only a cheat at canasta and golf, he's also an international criminal on a massive scale. His obsession: gold. James Bond is charged by the Bank of England and MI5 to discover what Goldfinger is actually doing with his vast hoards of gold. Is he somehow connected with SMERSH - the feared soviet spy-killing organisation?

When 007 becomes an undercover member of Goldfinger's team he soon learns that the madman's plans are more grandiose than even 'M' could possibly have imagined. Amazingly, robbing Fort Knox is on the agenda - and mass murder...

Directed by Martin Jarvis, with cameo roles by top actors - all delighted to contribute to this remarkable Fleming adventure.

Rosamund Pike plays wacky gang-boss Pussy Galore and Lisa Dillon is the vengeful Tilly Masterton. John Standing returns as 'M'. Tom Hollander, Tim Pigott-Smith and American star Hector Elizondo as New York City mobsters. Bond and Goldfinger are joined in the famous golf game by Alistair McGowan as the caddie, Hawker. Henry Goodman, Ian Ogilvy and Lloyd Owen contribute to the excitement. And Jon David Yu throws his bowler-hat with deadly effect as 'Oddjob'.

Goldfinger ...... Ian McKellen
James Bond ..... Toby Stephens
'M'..... John Standing
Col.Smithers ..... Ian Ogilvy
Pussy Galore ...... Rosamund Pike
Tilly Masterton ..... Lisa Dillon
Johnny Solo ..... Tim Pigott-Smith
Mr Strap ..... Tom Hollander
Du Pont ..... Henry Goodman
Hawker ..... Alistair McGowan
Helmut Springer ..... Hector Elizondo
Felix Leiter ..... Lloyd Owen
Jed Midnight ..... Nigel Anthony
Jill Masterton ..... Anna Louise Plowman
Oddjob ..... Jon David Yu
Alfred ..... Alan Shearman
Nigel ..... Matthew Wolf
Fleming ..... Martin Jarvis
Doctors & Pilot ..... Kyle Stoller
Nurse .....Tracy Pattin

Dramatised by Archie Scottney.

Music composed by Mark Holden and Sam Barbour.

Producer: Rosalind Ayres
Director: Martin Jarvis

A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2010.

Sunday 16 February 2020

Ian Fleming - Thunderball

IAN FLEMING - THUNDERBALL (320kbs-m4a/200mb/1hr27mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 25th December 2019

It's 1959. Blackmail. The western world is in jeopardy. Can James Bond prevent nuclear disaster?

Toby Stephens stars as agent 007.

SPECTRE’s pilot hijacks a Vindicator bomber carrying two atomic bombs. Once its cargo is delivered to the Bahamas, he is killed and the bombs are secreted on board the cruiser Disco Volante. The British Prime Minister receives a letter from criminal mastermind Ernst Blofeld - two major cities will be decimated unless a huge ransom is paid.

Operation Thunderball attempts to recover the nuclear weapons.

M assigns 007 to the Bahamas. He joins forces with CIA’s Felix Leiter. Bond meets Domino - mistress of Blofeld’s second-in-command, Largo and sister of the dead pilot - and recruits her to spy on Largo.

The ransom deadline nears. After an undersea battle Bond locates the bombs en route to the first target. Will nuclear disaster be averted?

Martin Jarvis directs an all-star cast.

James Bond ... Toby Stephens
Largo ... Tom Conti
Blofeld ... Alfred Molina
Domino ... Janet Montgomery
Dr Wain ... John Sessions
Patricia ... Lisa Dillon
Lippe ... James Callis
Leiter ... Josh Stamberg
Governor ... Ian Ogilvy
M ... John Standing
Miss Moneypenny ... Janie Dee
Q ... Julian Sands
Captain Clark ... Nigel Lindsay
Petacchi/Dietl ... Matthew Wolf
Sam ... Alan Shearman
Beresford/Pilot ... Darren Richardson
Kalyagin/Operator ... Aaron Lyons
Santos/Officer ... Simon de Deney
Ian Fleming ... Martin Jarvis

Other parts played by members of the cast

Specially composed music by Mark Holden and Philip Smoot
Dramatised by Archie Scottney

Director: Martin Jarvis
Producer: Rosalind Ayres

A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2016.

Saturday 15 February 2020

Ian Fleming - From Russia With Love

IAN FLEMING - FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (320kbs-m4a/199mb/1hr27mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 22nd December 2019

It's 1955 and the Russians plan an act of terrorism. Choice of target? James Bond. To be 'killed with ignominy': a major sex scandal will leave his reputation, and that of MI6, in tatters.

Colonel Rosa Klebb of the KGB devises a plan to lure Bond into their trap, using beautiful Corporal Tatiana Romanova as bait - plus a Spektor, the latest Russian decoding device...

Toby Stephens stars as agent 007.

In Archie Scottney's brilliantly evocative 'radio screenplay', we see another side to 007. Unsure of his judgement, can he bring the lovely Tatiana safely to England, along with the precious Spektor? Will the Russians succeed in having Bond killed?

Martin Jarvis directs an all-star cast.

James Bond ...... Toby Stephens
Rosa Klebb ...... Eileen Atkins
General ...... John Sessions
Kerim ...... Tim Pigott-Smith
Kronsteen ...... Mark Gatiss
Major ...... Jon Glover
May ...... Aileen Mowat
'M' ...... John Standing
Moneypenny ...... Janie Dee
'Q' ...... Julian Sands
Manager ...... Matthew Wolf
Tatiana ...... Olga Fedori
Announcer ...... Micky Stratford
Nash ...... Nathaniel Parker
Ian Fleming ...... Martin Jarvis

Other parts played by members of the cast

Specially composed music by Mark Holden and Michael Lopez.

Director: Martin Jarvis
Producer: Rosalind Ayres

A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in July 2012.

Friday 14 February 2020

The Songs The Beatles Gave Away

THE SONGS THE BEATLES GAVE AWAY (320kbs-m4a/129mb/56mins)
BBC Radio 2 broadcast: 29th September 2019

As part of Radio 2's Great British Songbook, Bob Harris investigates the songs the Beatles gave away. The most popular group in the world for over 45 years, a recent issue of re-mastered albums saw four Top 10 entries in the UK chart, while their compilation '1' looks set to be America's biggest album this decade. The fevered excitement that accompanied every release in the 1960s is well documented but less is known about the music written, though not necessarily recorded or released, by the Beatles during the same decade.

Whilst the Beatles were constantly in the charts, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison were also supplying other artists with a number of hits...and the occasional miss! Bob Harris delves into these recordings by Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, Mary Hopkin, The Foremost, Cilla Black, Jackie Lomax, Doris Troy and others. Along the way he uncovers some forgotten gems, such as the theme tune for a TV series starring Stanley Holloway; music from a Boulting Brothers film called The Family Way; and hears first hand from Sir Paul McCartney about being contacted by Frank Sinatra for a song. Paul also talks at length about his approach to writing in the 1960s; the songs given to Tommy Quickly, Peter and Gordon, Chris Barber and PJ Proby; as well as those written exclusively for Cilla Black.

Amongst other interviews recorded specially for the programme, Mary Hopkin talks about recording with McCartney in the studio; Johnny Gentle (who was backed by The Beatles on his 1960 tour) recalls Lennon's contribution to I've Just Fallen For Someone; Billy Hatton of The Fourmost remembers John and George's version of the group's debut hit Hello Little Girl; and Billy J. Kramer admits to the fatal error of turning down a song that would eventually become one of the most performed works in recorded history.

These interviews are accompanied by BBC archive material of George Harrison describing how Badge, the song he co-wrote for Cream, got its name. The programme also features new interviews with Sir George Martin, the producer of a number of these records, and Cilla Black, whose demo recording of Step Inside Love (featuring Paul on guitar) receives a rare outing on radio. We also hear George Harrison's early recorded performance of Sour Milk Sea, the song he gave to Jackie Lomax.

Badfinger - Come And Get It
Darren Young - I've Just Fallen For Someone
Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas - Bad To Me
Tommy Quickly - Tip Of My Tongue
The Fourmost - Hello Little Girl
Cilla Black - Love Of The Loved
Cilla Black - It's For You
Peter & Gordon - A World Without Love
The Applejacks - Like Dreamers Do
Mike Shannon & The Strangers - One And One Is Two
P.J. Proby - That Means A Lot
The George Martin Orchestra - Love In The Open Air
Chris Barber - Cat Call
Cilla Black - Step Inside Love (Demo Version)
Cilla Black - Step Inside Love
John Foster & Sons Ltd./Black Dyke Mills Band - Thingumybob
Mary Hopkin - Goodbye
George Harrison - Sour Milk Sea (Demo Version)
Jackie Lomax - Sour Milk Sea
Cream - Badge
Paul McCartney - Suicide
Carlos Mendez - Penina
Doris Troy - Ain't That Cute
Badfinger - Come And Get It

Thursday 13 February 2020

The Beatles Live In America

THE BEATLES LIVE IN AMERICA (320kbs-m4a/128mb/56mins)
BBC Radio 2 broadcast: 21st September 2019

Paul Gambaccini tells the story of The Beatles’ eventful concert tours of North America during 1964, 1965 and 1966. Reporter Larry Kane remembers the mayhem and music and replays his interviews recorded with the group as they criss-crossed America. Featuring comments from Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and The Beatles’ press officer Derek Taylor, the programme covers the excitement surrounding the group’s performance at Shea Stadium in New York in August 1965 in front of the largest ever audience for a pop event at the time. It also reveals the reasons for The Beatles decision to retire from live work following their last concert in August 1966 in San Francisco.

The Beatles - Twist And Shout (Hollywood Bowl, 30 Aug 1965)
The Beatles - All My Loving (Ed Sullivan Show, 9 Feb 1964)
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night (Live)
The Beatles - Boys (Live)
The Beatles - Roll Over Beethoven (Live)
The Beatles - I Wanna Hold Your Hand (Hollywood Bowl)
The Beatles - She Loves You (Live)
The Beatles - You Can't Do That (Hollywood Bowl)
The Beatles - All My Loving (Live)
The Beatles - Dizzy Miss Lizzy (Hollywood Bowl)
The Beatles - She's A Woman (Hollywood Bowl)
The Beatles - Help! (Hollywood Bowl)
The Beatles - Things We Said Today (Hollywood Bowl)
The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love (Hollywood Bowl)
The Beatles - Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby (Shea Stadium 1965)
The Beatles - Ticket To Ride (Live)
The Beatles - Long Tall Sally (Candlestick Park, 29 Aug 1966)

Wednesday 12 February 2020

Help Is On The Way!

HELP IS ON THE WAY! (320kbs-m4a/128mb/56mins)
BBC Radio 2 broadcast: 21st September 2019

Michael Palin presents the story behind the making of The Beatles’ second feature film Help!. The fact that every generation falls under the spell of The Beatles is, of course, down to the brilliance of their music. But it is also due to the power of their personalities and their irreverent attitude. The two movies they made in 1964 and 1965 played an important role in projecting their image.


Following the success of A Hard Day’s Night, once more Richard Lester directed the group’s next film with a bigger budget that took The Beatles to exotic locations in the Bahamas and Austria. The programme features the memories of Richard Lester, actors Eleanor Bron and Victor Spinetti, the group’s road manager at the time Neil Aspinall, and costume designer Julie Harris. It is illustrated with clips from Help! and the songs from the film, including ‘You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away’, ‘Another Girl’ and ‘Ticket To Ride’.

The Beatles - Help!
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
The Beatles - You're Going To Lose That Girl
The Beatles - You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
The Beatles - Another Girl
The Beatles - I Need You
The Beatles - Act Naturally
The Beatles - The Night Before
The Beatles - Ticket To Ride
The Beatles - Help!

Tuesday 11 February 2020

Paul McCartney - In Concert Maida Vale 2013

PAUL MCCARTNEY - IN CONCERT MAIDA VALE 2013 (320kbs-m4a/128mb/56mins)
BBC Radio 2 broadcast: 22nd September 2019

An exclusive concert set from Maida Vale in 2013 performed by Paul McCartney. Featuring classic tracks from his entire career including Eight Days A Week, Jet, and Hey Jude.

The Beatles - Eight Days A Week [Apple]
Paul McCartney - Save Us
Paul McCartney & Wings - Jet [Parlophone]
Paul McCartney - My Valentine
Paul McCartney - 1985
Paul McCartney - Another Day [Parlophone]
Paul McCartney - Everybody Out There
Paul McCartney - New [MPL Communications]
Paul McCartney - Queenie Eye
The Beatles - Lady Madonna [EMI]
The Beatles - Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! [Parlophone]
Paul McCartney & Wings - Band On The Run [Parlophone]
The Beatles - Back In The U.S.S.R [EMI/Apple]
The Beatles - Hey Jude [Apple]

Monday 10 February 2020

The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour

THE BEATLES' MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR (320kbs-m4a/128mb/56mins)
BBC Radio 2 broadcast: 14th September 2019

The television film Magical Mystery Tour was devised, written and directed by The Beatles. It has a significant place in the history of The Beatles - not least, because it was viewed by many as the group's first failure. In the UK, it was transmitted by BBC 1 in black and white on 26 December, 1967 and then shown ten days later in colour on BBC 2. Certainly, the impact of the film's special effects was diminished by watching in monochrome and this may have contributed to the bafflement experienced by many viewers. But as Paul McCartney acknowledges, the film's generally unfavourable reception was more affected by its scheduling on Boxing Day, usually reserved for fairly light entertainment rather than an experimental fantasy film.

The documentary also examines the group's activities during 1967 before they spent most of the final four months working on their film. It was a momentous year. It began with Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever; their LP Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in June; they performed All You Need Is Love on Our World - the first global TV show linking five continents by satellite. While learning about Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Bangor, North Wales, The Beatles received the shocking news of the sudden death of their manager Brian Epstein. Two weeks later they began filming Magical Mystery Tour.

The Beatles - Hello, Goodbye
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever
The Beatles - Penny Lane
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles - She's Leaving Home
The Beatles - All You Need Is Love
The Beatles - Baby You're A Rich Man
The Beatles - Within You Without You
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles - Flying
The Beatles - Blue Jay Way
The Beatles - I Am The Walrus
The Beatles - Your Mother Should Know
The Beatles - The Fool On The Hill
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour

Sunday 9 February 2020

The Essay - 2019: The Year Of Blade Runner

THE ESSAY - 2019: THE YEAR OF BLADE RUNNER (320kbs-m4a/156mb/1hr7mins)
BBC Radio 3 broadcast: 4th to 8th November 2019

Los Angeles, November 2019. Blade Runner's future is now ours. Ridley Scott's 1982 classic future film of replicants escaping to a retrofitted Earth and meeting their end at the hands of the washed out, titular Blade Runner, Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, is adapted from Philip K. Dick's equally classic 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

Both film and book are meditations on what it is to be human but we have been looking through the eyes of the film ever since it plunged us into its acid rain, neon coated, West Coast nightmare of flaming night skies, commercial ziggurats, flying cars and fake animals. Now its future is our present. We live in a world of mass species die off, environmental crisis, rapidly developing A.I., all powerful corporations and extreme divides between rich and poor.

Film and book have bled into our culture in many different ways and in this series of the Essay, we mark the year of Blade Runner, in the month of Blade Runner.

Producer: Mark Burman

DEYAN SUDJIC - 1. LOS ANGELES, NOVEMBER 2019 (320kbs-m4a/32mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 3 broadcast: 4th November 2019

Five writers explore what it is to be human or a machine, the sonic reaches of the film, the contradictions of sex robots, the cinematic legacy and we begin with Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum, considering the filmic city of Blade Runner's Los Angeles and its bleed out beyond the screen into architecture and design.

"The film offers a deeply ambiguous spectacle. Blade Runner is a vision of a world in which mankind has blotted out the sun, and nature has gone extinct. We know that we are meant to be horrified. And yet at the same time it’s thrilling to look at, like taking in the view at midnight from a bar on the 60th floor of a Shanghai skyscraper, nursing a vodka martini in an iced glass."


FRANCES MORGAN - 2. SOUNDS OF THE FUTURE PAST (320kbs-m4a/31mb/13mins)
BBC Radio 3 broadcast: 5th November 2019

Frances Morgan, writer and researcher into electronic music, pierces the sound barrier of a film that defined the future not only in the way it looked but in the ways we heard tomorrow.

"The first thing I think of is the film’s sonic environment. The main character, the Blade Runner Rick Deckard, moves through the city, from its murky streets up to its corporate penthouses, against a constant backdrop of hissing rain, distant explosions, synthesized voices from billboard-sized screens, bleeping machines, hybrid pop music, multilingual chatter and the buzz of neon. Music ebbs and flows around him: deep drones swelling into gauzy synthetic strings. His apartment pulses with a low hum. Blade Runner is suffused, saturated with sound."

KEN HOLLINGS - 3. MORE HUMAN THAN HUMAN (320kbs-m4a/30mb/13mins)
BBC Radio 3 broadcast: 6th November 2019

The writer Ken Hollings takes the Voight Kampff test as he examines the ethical barriers between us and the machine.

"According to both the novel and its film adaptation, androids are committing a crime simply by not being human. And in the world of 2019, Blade Runner reveals, the punishment is enforced ‘retirement’ – or legal execution. This is the extent to which humanity holds itself responsible for its creations. "

BETH SINGLER - 4. ZHORA AND THE SNAKE (320kbs-m4a/31mb/13mins)
BBC Radio 3 broadcast: 7th November 2019

Dr Beth Singler, Junior Research Fellow in Artificial Intelligence at Homerton College, Cambridge asks what is real and fake in A.I. sex and love.

"Simulation forces us to think about how we can the ‘real’ that we seem so often to be confident about. Confident enough perhaps to reassure ourselves that the use of ‘fake’ humans as slave labour and sexbots is alright to be skimmed over in the dialogue of the human characters in Blade Runner. What does it say about the society in the world of Blade Runner that it is okay with slave replicants who fight our off-world wars and fulfil sexual needs for colonists?

It gets worse. What does it say about a society that is okay with slave replicants who are only two years old?"

DAVID THOMSON - 5. FIERY THE ANGELS FELL (320kbs-m4a/32mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 3 broadcast: 8th November 2019

The legendary writer on film, David Thomson, takes a long hard look back at Ridley Scott's rain soaked mash up of existential noir and artificial souls.

"Maybe you’ve never seen Blade Runner – but you think you have. It’s one of those films in our dreams and feeble memory. I used to think it was what it claimed to be, the story of a sour bounty hunter charged to eliminate or retire some dangerous escapees from the old scheme of how the universe was run."

Saturday 8 February 2020

DJ Shadow - 6 Music New Year's Day 2020

DJ SHADOW - 6 MUSIC 01.01.20 (320kbs-m4a/388mb/2hrs49mins)
BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 1st January 2020

DJ Shadow presents three hours of brilliant records for tender heads on NYD. The legendary producer soundtracks a mix of music that will ease you through a potentially painful day. Featuring music from This Mortal Coil, War, The Paris Sisters and Thrupence.

Attica Blues - Tender (Organized Konfusion Remix) [Mo'Wax]
Mad Doll - Walk On By (Dun Steppin' Mix) [MCA]
Hustlers H.C. - Big Trouble In Little Asia (Flute Flavoured Jazzamental) [Nation]
808 & Dave Porter - Mad Woman [Spleen]
Pleasure (Feat. Billy Elder) - Don't Take The Night Away [Tower]
Marvin, Welch & Farrar - Thank Heavens I've Got You [Regal Zonophone]
A.S.A.P. - Close Your Eyes [MCA]
Don “Sugarcane” Harris - So Alone [Body Heat]
War - Four Cornered Room [United Artists]
Cevin Fisher - A House For Wendy [P. Pan]
Strawberry Alarm Clock - Shallow Impressions [Uni]
The Electric Prunes - I [Reprise]
Granicus - Twilight [RCA]
Unknown - Unknown
Patsy Benson - East Coast To The West [A.L.C.]
Peter Thomas - Strato-Strings [Golden Ring]
Arvid Smith - Orcas [Cacophony]
Sammy Cropper & His Wire Connections - Meko A Enko [Makossa]
Unknown - Unknown
The Thundertones - Shadows [Dot]
Unknown - Unknown
Toe Head - Goodnight Jackie [VRA]
Unknown - Unknown
Billy Van Four - The Last Sunrise [Lagree]
The Cake - Baby That's Me [Decca]
The Paris Sisters - Yes I Love You
Julee Cruise - Mysteries Of Love [Warner Bros.]
Ness Harding - Parting Of Man [Encore]
Express Rising - Memorabilia [Express Rising (Self-Released)]
Kit Watkins - Silences [Azimuth]
Eugen Thomass - Art Asia [Golden Ring]
IDF - Departure [Atavistic]
Pornosect - Invocation Of Power [Parade Amoureuse]
Liaison - Life
Cullen Knight - A'keem (Brothers) [Tree Top]
Jeremy Storch - Smooth Southern Born Lady [RCA]
Somewhere A Voice - Face On A Wall [Peyote]
This Mortal Coil - Fond Affections [4AD]
Zero Deals - Lonely [Existing]
Unknown - Unknown
Taki - Time To Take Possession [Spunky]
Thrupence (Feat. Edward Vanzet) - Conversations [Future Classic]

Friday 7 February 2020

Squarepusher - Friday Feeling Mix

SQUAREPUSHER - FRIDAY FEELING MIX 20.12.19 (320kbs-m4a/54mb/24mins)
BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 20th December 2019

Squarepusher's new album drops at the end of January but he has taken time out to create this amazing genre-spanning mix for us. From Phil Collins to rave via breakbeat, dub, garage and everything in-between. A proper feast for your ears.

Ajax Project - Ruffige (Phil Collins Mix)
Wiley - Wot Do U Call It?
Jazzy Jason - Faster Than Fast!
After Dark - Asylum
Activ - Klik Burst
2 Bad Mice - Drumtrip
Red Ninja - Ninja Dawn
DJ Mondie - Pull Up Dat
Hackney Hardcore - Dancehall Dangerous (Remix)
DJ Distance - Replicant
DJ Phantasy & Gemini - Never Try The Hippodrome
Sudden Def - Let It Hit Dem
Daniel Avery - Diminuendo [Phantasy]


Intro (320kbs-m4a/3mb/1min)
Outro (320kbs-m4a/4mb/2mins)

Thursday 6 February 2020

The Art Of Water Music

THE ART OF WATER MUSIC (320kbs-m4a/63mb/27mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 11th December 2019

Starting with an underwater concert, Midge Ure sounds the depths of the complex relationship between music and water.

Water has fascinated classical composers, modernist musicians and contemporary sound artists alike, and in this programme Midge hears some of the extraordinary ways in which water has been represented, evoked and even used as an instrument by musicians over the centuries. It flows through an extraordinary range of pieces. Midge meets experts on water compositions by Beethoven, Wagner and Debussy and explains why Handel's Water Music is not technically speaking water music at all.

While some of the water music we know best might be classical, water continues to appeal to those working at the musical cutting edge. Midge has a go at playing a bizarre instrument called a 'waterphone' and talks to sound artist Lee Patterson as he performs a strangely hypnotic piece of 'drip music'. He also listens to recordings of the Danube by sound artist Annea Lockwood. She believes the sound of running water is itself music, raising the question of whether or not water and music are actually different at all. Water, it seems, continues to excite, mystify and intrigue, and musicians have engaged with it with whatever instruments they have had at their disposal: orchestras, pianos, and now computers.

Midge goes to meet Simon Harding who makes electronic music on his computer using the water sounds from appliances in his house, while Professor Doug James, a computer scientist at Cornell University, explains some of the science behind water's unique musicality. There is a wealth of beautiful water music already in existence as this programme shows, but water is still a vigorously flowing source of musical inspiration, even expanding our ideas of what we consider music to be.

Presenter: Midge Ure
Producer: Tom Rice

A Pier Production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2011.

Wednesday 5 February 2020

Altamont: The Death Of The Hippie Dream

ALTAMONT: THE DEATH OF THE HIPPIE DREAM (320kbs-m4a/130mb/57mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 30th November 2019

Georgia Bergman, who was Mick Jagger’s personal assistant in 1969, returns to the scene of one of rock’s most notorious concerts. She gives an insider’s perspective on the cultural impact of the event, detailing why it happened, what went wrong and how the concert marked the end of the 60s hippie dream.

Georgia is joined by others who worked with the Rolling Stones at the Altamont concert on December 6, 1969 - including their Business Manager Ron Schneider, the Tour Manager Sam Cutler, Production Designer Chip Monck, film maker Albert Maysles, photographer Eamon McCabe and journalist Michael Lydon.

A Ten Alps production for BBC Radio 4.

Tuesday 4 February 2020

Orson Welles And The War Of The Worlds - Myth Or Legend?

ORSON WELLES AND THE WAR OF THE WORLDS - MYTH OR LEGEND? (320kbs-m4a/130mb/57mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 16th November 2019

Christopher Frayling explores the most notorious hoax in radio, broadcast in 1938 - Orson Welles' production of H G Wells' The War Of The Worlds.

The drama, disguised as a dance music programme punctuated by a series of fake news broadcasts telling of a Martian invasion, played out at a time when the USA was in the grip of pre-WW2 invasion anxiety, fearing that Nazi Germany would make an attack on mainland America. Public reaction was seemingly extreme with widespread panic and isolated groups of people fleeing their homes.

The police raided the Mercury Theatre Company offices after the broadcast and seized copies of the script. The scandal ensured that Welles became a household name and led to his famous Hollywood career. Adolf Hitler cited the crisis as evidence of 'the decadence and corrupt condition of democracy'.

The event was reported all over the world and has become part of broadcasting legend. But just how real was the panic? Some now believe that the newspapers of the time, fearing the growing power of radio, exaggerated events in order to discredit the new medium.

Nevertheless, when the War Of The Worlds dramatisation was repeated in Ecuador in 1949 it lead to a dramatic and tragic series of events when the radio station was burned to the ground.

This programme also reveals how Welles and his collaborators may have been influenced by a lost 1926 BBC programme called Broadcasting From The Barricades, in which Ronald Knox caused a similar stir with a programme of music from the Savoy, interrupted by reports of revolution in the streets and the hotel being flattened by mortars.

Presented by Christopher Frayling
Producer: Nick Freand Jones

A Hidden Flack production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2013.

Monday 3 February 2020

Classic Albums: ELO - A New World Record

CLASSIC ALBUMS: ELO - A NEW WORLD RECORD (320kbs-m4a/136mb/59mins)
BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 15th October 2019

In a programme first broadcast in 1990, Jeff Lynne talks to Roger Scott about the Electric Light Orchestra's 1976 release, A New World Record.

Electric Light Orchestra - Livin' Thing [Sony Music]
Electric Light Orchestra - 10538 Overture (Complete Version) [Premier]
Electric Light Orchestra - Evil Woman [Jet]
Electric Light Orchestra - Tightrope [Jet]
Electric Light Orchestra - Telephone Line [Epic]
Electric Light Orchestra - Rockaria! [Epic]
Electric Light Orchestra - Mission (A World Record) [Epic]
Electric Light Orchestra - So Fine [Epic]
Electric Light Orchestra - Livin' Thing [Sony Music]
Electric Light Orchestra - Do Ya [Epic]
Electric Light Orchestra - Shangri-La [Jet]

Sunday 2 February 2020

A Mortal Work Of Art

A MORTAL WORK OF ART (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 16th October 2019

As tattoos become ever more visible on the bodies of the British public, Mary Anne Hobbs explores the meeting point between the world of fine art and the world of tattoos.

She talks to Spider Webb, the tattoo artist credited with creating the first conceptual art tattoo and the artist Sandra Ann Vita Minchin who is in the process of getting a 17th century Dutch masterpiece tattooed on her back. She visits art historian Dr Matt Lodder who is writing what will be the first art history text on tattooing. She meets Alex Binnie, proprietor of Into You Tattoo - one of the first tattoo parlours in the UK to openly fuse fine art and tattooing.

Writer Shelley Jackson caught public attention worldwide when she launched her Skin project in 2003. Skin was to be a short story which would exist as over two thousand words individually tattooed on volunteers. These participants would become the words in Shelley's story. Mary Anne talks to Shelley about the inspiration behind Skin and she meets one of Shelley's words - the novelist and short story connosseiur Nicholas Royle.

Mary Anne discusses how fine art is influencing and being influenced by tattooing with Sion Smith, editor of Skin Deep, the UK's best-selling Tattoo Magazine and Trent Aitken-Smith editor of Tattoo Master. She talks to one of the new generation of tatto artists, Amanda Wachob, who sees skin as the ultimate canvas.

A Mortal Work of Art explores a practice often portrayed as a marginal pursuit, but that is most definitely mainstream today, and asks why the art establishment has taken such a long time to embrace it.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2013.

Ron Grainer - Tales Of The Unexpected
Lonnie Liston Smith - Blue In Green
The Who - Tattoo
Six By Seven - Get A Real Tattoo
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Tattoo

Saturday 1 February 2020

Ursula K Le Guin - The Left Hand Of Darkness

 
URSULA K LE GUIN - THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS (320kbs-m4a/260mb/1hr54mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 26th October & 2nd November 2019

Sci-fi with incredible humanity from brilliant feminist writer, Ursula Le Guin.

This is the first dramatisation of her 1969 novel, which is as groundbreaking in its approach to gender as when it was first published over 45 years ago.

Adapted in two parts by Judith Adams.

Director: Allegra McIlroy

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2015.

THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS - 1. EPISODE 1 (320kbs-m4a/130mb/57mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 26th October 2019

In a snow-changed city in the middle of an Ice Age on an alien world, one young man prepares for the biggest mission of his life. Alone and unarmed, Genly Ai has been sent from Earth to persuade the world of Gethen to join The Ekumen, a union of planets. But it’s a task fraught with danger. Genly is shocking to the natives. This is a world in which humans are ambigendered – everyone can be a mother, and everyone can be a father.

First Minister Estraven is the only person who champions Genly’s cause, but their relationship is deeply incomprehensible and troubling. Genly’s life is at risk and he must decide who to trust.

Genly Ai ... Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Estraven ... Lesley Sharp
Argaven ... Toby Jones
Tibe ... Louise Brealey
Faxe ... Noma Dumezweni
Ashe ... Ruth Gemmell
Ong Tot ... Adjoa Andoh
Shusgis ... Stephen Critchlow
Obsle ... David Acton
Driver ... David Hounslow
Guard ... Rhiannon Neads
 

THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS - 2. EPISODE 2 (320kbs-m4a/130mb/57mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 2nd November 2019

In the middle of an Ice Age on an alien world, two friends flee across endless snow plains on a journey that will take them to the edge of their physical and emotional endurance. The stakes are high – to save a world from war, and save their own lives.

Genly Ai has arrived from Earth onto the planet Gethen, a world in which humans are ambigendered - everyone can be a mother and everyone can be a father. In coming to terms with their otherness - and also their sameness - Genly must let go of everything he understood about his own identity.

Estraven ... Lesley Sharp
Genly Ai ... Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Ashe ... Ruth Gemmell
Gaum ... Louise Brealey
Obsle ... David Acton
Shusgis ... Stephen Critchlow
Esvans and Asra ... Sam Dale
Sorve ... Ayesha Antoine
Doctor ... Rhiannon Neads
Skipper ... David Hounslow