Blog posts by year and monthMay 2009
Posts (23)
Americana
America is so vast that almost everything you say about it is likely to be true and the opposite is probably equally true. That's how the late Irish-American novelist James T. Farrell summed up the intriguing complexity of the United States. I have found this to be a very useful quote. It cover...
The Maccabees on Loose Ends
Keep an eye on the Radio 4 group on flickr (there's an RSS feed). Stuff like this shows up regularly. On Saturday at the recording of the evening's Loose Ends, Stan Was took some pictures of the Maccabees. In the Radio 4 group you'll also find some lovely individual pics, like this one (also tak...
'Multiplatforming' the Reith Lectures
The Reith Lectures are amongst the most venerable of BBC institutions. Our first director-general famously believed that the corporation should enrich the intellectual and cultural life of the nation. In this spirit, each year the BBC invites a leading figure to deliver a series of lectures wh...
The Farming Today bees again
The Farming Today bees are getting their own blog over on the Farming Today web site. While they're finishing off the design, Chris Impey and Fran Barnes, producers and trainee beekeepers, bring us news from the hive: When Fran and I started this project we thought it would be an age before we ...
The Complete Smiley
About 3 years ago, and very new to the job of Commissioning Editor for Drama for Radio 4, I was walking back from the bank to my office when my mobile rang. It was Patrick Rayner, the Head of Drama in Scotland. "Jeremy, I know it stretches the definition of classic a bit and it is not Scottish,...
Treat Radio
So - after years of planning - tomorrow at 1430 in The Saturday Play slot - the great Smiley project begins with Call for The Dead. There have been some rather lovely TV trails for it. And next week at the same time comes A Murder of Quality. We will do all eight of the Smiley novels (he feature...
That's easy for you to say...
ANNOUNCERS' WEEK: DAY FIVE Many years ago, there was a rookie girl announcer reading the travel news on Radio 4. There was a spot of bother near Towcester, which she confidently names Toe-chester. The phone rang. Peter Donaldson (for it was he) said: "It's Toaster, dear girl, as in pop-up". The...
Stay tuned...
I've got the day off today so I'm at the kitchen table with a large cup of coffee (and porridge bubbling) planning a busy bank holiday weekend on the blog. Between now and Monday I've got five really interesting posts to publish. Later today you'll be able to read Susan Rae's fifth and final sna...
Announcers have super-powers
ANNOUNCERS' WEEK: DAY FOUR Friends are always telling me I have the best job in the world. "You spend your entire working day listening to Radio4!" they say. Well, that's true, but only partly true. You see, we hear the programmes, but not in the same way we would at home. All the announcers ha...
Book at Bedtime? I wish!
ANNOUNCERS' WEEK: DAY THREE The real book at bedtime for the Radio 4 announcer is our Book of the Week at half past midnight. By this time we are entering the last quarter hour of our late shift and the part that is arguably the busiest for us. If you're familiar with the end of our day's tra...