Category: Arts & Culture

Black Screen Britain

Actor Burt Caesar presents two programmes exploring how British film and television drama from the 1950s to the 1970s portrayed the lives of African-Caribbean immigrants. (2 x 28′)

First Broadcast  March – April  2009   BBC Radio 4

1: Ambassadors for the Race  The pioneering black actors who made their names in  A Man from the Sun, Fable, Pool of London, Flame in the Streets and Jemima and Johnny.

2: Reclaiming Our Image  Burt Caesar charts the landmark screen dramas such as Pressure, Empire Road and Burning an Illusion which presented an alternative view of black lives in Britain during the 1970s.

Contributors include: actors Earl Cameron CBE, Mona Hammond, Cy Grant, Joan Hooley, Rudolph Walker, writer Michael Abbensetts, film makers John Akomfrah OBE, Menelek Shabazz, Alrick Riley, commentators June Givanni, Dr Jim Pines and Baroness Lola Young.

Producer Mukti Jain Campion

Radio Choice: The Guardian, the Observer, The Independent & The Times.

Radio 4 Pick of the Week

Most of the films discussed in this series can be viewed free of charge at the BFI Southbank’s Mediatheque in London or at the Quad in Derby

Bone in the Kebab

 

bitk“Theatre should be like a bone in the kebab: unexpected, and with bite.”– Jatinder Verma, Director Tara Arts

To mark the 25th anniversary of the pioneering company Tara Arts, Mukti Jain Campion presents two programmes exploring the distinctive contribution of British Asian theatre.(2 x 28′)

First broadcast February 2002  BBC Radio 4

Contributors: Jatinder Verma, Sudha Buchar and Kristine Landon-Smith, Shobana Jeyasingh, Nina Wadia, Sir Richard Eyre, Vincent Ebrahim, Naseem Khan and Dominic Rai.

Producer Mukti Jain Campion

An enthralling survey of British Asian life over the past quarter of a century – Paul Donovan, The Sunday Times

 

1: Acting Ourselves From its explicitly political beginning in the wake of the killing of a Sikh schoolboy in Southall, Tara Arts has charted the story of the Asian presence in Britain, warts and all.

2: Ghetto Blasters? The British Asian theatre scene has never been a more vibrant showcase for British Asian theatre talent, talent which is now reaching out to new audiences through TV and film as well as the stage.

Radio Choice: The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times,The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, Time Out, Radio Times

Radio 4 Pick of the Week

Character Assassins

 

caWhy did Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Inspector Morse have to die? And has Rebus really gone for ever?  Fiona Lindsay visits the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival and cross-examines famous authors who have killed off their most popular creations. (1 x 28′)

First broadcast September 2010   BBC Radio 4

Contributors include: Ian Rankin, Colin Dexter, Joanne Harris, Laura Thompson, David Stuart Davies and Roger Llewellyn.

Readings by Andy Turvey

Producer Chris Eldon Lee

Radio Choice: The Radio Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Times, The Independent

Radio 4 Pick of the Week

Chinese in Britain

cibA landmark series in which Anna Chen explores the early history of the Chinese presence in Britain (10 x 14′)

First broadcast April – May 2007    BBC Radio 4

Readings by David Tse Ka-shing

Producer Mukti Jain Campion

  1. The First Chinese VIPs: the earliest recorded Chinese to arrive in Britain
  2. The Creation of Chinatown: the myth and reality
  3. From Ship to Shore: experiences of Chinese seamen in Britain
  4. Steam and Starch: life in a Chinese laundry
  5. Educated in Britain: the history of Chinese students
  6. Feet unbound: pioneering Chinese Women in Britain
  7. Mixed Blessings: growing up half Chinese
  8. Artistic Pursuits: stepping out on Britain’s cultural landscape
  9. Screen Beginnings: the first British Chinese screen actors
  10. Peking Duck and Chips: early Chinese restaurants

Each episode sounded effortless only because it had been crafted with such supreme care.  – Gillian Reynolds, The Daily Telegraph

Visit the BBC series website

Original interviews have been archived with the British Library  accession number C1353

Radio Choice: The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Scotsman, Time Out, Daily Mail, The Independent 

Radio 4  Pick of the Week

Chopsticks At Dawn

 

Anna Chen reducedWhy is it that Chinese decorative arts are revered in the West, but composers from Debussy to George Formby have constantly parodied  “Chinese” music? Comedian Anna Chen investigates. (1 x 28′)

First broadcast June 2010  BBC Radio 4

Contributors: musicologist Dr Jonathan Walker; Derek Scott, professor of Music at Leeds University; Rachel Harris of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies and contemporary musicians Ben Chan, Jane Ng and Liz and Sarah Liew of Chi2

Producer  Chris Eldon Lee

Radio Choice:   Radio Times, The Observer, The Sunday Telegraph, The Mail on Sunday, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Time Out, The Stage

Creative Forces

 

cfComedian Dawn French is the daughter of an RAF technician. Actress Juliet Stevenson’s father was a British Army Officer. In conversation with Fiona Lindsay (herself a Navy child) they explore how their highly nomadic childhoods may have shaped their adult careers. (1 x 28′)

First broadcast November 2013   BBC Radio 4

Producer Chris Eldon Lee

 

Radio Choice: The Radio Times,  The Daily Telegraph,  The Independent, The Times, The Daily Mail

Darwin Songs

 

dsEight top folk singers from Britain and the USA are holed up for 7 days in a remote Shropshire farmhouse at the invitation of the Shrewsbury Folk Festival. Their task: to write new songs inspired by the life and work of the eminent naturalist Charles Darwin in time for a public concert at the new Theatre Severn, near where Darwin was born 200 years ago. (1 x 28′)

First broadcast  March 2009  BBC Radio 4

Contributors include: Rachel MacShane of Bellowhead, Stu Hanna of Megson, Emily Smith, Chris Wood, Mark Erelli, Krista Detor, Karine Polwart and Jez Lowe. Randall Keynes – great, great, grandson of Charles Darwin, Jon King – director, Shrewsbury Darwin Festival

Producer Chris Eldon Lee        

Radio choice: The Daily Telegraph, The Times and The Guardian

Bengal to Baker Street in 80 Paintings

Mukti Jain Campion discovers the story of pioneering Indian modern artist Jamini Roy (1887 – 1972) and how the largest collection of his work came to hang in a private apartment in central London. (1 x 28′)

See Slideshow of the paintings discussed in the programme.

First broadcast March 2014  BBC Radio 4

Contributors include: Professor Nirmalya Kumar (pictured), Collector of Jamini Roy’s paintings; Richard Blurton, Curator of South Asian Art at the British Museum; Partha Mitter, Emeritus Professor of Art History, University of Sussex; Sona Datta, art historian, curator and author of book on Jamini Roy “Urban Patua”; Artist Sir Howard Hodgkin

Producer Mukti Jain Campion

This is a fascinating programme about art, its collection, its inspiration, its social value and how attitudes of critics and art historians change over time – Gillian Reynolds, The Daily Telegraph

 

Radio Choice: The Times, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Observer and Radio Times

Digital Folk

 

dfMusician John Kirkpatrick shares the delights of  The Full English, a newly digitised online collection which brings together a vast archive of early 20th century English folk music. ( 1 x 28′)

First broadcast August 2013  BBC Radio 4

Contributors include: Billy Bragg, Lee Hall, Malcolm Taylor, Mary Keith, Nell Leyshon, Fay Hield and Nancy Kerr.

Producer  Chris Eldon Lee

Radio Choice: The Guardian, The Daily Mail,The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Independent

Visit The Full English Website

Designing The Impossible

 

dtiHow would you like to experience a volcanic eruption in your living room? Could you create dark energy in your kitchen sink? Or, perhaps you dream of becoming an astronaut?

Enter the surreal world of Nelly Ben Hayoun, acclaimed designer of fantasy experiences, who brings the thrill of cutting edge science into everyday life. (1 x 28′)

First broadcast Sept  2013   BBC Radio 4

 

Contributors: Thrill engineer Brendan Walker, Foley Artist Sue Harding, former NASA astronaut trainer Annette Rodrigues, musician Arthur Jeffes and the International Space Orchestra

Producer / Presenter Mukti Jain Campion