Anna Chen revisits the Cultural Revolution Model Operas that she first heard as a child in sixties’ London and discovers how they are, somewhat surprisingly, enjoying a new lease of life. (1 x 28′)
First broadcast July 2012 BBC Radio 4
Contributors: Conductor Jindong Cai, journalist Sheila Melvin, novelist Anchee Min and film director Yan Ting Yuen.
Producer Mukti Jain Campion
Radio Choice: The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent
Playwright and director Kwame Kwei-Armah takes an intimate look at the spirit and history of the Notting Hill Carnival. (5 x 14′)
First broadcast August 2011 BBC Radio 4
Producer Pam Fraser Solomon
Radio Choice: The Independent, Mail on Sunday, Time Out
Radio 4 Pick of the Week
Photo of Kwame courtesy of Simon Marhold
Storyteller Seema Anand explores Muhammad Iqbal’s epic poem Shikwa, one of the most famous and enduring works of Islamic literature. The poem is an extended and heartfelt complaint in lyrical Urdu about all the many ways in which God has let Muslims down. When it was first recited by Iqbal at a public gathering in Lahore in 1911, a fatwa was issued by Islamic scholars who were shocked by its seemingly outrageous impudence. (1 x 28′)
First broadcast March 2011 BBC Radio 4
Contributors: Professor Javed Majeed and Navid Akhtar
Readings by Sagar Arya, Saeed Jaffrey and Pervaiz Alam
Producer Mukti Jain Campion
*Winner of the Garden Writers Guild Award for Radio Broadcast of the Year 2001
Weird and wise gardening advice from the past two thousand years, sifted for modern day practical tips by garden historian Caroline Holmes and horticultural experts. (4 x 14′)
First broadcast May 2001 BBC Radio 4
Readings: Christopher Holmes & Malindi O’ Rorke
Producer Mukti Jain Campion
Just when you thought there was no such thing as an original gardening show, here comes an original gardening show. – Peter Barnard, The Times
Radio Choice: The Times, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail, Radio Times.
Radio 4 Pick of the Week
More weird and wise gardening tips from the past two thousand years, sifted for modern day practical tips by garden historian Caroline Holmes with horticultural experts. (5 x 14′)
First broadcast November 2002 BBC Radio 4
Readings by Christopher Holmes & Anni Kurmis
Producer Mukti Jain Campion
A luscious mini series – Gillian Reynolds, The Daily Telegraph
Radio choice: The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, Radio Times, The English Garden
Radio 4 Pick of the Week
On the 10th anniversary of Nusrat’s death, Navid Akhtar examines the musical legacy of his spiritual and musical hero: the hugely influential Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan whose haunting voice enraptured millions across the globe and who successfully collaborated with western musicians such as Peter Gabriel. Singer Jeff Buckley once told an audience at a concert in New York “Nusrat: he’s my Elvis” – before performing one of Nusrat’s songs in Urdu. (1 x 28′)
First broadcast August 2007 BBC Radio 4
Producers: Nikita Gulhane & Chris Eldon Lee
A little gem of a music programme – Patricia Wynn Davies, The Daily Telegraph
Contributors include: singer Peter Gabriel, musician and composer Nitin Sawhney, theatre director Jatinder Verma of Tara Arts, Mohammed Ayuub of Oriental Star Agencies, Thomas Brooman of WOMAD, Amanda Jones of Real World Records, Robert del Naja of Massive Attack and veteran Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.
Radio Choice: The Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, The Times.
Radio 4 Pick of the Week
Writer and performer Anna Chen presents an intimate look at the rich cultural life of St Ives, past and present. Writers and artists from JMW Turner to Barbara Hepworth have been coming to this famous Cornish fishing village for the past 200 years, attracted by its special light and bohemian spirit. Anna has been holidaying there since she was a child and has a passionate connection to the place. She recalls long afternoons as a teenager watching artist Patrick Heron working in his studio, and meeting freespirits such as Molly Parkin. She visits her favourite haunts and performs at the annual St Ives Festival. (1 x 28′)
First broadcast December 2011 BBC Radio 4
Producer Chris Eldon Lee
A lovely evocation of the town and what makes it special – Clare Heal, The Sunday Express
Radio Choice: Radio Times, The Observer, The Times, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, Time Out.
Negar Esfandiary looks inside the covers of one of her favourite childhood books from Iran and discovers a powerful political allegory that has inspired countless activists and artists since it was first published in 1968. (1 x 28′)
First broadcast August 2011 BBC Radio 4
Storyteller Richard Neville & Letter readings by Ravin Ganatra
Producer Mukti Jain Campion
A little hymn to freedom – Simon O’ Hagan, The Independent
Radio Choice: The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Radio Times
Paul Allen traces the history of verbatim theatre from Peter Cheeseman’s early experiments in Stoke on Trent 50 years ago when he collected the stories of local people and put them on stage to the latest production at the town’s New Vic Theatre. (1 x 28′)
First broadcast April 2012 BBC Radio 4
Producer Chris Eldon Lee
Contrary to all the gloomy predictions, decades on and the Mobile Disc Jockey is alive and well – and still playing Bee Gees records. Andy Turvey takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the strobe-lit world of the Mobile DJ, from spinning shellacs in the 1940s to cueing computers today. (1 x 28′)
First broadcast November 2004 BBC Radio 4
Producer Chris Eldon Lee
Radio 4 Pick of the Week
