Criticism levelled at the BBC for the programme changes made in the aftermath of the death of HRH the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is unprecedented. Roger Bolton hears the views of listeners and asks if the corporation got its response badly wrong. Also, the Reverend Richard Coles talks about religion on the radio, and two young listeners discuss a controversial Radio 4 play about sexual consent and rape. Did it put them out of their comfort zone? Presenter: Roger Bolton Producer: Kate Dixo...
Apr 16, 2021•28 min
Why does Saturday Live’s the Reverend Richard Coles insist on using his title when he presents non-religious programmes? That’s one of the questions put to the former pop star and polymath by Roger Bolton. What does the BBC’s Annual Plan tell listeners about the future of radio? Roger Mosey the former Editorial Director of the BBC gives his view. And in Out of your Comfort Zone, two amateur reviewers give their verdict on the BBC Radio podcast I’m Not a Monster. Were they convinced? Presenter: R...
Apr 11, 2021•28 min
The Controller of Radio 3 Alan Davey answers listeners’ questions - including why the music of Justin Bieber is being played on a radio station better known as the home of classical music on the BBC. He also explains why a much loved presenter Ian Skelly is going from his morning slot to the afternoon, and talks about Radio 3's move to Salford and whether it will affect the station’s output. And did Melinda Gates put Pope Francis, and our listener reviewers, out of their comfort zones? Presenter...
Apr 02, 2021•28 min
As politicians, doctors and scientists fought to bring Covid under control, the BBC’s Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg was trying to find out what was really going on in Downing Street, Whitehall and in Parliament. She explains to Roger Bolton the difficulties she has encountered covering this unique story over the past year. And the actor and director Martin Jarvis talks about radio drama, and specifically his recent role on Radio 4 as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sweeney Todd. Is there a...
Mar 26, 2021•28 min
Are you a mood mum? Do you even know what that means? You can find out as Roger Bolton explores why Radio 2 is so keen on attracting listeners from this new demographic. But is the station in danger of driving away older listeners as a result? Martin Jarvis has just directed a controversial new Radio 4 play by the celebrated American playwright David Mamet. He discusses the play and responds to listeners’ comment. And the alarming effects of the music of Poly Styrene, the singer with band X Ray ...
Mar 19, 2021•28 min
There has been almost blanket media coverage of the extraordinary interview given by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Oprah Winfrey. One of the people charged with bringing this story to BBC radio is the Royal Correspondent Jonny Dymond, He responds to listeners’ questions and talks to Roger Bolton about the difficulties in reporting the story. Fascism is alive and kicking in Britain today. That's the claim of a Radio 4 series, but can we all agree on what fascism is in the 21st Century? And ou...
Mar 12, 2021•28 min
Melvyn Bragg came up with the idea of the long-running Radio 4 programme In our Time back in 1998 and, 900 editions later, is still at the helm. He answers listeners’ questions and explains how he thought it would only last six months at best. Peter White has gone much further back in time for his series Disability: A New History recently re-broadcast on Radio 4. Listeners have found it revelatory, but did he? And a mother and daughter try to discover whether men really do rule the world, by lis...
Mar 05, 2021•28 min
The BBC‘s Deputy Director of News faces questions from listeners about the Corporation’s Covid coverage. Jonathan Munro hears concerns that his journalists are not tough enough on the Government, and are neglecting other vital stories. And two young politics graduates who never switch on Radio 4, are exposed to the News Quiz. Did it raise a smile? Presenter: Roger Bolton Producer: Kate Dixon Executive Producer: Samir Shah A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4
Feb 26, 2021•28 min
How is Emma Barnett settling in as the main presenter of Woman’s Hour? Is she turning the programme into a radio version of Newsnight? In the first edition of a new series of Feedback listeners give their contrasting views. Also this week, the departing newsreaders Corrie Corfield and Neil Sleat confess their broadcasting sins, including accidentally taking Radio 4 off air. And two young politics graduates who have never heard the Today programme, give it a listen. Presenter: Roger Bolton Produc...
Feb 19, 2021•28 min
After almost half a century, I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue is still the most popular radio comedy, according to a poll of Radio Times readers. The producer of the series for nearly 30 years is Jon Naismith. He gives insights into the show and explains that it nearly didn’t survive the pilot. Equally loved by radio listeners is the Christmas Eve broadcast from Kings College Chapel, Cambridge. Producer Philip Billson explains how the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols will sound with no congregation...
Dec 18, 2020•28 min
Just as Woman’s Hour listeners were getting used to the idea of losing long-standing presenter Dame Jenni Murray, there came the news that another favourite, Jane Garvey, was also heading for the exit. So what is going on at one of Radio 4’s staple programmes? Jane joins Roger Bolton to talk about the reasons for her departure, and what is next on her agenda. And do we need to question the genius of Beethoven? Two listeners give their verdict. Presenter: Roger Bolton Producer: Kate Dixon Executi...
Dec 11, 2020•28 min
What is the truth about the White Helmets who rescue bomb victims in Syria, and was one of their leaders, a former British soldier, murdered, or did he commit suicide? The presenter and producer of the Radio 4 podcast series Mayday answers listeners’ questions. And the BBC’s daily consumer programme You and Yours is 50 years old. The editor explains to Roger Bolton how, after half a century on air, they never run out of material. And two listeners review a programme where remarkable poetry is pr...
Dec 04, 2020•28 min
Is the Archers back to its best? After a torrid time under lockdown restrictions, the drama is nearly back to its pre-Covid level of production. Currently it has a powerful storyline with Alice Carter’s alcoholism and pregnancy producing compelling radio. Has it been enough to lure back some once regular listeners? As she clocks up 25 years presenting Today in Parliament, Susan Hulme takes Feedback behind the scenes in the tense countdown to transmission. And did our listeners find Radio 4’s The...
Nov 27, 2020•28 min
Should BBC journalists come off the fence and campaign over climate change? That's one of the questions raised by Feedback listeners and put to Justin Rowlatt, the corporation’s chief environment correspondent. Was the Radio 4 series The Unknown Warrior too misty eyed, and insufficiently indignant about the way lions were led by donkeys into the slaughter of the Somme? And our Out Of Your Comfort Zone listeners tune in to a history programme on the BBC World Service. Did they tune out before the...
Nov 20, 2020•28 min
BBC radio listeners are expressing their concerns about the cuts to BBC News and the departure of several senior correspondents. Roger Bolton discusses their reaction with a former editor of the Today programme. Roger Mosey who was also a former editorial director with the corporation gives his thoughts on this and cuts to local radio, which means there will be fewer reporters in the regions. The editor of Radio 4’s Bringing up Britain series defends his programme from accusations of bias in fav...
Nov 13, 2020•28 min
Veteran broadcaster Mark Mardell has just left the Corporation. He said goodbye to listeners of the World at One and The World This Weekend and now feels free to speak his mind. He tells Roger Bolton about his concerns over the reporting of Donald Trump and his supporters. He also explains why he believes cuts in the numbers of BBC reporters threatens to damage its journalism, and discusses the new Director General’s campaign on impartiality. And two listeners give their thoughts on the Radio 5 ...
Nov 06, 2020•27 min
Roger asks the BBC’s North America editor Jon Sopel how he attempts to set his own agenda and remain impartial in one of the most divisive US elections of all time. And who is his Americast podcast aimed at? Also this week two British Asian listeners will cast a critical ear over the Asian network. Is it for them? Presenter: Roger Bolton Producer: Kate Dixon Executive Producer: A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4.
Oct 30, 2020•28 min
There is to be a new chairman of the BBC, and several high profile figures have been linked with the position. In Feedback this week Roger attempts to try and find out how much power the new chairman will have, and whether he or she will be accountable in any way to the licence-fee payer. Journalist and broadcaster Anne McElvoy talks about her attempts to get political opponents to actually listen to each other in her new Radio 4 series of, Across the Red Line. And two British born American list...
Oct 23, 2020•28 min
The BBC’s Medical Editor is once more reporting from the Covid front line. Roger Bolton asks Fergus Walsh what lessons he has learned from covering the first wave. What is code switching? The BBC Radio 4 programme of that name raised some questions from Feedback listeners, Roger asks a linguistics academic to explain. And Nancy Sinatra puts on her boots again. Did she walk all over our listener reviewers? Presenter: Roger Bolton Producer: Kate Dixon Executive Producer: A Juniper Connect producti...
Oct 16, 2020•28 min
An in-depth interview with the Controller of Radio 4, Mohit Bakaya. He has been in charge of Radio 4, Radio 4 Extra and Radio 4 podcasts for almost a year, and before that had been a commissioning editor at the network since 2008. He responds to listeners’ questions about The Archers, Desert Island Discs, Woman’s Hour, coronavirus coverage and his plans for the future. Presenter: Roger Bolton Producer: Kate Dixon Executive Producer: Paula Prynn A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4...
Aug 21, 2020•28 min
The BBC’s head of statistics discusses the reliability of figures broadcast for coronavirus infections and deaths. Was the Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini a suitable subject for Radio 4’s Great Lives series? The programme’s presenter Matthew Parris defends the decision. And two amateur reviewers give their verdict on an episode of Woman’s Hour. Presenter: Roger Bolton Producer: Kate Dixon Executive Producer: Samir Shah A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4...
Aug 14, 2020•28 min
Now that the Archers have started talking to each other face-to-face Alison Hindell, the Commissioning Editor in charge of Ambridge, answers listeners' criticisms of the programme during lockdown, and responds to a range of audience views on Radio 4 drama. Producer Sarah Shebbeare discusses her World Service documentary The Death Row Book Club in which an innocent man survived 28 years in solitary confinement. Anthony Ray Hinton who is black spent most of his time on death row in an Alabama jail...
Aug 07, 2020•28 min
Is there any point in Radio 4 broadcasting comedy programmes such as the News Quiz without a studio audience and with all the panellists in different places? The executive in charge, Julia McKenzie, joins Roger Bolton to discuss comedy under coronavirus restrictions, and whether Just a Minute will return now that its legendary presenter Nicholas Parsons has left the stage. And the BBC';s Director of Radio and Education, James Purnell, discusses the recently announced plan to improve representati...
Jul 31, 2020•28 min
The outgoing Editor of Radio 4’s Today Programme is heading off to a monastery in France. Has three years of editing the BBC‘s flagship radio news programme led to her taking the veil? Sarah Sands reflects on her tenure and brings an ‘outsider's’ view of Today and the BBC - and explains she’s going on retreat to write a book. Presenter: Roger Bolton Producer: Kate Dixon Executive Producer: Samir Shah A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4
Jul 24, 2020•28 min
Is it worth the BBC holding the Proms this year without an audience present? Controller of Radio 3 Alan Davey discusses the value of the Proms without Promenaders. Test Match Special is back, also without crowds of spectators, and with the commentators in safety bubbles, TMS Producer Adam Mountford explains how they are muddling through, and reveals who upset the England team with their impromptu concert. And two more listeners turn amateur reviewers of a programme on 6 Music. Will they travel o...
Jul 17, 2020•28 min
Was Cleopatra secretly carried into her first audience with Julius Caesar wrapped in a duvet rather than a carpet? Radio 4’s Homeschool History claims a duvet is nearer the truth than Hollywood’s version. Presenter Greg Jenner outlines his evidence. Two Feedback listeners review a Radio 2 documentary about Italia 90. Did it take them out of their comfort zones? And will these latest cuts to the local radio budget prove too much for the service to bear? Presenter: Roger Bolton Producer: Kate Dixo...
Jul 10, 2020•28 min
Is the study of crowd control a suitable one for scientists? Radio 4’s The Life Scientific thought so but some Feedback listeners disagreed. Did the Rethink series which brought together three BBC radio networks deliver on its promise to explore new ways of thinking after the coronavirus crisis? And two listeners living abroad who enjoy Radio 4, review and give their verdicts about a programme on Radio 3. Presenter: Roger Bolton Producer: Kate Dixon Executive Producer: Samir Shah A Juniper Conne...
Jul 03, 2020•28 min
Does the BBC need to rethink its business coverage in light of the coronavirus epidemic? The BBC’s Business Editor Simon Jack gives his view and answers listeners' questions. Journalist Nick Wallis explains why he spent ten years on an investigation into the treatment of sub-postmasters by the Post Office, which has now been turned into a ten-part series on Radio 4. And two listeners living abroad explain why they listen to the BBC’s domestic radio output, and turn amateur reviewers of a Radio 4...
Jun 26, 2020•28 min
The Archers has taken a dramatic turn – but is it for the worse? As internal monologues replace dramatic dialogue and confrontation, listeners give their verdicts on the most radical transformation in the soap’s long history. As Tim Harford prepares to do even more episodes of Radio 4’s More or Less, he explains to Roger about the use - and abuse - of statistics. And should Radio 4 Extra stop repeating comedies from what is claimed to be the racist past? Presenter: Roger Bolton Producer: Kate Di...
Jun 19, 2020•28 min
How well is BBC News rising to the challenge of reporting the coronavirus pandemic, and what should its role be? Should it support the Government at this time of national crisis or continue with tough forensic questioning and reporting? Roger Bolton puts listeners’ comments and questions about the coronavirus coverage to Gavin Allen, the head of BBC News output. Presenter: Roger Bolton Producer: Kate Dixon Executive Producer: Samir Shah A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4...
Apr 24, 2020•28 min
