I'm officially a "Doctor of Lobsters"
"The world is your lobster," says Carly Daniels, Britain's leading expert on the snap-happy crustacean. Photo: Johnny Fenn.
Mar 18, 2021•7 min
Whistledown
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Episodes
Fasten Your Seatbelts .. it's P.J.Harvey
P.J.Harvey has recorded two new songs, together with the music for a new stage version of the classic movie All About Eve. John Wilson has been granted special back stage access for "Behind the Scenes" - and it's a Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4. Tx 4pm on Monday 11th Feb 2019.
Feb 04, 2019•5 min
Barry from Watford on Steve Wright
Barry’s Lunch Club is the new radio comedy show from Whistledown. Staring Alex Lowe as the 82 year old Barry from Watford, it is a talking shop for the retired people of Britain. Here, Barry is on Radio 2’s Steve Wright in the afternoon talking about holidays, his wife Margaret and the new show.
Apr 28, 2016•5 min
An inspirational and brilliant communicator
We’re saddened hear of the death of historian and biographer Lisa Jardine. Here she is in one of her last interviews, talking about the scientist Leo Szilard, a friend of her father’s for a Whistledown documentary on the origins of the H-Bomb. The programme, "HG and the H Bomb" was presented by Samira Ahmed and broadcast on Radio 3 earlier this year.
Oct 26, 2015•4 min
The secrets of Burgess and Maclean
As Government papers are released, Radio 4's Cold War Confidential, produced by Whistledown, reveals how the British spy network failed to spot the traitors in their midst.
Oct 23, 2015•5 min
When Fats met Al
In 1927 - or thereabouts, a car pulled up outside a hotel in central Chicago. The pianist Fats Waller was bundled in the back ... or was he? Kurt Elling investigates one of the strangest footnotes in jazz in this extract from the forthcoming Radio 2 documentary. #FatsWaller #AlCapone #Mob #chicago #KurtElling #Radio2
May 26, 2015•3 min
The Reunion: Peter Brook's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Sue MacGregor reunites cast and creatives to recall how director Peter Brook's revolutionary production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, set inside a brilliantly-lit white box, changed theatre and Shakespeare forever. Sue MacGregor is joined by Peter Brook, designer Sally Jacobs and actors Sir Ben Kingsley (Demetrius), Sara Kestelman (Titania/Hippolyta), Frances de la Tour (Helena) and Barry Stanton (Snug). (An extract from Radio 4's 'The Reunion: Peter Brook's A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Originall...
May 15, 2015•8 min
The Reunion: Far East Prisoners of War
The fall of Singapore to the Japanese in 1942 led to the surrender of 67,000 British servicemen, the single largest capitulation in British military history. While many were sent to forced labour projects such as the Thailand-Burma railway, many more were sent on "hell ships" across South-East Asia. In this short extract, Bob Morrell remembers his "coffin duty" on the island of Ambon. (This is an extract from Radio 4's 'The Reunion: Far East Prisoners of War', originally broadcast on 01/05/15.)...
May 15, 2015•2 min
Women in Blue
Former senior police detective Jackie Malton - the inspiration for Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison in the TV series Prime Suspect – talks to retired and serving officers to explore whether the laddish canteen-culture and sexist attitudes among male police officers has really changed since the 70s and 80s, and whether the force has genuinely created a safe and equal environment for men and women to work in. (An extract from 'Women in Blue', originally broadcast 20/04/15. This extract cont...
May 15, 2015•8 min
Radio Today interview with David Prest
Radio Today's Trevor Dann speaks to managing director of Whistledown, David Prest about the new RIGTrain scheme which aims to offer the skills required to expand the independent radio production sector, and to support the freelancers working in the industry.
Mar 13, 2015•6 min
The Reunion - Barings Bank Collapse
It's 20 years since a precocious trader brought Britain's oldest merchant bank to its knees. In this edition of The Reunion, Sue MacGregor brought together Nick Leeson and his former boss Peter Norris for the first time since the bank's spectacular demise in 1995. (An extract from 'The Reunion', first broadcast on 12/08/11)
Feb 27, 2015•10 min
John Waite's 'Face The Facts'
Radio 4's long-running programme 'Face The Facts' is coming to an end. Its presenter John Waite, the doyenne of dogged investigative journalism, was never afraid to confront less than salubrious characters face-to-face, an attitude that placed him in a particularly memorable radio encounter with a Mr Sage... (An extract from Radio 4's 'Feedback', aired on 27/02/15)
Feb 27, 2015•6 min
Malcolm X and the 'American Nightmare'
In post-Ferguson USA and on the 50th anniversary of his assassination, four unique voices from America consider the legacy of Malcolm X amidst the protests referred to as a “new Civil Rights Movement”. With Malcom X’s name and quotes used on placards and in chants, this programme explores the newly framed race problem in the States. (An extract from ‘Malcom X and the ‘American Nightmare’’, originally broadcast on Radio 4, 16/02/15)
Feb 20, 2015•4 min
A History of Britain in Numbers: Debt
UK debt currently stands at over one trillion pounds. But while that sum may seem vast beyond comprehension, Andrew Dilnot, chair of the UK Statistics Authority, uses the historical numbers behind UK debt to suggest that we may not be in such a bad state after all. (An extract from BBC Radio 4's 'A History of Britain in Numbers: Debt', 24/02/15)
Feb 20, 2015•4 min
The Nun Who Nurtured Reggae
“She was sweet man…” She’s credited with nurturing the talents of many of the key players in Jamaican Reggae when the industry took off in the 1960′s. Jonathan Charles tells the story of Sister Mary Ignatius Davies in this extract from The Nun Who Nurtured Reggae.
Feb 13, 2015•8 min
The Real Life Fortitude ..
The Arctic town of Longyearbyen in the remote Svalbard archipelago is the basis for the TV series “Fortitude”. One of the town’s best loved characters is Kazem Ariaiwand, owner of the Red Polar bear, the most northerly kebab van in the world. In 2010, Whistledown’s Nick Maes tracked him down...
Feb 06, 2015•6 min
Alchemical Manchester
From politics to music, religion to transport, the defiant UK city of Manchester has always been a cutting edge driving force for change in the country's history. Author Jeanette Winterson ("Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit") takes us on a personal tour around the history of her home town, in this episode (third in a series of five) focusing on radical politics from the 1800's.
Jan 15, 2015•4 min
"Look out Gromit!"
National treasures Wallace and Gromit are the multi-Oscar, multi-BAFTA winning plasticine pair who swept to fame in the the 1980's, putting Bristol's Aardman animation company on the comedy world map. Sue MacGregor brings the creative geniuses behind this quintessentially British comedy duo together to talk all things Wensleydale, from Wigan to Hollywood's Dreamworks, in this Christmas edition of The Reunion.
Jan 15, 2015•5 min
Mipster Sisters
Mipsterz, or Muslim hipsters, are confronting cultural stereotypes and society expectations head on - in a hijab. How do they combine their glowing grades, Hijabi swagger and high aspirations with their beliefs and cultural expectations? #mipstersisters
Jan 15, 2015•6 min
Deadringers "does" The Reunion
It had to happen .. the team from Radio 4's Deadringers have finally done their take on The Reunion, as Sue MacGregor re-unites the Apostles!
Sep 01, 2014•2 min
"I was kind of shy .. we all were a bit"
Pulp's keyboard player Candida Doyle confesses all - erect nipples, performance anxiety, and being a woman at the centre of Britpop's best-loved band. Produced by Emma Jarvis.
Jun 20, 2014•7 min
Robert Capa on D-Day
The recent D-Day anniversary reminds us of the story of how Robert Capa took the image which defined the day, recalled here in this 2013 Radio 3 essay by Hilary Roberts of the Imperial War Museum, produced by Brian McCluskey for Whistledown.
Jun 12, 2014•14 min
David and the Gorillas
Sir David Attenborough and his cameraman Martin Saunders recall their encounter with the gorillas of Rwanda while filming the 1979 BBC TV series Life on Earth. As recalled in The Reunion on BBC Radio 4.
Apr 23, 2014•7 min
"It's like Brecht on the run"
Mehmet Ergen is best known to UK theatre audiences as Artistic Director of London's Arcola Theatre, but his pioneering work in Hackney is only half the story. We follow him to Istanbul, post Gezi Park and post Arab Spring, caught between the Syrian conflict and EU aspirations; an emerging economy with freedom of speech still in jeopardy. Kirsty McQuire produces for Whistledown. The programme aired on Radio 4 on April 3rd 2013.
Apr 17, 2014•9 min
Andie MacDowell and her Four Weddings moment
Twenty years on, Andie MacDowell remembers the making of “Four Weddings and a Funeral” for Radio 4’s The Reunion. In this extended extract from the programme, she talks about Richard Curtis’ script, her co-star Hugh Grant, and that last cheesy scene in the rain.
Apr 15, 2014•5 min
All things transient are but a parable....
In this extract from BBC Radio 4's Something Understood, Samira Ahmed explores the role of transience in our lives. Anthony Denselow is the producer for Whistledown.
Apr 10, 2014•7 min
Looking back: The Miners Strike
Ex-miners meet a former police officer and a Government Minister in this sparky edition of Radio 4's The Reunion, produced by Jerome Lyte for Whistledown.
Apr 10, 2014•4 min
Everyone, even the young soldier, listens to Johnny Cash
Whistledown producer Deborah Dudgeon talks to Irish broadcaster Sean Moncrieff about the making of her programme "My War, My Playlist".
Feb 25, 2014•8 min
Playlists at War
The ipod is the No 1 bit of kit to ease the boredom in Afghanistan. Coincidentally it was launched by Apple in the same month as the start of the war in 2001. Whistledown's Deborah Dudgeon has made a really insightful programme for the BBC World Service called "My War, My Playlist". She's spoken to those who have served about the music that keeps them going on their tours of duty. Jo Fidgen is the narrator.
Feb 21, 2014•8 min
Iggy Pop meets William Burroughs
Never mind the anatomy of a car crash.. Iggy Pop introduces BBC Radio 4 listeners to his hero William Burroughs in this Whistledown special feature. Colin McNulty produced this one, which meant spending time in Mr Pop's holiday cottage in Miami. The long version is on the Radio 4 website for a limited period.
Feb 18, 2014•11 min
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