Cuttings

So Much Older Then - 27th January 2010

Our Archive Hour on 4 broadcast on Saturday the 23rd of January was praised lavishly in The Guardian on the Monday after it was broadcast.

Here is what the extremely erudite and wise reviewer Elizabeth Mahoney had to say:

Archive On 4: So Much Older Then (Radio 4, Saturday), a rich selection of clips about old age, was introduced by Katharine Whitehorn. The octogenarian journalist is blessed with a wonderfully unimpressed voice and dismissive manner that never lets you forget she's seen it all – no matter what it might be – before.

After the fun PD James had as guest editor on the Today Programme, let's hope they ask Whitehorn next time. She knows her stuff, and there was a pleasing balance of serious points and deliciously bone-dry, rolling-eyes asides. Whitehorn spoke about the divide between those enjoying a comfortable, fulfilled retirement and others who are lonely and struggling financially. "There's probably more difference between the haves and the have-nots in this age group than in almost any other," she said, and the audio clips certainly backed up this impression.

Whitehorn was less sympathetic, however, to those who take to painting in their later years. "There must be more indifferent watercolours painted now than even by decorous Edwardian ladies," she sighed.

After we heard an interview with Menzies Campbell in which he explained he could never escape the perception that he was too old as party leader, Whitehorn described him, with a tone that encapsulated a highly arched eyebrow, as "just an infant by my standards".

Here is the link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/jan/25/archive-on-4-katharine-whitehorne

Keeping Traditions Alive - 6th January 2010

Our four part series for Radio 2 'Keeping Traditions Alive' which toured the UK examining the pockets of traditional caroling in the country was reviewed 

This is what was written:

"On a frosty winter's night, in tiny villages dotted across North Wales, there's a local tradition," goes the spec for what must be the most bucolically addictive programme of the season, Keeping Tradition Alive at Christmas (21 December to Christmas Eve, 10pm, Radio 2). Billy Bragg and Kate Rusby praise the "centuries-old habit of singing secular carols" - mostly in the pub.

And here is a link to the full article:

http://www.newstatesman.com/radio/2009/12/quirke-christmas-december 

Phil Ochs and Soldiers Story - 5th January 2009

No Decent Documentaries, Then Five Turn Up At Once

Miranda Sawyer The Observer 21st March 2009

Phil Ochs - Still Marching BBC Radio 2

"Proper subjects, treated interestingly, with presenters who know of what they speak. What was particularly nice about all these documentaries was that each of these presenters was allowed to do what he's best at...Billy Bragg made revolution sound the only right and proper way"

Soldiers Story our documentary on the harsh realities of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan received some interest in the press over Christmas

Here is some of what they had to say, plus some other comments.

Whatever the political rights or wrongs of recent conflicts, the tremendous professionalism, bravery, humanity and humour of these volunteer members of Britain’s Armed Forces are nothing less than impressive. Be prepared for some of the contributions to bring tears to your eyes.” Sunday Telegraph

“This piece of first hand testimony about Iraq and Afghanistan by British service personnel, and the mother of one who died, is the most harrowing hour I have listened to this year. And absolutely necessary, given Barack Obamas determination to step up the war in Afghanistan - with British support.” Paul Donovan, Sunday Times

A graphic reminder of the true face of conflict from those who’ve lived through it, this is a deeply harrowing listen. These soldiers, most of whom fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, talk of the sickening injuries they’ve received and the unimaginably brutal events they’ve witnessed.” Jane Anderson, Radio Times

Tis the season to be merry, but for many the world remains a bleakly perilous place. In one of the most trenchant programmes of Christmas week, soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq tell of their harrowing experiences, along with their post-battle struggles to slip back into civvy street and the longed-for embrace of Welcome Home. Glasgow Herald

“Painful, powerful, unexpectedly practical.” Gillian Reynolds, Daily Telegraph

“Over on Radio Five Live we were reminded of those families who will not be able to get together this Christmas because sons, husbands, daughters, wives are serving in that divided East. Soldiers’ Story was exactly that — a moving tribute to the work of our armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The most telling detail was from the soldier who said that the only time he felt anxious was when he realised he had ‘to get his life in order before leaving’, fixing up his life assurance and making a will. Or the soldier who was hit by a sniper right through the face. ‘I sat there with two extra holes in my head...I knew I needed to remain calm.’ So, he very calmly indeed put his thumb in his mouth to keep it open (his nose had gone and his palette had collapsed) so that he could breathe. He’s now recovered and is training to be a teacher, blind in one eye and with only 10 per cent vision in the other. It was the matter-of-fact way in which he described what had happened to him that was so affecting, and his belief in what he’s doing — on our behalf. A must-hear, thanks to Radio Five. “ Kate Chisholm, The Spectator

Take Soldiers' Story, (Radio 5 Live, December 23, 9pm). It offers graphic eyewitness accounts of the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, which has involved British troops almost since the start of this century, and features the voices of families who have lost loved ones in the conflicts. It's too easy to sentimentalise Christmas, but there are some military families with one less place to set at the table this year and this programme reaches out to them. The Sunday Herald

 "Absolutely fantastic... the best thing 5Live has done in years." David from Sheffield, contributor to phone-in.

“It is Christmas day, I am a hardened pensioner, I have been around the world, seen many things. Yet I am crying. Your documentary "Soldier's Story" is the most powerful doc. I have ever heard. Please get my message to the BBC so they can play it again.” e-mail to All Out Website

Reviews for Folsom and Blackpool - 12th September 2008

40 Years From Folsom (BBC Radio 4 26th August) told the story of the concert given by Johnny Cash inside Folsom Prison in 1968 with the help of recordings made by local reporter Gene Beley

"And it is his tapes that are the basis for a remarkable programme that rounds out an extra ordinary gig" (The Times)

"Jo Meek has produced a compelling story" (The Daily Telegraph)

"If it's possible to be nostalgic about an imaginary world – albeit one in America – where people are all called Earl, even the women, and everyone is tough on the outside but with a marshmallow centre, and the old men talk like gold prospectors, then this programme will have made you nostalgic." (Sunday Tribune)

In the Betrayal of Blackpool (BBC Radio 4, 5th September) The Guardians Martin Wainwright waled the prom to examine the decline of our most famous seaside resort

"But, as Martin Wainwright’s excellently balanced programme shows, there is more than one “betrayal” involved in the decline of visitor numbers only a few years ago from 17 million to 10 million and dwindling" (The Times)

Young Gifted And Back - Antonia Quirke. New Statesman Review. - 24th May 2008

After 50 years, the story of Delaney the feisty teenage dramatist shines on.

Radio 4's documentary to mark the 50th anniversary of A Taste Of Honey practically gleamed. What a freak Shelagh Delaney was! The front! At 18, she sent a copy of her play to Joan littlewood at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in London, insisting that Littlewood post it back if she didn't make much of it, because even if she didn't, Shelagh certainly did.

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