For the Kirov ballet, Soviet dancer Rudolf Nureyev was one of a kind: phenomenally talented, energetic, independent-minded and stubborn to say the least. For the KGB, he was a serious political problem. Richard Curson Smith’s docudrama Rudolf Nureyev – Dance to Freedom punctuates reconstructions of the poignant life of this free-spirited dancer with interviews from […]
It is 1665. Excitement at the announcement of a betrothal for the merry villagers of Eyam, Derbyshire is short-lived following reports of a travelling tailor falling ill – not from just any illness, but the Great Plague. In this instance, the bubonic plague sweeps its last deathly wave across England, escaping major cities to reach […]
The art of listening to the radio after dark to unwind holds its ground despite competing with a multitude of alternative pastimes. Guided by Jarvis Cocker, Wireless Nights provides unusual yet brilliant half-hour experiences to ease the mind into sleep. This week, Cocker is accompanied by the BBC Philharmonic in a journey through underwater worlds, […]
Each week, BBC Radio Three explores the life and works of some of the greatest composers of all time; this week Donald Macleod discusses American songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. With no presumptions of the listeners’ knowledge of the history of music, Composer of the Week remembers the greats while highlighting influential, yet less widely celebrated, composers […]
It’s 3.00pm on Christmas Day. Fearne and Reggie have just forcibly reminded you of the latest X Factor one-hit-wonder on the Top of the Pops special, and there is an empty promise that Christmas dinner will be ready soon. In the meantime, you stick around to see what ol’ Liz has to say about the […]
With a successful fourth series under its belt, Danielle Ward’s comedy panel game Dilemma presents hypothetical situations in the self-proclaimed “show which acts as an intrepid donkey walking across the nation’s moral mind field, desperately trying not to sneeze”. With lively would-you-rather discussions, fluttering with the uncontainable energy of presenter Sue Perkins, and four humorous […]
Phantasms of the Living: A 730-page tome containing, in the words of novelist Andrew Martin, the, “most convincing body of supernatural accounts I have ever read”. Co-authored by Edmund Gurney, Frederic W. H. Myers and Frank Podmore for the Society for Psychical Research, Phantasms documents 700 cases of sightings of ghosts, published in 1886 for […]
In the first of a series of essays on the life and plays of Arthur Miller, Sir Richard Eyre director of The Crucible on Broadway sings the praises of the crowning jewel in his theatre career. For those forever moved by the confessional utterings of John Proctor – ‘I have given you my soul; leave […]