David Hepworth on the BBC's blanket coverage of Glastonbury, phoney phone-ins, a bellowing Dickens, and DJ's reading matter
Radio stations love live events because they can anticipate them for months before and bask in their afterglow for months afterwards. Whether the listeners are present at the actual consummation or not doesn't matter. I've heard the process described as "it's coming, it's coming, it's coming; you missed it, you missed it, you missed it".
In the week leading up to Glastonbury the BBC offers *The First Time* (Sun, 12noon, 6 Music) with festival organiser Emily Eavis, just before *Patrick Kielty* (Mon, 2pm, R2) begins looking forward to the BBC at Glastonbury, then it's *Steve Lamacq* (Mon, 4pm, 6 Music) looking forward to the festival no less, which is not the same as *Glastonbury Tales* (Tue, 12noon, 6 Music), which appears to be looking back at previous years, and is different again from the puzzling concept of a special *Glastonbury Roundtable* (Thu, 6pm, 6 Music). The night before the festival begins, the *Essential Mix *(Fri, 1am, R1) comes live from Glastonbury, and then when it actually starts, things arrive thick and fast with *Nick Grimshaw *(Fri, 1pm, R1), *Zane Lowe & B.Traits Live From Glastonbury* (Fri, 7pm, R1), *The Chris Evans Breakfast Show* (Fri, 7am, R2), *Lauren Laverne* (Fri, 10am, 6 Music), *Stuart Maconie* (Fri, 9pm, 6 Music) and on into infinity. We must assume that Radios 3 and 4 will find a way to be there, but we'll just have to wait to see what shape their programming takes. Licence fee payers will be happy to know the BBC is getting such value out of our investment. Eyebrows would be raised if the Corporation was giving similar profile to a money-making enterprise which didn't happen to be called Glastonbury.
When genuine embarrassment looms during a radio show you switch off, which may be why so much comedy tries to synthesise that moment when you realise the presenter has been saddled with a guest who's not going to play the game. If *Down The Line* (Sun, 7.15pm, R4) were a real phone-in you'd be in the fetal position for hours. It's only the knowledge that host Gary Bellamy is the creation of Rhys Thomas, with just the same bleat of need in his voice that made Alan Partridge work, and that the people on the other end of the phone are Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson and company, that makes it bearable. This Olympic Legacy Special features, among others, a gamesmaker who has been unable to adjust to normal life. In similar vein, Martin Kelner's *One On One *(Wed, 2pm, BBC Radio Leeds) welcomes showbiz legend Dora Dale. The invention of Jake Yapp, Dora has had a colourful career, which has involved such vehicles as Why Don't You Take Me Up The Dilly? The pair's exchanges have the dream-like quality of mutual incomprehension. "She did chiropody, I believe?""Well, she could dance a little."
Bravura turn of the week is the repeat of Simon Callow's *The Mystery Of Charles Dickens.* (Sat, 4pm, R4 Extra). If Dickens put in a quarter of the spluttering intensity with which Callow animates Peter Ackroyd's script into his own performances it's not surprising that they left him as wrung-out as Bruce Springsteen at the end of the evening.
Finally, the Clever Casting award goes to *Classic FM Summer Book Club* (Sun, 2pm, Classic FM) for hiring the personable Alexander Armstrong as host. You only wish they allowed him to talk to someone other than the station's presenters about their preferred summer reading. He starts with John Suchet. Be still my beating heart. Reported by guardian.co.uk 6 hours ago.
Radio stations love live events because they can anticipate them for months before and bask in their afterglow for months afterwards. Whether the listeners are present at the actual consummation or not doesn't matter. I've heard the process described as "it's coming, it's coming, it's coming; you missed it, you missed it, you missed it".
In the week leading up to Glastonbury the BBC offers *The First Time* (Sun, 12noon, 6 Music) with festival organiser Emily Eavis, just before *Patrick Kielty* (Mon, 2pm, R2) begins looking forward to the BBC at Glastonbury, then it's *Steve Lamacq* (Mon, 4pm, 6 Music) looking forward to the festival no less, which is not the same as *Glastonbury Tales* (Tue, 12noon, 6 Music), which appears to be looking back at previous years, and is different again from the puzzling concept of a special *Glastonbury Roundtable* (Thu, 6pm, 6 Music). The night before the festival begins, the *Essential Mix *(Fri, 1am, R1) comes live from Glastonbury, and then when it actually starts, things arrive thick and fast with *Nick Grimshaw *(Fri, 1pm, R1), *Zane Lowe & B.Traits Live From Glastonbury* (Fri, 7pm, R1), *The Chris Evans Breakfast Show* (Fri, 7am, R2), *Lauren Laverne* (Fri, 10am, 6 Music), *Stuart Maconie* (Fri, 9pm, 6 Music) and on into infinity. We must assume that Radios 3 and 4 will find a way to be there, but we'll just have to wait to see what shape their programming takes. Licence fee payers will be happy to know the BBC is getting such value out of our investment. Eyebrows would be raised if the Corporation was giving similar profile to a money-making enterprise which didn't happen to be called Glastonbury.
When genuine embarrassment looms during a radio show you switch off, which may be why so much comedy tries to synthesise that moment when you realise the presenter has been saddled with a guest who's not going to play the game. If *Down The Line* (Sun, 7.15pm, R4) were a real phone-in you'd be in the fetal position for hours. It's only the knowledge that host Gary Bellamy is the creation of Rhys Thomas, with just the same bleat of need in his voice that made Alan Partridge work, and that the people on the other end of the phone are Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson and company, that makes it bearable. This Olympic Legacy Special features, among others, a gamesmaker who has been unable to adjust to normal life. In similar vein, Martin Kelner's *One On One *(Wed, 2pm, BBC Radio Leeds) welcomes showbiz legend Dora Dale. The invention of Jake Yapp, Dora has had a colourful career, which has involved such vehicles as Why Don't You Take Me Up The Dilly? The pair's exchanges have the dream-like quality of mutual incomprehension. "She did chiropody, I believe?""Well, she could dance a little."
Bravura turn of the week is the repeat of Simon Callow's *The Mystery Of Charles Dickens.* (Sat, 4pm, R4 Extra). If Dickens put in a quarter of the spluttering intensity with which Callow animates Peter Ackroyd's script into his own performances it's not surprising that they left him as wrung-out as Bruce Springsteen at the end of the evening.
Finally, the Clever Casting award goes to *Classic FM Summer Book Club* (Sun, 2pm, Classic FM) for hiring the personable Alexander Armstrong as host. You only wish they allowed him to talk to someone other than the station's presenters about their preferred summer reading. He starts with John Suchet. Be still my beating heart. Reported by guardian.co.uk 6 hours ago.