Trees

Anyone familiar with the Archers will be aware that Jill’s new gentleman caller, Leonard (played by Paul Copley - better known to younger listeners on Radio 4 as Tom Wrigglesworth’s dad*), can’t paint trees for toffee. Not even if his life depended on it; he recently passed off a picture he acquired from a gallery as one of his own. Charlatan.

These are for you Lenny.

* As opposed to older Radio 4 listeners who will remember him as Mr. Long in King St. Junior which ran from 1985-1998.

The Man in Black

Between 1988 and 1992 on Radio 4 Edward de Souza resurrected his persona, The Man in Black, to present Fear on Four: thirty minutes in length these beautifully crafted contemporary horror/thriller dramas played host to some brilliant writers and a supporting cast to match. Spine tingling stories by, among others, Roald Dahl, John Wyndham, Stanley Ellin and Ray Bradbury were played out by a veritable who's who of British acting talent including Timothy West, Thora Hird, Anna Massey, Bernard Cribbins and Imelda Staunton.

I used to make an appointment with fear every Sunday evening for half an hour of aural suspense. Here's one I still find genuinely unnerving; it was Number 12 in the series, as The Man in Black will explain...

If your heart can stand it, set aside half an hour, dim the lights and hit the Play button:

Hobson-Jobson

Driving back yesterday from a baking hot very damp Devon (one afternoon on the beach - wearing a waterproof - does not a holiday maketh), we were in need of a fillip. And Radio 4's Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive did the job; a thoroughly riveting thirty minutes charting the story of the Colonial-Indian dictionary; how it was conceived, written, published and in the 21st century, despite the fact that the days of Raj and Empire are long gone, the lexicon lives on.
Hurdy-gurdy, hugger-mugger, higgledy-piggledy, hocus-pocus, tit-for-tat, topsy-turvy, harum-scarum, roly-poly, nirvana, pyjamas, bungalow and juggernaut are proof indeed (no need to watch Goodness Gracious Me re-runs) that if these words didn't exist we'd have to invent them. It's still up on the iplayer if you missed it.

Going for a slash

I love Radio 4. Always have done. Yes, I know it still carries the elitist tag and accusations of the station aiming at a certain demographic abound. However, I would argue that the programme makers and station managers have, pretty much, got the balance about right. But my point, if you can call it a point, has nothing to do with programme content or indeed anything to do with the BBC's mission statement. I'm here to take issue with something called the forward stroke.

As in: 'The details are on our website - www.bbc.co.uk forward stroke youandyours

In a world where the internet and emails have dislodged the self stamped addressed envelope and is used by everyone from the age of 4-104, this stubbornness against using the recognised slash is really beginning to grate. It's like referring to the capital as Londinium or still calling Zimbabwe, Rhodesia.

I feel a strongly worded letter coming on.

Radio 4 debut

A few weeks ago I told you the BBC were going to run with an idea of mine for a radio programme. Radio 4's iPM, the sister show to PM, picked up an a theme I wrote for this blog back in May - whatever happened to transport caffs? With help from artist Anton Hecht and sound engineer Chris Prosho, we opened it up and interviewed punters at The Limes in Nottinghamshire and got to discover all sorts of things. We got an insight not just into who still uses roadside caffs, but also their back stories. And we wrote a song! It's going out this evening at 5.30pm, but if you want a sneak preview of the 5 minute soundscape we created, it's here.

(l-r) Chris Prosho, Anton Hecht, Mark (Limes owner), John Medd

A big thank you to Ryan Dilley at the BBC. And Hugh Sykes.