Feedback

The last of the Reith Lectures was delivered earlier this week. Grayson Perry's series of four lectures on the world of contemporary art has had, in the words of their Commissioning Editor, 'by far the most response ever for a series of Reith Lectures'. Feedback has received many letters of congratulations for Grayson Perry but some listeners question whether the programmes have been in keeping with the Reith Lectures' reputation for showcasing the thoughts of 'significant international thinkers'. We ask Mohit Bakaya, the Commissioning Editor for the Reith Lectures, why he chose Mr Perry and whether anyone can now follow him?

Last week we spoke to Radio 4's Drama Commissioner, Jeremy Howe, about why the network decided to air G.F. Newman's The Corrupted over ten consecutive editions of the Afternoon Drama, especially given its violent and sexual content. This week, many of you wrote to heap praise on the series and the experimental scheduling. But some listeners were deeply disappointed that the first five of the episodes disappeared from BBC iPlayer before the series ended.

Too late for fans of The Corrupted, but changes to BBC iPlayer are afoot which will mean that many programmes remain available for thirty days. We speak to the Controller of Multi-Platforms for BBC Radio Mark Friend to find out more.

And it's one of the most coveted slots on Radio 4, so how do authors and publishers get picked for Book of The Week? Roger Bolton speaks to the Commissioning Editor for the series, Jane Ellison.

Producer: Will Yates

Has Radio 4 been taken over by corrupting influences? Author G F Newman's The Corrupted has aired every weekday for the past two weeks in the Afternoon Drama slot, usually the place for one-off plays. Some listeners are not happy about it, especially with the sexual and violent content of the drama that some feel goes too far for broadcasts during half term. We talk to Radio 4's Commissioning Editor for Drama, Jeremy Howe, about why he felt the The Corrupted was worth 7 hours of airtime over just two weeks.

Jane Garvey joins Roger Bolton to discuss issues raised by her recent Radio 4 series Getting On Air, which charts five landmark moments in the history of women in broadcasting. Is there now true equality in radio?

Plus, two Bobs for the price of one on Radio 2. When the clocks went back early on Sunday morning, listeners expecting an extra hour of Whispering Bob Harris got more than they bargained for when two different parts of the programme played out over each other for twenty minutes. So what went wrong and what's to stop it happening again?

And your thoughts on Grayson Perry's Reith Lectures ahead of our interview with Commissioning Editor Mohit Bakaya next week. You can send your questions and comments about the Reith lectures to us using the usual contact methods.

Producer: Will Yates

In this week's Feedback, Roger Bolton speaks to the BBC's Director of Editorial Policy and Standards, David Jordan, about 'due impartiality' in climate change coverage.

And writer Morwenna Banks explains why she chose radio to tell a powerful story of friendship in the face of breast cancer. Her Radio 4 Saturday Drama Goodbye starred acting heavyweights Olivia Colman and Natascha McElhone as Lizzie and Jen, two friends struggling to say goodbye after Lizzie's terminal diagnosis. It left many Feedback listeners astounded by its realistic and emotional portrayal of the situation.

We revisit our listener panel of four mothers in Cambridge to find out how they got along when they tried to find and use CBeebies Radio. A recent BBC Trust survey found that not one parent they spoke to knew how to access the CBeebies radio service - did the Feedback mothers fare any better? And Roger speaks to the Controller of CBeebies, Kay Benbow, to find out what they are doing to publicise CBeebies Radio.

And from Raa Raa the Lion to Reith - we hear from some Feedback listeners' views on Grayson Perry's Reith Lectures.

Producer: Will Yates

Does the BBC still need to balance climate change science with sceptical views on the other side? After the World At One gave airtime to a climate change denier, Bob Carter, Feedback listeners questioned whether this was impartiality gone mad. We speak to Professor Steve Jones, who wrote a report for the BBC Trust on the impartiality and accuracy of the BBC's science coverage, about where to draw the line.

Nobel Prize winners, top-selling novelists, former presidents and Russell Brand. There's stiff competition for a place on Desert Island Discs. Regardless of the guest, the much-loved series rarely causes Feedback listeners to comment, but when naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham was castaway with Kirsty Young last week, many wrote to say how moved they were by his honesty and refreshing musical choices. We hear Chris' view of the experience.

Also this week, have you heard CBeebies radio? No? Well neither had any of the parents surveyed in a recent BBC Trust review into children's services. Feedback reporter Catherine Carr visits four mums who have agreed to give it a go.

Producer: Will Yates

This week the BBC Director General Tony Hall unveiled his vision for the future of the corporation. At its heart is technology. A new app called Open Minds will draw programmes from across the BBC's speech radio output and Radio 1 is to lead the way in becoming an audio-visual network with its own video channel on BBC iPlayer to host exclusive interviews and performances. We speak to the Controller of Radio 1 and 1Xtra about visualisation and whether the future of BBC radio depends on it.

But while Radio 1 is coming soon to a screen near you, some listeners have reached saturation point with the silver screen takeover of BBC Radio 3. As part of the BBC's Sound of Cinema season, the network has aired three weeks of special concerts celebrating film music and editions of regular programmes dedicated to cinema. They tell us it's been a blockbuster with their audience - but it's been a flop with some Feedback listeners.

And when Inside Science replaced Material World on Radio 4 in July, many Feedback listeners were up in arms. But just how different is it to the old programme? We join presenter Adam Rutherford and his team to find out.

Also, newsreader Neil Sleat has his moment in the spotlight as he reveals the inner workings of the newscaster's brain when faced with pronouncing a 35 letter Hawaiian name, live on air. Twice.

Producer: Will Yates

In the last programme in this series of Feedback, we bring you a special edition devoted to one of the most divisive radio subjects - comedy.

Recorded in front of an audience at the Edinburgh Fringe, Roger Bolton puts questions from listeners in the room and at home to a panel of comedy movers and shakers.

Roger is joined on stage by Radio 4 Commissioning Editor Caroline Raphael - the woman who decides what's funny enough for Radio 4 and by comedian Marcus Brigstocke, who can be heard across BBC radio in programmes like the Now Show and The Brig Society, as well as radio producer Colin Anderson and the Head of Radio for BBC Scotland, Jeff Zycinski.

There will also be some fringe talent in the form of performance poet Mark Niel and hotly-tipped newcomer Michael Fabbri.

Producer: Kevin Dawson

So email: [email protected].

On Monday evening, just as England bowler Stuart Broad was reaching the peak of a devastating spell, listeners to Radio 4 Long Wave were ripped from the action. They were plunged into the seven o'clock news followed by The Archers. Radio 4 Network Manager Denis Nowlan explains what went wrong.

Last week we announced that The Archers is to have a new editor - Sean O'Connor will take over in September. But this week some Archers' fans were turned off by a scene involving reunited lovers Helen and Rob.

And is the rest of Radio 4 over-sexed during the school holidays? Listeners have objected to sexual content in programmes such as The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Sketchorama, and How to Have a Perfect Marriage, especially when children are more likely to be at home. Roger Bolton talks sex on the radio with Roger Mahony, Radio 4's Editor of Editorial Standards.

Over the course of this series of Feedback, we've heard from many listeners who still lament the loss of Radio 4 science programme Material World. Its replacement, Inside Science, has its fans, but the majority of Feedback listeners have not warmed to the programme during its first two months. We hear your opinions so far. And we'll be speaking the Editor of the BBC Radio Science Unit, Deborah Cohen, about Inside Science in the autumn.

Feedback listeners are extremely keen eyed and eared. We're sure you've checked this web text thoroughly for mistakes. And we certainly hope it adheres to the BBC's Style Guide, because this week Roger speaks to Ian Jolly, Style Editor for the BBC Newsroom in London. Listeners frequently write to us to note a perceived increase in Americanisms but what's the 'big deal'?

Email: [email protected].

Producer: Will Yates

Was the BBC's HardTalk too hard on Baritone Thomas Hampson? When Sarah Montague interviewed the opera star on the World Service and BBC News programme, opera fans around the world took umbrage. We hear from the listener whose complaint went viral and made him an overnight hero in the opera world.

Plus, is the World at One able to maintain its reputation for hard news during silly season? Roger Bolton speaks to WATO editor Nick Sutton.

The announcement that Peter Capaldi is to play the 12th Doctor was big news in TV this week, but Radio 4 is to have its own sea-change. The successor to long-serving editor of The Archers, Vanessa Whitburn, has just been announced. Sean O'Connor will take on the role from September. He was a producer for The Archers in the 1990s. But stints at EastEnders, Hollyoaks, and the salacious ITV drama Footballers' Wives have also been prominent talking points for listeners. We hear Archers addicts' hopes for the O'Connor tenure.

Former voice of Radio 4, Charlotte Green, landed her dream job this week. She'll be replacing James Alexander Gordon to read 5Live's classified football results every Saturday from the end of September. Feedback listeners wish her well, but some would still rather hear her back on Radio 4.

And we speak to one of the winners of the first BBC Writers' Prize for Radio, Sarah Hehir. Her play 'Bang Up' aired this week in the Afternoon Drama slot on BBC Radio 4.

Producer: Will Yates

Email: [email protected].

The 119th Proms season is in full swing and in Feedback this week Roger Bolton meets Roger Wright, the Director of the Proms. We put listeners' questions to the Director, behind the scenes at the Royal Albert Hall.

Roger Wright is also the Controller of BBC Radio 3. And he might have something to say if his network took one Feedback listener's suggestion seriously. We hear his novel approach to toughening up Breakfast on 3 and toning down Radio 4's Today programme.

It's been a good week for the Today programme as it remains the jewel in BBC radio's breakfast crown. The Radio Joint Audience Research (RAJAR) figures published this week show Today has gained more than 200,000 listeners in the last year and that Radio 4's weekly audience is at an all-time high. Digital listening has also leapt up by 3.7 million since last year. But digital dissatisfaction is rife amongst many Feedback listeners. We hear your digital woes.

And, is it 'Silly Season' on Radio 4? While you may be listening to Feedback, many people are sunning themselves elsewhere. Indeed many of those who report and make the news also take a break in August, leaving the news bereft of, well, news. We hear from one listener who thinks Radio 4's PM has gone too far in replacing what news there is with flimsy whimsy.

Plus, details of how you apply for tickets to join us for our comedy special at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Friday 23rd August.

Producer: Will Yates

Radio 4's forum for comments, queries, criticisms and congratulations.

George Alexander Louis is not yet a week old and already his name is known around the world, thanks in no small part to the BBC's coverage of the royal birth. But was it all a bit too much? Many of you think the BBC went baby mad.

Operation Dropout mobilises as Roger Bolton meets the man who looks into those awkward silences caused by technological failure - the BBC's Technology Controller for Journalism, Andy Bocking.

And while the controller sits on-high, we meet one of those on the front line - senior studio manager Bob Nettles. Feedback spends the day with Bob and puts listeners' audio queries to one of the best pairs of ears in the business.

Also, the emotional power of radio drama. We hear from the listener who was left dumbfounded by Nick Warburton's afternoon drama Irongate.

And we're looking for your questions, comments, and queries about this year's Proms. We'll be talking to the Director of the Proms, Roger Wright, who is also the Controller of BBC Radio 3, in a future edition of Feedback. So do send us your thoughts.

Producer: Will Yates