Feedback

This week the BBC announced that the Today programme is to get a new presenter - a female one. Mishal Husain will join the Today line-up in the Autumn and, along with Sarah Montague, will take the ratio from 1 in 5 female to male presenters, to 2 in 6. Feedback listeners welcome the announcement.

But it's not all jubilation. We hear reaction to the BBC's Annual Report. Some of it made for "grim reading" according to the DG Lord Hall. £5 million spent on three separate inquiries into the Jimmy Savile scandal, as well as £25 million paid out in severance payments, and £98 million lost on the failed Digital Media Initiative.

Roger Bolton speaks to Lord Hennessy and asks whether his new Radio 4 series 'Reflections' is a bit too soft on his political interviewees. We explore the art of the political interview with a man who's met them all.

And as outraged comments about The Archers' Matt and Lilian story that was only broadcast digitally continue to fill our postbag, we ask the boss of Digital Radio UK how easy and widespread digital listening really is.

Finally - Operation Drop-out returns! It's time, once again, to call on the good men and women who so diligently wrote to us last year with their examples of interviews where dropped telephone lines, sub-standard digital connections, and woeful mobiles had disrupted their listening pleasure. Listeners spotted some telephonic trouble in the Today studio this week - but are Today the only culprits? We'll be putting questions to the technology department soon so consider yourself conscripted for the cause.

Producer: Will Yates

Last week Roger Bolton spoke to the acting editor of The Archers, Julie Beckett, about the decision to put the moment of revelation in the Matt and Lilian saga in The Archers' digital-only offshoot Ambridge Extra. After the interview aired we received a deluge of complaints - more than about the coverage of the death and funeral of Baroness Thatcher. Listeners were "incandescent" with rage about both the decision itself and the interview, which many felt offered far from adequate answers.

Given the weight of correspondence, this week Roger puts your frustrations to Jeremy Howe, commissioning editor for drama on Radio 4 and 4 Extra.

And why has the BBC removed a free piece of technology, called Radio Downloader, which allowed listeners to download and keep BBC radio programmes? The BBC has promised to offer radio downloads from 2014. But how much radio will be available and for how long? Roger speaks to Mark Friend, Head of Multi-Platform for Radio.

Is sorry the hardest word? We hear from listeners who were outraged by the comments made by BBC Radio 5 Live presenter John Inverdale about Wimbledon women's champion Marion Bartoli, during the finals coverage. But many felt his on-air apology the following day was not enough.

We like to encourage creativity from our listeners - last week a song, before that some petite prose from our Twitter followers, and this week we hear from a listener who vents their spleen not in writing, nor on the telephone, or even on Twitter, but with an inventive mash-up of last week's interview with Julie Beckett.

Producer: Will Yates

Is the BBC impartial? What does impartiality really mean? Questions posed in the latest review by the BBC Trust. The Breadth of Opinion report is part of the Trust's rolling programme of impartiality reviews and looks at how the BBC covers immigration, Europe, and religion - three areas listeners regularly write to Feedback about. We speak to the review's author, Stuart Prebble, to find out whether the BBC is living up to its impartial reputation.

Also, the acting editor of The Archers, Julie Beckett, is back in the Feedback hotseat. Roger Bolton asks her why a major Archers plot revelation was only heard in the new series of Ambridge Extra, which began this week on the digital station Radio 4 Extra. Some Archers devotees are not happy.

Radio comedy is something that regularly leaves audiences unamused. Perhaps that's why Radio 4 commissioned you, the listener, to pen its latest comedy offering The Show What You Wrote on Thursday nights. Roger speaks to two fledgling comedy writers about what it takes to get the nation laughing.

And it's not only comedy that's divisive. Last week, Recycled Radio producer Miles Warde fought off strong listener criticism about his series, which takes well-known voices from the archive, chops them up, and creates something new. But after that edition of Feedback aired, admirers of the series immediately came to its defence.

One Feedback listener - part-time songwriter Dave Summers - liked Recycled Radio so much that he's dedicated one of his songs to everyone who didn't get it. You can hear 'I Heard it on Radio 4' in this week's Feedback and in full below.

Producer: Will Yates

Is any discussion too adult for Radio 4? When the Moral Maze took on the subject of internet pornography, Feedback listeners were diametrically opposed on whether the discussion went too far. Roger Bolton talks to Moral Maze producer Phil Pegum about how and why he chose to tackle the subject, live on air, and when he has to intervene to rein in contributors.

Plus, Jazzer from The Archers and acting Archers editor Julie Beckett discuss the controversial outburst that has been the most talked about Radio 4 event this week.

Also this week: Radio 4's Recycled Radio has proved to be divisive - a type of Marmite radio - loved by many on Twitter but generally loathed by Feedback listeners. Roger puts your feedback to its producer Miles Warde and invites Radio 4 commissioning editor Mohit Bakaya and Wireless Nights producer Laurence Grissell to discuss experimental radio on Radio 4.

Last week the Editor of the BBC Radio Science Unit, Deborah Cohen, gave the reasons for the removal of Material World and its long-serving presenter Quentin Cooper. Many of you thought the reasons were less than satisfactory. We hear from those lamenting the departure of Material World and those who welcome the change.

And, a celebration of the bonkers in this week's Tweet of the Week. Every week we ask our Twitter followers on @BBCR4Feedback to tweet us their reviews of BBC Radio programmes that have caught their ear this week. If you hear something you loved or loathed tweet us your very best poetry and prose reviews and you could win: our gratitude; admiration; and the coveted title of 'Tweet of the Week' during next week's Feedback.

Producer: Will Yates

This week Quentin Cooper presented his last edition of Radio 4's long-running science programme Material World. The Editor of BBC Radio Science, Deborah Cohen tells Roger why it was time for a change.

In the wake of our interview with BBC Trustee Richard Ayre about the BBC's loss of £98.2 million, we air your views on the decision to bring in outside investigators at further cost.

There was another story about BBC finances this week. But you might not have heard it. Listeners were surprised that the BBC did not report on revelations that it paid out £28 million of licence-fee payer money in payoffs over the last eight years.

Plus, OFCOM comes down on the side of listeners who complained about the use of a derogatory and discriminatory word during a Today programme interview.

Our reporter Karen Pirie mingles with the crowds at the Royal Cornwall Show to hear how BBC Cornwall interacts with its listeners.

Let sleeping dogs lie -the strange effect that Feedback has on listeners of particularly sensitive hearing.

And the moment you've all been waiting for...the announcement of our Tweet of the Week. We've been asking our loyal twitter followers on @BBCR4Feedback to tweet us their reviews of BBC Radio programmes that have caught their ear this week. If you hear something you loved or loathed tweet us your very best poetry and prose reviews and you could win: our gratitude; admiration; and the coveted title of 'Tweet of the Week' during next week's Feedback.

Producer: Will Yates

It's a year since the BBC introduced an improved complaints procedure. And the BBC Trust, which exists to protect the licence fee payers' interests, has just reported back on the new system. Their public consultation shows that most people now think the system is working well. But some Feedback listeners still think there's room for improvement. Roger Bolton speaks to BBC Trustee Richard Ayre, who is in charge of reviewing the complaints procedure.

And Richard Ayre gives the BBC Trust's view on the BBC's failed Digital Media Initiative (DMI). While we were off-air, the BBC announced that it was scrapping DMI after spending £98 million pounds on the five-year digital archiving project, a sum amounting to almost 700,000 licence fees.

Plus, which programme is sending feline Feedback listeners into a frenzy? Roger speaks to renowned wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson about this pressing issue.

And could you be our Tweet of the Week? We know you're the best radio reviewers around so we'd like you to tweet us on @bbcr4feedback with your most poetic, heartfelt, heated, and inventive reviews of BBC Radio, programmes and policies in 140 characters. If yours is selected as a Tweet of the Week you will win.absolutely nothing, except the undoubted admiration of other listeners, and our undying gratitude of course.

Producer: Will Yates

In the last of the current series of Feedback, Roger Bolton is joined by Gwyneth Williams, the Controller of Radio 4. She responds to listener questions on topics ranging from the coverage of Baroness Thatcher's funeral to Paul and Lillian's love affair in The Archers.

Earlier this week the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, was interviewed by John Humphrys about UK borrowing figures - but the interview took a personal turn at the end when Mr Osborne was quizzed on his tears during Margaret Thatcher's funeral. We hear the views of listeners who were unimpressed by the line of questioning.

Also, are standards of grammar and pronunciation slipping at Radio 4? Many think so. But what will the Controller make of the comments?

Producer: Kate Taylor

The measles outbreak in South Wales has been near the top of the national news agenda for weeks. Time was that, whenever the MMR jab was mentioned, so too was the alleged connection to autism. Now, BBC reports state baldly that any suggested link has been "totally discredited". Are they right to be so categoric? Roger discusses the issue with the BBC's Medical Correspondent Fergus Walsh.

What makes for a good "quizzer"? We go behind the scenes with Rufus Stilgoe as he prepares for his first appearance on Radio 4's Counterpoint.

Local radio listeners upset by their treasured evening shows being replaced by an All England Show go head-to-head with David Holdsworth, the BBC's Controller of English Regions.

And we're looking for your questions for Gwyneth Williams, the Controller of Radio 4. We'll be talking to Gwyneth in a week's time, so be sure to send us your questions as soon as possible. Some listeners will even be able to put their points to the Controller directly.

Presenter: Roger Bolton

Over the top eulogising or overly critical? In this week's Feedback, listeners are divided over the BBC's coverage of the death of Margaret Thatcher. We talk to the Head of the BBC Newsroom, Mary Hockaday.

And do you need to know what's on BBC One when you're listening to Radio 4? We put your frustrations about the latest high-profile cross-TV and radio campaigns - BBC One's The Village and Radio 4's Front Row - to the Director of Marketing and Audiences for BBC Radio, Neil Caldicott.

Following our discussion last week about whether Radio 4 could and should do more to attract new, younger listeners, we hear some surprising reactions from youthful fans of the network.

Listener Rob Johnston gives us an English lesson.

And we're looking for your questions for Gwyneth Williams, the Controller of Radio 4. We'll be talking to Gwyneth in a week's time so be sure to send us your questions. Some listeners will even be able to put their points to the Controller directly.

Presenter: Roger Bolton

Producer: Will Yates

Does Radio 4 need to replenish its audience with an injection of young blood? Roger talks to the station's Network Manager Denis Nowlan about attracting new audiences and gets the views of age-aware Feedback listeners.

And for many concert goers, the most taxing decision during the interval is whether to have a G&T or a glass of wine. But for Radio 3 producers, there's a tricky balance to be struck between entertaining the audience in the stalls and the listeners at home. We talk to Radio 3's Head of Speech Matthew Dodd and hear your suggestions for how to keep the interval interesting.

Also - the case of the disappearing drama. The scheduling of the lavish adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere across Radio 4 and then the digital-only station 4Extra drew criticism from some Feedback listeners when the series aired in March. Nevermind, many were content to access the drama online having seen that it would be available for over a year. But when they settled down to listen, Neverwhere was nowhere to be found. Feedback investigates.

And we hear your views on the first interview with the new BBC Director General, Tony Hall, who went into the Today studio to talk to John Humphrys. Many felt it wasn't exactly a warm welcome.

Presenter: Roger Bolton