the times | Tuesday October 13 2020 1GT 11
television & radio
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6 .30am Breakfast
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9 .00 Essential Classics
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1 2.00 Composer of the Week:
Kaija Saariaho
Donald Macleod talks to Kaija Saariaho about
the scope she finds both in writing for large
scale instrumental forces and the intimacy of
writing for small groups. Kaija Saariaho
(Orion for Orchestraa I:Memento morii;
Nocturne for solo violin; Cloud Trioo IV:
movement, Tranquillo ma sempre molto
espressivo; and Laterna Magicaa)
1 .00pm Live Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert
The operatic mezzo-soprano Jennifer
Johnston presents a song recital featuring
strong women and womanhood from the City
Halls in Glasgow. Haydn (Arianna a Naxoss);
and Schumann (Maria Stuart Liederrr; and
Frauenliebe und -lebenn)2. 00 Afternoon Concert
Performances from the BBC National
Orchestra of Wales’ residency at the Lichfield
Festival in 2019. Presented by Penny Gore.
Elgar (Sea Picturess); Shostakovich (Cello
Concerto No 1, Op 107); Elgar (Enigma
Variations, Op 36); Bruckner (Christus factus
estt;Os justii; and Locus istee); Matthew
Taylor (Symphony No 4); Alexander Veprik
(Song of Mourningg; and Song of Joyy);
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5. 00 In Tune
Sean Rafferty talks to the clarinetist
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7 .30 Live Radio 3 in Concert
Live from Wigmore Hall, Mariam Batsashvili
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programme which combines fireworks with
poetry. Since winning the 2014 Franz Liszt
Competition, the young Georgian pianist has
won the hearts of music lovers across the
world with her refined, deeply expressive
music making. A former Radio 3 New
Generation Artist, Mariam Batsashvili has
not played most of these works in the UK
before. Presented by Martin Handley.
Franck (Prélude, fugue et variation,
Op 18); Ravel (Sonatinee); Thalberg
(Grand caprice on Bellini’s La Sonnambula,
Op 46); Schumann (Fantasiestückee, Op 12);
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1 0.00 Free Thinking
Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough looks
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1 0.45 The Essay:
Discovering Black Portraiture
The opera singer Peter Brathwaite used
lockdown creatively. Responding to the Getty
Museum’s social media challenge to
reproduce a work of art using only household
items, he embarked on an extraordinary
project: to recreate as many artworks
depicting black people as possible. As part of
Black History Month on BBC Radio 3, Peter
explores five of his recreations in depth. We
meet the anonymous boy who appears in the
extravagant 17th-century paintingThe
Paston Treasuree, a still life that documents a
wealthy family’s lavish collection of objects
— including a human being
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9 .45 Book of the Week:
The Good Germans
By Catrine Clay (2/5)
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Drama: Part two of Incredible Women
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Smooth Classics 1 .00am Sam PittisRadio Choice
Debra Craine
Bringing Up Britain
Radio 4, 9amOur attitudes to parenting
have changed drastically in
the past few decades. It
wasn’t so long ago that
parents had no problem
leaving their infants to nap
in a cot in the garden.
Nowadays we have baby
monitors to check on their
every move. In the quest to
keep their children safe,
mothers and fathers are
spending ever more time
and more money to reduce
the risks their young ones
face. But are we guilty of
overparenting? Anjula
Mutanda, above, brings
together a series of experts,
from anthropologists to
child psychologists and
economists, to explore
the relentlessness of
modern parenting.our tv newsletter
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thetimes.co.uk/bulletinsWho Do You Think You Are?
BBC One
{{{((Celebration of Play for Today
BBC Four
{{{{{J
odie Whittaker didn’t need to
dust off her passport for the first
episode of the returning Who
Do You Think You Are? series
— no foreign trips were needed,
which must be a slight bummer for
celebrities. Instead she got to feel
uncomfortable that her ancestors in
Yorkshire were wealthy mine-owners
and strike-breakers who kept their pits
working through the 1921 national coal
strike and the 1926 General Strike.
“Scabs,” she said sadly. “I have never
defended them,” her mother said.What this documentary lacked in
global mileage Whittaker made up for
in emotion, although she didn’t tear up
melodramatically like many thesps do,
thankfully. The story of her great-uncle
Walter, who was born illegitimately
(possibly fathered by his mother’s boss
when she was a teenage servant in
London) and died fighting in the First
World War aged 24, was very sad.
It was said that Whittaker’s
grandmother, born the day Walter died,
was given the middle name Verdun to
mark the battle in which her brother
was killed. But the historians said this
was impossible because Verdun was
fought by the French. It may have
been family Chinese whispers at work.
In fact, it was fashionable then to
name babies after battles. Now we
name them after Disney characters.
Was I alone in feeling miffed when
Mike Leigh said that the TV version of
his play Abigail’s Party was a “technical
visual mess” and that he can’t bear to
watch it? If it was such a “shambles”
(as he has also said) what does that
say about those of us who enjoyed it
very much and count it as one of our
seminal early TV experiences? Are we
easily pleased philistines?
A Celebration of Play for Today,
the 1970 to 1984 slot in which Abigail’s
Party was shown, was an excellent,
nostalgia-stoking reflection on a
golden age of drama when playwrights
weren’t worried about Twitter, and theBBC let them have their heads. There
were no bells, whistles or background
music, just the performances and the
quality of the dialogue.
Leigh did concede that the actors
in Abigail’s Party were amazing (one,
Alison Steadman, being his pregnant
wife at the time), but he reportedly
didn’t like, for example, that the
technicians’ shadows can be seen.
But I never noticed that, and anyway,
who cares? It brought theatre into
people’s living rooms, whatever their
class, for which he can be proud.
There was a treasure trove of riches
here, from Dennis Potter to Caryl
Churchill, Colin Welland to Peter
Terson, Ken Loach to Alan Bennett.
The one-off, self-contained drama is
rare in the age of the ten-part box set
and probably couldn’t earn its keep
today. Yet you would think the BBC
could spare one hour a week to foster
talent like this, although some quarters
might self-combust at the “leftiness”.
I loved Margaret Matheson, a Play
for Today producer who defiantly
summoned critics for a private viewing
of Scum after BBC executives banned it
for being too violent (they later showed
it, as they did Potter’s Brimstone &
Treacle, which also fell foul of the
censors). She wasn’t even disciplined
and just continued in her job, which is
hard to imagine happening at the BBC
now. Great documentary. I’m giving it
Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker learnt of her ancestors’ actions five stars for the memories.An uneasy journey through time for the Doctor
STEPHEN PERRY/BBCCarol
Midgley
TV review