the times | Monday October 26 2020 1GT 11
television & radio
Times Radio
Digital Only
5. 00 am Calum Macdonald with Early
Breakfast. Waking up the early risers 6.
Aasmah Mir and Stig Abell with Times Radio
Breakfast. Monday’s big stories and
interviews 10. 00 Matt Chorley. A full primer
on the political week 1 .00pm Mariella
Frostrup. News, views and reviews 4. 00
Andrew Neil at Drive. Analysis of the day’s
news 7. 00 Phil Williams. Kait Borsay sits in
10. 00 Carole Walker. Today’s headlines and
tomorrow’s front pages 1. 00 am Stories of
Our Times. The Times’s daily podcast
1 .3 0 Red Box. Matt Chorley’s politics podcast
2. 00 Highlights from Times Radio.
The best of Times RadioRadio 2
FM: 88- 9 0.2 MHz
5 .00am Nicki Chapman 6 .30 The Zoe Ball
Breakfast Show 9 .3 0 Gary Davies
1 2. 00 Vanessa Feltz 2 .00pm Steve Wright
5 .0 5 Sara Cox 6 .30 Sara Cox’s Half Wower
7 .00 Jo Whiley. A mix of new music
and classic album tracks 9. 00 The Blues
Show with Cerys Matthews. A selection of
music from the blues scene, featuring the
best of the new releases as well as classic
tracks from the archives 10. 00 Trevor
Nelson’s Rhythm Nation. The DJ introduces a
mix of R’n’B and soulful tunes 12. 00
Jayne Middlemiss3. 00 am Sounds of the
7 0s with Johnnie Walker (r)Radio 3
FM: 9 0.2- 9 2.4 MHz
6 .30am Breakfast
Georgia Mann presents Radio 3’s classical
breakfast show, featuring listener requests
9 .00 Essential Classics
Ian Skelly presents a selection of music and
features, including Essential Five —
which this week focuses on great pieces of
music for Hallowe’en
1 2.00 Composer of the Week:
Desmarets (1661-1741) and
Boismortier (1689-1755)
Donald Macleod examines the lives and
careers of Henri Desmarets and Joseph Bodin
de Boismortier, two very colourful figures of
the French baroque. Boismortier (Trio sonata
in D, Op 37 No 3 — I. Allegro); Desmarets
(Mass for Two Choirs and Two Orchestras;
Kyrie; La capella Reial de Catalunyaa; and La
Diane de Fontainebleauu — excerpt);
Boismortier (Flute sonata in B minor, Op
44 /2); and Desmarets (Te Deumm — excerpt)1 .00pm Live Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert
Martin Handley presents a recital from
London’s Wigmore Hall by the violinist Chloe
Hanslip and the pianist Danny Driver
2. 00 Afternoon Concert
As the BBC Symphony Orchestra turns 90,
Penny Gore introduces concerts featuring
some of the orchestra’s chief conductors and
BBC commissions including the Elgar’s
Symphony No 3. Mark-Anthony Turnage
(Momentumm); Rachmaninov
(Piano Concerto No 4 in G minor, Op 40);
Elgar (Symphony No 3 in C minor, compl.
Anthony Payne — from Elgar’s sketches);
Lutoslawski (Cello Concerto); and Copland
(Billy the Kidd — ballet)
4 .30 Early Music Now
Performances from around Europe
5. 00 In Tune
Sean Rafferty presents chat, performance
and music news. Including 5. 00 , 6 .00 News
7. 00 In Tune Mixtape
An eclectic non-stop mix of music
7 .30 Live Radio 3 in Concert
Martin Handley introduces a performance
from London’s Royal Festival Hall, with
Santtu-Matias Rouvali conducting the
Philharmonia in an all-American programme,
which is bookended by two classic scores. In
Appalachian Springg, Copland defined the
sound of an idealised mid-century America,
with broad, singable tunes, one famously
taken from directly a Shaker source, while
Stravinsky’s lively and engaging Dumbarton
Oakss (commissioned by a wealthy
Washington couple as an expensive wedding
anniversary present to themselves) takes
Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos as its model.
Less well-known is African-American
composer Florence Price’sDances in the
Canebrakess, which conjures up the Deep
South of her childhood. Rouvali steps off the
podium to join four members of the
orchestra’s percussion section for Steve
Reich’s 1973 Music for Pieces of Woodd, a
compelling and mesmerising tour de force of
shifting rhythms and sophisticated
simplicity. Copland (Appalachian Springg);
Florence Price (Dances in the Canebrakess);
Steve Reich (Music for Pieces of Wooddd); and
Stravinsky (Dumbarton Oakss)
10. 00 Music Matters
Kate Molleson presents an episode from the
Southbank Centre (r)
1 0.45 The Essay: Voices On, Voices Off
Using her own recordings, the writer AL
Kennedy explores the power of the voice
and what it can say about people (r)
1 1.00 Night Tracks
1 2.30am Through the Night (r)Radio 4
FM: 92.4-94.6 MHz LW: 198kHz MW: 720 kHz
5.30am News Briefing
5.43 Prayer for the Day
5.45 Farming Today
5.58 Tweet of the Day (r)
6.00 Today
With Martha Kearney and Justin Webb
9.00 Start the Week
9.45 (LW) Daily Service
9.45 Book of the Week: The Haunting
of Alma Fielding — A True Ghost Story
By Kate Summerscale (1/5)
10.00 Woman’s Hour
At 10 .45 the 15 Minute Drama: Part one of
Fifteen Dogss, by Andre Alexis
1 1.00 The Untold
A Black Lives Matter protest (4/13)
1 1.3 0 Loose Ends
With Damon Albarn, Bill Bryson, Jenny
Landreth and Mark Radcliffe (r)
1 2.01pm (LW) Shipping Forecast
1 2. 0 4 Love
By Roddy Doyle (6/10)
1 2.18 You and Yours
1. 00 The World at One
1 .45 A Natural History of Ghosts
Tales involving ghosts of slaves (6/10)
2 .00 Drama: Tracks — Abyss
By Matthew Broughton. Dr Helen Ash is
e-mailed a video of a boat mysteriously
sinking in stormy seas — and the message
was sent by her dead father.
See Radio Choicee (1/9)
2 .4 5 The Unseen:
A History of the Invisible
Exploring the world of the invisible (1/5) (r)
3.00 Quote: Unquote
Light-hearted quotations quiz (1/6)
3.30 The Food Programme
Sheila Dillon investigates the power of public
eating in political campaigning (r)
4.00 Michael Morpurgo’s Folk Journeys
The author considers the song Four Loom
Weaver (2/4)
4.30 The Digital Human
In this documentary, Aleks Krotoski explores
the digital night (3/6)
5. 00 PM
5.54 (LW) Shipping Forecast
6 .00 Six O’Clock News
6 .30 Just a Minute
With Paul Merton, Sheila Hancock, Josie
Lawrence and Marcus Brigstocke (4/8) (r)
7 .00 The Archers
Pip finds herself in an awkward spot- 15 Front Row
7.45 Fifteen Dogs
By Andre Alexis (1/5) (r)
8. 00 Back to Uni
Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty reports on
the return of students to universities
8 .30 Analysis
Whether Britain’s social insurance
should be more like Germany’s (5/8)
9 .00 Across the Red Line
Debating whether impartiality impedes good
journalism (2/4) (r)
9 .30 Start the Week
With John Micklethwait and Rana Mitter (r)
1 0.00 The World Tonight
Presented by Ritula Shah
1 0.45 Book at Bedtime: Love
By Roddy Doyle (r)
1 1.00 Lights Out
The aftermath of a fatal house fire in
south-east London in January 1981 (1/3)
1 1.3 0 Ingenious
Documentary looking at different
aspects of human genes (1/5) (r)
1 1.45 Today in Parliament
1 2. 00 News and Weather
1 2.3 0 am Book of the Week: The
Haunting of Alma Fielding —
A True Ghost Story (r)
1 2.48 Shipping Forecast
1. 00 As BBC World ServiceRadio 4 Extra
Digital only
8. 00 am I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again 8 .3 0
Thirty Minutes Worth 9. 00 Foul Play 9 .3 0
Stockport, So Good They Named It Once
10. 00 The Razor’s Edge 1 1. 00 TED Radio
Hour 1 1. 50 Inheritance Tracks 1 2. 00 I’m
Sorry I’ll Read That Again 1 2.3 0 pm Thirty
Minutes Worth 1. 00 Curlew in Autumn 1 .3 0
Julie Enfield Investigates: Terminus 2. 00
Foul Play 2 .3 0 Stockport, So Good They
Named It Once 3. 00 The Razor’s Edge 4. 00
TED Radio Hour 4. 50 Inheritance Tracks 5. 00
Rumblings from the Rafters 5.3 0 Just a
Minute 6 .00 The Gibson 6 .30A Good Read
7 .00 I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again 7.
Thirty Minutes Worth 8. 00 Curlew in
Autumn 8.3 0 Julie Enfield Investigates:
Terminus 9. 00 TED Radio Hour. How ideas
and experiences change people 9.
Inheritance Tracks. With soul singer Ruby
Turner 10. 00 Comedy Club: Just a Minute
10 .3 0 The Nick Revell Show 1 1. 00 The
News Quiz 1 1.3 0 Life: An Idiot’s GuideRadio 5 Live
MW: 6 93, 909
5. 00 am Wake Up to Money 6 .00 5 Live
Breakfast 9. 00 Your Call 10. 00 The Emma
Barnett Show 1 .00pm Patrick Kielty- 00 5 Live Drive 7. 00 5 Live Sport 8. 00 5
Live Sport: Premier League Football 2020-
— Burnley v Tottenham Hotspur 10 .3 0 Colin
Murray 1. 00 am Dotun Adebayo
talkSPORT
MW: 1053, 1089 kHz- 00 am Early Breakfast 6 .00 talkSPORT
Breakfast with Laura Woods 10. 00
Jim White and Simon Jordan 1. 00 pm
Hawksbee and Jacobs 4. 00 Drive with
Adrian Durham & Darren Gough 7. 00 The
PressBox 10. 00 Sports Bar 1. 00 am Extra
Time with Paul Ross
talkRADIO
Digital only- 00 am James Max 6 .30 Julia Hartley-
Brewer 10. 00 Mike Graham 1.00pm Ian
Collins 4. 00 Dan Wootton 7. 00 James Whale - 00 Cristo Foufas 1. 00 am Paul Ross
6 Music
Digital only- 00 am Edward Adoo 7 .3 0 Gemma Cairney
10 .3 0 Mary Anne Hobbs 1 .00pm
Shaun Keaveny 4. 00 Tom Ravenscroft - 00 Marc Riley 9. 00 Gideon Coe 1 2. 00 6
Music Recommends with Jockstrap - 00 am Sound and Vision 2. 00 Alt 90s 2 .3 0
Miles Plugs In 3. 00 6 Music Live Hour - 00 6 Music’s Jukebox
Virgin Radio
Digital only
6.30am The Chris Evans Breakfast Show
with Sam Pinkham 10. 00 Eddy Temple-
Morris 1. 00 pm Tim Cocker 4. 00 Kate Lawler
7. 00 Steve Denyer 10. 00 Amy Voce
1. 00 am Virgin Radio Through The Night- 00 James Merritt
Classic FM
FM: 1 00 -1 0 2 MHz
6 .00am More Music Breakfast 9. 00
Alexander Armstrong 1 2. 00 Anne-Marie
Minhall 4. 00 pm John Brunning 7. 00
Smooth Classics at Seven 8. 00 The Classic
FM Concert with John Suchet. John begins
the final week of Classic FM’s Live Music
Month in Amsterdam at the Royal
Concertgebouw. Ravel (La Valsee);
Tchaikovsky (Symphony No 6 in B minor, Op
74 — Pathétiquee); Chopin (Scherzo No 3 in
C-sharp minor, Opus 39); and Brahms (Violin
Concerto in D major, Op 77) 10. 00 Smooth
Classics 1.00am Sam PittisRadio Choice
Debra Craine
Tracks: Abyss
Radio 4, 2pmMatthew Broughton’s
conspiracy thriller has
been a big hit. Tracks was
the first drama to reach the
top of the iTunes podcast
chart in 2017 and went on
to win several awards.
Now it’s back for a fifth
and final series. In the first
of nine episodes Dr Helen
Ash (played by Olivia
Poulet, above) is coming
to terms with having just
nine months to live when
she receives a strange
email. It’s a video of a
boat mysteriously sinking
in stormy seas. And the
email has come from
her dead father. All four
previous series are
available on BBC Sounds
if you want to catch up
beforehand.our tv newsletter
Sign up to a weekly briefing of
the only shows you need to watch
thetimes.co.uk/bulletinsRoadkill
BBC One
{{{{(Piers Morgan’s Life Stories
ITV
{{{((T
he title Roadkill was
explained last night when we
saw (spoiler alert) two deaths
by car within minutes: an
unfortunate deer and an
unfortunate drunken journalist. Both
scenes were well-directed and had
shock value: David Hare’s drama is
improving. However, it still had
sledgehammer expositional dialogue
and signature teaching moments. “We
lock people up. We’re famous for it,”
said the Tory prime minister (Helen
McCrory) to her justice minister(Hugh Laurie). “We like locking people
up. It’s in our character.” Got that?
The scene at riot-hit Shephill women’s
prison when inmate Rose gave the
governor a lecture about prison
privatisation — “I read it in the FT”
— to which the governor replied
“You’re smart” was a cringer.
Yet the complex characterisation of
Peter Laurence, played brilliantly by
Laurie, is enough to keep me watching.
He’s a libertarian Tory from Croydon
whose dim view of lefties was formed
when living among wealthy bohos in
Notting Hill: “Talk left, live right.”
He’s a slippery customer who has
been taking £500,000 a speech in
Washington DC and wants to privatise
the NHS by stealth, but also seems
genuinely concerned that 200 people
die by suicide annually in British
prisons. “If you brazen it out you can
get away with anything,” he said.
Sound familiar?
The scene with his daughter Lily
(Millie Brady) when she refused to
accept his conciliatory hug after the
papers exposed her taking cocaine was
well-written and credible. Saskia
Reeves as Lily’s cold, detached mother,
Helen, turning a blind eye to her
husband’s long-term mistress is also
believable. The caper in Washington
DC was less so, the drunken journalist
Charmian managed — in about 20
seconds — to get in with a man from
an evil lobbying group who spiked herdrink before she was “accidentally” hit
by a van seconds after getting the
interview to bring Laurence down.
Enjoyable, if not quite “must-see”.
Sir Cliff Richard told Piers Morgan’s
Life Stories that he had wanted to
marry Jackie Irving, his girlfriend in
the 1960s, but when he asked his
manager if wedlock would affect his
fan following and was told he may
lose 25 or 30 per cent, he dumped her.
“I wasn’t going to give up all that
focus, all that work, for that,” he said.
Morgan looked aghast and Richard
seemed surprised that anyone would
be surprised. It was as clear a glimpse
as any into his psyche: you don’t
survive for six decades in showbiz
without a sliver of ruthlessness.
“You have got to [age] 80 without
ever having your heart broken?”
Morgan asked. “Well, why would I?”
came the reply.
This was the most revealing part
of a show that was peppered with
effusive tributes from showbiz friends
and contained a moving section on
how Richard was traumatised by a
false allegation of historical sexual
assault, the BBC, appallingly, using
a helicopter to film the police raid
on his home. There was little about
his private life at present. Possibly it
was a no-go area, which seems fair
enough. Richard has said he likes
being an enigma and at 80 that’s
Hugh Laurie brilliantly evokes the complexities of his character unlikely to change.A star turn that makes you forget the flaws
Carol
Midgley
TV review