the times | Thursday November 26 2020 1GT 11
television & radio
Times Radio
Digital Only
5. 00 am Calum Macdonald with Early
Breakfast. The best early start to the day
6 .00 Aasmah Mir and Stig Abell with Times
Radio Breakfast. What’s changed overnight
10. 00 Matt Chorley. An insider’s guide to
politics 1.00pm Mariella Frostrup. Cultural
guests and big thinkers 4. 00 John Pienaar at
Drive. Conversation with political and
economic guests 7. 00 Phil Williams. Evening
headlines and conversation 10. 00 Carole
Walker. Late-night news 1. 00 amStories 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 Vanessa Feltz 6 .30 The Zoe Ball
Breakfast Show 9 .3 0 Ken Bruce 1 2. 00
Jeremy Vine 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 tracks, with guests dropping in to the
studio to chat 9. 00 The Country Show with
Bob Harris. A personal selection of music
from across the generations 10. 00
Trevor Nelson’s Rhythm Nation. The DJ
introduces a mix of R’n’B and soulful tunes
1 2. 00 OJ Borg3. 00 am Pick of the Pops (r)
4. 00 Pick of the Pops (r)Radio 3
FM: 9 0.2- 9 2.4 MHz
6 .30am Breakfast
Music, news and listener requests, presented
by Petroc Trelawny. Including 7 .00, 8. 00
News, 7 .3 0 , 8 .3 0 News headlines
9 .00 Essential Classics
Ian Skelly presents another of Max Bruch’s
greatest pieces and more listeners’
suggestions inspired by well-known music
1 2.00 Composer of the Week:
Gesualdo (1566-1613)
The composer becomes embroiled in a
dangerous witch trial.Gesualdo (Languisce
alfin che de la vita partee;Merce grido
piangendoo — Fifth Book of Madrigalss; La
Venexianaa; Tu m’uccidi, o crudelel, Poeche
l’avida setee;Ma tu, cagionn — Fifth Book of
Madrigalss; Sana me Dominee;Discedite a me
omenss;Da pacem Dominee —Sacrae
Cantioness, Book 2; Tenebrae Responses
— Tristis est anima meaa;Ecce vidimus eumm;
Tenebrae factae suntt; and Animam meam
dilectam tradidiii) (r)1 .00pm Live Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert
In the third of this series of live recitals from
Cardiff featuring artists from the
Cheltenham Festival, organist Anna Lapwood
plays a sequenced programme of music on
the St David’s Hall organ. Introduced by
Nicola Heywood Thomas live from St David’s
Hall in Cardiff. Anna Lapwood (organ).
Patrick Gowers (Occasional Trumpet
Voluntaryy); Maurice Ravel trans. Wiersinga
(Le Tombeau De Couperinn); Philip Moore
(Organ Sonata); Kerensa Briggs (Light in
Darknesss); and Patrick Gowers (Toccataa)
2. 00 Afternoon Concert
Mozart’sThe Marriage of Figaro. Ildebrando
D’Arcangelo stars as Figaro, Lucas Meachem
as Count Almaviva and Aleksandra Kurzak as
Susanna in this 2012 Royal Opera production.
Count Almaviva takes an over-eager interest
in his cunning manservant’s wife-to-be,
setting off an elaborate train of events that
leaves him thwarted many times.
Mozart (The Marriage of Figaroo)
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, featuring
old favourites together with lesser-known
gems, and a few surprises thrown in
7 .30 Live Radio 3 in Concert
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
perform a selection of American music, from
City Halls, Glasgow, and are joined in the
second half by Isata Kanneh-Mason for
Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto.
Ruggles (Angels for muted brasss); Seeger
(Andante for String Orchestra); Perry (A
Short Piece for Small Orchestra); Alvin
Singleton (Cara Mia Gwenn); and Beethoven
(Piano Concerto No 3 in C minor)
1 0.00 Free Thinking
Shahidha Bari chairs a debate on leadership,
from Tudor courts and plantations to the
Arab Spring and modern political philosophy.
In partnership with Bristol Festival of Ideas
1 0.45 The Free Thinking Essay:
New Generation Thinkers
Clare Walker Gore explores disability and
stereotypes via the life of a 19th-century MP
Arthur Kavanagh, who was born without
hands or feet (r)
1 1.00 The Night Tracks Mix
An adventurous, immersive soundtrack for
late-night listening, from classical to
contemporary and everything in between
1 1.3 0 Unclassified
Elizabeth Alker with a feast of music that
defies classification
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 Nick Robinson
8.30 (LW) Yesterday in Parliament
9. 00 In Our Time
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the killing
in 1781 of 132 enslaved African men, women
and children by drowning in the sea
9.45 (LW) Daily Service
9.45 Book of the Week: Entangled Life
By Merlin Sheldrake (4/5)
10. 00 Woman’s Hour
Magazine show offering a female perspective
on the world. Plus, at 10 .45Drama: Series
seven of Amanda Whittington’s Children in
Need:D for Dexterr continues
1 1.00 Crossing Continents
The imprisonment of 18 Sicilian fishermen
for fishing in Libya’s waters
1 1.3 0 Behind the Scenes
New Birmingham Royal Ballet director Carlos
Acosta’s plans to shake up the company.
See Radio Choicee (1/3)
1 2.01pm (LW) Shipping Forecast
1 2.04 Grief Is the Thing with Feathers
By Max Porter (4/5)
1 2.18 You and Yours
1. 00 The World at One
1 .45 Mayday
James’s story comes to an end
2. 00 The Archers (r)
2 .15 Drama: Lanny
Oliver Emanuel’s dramatisation of the
mythical novel by Max Porter- 00 Open Country
Helen Mark visits the Scottish nature
reserve Eilean Shona (6/16)
3.27 Radio 4 Appeal
On behalf of MicroLoan Foundation (r)
3.30 Open Book
The latest publications (r)
4.00 The Film Programme
With Antonia Quirke
4.30 BBC Inside Science
Presented by Adam Rutherford - 00 PM
5.54 (LW) Shipping Forecast
6 .00 Six O’Clock News
6 .30 Mark Steel’s in Town
Mark performs to a remote audience about
the highlights of the series (3/3)
7.00 The Archers
Elizabeth has a confession to make
7.1 5 Front Row
7 .4 5 Children in Need: D for Dexter
By Amanda Whittington (4/5) (r)
8 .00 The Briefing Room
David Aaronovitch discusses big issues in
the news (2/14)
8 .3 0 The Untold
The impact of Covid-19 and the collapse of
Flybe on Cornwall Airport Newquay (3/8) (r)
9 .00 BBC Inside Science
Presented by Adam Rutherford (r)
9 .3 0 In Our Time (r)
1 0.00 The World Tonight
News round-up with Razia Iqbal
1 0.45 Book at Bedtime: Grief Is the
Thing with Feathers (r)
1 1.00 The Likely Dads
How relationships change during the course
of fatherhood (5/8)
1 1.30 Today in Parliament
1 2. 00 News and Weather
1 2.3 0 am Book of the Week:
Entangled Life(r)
1 2.48 Shipping Forecast
1. 00 As BBC World ServiceRadio 4 Extra
Digital only
8. 00 am Beyond Our Ken 8.3 0 Anything
Legal 9. 00 The Write Stuff 9 .3 0 Robin and
Wendy’s Wet Weekends 10. 00 New Grub
Street 11. 00 Desert Island Discs 11. 45
David Attenborough’s Life Stories 1 2. 00
Beyond Our Ken 1 2.3 0 pm Anything Legal
1. 00 Inspector Purbright: Naked Nuns 1.3 0
They Do It with Mirrors 2. 00 How Not to Be
a Boy 2 .15 Shardlake: Revelation 2 .3 0
Bollywood Brass Band 3. 00 New Grub Street
4. 00 The Write Stuff 4.3 0 Robin and
Wendy’s Wet Weekends 5. 00 Making the
Best of It 5 .30 Mark Steel’s in Town 6.
Space Force 6 .30 Great Lives 7. 00 Beyond
Our Ken 7 .3 0 Anything Legal 8. 00 Inspector
Purbright: Naked Nuns 8 .3 0 They Do It with
Mirrors 9 .00 Desert Island Discs. With guest
Wendy Hall 9 .45 David Attenborough’s Life
Stories. The largest egg known to have
existed 10. 00 Comedy Club: Mark Steel’s in
Town 10 .3 0 The Big Booth 11. 00 The
Kneebone Bonanza 11. 15 Sir Henry at
Rawlinson End 1 1.3 0 Listen AgainstRadio 5 Live
MW: 693, 909
5. 00 am Wake Up to Money 6 .00 5 Live
Breakfast. Nicky Campbell and Rachel Burden
present news from the UK and around the
world 9. 00 Your Call 10. 00 The Emma
Barnett Show 1 .00pm Nihal Arthanayake
4. 00 5 Live Drive 7 .00 5 Live Sport7 .3 0 5 Live Sport 9. 00 5 Live Sport: The
Euro Leagues Podcast 10. 00 Question Time
Extra Time 1. 00 am Dotun AdebayotalkSPORT
MW: 1053, 1089 kHz- 00 am Early Breakfast 6 .00 talkSPORT
Breakfast with Alan Brazil 10. 00 Jim White
and Simon Jordan 1. 00 pm Hawksbee and
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talkRADIO
Digital only- 00 am James Max 6 .30 Julia Hartley-
Brewer 10. 00 Mike Graham 1. 00 pm Ian
Collins 4. 00 Dan Wootton 7. 00 Kevin
O’Sullivan 10. 00 Cristo Foufas - 00 am Paul Ross
6 Music
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10 .3 0 Mary Anne Hobbs 1. 00 pm Shaun
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Virgin Radio
Digital only
6 .30am The Chris Evans Breakfast Show
with Sky 10. 00 Eddy Temple-Morris 1 .00pm
Tim Cocker 4. 00 Kate Lawler 7. 00 Steve
Denyer 10. 00 Amy Voce 1. 00 am Virgin
Radio Through The Night 4. 00 Sam PinkhamClassic 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.
Mendelssohn (A Midsummer Night’s Dream
— Overture); Prokofiev (Symphony No 1 in D
Op 25 — Classical); Gershwin (An American
in Pariss); Schumann (Cello Concerto in A
minor Op 129); Beethoven (Leonore Overture
No 2 Op 72); and Fauré (Pelléas and
Mélisande Suitee Op 80) 10. 00 Smooth
Classics 1 .00am Karthi GnanasegaramRadio Choice
Debra Craine
Behind the Scenes
Radio 4, 11.30am
Radio 4 goes behind the
scenes at Birmingham
Royal Ballet to hear how
Carlos Acosta, above, the
ballet star turned artistic
director, is shaking up the
company while trying to
ensure its survival in the
wake of the Covid-
outbreak. A lot of his plans
have had to be put on hold
during the pandemic, but
we hear how he’s hoping to
mount The Nutcracker for
Christmas in Birmingham
and London if theatres are
allowed to eventually
reopen. We also learn
about Acosta’s remarkable
life story, from poverty
as a child in Cuba to
international acclaim
starring on the Covent
Garden stage.
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Life Cinematic
BBC Four
{{{((
Harlots
BBC Two
{{{{(
W
e are stuffed as far as
going to the cinema is
concerned, so what’s
the next best thing?
An hour-long chatwith a director that micro-examines
the art of film-making? Not quite.
Life Cinematic with Sofia Coppola
sometimes had the earnest, intense
feel of a film studies lecture, but
Coppola has one of those quiet but
authoritative voices that you listen to.
Interesting that the woman who
wrote and directed Lost in Translation
considers her all-time most
inspirational film moment one from
1945 when Trevor Howard squeezes
Celia Johnson’s shoulder at the railway
station in Brief Encounter — the
annoying, talkative Dolly oblivious to
their agony. The unsaid is so often
more powerful than the said. Which is
why we never learn what Bill Murray
whispered in Scarlett Johansson’s ear
at the end of Lost in Translation.
Coppola said she had been thinking
of the Italians who used to film first
and add the sound later and was “kind
of stuck” how to convey the “epicness”
of the moment. “I didn’t intend for it
to be silent and then in the editing we
were, like, ‘Oh, it’s better if it’s just
between them and the audience puts
in their own interpretation.’ ”
Hmm, yes, but it can also sometimes
feel a bit of a cop-out, as with the
screen going black at the end of The
Sopranos. Murray could have been
saying: “You still owe me for the
sandwich.” Or, “Your skirt is tucked
in your knickers.”
The presenter, Edith Bowman, was
thorough and precise, sitting at a large
table that was also a TV screen, while
Coppola, 4,000 miles away in New
York, explained her film moment
choices. They included A Place in the
Sun and the extraordinary close-ups
on the 17-year-old Elizabeth Taylor’s
face, Fishtank, Safe and Do
the Right Thing. She said she wasinterested in female film characters,
which is why she could never get into
westerns, because the main characters
were all men. Me too, Sofia, me too.
Fanny is running the Greek Street
brothel in Harlots, a statement that
works on more than one level.
Aspiring drama writers could learn a
thing or two from its scripts, which are
even perkier than all those hoisted,
heaving bosoms (think a fat builder’s
bottom escaping silk britches). Last
night’s episode wasn’t particularly
eventful, but I always enjoy the
dialogue more than the plot, which is
usually whoring, murder, sex, the odd
whipping, drinking, more murder and
more whoring. Or as they call it,
“rumping for coin”.
As I have said before after being
initially sniffy about Harlots, I am
a convert. You don’t see many TV
dramas scenes such as the one where
Kate Bottomley, charged with
shagging the tedious Prince Henry
against a tree and annoyed that it is
lasting so long, uses a, er, dextrous
trick to bring it to a rapid conclusion.
“Nothing would make me happier
than seeing my stallion bucking
between your thighs,” he said. Where’s
Kenneth Williams when you need
him? Anyway, it looks as if Margaret
Wells has headed back to America
with her sad-faced husband, leaving
Fanny to take up the slack. Which,
Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation again, is true in more than one sense.No popcorn required for film studies with Sofia
ALAMYCarol
Midgley
TV review