This Down the Line Special almost makes the lockdown worthwhile:
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If you haven't previously heard John Finnemore's peerless 'Cabin Pressure', it starts a re-run on Sunday at 7.15 p.m. on Radio 4. If you have heard it before, you may very possibly want to hear it all over again. I shall definitely be tuning in.Comment
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Originally posted by LMcD View Post
Good tip, many thanks! Heard and loved many over the years, but not sure I’ve ever heard the start of it all..."...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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Frayn has totally nailed, with Joanna Lumley's sketch, the "Dom Cummings playbook of:Originally posted by Boilk
"National Crisis so we have to put ministers in front of the media, well any non radioactive minister will do....."
(Pritti is walled into the Home Office, Gove only answers his phone when he smells an opportunity but any of the others will do.....)
.....this is how you train the poor saps to fill the time, make a half plausible pass at sincerity, but above all say nothing about anything of any importance......"
I urge you to listen, if only for this part of the programme.
(I also enjoyed "Down the line", but it leaves a slight aftertaste - an uneasy feeling that actually its not that divorced from reality in the cross section of our society - well of those that would contact a radio phone-in. In much the same way as Trump is no longer a parody of the worst person in the post of President you could imagine....but a stark reality with which we have to cope).Comment
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I haven't listened to the whole programme yet, but I really enjoyed what I heard of John Wilson's three-hour programme on 4 extra, where Masterclass guests talk about songwriting - Randy Newman, Paul McCartney, Suzanne Vega, Ray Davies are among the interviewees. Wilson has a great way of making his guests feel at ease while still asking incisive questions.
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I have to say that I've never been a great fan of Jenni Murray - Woman's Hour always seems a bit too serious when she's at the controls...I prefer Jane. However, it only took one programme to change my mind. I just listened to 'My Teenage Diary' on 4 extra and it was a total delight, aided by an audience who were enthralled by Jenni's revelations - even Rufus Hound didn't put a damper on the proceedings. Marvelous bit of radio, I thought.
Last edited by johncorrigan; 19-05-20, 17:46.Comment
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Avidly looking forward to a brand new Charles Paris Mystery series (episode 1 Friday 22 May 11.30am on Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000j9jw ).
Among recent series, rivalled only in terms of chuckle value by Cabin Pressure and Ed Reardon’s Week, for me, and arguably more consistently well-written than either."...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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"Ed Reardon's Week" is, in my opinion, on of the greatest gems on radio!Originally posted by Caliban View PostMajor Denis Bloodnok, Indian Army (RTD) Coward and Bar, currently residing in Barnet, Hertfordshire!Comment
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Agreed.... along with the other two I mentionedOriginally posted by Andrew View Post
The new Charles Paris episode downloaded to savour at a favourable time
"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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Bill Nighy / Charles Paris?Comment
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Excellent Rumpole well spotted .......Originally posted by Caliban View PostAgreed.... along with the other two I mentioned
The new Charles Paris episode downloaded to savour at a favourable timeComment
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Strongly recommended (both on Radio 4):
The Great Post Office Trial - unbelievably shameful behaviour by a (formerly) much loved British institution. Monday to Friday 1.45 p.m.
Legacy of Warn narrated by Sean Bean. Wednesdays at 9.30 a.m. and 8.45 p.m.Comment
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Thanks LMcD. Caught up on those...one to go. Unbelievable how these big organisations behave badly and then try to close ranks. It happens all the time.Originally posted by LMcD View PostComment
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I should perhaps have made it clear that the series about the Post Office has 10 episodes. i.e. continues until tomorrow week.Originally posted by ardcarp View PostComment
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Private Eye has been running the issue for some years now. The cover up of the accounting system flaw is one thing, aided by the criminal investigators and prosecutors (at one stage that amounted to a perversion of justice, surely - when it was organised). The denial and corporate holding of the line over years and many victims also became a matter of corporate responsibility.
The Eye has charted the untroubled progress of Royal Mail executives / directors who at the very least never troubled, one assumes, to question the crime wave breaking out amongst the ostensibly upright postmasters of middle England, postmasters accepted by them.
One of those executives at least holds a clerical position in the C of E (not quite at the ordained level, IIRC) but has made no acknowledgement of responsibility. Others have progressed on the usual shuffle of posts of the ruling elite.
So, like Jenrick and the Isle of Dogs, it stinks. This time livelihoods, retirements, worked for life time financial security have been trashed and of course postmasters have been imprisoned and given criminal records. I think the review of convictions will have to be followed by outside scrutiny of the same - why trust Royal Mail to review itself?Last edited by Cockney Sparrow; 29-05-20, 09:52.Comment
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