It is one of the laws of drama that stories set in schools must begin with the pupils returning after the summer holiday. A number of vintage versions of such stories are lashed together to make Radio 4 Extra’s Back to School season. Sarah Lancashire and Philip Glenister star in the 1999 dramatisation of South Riding (21 August-1 September, 2.30pm, Radio 4 Extra), Winifred Holtby’s classic 1930s story of the charismatic head of Kiplington High School for Girls.
Unman, Wittering and Zigo (26 August, 6am, Radio 4 Extra) comes from even further back and is a bit less cosy. Giles Cooper wrote this chilling radio play, about a new teacher trying to occupy the shoes of a form master who has been killed in an accident, in 1958. It was subsequently brought to the screen more than once and also provided some inspiration for Alan Bennett’s The History Boys. Plus, John Gielgud stars in a production of Terrence Rattigan’s The Browning Version (1 September, 10am, Radio 4 Extra), which was made in 1957.
The last surviving British member of the Dambusters squadron inevitably goes by the name of George “Johnny” Johnson. Quizzed by Michael Buerk for When Michael Met Johnny (28 August, 10am, 5 Live), the veteran bomb aimer recalls how he was the person who decided how many increasingly hazardous final runs the crew had to endure before they let the bomb go. On the 10th go-round he was finally happy. By then the Lancaster was at 30ft with Johnny flat out on his belly and the black water seemingly at the end of his nose. Johnson audibly twinkles as he recalls the experience.
Radio 2 celebrates its Day Of Rock in a way only Radio 2 can, with Hungarian pianist Peter Bence joining Ken Bruce (28 August, 9.30am, Radio 2) to play his own rearrangements of rock anthems; Bryan Adams (noon) introducing his own favourites and archive interviews; Paul Jones introducing blues-derived warhorses at 7pm and Rick Wakeman’s Key to Keys in Rock (9pm), where his guest is Tony Banks from Genesis. The day finishes with David Rodigan (11pm) presenting his selection of lovers rock, which is kind of cheating but we’ll let it go.
Podcast listening, much like radio listening, is largely a question of habit. And the most powerful habits are the ones that fit into our daily routine. The Daily from the New York Times – which offers smart analysis of one key story – sets the pace here, and can see you through one standard train commute. NPR has responded with Up First, which does something similar in just 10 minutes. The PBS NewsHour podcast is the audio version of the nightly TV broadcast. From Public Radio International there’s PRI’s The World, which is the States looking out at the rest of the globe. Elsewhere, the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service offers something similar.
