Programme Information

From 10am to 4pm on Christmas Day, 24 lucky listeners each get 15 minutes of fame as they take over BBC Radio 1, bringing their own musical taste and presentation style to the airwaves.

Producer/Joe Harland

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Listeners can sit back and enjoy a 10-hour replay of BBC Radio 1's major series exploring the music and pop cultural moments defining the first decade of the millennium – all through the eyes of Radio 1. The series is fronted by Radio 1 DJs including Zane Lowe, Scott Mills and Fearne Cotton.

Producers/Alice Lloyd and Louise Kattenhorn

BBC Radio 1 Publicity

Roger Royle

Christmas Day Friday 25 December

4.00-7.00am BBC RADIO 2

For all Christmas-morning early risers, the Reverend Canon Roger Royle presents a live, three-hour marathon of very special seasonal music and carols.

Presenter/Roger Royle, Producer/Bridget Apps

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Junior Choice Christmas Special

Christmas Day Friday 25 December

9.00-11.00am BBC RADIO 2

Ed "Stewpot" Stewart returns to BBC Radio 2 to present a two-hour live edition of the ever-popular Junior Choice, which features listeners' requests and dedications, plus a few of Ed's favourites.

Presenter/Ed Stewart, Producer/Liza Wallis

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For the second year running, Paul O'Grady presents two festive hours packed full of seasonal cheer.

Paul will be sharing his cooking tips while playing some of his favourite holiday music and there'll also be a round-up of the nation's favourite pantos.

Presenter/Paul O'Grady, Producer/Malcolm Prince

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Self-confessed Christmas aficionado, composer and musician Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow invites BBC Radio 2 listeners into his home in Palm Springs to brighten Christmas Day with a sprinkling of Californian sunshine, festive tunes and holiday cheer.

A self-confessed Christmas aficionado, Barry provides the perfect soundtrack to the afternoon, with artists including Andy Williams, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, The Ronettes, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Bonnie Raitt and John Lennon, as well as some of his own recordings.

He talks about growing up in a small tenement apartment in Brooklyn, watching The Andy Williams Christmas Show with his family and shares the stories behind some of his favourite Christmas classics.

Presenter/Barry Manilow, Producer/Anthony Cherry

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Legendary broadcaster Michael Parkinson plays two hours of his seasonal favourites, including classic Christmas tunes from Frank Sinatra, Diana Krall, Harry Connick Jr, Dean Martin and Michael Bublé.

The show is packed full of winter favourites and is interspersed with Parky's anecdotes about the songs, their origins and the performers, including the time on his television show that Bing Crosby forgot the words to possibly the most famous Christmas song of them all, White Christmas.

Presenter/Sir Michael Parkinson, Producer/Simon Crosse

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Dermot O'Leary talks to Susan Boyle, the West Lothian singer who was catapulted to fame by a life-changing performance that took her all the way to the final of Britain's Got Talent and gave her world-wide fame.

During the course of this personal interview, Susan shares some of her favourite music, including tracks by Simon & Garfunkel and The Osmonds, as well as disclosing a very surprising choice for a funeral song.

Susan also discusses her feelings when she stepped onto the stage for "that" audition and the reception that followed, and reveals how she's coping with fame and the release of her debut album.

Presenter/Dermot O'Leary, Producer/Ben Walker

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Detroit native Suzi Quatro grew up with Motown, rubbing shoulders with the label's stars around town as they played in the same clubs and dance venues. In this two-hour special, Suzi shares her memories of Motor City soul and plays her favourite Motown hits, alongside some gems from the Hitsville vault and some seasonal soul music.

Presenter/Suzi Quatro, Producer/Mark Hagen

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Very Nearly An Armful –
The Galton & Simpson Story Ep 1/4

Christmas Day Friday 25 December

10.30-11.30pm BBC RADIO 2

Stephen Merchant celebrates the writing partnership of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, the ground-breaking duo who brought social realism to British comedy and helped form the foundations for modern-day classics such as The Office, Peep Show and The Thick Of It.

After meeting in a tuberculosis sanatorium in 1949, the pair started writing for the hospital's radio station and within two years they were writing for the UK's top comic talent. In a move that changed comedy for ever, the pair insisted that comedy should not be interrupted by howling crooners, whistling hillbillies or harmonica players, but instead should reflect life as it is. The show they created, Hancock's Half Hour, was so popular that pubs and shops complained that it was causing them to lose business.

They followed up Hancock's Half Hour with Steptoe And Son, which proved a huge hit gaining 28 million viewers. However, the series was not without controversy: the episode The Piano provoked complaints from Mary Whitehouse and even lead to questions being asked in the House of Commons.

The pair also wrote for a who's who of comedy, including Frankie Howerd, Peter Sellers, Arthur Lowe, Warren Mitchell and Les Dawson. While the pair effectively disbanded in 1978, their work is still immensely important and performed around the world today.

As well as the writers themselves, contributors to the documentary include David Mitchell, Ben Elton, Denis Norden and Damaris Hayman. Archive interviewees include Tony Hancock, Sid James and Harry H Corbett.

Listeners have another chance to hear some of Galton and Simpson's classic comedy, as the network repeats the four-part series Galton & Simpson's Half Hour this week.

Presenter/Stephen Merchant, Producer/Paul Sheehan

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

The Christmas Service is broadcast from All Souls Church, Langham Place, in London's West End.

This international Anglican church boasts a lively and eclectic congregation and a panoply of gifted musicians who will give the traditional carols for Christmas morning a unique and special flavour.

The preacher is the Rector, the Revd Hugh Palmer. The All Souls Choir is directed by organist and Director of Music Noel Tredinnick.

Producer/Philip Billson

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In a special extended Christmas Day edition of Pick Of The Week, Welsh actor and comedian, Rob Brydon, chooses his favourite BBC Radio programmes from 2009.

Presenter/Rob Brydon, Producer/Cecile Wright

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After the seasonal festivities – both sacred and secular – former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo reflects on the magic of storytelling at Christmas and its appeal to both young and old.

Presenter/Michael Morpugo, Producer/Philip Billson

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Afternoon Play –
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Ep 1 and 2/2

Christmas Day Friday 25 December

2.15-3.00pm BBC RADIO 4

3.15-4.00pm BBC RADIO 4

BBC Radio 4 continues the dramatisations of Alexander McCall Smith's enormously successful and popular series of novels set in Botswana – The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

Precious Ramotswe is now well established as Botswana's only private detective and owner of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, which she runs with her assistant, Mma Makutsi.

Despite the wide range of cases on their books, one thing the lady detectives know very little about is football – which is unfortunate when the agency's newest client is the big-shot owner of the ailing Kalahari Swoopers. There's a traitor on the team and, as his season goes from bad to worse, "Mr Football" insists that Mma Ramotswe must find the culprit.

As she mulls over this problem, Mma Ramotswe becomes aware that her faithful assistant is distracted by a glamorous adversary from the past who has reappeared and is making a play for Mma Makutsi's unsuspecting fiancé.

Mma Ramotswe will take in a soccer match at the stadium, drink tea in unfamiliar kitchens and learn to trust in the observational powers of small boys, as she digs deep to uncover the goodness of the human heart.

The drama, which continues today at 3.15pm, is based on book 10 of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Tea Time For The Traditionally Built.

Claire Benedict stars as Mma Ramotswe, Nadine Marshall as Mma Makutsi and Ben Onwukwe as Mr JLB Matekoni.

Please note: This play was originally billed in BBC Week 50 Radio Programme Information, on Thursday 17 December.

Producer/Eilidh McCreadie

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

Richard Bacon and Danny Wallace team up to deliver a host of festive fun for Christmas morning.

Presenters/Richard Bacon and Danny Wallace, Producer/Mark Sharman

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

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Stephen Nolan is joined by special guests for a topical quiz on the year's big stories, giving listeners the chance to pit their wits against the news experts.

Presenter/Stephen Nolan, Producer/Jonathan Aspinwall

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

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Snapshot Christmas

Christmas Day Friday 25 December

12.00noon-1.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Max Rushden makes his BBC Radio 5 Live debut, live on Christmas Day presenting Snapshot Christmas. Max will be taking a whistle-stop tour of the UK to find out what the nation is doing at midday, from serving soldiers and on-duty nurses, to "bah humbugs" trying to avoid the celebrations.

Presenter/Max Rushden, Producer/Fiona Cotterill

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Simon Mayo is in reflective mood as he picks his favourite guest interviews from the last eight years on his afternoon show on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Highlights since 2001 include interviews with Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, Will Young, Joan Rivers and Michael Sheen, plus Ricky Gervais in conversation with the Archbishop of Canterbury and some of the best of Simon's musical guests.

Presenter/Simon Mayo, Producer/Robin Bulloch

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Justin Moorhouse is joined by fellow comedians to look back at 2009, celebrating the year's winners and losers.

Presenter/Justin Moorhouse, Producer/Julia McKenzie

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Journalist Ian McGarry presents a one-off documentary with one of the Premier League's most controversial and gifted players: Didier Drogba.

Revealing a different side to his public persona, he explains his motivation for helping build a new hospital in the Ivory Coast. Drogba was part of the Ivory Coast team playing Malawi in March this year when a wall collapsed in the stadium, killing 29 spectators. Shocked by the lack of resources to cope with the disaster the Chelsea striker vowed to do something to improve the health care in his home country.

Presenter/Ian McGarry, Producer/Richard McIlory

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Former England international and Test Match Special contributor Phil Tufnell looks back at England's Ashes-winning summer.

Phil hears from the players and fellow commentators Alec Stewart and Jason Gillespie who reflect on the key moments of the series.

Presenter/Phil Tufnell, Producer/Steve Houghton

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

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Mark Chapman takes a look back at past World Cups since 1982, reliving the greatest goals and national highs and lows with special guests.

Presenter/Mark Chapman, Producer/Neil Sloan

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

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BBC Radio 5 Live's Formula 1 reporter Holly Samos is joined by World Champion Jenson Button to look back on a dramatic F1 season both on and off the track.

Jenson tells Holly about his rollercoaster year that began with the very real prospect of him not even making the grid following the demise of Honda's F1 team and ended with him achieving his ultimate ambition, becoming the 2009 Formula 1 World Champion, winning six of the first seven races of the season on the way.

Jenson also reflects on the season's other big talking points: the emergence of the Brawn and Red Bull teams, Renault-gate and Michael Schumacher's on/off comeback.

Presenter/Holly Samos, Producer/Jason Swales

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

BBC 6 Music's very own "uncrowned king of breakfast", according to Time Out, presents his Clever Christmas, featuring interviews with all the clever folks who have been on his show over the past year, including Alain de Botton and his favourite scientist Dr Brian Cox.

Presenter/Shaun Keaveny, Producer/Nic Philps

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Legendary Spinal Tap bassist Derek Smalls presents a two-hour Christmas morning show for BBC 6 Music. Alongside guest appearances from fellow Tap bandmates Nigel Tufnel and David St Hubbins, who call in with Christmas greetings for Derek and the listeners, Derek also presents the première of his own take on the Christmas classic Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer.

Plus the bass genius answers questions from 6 Music presenters including Laurern Laverne, Shaun Keaveny and Marc Riley; and music comes courtesy of the Jackson 5, Weird Al Yankovic and, of course, Spinal Tap with their triumphant live set from this year's Glastonbury festival.

Presenter/Derek Smalls (aka Harry Shearer), Producer/Gary Bales

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Listeners can enjoy the inside story of Led Zeppelin's BBC sessions – told exclusively by founder member Jimmy Page.

Jimmy joins Shaun Keaveny for a unique celebration of the thrilling early recordings. The BBC sessions capture the audacity and raw energy of Led Zeppelin's first live shows. Jimmy chooses his personal highlights from the music and shares his memories of an extraordinary time in Led Zeppelin's history.

Presenter/Shaun Keaveny, Producer/Amanda Bruckshaw

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Gossip girl Beth Ditto plays two hours of music that inspires her, by the artists she loves. From punk rock to reggae, metal to mariachi, it's all served up with Beth's unique take on the world.

Presenter/Beth Ditto, Producer/Nic Philps

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Don Letts eases listeners through that time after lunch on Christmas Day when the presents have been opened and cold turkey sandwiches await. On the menu is Don's choice of reggae, ska, rocksteady, dub and dancehall, so listeners can push back the sofa and dance up an appetite.

Presenter/Don Letts, Producer/Frank Wilson

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Bob Dylan, who released a charity album of Christmas songs this year, dispenses the festive cheer with a two-hour Christmas special of his acclaimed radio show.

Steering clear of the usual Slade and Wizzard songs, Bob's selections range in date from the Forties and Lead Belly's Christmas Is A-comin' to 2001 and The Bellrays' Poor Old Rudolph – taking in songs such as Far Away Christmas Blues by Little Esther and the Johnny Otis Orchestra, Christmas Tree by Jamaican DJ King Stitt, Fiesta de Navidad by Celia Cruz And La Senora Matancera and Sonny Boy Williamson's Santa Claus along the way.

As ever, the songs are punctuated by Dylan's dry humour, anecdotes and wry observations – making for an unusual and refreshing mix for Christmas Day.

Presenter/Bob Dylan, Producer/Frank Wilson

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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As the end of another year approaches Bruce Dickinson reflects on the rock legacy of 2009.

In this special show, Bruce reveals his selection of favourite interviews of the past 12 months. There's another chance to hear highlights from some of metal's finest stars who have graced the Rock Show studios.

This includes Alice In Chains, Thunder, Judas Priest and Mastodon. Plus listeners can relive the time when Chuck Billy of Testament and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth teamed up for their memorable takeover of the Rock Show (on 13 March 2009).

Presenter/Bruce Dickinson, Producer/Ian Callaghan

BBC 6 Music Publicity

Zak and Imran wait anxiously at Nadia's hospital bedside for further news from the doctors, as the drama continues. Zak blames Sway for everything.

Meanwhile, Kuljit and Sway are driving back from London and Kuljit makes it clear he is only with Sway because of what happened; this doesn't mean all is forgiven.

Later at the hospital, Zak tells Imran he is going to make Sway pay for what he has done to Nadia. Suddenly Zak sees Sway walking towards them...

Zak is played by Jetinder Summan, Imran by Narinder Samra, Sway by Nicholas Bailey and Kuljit by Sartaj Garewal.

BBC Asian Network Publicity