Programme Information

Paul Gambaccini presents his annual review of the year's greatest hits in the United States. As usual, he will play the top singles of 2009 in ascending order and will also feature the best-selling albums plus the top three songs in the country, rock, adult contemporary and R&B genres.

Presenter/Paul Gambaccini, Producer/Kevin Howlett

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Noddy Holder looks back at the Seventies phenomenon that was the Top Of The Pops albums which, at their peak, enjoyed buoyant sales and topped the UK charts.

Noddy celebrates one of the forgotten musical successes of the decade and revisits the happy days when music fans could buy all their favourite tunes in Woolworth's for the price of a single, but they were just not quite the real thing!

The name was a masterstroke and their success was such an embarrassment to the industry that the major labels quickly ganged up to have them kicked out of the charts. Once the songs were chosen, the producers were given two weeks to get them in the shops. Singers would arrive at the studio to be told they had to record a perfect impression of Johnny Rotten, Mark Bolan or Freddie Mercury.

The programme features contributions from the producers, musicians and singers whose job it was cover songs like Bohemian Rhapsody in a couple of hours.

Presenter/Noddy Holder, Producer/Neil Cowling

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Some years ago, singer-songwriter Shai Halperin self-produced a home-made, full-length album entitled Meet Yr Acres, which gained critical acclaim.

Having spent the last couple of years touring with The Pixies, he has returned to the music scene with Philadelphia-based quartet The Capitol Years, who released the album Dance Away The Terror earlier this year, from which their first single Revolutions was selected as Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie's Record Of The Week.

Presenter/Bob Harris, Producer/Mark Simpson

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

World Routes ends the year with the first of two concert recordings by African artists who have broken through to the mainstream. This week, the acclaimed Malian duo Amadou And Mariam play an end-of-year gig at the Forum in London.

Amadou And Mariam are a middle-aged married couple who don't speak English, were raised in schools for the blind and play roots music from Mali.

Their music, featuring Amadou's bluesy guitar, driving rhythms and Mariam's soaring vocals, is mesmerising and since the release of their newest album Welcome To Mali earlier this year, they have played on the main stage at Glastonbury, appeared in London's Hyde Park and played recently at the Nobel Peace Prize concert to honour Barack Obama.

Presenter/Lucy Duran, Producer/Roger Short

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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Opera On 3 Live From The Met – Les Contes d'Hoffmann

Saturday 19 December

6.00-10.00pm BBC RADIO 3

Live from Metropolitan Opera, New York, Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann stars Joseph Calleja as the troubled poet.

Hoffmann is waiting for the object of his affection, Stella, to arrive, and fills the time by telling the tale of his disastrous past loves. The first is a mechanical doll called Olympia, destroyed by her owner. His second love, Antonia, dies when the impulse to sing is too much for her weak heart. Finally the Venetian courtesan Giulietta steals his reflection as well as his heart before choosing a different suitor. When Stella eventually arrives she finds Hoffmann drunk, so leaves with his rival.

Les contes d'Hoffmann is conducted by James Levine, and has a stellar cast including Anna Netrebko, Ekaterina Gubanova and Kathleen Kim as Hoffmann's former loves.

Presented by Margaret Juntwait with guest commentator Ira Siff, there will be live backstage interviews and the Met Quiz during the two intervals.

Presenter/Margaret Juntwait, Producer/Ellie Mant

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

The Monkees (l-r), Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith

John Waite tells the story of his involvement with The Monkees, the wildly successful Sixties pop group and TV stars.

In 1970, John was a 19-year-old student hitch-hiking his way up the coast of California. Stuck in the centre of Los Angeles, with a Union Flag on his rucksack, he stood for hours with his thumb out watching cars roar past. Then he struck gold. A Cadillac convertible pulled up, the door opened and in jumped John. Only then did he notice that the man at the wheel was Davy Jones, the British star of the hit TV show that launched the world's first manufactured boy band. And then Davy invited him to stay.

Forty years on, John retraces his steps, telling the story of The Monkees along the way. He meets some of the people key to their success including songwriter Bobby Hart; Hank Cicalo, their long-suffering studio engineer who witnessed their creative development; and Henry Diltz, the rock 'n' roll photographer who became their friend and partner in crime.

The road trip ends in a poignant reunion with Davy, now breeding race horses in Philadelphia. As the two men reminisce, Davy reveals more about The Monkees split and the impact of the show on his later career.

Packed full of memorable hits and great anecdotes, Here We Come is also a revealing insight into the unexpected poptastic former life of one of BBC Radio 4's presenters.

Presenter/John Waite, Producer/Deborah Dudgeon

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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First edition of The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz

This new radio adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz brings L Frank Baum's characters vividly to life for a new generation.

Dorothy's famous quest to find her way back home makes for a compelling and action-packed story with a powerful heart. An orphaned child, she lives in the grey landscape of Kansas but when a tornado strikes she is lifted into a new and magical world.

Dorothy immediately makes some powerful enemies by accidentally killing the Wicked Witch of the East and claiming her silver shoes. Desperate to return home, her adventure takes her up the yellow brick road to the City of Emeralds making three unlikely friends on the way – a Scarecrow, a Tin Woodman and a Lion. When the Wizard of Oz promises them a brain, a heart, courage and a ticket home, they embark on a perilous journey to kill the Wicked Witch of the West.

This distinctive contemporary dramatisation by Linda Marshall Griffiths embraces the original story with a new musical score by Olly Fox.

Introducing 12-year-old Amelia Clarkson as Dorothy, the cast stars Burn Gorman as the Tin Woodman; Kevin Eldon as the Scarecrow; Zubin Varla as the Lion; Jonathan Keeble as the Wizard; Emma Fielding as all the Witches; Andrew Westfield as the Flying Monkey King; and Graeme Hawley as the Munchkin.

Producer/Nadia Molinari

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Every day for three months, BBC Radio 4 is recreating 1989 in sound, drawing on the BBC and other vivid news archive and the music of the time. These daily programmes, presented by Sir John Tusa, re-trace the year's major political, cultural and social events as they happened.

In the news from this week in 1989 – serious unrest is reported in Romania with hundreds massacred; US forces looking for General Noriega invade Panama where he is seeking refuge; and Romanian President Nicolae Ceauşescu is caught as he tries to escape and is executed with his wife in Romania.

Presenter/Sir John Tusa, Producers/Barney Rowntree and Russell Finch

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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In this week's Archive On 4, Peter White examines the changing role of the working dog through extensive archive – including material not previously broadcast.

Dogs are perennially "man's best friend" but they are also now "man's best colleague". From guide dogs to guard dogs, hearing dogs to healing dogs, Peter looks at the ways that people have become dependent on canines.

He examines the assistance dog from the early 1900s through to the development of their role within today's society. Over the years, guide dogs have been progressed to dual-purpose dogs, to dogs that can detect imminent epileptic fits, smuggled drugs and explosive devices. There are even dogs who can do people's washing!

A Dog's Life features a mix of new interviews and historical material featuring the trainers, the owners and those that place their lives in the paws of their dogs.

Presenter/Peter White, Producer/Elizabeth Foster

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

Danny Baker is joined by special guest Stephen Fry for his original mix of Saturday morning sporting entertainment, featuring listener's stories, comedy banter and the examination of the big (but mostly the little) issues that occupy supporters' minds ahead of the weekend action.

This programme is also available to watch in-vision via the BBC Red button and via the BBC Radio 5 Live website at bbc.co.uk/5live.

Presenter/Danny Baker, Producer/Clare Davison

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

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5 Live Sport

Saturday 19 December

12.00noon-7.20pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Mark Pougatch presents an afternoon of live sport kicking off with commentary on Portsmouth versus Liverpool live from Fratton Park from 12.45pm with regular rugby union European Cup updates, including Treviso versus Northampton and Toulouse versus Cardiff.

There's also live coverage of all the day's 3pm kick-offs, including Fulham versus Manchester United, Aston Villa versus Stoke and Blackburn versus Tottenham in the Premier League and Rangers versus Motherwell in the Scottish Premier League. 5 Live Sport also offers reports from the fourth day's play of the first Test between South Africa and England at Centurion Park, Pretoria and further updates from rugby union's European Cup, including London Irish against Brive.

From 5.30pm, there's Premier League commentary on Arsenal against Hull City, live from the Emirates Stadium.

Presenter/Mark Pougatch

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish prepare for the Christmas season with their weekly reflections and some festive songs.

Presenters/Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish, Producer/James Stirling

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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The Queens Of Noize return to BBC 6 Music to host the 6 Mix Christmas Party. The Queens, aka party duo Tabitha and Mairead, have had an amazing 2009, DJing around the world with Florence And The Machine and running their weekly club night Smash And Grab.

Getting 6 Music into the party spirit, the girls will be playing the biggest party tunes of the year from the likes of Dizzee Rascal, Toddla T and Friendly Fires, plus a host of celebrity guest DJs will be joining them live on the decks.

Presenter/Queens Of Noize, Producer/Rowan Collinson

BBC 6 Music Publicity

Kiran Desai's Booker Prize-winning novel is dramatised for the first time for radio and leads up to the January edition of World Book Club, in which Kiran will discuss the novel.

Set near the Himalayas, it's the story of three people, each dreaming of another time. In this final part Sai begins to grow up and fall in love, but civil unrest starts to encroach on her life.

The Inheritance Of Loss stars Ayesha Dharker (The Terrorist; Bombay Talkie), Vincent Ebrahim (The Kumars At No. 42) and Paul Bhattacharjee (Dirty Pretty Things). The cast also includes: Harvey Virdi; Pooja Ghai, Inam Mirza, Ronny Jhutti, Melissa Advani, Stephen Hogan, Kate Layden, Zubin Varla, Nickul Hathi, Ravi Aujla, Nicholas Khan, Antony Bunsee, Stephen Hogan, Rehan Sheikh and Badi Uzzaman. Marion Nancarrow is the director.

BBC World Service Publicity