Programme Information

Hugh Dennis celebrates the work of the Salvation Army's Family Tracing Service, which restores family relationships by tracing long and recently lost relatives. The service was set up 125 years ago by William Booth, and Hugh meets some of the people who, out of the blue one Christmas, received "the best Christmas present ever".

In the programme, which features Christmas music from Salvation Army choirs and bands, alongside other seasonal musical treats, Hugh shares poignant stories of painstaking searches and a significant number of happy endings.

The Salvation Army enjoys an 85 per cent success rate in their work, and they also have renowned expertise in dealing with the many issues raised by this important work, such as understanding why people lose touch, what it's like for those left behind, how families go about rebuilding trust and broken relationships and, critically, how to assist with making the all-important first contact.

Presenter/Hugh Dennis, Producer/Carmel Lonergan

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Michael Feinstein concludes the series that pays tribute to the first great American songwriter, Stephen Foster. Stephen (1826-1864) was the first songwriter to earn his living solely through his music rather than subsisting, as other songwriters did at the time, by teaching or performing. His life marks the start of popular music as is recognised today.

It was the whirlwind success of Oh Susanna, written when Foster was 21, which led him to his chosen career. But his life was a tragedy. His marriage broke up and he lived in poverty, ending up selling his original songs for the price of his next drink. He died after a fall at the age of 37, and in his wallet remained 38 cents and a scrap of paper that read, "Dear friends and gentle hearts." However, his real legacy was the foundation of American popular song.

Artists such as Nanci Griffith, Beth Nielson Chapman and Roger McGuinn have all done versions of Foster songs and discuss what they love in his music and why they feel it's still so relevant today. Biographer Ken Emerson talks about the key aspects of Foster's personal life and Deane L Root, musicologist and director of the Centre for American Music, explains the musical context of the time.

Presenter/Michael Feinstein, Producers/Katrina Fallon and Patrick Humphries

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Henry Purcell lived, worked and died at Westminster Abbey – the great composer was buried next to the Abbey's organ on 26 November 1695. Marking the 350th anniversary of his birth, this concert forms one of the highlights of BBC Radio 3's year-long celebration of the composer's music.

James O'Donnell conducts the Choir of Westminster Abbey and St James's Baroque in music by Purcell, including the Te Deum and Jubilate In D, the Funeral Sentences and music that Purcell composed for the funeral of Queen Mary II in March 1695, just a few months before his own death. Hail! Bright Cecilia, an Ode for St Cecilia's Day 1692 is also featured. Soloists include Carolyn Sampson (soprano) and Neal Davies (bass-baritone).

Presenter and Producer/Tony Sellors

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Stephen Lawrence had wanted to be an architect, so when his mum Doreen discovered that only 2 per cent of the UK's practising architects come from black and ethnic minorities she embarked on a radical new scheme to redress the balance.

Presented by Adil Ray, Towering Ambition follows the efforts of the Stephen Lawrence Trust in association with RMJM Architects as they tackle the field's glaring ethnic imbalance "from the inside out".

This approach entailed senior design professionals visiting inner-city locations across the UK to throw young novices into the architectural thick of it. Workshops were held in Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow and London and this immersive approach produced tears, tantrums and alarmingly positive amounts of untrained talent. The six most impressive young people were given an additional break with a scholarship at Harvard's School of Design for the summer, in memory of Stephen Lawrence.

This programme follows the whole process, from the initial workshops and launch, all the way through to the conclusion and post-scheme analysis many months later. It follows the final six – Paula, 25, from Glasgow; Callum, 21, from Liverpool; Oni, 20, and Luke, 18, from London; and Yohanna and Nick, both 19, from Birmingham, all the way to Harvard.

The finalists come from radically diverse backgrounds: Nick was adopted as a baby from a Romanian orphanage and had struggled to get a break despite a dedicated commitment to design. Yohanna came to Britain by way of Eritrea and Holland, only learning English eight years ago. Luke had been a young troublemaker and wanted to prove himself. Oni was escaping family difficulties at home and wasn't even sure she'd have a home to go back to. Callum had been a young victim of knife crime and wanted to get back on track. And Paula, the eldest of the six, had been made redundant a few months earlier and saw this as a chance to raise her self-esteem. The common theme among them all, however, was that this was an opportunity that wouldn't have been available to them any other way.

Presenter/Adil Ray, Producer/Victoria McArthur

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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When a remarkable Chinese modern artist settled in a village on Hadrian's Wall, he made an unforgettable impact on the local community. Following his death in 1994, his legacy, and his former home and gallery, are being rescued.

Li Yuan Chia was one of the first significant modern artists to emerge from China during the 20th century. This programme examines his career, which matured and developed in England, with the last 28 years of his life spent in a stone farmhouse at the village of Bankside, on Hadrian's Wall in Cumbria.

Born in China in 1929, Li was educated in Taiwan. He worked and exhibited in Italy before moving to London in 1963.

In 1968 Li met Cumbrian painter Winifred Nicolson who became his patron and persuaded Li to move away from the busy capital to a more remote location, near her own home. Li then set about converting a farm building with his own hands – the Banks, Bankside, near Brampton – where he built a gallery, library, theatre, printing press, children's art room and photographic darkroom and opened the place to the public. It became a popular attraction for local people, art lovers and tourists walking Hadrian's Wall.

Over the next 10 years, more than 300 artists exhibited at the Banks, which was also the base from which Li's organisation, the LYC Foundation, was able to commission work by young British artists, some of whom went on to become very successful, including the sculptors and land artists Andy Goldsworthy, David Nash and Bill Woodrow.

Producer/Bob Dickinson

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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It's December, nearing the winter solstice, when Thomas and his gamekeeper, Angus, are stranded on a dark and stormy hillside.

With the weather closing in on them, they make for a nearby bothy (shelter) where a mysterious old woman awaits their arrival. She gives them a thread with three knots tied in it – each, she says, contains a wind more ferocious than the last. As the men release the knots over the next few days, their faith and friendship is put to the test.

This atmospheric drama is set against the backdrop of the "Disruption" during which Scotland's church split in two. It's inspired by a real community who, having been refused any land to worship on by the laird, commissioned a floating kirk which they harboured in Loch Sunart.

Written by Linda Cracknell, the play features Finn den Hertog as Angus; Robert Jack as Thomas; Gerda Stevenson as the Old Woman; Hannah Donaldson as Elizabeth; and Jimmy Chisholm as the Minister.

Producer/Kirsty Williams

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Matthew Parris is joined by Neil Innes, who sheds light on his former band-mate, the irrepressible Vivian Stanshall, as the series in which well-known people talk about their heroes continues.

Using extracts from the BBC archive, Neil, Matthew and Viv's widow Ki Longfellow explore the beautifully eccentric world that Viv inhabited, beginning with art school and the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, onto his part in the ill-fated theatre production of Stinkfoot which he wrote with Ki.

Presenter/Matthew Parris, Producer/Toby Field

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

Mark Pougatch presents the day's sports news and, at 7.30pm, is joined by Jonathan Agnew for 5 Live Cricket; reviewing the first Test of England's South African tour and looking back on an eventful year of cricket.

From 9pm The Year Of The Cheat explores the numerous sporting controversies in 2009, from "Bloodgate" in rugby union and staged crashes in Formula 1, to widespread diving and simulation in the Premier League; 5 Live Sport asks if the integrity of sport has been tarnished for ever.

At 10pm in The Sporting Decade – The Nominations, Mark is joined by an expert sporting panel to decide the Top 10 sporting achievements of the decade, ahead of tomorrow's programme when the short-listed moments will be discussed and the greatest sporting achievement of the Noughties announced.

Presenter/Mark Pougatch

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Christmas is here once again and BBC 6 Music's Mancunian maestros of the airwaves Marc Riley and Guy Garvey serve up a very special musical treat with their third on-air Christmas bash.

Guy Garvey, who moonlights as lead singer of Elbow, leads the singing alongside a plethora of very special guests including friends of the show Jesca Hoop and Liz Green; it promises to be a right old Christmas shindig.

Presenter/Marc Riley, Producer/Michelle Choudhry

BBC 6 Music Publicity

Shirley is delighted that Sway is home for Christmas, but less happy when she discovers why Kuljit isn't with him, as the drama continues. Shirley is furious their friendship is on the line – all because of Jodie!

Elsewhere, Nadia is feeling low so Imran suggests she get some sleep. Later Zak senses something isn't right when Nadia rings to say she misses him.

Meanwhile, Shirley has a plan to fix things between Kuljit and Sway: all she has to do is get Kuljit to London...

Shirley is played by Ellen Thomas, Sway by Nicholas Bailey, Kuljit by Sartaj Garewal, Nadia by Sohm Kapila, Imran by Narinder Samra and Zak by Jetinder Summan.

BBC Asian Network Publicity