Radio4 Commissioning Guidelines Spring 2015

COMMISSIONING ROUND, SPRING 2015
Proteus round: 2016-2017 - 1

Welcome to the Radio 4 commissioning round. This process is open to all BBC
departments and registered independent companies with the necessary expertise,
as indicated in each commissioning brief. Please only offer a proposal if you can
demonstrate that you have this expertise.
THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS
TIMETABLE
HOW TO SUBMIT AN IDEA TO RADIO 4
HOW THE COMMISSIONING BRIEFS WORK
FAQ ON THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS
RESPONSES TO PROPOSALS
BBC EDITORIAL GUIDELINES & COMPLIANCE
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
FACTUAL COMMISSIONING BRIEFS
12
ARTS COMMISSIONING BRIEFS
36
SPECIAL EVENTS & SEASONS
55
WORKING WITH RADIO 4
57
THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS
TIMETABLE
In this round we aim to commission most Factual and Arts slots for financial year
2016-2017.
We will commission comedy for 2016-17 in autumn 2015.
The commissioning round for drama is already in progress. For details of editorial
requirements and timetable, see:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/radio/what-we-want/radio-4.shtml
Guidelines published
Commissioning Round Launch - Salford
Commissioning Round Launch - London
Pre Offers Deadline
Pre-offers results
Final Offers Deadline
Final results
19th February 2015

20th February 2015
25th February 2015
26th March 2015
16th April 2015
21st May 2015
End July 2015
HOW TO SUBMIT AN IDEA TO RADIO 4

Pre-offers submissions
This first stage of the round invites you to submit brief outlines of your ideas. These
will be sifted by the commissioning team who will shortlist those they think worth
developing for the final offers stage.
All ideas must be entered in the Proteus website by the stated deadline. We do not
require hard copies of any proposal.
Enter factual and comedy proposals, selecting: 2016-2017 Round 1
(Drama proposals must be entered in:
2016-2017
Round 5)
In each commissioning brief there is an indication of the track record we require in

suppliers to that slot. Please do not offer proposals unless you have the necessary
expertise.
For pre-offers we require only the minimum information to enable short-listing.
The following must be entered for each proposal:
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title (of your proposal, not the slot)

commissioning brief number Enter each proposal in one schedule slot only. If
we consider it suitable for another slot, we will transfer it.
delivery date Enter a nominal date e.g. 01/10/2016
number of episodes
duration
short synopsis: maximum 200 words
Price per episode This information is managed by us. The guide prices quoted in
these guidelines is with only the rarest exceptions the maximum we will pay.
Long synopsis
read.
Do not enter anything in this field at this stage. It will not be
When commissioning editors have read all pre-offers and selected those they
consider worth further development, we release the results to you in Proteus.
Proposals will show as either rejected or re-requested.
If your offer is re-requested, this means we want to consider it in the final
submission stage. A re-requested proposal does not have to be set up from scratch
when entered as a final offer. It will of course need to be edited to reflect the
requirements for the final offers stage (see below).
Owing to the large number of submissions at this stage (typically over 3,000) we are
unable to provide feedback on rejected pre-offers.
Final submissions
You are invited to discuss short-listed ideas with commissioning editors. Time
pressures may require this to be by phone rather than face to face.
After your conversation with commissioning editors, the ideas you develop for final
submission should be entered in Proteus. Generally, final submissions will be those
we re-requested at pre-offers stage. It is also possible to submit fresh offers which
have not been discussed.
All proposals must be submitted in Proteus by the deadline.
Enter factual and comedy proposals, selecting: 2016-2017 Round 1
(Drama proposals must be entered in:
2016-2017
Round 5)
In each commissioning brief there is an indication of the kind of track record we

require in suppliers to that slot. Do not offer proposals unless you can demonstrate
the necessary expertise.
Be realistic in the number of proposals you submit, in view of the number of
programmes available, and observing the cap where this has been applied. If the
cap says a maximum 10 proposals per supplier, we will only read your first 10.
Fewer, stronger ideas are much more likely to get through. In slots where each
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commission is for multiple episodes, the number of commissions will be far fewer
than the number of individual programmes available.
The following must be submitted for each proposal:
title If your idea is commissioned you must not subsequently change this title
without written agreement of the commissioning editor.
brief number Submit each proposal in one slot only. If we think it suitable for
another slot, we will transfer it.
achievable delivery date (linked to anniversary / event dates where relevant)
price per episode
Radio 4 has a set price it expects to pay for most
programmes. This is entered automatically. If your idea needs a budget
significantly above or below the guide, make it clear in the long synopsis and
explain why. Only by rare exception will we agree to go above guide price.
producer
executive producer Include CV in long synopsis field, if the exec is new to R4.
number of episodes
duration
The short synopsis for the final proposal must be under 50 words.
It should convey the essence of the programme.
The long synopsis must not exceed 2 x A4 pages of size 11 type.
key talent Any intended presenter/writer/abridger/performer etc should be
shown in the long synopsis. You do not have to secure talent agreement before
submitting an idea but you should let us know the degree to which named talent
have expressed an interest in the project or have intellectual ownership of it.
Proteus style guide
Dont use the Notes field.

Dont insert a space or dots or asterisks before beginning the title.
Dont put double spaces in the title.
Dont put quotation marks around the title.
Dont start the title with a slot name, e.g. The Wednesday Debate.
Do begin titles in Proteus with The or A as appropriate, e.g. A Short History of
If you are preparing proposals offline to cut and paste into Proteus, keep the
formatting simple: bold, underline and italics only. Proteus will remove other
formatting, including bulleted and numbered points.
Supporting material (audio, books, scripts etc) must be delivered to the Radio 4
commissioning office by the closing date of the round. Complete the pro-forma in
section 2 of this document to provide us an inventory of what is sent.
HOW THE COMMISSIONING BRIEFS WORK

Each brief provides the following information.
Programme type
The name of the commissioning brief
Reference number This 5-digit number appears alongside the name of the brief in
a drop-down menu when you enter your proposal in Proteus. NB: Proteus gives
each proposal a reference number unrelated to this one. Also, neither of these
numbers is related to programme or tape numbers!
Slot
Day/s and time of broadcast
Eligibility Radio 4 always requires producers and executive producers to have a

considerable track-record in the relevant type of programme making. Independent
companies must have registered on the BBC Radio & Music commissioning list.
Duration Programme length, including opening and closing announcements
Estimated number of programmes Remember this is the number of individual
programmes, not of individual commissions. In the 1830 Comedy 16 programmes
available might mean 3 or 4 commissions, each of between 1 and 6 episodes.
Transmission period The period when your programme is likely to be broadcast.
Please flag clearly if your idea needs to be transmitted outside this period.
Guide price Radio 4 expects to pay no more than the guide price for commissions
so please budget at this level. If the cost is expected to be significantly above or
below the guide price you must note this in the long synopsis of your proposal,
explaining the reason. Only in very rare cases will we pay above the guide.
If you have queries about budgeting or prices, speak to your business manager or to
Githa Weerasinghe, our Finance Partner. Independent producers should contact
Lesley Eaton, Legal and Business Affairs.
Editorial guide Details of the kind of programme needed for this slot
Programmes commissioned in the last round This is to help you avoid offering
ideas too close to what has already been commissioned. The list might not be
complete. Often, if contract or budget negotiations are outstanding, commissions
cannot be listed, so you may also wish to check with the relevant commissioning
assistant.
Proposal to include This cannot be a definitive list, as only you can fully know what
your idea needs for it to be properly assessed. Make your own judgement but if in
doubt put something in rather than leave it out. However, your long synopsis should
not be longer than two A4 pages.
FAQ ON THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS

Q: Whats the role of the commissioning editor?
The commissioning editors job is primarily to commission and review programmes,
not to be the executive producer or series editor.
Commissioning editors work as editorial deputies to the Controller, BBC Radio 4. In
line with her strategy for the station, they support the development of proposals by
commissioning and reviewing them. They will not normally intervene in a production
unless this has been specified at the commissioning stage, or compliance matters
arise, e.g. language referrals and editorial policy issues. However, they are available
to provide guidance, if necessary. They may, at their discretion, feel it appropriate to
be more closely involved in development, casting, scripting and editing.
Q: Do I need to have an agreement from talent before I put forward names?
If you name a presenter, please say whether you hope to be able to interest them,
whether they have already expressed an interest, or whether they have any
intellectual ownership of the proposal. Only in exceptional cases would we expect
you to have agreement from actors, as they are often only booked within a few
weeks of production. Citing possible casting is useful, though, as it helps explain
how you hear a character.
It would be unusual to quote a writer or abridger if you had not already spoken to
them, but in some cases it will happen. If so, please make this clear. If you want to
pitch for an open commission for a writer, speak to a commissioning editor before
you approach the writer.
It would also be unusual to have gained the agreement of contributors, guests or
panellists ahead of an agreed commission. Again, it is useful for us to know the lines
you are thinking along, so potential running orders and cast lists do help.
Q: How do I know if an idea has already been commissioned?
Each commissioning brief gives an indication of what was commissioned for that slot
in the last round. In addition, the commissioning assistant can check specific titles.
Q: Once Ive received a conditional acceptance and all four conditions have
been agreed, do I need to talk to a commissioning editor before starting work?
Normally not, but sometimes the commissioning editor will want a pre-production
meeting. This is most likely to apply to major new series and we will initiate the
meeting. It will be designed to make sure everyone has the same understanding of
how the programme or series is to be made and what it is trying to achieve.
Q: How much should I contact the commissioning editor while making the
programme?
6
It is your responsibility to deliver the programme as agreed. The commissioning

editor will not normally get involved. The exception would be if changes are made to
what has been agreed, e.g. presenter, title, producer, executive producer.
Independent companies are expected to initiate at least one work-in-progress
conversation with the commissioning editor before recording their programme, and
must ensure the station is informed of any editorial policy issues.
Q: Does the commissioning editor need to hear it before broadcast?
No, but independent productions must be heard and approved prior to broadcast by
the Editor, Editorial Standards (sometimes referred to as the compliance editor).
It is the responsibility of your executive producer or editor to deliver a programme
which matches the editorial brief, complies with BBC Editorial Guidelines and is
technically fit for broadcast. The Editorial Guidelines set out the referral procedures
for issues of sensitive content or impartiality.
Q: Whats my proposal reference number?
You will find this to the left of the title in Proteus
RESPONSES TO PROPOSALS
Results will be released in Proteus. We do not send out hard copies.
Proteus will display one of four standard responses to each offer:
rejection
shortlist
pilot
conditional commission
Rejection
We will provide brief feedback on our reasons for not commissioning a proposal.
Shortlist
Shortlisting happens for 3 principal reasons:
We are seriously interested in the idea but feel more work is needed. In this
case, the commissioning editor will explain what we are looking for.
Competing offers delay the commissioning decision. We need more information
before deciding between them.
We do not have space to commission the idea but want to keep it in reserve in
case gaps appear in the schedule later.
We try to clear proposals from the shortlist quickly and we review it every 3 months
or so to see whether we are in a position to move an idea forward or to reject it. If
you ever need to know about the progress of a shortlisted idea, do get in touch.
Should you ever wish to withdraw an idea from the shortlist, just let us know.
7
Pilot
We need to hear a pilot before committing ourselves. You should discuss this with
the commissioning editor before doing further work.
Conditional commission
Final acceptance of all ideas is conditional on the following issues. Radio 4 is not
responsible for any costs incurred prior to the full agreement.
o Price and rights
Each conditional commission will be made with a fixed price offer that has been
judged as value for money by the Commissioning and Finance and Business
Affairs teams. It is intended that most will be at the published guide but we
reserve the right to propose an alternative price if we believe it appropriate. If our
price is accepted by you in writing there will be no need to submit a detailed
budget. Contracts will be issued immediately to independent suppliers.
If, however, you wish to challenge the offer made, a detailed budget in Proteus
will be requested and scrutinised by our Finance and Business Affairs team with
the aim of reaching agreement.
Conditional acceptances may be withdrawn if agreement on price is not reached
within a reasonable period.
Radio 4 requires an appropriate set of rights dependent on the type of
programme. This will vary only in exceptional circumstances. The price quoted
on the commissioning brief is based on buying the standard set of rights for that
programme. If fewer rights are bought, the price may be reduced.
o Internet use
Rights should be cleared for streaming, together with a 30-day Listen again
window and podcast. Independent suppliers are not required to clear the rights
for podcast for any of the drama briefs, unless otherwise agreed between the
BBC and the Independent Producer.
o Schedule and delivery dates
Each proposal should include your ideal delivery date, though our conditional
acceptance will not necessarily be able to reflect this date. We will not issue
precise transmission dates for programmes not pegged to a particular
anniversary or season but will give the calendar quarter in which we intend to
place them. If you cannot deliver to meet the given transmission quarter, notify
Tony Pilgrim, Head of Planning and Scheduling. Precise delivery dates will be
confirmed well before the start of each calendar quarter.
o Editorial
Conditional acceptance might have specific editorial conditions attached to it, e.g.
that a particular presenter is available, and fulfilment of them must be confirmed
before the commission is finalised and before you start work.
BBC EDITORIAL GUIDELINES & COMPLIANCE

BBC Editorial Guidelines
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/
All programmes, whether commissioned in-house or from an independent producer,

are subject to the BBC Editorial Guidelines. These set out the BBCs editorial
standards, policy on sensitive content, legal and political issues, and the system for
consultation and referrals during the production of programmes. Failure to comply
with these guidelines may lead to the commission being withdrawn and/or a claim for
breach of contract.
Compliance
We require that every recorded programme be heard by a production person of
appropriate seniority and formally signed off by them. BBC programmes are signed
off by their executive producer or editor. But independent productions must be heard
and approved prior to broadcast by Radio 4s Editor, Editorial Standards (sometimes
referred to as the compliance editor).
These decisions are logged in a compliance form, where editorially sensitive content
must be flagged. The form is available to in-house producers on Proteus and to
indies on the BBC commissioning site:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/radio/compliance-and-policy/index.shtml
These must be delivered by 1700 on the day of the commissioning round deadline.
A complete inventory of materials supplied must be included. See below.
o Submit audio and video via an online file-sharing service. Make clear which
proposal it is for. Audio must be in mp3. Always identify which offer it is for
within the filename.
o All material should be sent to Tamsin Green: tamsin.green@bbc.co.uk
o Unpublished written material should not be put in Proteus. Send it by email to
one of the addresses above. Make it clear which offer it is for.
o Physical supporting material (published books, DVDs etc) must be delivered to:
Tamsin Green
Radio 4 Commissioning Co-ordinator
Room 4028 Broadcasting House
London W1A 1AA
o Label each item with your name, department or company, the title and the
commissioning brief number of the proposal.
o The package should be accompanied by a complete list of supporting materials,
using the form below.
o Indicate in the long synopsis that you are supplying supporting materials.
With the exception of published books and DVDs, we cannot return supporting
materials to you.
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INVENTORY OF SUPPORTING MATERIALS FOR FINAL OFFERS TO RADIO 4
SUPPLIER
DEPARTMENT /
COMPANY
COMMISSIONING
BRIEF NUMBER
TITLE
SIGNATURE
CONTACT NAME ..
EMAIL ..
MOBILE.............................................................................
TEL ...
DATE.
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FACTUAL COMMISSIONING BRIEFS
History, Politics, Current Affairs, Science, Religion, Natural History,

Ideas & Contemporary Stories
Commissioning Editor:
Mohit Bakaya
Commissioning Co-ordinator: Tamsin Green
General guidance on factual long form

programmes (15, 28, 37, 42, 57)
For 2016/17 onwards, all Factual documentaries will be commissioned as part
of the same portfolio. This will hopefully allow you to focus more on the
quality of the offer and creativity of the idea and worry less about which slot
you should be pitching in to.
There are some objectives common to all long form factual programming that
we would like to emphasise:
They need to complement and add value to the regular News sequence
and strand business that make up 70% of the Radio 4 schedule.
They need to be programmes that will be robust in the face of events

(we will be making decisions up to 21 months in advance of
transmission in some cases).
They need to explore digital possibilities and adopt a look, listen,

share strategy.
o Look how will your programmes appear online? How will they
be described? What images will accompany them?
o Listen how will your programmes sound as a podcast and not
part of a linear schedule? Will the first 30 seconds compel?
o Share - will your programme or a section of your programme
encourage people to want to share its contents? Think hard about
what drives sharing activity.
They should seek opportunities, where appropriate, to break down the

wall that can exist between analytical, evidence based journalism on the
one hand, and crafted story telling on the other. For too long an
artificial divide has existed between different types of documentary/
feature making on Radio 4.
12
All factual programmes should seek to tell compelling stories, to use

sound innovatively and think hard about the sonic quality of the
programme and listener experience.
Of the many things that we would like the long form factual documentary to
achieve for the audience, five stand out
Explain
o provide history, context and analysis to help better understand
the world and events that fill their daily lives
o anticipate where the world is heading and create stepping stones
for the audience to step more confidently into the future
Expose
o uncover wrong doing
o hold those in power to account.
o bring to the fore those voices often excluded from the airwaves
those Radio 4 is good at talking about but often fails to hear
directly from.
o get your microphone up close to those who are often in view, but
rarely overheard.
Explode
o challenge received wisdom and established historical narratives,
o force the audience to interrogate beliefs
o pop the filter bubbles that can develop around us, protecting us
from uncomfortable truths
o eschew simple narratives, explore complexity and uncertainty
Enchant
o speaks for itselfbring surprise and wonder to the airwaves. We
want to encourage programmes that transport the audience
through the power of sound and storytelling. We are keen to see
some risk taking experimentation when telling factual stories.
Emergent
o spot patterns before they become trends.
o help Radio 4 be the space that publishes new research, new
thinking, new analysis rather than the place that simply reports
others findings.
o make news, dont simply report it.
13
All 15 FEATURES
Reference number: 47006
Commissioning Co-ordinator:
Mohit Bakaya
Tamsin Green
Eligibility: We invite proposals from BBC departments and independent production

companies who can clearly demonstrate considerable experience in radio features
production at both producer and executive producer level.
Where your offer is journalistic, we will expect a proven track record in the relevant
sphere of journalism at both producer and executive producer level. If your proposal
involves journalism in foreign countries we expect to see experience of such work in
countries relevant to your offer. Foreign travel to countries where conflict or other
factors incur high risk will require proof of accredited hostile environment training.
Radio 4 will not be able to pay for such training.
Slot: Weekdays, 0930 and 1345
Duration: 14
Transmission period: April 2016 to March 2017
Guide price: 3,100
Estimated number of programmes available for open competition (across 0930
and 1345 weekdays): 50 episodes
To avoid confusion, all ideas for 15 feature programmes should be entered in
this brief.
Primarily, we will commission clusters of 5 x 15 here but a limited number of
single, two, three and four part programmes will also be considered. If your
series needs to be scheduled on consecutive days please flag this up.
Narrative History series of 10 episodes or more are entered under brief 47169.
EDITORIAL GUIDE
The short features open up opportunities for audiences to engage with storytelling
with a different rhythm and pace. They are a great place to tell episodic stories,
programmes that naturally divide into a series of smaller explorations or journeys.
14
The 15 minute programmes are placed in high profile parts of the schedule, often
between well know Radio 4 strands.
They provide a bridge between The World at One and The Archers for example
when there are breaks in the narrative history commissions at 13.45. Features that
change theme and texture are particularly welcome. Please do not offer too many
history ideas so that we can vary the range of ideas at lunchtime.
As with all long form ideas you will need to set out clearly why you want to make this
programme for the Radio 4 audience.
Please read the general guidance for factual long form programmes (p.12).
Craft
We are keen to encourage more crafted feature making in these slots and more
imaginative treatments. So please think long and hard about how your series will
break down into single episodes and how they will join up to be greater than the sum
of their parts.
Digital
We also know that 15 is a great length for podcasts and all offers should address
digital potential. This is where we will be focusing a lot of Radio 4s digital ambition in
the coming year and offers should reflect this. How can you make your ideas
findable and shareableand how will they feel when listened to time shifted and
away from the linear schedule?
We will create a few returning brands here so this is a great opportunity to come up
with an exciting, clever new digitally savvy series to capture the hearts and minds of
audio lovers everywhere.
With the long commissioning lead-ins, ideas must stand the test of time and not date
too quickly. Some slots will be held back for reactive commissioning.
To avoid confusion, all ideas for 15 features should be entered here. If you
have an idea that would be better scheduled on consecutive days, please flag
it up in your proposal.
Proposal to include
brief synopsis explaining focus of the idea and indicating style and treatment
proposals for series should give an idea of the breakdown into episodes
suggested presenters should be included, where appropriate, with a note on

whether they have been approached or involved in developing the idea
any book deal or other commercial activity linked to the material
15
NARRATIVE HISTORY
Mohit Bakaya
Tamsin Green

To be commissioned in this slot, programme areas or companies will have to
demonstrate that they have a significant track record in the making of major history
series, going beyond the ad hoc documentary. The ability to craft complex
arguments over several episodes will be key, as well as the expertise that will be
brought to the project, either from within the team or through advisers.
Slot: Monday-Friday, 13.45
Duration: 14
Guide price: 3,100 per episode
Estimated number of programmes available for open competition:
episodes
90
EDITORIAL GUIDE
Narrative History has established itself as a high impact slot on Radio 4. It is where
we tell some of our biggest history stories, from the history of plants - Plants: Roots
to Riches to the history of Psychology - In Search of Ourselves and Germany
Neil McGregors Memories of a Nation.
These series are rooted in the unique ability of 15 audio vignettes to captivate and
inspire listeners; they focus on pieces of original source material and connect them
to a broader story.
It is the opportunity to construct chronological, thematic or other narratives from
these brilliant building blocks that makes this slot both challenging and exciting. The
combination of expertise and original authorship with dynamic and imaginative use of
audio offer huge potential for creative and intellectual ambition. These are also
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programmes that work well as digital downloads, with short episodes building over a
number of weeks.
Please read the general guidance on factual long form programmes (p.12).
We have been able to develop some very important voices in this slot, and would like
to continue to use the slot to feature some of the best historians out there.
We have coming up big takes on Indian history, Black British Theatre, Napoleon and
British Liberalism.
Not all the series in this slot are of the same length; one or two will be broadcast over
4 to 6 weeks. Other commissions will be around 10 episodes. All narrative history
commissions of 10+ episodes will normally include a weekly 58 omnibus version.
To give the slot variety and to create changes of pace in the schedule over the year,
we also intersperse the history series with short runs of general features
commissioned under the 15 features brief - number 47006.
An offer in this slot should explain why you want to introduce or reintroduce the
Radio 4 audience to the history you are passionate about. Are there new things to
say about it? How is it relevant to today? Does the thesis challenge received
wisdom?
We would expect to know who will write and present the series this is key to
understanding how the editorial authority of the project will be guaranteed and how it
will sound on air. We would like to know if you are using an adviser or consultant.
There are many ways of making these programmes giving them texture and drama.
You will need to establish why the 15 format is right for the idea. Atomising complex
subject matter into short episodes has implications for the narrative, the number of
characters or ideas you can introduce to the audience, the level of detail. There are
important structural and dramatic issues to consider. The end result elucidates and
informs without becoming reductive.
We would expect a rough indicative outline of how the series might work across a
number of weeks. We will also consider ideas for a substantial online presence with
interactivity especially for a proposal of scale. So please feel free to include this in
your thinking.
The final proposal should include:

a clear but not over-detailed synopsis of the idea
an editorial motivation for the events you have chosen
a preliminary sense of how the breakdown into weeks might work
detailed thoughts about authorship and presentation
ideas about treatment
realistic budget assumptions
a proposition for online
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THE 28 DOCUMENTARY
Mohit Bakaya
Tamsin Green

sphere of journalism at both producer and executive producer level.
If your proposal involves journalism in foreign countries we expect to see experience
of such work in countries relevant to your offer. Foreign travel to countries where
conflict or other factors incur high risk will require proof of accredited hostile
environment training. Radio 4 will not be able to pay for such training.
If you have not previously made programmes for Radio 4, you should include your
production track record at the end of the long synopsis in your final offer.
Slots: 1602, 1330, 1102 & 2002
Duration: 28
Transmission period: April 2016 March 2017
Guide price: 8,300
Estimated number of programmes available to open competition: 120
Cap: Please do not enter more than 15 offers for the 28 Documentary (11.02 and
20.02 slot combined). We know this will be tough, but we have to encourage more
editorial restraint at the pre-offers stage.
For BBC departments with an output guarantee, please limit your total offers to twice
the number remaining in your combined 11.02 and 20.02 guarantee (or 15 if that is
the higher figure).
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New production talent: The exception to this will be suppliers wanting to submit
ideas from new programme makers who have not pitched to R4 before. We do not
want to have the door closed on the next generation of documentary makers and so
a maximum of 5 further ideas (to your cap) will be considered from genuine new
producer talent.
EDITORIAL GUIDE
We are merging the briefs for the 1102 and 2002 28 documentary. We want
suppliers to focus on developing brilliant ideas for long form content on Radio 4 and
worry less about slots. We will also commission the very best ideas into our highest
profile slot 0902.
The half hour documentary is where creative storytelling and journalistic insight
combine to explore the world we live in.
Of the many things that we would like the long from factual documentary to
achieve for the audience, five stand out
Explain
o provide history, context and analysis to help better understand
the world and events that fill their daily lives
o anticipate where the world is heading and create stepping stones
for the audience to step more confidently into the future
Expose
o uncover wrong doing
o hold those in power to account.
o bring to the fore those voices often excluded from the airwaves
those Radio 4 is good at talking about but often fails to hear
directly from (the voiceless)
o get your microphone up close to those who are often in view, but
rarely overheard (the powerful)
Explode
o challenge received wisdom and established historical narratives,
o force the audience to interrogate their beliefs
o pop the filter bubbles that can develop around us, protecting us
from uncomfortable truths
o eschew simple narratives, explore complexity and uncertainty
Enchant
o speaks for itselfbring surprise and wonder to the airwaves. We
want to encourage programmes that transport the audience
through the power of sound and storytelling. We are keen to see
some experimentation when telling factual stories.
19
Emergent
o spot patterns before they become established trends.
o publish first - help Radio 4 be the space that champions new
research, new thinking, new analysis rather than the place that
simply reports others findings.
o make news, dont simply report it.
If your idea does not meet one or more of these objectives, it is unlikely
to succeed.
Please read general guidance for factual long form programmes (p.12).
Some further guidance:
We will take a mix of single docs and series in this slot. Where you submit a
multi-part story, you must be clear how the series will divide into distinct
episodes and be prepared to justify the amount of time given to the idea. On
the whole, series will only work in this slot if they are big and ambitious
(consider also the 15 slot for multi-part programmes)
Context is king. As stated, programmes or series that deepen our

understanding of the world and events are valued here. The more you can
provide the audience with the knowledge and analysis they require to be
engaged citizens the better.
This is where we reveal the modern UK and feature the stories and lives that
get to the heart of our evolving society.
Unusual, surprising and tangential narrative vehicles for telling the story of a
changing UK/world are particularly encouraged.
Where your story is very specifically located please explain how you will make
documentary of interest to a national audience.
We want to encourage and celebrate the very best in crafted documentary

making here. Ideas for brilliant sound led and sound enhanced story telling
will be particular welcome here.
We also value stories that tell us about emerging trends global and local and bring into focus areas of the world that are in flux or the audience should
be made more aware of.
Revisionism is welcomed here - documentaries that uncover new evidence

about the past or feature new arguments challenging the received wisdom
regarding a historical event or period.
20
Where the subject matter is dense, proposals should suggest ways in which
actuality and texture will be used to give the audience time to absorb and
reflect.
Please consider UK history as well as foreign. We have Crossing Continents

immediately after the Monday evening slot half the year.
More polemic and thesis driven programmes and series would be welcome in
this slot.
Beware anniversary pegs. They are rarely sufficient in their own right.
Most importantly, think why this story should be told in long form
documentary and would not be best covered as an item or series of
items on a regular Radio 4 strand. Listen to the other single topic
strands that sit in on the network like Analysis, In Business, Crossing
Continents, File on Four and the Report.
We are keen to encourage more women and people from ethnic communities
as presenters in this slot.
Please indicate whether a named presenter has been involved in at proposal

stage.
Where the series is big enough we may want to explore the possibility of a
book spin off. However, where there is a pre-existing book deal involved, this
MUST be flagged up in the proposal.
Radio 4 reserves the right to commission some of the individual ideas and
schedule these under an umbrella with work from other suppliers.
Digital
Please flag up where you think your idea has specific digital potential. If we
commission it, and agree it has digital legs, we will co-ordinate with R4 MultiPlatform.
Not every idea will be able to get extra digital support, but every idea commissioned
should have a look, listen, share strategy that enables it to live well beyond its
linear outing. See general guidance on factual programmes (p.12).
21
New 1102 Strand

We are creating a new strand of 28 documentaries built around first person
narratives that will be commissioned under an umbrella title to sharpen our digital (as
well as on-air) impact.
These will be made by a number of in-house suppliers as part of their guaranteed
business with the Network.
This will be the place where we feature those voices and first person accounts often
missing from the schedule. Its where we hope to invite the audience into the lives of
those they rarely encounter directly and provide the personal perspective, depth and
insight that news coverage often does not have time to explore.
Whilst this does not rule out other programmes starting from first person testimony,
other observational work, or programmes seeking to give voice to the voiceless, it
will have an impact on how many stories of this sort we will commission here.
With reactive commissioning now established, we expect to buy about two thirds of
the programmes available for 2016-17. Our aim is to get the big building blocks of
the slot in place (returning series and longer term projects) without compromising the
Networks ability to react to a fast moving world.
These slots are traditionally heavily oversubscribed and, in these busy times, we are
keen to minimise the amount of wasted effort on both sides. We are therefore
continuing to invite fewer pre-offers ideas to achieve a more realistic balance
between proposals and the volume of business available.
For that reason we are asking you to submit fewer offers with more development
relevant to the brief behind your best ideas.
Do not exceed two written pages of A4.
Please note that this is not the place for arts features. Ideas for Saturday 1030
will now be handled by Commissioning Editor, Arts, Radio 4.
PROPOSAL TO INCLUDE
a clear date for any peg
brief synopsis explaining focus of the idea and indicating style and treatment
proposals for series should give an idea of the breakdown into episodes
suggested presenters should be included, where appropriate, with a note on

whether they have been approached or involved in developing the idea
any book deal or other commercial activity linked to the material
22
Podcasts
Radio 4 may wish to include programmes from this slot in one of its podcasts. With
your agreement, the Radio 4 Interactive team would publish the download from the
supplied programme. Radio 4 will meet any additional clearance costs attributable to
the podcast. When we ask for your agreement to the podcast, we'll also ask for an
estimate of clearance costs to enable us to decide whether it is practical to proceed.
23
TUESDAY DOCUMENTARY
Mohit Bakaya
Tamsin Green

companies who can clearly demonstrate considerable experience in radio or TV
documentary production at both producer and executive producer level.
We expect a proven track record in the relevant sphere of journalism at both
producer and executive producer level. If your proposal involves journalism in
foreign countries we expect to see experience of such work in countries relevant to
your offer. Foreign travel to countries where conflict or other factors incur high risk
will require proof of accredited hostile environment training. Radio 4 will not be able
to pay for such training.
Slot: Tuesday, 2002
(repeat: Sunday 1702)
Duration: 37
Guide price: 10,200
The number of programmes open to competition in this slot is very small and
the journalistic barrier to entry high, so please be realistic when deciding upon
the number of offers you submit.
EDITORIAL GUIDE
These programmes run in the File on 4 break. In the past this has been the place
for one-off investigative documentaries covering a large range of subjects: arts,
religion, politics, social affairs, science, health, sport and international stories.
The key to this slot is depth and ambition. This is a place for long term investigations,
big stories of national importance, ground breaking journalism. Its where we run our
exclusive access documentaries. It is also where we will run heavyweight intellectual
projects of enquiry and the biggest foreign stories. In short, this is a slot that is all
about impact.
24
Some further guidance
Whats your story, whats your angle? It is not enough to identify an area of
interest. Too many proposals fail to clearly set out a specific line of enquiry
and are too general in their approach.
If you are pitching an access doc, please consider the editorial challenges
proximity might throw up and address how you will meet them. Also, access
needs to have a purpose, not just because you can.
File on 4 sits in this slot for the majority of the year. Think hard about why your
documentary idea wouldnt be the kind of story that the File on 4 team would
get to in the usual course of events.
We understand that it might not be possible to supply all the data for an
investigation at the proposal stage, but the proposal should indicate the
approach taken and the evidence so far that further work can be justified.
This is also a place to run stories that need more space than a 28 doc will
allow but need to be housed in a single narrative rather than being split into a
series.
Careful consideration should be given to the potential resonance of the idea in

a year or mores time, when the programme will likely be transmitted.
We will also take reactive ideas in this slot.
Please indicate whether the presenter has been involved in the development
of the proposal.
Podcasts
Radio 4 may wish to include programmes from this slot in one of its downloads. With
the download. When we ask for your agreement to the download, we'll also ask for
an estimate of clearance costs to enable us to decide whether it is practical to
proceed.
25
WEDNESDAY DEBATE
Mohit Bakaya
Tamsin Green

companies who can clearly demonstrate considerable experience in relevant types
of radio or TV production at both producer and executive producer level. If you have
not previously made programmes for Radio 4, you should include your production
track record at the end of the long synopsis in your final offer.
Slot: Wednesday, 2002 (repeat Saturday 2215)
Duration: 43
Transmission period: April 2016 - March 2017
Guide price: 8,000
Estimated number of programmes available for open competition: 14
The number of programmes open to competition in this slot is very small so
please be realistic when deciding on the number of offers you submit here.
EDITORIAL GUIDE
This slot is home to the Moral Maze for 26 weeks of the year. In the past, we have
commissioned debate formats, such as Decision Time, Leader Conference and
Bringing Up Britain in this slot.
From 2015/16, this slot will be home to a 12 part, digitally ambitious, series exploring
the future.
Proposals should also be aware of the Any Questions? format on Friday evenings.
Some further guidance:
A debate at this time should lift the tone of the evening schedule and inject
some energy into proceedings.
26
This is a chance to develop fresh formats which could turn into returning
strands on the network.
Beware of overly mannered programmes ones where the format is laid out a
little too heavily.
Do keep diversity in mind. Too many of our debates in the past have underrepresented both women and people from ethnic communities.
Do think about how the programme might interact with listeners beyond the
usual Oxford Union or phone-in formats.
One-off debates are possible, though these need to command their place in
this slot in particular rather than being a special edition of a specialist of
magazine programme.
Where a format is proposed and it is not possible to look forward to issues for
2016/17, it would be useful to include an indication of the subjects that would
be covered were this series about to be transmitted.
Presenter
The right presenter who is able to hold the ring with authority and wit is
essential to these programmes.
of the proposal.
The ability to create some kind of sense of event and manage a complex,
often audience-based format, is essential.
PROPOSAL TO INCLUDE
Outline of the subject, presenter, locations, number in run
Treatment: breakdown of live vs. taped elements
Audience or studio based.
Format
CVs of presenter and producer
27
SCIENCE DOCUMENTARY
Mohit Bakaya
Tamsin Green

documentary production, preferably with a track record in science, at both producer
and executive producer level.
Where your offer is journalistic, we expect a proven track record at both producer
and executive producer level.
Slot: Tuesday/Wednesday 2102
Duration: 28
Guide price: 8,100
The number of programmes open to competition in science is very small, so
please be realistic when deciding upon the number of ideas to submit here.
EDITORIAL GUIDE
Scientific discovery and technological innovation are changing our world at a rapid
pace, and this is a place to make programmes that help our audience understand
how these changes will affect their lives.
These will mostly be built feature/documentary-style programmes which will reveal
areas of discovery, new developments or issues in science.
Please note we have topical weekly magazine strands Inside Science and Inside
Health, which explore developments in science.
28
Also, please note that there have been two relatively recent additions to Radio 4s
science portfolio The Life Scientific and The Digital Human, which explore
biography and technology respectively. Please note we will also be introducing a
new history of science strand shortly Science Stories so it is unlikely we will buy
many more programmes focused primarily on the past.
WOCC commissions here are likely to be single documentaries rather than series.
Natural History
We will also consider some natural history material here - features which reflect the
inter-relationship between the animal kingdom and the environment as a whole.
These tend to be most successful when issue based, though sound stories capturing
the wonder of the natural world can work well here too.
But please be mindful of the Natural History Units output on Radio 4 and Costing the
Earth. And please be aware of A History of Natural History a major 25 part
collaboration with the Natural History Museum telling the stories of our best loved
species.
Some further guidance.
Think carefully about what Radio 4 already does in this area and what science
might be covered by returning strands. Too many offers are simply ideas
that would sit best as a 7 minute item in a magazine programme.
Please take special care when writing your proposal to show how you will
make the story come alive for the (non-scientist) audience at home; this is of
particular importance when dealing with the non-human sciences.
We should not shy away from complex science here, but need to continue to
work on ways of making this accessible (proposals should address this).
Whilst ideas about health and the environment are welcome here, producers
should also bear in mind that Tuesday at 2102 is dedicated to health and
Costing the Earth runs in this slot for half the year.
of the proposal.
Radio 4 reserves the right to commission some of the individual ideas and
schedule these under an umbrella with work from other suppliers.
29
Podcasts
proceed.
PROPOSAL TO INCLUDE
Reasons for why we should do this story now
Details of presentation and production style
30
9 OCLOCK SERIES
Mohit Bakaya
Tamsin Green

companies who can clearly demonstrate considerable experience in relevant types
of radio or TV production at both producer and executive producer level
Slot: Weekdays, 0902
Duration: 28' or 42
Guide Price: 7,000 (interview and studio formats)
Estimated number of programmes available for open competition: 3 or 4 series
Cap: No more than ONE proposal per supplier please
EDITORIAL GUIDE
The 9 am slot is one of the most high profile showcases on Radio 4. It is the home of
some of the networks best known, well-loved and long running factual programmes:
Start the Week, Midweek, In Our Time and Desert Island Discs.
Series such as The Reunion, The Long View, The Reith Lectures, Stephen Frys
English Delight and The Life Scientific have also established themselves here. And
there have been more ad hoc series such as The Price of Inequality, the Public
Philosopher or Can Democracy Work?
As in previous rounds, we will promote the very best documentary and long form
feature ideas from the material that is submitted in the Factual and Arts documentary
slots. This will account for the majority of content commissioned here.
31
Formats
However, we are also interested in ideas for a small number of potential new formats
based around interview or studio that might work here. We are keen to encourage
innovative and surprising ways of thinking about the mix at 9.00 am.
Depending on the idea we might commission a pilot rather than going into
production.
We expect proposals to be editorially ambitious with high profile presentation and
where appropriate a digital dimension. This slot is broadly based and not just
focused on current affairs. It is unlikely we would take more science here though.
Proximity to Today should also be borne in mind when establishing the tone of a
0900 programme. The style of production, potential power of the material, strength of
the contributors and the promise of revelation will be essential ingredients. How you
will hold the attention of the audience at this key junction should be highlighted in
your proposal.
Please do not enter documentary ideas under this brief as we will consider
some of the offers submitted for other slots for placing here. This brief is
specifically focused on new format ideas for 9am.
Given the scale of the ideas required, we do not expect more than ONE
proposal from any company or department for 9am at pre-offers.
Please check the full range of strands and series that Radio 4 already broadcasts to
avoid duplication of programmes already commissioned.
Budget
Radio 4 expects to pay the guide price for programmes in this slot so please budget
at that level and use the guide price as the budget. If the expected price differs
significantly from the guide price please discuss it with the commissioning editor
during pre- offers meetings and include a note in the long synopsis of the final offer
explaining the reason.
Podcasts
Radio 4 may wish to include programmes from this slot in one of its podcasts. With
your agreement, the Radio 4 Interactive team would publish the podcast from the
the podcast. When we ask for your agreement to the podcast, we'll also ask for an
estimate of clearance costs to enable us to decide whether it is practical to proceed.
Proposal to include
clear treatment and explanation why the format will sound fresh and new
suggested cast list and presenter(s) and whether he/she has been
approached.
32
ARCHIVE ON 4
Mohit Bakaya
Tamsin Green

documentary production at both producer and executive producer level.
Slot: Saturday, 2002
Duration: 57
Guide price: 8,000
Estimated number of programmes available for open competition: 18
EDITORIAL GUIDE
the Archive on 4 strand, which, for reasons I've yet to fathom, rarely puts a foot
wrong. I've tried to find fault, because no series can be this perfect, but so far to no
avail. Whether investigating William Burroughs' legacy or the media coverage of
Patty Hearst, these hour-long, socio-political programmes are rigorously researched,
beautifully produced and mesmerising in their detail
(Fiona Sturges, The Independent, 5th Feb 2015)
Archive on 4 has become an important part of the Radio 4 schedule. It has evolved
into a classy storytelling hour using the archive, rather than a simple showcase for
archive material. We are looking for ideas that maintain the quality and range of
subjects in this Saturday night slot.
Story is key here. The best Archive on 4s deploy analysis, argument, wit,
revisionism, new interviews and authorship along with compelling archive material.
33
Here are some pointers that may prove helpful when putting your offer (and
programme) together:
This strand should include a wide variety of ideas: individual life stories or
biographies, cultural, scientific, social, political, sporting or entertainment
history.
The authority, charisma and energy of the presenter are all vital to the
success of programmes in this slot. The presenter needs to actively engage
with the archive and do more than simply link clip A to clip B.
One of the challenges for those making programmes in the Archive on 4 slot
is to tell stories that can sustain the hour. Proposals should set out how the
idea justifies a 57 minute origination, has enough twists and turns to keep the
listener engaged.
Dont forget this goes out on Saturday night. Programmes should seek to
entertain and engage, as well as inform and educate.
Programmes can include new interviews, where appropriate, but the slot is
not funded or designed to feature a large amount of new material. You are
also allowed out of the studio on occasion!
Please think hard about whether your idea is really an Archive on 4. Too
many offers come in where the bulk of archive available is written, or
where the fact that some new archive has come to light becomes the
sole reason to submit to this slot. Offers should demonstrate why the
story is best told through audio archive.
Archive sources beyond the BBCs have worked well. Indeed, some of these
are better suited to providing longer inserts than much of the BBC News
material. But beware offering programmes simply because the archive has
become available.
There will always be a place for simpler programmes that just make use of
fantastic archive without much else besides, but the archive needs to be just
that fantastic!
In the past, we have had too many anniversary pegged programmes that
move gently, but rather predictably, through their story, offering few new
insights. If you are submitting an anniversary pegged proposal do say how
you might introduce surprise and challenge expectations.
When choosing the presenter do think carefully about how his/her voice would
contrast with the type of archive that will dominate the hour.
Be mindful of the cumulative effect of an hour of very old archiveit can make
listening hard work!
34
We could do with more women presenters in this slot. And more ethnic
diversity too.
of the proposal.
Podcasts
proceed.
PROPOSAL TO INCLUDE
List of possible subjects / themes to be covered
Clear details of audio archive available and whether access has been secured
Treatment
NB: Where the programme is to comprise clips of archive recordings/ pre-recorded

material, details of ownership and availability of rights should (wherever possible) be
provided. If no preliminary enquiries have been made, this should be stated. As far
as entire or complete programmes are concerned (i.e. where we would normally
expect to take a licence to broadcast), details of availability of broadcast rights,
ownership and price per broadcast must be provided.
35
ARTS COMMISSIONING BRIEFS
Music, Poetry, Popular Arts, the Saturday Feature

Commissioning Assistant:
Tony Phillips
Vanessa Morris & Karen Howe
General guidance for all Arts Features

Consider all of our arts features slots as beautiful open spaces, inviting audiences in
for a huge range of cultural storytelling.
Radio 4 is a destination for curious minds - our audiences have a hunger on the one
hand for stories defined by rigour and clarity and on the other for entertainment and
wit; both have their place. In every case our arts features should be defined by being
original, entertaining and informative we should also of course be striving to reflect
the diverse world we live in subject matter, in presenters and in interviewees. They
can also be global stories and they should shine a spotlight on establishment cultural
output as well as the fringe.
The network has a wide range of daily and weekly arts programmes from Front Row
to Open Book to The Film Programme. It is important therefore to ensure that what
you are offering as a feature is a big enough and bold enough idea to stand alone
outside of our regular arts output. Therefore alongside offering original and
engrossing analysis, Radio 4 could therefore be reimagined as a space for artists to
play and experiment.
So as with the best of any feature-making we are looking for depth, originality and
compelling storytelling. Please dont feel you have to be a slave to the anniversary;
but do feel confident that arts features can and should be award-winning.
36
MUSIC FEATURE
Tony Phillips
Commissioning Assistant: Vanessa Morris & Karen Howe
Eligibility: You must be able to demonstrate a track record in production relevant to
your proposal.
Slot: Tuesday, 1130
Duration: 28
Guide price: 6,200
Estimated number of programmes: 20
Cap: Please do not enter more than 10 offers for each of the arts slots.
For BBC departments with an output guarantee, please limit your total offers
to three times the number remaining in your guarantee.
EDITORIAL GUIDE
Over the past year or so Radio 4 arts features have produced international award-winning
features like Soul Musics edition on Strange Fruit, Tim Keys Gogols Overcoat and Jarvis
Cockers Wireless Nights. These, and many others, are outstanding examples of the art of
long-form storytelling. Lets not stand still; be creatively bold, ambitious and adventurous
with the spectacular one-off idea things like Alan Halls Voices of Elly Stone, The True Story
of Abner Jay with Laura Barton, The Legacy of Little Miss Cornshucks with Salena Godden
and exceptional series like The Echo Chamber with Paul Farley and John Wilsons
Mastertapes. Challenge yourself and in the process challenge us. The commissioning round is
an open invitation for you to offer programmes that will inspire and possibly redefine what
an arts feature might be.
37
What are we looking for?

Extraordinary and original stories that will immerse the audience deep into the worlds
of music, musicians and those whose lives are or have been touched by music.
Radio 4 is of course not primarily a music network so its important that your ideas
reflect the sensibility of a speech based network. The treatments that will be most
successful will be those that acknowledge and reflect the fact that the network is
primarily a speechbased network. As a result music stories should be driven by
strong narratives that explore and investigate music through the prism of personal
narratives, cultural movements or events.
SOME PROGRAMMES COMMISSIONED / SHORTLISTED IN THE LAST ROUND

47133 Music
Title
How Folk Songs Should Be Sung
description
Folk singer Martin Carthy examines the rise and fall of Ewan MacColl's
Critics Group.
Bach's Choir
Stephen Evans traces the 800 year history of the boys' choir of St
Thomas' Church, Leipzig.
The Brontes' Piano
Catherine Bott explores the Bronte sisters' musical world through their
restored piano
Robert Winston's Musical Analysis
Robert Winston brings a scientist's ear to his passion for music.
The Topping Tooters of the Town
William Lyons conjures the brash and brilliant music of the 500 year old
town Waits
North Of The Border - The Rise of

Mexican Music
Robin Denselow examines the growing influence of the Mexican drug

ballad, or Narco-corrido
Balalaika Born Again
The intriguing tale of Alexey Arhipovskiy and his new balalaika sound.
Folk Song, Art Song
Christopher Maltman debates the place of folk song in the classical

recital repertoire.
Conjuring Halie
Cerys Matthews celebrates one of her musical heroines, gospel singer

Mahalia Jackson.
The First LP In Ireland
The extraordinary story of how classic Irish folk songs were saved from
extinction.
Modern Day Griot
Gaylene Gould meets modern musicians who are adapting traditional

West African music.
Cerys Matthews' Blue Horizon
Cerys Matthews indulges her passion for the seminal British Blues
record label
The Songs of Milne
John Kember rediscovers the original song settings of children's verses

by A.A. Milne
John Barry - The Lost Tapes
Presenter Eddi Fiegel explores the song writing of John Barry through
a lost interview.
Changing My Voice
Christopher Gabbitas explores the effects on singers of changing the

pitch of their voice.
Sibelius: A Symphony that Burned
The story of Sibelius's notorious 'lost' Eighth Symphony...and its

remarkable rediscovery.
38
Madam Mao's Golden Oldies
Anna Chen explores the history of the famous Chinese Model Operas
Making Tracks
Paul Morley charts a history of music through recording studios. 1.

Rockfield in Wales
A Sound British Adventure
Comedian Stewart Lee explores the early pioneers and rumblings of

electronic music.
Composing LA
How Western classical music underpinned the golden age of the

Hollywood film score.
The Voices of Robert Wyatt
An intimate portrait of the musician Robert Wyatt in his own words.
One Man's War
Katie Derham delves into the fascinating world of musical life during
the Second World War
Spellbound: Siouxsie and the Banshees
Miranda Sawyer looks at one of music's most distinctive artists

Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Swansong
A new series in which Stuart Maconie looks at four final albums, and
tells their stories.
Blues Run the Game
Laura Barton tells the poignant story of singer-songwriter Jackson C

Frank.
Who's Drummer?
Nick Barraclough finds out about the fifteen minutes of fame for one
young fan of The Who.
Rebuilding The LSO
Matthew Bannister tells the story of the London Symphony Orchestra

from the 1980s to now.
An Alternative Christmas
Reverend Richard Coles on the buried and forgotten Alternative

Christmas recordings.
Riot Grrrls
A noisy exploration of the punk and politics of Riot Grrrl.
Bellydancing and the Blues
Guy Schalom hunts out the spirit of the new Egypt in the musical roots
of the bellydance
Jazz is Dead
Paul Morley tests the contention that jazz is dead - a victim of its own
history.
Scoring Father Brown
Debbie Wiseman guides us through the world of the film composer
Baaba Maal and the Senegalese Kingdom

of Music
Meeting musicians at the Blues du Fleuve Festival, organised by

Baaba Maal in Senegal.
Feel the Chant: The Brit Funk Story
David Grant revisits a unique era in British music when jazz funk
exploded onto the scene.
Studio in the Sand
Robin Denselow hears the music of the Saharawi people in the refugee
camps of Algeria.
Flashmob Flamenco
Spain's current economic crisis is seeing the return of flamenco as a

form of protest
Julie Fowlis' Heritage Well (w/t)
Comme Je Suis: A Portrait of Juliette

Greco
Acclaimed Gaelic singer and multi-instrumentalist Julie Fowlis has

taken the songs she learnt from her native Outer Hebrides to
Hollywood. In this programme she charts her very personal musical
journey and, through a special concert Solas Ur Tobar An Dualchais,
inspires other young Scots to follow her lead.
Laura Barton (who featured in our profile of Francoise Hardy) presents
a portrait of Juliette Greco, singer, resistance fighter and muse to Miles
Davis, Jean Paul Sartre, Boris Vian et al .... Greco is now 86. We'd like
to record an interview with her while we still can. In terms of treatment,
think of a cross between our 'Voices of Robert Wyatt', 'Under Jacques
39
Demy's Umbrella' and Russell Finch's 'Brel et Moi' ...
Lady Gaga v Heavy Metal: The Confusing

World of Pop in Indonesia
Ella in Berlin
Paul Mason on Wagner
The Science of Music
Tales from the Stave

Soul Music
The Secret Life of J S Bach
Tom Ravenscroft's One Man Band
In Search of Nic Jones
The Night Singer
Harmony of the Spheres: Planet Rock
Loving You
About A Boy
Far Distant Chords

Kitsch!
Lady Gaga was banned but Death Metal is cool - From the streets of
Jakarta, we hear the contradictions that make up the burgeoning
Indonesian pop scene.
On 13 February 1960 at Berlin's Deutschlandhalle, where Hitler had
roused the masses to embrace National Socialism, Ella Fitzgerald took
to the stage with a tribute to the people of Berlin; for the first time she
sang the Bertolt Brecht song, Mack the Knife - and she forgot the
words.
To mark the bicentenary of the birth of Richard Wagner, Paul Mason
investigates the amazing phenomenon of his work and reputation
through three investigative features.
Robert Winston looks at music with a scientist's eye, questioning,
experimenting, proving and provoking in a series which seeks to fully
understand our relationship with the power of sound.
The series that finds the magic of the creative moment in the handwritten manuscripts of some of the greats of the classical repertoire
heads towards its tenth series with a humdinger of a collection.
The stories behind pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact
told in montage form.
Scientist, handyman, architect, council employee. That's the real J S
Bach.
Tom Ravenscroft is fascinated by the one man band and for Radio 4
he goes in search of the musical characters who prefer to go solo.
Stuart Maconie tracks down the legendary lost figure of British folk
music, Nic Jones.
For a thousand years the nightingale has been the most celebrated
song-bird in the western world.
'So turn'st this World below, the Spheres above, Who in the Heavenly
Round to their own Music move' (Henry Purcell)
Every year the Welsh seaside town of Porthcawl holds the most
important Elvis festival outside the legendary singer's homelands in the
states.
From Mahler's "Das Klagende Lied" to Leonard Bernstein's "Chichester
Psalms" and Howard Blake's "The Snowman", the singing voice of the
solo boy has taken on a potency for many composers through the
centuries.
Reem Kelani revisits migrant musicians who were putting down roots in
the UK a decade ago
Poet and musician Anthony Joseph pays tribute in storytelling, poetry
and song to his hero, the Windrush calypsonian Aldwyn Roberts aka
'Lord Kitchener'.
40
POETRY FEATURE
Tony Phillips
your proposal.
Slot: Sunday 16.30 (repeat: Saturday, 23.30)
Duration: 28
Guide price: 6,200
Estimated number of programmes: 17
EDITORIAL GUIDE
41
What are we looking for?

There has always been a close relationship between poetry and radio, and in
particular Radio 4. We know that people often turn to poetry at significant moments
in their lives in sorrow or in celebration; Poetry Please is testament to that. Fresh
and original features that can offer the audience new, original and thoughtful
perspectives on poets, poems or the craft of writing or listening to poetry will be most
welcome.
Challenge us with new work, new writers, new formats, new voices. BBC Bristol
responded to this last year with Paul Farley presenting an engagingly original format
for new poetry, The Echo Chamber. Indicative names of presenters at pre-offers
stage are always useful. And remember the guide price is a guide we try to adhere
to but for the occasional project that is offering an ambitious multi-platform idea,
please make this clear at pre-offers and final offers stage.
If the idea is the presenters or they have been involved in its development, please
make this clear at the pre offers and final offers stage.to save confusion or
embarrassment later.
This is the home of the long-running and popular anthology series Poetry Please.
Between runs we broadcast complementary works celebrating and investigating
poetry, poets and the experience of writing and reading poetry.
47114 Poetry
Title
The Narrow Road to the Disaster
Zone
description
Stephen Henry Gill in the poet Basho's path to areas of Japan
devastated by the tsunami.
Adventures in Poetry
Satirising politicians and patriotism is at the heart of a provocative

poem by ee cummings
A Foreigner Everywhere
Paul Farley explores the American poet Elizabeth Bishop's

extraordinary years in Brazil.
The Person From Porlock
Paul Farley seeks out the famous visitor who interrupted Coleridge's
writing of Kublai Khan
Poems from the Pennines
Poet Simon Armitage takes us on a journey to the Stanza Stones.
The New Group
Ian Sansom on the contemporary poetry scene emerging in Northern

Ireland.
Poetry 2012 - the Power of the

Poem
Poetry 2012 - the Power of the Poem: offering a window into each
Olympic nation
My Heart is in the East
Medieval historian Miri Rubin explores the history of the most famous
of Hebrew poems.
An Outcast of the Islands: Lady

Grange
Kenneth Steven traces the forced journey of Lady Grange, abducted

& imprisoned on St Kilda
THE SEAFARER
Simon Armitage takes us to sea to explore one of the oldest poems in

the English language.
Learning to Love Dafydd
Gwyneth Lewis, the first Welsh Poet Laureate, goes in search of the
Welsh language Chaucer
42
Return to Oasis
Mike Greenwood visits Alamein on the trail of a unique anthology of

World War Two poems.
Poetry Workshop
Ruth Padel works on poems in progress with The Dove Cottage Poets
in Grasmere.
A Few Don'ts
The poet Lavinia Greenlaw revels in Ezra Pound's manifesto, A Few

Don'ts by an Imagiste.
No Ideas But In Things: The Poetry

of William Carlos Williams
Annie Freud explores the work of the all-American poet, William Carlos
WIlliams.
Liz Lochhead: Poems for a New

Scotland
A year in the life of Liz Lochhead, Scotland's 'Makar' or poet laureate
The Echo Chamber
Adventures in strong language - the best of new poetry - introduced by

Paul Farley.
Ursula Vaughan Williams, Poet and

Muse
Irma Kurtz tells the story of poet Ursula Vaughan Williams, the
composer's second wife.
Broken Paradise
The Bards of Whitelocks Bar
What I Read to the Dead: Wladislaw

Szlengel
Sonnets to Orpheus
Lindisfarne: Poetry in Progress
Poetry Please
Poetry Idol
Poetry from 3 decades of Sri Lanka's civil war

Poet Jean Sprackland props up the bar of the oldest pub in Leeds described by John Betjeman as 'the very heart of Leeds' and, in the
company of bar staff, drinkers and poets, tells the story of the
overlooked 'Leeds school' of poetry.
As life in the Warsaw Ghetto became first unbearable and then
unliveable many sought out the words of the poet Wladislaw Szlengel.
His poetry, written in the last months before final annihilation, gave
hope and solace.
A feature about the creation and extraordinary appeal of a great
modern masterpiece, Maria Rainer Rilke's 'Sonnets to Orpheus'.
In the summer of 2013, after a 400 year absence from the North East,
the Lindisfarne Gospels will be making their way home from the British
Library to be displayed in Durham. The Gospels were originally
created on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne - a place of spiritual and
natural harmony, even today.
Roger McGough presents a selection of listeners' poetry requests.
Shahidha Bari goes on set for the 2014 season of The Million's Poet,
broadcast from Abu Dahbi, to find out why poetry is rocking the Middle
East.
43
POPULAR ARTS FEATURE

Tony Phillips
your proposal and you must be a registered supplier to submit ideas.
Slot: Mon 1602, Thursday 1130
Duration: 28
Guide price: 6,200
Estimated number of programmes available for competition: 40
EDITORIAL GUIDE
Popular arts features offer audiences an opportunity to engage deeply with a single story
or a series of programmes. They are scheduled between general factual features and
44
You and Yours, this slot then introduces a distinctive note to the mid-morning schedule
by focusing on the eclecticism of modern culture in the UK and around the world.
We are looking for the most engaging and adventurous single programmes and series.
These will often be driven by a strong narrative and a burning passion to tell stories that
offer audiences fresh insights into aspects of literature, drama, visual arts etc.
We are also looking for opportunities to financially support a select number of ideas that
have accompanying multiplatform components such as film, audio-slideshows and
animations.

47165 Popular Arts
Title
In Search of Barney Bubbles
description
The hunt for the truth about the most influential and enigmatic of graphic
designers.
Black is a Country
This two part series explores the musical underground of the Black Power
movement.
Merzman: The Art of Kurt Schwitters
How a leading German modern artist's greatest work was rediscovered in a

barn in Cumbria.
I'm Rather Worried about Jim...
Penelope Keith explores the radio serial Mrs Dales Diary 40 years after it
ended.
The Mystery of the Mystery of Edwin

Drood
Frances Fyfield explores the manuscript of Dickens' last and unfinished

novel.
A Last Excuse Me Dance
The first reunion in 70 years of writer Shirley Hughes and her 1940s dancing
partner
Vic Oliver - The First Castaway

Remembered
David Baddiel explores the mercurial life of entertainer Vic Oliver.
Holy Mackerel - It's My Life!
How Frank Dickens' record-breaking cartoon strip Bristow has survived 60

turbulent years.
Famed For Its Knitting
The life and changing times of Woman's Weekly as it celebrates its

centenary
Writing in Three Dimensions: Angela

Carter's...
Angela Carter's friends, colleagues and admirers remember her innovative

plays for radio
Al Read Rediscovered
Robert Powell explores the recordings of Salford born comedian Al Read.
OSCAR SINGS
Andrew Collins explores how the award for 'Best Song' reflects a changing
film landscape
Tarzan: Lord of the Jungle
How Tarzan has enjoyed a hundred years swinging through the jungle of
popular culture.
The 12 Inch Single
Paul Morley on the 7 inch single's grand relative - the 12 inch - and its peak
in the 80s.
Fever Pitched: Twenty Years On
Nick Hornby on the 20th anniversary of his best-selling football memoir

'Fever Pitch'.
In The Lounge With Rich Morton
Comedian and musician Rich Morton explores the laid-back world of lounge
music.
THE ROAD HOME: REMAKING

HOMER'S ODYSSEY
Tom Holland explores the continuing appeal of Homer's Odyssey.
45
Architects of Taste
There is Business Like Show
Business
Writing Madness
What the Scandinavians Know About
Children's Literature
Ian Kelly explores the theatricality and architecture of food and feasting.
Will Young explores the hidden world of industrial musicals.
Vivienne Parry takes her diagnoses of literary heroines into the early 20th
century.
Mariella Frostrup looks at Scandinavian children's literature.
Art Disrupted: Damien Hirst and Co
Damien Hirst and co, reflect on the forces that produced a brash, bold group
of artists.
Word for Word
Paul Allen examines the use of verbatim eyewitness accounts and legal
evidence in theatre
Jack London's People of the Abyss
Dan Cruickshank re-traces Jack London's 1902 footsteps he made among

the East End poor.
Who's angry now?
John Harris investigates the current state of contemporary British protest

music.
ALTON TOWERS: A JOURNEY

INTO PUGINLAND
Alain-Fournier's Lost Estate
One in a Million
Ampers-Fan
The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of Pugin's Gothic masterpiece, Alton Towers.
Julian Barnes and Hermione Lee visit the places which inspired a classic
novel.
One million books given away for free - how did it affect those involved?
Alastair Sooke investigates the history of the ampersand.
Move Over Wodehouse
Mukti Jain Campion reports on the changing reading habits of India's

growing middle class.
The Library Returns
Jonathan Glancey argues that amid closures the public library is also being
re-invented.
Poetry, Texas
The Danish poet Pejk Malinovski stumbles upon a small town in Texas
called Poetry.
Follow Up Albums
Pete Paphides tells the story behind Dexys Midnight Runners' Don't Stand
Me Down.
Miles Jupp in a Locked Room
Miles Jupp investigates the appeal of mind-bending crime novels set in

locked rooms.
It's Fun But Is It Theatre?
Punchdrunk, YouMeBumBumTrain, and other immersive theatre companies

under the microscope.
Pina Bausch - Dance For Your Life

Pump Up the Volume
Slippered Pantaloons
Deborah Bull takes us into the life and work of Pina Bausch's Tanztheater
John Wilson looks at the role of music in professional sport.
If all the world's a stage, how do actors face old age dramas?
Forced Entertainment
Bob Dickinson follows this acclaimed experimental theatre group evolving a

new production.
Staff No Fee: The Other Life of Brian
Barry Johnston explores the early career of the legendary commentator

Brian Johnston.
Stuart: A Face Backwards
Mark Burman strips away the layers of Stuart Freeborn's remarkable life in
movie make-up.
The Uncanny
How has The Uncanny shaped fiction, film, architecture and art?
46
The Voice of God

The Godfather of Ulster Punk
Ann Widdecombe's Hell Hounds and
Night Hags
Richard Coles on the various ways that the voice of God is depicted, and
what this reveals.
Alan Dein meets figurehead of the Northern Irish punk scene, Terri Hooley
Ann Widdecombe explores the supernatural lore and legend of Dartmoor.
Ulster's Forgotten Darling
Fionola Meredith goes in search of medieval scholar, author and poet,

Helen Waddell.
Raising a Glass to Cheers
Stephen Merchant presents an appreciation of one of America's best-loved

TV sitcoms.
Challenging Kane
Matthew Sweet asks if Citizen Kane should again be voted the greatest film
ever.
The Best of Everything

Steptoe and Son... and Sons
The Magic Theatre of Hermann
Hesse
The Best of Everything - the steamy 1950s novel that was ahead of its time.
Paul Jackson and a team of script writers assess the legacy of Steptoe
& Son, 50 years on
Tracing the legacy of the cult Swiss-German writer Hermann Hesse.
Rock 'n' Roll in Four Movements
Stuart Maconie on rock musicians who combined symphony and pop music
in the 60s and 70s
Lewis' Return Home
The life-story of Ted Lewis, author of the novel which became the popular
film Get Carter
The Floating World of Hokusai
Audrey Niffenegger catches Hokusai's 'Great Wave' to trace his far-reaching

influence...
Mr Jupitus In The Age of Steampunk
Phill Jupitus journeys back to the steam-powered future to party like it's
1899.
Dancing with Mountains
Writer Andrew Greig explores the connections between mountain climbing

and art.
Stir It Up - 50 Years of Writing

Jamaica
Poet Salena Godden considers the impact of her Jamaican heritage on her
literary identity.
Walter Kershaw: The UK's First

Street Artist?
Uncovering the life and work of a pioneering and under-appreciated British

painter
"Messy, Isn't It?": The Life and Works

of Richard Brautigan
Jarvis Cocker's love for one of literature's most extraordinary figures,

Richard Brautigan
True Tales From the Crypt
Roger Luckhurst goes in search of the original Curse of the Mummy's

Tomb...
Big Shot
John Sugar explores an evolving music industry and the changing role of
music manager.
Duration, Duration, Duration
Pop songs are 3 minutes, movies about 90. Grace Dent looks at how
duration shapes culture.
Happy Days: The Children of the

Stones
Writer and comedian Stewart Lee explores the television series Children of
the Stones.
Was Dracula Irish ?
Irish novelist Patrick McCabe explores the Irish influences on Bram Stoker's
Dracula.
In Search of Richard Yates

Scream Queens
Hollywood on the Tiber
Nick Fraser makes the case for rediscovering the work of Richard Yates
Reece Shearsmith meets the female screen stars of horror.
Mukti Jain Campion looks back at the heyday of Rome's most famous film
studios.
47
IN SEVEN DAYS...Inside a Historic

Campaign
Artist Nicola Green charts her journey to capture images of Barack Obama's
2008 campaign.
Justice between the Covers
Helena Kennedy QC explores the power of law in the pages of classic

fiction.
Tim Key and Gogol's Overcoat
Comedian Tim Key spins his own surreal tale of one of Russia's greatest
short stories.
Words on Water
The views of writers who use fishing to explore our relationship with nature
and our place
Expressing Pain
Stuart Flanagan explores how art can help in the consulting room.
Mockery with Monocles: The

Western Brothers Revealed
Geoffrey Palmer celebrates variety act The Western Brothers.
When Harry Potter Met Frodo: The

Strange World of Fan Fiction
Naomi Alderman investigates the sub-culture of internet fan fiction
The Beat Hotel

Songs of the Sacred Harp
The Physicist's Guide to the
Orchestra
Blackout Ballet
Mr X: Julian Maclaren-Ross
How a down-at-heel Parisian hotel became the world's avant-garde

headquarters.
Cerys Matthews visits Alabama to uncover a sacred choral tradition.
Trevor Cox on the physics behind the way orchestral instruments make their
unique sound
Ismene Brown uncovers the story of Mona Inglesby and International Ballet.
Did drink and drugs rob Britain of a literary genius?
Stage Door
Rachael Stirling reveals strange tales from theatre's back doorstep.
Neil Tennant's Smash Hits Christmas
Neil Tennant recalls his stint, from Christmas 1982, on pop's most
successful magazine.
Grease Was Our World
Grease has entertained audiences for over 40 years, Alan Dein searches for
its true roots.
Beatrix Potter's Favourite Tale
Beatrix Potter's The Tailor of Gloucester restored with its original Christmas
music
Bute: Dreams of the World's Richest

Man
Jonathan Glancey on the amazing cultural legacy of the third Marquis of

Bute
Roger, The Eagle Has Landed
Mark Radcliffe recalls the influential life of cult DJ and club promoter, Roger
Eagle.
Forgetting a Revolutionary: Lawrence

Durrell at 100
Johnny Cash and the Forgotten
Prison Blues
A Menace to Society
Cornershop
The Men Who Painted Paradise: The
Hudson River School
The Art of Sequencing
The World Cup for Writers
Tim Marlow encourages us not to forget the novelist Lawrence Durrell.

Danny Robins explores the little-known story of Johnny Cash the prison
reformer.
Lifelong fan Danny Wallace celebrates the Beano comic in its 75th
anniversary year.
The story of a ground breaking record, its impact and its legacy.
Susan Marling reports from the Hudson Valley on the painters that shaped
America.
Guy Garvey on the challenge of turning a collection of songs into a single
piece of art.
Joe Dunthorne's England Writers Football Team plays against the Scotland
Writers Team.
48
Lyrical Journey
Blind Date With Runyon
Who Was Rosalind?
Marseille 2013
30 Years of the Bradshaws
The Meaning of Liff at 30
Was Gertrude Stein Any Good?
Sound Painting
Dreamers of the Black Metropolis
The Curse of the Confederacy of
Dunces
Rhymes of Passion
I Wandered Lonely as a Cat: Poetry
and Jazz.
The Arthur Cravan Memorial Society
Foot Notes
Destination Freedom
The Butterfly Effect
The Original Be Bop Man: A Story of

Bob Kaufman
Are You There God? It's Me, Sarah
Motown: Speaking In The Streets
How The Proclaimers' song 'Sunshine on Leith' became an anthem for a

changing city.
Peter White hears about Damon Runyon, who captured New York's lowlife
vibes in the 1920s.
Susan Hitch finds out about the boys created the female roles in
Shakespeare's plays.
Philip Sweeney on music, crime and culture in Marseille, 2013 European
City of Culture.
John Henshaw explores the unrelenting success of one of the longest
running comedy series.
John Lloyd celebrates 30 years of The Meaning of Liff with Matt Lucas and
Helen Fielding.
I am a genius. Gertrude Stein. A genius. I. Gertrude Stein. Am I a genius?
Tim Marlow explores the kinds of sounds and music that influence an artist's
art and work.
The story of how Chicago's black artists of the 20th Century forged a new
identity.
The Confederacy of Dunces, one of the great comic books of the 20th
century, had a difficult gestation as a book; attempts to film it over the past
30 years have been similarly cursed.
Laura Barton tells the true story behind By Grand Central Station I Sat
Down and Wept.
Ian McMillan reveals the heart of Poetry and Jazz and detects its strong
beats today
Arthur Smith convenes the last ever meeting of the Arthur Cravan Memorial
Society and pieces together an unreliable portrait of this charlatan and
genius - the Dada-ist James Dean.
They communicate our sexual desires, aesthetic sense, social status and
personality. And whilst our eyes may be windows to the soul - psychologists
say that it is in fact our shoes that are the gateway to our psyche.
It's often assumed that the drive for black emancipation in America began
with Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. This feature
challenges the perception, taking us back years earlier to the arts
broadcasting of Chicago radio's 'Destination Freedom!'
Lesley Garrett examines the story of Cio-Cio San, who evolving from a short
novel was brought to the stage by Puccini in Madame Butterfly, and
captured the imagination of writers, performers and directors remaining one
of popular cultures most enduring characters.
Bob Kaufman was a pioneer of the Beat Movement and the most influential
African-American artists of the Beat Generation. The distinctive jazz
influence on his work meant he was often referred to as The Original Be
Bop Man or The American Rimbaud.
Teen Novels from America in the 70's featured crazy mixed up kids, girls
mainly. Sarah Cuddon loved them
In 1970, Berry Gordy, the founder of the Motown record label, set up a
Motown spoken word label. It was called Black Forum records and
recorded poetry, civil rights speeches, political gatherings...
49
The Concrete and the Divine
Norway's Soul: Re-evaluating Knut

Hamsun
Capra-esque
And Calm of Mind
The Gatsby Factor
The Poet and the Painter
Everybody Loves Bernard (w/t)
When Washington Came to Brum
Wireless Nights
A Room for a View: The Artist's

Studio
Poetry in Translation w/t
In Godzilla's Footsteps
Ebony: Black on White on Black
Lowry Revisited
Letting the Walls Speak
Arthur Machen and the Borders
Designing churches requires a certain kind of architect - it's about bringing

together the divine with the concrete, creating a space separate from the
secular world. Under the umbrella of the Glasgow practice of Gillespie Kidd;
Coia (GKC), Isi Metzstein and Andrew MacMillan seized on the momentary
experimentalism of the Catholic Church to revolutionise church design.
The author of classics such as Hunger, Mysteries, Victoria and Pan,
Hamsun is considered by many to be the Godfather of Modern Fiction.
"The art of [my films] is very, very simple... it's the love of people. Add two
simple ideals to this love of people: the freedom of each individual and the
equal importance of each individual and you have the principle on which I've
based all my films." - Frank Capra, 1982
Ex-soldiers with stress disorders take a Shakespeare play about the costs
of war to a paying public.
Baz Luhrmann's much anticipated film version of The Great Gatsby opens
in the UK on May 17th Here, Sarah Churchwell offers her take on what
makes the slimmest of Fitzgerald's novels not only an enduring classic, but
a huge force in American fiction and, some would say, the greatest
American novel.
We go into the artist's studio to follow royal portrait painter Fiona GrahamMackay as she paints the poet Seamus Heaney.
Bernard Cribbins OBE, is one of our most enduring - and endearing allround entertainers having starred in everything - from Dr. Who to doing all
the voices of The Wombles - during his 65 years of showbusiness. In this
revealing personal reminiscence, he recalls his extraordinary career and
ponders on what he thinks has made him so successful an actor. With
contributions from colleagues and fellow entertainment legends - we'll
discover his secret and why it is, that everybody loves Bernard.
The stories Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are two of the
formative texts in modern American literature, and were written, naturally
enough, in Birmingham.
Jarvis Cocker prowls the darkness, eavesdropping on stories of the night
people.
Paula Rego's studio is an old garage complete with forklift trucks and a
costume wardrobe; David Gentleman's' a neat white attic. How does an
artists' studio reflect their art and do they still need one? We send artist
Susan Aldworth in with sharpened palette knife and microphone.
The magazine Modern Poetry in Translation was started by Ted Hughes
after WW2...
The Artists who are walking in Godzilla's Footsteps to come to terms with
Japan's Tsunami.
Ebony Magazine changed the face of Black publishing and Black America.
Gary Younge charts its irresistible rise and fall.
In 'Lowry Revisited' Michael Symmons Roberts will offer his own personal
re-appraisal of the artist and the man.
The story of Derry's controversial 400 year old walls as told by 'Anna Nicole'
composer Mark Anthony Turnage and poet Paul Muldoon.
Arthur Machen was a novelist and mystic whose greatest work was the
novella The Great God Pan (Stephen King calls it the greatest horror story
in the English Language).
50
Hersch on Herschel
John Dos Passos

Absinthe Makes the Art Grow Fonder
Playing Ping Pong with Henry Miller
From Derry to Mostar: Siege Cities

and the Conquest of Happiness w/t
The Road to the National Theatre
The Art of Radio Times
Shot In Belfast w/t
Bingo, Barbie and Barthes: 50 years

of Cultural Studies
Troubled Walls
Dinner at Annaghmakerrig
The Art of the Nation
Houses of Creativity
Musician and comedian Rainer Hersch on the life of near namesake William
Herschel - a German-born British composer and astronomer who
discovered Uranus, and infrared radiation. He also composed 24
symphonies.
Documentary maker Adam Curtis pays homage to the writer who inspired
him.
For the 150th anniversary of Toulouse-Lautrec's birth, an art history of the
drink that fuelled Bohemia.
A sexist, pornographic, macho, misogynist - Henry Miller sounds the perfect
subject for acclaimed feminist poet Kim Addonizio, as she visits those who
knew him, were inspired by him, were related to him, during his two
decades in California - where he coincided with the birth of the 'personal
growth' era.
Following the development of a theatre production in Derry~Londonderry,
the first UK City of Culture, which will travel to two other divided cities.
For its 50th anniversary in October 2013, James Naughtie traces the history
of the struggle to create a National Theatre, exploring what such an
institution is and should be in a nation such as Britain.
Peter Day presents the story of the art commissioned and showcased by
Radio Times from its earliest editions, celebrating 90 years of publication in
September 2013, to today.
The story of Northern Ireland's burgeoning film industry.
Fifty years after Richard Hoggart established Cultural Studies with the
founding of the Birmingham Centre for Cultural Studies, Lynsey Hanley
looks at what this new discipline has given us - has it really narrowed the
separation between high culture and real life, or just been an excuse for
some of the worst writing imaginable.
By replacing its murals is Belfast's history being white-washed?
Colm Toibin invites us for dinner at the ancestral home of theatre impresario
Sir Tyrone Guthrie.
The vast majority of the Nation's Art is not held in our public institutions - the
Tate or National Gallery - they are housed in the sixty million front rooms all
over the country. Will Gompertz assesses the importance of this national
treasure trove, and tells their story for the first time.
Bridget Kendall examines the Soviet concept of the Houses of Creativity:
the soviet answer to providing the artists with inspiration and the State with
cultural masterpieces.
51
SATURDAY FEATURE
Tony Phillips
Commissioning Assistant: Vanessa Morris and Karen Howe
sphere of journalism at both producer and executive producer level.
Slot: Saturday, 1030
Duration: 28
Transmission period:
April 2016 to March 2017
Guide price: 8,200

Estimated number of programmes available for competition in this slot: 20
Cap: Please do not enter more than 10 offers for the Saturday 10.30 slots.
to twice the number remaining in your guarantee.
EDITORIAL GUIDE
Saturday morning on Radio 4, with a million listeners, and brief that tilts towards
popular culture, broad, open and inviting whats not to like?
The Saturday Feature is a space on Radio 4 where eclecticism can truly thrive. Its
home to outstanding one-off features - and should continue to be alongside more
established returning series like Punt PI, with Steve Punt, And the Academy Award
Goes To.with Paul Gambaccini. Saturday morning can also be the place for big
series that connect to events of national significance - The Cultural Front series
part of World War One on the BBC is one such example.
52
With Jay Rayners Kitchen Cabinet scheduled for part of the year in this slot, we are
looking for a maximum of 24 programmes for Saturday morning with a wide range of
voices and presenters.
Strong presentation is important. Please indicate clearly whether you have made
approaches to key talent or whether your idea for presentation is just indicative.
Do not exceed two written pages of A4.
PROPOSAL TO INCLUDE
Details of your proposed presenter. Please indicate clearly if the presenter

has been approached or is involved in the creation of the proposal
A clear date for any peg if there is one
A brief episode breakdown for any series
PROGRAMMES COMMISSIONED / SHORTLISTED IN THE LAST ROUND

Title
STATE OF GRACE
Short Synopsis
A cultural attempting to understand our contemporary conception of 'grace'.
Likely Tour baht 'at...
As Yorkshire gets ready to host the world's greatest cycle race, the Tour De
France in 2014, we hear the remarkable story of how they won the bid.
Punt PI
Steve Punt reopens Radio 4's very own detective bureau.
D-Day Dames
In June 1944 a group of American women journalists were gathering in

London, pushing to be part of the forthcoming D-Day invasion. It was a
turning point in the opportunities for women to report from warzones.
Proudly grey-haired Mary Beard combs through the history, science and
significance of the hair-colour revolution.
Landmark series charts how the war transformed the arts, drawing on
newly-digitized archives and research to argue that these were years of
rapid cultural response, artistic innovation and technological change.
Sanjeev Bhaskar reveals the long and intimate relationship between
Bollywood and Britain, in a surprising and previously untold story.
Glad to be Grey
The Cultural Front
Lights, Camera, Akshun!

Don't Log Off
Alan Dein returns to the world of Skype and Facebook capturing a series of
new and on-going dramas with people in every corner of the globe
DEALING WITH DIFFICULT

PEOPLE
Sandi Toksvig explores a growing industry offering training and advice for
"dealing with difficult people."
Who's a Pretty Boy Then?
The culture and the people of the North East - and their love of budgerigars.
The Art of Keynes
The extraordinary and largely unknown story of how Keynes persuaded the
British government to take paintings in lieu of France's war debt.
J.D. Salinger's Spiritual Quest
Through recently discovered letters, Vishva Sodhi explores how iconic

American writer, J.D. Salinger, maintained a deep and enduring relationship
both with Eastern philosophy and a New York based Swami.
The story of a prescient moment from Jeff Buckley's breakthrough tour of
England twenty years ago.
The Grace of Jeff Buckley
53
Moulin Rouge - Frou-Frou and

Femmes
A celebration of cabaret and can-can as the Moulin Rouge celebrates 125

years of Frou-Frou and Femmes but also a new era.
The Frequency of Laughter
A social history of the world of radio comedy.
In Search Of The Holy Tail
Marc Riley and some famous friends take off after something that, despite
their best efforts, they stand very little chance of finding.
Zeitgeisters
Series of profiles of the cultural entrepreneurs who are shaping our lives
and defining the very spirit of our age, often without us even knowing it.
Kate explores the parallels between the rebellious Romantic poets and
contemporary rappers, and examines the fusion of influences in today's
vibrant youth poetry scene.
Bandleader Ivy Bensons all-girl big band was the first in Berlin to entertain
the troops at the end of WW11. Melanie Chisholm celebrates Ivy's
achievements with the remaining members of that band.
Cycling's rock star, Bradley Wiggins is in Mallorca. He's joined by real rock
star, cycling enthusiast, Paul Heaton as he trains in Mallorca.
Kate Tempest & The New

Romantics
Ivy Benson: Original Girl
Power
Mallorca and Middle-Aged
Men in Lycra
The Art Of The Loop
The Soul of Ireland
The Folklorist
Matthew Herbert explores the art of the music loop, and the million-dollar
industry around it; and asks whether loops are setting musicians free or
killing creativity.
Parish tours were the only way to get your record heard by the youth of
Ireland in the sixties. We navigate the winding roads of Ireland to discover
the memories of the tours and the music that was played
Folk singer Seth Lakeman travels to New York to meet the man regarded
as the world's leading expert on Folk music, 85 year old Izzy Young
Re-imagining the City - series

2
Passionate and persuasive guides ask listeners to "re-imagine" a city they

think they know.
ALL YOU NEED IS LAB HOW SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY INSPIRED
INNOVATION IN MUSIC
Most histories of pop music stress the role of the creative individuals, but
Midge Ure argues that most of the innovative ideas have come from
technological advances.
54
SPECIAL EVENTS and SEASONS
Jointly managed by the commissioning team

When entering a proposal here, do not also put ideas for component
programmes into other briefs.
companies who can clearly demonstrate considerable experience in the relevant
genres of radio production at both producer and executive producer level.
Guide price: Not applicable
EDITORIAL GUIDE
What distinguishes a Special Event or Season is that it should be a proposal on a
single theme which crosses strands or day parts. The impact will be different and
distinctive from the rest of the stations schedule. A sense of occasion or celebration
may be created.
Proposals may span a variety of commissioning briefs and their coherence becomes
obvious only when the various parts are assembled.
Sometimes, small, carefully constructed clusters of programmes might be
commissioned from one supplier in their entirety. More often, Radio 4
management will scope out the scale and scheduling of a season.
Therefore, ideas for Special Events that get past the pre-offers stage should be
discussed with Commissioning Editors before you do any work on the detail.
An anniversary might be marked on several stations. Your proposal for Radio 4 must
be utterly distinctive and clearly shaped for our audience. However, we can be overreliant on anniversaries. We particularly welcome suggestions of events or a focus
on a subject that will surprise the audience and be distinctive. Innovative treatments
of more predictable events are also welcome. A big event on Radio 4 may also
enable us to design a schedule of complementary archive programming on 4 Extra.
Some of our Special Events are contained within one day. Democracy Day, Big
Bang Day and War and Peace are examples. Others have spread more widely, in
terms of programme style and timetable. These include World War One, Magna
Carta, Tweet of the Day, Listening Project, The History of Ideas.
Our World War coverage has already been extensive and there is more in
production. We are unlikely to look for much more. The following BBC series,
clusters and seasons are already planned for the year ahead: Coding, Waterloo,
55
India, The Periodic Table, 19th Century France, Oil, Natural History. There will be a
big poetry season in late 2015.
With such events, the core programmes and the idea might come from one group of
producers, but other programmes might subsequently be commissioned from
elsewhere.
We have found that event ideas which have been created between different teams
with varied expertise can be particularly striking. So, a seasonal event or idea might
come from one source but the station reserves the right to commission a portfolio of
programmes from diverse sources to provide the listener with the best possible
schedule.
So, Radio 4 is looking for:
special days or nights
landmark events
programmes, across genres, which merit a different duration from what the
normal schedule allows.
Interactive
We are looking for big ideas with a fully integrated interactive dimension.
Remember, though, that we are looking to commission only a very few such ideas
this year, so be realistic about the development time you devote to this area. Do not
enter a budget estimate for the interactive element of your proposal. This will be
considered on an ad hoc basis once we decide to take an idea forward.
56
WORKING WITH BBC RADIO 4
Working with BBC Radio 4 is the essential handbook for all suppliers.
Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/radio/what-we-want/radio-4.shtml
It covers:
Whos who at Radio 4, with contact details
Delivery
Schedule information
Editorial requirements
Compliance
Title changes
Technical requirements
Listening copies
Live programmes
Durations
Announcements and credits
Programme Descriptions (billings, promotion notes & presentation details)
On-air promotion and written trails
Repeats
Scheduled and revised repeats
Delayed repeats
Publicity
Marketing
Audience Research
Audience Lines
Arranging Audience Lines support
Trailing Audience Lines on air
Feedback
Radio 4 Interactive
Broadcasting on the internet
Health and safety
Radio 4 contacts
Appendices
A: Topicality status
B: Credits on Radio 4
C: Making better trails
D: Synopses for serials
E: Summary of paperwork requirements
F: Programme paperwork templates
57

Radio4 Commissioning Guidelines Spring 2015

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COMMISSIONING ROUND, SPRING 2015

Proteus round: 2016-2017 - 1

THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS

HOW TO SUBMIT AN IDEA TO RADIO 4

HOW THE COMMISSIONING BRIEFS WORK

FAQ ON THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS

BBC EDITORIAL GUIDELINES & COMPLIANCE

FACTUAL COMMISSIONING BRIEFS

ARTS COMMISSIONING BRIEFS

SPECIAL EVENTS & SEASONS

WORKING WITH RADIO 4

THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS

19th February 2015

HOW TO SUBMIT AN IDEA TO RADIO 4

In each commissioning brief there is an indication of the track record we require in

title (of your proposal, not the slot)

Do not enter anything in this field at this stage. It will not be

In each commissioning brief there is an indication of the kind of track record we

Dont use the Notes field.

HOW THE COMMISSIONING BRIEFS WORK

The name of the commissioning brief

Day/s and time of broadcast

Eligibility Radio 4 always requires producers and executive producers to have a

FAQ ON THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS

It is your responsibility to deliver the programme as agreed. The commissioning

BBC EDITORIAL GUIDELINES & COMPLIANCE

All programmes, whether commissioned in-house or from an independent producer,

INVENTORY OF SUPPORTING MATERIALS FOR FINAL OFFERS TO RADIO 4

FACTUAL COMMISSIONING BRIEFS

History, Politics, Current Affairs, Science, Religion, Natural History,

General guidance on factual long form

They need to be programmes that will be robust in the face of events

They need to explore digital possibilities and adopt a look, listen,

They should seek opportunities, where appropriate, to break down the

All factual programmes should seek to tell compelling stories, to use

Eligibility: We invite proposals from BBC departments and independent production

suggested presenters should be included, where appropriate, with a note on

any book deal or other commercial activity linked to the material

Eligibility: We invite proposals from BBC departments and independent production

The final proposal should include:

Eligibility: We invite proposals from BBC departments and independent production

Some further guidance:

Context is king. As stated, programmes or series that deepen our

We want to encourage and celebrate the very best in crafted documentary

Revisionism is welcomed here - documentaries that uncover new evidence

Please consider UK history as well as foreign. We have Crossing Continents

Please indicate whether a named presenter has been involved in at proposal

New 1102 Strand

a clear date for any peg

suggested presenters should be included, where appropriate, with a note on

any book deal or other commercial activity linked to the material

Eligibility: We invite proposals from BBC departments and independent production

(repeat: Sunday 1702)

Careful consideration should be given to the potential resonance of the idea in

We will also take reactive ideas in this slot.

Eligibility: We invite proposals from BBC departments and independent production

Outline of the subject, presenter, locations, number in run

Treatment: breakdown of live vs. taped elements

Audience or studio based.

CVs of presenter and producer

Eligibility: We invite proposals from BBC departments and independent production

Some further guidance.

Reasons for why we should do this story now

Details of presentation and production style