Listening List 02: BBC Local Bank Holiday Specials

The Easter weekend provided us with a number of documentaries made by BBC local radio on a wide variety of topics which were pebbledashed around the schedule.

Radio: Tiswas Remebered (BBC Coventry & Warwickshire)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02n273s
Hosted by Chris Tarrant, this hour long show documents the conception, rise and fall of Saturday Morning children's TV favourite Tiswas. Tarrant's enduring love of the show is still as vibrant as ever and it sounds as if he enjoyed making this programme and reminiscing about the era with various on and off screen staff. The enduring popularity of the show amongst the online community means there was little which would have been new to enthusiasts, but the story was eloquently and warmly told with well planned guests musing on each stage of the tale.

Radio: Life After Coal (BBC Radio Sheffield)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02mb5qw
In a very different tone, BBC Radio Sheffield mark the anniversary of the end of the Miners' Strike with this documentary regarding the decline of the coal mining industry in South Yorkshire and the effect that it continues to have. The wide scope of the programme covers interviews with former miners and their families, and the many projects which still exist to try and rebuild the communities which effectively had their livelihood removed overnight. Some rather shocking facts emerge amongst the personal stories; the huge cost of social support and welfare which now dwarfs the subsidies paid to the coal industry, the huge drug problems and the misdirected attempts to attract new big businesses, but these are not sensationalised. This is not a story dwelling on the past, but recognising the challenges which continues to face the area and those who have overcome the adversity to improve their lot. The most disturbing section of the programme for me was the final section which focuses on a current major employer, reliant on minimum wage and zero hour contracts whilst effectively punishing staff for taking sick days and imposing lengthy queues for security checks entering and leaving work. The unions may have been partly responsible for the decline of the coal mining industry, but their influence is now needed to expose exploitative employers taking advantage of their staff.

Radio: Liberation 70 (BBC Radio Devon)
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02mqwhk
Bergerac himself, John Nettles writes and narrates this epic tale of the occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II. The production reminds me of the soundtrack of a museum diorama, evoking the atmosphere using recreations and archive material. The use of effects and background paints impressive sound pictures to illustrate the story. The production values for this are considerably higher than i was expecting, more akin to the style of Radio 4's drama output. The use of a wide range of voices, personal recollections and records from the period added considerable depth and gravity to the story without straying in to jingoistic territory often stirred up by wartime stories.