Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Politics & Social Sciences

A family saga covering four decades, My Generation offers a window into the drugs and pop-fuelled protest movement inspired by writer Alice Nutter's own experience of the protest movement (she was part of the band Chumbawamba). With original music by Harry Hamer, My Generation stars Jo Hartley (Waterloo Road; This Is England) as Cath, Jason Done (Waterloo Road) as Mick, in a cast that also includes Aimee Leigh Foster, Emma Rydall, and Carla Henry.

Dublin, 1997. When Joe Finnerty marries into Dublin's political aristocracy his fortune appears to be made. Lucrative government contracts and the ready patronage of his heavy hitting father-in-law ensure that Joe soon becomes a man to be reckoned with.

When a delirious Irishman arrives in a Cornish harbour, baker Mary Kneebone takes him in, and soon the sick and gullible are queuing at her door. A wry comedy about faith, love and redemption from outstanding Cornish playwright Annamaria Murphy.

George is romantic and great fun but how much does Marie really know about her new partner? After a whirlwind romance and Mediterranean marriage to chirpy cockney George, Marie's plans for a cosy Christmas a deux are derailed when he says the band's schedule has changed. George is hurt in the Taunton rail crash when Marie thought he was playing Christmas gigs with his band in Scotland. She drives South to discover a whole lot more about the past of the man she married. Is Marie's new husband George a bigamist?

Friendships, for many of us, are at the very centre of our daily existence and identity. Yet it hasn't always been this way. Our modern view of what makes a friend is shaped by centuries of political and social upheaval. In this landmark study, Dr Thomas Dixon considers both the differences and similarities between friendships in history and those we experience today.

In his first BBC radio series, New Comedy Award finalist Jacob Hawley examines one of the most important issues affecting young people today, looking into every aspect of British drug culture to discover its scope and effects. As a recreational drugs user for almost a decade, Jacob thought he knew more than most about the topic - but was shocked by how much he still had to learn.

A door creaks, footsteps echo, someone's breathing - and we are terrified. But why? Sean Street investigates the psychology of fear, so potently sensitive to sound. Talking to musicians, writers, film-makers, neuro-scientists and sound researchers, he investigates how sounds trigger fear. He discovers the importance of context, asks whether sound and fear are culturally specific and hears how scary sounds are created. He also experiences what might be the most frightening sound of all - absolute silence.

A BBC Radio 4 drama by Stephanie Dale, originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 10 January 2011.When art teacher Rachel, walking home festooned with end-of-term gifts from her pupils, bumps into Tyrone on his first day in London it is the beginning of a passionate love affair. Soon it makes sense for Tyrone, now working as a chef in a local up-market cafe, to move into Rachel's flat. But it's not long before there are tiny bits of grit starting to despoil the love oyster.

Following a successful run on Radio 7, Miriam Elia's fantastical Sony Radio Academy Award nominated comedy sketch series transfers to Radio 4 for a second series, with new characters and a few familiar faces.

Allan Little investigates key moments and issues that brought the EU to the current crisis. In this three-part series, he looks at the transformation of Europe following the fall of the Berlin Wall, probes the failure to enforce the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact and examines new resentments and divisions within the EU exposed by the crisis.

With George Monbiot, Paul Allen and Peter Harper. Have you got what it takes to get to zero carbon? Our expert panel set one average family the task of eliminating their carbon footprint... and living with the consequences. Originally broadcast in March 2009. Starring Kate Ashfield, Don Gilet, Poppy Lee Friar, Ryan Watson, Malcolm Tierney, Jonathan Tafler, Janice Acquah, and Stephen Hogan. Producer/Director: Jonquil Panting.

A BBC Radio 4, three-part factual series, first broadcast on 23 March 2011. Michael Blastland presents The Story of Economics, and lays out the history of economic ideas, to understand why economics goes wrong and whether it can ever go entirely right.

From climate change, fake news and vaccine hesitancy to mental health, addiction and domestic violence, there are no shortage of societal problems facing the UK right now. But while we are aware these challenges exist, without personal experience it is hard for us to understand what it is like to struggle with them, and harder still to envision potential solutions. These compelling documentaries introduce us to a range of individuals who have confronted various hardships, telling their stories and following them as they ask difficult questions and endeavour to drive positive change.

When an illegal minicab driver knocks a man off his mobility scooter they begin an unusual and touching relationship that will change both their lives. Written by Daniel Jamieson. Starring Nikki-Amuka Bird, Lloyd Hutchinson, Kuan Frye, Daniel Rabin, Brian Bowles, Sally Orrock, Jane Whittenshaw, Stuart McLoughlin, Alex Tregear, Daniel Rabin, and Jane Whittenshaw. Directed by Marc Beeby.

The story of how Britain's Olympic journey started 400 years ago - in the Cotswolds. It was once thought that the modern Olympics was the brainchild of Baron Pierre de Coubertin alone and put into action in Greece in 1896. The man himself encouraged the myth.

BBC Radio 4 tackles the impending 2012 Olympics by going to the heart of the entire festival and celebrating not just the winning but the taking part in one of the great contests from Olympic history. Presented by Tim Franks.

This fascinating BBC Radio 4 documentary tells the story of three key figures in the strange history of lobotomy, and for the first time explores the popularity of the operation in the UK. The story starts in 1935 with a Portuguese doctor called Egas Moniz, who pioneered a radical surgical procedure on the brain which he asserted would relieve the symptoms of mental disorder. His results were seized on the following year by Walter Freeman in the US, an enthusiastic neurosurgeon who eventually went on to perform around 3,000 lobotomies over the course of his career.

El Ultimo Proyecto - The Last Project by Michael Butt, a play in two languages- Spanish and English. A romantic thriller set in the hills of Andalucia. A British former soldier, Travis, has a love affair with the wife of a famous Spanish film director. Story telling and reality collide when the director insists Travis helps with his latest film, his 'last project' in which a murder is committed. Starring Bryan Dick, Yolanda Vazquez, William Marquez, and Hugo Cubilla. With original song composition by Akintayo Akinbode and words by Federico Garcia Lorca Produced and Directed by Pauline Harris.

'I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun.' Philip Marlowe has become, in many people's minds, the archetypal American detective anti-hero, yet his creator was educated at English public school, took the Civil Service exam and started a career in the Admiralty.

A BBC Radio 4 drama by Louise Ramsden, based on Seaneen Molloy's blog 'The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive', her account of learning to live and love with bipolar disorder. Originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 8 May 2009.Facing life as a newly-diagnosed manic depressive, Seaneen fears that Rob has become more nurse than boyfriend, and begins to wonder if the only way to save a brilliant relationship is to leave it. .