Read this: 12/08/2022 Radio 4 Feedback

BBC sounds music Radio podcasts events be accepted as accurate as written by one of the participants in this case David Cameron's former director of communications.

I was genuinely shocked at this blatantly propagandist ending to this drama.

I think this is believed to be I'll be putting that charge of propaganda to radio foreskin mission of a drama and fiction and also asked her about her ambition to keep the Archers going for another 70 years that will BBC journalists to sleep on the job when Liverpool fans were slandered again not only the Taylor say what he did he could have missed spoken but to go on challenged again.

I experience BBC journalists is incredibly disappointing listeners express their anger at the failure to challenge comments falsely linking the Tragedy at Hillsborough to hooliganism.

And are two married out of your comfort zone listeners disagree politely about a world service programme and podcast it seems to drive instinctive sense of irritation which clearly my partner doesn't share but does your partner witness it and I suppose was gentleman in feedback.

Harrison Hindle is the commissioning editor for drama and Fiction on Radio 4 she is responsible for commissions across the schedule from how long dramas on Saturdays and Sundays to the limelight series Fridays book at Bedtime short stories and of course the Archers that's around 250 hours a year not including ambridge.

I'll be talking to her about her plans and about some existing output the first who are some of your listing highlights including our friends in the North general kitchen from Wimborne in Dorset thank you so much, so whoever this feature the first episode on feedback back in March I listen to episode 1 on BBC sounds and was hooked I've just finished the whole series and it was magnificent Ferguson Lewes Sussex tables to be offered these two interlinked plays on successive Sunday afternoons.

Thank you.

They were beautifully acted and directed and reminders that Terence Rattigan so often dismissed as outdated irrelevant even was a master for dramatist teal the Apple the tree by Ellie Taylor thank you for a brilliant drama afternoon too hot I was gripped weekly touched wonderful acting well.

I'm delighted to be joined by Allison indoor the commissioning editor for drama and fixed on Radio 4 welcome.

Thank you very much looking the weather on 34th decisions to be made.

What sort of pics you make for the importance of drama on Radio 4.

Why does it matter what's unique about we are all the BBC is the broadcaster that makes radio drama.

There are no more outputs the radio dramas online with other organizations, but we are the only broadcaster and my feeling is that it's value.

Uniqueness it allows us to interpret the world in ways that are not possible in my view through journalism and through factual accounts of life and it is hugely important for human beings to tell each other stories which metaphorically and literally interpreter world.

Are you said that your unique in away the broadcast unique if we look at the podcast in the we can see the development of rocks a dromedary tends to be thrillers crime stuff like that.

You need to compete with that if the commercial world is delivering.

X we should concentrate on delivering well.

I think we have to do both to some extent and we do still do a lot of new tyres and commission a lot of new writers and a lot of new writing every year you'll have to do both because the BBC has to complete with all of those other distractions for listeners attention with the podcasting.

I hope that we do it as a very high standard.

Say that not all of the podcast online or an equal standard actually either editorially or technically or creatively with a lot of Praise of course, but list of Martin Chambers has detected changed in recent years.

This is acceptable as is the case with the BBC is excellent producers and directors so Alison in except the miniseries is a problem often that most of the audience probably won't listen to all of the programs to each individual episode has to be satisfied in itself.

I think we should do both.

It used to be the case when I first started working in radio drama that we really did series other than dramatisations of classic literature because it was felt that it was difficult for audiences to be able guaranteed to come back once a week for the next instalment however, the world has changed vary significantly in that we can now and with most of our series do off a box sets of the series from the moment of transmission of the first episode online I appreciate that not all listeners want to listen to their dramas online but many do Waltham down with great Enthusiasm for the radio listener for the person who wants to listen at the time that is scheduled.

I would hope that right is rise to the challenge of being able to sustain attention from Episode 2 episode Andrew extension if necessary the advantage of series and cereals is that it enables us to tell much more complex bigger and more nuanced stories and pots and we are able to do in Fort

Minutes or 60 minutes which is the longest that we have but I really value the single play for The Range and variety that it can bring us both in terms of developing new writers giving you write as a community and I think that there are for example.

We recently did a play about Mary Shelley following the death of Shirley in which we were able to explore a moment in time that reflected on the value and The Legacy of a very famous poet who is there too many listeners hearts and we wouldn't have done that in a series.

It needed a single play was perfect well.

I'm on this watch Roger single play will not die and how would you decide for example if you got an idea, when is it actually think that works better as a podcast then as a broadcast how would you make that is sometimes it's to do with the subject matter sometimes.

It's to do with the target audience for example.

We might commission a podcast drama that is aimed at Young

The average profile of Radio 4 listeners, but I actually think in content there is less of a difference than people think between a pastor and a broadcast drama podcast 10 to move fast and be highly produced and perhaps radio dramas can afford to be simpler my hope is that having cultivated an audience online and an audience on the radio that is becoming accustomed to that different style but those audiences will move in the opposite direction each way young people are increasingly unlikely to switch on Radio 4.

They might pick up a podcast more easily and therefore you feel better to ensure the future of the sort of drama.

You care about you have to be in the podcast world.

Yes, there is some future-proofing going on absolutely and it sensible because there is a lot.

Sadly and rather frightening leave that demonstrates that teenagers don't even recognise what a radio is what the box that is the radio is if they listen to radio at all they listen to it on their phones and we need to as the BBC continue to cultivate interest in output.

We will wither and die.

I know your future proofing also when it comes to the Archers because obviously with her this week.

Peggy Carter June Spencer is just retiring and Joshua miss wonderful wonderful person, but more generally our listeners detect you're putting more stories in the hands of younger a brief summary of endangered forgetting something more interesting older characters, but are you consciously trying to develop more stories for younger characters in The Archers festival congratulate June Spencer and thank her for her many many years of dedication and technique and Talents that she's brought the role of Peggy and the joy that she's brought to so many listeners.

my aspiration is that the Archers will continue for another 70 years at the very least but we can only do that if we continue to bring on the younger Generations one of the virtue's of The Archers is that it happens in real time and we can't cheat people's life spans, so we have to develop a younger generation and a middle generation that will we hope take the places eventually of the generations in the listeners hearts as people move onto the natural course of time with him to the what we might call the delicate charity of docudrama and a list has written to us about a drama by David Cameron's number 10 communications director Craig Oliver later should be received Paris where is involved in BBC News and historian Anthony Seldon it's a behind-the-scenes drama on her Cameron and Obama failed to win the red line against chemical weapons used by serious Assad back to CT5 radomir Putin this is what I listening has got in from London

support and advice my concern at the seeming purpose of this Wednesday afternoons drama readlines the play concluded with a short timeline of events this listing included no sense of context the might have at least this device some sense of objectivity further chemical attacks were confirmed in Syria over the next 5 years in early 2014 President Putin annexe Crimea from Ukraine

And Russian backed separatists declared independent Republics in done yet and luhansk a full-scale invasion followed in February 2022 the Syrian Civil War continues Russian troops remain in Ukraine the end of the play with the cliched use of russian music behind it came over screwed propaganda.

I felt compelled to write this response as I was genuinely shocked at this blatantly propagandist ending to this drama.

This is beneath the BBC Thomas and Hindle at least one of the people writing it had an interest in portraying himself in the best light when you were advised well.

I would say drama in journalism, and it doesn't take a neutral stance as I said you don't know but you know which was particularly when dealing with events.

What time is it was dramatising events that none of us could be privy to craigour mother had the benefit of having been in the room for critical conversations that happened between world at a time when we were contemplating taking radical actions and reduced interested party you want to defend the record of him and his boss.

How else can we tell that story Roger if we don't take the word person who is in the room but you don't because you're a number of people in the room and you go to his many people in the room as you can and you also bear in mind the political affiliations of the person who's talking to you, but I'm making you don't have this problem.

If you're dealing with Napoleon or Nelson 200 as afterwards.

You do have it with a contemporary political event where the one of the office is an interested party and dumplings wishes to defend his particular the role of his boss David Cameron and you think that's fine go make a documentary which says this is my view, but what is the listener supposed to think when they listen to the drama? It's true.

It's not true.

I think the listener is supposed to bear all of that in mind while they listen to the drama.

We made it very clear what the perspective of the author was of Craig all of her and I think that it was at the gym and not propagandistic actually.

I think it was a legitimate drama to broadcast in the context of shedding light on the situation that we were in at that moment with the wall in UK and during the writing of it.

I should say the right as did talk to other people who had been involved in those scenes and they did corroborate what was being said and we did feature of politicians in the Play of different political stances who were represented accurately and family and the Huntsman has an observation on a recent production of the M4 tune stop BBC occupies itself so much for doing completely Vamps of items they produce before I have a recording of the story broadcast and 24.

2001 teaching Gemma Jones and John McAndrew and it's very good when we made that version of the Machine Stops 20 years ago.

It was simply a science fiction Story by E M Forster later when the idea came to us in 2020 in the first wave of the pandemic it had taken on an extraordinary new resident's we all now knew what it was like to communicate only on screen and we couldn't have human contact and we might as well have been living underground like the characters in the play and so I thought it was in that particular instance a very good rationale for coming at it with new eyes and with new interpretive Talent making it as a broader point in terms of remaking other titles.

I would say similarly you would.

The Royal Shakespeare Company to continue to produce the version of Hamlet that they made 50 years ago every age Every Generation of artists brings different insights different Talents to interpreting what we call the classics the third point is that actually ironically it costs as nearly as much to repeat something from 20 years ago does to make a new version so we might as well give you people that are thanks to Alison henzell the commissioning editor for drama and Fiction on Radio 4 and please do let us know your thoughts about interview or anything else to do with BBC Radio and podcasts.

This is how you can get in touch you can send an email to feedback at bbc.co.uk or write a letter the address is PO Box 67234 London se1p 4ax you can follow Iraq

I use at BBC R4 feedback, or you can call us and leave a phone message on 0343 444 5009 charges apply, but it could cost more on some mobile networks all those details are on our website now the BBC is not indeed itself to some football for this week 5 Live decided to digits classified football results on a Saturday at 5 p.m.

Because it had to shorten its sports report program to accommodate regular live commentary of a Premier League match at 5:30 own goal said some commentators and the controversy from the pastors read his head again in May 2021 on Radio 5 Live Charles apologised after failing to change comments made by Jonathan Goldberg QC regarding the Hillsborough Disaster which the lawyer wrong links to hooliganism, it was the UK's worst.

Walking disaster when in 1980 997 Liverpool fans lost their lives due to the crush at the time the Merseyside fans were blamed by the police and a tabloid newspapers day at the most supporters have since been exonerated.

They had in fact been defamed outraged relatives have conducted a 30-year campaign to find out what exactly did happen.

This is hardly a secret the latest really rested when just over a week ago on the Today programme Martha Kearney was interviewing the sky commentator Martin Tyler about the 30th anniversary of the Premier League when he made this comment remember that football was in a bit of a crisis at that time.

We weren't that long after Hillsborough another hooligan related issues as well.

So it was very difficult times that comment promote a strong reaction from listen Danny from The Wirral I was very concerned to hear Martin Tyler insinuate that Hillsborough was linked to who.

Comments which friend unchallenged on the Today programme today this is factually untrue and by the views being aired the harm for Life spread about this events are perpetuated and calls you for those affected not only the Taylor say what he did he could have missed spoken but to go on challenged Again by experience BBC journalists isn't disappointing either.

There is no concept of damaging the there is assuming.

They are errors or there is a lack of care about how damaging they are Nicola the BBC said we are presenter Adrian Chiles didn't challenge Jonathan Goldberg QC is appalling slander of Liverpool fans at Hillsborough in 2021 challenge Martin Tyler's on truth today about Hillsborough

Ending nightmare for families the BBC and Martin Tyler quickly apologised after the interview and on the Today programme a day later Nick Robinson maid the comment if you were listening at this time yesterday morning you would have had a nice and we did about the 30th anniversary of the Premier League in the course of the conversation Martin Tyler of Sky Sports made a common which appeared to the Hillsborough Disaster and hooliganism since then Mr Tyler has apologising clarified there were separate examples in no way had intended to conflate the two we regret that we didn't reply challenges common to interview with BBC representative about this, but nobody was available to talk to us instead.

We were given this statement the BBC has been directly to Liverpool Football Club about meeting to reassure them that this was an isolated incident that in no way reflects the BBC's respect for the feelings of everyone who was caught up.

Hillsborough Disaster and as far as the classified results on Sports reporter concerned, there's no sun yet to a BBC U-turn but week is a long time in broadcasting or space now.

They would normally be on their radar husband and wife Sarah Bloxham and Tim Jones live in Kingston on Thames and Sarah is originally from Iowa in the United States what would you be autopsied programs if you were stranded on a desert island and I think I have to take the Unbelievable Truth more or less than In Our Time and then decide the water we tend to rather for the quality of these programs but a national public radio for example in the states, would you get similar programs? I think it from my experience when I was listening to NPR it was a lot more local items.

Nothing quite like this Tim what would be your top 2 programmes? I would have to agree with her on more or less, but I don't include just a minute because certain age and these days out the p.m.

Programs we ask you to listen to something totally unlike that an episode of the award-winning World Service podcast dear daughter.

How would you describe the program explain what it says I described as a discussion of the need for people to break away from their cultural or tribal identities in South Africa in particular and the two experiments with different Horizon and it was in the form.

Well it had a presenter but it was in the formal letter of by the guest to her daughter and very young daughter life lessons.

I suppose call that Sarah did you think that was a a good format that it unlocked a lot of things which were really relevant? I did really like the concept of it with a letter and I think I mean that's the only.

Listen to I think that the other ones are in different regions and different situations and I think it's a really good idea.

I was born in your dad in williamstown and use in Port Elizabeth which is now called this was made possible by a moving away from our homes hands and attention and Mary outside our own trans which is one of the biggest in South Africa invest in the lives of people living in societies from our own.

Do you think this technique of a letter to a daughter in leaps over those difficulties? I think it does I think it is great because it allows such a freeform for the to write a letter and then following up with discussion of why they said what they said and getting into a lot more detail about the experience behind that advice to do you think about anything surprising to you.

You find anything out the you really weren't expecting out of my comfort zone but in that context.

I thought that I'd learnt a lot so I'd highlight two things first factory in a diary system still exists.

I think one of the presenters referred to her worth as being 7 cows at one point which I found my shopping and the other was the extent to which tribal identity South Africa or so sort of deeply cleaved such that people from the Zulu nation principle have stereotyping attached to them all different Nations might have near the German sense of humour on the French centre cuisine or what have we shopped her Sarah by the existence of the diary did really stand out to me and the fact that everyone the call the producer in the presenter and the gas everyone seems to be completely familiar and cannot take that for granted which is interesting program like this which essentially is one interview.

Present in this case no mylanta.

Combo at should one last year competition with the BBC World Service podcast of the competition and so should be given the series it requires simple gifts to get the best out of your interviewee said I didn't she had it didn't know man to have the warmth and the ruthlessness to really get out what you need to get from she did it was interesting because this program you could tell it was definitely a podcast so let's structure of them a lot of the radio that I listen to but she was able to be friendly engaging with her guests and that really came through that they have built some sort of rapport with her talking in their sharing of experiences.

They had some special music composed for This podcast which was played at various points.

Did you think that was a good idea so I Confess to having a bit of a bee in my bonnet about the use of music in factual programming or kreyszig functional programming.

Please find it quite interested so for example in this program about 3 or 4 minutes before the end of a piece of music came on almost to tell you that we are now approaching the end.

It's time for some conclusions and you think you're being manipulated in other words it feels a little bit like the end of Steven Spielberg film.

It's always the program produces and I can see why they do it in a way it seems to introduce a collar to a program, but it's as if they tell you what to think or feel about any given moment of the program and to that extent.

I didn't like contradictory see because Phil has been shaped by the journey that she has been on since leaving her home town that her daughter knows and you share that concerned that you're being manipulated to say I noticed the music but I didn't feel like I was being manipulated.

I thought it was kind of signposting where we were going.

Can you put the battery again to I mean you can make two arguments for it music like that.

You did helps over 30 or 25 minutes.

There's just one interview it breaks it out it does signpost, but also about still owes you are being played to reflect on what you just heard you don't think that's a valid thing to do I can see that part of you.

It's just that seems to drive in me as instinctive sense of which clearly my partner doesn't care does your partner witness it and stand and walk out that sudden demonstrative figure that the radio kind of hats sold before you leave your comfort zone which effectively means would you go back for more Sarah I would go back for more I was out of my comfort zone and I felt like I need it to be explained to me, but yes, I will go back until.

Took the music soundtrack off.

Would you go back? I would like Sarah I felt out of my comfort zone and I have to save where I'm walking past the radio again and this was on.

I would gladly listen to it, but thank you very much for listening for us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And you can listen to all the episodes of a daughter on BBC sounds and that's it for this week next week will be talking to the BBC China editor Stephen McDonnell have three is it on what is really going on in Beijing to please let us have your comments and questions for him.

I'm so then goodbye.