Year: 2024

A new 12-part podcast series from BBC Radio WM and BBC Local has been created on the approach to the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham Pub Bombings.

The series explores the impact of the bombs on the countless people affected such as family members of victims, the Birmingham Six and their families, and the city itself.
It wraps 50 years of an evolving story together for the first time and positions the bombings in the wider context of the Troubles and the Good Friday Agreement.
Produced, researched and presented for BBC Sounds by journalist Ed Barlow, In Detail: The Pub Bombings tells the story of one of the worst terrorist attacks on British soil.
It also features never before heard footage of one of the men accused of the bombings and harrowing personal testimony, revealing how countless lives have been impacted.
There are also interviews with veteran BBC broadcaster Michael Buerk, who reported on the night of the attack and the trial of the Birmingham Six.
Ed says: “Many of a certain age will know elements of this case – or remember aspects of it – but there are many who simply won’t know anything about it at all – and that was one of the reasons for making this series. We wanted to make sure that people don’t forget the fact that 21 people died in the most awful circumstances and highlight the fact that there are still more questions than answers about what really happened that night in 1974. The ripple effects of those bombs are still being felt to this day, in all sorts of ways, by so many people.”
BBC Radio WM’s Executive Editor Chris Pegg, who commissioned the series, says: “This is such an important part of the history of Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. This is the first time the whole story has been told in its entirety. Listeners will be taken from 1970s Birmingham to modern day Belfast thanks to some first-class storytelling.”
In Detail: The Pub Bombings will be available exclusively on BBC Sounds from Mon 4th November. Episodes will also be played on Sarah Julian at Breakfast on BBC Radio WM daily from Monday 4 November.

Radiodays Europe is happening in March 2025 – use code RTY25ATH to get a discount and join us in Athens! More..

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BBC Radio 4 has today announced new comedy commissions including the return of Frank Skinner’s One Person Found This Helpful.

It marks a return to radio for Frank Skinner after being let go by Bauer when his contract with Absolute Radio came to an end.
Icklewick FM, a co-commission with BBC TV Comedy, is also coming back to give listeners another slice of the dysfunctional community radio from the fictional Northern town of Icklewick, written by and starring Edinburgh Award winner Amy Gledhill and Chris Cantrill with a raft of brilliant sketch comedians.
The Final Word with Matt Forde, a new satirical comedy show, will see political comedian Matt Forde raid his contacts list and probe into some of the trickiest political subjects, interviewing politicians and chatting to comedy guests.
After winning the ARIA gold award for her previous Radio 4 stand-up special, I Don’t Know What to Say, former teacher and mother of three Laura Smyth returns with a stand-up series, Your Mum, where Laura and her guests share hilarious anecdotes, advice and sayings from the mouths of mothers and examine why maternal relationships can occasionally drive us up the wall.
In Ria Lina Gets Forensic, stand-up and qualified forensic scientist Ria Lina investigates anti-aging treatments, scrutinising the lengths people will go to cheat age and stay young. Using herself as a test subject, Rina will try to separate out the facts from the fads and fictions.
What? Seriously?? is a new podcast which combines comedy with quirky history, hosted by Dara O’Briain and Isy Suttie, who will unravel an extraordinary real-life tale each week with the help of a celebrity guest.
The Lively Life of Lindsey Santoro, a new stand-up series, will see Lindsey Santoro reading excerpts of her journal across four different days.
The new commissions also include a focus on scripted comedy, with second series for the parody of women’s magazine shows, Time of The Week, starring Sian Clifford and sitcom Do Gooders, which is set in the offices of a fictional charity and whose first series starred Fay Ripley, Ania Magliano and Frank Skinner.
Travis Jay’s Rum Punch has been commissioned for a series following a successful pilot. Drawing on various elements of Travis Jay’s own life, Rum Punch follows a multi-generational family as they struggle to keep their Caribbean restaurant afloat, as Marley, played by Travis, tries to find his niche in life. Dan Does Dating is a new sitcom from Michael Beck, following a man as he searches for love from one terrible date to another… could the problem be him?
Destined for greatness, up-and-coming comedy trio Crybabies have a lot of fun putting their signature playful twist on a series of audio adventures in homage to the Hollywood staples of their childhood in Crybabies Present… with hilarious and heartwarming takes on everything from Seagal-inspired action to Disney-esque fantasy.
Fans can also expect the return of One Person Found This Helpful, Frank Skinner’s panel show about online reviews. Michael Spicer will return with another series of Michael Spicer: No Room, playing every character in a host of sketches brilliantly satirising the nonsense of the modern world. Current Strictly favourite Chris McCausland will bring You Heard It Here First back for another series, asking a panel of comedians to answer questions, receiving only audio clues and descriptions.
Glenn Moore’s Almanac returns for a second series, and Stuart Mitchell follows up his successful Cost of Living series with Stuart Mitchell’s Cost of Dying, which takes a playful look at the real size of the bill after we pass away.

Radiodays Europe is happening in March 2025 – use code RTY25ATH to get a discount and join us in Athens! More..

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