Programme Information

Greek conductor and violinist Leonidas Kavakos

Leonidas Kavakos is conductor and soloist with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in this performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 6 at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall.

The orchestra's Beethoven Symphony Series comes to a genial close with the Pastoral Symphony, one of his sunniest most uplifting symphonies. It is preceded by the Violin Concerto, played by Leonidas Kavakos.

Presenter/Ian Skelly, Producer/Anthony Sellors

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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Lopa Kothari introduces sounds from around the world, plus a session by desert blues group Tamikrest, who have been branded as the "spiritual sons" of Malian super-group Tinariwen.

Tamashek is the language of the Touareg, a nomadic people inhabiting the Saharan desert across various countries, including Niger, Algeria, Libya and Mali.

The name Tamikrest is Tamashek for junction, connection or coalition. The seven members of Tamikrest, who originate from Mali, Niger and Algeria, came together to express their Touareg identity through Ishumar rock, the Touareg rebel music.

Tamikrest's songs praise the desert, a place that is fundamental for the Touareg. It was in the silky dunes of Essakane at the 2008 Festival of the Desert where they met Dirtmusic, a group of rock 'n' roll veterans from the USA and Australia.

With their tents side by side not only did they share Touareg tea, but also found themselves jamming together and discovered that their ideas and music fitted perfectly.

Presenter/Lopa Kothari, Producer/James Parkin

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Neil MacGregor continues his account of world history, told through objects at the British Museum, with an exploration of Britain at the time of the Roman collapse. Neil uses a silver pepper pot to tell the story of the end of Roman rule in Britain.

Throughout this week, Neil has been looking at how different cultures pursued pleasure some 2,000 years ago, from smoking in North America to court manners in China.

Today, the director of the British Museum looks at how Roman Britain's elite developed a taste for luxury goods and high living in the years before their demise. He tells the story through a silver pepper pot discovered as part of a buried hoard – possibly hidden by Romans on the run.

He describes the ambitions of this ancient elite and how they satisfied a particular taste for pepper. The programme includes contributions from food writer Christine McFadden and historian Roberta Tomber.

Presenter/Neil MacGregor, Producers/Philip Sellars, Paul Kobrak, Anthony Denselow and Jane Lewis

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Writer and gardening expert Alys Fowler observes the life of a rubbish skip from dusk to dawn. As darkness falls, what secrets and treasures do skips reveal, and just who is the Garbage Guru?

Alys explores where the idea for skips came from, when they became a common feature of everyday life and why they are called skips.

No stranger to "liberating" skipped curios for her garden and home, Alys builds a picture of people's behaviour in and around these metal Aladdin's caves and unearths amusing and amazing tales to add to skip folklore.

It's not just about old floorboards and broken sofas – passers-by have discovered everything from priceless antiques to an escaped prisoner in skips. And, if communities need affordable extra amenities such as a swimming pool or skateboard park, there's an artist who has created those very things from old skips.

Presenter/Alys Fowler, Producer/Neil Cargill

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

Russell Fuller presents all the day's sport news and looks ahead to the weekend's sporting action.

From 8.30pm, David Croft and guests preview this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix in 5 Live Formula 1.

Presenter/Russell Fuller, Producer/Patrick Whiteside

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Test Match Special

Friday 28 May

10.45am-6.30pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

Test Match Special's award-winning team present uninterrupted commentary on the second day of the first Test between England and Bangladesh, live from Lord's.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

Lauren Laverne is joined by Divine Comedy for a live session in the BBC 6 Music studios.

After 20 years of sustained success, Neil Hannon and chums release their new album, Bang Goes The Knighthood, at the end of May.

The last time Lauren sang on a record was on the Divine Comedy single Come Home Billy Bird.

Presenter/Lauren Laverne, Producer/Gary Bales

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Iron Maiden front-man Bruce Dickinson returns for one final show

After eight years of fronting the Rock Show for BBC 6 Music, Iron Maiden front-man Bruce Dickinson presents one final show.

To sign off, Bruce promises a very personal selection of music. The usual format, like the proverbial hotel TV set, goes out of the window as he plays nothing but his favourite tracks and bands.

Tonight's programme features the music that inspired him to become a musician – Deep Purple and Black Sabbath – to bands he's toured with – Judas Priest and Dream Theater – and bands he thinks are the future of the music, including System Of A Down and Killswitch Engage.

There's also some more obscure favourites, some classics past and present and, from the BBC's archives, Iron Maiden live at the Reading Festival in 1982, during Bruce's first whirlwind year with the band.

Aiming to go out with a bang and a belly laugh, Bruce will spin some top tunes and pepper it all with choice observations and anecdotes from half a lifetime of fronting a rock band and eight years fronting a radio show for the BBC.

Presenter/Bruce Dickinson, Producer/Ian Callaghan

BBC 6 Music Publicity

Each month in London a group of ex-pat Iranians get together to share poetry dating back almost 800 years.

The words of Persian poets Hafez, Sa'adi and Ferdouzi have become anchors to a country that many left behind three decades ago.

Iranian-born British documentary film-maker Amir Amirani sets out to discover why these poems capture the imagination of many Iranians and why are they revered as philosophical and spiritual texts.

Amir hears the memories and stories of ex-pat Iranians living in the UK and Paris – satirists, poets, historians, academics and musicians. He discovers that, for many, their books of poetry were among the few possessions that accompanied them as they fled, following the fall of the Shah in 1979.

Presenter/Amir Amirani, Producer/Caroline Beck

BBC World Service Publicity