Programme Information

Country blues singer/songwriter Pete Molinari returns to play live and talk about his latest album, A Train Bound For Glory, as well as his upbringing in Kent as part of a large Maltese/Italian/Egyptian family.

Bob Geldof also pops in to discuss his latest album, How To Compose Popular Songs That Will Sell.

Presenter/Bob Harris, Producer/Charlotte Worth for the BBC

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Roy Eldridge, with his fiery tone, brilliant upper register and inventive phrasing, was the most musically combative trumpeter of the swing era. The heir to Louis Armstrong and the main influence on Dizzy Gillespie, his own canon of work stands alongside theirs.

New Orleans-born trumpeter Abram Wilson helps Alyn Shipton to select the key recordings by Eldridge, including his creative partnerships with Gene Krupa, Chu Berry, Artie Shaw, Lester Young and Art Tatum, in this edition of Jazz Library.

Presenter and Producer/Alyn Shipton

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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Opera On 3 – Live From The Met

Saturday 5 March

6.00-9.00pm BBC RADIO 3

Renée Fleming and Lawrence Brownlee star in the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Armida, Rossini's opera about a sorceress and a warrior in the time of the Crusades, live from New York.

Rinaldo is a fierce warrior, determined to play his part in the Crusades. But when he encounters Armida, who is on the opposing side, he loses sight of his Christian duties and idles as a lovesick prisoner in her enchanted garden. It is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue.

Rinaldo is sung by tenor Lawrence Brownlee and Armida by soprano Renée Fleming. The cast also includes tenors John Osborn as Goffredo, Antonino Siragusa as Gernando, Barry Banks as Carlo and Kobie van Rensburg as Ubaldo. Riccardo Frizza conducts the Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera and the programme is presented by Margaret Juntwait.

Presenter/Margaret Juntwait, Producer/Tony Sellors

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

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Fifty-five-year-old Frank is an old-school skinhead who, since he was a teenager, has embraced the music, fashion and politics of the culture, such as reggae, ska and respect for a multicultural Britain. A print-work veteran and union activist, he believes the working class have to stick together, regardless of where they're from or the colour of their skin.

Frank's son, Gary, has been bought up to respect the same values as his dad. But Gary has been out of work so long he thinks he'll never get another chance; how can he make his Dad proud of him like his brother Anthony, who was killed in Afghanistan? Maybe the answer lies in the politics of protest, protecting the memory of his brother and soldiers like him: standing up against the anti-war protestors – standing up for what's British.

Frank is played by Peter Wight and Gary by Tom Brooke. The cast also includes Lizzy Watts as Rachel, Joe Absolom as Danny, Ben Crowe as Adam, Nyasha Hatendi as Michael, Craig Els as the interviewer and Adeel Akhtar as the youth.

Writer Natalie Mitchell has had work presented at the Royal Court Theatre, Soho Theatre and ATC/Root Theatre. In 2007 she was one of six writers chosen by the Royal Court to represent England at the World Interplay Young Writer's Festival in Australia. She was also selected to be part of the Next Generation residency with the BBC Writers' Room and in 2009 participated in the Radio Sparks scheme. She is currently a member of the Royal Court's "super group" of writers.

Producer/Sally Avens

BBC Radio 3 Publicity

Peter White explores the serious and not-so-serious experiences of shoppers and examines what rights people really have.

Sheffield Trading Standards officer Phil Glaves takes Peter on a tour of the returns desks at the Meadowhall shopping centre, with queues which sometimes appear more extensive than those found at the tills themselves.

Phil explains the difficult balance between protecting customers and protecting the stores themselves. One of his more interesting complainants was a man who made full use of a 30-day no-quibble returns policy to test out an entire range of bread makers, keeping each one for the maximum period possible.

Peter is no stranger when it comes to returning goods and, as one of BBC Radio 4's You And Yours presenters, he is well aware of his rights when things do not work. But what happens to those products he just doesn't like, particularly after Christmas? He asks if it is right to expect stores to step in when the present he thought would be perfect turns out to be far from it.

The rise in online shopping and the increasing amounts spent on technological goods creates additional uncertainty for shoppers and he tracks the experiences of those dissatisfied with a dizzying array of phones, computers and even bikes bought with the click of a mouse.

He questions the motives of people ranging from the serial complainer to the novice testing the waters for the first time; and, as stores such as Marks & Spencer abandon their 90-day refund policy, he finds out why people sometimes wait so long before complaining.

Presenter/Peter White, Producer/Sue Mitchell for the BBC

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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This drama, set in 2004, tracks the events following the release of Israeli Mordechai Vanunu, who was imprisoned for nearly 18 years.

Mordechai Vanunu worked as a technician at Israel's Dimona nuclear plant. In 1986 he revealed information about Israel's nuclear weapons development programme to British Sunday Times journalist Peter Hounam, who broke the story to the world.

As a result he was lured to Italy from Britain and subsequently kidnapped by Israeli agents and imprisoned. He spent 15 years in solitary confinement.

Upon his release in 2004 he was barred from speaking to foreign media and forbidden from leaving the country. This new drama follows the attempts of Peter Hounam to try to find a way of interviewing Vanunu without breaking the terms of his release.

It looks at the relationship between the two men, as well as exploring the difficult issues of investigative journalism and freedom of speech.

Mordechai Vanunu is played by Shai Matheson and Peter Hounam by Davis Westhead. The cast also features Uriel Emil as Meir Vanunu, Rebecca Knowles as Hilarie Hounam, Matthew Gravelle as Chris Mitchell and Josh Becker as a security guard.

Producer/Polly Thomas for the BBC

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Steve Hewlett marks the 80th birthday of controversial media baron Rupert Murdoch with a look at the man behind the headlines

To mark the 80th birthday of Rupert Murdoch, the world's most controversial media baron, Steve Hewlett attempts to get the inside story of the man behind the headlines by talking to some of his harshest rivals, as well as his closest collaborators.

Among those Steve speaks to are former union leader Brenda Dean; Kelvin MacKenzie, who edited Rupert Murdoch's The Sun newspaper; Roy Greenslade, who recalls the battle for Wapping; Asa Briggs, who talks about his time at Oxford as Murdoch's tutor; and actor Barry Humphries, who paints a fearsome picture of Murdoch's drive.

In 1931, Murdoch was born to a wealthy media family in Melbourne, Australia. As a young man, his Oxford education was cut short by his father's death, upon which he became managing director of Australia's News Limited in 1953. Under his leadership, the company acquired newspaper after newspaper until Murdoch became the dominant force in Australian media.

Murdoch then turned his gaze to Britain with the purchase of The News Of The World and the launch of The Sun. In 1981, he gained significant prestige with his purchase of The Times and The Sunday Times, newspapers that had been unprofitable thanks to increased industrial action. Murdoch, ever the innovative businessman, began electronically automating his newspaper production, which resulted in a confrontation that climaxed at Fortress Wapping in 1986.

Today, his News Corporation has significant media holdings around the globe.

Presenter/Steve Hewlett, Producer/Colin McNulty for Whistledown Productions

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

5 Live Sport

Saturday 5 March

12.00noon-6.06pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Mark Pougatch looks ahead to the afternoon's football, including Birmingham City versus West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal against Sunderland in the Premier League, and Celtic versus Hamilton in the Scottish Premier League. There are also reports throughout the programme from Sri Lanka's match against Australia in Colombo in the cricket World Cup.

From 12.45pm, there's live commentary of the Premier League clash between Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion. Updates come from Gloucester against Bath in rugby union's Premiership, and the doubles rubber of the Davis Cup tennis tie between Great Britain and Tunisia at Bolton Arena.

From 3pm there is coverage of the afternoon games, including Sunderland's trip to Arsenal and Celtic versus Hamilton. Rugby union Premiership updates come from Leicester versus Saracens and there are reports from the European indoor athletics in Paris and from day one of the swimming World Championship trials in Manchester.

Sports Report at 5pm features post-match reaction and interviews plus the classified football results, along with updates of Manchester City's game against Wigan Athletic in the Premier League, which kicks off at 5.30pm.

Presenter/Mark Pougatch, Producer/Mike Carr

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

World Cup Cricket

Saturday 5 March

8.45am-5.00pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

The cricket World Cup continues with the group match between Sri Lanka and Australia from the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, and listeners can enjoy uninterrupted live commentary on the whole game.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

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Swimming

Saturday 5 March

5.45-7.30pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE SPORTS EXTRA

Uninterrupted commentary from the World Championship swimming trials comes live from the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Producer/Jen McAllister

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra Publicity

Renowned author Javier Cercas talks in depth about his novel Soldiers Of Salamis, which won the 2004 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

Soldiers Of Salamis is a painful history of Spain's civil war explored through the astonishing, death-defying story of fascist soldier Sanchez Mazas.

BBC World Service Publicity