09/08/2013

Was the BBC's HardTalk too hard on Baritone Thomas Hampson? When Sarah Montague interviewed the opera star on the World Service and BBC News programme, opera fans around the world took umbrage. We hear from the listener whose complaint went viral and made him an overnight hero in the opera world.

Plus, is the World at One able to maintain its reputation for hard news during silly season? Roger Bolton speaks to WATO editor Nick Sutton.

The announcement that Peter Capaldi is to play the 12th Doctor was big news in TV this week, but Radio 4 is to have its own sea-change. The successor to long-serving editor of The Archers, Vanessa Whitburn, has just been announced. Sean O'Connor will take on the role from September. He was a producer for The Archers in the 1990s. But stints at EastEnders, Hollyoaks, and the salacious ITV drama Footballers' Wives have also been prominent talking points for listeners. We hear Archers addicts' hopes for the O'Connor tenure.

Former voice of Radio 4, Charlotte Green, landed her dream job this week. She'll be replacing James Alexander Gordon to read 5Live's classified football results every Saturday from the end of September. Feedback listeners wish her well, but some would still rather hear her back on Radio 4.

And we speak to one of the winners of the first BBC Writers' Prize for Radio, Sarah Hehir. Her play 'Bang Up' aired this week in the Afternoon Drama slot on BBC Radio 4.

Producer: Will Yates A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

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