BBC Radio and BBC Sounds to bring festive joy, magical stories and musical treats for audiences this Christmas

Introduction

Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer, says: “We’ve got a bumper year of festive cheer lined up for our listeners as we invite them to celebrate this season with us across our much loved stations and BBC Sounds.

"From magical stories to musical treats and content full of laughter, reflections and brilliant guests, there’s so much to choose from, and once again BBC Radio will provide the perfect Christmas soundtrack for audiences, whatever they are in the mood for.”

BBC Sounds

BBC Sounds will be showcasing special Christmas episodes of You’re Dead To Me, Pressed, Uncanny, Elis James and John Robins, The Big Green Money Show, Infinite Monkey Cage, and Scarlett Moffatt Wants To Believe

• Soundtrack the season with hours of uninterrupted curated mixes and festive specials from Romesh Ranganathan, Babtunde Aléshé, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and more, through the new Back To Back Sounds Christmas and New Year long listens

Pop Music Radio

• On Radio 1 Clara Amfo unveils her Hottest Record Of The Year on Radio 1’s Future Sounds, and in The Official Chart show - Jack Saunders unveils the Christmas Number 1. 

• Join Radio 2 On Christmas Day where Steve Wright will be counting down an exclusive Top 40 chart of Christmas Number Ones and Sir Cliff Richard will be chatting to Sara Cox at the iconic Abbey Roads studios in London. Throughout the festive month, listeners will be treated to a fun Christmas with the story of gospel music with Mica Paris, seasonal French soundtrack with Fred Sirieix, West End Christmas special with Elaine Paige and a sing-along in Anneka Rice’s Junior Choice, which celebrates its 70th anniversary

• Asian Network will be bringing back some of its Asian Network Represents presenters from 2021 and 2022 as they take to the airwaves for the afternoon shows over the festive period

• On BBC Radio 6 Music, there are Festive Takeover shows with Björk, Self Esteem, John Grant and Peaches. Queermas is also back. Join Derrick Carter, I. Jordan and Maya Jane Coles as they provide the perfect party soundtrack

• 1Xtra will be hosting an on-air Christmas Party on 1 December, featuring some surprise guests and special live performances

Radio 3, Orchestras and Choirs 

• Radio 3 will be bringing the sounds, delights and magic of Christmas to life throughout the festive of month with seasonal treats from Petroc Trelawny presenting Christmas Morning live, as well as festive music editions of In Tune, Classical Fix and New Music Show

• Listeners will also be transported through the snow-capped mountains of the Nordics with a special Christmas edition of Slow Radio, which will see listeners follow the audial journey of a mother reindeer traversing the plains of Finland, Sweden and Norway with her young

• Other highlights include the return of Horatio Clare’s annual Sound Walks, which this year sees Horatio encounter the awe-inspiring vistas of the Faroe Islands; a special rendition of A Christmas Carol with Mel Giedroyc and BBC Singers; and a Christmas cracker edition of Inside Music, presented by superstar choirmaster and chairman of this year’s BBC Radio 3 Christmas Carol Competition, Gareth Malone

• BBC Philharmonic presents an enchanting programme of festive feeling classical music to mark the Advent season

• BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Chorus come together for its annual feast of movie music from across the ages

• BBC National Orchestra of Wales spreads seasonal cheer with its Christmas concerts in Cardiff and Swansea, starring West End star Louise Dearman and Big Band singing legend Matt Ford

• BBC Symphony Orchestra will also be bringing magic with a world premiere of The Hound Of The Baskervilles with Mark Gatiss and Sanjeev Bkaskar as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson 

• Dance to Christmas tunes with a soul and RnB twist presented by Trevor Nelson and performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra and many special guests

Radio 4, 4 Extra and 5 Live

• Seven Guest Editors will take over the editorial reigns of the Radio 4’s Today programme during the festive season: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Björn Ulvaeus, Jamie Oliver, Jeremy Fleming, Dame Sharon White, Lord Botham and Anne-Marie Imafidon.

• Steven Spielberg, Cate Blanchett and Kirsty Young are Lauren Laverne’s castaways over the festive period.

• Delia Smith joins Sheila Dillon in her kitchen for a special festive edition of The Food Programme, and Yottam Ottolenghi cooks one of his favourite festive feasting dishes for Andi Oliver in One Dish.

• Danny Robins is back with another terrifying real-life tale of the paranormal in a special Uncanny Christmas episode, while Mark Gatiss and Rev Richard Coles go on a ghost hunt.

• Join the residents of Ambridge as their rival seasonal choirs provide a warm and festive backdrop to the culmination of a trying year for Brookfield Farm.

• Agatha Christie’s iconic detective is reimagined for a new generation with a murder, a theft and a mystery where nothing is quite what it seems, in Marple: Three New Stories.

• Jane Horrocks opens up her diaries to give an insight into her love affair with Ian Dury, interspersed with music and extracts from re-discovered letters from the legendary singer.

• In the heartwarming radio drama, Christmas Wings, two teachers who shared a kiss at their Christmas party, dance around the issue while waiting in the wings at their school nativity play.

• Charles Dickens’ ghost story The Signalman is newly imagined by Jonathan Holloway, while Christmas with Charles Dickens, is a You’re Dead To Me stocking-filler dedicated to the man himself

• Radio 4 Extra celebrates the life of Bernard Cribbins with a day of programmes about or starring the much-loved actor on 29 December, as well as some new interviews with people who knew him

• This Christmas, as well as keeping listeners up to date with the latest news, BBC Radio 5 Live combines big name specials with a huge festive schedule of live sport.This includes coverage of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the return of the FA Premier League on Boxing Day.

• Colin Murray, Stacey Dooley, and Elis James & John Robins all present shows over the Christmas period, while listeners can also enjoy retrospective look back at an extraordinary year of news and sport, including some of Nihal Arthanayake’s biggest interviews of the year in Headliners

• Patrick Kielty presents a special Christmas edition of his show on Christmas Eve to set you up for the Christmas weekend. Colin Murray sets up your Christmas day with special guests, festive fun, and the day's news and sport headlines and Stacey Dooley is back on 5 Live to celebrate Christmas Day with some of her friends and special guests. 

• Elis James and John Robins present a special festive edition of Made Up Games! Recorded earlier this month with a live audience, they're taking their regular Friday feature and supersizing it for Christmas, with all the fun, competitiveness and nonsense that you'd usually hear on their 5 Live show.

BBC World Service

• From BBC World Service, there will be a spellbinding midwinter audio drama, The Dark Is Rising, starring Harriet Walter and Toby Jones

• In its 90th year of the World Service, there will be the Arts Hour New Year International Comedy Special and the World Service’s New Year’s Concert featuring members of the BBC Generation Artists scheme past and present

BBC Sounds

• Special Christmas episodes of You’re Dead To Me, Pressed, Uncanny, Elis James and John Robins, The Big Green Money Show, Infinite Monkey Cage, and Scarlett Moffatt Wants To Believe
• Soundtrack the season with hours of uninterrupted curated mixes and festive specials from Romesh Ranganathan, Babtunde Aléshé, Sophie Ellis Bextor and more, through the new Back To Back Sounds Christmas and New Year long listens

Listeners can enjoy bonus festive episodes on BBC Sounds this Christmas from fan favourites like You're Dead To Me and the Elis James and John Robins podcast, which will be available over this holiday period. Culinary Christmas classics will be served in the One Dish Christmas Special with Yottam Ottolenghi, while Brian Cox and Robin Ince will be joined by Tim Minchin in the Infinite Monkey Cage Christmas Special: Why Does Wine Taste Good?

Join influencers Mariam and Adeola in a special Pressedmas 2.0 festive episode, as well as brand new episodes of Scarlett Moffatt Wants To Believe, The Big Green Money Show and Uncanny, all featuring as part of BBC Sounds Christmas offering.

There is music for every occasion on BBC Sounds this season, with hours of uninterrupted shows to be found on two new long listens, Back To Back Sounds Christmas and Back To Back Sounds New Year. Listeners can enjoy seasonal specials from BBC Sounds favourites including Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Romesh Ranganathan, Fearne Cotton, Babatunde Aléshé, Poet, Mimi The Music Blogger and more.

Hits For Days is on hand with an extensive catalogue of Christmas number ones, while alternative fans get their fix with festive editions of Late In The Day and Morning After Mixes, expertly curated by Cerys Matthews, Huw Stephens and Craig Charles. The Christmas Chill series offers listeners an escape, with Mindful Mixes including A Winter Walk, A Choral Christmas and the hugely popular Sleeping Forecast, and New Year is sorted with party mixes from Radio 1 Happy, Trending Tracks, Pace Setter Party and a nostalgia trip to the noughties with Indie Forever’s Indie Sleaze NYE House Party.

Music

BBC Sounds has even more ways to enjoy music to suit every mood with Christmas Sounds. For the first time, listeners can enjoy hours of uninterrupted festive shows and mixes through two new long listen playlists: Back To Back Christmas and Back To Back New Year. The new feature, which launched earlier this year, makes it easier for listeners to find the best on-demand music content from the BBC.

From festive specials for some of our most popular music shows to bespoke mixes curated by our experts, all music fans can soundtrack their Christmas on BBC Sounds this year. Either through Back To Back Sounds or by searching Christmas Sounds, both on the music tab, listeners can enjoy:

Christmas Hits: a collection of classic Christmas favourites

• Festive editions of popular mixes including Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Kitchen Disco: The Ultimate Christmas Disco Sleighlist!, Sounds Of The 90s with Fearne Cotton: 90s Festive Mixtape and Romesh Ranganathan’s For The Love Of Hip Hop: Christmas Playlist.
• The Christmas Movie Mixtape sees Radio 1's film expert Ali Plumb pick out some of the most loved songs from holiday movie favourites
• Radio 1 Happy: Christmas Party! Brings festive favourites and party bangers together to soundtrack your party.

Throwback Christmas: the very best in festive hip hop and R&B

• Throwback Throwdown: Christmas Day Clash! sees Poet and Mimi The Music Blogger impress Babatunde Aléshé with their Christmas Day selections.
• Joelah and Keke host a series of Throwback Party Christmas specials, with top guests including DJ Target, DJ Ace Remi Burgz Reece Parkinson and Nadia Jae all selecting their top three festive themed tracks.
• 1Xtra's R&B Chill: A Timeless Christmas: Nadia Jae curates a mix of smooth Christmas classics from R&B legends.

Alternative Christmas: soothing seasonal tunes and alternative indie ambience

• Alternative fans can get their festive fix with off-beat selections of hidden treasures and covers in Late In The Day: Laid-back Christmas Gems, and Late In The Day With Craig Charles.
• Cerys Matthews and Huw Stephens curate unique playlists of winter vibes and gentle early morning energy for The Morning After Mix
• Have yourself an Indie little Christmas with Indie Forever: An Indie Christmas!

Christmas Chill: enjoy a calming Christmas escape with laid-back festive gems

• Escape with Olafur Arnalds’ musical life raft of soothing songs, Ultimate Calm: Music To Bring Calm Amidst The Chaos, featuring photographer Benjamin Hardman.
• A Winter Walk features festive jazz and wintry soundscapes, and there’s an hour of choral music to set the mood with A Choral Christmas.
• The Winter Sleeping Forecast takes listeners on a voyage into the winter nights with gentle instrumental music.

Modern Christmas: the latest and hottest seasonal bangers

• For the pop heads, a series of Hits For Days festive specials including Christmas Covers featuring seasonal classics reimagined by the biggest names in pop, Future Christmas Classics unearths the hits of the future and Christmas Number 1s looks back at the biggest and most surprising festive number 1s.
• Y2K Party: Office Party offers nothing but the biggest Christmas Party bangers.
• Party Like It's... Christmas has none other than the Father Christmas presenting festive favourites, as well as hearing what’s on the Christmas list of some of your favourite BBC presenters. 

New Year: party anthems and blissful New Year vibes to fuel your 2023 renewal

• Sophie Ellis Bextor's Kitchen Disco: New Year's Eve - a party special with huge tunes to get you dancing.
• Radio 1 Happy: New Year Party! An hour of big happy bangers perfect for your New Year celebrations, featuring Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, David Guetta, Rudimental and more.
• Trending Tracks: Trending Hits 2022 looks back at the biggest viral hits throughout the year. 
• Radio 1's Best New Pop 2022 Special with Maia Beth charts the biggest Pop releases of 2022.
• Hits For Days: New Year's Eve Party celebrates the biggest upbeat party hits from the year.
• For fans of nostalgia, the mastermind behind the hit Indie Sleaze Instagram hosts Indie Forever: Indie Sleaze's NYE House Party, Emo Forever: Hot Milk’s New Year’s Eve Emo Playlist with Jim and Han from Hot Milk picking all the big Emo tunes, and Rave Forever’s New Year special has all the big dance anthems throughout the party season.
• Start the new year right with Pace Setter Run With Reece New Year special, featuring Reece Parkinson’s top running tracks to help beat the January blues, Pace Setter Dance providing the ultimate motivation to help reaching those 2023 fitness goals, or keep the celebrations going and boost your workout with Pace Setter Party.
• Alternatively, soothe those NYE hangovers with low-key, late night tracks in Late In The Day: New Year and ease into 2023 with a beautiful selection of calming tunes in the Morning After Mix: New Year special.

BBC Radio 1

This Christmas, BBC Radio 1 will be bringing the best of festive cheer to listeners, from showcasing a new roster of DJs over the Christmas period to exclusively revealing this year’s Christmas Number 1 on Christmas Day.

Clara Amfo’s Hottest Record Of The Year

Thursday 15 December, 6pm-8pm

Every weekday at 6pm, Clara Amfo unveils her Hottest Record In The World on Radio 1’s Future Sounds. It’s a slot known for breaking some of the most exciting new music on the planet.

This December, she will be counting down through her Top 20 Hottest Records from the past 12 months, as voted for by Radio 1’s listeners, before revealing which track has earned the coveted title of Hottest Record Of The Year.

Sam Fender’s Seventeen Going Under was crowned Hottest Record Of The Year in 2021.

Voting will open on Monday 5 December and close on the Thursday 15 December.

• Presenter: Clara Amfo
• Producer: A BBC Audio production

FM

Jack Saunders Reveals The Official Christmas Number 1

Friday 25 December, 2pm - 4pm

The Christmas Number 1 will be revealed on The Official Chart on Radio 1 with Jack Saunders.

• Presenter: Jack Saunders

FM

Scarlett Moffatt Wants To Believe

Friday 16 December

Scarlett and Scott are taking you around the world in this Christmas special as they talk about traditions across the globe including a topless Santa, poop logs and the four million Euro lottery!

• A BBC Audio production

FW

BBC Radio 1Xtra

Pressed - Pressedmas 2.0

Friday 23 December 

Your favourite influencers talking about what has them pressed about Christmas, answering the juiciest hotlines and judge whether you're on the naughty or nice list this year.

• BBC Studios and Unheard by VAMP production for BBC Sounds

1Xtra's on-air Christmas Party

Thursday 1 December, 7pm

DJ Target will be hosting 1Xtra's on-air Christmas Party with some surprise guests passing through the show and some special live performances! New R&B sensation and everyone's fave new girl group FLO will be picking some xmas party bangers to start us off and chatting to Target about the massive year they've had so far.

Russ is also stopping by the show with a xmas present of his own.. a brand new song that Target will be pressing play on for the first time anywhere in the world for his last Target Embargo of the year! Special live performances on the night also from one to watch, Jaz Karis and Manga Saint Hilare. Plus more surprises to come...

BBC Asian Network

BBC Asian Network will be celebrating Christmas with SmashBengali taking over the Breakfast Show from 19 to 30 December for a fortnight of festive music, fun and games.

On Boxing Day and New Year’s Day there will be an exciting takeover, with some Asian Network Represents presenters returning for Christmas Day, Boxing Day, 27 December, 28 December and New Year’s Day.

BBC Radio 2

Radio 2 is celebrating the festive season with a glittering schedule of music delights. On Christmas Day, Steve Wright counts down an exclusive Top 40 chart of Christmas Number Ones, while Sir Cliff Richard and Sara Cox sit down for a chat at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London.

Across the festive period, there are programmes spanning a diverse range of genres and moods. From the story of Christmas gospel music as told by Mica Paris joined by Emeli Sandé and a seasonal French soundtrack from maître d'hôtel Fred Sirieix, to a star-studded West End Christmas special with Elaine Paige and sing-along theme tune favourites with Anneka Rice in Junior Choice, there’s something for everyone to enjoy on Radio 2 this Christmas and New Year.

Sunday Night is Music Night

Sunday 18 December, 8pm-10pm

Elaine Paige presents Radio 2’s West End Christmas as a host of stars from the West End and Broadway get into the festive spirit, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor Richard Balcombe. The guest line-up for this special Sunday Night is Music Night features Samantha Barks, Trevor Dion Nicholas, Julian Ovenden, John Owen-Jones, Rachel Tucker and Marisha Wallace. Let the festivities begin as they take on listeners’ favourite seasonal songs, from All I Want For Christmas Is You to Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, and many more.

Recorded at BBC Maida Vale Studios in November 2022. This programme will be available on BBC Sounds from 1 December.

Presenter: Elaine Paige

Producer: Lucy Yon

• A BBC Audio production

JM7

The Blues Show With Ronnie Wood

Monday 19 December, 9pm-10pm

Another chance to hear The Blues Show with Ronnie Wood ahead of a Rolling Stones celebration on Radio 2 featuring an extended cut of Rolling with The Stones from 9pm to 12am on Christmas Day.

In this special programme, Ronnie Wood covers for regular Blues Show host Cerys Matthews. He’s a musician who’s spent a lifetime playing the blues in one form or another, and who had just finished a Rolling Stones global tour. Ronnie plays a selection of his favourite blues tunes including Mahalia Jackson and Big Bill Broonzy, and tells the stories behind some of his wildest adventures in the blues.

• Presenter: Ronnie Wood
• Producer: Mark Hagen
• A BBC Audio Production

A Top Brass Christmas

Tuesday 20 December, 9pm-10pm

Brass music and Christmas have a long and treasured association. A Top Brass Christmas celebrates this relationship with an hour-long Christmas special.

Hosted by one of the world’s greatest living brass musicians, James Morrison, the show brings together some festive favourites, introducing carols, songs and lots of seasonal brass music. There’s jazz from Chet Baker and Gunhild Carling, big band from Tom Kubis, Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington and The Airmen Of Note, carols from Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band and The New York Staff Band of the Salvation Army, plus brassy pop covers from Oompah Brass, Aubrey Logan, and Back Chat Brass. James also compiles his own Top Brass Nutcracker Suite and plays original arrangements of festive classics by the likes of Imperial Brass, Riot Jazz, Bone-a-Fide Trombone Quartet, the Red Light Brass Band, German Brass, and the Funky Butt Brass Band! The perfect way to get in a Christmassy mood.

• Presenter: James Morrison
• Producer: Patrick Johns
• A Lonesome Pine production

JM7

Cliff Richard Meets Sara Cox

Wednesday 21 December, 9pm-10pm

Multi-award winning performer and national treasure Sir Cliff Richard chats to Sara Cox at the iconic Abbey Road Studios about his incredible 64-year career, which has seen more than 130 of his singles, albums and EPs reach the UK top 20, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Sara will play many of those incredible songs and discuss his amazing career on the live performance stage, big and small screen and in all our record collections.

In 2020 whilst celebrating his 80th birthday, the Official Charts Company confirmed he had set a new all-time Official Chart record by becoming the first artist ever to score a Top 5 album in eight consecutive decades.

This Radio 2 special will include material not heard in the accompanying Cliff At Christmas special for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

This programme will be available on BBC Sounds from 1 December.

• Presenter: Sara Cox
• Producer: Mark Simpson
• A BBC Audio production

JM7

CMA Christmas Special

Thursday 22 December, 9pm-10pm

CMA Country Christmas returns for its 13th year. Don’t miss some of country music’s most beloved artists coming together for an intimate night full of holiday classics and one-of-a-kind musical approaches. This annual festive special is hosted by Carly Pearce and features performances by Dan & Shay, Maren Morris, The War and Treaty, Steven Curtis Chapman, Scotty McCreery, Molly Tuttle and Old Dominion.

• Presenter: Carly Pearce
• Producer: Mark Hagen
• A BBC Audio production

JM7

Trevor Nelson’s Soul Christmas

Thursday 22 December, 10pm-12am

Don’t miss this broadcast of Radio 2 DJ and urban music pioneer Trevor Nelson’s soul concert from the magnificent Royal Albert Hall this Christmas.

After bringing the house down in 2019, Trevor returns to the Royal Albert Hall for a second time round, bringing together a host of special guests including Chic’s Kimberly Davis, Basement Jaxx vocalist Vula Malinga, soul singers Tony Momrelle and Omar, Ivor Novello-winning producer Troy Miller, award-winning singer Corinne Bailey Rae, singer-songwriter Andrew Roachford and British gospel group The Kingdom Choir. They perform reimagined and re-scored iconic tracks with help from the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Dance along to Soul and RnB with a classic Christmas twist this December at Trevor Nelson’s Soul Christmas.

Recorded on Monday 19 December.

• Presenter: Trevor Nelson
• Producer: Joe Haddow
• A Spiritland production

JM7

Richie Anderson’s Driving Home For Christmas

Saturday 24 December, 3pm-6pm

Richie Anderson keeps you company, live on Christmas Eve. If you’re Driving Home For Christmas, he’s got all the tunes to keep you going, wherever you’re travelling for the festive season. If you’re at home or already reached your destination, he’ll be delivering the perfect soundtrack for the late afternoon with some of his favourite festive bangers!

Richie will be chatting to listeners across the UK about what they’re getting up to, who they’re spending the big day with, and maybe even taking a request or two. And he’ll be hearing from some of his celebrity friends who’ve been sending through their Christmas greetings. 2022 has been a very busy year for Richie - there was Eurovision, the Commonwealth Games and even a little dancing competition on the telly, so there are plenty of famous faces who want to say hello!

He’ll also be revealing what he has decided is The Greatest Christmas Pop Song Of All Time. So whether you’re top to toe in tailbacks, roasting chestnuts on an open fire, or frantically picking up some last-minute presents, Richie’s got your Christmas Eve playlist sorted!

• Presenter: Richie Anderson
• Producer: Patrick Thomas
• A BBC Audio production

JM7

Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Festive Kitchen Disco

Saturday 24 December, 6pm-8pm

The fabulous Sophie Ellis-Bextor soundtracks your Christmas Eve wherever you are - travelling to see friends and family, wrapping presents or preparing the sprouts for tomorrow! The show will be packed full of feel-good tunes and fun-filled festive classics.

• Presenter: Sophie Ellis-Bextor
• Producer: David Manero
• A Listen production

JM7

Sounds Of The 80s with Gary Davies

Saturday 24 December, 8pm-10pm

Let Gary Davies provide the soundtrack to your Christmas Eve with two hours of the decade’s festive favourites, alongside listener’s memories of their best Christmas... ever!

Email the show at gary@bbc.co.uk

• Presenter: Gary Davies
• Producer: Johnny Kalifornia
• A Listen production

JM7

Fred Sirieix: Vive Noël!

Saturday 24 December, 10pm-11pm

In his special Christmas mixtape for Radio 2, French maître d'hôtel and TV presenter Fred Sirieix presents this look at some of his favourite French songs, which are the seasonal soundtrack to his Christmas.

Fred reminisces about family festivities growing up in France, and reveals the personal stories and funny anecdotes behind these festive favourites with a difference.

Fred says: “I can’t wait to wish a très Joyeux Noël to all the Radio 2 listeners with a playlist extraordinaire of my favourite French songs that I love to play at this time of year, and I’ll be sharing some of my fondest memories of Christmases from years gone by.”

His cool yule playlist will feature stand-out tracks from some of the biggest stars in French music, including La Companie Créole, Joe Dassin and Lio.

• Presenter: Fred Sirieix
• Producer: Jodie Keane
• A BBC Audio production

JM7

Cliff Richard’s Hits Playlist 

Sunday 25 December, 7am-8am

A compilation of Cliff Richard’s hits to soundtrack your Christmas morning.

• Producer: Mark Simpson 
• A BBC Audio production

JM7

Good Morning Christmas 2022

Sunday 25 December, 8am-10am

Live on Christmas Day, the Reverend Kate Bottley celebrates with carols, festive greetings and a special message. The programme will feature a specially curated mix of listeners’ favourite seasonal songs and sing-a-long carols. Kate will also have inspirational stories from those spreading cheer today and will be hearing from chefs from across the globe who are busy preparing Christmas lunch to create a feast of plenty for those in need.

• Presenter: Reverend Kate Bottley
• Producer: Jenny Smith
• A BBC Audio production

JM7

Junior Choice

Sunday 25 December, 10am-12pm

Anneka is back with a very special edition of Junior Choice for 2022 as she celebrates the show’s landmark moment - 70 years ago today, on Christmas Day, the BBC Light Programme gave us Children's Choice, the first ever request show for children.

In the year the BBC celebrates reaching 100 years of age, Anneka marks the occasion by playing children’s theme tunes from across the decades, pulling them all together in bitesize chunks to test listeners’ knowledge.

She’ll have sing-along favourites for kids of all ages and listeners are encouraged to choose their top picks.

Anneka says: “I can’t wait to be part of everyone's Christmas morning. Junior Choice was a huge part of my childhood and as a little girl I would sit glued to the wireless waiting for Sparky’s Magic Piano to come on. I had no idea that I would join the BBC myself and become part of that BBC history and so it is particularly poignant for me to be saying Happy Christmas to Radio 2 listeners and Happy 100th Birthday to the BBC!”

Please join Anneka as she provides the perfect accompaniment to family Christmas morning, live from Wogan House. Get in touch by emailing anneka@bbc.co.uk, texting 88291 or sending a WhatsApp to 08000 288 291.

• Presenter: Anneka Rice
• Producer: Julie Newman
• A BBC Audio production

JM7

Christmas Lunch Live with Gary Davies

Sunday 25 December, 12pm-2pm

Gary Davies has the perfect feel-good soundtrack of festive tunes and chat, live and direct from Wogan House.

From the BBC Archive, Gary will be bringing top hints and cooking tips from celebrity chefs, all designed to help listeners perfect a top-notch Christmas meal. And he’ll be ringing round some of the Radio 2 presenting family to find out just what they are up to this lunchtime. Listeners are also encouraged to ring in to share their festive plans and family traditions.

• Presenter: Gary Davies
• Producer: Lee Thompson
• A Listen production

JM7

The Songs That Bring You Joy with Gaby Roslin

Sunday 25 December, 2pm-4pm

Music is an amazing thing. The songs you listen to can change the way you see the world. The right lyrics or songs can lift your spirits, they can provide a quick pick-me-up to motivate you accomplish your goals, or simply remind us about appreciating the beauty of the world that we live in.

In this special show, Gaby Roslin shares the ultimate feel-good playlist designed to inspire and give us that little lift we all occasionally need. It features tracks from James Brown, S Club 7, Lizzo and Queen, to name just a few, and Gaby will be encouraging listeners to Spread The Joy with the happiest show on radio.

• Presenter: Gaby Roslin
• A BBC Audio production

JM7

Most Streamed No.1 Christmas Records

Sunday 25 December, 4pm-7pm

Steve Wright counts down a unique Top 40 chart - the most streamed Christmas No. 1s - compiled exclusively by the Official Charts Company for Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.

Now that streaming is such a popular way for many of us to consume music, this fascinating chart will reveal which of the 70 Christmas Number 1s since 1952 we, as a nation, have streamed the most. Don’t miss this opportunity to find out which Christmas hits have stood the test of time!

Steve said: “The annual race to be the Christmas Number 1 is a unique British tradition. Looking back, though, it’s often a surprise to see which songs earned the title and which festive classics didn’t quite make it. This exclusive chart ranks the Top 40 seasonal chart-toppers that today’s music fans love the most in this streaming age - rather than who sold by the truckload at the time. The chart is packed full of surprises, and I can’t wait to reveal them all!”

This show is available on BBC Sounds from 1 December.

• Presenter: Steve Wright
• Producer: Lee Thompson
• A Listen production

Mica’s Gospel Christmas

Sunday 25th December, 7-9pm

Soul star Mica Paris returns to her gospel roots, sharing personal stories and memories of the music she grew up with and the first records that moved her, with a perfect playlist of carols, hymns and traditional and contemporary gospel standards for Christmas.

Multi-award-winning singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé joins Mica, bringing festive cheer to the Radio 2 listeners on Christmas night, and sharing personal memories of her favourite festive gospel tracks.

Mica says: “It was a joy to bring the classic gospel sounds of Christmas to Radio 2 listeners last year so I’m thrilled to be returning and delighted that the wonderful Emeli Sandé will be joining me. On Christmas night we’ll be playing a stunning soundtrack of festive favourites and rare gospel gems.”

Featuring tracks from the likes of Mahalia Jackson, The Clark Sisters, Aretha Franklin, Walter Hawkins, Mary Mary, Whitney Houston, Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Mariah Carey, and many more.

• Presenter: Mica Paris
• Producer: Jenny Smith
• A BBC Religion production

JM7

Rolling With The Stones

Sunday 25 December, 9pm-12am

Six decades ago, when Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman, Brian Jones and the late Charlie Watts played together for the first time in a scruffy pub in London’s Soho, a global phenomenon was born. Today this incredible rock’n’roll band are still riding every musical wave and bucking every musical trend by the simple expedient of being themselves.

Introduced by Cerys Matthews and drawn from hours of unheard interviews from the band’s own archives, Rolling With The Stones offers the ultimate look at the elements that make up the Rolling Stones, told intimately and revealingly by the people who were there. Listeners will hear directly from Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and the much missed Charlie Watts.

There’s never been a band like The Rolling Stones, there’ll never be another, and Rolling with The Stones explains why. On Christmas night, this specially extended version of the original programme, which was first broadcast in the summer, adds even more exclusive interview material to the mix!

• Presenter: Cerys Matthews
• Producer: Mark Hagen
• A BBC Audio production

JM7

Steve Wright’s Quiz Of The Year

Monday 26 December, 12pm-2pm

Steve Wright hosts this quiz of the year, taking a look back at some of the more lighthearted events and news stories from the worlds of music and entertainment in 2022.

Three top comedians will be taking part, but Steve won’t be asking the questions on his own… there will be contributions from members of the Radio 2 presenting family including Zoe Ball, Jeremy Vine, James King, Ken Bruce and Jo Whiley who will be quizzing them on subjects including film, Eurovision, Glastonbury and much more. Steve will also be playing Radio 2’s most popular music of the year.

So tune in and join in with all the family!

• Presenter: Steve Wright
• Producer: Paul Mann
• A BBC Audio production

The Best Of Radio 2 Piano Room

Monday 26 - Thursday 29 December, 7pm-9pm

Throughout 2022, Radio 2 Piano Room has given listeners a host of live music experiences to remember. From the BBC’s iconic Maida Vale studios, Piano Room’s new format kicked off in style in February with a month of live broadcasts on the Ken Bruce show (9.30am - 12 noon, weekdays).

As well as showcasing established artists such as Simple Minds, Natalie Imbruglia and Craig David alongside emerging talents including Anne-Marie, Joy Crookes and JP Cooper, Piano Room Month’s musical offering featured the BBC Concert Orchestra, adding a new dimension to these unique events.

Piano Room has continued to be a regular feature throughout 2022 with further performances from Sigrid, Michael Bublé, Paolo Nutini and Sam Smith.

Across four nights, Ken Bruce looks back at the best of Radio 2’s Piano Room in these two-hour collections.

The featured artists are David Gray, Jack Savoretti, Stereophonics, Anne-Marie, Katie Melua, Clean Bandit, Joy Crookes, Will Young, Rebecca Ferguson, Tom Odell, James Morrison, Ella Henderson, JP Cooper, Natalie Imbruglia, James Blunt, Tears For Fears, Simple Minds, Emeli Sandé, Jamie Cullum, Ed Sheeran, Craig David, Michael Bublé, Sigrid, Paolo Nutini, Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott and Sam Smith.

• Presenter: Ken Bruce
• Producer: Bob McDowall
• A BBC Audio production

Radio 2 All Stars

Monday 26 - Thursday 29 December, 9pm-10pm

To celebrate the BBC's centenary, Dermot sits down with some of Radio 2's favourite presenters to find out about their careers behind the mic, from crazy outside broadcasts to memorable guests, first songs played to earliest memories of the BBC. Joining Dermot across four programmes from 26-29 December will be: episode one - Tony Blackburn, Zoe Ball and Rylan; episode two - Ken Bruce, Claudia Winkleman and Trevor Nelson; episode three - Jo Whiley, Elaine Paige and Bob Harris; and episode four - Jeremy Vine, Sara Cox and Michael Ball.

• Presenter: Dermot O’Leary
• Producer: Tom Du Croz & Ben Walker
• A Ora Et Labora production

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New Year’s Eve Party Sounds Of The 90s with Fearne Cotton

Saturday 31 December, 8pm-10pm

We’re handing over the playlist reigns to Sounds Of The 90s listeners to pick all their favourite tunes, with the sole criteria being 90s bangers. You could be remembering the dance moves to Whigfield, or walking down nostalgia lane to Blur who will be playing live once again in 2023. You’ll be wishing you still had your double cassette player as you blast out a little Groove Is In The Heart to ring in 2023.

From 90s dance, to rock, to pop, Fearne’s squeezing in as many tunes as possible. Expect to be up off your seat and making some moves as you turn your kitchen or bedroom into a dancefloor for the entire show.

We’ll also be hearing from famous friends of the show, including Jake Humphrey, Luke Evans and Trevor Nelson, who will be sharing their 90s New Years memories, and picking some of their favourite tunes too.

• Presenter: Fearne Cotton
• Producer: Katie Boden
• A Somethin’ Else production

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Michelle Visage’s Fabulous New Year Party

Saturday 31 December, 10pm-1am

Coming live from LA, Michelle Visage wants to bop out of 2022 and into 2023 with her beloved Radio 2 listeners. Expect to dance yourself dizzy and see in the New Year with a bang - and lots of glitter - as Michelle packs three hours with fabulous floor fillers including RnB, pop, dance, 80s, 90s and more, all hand-picked by the hostess with the mostest.

The soundtrack to your party is sorted: Michelle brings the tunes, you bring the moves. And remember... wherever you lay your handbag, that’s your dancefloor!

Tell Michelle how you are seeing in the New Year by emailing michelle.visage@bbc.co.uk or text on 88-2-91 (standard rates apply).

• Presenter: Michelle Visage
• Producer: Ste Softley
• A Mostest production

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The Ultimate Take That Song

Sunday 1 January, time TBC

Take That will be celebrated on BBC Radio 2 on New Year’s Day across five hours of show. First, hosted by Cat Deeley, is this live countdown of listeners’ favourite Top 30 songs to mark the 30th anniversary of the group’s first Number 1 single, Pray, in 1993.

Cat Deeley will host the live countdown - The Ultimate Take That Song - on New Year’s Day in a show which will also feature the band with new and archive interviews, plus fans such as Olly Murs and Sam Bailey talking about many of the songs which have been voted into the chart.

Cat says: “I was a Take That fan back in the day and I’m a Take That fan today! So I can’t wait to welcome the first day of 2023 live on Radio 2 by playing two hours of their hits, chatting to the listeners about their own Take That encounters and celebrating a brand new year together.”

The band says: “We are so lucky to have the best fans in the world, who have supported us for over 30 years - can you believe it! We’re honoured that Radio 2 are giving them the opportunity to vote for their favourite Take That songs, which our friend Cat will be counting down on New Year’s Day. We’ll be tuning in to find out which song is at Number One!”

Take That are much loved by Radio 2 listeners. As well as many on air appearances and interviews they have performed for Radio 2 in Concert (December 2014) and headlined 2017’s Radio 2 Live In Hyde Park.

On BBC Sounds, the Take That celebration continues with a boxset of shows featuring another chance to hear Gary Barlow: We Write The Songs - with Robbie Williams; My Life In A Mixtape: Mark Owen; Talking Take That; Radio 2 In Concert: Take That from 2014; and Radio 2 In Concert: Robbie from 2020.

• Presenter: Cat Deeley
• Producer: Mark Simpson
• A BBC Audio production

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Take That At The BBC

Sunday 1 January, time TBC

This programme tells the story of Take That, one of our greatest contemporary bands, with all the highs and lows, break-ups and triumphant returns, told through their hit singles and appearances on BBC Radio and Television.

The programme includes footage ranging from Take That’s first appearance on the 8:15 From Manchester, via Top Of The Pops, The O-Zone, live concert backstage interviews, radio and chat show visits, Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs with Lauren Laverne, to Mr Barlow becoming an acclaimed interviewer and specialist presenter himself on Radio 2!

Robbie, Mark, Howard, Jason and Gary can be heard in honest conversation, along with their many anthemic songs including Never Forget, Back For Good, Shine, The Flood, Greatest Day and Rule The World.

• Producer: Mark Simpson
• A BBC Audio production

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Robbie Williams: My Life Thru A Lens

Sunday 1 January, time TBC

As Robbie Williams’ debut solo album Life Thru A Lens turns 25, Radio 2 marks the occasion with this two-hour special in which Scott Mills chats to his old pal, Robbie, about the creation of that album and the eventful twists and turns of his career which followed, right up to the present day.

There’s a lot of ground to cover, as their friendship goes way back to when Scott was a fresh new presenter introducing a new boyband called Take That onto the stage at a local radio roadshow. Their meteoric rise followed, then the eventual break up and Robbie’s solo career, which then became yet another meteoric and record-breaking phenomena.

Alongside the smash-hit albums and singles, Robbie faced personal struggles with high-profile girlfriends, the record-shattering three nights at Knebworth, then marriage, fatherhood, Kylie, Britney, Elton, The X Factor... they talk about it all! This is one of the UK’s biggest pop stars of the last 30 years as you have never heard him before, opening up to his mate. It’s an essential listen for Robbie and Take That fans, as Scott guides Robbie into his past and they open a world of nostalgia.

• Presenter: Scott Mills
• Producer: Ste Softley
• A Mostest production

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The Victoria Wood Songbook

Sunday 1 January, 7pm-8pm

There can’t be many comedians for whom music was as important as it was for Victoria Wood. In this programme, Shobna Gulati (Anita in Dinnerladies) celebrates some of these treasured songs.

In 1974, while appearing on the TV talent show New Faces, Victoria was told she would never be a success. She went on to enjoy a 40-year career as a comedian, writer, producer, actor, documentary-maker and songwriter!

Victoria all but invented the one-woman show, with her trademark warmth and intelligent humour. And even though she sadly passed away in 2016, her genius is still being discovered by new fans, and her songs in particular are being revisited and reassessed in cabarets and revues. It’s fitting because, from the very beginning, she intertwined her brilliant live comedy act with her own show-stealing songs which she performed at the piano.

In 2013, Victoria explained that having some kind of musicality helped her when it came to her work, saying: “Everything you write has to have a rhythm… it all comes back to music.”

In this programme, Shobna revisits some of Victoria’s unforgettable songs. Plus listeners hear from Victoria herself, thanks to some archive Radio 2 interviews which haven’t been heard since their original broadcasts.

So drain your cocoa cup, straighten your flameproof nightie and put down that copy of Woman’s Weekly, because it's time to open The Victoria Wood Songbook!

• Presenter: Shobna Gulati
• Producer: Malcolm Prince
• A BBC Audio production

20 Years of Bombay Dreams

Sunday 1 January, time TBC

Preeya Kalidas is joined by choreographer Anthony Van Laast, author Meera Syal, actor Raza Jaffrey and others to relive their memories of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced musical, Bombay Dreams, 20 years since it first opened in the West End at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.

Bombay Dreams, which starred Preeya as Priya in the production, follows the story of Akaash, a young man from the slums of Bombay who harbours ambitions of becoming the next big star in Bollywood, and his fateful encounter with Priya, the daughter of one of Bollywood’s greatest film directors.

• Presenter: Preeya Kalidas
• Producer: Amn Kaur
• An Audio Always production

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Radio 2 Unwinds

Sunday 1 January, 10pm-12am

Angela Griffin soothes your post-festive holiday blues and motivates you for the year ahead with a playlist of chilled-out tunes. Kickback and relax with music from the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Sade, George Ezra and Diana Ross.

• Presenter: Angela Griffin
• Producer: Hayley Clarke
• A Somethin’ Else production

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BBC Radio 3

BBC Radio 3 presents a special Christmas showcase of the best in music, drama, and alternative sound. Travelling across the world, from the fjords of the Faroe Islands, through to the snow-capped mountains of the Nordics, BBC Radio 3 brings to life the sounds and stories that make Christmas such a magical time of year with a glittering programme of live music, radio drama and spoken word.

The Essay: Postcards From The Floating Coast

Monday 12 December, 10.45pm - 11pm

Environmental historian Bathsheba Demuth travels to the Arctic ice and tundra to show how humans and animals together have shaped its landscape and history. Demuth brings us into the intertwined pasts of people and animals of the lands and waters around the Bering Strait - the ice-studded stretch of ocean between Alaska and the Russian far east. She shows how dogs, whales, walruses, caribou, and salmon have helped make history - and in turn, how people have changed how they value and relate to creatures finned and furred.

Monday: In The Minds Of Dogs

Bathsheba Demuth looks at the shifting historical relationship between humans and dogs and the impact of that intimacy on commerce and imperial aspiration.

Tuesday: In The Country Of Whales

In this episode, Bathsheba Demuth heads to the country of bowhead whales to examine how different people in the Arctic have valued these creatures. She shows how these whales responded to commercial hunting by changing their culture, and how their choices pushed them into the domain of people.

Wednesday: In The Company Of Walruses

Today, Demuth looks at how the human relationship to walruses has changed and changed again, from seeing them as ancestors to part of the socialist future, offering an example of how what we value can endanger - or save - a species.

Thursday: In The Land Of Reindeer

Bathsheba Demuth looks at how reindeer are deeply sensitive to the climate, and how that sensitivity thwarted plans to make them part of capitalist and socialist economies.

Friday: In The Lives Of Salmon

In the final episode of this week’s edition of The Essay, Bathsheba Demuth journeys to the Yukon River to see how the history of salmon connects to the present - and shows how even those of us living far away have a relationship with the fish of this great river.

• Presenter: Bathsheba Demuth
• Producer: Natalie Steed
• A Rhubarb Rhubarb Production for BBC Radio 3

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Compline

Thursday 1st December, 11pm-11:30pm

In a new series spread across three weeks, Compline explores how liturgy, prayer and music can interact with one another in the weeks leading up to Christmas. It presents four reflective services of night prayer for each Advent with words and music for the end of the day.

Thursday 1 December

First week of Advent from the Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer, Clerkenwell, London, including works by Tallis, Judith Bingham, and Palestrina, sung by The Gesualdo Six.

Thursday 8 December

Second week of Advent from St Paul’s Church, Withington, Manchester, including works by Mark Sirett, Stainer, and Poston, sung by the HeartEdge Manchester Choral Scholars.

Thursday 15 December

Third week of Advent from the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tetbury, including works by Vaughan Williams, Palestrina, Tallis, and Rutter, sung by St Martin’s Voices.

Thursday 22 December

Last week of Advent from the Chapter House of York Minster, sung by the Ebor Singers.

• Producer: Ben Collingwood

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Radio 3 in Concert - Christmas Concert: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Tuesday 13 December 7.30pm-10pm

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra presents Fantastic Fairytales, with music by Ravel, Mahler and Humperdinck.

The orchestra's programme opens with Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, fairytale miniatures evoking a delicate, magical world. Then the great British mezzo Dame Sarah Connolly joins them for five of Mahler's poems from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth’s Magic Horn). This is followed by Grace-Evangeline Mason taking listeners on a journey deep into the woods before a finale ending in the Romantic world of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel.

• Presented by Martin Handley

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Radio 3 in Concert: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra: Messa di Gloria

Wednesday 14 December 7.30pm-10pm

Domingo Hindoyan conducts the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Mexican tenor, Jesús Léon, performs Puccini’s beautiful Messa di Gloria alongside the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir.

Two of Debussy’s best-loved musical pictures set the mood: stormy and glowing with colour.

Recorded on 24 November at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

• Presented by Tom McKinney
• Produced by Jenny Pitt

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Radio 3 in Concert - From The Halle: Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty

Thursday 15 December 7.30pm-10pm

The Hallé give a seasonal concert of theatrical works, with selections from Tchaikovsky's beloved Sleeping Beauty, Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and a climactic extract from Samuel Barber's ballet Medea, in its first performance for conductor Sir Mark Elder.

• Presented by Tom McKinney.
• Produced by Chris Wines

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Radio 3 Breakfast

Friday 16 December 6.30am-9am

The BBC Radio 3 Carol Competition moves to its next stage, as the six final carols are performed live on Radio 3’s Breakfast programme by the BBC Singers and Petroc Trelawny opens the voting to the public vote to choose this year’s winner.

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A Christmas Carol with BBC Singers and Mel Giedroyc

Friday 16 December 7.30pm-10pm

Actress, comedian and presenter Mel Giedroyc joins the BBC Singers and their Principal Guest Conductor Bob Chilcott to narrate the UK premiere of Grammy-nominated composer Benedict Sheehan’s adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol.

Adapting the story which has done more than any other to set the scene of a traditional Victorian Christmas. Sheehan interweaves Dickens’s text with new music for the festive season, alongside a collection of best loved Christmas carols.

• Produced by Jonathan Manners

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The Verb Xmas Edition

Friday 16 December 10pm-10.45pm

Ian McMillan is in the studio for a festive recording of The Verb, where he will be encountering a parade of imaginary creatures conjured through poems, songs and stories brought by his guests.

Sitting in with Ian, poet and performer John Hegley has written a brand new poem; fiction writer Melvin Burgess tells us about his debut adult novel Loki; poet and playwright Testament performs a piece from his show Blake Remixed, fusing hip hop with the iconic poetry of William Blake; and folk singer Bella Hardy talks about her return to traditional ballads with a performance in the studio.

• Presenter: Ian McMillan
• Producer: Cecile Wright

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This Classical Life: Christmas Special

Saturday 17 December 12.30pm-1pm

Jess Gillam dons her Christmas jumper to throw a This Classical Life Christmas Party. She's joined by The King's Singers, a fairy-light-bedecked studio, several packets of party rings and plenty of good tidings as they all share their favourite Christmas music.

• Produced by Hannah Thorne

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EBU Christmas around Europe part one

Sunday 18 December 9am-3pm

A day-long festival of Christmas music and singing from across Europe and Canada in the European Broadcasting Union’s annual Christmas music day.

Choirs and ensembles come together to celebrate the wonder of Christmas. Travelling first to Montreal with L’Harmonie des Saisons; then to Lleida in Spain, with María Espada and Bach Collegium Barcelona, and then from Prague listeners can hear the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and Children's Choir. And from Copenhagen in Denmark, festive music by British composers.

Finally, there is music to be heard in Germany from Munich and Frankfurt.

• Presented by Andrew McGregor
• Produced by Elizabeth Arno

EC

EBU Christmas around Europe part two

Sunday 18 December 4pm-10pm

A day-long festival of Christmas music from across Europe, in the European Broadcasting Union’s annual Christmas music day, continues with concerts from Saarbrucken, Gothenburg, Utrecht, Hamburg, Reykjavik and London, presented by Hannah French.

• Presented by Hannah French
• Produced by Tony Sellors

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Composer Of The Week: J. S. Bach At Christmas

Monday 19 December 12pm-1pm

All this week, Donald Macleod invites us to join Bach at five different periods in his life, to see how his story develops and revel in the glorious works he created for Christmastime.

Monday: Leipzig 1723

Donald opens his series by dropping in on Bach to find him preparing for his very first Christmas in Leipzig. He’s been in his new job as the city’s Music Director for a few months, and the pressure is on. Will he be able to pull off the biggest celebration of the year?

Tuesday: Weimar 1717

Today, Donald finds Bach imprisoned and facing the prospect of spending Christmas 1717 in captivity. Donald investigates how he got there and sees how Bach’s Christmas obligations evolved during his nearly ten years serving the court in Weimar and the warring Dukes who presided there.

Wednesday: Cöthen 1721

Donald takes us to the town of Cöthen, where Bach has accepted the post of overseeing musical entertainments at the Prince’s palace. For the first time in his career Bach is not required to provide music for church services, even at Christmas. However, Bach and his family still find plenty of ways to enjoy a festive and musical Christmas season, especially in 1721, when there’s a very special celebration.

Thursday: Leipzig, 1734

Bach returns to Leipzig, ten years after he arrived for the first time as a Music Director for the city. In 1734 he is altogether more jaded, feeling undermined and under-appreciated. The composer’s famous temper had led to more than one run-in with his employers and colleagues. So what was keeping him in Leipzig? And what prompted him to embark on his most ambitious Christmas project yet?

Friday: Leipzig, 1745

In this final Programme, Donald follows Bach and his musicians as they’re forced to sprint between churches on Christmas Day, and explores how the now-old composer produced a splendid final Christmas Cantata for the scholars of Leipzig University.

• Producer: Chris Taylor
• An R&M Production - Wales for BBC Radio 3

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In Tune Christmas Special

Tuesday 20 December 5pm-7pm

Sean Rafferty and Katie Derham present the In Tune Christmas Special, live from The Radio Theatre at BBC Broadcasting House. It’s a Christmas party celebration like no other, where both presenters are joined by some of the show’s greatest performer friends. This year they welcome the festive season with musicians including Connaught Brass, The Albion Quartet and the Icelandic-Chinese star bringing jazz to a new generation, Laufey.

• Produced by Helen Garrison

New Generation Artists: Winter Showcase

Wednesday 21 December 5pm-5.30pm

Kate Molleson presents her annual Winter Showcase series showcasing the talents of Radio 3’s stunning New Generation Artists, some of the world’s finest singers, instrumentalists and ensembles at the start of their international careers.

Established just over two decades ago the New Generation Artists scheme is acknowledged internationally as the foremost programme of its kind. Each year six musicians join the scheme for two years, during which time they appear at the UK's major music festivals and venues, enjoy dates with the BBC orchestras, and have the opportunity to record in the BBC studios.

Over the course of two weeks there’s a chance to hear from every member of the brand new class of 2022 - including the NGA scheme’s first ever South African artist, soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha; young accordionist Ryan Corbett; and the critically acclaimed Leonkoro Quartet from Germany - plus New Generation Artists who are by now more familiar to Radio 3 listeners.

• Produced by Rebecca Bean and Peter Thresh

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BBC Radio 3 Breakfast: Christmas Carol Competition Special

Friday 23 December 6.30am-9am

Nearly 1000 entries have been whittled down to just six pieces that the public vote have been voting on, but which one will be the listener’s favourite? Find out when Petroc Trelawny announces the winning carol of this year’s BBC Radio 3 Carol Competition in Radio 3’s Breakfast programme between 6.30 and 9.00 this morning.

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BBC Radio 3 Breakfast

Saturday 24 December 7am-9am

Elizabeth Alker presents a festive Saturday Breakfast with music by Bach, Vincent Guaraldi, Sufjan Stevens, Mozart and the Seeger Sisters. Plus a seasonal Croissant Corner featuring Tino Rossi and Edith Piaf.

• Produced by Paul Frankl

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Record Review Christmas Special

Saturday 24 December 9am-11.30am

Andrew McGregor returns with the best new recordings of classical music. This includes Iain Burnside reviewing new releases with music by Mascagni, Mahler and Bach and Tom Service choosing his favourite recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9

• Produced by Clive Portbury

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The BalletBoyz Guide To Music and Dance

Saturday 24 December 11.30am-1pm

Join Balletboyz founders, Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt, for a deep dive into the alchemy of music and dance. Both former principal dancers with the Royal Ballet, Nunn and Trevitt left in 2001 to form their own dance company.

Today, BalletBoyz is recognised as one of the most exciting forces in modern dance, known for commissioning work and collaborating with cutting-edge talent. In this Radio 3 Christmas special, the pair introduce the music that resonates with them and some of their own commissions, telling the story of their 40-year careers in dance.

• Produced by Calantha Bonnissent

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Inside Music with Gareth Malone

Saturday 24 December 1pm-3pm

Fresh from his role as Chairman of the judges for the BBC Radio 3 Carol Competition, choirmaster Gareth Malone takes his place behind the microphone for Inside Music, a series in which each week a musician explores a selection of music - from the inside. On this occasion, Gareth serves up a selection of music from across the centuries.

There’s a distinctly festive feel to Gareth’s choices, including choral pieces from the King’s Singers, the Crouch End Festival Chorus and Take 6, plus the Finchley Children's Music Group and the Dresden Philharmonic Children’s Choir.

There’s also piano music by Chopin arranged for brass ensemble, a fiery dance by Stravinsky, mind-bending film music and sounds from the early 13th century brought to life by the Dufay Collective.

• Produced by Alex Anderson
• A Tandem Production for BBC Radio 3

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Christmas Eve Live with Sarah Walker

Saturday 24 December 3pm-6pm

Sarah celebrates Christmas Eve from her home with a hamper full of musical treats from around the world. She presents a feast of seasonal music and takes a glimpse through the lighted windows of houses and apartments in France, Italy and Germany, to the Czech Republic, Sweden, Spain and Ukraine, to discover the many ways Christmas Eve is marked.

Joined by a number of European guests to drop in and discuss their Christmas traditions, Sarah and her guests discuss Père Noël, Christmas bread, gift books, meat-free midnight feasts, presents from the Baby Jesus, dumplings, Glühwein, walks in the woods, seafood, the Mass of the Rooster, pet carp, dressing up, venison and Christmas saunas.

• Produced by Sarah Devonald
• A Tandem Pro Production for BBC Radio 3

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Honegger: Le Cantate De Noel

Saturday 24 December 6pm-6.30pm

It is the most famous story. But through the notes of Arthur Honegger, the Nativity becomes a fundamentally profound musical experience, journeying from deep darkness to divine light, and yet still infused with echoes of traditional Christmas melodies, such as Silent Night. Composed in 1953, Une Cantate De Noel was the Swiss composer’s final creation.

Rediscover this seasonal favourite in the iconic 1971 version by the Orchestre National de France, led by conductor Jean Martinon.

• Produced by Julien Rose

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Opera on 3: Yeomen Of The Guard ENO

Saturday 24 December 6.30pm-9.30pm

English National Opera's new staging of Gilbert & Sullivan's most heartfelt collaboration. At the Tower of London, the unjustly imprisoned Colonel Fairfax awaits his execution. Can he be saved by his old friend the Beefeater Sergeant Meryll? Or by the Sergeant's daughter Phoebe, who's fallen in love with him? Or even, strange as it may seem, by the roving street performers Jack Point and Elsie Maynard?

With performances by Anthony Gregory, Neal Davies and Heather Lowe.

Presented from the London Coliseum by Andrew McGregor with guest commentator Catrine Kirkman.

• Produced by David Gallagher

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Slow Radio: The Reindeer

Saturday 24 December 9pm-9.30pm

Across dense forests of spruce, birch and pine as well as the steep frozen mountains of Sweden, Norway and Finland, there are few traces of humans in the northern parts of the Nordics. What do live there are reindeers.

In this Slow Radio Christmas special, Slow Radio: The Reindeer follows the epic travels of a reindeer mother and her young as they traverse the Nordic landscape. Created in close collaboration with the Sami people and with as little human interference as possible, a specially created sound device attached by a necklace around the mother reindeer brings to life the audial day-to-day sounds of a reindeer herd.

From hooves treading softly upon the snow and the distant tinkling of reindeer bells, through to the noises of reindeers eating and sleeping in their natural habitats, Slow Radio: The Reindeer allows listeners to become intimately acquainted with a creature that has become interwoven with the tradition and imagery of Christmas time.

• Produced by Jakob Munck
• A Munck Studios production for BBC Radio 3

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New Music Show: Rainbow Across The Sky

Saturday 24 December 10pm - midnight

Kate Molleson introduces a concert of transcendental, ecstatic and meditative new music for Christmas Eve, sung by the vocal ensemble Exaudi.

Alvin Lucier’s Unamuno explores the acoustics of a single chord, while Catherine Lamb’s song/form spins a slow melody from the natural resonance of the harmonic series.

The programme is completed by a world premiere from young French composer Bernard Champeau and a newly revised piece by veteran American composer Gloria Coates. Interwoven throughout are medieval hymns by the 12th century mystic Hildegard of Bingen, in new arrangements by James Weeks.

• Produced by Philip Tagney

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BBC Radio 3 Breakfast

Sunday 25 December (Christmas Day) 7am-9am

Martin Handley presents a special festive Breakfast for Christmas morning. Listeners can unwrap their presents and get the turkey in the oven to joyful Christmas music and a seasonal Sounds Of The Earth slow-radio soundscape, blending nature sounds and music.

• Produced by Brian Jackson

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Christmas Morning Live with Petroc Trelawny

Sunday 25 December, 9am-1pm

Live from BBC Broadcasting House, Petroc Trelawny heralds the festivities with his uplifting selection of seasonal music and star guests.

Whether celebrating with family or spending time on your own, Petroc provides the perfect accompaniment to your Christmas morning.

A host of names will be popping in to perform live from 80A - the historic studio at the top of Broadcasting House.

Acclaimed singer Claire Martin will be joined by award-winning Glasgow-born guitarist Jim Mullen. Rising stars of folk, The Wilderness Yet, will perform a selection of favourite carols, their colourful combinations of voices and instruments adding a twist to ancient Yuletide songs.

Petroc will play some personal favourites as well as listener requests, and as the BBC’s Centenary celebrations continue, he’ll be dipping into the archive to uncover gems of Christmas past.

• Produced by Sue Kenyon

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A Festival Of Nine Lessons And Carols

Sunday 25 December, 1pm-3pm 

For millions listening on radio and online around the world, A Festival Of Nine Lessons And Carols, live from the candlelit Chapel of King's College, Cambridge, marks the beginning of Christmas. It is based around nine Bible readings which tell the story of the loving purposes of God. They are interspersed with carols old and new, sung by the world-famous Chapel choir, who also lead the congregation in traditional Christmas hymns.

This year includes a number of pieces by significant 20th century composers such as Peter Warlock, Judith Weir, Errollyn Wallen, and Roger Quilter, which sit alongside traditional carols in arrangements by Sir David Willcocks, Christopher Robinson, John Rutter, and Philip Ledger. In keeping with a tradition going back to 1983, a new work has been commissioned for the Christmas Eve service, with Matthew Martin choosing to set the text of the famous medieval carol Angelus ad Virginem.

• Produced by Ben Collingwood

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The Early Music Show

Sunday 25 December 3pm-4pm

It’s The Gabrieli Consort’s 40th anniversary and Hannah French is joined by their artistic director to celebrate the ups and downs of four decades of early music-making.

• Produced by Les Pratt

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Faroe Islands Sound Walk: In Search Of Elves

Sunday 25 December, 4pm-5pm

(1/3) Horatio Clare begins an epic three-part journey across the Faroe Islands, the archipelago of 18 small islands in the Atlantic Ocean at the north-west of Scotland, with roots in Nordic culture. In this series, Horatio and his team record the sights and sounds of the Faroe Islands and bring to life the stories and fascinating history that casts a spell around them.

Beginning on a high outcrop of land between fjords on the north-eastern island of Borðoy, with spectacular views across jagged peaks and into the cold waters of the North Atlantic, Horatio considers the legacy of Faroese national hero Nólsoyar Páll, a shipbuilder, farmer and poet who took on the corrupt Danish trading monopolies, before passing over a glacial valley where the site of an ancient Norse Viking court remains.

Horatio also meets local descendants of the land and descends to steep-sided slopes where the fishing boats come and go between the town.

• Produced by Andy King

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Jazz Record Requests

Sunday 25 December 5pm-6pm

Alyn Shipton presents a festive selection of your favourite jazz records in all styles.

• Produced by Felix Carey

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Words And Music: A Christmas Menagerie

Sunday 25 December, 6pm-6.45pm

Actors Robert Lindsay and Shiloh Coke perform prose and poetry alongside music depicting a range of animals and birds.

Music and words range from A Partridge In A Pear Tree to Dylan Thomas’s Cats, UA Fanthorpe’s donkey to Scrooge’s turkey, Bach’s Cantata Sheep May Safely Graze as well as music from the film White Christmas.

• Producer: Juan Carlos Jaramillo

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Sunday Feature: What Walls Hold

Sunday 25 December, 6.45pm-7.30pm

London’s Tavistock House is reputable for having been the home of three eccentric creatives: the Mancunian painter Frank Stone, writer and actor Charles Dickens, and Victorian England’s notorious amateur soprano and litigant, Georgina Weldon.

With the staircase creaking after dark, and smog pouring in every chink and keyhole, Ben Gernon guides listeners through this remarkable house, revealing what the walls hold and uncovering its unusual tenants.

Within its walls lies a story of personal passion and chaos colliding with extraordinary creativity. Until it was destroyed in 1901. From extra-marital affairs, screaming street children, kidnap attempts and madness, to amateur dramatics and shattered dreams, this is the story of one of Victorian England’s most famous houses.

With Alex Jennings as Charles Dickens.

• Presented by Ben Gernon
• Produced by Alexandra Quinn
• A Loftus Media and Wireless Theatre Production for BBC Radio 3

EC

Drama on 3: Benny & Hitch

Sunday 25 December, 7.30pm-9.30pm

Recorded in front of a live audience at Alexandra Palace and starring Tim McInnerny as Bernard Herrmann and Toby Jones as Alfred Hitchcock, with performances of Herrmann’s music by the BBC Concert Orchestra.

By the late 1950s, film composer Bernard Herrmann and director Alfred Hitchcock - known to each other as Benny and Hitch -  have formed the most famous composer-director partnership in film history, creating masterpieces of cinema together, including Vertigo, North By Northwest and Psycho.

But with tensions growing between the two maverick artists and change afoot in the movie industry, Benny and Hitch’s collaboration and friendship comes to a catastrophic end at a recording session for the film Torn Curtain. But who is really responsible for the break-up?

Bernard Herrmann: Tim McInnerny 

Alfred Hitchcock: Toby Jones 

Alma Hitchcock: Joanna Monro

Lucy Anderson/Tippi: Tara Ward

Lew Wasserman/Cary/Paul: Jonathan Forbes

BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Ben Palmer

• Directed By Tracey Neale
• Produced by Neil Varley and Tracey Neale

EC

Record Review

Sunday 25 December, 9.30pm-11.30pm

Hannah French offers listeners a chance to hear at greater length the recordings reviewed and discussed in yesterday’s Record Review, including the famous finale of Beethoven's 9th Symphony in this week's Building a Library recommended version.

• Produced by Samuel Hickling

EC

Slow Radio: Sunday Morning In Harlem

Sunday 25 December, 11.30pm to midnight  

It is January 2022, and in the Upper Manhattan neighbourhood of Harlem all is quiet as people stay at home, preferring not to venture out into the minus-13 degree snow and ice that has blanketed the city.

In this half-hour soundscape, listeners will be able to experience a winter in Harlem beginning with the geese pecking at the frozen lake at the northern tip of Central Park with the occasional sound of a passer-by who has braved the weather.

Sounds of live jazz emerge from local restaurants and wandering inside is a refuge from the weather, joining crowds of brunch-goers enjoying live music, drinks, food and the company of others.

• Produced by Calantha Bonnissent

EB2

Classical Fix

Sunday 25th December, midnight to 12.30am on Boxing Day

To round off Christmas day and begin the Boxing Day recovery, Linton Stephens tries out a classical playlist of soothing and reflective music on his special guest, plus his all-time favourite festive film soundtrack.

• Produced by Matthew Dover

EC

Faroe Islands Sound Walk: The Postman’s Trail

Monday 26 December, 4pm-5pm

(2/3) Horatio Clare starts his second Faroese journey on the water, on the island of Vágar on the western side of the archipelago. From the small town of Sorvágur he heads out onto the neighbouring fjord to meet the local under-14s rowing team, currently the Faroese junior champions. Today, rowing is the islands’ national sport, but the traditional six and eight-oar wooden boats have contributed to the livelihood of the Faroe Islanders for centuries.

Horatio then goes in search of The Old Postman’s Trail, a hidden route that was used to transport supplies and even coffins. On the way, he meets the gannets, puffins and kittiwakes which populate the island.

Horatio finishes the day’s walk with a steep-zig-zagging stony path down the side of a mountain, where the waterfall of Múlafossur tumbles over the cliffs and into the ocean.

• Produced by Andy King

EB2

Faroe Islands Sound Walk: The Weather Will Decide

Tuesday 27 December, 4pm-5pm

(3/3) For his final part of his journey through the Faroe Islands, Horatio Clare takes a ferry from the capital Tórshavn in the centre of the archipelago, to the southernmost island of Suðuroy. The aim is to walk to its southernmost tip, but it’s here that he encounters one of the Faroes’ best known natural phenomenon: fog.

Situated where the warm waters of the Gulf Stream meet the cold waters coming down from the Arctic, the Faroe Islands’ changeable weather conditions play a central role in daily life, with the locals affectionately calling their homeland the 'land of maybe'.

In the presence of an experienced local tour guide, Horatio descends Suðuroy’s highest cliff through thick, impenetrable fog and follows the village path to greener pastures. It is here where Horatio reflects on the strange but wonderful experience of walking in dense fog, with its muted sounds and shifting perspectives.

• Produced by Andy King

EB2

Music Planet: At Home With The Carthys

Saturday 31 December, 4pm-5pm

The first family of English folk. Kathryn Tickell visits Martin and Eliza Carthy at home in Robin Hood's Bay in Yorkshire. There will be live music-making, some classic tracks from the Waterson-Carthy family heritage, and a look back on the life of Norma Waterson, who died earlier this year.

• Produced by Roger Short

EC

New Year New Music Show

Saturday 31 December 10pm-11pm

To mark the start of 2023, BBC Radio 3 is celebrating with New Year New Music - a playlist of favourite pieces written since the Millennium, all selected by listeners.

Tom Service presents this eclectic selection.

• Produced by Philip Tagney

EB2

New Year’s Day From Vienna

Sunday 1 January, 10.15am-1pm

The annual New Year’s Day concert given by the Vienna Philharmonic in the glittering Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. Those not lucky enough to be there in person can still enjoy the swirling waltzes, rousing marches uplifting polka’s, as Petroc Trelawny introduces the concert live for Radio 3.

Led from the podium by conductor Franz Welser-Möst, the programme mixes old favourites with new discoveries which celebrate, amongst other things, heroic poems, cosy nights, pearls of love and the famous Blue Danube.

Broadcast live from the Musikverein, Vienna

• Presented by Petroc Trelawny
• Produced by Brian Jackson

EC

Early Music Show

Sunday 1 January, 2pm-3pm

2023 marks the 400th anniversary of the English composer William Byrd, who is hailed as being one of finest of the European late Renaissance. Hannah French will explore his influence with the vocal ensemble Stile Antico, including newly released music.

• Produced by Olive Clancy

EC

The Listening Service

Sunday 1 January, 5pm-5.30pm

For the dawning of 2023, Tom Service investigates the most famous opening in symphonic music - Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra.

Used to evoke the sound of a universe being born in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, at its heart lies a deep and very contemporary question about our place in the natural world and what we might do about it.

• Produced by Olive Clancy

EB2

Sunday Feature: O Sole Mio

Sunday 1 January, 6.30pm-7.30pm

“All Neapolitans were born to be musicians, to be singers,” says musicologist Dr Dinko Fabris, referring to the foundation myth of Naples, which says that the city was created by Partenope, the siren whose singing captivated the Ancient Greek hero Ulysses. Song has been woven into Neapolitan life ever since, giving the city an extraordinary musical culture and heritage.

Meeting stars of the Naples music scene and looking at world-renowned Neapolitan songs such as O Sole Mio and Funiculi Funicula, Joanna Robertson travels to Naples to find out what makes this city so full of song, and what makes Neapolitan songs so special that they’re known and loved not just in the city, but throughout the world.

• Produced by Arlene Gregorius

EC

The Journey Of The Magi

Sunday 1 January, 7.30pm-10pm

Despite making only a brief appearance in Matthew’s gospel account of the Nativity story, the Wise Men and their visit to Bethlehem has inspired generations of artists.

W.R. Rodgers reimagined the story of the Magi and their travels in a broadcast poem for BBC network radio in 1948. It described their "zigzag" journey through the seasons of the year and their quest for meaning - something that he says they found in "the child within themselves" and just at that moment when all hope seemed lost.

Belfast-based composer Paul Campbell has written a new piece of music to accompany W.R. Rodgers’ poem about the Magi. Composed as a special commission to mark the BBC’s centenary, his work blends words and music in fresh combination and reflects the inventiveness of the poem’s original broadcast. It was performed in Belfast for this recording by the Ulster Orchestra.

Narrated by Michelle Fairley and Stuart Graham with an introduction by the award-winning poet, Michael Longley.

• Executive Producer Mark Adair

EB2

BBC Orchestras and Choirs

From Mel Giedroyc joining the BBC Singers to narrate A Christmas Carol, to a world premiere of The Hound Of The Baskervilles with BBC Symphony Orchestra, this year the BBC Orchestras and Choirs celebrate Christmas with a range of carol concerts and festive classics from some of the world’s greatest composers, past and present. A number of concerts will be broadcast across BBC Radio.

An Enchanting Advent with the BBC Philharmonic

Friday 9 December, 2.30pm

Live at MediaCity, Salford

The BBC Philharmonic present an enchanting programme of music with a festive feel.

Programme to include: 

Sergei Prokofiev - Waltz Suite: In the Palace (Cinderella)

Ottorino Respighi - Trittico Botticelliano

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Christmas Eve, Suite

Ben Gernon - conductor

BBC Philharmonic

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Film With The BBC Concert Orchestra

Friday 9 and Saturday 10 December, 6pm

Live at OVO Arena Wembley

The BBC Concert Orchestra joins Disney’s unique live cine-concert arena show of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. The production features the multiple award-winning composer and songwriter Danny Elfman, who wrote the film’s songs and is the original singing voice of the main character, Jack Skellington, and is accompanied by singer songwriter Phoebe Bridgers as Sally, as they perform live in sync with the full-length movie.

John Mauceri - conductor

Danny Elfman - music, lyrics and score

BBC Concert Orchestra

A Christmas Carol with the BBC Singers

Wednesday 14 December, 7.30pm

Live at Milton Court, London

Actress, comedian and presenter Mel Giedroyc joins the BBC Singers and their Principal Guest Conductor Bob Chilcott to narrate the UK premiere of Grammy-nominated composer Benedict Sheehan’s adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol.

Sheehan interweaves Dickens’s text with new music for the festive season alongside a collection of best-loved Christmas carols including The First Nowell, The Truth From Above, God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen, The Sussex Carol and It Came Upon The Midnight Clear.

Bob Chilcott - conductor

Mel Giedroyc - narrator

BBC Singers

Christmas Celebrations - Swingin’ Christmas with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 December, 7.30pm

Live at Brangwyn Hall, Swansea and St David’s Hall, Cardiff

Conductor Andrew Cottee and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales return for the ever popular Christmas Celebrations Concerts in Cardiff and Swansea.

West End star Louise Dearman and Big Band singing legend Matt Ford join the orchestra for an evening featuring popular classics, all with a jazz and swing twist for a lively, festive Christmas Cracker perfect for all the family.

Programme to include:

Swingin' Christmas Overture

Let It Snow

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Frosty The Snowman

Looks Like A Cold Cold Winter

Sleigh Ride

The Night Before Christmas

The Christmas Song

Santa Baby

Marshmallow World

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Swinging Carols Medley

It's The Most Wonderful TIme Of The Year

The Christmas Blues

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth

It's Christmas Time All Over The World

The Christmas Waltz

Winter Wonderland

Baby It's Cold Outside

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve

We Wish You The Merriest

Andrew Cottee - conductor

Louise Dearman - singer

Matthew Ford - singer

Christmas At The Movies with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Sunday 18 December, 3pm

Live at City Halls, Glasgow

Singer Jamie MacDougall hosts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s annual feast of movie music. With excerpts from recent blockbusters, Disney favourites, classics by the great John Williams and the sumptuous sounds of the Golden Age Of Hollywood.

Jamie MacDougall - presenter/singer

Roderick Dunk - conductor

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Trevor Nelson’s Soul Christmas with the BBC Concert Orchestra

Monday 19 December, 7.30pm

Live from the Royal Albert Hall

Trevor Nelson returns to the spectacular Royal Albert Hall for soul and RnB with a classic Christmas twist. Performing re-imagined and re-scored iconic tracks to dance along to, Trevor is bringing together the BBC Concert Orchestra and a host of special guest including Andrew Roachford, Corinne Bailey Rae, Kimberly Davis, Vula Malinga, Troy Miller, Tony Momrelle, Omar and Kingdom Choir.

Trevor Nelson - presenter

BBC Concert Orchestra

The Hound Of The Baskervilles with the BBC Symphony Orchestra

Tuesday 20 December, 7.30pm

Live at the Barbican, London

In a BBC co-commission and world premiere, Conan Doyle’s bestselling mystery The Hound Of The Baskervilles is brought to life by Neil Brand. The composer, dramatist and long-term collaborator with the BBC Symphony Orchestra has crafted a chilling, gripping and hair-raising version of this favourite tale, with Mark Gatiss as Sherlock Holmes and Sanjeev Bhaskar as Dr Watson.

Mark Gatiss - Sherlock Holmes

Sanjeev Bhaskar - Dr Watson

Timothy Brock - conductor

BBC Symphony Orchestra

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4 presents a host of festive delights this season, with drama, comedy, food and great conversation leading the way. Desert Island Discs marks the end of its 80th birthday year with three special castaways: legendary film director Steven Spielberg, multi award-winning actor Cate Blanchett and treasured presenter and former Desert Island Discs host, Kirsty Young. Delia Smith joins Sheila Dillon in her kitchen for a special festive edition of The Food Programme, and Yottam Ottolenghi cooks one of his favourite festive feasting dishes for Andi Oliver in One Dish.

There is everything from Agatha Christie to a double dose of Charles Dickens, with a performance of his ghost story The Signalman, and a You’re Dead To Me special of Christmas with Charles Dickens, whilst Christmas Wings, the tale of two teachers side stage at the school Christmas play, is a guaranteed heart warmer.

There is plenty to be cheerful about over the Christmas period, with seasonal episodes of Dead Ringers and Just A Minute, while Stephen Mangan gets Sheila Hancock to ‘fess up on The Confessional, and Jane Horrocks opens up her diaries, to tell all for the first time on her relationship with Ian Dury, in Love Pants.

Marple: Three New Stories

Monday 19 December, 10.55pm-11pm

Agatha Christie’s iconic detective is reimagined for a new generation with a murder, a theft and a mystery where nothing is quite what it seems.

Episode one: The Unravelling, by Natalie Haynes

When an itinerant farm hand is found dead outside Weaver’s Haberdashers it’s chalked up as a brawl gone tragically wrong - but Miss Marple refuses to accept this simple solution…

• Read by Monica Dolan
• Abridged and produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Marking 45 years since the publication of Agatha Christie's last Miss Marple novel, Marple: Twelve New Stories is a collection of ingenious new stories by acclaimed authors and Christie devotees.

ED

Love Pants: Ian Dury And Jane Horrocks

Wednesday 21 December, 2.15pm-3pm

In 1987 the legendary singer and songwriter Ian Dury and actor Jane Horrocks began a relationship while working together on the Jim Cartwright play, Road. It was at turns loving and acrimonious as it switched quickly from light to darkness and back again.

This is the story of their love affair told as Jane opens up her diaries for listeners, recently rediscovered letters from Ian, and specially commissioned music by Micky Gallagher (Ian Dury And The Blockheads, The Clash, Paul McCartney).

The programme also features some of Dury's extraordinary songs - What A Waste, Reasons To Be Cheerful, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, Clever Trevor, My Old Man and material from Mr Love Pants, his final album before his death in 2000. There's also a live recording of Spasticus Autisticus which Dury described as "a war cry" when he appeared on Desert Island Discs. The song was performed by Orbital/Graeae Theatre Company and broadcast worldwide by the BBC at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympics.

Jane Horrock's diary details the relationship through a conflicted lens - beautiful and direct descriptions of joy and heartache, romance, fear, boredom and comedy. Some of Dury's letters to Horrocks read like a song chorus or a poem.

There are vivid cultural references to the times, from Sylvia Plath's grave to Terrence Trent D'arby, and the film Barfly. Unflinching insights on disability, OCD, jealousy, slapstick, love, loneliness and anger abound.

Ian Dury's letters are read by Jud Charlton in an uncanny facsimile of the late singer's voice and character, and Jane Horrocks reflects on bringing her memories, the letters and her diaries together after 35 years, concluding that here was a friendship trampled by a sometimes toxic love affair.

• A Foghorn Company production for BBC Radio 4

ED

Henry Normal: A Normal Home

Wednesday 21 December, 6.30pm-7pm

Join Henry Normal for the tenth instalment of his acclaimed, occasional series in which the acclaimed, occasional writer tackles those subjects so big only radio can possibly contain them.

So far Henry has covered Family, Life, Love, Imagination, Nature, The Universe, Communication, Ageing and Community, and this latest episode is all about Home. Through poetry, stories, jokes and quotes, he will be examining how 'home' is more than just a place and talking about what it really means to us.

Recorded in Rye, East Sussex, where Henry now calls home.

Henry Normal is a multi-award-winning writer, producer and poet. Co-writer of award-winning TV programmes such as The Royle Family, The Mrs Merton Show, Coogan’s Run and Paul Calf, and producer of, amongst many others, Oscar-Nominated Philomena, Gavin And Stacey, and Alan Partridge.

He’s published eight collections of poetry including his most recent, The Beauty Within Shadow. Plus his memoir written with Angela Pell, A Normal Family - everyday adventure with our autistic son.

Written and performed by Henry Normal

Production Coordinator - Katie Baum

Sound manager - Jerry Peal

• Producer - Carl Cooper
• A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4

ED

Christmas Wings

Thursday 22 December, 2.15pm-3pm

By Katie Redford.

Joe and Fran, two primary school teachers, watch the nativity play from the wings. The kiss they shared at the Christmas party the night before is all they can think about. But between the nativity and the ever over-enthusiastic Miss Pear, any more moments alone will be gold dust.

It’s 22 December and the day of the school Nativity. Joe Needson is preparing his pupils for their 'Christmas Extravaganz' with some strong words of encouragement. He tucks himself away in the wings, ready for the show to begin. However, sitting in the wings is his fellow teacher, Fran Rayner. She desperately needs a minute to escape, and by being in the company of Mr Needson she finds 44 of them.

The night before was the staff Christmas party, and due to cheap wine and cocktails and not enough Pringles to line their stomachs, they shared a stolen kiss which neither of them can get out of their heads. When we meet them, it’s the first time they’ve spoken to one another since the night before. It's clear they have chemistry and as their conversation continues, we realise that both have troubles they are trying to cope with.

During the nativity, we hear the gentle, heartwarming sounds of the children’s nativity as a backdrop for various revelations from a woman who feels trapped and a man whose loneliness is palpable. But Christmas is also a magical time - will Joe and Fran address what happened at the staff party, or will Miss Pear put a stop to that?

Joe - Nikesh Patel

Fran - Fiona Button

Miss Pear - Joanna Monro

• Producer and Director: Tracey Neale
• A BBC Audio production

ED

Uncanny Christmas Special

Thursday 22 December, 11am-11.30am

It’s the season for ghost stories, and Danny Robins is back with another terrifying real-life tale of the paranormal, in this special Uncanny Christmas episode. He’ll be talking to a brand new witness, and discussing the strange phenomena with experts.

Written and presented by Danny Robins

Editor and Sound Designer: Charlie Brandon-King

Music: Evelyn Sykes

Theme Music by Lanterns On The Lake

• Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard
• A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4

Radio 4 Publicity

Suggs: Love Letters To London

Friday 23 December, 11.30am-12pm

Madness frontman and national treasure Suggs reaches into the history of London to show a side of the capital you’ve never heard before.

This week, Suggs follows the route of the Northern Line, picking up memories of his wedding in the snow, the band's first gig in the legendary Hope And Anchor, and discovering that Madness weren't the only rag-tag band playing ska music in the country - The Specials had come to town.

Featuring a very special guest.

Performed by Suggs

Written by Suggs with Owen Lewis

Directed by Owen Lewis

Musical Director: Owen Parker

• Producer: Richard Melvin
• A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4

ED

Dead Ringers

Friday 23 December, 6.30pm - 7pm

Rishi Sunak will make his first appearance as PM and Liz Truss possibly her last as politician of note. The cost-of-living crisis, a new PM with a dodgy mandate, soaring inflation, strikes, and the democratic world under threat. But at least there’s one thing that’s not controversial: the football world cup in Qatar.

Performed by Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis McLeod, and Duncan Wisbey.

Written by Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain, Laurence Howarth, Sarah Campbell, Tom Coles and Ed Amsden and others.

• Produced and created by Bill Dare
• Production Co-ordinator: Caroline Barlow
• A BBC Studios Production

ED

Saturday Live

Saturday 24 December, 9am-10.30am

Matt Goss joins Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles. The singer-songwriter will perform a Christmas song and talk about his life, career and what it means to be living back in the UK after over a decade in America. Matt first shot to international stardom as one half of 1980s band Bros, but has carved out a successful solo career, had an 11-year Vegas residency and this year competed in Strictly Come Dancing.

• Producer: Claire Bartleet for BBC Radio 4

Radio 4 Publicity

Soul Music: I Believe In Father Christmas

Saturday 24 December, 10.30am-11am

Some people say I Believe In Father Christmas is a protest song about the commercialisation of Christmas, while others say it's anti-religious. Lyricist Peter Sinfield concedes it does include a touch of cynicism but says, ultimately, it's a song of joy and hope.

When Greg Lake co-wrote it in 1975 he had embarked on a solo career away from Emmerson Lake & Palmer. Those around him at the time, including song writer Peter Sinfield and broadcaster Bob Harris, recall how a simple acoustic guitar exercise Greg Lake was repeating led to this giant of a song that ends with a 64-piece orchestra, choir and an extract from Prokofiev, to create an enduring Christmas anthem.

For many people it's a comforting song conjuring images of nostalgic picture postcard Christmases of childhood spent in the ambience of Christmas tree lights and candles with "eyes full of tinsel and fire". For others it's a cautionary reminder of the need to look beyond the materialism and commercialism to a more spiritual quiet time.

• Producer: Maggie Ayre for BBC Radio 4

You’re Dead to Me

Saturday 24 December, 4.30pm-5pm

Greg Jenner is joined by comedian Mike Wozniak and historian Dr Emily Bell to give you a You’re Dead To Me stocking-filler dedicated to Mr Christmas himself, Charles Dickens.

They’ll talk about Dicken’s many literary hits - including, of course, A Christmas Carol - and hear how he celebrated Christmas throughout his life.

You can listen and subscribe to You’re Dead To Me on BBC Sounds.

ED

Now You’re Asking with Marian Keyes and Tara Flynn

Saturday 24 December, 5.30pm-6pm

The holiday season is not easy for everyone. Some people love it, some can’t stand it, and others want to enjoy some downtime with the family - if only it wasn’t their family, in their house, at this time of the year.

Whose home should you spend yuletide in and whose holiday traditions should you follow? How much should you spend on presents and what should you do if you think a relative is mean? And what are the ways of coping with the sadness this ‘happy’ time of year can bring? Marian and Tara take listeners’ Christmas questions in their stride.

Marian Keyes is a multi-award-winning writer, with a total of over 30 million books sold to date in 33 languages. Her close friend Tara Flynn is an actress, comedian and writer. Together, these two friends have been through a lot, and now want to use their considerable life experience to help solve the biggest - and smallest - of their listeners' problems

The popular advice podcast continues to be welcomed by listeners and critics: "Both are warm and kind enough to not only be funny but also offer genuinely thoughtful, if leftfield, advice" (Miranda Sawyer, The Observer). "Keyes and Flynn are my new favourite double-act" (Jane Anderson - Radio Times). "I found their compassion endlessly soothing" (Rachel Cunliffe - The New Statesman)

• Producer: Steve Doherty
• A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

ED

The Infinite Monkey Cage: Why Does Wine Taste Good?

Saturday 24 December, 7.15pm-8pm

For this special Christmas episode, Brian Cox and Robin Ince visit the Australian Wine Research Institute in Adelaide to find out what science can teach us about wine. They are joined by stand-up comedian Tim Minchin, Nobel Prize winner and vineyard owner Brian Schmidt, flavour chemist Mango Parker and sensory and consumer scientist Patricia Williamson.

The panel are put through their paces as they sample a variety of wines, learning the hard way that the majority of wine’s flavour isn’t down to molecular chemistry but instead the holistic experience of wine drinking: the perceived price, mood in the room, and even the weight of the bottle.

• Producer: Caroline Steel for BBC Radio 4

Radio 4 Publicity

Mark Gatiss and Richard Coles Are On A Ghost Hunt

Saturday 24 December, 10.15pm-11pm

Mark Gatiss has spent his career writing about ghosts, but he's never actually seen one. Richard Coles though believes he's had his own real-life brushes with the supernatural.

Last year, the two met for the first time and Richard invited Mark to visit his former parish in Finedon, Northamptonshire, reputedly the most haunted in England. Now the two of them - one believer, one atheist - are packing their torches and EMF Meters and going ghost-hunting.

Presented by Mark Gatiss and Richard Coles

Produced by Gareth McLean and Simon Barnard

Sound design: Charlie Brandon-King

Music by Evelyn Sykes

• A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

Radio 4 Publicity

'Twas The Night Before Christmas: The Poem That Changed The World

Saturday 24 December 8pm-9pm

It's 200 years since A Visit From St Nicholas became the most popular American poem of all time. Poet Luke Wright wants to understand its story and enduring appeal - so he can write a Christmas poem to rival it, and capture our imaginations in 2023.

• Producer: Faith Lawrence for BBC Radio 4

Radio 4 Publicity

With Great Pleasure At Christmas

Sunday 25 December, 8am-9am

Michael Rosen chooses poems and stories that have meant the most to him in his life, with guest readers Henry Goodman and Yasemin Özdemir and a special appearance by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, all recorded in the BBC Radio Theatre.

Michael chooses extracts from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, and Sir Gawain And The Green Knight, by Simon Armitage. With poems by Warsan Shire, Raymond Carver and James Berry. Many of Michael’s choices touch on ideas of home and heritage, or they remind him of stories handed down by family members, like When Schlemiel Came To Warsaw by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Amazing live music from Shovel Dance Collective, a nine-piece experimental folk band, who explore traditional folk songs from a perspective that "isn’t imperial, white and male". They include a new setting for Full Fathom Five, from Shakespeare’s Tempest.

Prepare for some unusual instruments and sounds and great stories by a master storyteller. Intensely festive with a tinge of melancholy, hilarious, sublime. The perfect way to start the festive season.

• Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery for BBC Radio 4

Radio 4 Publicity

Desert Island Discs: Cate Blanchett, Steven Spielberg and Kirsty Young

Sunday 25 December 11.15am-noon

Desert Island Discs marks the end of its 80th birthday year with three special castaways. On Sunday 11 December the castaway is Cate Blanchett, discussing an acting career which so far includes two Academy Awards, three Baftas and three Golden Globes. She recalls her early years in Melbourne, Australia, her sudden rise to international stardom, playing the role of Elizabeth I in the much-acclaimed 1998 film Elizabeth, and reflects on life within and away from the spotlight.

On Sunday 18 December, Steven Spielberg, the most successful living film director, shares his choice of eight discs, a book and a luxury item, in conversation with Lauren Laverne. He reflects on a lifetime of film-making, starting with the childhood mini-movies which gave him power over the popular kids who usually ignored him. He recalls his first big break as a director, with the terrifying truck chase drama Duel, and also considers why the child’s perspective has always been important, in films including ET, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, the BFG, and most recently The Fabelmans.

And the Christmas Day castaway is Kirsty Young, the acclaimed presenter of Desert Island Discs from 2006 until 2018, when ill health forced her to step down. This year she returned to broadcasting, for the Platinum Jubilee and most notably for the TV coverage of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Her closing words, as she ended the live broadcast after the service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, moved many of the millions viewing at the time. She shares her own feelings about that moment, and also looks back at her early years on air in Scotland, her career in TV news - and, after casting away nearly 500 people herself, she reveals the eight discs she couldn’t be without.

Radio 4 Publicity

The Food Programme: Food, Philosophy & Football: Christmas With Delia Smith

Sunday 25 December, 12.30pm-1pm

In food, there are household names. And then, there is Delia Smith.

So synonymous is she with cooking that her first name was included in the Collins English Dictionary in 2001. For four decades, her TV cookery programmes were primetime viewing, and when she famously quit TV in 2013, she moved her cooking lessons online. She has sold more than 21 million copies of her recipe books. Her seasonal recipes were so popular that supermarkets would run out of ingredients when she cooked with them - notably cranberries in 1995.

At Christmas, Sheila Dillon invites Delia, now 81, into her kitchen to reflect on her long career in food and cooking, but also to talk also about other passions. Her lifelong interest in spirituality and philosophy as reflected in her 2022 book, You Matter, politics and football, and her dedicated work to make Norwich City Football Club a food destination.

Fans including Jamie Oliver tell Sheila about the legacy Delia has had on food in Britain.

Presented by Sheila Dillon.

• Produced by Clare Salisbury for BBC Audio West & Wales

Radio 4 Publicity

The Signalman

Sunday 25 December, 3.15pm-4.15pm

In Jonathan Holloway’s newly imagined adaptation of Dickens' popular short story, The Visitor, on a recuperative walking holiday in the Sussex countryside, happens upon a solitary signalman in a dank, icy cold railway cutting where the sun never shines, and unexpectedly finds himself part of a spooky tale of spectral, supernatural occurrences.

Charles Dickens wrote this much loved ghost story in 1866 following his own experience of being involved in a train crash at Staplehurst in Kent when he was travelling with his mistress Ellen Ternan and her mother. He helped rescue fellow passengers and was deeply affected by the experience, possibly suffering from what we could now call PTSD, losing his voice for two weeks after the event and then becoming ever more frightened of railway travel.

He took a keen interest in railway safety and the lives of the railway workers. These themes have inspired this new adaptation in which Jonathan Holloway adds an additional, unexpected twist to this classic short story.

At the centre of it is the railway tunnel with its hellish mouth, humming telegraph wires infused with the voice of prehistoric evil, an environment full of dread in which it is difficult to tell night from day, a constantly startled railway signalman, and The Visitor who is driven to ask more and more questions - all of which receive alarming answers.

Cast:

The Signalman - Samuel West

The Visitor - James Purefoy

Mrs Carter - Sally Orrock

Train Driver - Nicholas Murchie

Music specially composed by Sarah Llewellyn

Sound Design: David Thomas

Production co-ordinators: Sarah Tombling and Sarah Wright

Director: Andy Jordan

• A Pier production for BBC Radio 4

ED

Poetry Please

Sunday 25 December, 4.30pm-5pm

Roger Robinson and Liz Lochhead join Roger to share favourite seasonal poems, including wintry offerings from Emily Dickinson, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Jacob Polley.

• Producer: Sally Heaven for BBC Radio 4

Radio 4 Publicity 

The Confessional

Sunday 25 December, 7.15pm-7.45pm

The comic and intrusive chat show in which Stephen Mangan interrogates celebrity penitents about their stories of shame, guilt and embarrassment.

Each week, Stephen entices a different eminent guest into his virtual confessional box to make three confessions of sins, peccadilloes, misdeeds and idiocies - anything really that will make us laugh, shudder, blush or cringe at their expense.

In this episode, Stephen's guest is reluctant national treasure Dame Sheila Hancock - actor, singer, director, novelist and writer. Together they discuss inappropriate behaviour, snobbery and flagrant rule-breaking.

Other guests in this series are Jessie Cave, Neil Dudgeon, Maisie Adam, Lady Antonia Fraser and Ben Bailey Smith aka Doc Brown.

Presented by Stephen Mangan.

• Produced by Frank Stirling
• A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4

ED

Radio 4 Today Guest Editors

Monday 26 December - Monday 2 January (no programme on Sunday)

Monday to Friday 6-9am; 7-9am Saturday

BBC Radio 4’s Today programme welcomes seven Guest Editors who will be taking over the editorial reigns during the festive season.

Monday 26 December

Kicking off the festive takeover on Boxing Day will be Lord Botham, the former cricketer and chair of Durham County Cricket Club. Lord Botham, who supports a range of charities through Beefy’s Charity Foundation, will look at advances in the treatment and diagnosis of childhood leukaemia that have come about since he first started charitable fundraising for the cause in 1985.

Tuesday 27 December

Chef and campaigner Jamie Oliver, who on Today recently called for all children in households on universal credit to be given free school meals, will use his programme to look for big ideas to improve child health and explore if doing good is good business. His programme will feature some of the politicians he has persuaded over his nearly two decades of campaigning to make meaningful change on child obesity and school meals.

Wednesday 28 December

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who spent six years arbitrarily detained in Iran, will explore how you hold onto freedom in difficult times for her guest edit. The programme will also feature reporting on Iran and look at government’s efforts to free UK prisoners.

Thursday 29 December

Sir Jeremy Fleming is the first Director of GCHQ to edit Today. His programme will explore the opportunities and risks of data - from intelligence to competitive sport.

Friday 30 December

Björn Ulvaeus will consider the future of Europe. He will also look ahead to Eurovision 2023 and, after the launch of the ABBA Voyage concert in London, explore why the song contest and ABBA mean so much to the LGBTQ+ community. Björn and fellow ABBA legend, Benny, are creating a new arrangement of a track from ABBA’s 2021 album, Voyage, which will be recorded with a choir and broadcast as part of his programme.

Saturday 31 December

Taking the helm on New Year’s Eve will be Anne-Marie Imafidon, President of the British Science Association and author of She's In CTRL: How Women Can Take Back Tech. Anne-Marie first appeared on Today at the age of 11 when she was interviewed about taking her GCSEs early. For her guest edit she wants to share new perspectives on science, problem-solving and comedy.

Monday 2 January

Closing the Guest Editor series this year will be Sharon White, Chairman of John Lewis. She will look at how we can support young people leaving the care system into employment.

IA

The Dark Is Rising

Monday 26 December, 2.15pm-3pm

The Dark Is Rising tells the story of Will Stanton, an ordinary boy who begins to have eerie and magical experiences on his 11th birthday, one snowy December. Will discovers that he belongs to a group of ancient, time-travelling beings called the Old Ones, who are guardians of  the Light - and must wage an unending battle against the forces of the Dark.

Together with his fellow Old Ones, Merriman and The Lady, Will must untangle the riddle of the Walker, protect his family from the terrifying Rider, collect the Signs Of Light - and defeat the Dark. It is an immense burden on young shoulders.

The Dark Is Rising stars a superb ensemble cast including Toby Jones, Harriet Walter, Simon McBurney, Paul Rhys and newcomer, 12 year-old Noah Alexander.

When the dark comes rising, who will hold it back?

A co-production by BBC World Service, Complicité and Catherine Bailey Productions.

ED

Neil Gaiman’s The Sleeper And The Spindle, 3pm-4pm

Monday 26 December

(repeat)

Neil Gaiman’s perfect Christmas-time fairytale, brought to life by award-winning dramatist Katie Hims.

The Sleeper And The Spindle is a new tale drawing on traditional folk stories, interweaving Snow White and Sleeping Beauty in an enchanting drama that puts the women firmly centre stage.

In her mountain kingdom, a soldier-Queen prepares for her wedding day. Three dwarves, guardians from her childhood, race towards her. They were coming for the celebration, but they also bring news of a sleeping sickness sweeping the land. As a girl she survived her own long, magical sleep, so she throws on her armour, straps on her sword and rides into the heart of this new plague to try to find its source and save her people.

The magical sleep is spreading from a castle deep in the forest. There, our heroine discovers a beautiful sleeping girl, and a very, very old woman, forever awake…. but when the Queen wakes the princess in the traditional way, she discovers that all is not as it seems. Ultimately, she comes to understand that she really can make her own choices, and follow the path to her own happy ending.

Dame Penelope Wilton ….. The Narrator/The Old Woman

Gwendoline Christie ….. The Queen

Neil Gaiman ….. The Home Secretary

Recorded remotely by Sharon Hughes and John Benton

• Sound Design by Sharon Hughes
• Directed and Produced by Allegra McIlroy
• A BBC Audio North Production

ED

Just A Minute

Monday 26 December, 6.30pm-7pm

Episode Title: Boxing Day Sales, Rival Towns And Boy Scouts

Sue Perkins challenges Paul Merton, Anna Maxwell Martin, Jennifer Saunders and Julian Clary to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation.

The long-running Radio 4 national treasure of a parlour game is back for a new series with subjects this week ranging from Boxing Day Sales to Rival Towns.

• Production Co-ordinator: Caroline Barlow
• Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
• Producer: Rajiv Karia
• A BBC Studios Production

ED

The News Quiz

Friday 30 December 6.15pm-7pm

A look back on some of the best bits of News Quizzing from 2022.

In this compilation episode Andy Zaltzman casts his satirical eye over the highs and lows of the year, in which the UK has had two monarchs, three Prime Ministers and countless debates over whether a party can technically be called a party.

• Producer: Georgia Keating
• Production Co-ordinator: Ryan Walker-Edwards
• A BBC Studios Production

ED

Bedroom Farce

Saturday 31 December, 3pm-4pm

Alan Ayckbourn’s award-winning comedy classic, with a stellar cast directed by Martin Jarvis. Written and set in 1975.

Anything but a typical bedroom farce. Is marriage sustained more by habit than mutual excitement? Or is there a certain blessedness? Ayckbourn's play is moving, observant - and hugely funny.

Trevor…Stephen Mangan

Susannah…Susannah Fielding

Malcolm…George Blagden

Kate…Laura Pitt-Pulford

Jan…Lisa Dillon

Nick…Edward Bennett

Ernest…Martin Jarvis

Delia…Rosalind Ayres

Specially composed Music: A-Mnemonic

Engineers: Charles Caroll, Marc McCouig, Tom Bullen

• Directed by Martin Jarvis
• A Jarvis & Ayres production for BBC Radio 4

ED

One Dish

Saturday 31 December, 5.30pm-6pm

In the One Dish Christmas special, chef and author Yotam Ottolenghi cooks one of his favourite festive feasting dishes for Andi Oliver: a stunning platter of roasted aubergine drizzled with sunshine yellow saffron-infused yoghurt and jewel-like pomegranate seeds. It’s technically a side dish, yes, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a stand-alone thing of beauty!

How does it fit in alongside the traditional Christmas bird with all the trimmings that his husband and kids adore, or a more vegetable-focused New Year’s Eve spread for friends and family? Yotam reveals all.

Andi and Yotam discuss how they approach catering their family Christmases, what the spice trade has to do with the Essex town of Saffron Walden, and Yotam reveals a game-changing tip for getting that perfect, melt-in-the-mouth texture and caramelised edges when roasting aubergine. Plus Kimberley Wilson explores the unexpected benefits of a Yuletide banquet, and find out why attending the office Christmas lunch might actually be good for society as a whole.

• Producer: Natasha Mayo for BBC Radio 4

Radio 4 Publicity

Radio 4 Extra

Radio 4 Extra celebrates the life of Bernard Cribbins with a day of programmes about or starring the much-loved actor on 29 December, as well as some new interviews with people who knew him. Plus, 4 Extra digs into the BBC archive for Nicholas McInerny’s wintry festive drama, The Nutcracker Christmas, last broadcast over 25 years ago. And Soul Music explores that New Year’s party favourite, Auld Lang Syne.

The Nutcracker Christmas

Saturday 24 December, 11am - 12.30pm

4 Extra digs into the BBC archive for Nicholas McInerny’s wintry festive drama, last broadcast over 25 years ago.

Starring Bernard Hepton as Igor, Stella Gonet as Anna and Siriol Jenkins as Natalia.

It's Christmas Eve in Moscow and Natalia can't go to the ballet at the Boishoi. But left alone with Grandpa Igor she finds the story of the Nutcracker can be brought alive at home, with a little help from some Christmas decorations and her own imagination.

Music realised by Matthew Bailey and Stewart Lucas.

Director: Alison Hindell

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995. New to BBC Radio 4 Extra

Radio4Publicity

Bernard Cribbins Day on 4 Extra

Thursday 29 December

Back in July we said a sad farewell to Bernard Joseph Cribbins OBE, who died aged 93.

On what would have been his 94th birthday 4 Extra celebrates Bernard’s life on radio, with a day showcasing the breadth of the actor’s much-loved vocal talents.

Highlights include:

Don Quixote (10am). Bernard stars with Bob Grant in Miguel de Cervantes’ classic two-part tale of an intrepid knight and his squire (1980). 

Bernard Who? (11.30am) is a two-part look back on his 70 years in showbiz with a stellar cast of friends (2018).

The What On The Landing (noon) sees Bernard as Albert Chipchase in Alan Plater’s 1967 drama about strange goings on in his house. New to 4 Extra.

Lancashire Monologues (12.45pm) features four made famous by Stanley Holloway (2018).

The Iguanodon (2.30pm) is a three-part sea comedy adventure with Bernard as a man with a lifetime in custards (1997).

Bernard Cribbins' Comedy Classics (10pm) sees the Right Said Fred singer play his all-time favourite comedy records, including a few of his own (2018).

The Bed-Sitting Room (11pm) Bernard stars with Paul Merton in Spike Milligan and John Antrobus's post-apocalyptic, surrealist, comic tale (2015).

Radio 4 Publicity

Soul Music - Auld Lang Syne

Friday 30 December, 8.30pm- 9pm

It's gone from being an 18th century song about impotence to one of the best known songs all over the world.

Most of us have sung Auld Lang Syne at some point in our lives on New Year's Eve, but how many of us know more than a few of the words and anything of its origin and meaning?

Soul Music hears the stories behind the song, how it went from being a reflective melancholic Scottish air about the parting of the ways to the jaunty tune we know today.

There are also stories of love, sorrow, hope and joy, emotions that are especially heightened at this time of year.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.

• Producer: Maggie Ayre

Radio 4 Publicity

BBC Radio 5 Live

This Christmas, as well as keeping listeners up to date with the latest news, BBC Radio 5 Live combines big name specials with a huge festive schedule of live sport, including coverage of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the return of the FA Premier League on Boxing Day.

The likes of Colin Murray, Nihal Arthanayake, Stacey Dooley, and Elis James & John Robins all present shows over the Christmas period, while listeners can also enjoy retrospective look back at an extraordinary year of news and sport.

Patrick Kielty

24 December, 9am-11am

Patrick Kielty presents a special Christmas edition of his show. With great guests to set you up for the Christmas weekend.

Fighting Talk

24 December, 11am - noon

Guests/topics are TBC as they’ll pre-record this after the World Cup final. But it’s still a Fighting Talk.

5 Live Sport: The Lionesses

24 December, 12pm-1pm

A look back at how England won the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 tournament.

Live Golf: Matt Fitzpatrick

24 December, 1pm-2pm

A look back at Matt Fitzpatrick’s victory at the 2022 US Open.

You’re Better Than That

24 December, 2pm-2.30pm

Alistair Bruce Ball presents a special Christmas edition of his sporting quiz, You're Better Than That.

606: The Best Of The World Cup Callers

24 December, 6pm-7pm

5 Live F1 Review Of The Year: The Year Of The Bull

24 December, 7pm - 8pm

Kammy & Ben’s Proper Football Podcast

24 December, 8pm-9pm

5 Live Breakfast with Colin Murray

24 December, 7pm-9pm

Colin Murray sets up your Christmas day with special guests, festive fun, and the day's news and sport headlines.

• Presenter: Colin Murray
• Producer: Producer Name

Christmas with Stacey Dooley

25 December, 9am–11am

Stacey Dooley is back on 5 Live to celebrate Christmas Day with some of her friends and special guests

• Presenter: Stacey Dooley
• Producer: Producer Name

Elis and John's Made Up Games Christmas Special

25 December, 11am–12pm

Elis James and John Robins present a special festive edition of Made Up Games! Recorded earlier this month with a live audience, they're taking their regular Friday feature and supersizing it for Christmas, with all the fun, competitiveness and nonsense that you'd usually hear on their 5 Live show.

Featuring a few well known faces, with Producer Dave in place as quizmaster, Elis and John's Made Up Games Christmas Special promises to be a festive treat.

• Presenters: Elis James and John Robins

Headliners with Nihal Arthanayake

25 December, 12.30pm-2pm

Nihal Arthanayake presents some of his best conversations from the biggest guests on his afternoon 5 Live programme this year.

• Presenter: Nihal Arthanayake
• Producer: Producer Name

The Question Of Sport Podcast

25 December, 2pm-3pm

5 Live News

25 December, 3pm-3.30pm

King Charles III delivers his first Christmas message to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Followed by a round-up of the day's main stories.

Different with Nicky Campbell

25 December, 3.30pm-4pm

Nicky hears what it’s like to quit the rat race in a big way. Gaynor Leeper left her London city life to move to the Arctic Circle and train sled dogs - despite a fear of dogs. They talk about dark mornings, racing sleds, and owning 43 dogs.

• Presenter: Nicky Campbell

Patrick Kielty

25 December, 4pm-6pm

Patrick Kielty presents a special Christmas edition of his show. With great guests to set you up for the Christmas weekend.

• Presenter: Patrick Kielty
• Producer: Producer Name

Tailenders

25 December, 7pm-8pm

Greg James, Jimmy Anderson and Felix White with their alternative and festive look at cricket in a special programme to round off an eventful 2022.

• Presenters: Greg James, Jimmy Anderson and Felix White

5 Live Boxing: Review of 2022

26 December, 6am-7am

5 Live Sport: The Lionesses

26 December, 10am–11am

A look back at how England won the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 tournament.

5 Live Sport

26 December, 12pm-6pm

With live coverage and updates from across Boxing Day’s Premier League matches

Sports Strangest Crimes: Spygate

26 December, 11pm-1am

As Lewis Hamilton makes his record-breaking debut, the 2007 season serves as backdrop for a story of power, sabotage, spying, and toxic rivalry, narrated by Pete Tong.

BBC 6 Music

BBC Radio 6 Music welcomes Björk, Self Esteem, John Grant and Peaches to each present a Festive Takeover show from Monday 26 - Thursday 29 December (7pm-9pm). And Rob Delaney presents 6 Music’s This Is Us on Christmas Day (6pm-8pm).

Queermas is also back this year, with artists Derrick Carter, I. Jordan and Maya Jane Coles getting in the festive spirit. Each provides an hour of their perfect party soundtrack on Friday 23 December (9pm, 10pm, 11pm). Plus, New Music Fix - 6 Music’s weekly guide to the best new releases - rounds up the best tracks of 2022 with special Best Of The Year’s New Music playlists.

You can listen to this year’s Queermas episodes and Festive Takeovers with Self Esteem, Peaches and John Grant, as well as 4 classic Festive Takeovers from Beastie Boys, Kelis, Robert Plant and Michael Kiwanuka, on BBC Sounds from 1 December.

Artist Icons: Arctic Monkeys & Me with Richard Ayoade

Wednesday 14 December, 4am-5am

Acclaimed director and Arctic Monkeys superfan Richard Ayoade selects his favourite tracks by the band. Along the way he tells stories of how he first got to the know the band, as well as the many time’s he’s worked with them. This includes being introduced to the band by the boss of Warp Films, shooting the band’s concert film from the Apollo in 2008, directing several of the band’s videos, and asking Alex Turner to write some original songs for his debut film, Submarine.

This show was originally published on BBC Sounds as part of Arctic Monkey’s Artist Icons Collection which coincided with the release of the band’s latest album The Car.

• Presenter: Richard Ayoade
• Producer: Tom Cotton
• A BBC Audio production

6 Music's Breakfast Christmas Party

Friday 16 December, 7.30am-10.30am

Lauren gets you into the festive spirit with a breakfast party as we find ourself deep in the Christmas season.

She'll be playing nothing but Christmas songs all show long, including a People's Sleighlist with all the songs picked by you.

Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne will be joining for a special stripped-back session, and Tim Burgess of The Charlatans will drop by for a performance of their duet I Was Born On Christmas Day. This will only be the second time they'll have performed the song live together.

Poet Tim Key will offer up some special poems with a yuletide feel, and food writer Meera Sodha will get into some vegan and vegetarian recipes to offer an alternative for this year's Christmas dinner.

Plus Poppy Ajudha will be drawing on her St Lucian heritage, curating a Caribbean Christmas at the Desert Island Disco with reggae, soca and calypso tunes.

• Presenter: Lauren Laverne
• Producer: Mark Higgins
• A BBC Audio production

SH8

Queermas - Derrick Carter

Friday 23 December, 9pm-10pm

6 Music indulges in some festive hedonism, with uplifting mixes from some of the world’s finest DJs to provide that perfect party soundtrack.

Chicago house legend and underground dance pioneer Derrick Carter kicks off this year’s Queermas festivities, blending his house roots with old-school disco, soul, jazz, and whatever else catches his fancy to jack the beat and rock the party.

One of the pinnacles of Chicago house music's 90s wave, Derrick Carter began DJing at the age of nine, spinning disco records at family reunions. Born and raised in the western suburbs, Carter was into music from a young age, but during his teens he found his passion in Chicago's house scene.

Before long Carter became a strong presence and today, he is established as an international figure in the world of underground house. As a remixer, Carter has worked for a diverse range of artists including The Beloved, The Human League, Ricky Martin, Boris Dlugosch, Modjo, DJ Sneak and Röyksopp.

This programme is available on BBC Sounds from 1 December.

• Presenter: Derrick Carter
• Producer: Danielle Swindells
• A BBC Audio production

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Queermas - I. Jordan

Friday 23 December, 10pm-11pm

Emerging UK producer and DJ I. Jordan throws down the second mix of the evening with an hour of high-energy, high-emotion dance music.

I. Jordan has released four solo singles and EPs to date. They have also released collaborative singles with fellow electronic artists Finn, Dance System and Fred Again. They are known not only as a DJ and producer, but also as the co-manager of New Atlantis, a regular ambient social party, which they ran in collaboration with electronic music producer and DJ, Al Wootton (formally Deadboy).

This programme is available on BBC Sounds from 1 December.

• Presenter: I. Jordan
• Producer: Danielle Swindells
• A BBC Audio production

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Queermas - Maya Jane Coles

Friday 23 December, 11pm-12am

Wrapping up the 6 Music Queermas party, the final selector of the evening is Maya Jane Coles, the British-Japanese queen of the electronic underground.

Having already remixed acts such as Massive Attack and Gorillaz with She Is Danger, Maya gained her breakthrough exposure in 2010, when she released a four-track EP on Franck Roger's label, Real Tone Records. She was then named by DJ Mag as one of the best newcomers that year, and the year after was voted Best Newcomer 2011 at the Ibiza DJ Awards 2011. In 2021, Maya released her third studio album Night Creature, as well as co-producing a song on Sting’s album The Bridge.

This programme is available on BBC Sounds from 1 December.

• Presenter: Maya Jane Coles
• Producer: Danielle Swindells
• A BBC Audio production

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Rob Delaney: 6 Music’s This Is Us

Rob Delaney: 6 Music’s This Is Us

Sunday 25 December, 6pm-8pm

Ending the year in which 6 Music celebrated its 20th anniversary, comedian, actor and writer Rob Delaney presents a two-hour special, playing his favourite music from the last 20 years as part of This Is Us - a celebration of 6 Music at 20.

Rob says: “I couldn’t resist 6 Music’s invitation to spread good cheer to millions of listeners on Christmas Day on my favourite radio station. Whether you’re slumped on the sofa having eaten your own weight in mince pies or having your own kitchen disco, I’ll provide the soundtrack to your festivities."

In addition, playing over the weeks beginning 12 and 19 December, will be a selection of extraordinary covers from artists including Alt J who cover Metronomy’s Everything Goes My Way; Bonobo, who cover Angie Stone’s Wish I Didn’t Miss You; Hot Chip who cover Cass McComb’s County Line; Suede, who cover Nadine Shah’s Fool; The Big Moon who cover Grizzly Bear’s Two Weeks; and Courtney Barnett, who covers Caribou’s Odessa - all recorded especially for 6 Music. All covers were chosen by the artists, who were asked to pick their favourite track from the past 20 years.

A boxset of previous This Is Us episodes, presented by names such as Russell Crowe, Beck, Wet Leg, Thundercat, Neneh Cherry, Foals, Anna Calvi and Simon Pegg will be available on BBC Sounds from Monday 12th December.

• Presenter: Rob Delaney
• Producer: Shola Aleje
• A BBC Audio production

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6 Music’s Festive Takeover - Björk

Monday 26 December, 7pm-9pm

This Boxing Day, take a deep dive inside the musical mind of one of the most original artists alive today. Björk makes her 6 Music presenting debut with a meticulously curated selection of music to move you, and make you move.

With 10 studio albums to her name so far – including this year’s Fossora - Björk’s creative process is informed by everything from nature and location to her vast musical influences, encompassing electronic, rap, punk, soul and classical.

In this landmark two-hour special, Björk digs into her exquisite record collection and shares the stories behind her far-reaching discoveries - from traditional Sardinian folk to Tanzanian electronic, rare South American grooves to the freshest North American R&B.

Expect unpredictable beats, unusual melodies and unexpected sounds. Spanning genres, environments and continents, this is a musical odyssey through the landscape of the solar system’s most dynamic artist.

• Presenter: Björk
• Producer: Ella Atcheson
• A BBC Audio production

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6 Music’s Festive Takeover - Self Esteem

Tuesday 27 December, 7pm-9pm

Mercury nominated star Rebecca Lucy Taylor, aka Self Esteem, has had a momentous year following the release of her second album, Prioritise Pleasure, including composing the soundtrack to the West End production of Suzie Miller’s play Prima Facie, starring Jodie Comer. In this special Festive Takeover, Rebecca makes her 6 Music presenting debut. She’ll be reflecting on the year and delves into the songs that have soundtracked her life and inspired her music, as well as some of her favourite discoveries of 2022.

To celebrate her love of musical theatre, the second hour sees Rebecca celebrate show tunes! Rebecca picks some beloved hits from musicals including Dreamgirls, The Lion King, Cabaret and Fame.

Rebecca began her music career as a member of folk duo Slow Club, formed in Sheffield in 2006. Swapping folk for experimental pop, she went solo as Self Esteem in 2017 with a debut single, Your Wife, and, with the release of her breakout second studio album, Prioritise Pleasure, she has become an industry phenomenon. Self Esteem also performed a blistering set at this year’s 6 Music Festival in Cardiff.

This programme is available on BBC Sounds from 1 December.

• Presenter: Self Esteem
• Producer: Sara Tabar
• A BBC Audio production

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6 Music’s Festive Takeover - John Grant

Wednesday 28 December, 7pm-9pm

John Grant treats listeners to two hours of his favourite music. This programme will feature a mixture of tracks that he loves, some winter warmers and a smattering of his favourite new discoveries of 2022.

American musician and songwriter John Grant came to prominence as the co-founder, lead singer, pianist and primary songwriter for rock band the Czars, formed in the mid-90s. He released his first solo album, Queen Of Denmark, in 2010, which was named best album of that year by Mojo. He is known for his collaborations with musicians including Goldfrapp, Kylie Minogue, Sinead O’ Connor and Robbie Williams.

This programme is available on BBC Sounds from 1 December.

• Presenter: John Grant
• Producer: Matthew Mills
• A BBC Audio production

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6 Music’s Festive Takeover - Peaches

Thursday 29 December, 7pm-9pm

Feminist icon and pop provocateur Peaches takes over the 6 Music airwaves playing a selection of her favourite new discoveries, some familiar favourites and her musical influences. Plus she looks back on 2022 and reflects on finally playing the delayed 20th anniversary tour of her seminal album, Teaches Of Peaches.

Peaches has spent nearly two decades pushing boundaries in mainstream pop culture. She’s collaborated with artists from Iggy Pop and Daft Punk to Kim Gordon and Major Lazer, has had her music featured in Lost In Translation, The Handmaid's Tale and Broad City, and seen her work studied at universities around the world.

Peaches has released five critically acclaimed studio albums blending electronic music, hip-hop, and punk rock while tackling gender politics, sexual identity, ageism, and the patriarchy. She also featured on 6 Music as a Wise Woman in 2015.

This programme is available on BBC Sounds from 1 December.

• Presenter: Peaches
• Producer: Ellie Kifvel
• A BBC Audio production

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New Music Fix Playlist: Best Tracks Of 2022

Friday 2, 9 and 16 December; Thursday 22 and 29 December, 4am-5am

On Thursdays and Fridays from 2- 29 December (4am-5am), New Music Fix: Best Tracks of 2022 will provide listeners with a one-stop shop for the best songs released this year. Each week, this programme will look back across 2022 to spotlight some of the year’s stand-out tracks, celebrating what has been another incredible year of new music.

Expect anything from Christine And The Queens to Kendrick Lamar or Loyle Carner, Poppy Ajudha to Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

• Producer: Carley Maile and Hayley Clarke
• A Somethin’ Else production

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The Collection: Peel Acres

Sunday 1 January, 1pm-2pm

Tom Ravenscroft returns with a second series of The Collection: Peel Acres. Each week he invites a different music lover to Peel Acres to explore the legendary record collection of his late father.

Tom's guests lend a hand (and two ears) in making sense of this vast music archive, which is comprised of more than 120,000 albums, 12 inches and seven inches, collected over a lifetime.

This episode sees former 6 Music presenter Jarvis Cocker return to the house, which he first visited with Pulp in 1995, as they released their Mercury Music Prize-winning album, Different Class.

His picks include tracks from Wild Man Fischer, Crime, and something very special from the Warp Record Label.

Plus Jarvis tells stories from the early days of his career, including Pulp’s first brush with fame and what it was likely growing up in the Sheffield music scene.

Previous guests on The Collection: Peel Acres include Damon Albarn, Nabihah Iqbal, Adam Buxton, DJ Mafalda, Erol Elkan, Nubiya Garcia and Kieran Hebden (aka Four Tet).

• Presenter: Tom Ravenscroft
• Producer: Paul Sheehan
• A BBC Audio production

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BBC Radio World Service English

BBC World Service English brings listeners a wonderful selection of festive treats this Christmas, in the World Service’s 90th year, including the spellbinding midwinter audio drama, The Dark Is Rising, starring Harriet Walter and Toby Jones. Listeners can laugh along to The Arts Hour New Year International Comedy Special, featuring a global line up of top comedians; and can get to grips with the new year with Correspondents’ Look Ahead, which aims to predict what events and trends might shape 2023.

In addition, boyband superstar Oritsé Williams from JLS, a former younger carer, meets the next generation in Kids Who Care; Sami reindeer herders talk about how they will be impacted by carbon-cutting measures in Sweden’s Green Power Struggle; and from the BBC’s iconic studios at Maida Vale in London, Katie Derham presents the World Service’s New Year’s Concert featuring members of the BBC New Generation Artists scheme past and present.

The World Service Is 90!

Sunday 18 December, 12pm–1pm, and Monday 19 December, at 8.30am-9.30am

For 90 years the BBC World Service has been broadcasting in dozens of languages to audiences so huge, they’re counted in the tens of millions all over the globe.

World Service began transmitting on 19 December 1932. It was called the BBC Empire Service, speaking in slow English via crackly short-wave radio to countries in an Empire which then spanned a fifth of the globe.

The Second World War saw radio services expand massively, broadcasting in more than 40 languages to listeners hungry for truth and facts they could trust.

In every crisis and conflict since, individual voices ‘out of the air’ have offered news, but also drama, music, education and sometimes hope to their audiences.

In a special 90th anniversary programme, the broadcaster Nick Rankin - who worked for more than 20 years at the BBC - digs into a treasure trove of sound archives and talks to journalists who made, and still make, the BBC World Service such a remarkable network.

• Presenter: Nick Rankin
• Producer: Monica Whitlock
• A BBC World Service production

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Sportsworld: How The World Cup Was Won

Sunday 18 December, 6pm-7pm

Lee James presents live from Qatar following the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final. With match analysis from big-name guests and reaction from around the world, this is the Sportworld guide to how the biggest game in world football unfolded.

• Presenter: Lee James
• A BBC World Service Production

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The Dark Is Rising

Tuesday 20 - Saturday 31 December, 8.30am-8.50am each day

The Dark Is Rising tells the story of Will Stanton, an ordinary boy who begins to have eerie and magical experiences on his 11th birthday, one snowy December. Will discovers that he belongs to a group of ancient time-travelling beings called the Old Ones, who are guardians of the Light - and must wage an unending battle against the forces of the Dark.

Together with his fellow Old Ones, Merriman and The Lady, Will must untangle the riddle of the Walker, protect his family from the terrifying Rider, collect the Signs Of Light - and defeat the Dark. It is an immense burden on young shoulders.

The Dark Is Rising stars a superb ensemble cast including Toby Jones, Harriet Walter, Simon McBurney, Paul Rhys and newcomer, 12 year-old Noah Alexander.

When the dark comes rising, who will hold it back?

A co-production by BBC World Service, Complicité and Catherine Bailey Productions.

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Sweden's Green Power Struggle

Tuesday 20 December, 9.30am-10am

Sweden's indigenous Sami people say their culture is being threatened by their country’s drive to become a world leader in carbon-cutting industries. In Sweden’s far north, reporter Maddy Savage meets traditional Sami reindeer herders who say they will be impacted by growing installations of wind turbines, and planned mines to extract the materials to build a new green infrastructure.

This is a battle for land and resources, and a future shaped and challenged by historical injustices.

• Presenter: Maddy Savage
• Producer: Dave Howard
• A Bespoken Media Production for BBC World Service

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Business Daily: 2022 In Review

Friday 23 December, 10am to 11am

Business Daily reviews one of the most important 12 months for the world of money and work on record. Big economic news has dominated in 2022. We saw war break out in Europe, record high energy, fuel and food prices, increasing interest rates and in parts of the world total financial meltdown.

We’ll look at how Business Daily reported 2022 and spoke to the people at the very sharp end of how the economy has changed lives over the past 12 months.

You’ll hear from businesses right across the world in sectors struggling with prices rises and increasing costs, from the people trying to escape or rebuild broken economies, and from those who are harnessing new technology and an ever-changing work environment to make money or push for change.

2022 also saw many sectors bounce back post covid; the return of travel and tourism to many countries; sporting events once again played to full capacity crowds and festivals; and concerts and cinema bounced back as audiences came back and spent their cash.

We’ll discuss all this and what might be in store in 2023.

• Presenters: Rahul Tandon and Leanna Byrne
• Producer: Izzy Greenfield
• A BBC World Service production

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A Festival Of Nine Lessons And Carols

Saturday 24 December, 3pm - 4.30pm

Held in the candlelit Chapel of King's College, Cambridge, this service marks for many people around the world the beginning of Christmas. It is based around nine Bible readings which tell the story of the loving purposes of God. They are interspersed with carols, both old favourites and less familiar tunes, sung by the world-famous King’s College chapel choir.

This year's new commission is a setting of Angelus ad virginem by Matthew Martin. The congregation in King's College join in the singing of traditional Christmas hymns.

• Producer: Radek Boschetty
• A BBC World Service production

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Newshour’s 2022 News Quiz

Sunday 25 December, 1pm-2pm

All year long, our team of Newshour presenters give interviewees a hard time with their probing questions. For Newshour’s big end-of-year quiz, we turn the tables.

The pressure is on as host James Coomarasamy tests the knowledge of his colleagues about the big stories of the year.

Which team will be crowned 2022 news quiz champions?

• Presenter: James Coomarasamy
• Producer: John Rigby
• A BBC World Service production

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His Majesty The King's Christmas Message

Sunday 25 December, 3.06pm

Coverage of His Majesty the King's first Christmas message to the Commonwealth.

• A BBC Production

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Correspondents' Look Ahead

Friday 30 December, 10am-11am

Razia Iqbal and guests gaze into their crystal balls to predict what events and trends might shape 2023. Will we see a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine? How will the world get through a predicted global recession after initial hopes there would be an economic rebound post Coronavirus? Will Joe Biden’s promise of "no new Cold War" with China hold firm?

And as the world unites to tackle climate change, what role will new President Lula’s Brazil play? All this and plenty more.

• Presenter: Razia Iqbal
• Producer: Ben Carter
• A BBC World Service production

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World Service New Year’s Concert

Saturday 31st December, 7pm-8pm

From the BBC’s iconic studios at Maida Vale in London, Katie Derham presents the World Service’s annual concert featuring members of the BBC New Generation Artists scheme past and present.

Founded in 1999 with the aim of nurturing and promoting some of the world’s finest young musicians at the start of their international careers, the list of NGA alumni is now well over 100 and includes some of the biggest names in classical music.

Participants are offered the chance to make studio recordings, perform with the BBC’s orchestras, and at many of the UK’s most prestigious venues and festivals - including London’s Wigmore Hall and the BBC Proms.

• Producer: Emma Bloxham
• A BBC World Service Production

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The Arts Hour New Year International Comedy Special

Saturday 31 December, 8pm-9pm

Would you like a good laugh after another challenging year? The Arts Hour is celebrating New Year with its annual festive feast of laughter.

The Arts Hour New Year International Comedy Special will be compered by South African comedian Tumi Morake. She’ll be sharing jokes with an international line up of fellow comedians including: from Uganda, Cotilda; from Australia, aboriginal comedian Dane Simpson; from Italy, Luca Cupani; and from the UK, stand-up Lauren Pattison.

• Presenter: Tumi Morake
• Producer: Oliver Jones
• A BBC World Service production

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Kids Who Care

Tuesday 3 January, 9.30am-10am

Oritsé Williams became a young carer aged 12, when his mother contracted multiple sclerosis and he had to take responsibility for looking after her and two younger siblings.

During his teenage years, he had a dream: to become a singer and make plenty of money so that he could fund research to find a cure for his mum. At least part of that dream came true when Oritsé and his band, JLS, were runners-up in a national talent contest.

But Oritsé never forgot his early years as a young, unpaid carer. In this programme, he meets the next generation of kids who care - in the UK, Uganda and El Salvador. He learns about the challenges these children and teenagers face, but also hears stories of resilience and hope.

Among the children he meets are 13 year-old Amber, who looks after two sick and disabled parents; 15 year-old Jordan, whose care role ties him to the house almost completely; and 13cyear-old Gloria from Uganda, who looks after four younger siblings all on her own.

Experts estimate that one in ten children in the UK shoulders heavy care duties, including personal care such as helping a parent to the toilet, washing and feeding them, helping them move around using hoists, or even giving them injections; while as many as one in five have a lighter caring role. Many of these children struggle at school or face bullying; but as Oritsé discovers, they also develop astonishing resilience, resourcefulness and empathy.

• Presenter: Oritsé Williams
• Producers: Kristine Pommert and Ewan Newbigging-Lister
• A CTVC Production for the BBC World Service

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