Brenda Fricker: The first Irish woman to win an Oscar

Brenda Fricker: The first Irish woman to win an Oscar

Brenda Fricker became the first Irish woman to win an Academy Award for her performance in the film “My Left Foot”. She began her career with parts in Ireland’s first soap opera Tolka Row, ITV’s Coronation Street, and became a household name as the nurse Megan Roach in Casualty on the BBC. Her friend and fellow actress Anna Friel pays tribute. The BBC’s long-serving correspondent David Willey was a renowned authority on the Vatican, covering the lives and deaths of five popes. Before he settled in Rome, David had travelled widely for the BBC, reporting from Algeria, the Vietnam War and China just after the communist revolution. Two of his colleagues, former Chief News Correspondent Kate Adie and International Editor Jeremy Bowen, share their memories of working with him. The name David Austin is forever indelibly associated with the rose growing business. He created some of the most sought after roses, naming new varieties after fictional or real-life people, including Gabriel Oak from Far From the Madding Crowd, the actress Dame Judi Dench and ceramicist Emma Bridgewater - who pays tribute to him alongside Gardeners' World presenter Sue Kent. Wally Funk broke records as the oldest person to go to space onboard Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Rocket in 2021. In the early 1960s she was part of a group of women known as the Mercury 13 who were tested to see if they could compete with male astronauts for a place in the American space programme. But the project was abandoned and her hopes dashed. Loretta Hall, who co-wrote her memoir, tells us her story. Producer: Ben Mitchell Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea Kennedy Archive: "My Left Foot", Ferndale Films, Granada Film, RTÉ, Hell's Kitchen Films; BBC One, Wogan, 16/02/1990; 62nd Academy Awards, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 26/03/1990; BBC Radio 4, Woman's Hour, 05/03/1997; BBC One, Wogan, 15/02/1991; BBC Radio 4, Sunday, 10/03/2013; BBC Radio 4, Archive on 4, From our Rome Correspondent, 07/04/2012; BBC One, RHS Chelsea Flower Show, 21/05/2007; BBC One, Football Focus, 06/10/2018; BBC Radio 4, Woman's Hour, 19/06/2019; BBC News, 19/06/1983; Blue Origin, YouTube, 20/07/2021; Other audio courtesy of Loretta Hall

Sam Neill: the silent child with a stutter who became a movie star

Sam Neill starred in over fifty films and numerous television series, playing often wildly different roles, from a palaeontologist in Jurassic Park to a repressed husband in The Piano. When he was seven years old the family moved from Northern Ireland to his father’s native New Zealand, a country which Sam grew to love, and, as his friend and fellow actor Oscar Kightley told Matthew, which also came to love Sam. We also hear from writer and journalist Hadley Freeman. Phyllis Kinney became known as one of the most influential figures in traditional Welsh music, although she was born many miles from Wales in Michigan, USA. She moved to London to further her training as an opera singer, when on a trip to Wales, she met and fell in love with folk musician Meredydd Evans. The two married and together performed and edited collections of Welsh songs that came to be regarded as the definitive reference works of Welsh traditional music. Her friend, poet Arwel Jones, tells her story. Acclaimed chef Bill Poon brought authentic Chinese cooking to the UK and set about changing the negative perception of Chinese food across the country. In 1980 his was only the second Chinese restaurant in Britain to be awarded a Michelin Star. His daughter Amy Poon remembers him. For almost seventy years Patricia “Paddy” Greene, starred as Jill Archer, the matriarch of the central farming family. As a trainee actor Paddy had been told that her mic technique would never pass muster. Then In 1957, as she was about to go on tour with a theatre company, she got a call to audition for a role in The Archers. They were looking for a temporary cast member to be a love interest for Philip Archer. As the current editor of The Archers, Jeremy Howe explains – the audition went well. Presenter: Matthew Bannister Producer: Ed Prendeville Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea Kennedy Archive: Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 27/12/2015; The Archers, BBC Radio 4, Jan 1959; The Archers, BBC Radio 4, 25/07/2017; The Archers, BBC Radio 4, 20/12/2023; The Archers, BBC Radio 4, 17/02/2019; Wogan, BBC Radio 2, 15/11/1985; Sam Neill Instagram post; Conversations with Sarah Kanowski, ABC Radio National, 2023; Beti a'i Phobol, BBC Radio Cymru, 06/03/1997

Bonnie Tyler: How the "sweet soul singer" found her growl

Bonnie Tyler, went from a Welsh council house to topping the international charts with songs like: ”Lost In France”, “Holding out for a Hero” and “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. Born Gaynor Hopkins in South Wales she grew up in a passionately religious family, which is where young Gaynor’s first experience of performing came – singing “All Things Bright and Beautiful” at her local chapel. Fellow Welsh musician and broadcaster Mal Pope tells Matthew about her life.  Dissident Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee was arrested and held for more than four hundred days by the Chinese authorities. They were investigating the publications sold at his Causeway Bay Bookstore, some of which were critical of the Communist regime on the mainland. He became a symbol of freedom of speech after he revealed his incarceration at a news conference. The journalist and author Emily Feng interviewed him.  In 1988 Colonel Abdul Ahad Momand became the first, and so far only, Afghan citizen to travel into space. He was part of the three-person crew that launched from Kazakhstan on board the Soviet Soyuz TM-6 spacecraft. During the trip, Colonel Momand, who was a Muslim, became the first person to read from the Koran on TV while in orbit. General Khyan Zadran was a friend and colleague of Colonel Momand. TV and radio director Kay Patrick was best known for her work on Coronation Street, where she oversaw 250 episodes in 20 years. During that time, she steered some of the show’s most memorable storylines including the death of Hayley Cropper, played by Julie Hesmondhalgh - Julie remembers her sensitive and talented director. Presenter: Matthew Bannister Producer: Ben Mitchell Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell Researcher: Jesse Edwards Archive: BBC One, Top of the Pops, 24/02/1983; BBC Two, On Show, 30/03/2005; BBC World Service, Witness, 22/06/2026; YouTube, Hong Kong Free Press, 21/06/2016; ITV Studios, Coronation Street, Episode 8305, 20/01/2014; Dr Who: Toby Hadoke’s Time Travels, 18/09/2023; BBC Four, The Spaceman of Afghanistan, 13/10/2014

The Good Life of Dame Penelope Keith

Dame Penelope Keith became a household name for her performances in two classic TV comedy shows of the 1970s and early 80s: The Good Life and To The Manor Born. We share her story through her own words, with interviews from the BBC Archives. David Hencke was an award-winning investigative journalist who worked for the Guardian newspaper for over thirty years. His scoops brought to light wrongdoing in many spheres of public life. His friend and colleague Francis Beckett reveals where his drive to uncover the truth came from. The solitary nun, Sister Maggie Ross, born Martha Reeves, extolled the virtues of silence. A renowned theologian, she spent part of her time in the wilderness of Alaska with a tamed raven. Her bishop protector, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, pays tribute. Marion Fossett was an Irish contortionist, and Eurovision hopeful, who became a fourth generation circus performer by joining the family business. She started young, brought in to the circus ring as an 18 month old baby, by an elephant. Marion became one of the industry’s few ringmistresses. Her niece, Sonya Fossett, takes us inside the world of Fossett's Circus. Presenter: Matthew Bannister Producer: Ben Mitchell Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Andrea Kennedy Archive: BBC One, Wogan, 13.09.1985; BBC Radio 4, In Conversation… with Penelope Keith, 28.10.1999; BBC One, The Heaven and Earth Show, 24.08.2003; BBC One, The Good Life: "Silly, but it's fun”, 26.12.1977; BBC One, The Good Life: “A Tug of the Forelock”, 24.09.1976; BBC Four, Penelope Keith Remembers To The Manor Born, 02.01.2024; BBC One, To The Manor Born: “Grantleigh”, 30.09.1979; BBC News, 20.10.1994; BBC Two, Westminster Daily, 26.10.1994; BBC News, 23.12.1998; BBC Two, Limits of Freedom: “Who Is Big Brother?”, 10.10.1983; BBC Radio 4, Museum of Curiosity, 26.03.2008; The Gilded Thread with Irene O’Brien, 23.05.2023

"He became one of the most powerful men in the world” - the story of the man who shaped modern economics

A giant of American economics, former US Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan, was an economic pioneer who shaped the modern American economy and believed in free markets and light touch regulation. A world financial crisis after he left the job, however, forced him to question some of his economic assumptions. We hear from Bloomberg's Stephanie Flanders. Tulsi Vagjiani survived the plane crash which killed her family, but it left her with burns over much of her body. She went on to be a legendary camapigner for better treatment for people who have visible differences. Phil Gorf from Changing Faces and broadcaster model and fellow campaigner Katie Piper pay tribute to her work. French sailor Charlie Dalin, smashed the record in the non-stop round-the-world Vendée Globe race. It was only afterwards that he revealed that he had taken part in the gruelling competition with a rare cancer. We hear from friend and Vendée Globe competitor Pip Hare. Teddie Beverley was the last surviving member of the original girl group, The Beverley Sisters. The trio found huge fame in the 1950s, with hits such as I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. Teddie's daughter Sasha Felix tells us how they became the highest-paid female entertainers in the UK, and why some of their tracks were banned from the airwaves. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Ben Mitchell Assistant Producer: Catherine Powell Researcher: Jesse Edwards Archive: Beverley Sisters: London Plus, BBC, 04/02/1985; Legends: The Beverley Sisters – Tickled Pink, BBC Two, 31/12/2010; Saturday Live, BBC Radio 4, 05/03/2022; Changing Faces: Visible Hate campaign, YouTube, 23/01/2020; Changing Faces: Our ambassador Tulsi on our #IAmNotYourVillain campaign, YouTube, 14/10/2021; Charlie Dalin: Vendée Globe, 14/01/2025; Alan Greenspan, Capitalism, Newsnight, BBC One, 01/10/2007; Alan Greenspan, Newsnight, BBC One, 01/10/2007; Evan meets Alan, BBC Radio 4, 23/10/2013