Tag Archives: Radio 4

BBC employee discovers drug den in Edinburgh’s Stockbridge (Rousse)

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Dreamaticus

My high-powered job on Radio 4 required regular trips to London for meetings. Because I needed to be up early the next morning to catch the 05:40 train, I had to consider my sleeping options carefully. The first possibility was … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ailment, ailments, BBC, bed, bedroom, beds, box, chain-smoke, classmate. classmates, clothes, den, disturb, doctor, documentary, downstairs, drug, Dundas Street, Edinburgh, employee, illness, illnesses, job, mad, meeting, meetings, menopausal, menopause, middle-age, night, prescription, prescriptions, radio, Radio 4, Red red wine, reunion, room, single, sleep, sleeping, smoking, squatter, squatters, Stockbridge, surgery, tablet, tablets, television, train, UB40, undergraduate, upstairs | Leave a comment

Sting beats Mick Jagger in conversation competition (Rousse)

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Dreamaticus

Sting was giving his full attention to AD, but I didn’t mind because I knew that my turn would come eventually. I made myself comfortable knitting on the sofa listening to Eddie Mair in the second half of Radio 4’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1979, 1980, A man for all seasons, Aberfeldy, BBC, Beauly, competition, conversation, Cool for cats, De Do Do Do De Da Da Da, December, Dire Straits, Easter, Ediie Mair, English literature, exam, family, fitness, Ford, Gordon Sumner, Granada, knit, knitting, Mick Jagger, O level, ordinary level, PM, police, programme, Radio 1, Radio 4, Robert Bolt, single, Squeeze, Sting, Sultans of swing | Leave a comment

Jane Garvey lies about her student days (Rousse)

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Jane Garvey broadcast to the world from her little desk. It was incredibly low-tech, but this was all she needed as the voice of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. I was always on the look-out for any references that Garvey … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged BBC, bedroom, Birmingham University, broadcast, broadcaster, central heating, cosy, desk, Garvey, idea, ideas, Jane Garvey, libraries, library, listeners, Manor House, programme, public, Radio 4, references, research, retired, schedule, sellotape, student, University of Birmingham, voice, Woman's Hour | Leave a comment

Melvyn Bragg’s editor, boasts about the Sound of Music, and other distractions keep Rousse away from class

Posted on September 29, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Now that it was December I no longer objected to the Christmas displays in the shops. I was even becoming more tolerant of the members of the sect who queued up every day in their drab black uniforms for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged camera, campus, Christmas, church, cinema, class, colleague, country, December, Dee, editor, freelance, guest, job, lecture, Melvyn Bragg, Radio 4, religion, River Dee, sect, Shetland, sound of music, students, teaching, term, Thursday, town, TPR, tyranny, undergraduates, uniform, uniforms | Leave a comment

NHS equipment failure and a biked-themed party (Rousse)

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Dreamaticus

My dermatologist was becoming increasingly frustrated with the radio next to my hospital bed. He’d turn it off, then two minutes later BBC Radio 4 would spring back to life again. I protested that it wasn’t my responsibility. The radio … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged BBC, bed, bike, conversation, cycling, dermatologist, hospital, NHS, Radio 4, shorts, switches | Leave a comment

Bonding with Radcliffe and Maconie over the Farmer’s Boys and the BBC (Rousse)

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie enjoyed the Fringe so much that they decided to stay on in Edinburgh, at least until Christmas. By now I was their best friend and had persuaded them to help run my seminars. The students … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 6music, back rest, backrest, badge, BBC, BBC radio, best friend, bond, bonding, Bright Club, Christmas, class, comedy, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Bright Club, Edinburgh Festival, Edinburgh Fringe, Farmer's Boys, festival, friend, friendship, Fringe, furniture, Maconie, music, party, Radcliffe, Radio 4, seminar, seminars, sofa, student, students, trick | Leave a comment

Elvis Costello and Libby Purves forced to share scant office space at the BBC (Rousse)

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Dreamaticus

MR and I got ahead of the others on a Sunday walk across the Pentland Hills with colleagues. Enthusing over Great British walks, MR declared how he would love to follow the Roman Wall trail from the south of England … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged BBC, bet, betting, coffin, corridor, corridors, dead, death, door, Elvis Costello, envelope, estate, filing cabinet, filing cabinets, fire, fire doors, Hadrian, Hadrian's Wall, Heathrow, horse, horses, housing, Libby Purves, M25, necklace, Northumberland, office, Pentland Hills, Pentlands, prize, race, racing, Radio 4, Roman, Roman Wall, Romans, space, stationery, stones, Sunday, surprise, theme park, treasure hunt, walk | Leave a comment

Babies, text mining and Any Questions (Rousse)

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Dreamaticus

All the middle-aged married women at the conference looked so much bigger than they did this time last year. Puzzled at first, I eventually worked out that all of them were either about to give birth, or had recently welcomed … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Any Questions, babies, baby, BBC, bed, birth, campus, conference, downstairs, guest, Indian, knowledge management, lecture, married, middle-age, middle-aged, module, motherhood, pregnant, producers, Radio 4, robes, seat, stage, students, teaching, text mining, turban, weight gain, wives, women | Leave a comment

Mark Radcliffe missing, Stuart Maconie scared (Rousse)

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Mark Radcliffe popped out of the studio, so I took advantage of his absence for a private chat with Stuart Maconie. After some preliminary small talk about preferences for co-hosted shows, I got down to the business of my complaint. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 6 Music, chat, e-mail, Mark Radcliffe, microphone, presenter, presenting, radio, Radio 2, Radio 4, Salford, show, spam, Stuart Maconie, studio | Leave a comment

Graeme Garden’s elasticated stockings and a railway car chase (Rousse)

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Graeme Garden sat opposite me in the waiting area at BBC Radio 4 reception. He was my host for the day. On the basis of my impressive track record of developing panel games, I’d been summoned to help create three … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged adoption, BBC, Birmingham New Street, car, cars, cashmere, child, children, coat, coat rack, criminals, delay, driving, elasticated, game, games, getaway, Graeme Garden, hem, kid, kids, lavender, lorry, mini-skirt, miniskirt, naked, panel game, panel games, platform, police, rack, Radio 4, show, shows, skirt, station, stocking, stockings, TPR, train, underwear | 1 Comment