The Day of the Doctor.

TV ... review will appear here when I have the time and watched it several hundred times more. But as a spoiler I can say that my reaction was the exact opposite of poor Steven here:



Bless you sir, you did us proud.

"the electronic Buena Vista Social Club"

Music The Observer has a rather poignant interview with the Radiophonic Workshop, who are out on tour:

"This is life with the Radiophonic Workshop – the electronic Buena Vista Social Club, a "band that never was", masters of their craft finally coming together late in life. While their demeanour might occasionally seem a little more Krankies than Kraftwerk, these old colleagues – playing together as a band for the first time, after decades working separately in little studios tucked away deep in the BBC's Broadcasting House – are now getting their due as true pioneers of electronic sound. Deceased RWS members Delia Derbyshire, Daphne Oram and John Baker may have retro cachet already, with Derbyshire, who recorded the original Doctor Who theme, beloved of the electronica and record collecting communities, and Oram now the subject of a Science Museum exhibition. But this is a concerted effort to bring their tradition well and truly to life: gigging, remixing and recording new tracks. And generations of musicians are queuing up to work with them, or to simply pay tribute to their music and influence."

And here they are at on The One Show the other night. Superb:

"superfan"

TV I'll post this here without comment. Doctor Who fan from Yeovil watches every episode:

"A Doctor Who "superfan" has spent 10 months watching every available episode of the series in time for the show's 50th anniversary.

"Tom Jessop, 29, from Yeovil, has watched all 798 episodes - more than 3,000 hours - of the popular sci-fi drama in chronological order."

Well no comment, but a link to this. Again.  You and me both friend.

My Gravity comment on Kermode Uncut.

Film Finally after weeks of commenting on Mark Kermode's Uncut, I've finally had something appear on his video blog. It was about Gravity. Here's a screenshot:



Now all I need is for him to actually read it out, one Gary Ingrey having been favoured on this occasion.

Doctor Who at the BBC:More local news clips.

Radio I'll try and keep across these as they appear:

BBC Radio Leicester's very own Matt Smith with a beginners' guide to Doctor Who.

BBC Radio Leicester's Matt Smith meets Paul McGann, who played the 8th Doctor in 1996. That's Matt Smith.

BBC Radio Leicester's Matt Smith meets Sophie Aldred, who played Ace in Doctor Who.

Jim Davis chats to John Leeson, who's originally from Leicester. John provided the voice of K9 (as well as Bungle in Rainbow).

What do today's children make of Doctor Who from fifty years ago? A group of Beaver Scouts from Glenfield review the first-ever episode of the classic series.

Ken Caswell from Norwich remembers his dad's job of painting the TARDIS prop in 1963!

Brian Hodgson, who lives in Norfolk, explains how he created the Dalek voices in 1963. (Clip from "The Ordeal", written by Terry Nation, directed by Christopher Barry, 1964).

Essex based author Jacqueline Raynor chats to Mark Punter about writing Doctor Who.

Mark Punter shares his memories of Doctor Who and meeting Tom Baker.

On The Day of the Doctor Jane Smith gets her facts straight with some young super fans.

Odd things are happening to Janice Forsyth in this Dr Who Special....

Ian Puckey shares his memories of Doctor Who and appearing in a book based on the series.

Wroxham-based actor Graham Cole remembers his days playing a Cyberman in the 1980s.

Norfolk-based scenic designer Spencer Chapman recalls his work on Doctor Who in 1964.

Dave Monk shares his memories of Doctor Who and recalls turning his shed into a TARDIS.

Essex born and raised actress, Deborah Watling reveals what life on set was like playing a Doctor Who companion, alongside Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor and Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon.

It's the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. BBC Radio Manchester 's Allan Beswick interviewed the Doctor's greatest enemy - A Dalek!

Bonus round: The World Service's Witness on the making of Doctor Who.

Their names fit their jobs #3: A Doctor Who Special.

Photographer Oli Scarff. This photo at The Guardian.

Romola on Doctor Who.

TV It's Doctor Who day then. Thank goodness and the riches it brings amid the mass of content on the BBC News website we find this voxpop:



"I have to say that, like, of all the Doctors I really love a lot of the recent ones and I think that Matt Smith was amazing as the Doctor and I think that it's great that they've gone with Peter Capaldi, he's an actor I've worked with he's really brilliant, and to have a sort of variety of different ages is really important and maybe one day they'll have a woman and would be good too."

And maybe it'll be you.  Please?

BBC 1963: August.

Radio 4: Martin Luthor King Archive
"On the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech, Radio 4 brings you a unique radio event, global figures read Dr King's words. Here is a selection of programmes from BBC Radio covering the speech and events in America in 1963."

Witness: I Have a Dream
"On August 28th 1963, the American civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, made his historic plea for an end to racial discrimination in the USA. Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he addressed hundreds of thousands of activists who had marched to Washington to demonstrate for black rights. Listen to John Lewis, the youngest speaker on the podium that day. "

Outlook: I Have a Dream
"Extraordinary personal stories from around the world. Today, another chance to hear from Clarence B Jones, Dr Martin Luther King's speech writer, lawyer and confidant. Clarence was part of Dr King's inner circle of advisors and helped to organise the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which culminated in the civil rights leader giving his famous 'I Have a Dream' speech to a reported 250,000 people. Clarence who helped to draft the speech, stood behind Dr King as he uttered the words that have gone down in history and says that the atmosphere was like "capturing lightning in a bottle". His book is called Behind the Dream: The Making of a Speech that Transformed a Nation."

BBC News: John Lewis on his friendship with Martin Luther King Jr
"US Congressman John Lewis is the last surviving speaker from the March on Washington 50 years ago. The student activist turned civil rights leader spoke on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial just before Dr Martin Luther King Jr delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech on 28 August 1963. Mr Lewis has also just published a graphic novel called March which chronicles his role in the civil rights movement through the 1950s and 1960s. He spoke to the BBC about how he was inspired by Dr King's speeches on the radio and later became his friend."

World Have Your Say: 'I Have a Dream' Fifty Years On
"We speak to black Americans to find out how life has changed since they heard Martin Luther King's famous speech."

Beyond Belief: Martin Luther King
"Beyond Belief debates the place of religion and faith in today's complex world. Ernie Rea is joined by a panel to discuss how religious beliefs and traditions affect our values and perspectives. Its fifty years since Martin Luther King addressed an immense crowd in Washington and told the world that "I have a dream." His words galvanised black people across America and paved the way for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Out of deep Christian conviction King wanted to fight against ingrained injustice using exclusively non-violent means. In this programme Ernie Rea explores the religious influences and ideas of Martin Luther King and asks, half a century on, whether we have sanitised the tough message of that speech."

Witness: The Great Train Robbery
"The Great Train Robbery of 1963, when thieves stole more than £2 million. The Royal Mail train was bound from Glasgow to London when it was held up. Most of the robbers ended up behind bars, but most of the money has never been recovered."

History of the BBC: The Marriage Lines, 16 August 1963
"The first episode of Marriage Lines was broadcast on 16 August 1963. It launched the career of Prunella Scales and gave a significant boost to that of Richard Briers. The sitcom was written by Richard Waring for Briers, the two having previously worked together on Brothers in Law. Scales and Briers played Kate and George Starling, a young couple, in “a quizzical look at the early days of married life”."

Tonight: Arriving in Britain on Windrush and finding somewhere to live
"One man describes how he tried to rent a room in Brixton, having arrived in the UK from Jamaica on Empire Windrush, and the reactions he faced. Footage taken from Tonight 21 August 1963 and Windrush 30 May 1998."

BBC News: Weston to Penarth hovercraft trial remembered
"For one summer in 1963 a trial hovercraft service took place between Weston-super-Mare and Penarth in south Wales. The experimental SRN2 model took just 10 minutes to make the 10-mile (16km) crossing of the Bristol Channel. At the time it was believed to be the world's largest passenger carrying hovercraft - and it was built by Somerset based Westlands. Clinton Rogers reports."

BBC 1963: July.

BBC News: Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust celebrates 50 years
"The Jersey-based Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is celebrating its 50th anniversary of becoming a trust. Naturalist Gerald Durrell registered the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust on 6 July 1963 in the Royal Court. Renamed Durrell in memory of its founder, the wildlife park in Trinity has become world famous, thanks to its work saving endangered species."

BBC News: SA: Rivonia ANC raid remembered 50 years on
"On 11th July 1963 on a small farm near Johannesburg, a police raid took place which proved a pivotal moment for South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle. Nelson Mandela was already in prison, but police seized other top leaders of the ANC's military wing, and found evidence which led to Mandela's life sentence. Mike Wooldridge reports."

BBC News: The truck that smuggled ANC weapons into South Africa
"Liliesleaf Farm in the Rivonia suburb of Johannesburg was a site used by the African National Congress from which to launch its armed struggle against the apartheid state. On 11 July 1963, leading ANC members were arrested there by the police - and went on to face what became known as the Rivonia Trial. Nelson Mandela and his colleagues were subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment."

BBC News: Mandela's hideaway farm revisited
"Liliesleaf Farm in the Rivonia suburb of Johannesburg was a site used by the African National Congress from which to launch an armed struggle against white minority rule in South Africa. On 11 July 1963, the heads of the ANC military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), which means Spear of the Nation, were arrested there by the police. They went on to face what became known as the Rivonia Trial, at which Nelson Mandela and his colleagues were sentenced to life imprisonment."

Desert Island Discs: Lord Joffe
"In 1963, Joel Joffe was a young defence solicitor, so dismayed by the apartheid system of his native South Africa that he was on the brink of emigrating. Then he was asked to take over the defence of a group of ANC activists including Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and Nelson Mandela. The trial gripped the world and was all the more extraordinary because, far from aiming to secure his clients' freedom, Joel Joffe was simply fighting for them not to receive the death penalty. He tells Kirsty how, even in his prison clothes, Nelson Mandela was a figure of calm authority, who guided them through the trial."

Peer Today: What were the implications of the 1963 Peerages Act?
"Fifty years ago this summer - 31 July 1963 to be precise - Labour politician Tony Benn finally won the right to renounce his hereditary peerage and return to the Commons. Mr Benn inherited the title of Viscount Stansgate when his father died, barring him from the Commons where he had been serving his Bristol South East constituents for 10 years. The MP regained his seat in the Commons after winning a by-election held weeks after the Peerages Act came into force. But the Act would also have significant implications for the Conservatives, as Susan Hulme explores."

Change Makers: 1963 Peerage Act and former Labour MP Tony Benn
"Tony Benn's Peerage Act of 1963 is probably not his biggest legacy but, without it, this "persistent commoner" as he likes to call himself, might never have got his career off the ground. Giles Dilnot spoke to the former MP on his battle to stay in the House of Commons and why he would "not be seen dead" in the House of Lords. This is part of a series of interviews, entitled Change Makers, in which the Daily Politics talks to people who have radically changed Britain."

Panorama: Cuba
"'Panorama' reports from Cuba on the celebrations held to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of when Castro first rose up against the Batista dictatorship. In the process, reporter James Mossman reviews the current way of life for the Cuban people in and around Havana and asks whether Castro remains as popular as when he first took up arms on 26 July 1953."

America, Empire of Liberty: Cuba - That Four Letter Word
"An American-backed invasion of Cuba fails but President Kennedy saves face when he stops the Soviet Union from placing missiles on the Caribbean island."

Panorama: Ambulances
"Through following those whose lives are involved in various ways, this programme provides a picture of the ambulance service 15 years after the creation of the NHS."

Good Morning Wales: Rhyl's Little Theatre for children marks 50th anniversary
"A gala is being held in Denbighshire to mark the 50th anniversary of Rhyl's Little Theatre, which was purpose-built theatre for children. It opened in its current building in 1963 and now original members now help run it. Theatre director Gwynne Williams joined the theatre as an eight-year-old, a year after it opened, and Imarlie Stewart, aged 14, sings in Saturday's gala. They spoke to Peter Johnson on BBC Radio Wales' Good Morning Wales."

The Beatles live in Rhyl, 1963
"A brief clip about the Ritz Ballroom and the Westminster Hotel in Rhyl, from the BBC Wales programme The Slate, February 1996."

BBC Proms 1963 season.
An archive guide.

BBC News: Clyde Tunnel marks 50th anniversary
"Glasgow's Clyde Tunnel has marked its 50th anniversary. The crossing beneath the River Clyde was officially opened by the Queen in 1963. The Princess Royal will attend a ceremony to mark its half century, and will meet some of the workers who dug the tunnel by hand."

Hadley Freeman's interviewed Danny Dyer.

Theatre Hadley Freeman's interviewed Danny Dyer. It's a transcript thingy but it's amazing nonetheless, saving the hatchet for the footnotes. Here he is on working with Harold Pinter from The Abominable Snowmen:

Harold Pinter mentored you as a young actor. What do you remember about him?
I miss him, you know, he was a good influence on me. He was the only person who I feared but loved. He had faith in me, he suffered all my shit because he knew I was a talented actor. He was a fucking tyrant, too, you know, but he could get away with it because he was so enchanting. He was a poet.

Do you think he'd like Vendetta?
I'd love to know what he thought of Vendetta. If he didn't like it he'd tell me straight; there were no airs and graces about him. I learned so much from him that set me up for the rest of my career.

No really. And it's all like that. Amazing.

Doctor Who at the BBC: Local Radio Coverage in general.

TV As the anniversary approaches, local news radio from across the BBC is amassing material, mostly interviews with the creatives. Here's what I've been able to find. I've added in the Radio Solent links from the other day for your convenience and let's face it mine.

Donald Tosh on working with William Hartnell. Includes impression of William Hartnell.

Brian Hodgson, who now lives in Norfolk, recalls how the famous tune was created by his colleague Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1963.

Sue Webb from Winchester worked on the very first Doctor Who story to feature the Daleks and shares her memories with Richard Latto.

Peter Holmes (BBC Essex DJ) shares his memories of Doctor Who and hiding behind the sofa! Spot the moment when he turns into the TARDIS Datacore.

Bournemouth's Michael E Briant directed several highly regarded Doctor Who stories. He shares his memories of episodes including; Power Of The Daleks, Fury Of The Deep, The Sea Devils and The Robots Of Death.

Richard Latto explores the time when Jon Pertwee came back to his old home of Portsmouth. See rare footage of Doctor Who being made when the sea devils came out of the waters of the Solent.

South coast resident John Levene played Sgt Benton in the classic series of Doctor Who for many happy years. He shares his memories with Richard Latto.

Stuart Fell from New Milton talks about portraying many of the shows famous monsters. He shares his many happy memories with Richard Latto.

Karen Davies from Norwich remembers how she won the BBC's Doctor Who Mastermind in 2005.

In August 2005, nine year old William Grantham from Colchester won a Blue Peter 'Design a Monster' competition. His invention later appeared in an episode of Doctor Who, starring David Tennant. Sorry everyone, he's now in his late teens.

Kevin Hudson from Bournemouth talks to Richard Latto about being as a Doctor Who monster.

BBC Radio Wales's Doctor Who Day Live blog.

Dr Keith Johnston from the University of East Anglia in Norwich explains how he uses the show in his lectures.

Southampton's Bill Baggs has led several ambitious science fiction drama projects. Many involving people associated with Doctor Who. An amazingly thorough interview that covers everything.

Paul Vanezis has handled the return of missing doctor episodes found on the south coast. He talks to Richard Latto about the skills and methods used to secure the return of several classic Doctor Who stories.

Hear how Terry Burnett from Fareham returned two previously missing Doctor Who episodes. He tells Richard Latto about their discovery and how they made their way back to the BBC archives.

And as a bonus, Night Waves on Radio 3 the other night had Matthew Sweet discussing the TV series with historian Dominic Sandbrook, philosopher Ray Monk and New Generation Thinker and cultural historian Fern Riddell.

Oh and Jo Whiley put together a special Doctor Who mixtape which has some tracks which Confidential didn't even think of back in the day.

Plus Radio 4 has a new archive page, but you've probably heard most of that already.

A BBC website search suggests loads of local radio stations are having specials tomorrow so expect a few more of these...

BBC 1963: June.

BBC News: Fifty years since John Profumo 'sleaze' resignation
"It is 50 years since Britain's Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, resigned following an affair with Christine Keeler - who was allegedly also having an affair with a Russian spy. The 1963 scandal, which is the subject of an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, laid bare the corruption at the heart of the British establishment. Nick Higham reports."

Letter From America: The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door of 1963
"Cooke recalls the moment when the segregationist George Wallace, Governor of Alabama, attempted to prevent a black student enrolling at the University of Alabama in 1963."

Witness: The Death of Thich Quang Duc
"In June 1963, Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc shocked the world by setting himself on fire in protest against the Catholic South Vietnamese government. Sister Chan Khong was there. "

Witness: JFK in Ireland
"In June 1963 the US President John F Kennedy made a state visit to Ireland, his ancestral home. Irish novelist Colm Toibin remembers the effect he had on the people lining the streets to welcome him."

Radio Newsreel: The Kennedy Brothers Visit Berlin
"Cold War paranoia is highlighted in this report by Ivor Jones about a visit to Berlin by Robert and Edward Kennedy. Jones details the labyrinthine diplomatic implications of Edward Kennedy having shown his passport to East German officials so that he could visit the communist sector of the city."

Witness: Robert Kennedy on civil rights, 1963
"US Attorney General, Robert Kennedy responds to criticisms that legal and constitutional complexities are slowing the progress of the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King had criticised the US government for not taking legal action to force individual states to implement measures to outlaw discrimination."

Panorama: US Attorney General Robert Kennedy speaking about Civil Rights, 1963
"In this clip, Martin Luther King criticises the US government for not taking legal action to force individual states to implement measures to outlaw discrimination. Here, presenter Robin Day puts the question to Robert Kennedy who responds by explaining a range of legal complexitites and indirectly criticising King for not getting approval from the authorities for a demonstration at which he was arrested. Kennedy also uses legal arguments to explain the actions of President John F Kennedy with regard to condemning discrimination as unconstitutional and passing legal measures against it. First broadcast in Panorama on 13 May 1963. The Flash version of this clip has subtitles available."

Great Lives: Henry Cooper
"The date is June 18 1963, the final seconds of the fourth round of a boxing match. In the ring, Henry Cooper, eight years older and 26 pounds lighter than his opponent, Cassius Clay. And then Cooper hits Clay, just as the bell rings."

Frankly Speaking: Self-Portrait of a Star: Bette Davis
"Actor George Coulouris, accompanied by BBC producer Peter Duval Smith, speaks to Bette Davis in an occasionally heated conversation about the actress's career. Davis shares her opinions on what it means to be a star after 30 years in the business and is at great pains to counter Duvall Smith's claim that she uses the same mannerisms in every performance. Films discussed include 'Dark Victory' (1939), 'Juarez' (1939), 'Watch on the Rhine' (1943) and Davis's most recent hit, 'What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?' (1962)."

The Beatles live in Abergavenny, 1963
"Welsh singer Bryn Yemm discusses The Beatles' appearance in Abergavenny, 1963."

Shakespeare at the BBC:An Age of Kings released in the UK.

Well, this is exciting news.  Here's the full press release because it is such exciting news.

FOR RELEASE ON DVD DECEMBER 8 2013

Illuminations presents an exclusive 5-disc DVD of

An Age of Kings

Eight History plays by William Shakespeare


'Monumental; a landmark in the BBC's Shakespearian tradition.'
The Times

Groundbreaking adaptation of Shakespeare's Histories available for the first time in 50 years

960 minutes including extras
£34.99 including VAT

An Age of Kings is the BBC's compelling 15-part series from 1960 of William Shakespeare's great national pageant of eight History plays. Watched by over three million viewers, it is the most ambitious Shakespeare project ever filmed for television.

Hailed by the Guardian as 'ambitious ... exciting ... a striking example of the creative use of television', it was a powerful demonstration of the BBC's unique strengths and abilities in a time when Britain's public service broadcaster was not principally in the hunt for ratings.

Planned as the inaugural production in the newly-built BBC TV Centre, An Age of Kings was later broadcast live on Thursday evenings every fortnight from Riverside Studios in Hammersmith as the series wasn't ready in time for the opening.

For more than 50 years, this TV landmark has been entirely unavailable in Britain. Yet its drama of power politics, betrayals, deceptions and deadly rivalries is as alive as ever. So too is the beauty of some of Shakespeare's greatest poetry and prose.

An Age of Kings features outstanding actors, including Robert Hardy, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, and Sean Connery, at the beginning of their highly successful careers. More than five decades after it was first seen, An Age of Kings is a vivid and vibrant drama, with an unparalleled clarity and immediacy, sense of scale and poetic depth.

With 600 speaking parts and 30 weeks of rehearsal before filming, each episode cost £4000. The series was shot on only four cameras with a cyclorama used for the battle scenes and lots of smoke.

DVD extras: The Making of An Age of Kings features Tony Garnett (Cathy Come Home, Days of Hope) interviewed at Riverside Studios. Garnett recalls his experiences on this groundbreaking series and the challenges of making one of the most ambitious Shakespeare projects ever filmed.

Also included in the 5 disc DVD pack is a 24-page booklet giving background information and critical writing about the production.

Barcode: 5060291820072
Catalogue number: AOK166

Gordon Seed on Doctor Who.

TV Neil at ScifiLove has a rather good interview with stuntman Gordon Seed who has filled in for both David Tennant and Matt Smith on Doctor Who:

He also got the job with a little help from the Doctor himself.

Gordon explained: “I was doubling for David Tennant on Harry Potter, when he was stunned and thrown across a courtroom. Anyway we were chatting during the shoot and he told me he’d just been confirmed as the Doctor.

“A short while after that, I had a call from the production team asking me to go down as David had put my name in. It was a very nice thing to do, but he is a really nice bloke.

“Matt is a brilliant bloke too, in fact everyone is really great to work with. They’re like a big family and I love going back down to Cardiff.”

Gordon added: “The production of Doctor Who is a machine, but the attention to detail is staggering. I was dressed as the Doctor and had to fall down some stairs, and I wore the Doctor’s watch which was set to the right time. No-one was going to see it, but just in case, it was correct.”

There's also plenty of detail about the kinds of films and television series he's worked on too especially locally.

William Shakespeare & Others: Collaborative Plays. Edited by Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen.

Books  Oh the apocrypha, the elusive, teasing Shakespeare apocrypha, plays which somewhere along the line, either because a publisher ambiguously slapped some initials on a title page or wedged new texts into a reprint of the Folio edition and may, or is most often the case, may not contain the words of one of literature’s great geniuses. Or the anonymous plays which critical and theatrical tradition has been suggested to have a glancing connection with him. Or the works, solidly attributed to someone else, but which may still contain his hand in later additions. It’s got to the point where you can’t definitely say how many plays are in Shakespeare’s canon any more.

Which is the point of the multiple authored William Shakespeare & Others: Collaborative Plays. Having produced their sumptuous “complete works” a few years ago based on the First Folio, the RSC in a companion volume, turns its attention towards everything else, the list of plays that show signs of Shakespeare attention, in a couple of speeches, odd scenes or through later adaptation, once again highlighting that he wasn’t a man who worked alone and utilising centuries of literary criticism attempts an arbitration as to what should be considered canonical and what has been simple wishful thinking and then producing properly edited versions of those considered worthy enough.

Jonathan Bates’s general introduction introduces the concept of Shakespeare’s canon and then offers a brief history of the apocrypha which is in general the result of the good faith of critics desperate to increase Shakespeare’s canon and printers who in bad faith and greed were desperate to do the same. Literary criticism has changed markedly over time. In the past, whole texts would be dismissed as being unworthy of Shakespeare with little regard for outside evidence especially if they were collaborative and only relatively recently has the “problem” been considered more scientifically or dispassionately, with a more evidentiary approach to these works relying heavily on biographical knowledge and textual comparison.

The majority of the volume contains the selected plays and there are a few surprises or at least seem so until Will Sharpe’s section on Authorship and Attribution explains some of their workings out. The proof copy I was sent to review only contains Arden of Faversham, The Spanish Tragedy and Sir Thomas Moore, all of which are now pretty much assumed to have had Shakespeare’s hand in them somehow, however minimally and all are treated with the same care and attention in the complete works with an introduction covering the play’s themes and key facts boxes containing a synopsis, summary of authorship, creation date, sources and publication history followed by textual notes.

But undoubtedly the most compelling section of the volume is Sharpe’s as the methodology of textual analysis is investigated before explanations are given for the inclusion of each of the plays in the volume, with justifications for omissions included as an epilogue. In what must have been a superhuman task, the writer must have read through dozens of volumes, acres of print as forces for an against passages and plays fought with each other across time, usually directly criticising each other’s ignorance about what constitutes Shakespeare and whether a play under consideration fits within their criteria. Speeches, lines, even individual words have been scrutinised to the point where the dramatic elements of these dramas almost becomes beside the point.

Of those chosen, some plays feel like a given: Arden of Faversham, Edward III, Sir Thomas Moore and most lately The Spanish Tragedy 1602 and Double Falsehood. Locrine with its teasing W.S. on its printed title page is included because there simply isn’t enough evidence that those initials don’t mean William Shakespeare. Thomas Lord Cromwell is utilised as an example of the collaborative nature of theatre companies, Shakespeare possibly having been in the room when it was written. The London Prodigal and A Yorkshire Tragedy are both atypical but contain passages of a literary complexity, which might betray his presence. The new outlier is Mucedorus which computer analysis has thrust into the limelight after years of dismissal.

Between the lines, the background theme, and this is especially true of the omitted plays, is that once a work, especially an anonymous work, has been thrown out of Shakespeare’s orbit, there’s little appetite in discovering who the author actually might be, which is another example of the inbuilt snobbery which overhangs Shakespeare’s contemporaries whose work has become eclipsed by Shakespeare across the years. No serious textual analysis has been done on Thomas Lord Cromwell other than to disprove Shakespeare’s involvement and though it’s not widely considered to be a “great” play, it could be an important part of another author’s story, but because the world’s not interested in other author’s stories, we might not ever know.

This is frustrating. If there’s a greatest theme to the book it is that Shakespeare should never be viewed in isolation and that, because he did collaborate with is contemporaries, it’s important to pay attention to the great worth of those contemporaries. The shift in complexity in his plays in the Jacobian period wasn’t some whim but a reaction to the changing tastes of the market with the likes of Measure for Measure his attempt to create his own version of the city dramas being produced by Dekker, Fletcher, Jonson and the rest. But their work is so little produced (because of a self-perpetuating disinterest) that someone approaching these aspects of Shakespeare’s career for the first time will find them someone alien (as I did at school).

The volume ends with Peter Kirwan interviewing theatre professionals about the challenges of producing these plays and the extent to which Shakespeare’s potential authorship effects their work. For the most part the answer is simply that it doesn’t, that it’s about serving the story and characters and themes and that it’s generally left to the marketing department to decide on the extent to which they want to highlight the connection. But there is some recognition that they’re pioneers because most of the audience will be seeing these plays for the first time unaware of the story and characters and themes. Perhaps the best legacy for this volume would be for that to change.

William Shakespeare & Others: Collaborative Plays. Edited by Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen. Published by Palgrave Macmillan. RRP: £25.00. ISBN-13: 978-1137271440. Out now. Review copy supplied.

William Shakespeare & Others: Collaborative Plays. Edited by Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen.

Oh the apocrypha, the elusive teasing Shakespeare apocrypha, plays which somewhere along the line, either because a publisher ambiguously slapped some initials on a title page or wedged new texts into a reprint of the Folio edition and may, or is most often the case, may not contain the words of one of literature’s great geniuses. Or the anonymous plays which critical and theatrical tradition has been suggested to have a glancing connection with him. Or the works, solidly attributed to someone else, but which may still contain his hand in later additions. It’s got to the point where you can’t definitely say how many plays are in Shakespeare’s canon any more.

Which is the point of the multiple authored William Shakespeare & Others: Collaborative Plays. Having produced their sumptuous “complete works” a few years ago based on the First Folio, the RSC in a companion volume, turns its attention towards everything else, the list of plays that show signs of Shakespeare attention, in a couple of speeches, odd scenes or through later adaptation, once again highlighting that he wasn’t a man who worked alone and utilising centuries of literary criticism attempts an arbitration as to what should be considered canonical and what has been simple wishful thinking and then producing properly edited versions of those considered worthy enough.

Jonathan Bates’s general introduction introduces the concept of Shakespeare’s canon and then offers a brief history of the apocrypha which is in general the result of the good faith of critics desperate to increase Shakespeare’s canon and printers who in bad faith and greed were desperate to do the same. Literary criticism has changed markedly over time. In the past, whole texts would be dismissed as being unworthy of Shakespeare with little regard for outside evidence especially if they were collaborative and only relatively recently has the “problem” been considered more scientifically or dispassionately, with a more evidentiary approach to these works relying heavily on biographical knowledge and textual comparison.

The majority of the volume contains the selected plays and there are a few surprises or at least seem so until Will Sharpe’s section on Authorship and Attribution explains some of their workings out. The proof copy I was sent to review only contains Arden of Faversham, The Spanish Tragedy and Sir Thomas Moore, all of which are now pretty much assumed to have had Shakespeare’s hand in them somehow, however minimally and all are treated with the same care and attention in the complete works with an introduction covering the play’s themes and key facts boxes containing a synopsis, summary of authorship, creation date, sources and publication history followed by textual notes.

But undoubtedly the most compelling section of the volume is Sharpe’s as the methodology of textual analysis is investigated before explanations are given for the inclusion of each of the plays in the volume, with justifications for omissions included as an epilogue. In what must have been a superhuman task, the writer must have read through dozens of volumes, acres of print as forces for an against passages and plays fought with each other across time, usually directly criticising each other’s ignorance about what constitutes Shakespeare and whether a play under consideration fits within their criteria. Speeches, lines, even individual words have been scrutinised to the point where the dramatic elements of these dramas almost becomes beside the point.

Of those chosen, some plays feel like a given: Arden of Faversham, Edward III, Sir Thomas Moore and most lately The Spanish Tragedy 1602 and Double Falsehood. Locrine with its teasing W.S. on its printed title page is included because there simply isn’t enough evidence that those initials don’t mean William Shakespeare. Thomas Lord Cromwell is utilised as an example of the collaborative nature of theatre companies, Shakespeare possibly having been in the room when it was written. The London Prodigal and A Yorkshire Tragedy are both atypical but contain passages of a literary complexity, which might betray his presence. The new outlier is Mucedorus which computer analysis has thrust into the limelight after years of dismissal.

Between the lines, the background theme, and this is especially true of the omitted plays, is that once a work, especially an anonymous work, has been thrown out of Shakespeare’s orbit, there’s little appetite in discovering who the author actually might be, which is another example of the inbuilt snobbery which overhangs Shakespeare’s contemporaries whose work has become eclipsed by Shakespeare across the years. No serious textual analysis has been done on Thomas Lord Cromwell other than to disprove Shakespeare’s involvement and though it’s not widely considered to be a “great” play, it could be an important part of another author’s story, but because the world’s not interested in other author’s stories, we might not ever know.

This is frustrating. If there’s a greatest theme to the book it is that Shakespeare should never be viewed in isolation and that, because he did collaborate with is contemporaries, it’s important to pay attention to the great worth of those contemporaries. The shift in complexity in his plays in the Jacobian period wasn’t some whim but a reaction to the changing tastes of the market with the likes of Measure for Measure his attempt to create his own version of the city dramas being produced by Dekker, Fletcher, Jonson and the rest. But their work is so little produced (because of a self-perpetuating disinterest) that someone approaching these aspects of Shakespeare’s career for the first time will find them someone alien (as I did at school).

The volume ends with Peter Kirwan interviewing theatre professionals about the challenges of producing these plays and the extent to which Shakespeare’s potential authorship effects their work. For the most part the answer is simply that it doesn’t, that it’s about serving the story and characters and themes and that it’s generally left to the marketing department to decide on the extent to which they want to highlight the connection. But there is some recognition that they’re pioneers because most of the audience will be seeing these plays for the first time unaware of the story and characters and themes. Perhaps the best legacy for this volume would be for that to change.

William Shakespeare & Others: Collaborative Plays. Edited by Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen. Published by Palgrave Macmillan. RRP: £25.00. ISBN-13: 978-1137271440. Out now. Review copy supplied.

BBC 1963: May.

BBC News: Climber Jim Whittaker retraces historic Everest ascent
"On May 1, 1963, Jim Whittaker climbed into history, becoming the first American to reach the highest point on Earth - the summit of Mount Everest. Fifty years later, he is still one of the most highly regarded mountaineers of all time. Last year, at the age of 83, he returned to the mountain with his family. Now aged 84, he looks back at his historic climb and the perspective he gained from standing at 29,000ft (8,848m)."

David Bailey - Recreation of an Iconic Photograph
"Photographer Rankin recreates a famous photographic image. He works alongside David Bailey on the famous 1963 Vogue picture of model Jean Shrimpton using 60s photographic technology."

Adventure: Quest under Capricorn
"David Attenborough visits the Northern Territory of Australia"

Panorama: Race riots in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963
"American scientific advancement is contrasted with the more primitive problem of racial antagonism. British reporter Robin Day details the large presence of Federal troops in Birmingham, Alabama, as a result of violence between police and demonstrators, including school children, who were trying to force desegregation in Birmingham. Robin Day also reports from a meeting in a church where a fiery speaker demands action. First broadcast in Panorama on 13 May 1963."

Panorama: Desegregation in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963
"British reporters interview Martin Luther King on the non-violent campaign to desegregate Birmingham, Alabama, USA, in 1963. Martin Luther King responds to a series of questions about the involvement of school children in protests. He expresses his views on the actions of the US government to bring about desegregation and other improvements in civil rights. His questions are put to the Attorney General in clip 5232. First broadcast in Panorama on 13 May 1963."

Panorama: Views of the Civil Rights Law in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963
"Eugene Connor, Public Safety Commissioner, is interviewed by British news reporter Robin Day on his views about the Civil Rights campaigns taking place in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. This is followed and contrasted with an interview with Martin Luther King in which he refuses to criticise Connor, but to some extent expresses sympathy for him and uses his opponent's views as a platform to explain his own non-violent approach. The two interviews were first broadcast in Panorama on 13 May 1963 and Encounter on 23 December 1964."

Witness: Race riots in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963
"Robin Day reports on the 1963 civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama for Panorama. In the spring of 1963, Martin Luther King organised a large-scale protest campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, where Governor George Wallace had declared his total support for segregation. There was serious violence - the Alabama state police brutally attacked the marchers, using fire hoses, dogs, and tear gas - King and other leaders were arrested."

Panorama: Civil Rights: Alabama 1963
"In 1963, BBC reporter Robin Day reported for Panorama from Birmingham, Alabama. At the time, the US deep south was at the centre of the civil rights struggle of African-Americans. In the middle of a lengthy campaign of protest, headed by Martin Luther King, Day discovered just how deep racial segregation was and how the pressure brought by King and others eventually forced the local government to change the city's discrimination laws. This is an abridged version of Panorama which was first broadcast on 13 May 1963."

The Beatles live in Cardiff, 1963
"The Beatles performed at the Capitol Cinema, where they returned on two other occasions. Also on the bill, in order of appearance, were the Terry Young Six, Ian Crawford, Louise Cordet, David Macbeth, Gerry and the Pacemakers, comedian Erkey Grant, and Roy Orbison."

Pavarotti: 50 years since singer's forgotten UK debut
"Nan Murray and Margaret Smyth return to the Grand Opera House in Belfast 50 years after they performed there with Luciano Pavarotti. Peter Coulter reports for BBC Newsline."

"Did I ever tell ya? Best temp in Chiswick. Hundreds words per minute."

Dr Who reception, a photo by The British Monarchy on Flickr.

Doctor Who at the BBC: Radio Solent Collection.

Radio The Richard Latto show on Radio Solent has collected together a number of clips related to Doctor Who on their website and collectively they look for wall the world like an audio Doctor Who Magazine. There's the star interviews with John (Benton) Levene and Stuart (Alpha Centuri) Fell, archive piece with Sue Webb the production secretary on The Daleks/The Mutants/whatever, nuWho interview with monster man Kevin Hudson and interviews about missing episodes with Paul Vanezis of the Doctor Who Restoration team and findees Terry Burnett and David Stead.  That should keep you busy until Thursday.

The Doctor's Waking Life.

TV This rather lovely animation [via] reminds me of Richard Linklater's Waking Life, which is itself full of quotes which might as well be about Doctor Who or quotes about and from the Time Lord himself.

"The trick is to combine your waking rational abilities with the infinite possibilities of your dreams. Because, if you can do that, you can do anything." -- Guy Forsyth.

"Life is a matter of a miracle that is collected over time by moments flabbergasted to be in each others presence." -- Speed Levitch.

"They say that dreams are only real as long as they last. Couldn't you say the same thing about life?" -- Man with the Long Hair.

"The ongoing WOW is happening right NOW." -- Speed Levitch.

"Resistance is not futile, we're gonna win this thing, humankind is too good, we're not a bunch of under-achievers! We're gonna stand up, and we're gonna be human beings. We're going to get fired up about the real things, the things that matter! Creativity, and the dynamic human spirit that refuses to submit." -- Alex Jones

"The idea is to remain in a state of constant departure while always arriving." -- Boat Car Guy.

"What you do makes a difference. We should never simply write ourselves off and see ourselves as the victim of various forces. It's always our decision who we are." -- Philosophy Professor.

"There's only one instant, and it's right now. And it's eternity." -- Pinball Playing Man.

BBC 1963: April.

BBC News: Stricken ship Aghios Georgios II remembered 50 years on
"Fifty years have passed since the Lebanese freight ship the Aghios Georgios II caught fire on the East Sussex coast. Hordes of spectators arrived to see the blaze, which broke out at Normans Bay near Eastbourne on 27 April, 1963. Ian Palmer spoke to eyewitness Ron Smith, historian Paul Hales, and resident Chris Barwick." (pictured)

Black Britain: Bristol bus boycott 1963
"A successful campaign, inspired by Martin Luther King, led by local black people, to demand equal treatment from the Bristol Omnibus Company. Footage taken from Black Britain 15 January 1991 and Windrush 6 June 1998."

Inside Out West: Bristol bus boycott 50 years on
"Fifty years after the Bristol bus boycott, BBC Inside Out looks back at the racist policies that stopped black people from working on the buses. In 1963 a young black man in Bristol was refused an interview for a job on the buses because of the colour of his skin. It sparked a protest which attracted national attention and ultimately led the way to the country's first ever race discrimination law. Within five years the Race Relations Act had banned all discrimination in the workplace. But for those who had been refused job interviews, there was never an apology from the Bristol Omnibus Company nor from the union preventing them getting work on the buses. Alastair McKee has been to meet some of the people involved in the boycott."

The Ultimate Guide.

TV Did you watch it, tonight's special episode of Doctor Who? Wasn't it lovely? A slight tale to be sure, but a relevant one in this fiftieth year. In what seems like another homage the Eighth Doctor, and interrupting Clara's holiday plans, the Time Lord loses his memory and when faced with his 1200 year diary as a reminder has to question who he is (without answering the ultimate question obviously) and how he's the sum of his adventures.

This leads, what we must assume to be Steven Moffat because the writer's name isn't on the credits (it's Gareth Roberts) (see comments), to write one of his very best ever passages and which, if it had appeared as a scene in a complete episode would be remembered for decades by the millions who saw it.  It's worth repeating, so here's a transcript.  This is from the very end, so if you've not watched the episode yet, this is a spoiler.  The first person speaking is the Doctor (obviously), then Clara.

"I remember now.  I remember everything.  It's like seeing it all for first time.  Like seeing me, me, the Doctor.  Eleven faces, hundreds, thousands of years of space and time."
"And now it's all back in there again, ready for a proper holiday?"
"I don't know if I deserve a holiday, I don't know if I deserve anything.  Not knowing was good, it was a relief.  So much death, so many friends I've lost, I mean how do I carry on?"
"Because.  Because you've saved billions of lives, and every time you go to a place and there's something wrong, you could turn and run but you don't.  You never do.  You stay.  You help."
"Wouldn't anyone stay and help?"
"No.  And because you don't know that and because you don't understand it, that my friend is what makes you the Doctor."
"Ooh."
"And that's why you'll never stop."
"You've made me feel better."
"You make everything better."
"Now don't get soppy.  I won't have soppyness in the TARDIS, young lady."

Isn't that marvelous?  Notice how Clara, because she's one of the few companions who's seen all of the Doctor's life, or at least all of his incarnations, knows enough about him offer these convincers.  But none of this is said with the awe of perhaps Amy in her earliest days, or Martha before, but matter of factly, though there remains a slight ambiguity as to to whether the impossible girl remembers the lives of her counterparts from throughout the Doctor's life or whether there's just an undercurrent of repeated elements, the souffles and the quotes.

We're in an interesting spot now with these two since the Doctor knows who she is too, "the only mystery worth solving" solved, and Clara who until now has been more of a plot point than a character is allowed to stand on her own.  How long after The Name of the Doctor is this set?  Have they had many adventures in between (for example the Doctor Who Adventures comic strip)?  It's quite nice just to see then as the Doctor and a companion and not two characters in search of an authorial voice.  It'll be interesting to see how Clara is handled outside of her previous reason for existence.

It's also fascinating for being the first glimpse of Matt and Jenna together in a recording block from this year, presumably the one in May for the 50th anniversary. Both seem more comfortable with each other and Jenna in particular with her character, more clearly bringing her accent to the fore.  Given what this is, both of their performances are as committed as they would be in any episode, these minisode-type dramas never feeling like the poor cousins to the mains show, just like short stories to novels.

If you did miss it, do try and catch up on the iPlayer here.  It should be online in a few hours, the first and last few minutes of the two hours.  But be warned they're prologue and epilogue to one of the very worst Doctor Who documentaries ever made, with few clips longer than a few seconds, shreaky, sexist, unfunny voiceover script, earbusteringly loud soundtrack and some of the lamest observations on the show ever broadcast.  But it was worth watching on broadcast for Paul McGann's authority and understanding of all the incarnations and this brilliant, brilliant minisode.

Doctor Who's Alt-History.

TV Not as I expected the more outrider moments in the spin-off media, this io9 post is instead a thoroughly well researched list of tipping points in Doctor Who's history and some other stuff, including:

14) That time Nick Briggs was the 9th Doctor (who wore a Prisoner-style jacket and a toothbrush)

Well, for a while in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip during the late 1990's at any rate.

It's possibly the most brilliant bait-and-switch in Doctor Who history, and they got tons of letters from pissed off fans who were outraged when the 8th Doctor appeared to regenerate into a balding man with a penchant for dental equipment formal wear. And bless their hearts, the DWM editors stuck to their guns and played everything completely serious for four whole months, even showing off a few publicity photos of Nick in costume as the new "face of Doctor Who" ...

Not quite old enough to be a fan yet, I entirely missed this glorious bit of editorialship from Gary Gillatt.  I can imagine those letters.  Having been spoilt years ago on this by, um, buying later editions it won't be quite the same when I reach those comics, but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless.

BBC 1963: March.

Let's Imagine: A Branch Line Railway with John Betjeman
"First transmitted in 1963, John Betjeman looks at the Evercreech Junction to Burnham-on-Sea railway line in Somerset." (pictured)

Tonight: Railways
"'The Beeching Report' has been published announcing that 4,000 miles of railway line and 2,000 stations will be closed. Against footage of steam trains rushing past, some of the most romantic, beautiful, brutal, strange and comic station names are read out as testimony to 'the threads that bound the nation together'."

Back To Beeching (2 episodes)
"With the publication, in 1963, of The Re-Shaping of British Railways Britain's transport system would never be the same."

BBC News: Beeching Axe hit railway lines and rural stations
"The closure of many rural railway branch lines and stations was accelerated after a report from British Transport Commission's Dr Richard Beeching that was published 50 years ago this week. It led to the so-called Beeching Axe, culling swathes of loss-making part of the rail network, although some of the figures over ticket sales and passenger numbers were disputed. Adam Fleming spoke to former railwayman and volunteer train driver Chris Cubitt and to Philip Benham, general manager of North Yorkshire Moors Railway, on a line that found fame in Harry Potter films."

Archive on 4: This Train Rides Again
"In 1963, the legendary American broadcaster, Studs Terkel, presented a radio programme, 'This Train,' in which he followed African Americans travelling on a train from Chicago to Washington. They were part of the March on Washington, which culminated in Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. The thousands who took part wanted to achieve jobs and freedom for black Americans. One woman on the train spoke of her hopes for a better future for her relatives, "after I am gone."

Francis Bacon Interview
"Francis Bacon discusses his work and methods with David Sylvester. In this lauded interview, Bacon reveals his artistic influences, details his tightrope walk between abstract and figurative painting, and memorably describes his work as 'one continuous accident'. Bacon also talks about the practical side of his art, his application of paint and the glazing of his pictures, as well as the motivations behind his career."

Witness: The Profumo Affair
"In March 1963, the British Minister of War John Profumo stood up in Parliament to deny that he'd had an affair with a young woman who was also involved with a Russian spy. It was the first public acknowledgement of a sex scandal which engulfed the British government."

Last Word: John Profumo
"Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died."

Panorama: Divorce
"This report looks into the current proposal for changes to the law that would prevent the need for a 'matrimonial offence' to have been committed and grant a divorce if a couple have been separated for seven years. A private detective who earns his living from 'surprising' adulterous partners so that a matrimonial offence can be proved explains the workings of the current system. Reporter John Morgan then meets people who are trapped by the current laws and Church leaders on both sides of the argument for divorce reform."

Adam Curtis: BBC clips of Syrian revolution 1963 and the cult of the Assads that came after
Originally featured in this blog post.

The BBC Story: Blue Peter and The Eurovision Song Contest 1963
Interviews with Biddy Baxter and Yvonne Littlewood.

"This is who I am, right here, right now, all right?"

TV The AV Club is beginning a weekly review of nuWho's first three seasons starting with Rose. Why they're stopping after three seasons isn't clear but judging by the rest of post and talk of the curtailing of a similar effort with Farscape it sounds as though economies of scaling are leading them to hedge their bets more in content terms [Updated: Keith notices they've already reviewed everything else.]

Anyway towards the bottom the writer makes a very quick and useful analysis of the episode now in the light of The Night of the Doctor and how as I supposed with whimsy and Tenth, you could see the Ninth Doctor's arc as much now about learning what it is to be the Doctor after setting that identity aside for an incarnation. It also makes sense of an exchange in The End of the World:

ROSE: Who are you, then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you?
DOCTOR: I'm just the Doctor.
ROSE: From what planet?
DOCTOR: Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is!
ROSE: Where are you from?
DOCTOR: What does it matter?
ROSE: Tell me who you are!
DOCTOR: This is who I am, right here, right now, all right? All that counts is here and now, and this is me.
ROSE: Yeah, and I'm here too because you brought me here, so just tell me.
COMPUTER: Earth Death in twenty minutes. Earth Death in twenty minutes.

The subtext of that line has always confused me. It is identity related but never quite made sense in context. Now it sounds like the Doctor trying convince himself of who he is as much as Rose, as though he has to keep reminding himself that he's the Doctor again and about what that implies. Retcons are good aren't they?

Paul McGann on The Night of the Doctor.

TV Yes, TV, because it was on TV and is at the moment, right now as I type albeit on the red button. Doctor Who Online have managed to get a post match interview with Paul McGann about The Night of the Doctor and it seems the whole thing was surprise because it was about to be leaked:

When did you film it?

We shot it in May.

That’s a long time to keep a secret!

Yeh, it wasn’t easy. I mean a couple of mates knew - family knew, and I’m pretty good at keeping a secret, but of course so many people work on something, you know, technicians and everybody else, and publicity people, you know, I’m not pointing the finger, except I’m saying, somewhere along the line, someone couldn’t resist pressing send.

A couple of days ago we were seeing still pictures from the episode going out before it had gone out, so Steven Moffat presumably thought “I’ve gotta do something”, so we released it.

I wonder where they were and who was doing that and what kind of malicious spoilsport thought it would be a good idea? At least they had the wherewithal to get the thing out there and make our day or decade or two.

BBC 1963: February.

Witness: The Last Days of Sylvia Plath
"It is fifty years since the suicide of American poet Sylvia Plath. Hear from the friend Plath stayed with the weekend before she died." (pictured)

BBC News: Ted Hughes poem 'Last Letter' on Sylvia Plath discovered
"A previously unknown poem by the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes has come to light 12 years after his death. The poem, called Last Letter, describes what happened when he received a letter from his estranged wife Sylvia Plath just before she took her own life. The poem will be published for the first time on Thursday.  Will Gompertz reports."

Sir Alan Hodgkin and Sir Andrew Huxley
"Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley were awarded the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which they shared with John Eccles, for their work on nerve action potentials. In this interview with Lewis Wolpert, the scientists explain how they came to collaborate on their particular field of research."

The Solitary Billionaire: J. Paul Getty
"First transmitted in 1963, Alan Whicker interviews billionaire J. Paul Getty, who discusses reports of his meanness, his unsuccessful marriages, why he keeps working and what he's had to sacrifice to become the world's richest man."

The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
"Bob Dylan's biographer Howard Sounes casts new light on a song that has haunted two families for nearly 50 years - Dylan's account of the killing of a black hotel worker. [...] On the evening of Friday 8 February 1963, William Zantzinger, 24-year-old owner of an old-style tobacco plantation, turned up drunk at a charity ball in Baltimore, Maryland. Hattie Carroll was one of the African-Americans serving the guests at a time when America was still segregated."

Witness: The Feminine Mystique
"In 1963, a frustrated American housewife, Betty Friedan, published one of the key texts in feminist thought. With its call for women to leave the home and enter the workplace, The Feminine Mystique paved the way for the women's liberation movement and became a bestseller. It called for a shakeup of the job market with maternity pay and subsidised childcare. Jo Fidgen speaks to two of Betty Friedan's children, Johnathan and Emily. The programme also contains archive recordings of Friedan herself."

Tonight: Equality at Cambridge University
"Now that Oxford University Union is finally allowing women to take part in all its activities, Cambridge University remains the only higher education institution not to do so. This short report features a renowned journalist who appears to be taking the issue less than seriously. He visits Birmingham University, where women have access to all facilities and activities, to canvas their opinions on equality. "

Panorama: Civil Rights: James Baldwin 1963
"As the civil rights movement gathered pace, Panorama invited black activist and author James Baldwin to present a very personal essay from New York on what it meant to be black in a tense and changing America of the early 1960s. This is an abridged version of Panorama which was first broadcast on 11 February 1963."

Witness: Welsh Dam Attack
"In 1963, three young Welsh nationalists took up arms against the construction of a controversial dam. The Tryweryn dam would flood a Welsh valley to provide water for an English city."

Cine-camera footage of 1963 NI snowfall
"We'll certainly not forget this spell of wintry weather - but if you can remember 1963 - well these freezing conditions are nothing in comparison. When a viewer rang in to offer us some film he shot in February of that year, we couldn't say no! here it is!"