Feedback

Does the BBC censor its radio comedies in the run-up to the Election? Does every joke about Boris Johnson have to be followed by one about Jeremy Corbyn? In Feedback this week, the executive in charge of The Now Show, Dead Ringers and the News Quiz, answers these questions and also addresses allegations of left wing bias in BBC radio comedy programmes. Another senior BBC Executive explains how he...

Does the Radio 4 series The Corrections need correcting? In Feedback this week, its presenter Jo Fidgen faces some critical questions from listeners. The head of the BBC news output, Gavin Allen, tells Roger Bolton he is actually looking forward to the General Election campaign. But will he get rid of those vox pops which irritate many Feedback listeners? And does the World Service care about list...

Does Radio 4's The Corrections need correcting? The programme that claims major news stories could be misleading or even deeply flawed has come in for criticism from some listeners. Roger Bolton considers their concerns. Also - was one of Kirsty Wark’s interviews on Start the Week unfair to vegans? And two more Radio 4 listeners turned reviewers leave their comfort zones and head for the great unk...

In Feedback this week have the Extinction Rebellion protests been under reported on BBC Radio? Some listeners think so and are deeply suspicious about the motivation. There is also widespread discontent about the Corporation’s decision to withdraw its programmes from TuneIn, a service which woke them up to Radio 4 each morning. And two more listeners leave their comfort zones and head for the grea...

The BBC’s Political Correspondent Chris Mason is to take over the chair of Any Questions, and on Feedback he tells Roger whether he intends to intervene as often as his predecessor Jonathan Dimbleby. After an avalanche of complaints about the performance of BBC Sounds the executive responsible explains the decision to close the Radio iPlayer and defends the new platform against its critics. And ho...

How realistic are the storylines in the Archers? Is the soap really an everyday story of country folk? In Feedback this week Roger Bolton talks to an Archers Academic who analyses the heart breaking tale of Ed and Emma and their lost home. Do you know who the Grime Granny is? Two listeners go far beyond their comfort zones to discover an unlikely 80 year old fan of urban music. And is the BBC stil...

Roger Bolton asks the man who regulates what you listen to on BBC radio, Ofcom's Kevin Bakhurst, why the BBC needs an external regulator after years of regulating itself. Two more listeners move out of their comfort zones to consider babies grown inside bags - science fiction or future science fact? And one of the BBC’s comedy greats, Barry Cryer, tells Roger whether today’s new radio comedies can...

Is the age of the wireless coming to an end? Roger Bolton invites the doyen of radio critics Gillian Reynolds to cast an experienced eye over the BBC’s on-line strategy and the price its radio networks like Radio 4 are paying for it. Roger also asks Radio 4 PM presenter Evan Davis if he is becoming disillusioned by the way politicians seem to be embracing a post-truth world and avoiding directly a...

Given that he has a questionable relationship with the truth, should President Trump’s speeches be broadcast without comment or context. That's what Radio 4's PM programme did. Presenter Evan Davis discusses the dilemma the programme team faced and whether or not the BBC should call the US President a liar or a racist. We’ll also hear from one of the great broadcasters, James Burke, 50 years after...

Are the BBC Proms elitist? In Feedback this week, the Controller of the Proms David Pickard passionately rejects suggestion. "Trite and naïve." That was Rajan Datar’s view of Norman Tebbit’s cricket test. Was the presenter guilty of being judge and jury - opinionated when he should have been impartial? And two listeners review Private Passions, a programme they would not normally switch on. Would...

What is it like to be the only women in the BBC Test Match special commentary box? Alison Mitchell takes us inside the holy of cricketing holies, and summariser Vic Marks explains why he often stays silent. We also hear from the commissioning executive of the Asian Network on whether the so-called Tebbit Test has any relevance today. Also, 5 Live’s Pienaars Politics a switch-on or a switch-off? Ou...

Are BBC presenters paid too much? Are audience figures declining dangerously, particularly among the young? In this week's Feedback, Roger Bolton explores the facts behind the highly critical headlines following the publication of the BBC's annual report. Also, Today’s Nick Robinson will answer claims that lies and factual inaccuracies have been insufficiently challenged in the Brexit and Conserva...

Has the political interview lost its way? Is it in danger of just descending into an uninformative shouting match? In Feedback this week Roger Bolton turns the microphone on Today’s Nick Robinson - putting him in the interviewee’s chair for a change. What’s the point of randomly selecting a destination and committing to making a programme about it without any idea of the possible content? Roger pu...

In Feedback this week Roger Bolton asks if Jo Brand went too far on Radio 4’s comedy show Heresy, and whether some subjects should be off limits all together. The row about the BBC withdrawing free TV licences from most over 75s won’t go away. Would it be better for the Corporation to cut BBC2 and Radio 5 Live? Roger hears your views. And the Head of BBC Newsgathering, Jonathan Munro, is back to a...

Roger Bolton presents the programme that holds the BBC to account on behalf of the radio audience. This week - who should sit in the News Quiz chair now that Miles Jupp has decided to vacate it? Roger asks one of its regular panellists, Hugo Rifkind, if he is a candidate. The BBC’s head of newsgathering Jonathan Munro is also in the studio to answer audience questions about the coverage of recent...

As Feedback turns 40 this month, Roger Bolton quizzes outgoing Radio 4's Controller Gwyneth Williams about the twists and turns of her tenure before she passes her baton on to the new boss. While BBC Sounds has come under criticism from some users, there has been high praise for one of its original podcasts. NB is a series about being non-binary - people who don't identify with traditional gender...

Roger Bolton discusses changes at Radio 6 Music , the end of iPM and re-inventing local radio, and talks to Eric Robson about saying goodbye to GQT. Judging by audiences and awards at least, Radio 6 Music was on a roll. So it surprised many when a major shake up of the schedule was announced for 2019, including giving Lauren Laverne the coveted breakfast show and moving the much loved Radcliffe an...

Roger Bolton hears listener views on a documentary investigating the role of women on the far-right, and discusses the BBC's annual plan. Radio 4 documentary In The Right caused controversy this week, stirring debate from listeners over whether figures considered to be on the far-right should be given airtime. The programme, presented by journalist Lara Whyte, investigated young women in hardline...

Roger Bolton asks the BBC News Editorial Director if the BBC should have termed events in Christchurch "terrorism", PM editor Owenna Griffiths discusses coverage of Brexit, and listeners give their views on cuts to Radio 3's Late Junction. Recent BBC coverage of the Christchurch attack in New Zealand has sparked criticism from some listeners who take issue with the language used to describe the ev...

Roger Bolton on the future for radio listening using smart speakers and the reinvention of BBC local radio, and audience comment on whether or not Michael Jackson's music should be played on the BBC. The BBC has recently launched plans to find a new generation of local radio presenters in an effort to turn around declining audiences. Feedback reporter Rob Crossan has travelled to BBC Radio Leeds t...

Roger Bolton talks to BBC's Seoul Correspondent Laura Bicker about the challenges of covering US-Korean relations, goes behind the scenes at the news podcast Beyond Today, and chats to writer and director John Dryden about the inspiration for the world of Tumanbay. Since 2017, BBC Correspondent Laura Bicker has been based in Seoul, after two years in her Washington posting. She speaks to Roger abo...

Roger Bolton talks to the Editorial Director for BBC News, Kamal Ahmed, about his approach to Brexit coverage, producers Jonquil Panting and Beth Eastwood reflect on the making of Test Case about Debby Purdy, and there's the second part of an interview with Radio 4's Commissioning Editor for the Arts, James Runcie. How is the BBC responding to listener's thoughts on the way Brexit is covered in th...

Roger Bolton talks to former Radio 4 Controller Mark Damazer about the challenges and joys facing whoever takes the job next, James Runcie reflects on his role as commissioning editor for arts on Radio 4, and we hear your responses to a slate of new breakfast shows. Zoe Ball and Lauren Laverne are the new voices of Radio 2 and Radio 6music's breakfast shows, and John Humphrys has announced his dep...

Roger Bolton catches up with Evan Davis to share listener views on his new role as PM’s presenter. How has Evan found the transition from Today and Newsnight, and where does he want to take the programme now that he’s at the helm? Also, listeners respond to this week’s Archive on 4 about Apollo 8 and reporter Karen Pirie travels to Perivale where the vast BBC audio archives are stored. She meets w...

Roger Bolton travels to Dane Court School in Broadstairs, Kent for a programme edited by listener and teacher Ben Forward. Under Ben’s guidance Roger explores young people’s listening habits and discusses what the BBC needs to do to attract a younger audience. Also, Roger meets the BBC’s Deputy Political Editor, John Pienaar, outside the Houses of Parliament to talk about another tumultuous week i...