Showing results by narrator "Mark Steel" in Arts & Entertainment

In each episode of this BBC Radio 4 series, Mark Steel visits a UK town and researches its history, heritage and culture, after which he performs a bespoke evening of comedy for the local residents. Mark's destinations in series 5 and 6 are Glastonbury, Derry/Londonderry, St. Davids, Southall, Birkenhead, Huddersfield, Melton Mowbray, Fleetwood, Shrewsbury, Barnard Castle and Saint Anne.

For over 40 years The News Quiz has graced the Radio 4 airwaves with an irreverent sideways look at the headlines. Having first appeared in 1977, it boasts a tantalising archive of episodes to remind us of the news from yesteryear, refracted through the satirical gaze of regular panellists including Alan Coren, Andy Hamilton, Mark Steel, Francis Wheen and Jeremy Hardy. Among the many guest panellists featured here are Boris Johnson, Nigella Lawson, Jo Brand, Eddie Mair, John Sergeant, Linda Smith and Roy Hattersley. 

"The subjects of this audio programme - Lord Byron, Aristotle, Billie Holiday and Che Guevara - are classic examples of the flawed, brilliant, courageous, slightly barking, but beautifully human characters from history that can inspire the rest of us, which you certainly won't get from looking at our current leaders. It's unlikely, for example, that anyone has ever said, 'The man who really inspires me is Jack Straw.'" (Mark Steel)