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Amol Rajan sits in with Simon Callow and the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band

Amol Rajan is joined by thespian Simon Callow and the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band. Plus we meet Andy Baxendale, the sweet consultant who makes Christmas fudge.

Amol Rajan sits in for Chris and is joined in the studio by thespian Simon Callow who gets us in the festive spirit with a reading of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol on the anniversary of its publication, with a live soundtrack from the award-winning Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band. Plus we meet Andy Baxendale, the Sweet Consultant otherwise known as the Willy Winka of Wigan, who takes us through the history of festive confectionary, including his own Christmas fudge. Screenwriter and novelist Frank Cottrell-Boyce makes his Pause For Thought debut.

2 hours, 59 minutes

Last on

Tue 19 Dec 2017 06:30
麻豆社 Radio 2

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  • Essential festive advice from our listeners and guests.

Clips

See all clips from Amol Rajan sits in with Simon Callow and the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band (3)

Music Played

  • Jona Lewie

    Stop The Cavalry

    • The Ivor Novello Winners.
    • EMI.

  • Liam Gallagher

    Come Back To Me

    • As You Were.
    • Warner Bros.
    • 010.

  • Josh Groban

    Believe

    • No毛l (Deluxe Edition).
    • Warner Bros.

  • John Farnham

    You're The Voice

    • Life In The Fast Lane (Various).
    • Telstar.
    • 2.

  • The Flying Pickets

    Only You

    • Christmas Love Songs (Various Artists.
    • Arcade Records.

  • AR Rahman & The Pussycat Dolls

    Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny) (feat. Nicole Scherzinger)

    • (CD Single).
    • Polydor.
    • 1.

  • Dean Martin

    Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

  • Taylor Swift

    Gorgeous

    • reputation.
    • Big Machine.

  • Kim Wilde

    Hey Mister Snowman

    • Wilde Winter Snowman.
    • Wildeflower Records.
    • 001.

  • Madonna

    Santa Baby

    • A Very Special Christmas (Various).
    • A&M.

  • David Guetta

    What I Did For Love (feat. Emeli Sand茅) (feat. Emeli Sand茅)

    • Now That's What I Call Music! 90 (Various Artists).
    • Now.
    • 001.

  • Meat Loaf

    You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth

    • The Very Best Of Meatloaf.
    • Virgin.

  • Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters

    Mele Kalikimaka

    • Christmas Memories (Various Artists).
    • Emporio.
    • 1.

  • Paloma Faith

    Guilty

    • (CD Single).
    • RCA.

  • Lionel Richie

    All Night Long (All Night)

    • Dancing In The Street (Various Artis.
    • Universal Music Tv.

  • The Darkness

    Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)

    • (CD Single).
    • Atlantic.

  • Toni Braxton

    Un-Break My Heart

    • Toni Braxton - Secrets.
    • Laface.

  • John Parr

    St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)

    • Now 1985 - The Millennium Series.
    • EMI.

  • Sigrid

    Strangers

    • (CD Single).
    • Island.

  • Camila Cabello

    Havana (feat. Young Thug)

    • (CD Single).
    • Syco Music.

  • Gilbert O鈥橲ullivan

    Christmas Song

    • Gilbert O'Sullivan -Nothing But The B.
    • Park Records.

  • The Four Seasons

    Who Loves You

    • The Very Best Of.
    • Polygram Tv.
    • 1.

  • Maroon 5

    Sugar

    • (CD Single).
    • Interscope.

  • U2

    Get Out Of Your Own Way

    • Songs Of Experience.
    • Island.

  • Sugababes

    About You Now

    • (CD Single).
    • Universal.

  • Status Quo

    It's Christmas Time

    • (CD Single).
    • Universal Music TV.
    • 1.

  • Queen

    Thank God It's Christmas

    • It's Christmas Time (Various Artists).
    • EMI.

  • Elbow

    Golden Slumbers

    • (CD Single).
    • Polydor.

  • Adele

    Set Fire To The Rain

    • 21.
    • XL.
    • 5.

  • The Look

    I Am The Beat

    • Now 100 Hits Even More Forgotten 80s (Various Artists).
    • NOW.

Pause for Thought

Pause for Thought

From author and screenwriter, Frank Cottrell Boyce:

聽This time last year my dad - he鈥檚 got dementia - caught a virus that almost killed him.聽 We didn鈥檛 think he鈥檇 make it to last Christmas but he鈥檚 still here.聽 Bedridden, bewildered but in his own house. He disputes that by the way. He often claims to be in his childhood home - which was destroyed in the Blitz - sometimes he鈥檚 in Trieste, where he served in the army. Sometimes he鈥檚 in a gorgeous baroque lakeside tearoom which he says is on the hard shoulder of the M6. When the neighbours call he鈥檚 charming to their faces but outraged when they鈥檝e gone.聽 What are they doing here in Trieste? Why are they following me?聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽聽

Lots of us are having this experience - seeing a parent - someone you used to depend on - becoming dependent. It鈥檚 hard. But it鈥檚 got its sweetness too. When I brush his hair or his teeth, or shave him, there鈥檚 a new physical tenderness between us. He鈥檚 the child now. With a child鈥檚 imagination. When it goes wrong - when he thinks he鈥檚 been kidnapped by Columbian guerrillas - that鈥檚 horrible. But it can also be funny and moving and there鈥檚 a fierce courage there and a restless creativity in his attempts to make sense of what鈥檚 happening to him.

聽On Christmas Eve last year walking from the almost empty hospital multi storey to his ward I was trying to pray for him but didn鈥檛 know what to say. I just remembered the verse from Matthew - you must become like little children. A hard thing to do and a hard thing to watch. But then - there on the pedestrian walkway - I was overwhelmed by the thought - if this is hard for your Dad. Imagine how if felt when the father of all, the detonator of the Big Bang, the flinger of galaxies, the forger of planets, woke up in the hot, slippery, helpless body of a new born child, on a heap of hay in a stable.

聽What a thought it is - for Christians like me - a God who depends on you.聽A father who calls to you with that sweet intimate cry of dependence.

Broadcast

  • Tue 19 Dec 2017 06:30
    麻豆社 Radio 2

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