TV and Radio on iPlayer: award-winning learning disability drama returns
Learning disabled actress Donna Lavin
As part of 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4's 15 Minute Drama strand, this week sees the return of The Pursuits of Darleen Fyles.
Written by Esther Wilson, the award-winning drama follows events in the life of Darleen, a young woman with learning disabilities. Starring Donna Lavin and Edmund Davies, two learning disabled actors, it's created in part through improvisation and inspired by true stories.
As this third series opens, Darleen and Jamie are going on honeymoon to Scarborough, where things don't quite turn out as well as they'd hoped.
There are five episodes, broadcast from Monday to Friday this week at 10.45am on 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4. They'll also be on 91Èȱ¬ iPlayer soon afterwards, where you can listen to them for seven days after transmission.
• Read Ouch!'s 13 Questions with actress Donna Lavin from July 2009.
Also on iPlayer
Victoria Derbyshire (91Èȱ¬ Radio 5 Live)
Victoria speaks to Tina Nash, who was left blind after her former partner gouged her eyes out. She is now trying to recover from her injuries and adjust to life without sight. She also talks about the distress she felt on hearing that her attacker is planning to appeal against the length of his prison sentence. (Available until 12.02pm on Thursday 28 June)
Double Take (91Èȱ¬ Radio 5 Live)
Including a report on the Paralympic technology which is changing how disabled athletes compete. (Available until 11.02am on Sunday 1 July)
From Fact to Fiction (91Èȱ¬ Radio 4)
The award-winning series in which writers create a fictional response to the week's news continues with a satirical comedy from Deborah Levy, the novelist, playwright and Freud expert. The Dangers of Extreme Cheerfulness takes its inspiration from the publication this week of a report into the inequalities in care for those experiencing mental illness. (Available until 5.56pm on Sunday 1 July)
Imagine: Theatre of War (91Èȱ¬ One)
From rehearsal room to triumphant performance, imagine follows the extraordinary theatrical production of The Two Worlds of Charlie F. Professional front line soldiers, all of whom have sustained injury ranging from amputation to post traumatic stress, join forces with a professional theatre company to help write, rehearse and perform a play based on their experiences of war in the killing fields of Afghanistan. (Available until 11.04pm on Tuesday 31 July)
Moral Maze (91Èȱ¬ Radio 4)
A new report has highlighted the shocking extent of mental illness in this country. But if it's so prevalent, shouldn't we be treating the cause rather than the symptoms? If this was a public health issue in almost any other field, there would be an outcry that not enough was being done to help people to stop them getting ill. But what would be the moral consequences? Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk with Michael Portillo, Melanie Phillips, Matthew Taylor and Claire Fox.
All in the Mind (91Èȱ¬ Radio 4)
There's a focus on the natural world in this episode. Richard Mabey, often described as Britain's greatest living nature writer, talks about "the lost years" of his depressive illness; mental health professionals go to ancient woodland to learn about ecotherapy; and a former mental health nurse talks about how making a garden helped her own recovery from illness.
In Touch (91Èȱ¬ Radio 4)
A Freedom of Information request sought by the RNIB shows that over 50% of Primary Care Trusts are not following national guidelines for when cataracts should be operated on. In Touch speaks to a woman who waited six years to have her cataracts treated and discovers the impact this has had on her quality of life. Plus, how an email invitation to the National Diversity Awards was sent to visually impaired people in an inaccessible format.
Woman's Hour (91Èȱ¬ Radio 4)
Following the cases of both Tony Nicklinson, who has vowed to starve himself to death if a doctor is not permitted to end his life, and also an anorexic woman who lost her bid to be allowed to die and will now be force fed, Woman's Hour discusses what society should do when an individual chooses to stop eating and drinking. Plus, model and reality star Katie Price talks about why she wants to set up a free school for visually impaired and disabled children.
Something Special (CBeebies)
Educational series for four- to seven-year-old children with learning difficulties.
Comment number 1.
At 13th Jul 2012, bevstein wrote:I would like the 91Èȱ¬ to look into why it is that for every 55,000 males jobs were created last quarter( governments own statistics) there were only 1000 made for women. Isn't this an abuse of our rights. Why doesn't the woman's hour program offer an explanation. Or else produce a Panorama program about the Governments deliberate policy to throw all women on the dole. 55-1 is not legal surely.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)