Main content

Weekend Woman's Hour; Biba at 50; Clare Balding; new Poirot

Barbara Hulanicki celebrates the 50th birthday of Biba, Clare Balding talks about her new book Walking 91热爆, and there's a new case for Hercule Poirot from author Sophie Hannah.

Barbara Hulanicki celebrates the 50th Birthday of Biba. As life expectancy increases, jobs for life become a thing of the past. How easy is to take up a different career or juggle different projects? Crime writer Sophie Hannah on bringing Hercule Poirot back to life in a new novel. Ruzwana Bashir, inspired by the revelations from Rotherham to talk publicly about the abuse she suffered as a child, explains why it's so hard for British-Asian women to speak out about sexual abuse. Plus Clare Balding on her new book "Walking 91热爆", family life and her broadcasting career. Is being embarrassed by your parents a rite of passage every child has to go through? And with an increasing range of technology available and a growing number of dedicated children's channels, we look at the children's TV industry and what its future holds.

Presented by Jane Garvey.
Producer: Emma Wallace
Editor; Beverley Purcell.

Available now

58 minutes

Biba鈥檚 50th Birthday

This month marks fifty years since the fashion boutique Biba first opened its doors on Abingdon Road, London.听Biba moved twice to bigger premises and eventually it moved in to its own department store, but it quickly became financially untenable and听in 1975,听the founder,听Barbara Hulanicki, sold the company and since then she has had no involvement with Biba鈥檚 various relaunches.听To celebrate the brand鈥檚 50th birthday, the V&A Museum have published听The Biba Years 1963-1975.听 Jenni talks to Barbara about founding, and losing, one of the biggest fashion brands of the 20th Century and our reporter Henrietta Harrison speaks to some of Biba鈥檚 most influential devotees.

Reinventing Yourself

As life expectancy increases, jobs for life become a thing of the past and pensions fail to provide enough to live on, many more of us are re-inventing ourselves. So how easy is it to take up a different career or juggle different projects?听 What qualities do you need? Is it something that women are particularly good at? How useful is the internet?听, currently the Mayor of London鈥檚 Food Advisor and听, currently a digital strategist, have both reinvented themselves.

Sophie Hannah

Nearly 40 years after Agatha Christie killed him off, Hercule Poirot exercises his little grey cells in a new novel by crime writer Sophie Hannah. The Monogram Murders begins in a London coffee house where a terrified woman confides in Poirot and then disappears. This is the first time the guardians of Agatha Christie鈥檚 estate have allowed a 鈥榥ew鈥 Christie novel to be written. Sophie Hannah joins Jane to describe how it felt as an Agatha Christie super-fan to step into the literary shoes of her heroine.

Children's Television

Listen With Mother; Thomas the Tank Engine; Grange Hill; Blue Peter and the Teletubbies. Over the last 50 years the UK has built a reputation for producing some of the most high quality children's programming in the world. For many years children were happy to sit comfortably and watch with mother but the last decade has seen enormous changes in children's viewing. It's estimated that around 71% of under 12 year olds have access to a tablet device for viewing. And with an increasing range of technology available and a growing number of dedicated children's channels, how are children changing the ways in which they view television?听

Ruzwana Bashir

The shocking sexual abuse and exploitation of more than 1400 girls in Rotherham involved predominantly white victims and perpetrators of Pakistani origin. But, as we heard on last week鈥檚 Woman鈥檚 Hour, British-Pakistani women are also the victims of abuse by men within their communities. One, now a successful, young businesswoman, was inspired by the revelations from Rotherham to talk publicly about the abuse she suffered as a child in the hope it would prompt others to come forward. Jane speaks to Ruzwana Bashir about why it鈥檚 so hard for British-Asian women to speak out about sexual abuse.

Other Organisations:

MOSAC is a voluntary organisation supporting all non-abusing parents and carers whose children have been sexually abused. They provide advocacy, advice and information, befriending, counselling, play therapy and support groups following alleged child sexual abuse. Visit their website or call their national helpline on 0800 980 1958.听


The CEOP听Centre is the UK's national police agency set up to tackle child sexual abuse. If you are worried about someone's behaviour towards a child, online or offline, you can report this at . You can get help, advice and support on all issues related to internet safety for young people by visiting .


0800 1111
Get help and advice about a wide range of issues, talk to a counsellor online. You can also send ChildLine an email or post on the message boards.


NSPCC Child Protection Helpline - 0808 800 5000
The NSPCC is the UK鈥檚 leading charity dedicated to stopping child abuse. You can call their child protection helpline听or contact them via email at help@nspcc.org.uk.


Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) support the assessment and management of the most serious sexual and violent offenders.


The Lucy Faithfull Foundation (LFF) is the only UK-wide child protection charity committed solely to reducing the risk of children being sexually abused. LFF鈥檚 staff work with all those affected by abuse including adult male and female sexual abusers; young people with inappropriate sexual behaviours; victims of abuse and other family members.


Keeping children safe: your right to ask for a police check
If you are worried about someone in your child鈥檚 life, you can get them checked by the police to see if they have a record of child sexual offences. Find out what you need to do to get someone checked.


NAPAC is the National Association for People Abused in Childhood. It is a registered charity providing support and information for people abused in childhood.听


Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation (Pace) works alongside parents and carers whose children are or are at risk of being sexually exploited by perpetrators external to the family. They also offer guidance and training to professionals on how child sexual exploitation affects the whole family. They were formerly known as CROP.听

Helping women through the law

Clare Balding

stole the hearts of everyone watching the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. Now hailed a national treasure (and been given an OBE), her warm and intelligent reporting style has become her winning formula. She has won a BAFTA for TV personality of the year and we even named her on our very first Power List鈥ut it鈥檚 not all been clear sailing. She was publicly 鈥榦uted鈥 as a lesbian in 2003 by the tabloid press, recovered from thyroid cancer and struggled against people judging her sexual orientation rather than her achievements. Now comfortable with sexuality, Clare talks to Jenni Murray about being openly gay, her rather eccentric family and live reporting and the benefits of walking and presenting the Radio 4 series听听which she writes about in her new book, Walking 91热爆 鈥 My Family and Other Rambles.

Walking 91热爆 鈥 My Family and Other Rambles by Clare Balding is published by Penguin.

Embarassed by Your Parents

Judy Murray has spoken about her son Andy鈥檚 embarrassment over her appearance on Strictly Come Dancing.听 Andy thinks his mother will be 鈥渁bsolutely terrible鈥 and will cringe with embarrassment if he has to watch her. But isn鈥檛 being embarrassed by your parents a rite of passage every child has to go through?听 Self-confessed embarrassing mother and comedian听听has been mortifying her sons for years. She joins actor/comedian and child of embarrassing parents听听to discuss the embarrassing things parents put us through.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jane Garvey
Producer Emma Wallace
Editor Beverley Purcell
Interviewed Guest Barbara Hulanicki
Interviewed Guest Rosie Boycott
Interviewed Guest Sophia Stuart
Interviewed Guest Sophie Hannah
Interviewed Guest Ruzwana Bashir
Interviewed Guest Clare Balding
Interviewed Guest Maxine Jones
Interviewed Guest Tiffany Stevenson
Interviewed Guest Kay Benbow
Interviewed Guest Anne Wood

Broadcast

  • Sat 13 Sep 2014 16:00

Follow us on Instagram

Get all the pictures, videos, behind the scenes and more from Woman鈥檚 Hour

Podcast