Poetry Please
Encyclopedia
Poetry Please is a weekly radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4
in which listeners request poems, which are then read by a cast of actors. The current presenter is Roger McGough
. Performers regularly include some of the top names in British acting - Judi Dench
, Ian McKellen
, Prunella Scales
and Timothy West
.
The programme marked its 25th year in 2004 and is known to be the longest running poetry programme broadcast anywhere in the world.
McGough's predecessor as presenter of Poetry Please was the Irish broadcaster and writer Frank Delaney
. He described his pleasure in working on the programme as follows:
"And of course what it meant was that I was now going to be working with the most beautiful material ever written in the English language, spoken by the most beautiful voices currently working in the English language, and that was nothing but a joy in prospect". It's wonderfully democratic, because you open the postbag and there is a request there for a poem you have either never heard of, by a poet whose name is completely strange to you, or something you have adored since childhood and whose phrases have been part of your many inner soundtracks, and either of those is a delight. But all the time what is going on is a kind of exchange between the listener and through the programme, the public - whereby people are exchanging poems that they like and saying to each other "have you read this? - when I was a little boy or a little girl our teacher in school read this to us, and I remember at one Christmas my grandmother reading it" - and that is an immensely charming experience to be part of.
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
in which listeners request poems, which are then read by a cast of actors. The current presenter is Roger McGough
Roger McGough
Roger Joseph McGough CBE is a well-known English performance poet. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme Poetry Please and records voice-overs for commercials, as well as performing his own poetry regularly...
. Performers regularly include some of the top names in British acting - Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
, Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
, Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
and Timothy West
Timothy West
Timothy Lancaster West, CBE is an English film, stage and television actor.-Career:West's craggy looks ensured a career as a character actor rather than a leading man. He began his career as an Assistant Stage Manager at the Wimbledon Theatre in 1956, and followed this with several seasons of...
.
The programme marked its 25th year in 2004 and is known to be the longest running poetry programme broadcast anywhere in the world.
McGough's predecessor as presenter of Poetry Please was the Irish broadcaster and writer Frank Delaney
Frank Delaney
Frank Delaney is an Irish novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He's the author of New York Times best-seller "Ireland", the non-fiction book "Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril on the Sea", and many other works of fiction, non-fiction and collections...
. He described his pleasure in working on the programme as follows:
"And of course what it meant was that I was now going to be working with the most beautiful material ever written in the English language, spoken by the most beautiful voices currently working in the English language, and that was nothing but a joy in prospect". It's wonderfully democratic, because you open the postbag and there is a request there for a poem you have either never heard of, by a poet whose name is completely strange to you, or something you have adored since childhood and whose phrases have been part of your many inner soundtracks, and either of those is a delight. But all the time what is going on is a kind of exchange between the listener and through the programme, the public - whereby people are exchanging poems that they like and saying to each other "have you read this? - when I was a little boy or a little girl our teacher in school read this to us, and I remember at one Christmas my grandmother reading it" - and that is an immensely charming experience to be part of.