This magazine was an ambitious project from the start. It was very different from other school magazines. I started it off with a classmate, and we had very little money, in fact my mother donated a few pounds to cover some of the initial expenses. The first issue had articles written by local politicians and even interviews with celebrities. It was a success, and lots of people outside the school bought a copy. Even if the next issue doesn’t make as much, that isn’t a worry. However, we’re finding it difficult on our own - it’s time to think of getting someone else in to lend a hand. Fortunately, there’s no lack of material for future issues!

With my own children, I wanted to choose original names, but I think some parents take it too far and make names up. I wouldn’t do that. I think that’s really unnatural. And I’d certainly never name a child after a famous footballer! There are parents who like to give their children really unusual names. I feel sorry for the children who have to live with those names. But then there’s the other extreme, where some names are too ordinary. Anyway, in the future I think there may well be a change, with a return to more traditional names.

M: My wife’s the one who gives me advice. She’s a TV documentary presenter and listens to some of my lectures on literature and she tells me if she doesn’t like it. She helps with all my projects, including my latest novel.
F: What’s it about?
M: Being a journalist. It’s taken from when I was working for a newspaper... I loved doing that. I’ve based the plot on some of my experiences in that job. It’s in my head all the time... but I sometimes think I’ll never finish it.

I was selected for the Olympic trials, and I should have got through. I thought I was stretching myself to the limit, but I just didn’t do well enough. I suppose my mind was on other things. I’d just started a new job and had been putting a lot of effort into finding a place to live. All the same, I was in pretty good shape after months of training. But, you know, I’m still young and I’m sure there’ll be further opportunities. Anyway, it was a great experience to line up alongside all those top athletes, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on that.

M: I’ve just been listening to a new CD I’ve bought. It’s a really cool new jazz album.
F: I didn’t know you liked jazz. Did Frank tell you about it?
M: Frank? Oh, Joanna’s friend. Yeah, he’s good at recommending new stuff, isn’t he? But actually, they featured a track on a music programme I was listening to last week, and I went straight out to buy a copy.
F: I usually get useful information from the CD section in New Music - you know, that weekly magazine.
M: Yes, me too. They’ve got some good stuff in that.

As a hobby, my wife and I do competitions in newspapers - you know, you answer general knowledge questions and you get a prize if you win. We’ve won all sorts of things - two televisions, theatre tickets. But the one that stands out for me is the free weekend we had in a five-star hotel - it was incredible. We did have one let-down, though, last year, when we thought we’d won a luxury sports car - the sort everyone dreams of. We got all the correct answers, but for some reason, the prize went to somebody else. At the moment, I’m waiting to hear if we’ve won a trip in a balloon - that would be fascinating.

I’m a mountain assessor, which means I try out the paths casual walkers and more experienced climbers will take, to see whether they’re safe. Then I do daily reports on them. The job is split between two people. We work seven days on, seven days off; it’s just as well, as it would be too much for just one person. As well as assessing, I often have to help people in difficulty. Last Sunday an icy blizzard blew over with zero visibility, and I found a young couple with no waterproofs, hats or gloves. It’s unbelievable what some people will do!

Davina has her own place right now, but not so long ago she was living with me. In my heart, she’s always my little girl, but I am also aware that she’s grown up and treat her accordingly - so I don’t mind that she’s moved out. We talked about it because I was feeling a bit insecure at first and she was really supportive and made me see that you should follow your dream in life and adopt a positive attitude when things change. It’s incredible actually, because these are things I felt I’d taught her, and there she was just giving me that same advice and reinforcing it back into my life.

Int: I'm delighted to welcome to the programme today Alan Burgess, one of our most famous wildlife film-makers. Welcome, Alan.
Alan: Thank you.
Int: Now, you've just returned from the Arctic. What were you doing there?
Alan: I was with a team making a documentary about polar bears. It's actually the longest project
I've ever been involved in - most of them only take two or three months. We spent about eight months in the Arctic in all, filming in Canada, Norway, Alaska and Russia.
Int: What were the conditions like?
Alan: Well, we got quite used to working in -35°C, but the temperature dropped to -50 for over a
week when we were in Alaska - I've never been so cold in my life! It was almost impossible to film in these conditions so we packed up and went to Norway. There it was only -25°C, which was a big improvement.
Int: What clothes did you wear?
Alan: Lots of them! I used to wear up to seven layers, with three hats and scarves and three lots of gloves. Surprisingly, the best material for these things turned out to be wool - the man-made materials used for modern skiing equipment are fine when you are active but you need wool if you're standing around, which we were much of the time.
Int: Was it difficult getting close to film the polar bears?
Alan: It wasn't too bad. We made sure that we only wore white clothing so that the bears couldn't see us against the snow and we even painted our camera equipment white. The main thing was to test the wind direction, to be certain that we kept downwind of the bears. They have an astonishingly powerful sense of smell - they could detect us from over a kilometre away.
Int: I'm ashamed to say I don't know very much about polar bears - I've only seen them in zoos. Can you tell me something about them? How big do they grow, for example?
Alan: If it's standing upright, a male polar bear can be more than three metres tall and they easily reach a weight of more than 600 kilos, although in the summer, when there's less food, they can lose up to half their body weight.
Int: And what do they eat?
Alan: Their main diet is seals, but in summer, when the snow has melted in places, we saw them eating plants - probably to get vitamins which they don't get from their normal diet of seals.
Int: Did you see any baby polar bears?
Alan: Yes, in fact I think that's one of the happiest memories, seeing baby polar bears playing in the snow. They are actually born under the snow in December and don't see the outside world until April, when they are about four months old. We managed to film two cubs leaving the den with their mother for the first time. It was a marvellous moment.
Int: Were you ever in real danger?
Alan: Just once, thank goodness, when we were in Canada. I was sleeping in my tent one night and I heard a noise outside. Thinking it was one of the team, I opened the zip a little way and, to my horror, I saw a polar bear's nose! Luckily it ran off when I shouted but it could easily have got into the tent. We did have an electric fence round the camp but when we checked it, it turned out that the battery was flat so the polar bear had just climbed right over it.
Int: A lucky escape. Now, can you tell me about what you're planning to do next? Are you going somewhere warm for a change?
Alan: [laughing] No, not exactly. I shall be staying here for a while, actually. The Head of Natural
Sciences at Bristol University has invited me to give some lectures. So for the next few months I shall be preparing a series of them for the autumn term. But after that, who knows?
Int: Well, good luck for the future, Alan, and thank you for coming in to talk to us today.

Speaker 1
I sell all the basic stuff but I don’t try to compete in price or range with the big supermarket 500 metres down the road, though we sell many of the same things. For a while, the real threat was two other small shops that opened nearby. But we soon came to an informal arrangement in order to survive. The one at the bottom of the street does the papers, the one at the top has more bread and cakes, and I do the vegetables. The shop was empty when I bought it in 2001. I fitted it out nicely, and always try to keep it looking good.
Speaker 2
I am open 10 hours a day, every day. This is a small village, so I sell everything, from apples to candles - pretty much everything. Two years ago, a supermarket opened nearby, but they closed down after a few months - there weren’t enough customers to make it profitable. My shop is thriving and very much at the heart of the village. And I deliver things to the homes of people who can’t make it in, even if it’s just a packet of butter - and this is greatly appreciated by my retired customers. At times, the work is too much though, and I’d welcome a break.
Speaker 3
Some of the younger people who live around here work until about six, so they have to do their shopping in the evening. This used to be the only shop in the area which was open until 10 pm, so I had a very successful business. Things have changed, though, and I don’t believe this shop will be operating in, say, four or five years. It’s not just larger shops or supermarkets that are affecting us. There are too many small shops in this area, selling the same things at very similar prices. Everyone likes the idea of running their own shop, but they don’t look at the bigger picture.
Speaker 4
I open at 9 am and close at 11 pm. It’s very hard work. But there are still selling points for the small shop. If you work for someone else there’s no reward apart from pay, and when it comes to it, the owner can turn to you and say, ‘You’re too old’. Some people are very pessimistic about the future, and I tell them that, unlike supermarkets, we can offer customers the personal touch - they know our names and we know theirs. I am planning to extend my shop - you have to keep moving to succeed. Customers like supermarkets because they are cheaper, so we must offer something different.
Speaker 5
I first got behind the counter of the family business in 1989, after giving up a job with a supermarket. It was a difficult time for small shops because people’s lifestyles had changed so much. Few people had the time to prepare an evening meal as they used to - it was no longer about popping down to the shop to get things to make a meal. I see hope, though, in the fact that people are thinking more about what’s in their food these days and where it comes from, and they know that the small shops are better able to provide that special local produce - like honey, for example.

Int.: My guest today, Donna Denton, is a familiar face, having appeared in a number of highly successful television drama series. But Donna’s not just an actress, she’s also a talented singer and dancer. Which came first Donna?
Donna: Dancing. When I was nine, my Mum decided I needed a hobby. Some of my friends went horse-riding and I wanted to try it, too, but it cost quite a bit. Nothing was said, but although my parents worked hard, there was never money to spare. So I chose to go to dancing classes across the road; two hours a week at only 50p an hour. I'm sure Mum was relieved.
Int.: But presumably the classes were OK?
Donna: The teacher was very tall and so glamorous that I hardly dared look at her. She immediately sent me right to the back of the class. I didn’t mind because there I could dance away quite happily, out of sight. I didn't realise until later that that was where the worst dancers were put! But, she didn’t forget me and I slowly worked my way forward. It was a proud day when I eventually made it to the front row.
Int.: Where did the singing come in?
Donna: Mum heard about the Knightswell Stage School where you did normal lessons in the morning and dance and drama in the afternoons. To get in, I had to perform in front of about twenty people, you know, in an audition. Some kids had learnt songs from musicals or bits from plays, but I just did one of the dance routines I’d learnt. They offered me a free place for a year, which was lucky. The fees were quite high and it gave my parents time to save up enough money to pay for the rest.
Int.: But it was the right thing for you?
Donna: I loved it. The only thing was that if you wanted to study there, you had to wear a special red jacket with the school badge on it, even outside the school building. I had a ten-minute walk to the bus stop and the local kids from the ordinary school used to laugh at me. I dreaded that journey. So Mum said to the headmistress, 'Donna's having a tough time travelling to school. Can’t she change into her jacket when she arrives?’ And although it was against the rules, they agreed.
Int.: And that was where you were expected to sing?
Donna: Once every term, you had to get up in front of the whole school and perform a song - my knees used to shake I was so nervous - but it was good practice and, gradually, it built up my confidence. That was important because in the final year, there was a singing competition. Most kids sang a classical piece, but at the last minute I decided to do a Frank Sinatra number from my Dad’s record collection. I don’t think the choice of music had anything to do with it, but to everyone’s amazement, I won.
Int.: So you were headed for a singing career?
Donna: Yes, after leaving school, I went on having private singing lessons and got some work as a backing vocalist. But it’s hard to make your name as a jazz singer - which is what I’d set my heart on. So, like most of my school friends, I went after acting jobs on TV. I was more fortunate than most, getting parts in some good drama series which allowed me to establish my name with the public. But I’d like to try other things now.
Int.: So, what can we expect?
Donna: Well, I've just completed a CD with a blues band - a dream come true for me - it’ll be released next month. They’ve just asked me to sing with them on a world tour, actually. That was a lovely surprise but, sadly, I had to turn it down because I'd already agreed to do a month in a stage play in London on those dates. I thought of pulling out, but it wouldn’t have been fair on the theatre. That’s typical of show business - all or nothing - but I can’t complain.
Int.: Thank you, Donna, for talking...