logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2024
54m 38s

Weekend Woman’s Hour: Keira Knightley an...

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

Powerhouse actors Keira Knightley and Sarah Lancashire are starring alongside Ben Wishaw in new Netflix spy drama Black Doves. It follows the story of a female spy seeking revenge for the murder of her lover – whilst outwardly being married to a high-ranking politician. Keira and Sarah spoke to Nuala McGovern about the drama, their careers and their experiences as women in the film industry.

Sutara Gayle is an actor and reggae artist. She fuses music with memories of her eventful life in a new show: The Legends of Them. From hearing her radio debut whilst in Holloway Prison on remand, to the Brixton uprisings in 1985 that were sparked by the shooting of her sister, the show explores a hugely varied and at times deeply moving portrayal of her life, and the women who have shaped it. Sutara joined Anita Rani in the studio.

Professor Nicola Rollock is best known for her academic research and writing on race and society. As a friend of the programme, she approached us to ask to talk about something more personal - her experience of uterine fibroids, something that affects around 70% of women, but this rises to 80% for black women. Nicola joined Nuala alongside Hilary Critchley, Professor of Reproductive Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, to discuss more.

After the actor Anna Maxwell Martin spoke on the programme about the grief she experienced after her husband died suddenly in 2021, we were inundated with listeners sharing their stories. Two of them, Giselle De Hasse and Heather Ashley, joined Anita to talk about how they manage their grief day to day.

Author Josie Lloyd joined Nuala to discuss her new novel featuring fictional Alice Beeton, the prim and organised owner of The Good Household Management Agency and distant relative of the real-life Victorian cookery and household writer Mrs Beeton. Alice and her ancestor share a love of recipes and an eye for detail, which comes in handy when Alice becomes involved in a cosy, Christmassy crime in Miss Beeton’s Murder Agency.

Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Annette Wells Editor: Louise Corley

Up next
Today
Christine McGuiness, Dianaworld, Marcia Grant inquest, Weight loss ads
The TV presenter and autism advocacy campaigner, Christine McGuinness, is mother of three autistic children, and she received an autism diagnosis herself as an adult. She is highlighting new research from Barrett Redrow which found that half of parents of children with disabiliti ... Show More
57m 8s
Yesterday
Caroline Eshghi, Fats Timbo, Malaria drug for babies
In the 1970s and 80s, Caroline Eshghi was a young girl living in Bristol, Somerset, and Wiltshire. From the moment she was born until she ran away at the age of 15, Caroline was beaten, burned and starved by her mother. In May this year, Melanie Burmingham was jailed for 20 month ... Show More
57m 20s
Jul 7
7/7 attacks, Writer Bolu Babalola, SEND
It’s been 20 years since the 7/7 attacks in London, which claimed the lives of 52 civilians and injured almost 800. Krupa Padhy talks to Gill Hicks, who was on the Piccadilly line Tube that morning and lost her legs in the blast, and nurse Kate Price, who was working in intensive ... Show More
57m 21s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 17
45. Bold Conversations
Lucy Worsley returns with another episode of Lady Swindlers, where true crime meets history - with a twist. Joined by historian Ros Crone and comedian, activist and author Deborah Frances-White, Lucy revisits the stories of women who defied societal norms through audacious crimes ... Show More
29m 12s
Nov 2024
37. Madame Rachel - Beauty Scammer
In this new series Lucy Worsley switches her attention from Lady Killers to Lady Swindlers - con women, thieves and hustlers. This is where true crime meets history - with a twist. Lucy and her team of all female detectives travels back more than a hundred years to revisit the au ... Show More
28m 56s
Oct 2024
35. Women Who Dare
Lucy Worsley, historian Professor Rosalind Crone and author and journalist Helen Lewis, explore the lives of four notorious Lady Swindlers. They’ll be discussing underworld boss Tilly Devine, fake heiress Violet Charlesworth, queen of shoplifting Alice Diamond and fake Princess M ... Show More
28m 31s
Dec 2024
40. By Hook or by Crook
Lucy Worsle digs into the lives of bold women who choose - by hook or by crook - to escape a life of poverty, misfortune and hardship. This episode highlights the fascinating tales of four invincible women. Sophie Lyons, a bank robber who, by the power of the American Dream, turn ... Show More
27m 58s
Sep 2024
31. Alice Diamond - Queen of 40 Thieves
In this brand new series Lucy Worsley switches her attention from Lady Killers to Lady Swindlers - conwomen, thieves and hustlers. This is where true crime meets history - with a twist. Lucy and her team of all female detectives travel back more than 100 years to revisit the auda ... Show More
29m 8s
Oct 2024
32. Princess Caraboo - Fake Princess
Lucy Worsley and her all-female team of detectives travel back in time to meet con artists, hoaxers and crooks from across the world. Women living extraordinary lives in a world made for men.In this episode of Lady Swindlers, Lucy meets Princess Caraboo, a woman abducted from pal ... Show More
28m 50s
Jun 2024
Wordsmiths: Anita Cornwell
Anita Cornwell (1923-2023) made history as the first Black woman writer to openly identify as a lesbian in her published essays. From the 1950s to the 1980s, she wrote passionately about Black power and Black lesbian identity in magazines like Negro Digest, The Ladder, and Femini ... Show More
6m 31s
Sep 2024
The Midwife’s Confession: Eye Investigates
For the last thirty years Indian journalist Amitabh Parashar has been investigating why a group of midwives in his home state of Bihar were routinely forced to kill baby girls. In a series of shocking interviews, the midwives explain what happened and how a remarkable social work ... Show More
51m 10s
May 10
Best Of: Michelle Williams / Sarah Snook
Michelle Williams talks about starring in Dying For Sex — a dark but funny TV series based on a true story about a woman with stage four cancer who, facing death, decides to take ownership of her sexual pleasure. Also, we hear from Sarah Snook. She's best known for her role on HB ... Show More
48m 28s
Oct 2023
S18, Ep7 Gillian Anderson on sex, body image and rebellion
Continuing this season's line-up of ICONIC AND INCREDIBLE WOMEN, I am veritably trembling with delight to bring you today's guest: the extraordinary Gillian Anderson. Her 30-plus year career has taken her from playing FBI Special Agent Scully in The X Files to Prime Minister Marg ... Show More
41m 44s