Items From The ZB's

New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 259, 9 June 1944, Page 14

Items From The ZB's

HEN the Commercial Stations decided to broadcast an hour’s show on Sunday evening they did so with some hesitation. But any fears they may have had that listeners would think the time too long for one item proved groundless, for the hour-long serial The Living Theatre has proved very popular. This is probably because of the quality of the programmes themselves, but it may also be an indication that listeners sometimes like to take their serials in a few large bites rather than in small nibbles. On Sunday, June 18, 1ZB will present an episode from The Living Theatre entitled "Retribution." It is the drama of Pastor Neimoller. Station 2ZB at the same time will present "Escape from Paris," which is the story of the German occupation of Paris. "Ordeal by Night" is the title of the episode from 3ZB, the setting being an air-raid shelter in London. Station 4ZB_ will present "The Price of Glory"’-a story of France just prior to occupation by the Nazis-and 2ZA will feature "Son of Freedom," the story of Fortunato Picchi, head-waiter at a famous London restaurant. * * * JOB with a great amount of glamour attached to it in theory and a vast amount of gruelling hard work in reality is that of war corresponddent. But war correspondents have stories to tell and some of them are told in the American Office of War Information programme, which will be heard on Monday, June 12, at 8.5 p.m. from all ZB stations. Station 1ZB will present the experiences. of the Associated Press correspondent, Don Whitehead, with British anti-tank gunners facing the Mareth Line; what happened when American newspapermen and diplomats were interned for five months by the Gestapo is the subject of "Within the Gates," to be heard from 2ZB; how the war caught up with Tom Yarbrough, Associated Press correspondent, no matter where he went, is the theme of "Journey to War," from 3ZB; and 4ZB will tell the story of Pat Morin, a prisoner of the Japanese Army in Saigon, Thailand. . a * * N the series "Critic on the Hearth" in the BBC Listener, W. E. Williams wrote: "For many weeks now my favourite Sunday listening has been Travellers’ Tales, amazingly good radio. Sometimes it employs that combination of commentary and dramatic interlude which, to my mind, is radio’s most original device. In this device the bits of drama are welcome and effective illustrations rather than an end in themselves. This is not by any means, however, the only shot in this travelogue’s locker. There is also a delightful combination of narrative and song, while Leslie Baily, the script-editor, is as encylcopaedic and as indefatigable az ‘Believe-it-or-not’ by Ripley. Week after week he unearths prodigies of geographical interest." A session from Travellers’ Tales, giving a dramatisation of Stanley’s meeting with Livingstone woven into the playing of some real African music provided by Africans now in London, will be heard from 1ZB at 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 18.