主播大秀

This week Radio 2 launched this year's 500 Words short story competition. A record breaking 134,780 children entered last year (That's 67,390,000 words if you're counting!). To mark this year's launch there's another chance to hear this special concert recorded to mark the finale of last year's competition and hear the winning stories. The 主播大秀 Concert Orchestra conducted by Richard Balcombe perform scores from classical music, films and musicals inspired by children's favourite animal stories.

Chances are the first story you ever read or were told as a child was about an animal - be it a rabbit in a blue overcoat, a bear who liked marmalade sandwiches or a very hungry caterpillar.

Barney Harwood has worked with many fearsome creatures during his 16 year stint as a C主播大秀 presenter - notably the likes of Basil Brush, Nev the Bear and Hacker the Dog. A keen wildlife photographer - his work has taken him further afield to film the Great Barrier Reef and the Puerto Rican rainforest.
The show includes music from the cast of The Lion King featuring Shaun Escoffery (Mufasa), Nick Afoa (Simba) and Brown Lindiwe Mkhize (Rafiki) . Special guest Gary Wilmot performs songs from Doctor Dolittle and The Wind in the Willows. There's film music from Babe; Trolls and Jurassic Park. Plus music from the 主播大秀 Natural History Unit's epic Blue Planet.

And Barney reacquaints us with one of the hit bands of the 80s - Timid Toad, Reckless Rat, Artful Owl and Batty Bat - led, of course by Captain Beaky and not forgetting Hissing Sid! Captain Beaky was the creation of comedy writer Jeremy Lloyd - his series of poems were set to music by Jim Parker and Captain Beaky and his band became a huge hit with a little support from Radio 1 DJs Tony Blackburn and Noel Edmonds.

And finally we are joined a woman who has swum with sharks and crocodiles and abseiled into a cave full of bug infested bat poo - all in a day's work for Nightmares of Nature presenter - Naomi Wilkinson - who will narrate Prokofiev's symphonic fairy tale for children - Peter and the Wolf.

During the interval another chance to hear the winners of the 2018 500 words competition.

Concert recorded on 1st June 2018 at the Watford Colosseum.