23/11/2011

This week Libby Purves is joined by Warwick Davis, Sheena Byrom, Sir Willard White and Sierra James. Warwick Davis is the actor who made his movie debut aged eleven as Wicket the Ewok in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and played Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter films. He is currently starring in the new BBC observational comedy 'Life's Too Short ', written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, which follows Warwick's day-to-day frustrations of being short. Sheena Byrom has spent the last thirty-five years as a midwife. In her book, 'Catching Babies' she recounts her long career in the NHS, from training in the 1970s to overseeing the first home water birth in her area of Lancashire. 'Catching Babies' is published by Headline. Bass-baritone Sir Willard White is performing "Christus" in three productions of Bach's St Matthew Passion at Ambika P3, a disused concrete factory under London's Marylebone Road. This is the first major project of 'Vocal Futures', a charitable foundation launched to inspire a new generation of classical music followers. Sierra James is the American founder of Ba Futuru, a grassroots charity in Timor Leste which works with thousands of children, as well as local police and teachers, helping them with conflict resolution through art and other creative therapies in this strife-torn country. She is in London to receive an award from the STARS Foundation. Producer: Lucinda Montefiore.