Though several callers wanted to discuss personal bereavement, the main topic was The Anniversary. A surprising number of people began “I was never a fan of Diana’s, but …” and then described neurotically obsessive behaviour. Many more expressed a terror of dying, born in the princess’s wake Perhaps such wide-open discussion is useful. Or perhaps Francis Bacon was right when he wrote, in 1625, “Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other.”Talk Radio’s Bank Holiday special was Matthew Boyden’s Rough Guide to Classical Music Rough was the right adjective. Coarse, crude or cursory would have done as well, but wouldn’t have pleased the sponsor.

Rather than consider the mysterious appeal of great music, Boyden dwelt in loving detail on the sexual peculiarities of musicians; next, he asked the hapless George Martin whether Beethoven stood a chance against the Beatles – a fatuous question which Martin tackled manfully.Then he spent ages trying to persuade a bright little pianist’s parents that they were driving her to suicide and madness, when the child was clearly happy and normal. When he used the word exploitation to her mother, she answered with dignity that she hoped her daughter’s talent would eventually allow her to support herself. And no, she did not suppose that would include wet t-shirts.The current season of Desert Island Discs (R4) ended with a particularly touching castaway. Lucy Gannon created Soldier, Soldier, Peak Practice and much more after she had won a playwriting prize and been helped tremendously by Sally Burton. She’d lost her mother when she was seven and endured cruelty from relations and violence from her first husband. Her second marriage was very happy, but her husband died just after her writing career began.

All this means that death holds no terror for her: she’s intrigued by it and will welcome it as “a going-home”. She chose the Bach as music to die to.If she’d waited a week, she might have arrived In the Psychiatrist’s Chair and been questioned more closely about this. As it was, she came across as wise, gentle and extremely nice – and she bagged a great luxury.Her choice:”My Prayer” by the Platters”Skylark” by Maxine Sullivan”E lucevan le stelle” (Puccini) by Placido Domingo”Under Milk Wood” (Thomas) read by Richard Burton”The Best” by Tina Turner”Seduced” by Leon Redbone”Right By Your Side” by the Eurythmics”St John Passion” (Bach) by Peter Pears and Gwynne HowellBook: The Faber Book of ReportageLuxury: “A top-of-the-range Jaguar XK8″HEARD ON AIRYour mum irons your shirt … she doesn’t want you standing on a stage in 100% cotton which is 90% creases, showing her up.SIMON ARMITAGEAll Points North, R4Is it true you come in here sometimes without a single thought in your head?Not sometimes. Always.Questioner to Nick Abbott, Talk RadioThe Mayor of Boston, on first seeing a telephone, was very excited.

One day, he said, there will be one of these in every American city.Saturday Night Fry, R4Alcohol is a great aid to writers: it offers a kind of Johnny Walker logic.DAVID CRAIGCrimescapes, R4Have you ever, like me, sat down to dinner with friends, unaware that your three-year-old has sprinkled pencil-sharpenings in the starters?Trailer, R4Can you pay your income tax in chocolate cakes and babysitting?Shop Talk, R4I expect that’s brought back the smell of lilies and the fear of butterflies.SEAN RAFFERTYIn Tune, R3Those people who have sex very often outside marriage are invariably men.American expert, Talk RadioWhen pressure exceeds the ability to cope, you’re in the stress arena.You and Yours, R4. A TIRED bell chimes for six in the morning, a city street sleeps under a colourless sky, a few car headlamps bleed across the rainy tarmac, and a slow, elegant tracking shot draws us away into a dead-end East End alley. As a film noir location for a former bigshot to meet his desperate end, it’s ideal. The voice-over is done by a woman, but a trench-coated gumshoe would have been more appropriate.

“This is a film about a man who had everything – looks, talent, money – who lost it all, and died alone, in shame.” Clearly, Nick London and the other makers of Fallen Hero knew they had a classic story to tell. The tragedy of Justin Fashanu can be approached fruitfully from more angles than a goal mouth. Maybe it’s the tale of a boy wonder who peaks at 19, when he curls in the Goal of the Season against Liverpool in 1980. Not only is this his moment of glory, it can also be seen as the beginning of his downfall.