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Global News Podcast
World's strongest storm of the year hits Jamaica
00:28:34
Warnings of catastrophic flooding as Hurricane Melissa makes landfall on the island
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- [00:00]
Janak Jalil
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.
- [00:06]
Paul Henley
You know that big bargain detergent jug is 80% water, right? It doesn't clean as well. 80% water. I thought I was getting a better.
- [00:14]
Yolande Nell
Deal because it's so big.
- [00:15]
Paul Henley
If you want a better clean, Tide pods are only 12% water. The rest is pure concentrated cleaning ingredients. Oh, let me make an announcement.
- [00:24]
Yolande Nell
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- [00:30]
Paul Henley
Pay for clean. If it's gotta be clean, it's gotta be Tide pods. Water content based on the leading bargain liquid detergent.
- [00:36]
Akisa Wandera
Every now and then I rinse it out and I need yummy rins tonight and I need it more My kid wears the bed and the smell never leaves I don't know what to do I'm always in the dark the sweat and dance short smells like a dark.
- [00:57]
Paul Henley
I'm downy ring tonight Downy rinse fights.
- [01:00]
Matthew Samuda
Stubborn odors odors in just one wash when impossible odors get stuck in.
- [01:08]
Paul Henley
This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janak Jalil and at 16 hours GMT on Tuesday 28th October. These are our main stories. The world's strongest storm of the year closes in on Jamaica, with warnings of catastrophic flooding and severe several deaths already reported. It comes as the UN warns that the world is still way off track to meet its Paris climate goals. American researchers say satellite images from Sudan show evidence of mass killings by RSF fighters after they seize the army's last stronghold in the west of the country. And Basil the actress Prunella Scales, who played Basil Fawlty's domineering wife in Fawlty Towers, has died at the age of 90. 2023. The Caribbean is used to hurricanes, but not on the scale of the one currently battering Jamaica. Hurricane Melissa is predicted to be Jamaica's most destructive on record. Anxiety has been mounting for days now as people try to prepare as best as they can for the Category 5 storm, which has been described as the strongest one this year and anywhere on the planet. It's due to make landfall as we record this podcast after days of slowly meandering across the Atlantic. So we don't yet know the full extent of the damage it will cause, but several deaths have already been reported. Claudia Suleiman lives in the town of White House on the south coast of Jamaica.
- [02:47]
Yolande Nell
Everybody is anxious and everybody is worried. More than in another storm I have praised. We know we're dealing with something really, really big. The trees are Bending right now, all.
- [02:58]
Matthew Samuda
Of us in Jamaica, you know, we.
- [03:00]
Yolande Nell
Are God fearing country, we pray for the best.
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Paul Henley
Richard Anderson is a production manager for the Omega Church, a Christian radio station based in Kingston on the eastern side of Jamaica. Earlier he told Paul Henley how local people have been preparing for the storm.
- [03:16]
Richard Anderson
People are taking it serious. I mean, I've been getting messages from some people who said they have not slept a wing.
- [03:21]
Janak Jalil
What kind of preparations are you making personally?
- [03:25]
Richard Anderson
You know, we have secured the windows at the radio station. We have made sure we have top up with diesel fuel for our generator because if the power will go out at some point. So we have secured enough diesel to last us a couple of days, which should be enough. Hopefully there won't be any tower damage because last thing, one of our tower sites got damaged. About 40ft of tower broke off at the top.
- [03:48]
Janak Jalil
Looking outside in the street, is it obvious which buildings are more vulnerable? You have experience of these storms?
- [03:56]
Richard Anderson
Well, yes, I've had a few right at this very location because we tend to ride out the storm at the station. There's a housing complex to our left, but it's primarily business complexes where we are. And most of them have taken the precautions to protect the buildings to the best possible state. So I don't think there's a lot of vulnerability around here. But you know, with a Category 5, anything is possible.
- [04:18]
Janak Jalil
And what precautions is everyone taking? You're talking about blocking the windows up how exactly?
- [04:24]
Richard Anderson
Boarding them up with plyboards so they make sure all glass windows and even doors are buttoned down. People pulling down their awning and strapping them down. Some people are working shutters, you know. And then for the low lying areas, most people have been asked to move into the shelters which are filled.
- [04:41]
Janak Jalil
Are people listening to all the warnings? Are they acting appropriately?
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Richard Anderson
I think so. For the most case, from what I've observed, as I said, you know, a lot of people have been moving into the shelters. The people are in the low lying areas that would be concerned about flooding and stuff.
- [04:56]
Janak Jalil
The shelters are on higher ground, are they?
- [04:58]
Richard Anderson
Yeah, most of them are. And most of the shelters are like school buildings. So strong buildings that are upstairs and are generally in safe areas. So for the most part people are taking the warning seriously.
- [05:11]
Janak Jalil
How do you feel about the storm, Richard? Is this just part of Caribbean life or is it something that's becoming more and more common?
- [05:18]
Richard Anderson
You know, we have had storms over the years, but Jamaica, most times the storms have turned passing very closely. Even though they did damage, they weren't direct hits. Since Hurricane Gilbert. This is the strongest storm expected to hit us. This is expected to be a direct hit across the western end of the island. So I think people are taking this a little bit more serious.
- [05:38]
Paul Henley
Richard Anderson of the radio studios of Omega Church. Well, Jamaican officials have urged people on the island to obey evacuation orders rather than risking their lives to protect their homes. Matthew Samuda is Jamaica's Minister for the Environment, Water and Climate Change. Paul Henley asked him if government warnings were being heeded.
- [05:58]
Matthew Samuda
In some cases, yes, obviously. In others, no. I don't think in any country our disaster risk warnings all adhere to. In my own constituency we have over 400 persons in shelters. The government has made over 800 shelters available and activated them for Jamaican citizens. But what we have tried to do is certainly those in low lying areas on the south coast that are flood prone and will also be affected by what could be a 17 foot storm surge. We have put in place an evacuation order. So it's a little more than just strong encouragement. But at the end of the day, citizens have to take some personal responsibility. We've made the National Bus Service available. We've made the jdf, the jcf, which is our defence force and police force, as well as our fire brigade and our Ministry of Labor and Social Security, as well as our local municipalities staff available to assist with evacuations.
- [06:48]
Janak Jalil
Jamaicans are famously independent minded people and the urge for them to stay with their property in their homes is a strong one, isn't it?
- [06:57]
Matthew Samuda
Very much so. Very much so. And it is something that we do have to contend with. It's often said that culture eats strategy for breakfast every morning. So, you know, we can't ignore the culture of Jamaican people, but we do have a duty to make them aware of the fact that this is not your normal hurricane, which they have become accustomed to. This is a Category 5 with 175 mile an hour sustained winds, 17 foot storm surge. This is 30 to 40 inches of rain on the back of three weeks of rain that we've had before. Because October is our traditional rainy season, so it is prime for flooding. When you layer in storm surge and you layer in sustained winds of 170 miles an hour, which we've never experienced with gusts of 240. Now is not the time for culture or the time for, you know, feelings. It's actually the time to be safe, to be smart. We're encouraging Jamaicans to follow the guidance of the government.
- [07:52]
Janak Jalil
And how do you mitigate practically against those two key dangers of wind and rain?
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Matthew Samuda
Well, the first rain is really that we've spent the last two weeks repairing and cleaning drains right across the length and breadth of Jamaica. You know, at the back end of your rainy season there would be a lot of silt and debris in your drains. So now usually we'd clean, do another major drain cleaning exercise nationally in December, the tail end of the rainy season. So you do it before, midway and then after. So we've had to do another major drain cleaning a little earlier than usual to try and mitigate against the level of flooding that we will have on the wind side. The only mitigation is really securing your property as best as possible. Hurricane straps, making sure your roofs and your windows are sealed as best as possible and praying. And if you know that your structure is simply not in the condition to withstand that sort of wind, then you go to a shelter which is built to particular specifications, be able to provide some level of security.
- [08:51]
Janak Jalil
Do you look at the pending storm and think this is a freak event or do you think this is a sign of climate change and there's more to come?
- [09:01]
Matthew Samuda
Climate change is going to make freak events become more normal. I think that's the better way to articulate it. Jamaica would have experienced Hurricane Beryl last year at the very beginning of the hurricane season, which was incredibly unusual when one thinks of the tail end of the national of the hurricane season. No. Having a category 5 highest wind gusts ever recorded, some of the lowest air pressure, some of the strongest eye walls, driest eye walls, rather than have ever been recorded at this time of year when the water should be cooling. It's incredibly unusual. So it does lead to the area of climate change. I mean, Jamaica is very clear that the climate has already changed, our weather patterns have already changed, we've seen salt water intrusion in our wells, we've seen coastal erosion, we've seen deteriorating soil quality. All of the slow onset events are already present in Jamaica. We do acknowledge that we're on the front lines of the crisis. But as it relates to major storms and just the impact of the shifting weather patterns, it does suggest that we are going to have to adapt. But certainly our agriculture sector is going to come under severe pressure when you have this sort of storm and this sort of flooding. And we are going to have to deal with what is a reality for us.
- [10:10]
Janak Jalil
And in fact, Jamaica's had close brushes with hurricane disaster before, but not for a long time has it really borne the brunt. You've not been in the middle of the storm, have you? This is a bit different.
- [10:21]
Matthew Samuda
The eyes of Storms have literally scraped the south coast and the east coast many times over the last 30 years. So we've gotten both the front of the eye wall and the back of the eye wall to come just in line with land. Right. So we've felt hurricane conditions and experienced winds above 120 miles an hour multiple times. You know, over the last, over the last few decades. We did have Hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Dennis come on Shore in 2004 and 2005. So it's not that we have limited experience, but this is not your normal hurricane. This is a very different beast. And that is why it is so stressful. And that is why there is a great deal of anxiety in the Jamaican public, both locally and living abroad.
- [11:02]
Paul Henley
Jamaica's Minister for the Environment, Water and Climate Change, Matthew Samuda. What's made Hurricane Melissa so powerful is exceptionally warm seas in the Caribbean for this time of year. Recent years have seen the hottest temperatures on record around the world. So inevitably, many have questioned whether climate change has contributed to the force of this storm. Well, this all comes as the UN has warned that global efforts to slow the warming of our planet are well off track. It says that of the nearly 200 countries that signed the Paris Agreement a Decade ago, only 64 nations have submitted carbon cutting plans this year. Ahead of the COP30 conference in Brazil next week, the UN's climate change secretary, Simon Steele, urged world leaders to accelerate their efforts.
- [11:51]
Richard Anderson
The science is equally clear that temperatures.
- [11:54]
Matthew Samuda
Absolutely can and must be brought back down to 1.5 degrees Celsius as quickly as possible after any temporary overshoot by substantially stepping up the pace on all fronts. That acceleration must start now.
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Paul Henley
Our environment correspondent, Matt McGrath, told me more about this latest gloomy UN assessment.
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Matt McGrath
The review is carried out by the UN on the carbon cutting plans that every country is obliged to submit to the UN under the Paris Agreement. As you say, around 200 countries signed that agreement 10 years ago. They put plans in every five years to say what they're going to do to tackle emissions, tackle the root cause of climate change. And when the UN looks at these plans, they found that this year only 64 countries had submitted them. They also included the state of statements of intent from the European Union and from China. And they say that by 2035, that would bring down global emissions by 10%. But that's not near enough to keep the global temperature threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius, which countries have signed up to. And for many developing countries who believe it's a life or death temperature threshold, they would not be close to keeping the temperatures to that level. And in fact, they'd need to cut emissions by well over half over the next decade. And at this moment in time, as we're seeing, countries are a bit shy of telling what they're doing. And when they do sell what's what they're doing, it doesn't add up to what needs to be done.
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Paul Henley
Donald Trump's climate skepticism can't have helped in all this. So what does this all mean for the COP summit next week?
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Matt McGrath
Donald Trump's skepticism in some respects has spread to many countries in some ways, even though that in this review, the United States pledge made under Joe Biden is still being counted in. That's part of the reduction seen over the next 10 years. But most people believe that won't happen. As President Trump has said he is going to pull the US out of the Paris agreement or is taking them out of that. It doesn't set the scene for big ambitions next week when countries gather in Brazil to talk about climate change and to see what they're doing on the positive side of the ledger. The UN Would point out that, look, lots of countries haven't come forward with the plans yet. They may do so next week. There's big expectations around India, big expectations around Indonesia and many other countries that are high emitters. And there's also a sense that, you know, of realism about this, that this is what countries say they're going to do. But in the cases of China, they're likely to overachieve what they promise. And they will also say that, look, this is the first time in nearly 200 years of industrial progress, if you like, that emissions are starting to come down and they will do so over the next decade. So they recognize that this is not as good as it could be and is nowhere near as good as it could be. But in the political realistic position the countries are in right now, they believe that they can get a bit more, but not to the level of keeping that temperature threshold alive. And there's a growing acceptance that that will be gone past in a number of years.
- [14:38]
Paul Henley
Matt McGrath, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to respond after Hamas handed over human remains which he says did not belong to any of the dead Israeli hostages still missing. Hamas promised to return all their bodies as part of the ceasefire deal agreed earlier this month, but it says recovery has been difficult because some bodies are buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israel. The latest remains handed over apparently belonged to a hostage whose body had already been return. President Netanyahu said this violated the ceasefire. Our Middle east correspondent, Yolande Nell is in Jerusalem.
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Yolande Nell
Forensic testing was carried out after this casket was handed over to the Israeli authorities by the Red Cross. They had collected the remains from Hamas inside Gaza. And then it's been widely reported in the Israeli media that what's been discovered is not one of the missing 13 deceased hostages. They're held by Hamas or other Palestinian armed groups, but in fact appears to be the remains of one of the hostages who was sent back before more of their remains. It's quite a grim discovery really. And you know, that person has already had their burial. We don't have more details about who that might be. You can imagine it's extremely distressing for the families of the deceased hostages, those who've come back before, and those who still waiting for news about their loved ones. But this is having a big impact politically and an impact on the ceasefire agreement. There has been this ongoing row with Israel accusing Hamas of knowing more about the locations of the bodies and not doing enough to return them, as though it is holding onto these remaining bodies as kind of bargaining chips. Hamas has been saying that there are bodies that are deep underground in collapsed tunnels that have been attacked by Israel under the rubble of destroyed buildings. We understand that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will now be talking to the Americans in particular about what to do next. The Americans have previously stepped in to stop Israel taking further action against what they see as violations of the cease fire. But Israel is very much wanting to act now at this point. And you have far right ministers within the coalition government saying that this is the time for Israel to resume its fight and destroy Hamas.
- [16:57]
Paul Henley
Yolande Neal we're often told about the physical and mental benefits of going for a walk. But is one long walk better than several short ones? A new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that people who walk for at least 15 minutes without stopping or about 1,500 steps in a row generally have better health outcomes. Our health reporter Michelle Roberts has been looking at the findings.
- [17:24]
Yolande Nell
The study looked at more than 33,000 adults aged 40 to 79 in the UK who walked fewer than 8,000 steps a day. The researchers from the University of Sydney and the Universidad Europea in Spain tracked their health over eight years. People who walked in longer stretches had a lower risk of heart problems than those who walked in short berths. Whether that's because they were fitter to begin with isn't fully clear from the study. But the researchers did try to control for this by taking into account factors such as whether the person smoked, was obese or had high blood pressure. Even among the least active, those who walked under 5,000 steps a day, longer walks appeared to make a difference.
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Paul Henley
Michelle Roberts still to come in this podcast, a new study finds that going to a museum to admire beautiful paintings really is good for you.
- [18:21]
Tony Woods
All of it pointed out the the fact that when we view art, we have this heightened sense of engagement, but we have this amazing sort of relaxation effect.
- [18:36]
Matthew Samuda
What's that sound?
- [18:37]
Matt McGrath
That's the sound of Downy Unstoppable scent.
- [18:39]
Matthew Samuda
Beads going into your washing machine and giving your clothes freshness that lasts all day long. There it is again. It's like music to your ears or more like music to your nose. That freshness is irresistible. Let's get a Downy Unstoppables bottle shake. And now a sniff solo.
- [18:58]
Paul Henley
Nice.
- [18:59]
Matthew Samuda
With Downy Unstoppables, you just toss wash. Wow. For all day freshness.
- [19:05]
Yolande Nell
America is changing and so is the world.
- [19:10]
Janak Jalil
But what's happening in America isn't just.
- [19:12]
Rob Watson
A cause of global upheaval.
- [19:14]
Janak Jalil
It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.
- [19:17]
Yolande Nell
I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. i'm.
- [19:20]
Janak Jalil
Tristan Redman in London and this is the Global story.
- [19:24]
Yolande Nell
Every weekday we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.
- [19:29]
Janak Jalil
Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [19:41]
Paul Henley
You're listening to the Global News Podcast. Let's turn now to the devastating civil war in Sudan where the army has lost its last western stronghold in this vast nation. For the past year and a half, the city of Al Fasha has been under siege from the rival paramilitary force, the Rapid Support Forces, which built a huge earthen wall around it to stop people escaping while it bombarded them. Then this week, the arm that the RSF had finally managed to seize the entire city. And now fears are mounting about what will happen to up to quarter of a million civilians who've been trapped inside El Fascia during all this time, around, half of them children. Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab in the US Analyzes satellite images and its executive director Nathaniel Raymond says the images out of Al Fasha show there's been a mass killing since it fell.
- [20:35]
Matt McGrath
It's been just over 24 hours of RSF control of Al Fasher and the.
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Matthew Samuda
Sum of all fears has been realized.
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Matt McGrath
We see clear evidence of house to house clearance operations, particularly in the Darajula neighborhood near Saudi Hospital with what appears to be piles of objects consistent with human remains between 1.5 to 2 meters in length.
- [21:03]
Paul Henley
The fall of Al Fasher could mark a significant turning point in Sudan's civil war in which tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly 12 million displaced. The RSS now has complete control of the vast Darfur region. It denies accusations from aid agencies that its fighters have been killing civilians. Our reporter Akisa Wandara in Nairobi told me more about what the Yale researchers have established.
- [21:32]
Akisa Wandera
They have been analyzing satellite images and using open source data, and they say that they've seen clear evidence of mass killings in and around Al Fasha. And they've also identified what they call clusters of objects that are consistent with human bodies and reddish soil disturbances near the earthen wall that the RSF built all around El Fascia, about 57km long to keep people from getting in or getting out of the city. So they're saying that from the evidence they've collected so far, they're that people may have been executed while trying to flee. And they're also saying that their findings are very consistent with reports that the RSF forces are targeting civilians, particularly those from non Arab communities.
- [22:17]
Paul Henley
And the big fear is that as well as revenge killings, this could actually be ethnic cleansing. Just describe what the situation is like in Al Fasha where people have been under siege for a year and a half, many of them starving.
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Akisa Wandera
Well, the situation is dire. Several humanitarian groups have described it as a famine like situation where people do not have access to food, don't have access to water and medicine. This is a city that has already been under siege for about one and a half years now. And in the past 24 or so hours, communications has been largely cut off, making it extremely difficult to get real time updates on what the situation is like for the more than 200,000 people who are believed to still be trapped inside al Fasha. The UN said yesterday that 26,000 people are believed to have been able to flee the town, but the situation remains unknown and what it would be like for the hundreds of thousands who are still trapped in the city. And of course, the RSF is being accused of committing summary executions. They have denied this, but several groups have come out to say that there's been evidence to support that so far.
- [23:28]
Paul Henley
Akisa Wandera. The BBC has established that Prince Andrew hosted the sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Harvey Weinstein at his private home in windsor Castle in 2006. A photo of the three of them has been confirmed as having been taken at the property during 18th birthday celebrations for Andrew's daughter, Princess Beatrice. Two months earlier, a U. S arrest warrant had been issued for Epstein for the sexual assault of a minor. Our UK political correspondent Rob Watson told me more about the photo.
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Rob Watson
Maybe the best thing I could do is describe it because I'm looking at it right now. As you say, it's from 2006. There are three people in the photo. It's a beautiful sunny day. It's in the garden, apparently of the lodge where Andrew lives. On the left of the photo is Harvey Weinstein, who's in prison for sexual assault. In the middle is Jeffrey Epstein, who we think committed suicide while awaiting trial for sexual sex trafficking a couple of years ago. And then there's Ghislaine Maxwell and they're in fancy dress. She's currently serving a prison sentence for trafficking. Sunny day, all smiling. It's very different from the image we have of today and the photo itself is not new, but what's new is that the BBC has identified that it was definitely taken in the garden of the home where he currently lives.
- [24:47]
Paul Henley
And, and this is further damage for not just Prince Andrew, but potentially for the Royal family, because King Charles was heckled yesterday by a member of the public over Prince Andrew's links with Jeffrey Epstein.
- [25:00]
Rob Watson
That's correct. I mean, I'll take that in two parts. I mean, firstly, the damage continues for Prince Andrew. I mean, I think we were on the air a couple of weeks back, Jeanette, when he had given up his titles in order to try and get himself out of the News of the World. That has completely backfired. There's a second question as whether the contagion has spread to the rest of the Royal family. And you're absolutely right, it was quite striking to hear Charles being heckled. A man asked the King how long had he known about Andrew's friendship with Epstein. He was asked whether the Royal Family had asked the police to cover up. I mean, I would say at this point, Jeanette, it feels as though the crisis world swirls mainly around Prince Andrew. What should happen to him? What should happen to his living arrangements rather than spreading more broadly to the Royal Family? But, but be in no doubt, I mean, clearly King Charles, his son and heir, Prince William, are very worried indeed about the repercussions of all of this.
- [25:52]
Paul Henley
Rob Watson, you might think that wandering around a museum looking at wonderful works of art makes you feel better about life. And that's now been backed up by a scientific study. Researchers from King's College London used sensors to measure the responses of people viewing masterpieces by artists including Manet, Gauguin and Van Gogh. And they found that the experience had a positive impact on three different systems in the body, the immune, hormone and nervous systems, all at the same time, thereby reducing stress levels. Tony woods from King's College led the research.
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Tony Woods
We've known from studies of large numbers of people that visiting art galleries is beneficial for our mental health and well being, but we didn't know why. So we wanted to look at the mechanisms. We wanted to put individuals in front of authentic paintings and see what happens physiologically, what happens in their body when they view art. And so we looked at how the nervous system controls our heart activity, we looked at the endocrine system, that is the hormone levels, the stress hormones, and we looked at what happens to our immune system. And all of it pointed out the fact that when we view art, we have this heightened sense of engagement, but we have this amazing sort of relaxation effect and that's reflected across all three systems. We had copies exactly the same size and exactly the same paintings in a laboratory setting and they didn't show the responses that we got in the gallery. So we can quite confidently say that the museum effect and the effect of looking at the original art that's having this beneficial effect, there's something definitely about looking at the real art, you know, having that wonder and awe about how it was painted, looking at the brush strokes compared to just looking at a very good print.
- [27:33]
Paul Henley
Researcher Tony Woods. One of Britain's most loved actresses, Prunella Scales, has died at the age of 93. In a career spanning nearly 70 years, she was best known for starring in the 90s 1970s TV show Fawlty Towers as a domineering wife of the accident prone and irascible hotel manager played by John Cleese. Despite, or perhaps because of its very British humour, the show is still loved by people all over the world. David Slitto looks back at her life. Basil.
- [28:05]
Janak Jalil
Sybil Fawlty. Prunella Scales described her as an appalling dragon.
- [28:10]
Paul Henley
I am going to make you regret this for the rest of your life, Basil.
- [28:13]
Janak Jalil
But she was a pillar of a comic masterpiece and a highlight of a long acting career.
- [28:18]
Paul Henley
Do you really imagine, even in your.
- [28:21]
Yolande Nell
Wildest dreams, that a girl like this.
- [28:23]
Paul Henley
Could possibly be interested in an aging, brilliant stick insect like you?
- [28:29]
Janak Jalil
Prunella Scales had grown up in Surrey. Her mother had been an actress and aged eight, Prunella declared that she too would act. But she soon learned that certain roles would elude her in British comedy.
- [28:40]
Paul Henley
If you're a woman in Order to.
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Akisa Wandera
Be really funny, you either have to.
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Paul Henley
Be postmen or so eccentric as not.
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Akisa Wandera
To be a sexual threat. You can be funny and hideous, or.
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Paul Henley
Funny and old, or funny and eccentric, but you cannot be funny and pretty and clever.
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Janak Jalil
One early film role was Hobson's Choice.
- [28:57]
Yolande Nell
Hello, Father.
- [28:59]
Janak Jalil
And her big TV break is Marriage Lines with Richard Brass. But it was a dysfunctional talkie hotel that established her place in British comic history.
- [29:09]
Matt McGrath
Oh. Oh, I know.
- [29:11]
Janak Jalil
Sybil in Fawlty Towers was funny and terrifying.
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Paul Henley
Basil.
- [29:17]
Janak Jalil
Alan Bennett's A Question Of Attribution gave her one of her best roles, playing the Queen.
- [29:23]
Paul Henley
So now that it's a fake, what.
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Yolande Nell
Are you planning to do with it?
- [29:26]
Paul Henley
Put it out for the bin, then.
- [29:28]
Janak Jalil
And then, in her 80s, she took to the water with her husband, Timothy West.
- [29:32]
Matt McGrath
Cast off, please.
- [29:33]
Akisa Wandera
Aye, sir.
- [29:34]
Janak Jalil
The great Canadian Journeys was TV at its gentlest.
- [29:38]
Paul Henley
Life at four miles an hour.
- [29:40]
Janak Jalil
But it was also a moving portrait of a marriage and the slow ebbing of a bright and witty actress as dementia took hold.
- [29:49]
Paul Henley
Dementia?
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Matt McGrath
You're not bothered by it, are you?
- [29:52]
Paul Henley
Well, I think elderly people get it anyway, don't they?
- [29:58]
Matt McGrath
Well, some do, yes.
- [29:59]
Janak Jalil
And this was their final canal journey.
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Paul Henley
It's magic, isn't it?
- [30:03]
Matt McGrath
It.
- [30:03]
Janak Jalil
And the end of what was nearly 70 years on stage and screen.
- [30:10]
Paul Henley
David Slitter, looking back on the life of the actress Prunella Scales, who has died at the age of 93. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast, you can send us an email. The address is Global PodcastBC. This edition was mixed by Kai Perry. The producers were Muzaffa Shakir and Chaz Geiger. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Janat Jalil. Until next time, Goodbye.
- [30:49]
Yolande Nell
America is changing and so is the world.
- [30:53]
Janak Jalil
But what's happening in America isn't just.
- [30:55]
Rob Watson
The cause of global upheaval.
- [30:57]
Janak Jalil
It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.
- [31:01]
Yolande Nell
I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, dc.
- [31:03]
Janak Jalil
I'm Tristan Redman in London, and this is the Global Story.
- [31:07]
Yolande Nell
Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.
- [31:13]
Janak Jalil
Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.