Sir Michael Parkinson returns to Radio 2 for the second series of 'My Favourite Things'. Over the next thirteen weeks he discusses the best of songwriters, singers and arrangers, playing some of the greatest popular records of all time.

Sir Michael was instrumental in a revival of the great American Songbook that resulted in singers like Diana Krall, Clare Teal, Jamie Cullum and Michael Buble enjoying significant record success across Europe. His enthusiasm and knowledge of the greats - Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong among them - extends to the musicians who played on their records and to the composers, lyricists, orchestrators, MD's, players and producers who worked with them. Consequently, each programme is a journey of discovery and excellence, not only through the classic and familiar, but also the undiscovered and neglected. Among the episodes; The Arrangers; The Latin influence; The Golden Age of Songwriting; Discovering Jazz; The Centenaries of Sinatra's most prolific writers Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen; The Next Generation Singers; Great Duets and so on. Sir Michael begins the series by reflecting on the quality of songwriting during the year he was born - 1935. Show less