New Storytellers

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New Storytellers: He's Only a Cleaner

He's Only a Cleaner

BBC Radio 4 - New Storytellers, He's Only a Cleaner

As Covid-19 took hold, an invisible army of workers battled the virus.

As Covid-19 took hold, Steve - an industrial cleaner - was one of an invisible army of workers putting themselves in danger to help battle the virus.

The world has had to change and adapt to the effects of Covid-19 as all our lives have been turned upside down. 

Key workers have been the true heroes of this virus. As more of the general public started working from home or were told to self-isolate, an army of workers kept our country going, most of them among the lowest paid in society. 

Steve is an industrial cleaner whose life and work have been severely affected by coronavirus. He, along with many others, goes almost unnoticed as he battles to control the virus that has killed over 128,000 people in the UK. Many say ‘he’s only a cleaner’. In Emma Millen's feature we find out he's much more. 

New Storytellers presents the work of new radio and audio producers, and this series features the five winners of the 2021 Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature. The award is presented every year in memory of pioneering radio producer Charles Parker, who produced the famous series of Radio Ballads with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. 

Emma Millen, who completed her MA in Radio at the University of Sunderland last summer, originally made her winning entry at the height of the pandemic. He's Only a Cleaner was regarded by the judges as 'a compelling account of working life in the best Charles Parker tradition and captured the hardship and heartache of this Covid year perfectly ... which the producer has edited well - choosing clips carefully and setting them in an order that unfolds the story and deepens our understanding'.

Producer: Emma Millen
A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4

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Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Factual: Life Stories

New work from winners of the Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature.

New work by radio and audio producers new to BBC Radio 4 from the five winners of this year's Charles Parker Prize for the Best Student Radio Feature.

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