Nigel Paterson is series producer for Planet Dinosaur. Here he blogs about what was involved in making the 3D version of BBC One's award-winning Planet Dinosaur.

It was very early on in the production of Planet Dinosaur that the embryonic thought of a 3D version was seeded. It was when we realised that we were creating absolutely everything in the virtual world of a computer (where we had absolute control and could do anything we liked) rather than the real world (where things tend to be untidy and un predictable) that it seemed that this was a project almost tailor made for 3D. We made a very short 'proof of principle' clip as much for ourselves as for anyone else. Now, the gulf between an idea and its execution can often appear unbridgeable, many end up dashed on the rocks of the reality chasm, but we were lucky and were blessed with a commissioner who saw the potential and gathered support to take a punt and give us the materials to make our metaphorical bridge.

We had a team of 60 animators, compositors, modellers and background artists working on the project. Animation is extraordinarily labour intensive; it's one of the commonly held myths that, because it's made in a computer, the computer does all the work. Another aspect of 3D is that the detail required is considerably greater than that which can pass off in 2D; so the details of the animals and the backgrounds need that much more work. Every facet of the digital world had to be created in forensic detail; from the largest dinosaur to the smallest fern, all have to stand up to the scrutiny of this new form of television broadcast. Trees, plants and rocks had to be researched, analysed and modelled by the animators to give each environment the character and validity needed to produce a properly visceral experience.

The learning curve for what works and doesn't work in 3D was also a steep one, for instance the dynamic, documentary style of camerawork, and the quick cutting, so essential for the immersive impact of the original series, came with its own technical challenges. Fortunately, because we were making it in a computer, we could test, control and tweak the images, and to this end a specialist team of stereographers hand crafted individual frames and sequences to ensure that the 3D experience has maximum impact while leaving the audience fully immersed, without feeling queasy. The big difference for us, was having the 2D series which we had already made for BBC1 to work from. Thinking about 2D and 3D together is a pragmatic way of sweating your assets. It's something Hollywood has been doing for a while, and whilst TV is a different beast of course, the principle means you can do quite ambitious things in a much more cost effective way.

Ultimately what we have produced is, I believe, a thrilling journey into a lost world, an opportunity to properly experience these incredible animals in all their magnificent wonder. Have a look this Sunday 19th August at 17:35 on the BBC HD Channel or on Monday 27th August (Bank Holiday) at 15.40, when it is on again. It will also be available for catch-up in 3D via BBC iPlayer More information about how you can watch BBC's 3D programmes can be found on the BBC's FAQ website.

I'm really excited about this, and hope you enjoy it too. I would love to hear your thoughts below.

Nigel Paterson is series producer for Planet Dinosaur

Planet Dinosaur 3D - Ultimate Killers will be broadcast on the BBC HD channel on Bank Holiday Monday 27th August at 3.40pm.

I wanted to correct some news reports this week that wrongly stated that the BBC is one of several public bodies refusing to disclose whether they use the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), the legislation which regulates the use of surveillance.

The story originated from a report published by Big Brother Watch, which sent Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to public bodies asking a number of questions, including how many times these powers have been used and for which offences. The report noted that a number of public authorities, including the BBC, "refuse to disclose how often, for what purpose and what type of surveillance they have undertaken".

In our response to Big Brother Watch we were entirely open about the fact that the BBC does use these powers through its TV Licensing team to detect evasion, a criminal offence. This happens only as a last resort when other less intrusive enforcement methods have been exhausted. This information has been confirmed by the BBC on many occasions in the past and is documented on the TV Licensing website under the fourth heading 'Detection'.

However, we do not release details of exactly how and when detection is used. This is in order to ensure that people without a TV licence do not use this information to their advantage when attempting to evade the licence fee.

As these reports correctly state, the use of RIPA is perfectly legal. It is also worth noting that the BBC is inspected every two years by the Office of Surveillance Commissioners, the independent body which monitors legal compliance of RIPA. Their two most recent reports praised the responsible and professional way in which the BBC conducts RIPA investigations.

The BBC's sole use of RIPA is to detect TV Licence evasion on behalf of the vast majority of the population (95%) who pay their licence. Used responsibly, transparently and when there is no other option, we value the legislation as a useful way of helping to reduce evasion levels still further and enforce the law.

Sian Healey is Head of Communications and Policy for TV Licensing

Eight cameras will give audiences a unique view on the world-famous event including a remote camera that rotates to 180 degrees and can pan and tilt.

Cinemas relaying the live 3D experience can be found in:

Bath
Belfast
Birmingham
Braehead Glasgow
Brighton
Cardiff
Colchester
Covent Garden
Dunfermline
Greenwich
Kingston
Lincoln
Liverpool One
Maidenhead
Manchester Printworks
Norwich
Sheffield
Silverlinks Newcastle
Southampton
Swiss Cottage
Trafford Centre Manchester
Wimbledon

To purchase tickets visit BBC Proms homepage and follow the link under the highlights panel.

The second series of BBC Three's documentary Our War starts on Monday 20 August at 9.00pm.

In the audio interview above About the BBC blog producer Eloise McNaulty speaks to executive producer Colin Barr about the making of the programme, how contributors for the documentary series were selected and the steps involved in using the footage obtained from the field.

Jon Jacob is Editor of the About the BBC Blog

Our War begins on BBC Three on Monday 20 August at 9pm.

Former RAF pilot Jonathan Singh who features in Our War, has written a post on the BBC TV blog describing his experiences whilst serving in Afghanistan.

1. Olympics Wrap-Up

At the beginning of the week, the Media Centre website released viewing figures from across the BBC's Olympics coverage, confirming the Games as the biggest national TV event ever. Read more here.

The BBC Internet Blog ran a series of wrap-up posts post-Olympics output. Head of Product for BBC Sport and London 2012 Cait O' Riordan includes statistics for online and red button streams. Senior Technical Architect Matthew Clark wrote about the technical strategy he and his team adopted to produce the wealth of digital Olympics products the BBC offered, and Head of Core Services Marina Kalkanis revealed how audio and video streams were maintained during the sixteen days of the Games.

Over on the BBC Sport Editors' blog, Ben Gallop explains how post-Olympics, what the next steps are for BBC Sport online.

2. New series of Our War on BBC Three

Our War returns for a second series on BBC Three on Monday 20 August at 9.00pm. Executive Producer Colin Barr explained how the programme was made in a special interview for the About the BBC Blog.

3. BBC Radio 3 broadcasts 4'33" of 'silence'

Special measures (pictured above) were put in place to stop the Radio 3's emergency automatic playback for a late night performance of John Cage's 4'33" silence, part of the 2012 BBC Proms season. Listen to the entire concert via the BBC Proms website. The season runs until Saturday 8 September.

4. Radio 1 Xtra's 10th Birthday

Radio 1Xtra started ten years ago this week. The BBC Radio blog shared a series of birthday messages. The station celebrated with a special playlist. Jem Stone from Audio and Music Interactive, pulled together tweets, pictures and video from the day in a special Storify.

5. Doctor Who Asylum of the Daleks premiere at the BFI

The new series of Doctor Who starts soon on BBC One and BBC HD. Executive Producer Caro Skinner took over the Doctor Who Twitter account on the day of the premiere of the first story Asylum of the Daleks, and she kept a tight grip on the tape. Watch a behind-the-scenes video from the premiere below.

Earlier in the week BBC Radio 5 Live's Richard Bacon questioned executive producer Steven Moffat about the possibility of multiple Doctors appearing in the 50th anniversary drama written by Mark Gatiss planned for next year.

6. Grab your pinny

Sue, Mel, Mary and the Silver Fox returned to our screens with the third series of Great British Bake Off.

Cookery writer Mary Berry's recent appearance on Desert Island Discs is available via the programme's online archive.

7. Comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe Live

Edinburgh Fringe and BBC Three are hosting a mammoth night of live comedy via Red Button on Friday 17 August featuring more than 40 Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Festival acts. More information on the BBC Media Centre website.

8. A change for Radio 1 Breakfast Show jingles

Ahead of Nick Grimshaw's new breakfast show starting on 24 September, information emerged about Radio 1's new direction for breakfast show jingles. Former Radio 1 DJ Tony Blackburn talked to Today's Sarah Montague about it, reminding listeners about Radio 2's new package of jingles.

9. The Best Of Men

The inspiring story of how Dr Guttmann's work rehabilitating World War II soldiers that led to the creation of the Paralympics. Cast member David Proud shares his experience of acting in the drama on the BBC TV blog. Scriptwriter Lucy Gannon throws light on the writing process on the BBC Writersroom blog.

10. Time-lapse video from the Olympic Park

Finally, take two and a half minutes to watch Duncan McLean's beautiful time-lapse video shot during the Olympics featuring behind the scenes shots of the BBC's Olympic studio in Stratford. Thanks to BBC 2012 producer Imelda Flattery for the heads up.

Jon Jacob is Editor of the About the BBC Blog.

Follow @AboutTheBBC for all the latest updates.

The BBC's promise was to deliver coverage of every sport from every venue, and we certainly achieved this with our digital coverage: from the blue ribbon events like the 100m final all the way to the first taekwondo heats, the multi-faceted entirety of the Olympics was available to watch throughout the day across online and Red Button.

The BBC Media Centre published details on viewing figures from across the 2012 Olympics earlier this afternoon.

Every moment of the London 2012 Olympics is available on the BBC Sport website until 13 January 2013 (UK only).

Below is a collection of official announcements, tweets and online stories which covered the news of Roger's new appointment, collated using Storify.

Cameras like the one the BBC used in colour broadcasts in the late sixties and seventies are potent symbols. For people of a certain age, they're a shortcut to childhood memories, in this case the BBC's weekly pop music programme Top of the Pops.

The camera like that pictured above is one of a collection that makes up a special exhibition across the UK that tells the story of broadcasting innovation. The exhibition is open to the public and staged alongside demonstration screenings of the 2012 Olympics in Super Hi-Vision in London and Glasgow. Entry to the exhibition and screenings are free. Further details are available on the BBC's Shows and Tours website. Super Hi-Vision screenings are also being staged at the National Media Museum in Bradford.

Before a special visit made by representatives from NHK to New Broadcasting House, London, to see the exhibition and for a Super Hi-Vision screening earlier this week, I spoke to Head of BBC History Robert Seatter and BBC Technology Advisor John Trenouth about the appeal of broadcasting history and how the Olympics have helped fuel advances in broadcasting.

Jon Jacob is Editor of the About the BBC Blog.

Head of BBC History Robert Seatter recently blogged about the Olympics, Broadcasting Innovation and Super Hi-Vision on the About the BBC blog.

Entry to the broadcast innovation exhibition in the BBC's Scotland headquarters in Pacific Quay in Glasgow and New Broadcasting House in London is free.

Super Hi-Vision screenings are open to the public are free but require a ticket. Book tickets for London and Glasgow on the BBC Shows and Tours website and on the National Media Museum website for Bradford.

Learn more about the BBC's past on the History of the BBC website.

BBC News Online reports on the digital stations story, 'BBC digital stations 1Xtra and Radio 4 Extra set record' while BBC staff online newspaper Ariel picks up on local radio.

Over on the BBC's Radio blog, editor Paul Murphy has collated some commentator's responses to the RAJAR figures including posts from Managing Director of Media UK James Cridland and Adam Bowie. On the 5 Live Blog controller Adrian van Klaveren takes time away from the Olympics to offer his take on BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra's figures.

]]> Jon Jacob Jon Jacob https://meleleh.pages.dev/blogs/aboutthebbc/2012/08/rajars-q2-2012-published.shtml https://meleleh.pages.dev/blogs/aboutthebbc/2012/08/rajars-q2-2012-published.shtml RAJAR Thu, 02 Aug 2012 12:27:55 +0000

Members of the Production Talent Pool for 2012 at a networking event in the BBC Media Village.

Editor's Note - Simon Smith is the Manager of Creativity and Special Projects in the BBC Academy. In this post, he writes about the new intake of young creative talent who have won places in the BBC's prestigious Production Talent Pool.

Today is a big day. I am really proud to say the first members of the BBC Academy's Production Talent Pool are now recruited, trained and ready for work in the BBC. Last night I met for the first time many of these 120 bright, talented and committed recruits who are now available for junior production management and running roles across BBC TV and radio.

The BBC Academy, which delivers training, has always helped the BBC discover, recruit and train new talent to work on its radio and TV shows. It's a big day because this year we have changed the way we do this; combining three previous recruitment schemes into one. Until 2011 the Production Trainee Scheme, the Audio and Music Talent Pool and the Vision Intake Pool worked independently of one another. It was confusing for delegates applying for places and it was costly for the business as each scheme required lots of BBC staff time helping with the interviewing and selection process.

The Production Talent Pool brings these three schemes together for the first time, it was a risk but, meeting the new members of the Pool last night, it looks like it's paid off. Recruitment for the PTP started in February. There were just under 3000 applicants and my team have done a terrific job of managing a rigorous selection process that started with online tests and ended with observed assessment of creative and group work skills. We have ended up with 120 who have been given basic training by the BBC Academy, and who are now ready to be deployed across the BBC by its network of production and talent managers. The successful 120 will be in the PTP for 1 year and for that time will be 'first on the list' for shows needing to recruit production management assistants and runners.

Winning a place in the Pool is also the first step to gaining the most cherished of the BBC's training schemes. After a final selection process 1 in 10 of those in the Pool will be selected for a place on the prestigious Production Trainee Scheme. The PTS has been the launch pad for many illustrious careers and the successful 11 will start their training in October. You can follow their progress and discover more about BBC Academy training by following @bbctrainees on Twitter.

Simon Smith is Manager, Creativity and Special Projects, BBC Academy. Follow him on Twitter @simonsmithster.

Staff lined the main piazza to get a glimpse of Sir Bruce as he walked back towards Wood Lane with the Olympic Torch. Others congregated on the top floors of the BBC Media Centre and Broadcast Centre, from where this video was shot.

David Matchett pictured second from left with some of the other participants in the apprentice Scheme, Leigh-Ann Bennett, Laura Paterson and Kimberley Patterson.

Editor's Note - In a previous blog post, Sharon Mair, Editor Olympics & Commonwealth at BBC Scotland explained how a collaboration between the BBC and various media organisations across Scotland had given ten teenagers experience of working in the media as part of the Creative & Digital Media scheme.

In this post, one of the ten apprentices David Matchett who has been spending time at BBC Scotland headquarters Pacific Quay in Glasgow shares his thoughts and feelings about the scheme.

My arms are bruised from the amount of times I've had to pinch myself into believing that my career path has shifted in such an interesting way since I joined the Apprentice 2012 scheme in September last year.

I found an application online that looked too good to be true: a creative apprenticeship in which you could earn and learn simultaneously within the BBC. No degree required, just a positive attitude and willingness to learn. To me the BBC building seemed as impenetrable as Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. But, once inside you'll realise the staff are not actually Oompa Loompas and are just really welcoming, creative people who you can learn a lot from.

Every month each apprentice moves into a new department, becomes part of a team and learns new skills and a wide understanding of the industry as a whole. Whether it's meeting Prince Charles, getting to co-present MacAulay & Co on BBC Radio Scotland or working towards the Olympics, it's been quite an experience.

Every day is different. Sometimes you have to do what may be considered menial work but once you understand how team oriented the industry is, you realise regardless of how small a part in it you play you are working towards something great. I used to often join in when my friends complained about their jobs, now if I say a word I am met with looks which say 'Stop it! Your job-whinging privileges have been revoked. You work somewhere cool now!'

David Matchett (second left) with some of the other apprentices meeting HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales.

I would go as far as to say the apprenticeship scheme is character shaping. The confidence gained from this immersion-style training has influenced our personalities in a positive way. The transferable skills we now possess have transformed us into dynamic and ultimately more employable people, regardless of whether we want to stay working in the media (which of course we do).

Looking towards the future however, there are no 100% job certainties. But to be perfectly honest we have grown to understand that with the nature of the industry it would be less kind to gift us a job.

In my mind the whole point of this traineeship is to learn how to build contacts, work flexibly and fend for ourselves within a highly competitive environment. It's the old saying: give a man a deep fried Mars bar and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to batter and fry it and you will feed him for an (admittedly shortened) lifetime.

David Matchett participated in Apprentice 2012 at BBC Scotland

Editor's note - Since September 2012 ten teenage apprentices have gained invaluable experience working alongside staff at BBC Scotland in Pacific Quay on a special scheme run in collaboration with various organisations across Scotland.

In this post Sharon Mair (pictured left), Editor Olympics & Commonwealth at BBC Scotland explains how the scheme worked.

Ahead of the Olympics and Commonwealth Games and as part of our commitment to legacy at BBC Scotland we followed in BBC 2012's footsteps and opened up the doors of Pacific Quay to young hopefuls from across Scotland.

After a rigorous recruitment process we chose ten candidates to work alongside industry professionals across radio, online and TV as part of their modern apprenticeship in Creative & Digital Media. We collaborated with Skillset Scotland and John Wheatley College who were brilliant in working with us to deliver this course. We contacted other areas of the creative industry in Scotland and Scottish Television and the independent Comedy Unit supported us in taking apprentices for short periods of time.

Our class of 2012 started with us in early September last year and after a crash course in working in production each apprentice was assigned to a department. Over the course of the year they spent a month in every department followed by two days at college.

There were highs and lows across the year, many had only just left school and adapting to a professional working environment was difficult for some. At BBC Scotland we've learned lots from the apprentices and we've had lots of learning we can take on board for our new intake in September 2012.

We've had many individuals here at PQ on work experience who tend to shadow staff however this scheme is different in that staff are expected to give the apprentices on the job training and get them heavily involved in the production process; something that takes time and patience and they have done brilliantly.

All ten of our apprentices have encountered exciting experiences throughout their time with us. Four of them met with Prince Charles answering questions about the scheme and explaining what it is that they have got out of the experience so far.

We are also sending another four to spend a month working on some very exciting projects at the Edinburgh Festival with our colleagues at BBC Radio 4, Radio 5 Live and BBC Three.

Our Gaelic speaking apprentice, Angus, will be travelling to London with the Radio Nan Gaidheal team who will be broadcasting from just outside the Olympic stadium across the second week of the games. And two of our chattiest apprentices gave Fred MacAulay a run for his money while co-presenting MacAulay and Co on BBC Radio Scotland during National Apprenticeship Week back in May this year.

Ideally we'd like to have trained 30 - 40 apprentices by the time the Commonwealth Games come to a close in 2014. My ambition for our apprentices was to give them the opportunity and a fantastic insight into the industry and for them to have the skills to go out and make their mark.

As I write this I am surrounded by three of the apprentices and when asked if they would do it again I was told, they want to come back next year! So if there are any areas in the BBC looking for young people that have now got a great training in the industry - can you give me a call!!

Sharon Mair is Editor Olympics & Commonwealth, BBC Scotland

Lisa Ausden is the Executive Producer of Volcano Live, an exciting new series of programmes broadcast from Kilauea on Big Island, Hawaii. In this post for About the BBC, she writes about some of the challenges the production team faced in making the programme.

The best live TV, in my experience, is led by event. Your location, and what's happening at that location is critically important. Volcanoes are pretty awesome when they're at full throttle, and many are in remote locations. That makes it logistically difficult, and very expensive to contemplate a live show, as there is a lot of kit and quite a few people involved.

Although there have been programmes about volcanoes before, live is a new concept. It's a logistical challenge to pull it off, so you have to find a volcano that you can get to safely and relatively easily. This is stating the obvious, but you can get two flights into Hawaii, drive for an hour, and there is our volcano. That's one hurdle cleared.

Once there, we are not only setting up a complex broadcast operation in an extraordinary location. You need to look after your team, who have to sleep and eat, as well as work. That's hard if you are in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, at Kilauea, there is a military holiday camp with accommodation and catering, all very close to our location by the crater.

And then there is our incredible subject matter. There was a statistic that surprised many of us when we started work on Volcano Live. There are twenty volcanoes erupting at any one time, somewhere around the globe ... and in a world first, we will be standing right on top of one of them, broadcasting live.

Kilauea, on Hawaii's Big Island, is the most active volcano in the world and has been erupting constantly since 1983. The beauty of Kilauea is that it's a relatively benign volcano - it doesn't tend to erupt violently - it oozes lava quite slowly. This means it is accessible and relatively easy to study, making Hawaii a centre of world expertise for volcanology. It's also a tourist attraction and the whole place sits within a national park.

The volcano is bristling with cameras, so we'll be able to keep an eye on everything that's happening, including the extraordinary lava lake, which bubbles and steams in the crater, day and night. In fact, we'll be creating a volcano "hub", allowing us to plug into the technology used to monitor volcanoes all round the world. So whatever's happening, wherever it's happening, we'll know about it at our hub in Hawaii.

The beauty of the live shows across consecutive nights, is that the viewer really can feel they have an opportunity to get involved. As well as explaining how volcanoes work and showing some quite incredible footage from all around the world, we will be welcoming questions from the audience, with our own expert, Prof Iain Stewart on hand to answer, plus an impressive array of experts on location in Hawaii.

But that's not all. The live blog which is going to run on nights nights one and four of the programme, with a featured scientist on our team each night on hand to answer viewer's questions directly online. So, if they send in questions to volcanolive@bbc.co.uk, even if their question doesn't make it on air in Hawaii, the scientists will try to make their way through them all in London.

A real opportunity to talk direct to two of the world's leading volcanologists: Clive Oppenheimer, Reader in Volcanology and Remote Sensing at the University of Cambridge, and Jon Blundy, Professor of Petrology at the University of Bristol. They both feature in the series, on expeditions to Antarctica (Clive) and Dominica (Jon).

Closer to home, keen walkers will be interested in a Radio Times pull out section, detailing volcanic walks around the UK. We may not be an actively volcanic place now, but parts of Britain certainly were in the past.

Before arriving in Hawaii, both Kate Humble and Prof Iain Stewart have been on their own volcanic filming adventures, and these will feature across the four nights. Volcanoes are a passion for Iain and he's particularly familiar with Italy. He heads to the Naples area to explain how the shifting tectonic plates have created the volcanically active regions of Italy. At Vesuvius, scene of the AD79 eruption which engulfed the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Iain reports on the cutting edge technology being used today to try to predict the next big eruption.

Kate's been filming in Iceland, another extraordinary volcanic landscape:.... Eyjafjallajokull is the volcano which erupted in 2010. Kate travels to the summit and discovers why the eruption produced an ash plume so huge, it grounded flights across Europe. She also takes an incredible journey not up, but down...into the magma chamber of a dormant volcano. Our cameras travel with her and I can guarantee the footage is simply breath-taking.

Kate and Iain will be in Hawaii before the live broadcasts, making some films and getting to know more about the scientists who study Kilauea and the park rangers who look after the extraordinary landscape, flora and fauna of Big Island. They'll also be introducing films made for us by expeditions to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chile, Antarctica and Dominica.

Hawaii isn't quite as far away as you can go from Britain, but it is more than 7,000miles, and right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The time difference is 11 hours, which has its logistical pros and cons, Hawaii being 11 hours behind the UK. So a transmission time on BBC2 of 8pm is in fact, 9am in the morning Hawaii time.

The time difference means we will be showing off our incredible locations in daylight. It also presents a whole set of challenges around rigging, de-rigging, rehearsals, eating and sleeping for the team in Hawaii. We are upping sticks and moving location for every show. This means, for example, that when we come off air after the first show at 10am Hawaii time, we need to de-rig, move to our next location, set up again and rehearse before breaking for the day. This is because we would not have time the next morning to "block through" and do a full dress rehearsal before going on air again, because it would not be light enough, early enough. Our days will start very early and finish early too. Our OB truck, or "scanner", in Hawaii is apparently a converted horsebox. Looking forward to that!

And then in London, there is a separate gallery in TV centre. If you're wondering why, well, you always have to have a Plan B, and as Hawaii is our sole location, we have to think about the unthinkable. And if we lost the satellite connection, London would need to take over.

Have I mentioned the Hawaiian weather? Contrary to what you might think... and you are thinking sunshine and surf.... Big Island, Hawaii is the wettest place in America. It rains more days of the year than it doesn't, and for varying amounts of time. It can also be misty. And it can be windy. Are you reminded of anything else? Like the great British summer!

Volcano Live begins on BBC Two and BBC HD at 8pm from Monday 9 July 2012.

Read about Volcano Live volcanologist Lorraine Field dramatic career transformation on the BBC TV Blog.

Read more information about the series in a press release on BBC Media Centre website.

Join the conversation about the programme by using the hashtag #VolcanoLIVE

Follow the live blog on the Volcano Live website during the programme on nights one and four.

The week of programmes includes interviews, documentaries and debates which ask the question "Is the criminal justice system in the UK working?"

As I write this, I am listening for the first time to a documentary about Death Row, made by one of BBC Radio Leeds' presenters, Liz Green. It's a beautiful piece of work. Death and Beauty: that must sound odd. But it's a powerful piece of storytelling. It is a story that saw her, with two others, travel to Death Row to take a look at the US justice system in Florida.

It's not just any journey, told through dispassionate eyes. It's a journey felt, as well as a journey told. A journey for one West Yorkshire MP who believes the death penalty should be resurrected in this country and for his travel companion, a man called Shane who, with a few of his friends, set up a charity to tackle gun crime after his mother (also a peace campaigner) was killed.

Crime and justice is an issue that touches most of us at one time or another. Whether it's our own experience, or the stories and images we read or see in the media. I wanted to find the real stories behind the headlines and to challenge perceptions. That may be through hearing a prisoner read a book to his child via a recording that's processed into a CD and sent to his family, or from the man who's been inside dozens and dozens of times because life on the inside is more comforting than life on the outside. BBC Radio Leeds talks to the mother of a convicted killer on her love for her son, and to the criminals who let us into a day in their lives, into their world behind bars.

In BBC Radio Leeds' Crime and Justice Week the women who write to prisoners tell us what motivates them, and we feature the men who make radio programmes for their fellow inmates. We also interview criminal justice lawyer Michael Mansfield QC. I hope the audience will be interested in and stimulated by the stories we've discovered.

To end the week we stage a debate with a panel made up of the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Sir Norman Bettison, Frances Crook CEO of the Howard League for Penal Reform and Philip Davies MP. Family members of murder victims, representatives from NACRO and West Yorkshire Probation Trust will also be there.

I hope our listeners find these programmes as rewarding and inspiring to listen to, as the team have found making them. We offer a unique, human appraisal of other - different - approaches to justice. These are stunning and unique stories from West Yorkshire and the world, and I am very proud of them, and of our team who have made them."

BBC Radio Leeds' Crime and Justice Week broadcasts from 9-15 July 2012. Programme times are available via the BBC Radio Leeds website. Programmes will also be available for catch-up on iPlayer for seven days after broadcast.

Read more about the week of programmes on the BBC Media Centre website.

Follow BBC Radio Leeds and presenter and journalist Liz Green on Twitter.