Programme Outline
This programme looks at punctuation in a light-hearted way, emphasising that its main purpose is clarity of meaning. A foray into the history of writing shows how punctuation was developed to reflect the subtle intonations and pauses that people use when they speak. The programme suggests that new technologies such as the Internet are reshaping the ways we use punctuation.
We meet the editorial team at a teen magazine, Top Hits, to find out how they use punctuation in the magazine. Then the poet John Hegley performs a specially written poem with no punctuation at all. This is followed by the football-style dialogue of the ‘Punctuation Commentators’.
An explanation of how to use the ubiquitous apostrophe leads us finally to the vaults of London University, where Hari Jagdev, an examiner, gives advice about how to use punctuation effectively.
