Margaret, Marshal Walker's maid in South Africa, holding one of Marshall's daughters. Photo: Marshall Walker
Marshall Walker grew up in Glasgow and was hooked by the music of Sibelius at a very early age.
It became a lifelong passion. He started to call him 'The Big Man'.
These programmes, written in the form of letters, pay tribute to the Finnish composer's genius and give thanks to him for a life's enrichment from a self-confessed "junky".
In this fourth programme, Walker escapes dreary post-war Glasgow and emigrates to South Africa.
He becomes involved in the anti-Apartheid movement and develops a friendship with the maid and nanny in his household, Margaret.
However he becomes gravely ill with encephalitis. As always, Sibelius is his comfort and his means of recovery.
'Doctor Big Man' was a finalist in the Best Music Feature at the 2008 NZ Radio Awards. First broadcast 9 August 2007.
