Nano 6G touch screen won't respond after restore

I have 6th Gen Nano. I can't get my touch to work at all. The swipe won't work, tap and double tap won't work. It is about 1 year old and I have had no real trouble up until today!

I was forced to restore because the battery ran out completely and then the ipod wasn't recognised when I plugged into my laptop for a charge and update of download of latest podcasts.

I didn't want to restore, but was forced to. It deleted everything. Then itunes arbitrarly decided what to include when it synched. None of my podcasts are on there, only music. I want podcasts!

Very frustrated. This is my second ipod and I won't be purchasing another. I hate that I can't turn it off completely.

Can anyone help? I have referred to all the Help manuals with no success.