The BBC has announced that it has a sustainable plan for the future of the BBC Singers, in association with The VOCES8 Foundation.
The threat to reduce the staff of the three English orchestras by 20% has not been lifted, but it is being reconsidered.
See the BBC press release here.
RADIO-LISTS: BBC RADIO 4 Extra
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC Radio 4 Extra — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/
Torn between his wife and mistress, Conrad seeks the help of a fortune-teller, who prophesies far more than he bargained for...
Stars Mark Buffrey as Conrad, Jenny Funnell as Miriam, Mia Soteriou as Doreen, John Telfer as Singer, Brian Gear as Quack, Rex Holdsworth and Hubert Tucker as the Vendors and Laurence Payne as Stranger.
Directed at BBC Bristol by Brian Miller
First broadcast BBC Radio 4 on 1984.
This much-loved hymn based on Psalm 23 has been set to music many times, including Brother James' Air and Crimond. The Queen requested the Crimond version at her wedding. Harriet Bowes Lyon's tells the story that her mother, Lady Margaret Colville, ( formerly Lady Margaret Egerton) taught the descant to the Queen and Princess Margaret, and was summoned to sing it when, two days before the wedding, the descant music could not be found. Howard Goodall, who wrote a new setting for 'The Vicar of Dibley' describes how he composed it in a taxi. Selina Scott says that the Crimond always puts her in mind of her Scottish grandmother.
With Mark's commitment to Allie called into question, how can he earn a future and lay to rest the past? Read by John Chancer. From March 2013.
300 years after the author's birth, Kate Adie dissects the plot of Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, with readings and discussion of the foundling motif. Contributors include Hugh Cunningham, Marina Warner, Jenny Uglow and Andy McNab.
Jane learns a little of Mr Rochester's past and comes to his aid for the second time. Adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's classic novel read by Anne-Marie Duff. From April 2004.
Five views of Oxford's Aladdin's cave, the Pitt Rivers Museum. Musicologist Lucy Doran explores the musical objects. From April 1999.
Female private detective adventure series, set in 1953. As Coronation Day dawns in London, a desperate search for a missing boy begins. From February 2008.
Now under arrest for espionage in Paris, Mata Hari's fate is in the hands of the Grand Inquisitor. Read by Juliet Stevenson. From July 2007.
The young man goes into battle, while King Philip's remarriage causes tensions. Stars Michael Maloney and Alex Jennings.
Dr Phil Hammond chairs the debating game with Pete Sinclair, Steve Punt, Michael White and Simon Fanshawe. From November 1998.
Dr Thomas and Mrs Jane Barrett leave the comfy security of 1950s Manchester and head down-under to a town so remote it's not even on the map - Kalangadog Junction in Australia.
Six-part comedy drama series by Moya O'Shea.
Starring Caroline Quentin as Jane, John Duttine as Thomas, Niall Ashdown as Jimmy, Toby Longworth as Pete, Brian Bowles as Len, Joanna Monro as Madge, Julie Gibbs as Milly and June Whitfield as Phoebe.
Producer: Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
Nick gets a job with a dominatrix and Ronnie buys an extraordinary number of sinks.
Caroline and David Stafford's comedy stars Jamie Forman as Ronnie, Paul Bazely as Nick, Tracy Wiles as Mrs Barlow, John Dougall as James and Liza Sadovy as Senora.
Producer: Marc Beeby
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2007.
Ineffective detectives Max and Ivan are called to help the penniless ringmaster of the crumbling Cirque Du Solihull (guest star Bridget Christie). After a series of mysterious accidents the circus faces closure after the human cannonball cannon is stolen.
Meanwhile, in an effort to fend off increasingly erratic landlord Malcolm, Max has come up with an ingenious way to delay paying him their rent.
Cast:
Max..............................................Max Olesker
Ivan...............................................Ivan Gonzalez
Brenda Zamponi...........................Bridget Christie
Narrator /
Malcolm McMichaelmas...............Lewis MacLeod
Belle (& others)............................Lolly Adefope
Joe (& others)..............................David Reed
Written by Max Olesker and Ivan Gonzalez
Developed by John Stanley Productions
Produced by Ben Walker
A Retort production for BBC Radio 4.
Often thought of as semi autobiographical, Noël Coward's 'Present Laughter' follows a few days in the life of successful and self-obsessed actor Garry Essendine as he prepares to go on tour to Africa.
Amid a series of events bordering on farce, Garry must deal with interruptions including the numerous women who want to seduce him, a young aspiring actress, Daphne, and Joanna who is the wife of his manager Henry and who is already having an affair with his producer Morris.
He must also deal with placating his long suffering secretary Monica, avoiding his estranged wife Liz Essendine, being confronted by the obsessed young playwright Roland Maule and the unbearable inevitability of all that comes with turning forty.
'Present Laughter' by Noël Coward
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
As Children's TV wave goodbye to BBC1, heading off to their own dedicated channel, Paul Jackson takes a lingering look back at a cult show from the golden era of children's TV. "Vision On" was one of the most successful, funny and anarchic programmes ever to grace the little grey box in the corner; it's 'Gallery' theme music still a trip down memory lane for viewers of a certain age.
Created in 1964 to replace the prosaic "For Deaf Children", Pat Keysall and Tony Hart fronted a programme that aimed squarely at the funny bone. Art, animation, clowning and dangerous stunts - long before "Health and Safety" became a dirty word. "Vision On" was aimed at all children, but worked hard not to exclude the hard of hearing.
Rather than creating a worthy line up, producer Patrick Dowling cultivated the silly, the extraordinary and the dramatic, using new technology to create effects and giving breaks to a wealth of creative talent, acting and technical.
David Sproxton, creator of Aardman Animations, fondly recalls creating his very first short film for "Vision On", while Sylvester McCoy who went on to became Dr Who, and is currently filming The Hobbit with Peter Jackson, recalls close encounters of an explosive kind with the fabulous creations of Wilf Lunn, another graduate of the Ken Campbell school of fearlessness.
"Britain In A Box" explores the role of disability programming with past and present BBC children's controllers; Edward Barnes and Joe Godwin, and talks to Susan Daniels from the National Deaf Children's Society about how TV can be accessible to all - something "Vision On" pioneered with style.
Remembered that Gallery theme music yet?
Producer: Sara Jane Hall.
The star of 'Doctor Who', 'The Navy Lark' and 'Worzel Gummidge', actor Jon Pertwee entertains an audience with his one-man biographical show - sharing tales from his very early days through to his career highlights.
Jon recalls life at school and in the navy during the war. Staying afloat, he moves onto working on popular BBC radio comedy The Navy Lark - and reveals how one of his co-stars was instrumental in him taking over from Patrick Troughton as Doctor Who for BBC TV in the 1970s.
Later when playing Worzel Gummidge for Southern TV, Jon loved being able to change heads - and he also reveals how he stood up to Kenneth Williams on a 'Carry On' film!
Grace Dent locks herself in her teenage bedroom and rifles through the BBC Radio archives to celebrate the awkward, emotional, and unfortunately inevitable adolescent experience.
She reminisces about the heartbreak and arguments that were an everyday part of her own teenage years growing up in Carlisle in the 1970's; and finds out what it was really like for the teenage boys she thought had it so easy, asking Radio 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake to paint a portrait of his own formative years. We take Young Adult author Steven Camden back to the park to conjure up memories of adolescent boredom and longing, we visit Ambridge over the decades to see how teenagers have been portrayed in The Archers, and finally, Grace persuades some real life teenagers to explain their lives, lingo and of course mobile phones to her.
Along the way Grace will be playing the following programmes from the BBC archives:
Too Old To Rock and Roll, Too Young To Die
A Documentary made by Sara Conkey in 1995, featuring the reminiscences of people who were teenagers during the Blitz
(Clips from 'Casablanca' and 'Gone With The Wind' Courtesy of Turner International)
I Capture The Castle
Part one of Jane Rodgers adaptation of Dodie Smith's classic novel, starring Holliday Grainger as Cassandra Mortmain
My Teenage Diary
Richard Herring opens up his teenage diary for Rufus Hound
Summer with Monika
Dramatisation of Roger McGough's iconic poem about young love in the 1960's. Starring Mark McGann and Katy Carmichael.
Presenter: Grace Dent
Producer: Jessica Treen
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
A pensioner mysteriously disappears from the town of Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae, off the west coast of Scotland.
Bittersweet comedy written by and starring Lynn Ferguson as 30-something barmaid Irene Bruce, who hankers after a better life on the mainland.
Stars Lynn Ferguson as Irene, Janet Brown as Moira/Agnes, Lewis McLeod as Alberto/Robert/Bob, Gabriel Quigley as Ena/Bunty/Betty, Matt Costello as Doogie and Robert Paterson as the DJ.
Producer: Lucy Bacon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2000.
Neddie Seagoon's brave act lands him in prison, and a jewel thief is on the loose. Stars Spike Milligan. From December 1954.
John Reed's classic eyewitness account of the Russian Revolution in October 1917. Starring Richard Laing and Kelly Burke.
Anthea Turner: TV presenter Anthea Turner chose 'A Windmill in Old Amsterdam' by Freddie and the Dreamers and 'Fields of Gold' by Sting.
Pam embraces late autumn and falling leaves in the West Country as she visits a charity dedicated to protecting forest tribes across the globe from mineral companies and tourism - and tours a Japanese-influenced arboretum.
Poet and raconteuse, Pam Ayres is back on the open road, visiting nine more places in Britain to hear tales from the people who live there.
Producer: Jill Marshall
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 2001.
The Brigadier recalls how "Looknow" Hobson was a fine cricketer - until his mother arrived in the village.
All the way from Witney Scrotum, more reminiscences from the crusty old brigadier.
Starring Richard Wilson.
Written by Peter Tinniswood.
Producer: Pete Atkin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1992.
Driving across America, a woman is dogged by a mystery man in search of a ride...
Rod Serling's TV script based on Lucille Fletch's story adapted for radio by Dennis Etchison
Starring Kate Jackson, Mike Starr, Joe Forbrich, Nick DiGillio, Todd Manley, Peter DeFaria, Turk Muller, Doug James, Kurt Naebig, Carl Amari, Deb Doetzer, Meg Thalken, Roger Wolski and Vince Amari.
Stacy Keach (best known here as US TV detective Mike Hammer) takes Serling's original TV role as narrator.
Created by Rod Serling, cult sci-fi and horror series 'The Twilight Zone' was first broadcast in the USA on CBS from 1959 to 1964 and electrified the new medium of television.
Armed with a licence from CBS and the Serling estate, Carl Amari's slick adaptions are based on the original TV scripts - adapted from 2002 as a 40-minute radio drama series, with a full cast, music and sound effects.
Produced and directed by Carl Amari and Roger Wolski for the Falcon Picture Group.
Events take a strange turn for Ellen, Vikki and Claire as a rescuer arrives, but they're still in danger.
After a UFO crash landed, the Sussex town of Pentworth has been cut off by a mysterious invisible and impenetrable wall.
'The Silent Vulcan' is the final book in James Follett's sci-fi trilogy of the same name.
Read by Nigel Anthony.
Abridged by Miranda Davis.
Producer: Elizabeth Allard.
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in 2004.
The radical comedian profiles the revolutionary leader who became a left-wing hero, despite chronic asthma. From April 2001.
Andrew Maxwell is one of the UK's most informed and fearless stand ups. In this series of one-off stand up shows, he uses his trademark intelligence and political incisiveness to dig behind the clichés and assumptions about four possible threats to British society: food, the internet, drugs and Nationalism.
This series will showcase a comedian at the top of his abilities tackling difficult and important 'slow news' topics with a depth and perceptiveness that remains outside the remit of mainstream 'topical' comedy.
In this second episode, Andrew will tackle the internet. Whether it's online pornography twisting our children's minds or GCHQ reading our emails, it seems only right to have a healthy distrust of the internet. But surely, to paraphrase a former Prime Minister, there's no such thing as the Internet - there are men, and women, and lolcats. What is it about the internet that makes people on it so scary?
Always adept at making shrewd, balanced and very funny political observations, Maxwell was one of the first comics at the 2011 Edinburgh Festival to react to the riots in England and the Arab Spring and evolve his act accordingly to rave reviews and a nomination. He performed his 2012 Edinburgh show That's the Spirit at the Assembly Rooms George Square to sell out audiences and followed this with a run at London's Soho Theatre. He also performed at the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival last year including a performance at the televised American Dream Gala and at the Udderbelly Festival.
"One of the most significant comedians working in the country today" THE INDEPENDENT
"Fiercely funny and utterly invigorating" THE TIMES
Written and performed by ..... Andrew Maxwell
Script edited by ..... Paul Byrne
Produced by ..... Ed Morrish.
The best in contemporary comedy. Arthur Smith chats to Steve Bugeja.
The Kapoors visit a stately home, plus food for thought from Smeeta Smitten, Showbiz Kitten. Stars Meera Syal. From May 1998.
The thinking idiot's anthropologist reveals what is next in the future of mankind. With Geoffrey McGivern. From April 2006.
London 1953. The Daunt and Dervish detective agency is back in business.
As the country prepares to crown the new Queen, the female detectives accept an invitation for tea at Claridges.
Stars Anna Massey as Josephine Daunt, Sylvestra Le Touzel as Susan Dervish, Sean Scanlon as Bill Mackie, Peter Marinker as Ricard Biro, Ben Onwukwe as Gordon Teague, Simon Treves as Freddie Tinsley, Joannah Tincey as Belinda Lane, Jane Whittenshaw as Sally Hastings and Sam Pamphilon as Biro's assistant.
Clarinet played by Julian Stringle
Director: Colin Guthrie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2008.
4 Extra Debut. The evening before their wedding, Irene's husband-to-be turns up with something to say. Then the trouble starts. Read by Joanna Myers. From March 1992.
For the second show in the new series stand-up Alex Horne and his band explore the theme of home and leisure through live music and comedy, with songs about radiators, a pork pie and Wayne Rooney amongst others. They're joined by guest comedian Tom Basden.
Host...Alex Horne
Band...Joe Auckland, Mark Brown, Will Collier, Ben Reynolds, Ed Sheldrake
Guest... Tom Basden
Producer... Julia McKenzie.
A nagging wife - and secrets of the boys in blue.
Monologues and sketches from the legendary Northern comic "introducing us to ourselves".
With The Tunesmiths and the Augmented Northern Variety Orchestra.
Conductor: Alyn Ainsworth
Produced in the North of England by Ronnie Taylor.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in November 1954.
After meeting up again after many years, former sweethearts Jean and Lionel visit their old country haunts, but can they recapture the past?
Starring Judi Dench as Jean and Geoffrey Palmer as Lionel.
With Moira Brooker as Judith, Gillian Martell as the Hotel Manager and Simon Greenall as the Mechanic/Simon.
Adapted from his original television series by Bob Larbey.
Producer: Martin Fisher.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1997.
A twenty-something divorcee discovers her comedy talent. Sarah Millican reads from her frank and occasionally outrageous memoir, How to be Champion.
Chart-topping Irish writer Marian Keyes talks life, sex, drugs - if not rock 'n' roll - to Harriett Gilbert about her best-selling novel Rachel's Holiday.
She answers BBC listeners' questions from around the world, and also reads several passages from her novel, about feisty 27-year-old Rachel, who is sent to a rehab clinic because of her addiction to drugs.
Both funny and moving, Rachel's Holiday examines the pain of addiction and depression, revealing a darker than usual side to Marian's writing.
First broadcast on the BBC World Service in May 2015.
Radiolab examines the chemical consequences of belief and imagination. With Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich.
Radiolab is a Peabody-award winning show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and the human experience.
First broadcast on public radio in the USA.
Edinburgh, 1962. A prison guard watches over a man sentenced to hang for the murder of his wife. Read by Jimmy Chisholm.
Marina Warner - in the company of leading contemporary writers - looks at the world of contemporary fiction. In each programme, she considers a story and story writing from a different angle.
Marina is the Chair of the Man Booker International Prize 2015 and the series draws on the expertise of this year's International Booker judging panel, the views of the shortlisted writers, as well as other key literary talent.
Marina speaks with writers as diverse as Julian Barnes, Michelle Roberts, Fanny Howe, Marlene van Niekerk, Alain Mabanckou, Lydia Davis, Edwin Frank, Elleke Boehmer, Wen-Chin Ouyang, Daniel Medin, Nadeem Aslam and Laszlo Krasznahorkai.
There are questions around the boundaries between fact and fiction which Marina believes are central to any consideration of storytelling, since readers' pleasure depends so much on trust built up between the storyteller or writer and the audience.
Over ten episodes, there are discussions on the reasons for writing, writers as witnesses and political interaction.
In episode five Marina explores History for the Record.
Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
Walter Huff has a good steady job in the insurance business and leads a quiet life. Then he meets and falls in love with Phyllis, an unhappily married woman, enquiring about accident insurance for her husband. They come up with a plan in which Phyllis's husband will die an unlikely death, by falling from a moving train. The 'accidental' nature of his demise will trigger the 'double indemnity' clause of the policy, forcing the insurance company to pay the widow twice the normal amount.
The couple carry out their plan but things soon turn sour. The Insurance Investigator is suspicious, and so are Phyllis's daughter, and her mysterious boyfriend Nino.
Adapted from James M Cain's novel, by Stef Penney
A BBC/Cymru Wales production, directed by Kate McAll.
Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive with 'Provincial Pleasures' - a profile of Cumbrian poet Norman Nicholson.
Born in January 1914, Norman Nicholson lived all bar two of his 73 years in the same small industrial town - most of them in the same house.
Millom (Cumbrian dialect for "At the mills") is not the Lake District of Hawkshead or Windermere. It's a place where industry failed and unemployment was disproportionately high. Yet it was here, in isolation from the literary world, that Norman Nicholson became a world-class poet. He wrote about quarrying and iron works, slag banks and granite. He was one of the first to argue that industrial heritage should be valued on a par with our cultural heritage.
Championed in his early life by TS Elliot, Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney, Nicholson chose to focus his energies on a non-literary audience, spending his evenings lecturing at the Workers Educational Association. During the 1970s, his poem Windscale about a nuclear accident became an environmentalist's anthem.
Eric Robson visits Millom, the town Norman Nicholson dedicated his life to. What do the locals think of the poet who did more than anyone else to reflect the soul of this Cumbrian village? When poets are often restless people, what motivated Nicholson to live his entire life in an apparently depressed provincial town?
Contributors include Melvyn Bragg (chairman of the Norman Nicholson Society), poet Paul Kingsnorth, academic David Cooper (Manchester Metropolitan University) and author Kathleen Jones.
Producer: Joby Waldman
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2014.
A thriller by Julian Simpson.
A single act of cyber-terrorism. A computer virus - incredibly advanced and coded in a language no one understands - is released onto the internet, encrypting every piece of information held on every system.
All information is being held hostage.
Alice Price is sent in to negotiate the safe return of the information before the world descends into chaos. But who are the terrorists and why have they asked for Price?
Director: Julian Simpson
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
Anna is making a body. It's going to be huge, so where will she find enough cloth in war time?
Rachel Bentham's short story read by Hannah Gordon.
Producer: Liz Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1997.
Hal Cruttenden stars as a forty-something husband and father who, years ago, decided to give up his job and become a stay at home father. His wife, Sam, has a successful business career which makes her travel more and more. His children, Lilly and Molly, are growing up fast, and his role as their father and mentor is diminishing by the day.
So what can Hal do as he reaches a crossroads in his life? Help is (sort of) at hand in the form of his eager mates - Doug, Fergus and Barry - who regularly meet at their local curry house for mind expanding conversations that sadly never give Hal the core advice he so desperately needs.
Hal is confused even further as he regularly has visions of his long dead and highly macho father, who he's forced to engage in increasingly frustrating conversations.
In this second episode, Hal faces a horrifying thought - he might have testicular cancer. So he tries to look mortality in the face - not easy for an overly sensitive and emotional man. He tries to bond with his entrepreneurial stepson Jack, but a visit to a football match doesn't work out as Hal planned.
An unlikely form of salvation arrives when it's suggested that Hal takes part in a charity run. Things take an unexpected turn and Hal actually surprises himself - but not in the way he planned.
The cast includes co-writer Dominic Holland, Ed Byrne, Anna Crilly, Gavin Webster, Dominic Frisby and Samuel Caseley.
Produced by Paul Russell
An Open Mike production for BBC Radio 4.
BBC Radio 4 Extra's topical sketch show Newsjack returns with host Angela Barnes.
Irreverent and satirical, Newsjack is the scrapbook sketch show written entirely by the Great British public, and then bought to life by a revolving cast of sketch performers.
Cast: George Fouracres, Gabby Best and Colin Hoult
The programme continues to be a showcase for new comedy writing: anyone can submit material (sketches and one-line jokes) - these can be submitted every week of the six week run.
Details for submitting material can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kvs8r
Producers: Adnan Ahmed and Suzy Grant
Production Co-Ordinator: Nick Coupe
Script Editors - Max Davis and Sarah Campbell
BBC Studios Production.
Sitcom by Ian Kershaw, set around a Manchester taxi company.
Alan and Lind reveal hidden talents, while Dave seeks a nun's advice on infidelity.
Mike ...... Paul Loughran
Lind ...... Lesley Sharp
Dave ...... Phil Rowson
Alan ...... Parvez Qadir
Shelly ...... Naomi Radcliffe
Drunk ...... Mark E Smith
Tanya ...... Janie Connolly.
Dr Watson goes gallantly in search of a missing husband at the ' Bar of Gold' opium den in Upper Swandam Lane, and has a curious encounter with a tall, old man whose eyes are dull, whose skin is wrinkled-and yet whose voice is at once familiar...
Starring Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes. The actor played the Baker Street sleuth in 80 radio dramas between 1952 and 1969.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tale originally appeared in 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' published in the Strand Magazine in 1891. Adapted by Michael Hardwick.
With Norman Shelley as Doctor Watson, Ronald Baddiley as Inspector Bradstreet, Hilda Schroder as Mrs St Clair, Eva Stuart as Mrs Whitney, Frederick Treves as Boone, Sylvia Coleridge as Mrs Watson, Robert Sansom as Isa Whitney, Garard Green as the coachman and Joe Sterne as the Constable.
Producer: Frederick Bradnum
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in May 1959.
A Hundred Years of British Birds
Arguably the most influential journal of its genre, British Birds reaches its 100th birthday in June. With the help of leading ornithologists, Brett Westwood looks back at a history which mirrors the growth of birdwatching in the UK. He uncovers the scandal of the Hastings Rarities, the first arrival of the Collared Dove, and the unique legacy of observations in the magazine.
Big brother Gordon has returned to Millport on the tiny Isle of Cumbrae, off the west coast of Scotland.
But Irene wonders why anyone would return once they've had the chance to escape?
Bittersweet comedy written by and starring Lynn Ferguson as 30-something barmaid Irene Bruce, who hankers after a better life on the mainland.
Stars Lynn Ferguson as Irene, Janet Brown as Moira, Lewis McLeod as Alberto/Robert/Bob, Gabriel Quigley as Ena/Bunty, Matt Costello as Doogie and Robert Paterson as Gordon and The Minister.
Producer: Lucy Bacon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2000.
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.
Lloyd Langford, Henning Wehn, Ellie Taylor and John Finnemore are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as dinosaurs, China, cake and bees.
Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
Mix up over TV newsreaders and the DJs hold forth on Radio 1's Roundtable.
Pun-tastic fast-moving comedy sketch series written by and starring John Junkin, Barry Cryer and Tim Brooke-Taylor.
With musical accompaniment from the Denis King Trio.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1973.
As the Walmington-on-Sea platoon attempt to guard a German U-boat crew, their captain starts making a list.
Starring Arthur Lowe as Captain Mainwaring, John Le Mesurier as Sergeant Wilson, Clive Dunn as Corporal Jones, John Laurie as Private Frazer, Arnold Ridley as Godfrey, Ian Lavender as Private Pike, Larry Martyn as Private Walker, Frank Williams as the Vicar and Philip Madoc as Captain Muller.
Adapted for radio from Jimmy Perry and David Croft's TV scripts by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles.
Producer: John Dyas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1976.
The classic long running panel game Just a Minute returns to the airwaves.
Chairman Nicholas Parsons takes control of a loquacious and rebellious bunch of players whose task it is to speak on a subject he gives them for one minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation.
A classic team of players launch the new series. They are: Paul Merton, Graham Norton, Gyles Brandreth and Jenny Eclair. Tune in, to find out how many words per minute they can manage.
Producer: Tilusha Ghelani.
Comedy series by Christopher William Hill, set in 1962.
A BBC producer struggles to make a radio soap set in the unimaginably futuristic world of 2008.
An actress is forced to face her worst fear and work with a child.
Nigel Lavery ...... Peter Bowles
Sylvia Hann ...... Cheryl Campbell
Godfrey Winnard ..... John Fortune
Sir Angus McNairn ...... Gary Waldhorn
Hugo Kellerman ...... Joseph Kloska
Douglas Bennings ...... Jon Glover
Keith Wood ...... Sam Pamphilon
Cynthia Valentine ...... Rachel Atkins
Fenella Sayers ...... Ania Gordon
Director ...... Alex Lamipekun
Angela ...... Anna Bengo
Continuity ...... Simon Treves.
The warrior becomes King of Macedonia and sets out to conquer the world. Stars Michael Maloney, Simon Ward and Alex Jennings. From August 1993.
Scottish Shorts, the best writing from Scotland.
Paint Fumes by Kirstin Innes
A young footballer from an oppressive home seeks escape through Argentina's urban art scene.
Reader Simon Donaldson. Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
Kirstin Innes is a novelist and playwright based in Glasgow. Her first novel, FISHNET,was published in 2015.
When Last I Saw You
by Peter Whalley
Psychological thriller. When the law has failed, is it ever morally acceptable to impose your own justice? Jane, by chance, says she has found the man who violently attacked her five years ago.
But Jane, a few years ago, mistakenly identified a man who she thought attacked her.
So who is this man she's accusing, and has she got it right this time?
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris
Further Info
Lyndsey Marshall - is best known for her performance in The Hours, and as the recurring character Cleopatra on HBO's Rome, and as Lady Sarah Hill in BBC period drama Garrow's Law
Peter Whalley has written many taut psychological radio dramas for Radio 4, including The Longest Journey, The Missing Wife and The Trial. He was a long standing writer of Coronation Street before retiring, and is the author of ten thriller novels.
Accomplished and beautiful, Blanche Ingram's arrival at Thornfield reminds Jane of the reality of her position and dampens her dreams.
Anne-Marie Duff continues Charlotte Bronte's bold and passionate story of a woman's search for independence and love on her own terms. First published in 1847.
Abridged in 15 parts by Sally Marmion.
Producer: Di Speirs
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
All naturalists have personal obsessions with particular species or activities which may, to non-naturalists, seem ridiculous . In this five-part series Matthew Oates, naturalist and ecologist with the National Trust, meets the people for whom nothing in the natural world is out of bounds. His colleague Andy Foster, known in entomological circles as "Foz " has spent thirty years in search of a rare water-beetle called Agabus brunneus. It lives in fast-flowing gravelly streams in just a handful of places in Southern England and Foz has only found it twice in three decades.
Will it appear on their joint trip to the New Forest and is it all worth it anyway?
Presenter: Matthew Oates
Producer: Brett Westwood
Editor: Julian Hector.
by Beatrice Colin
A new look at the story of Bonnie and Clyde. The True Story of Bonnie Parker uses historical sources to illustrate how a series of often disastrous decisions led the former waitress from Cement City to end up as one of America's most wanted criminals. It reveals how the press first celebrated and then reviled Bonnie Parker as her notoriety grew. Even during their lifetimes, the depiction of the couple in the press was at considerable odds with the reality of their life on the road. But most of all, this is about a doomed love affair, a twentieth century Romeo and Juliet, with guns.
Having dropped out of high school and married at 16, the young Bonnie Parker is working as a waitress. Her life is about to change-when she meets Clyde Barrow.
Other parts played by Liam Brennan, James Anthony Pearson and Rosalind Sydney.
Produced and directed by Gaynor Macfarlane.
Artemis Cooper's biography charts for the first time the extraordinary life story of the celebrated travel writer and war hero who was as renowned for his feats of derring-do as for his sumptuous prose.
Not long expelled, wearying of London and the bright lights, with dreams of becoming a writer, the 18 year old Patrick Leigh Fermor embarked in 1933 on his epic walk across Europe which was to form the basis for his award-winning and best-loved books, A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water.
Read by Samuel West
Abridged by Miranda Davies
Produced by Gemma Jenkins.
The bizarre adventures of Edna Turner in London's parallel city of Undone.
Ben Moor's comic sci-fi saga stars Sarah Solemani as Edna, Duncan Wisbey as Billy/Carlo, Dan Antopolski as Marlboro /the Bouncer and Ben Moor as Tankerton.
Producer: Colin Anderson
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in March 2006.
Sue MacGregor and her guests - journalists Michael Buerk and Tine van Houts - discuss books by Alice Munro, Graham Greene and Aidan Hartley. From 2004.
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
Publisher: Vintage
Open Secrets by Alice Munro
Publisher: Vintage
The Zanzibar Chest by Aidan Hartley
Publisher: Perennial.
The cartoonist has a very removing experience when an expert de-clutters his house. Stars Paul McCrink. From March 2003.
Comedy drama series by Will Adamsdale and Stewart Wright about two Australians down on their luck in London.
Johnno's so sick and tired of London that he's even lost his upward inflection. If only Lloydie could make the city more like Australia.
Lloydie ...... Stewart Wright
Johnno ...... Will Adamsdale
Reporter ...... Keely Beresford
TV Anchor ...... David Seddon
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
Made for 4 Extra. Miles Jupp chairs a satirical review of the week's news in an extended version of Friday's programme.
A tale of a miserable Irish childhood in another spoof chapter of a bestseller. Starring Michael Fenton Stevens. From January 2003.
'I could, of course, borrow so trifling a sum ten times over from my friends' said His Grace, asking the banker for the loan of £50,000- and he handed over the Beryl Coronet as security.
What happened then sent the distressed banker hurrying to 221B Baker Street to seek the aid of Sherlock Holmes...
Starring Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes. The actor played the Baker Street sleuth in 80 radio dramas between 1952 and 1969.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tale originally appeared in 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' published in the Strand Magazine in 1891. Adapted by Michael Hardwick.
With Norman Shelley as Doctor Watson, Hilda Schroder as Miss Parker / Lucy Parr, Frederick Treves as Arthur Holder, Robert Sansom as Alexander Holder, Ronald Baddiley as Roberts, Godfrey Kenton as His Grace and Eva Huszar as Mary Holder.
Producer: Frederick Bradnum
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in June 1959.
The Meldrews' holiday homecoming from Greece proves to be very eventful.
Starring Richard Wilson as Victor, Annette Crosbie as Margaret and Doreen Mantle as Mrs Warboys.
Adapted for radio by David Renwick from this TV script.
Producer: Diane Messias
First broadcast in February 1995 on BBC Radio 2.
Tim Vine has been travelling the length and breadth of this fair land to not only uncover the best stories of the Great British public but also to take every possible opportunity to tell a ridiculous joke and sing a preposterous song along the way.
In this the final episode of the series Tim chats to a museum curator about airport security and there's a song about cake and milk.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production.
Les Dawson's line-up including snobby Cissie Braithwaite instructing Ada Shufflebotham on the etiquette of fox hunting.
With Roy Barraclough, Daphne Oxenford and Colin Edwynn.
Music by Brian Fitzgerald.
Scripted and produced by James Casey.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in July 1983.
The bumbling bureaucrats land themselves up to their necks in it!
A weekly tribute to all those who work in government departments.
Stars Richard Murdoch and Deryck Guyler. With Norma Ronald, Ronald Baddiley and John Graham.
Written by Edward Taylor and John Graham.
'The Men from the Ministry' ran for 14 series between 1962 and 1977. Deryck Guyler replaced Wilfrid Hyde-White from 1966. Sadly many episodes didn't survive in the archive, however the BBC's Transcription Service re-recorded 14 shows in 1980 - never broadcast in the UK, until the arrival of BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Producer: Edward Taylor
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 in July 1972.
The conquering king pursues Darius, King of Persia, and falls in love. Stars Michael Maloney, Alex Jennings and Barry Foster. From August 1993.
Scottish Shorts, the best writing from Scotland.
Egg and Cress by Melissa Reid
A disappointing sandwich is the start of a slow unravelling for a put-upon mother. Reader Laura Smales. Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
Melissa Reid is working towards a Creative Writing PhD and is writing her first novel - a story for young adults set in the North of Scotland.
The Second Son
by Peter Whalley
A chilling psychological mystery drama about identity, fraud and self belief
A son tracks down his estranged father only to discover that someone has beaten him to it. A stranger has taken his identity and claims to be his Father's only son.
Producer and directed by Pauline Harris.
The mysteries of Thornfield Hall deepen as Jane hears strange cries in the night. Adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's classic read by Anne-Marie Duff. From April 2004. Episode 7 of 15.
All naturalists have personal obsessions with particular species or activities which may, to non-naturalists, seem ridiculous . In this five-part series Matthew Oates, naturalist and ecologist with the National Trust, meets the people for whom nothing in the natural world is out of bounds. Today he explores the world of twitching rare birds with Rob Lambert, from the University of Nottingham. Rob has travelled around the UK amassing a huge list of over 450 species of birds and he's keen to show Matthew a rare long-billed dowitcher at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire. But Matthew wants to know if this is just trainspotting or are there other benefits to be gained from twitching. According to Rob Lambert, it's all about tribes, memories and experience. and birds too.
Presenter: Matthew Oates
Producer: Brett Westwood
Editor: Julian Hector.
by Beatrice Colin
A new look at the story of Bonnie and Clyde. The True Story of Bonnie Parker uses historical sources to illustrate how a series of often disastrous decisions led the former waitress from Cement City to end up as one of America's most wanted criminals. It reveals how the press first celebrated and then reviled Bonnie Parker as her notoriety grew. Even during their lifetimes, the depiction of the couple in the press was at considerable odds with the reality of their life on the road. But most of all, this is about a doomed love affair, a twentieth century Romeo and Juliet, with guns.
Bonnie has made a choice to embark on a life on the road with Clyde Barrow. But things start to go badly wrong and soon they are on the run from the law.
Other parts played by Liam Brennan and James Anthony Pearson.
Produced and directed by Gaynor Macfarlane.
Artemis Cooper's biography charts for the first time the extraordinary life story of the celebrated travel writer and war hero who was as renowned for his feats of derring-do as for his sumptuous prose.
The aspiring writer, on his epic quest across Europe, enters the Ottoman East.
Read by Samuel West
Abridged by Miranda Davies
Produced by Gemma Jenkins.
Who is Nick Helm's all time hero? What is the most embarrassing thing Isy Suttie's mum ever did? Who would play Dougie Anderson in the film of his life?
All these questions, and more, will be answered in the show hosted by Miles Jupp, where panellists are tested on how well they know their nearest and dearest.
Producer: Sam Michell.
With clergy rumours buzzing - Vera McConkey's extra busy in the telephone exchange
Series set in the sleepy town of Ballylenon, Co Donegal, in 1954, before the days of mass tourism and proper plumbing in every home.
Written by Christopher Fitz-Simon.
Starring TP McKenna as Phonsie Doherty, Margaret D'Arcy as Muriel McConkey, Stella McCusker as Vera McConkey, Aine McCartney as Vivienne Boal, John Hewitt as Guard Gallagher, Gerard McSorley as Stumpy Bonnar, Charlie Bonnar as Packy McGoldrick, Ciara McKeown as Josie Doherty, Gerard Murphy as Rev Samuel Hawthorne and Harry Towb as Mr Mawhinney.
Music arranged and performed by Stephanie Hughes.
Director: Eoin O'Callaghan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.
Edna Turner meets a man, makes a friend and learns more about the bizarre parallel city of Undone.
Ben Moor's comic sci-fi saga stars Sarah Solemani as Edna, Ben Moor as Tankerton, Duncan Wisbey as Billy and Carlo, Tim Key as Grant and Montserrat Lombard as Kate.
Producer: Colin Anderson
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2006.
Satirist, comedian, writer and actor John Fortune shares memories of his career with an audience.
Giving his frank take on fame, John talks of his recent working encounters with John Bird and Rory Bremner - and names the top three funniest men that he's met - one of them is Peter Cook.
John Fortune: Born: 30 June 1939. Died: 31 December 2013.
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 in November 2001.
Cookery writer Damien Trench once again opens his life up to the public as we follow him through another few days in his life.
It's a new year and Damien and Anthony are undergoing fresh works on their house. They are "going upstairs" (having a loft conversion) and so Mr Mullaney, their builder, is once again installed to look after the project.
Meanwhile, Anthony and Damien discuss what to do with their spare room, and Ian Frobisher, Damien's agent, convinces him to do a restaurant review, as a favour to Pink Floyd.
Producer:
Sam Michell.
The best in contemporary comedy. Paul Garner chats to Dom Joly.
Ezekiel upsets the Baltimore rebels in the 1775 American sitcom. With Andy Hamilton, Jay Tarses and Hugh Dennis. From May 2006.
Comedy series by Nigel Smith about a man in a coma, travelling through the distinctly odd landscape of his own unconscious mind.
Ben makes the ambulance journey home to begin life in a wheelchair. On the way he remembers an argument about cheesecake, invents a panel game and meets Buzz Aldrin.
Ben ...... Neil Pearson
Mary ...... Fiona Allen
Mum ...... Josie Lawrence
Blitz ...... Leslie Ash
Nurse ...... Jo Martin
Derek ...... Stephen Frost
Marley ...... Spencer Brown
Chairman ...... Robert Webb
Buzz ...... Peter Banks
Announcer ...... Bruce Alexander
Bea ...... Scarlett Milburn-Smith
Directed by Nigel Smith.
Godfrey Emsworth comes back from the Boer War and hasn't been since.
At the request of Godfrey's friend and fellow-soldier, James Dodd, can Holmes solve this unusual mystery?
Starring Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes. The actor played the Baker Street sleuth in 80 radio dramas between 1952 and 1969.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tale originally appeared in 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' published in the Strand Magazine in 1927. Adapted by Michael Hardwick.
With Norman Shelley as Doctor Watson, Frederick Treves as James M Dodd, Robert Sansom as Colonel Emsworth, Frank Atkinson as the Butler, William Eedle as Mr Kent, Denis Coacher as Godfrey Emsworth and Norman Claridge as Sir James Saunders.
Producer: Frederick Bradnum
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in August 1959.
They make up a mighty 80% of the species on earth, and at any time there are ten QUINTILLION of them living.
Meet the six-legged rulers of the world: INSECTS
Entomologist Erica McAlister is known as Fly Girl to her friends. As Curator of Flies at the Natural History Museum, she knows what remarkable, strange, and diverse animals insects are. But for most of us, insects are pests - something we swot, or repel, or catch in a jar and hastily eject from the house. In this three part series, Erica will take listeners on an adventure in insect-world. It's our world, but not as we know it.
Insect world is populated by beings with superpowers - an amazing sense of smell, lightning reflexes, the ability to fly at dizzying speed or walk on the ceiling. And these superpowers have implications for us humans - in medicine, defence, food, art and architecture. They can help us to live more healthily, more safely, more sustainably.
In Episode Two, Erica asks whether we should be eating more insects.
Series Consultant: Bridget Nicholls, Director, Pestival.
by Alistair Beaton and Tom Mitchelson.
A comic satire set in the struggling world of newspapers. Freddy punctures Maddox's literary pretensions and uncovers a scandal.
Maddox ..... John Sessions
Oliver ..... Alex Jennings
Freddy ..... Stephen Wight
Carol ..... Polly Frame
Masha ..... Debbie Chazen
Miles Deanbrook ..... Sean Baker
Waiter ..... Adeel Akhtar
Producer ..... Sally Avens
Alistair Beaton and Tom Mitchelson's satire is set in the world of modern newspapers.
A group of dysfunctional journalists attempt to cover major news stories at the same time as grappling with the demands of working in a multi-platform environment, watching circulation figures plummet and the recession causing half the workforce to be laid off.
At the heart of the comedy is the relationship between Maddox Bradley, a journalist who mourns the day of proper investigative journalism, and Freddy, the online editor who will regurgitate a press release quite happily and call it a story. But they have a grudging respect for the each other as Freddy helps Maddox stay afloat in the world of Twitter, Facebook and podcasting and Maddox shows Freddy how to sniff out the real story. Both are at the mercy of Oliver, the pragmatic editor more concerned with keeping his job, and Carol, the news editor who believes that circulation will increase if they run pieces on Big Mac eating orang-utans and 'intelligent' skunks rather than Maddox's moral crusading diatribes. And only Masha, the Russian head of online communities, who wants to give away all their content because that is true democracy, knows Freddy's secret; that he's a posh boy from Eton rather than a hypercool kid from the street; well that's what Freddy thinks anyway.
Andy Hamilton is a familiar and much-loved voice on Radio 4. Now for the first time on the network, he presents a collection of observations and reminiscences about both his personal life and his 40 years working in comedy.
Over this 4 part series, Andy looks at Childhood, Politics, The Human Body and Animals. Using comic observation and personal anecdotes he will explore each theme, examining how much (or how little) things have changed in the 60ish years he's been on this planet. Each programme will provide 30 minutes of thoughtful, social history, but packed with laughs.
In this first episode Andy looks at something we've all had: a childhood. From his favourite childhood sounds of the ice-cream van and the roar of the Stamford Bridge, to his own memories of being an overcautious and yet inattentive parent.
Andy was born in Fulham in 1954, read English at Cambridge and then in 1976 began writing comedy for BBC radio, on programmes like Week Ending and The News Huddlines. In 1990, he and Guy Jenkin created Drop the Dead Donkey for Channel 4. Andy has spent much of his working life making acute observations about politics and family life. In 2007, again with Guy Jenkin, he created the massive TV hit, Outnumbered, which celebrated the chaos of life with young children. More recently they created the highly topical Ballot Monkeys and Power Monkeys for Channel 4, which charted the absurdities of the General Election and then the EU Referendum. For over 20 years he has been playing the part of Satan in his R4 sitcom, Old Harry's Game. Andy is also a popular panellist on shows such as The News Quiz and Have I Got News For You.
Johnson has a boozy birthday, while Pertwee's attempts to smuggle wine doesn't go to plan.
Starring Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Stephen Murray as Number One, Richard Caldicot as Commander Povey, Ronnie Barker as AS Johnson, Heather Chasen as Heather, Michael Bates as Lt. Commander Bates and Tenniel Evans as the Admiral.
The Navy Lark ran for an impressive thirteen series on BBC Radio between 1959 and 1976.
Scripted by Lawrie Wyman.
Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in October 1959.
The lad rashly agrees to tempt Sir Laurence Olivier to open the East Cheam Garden Fete.
Starring Tony Hancock. With Sidney James, Bill Kerr, Wilfred Babbage, Jack Watson and Hugh Morton.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Theme and incidental music written by Wally Stott.
Producer: Tom Ronald
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in December 1959.
Frank Delaney's language game with guests Pam Ayres, Adam Hart-Davies, Sue Limb and John Julius Norwich, plus resident jesters the Nimmo Twins. From October 2001. Episode 3 of 6.
Mercy's disguise is revealed, Father Francis is perplexed in his hole, Tobias denigrates the vegetables, Arise Higgs and his platoon are billeted on Firebasket Hall and Gazebo has lethal orders.
Sue Limb's six-part comedy set during the English Civil War.
Stars Joss Ackland as Sir John Firebasket, Denise Coffey as Lady Anne Firebasket, Clive Merrison as Tobias Thynne, Miriam Margoyles as Mercy, alias Melissa Ffortescue-Bottomley, Nickolas Grace as Father Francis, Chris Emmett as Slow Ned, Jack Klaff as Gazebo Fogg, Alun Armstrong as Captain Arise Higgs, Nicky Henson as Posthumous, Peter Hayward as Counter Tenor and Jane Whittenshaw as Lettice.
Producer: Jonathan James-Moore
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1990.
The king confronts and conquers, as he faces the end of the span of years allotted by the Fates. Stars Michael Maloney. From August 1993.
Scottish Shorts, the best writing from Scotland.
The Punch by Kenneth Steven.
An argument with his brother sets Ranald on the journey of a lifetime. Reader Iain Macrae. Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.
Kenneth Steven's novel WELL OF THE NORTH WIND is out now.
Oona is struggling with her life, locked in a soul-destroying existence as a diplomat's wife, aged 36 and desperate to have a child.
But her life is turned inside out when she meets Maria, a vibrant Brazilian woman who takes her on a voyage of discovery up the Amazon River. Together, they find their own spirit children....
Rosemary Kay's story of hope and the future stars Victoria Harwood as Maria, Yvonne O'Grady as Oona, Bob Pickavance as John, Russell Dixon as the High Commissioner and Alice French and Thomas Hudson as the children.
Producer: Polly Thomas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1999.
As Jane tries to suppress her feelings for Rochester, there is troubling news from her family. Adaptation of the classic read by Anne-Marie Duff. From April 2004.
All naturalists have personal obsessions with particular species or activities which may, to non-naturalists, seem ridiculous. In this five-part series Matthew Oates, naturalist and ecologist with the National Trust, meets the people for whom nothing in the natural world is out of bounds. Nowadays conservationists tend to conserve species and many ignore or dismiss hybrids between species. But at Hartslock near Goring , Matthew meets Chris Raper from the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust and Andy Byfield from the wild flower conservation charity Plantlife, to view a "hybrid swarm" of extremely rare orchids.
The reserve is one of only two sites in the UK for the Monkey Orchid and management is carefully tailored to nurturing this beautiful flower. Recently another rare orchid, the Lady Orchid has arrived , and the two plants have cross-bred to produce many hybrids. These have the potential to breed with either of the pure species, so creating a dilemma: are they to be treasured as unique entities, or discouraged as they may undo decades of conservation work? Matthew and his guests discuss the importance of recognising hybrids and of giving plants and other animals room to hybridise naturally, and they conclude by offering a vision of a wider conservation landscape in which this hybridisation can take place.
Presenter: Matthew Oates.
by Beatrice Colin
A new look at the story of Bonnie and Clyde. The True Story of Bonnie Parker uses historical sources to illustrate how a series of often disastrous decisions led the former waitress from Cement City to end up as one of America's most wanted criminals. It reveals how the press first celebrated and then reviled Bonnie Parker as her notoriety grew. Even during their lifetimes, the depiction of the couple in the press was at considerable odds with the reality of their life on the road. But most of all, this is about a doomed love affair, a twentieth century Romeo and Juliet, with guns.
The photographs of Bonnie and Clyde posing with guns have been widely published in the press. The Barrow Gang is now wanted - Dead or Alive.
Other parts played by Liam Brennan and James Anthony Pearson.
Produced and directed by Gaynor Macfarlane.
Artemis Cooper's biography charts for the first time the extraordinary life story of the celebrated travel writer who was as renowned for his feats of derring-do as for his sumptuous prose.
As a young solider in Crete, he devises the audacious plan which was to turn him into a war hero.
Read by Samuel West
Abridged by Miranda Davies
Produced by Gemma Jenkins.
Edna Turner's been given the secret of the parallel city of Undone, but her friendship with Kate and her loyalty to Tankerton are both tested by her crush on the lovely Grant...
Ben Moor's comic sci-fi saga stars Sarah Solemani as Edna, Ben Moor as Tankerton, Duncan Wisbey as Carlo, Tim Key as Grant, Montserrat Lombard as Kate and Emma Kennedy as Jemima.
Producer: Colin Anderson
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2006.
Tom Morton meets Lorna Luft, daughter of Judy Garland, to get the true story of life as the offspring of a legend. From October 2008.
Great beverages from history, in the nostalgic spoof of boys' adventure story papers. With Alistair McGowan. From March 1994.
Bridget Christie returns in another series of her multi-award winning series about modern feminism.
Bridget thought that she'd be able to put her feet up after her last Radio 4 series, she expected it to bomb. Sadly it was a huge success. But it's OK, because actually she's solved the feminist struggle all by herself. In the second episode, she's taken her activism to a whole new level. Well, sort of.
She's assisted in this by the series' token man, Fred MacAulay.
The series is written and performed by Bridget Christie and the producers are Alison Vernon-Smith and Alexandra Smith.
The best in contemporary comedy. Paul Garner chats again to Dom Joly.
Will George and Beverly's faked deaths reunite their family? Stars Geoffrey Palmer and Angela Thorne. From August 2002.
When a young governess feels threatened by unknown dangers in a remote country house, Holmes and Watson are quick to fly to her aid...
Starring Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes. The actor played the Baker Street sleuth in 80 radio dramas between 1952 and 1969.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tale originally appeared in 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' published in the Strand Magazine in 1891. Adapted by Michael Hardwick.
With Norman Shelley as Doctor Watson, Hilda Schroder as Violet Hunter, Eva Stuart as Miss Stoper/Mrs Rucastle, Frederick Treves as Mr Rucastle and Fanny Carby as Mrs Toller.
Producer: Frederick Bradnum
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in August 1959.
They make up a mighty 80% of the species on earth, and at any time there are ten QUINTILLION of them living.
Meet the six-legged rulers of the world: INSECTS
Entomologist Erica McAlister is known as Fly Girl to her friends. As Curator of Flies at the Natural History Museum, she knows what remarkable, strange, and diverse animals insects are. But for most of us, insects are pests - something we swot, or repel, or catch in a jar and hastily eject from the house. In this three part series, Erica will take listeners on an adventure in insect-world. It's our world, but not as we know it.
Insect world is populated by beings with superpowers - an amazing sense of smell, lightning reflexes, the ability to fly at dizzying speed or walk on the ceiling. And these superpowers have implications for us humans - in medicine, defence, food, art and architecture. They can help us to live more healthily, more safely, more sustainably.
In Episode Three, Erica explores how insect technology can solve human design problems.
Series Consultant: Bridget Nicholls, Director, Pestival.
Happy with her life, Judy stays at home to look after her octogenarian father and watching Watercolour Challenge in the afternoons. But when an old school friend looks her up after 20 years, Judy finds herself re-examining her life and relationship with her father.
Read by Rebecca Front.
A series of six monologues written by Lynne Truss. Six women have reached their 40-something years, and each has a very different, and sometimes surprising, story to tell.
Producer: Dawn Ellis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
Batman was an orphan; Lisbeth Salander, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, was an orphan; Superman was an orphan and a foundling. Cinderella was a foster child. Darth Vader - well, they can't all be winners. Lemn Sissay returns to BBC Radio 4with a comic and poetic look at the treatment of children raised in care, orphans and foster children in popular culture, comparing them with reality. Because it surely says something about how we view them that we create so many for fiction.
Lemn will explore the gap between fiction and reality, based on his own experiences of growing up in care as well as those of some special guests.
2. MUTATIS MUTANDIS
In this second episode, Lemn looks at the children at Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, otherwise known as The X-Men Academy; specifically, Rogue and Wolverine, whose dark and tragic origins lie long before either of them reached the School. But there, Xavier - Professor X - sought to teach the children how to control their powers and make the most of them. Lemn's experiences in children's homes in Wigan was not the same. What difference would it have made it it had been?
Lemn also talks to comedian and care leaver Sophie Willan, who spent most of her childhood in foster care and assisted accommodation. What superpowers did she discover she had, removed from the security of family?
Written and performed by ... Lemn Sissay
Guest ... Sophie Willan
Producer ... Ed Morrish
LEMN SISSAY'S ORIGIN STORIES IS A BBC STUDIOS PRODUCTION.
Jennifer berates her headstrong husband Henry who's due in court over his somewhat shaky treehouse.
Starring Wendy Craig as Jennifer Corner, Francis Matthews as Henry Corner and Fanny Rowe as Mother.
The comedy mishaps of the Corner family: Jennifer and Henry and their three children Trudi, Amanda and Robin. Family sitcom, Not in Front of the Children originally ran for four series from 1967 to 1970 on BBC TV. Richard Waring adapted his own scripts for this radio version, now fully restored from the original reel-to-reel tapes.
Wendy Craig won a Best Actress BAFTA award for the TV version of Not in Front of the Children in 1969. This was the first of several housewife roles that Wendy Craig was to play on television. Later series included And Mother Makes Three and Butterflies.
Music by Ronnie Hazlehurst
Producer: Trafford Whitelock.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1969.
Can Neddie Seagoon get rich quick by exporting Britain's surfeit of snow? Stars Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. From March 1955.
Edward Seckerson's music quiz, with Stilton's Steve Ambler, East Sussex's Sarah Boot-Handford and Adrian Horsewood from London. From April 2007.
Why is Bristow surrounded by incompetents? He has a theory - and determines to bumble toward the proof.
Michael Williams stars as Bristow, the buying clerk from Frank Dickens' famous newspaper cartoon strip. Syndicated internationally, it ran for 41 years in London's Evening Standard.
With Rodney Bewes as Jones, Dora Bryan as Mrs Purdy, Owen Brenman as Hewitt, Leslie Phillips as Perkins, Katy Odey as Miss Sunman, Jon Glover as Fudge, Simon Schatzberger as Postboy, David Battley as Stokes, Jackie Neglia as Miss Pleasant, Liz Fraser as Gert and Joan Sims as Daisy.
Music: John Whitehall
Producer: Neil Cargill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2000.
When young writer Nikos encounters zest-filled Zorba, his life is never the same. This is a middle-aged Greek hero who says yes to every experience and adventure that life has to offer...
Nick McCarty's dramatisation of Nikos Kazantzakis's famous Greek novel
Stars Robert Stephens as Zorba, Michael Maloney as Nikos, Mary Wimbush as Hortense, Terry Molloy as Mavrondoni, Dominic Taylor as Mimiko, Roger Hume as Anagnosti, Peter Meakin as Andonis, Hedli Niklaus as the Mad Woman and Judy Bennett as the Villa Girl.
Producer: Phillip Martin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1993.
Scottish Shorts, the best writing from Scotland
Bethlehem House by Merryn Glover
A return to a childhood location brings back painful memories for an ex-pat. Reader Ann Louise Ross. Produced by Eilidh McCreadie
Australian by passport, born and brought up in South Asia and now living in Scotland, Merryn Glover's stories have been widely published and her plays have been performed on stage and on radio. Her debut novel A HOUSE CALLED ASKIVAL is set in India and spans 70 years of its recent history. More information can be found at www.merrynglover.com.
Susanna Clarke's short story, dramatised by Judith Adams.
Handsome Captain Fox has been spirited away by the amazing Mrs Mabb, and audacious heroine Venetia wants him back. But she has Mrs Mabb's malign magic to contend with.
Narrator ...... Emma Fielding
Venetia ...... Jasmine Hyde
Fanny ...... Lucy Akhurst
Captain Fox ...... Bertie Carvel
Mr Hawkins/Mr Grout ...... Philip Fox
Lucas/John Purvis ...... Sam Pamphilon
Marje ...... Poppy Friar
Nan ...... Millie Binks.
An encounter in an orchard on Midsummer's Eve has implications for Jane's happiness. Sally Marmion's adaptation read by Anne-Marie Duff. From April 2004.
For most people, naturalists or not, some creatures are definitely minority interests. In a UK summer noted for its wet weather, slugs and snails have been very obvious in our gardens and, coupled with reports in the media about "Spanish killer slugs", maybe their time has come. Matthew Oates of the National Trust meets Mary Seddon, a malacologist(studier of slugs and snails) of international renown to hear about her fascination for the creatures and to find out why our slug fauna is increasing . He learns the truth about the boom in numbers this summer and about the discovery in Wales of the ghost slug new not just to the UK but to science.
Presenter: Matthew Oates
Producer: Brett Westwood
Editor: Julian Hector.
by Beatrice Colin
A new look at the story of Bonnie and Clyde. The True Story of Bonnie Parker uses historical sources to illustrate how a series of often disastrous decisions led the former waitress from Cement City to end up as one of America's most wanted criminals. It reveals how the press first celebrated and then reviled Bonnie Parker as her notoriety grew. Even during their lifetimes, the depiction of the couple in the press was at considerable odds with the reality of their life on the road. But most of all, this is about a doomed love affair, a twentieth century Romeo and Juliet, with guns.
Bonnie is recovering after the car accident. The Barrow Gang run to Oklahoma and hole up at the Red Crown Tavern. But the law is closing in on them.
Other parts played by Liam Brennan and James Anthony Pearson.
Produced and directed by Gaynor Macfarlane.
Artemis Cooper's biography charts for the first time the extraordinary life story of the celebrated travel writer and war hero who was as renowned for his feats of derring-do as for his sumptuous prose.
Love flourishes in Cairo and in 1948 Paddy retreats to a monastery to write his first book.
Read by Samuel West
Abridged by Miranda Davies
Produced by Gemma Jenkins.
Genuinely faceless bureaucrats threaten to run London, as Edna Turner's mum arrives
Ben Moor's comic sci-fi saga stars Sarah Solemani as Edna, Ben Moor as Tankerton, Duncan Wisbey as Carlo, Tim Key as Grant, Montserrat Lombard as Kate and Emma Kennedy as Jemima.
Producer: Colin Anderson
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2006.
Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
Professor Richard Dawkins explains why he believes Bill Hamilton to have been one of the greatest evolutionary theorists of the 20th century. Dr Mary Bliss offers expert advice.
Sketch show about modern communication and contemporary obsessions. With Ben Willbond and Rachel Atkins. From January 2009.
The best in contemporary comedy. Paul Garner chats again to Dom Joly.
The team attempt their own radio charity fundraiser. Starring Tim de Jongh, William Vandyck and Tim Firth. From January 1991.
Last in this current series of comedy sketches starring Daniel Rigby, Sara Pascoe, Mike Wozniak and Henry Paker. This week, we meet the funniest (and unhappiest) man in the world and also listen in on a couple of lorry drivers as they discuss hopes, dreams and life on the road.
Written by the cast and Benjamin Partridge with additional material from Madeleine Brettingham.
Produced by Simon Mayhew-Archer.
The great detective is hired to find why a bride mysteriously disappeared just hours after getting married.
Starring Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes. The actor played the Baker Street sleuth in 80 radio dramas between 1952 and 1969.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tale originally appeared in 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' published in the Strand Magazine in 1891. Adapted by Michael Hardwick.
With Norman Shelley as Doctor Watson, Frederick Treves as Lestrade, William Eedle as Lord St Simon, Jane Jordan Rogers as Mrs Moulton and Jerold Wells as Francis May Moulton.
Producer: Frederick Bradnum
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in August 1959.
Ludwig Koch was once as famous as David Attenborough, as pioneering as 'Blue Planet' and as important as the BBC Natural History Unit. They all owe their existence to this German refugee who first recorded the music of nature. Through his archive and new field recordings the poet Sean Street tells the story of Ludwig Koch.
When Sean Street was recording in a store-room at the Science Museum for a Radio 4 archive programme he came across a grey crate, stencilled, as if it belonged to a band on tour, with KOCH on it. This was the disc-cutting machine which Ludwig Koch used for a decade to make the recordings of birds, mammals and insects that led to a new field of study, of broadcasting and the creation of the BBC's Natural History Unit.
Sean and his producer then began investigating and discovered that Koch made the first ever wildlife recording, of a bird, when he was eight, in 1889 - and that it still exists in the BBC's archives.
Koch was an effusive man and this led to several confrontations with Nazi officials, whom he despised. There is an extraordinary recording of him telling the story of a Berliner whose bullfinch sang 'The Internationale'. He was carted off to prison and the bird 'executed'. "Under dictatorship," Koch observed, "even songbirds suffer". He came to England, worked with Julian Huxley on theories of animal language, and recorded birds from the Scillies to Shetland.
In 1940 he joined the BBC and soon became a household name, beloved of comedians (there's a great sketch by Peter Sellers parodying him at work) because of his resolute pronunciation of English as if it were German.
As well as being wonderful radio in itself his work was of great significance. It inspired producer Desmond Hawkins to start 'The Naturalist', (using Koch's enchanting recording of a curlew as its signature tune). Sean Street uses his recordings and contributions of those who worked with him in what becomes a natural history programme in itself, with Koch the subject and Sean exploring his habits and habitat.
There is also an attempt to record curlews as he did so successfully, to shed light on the achievements of this courageous, influential and loveable genius. Today sound-recordists use tiny digital machines and sophisticated microphones. But there are other problems - traffic, planes, people - and fewer, shyer curlews.
Producer: Julian May.
Ronnie organises a disastrous birthday party and Nick finally finds his father's will.
Caroline and David Stafford's comedy stars Jamie Forman as Ronnie, Paul Bazely as Nick, Tracy Wiles as Chloe, John Dougall as James and Liza Sadovy as Andrea.
Producer: Marc Beeby
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2007.
Cack-handed private eyes Max and Ivan are in a state of penury, with mad landlord Malcolm going to extreme lengths to get his hands on their rent. Nonetheless, Max seems ready to jack in the business when he discovers that his Great Uncle Bernard (guest star Richard Wilson) might be in trouble.
But when he and Ivan investigate Bernard's retirement home and meet the terrifying Sister Geraldine, all might not be as it seems.
Written by Max Olesker and Ivan Gonzalez
Developed by John Stanley Productions
Produced by Ben Walker
A Retort production for BBC Radio 4.
'The Curse of the Flying Wombat' climaxes - or does it?
More quick-fire sketches, terrible puns, humorous songs and parodies.
Stars Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Written by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie.
Originating from the Cambridge University Footlights revue 'Cambridge Circus', ISIRTA ran for 8 years on BBC Radio and quickly developed a cult following.
Music and songs by Dave Lee and Bill Oddie.
Producer: Humphrey Barclay
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in December 1966.
Barrister Roger Thursby is sent to Rome to check on a case.
Starring Richard Briers as Roger Thursby, Richard Waring as Henry Blagrove and Ann Davies as Sally Mannering.
With guest stars Fenella Fielding as Nina Zoffany and Terence Alexander as Chapfield.
Adapted for radio by Richard Waring from the BBC TV scripts.
Restored from BBC Transcription Service tapes - originally edited for sale abroad.
Published in 1955, Henry Cecil's comic legal novel Brothers in Law was adapted first for TV in 1962 by Frank Muir and Denis Norden. It provided the first regular starring role for Richard Briers, who later reprised his role of the idealistic young lawyer Roger Thursby for BBC Radio between 1970 and 1972.
Produced by David Hatch.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1970.
Frank Skinner loves history, but just doesn't know much of it.
The Rest Is History is a new comedy discussion show which promises to help him find out more about it.
Along with his historian in residence Dr Kate Williams, each episode sees Frank joined by a selection of celebrity guests, who will help him navigate his way through the annals of time, picking out and chewing over the funniest, oddest, and most interesting moments in history.
Frank's guests in this edition of the programme are Dave Gorman and Sara Pascoe
Produced by Dan Schreiber and Justin Pollard
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4.
After arriving from 1950s Manchester, Dr Thomas and Jane are finally making headway in the remote town of Kalangadog Junction. But his appointment as judge of the Beautiful Baby Contest risks offending his new Aussie neighbours.
Six-part comedy drama series by Moya O'Shea.
Starring Caroline Quentin as Jane, John Duttine as Thomas, Niall Ashdown as Jimmy, Toby Longworth as Pete, Brian Bowles as Len, Joanna Monro as Madge, Julie Gibbs as Milly, June Whitfield as Phoebe and Moya O'Shea as Gaylene.
Producer: Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
Will following Zorba's advice for life lead to tragedy when Nikos meets with the young widow? Stars Robert Stephens. Starring Robert Stephens. From December 1993.
The young offspring of a wealthy family witness the transformation of their house for a grand gathering. Read by Lin Sagovsky. From March 1992.
Tommies celebrates the women combatants and drivers of the Serbian Army, in this story by Jonathan Ruffle.
Doctor Celestine de Tullio, like Flora Sandes, has gone from doctoring to fighting in Serbia, joining the legendary campaign of the Serbian Army to reclaim its homeland, in which 60% of the male population died.
Today she's commanding an offensive up a near-vertical mountain deep in snow. The military objective is at the top of the mountain. But Celestine has another target in her sights.
Meticulously based on unit war diaries and eye-witness accounts, each episode of TOMMIES traces one real day at war, exactly 100 years ago.
And through it all, we'll follow the fortunes of Mickey Bliss and his fellow signallers, from the Lahore Division of the British Indian Army. They are the cogs in an immense machine, one which connects situations across the whole theatre of the war, over four long years.
Series created by Jonathan Ruffle
Producers: David Hunter, Jonquil Panting, Jonathan Ruffle
Director: Jonquil Panting.
Believing her happiness with Mr Rochester assured, a shocking revelation threatens Jane's dreams. Adaptation read by Anne-Marie Duff. From April 2004. Episode 10 of 15.
Matthew Oates has long been obsessed with the elusive and beautiful purple emperor, a butterfly of the high tops which is aggressive to other butterflies and yet often lands on people. But in this programme he's out-obsessed by Neil Hume, a self-confessed addict of the emperor .Together they watch the butterflies chasing off rivals high in the tree-tops and discuss its anti-social feeding habits which include sipping human sweat and animal dung - this is a butterfly which avoids flowers. As they enthuse over emperors, Neil explains what the experience of seeing this butterfly means and how it takes him to special places at the height of summer.
Presenter: Matthew Oates
Producer: Brett Westwood
Editor: Julian Hector.
by Beatrice Colin
A new look at the story of Bonnie and Clyde. The True Story of Bonnie Parker uses historical sources to illustrate how a series of often disastrous decisions led the former waitress from Cement City to end up as one of America's most wanted criminals. It reveals how the press first celebrated and then reviled Bonnie Parker as her notoriety grew. Even during their lifetimes, the depiction of the couple in the press was at considerable odds with the reality of their life on the road. But most of all, this is about a doomed love affair, a twentieth century Romeo and Juliet, with guns.
Bonnie and Clyde spring a young convict from jail and commit ever more desperate crimes. Clyde remains optimistic but Bonnie knows that time is running out.
Produced and directed by Gaynor Macfarlane.
Artemis Cooper's biography charts for the first time the extraordinary life story of the celebrated travel writer and war hero who was as renowned for his feats of derring-do as for his sumptuous prose.
The construction of Paddy's "power-house for prose" in Greece and a fascinating insight into the remarkable creative journey which culminated in the award-wining, A Time of Gifts.
Read by Samuel West
Abridged by Miranda Davies
Produced by Gemma Jenkins.
Things go from strange to stranger for Edna, Tankerton and both the Carlos...
Ben Moor's comic sci-fi saga stars Sarah Solemani as Edna, Ben Moor as Tankerton, Duncan Wisbey as Carlo and Tim Key as Grant.
Producer: Colin Anderson
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2006.
ELO's brilliantly off-beam classic, Mr Blue Sky, is explored in this week's Soul Music.
It was released as a single in 1978, having first appeared on the ELO album 'Out of the Blue' in 1977. Written by Jeff Lynne, it was a no.6 hit in the UK, and has endured on the radio airwaves ever since.
Contributing to the programme:
Tracey Collinson whose husband, Nigel, loved the track tells of the meaning it has for her.
Musicologist, Allan Moore, discusses the anomolous use of the word 'blue': usually associated with downbeat emotions, this is a peculiar subversion of that cultural norm with the word 'blue' conjuring happiness and good weather.
Tremayne Crossley and his friend, Jo Milne, tell the extraordinary story of how Jo heard music for the first time. This track played an important role in that event.
For Dr. Sam Illingworth, Mr Blue Sky will always take him back to the low-flying research-flights he made over the wetlands, greenlands and seas of the Arctic Circle with the shadow of the BAE146 plane beneath him and clear blue skies above.
The children of King's St. Albans in Worcester sang the track that features at the end of the programme.
Producer: Karen Gregor.
By Mark Evans
Volume Two, Chapter the Third: A Recovery All Made Miserable
The thrilling Victorian comic epic sees young Pip nursed to health by the Reverend Fecund and his daughter Ripely, but why must her face remain hidden? Witness the horrors the rural poor in the stricken parish of Poverty Saint Mary. But will Pip choose to fight against the injustice of it all in Parliament, where the walls are soaked in brandy, and so are the MPs, or will he follow his heart, just as soon as he can work out what it is saying to him. Meanwhile Harry has developed the steam powered Pippa detector. But will it work?
Sir Philip...........................Richard Johnson
Mr Benevolent/Sourquil............Anthony Head
Young Pip..................................Tom Allen
Reverend Godly Fecund..........David Mitchell
Sternbeater...................Geoffrey Whitehead
Harry Biscuit......................James Bachman
Ripely Fecund......................Sarah Hadland
Pippa........................................Susy Kane
Sundry MPs..............................Mark Evans
Produced by Gareth Edwards.
The best in contemporary comedy. Plus, Arthur Smith is joined by Jonny and Paddy aka musical comedy duo Jonny & the Baptists.
Spin doctors Prentiss and McCabe get involved in the race for London Mayor. Stars Stephen Fry and John Bird. From January 2000.
Feisty comedienne Jo Brand and veteran gagsmith Barry Cryer in the tag talk show, where the guest is next week's interviewer.
Based on the original BBC Radio 5 programme of the same name, Chain Reaction is a simple idea of big name stars from the world of entertainment interviewing others whose work they appreciate and admire.
Recorded with an audience, the interviews focus on the life, career and the passions of the interviewee but often prove to be as revealing about the interviewer.
Producer: Tilusha Ghelani
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.