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/
4 Extra Debut. During a spate of child abductions, panic ensues when a young girl disappears from outside a pub. Stars Isla Cameron. From February 1962.
John Wilson talks to Suzanne Vega about her career defining album "Solitude Standing".
Programme 2 (B-side).Now it's the turn of the audience to ask Suzanne the questions.
We hear how the sound of Solitude Standing changed toughened from her previous album, as Suzanne decided to bring out the drums and give the sound an edge.
Suzanne describes writing the song "Gypsy" for a boy she met at summer camp and how the two of them got back in touch when he realised the song was about him.
And we hear how Suzanne has written a follow-up song to the album's hit song "Luka".
Producer: Emma Kingsley.
In seeking the killers, Milkie is drawn deeper into trouble - with the Establishment.
Nigel Baldwin's taut political thriller in six parts.
Starring Dennis Waterman as Milkie, Ray Smith as the Teller, Bethan Jones as Beth, Michael Povey, Chris Durnall and Terry Dauncey as the Special Branch Men, Eluned Jones as Pauline, Tara Dominick as Angela and Richard Elfyn as Huw.
Producer: Jane Dauncey
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1990.
Paul Morley traces the life and works of Manchester punk poet John Cooper Clarke.
Paul looks back at the punk movement in the mid 1970s, its DIY ethic and popular appeal and how Cooper Clarke, as the poet of the people, fit into the scene.
Through exclusive new interviews with Cooper Clarke, Paul delves into the most significant moments of his life and career, from his first job as a lab technician at Salford University to touring with some of the world's most famous punk bands, his domestic partnership and shared heroin addiction with Nico, the use of one of his songs in The Sopranos, his signing to the same label as Bob Dylan and his appearance in a Sugar Puffs advert.
Cooper Clarke has continued to tour and write new work for 30 years and despite being exasperated by the 1980s' flamboyant reaction to punk's DIY ethic, his influence today should not be underestimated. Jarvis Cocker, Noel Gallagher, Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen and Kate Nash have all cited Clarke as an influence, as his distinctive style continues to pervade popular music.
Contributors include Mark E Smith, Pete Shelley, Kate Nash, Phill Jupitus and Clarke himself.
An All Out production for BBC Radio 4.
A collection of celebratory fireworks discuss the nature of love and one of them gets his comeuppance. Read by John Moffat. From December 1997.
Juliet Gardiner concludes her History of the Future with a view of the future from where we stand in 2012. Are we more or less anxious about what's to come than we ever were?
Juliet speaks to James Martin and Ian Goldin of the Oxford Martin School, a research community of over 300 scholars working to address the most pressing global challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. From the governance of geo-engineering and the possibilities of quantum physics, to the future of food and the implications of our ageing population.
Produced by Victoria Shepherd
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
Tales of the City: The Days of Anna Madrigal by Armistead Maupin. Dramatised by Lin Coghlan.
Episode 10
Concluding episode of the final series. Mrs Madrigal arrives at the Burning Man Festival and is feted like the living legend that she is.
Anna......................Kate Harper
Brian......................Simon Lee Phillips
Wren....................Julie Teal
Michael...................Trevor White
Shawna..................Suzie Grimsdick
Andy.....................Oscar Porter
Ben.......................Martin T Sherman
Mary Anne.............Barbara Barnes
Jake.....................Fox Fisher
Director/Producer Gary Brown.
Leo Tolstoy's passionate search for the meaning of life. Can simply living life provide an answer? Read by Joss Ackland. From February 1993.
Final omnibus of Season 12, Giddy with Possibility, set in the first week of 1918, when Kaiser Wilhelm the second declared, "We face with firm confidence and iron will the year 1918".
Written by Katie Hims
Directed by Allegra McIlroy
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole
Story-led by Shaun McKenna
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Composer: Matthew Strachan
Consultant Historian: Maggie Andrews
Home Front returns on 5 March with a new season set in Tynemouth.
Graeme Garden chairs the debating game with Steve Punt, Simon Fanshawe, Dan Gaster and Jenny Eclair. From July 2000.
A bumpy ride ahead for five travellers, an old truck and a leader who has never been to Asia. Stars David Haig. From June 1996.
At last Julius Hutch has the answer, but is it too late? If a desperate mission succeeds, Julius can make his first speech in Parliament...
Starring Peter Jones as Julius Hutch.
With Celestine Randall as Pauline Hutch, Justine Midda as Kate, Jeffrey Wickham as Sexton Lewis, Stephen Thorne as Sir Gainford Blounty, Jillie Meers as Dahlia Sprout, Collin Johnson as Haiku, Hugh Dickson as the Colonel, Toni G Barry as Liz Dangerfield and Brian Perkins as Himself.
Scripted by Collin Johnson.
Producers: Andy Jordan and David Blount
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1997.
Damien is nominated for a 'Melvyn' for his TV show about the culinary habits of the great poets but finds it hard to think of what to write in his column for a new gentleman's magazine. Meanwhile, Anthony busies himself preparing for an audition for an amateur production of Noel Coward's Hay Fever.
Striving to seek out the true identity of her father, Alice Selwood discovers 1870s England can be a dangerous place. But first she must find her beloved Arthur in Oxford...
Grant Eustace's exciting sequel to Absolute Discretion, in which chemistry student Arthur Vernet - and love of Alice's life - investigated a mystery around the home of the Earl of Warminster and his family...
Stars Ben Daniels as Arthur Beresford, Jane Slavin as Alice Selwood, Philip Latham as Arbuthnot, Jonathan Adams as Ryder, David Brierley as Priestley, John Baddeley as Blennerhome, Andrew Branch as Cunningham, Sean Barratt as Murchison, Geraldine Fitzgerald as Mrs Wiseman, Terry O'Brien as Polzean, Philip Anthony as Brecknell and Snoo Wilson as Goatcher.
Director: Alec Reid
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1993.
Historian Bettany Hughes presents a series that uses the latest archaeological evidence to learn more about the empire of Byzantium and the people who ruled it.
Bettany ventures to the eastern edge of the empire, where the new religion of Islam first gained a foothold.
For nearly a thousand years the empire made war and peace with the Muslim countries to its south and east. However, the fatal blow to Byzantium came not, as is widely thought from the Ottoman Turks in 1453, but from the Christian West 250 years earlier.
When Christine Finn's in-flight entertainment was accidentally tuned to cockpit radio on a transatlantic flight, the voice of air traffic control as they reached Irish airspace seemed to be welcoming her as well as the pilot.
As a creative archaeologist, she wanted to unravel the connections between those who fly the Atlantic and those who guide them safely over, especially when she discovered that datalink - effectively text messaging - is increasingly being used, so that voice communication is on the wane.
Listening to archive of transatlantic flights from the first by Alcock and Brown in 1919, Christine discovered that the west coast of Ireland looms large in the history. She visited Shannon airport in County Clare, scene of many departures and reunions and, in the 1950s and 60s - before the jet engine - a stop-over for most of the popular icons of the day as their planes re-fuelled after the 3000 mile flight; every US President since JFK has visited Shannon, and most stars from Marilyn Monroe to Fred Astaire.
And at the North Atlantic Communications Centre in nearby Ballygirreen, Christine met the faces behind the voices she heard coming out of the dark on her own Atlantic Crossing.
Producer: Marya Burgess.
Marking the 90th Academy Awards ceremony, Michael Freedland, the prolific author and broadcaster opens his audio archives for the very first time.
As a writer, presenter and interviewer for over 50 years, Freedland has an extensive collection of material containing the biggest Oscar winning names in film, great entertainers and leading public figures.
In this special showcase recorded at his Bournemouth home, he explores the private recordings made for his book and article research, along with extracts from his radio documentaries. He also reveals some of the lesser-known tales of the great stars of stage and screen.
Many of the selections from his archives have never been broadcast before, along with key material from iconic Hollywood names like as Julie Andrews, Fred Astaire, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, plus James Cagney.
Hear exclusive interview recordings with Morecambe and Wise and a fascinating not to be missed conversation with Margaret Thatcher before she became prime minister.
Producer: Stephen Garner
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in 2018.
Jim Poyser and Neil Griffiths' comedy series set in a struggling architectural practice. With Sir Lucien's signature brutalist style hopelessly out of fashion, he seeks to overcome his creative block in the spas of Baden-Baden. Unfortunately for Tim, he needs someone to share the experience with.
Directed by Toby Swift.
After the syndicate disaster, Bertie Wooster ponders what to bet on next.
PG Wodehouse romp dramatised by Chris Miller from the book.
Starring Richard Briers as Bertie Wooster and Michael Hordern as Jeeves.
With Maurice Denham as the Reverend Heppenstall, Jonathan Cecil as Bingo Little and Edwin Apps as Steggles.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1973.
Faye is found bleeding after a suicide attempt, but Alice has promised not to involve the authorities. Stars Olivia Vinall.
Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey chooses 'Brown-Eyed Handsome Man' by Buddy Holly and 'Aceperience' by Hardfloor.
Former MP David Blunkett tours his home city of Sheffield sharing its culture, leisure, industrial heritage and warm community spirit.
Down Your Way was a schedule staple for decades - starting on the BBC Home Service in 1946 and ending its run on BBC Radio 4 in 1992. Using a variety of hosts, including Richard Dimbleby and Brian Johnston, the programme toured villages, towns and cities across the UK. At the height of the series' success in the 1950s, it was attracting 10 million listeners a week.
Producer: Lorna Baker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1991.
By Simon Passmore
Tasked with producing an item for a television show about Britain's worst film director, researcher Mia goes in search for the fabled horror film Earworm and its creator. Urban myths surround this little known video nasty, with rumours that cast and crew suffered unexplained accidents during production, its director went into hiding after destroying all known copies of the film, and that its soundtrack is capable of affecting the viewer in sinister ways. Spurred on rather deterred by the myths, Mia seeks out the film's secret, and in doing so, puts herself in danger.
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
"...we've forgotten that technology has its roots in magic and mystery..."
An old model-maker specialises in dioramas of disasters, but his timing causes concern...
JC Wilsher's sinister tale starring Paul Schofield and Eric Allan
Director: Ian Cotterell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1979.
Mischievous Satan instructs demon Scumspawn to partake in a very unusual meal. Devilish comedy stars Andy Hamilton. From May 1998.
The award-winning comic offers revelations about hats, tents and some disturbing tales from Beatrix Potter. From February 2007.
How to talk to an emperor and inventing Saturday night TV shows. Stars David Mitchell and Robert Webb. From August 2009.
A trip to Wunderland (a poundland of magical realms), which this week is awarded prestigious by-the-sea status.
Sketch show by Alice Lowe.
Also starring Richard Glover, Simon Greenall, Rachel Stubbings, Clare Thompson and Marcia Warren.
Produced by Lyndsay Fenner.
Omnibus: The legendary landlady of 28 Barbary Lane embarks on a road trip that will take her deep into her past. Stars Kate Harper.
Retirement didn't suit Tommy at all. But perhaps the new life of the mill had something to offer him. Read by Russell Dixon.
Reception is a sitcom about two men sitting behind a desk, starring Adrian Scarborough, Morwenna Banks and Amit Shah. Written by Paul Basset Davies.
Clarissa's inexplicable obsession with Brian goes into overdrive when he's late for work and Danny tells her he's at the doctor's. Clarissa accesses Brian's personnel files, searching for clues about his health and breeding prospects, and she discovers it's his birthday. She persuades Danny to help her plan a surprise party, but their schemes are disrupted by the arrival of Brian's elderly father, who is even more eccentric than his son. Meanwhile, Brian's new sinus tablets seem to be affecting him very strangely.
Will Brian survive his birthday, and why have a stripper, a policeman and an alien arrived to help him celebrate it?
Producer: Anna Madley
An Avalon Television production for BBC Radio 4.
Ted and Kitty bicker over too much toothpaste, plus news of a curious will.
Starring Ted Ray.
With Kitty Bluett, Peter Sellers, Patricia Hayes, Fred Yule and Leslie Perrins.
Ray's A Laugh - the successor to ITMA - follows the comedy exploits of Ted's life at home with his 'radio' wife Kitty, as well as in a variety of jobs. It ran from 1949-1961.
Scripted by Eddie Maguire and Ted Ray.
Music from Bob and Alf Pearson and The Beaux and The Belles.
BBC Dance Orchestra conducted by Stanley Black.
Producer: George Inns
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in November 1949.
Harry is best man at his best friend Derek's wedding. What could possibly go wrong?
Written by David McKellar and David Renwick.
Starring Harry Worth. With John Baddeley, John Graham and Miriam Margolyes.
Producer: Simon Brett.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1976.
Former US Border Patrol Agent Francisco Cantú worked on a remote spot on the US/ Mexican border from 2008-2012. He recounts how he tracks down an unending stream of men, women and children who risk all for a better life in the US away from the violent crime that underpins their lives in Mexico. He tells the personal stories of the weary and the spent who he turns backs, and of the many who don't survive the gruelling journey through the vast desert during summer's searingly hot days and freezing nights.
Born to the daughter of a Mexican immigrant, the border is in his blood and his decision to become a law enforcer came after four years of learning about it through policy and history while studying international relations, and the realisation that theory isn't enough. He needs to be on the ground to understand the border in all its beauty, ugliness and danger. After four years the personal toll is more than he can bear and he leaves the Patrol but when an immigrant friend does not return from a trip to Mexico to visit his dying mother he is returned to a world that he discovers is impossible to leave behind.
His account is interwoven with reflections on the history, culture, nature and psychology of the border, and is more broadly about life on either side of an arbitrary line, wherever it is.
Francisco Cantú's is a Fulbright fellow, and in 2017 he was a Whiting Award winner. Previous recipients of this prize for writers who show great promise include Colson Whitehead, August Wilson and Jeffrey Eugenides.
The reader is Joseph Balderrama who is known for his roles in the James Bond film, Spectre and The Game of Thrones.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Producer: Elizabeth Allard.
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between the first black woman to be elected to Leeds city council and her son; 20 years on it's obvious that politics is in the blood.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
4 Extra Debut. From Edward Elgar to Gabriel Fauré, astrophysicist Sir Martin Rees shares his castaway choices with Sue Lawley. From May 1997.
Radio 4 Extra explores the world of podcasts and finds the best on offer.
Each week, Amanda Litherland and a guest presenter will recommend one or two podcasts from the BBC and beyond. From some of the most popular series, to lesser-known hidden gems, they will feature their favourite finds and speak with the people who make them.
This week Amanda is joined by Josie Long. They will listen to Maeve in America, stories of immigration to the USA presented by Maeve Higgins.
They'll also hear an episode of Reasons To Be Cheerful, with hosts Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd - who are among the nominees for the first ever podcast category at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards 2018 - due to be held at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane on March 16th.
16-year-old Stephen Dedalus has confessed his terrible sins and been forgiven. Relieved and restored to faith, he's determined to adhere strictly to the most pious Catholic practice.
The conclusion of James Joyce's autobiographical masterpiece. Read by Andrew Scott and abridged by Sara Davies.
Music is 'Oft in the Stilly Night' by Sir John Stevenson, performed by Robin Harris.
Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.
4 Extra Debut. Tony and Beatrix Porter's restoration of a Devon hotel to its former Art Deco glory. From July 1998.
Warren is a compulsive, passionate, but lonely man. But when he sees a petite ex-dancer named Carol, he's utterly captivated.
Stars Gary Oldman as Warren.
Producer: Claire Grove
Director: Douglas Urbanski
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive with 'New Lyrical Ballads' featuring 26 leading poets reading work inspired by the originals.
Second of two programmes, Britain's current poets read their own work inspired by Wordsworth and Coleridge's original Lyrical Ballads.
That slim volume of poetry, published in Wine Street in Bristol, is renowned for its radical preface and considered to have marked the beginning of the English Romantic movement in literature.
Featuring: Fleur Adcock, Patience Agbabi, John Burnside, Gillian Clarke, Paul Farley, David Harsent, Kathleen Jamie, Liz Lochhead, Ian McMillan, Andrew Motion, Sean O'Brien, Alice Oswald, Ruth Padel, Don Paterson, Jean Sprackland and Michael Symmons Roberts.
Recorded at the Bristol Festival of Ideas which commissioned the work and gathered all the poets together to read their work to an expectant audience.
Introduced by festival director, Andrew Kelly.
Producer: Tim Dee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive with 'New Lyrical Ballads' featuring 26 leading poets reading work inspired by the originals.
Second of two programmes, Britain's current poets read their own work inspired by Wordsworth and Coleridge's original Lyrical Ballads.
That slim volume of poetry, published in Wine Street in Bristol, is renowned for its radical preface and considered to have marked the beginning of the English Romantic movement in literature.
Featuring: Fleur Adcock, Patience Agbabi, John Burnside, Gillian Clarke, Paul Farley, David Harsent, Kathleen Jamie, Liz Lochhead, Ian McMillan, Andrew Motion, Sean O'Brien, Alice Oswald, Ruth Padel, Don Paterson, Jean Sprackland and Michael Symmons Roberts.
Recorded at the Bristol Festival of Ideas which commissioned the work and gathered all the poets together to read their work to an expectant audience.
Introduced by festival director, Andrew Kelly.
Producer: Tim Dee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
Stranded on the Golden Planet, the Space Force crew must find a way to return to Mars.
Conclusion of Charles Chilton's second intergalatic six-part adventure.
Starring Barry Foster as Captain Saxon Berry, Nicky Henson as Chipper Barnett, Nigel Stock as Magnus Carter, Tony Osoba as Lodderick Sincere.
With Wendy Murray, Willoughby Goddard, Bernard Brown and Mia Soteriou.
Charles Chilton wrote and produced many popular and successful radio programmes for the BBC - including the classic 1950s serial 'Journey into Space' - charting the adventures of Captain Jet Morgan. This fired the imagination of millions, years before the first moon landing. It was the last radio drama to record higher ratings than the new young upstart television!
Producer: Paul Mayhew-Archer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1985.
One of the world's funniest storytellers is back on BBC Radio 4 doing what he does best.
This week, in "#2 to Go", a trip to China does not work out well for David - especially on the food front.
The second story is called "Innocents Abroad" and tackles the tricky tightrope of "going native" when learning a foreign language.
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4.
BBC Radio 4 Extra's topical sketch show Newsjack with host Angela Barnes.
Featuring Kieran Hodgson, Freya Parker and Henry Perryment.
Script Editors: Ed Amsden and Tom Coles
Producers: Adnan Ahmed and Hayley Sterling
Production Co-ordinator: Nick Coupe
Newsjack is lovingly assembled with jokes and sketches supplied by the Great British Public and brought to life by a revolving cast of sketch performers.
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 on the Newsjack programme page. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kvs8r.
A startling revelation for Sam after he survives a sinking and the pirates - again.
The passengers and crew of 'The Iganodon' are still adrift in the Woe Betides. Will they ever get back to the mainland?
A three-part comedy adventure by Paul Lucas.
Starring Paul Haigh as Sam Varley, Bernard Cribbins as Mr Brook, Rosemary Leach as Isabel, Dermot Crowley as Don O'Reilly, John Arthur as the Captain, Patsy Byrne as Harriet and Sally Phillips as Laura.
Other parts played by Fred Harris and Kevin Eldon.
Producer: Jo Clegg
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1997.
As Milkie tries to find out how far the political corruption goes - can he deal with consequences?
Nigel Baldwin's taut political thriller in six parts.
Starring Dennis Waterman as Milkie, Ray Smith as the Teller, Bethan Jones as Beth, Tara Dominick as Angela, Richard Elfyn as Huw, Emma Gregory as Sharon, Eluned Jones as Pauline and Ri Richards as Laura.
Producer: Jane Dauncey
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1990.
Monica McWilliams was one of only two local women who were at the table during negotiations which led to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet visits Belfast to hear her story. "How could we be locked out," Monica asked, "when we have been tramping the streets and the communities for 30 years and saving children from being killed ... and then not to have any voice?"
This five-part series features in-depth interviews with remarkable women about the relationship between women and democracy, on the 100th anniversary of the first time British women won the vote. Lyse travels across the globe, meeting women from Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Liberia and Iceland to discover that the victory of 1918 in Britain has continued to resonate through the century. She hears reflections from some of the world's most influential women's rights activists, including former presidents, and shares her own experiences in reporting from some of the most troubled regions.
Producer: Ben Carter
Researcher:: Louise Byrne.
Winston declares his love for Nancy. He even asks her to marry him. But is this just a ploy to get rid of her new suitor, Roland?
Peter Tinniswood's bawdy comedy serial stars Bill Wallis as Winston, Maurice Denham as Father, Shirley Dixon as Nancy, Liz Goulding as Rosie and Christian Rodska as William.
Director: Shaun MacLoughlin.
First broadcast on BBC Radio in January 1991.
Nicholas Parsons invites Shappi Khorsandi, Jo Caulfield, Julian Clary and Paul Merton to speak for 60 seconds on the subjects like Chicken Nuggets, Cowboys and The Grand Canyon.
Hayley Sterling blows the whistle.
Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
A BBC Studios Production.
The lad signs to Sid's new studio, but filming doesn't quite go to plan.
Starring Tony Hancock, Moira Lister, Bill Kerr, Sidney James and Kenneth Williams.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Theme and incidental music composed by Wally Stott. Recorded by the BBC Revue Orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.
Producer: Dennis Main Wilson
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in February 1955.
Shady lawyer Waldorf T Flywheel and his assistant Ravelli get themselves hired to guard a Rembrandt painting.
Recreation of the Marx Brothers' lost shows charting the adventures of shady lawyer Waldorf T Flywheel and his assistant, Emmanuel Ravelli. Originally broadcast with sponsors on America's NBC radio network in the 1930s. The scripts were rediscovered in 1988.
Starring Michael Roberts as Groucho Marx as Waldorf T Flywheel and Frank Lazarus as Chico Marx as Emmanuel Ravelli
With Lorelei King and Graham Hoadly.
Written by Nat Perrin and Athur Sheekman. Adapted by Mark Brisenden.
Music arranged and conducted by David Firman.
Producer: Dirk Maggs
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1990.
Quote ... Unquote, the popular quotations quiz, returns for its 40th anniversary series.
For forty years, Nigel Rees has been joined by writers, actors, musicians, scientists and various comedy types. Kenneth Williams, Judi Dench, PD James, Larry Adler, Ian KcKellen, Peter Cook, Kingsley Amis, Peter Ustinov... have all graced the Quote Unquote stage.
Join Nigel as he quizzes a host of guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the panel to share their favourite anecdotes.
Episode 6
Comedian, actor and writer Dan Antopolski
Presenter, actress and author Janet Ellis
Journalist and Broadcaster Kirsty Lang
Journalist and ballroom dancer John Sergeant
Presenter ... Nigel Rees
Reader ... Charlotte Green
Producer ... Carl Cooper
Production co-ordinator ... George Pierpoint
This is a BBC Studios Production.
Will an unexpected event bring Nishith and Sripurna closer together?
Tanika Gupta's four-part comedy stars Meera Syal as Malati, Vinny Dhillon as Rehana, Souad Faress as Sripurna, Charubala Chokshi as Dida, Geoffrey Beevers as Geoffrey and Bhasker Patel as Nishith.
Director: Michelle Matherson Frederick
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1996.
Jack and Liz are in Blackpool for one last time. John Godber's classic stage play tells the touching and funny story of a marriage through a lifetime of holidays together.
Directed by Toby Swift
John Godber is one of the country's most successful and prolific playwrights. Famously he was identified as the third most performed playwright in the UK after Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn. September in the Rain, written very early in his career, dates from 1983 and drew heavily on his grandparents' relationship. A play for two actors, it was originally performed by the author and his now wife, Jane. They resume their partnership for this radio production many years after last performing it together.
A stroll down memory lane turns into an unexpectedly heated encounter when two 'old boys' meet in the grounds of their old school. Read by Nicholas Farrell.
Winston Graham was one of the most successful and prolific novelists of the 20th century. He wrote in many genres but his best known body of work was undoubtedly the 12 historical novels set in Cornwall at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries which became known as The Poldarks.
Although it's the Poldarks that brought Winston Graham the most fame, he also wrote more than 30 other novels, six of which have been filmed including the thriller, Marnie directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1964.
This selection celebrates the range of his work and offers a glimpse into the enduring appeal of his most famous characters, Ross and Demelza who are soon set to return to BBC screens in a new adaptation.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by The Waters Partnership.
Harmony is the joyful noise that Brother Caradoc wishes to offer to the Lord, and he dreams of taking his fellow monks to a higher musical plane with him.
But if plainsong is the rule, is he inspired by God - or sent by the Tempter?
Neil Brand's drama stars Tom George as Brother Caradoc, Ioan Meredith as Brother Esmonde, Clive Swift as Methuselah, Peter Kenny as Brother Alyn, David Timson as the Precentor, John Woodvine as the Abbot and Carolyn as Lady Emma.
Director: Ned Chaillet
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003.
If the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, how can they remain silent? Damian Lewis begins reading A Delicate Truth, the brand new novel from the master of his genre, John le Carré, a novel which tells the story of a good man who must choose between his conscience and his duty to the Service.
An undercover counter-operation in the British colony of Gibraltar, a middle-ranking man from the Foreign Office serving as 'eyes on' and reporting to an ambitious Minister; the aim to capture a jihadist arms-buyer, the success, assured.
But back in the UK a junior officer has his doubts and commits an unthinkable act. Three years on, he will find himself facing an impossible choice. In a journey that will take him from Cornwall to Wales via murky secrets in the depths of Whitehall, Toby Bell will try to find out the truth about the night on the Rock and bring it the attention and justice it deserves.
Tonight: Between a Rock and A Hard Place - the counter-operation swings in to action.
John le Carré was born in 1931 and attended the universities of Bern and Oxford. He taught at Eton and served briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. For the last fifty years he has lived by his pen. He divides his time between London and Cornwall.
Damian Lewis is a British actor best known for his role as Nicholas Brody in Homeland. His many credits include Band of Brothers, Life and The Forsyte Saga.
The reader is Damian Lewis
The abridger is Sally Marmion
The producer is Di Speirs.
When the Grimm brothers first published their Children's and Household Tales in 1812, in a scholarly effort to collate a national identity of the people, it was the beginning of an obsessive project of two intricately interwoven lifetimes.
To mark the bicentenary of the first edition, writer and mythographer Marina Warner explores the many compelling and often controversial aspects of the tales in a 10-part series, revealing new insights into the stories we think we know so well, and introducing us to the charms and challenges of those that we don't.
Alongside beautifully narrated extracts from the tales themselves, renowned academics and artists who work closely with the Grimm's rich heritage add to our understanding of these deceptively complex stories.
In the opening episode, we are introduced to the Grimm brothers themselves and the context in which they collected these tales, in parallel with the story of The Frog King - a tale of transformation and sexual favour that has opened the collection since it was first published and has played a central role in the Romantic attraction to the tradition of Volkspoesie.
Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
Deep in debt, Little Nell and her grandfather must flee the evil moneylender Quilp.
Starring Emily Chennery as Nell, Alex Jennings as the Narrator, Trevor Peacock as Grandfather, Phil Daniels as Daniel Quilp and Ben Crowe as Dick Swiveller.
Charles Dickens's fourth novel was published in 1841.
Dramatised in 25 episodes by Mike Walker.
Music by Melanie Pappenheim and Anne Wood.
Director Jeremy Mortimer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
Can doubting logical thoughts lead to an answer?
By the time he was 50, Russian writer Leo Tolstoy had found fame and success through his great literary achievements. He had a wife and family, and a large estate. But he hadn't found what was most important: the meaning of life.
A Confession compellingly describes his search for the truth. Read by Joss Ackland.
Abridged in ten episodes by Andrew Simpson.
Producer: Claire Campbell Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 n 1993.
Ambassador B should be inspecting minor planets of far-away suns for the peaceful Interplanetary Commonwealth. Instead, her recorded reports reveal that she is veering off-course, pursuing a vendetta and bringing anything but peace.
Mind-bending, interstellar fun and adventure from Sony Gold-winning writer Ed Harris.
1/5 Ambassador B inspects a planet which encourages free speech. But where no one has a word to say about her predecessor, Ambassador A.
Produced and Directed by Jonquil Panting.
A man relives childhood memories of the forest spirit who came prying at the windowpane and cast a blight upon his life.
The first of five supernatural stories written by Dublin author, John Connolly.
Read by Tony Doyle.
Producer: Lawrence Jackson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
Sue MacGregor and her guests - actress, Maria Aitken and comedian, Hugh Dennis - discuss books by Ian McEwan, Vladimir Nabokov and Evelyn Waugh. From September 2005.
The Innocent by Ian McEwan
Publisher: Vintage
Speak Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
Publisher: Penguin Classics
A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh
Publisher: Penguin Classics.
Robert woos Elizabeth, by means of a putty-coloured carpet.
Hugh Bonneville stars as Robert Purcell, QC, a perfect specimen of the British Establishment, who applies faultless legal logic to his disastrous personal life.
Jon Canter's comic novel 'A Short Gentleman' adapted by Robin Brooks.
Director: Jonquil Painting.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012.
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis re-cap the week via topical stand-up and sketches with guests Pippa Evans, Phil Wang and more!
Producer: Matt Stronge
It's a BBC Studios Production.
Our guides organise an excursion to the Chaversham Medieval Fair. Stars Marcus Brigstocke and Danny Robins. From April 2005.
Milkie discovers exposing guilt is dangerous - when the powerful are rotten and the idealists are liars.
Conclusion of Nigel Baldwin's taut political six part thriller.
Starring Dennis Waterman as Milkie, Ray Smith as the Teller, Bethan Jones as Beth, Richard Elfyn as Huw, Eluned Jones as Pauline, Michael Povey as Gordon, Terry Victor as Rhys, Sian Summers as Sian and Robert David as Dewi.
Producer: Jane Dauncey
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1990.
Lyse Doucet travels to Saudi Arabia to meet Madeha Al Ajroush, who battled for 30 years to get women the right to drive. It's a battle she's now won, as women in the kingdom will legally be allowed to drive later this year. As a Saudi woman, she says, "you'll always be treated like a child and never like an adult. And that was a problem, and it continued till this day - but things are opening up now."
This five-part series features in-depth interviews with remarkable women about the relationship between women and democracy, on the 100th anniversary of the first time British women won the vote. Lyse travels across the globe, meeting women from Afghanistan, Liberia, Northern Ireland and Iceland to discover that the victory of 1918 in Britain has continued to resonate through the century. She hears reflections from some of the world's most influential women's rights activists, including former presidents, and shares her own experiences in reporting from some of the most troubled regions.
Producer: Ben Carter.
Eddie scores tickets to Stockport County's biggest match ever. An even greater challenge faces his son-in-law Dave
The lives of the Stockport-based, Conroy family in series 1 of Jim Poyser and Damian Lanigan's comedy drama.
Starring Dominic Monaghan as Jason, John McArdle as Eddie, Jason Done as Michael, Stefan Escreet as Dave, Emma Clarke as Collete, Beverley Callard as Maureen and Jo-Anne Knowles as Debbie.
With Alan Green as himself.
Music: Big George
Producer: Neil Mossey
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1999.
Brand new stand-up from Sara Pascoe.
Sara will be exploring our modern social world though theories of Evolutionary Psychology and more. How does our monkey past influence our modern lives and how come we can still get emotionally hijacked by our primitive emotions?
In show two Sara's looking at an emotion that we don't often like to admit to - Jealousy. It's unattractive but in evolutionary terms, it's a survival tactic - it's good to be competitive for resources! But in the modern world are we just hairless apes comparing ourselves on social media? And what can we do about it?
Recorded on location at The Foundling Museum.
Written by and starring Sara Pascoe
Production co-ordinator Toby Tilling
Producer Alexandra Smith
A BBC Studios production.
What a wonderful day it is for proving married couples can be genuinely happy! The King of Knotty Ash has his work cut out!
Starring Ken Dodd.
With Peter Goodwright, Jo Manning Wilson, Miriam Margolyes, Talfryn Thomas, John Graham and Michael McClain.
Devised and written by Ken Dodd with Denis Berson, Terry Ravenscroft and Maurice Bird.
Doddy's Diddy Orchestra conducted by Geoff Alderson.
Producer: Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in January 1974.
Confusion - and an ancient Egyptian queen - rule for the bungling bureuacrats.
Stars Richard Murdoch and Deryck Guyler.
With Norma Ronald, Ronald Baddiley, John Graham and Hilary Pritchard.
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 1974.
In Nick Warburton's delicious comedy, James Fleet plays Edward, a bashful man who, passing a local allotment, speaks to an attractive female allottee. He decides there and then that he must apply for a plot. But doing so involves an interview with ferocious site-manager Bernie who runs the allotments with military rigour. It's all looking unlikely until Edward reveals that his father was a local landscape horticulturalist, one Bernie has admired all his life. Edward joins the site. And it is only then that he springs a surprise on Bernie. One that leads to explosive confrontation. Which of them will lose the plot?
Edward ..... James Fleet
Amanda .... Joanna Monro
Bernie ..... Jonathan Coy
Directed by Peter Kavanagh.
John Godber's modern stage classic from 1982 re-unites its original cast to tell the touching and funny story of Liz and Jack's life together. A 60 year roller-coaster of a marriage lived in a Yorkshire mining village unfolds from end to beginning.
Liz ..... Jane Godber
Jack ..... John Godber
Directed by Toby Swift.
Driving through the Swiss Alps in the 1960s, a young Englishman seeks shelter from a storm, but his hosts at the Chalet Lartrec are not pleased to see him. Read by Ewan Bailey.
Winston Graham was one of the most successful and prolific novelists of the 20th century. He wrote in many genres but his best known body of work was undoubtedly the 12 historical novels set in Cornwall at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries which became known as The Poldarks.
Although it's the Poldarks that brought Winston Graham the most fame, he also wrote more than 30 other novels, six of which have been filmed including the thriller, Marnie directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1964.
This selection celebrates the range of his work and offers a glimpse into the enduring appeal of his most famous characters, Ross and Demelza who are soon set to return to BBC screens in a new adaptation.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by The Waters Partnership.
Every Monday they go to the zoo, look at the animals, talk about their lives and loves - and share a joke or two. Sometimes Bruno's jokes are a bit too vulgar for Lily's liking. But one Monday...
David Ashton's poignant, comic drama was a joint winner of the 1985 Radio Times Drama Awards.
Starring Liz Smith as Lily and Peggy Mount as Bruno.
Producer: Jane Morgan.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
If the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, how can they remain silent? Damian Lewis begins reading A Delicate Truth, the brand new novel from the master of his genre, John le Carré, a novel which tells the story of a good man who must choose between his conscience and his duty to the Service.
An undercover counter-operation in the British colony of Gibraltar; a middle-ranking man from the Foreign Office serving as 'eyes on' and reporting to an ambitious Minister; the aim to capture a jihadist arms-buyer - the success, assured.
But back in the UK a junior officer has his doubts and commits an unthinkable act. Three years on, he will find himself facing an impossible choice. In a journey that will take him from Cornwall to Wales via murky secrets in the depths of Whitehall, Toby Bell will try to find out the truth about the night on the Rock and bring it the attention and justice it deserves.
Tonight: Suspicions and Unease - the more Toby sees of his new Minister, the less he understands.
John le Carré was born in 1931 and attended the universities of Bern and Oxford. He taught at Eton and served briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. For the last fifty years he has lived by his pen. He divides his time between London and Cornwall.
Damian Lewis is a British actor best known for his role as Nicholas Brody in Homeland. His many credits include Band of Brothers, Life and The Forsyte Saga.
The reader is Damian Lewis
The abridger is Sally Marmion
The producer is Di Speirs.
When the Grimm brothers first published their Children's and Household Tales in 1812, in a scholarly effort to collate a national identity of the people, it was the beginning of an obsessive project of two intricately interwoven lifetimes.
To mark the bicentenary of the first edition, writer and mythographer Marina Warner explores the many compelling and often controversial aspects of the tales in a 10-part series, revealing new insights into the stories we think we know so well, and introducing us to the charms and challenges of those that we don't.
Alongside beautifully narrated extracts from the tales themselves, renowned academics and artists who work closely with the Grimm's rich heritage add to our understanding of these deceptively complex stories.
In the second episode, Marina traces the tales right back to their ancient origins, hoping to answer the question of why we find parallels with the Grimms' stories in texts across cultures throughout time. Her search centres on Cinderella as she visits the tale's oldest known incarnation - an ancient Egyptian manuscript that tells the rags-to-riches story of the 'rosy-cheeked' Rhodopis and was a (perhaps fittingly) precious find, recovered from a rubbish dump.
Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
Evil money-lender Quilp discovers why Little Nell's grandfather is so badly in debt. Dickens dramatisation with Phil Daniels.
Leo Tolstoy's passionate search for the meaning of life. Can the irrational knowledge of faith help us? Read by Joss Ackland. From February 1993.
Justin Moorhouse, Greg Davies, Chris Corcoran and Lucy Porter star in Rhod Gilbert's comedy quiz. From September 2006.
Can struggling writer Woodhouse deal with disappointment after his trip to Berlin? Stars Tim Pigott-Smith. From December 1991.
Ambassador B should be inspecting minor planets of far-away suns for the peaceful Interplanetary Commonwealth. Instead, her recorded reports reveal that she is veering off-course, pursuing a vendetta and bringing anything but peace.
Mind-bending, interstellar fun and adventure from Sony Gold-winning writer Ed Harris.
2/5 Pursuing her missing sister into the uncharted planets of the Tundra, Ambassador B finds a world of constant war.
Produced and Directed by Jonquil Panting.
A priest is sent to investigate the incumbent at a remote parish church. Has his colleague uncovered an ancient evil? Read by Tony Doyle.
And the Academy Award Goes to... Crash. For the third programme in the current series of Oscar-winning films and what they tell us of the time that gave rise to them, Paul Gambaccini tackles the film that was loved and reviled in equal measure by the very same LA society whose darker side the film set out to explore.
Stand by your radios! Jeremy Hardy returns to the airwaves with a broadcast of national comic import as he asks the question "Does power come from the barrel of a gun or from a jar of onion marmalade?"
In this show, Jeremy is joined by special guests Paul B Davies and Pauline McLynn as he examines how to speak, when to speak and when not to speak - via the medium of speaking.
Welcome to "Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation", a series of debates in which Jeremy Hardy engages in a free and frank exchange of his entrenched views. Passionate, polemical, erudite and unable to sing, Jeremy returns with a new series of his show, famous for lines like -
"Kids should never be fashion slaves, especially in the Far East. My 12-year old daughter asked me for a new pair of trainers. I told her she was old enough to go out and make her own" and, "Islam is no weirder than Christianity. Both are just Judaism with the jokes taken out."
Few can forget where they were twenty years ago when they first heard "Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation". The show was an immediate smash-hit success, causing pubs to empty on a Saturday night, which was particularly astonishing since the show went out on Thursdays. The Light Entertainment department was besieged, questions were asked in the House and Jeremy Hardy himself became known as the man responsible for the funniest show on radio since Money Box Live with Paul Lewis.
Since that fateful first series, Jeremy went on to win Sony Awards, Writers Guild nominations and a Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
The show is a Pozzitive production, and is produced by Jeremy's long-standing accomplice, David Tyler.
Written by Jeremy Hardy
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
The best in contemporary comedy. Athena Kugblenu talks to Eleanor Tiernan.
By Robbie Hudson and Marie Phillips
Stephen Fry and Daniel Rigby star as Napoleon's horse Marengo and Wellington's horse Copenhagen, with an introduction by Tamsin Greig, in the world's first epistolary equine love story.
Still cruelly sundered by fate despite the war having ended, Marengo is put rather unwillingly out to stud and discovers the overwhelming and exhausting joys of parenthood, and Copenhagen finds a new way of passing the time - writing racy horse fan fiction, a genre for which he turns out to have a remarkable flair...
Produced by Gareth Edwards.
Paul Hamilton visits some young offenders to demonstrate poetry's rehabilitative powers. Stars Kevin Eldon. From April 2008.
There is a shocking loss on Leather Island, and Fanny gets a break. Sketches with duo Giedroyc and Perkins. From October 2002.
The Baker Street sleuth is consulted by a young stockbroker's clerk.
After months of unemployment, Hall Pycroft has been offered the biggest chance of his lifetime, but something curious seems to be going on...
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 was first published in the Strand Magazine in 1893. Adapted by Michael Hardwick.
With Norman Shelley as Dr John Watson, Desmond Carrington as Hall Pycroft, Kathleen Helme as the Landlady and Hugh Manning as Arthur Pinner/Harry Pinner.
Producer: Martyn C Webster
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in February 1960.
In 1980, the tiny country of Iceland did something no other nation had done. They elected a female head of state. BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet travels to Reykjavik to meet Vigdis Finnbogadottir. Now 87, she was president for exactly sixteen years and remains the longest-serving elected female head of state of any country to date. "That's what I have given to the girls of this country," she says: "If she can, I can."
This five-part series features in-depth interviews with remarkable women about the relationship between women and democracy, on the 100th anniversary of the first time British women won the vote. Lyse travels across the globe, meeting women from Afghanistan, Liberia, Northern Ireland and Saudi Arabia to discover that the victory of 1918 in Britain has continued to resonate through the century. She hears reflections from some of the world's most influential women's rights activists, including former presidents, and shares her own experiences in reporting from some of the most troubled regions.
Producers: Ben Carter and Anne Dixey
Researcher: Louise Byrne.
Jim Poyser and Neil Griffiths' new comedy series set in a struggling architectural practice. Potentially lucrative contracts involving nuclear power plants, military drone manufacturers and a fracking company leave Matt and his principles in potential meltdown.
Directed by Toby Swift.
Award-winning stand-up comedian Bridget Christie returns to BBC Radio 4 with her brand new comedy series, Bridget Christie's Utopia.
As Bridget Christie struggles to come to terms with current world events - Kim Jong-un, the melting polar ice caps, the Brexit negotiations and Nick Knowles singing a cover of The Beatles "Here Comes The Sun", she embarks on a comic quest for her Utopia - a way of living that will make her less anxious and enable her to have her first happy wee since the Brexit vote in 2016.
EPISODE 4 : Money : In the final episode of the series, Bridget explores money and being super rich - to see if that will make her happier. Will auditioning for a lucrative TK Maxx commercial and playing a Capitalists vs Marxists Board game with former Labour leader Ed Miliband enlighten Bridget over the happiness that lots of money could bring her? Could being super rich be the answer to all Bridget's problems and bring her inner calm? Or will life still be completely rubbish?
Stand-up show recorded in front of a studio audience at the BBC Radio Theatre.
Written by and Starring: Bridget Christie.
Producers: Simon Nicholls and Alison Vernon-Smith.
A BBC Studios Production.
The crew of HMS Troutbridge are all at sea when the island base is closed.
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 Lt Commander Stanton, Heather Chasen as Heather and Tenniel Evans as AS Goldstein.
Laughs afloat aboard British Royal Navy frigate HMS Troutbridge. The Navy Lark ran for an impressive thirteen series between 1959 and 1976.
Scripted by Lawrie Wyman.
Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in November 1960.
Master Spy Kenneth Horne probes why Wilfred Pickles is barking. Plus Bona home-styling from Julian and his friend Sandy.
With Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee.
Recorded at the BBC's Paris Studio in Lower Regent Street, London. Announcer: Douglas Smith
Round The Horne was born out of the demise of BBC radio comedy Beyond Our Ken, after the end of writer Eric Merriman's involvement. Using the same cast and producer, Barry Took and Marty Feldman were persuaded to write the scripts - which led to four series that ran between 1965 and 1968 - packed full of parodies, recurring characters, catchphrases and double-entendres.
Music by Edwin Braden and the Hornblowers and The Fraser Hayes Four.
Producer: John Simmonds
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in May 1965.
Roy Plomley chairs as Eleanor Summerfield and Gillian Reynolds battle David Nixon and Tim Rice in the panel game to spot mistakes.
With some tune-twisters from Steve Race.
Devised and written by Ian Messiter.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1978.
A good reason for getting a piercing - and a prediction of reality TV going over the top...
Sketch show with a mature edge, written and performed by people who've lived a bit.
Stars Eleanor Bron, Graeme Garden, Neil Innes, Paula Wilcox, Clive Swift and Roger Blake.
Written by Graeme Garden, Neil Innes, Julie Balloo, Ramone Towers, Chris Thompson, Peter Reynolds, John Dowie, Peter Spence, Colin Bostock-Smith, Ronnie Golden and Andrew Nickolds.
Music by Ronnie & The Rex.
Producer: Helen Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2002.
John Godber's comedy was commissioned for the Hull 1992 Festival. 25 years on, John and Jane Godber revisit the roles they played in the original stage production. Bet wins a 'Romantic Break' in Paris and drags a reluctant Al along with her as they sample life outside England for the first time.
Directed by Toby Swift
April in Paris is the third of John Godber's stage plays to come to BBC Radio 4 following September in the Rain (2011) and Happy Jack (2015). All three have been performed by Jane and John, just as the original theatre productions were. In 2015 they toured the UK together in a new play, Shafted!, for The John Godber Company, in partnership with Theatre Royal Wakefield. A radio version will come to Radio 4 in March.
In search of a rural idyll a couple buy a farm in Cornwall but it turns out to be a property with a recent 'history'. Read by Nicholas Farrell.
Winston Graham was one of the most successful and prolific novelists of the 20th century. He wrote in many genres but his best known body of work was undoubtedly the 12 historical novels set in Cornwall at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries which became known as The Poldarks.
Although it's the Poldarks that brought Winston Graham the most fame, he also wrote more than 30 other novels, six of which have been filmed including the thriller, Marnie directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1964.
This selection celebrates the range of his work and offers a glimpse into the enduring appeal of his most famous characters, Ross and Demelza who are set to return to BBC screens in a new adaptation.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by The Waters Partnership.
Chopin in Manchester by Jim Poyser
Chopin's agent gets him a gig in England to escape the revolting peasants in Paris. Except it isn't London, it's Manchester. And to top it all, his host is a porky philistine and his hostess has the hots for Polish pianists. A rollicking romp of what happens when a cosmopolitan artiste meets the industrial revolution.
Director/Producer Gary Brown
Based on a true event, Jim Poyser has created a zany comedy about how Chopin might have reacted to industrial Manchester and its citizens. Jim Poyser is a well known comedy writer and TV producer. He has written countless comedies for Radio 4 including co-writing 'Everyone Quite Likes Justin' and has recently produced the Sue Perkins vehicle 'Heading Out' currently running on BBC 2.
Chopin is played by Neil Stuke, best known for his starring roles in 'Game on' and 'Silk'.
If the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, how can they remain silent? Damian Lewis begins reading A Delicate Truth, the brand new novel from the master of his genre, John le Carré, a novel which tells the story of a good man who must choose between his conscience and his duty to the Service.
An undercover counter-operation in the British colony of Gibraltar; a middle-ranking man from the Foreign Office serving as 'eyes on' and reporting to an ambitious Minister; the aim to capture a jihadist arms-buyer - the success, assured.
But back in the UK a junior officer has his doubts and commits an unthinkable act. Three years on, he will find himself facing an impossible choice. In a journey that will take him from Cornwall to Wales via murky secrets in the depths of Whitehall, Toby Bell will try to find out the truth about the night on the Rock and bring it the attention and justice it deserves.
Tonight: Breaking Every Rule - Toby takes an irrevocable step.
John le Carré was born in 1931 and attended the universities of Bern and Oxford. He taught at Eton and served briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. For the last fifty years he has lived by his pen. He divides his time between London and Cornwall.
Damian Lewis is a British actor best known for his role as Nicholas Brody in Homeland. His many credits include Band of Brothers, Life and The Forsyte Saga.
The reader is Damian Lewis
The abridger is Sally Marmion
The producer is Di Speirs.
When the Grimm brothers first published their Children's and Household Tales in 1812, in a scholarly effort to collate a national identity of the people, it was the beginning of an obsessive project of two intricately interwoven lifetimes.
To mark the bicentenary of the first edition, writer and mythographer Marina Warner explores the many compelling and often controversial aspects of the tales in a 10-part series, revealing new insights into the stories we think we know so well, and introducing us to the charms and challenges of those that we don't.
Alongside beautifully narrated extracts from the tales themselves, renowned academics and artists who work closely with the Grimm's rich heritage add to our understanding of these deceptively complex stories.
In the third episode we enter the magical worlds of the fairy tale, immersing ourselves in the spellbound transformations, landscapes and objects that have charmed generations. When magic rubs against the grain of reality and the impossible is naturalised, the stories' unique character comes alive.
Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
With no more loans, Little Nell's grandfather is agitated. But who betrayed him? Dickens dramatisation with Trevor Peacock.
Leo Tolstoy's passionate search for the meaning of life. Can the search for God help to provide an answer? Read by Joss Ackland. From February 1993.
Ambassador B should be inspecting minor planets of far-away suns for the peaceful Interplanetary Commonwealth. Instead, her recorded reports reveal that she is veering off-course, pursuing a vendetta and bringing anything but peace.
Mind-bending, interstellar fun and adventure from Sony Gold-winning writer Ed Harris.
3/5 She may have hired a gun-slinging companion, but Ambassador B is about to be disarmed in a way she never dreamed of.
Produced and Directed by Jonquil Panting.
An unsightly building in the grounds of a country house harbours an ancient, irresistible secret. Read by Tony Doyle.
Dudley Moore shares those musical moments which stir his emotions with Jeremy Nicholas.
From Duke Ellington to Bach, the comic actor and musician also looks back over his life and career.
Producer: Andrew Hussett
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1992.
The impression show that imagines alternative lives for famous people. Each episode takes place over one day, with stories unfolding and overlapping from morning to night.
In this third series the team of Jon Culshaw, Lewis MacLeod, Julian Dutton, Duncan Wisbey, Margarter Cabourn-Smith, Jessica Robinson is joined by Debra Stephenson.
In this series, Professor Brian Cox finds himself the object of excessive female attention, from, amongst others, Kirsty Young and the Queen. Al Pacino reveals his alternative life as a balloon twister. Ed Miliband spends a whole day trying to get a batman costume for his son, Peter Sallis discovers a new form of energy, and President Obama becomes a pearly king.
The show is written by Bill Dare, Julian Dutton, and Duncan Wisbey.
It's produced by Bill Dare.
Episode synopsis for ep 1
In this episode, the Arch Bishop of Canterbury tries Tweeting for the first time, with disastrous results. Professor Brian Cox finds himself stalked by various women, including the Queen. Al Pacino is a balloon twister, and Princess Anne reveals her secret life as a trainspotter.
Danny Robins harnesses the power of music to improve the world and solve listeners' problems.
Danny helps the worst five-a-side football team in the country and boosts the confidence of a listener who, at under five feet tall, feels that the world is heightist. With Isy Suttie and special musical guest Connie Fisher.
Sean Foley and Hamish McColl board Boris' Disco Ship to convert offshore ravers into fresh, young listeners. From June 2000.
Watson's old school friend faces certain ruin if a secret government document can't be found. Can they great detective help..?
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 was first published in 1893. Adapted by Michael Hardwick.
With Norman Shelley as Dr John Watson, Peter Hamilton Dyer as Percy Phelps, George Hagan as Lord Holdhurst, Charles Simon as Tangey, Kenneth Dight as Constable/Detective Forbes, Freda Dowie as Ada Tangey, Kathleen Helme as Mrs Hudson, Robert Corder as Joseph Harrison, Cecile Chevreau as Annie Harrison and June Tobin as Mrs Tangey.
Producer: Martyn C Webster
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in May 1960.
Part of BBC Radio 4 Extra's line-up for INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2018:
BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet meets the redoubtable Shukria Barakzai, Afghanistan's ambassador to Norway. Shukria was appointed a member of the 2003 loya jirga, a body of representatives from all over Afghanistan that was nominated to discuss and pass the new constitution after the fall of the Taliban. In the October 2004 elections she was elected as a member of the House of the People or Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of the National Assembly of Afghanistan. She was one of only a handful of female MPs to speak up for women's rights, and faced death threats for her views. In November 2014 she was injured in a suicide attack on a convoy in which she was travelling in Kabul.
This five-part series features in-depth interviews with remarkable women about the relationship between women and democracy, on the 100th anniversary of the first time British women won the vote. Lyse travels across the globe, meeting women from Iceland Liberia, Northern Ireland and Saudi Arabia to discover that the victory of 1918 in Britain has continued to resonate through the century. She hears reflections from some of the world's most influential women's rights activists, including former presidents, and shares her own experiences in reporting from some of the most troubled regions.
Producer: Ben Carter
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018.
Gemma Cairney's hero from the BBC archives, the BBC's first black female programme maker, Una Marson.
With a new baby on the way, it's time for some house improvements.
So, against their friends' advice, Daniel and Lucy hire a 'reassuringly middle-class' builder called Nigel...
David Spicer's comedy drama about modern life and parenthood, as seen through the eyes of two 30-something non-parents.
Starring David Tennant as Daniel, Liz Carling as Lucy, Tracy-Ann Oberman as Katie, Tony Gardner as Andy, Joanna Brookes as Alison, Robert Harley as Peter, Bill Bailey as Nigel and Polly Frame as the Doctor.
Producer: Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2003.
Part of BBC Radio 4 Extra's line-up for INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2018:
Comedian Deborah Frances-White tells the true life story of her search for her birth mother.
Deborah is Australian but now living in London. With the vocal assistance of Thom Tuck, Alex Lowe, and Celia Pacquola, she ploughs through Google and Facebook to seek out her long lost family before finally hiring a private detective.
Deborah soon uncovers clues that lead her to the discovery of a genuine relative - her aunt - but not before some odd detours, including possibly being related to a one-armed champion pole dancer.
Eventually, contact is made with Deborah's real mother, Devon, and she must ask the awkward question - why was she given away?
Producer: Alan Nixon
A So Radio production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2015.
Can Kate and George organise their baby Helen's Christening?
Richard Briers and Prunella Scales star in their second series based on the mutual love and mistrust of a young married couple.
Originating on BBC TV, it was adapted for radio due to its popularity by Richard Waring from his own TV scripts.
A decade later, Richard Briers was starring as Tom Good in The Good Life whilst Prunella Scales starred as Sybil in Fawlty Towers. They remained friends until Richard Briers' death in 2013.
Producer: Charles Maxwell
Recorded at the BBC Paris Studio in London.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in April 1967.
Neddie Seagoon learns he is the rightful owner of New York and sets off to reclaim his land. Stars Harry Secombe. From November 1955.
"It's Your Round" is the comedy panel show where the format is simple: there is no format. Instead, each of the panellists has brought along their own round for the others to play, meaning that each show is unique, untried, and unpredictable.
This episode Foster's award winner in Edinburgh this year, Russell Kane, Josie Long, Alun Cochrane and Milton Jones battle it out to see who can beat each other at their own games.
Enjoy the hilarity that ensues when each of them play the games they've brought along. How will the teams fare when they play Russell Kane's "Mood News" round? What superhero would Milton Jones like to be? And what is josie Long's "Nine Previous Convictions" all about? Find out the answers to these questions and more in this show.
Angus Deayton is the host valiantly trying to make sure everyone comes out of it with their reputations intact.
Writers: Angus Deayton and Paul Powell
Devised by Benjamin Partridge
Producer: Sam Michell.
Bingo's in love again, so Bertie and his valet are summoned to help.
PG Wodehouse romp dramatised by Chris Miller from the book.
Starring Richard Briers as Bertie Wooster and Michael Hordern as Jeeves.
With Jonathan Cecil as Bingo Little, Edwin Apps as Steggles and Denise Bryer as the Kid/Girl.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1973.
Shazia Mirza's hero from the BBC archives, US comedian Joan Rivers.
A brilliant, penniless, pianist gets a job as tutor to the daughter of a wealthy Russian oligarch living in London and is sucked into a world of obsession and chance.
A modern-day take on Dostoevsky's The Gambler, by writer/actor Dolya Gavanski, with Ed Stoppard, Matthew Marsh and Graham Seed.
The Russian Gambler is Dolya Gavanski's first drama for Radio 4. As an actor she worked with Steve Coogan and Michael Winterbottom on The Trip and with Angelina Jolie in the Bosnian film In the Land of Milk and Honey. Her radio work includes The Mumbai Chuzzlewits, The Bid and UTZ for Radio 4 and Massistonia on Radio 3.
Casting: Toby Whale,
Script Editor: Mike Walker,
Sound Design: Steve Bond.
Original music composed by Sacha Puttnam.
All music performed by Sacha Puttnam.
Directed and Produced by John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.
Part of BBC Radio 4 Extra's line-up for INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2018:
Jane Garvey investigates the stories behind landmark moments in the history of the female voice on radio and TV.
It's 1970 and Annie Nightingale becomes the first female DJ on BBC Radio 1 and then one of the presenters of BBC TV's The Old Grey Whistle Test. The longest serving DJ on Radio 1, Annie's has been a stellar career, but what is her legacy?
Jane Garvey explores whether Annie's success has made it easier for women to be recognised as a voice of expertise in music broadcasting. We hear from Annie herself, former Radio 1 Controller Johnny Beerling and historian Professor Jean Seaton.
Producer: Jane Reck
An Alfi Media Ltd production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2013.
Aboard an old, draughty train peopled by stateless, drunk Europeans, Travis and Jen are at the end of their relationship.
Armed with a set of poker dice, an extraordinary bottle of vodka and their own disillusion, they play a game to split up Europe between them.
The result - a very funny, very dark adventure into unknown territory.
Lucy Catherine's play stars Craig Kelly as Travis, Katy Cavanagh as Jen and Trevor Peacock as the Big Man.
Producer: Rachel Horan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
If the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, how can they remain silent? Damian Lewis begins reading A Delicate Truth, the brand new novel from the master of his genre, John le Carré, a novel which tells the story of a good man who must choose between his conscience and his duty to the Service.
An undercover counter-operation in the British colony of Gibraltar; a middle-ranking man from the Foreign Office serving as 'eyes on' and reporting to an ambitious Minister; the aim to capture a jihadist arms-buyer - the success, assured.
But back in the UK a junior officer has his doubts and commits an unthinkable act. Three years on, he will find himself facing an impossible choice. In a journey that will take him from Cornwall to Wales via murky secrets in the depths of Whitehall, Toby Bell will try to find out the truth about the night on the Rock and bring it the attention and justice it deserves.
Tonight: Hard Evidence - his worst suspicions confirmed, who can Toby trust now?
John le Carré was born in 1931 and attended the universities of Bern and Oxford. He taught at Eton and served briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. For the last fifty years he has lived by his pen. He divides his time between London and Cornwall.
Damian Lewis is a British actor best known for his role as Nicholas Brody in Homeland. His many credits include Band of Brothers, Life and The Forsyte Saga.
The reader is Damian Lewis
The abridger is Sally Marmion
The producer is Di Speirs.
When the Grimm brothers first published their Children's and Household Tales in 1812, in a scholarly effort to collate a national identity of the people, it was the beginning of an obsessive project of two intricately interwoven lifetimes.
To mark the bicentenary of the first edition, writer and mythographer Marina Warner explores the many compelling and often controversial aspects of the tales in a 10-part series, revealing new insights into the stories we think we know so well, and introducing us to the charms and challenges of those that we don't.
Alongside beautifully narrated extracts from the tales themselves, renowned academics and artists who work closely with the Grimm's rich heritage add to our understanding of these deceptively complex stories.
In the fourth episode, Marina tells the latent truth from the familiar fiction in the tales, identifying the real people and places that some believe to have inspired the Grimms brothers' collection. Was Bluebeard inspired by the real-life serial killer Giles de Rais, a 15th century French lord who served under Joan of Arc? Was Snow White based on truth? Leading academics discuss what these parallels tell us about the dormant human anxieties that transcend time and place.
Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
With Kit banished from the shop, he must set about finding other employment. Dickens dramatisation with Emily Chennery.
Leo Tolstoy's passionate search for the meaning of life. Can reason and belief exist in the same answer? Read by Joss Ackland. From February 1993.
Shazia Mirza's hero from the BBC archives, former chief news correspondent Kate Adie.
Angela Barnes's hero from the BBC archives, comedian Linda Smith.
Gemma Cairney's hero from the BBC archives, musician Erykah Badu.
Ambassador B should be inspecting minor planets of far-away suns for the peaceful Interplanetary Commonwealth. Instead, her recorded reports reveal that she is veering off-course, pursuing a vendetta and bringing anything but peace.
Mind-bending, interstellar fun and adventure from Sony Gold-winning writer Ed Harris.
4/5 Landing on an unknown rock, Ambassador B gets a cheery welcome, dinner and even a movie. Too bad the armrests have handcuffs.
Produced and Directed by Jonquil Panting.
Scholarship boy Jenkins is intimidated by the traditions of his new school. Especially the one involving some bones in boxes. Read by Tony Doyle.
Part of BBC Radio 4 Extra's line-up for INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2018:
Arthur Smith joins political veteran, Baroness Castle of Blackburn as she returns to Pontefract - recalling the inequalities that surrounded her as a child - and the father who pointed them out.
But there's trouble for Arthur when he arrives late...
Barbara Castle (1920-2002)
Producer: Rebecca Moore
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1998.
Made for Four Extra. BBC Radio 4 Extra's topical sketch show Newsjack - the show that anyone can write for - hosted by Angela Barnes.
The best in contemporary comedy. Athena Kugblenu talks to Eleanor Tiernan.
Part of BBC Radio 4 Extra's Comedy Club line-up for INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2018:
Maz Mazoo gets an offer from Radio Fun FM, Madoona, the Asian Madonna is intent on making her mark on Masala FM, and Shanta's sick of the pair of them.
Meera Syal's sitcom about an Asian radio station based in London.
Starring Meera Syal, Nina Wadia, Nitin Sawheny and Sanjeev Bhaskar.
Music by Nitin Sawhney.
Producer: Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1996.
Part of BBC Radio 4 Extra's Comedy Club line-up for INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2018:
Nostalgia is all the rage as Second World War stand-up comic Edie Trinder shares some Blitz humour - and another war hero literally drops in!
Plus tips on relaxation from the Dirty Sloanes and more from the Gory Nuns and the Goatee Beard Men's Group.
Starring Mel Hudson and Vicki Pepperdine.
With Martin Hyder and Jim North.
Scripted by Mel Hudson and Vicki Pepperdine with additional material by Dan Tetsell, Danny Robins, Martin Hyder and Jim North.
Script Editor: Graeme Garden
Producers: Helen Williams and Clare Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2001.
The great detective's brother, Mycroft, needs help to unravel a bizarre case of abduction.
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 was first published in 1893. Adapted by Michael Hardwick.
With Norman Shelley as Dr John Watson, Keith Williams as Mycroft Holmes, George Hagan as Club Porter, Charles Simon as Flat Porter, Jeffrey Segal as Melas, Brian McDermott as Latimer, James Thomason as Kemp, June Tobin as Sophy and Michael Turner as Inspector Gregson.
Producer: Martyn C Webster
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in May 1960.
Lyse Doucet travels to Liberia to talk to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first elected female head of state in Africa.
This five-part series features in-depth interviews with remarkable women about the relationship between women and democracy, on the 100th anniversary of the first time British women won the vote. Lyse travels across the globe, meeting women from Iceland, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and Saudi Arabia to discover that the victory of 1918 in Britain has continued to resonate through the century. She hears reflections from some of the world's most influential women's rights activists, including former presidents, and shares her own experiences in reporting from some of the most troubled regions.
Producer: Ben Carter
Researcher: Louise Byrne.
A vain, ambitious black woman dreams of becoming a chat-show queen.
Lisselle Kayla's 4-part comedy series starring Llewella Gideon as Emerald Green.
With Jonathan Firth and Iwan Thomas.
Director: Pam Fraser Solomon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.
Damien's peace is once again shattered when he is asked to do the food at the funeral of Anthony's maiden aunt. But things become even more complicated when his literary agent is discovered behaving erratically in a branch of Paperchase and Damien has to look after him. Meanwhile, Anthony must prepare a song to sing at the funeral.
Producer: Sam Michell.
Schools debate, Merseyside mariachi and trouble at t'mill.
Starring Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Written by Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden and Simon Brett.
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 Liam Cohen, Dave Lee and Bill Oddie.
Producer: David Hatch/Peter Titheradge
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in May 1968.
Newly qualified lawyer Roger Thursby annoys his girlfriend Sally over a dispute involving a husband and wife.
Starring Richard Briers as Roger Thursby, Terence Alexander as Henry Blagrove, John Glyn-Jones as Grimes, Julia Lockwood as Sally, Ronald Adam as the Chairman and Arthur Mullard as Briggs. All other parts by Sean Arnold, Douglas Blackwell and Patrick Tull.
Written by Henry Cecil and Basil Dawson.
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.
Producer: David Hatch.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1971.
Graeme Garden chairs the debating game featuring Steve Punt, Tony Hawks, Gyles Brandreth and Simon Bates. From July 2000.
On the expedition to Kathmandu, the five travellers hit Europe but mutiny is in the air. Stars David Haig. From June 1996.
A brilliant, penniless, pianist gets a job as tutor to the daughter of a wealthy Russian oligarch living in London and is sucked into a world of obsession and chance.
A modern-day take on Dostoevsky's The Gambler, by writer/actor Dolya Gavanski, with Ed Stoppard, Matthew Marsh and Graham Seed.
The Russian Gambler is Dolya Gavansk's first drama for Radio 4. As an actor she worked with Steve Coogan and Michael Winterbottom on The Trip and with Angelina Jolie in the Bosnian film In the Land of Milk and Honey. Her radio work includes The Mumbai Chuzzlewits, The Bid and UTZ for Radio 4 and Massistonia on Radio 3.
Cast:
Alexei...........Ed Stoppard,
Mikhail..........Matthew Marsh,
Anastasia.....Eleanor Bron,
Polina...........Dolya Gavanski,
Vika..............Isabella Blake Thomas,
Astley...........Graham Seed,
Francois........Orlando Seale,
Katie.............Lucy May Barker,
Mullighan.......Jay Taylor,
Office Worker..Alana Ramsey,
Blake.............Timothy Walker
Casting: Toby Whale,
Script Editor: Mike Walker,
Sound Design: Steve Bond.
Original music composed by Sacha Puttnam.
All music performed by Sacha Puttnam.
Directed and Produced by John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.
Shortly before his death in 2003, Winston Graham wrote a story for the Cornish magazine, Scryfa. He recounts an imaginary meeting with his best-loved and most spirited creation. Read by Ewan Bailey
Winston Graham was one of the most successful and prolific novelists of the 20th century. He wrote in many genres but his best known body of work was undoubtedly the 12 historical novels set in Cornwall at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries which became known as The Poldarks.
Although it's the Poldarks that brought Winston Graham the most fame, he also wrote more than 30 other novels, six of which have been filmed including the thriller, Marnie directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1964.
This selection celebrates the range of his work and offers a glimpse into the enduring appeal of his most famous characters, Ross and Demelza who are set to return to BBC screens in a new adaptation.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by The Waters Partnership.
Summer, 1802. Traumatised Ludwig van Beethoven's life is at crisis point - will he be able to live with his impending deafness?
David Constantine's drama recreates this critical of the German composer and pianist's life, set against a background of the music he was composing at the time.
Starring Robert Glenister as Beethoven, Jamie Glover as Casimir and Anastasia Hille as Juliet.
Violinist: Sue Lynn
Pianist: David Owen Norris
Director: Elizabeth Burke
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
If the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, how can they remain silent? Damian Lewis begins reading A Delicate Truth, the brand new novel from the master of his genre, John le Carré, a novel which tells the story of a good man who must choose between his conscience and his duty to the Service.
An undercover counter-operation in the British colony of Gibraltar; a middle-ranking man from the Foreign Office serving as 'eyes on' and reporting to an ambitious Minister; the aim to capture a jihadist arms-buyer - the success, assured.
But back in the UK a junior officer has his doubts and commits an unthinkable act. Three years on, he will find himself facing an impossible choice. In a journey that will take him from Cornwall to Wales via murky secrets in the depths of Whitehall, Toby Bell will try to find out the truth about the night on the Rock and bring it the attention and justice it deserves.
Tonight: A Ghost from the Past - Sir Christopher Probyn's idyllic retirement is about to be shattered.
John le Carré was born in 1931 and attended the universities of Bern and Oxford. He taught at Eton and served briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. For the last fifty years he has lived by his pen. He divides his time between London and Cornwall.
Damian Lewis is a British actor best known for his role as Nicholas Brody in Homeland. His many credits include Band of Brothers, Life and The Forsyte Saga.
The reader is Damian Lewis
The abridger is Sally Marmion
The producer is Di Speirs.
When the Grimm brothers first published their Children's and Household Tales in 1812, in a scholarly effort to collate a national identity of the people, it was the beginning of an obsessive project of two intricately interwoven lifetimes.
To mark the bicentenary of the first edition, writer and mythographer Marina Warner explores the many compelling and often controversial aspects of the tales in a 10-part series, revealing new insights into the stories we think we know so well, and introducing us to the charms and challenges of those that we don't.
Alongside beautifully narrated extracts from the tales themselves, renowned academics and artists who work closely with the Grimm's rich heritage add to our understanding of these deceptively complex stories.
In the fifth episode, we are drawn into the tales' rich history of illustration. These evocative stories have always stirred vivid images in the minds of artists, from the angular drawings of an early David Hockney to Dickens' Victorian illustrator George Cruikshank. Through these artists' impressions, we paint a new picture of the tales' vital contribution to the long tradition of visual storytelling.
Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
Little Nell is faced with the most important decision of her young life. Dickens dramatisation with Alex Jennings.
Leo Tolstoy's passionate search for the meaning of life. Can simplifying faith give us an answer? Read by Joss Ackland. From February 1993.
Ambassador B should be inspecting minor planets of far-away suns for the peaceful Interplanetary Commonwealth. Instead, her recorded reports reveal that she is veering off-course, pursuing a vendetta and bringing anything but peace.
Mind-bending, interstellar fun and adventure from Sony Gold-winning writer Ed Harris.
5/5 Ambassador B decides to turn in her badge on the next planet she finds. But when she gets there, there's no one to surrender to.
Produced and Directed by Jonquil Panting.
Sounds of a piano played at night lead a father and his son into a confrontation with a malign adversary. Read by Tony Doyle.
John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.
Programme 3, A-side. "The Gift" - 30 years after the band's split, Paul Weller talks about 'The Gift' - the last album for The Jam. The band's only No 1 album, it marked a musical departure from the classic Jam sound to a more soul-influenced style, and it ushered in Weller's ideas for the Style Council. It was an album that didn't just focus on the state of society, it also had a lot to say about where music was going in the 1980s - and it included the classic No 1 'Town Called Malice' as well as 'Running On The Spot' and 'Carnation'. Paul also plays exclusive live versions of some of the tracks on the album.
In the B-side of the programme, it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions and that programme can be heard next Monday at 11.00pm.
Producers: Paul Kobrak & India Rakusen.
Radio 4 Extra explores the world of podcasts and finds the best on offer.
Each week, Amanda Litherland and a guest presenter recommend one or two podcasts from the BBC and beyond. From some of the most popular series, to lesser-known hidden gems, they feature their favourite finds and speak with the people who make them.
This week's guest is broadcaster and podcaster, Geoff Lloyd.
Featuring new BBC podcast Unpopped, and the duo chat to Scroobius Pip about his podcast, Distraction Pieces.
Ian D Montfort is a celebrity spirit medium and psychic, and star of a brand new series for Radio 2. A comedy character created by Tom Binns (the man behind hapless hospital radio DJ Ivan Brackenbury) Ian D Montfort has been a hit at the last three Edinburgh festivals with his combination of magic and laughter.
In each radio show Ian makes contact with the celebrity 'spirit guides' secretly chosen by audience members and reveals personal stories that make them laugh-out-loud one moment and gasp in surprise the next. Each episode features a different celebrity guest who gets a 'private' reading from Ian. This episode stars broadcaster, presenter and cook Hardeep Singh Kohli who attempts to exert his own psychic potential on Ian, and other guests across the series are Ruth Madoc, Angela Griffin and Joe Swash.
More radio ridicule from Alice Arnold and Jon Holmes, including Thought for the Day... for Satanists. From December 2008.
The comedian and comic poet get chatting in the tag talk show, where one week's guest is the following week's interviewer.