Fear of never waking up turns to fear of waking up as Carl starts to stir. Tom Goodman-Hill concludes Alex Garland's novel.

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, the B-side. Having discussed the making of "Rumor And Sigh", not just his most commercially successful album, but also a high point of his career (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 10th June and available online), Richard Thompson responds to questions from the audience. He also performs live versions of some to the tracks from the album as well as classic tracks from his days with Fairport Convention.

Producer: Paul Kobrak.

As Miss Gee persuades Kim to tell all about "Bird in Hand". Wilson plays an unexpected hand and Todd approaches his final hour. Will he take the world with him?

Shaun Prendergast's techo thriller in six-parts stars Siriol Jenkins as Kim Drake, Jack Klaff as Todd, Kenneth Cranham as Stone, Ann Davies as Miss Gee and Jonathan Tafler as DS Love.

Directed by Adrian Bean

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1992.

Julian Maclaren Ross, was an eccentric dissolute dandy - one of those writers who, really did live his life out of suitcase, and whose later career was a spiral of precarious commissions and unpaid debts. Maclaren Ross was portrayed as the saturnine 'X. Trapnel' in Anthony Powell's 'A Dance to the Music of Time'.

He was taken up by the distinguished critic Cyril Connolly, who printed his stories in the celebrated wartime magazine Horizon. His great days were the period 1940 to '45 when he spent 12 hour days in the Soho pubs, before returning home to his squalid bed sits for night long amphetamine fuelled writing sessions. He got called up into the army - see the short story collection The Stuff to Give the Troops - and was eventually court-martialled.

He was a novelist (Of Love and Hunger, 1947), short story writer, journalist and autobiographer (Memoirs of the Forties, published posthumously 1965). His path lay down, and ever down, through poorly-paid hack-work to a series of romantic obsessions that included the stalking of Orwell's widow Sonia, and a premature death, from heart-failure, in 1964. It is a dense, extraordinary story, with overtones both exotic (South of France journeyings) and mundane (door-to-door vacuum cleaner selling in Bognor Regis). In this programme, the writer and critic, David Taylor argues that this rackety Bohemian is ripe to be compared with both Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Powell, both of whom greatly admired him.

David speaks to Powell's son Tristram, who filmed Maclaren Ross for a BBC documentary. We hear from his son, Alex and from his biographer Paul Willetts. Anthony Thwaite remembers working with Maclaren Ross in the 50s, and the writer and agony aunt Virginia Ironside, explains how she raised money to put a head stone on Maclaren Ross's unmarked grave. The programme is presented by David Taylor. The producer is Nicola Swords.

Can Sophia's plan fool her husband and keep her affair a secret? Read by Emma Fielding and William Gaminara.

Clare Balding looks at the role gambling has played in our relationship with sport as she continues her exploration into how Britain made sport and sport made Britain.
Betting has played a crucial role in the way games developed, it gave incentive to competition which in turn necessitated clear rules. Establishing who's won and who's lost is crucial but who managed to have a flutter and where was a matter riven with class distinctions as Clare discovers.
Reader, Sean Baker
Producer: Sara Conkey.

Concluding episode of Zosia Wand's psychological thriller about the devastating impact of a young man's death on his remaining friends.

It is the anniversary of Mark's death. In response to the anonymous summons that they have received, the friends arrive at the treehouse where the truth of what happened on the night of Mark's death finally emerges.

Directed by Nadia Molinari.

The humorist, writer and broadcaster muses on a Victorian novelty, the chance of appearing in Macbeth and home-working.

By James Maw and Tim Sullivan. Rob Brydon is ventriloquist Peter Brough and his doll Archie Andrews in a new play that tells the true story behind one of the most successful radio shows of all time. With Fenella Woolgar as Peggy Brough.

The 1950s BBC Radio show Educating Archie - with 16 million listeners - catapulted the ventriloquist Peter Brough from suburban obscurity to the heights of high society. The Royal Family were fans. His show introduced the world to Eric Sykes (writer), Tony Hancock (Archie's Tutor), Max Bygraves (another tutor) and Julie Andrews (Archie's girlfriend).

After eight years on radio, Educating Archie transferred to television. And yet, one day in 1961, Peter Brough locked the dummy in a suitcase and left him on the top of a wardrobe for forty years until, six years after the ventriloquist's death, Archie Andrews was put up for auction.

His Master's Voice tells the true story of what went wrong in the world of Archie Andrews and Peter Brough.

Written by James Maw and Tim Sullivan

Director and Producer: Jeremy Mortimer
A Cast Iron Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

Graeme Garden chairs the debating game with Gyles Brandreth, Steve Punt, Marcus Brigstocke and Andy Parsons. From July 2001.

John Fuller-Carp gets embroiled in a bet with a rival barrister, and Ruth joins a dating agency. Stars John Bird. From March 1999.

Popular poet Pam Ayres presents her poetry and sketch show. She is joined by Felicity Montagu and Geoffrey Whitehead as they look this week at Autumn.

She looks at subjects such as what to donate to the harvest festival, interesting things to put on a bonfire, checking out retirement homes in the Autumn of one's life and the choosing a suitable evening class for your husband.

Her poems this week include: I Don't Want to Go to School Mum and The Harvest Hymn.

Produced by Claire Jones.

Gaby Roslin hosts the funny, entertaining film quiz with impressions by Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona. This week, team captains John Thomson and Ellie Taylor are joined by special guests Emma Kennedy and Richard Herring.

Presented by Gaby Roslin
Team Captains: John Thomson and Ellie Taylor
Impressionists: Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona
Created by Gaby Roslin
Written by Carrie Quinlan and Barney Newman
Produced by Gordon Kennedy, Gaby Roslin and Barney Newman
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.

Mrs Warren reveals to her daughter the source of her income - and her daughter's true parentage.

George Bernard Shaw's drama examines the issue of Victorian prostitution and double standards.

Starring Maggie Steed as Mrs Warren, Justine Waddell as Vivie, Julian Rhind-Tutt as Frank, Robert Bathurst as Praed, Jonathan Coy as Crofts and Ron Cook as the Reverend Samuel.

With an introduction from Maggie Steed.

Adapted by Shaun McKenna.

Director: Marion Nancarrow

First broadcast on the BBC World Service in 2002.

"You're one of the biggest stirrers round here!"

1972 - 1975: Carry on Abroad - holidays on film and for real - and pondering comedy's future.

The UK's much-loved comic actor and master raconteur, Kenneth Williams concludes his autobiography.

Abridged in ten-parts by David H Godfrey

Producer: Pamela Howe

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1985.

'An artist is a sick person'. Ivor Cutler talks neighbours and art to New Zealand born-sculptor Craig Murray-Orr. From June 1993.

Clement Attlee once claimed that Churchill led Britain to victory in the Second World War through his words. But what influenced these words and their delivery?

The answer lies in a wooden cabinet containing not only Churchill's private collection of gramophone records, but also rare recordings of his unknown speeches.

In this Archive on 4, historian Andrew Roberts joins archivists, historians, musicians, even Churchill's own family, to discover how these rapidly disintegrating discs - some of them over a hundred years old - offer new clues about his oratorical style. Their survival depends on the fast action of the Cambridge archivists in a race against time to digitise them, before they quite literally turn to dust.

The work has turned up some surprising revelations - including a glimpse into Churchill's very own desert island discs. The apparently unmusical Churchill turns out to be someone who treasures songs of satire, humour and intense patriotism. We discover recordings of black swans enjoyed by a nature loving Churchill we rarely see, and then there are those fascinating newly discovered recordings of Churchill's own voice - including the first known recording of him, from the early 20th century.

From these records, Andrew Roberts gleans valuable insights into that famous titan of British oratory - how it was not just his words, but his unique musical delivery that came to reflect and even embody the hopes of a nation.

Producer: Kati Whitaker.
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.

What is deadpan? Comedian Gary Delaney puzzles it out with the help of actor and director Neil Maskell, writer and comedian Diane Morgan, comedy guru Colin Anderson and novelist Marius Brill.

Three hour showcase includes:

** The Sunday Format
Celebrity eaters choose 'Desert Island Biscs'. Radio's posh paper tells all. Featuring Alexander Armstrong and Emma Kennedy. From 2001.

** Stereonation 1/6: Greg, a Kate Bush fan.
Graham Duff fast-forwards through the world of music obsessives. From 1998.

** S-Laughter In the Dark ep 1/4 Blind Man's Buff
In just one night fantasizing blind detective Jack Dunroody becomes a sex starlet's lover and her husband's murderer. And that's without doing or seeing either. From 1996.

Punt and Dennis: It's Been a Bad Week Series 3 (8/8)
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis welcome special guest Leslie Nielsen. Topical comedy from April 2000.

** The Riot That Never Was
In 1926, the fledgling BBC sparked a national panic with a spoof murderous riot in London. Manager, John Reith's reaction was unexpected. Stars Bob Sinfield and Ray Snoddy. From 2005

** What Went Wrong With The Olympics ep 3/4
Written by Ian Hislop & Nick Newman. Made in 2010 - hard-hitting, macho, spoof documentary set in 2014 - exploring the fiasco that WAS the London Olympics. Stars Kevin Eldon. From 2010.

Producer: Martin Dempsey

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in 2014.

Roy Hitchcock is a hack journalist on a provincial paper with big ideas and an attitude problem.

When he meets his former English teacher, his private fantasies get a new lease of life as he sets out to win her against all the odds.

Tony Bagley's romantic comedy drama serial with a twist.

Starring Zoe Wanamaker as Miss Callaghan, Martin Clunes as Roy Hitchcock, Toyah Wilcox as Elsa, David Troughton as Mr Say, Keith Drinkel as Joyce, David Holt as Yeats, Melanie Hudson as Sheila and Geoff McGivern as Dick.

Producer: Paul Schlesinger:

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1993.

Geoff's decision to finally rebel against his domineering Dad doesn't go quite as he'd have liked.

Britain's longest serving PCSO is paired with the laziest in Dave Lamb's sitcom. (Dave is the voice of TV's Come Dine With Me)

Starring Richie Webb (Horrible Histories), Nick Walker and Noddy Holder (from Slade)

Geoff............................Richie Webb
Nigel............................ Nick Walker
The Guv....................... Sinead Keenan
Jermain.........................Leon Herbert
Bernie...........................Chris Emmett
Geoff's Dad.................. Noddy Holder

Producer: Steve Doherty

A Top Dog production for BBC Radio 4.

DCI Alma Blair is found lurking behind the weighing scales at Fat Busters. Determined to be anonymous, she's masquerading as a florist, until someone with murder in mind forces Alma into action. DS Jason Trotter is called to the scene and it seems there's another member of the team about to make a surprise appearance...

Val McDermid's crime series, starring Julie Hesmondhalgh and Jane Hazlegrove, returns to Cranby, where it seems losing weight really can be murder!

Created by Val McDermid. Series 4 written by Shelley Silas

Omnibus - originally broadcast in five-parts.

DCI Alma Blair .... Julie Hesmondhalgh
CSM Jo Black .... Jane Hazlegrove
DS Jason Trotter .... John Hollingworth
Narrator and JP .... Jonathan Keeble
Assistant CSM Mo .... Nitin Kundra
Sue, Jean and Blanche ... Helen Kay

Producer: Justine Potter
Executive Producer: Melanie Harris
A Savvy production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in Jun 2018.

The DJ chooses 'Love Unrequited Robs Me of My Rest' from Iolanthe by Gilbert and Sullivan, and 'Graceland' by Paul Simon.

TV reporter Kenneth Allsop shares his passion for wildlife and conservation with Derek Jones.

The Spotted Crake and Little-Ringed Plover are among his choice of recordings from the BBC Sound Archives.

British broadcaster, Kenneth Allsop (1920 -1973) was also an author and naturalist. During the 1960s, he was regular reporter on the BBC current affairs show 'Tonight'.

Produced in Bristol by John Burton and Michael Bowen.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1971.

"Are these or are these not my underpants..?" Will Roger Ditchley survive his court martial?

A classic tale of struggle, power, personalities and tripe. Bill Tidy and John Junkin's family saga - based on Tidy's Daily Mirror cartoon strip (1971-1985) parodying John Galsworthy's 'The Forsyte Saga' novels.

Starring Stephanie Turner as Rebecca Fosdyke, Philip Lowrie as Josiah Fosdyke, Miriam Margolyes as Victoria Fosdyke, David Threlfall as Tom Fosdyke, Enn Reitel as Albert Fosdyke, Christian Rodska as Roger Ditchley, Trevor Cooper as the Sergeant, David Timson as Schmidt and David Ross as the Judge.

Other parts played by Christopher Barr, Sally Grace and Douglas Blackwell.

Producer: Alan Nixon

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1983.

A mountaineer gets lost in a strange valley in The Andes and finds himself surrounded by a race of sightless people, another is transported to Fairyland - and a third spends his life searching for a lost world behind a door in a white wall in London.

Three mysterious stories of different Utopias by the master of the genre, HG Wells brought together in a single play by Kelvin Segger. A mix of adventure, comedy and suspense.

Stars Paul Webster as Nunez, Christian Rodska as Redmond/Pedro, Gillian Goodman as Agnes Thackeray and Ben Crowe as the Mountaineer and Skelmersdale.

Directed in Birmingham by Peter Leslie Wild.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.

The perfect murder, planned and executed with unerring precision. Unless a rhythmic beating gives it away.

Edgar Allan Poe's short-story read by Brian Gear.

Producer: Pamela Howe

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1987.

Master character comedian Colin Hoult returns to BBC Radio 4 for the second series of his sinister sketch show. Enter the Carnival of Monsters, a bizarre and hilarious world of sketches, stories and characters, presented by the sinister Ringmaster.

A host of characters are the exhibits at the Carnival - all played by Colin himself.

Meet such monstrous yet strangely familiar oddities as: Wannabe Hollywood screenwriter Andy Parker; Anna Mann - outrageous star of such forgotten silver screen hits such as 'Rogue Baker', 'Who's For Turkish Delight' and 'A Bowl For My Bottom'; and a host of other characters from acid jazz obsessives, to mask workshop coordinators.

Writers Guild Award-winner Colin Hoult is best known for his highly acclaimed starring roles in Paul Whitehouse's 'Nurse', 'Being Human', Rickey Gervais' 'Life's Too Short' and 'Derek', and 'Russell Howard's Good News', as well as his many hit shows at the Edinburgh Festival. He has also appeared and written for a number of Radio 4 series including 'The Headset Set' and 'Colin and Fergus' Digi-Radio'.

'Lewis Carol meets The League Of Gentlemen . A beautifully staged masterclass in character comedy' - Time Out
'Comic gold' - Metro
'Delightfully funny' - The Telegraph

Produced by Sam Bryant.

by Jenny Éclair

Jenny Éclair plays a single mother who will stop at nothing to give her son the best education and future. But might she have gone too far?

Producer ..... Sally Avens.

A new series starring Paul Whitehouse and Esther Coles, with Rosie Cavaliero, Simon Day, Cecilia Noble and Marcia Warren.

The series follows Elizabeth, a Community Psychiatric Nurse in her forties, into the homes of her patients (or Service Users in today's jargon). It recounts their humorous, sad and often bewildering daily interactions with the nurse, whose job is to assess their progress, dispense their medication and offer comfort and support.

Compassionate and caring, Elizabeth is aware that she cannot cure her patients, only help them manage their various conditions. She visits the following characters throughout the series:

Lorrie and Maurice: Lorrie, in her fifties, is of Caribbean descent and has schizophrenia. Lorrie's life is made tolerable by her unshakeable faith in Jesus, and Maurice, who has a crush on her and wants to do all he can to help. So much so that he ends up getting on everyone's nerves.

Billy: Billy feels safer in jail than outside, a state of affairs the nurse is trying to rectify. She is hampered by the ubiquitous presence of Billy's mate, Tony.

Graham: in his forties, is morbidly obese due to an eating disorder. Matters aren't helped by his mum 'treating' him to sugary and fatty snacks at all times.

Ray: is bipolar and a rock and roll survivor from the Sixties. It is not clear how much of his 'fame' is simply a product of his imagination.

Phyllis: in her seventies, has Alzheimer's. She is sweet, charming and exasperating. Her son Gary does his best but if he has to hear 'I danced for the Queen Mum once' one more time he will explode.

Herbert is an old school gentleman in his late Seventies. Herbert corresponds with many great literary figures unconcerned that they are, for the most part, dead.

Nurse is written by Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings, who have collaborated many time in the past, including on The Fast Show, Down the Line and Happiness.

Written by Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings with additional material from Esther Coles
Producers: Paul Whitehouse and Tilusha Ghelani
A Down the Line production for BBC Radio 4.

From 10pm to midnight, 7 days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats to Swedish comedian Evelyn Mok.

British comedy legend and star of The Fast Show, Down the Line and Bellamy's People, Simon Day debut's his own Radio 4 character comedy show.

Simon Day and his characters welcome listeners to The Mallard, a small provincial theatre somewhere in the UK. Each week one of Simon's characters come to perform at The Mallard and we hear the highlights of that night's show, along with the back stage and front of house goings on at the theatre itself.

This week 1990s Eco-Warrior Dave Angel (Simon Day), performs at The Mallard Theatre and a confused delivery man arrives with gifts from a star.

Cast list:

Dave Angel / White Van Man ..... Simon Day
Catherine ..... Catherine Shepherd
Goose ..... Felix Dexter
Ron Bone ..... Simon Greenall

Written by Simon Day
Produced by Colin Anderson.

Back where it premiered, Matt Lucas and David Walliams' oddball TV smash hit without the cameras. From March 2001.

Clare returns to her childhood home in Ulverston 19 years after her brother Mark's tragic death. Expecting to put the past behind her, she's shocked to discover the treehouse where it all happened is still there.

What she does causes panic among his remaining friends and the truth of what happened the night that Mark fell to his death finally emerges...

Omnibus of Zosia Wand's psychological thriller about the devastating impact of the death of a teenager on his remaining friends.

Clare.....Joanne Mitchell
Mark.....William Ash
Guy.....Jason Done
Divvie.....Lee Ingleby
India.....Emma Cunniffe
Julie.....Lyndsey Marshal

Director: Nadia Molinari

Originally broadcast in 5-parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

In Edith Pearlman's short story, Tom the student is fitted for a pinstripe suit, which he'll wear to great effect on his Irish travels.

Reader Sara Kestelman
Producer Duncan Minshull.

Kerry Godliman and husband Ben (Ben Abell) decide to sell their house and Kerry reluctantly has to deal with the modern version of Beelzebub - the dreaded estate agent!

Their house sale forces Kerry to finally organise her photo collection and she takes a stroll down memory lane to remember various scenes from her incident filled childhood. She remembers her first date with husband-to-be Ben and has a flashback to her student days with fellow housemates Diane and Rachel.

This week's list includes sketch a self portrait, bleach tash, take kids to cinema and grout! Kerry has to have another chat with her doom laden father Martin who brings her down to earth with a bang as he shares his negative views on house moving.

There's also a chat with best friend Hazel (Bridget Christie) and we find out how stressful it can be choosing a child's name.

The cast includes co-writer David Lane Pusey, Rosie Cavaliero, Lucy Briers, Nicholas Le Prevost, Dominic Frisby, Jen Brister and Melissa Bury.

Producer: Paul Russell
An Open Mike production for BBC Radio 4.

When Kitty hears about Ted's pay rise, she's keen to start splashing out....

Starring Ted Ray.

With Kitty Bluett, Kenneth Connor, Pat Coombs and Laidman Browne.

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 Bernard Botting and Charles Hart.

Music from the BBC Variety Orchestra

Producer: Leslie Bridgmont

First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in January 1960.

A chilling ghost story from Ireland - and Ron and Eth tread the boards in 'The Glums'.

Starring Professor Jimmy Edwards, Dick Bentley, June Whitfield, Alma Cogan and Wallace Eton.

Classic comedy scripted by Frank Muir and Denis Norden.

Music from The Keynotes and the BBC Revue Orchestra with Harry Rabinowitz.

Announcer. David Dunhill

Producer: Charles Maxwell

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in February 1956.

Sue Roe charts the birth of Surrealism in this racy, rackety Paris quartier, abridged for radio by Katrin Williams.

Featured are the lives of famous artists and writers such as Jean Cocteau, Andre Breton, Louis Aragon, and later Salvador Dali, who all gravitated to this place of bars, galleries and nightclubs. That was why Pablo Picasso first moved there..

Reader Tracy Ann Oberman

Producer: Duncan Minshull

First broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.

Fi Glover introduces a conversation between a former soldier and a war photographer, both of them artists, about an incident in Bosnia. Another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

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 learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess.

4 Extra Debut. From Fela Kuti to Monteverdi, garden designer Dan Pearson shares his castaway choices with Kirsty Young. From February 2015.

True stories told live in in the USA: Meg Bowles introduces stories that celebrate things we do in the name of love.

The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling based in the USA. Since 1997, it has celebrated both the raconteur and the storytelling novice, who has lived through something extraordinary and yearns to share it. Originally formed by the writer George Dawes Green as an intimate gathering of friends on a porch in Georgia (where moths would flutter in through a hole in the screen), and then recreated in a New York City living room, The Moth quickly grew to produce immensely popular events at theatres and clubs around New York City and later around the USA, the UK and other parts of the world.

The Moth has presented more than 15,000 stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. The Moth podcast is downloaded over 27 million times a year.

Featuring true stories told live on stage without scripts, from the humorous to the heart-breaking.

The Moth Radio Hour is produced by Jay Allison and Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange.

Series of talks by Sir David Attenborough on the natural histories of creatures and plants from around the world.

David muses on the natural history of the sloth - perhaps the most lethargic beast in the animal world, and one that he has admitted to wanting to be.

As winter approaches, the library roof remains unrepaired and a friendship is about to cross a line forever.

Salley Vickers' lyrical tribute to the power of children's literature,.

Omnibus of the last five of ten parts - written and abridged by Salley Vickers

Read by Barbara Flynn

The acclaimed author of 'Miss Garnet's Angel', 'Where Three Roads Meet' and 'Dancing Backwards' casts her clear psychoanalytic gaze on small town, post-war England. Economic uncertainty and a growing dissatisfaction with old class distinctions cause friction as a recent library graduate comes to a new town determined to open the world of literature to all the local children.

Producer: Eilidh McCreadie

First broadcast in 10-parts on BBC Radio 4 in June 2018.

Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone, from hefty executive bricks that required a separate briefcase to carry the battery to the smart little devices complete with personal assistant we have today.

There are more mobile phones in the world than there are people on the planet: Stephen Fry talks to the backroom boys who made it all possible and hears how the technology succeeded, in ways that the geeks had not necessarily intended.

In episode two, Stephen Fry meets the men who brought mobile phones to Britain. Thanks to Margaret Thatcher opening up the airwaves, Britain became a world leader in mobile phone technology in the eighties. Vodafone (short for voice-data-phone) competed fiercely with the BT's mobile baby, Cellnet (short for cellular network), to create the first mobile phone network in the UK which was launched to great fanfare on Christmas Day 1985. Coverage was truly patchy, handsets were seriously hefty and calls cost a fortune, but mobile phones quickly replaced car phones as the ultimate yuppie accessory. Voicemail, incidentally, was a good excuse to charge customers yet more for a service that was, in reality, rather poor..

Producer: Anna Buckley.

Angel Maker by Carine Adler

When penniless Hungarian Lili arrives in London with her young daughter, she is determined to use whatever means available to make the arrangement with her rich boyfriend Sam more permanent. A passionate tale of money, sex and the power they bring, set in 1950s London.

Producer/Director Charlotte Riches

Angel Maker is set in mid 1950s, post war London, a time when women had few choices and would be lost without a man to protect them. This was especially true for immigrants like Lili Weiss, a penniless, Jewish Hungarian, who comes to London with her young daughter Rosie in the hope of securing a brighter future for herself and her daughter by marrying Sam, a man whom she had a passionate affair with just after the war. As a development entrepreneur, Sam is rich and powerful and is making a name for himself in the higher echelons of London society. As a Jewish immigrant with no family and no money Lili is at the opposite end of this spectrum. Lili must use her sexuality and charm to encourage Max to go against the prejudice of London society and his own family to take her as his wife.

Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive with 'The Sonnet and The Sword'.

Peggy Reynolds explores the world of the Elizabethan Court, through the poetry written by its courtiers - evoking a world where rivalry between them was common, and flattering the Queen often involved much spectacle.

Poetry during the reign of Elizabeth I developed into a national literature, with courtiers as the elite consumers judging literary developments, and often being at the forefront of innovations themselves.

Professor Steven May discusses the merits of this output, which often influenced those outside the court, such as Shakespeare. Dr Susan Doran helps examine the bigger picture, including religious intolerance, the war with Spain, and concern over the royal succession. These national themes are very present in the poetry of the court.

Producer: Luke Whitlock

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.

1849: Mr Higgins appears every inch the perfect jovial gentleman.

But his strange manners - not to mention a tendency to disappear - suggest a less ordinary source for his comfortable lifestyle.

Elizabeth Gaskell's collection of intriguing "true" tales dramatised by Sally Hedges.

Stars Elizabeth Spriggs as Mrs Gaskell, Angela Thorne as Miss Pratt, Michael Lumsden as Higgins, Peter Jeffrey as Squire Hearn and Michael Tudor Barnes as Sir Harry.

With Andrew Harrison, Simon Carter, Brett Usher, Jonathan Wyatt and Nick Aikens.

Producer: Nigel Bryant

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.

A nightwatchman takes on a new job, but is he prepared for anyone he might meet? Read by Robert Lang.

A faculty fracas with an old rival helps re-ignite the author's career. Stars Christopher Douglas. From February 2005.

From 10pm to midnight, 7 days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats to Swedish comedian Evelyn Mok.

The meddling social worker takes a homeless survey, and Brian arranges a stag night. Stars Sally Phillips. From September 2005.

1997 Eurovision winner Katrina Leskanich visits the Sheffield singer, but wife Mary gets the ironing board out. From March 2000.

Robert Forester is now living in Langley, Pennsylvania, after a messy divorce.

He's escaped his oppressive wife and has no need to see a psychiatrist again.So why is he outside Jenny Theirolf's house, watching her every move?

Patricia Highsmith's intriguing tale of obsession stars John Sharian as Robert Forester, Adrian Lester as Greg Wyncoop, Joanne McQuinn as Jenny Theirolf and Matt Rippy as Jack Neilsen.

Adapted by Shaun McKenna.

Music composed and performed by David Chitton

Director: Marion Nancarrow

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.

eden ahbez is one of those extraordinary characters. His name is not well known but his story and influence are considerable. Credited with having singlehandedly initiated the hippy movement twenty years before it was to arrive in San Francisco in the early 1960s, ahbez was a songwriter who is now known for only one song. But what a song: 'Nature Boy'.

Living a sort of gypsy life from sometime in the 1940s, he travelled around in sandals, wore shoulder-length hair and a beard, and was draped in white robes. He camped out below the first L in the Hollywood sign above Los Angeles, studied Oriental mysticism, and claimed to live on three dollars a week.

The impetus for this lifestyle came from his time in Los Angeles in the early 40s, when he was playing piano in a small raw food restaurant. The cafe was owned by German immigrants who were influenced by the Wandervogel movement in Germany. Their followers were known as 'Nature Boys'. It was during this period that he adopted the name 'eden ahbez', claiming that only God was worthy of capital letters.

'Nature Boy' was a huge success for Nat King Cole, though it has had a long and continuing life since that first million selling hit. It has been covered by hundreds of artists of every genre, and Baz Luhrmann made it the central focus of "Moulin Rouge". We explore the background to the song, set it against the context of ahbez's philosophy and lifestyle, and hear from those who knew ahbez, including Wandervogel expert Dan Dailey, writer on the origins of the hippy movement, Gordon Kennedy and the last of the singing cowboys, jazz singer Herb Jeffries.

Producer: Neil Rosser
A Ladbroke production for BBC Radio 4.

Can hack journalist Roy impress his former English teacher, Jane by joining a green pressure group?

Tony Bagley's romantic comedy drama serial with a twist.

Starring Zoe Wanamaker as Miss Callaghan, Martin Clunes as Roy Hitchcock, Toyah Wilcox as Elsa, David Troughton as Mr Say, Nicky Henson as Chad, Sue Roderick as Wyn, Steve Hodson as Pavarotti, David Holt as Yeats, Melanie Hudson as Helen and Geoff McGivern as Dick.

Producer: Paul Schlesinger:

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1993.

The 69th series of Radio 4's multi award-winning 'antidote to panel games' promises yet more quality, desk-based entertainment for all the family. The series starts its run at the City Varieties Music Hall in Leeds where regulars Barry Cryer and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined on the panel by Tony Hawks and Caroline Quentin, with Jack Dee as the programme's reluctant chairman. Regular listeners will know to expect inspired nonsense, pointless revelry and Colin Sell at the piano.

Producer - Jon Naismith.

It is a BBC Studios production.

The lad's hopes for a night of dance at London's Covent Garden don't quite go to plan.

Starring Tony Hancock, Sidney James, Bill Kerr 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 October 1956.

Shady lawyer Waldorf T Flywheel is collecting for "charity" in a seasonal scam.

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, Graham Hoadly and Vincent Marzello.

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 August 1992.

Sue Perkins puts Dave Gorman, Richard Herring, Rebecca Front and Dominic Lawson through the moral and ethical wringer in the panel show spotlighting the choices bombarding us in Britain today, as well as some more theoretical problems.

Would you provide an alibi to someone you hate? Would you confront an elderly relative about casual racism at a family gathering?", and what are the relative merits of Silvio Berlusconi, Vlad the Impaler, L. Ron Hubbard and Amanda Holden?

There are no "right" answers - but there are some deeply damning ones.

Devised by Danielle Ward.

Producer: Ed Morrish.

No true gentleman would speak Welsh, but Beau Nash finds that revealing his roots is the only way to secure a fortune

Arnold Evans' six-part sitcom.

Starring David Bamber as Beau Nash, Eiry Thomas as Annie, Rosamund Shelley as Lady Huntingdon, Alice Arnold as Fanny, Iestyn Jones as Pryderi and Stevie Parry as Widow Perkins.

Composer: John Hardy.

Directed at BBC Wales by Alison Hindell

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1999.

1/2. Resurrection

Robert Forrest's dramatisation of Leo Tolstoy's last major work.

Katerina Maslova is a young prostitute on trial for the murder of one of her clients. Serving on the jury, Prince Dmitri recognises the young woman as the girl he seduced many years before. Believing himself partly responsible for her predicament, he embarks upon a complex legal attempt to reverse the sentence passed upon her.

Katerina Maslova ...... Katherine Igoe
Dmitri Nikhloydov ...... Richard Dillane
Lydia Menshova ...... Vivienne Dixon
Vera Bogovskaya ...... Joanna Tope
Princess Marya ...... Lesley Hart
Anatoly Krylstov/Rizin ...... Joe Arkley
Gudz/Makar Dyerkin ...... John Buick

Directed by Lu Kemp.

An overheard argument in a French hotel exposes the fragility of a honeymooning couple's own relationship.

Read by Joanna David.

Elizabeth Taylor's collection of short stories abridged by Richard Hamilton

Producer: Emma Harding

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003.

To escape their children who won't leave home, Kenneth and Clare move to a smaller house - with no space for visitors.

But the couple are soon plagued by former residents and visitors - unaware that the previous owner Mrs Hooper has departed...

Martyn Wade's comedy starring David Troughton as Kenneth and Barbara Flynn as Clare.

With Margaret Tyzack as Mrs Hooper, Richenda Carey as Miss Grainger-Taylor, Jonathan Keeble as Mr Norton, Wayne Foskett as Maurice, Harry Myers as George and Colleen Prendergast as Jill.

Production note:

'A Home of Their Own' was due to be recorded on location in a house used for a number of Martyn's previous plays, but which had become too noisy for period plays.

Ironically during the recording, the cast and crew had to decamp to a studio as severe building work at both the back and front of the house made the recording inaudible. Perhaps the house was having the last word..?

Producer: Cherry Cookson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005.

Sophia and Jan's plan to conceal their affair now depends on tulip mania in Amsterdam.

Deborah Moggach's bestselling story of passion set during 17th century Holland's tulip mania.

Read by Emma Fielding and William Gaminara.

First published in 1999. Abridged in ten parts by Elizabeth Bradbury.

Producer: Sarah Johnson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1999.

Clare Balding continues her investigation into how sport shaped Britain and Britain shaped sport.
In this weeks programmes she looks at how sport unites us all when we get behind out national teams and no more so, than when the character of that team can be personified by one person.
If there's one sport that embodies Englishness, it's cricket and in this programme she looks at how and why W.G.Grace, in the nineteenth century and Jack Hobbs, in the twentieth, became the epitome of a national sporting hero. Clare visits Lords Cricket ground and the Oval to discover more.
She also talks to Professor Richard Holt from The International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University, Simon Rae, a biographer of W.G.Grace and broadcaster David Rayvern Allen. The readers are:Jo Munro and Brian Bowles.
The programme is produced in Birmingham by Garth Brameld.

Series One (5 episodes)
Episode One

It's 1908 and Bruce and Edith, The Little Ottleys, as they were called, live in a very new, very small, very white flat in Knightsbridge. And so begins Ada Leverson's witty and wonderful social comedy set in Edwardian London and dramatised in five episodes by Martyn Wade.

Ada Leverson............Haydn Gwynne
Bruce.......................Bertie Carvel
Edith........................Juliet Aubrey
Hyacinth...................Alex Tregear
Cecil........................Stuart McLoughlin
Anne........................Jane Whittenshaw
Eugenia....................Joanna Monro

Directed By Tracey Neale

London, 1908. The pretty and delightful Edith Ottley is married to pompous Bruce. She adores her son, Archie and thinks herself content with her life in the very new, very concise, very white flat in Knightsbridge but often thought that if Hyacinth Verney wasn't a friend, life would be very dull. The beautiful and wealthy Hyacinth is in love with Cecil Reeve but it appears he is love with someone else. Is Hyacinth's heart destined to remain broken? As Edith ponders on Hyacinth's dilemma she finds her own heart suddenly beating that bit faster when she meets the clever, charming and very handsome Aylmer Ross. As the story builds the physical attraction between the two is electric. They could be the perfect couple but Edith can't dismiss the fact she is Mrs. Ottley. However, as we will discover, there is more to Bruce than meets the eye and when Edith discovers this fact, will that help to change her mind?

The listener will wonder why Edith is married to Bruce but as Bruce's pomposity and fatuousness come up against Edith's quiet responses and ironic questioning they will enjoy the moments of absurdity and admire Edith's stoicism and will her to make the right decision.

The dramatisation by Martyn Wade comes from three short novels written by Ada Leverson between 1908 and 1916. The novels are 'Love's Shadow', 'Tenterhooks' and 'Love At Second Sight' but in 1962 they were grouped together under the title of 'The Little Ottleys'.

The Writer
Ada Leverson was a contemporary and friend of Oscar Wilde. His nickname for her was 'The Sphinx' and he called her 'the wittiest woman in England'. She wrote six novels, each a classic comedy of manners. The three which make up 'The Little Ottleys' are perfect examples of her wit and style. Her world of marriage and married life with all its mysteries and absurdities is as relevant to today's world as it was in her own. She married at the young age of nineteen to Ernest Leverson and had two children but it was an unhappy marriage and he left her to start a new life in Canada and it was after this that she began to write her novels. Elements of her own life experiences evident within her writing.

The Dramatist
Martyn Wade is a skilled and talented radio writer and dramatist. He has wanted to adapt 'The Little Ottleys' for a long time and has a sure and dry comic touch which is ideal for this dramatisation. Martyn dramatised the 'Barsetshire' novels for radio and the 'Palliser' series too. His most recent Trollope dramatisations have been 'Orley Farm' and 'Miss Mackenzie'.

In Paris, Proust sets out in search of lost time in a sound-proofed study, Stravinsky creates musical mayhem, and Duchamp finds a wheel; in Prague, Einstein yearns for Elsa and Kafka for Felice; in Munich, Lulu is banned, and Münter captures her Klee; in Vienna, Freud falls out with Jung, and Stalin and Hitler stroll, and maybe meet, in the grounds of a palace.

This is Europe in 1913 - the year before the storm. Florian Illies captures a world on the edge of a cataclysm, in which armies are enlarged and and nationalistic lines are drawn.

But Illies' snapshots are of a Europe, though laden with premonition, that is still vibrant and creative. The Futurists, Fauvists and Expressionists are redefining art; Proust and Joyce are reshaping literature; Freud and Jung are battling their way through the subconscious; Stravinsky has tapped a primative nerve in music; and Einstein is, well, Einstein.

The anecdotes and observations embrace Picasso, Braque, the Mona Lisa (mostly missing), Thomas Mann, Duchamp, Franz Ferdinand, Kirchner, Klee, Klimt, Kandinsky, Kafka, Wedekind, Einstein, King George V, Stalin, Hitler, Redl, Machu Picchu, Münter and many more.

Florian Illies trained as an art historian at Bonn and Oxford. He was editor of FAZ's 'Berliner Seiten' and the arts section of 'Die Ziet', and he co-founded the arts magazine 'Monopol'. He is currently a managing partner at the fine art auction house Villa Grisebach in Berlin. 1913: The Year Before The Storm has so far sold over 200,000 copies in Germany.

Writer: Florian Illies
Translators: Shaun Whiteside and Jamie Lee Searle

Reader: Michael Maloney
Abridger: Pete Nichols

Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

Roland, Helen, David and Nicholas Watson have escaped to Manchester to avoid helping out at their house move. After a detour down a creepy backstreet, they come upon a derelict church and a mysterious fiddle player.

Little do the children know that chance didn't bring them there, but a prophecy hundreds of years old. One by one they realise that the church isn't all it seems, as the fabric of time and space opens and they are propelled into the dying and strange world of Elidor...

Alan Garner's classic fantasy adventure dramatised in four-parts by Don Webb.

Stars Mossie Cassidy as Roland, Raffey Cassidy as Helen, William Rush as Nicholas, Stephen Hoyle as David, Toby Hadoke as Malebron and Fiona Clarke as Mrs Watson.

Original music composed by Ian Williams

Directed at BBC Manchester by Charlotte Riches.

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in April 2011.

Martha Kearney and her guests - writer, broadcaster and documentary film-maker, Sarfraz Manzoor and lawyer and literary critic, Anthony Julius - discuss favourite books by Carl Hiaasen, Philip Roth and George Du Maurier. From 2006.

Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen
Publisher: Pan

American Pastoral by Philip Roth
Publisher: Vintage

Trilby by George Du Maurier
Publisher: Oxford World's Classics.

Arthur and Fenchurch return home to England, having discovered from Wonko the Sane that their gifts of mysterious grey glass bowls emit a message from the dolphins when pinged, viz., 'This Bowl Is Brought To you By the Campaign To Save the Humans. We Bid You Farewell'. Hitching a fortuitous ride aboard Rob McKenna's All Weather Haulage lorry from Heathrow, they arrive at Arthur's cottage in Somerset where Ford Prefect sleeps soundly on a sofa, having left a trail of havoc leading back to a huge Flying saucer in which he arrived and which has flattened most of Knightsbridge, London.

The saucer's pilot is a one-hundred foot high Xaxisian Robot who has somehow been led to believe that Bournemouth is one of the most exciting places to visit in the known universe. Having entirely failed either to be taken to a lizard (its preferred negotiating counterpart) or to find anything of interest in Bournemouth, it has decided to leave, and Arthur, Ford and Fenchurch hitch a ride off Earth with the help of the 'Share And Enjoy' novelty ringtone-equipped Sirius Cybernetics phones which Ford liberated on his travels.

As the ship coasts into deep space Arthur and Ford debate why Earth has reappeared and Arthur suggests the answer must be that Earth must exist in several parallel universes. Each time one Earth is destroyed, another takes its place. This may explain the strange existence of not one but two Trillians in his current existence - one, the girl he met at a party in Islington, the other a blonder, earthbound and more American version who goes by Trillian's original name, Tricia MacMillan.

Arthur and Fenchurch voyage to Preliumtarn, where Prak The Truthful said that God's Last Message To His Creation could be found. This, Fenchurch is sure, will help her come to terms with the experience she had in a cafe in Rickmansworth when it seemed as if the Earth exploded. On the way they encounter Marvin The Paranoid Android, now a rusted shell of his former self making a final pilgrimage. Together they help Marvin to where the message can be seen, and it proves to read ""We Apologise For The Inconvenience"". This satisfies Marvin so much that he promptly and poignantly expires on the spot.

Slightly sadder but a little wiser, leaving Preliumtarn to go on a tour of the Galaxy, Arthur and Fenchurch board a slumpjet which makes a routine hyperspace jump. Routine in all aspects except the very important one which involves Fenchurch suddenly not existing at all in Arthur's universe just as the jump occurs.

Arthur has lost the love of his life. His unhappiness is complete.

The topical satirical show that mixes political vituperation with media mauling and celebrity savaging.

Britain tries to cope with an onslaught of good sporting news and relentlessly pleasant weather. And explores the new ways in which Boris Johnson manages to disappear at crucial moments.

The series is written by Private Eye writers Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain, together with Tom Coles, Ed Amsden, Sarah Campbell, Laurence Howarth, James Bugg, Laura Major, Max Davis and others.

The series stars Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis MacLeod, Debra Stephenson and Duncan Wisbey.

A BBC Studios Production.

A double dose, as the funnyman ponders why we choose our pals and what causes pressure. With Brendon Burns. From November 2005.

Jenny has fallen for Robert Forester, though he's not certain of his feelings for her.

Meanwhile, her ex-fiance, Greg, is very certain. He wants Jenny back - and Robert is in the way.

Patricia Highsmith's intriguing tale of obsession stars John Sharian as Robert Forester, Adrian Lester as Greg Wyncoop, Joanne McQuinn as Jenny Theirolf and Matt Rippy as Jack Neilsen.

Adapted by Shaun McKenna.

Music composed and performed by David Chitton

Director: Marion Nancarrow

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.

On 3rd July 1938, Sir Nigel Gresley's blue streamlined 'Mallard' broke the world speed record for steam engines, reaching 126 mph - a record which still stands today.

Piers Bishop tells of the record attempt and traces the rivalry between two great railway engineers in the golden age of steam.

Producer: Ivan Howlett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1988.

Where do Faith's children fit in, now that Bill's around?

Sitcom about the battles of divorcees Bill MacGregor and Faith Greyshott trying to forge a relationship whilst balancing the demands of his ex-wife, Liza and her teenage children, Hannah and Joe.

Stars Lynda Bellingham as Faith, James Bolam as Bill, Kelda Holmes as Hannah, Mark Denham as Joe and Ian Targett as Christian.

Series one of four inspired by the real lives of its writers, husband and wife Jan Etherington and Gavin Petrie.

A TV version made by LWT for ITV appeared in 1991 and ran for four series, with a spin-off 'Faith in the Future'.

Producer: Pete Atkin

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1988.

Anneka Rice delves into her teenage past, when she spent more time on cooking, cleaning and childcare than she did on her school work.

Presenter: Rufus Hound
Producer: Harriet Jaine

A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4.

Lionel's office becomes Sandy's bedroom. Time to move?

Starring Judi Dench as Jean and Geoffrey Palmer as Lionel. With Moira Brooker as Judith, Philip Bretherton as Alistair and Jenny Funnell as Sandy.

A six-part adaptation by Bob Larbey of series three of his popular BBC TV sitcom. Two former lovers Jean and Lionel have been reunited unexpectedly after losing contact for 38 years.

After falling in love in the early 1950s, army officer Lionel was sent to Korea, but they lost touch after a letter he sent to her never arrived. Both assumed the other had lost interest, but their paths have crossed again on his return to England.

Producer: Martin Fisher

First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in February 1999.

The blundering civil servants get steamed up over a transport mix-up.

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 1976.

Eligible but gullible Harold Symperson boasts of his fortune, but needs to stay alert when looking for his soulmate...

Series one of short stories by WS Gilbert dramatised by Stephen Wyatt.

Starring Jonathan Coy as WS Gilbert, Richard Derrington as Harold Symperson, Chris Emmett as Uncle Sparrow, Julia Hlls as Georgiana Sparrow, Joanna Wake as Aunt Sparrow, Jamie Chapman as John Sparrow and Tom George as James Sparrow.

Playwright and humourist, Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911) is best known for his comic opera collaborations with Sir Arthur Sullivan, which first captivated audiences across the English-speaking world in the late 19th century.

Director: Sue Wilson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003.

Resurrection

Robert Forrest's dramatisation of Leo Tolstoy's last major work.

2/2. Prince Dmitri follows the young prostitute Katerina Maslova to Siberia. Having been unable to reverse the sentence for murder served in error upon her, he proposes marriage in the hope of redeeming the wrongs he did to her as a girl.

But he finds his proposal contested by a fellow prisoner Simonson, a man who has already made all the sacrifices in life that Prince Dmitri only threatens to make.

Katerina Maslova ...... Katherine Igoe
Dmitri Nikhloydov ...... Richard Dillane
Lydia Menshova ...... Vivienne Dixon
Vera Bogovskaya ...... Joanna Tope
Princess Marya ...... Lesley Hart
Anatoly Krylstov ...... Joe Arkley
Nabatov/Ivan ...... Phil McKee
Simonson ...... Tom Brooke
Old Man ...... Finlay Welsh

Directed by Lu Kemp.

A maverick bus driver's attitude starts to annoy the passengers on an over-heated tourist bus in Spain. Stars Andrew Sachs.

Alice is busy running the Women's Land Army Hostel in Devon, as well as beginning to develop a relationship with farm owner Roger.

But the girls in her care are finding that life in wartime does not run smoothly...

Julia Stoneham's continuing three-part story of a group of Land Army girls during the Second World War - the follow up to 'Cinderella Service'.

Alice .... Samantha Bond
Rose .... June Barrie
Georgina ... Louise Lombard
Christopher ... Adrian Lukis
Roger .... Ioan Meredith
Edward-John .... Sam Collings
Annie ..... Tilly Vosburgh
Marian ..... Becky Hindley
Winnie ... Deborah McAndrew
Taffy .... Elaine Claxton
Martha Rachel Lewis
Mabe .....: Cathy Murphy
Ferdie ....Bill Wallis
Ruben ... David Antrobus
Marvin ... Robert Harper
Margery ... Tessa Worsley
Lionel Alex Lowe
Mary .... Ann Beach
Kiwi ... Joanna Monro
Beryl .... Janet Maw
Joan .... Elaine Pyke

Director: Tracey Neale

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.

Sophia and Jan gamble all on the tulip markets, but will they have enough time? Read by Emma Fielding and William Gaminara.

Clare Balding continues her investigation into how sport shaped Britain and Britain shaped sport. Today we join her at Hampden Park in Glasgow as she explores the part football has played in shaping Scotland's national identity and its changing relationship with England. Clare talks to Hugh McIlvaney about why supporting, 'anyone but England' is still part of the Scottish mindset.
This series has been made in partnership with the The International Centre for Sports History and Culture, De Montfort University
The readers are James Lailey and Jonathan Forbes.
The programme is produced in Birmingham by Sara Conkey.

Series One (5 episodes)
Episode Two

Aylmer Ross makes quite an impression on both Bruce and Edith at the Mitchell's dinner party.

Ada............ Haydn Gwynne
Bruce..........Bertie Carvel
Edith...........Juliet Aubrey
Aylmer.........Jonathan Firth
Hyacinth.......Alex Tregear
Anne............Jane Whittenshaw
Cecil.............Stuart McLoughlin

Directed by Tracey Neale.

In Paris, Proust sets out in search of lost time in a sound-proofed study, Stravinsky creates musical mayhem, and Duchamp finds a wheel; in Prague, Einstein yearns for Elsa and Kafka for Felice; in Munich, Lulu is banned, and Münter captures her Klee; in Vienna, Freud falls out with Jung, and Stalin and Hitler stroll, and maybe meet, in the grounds of a palace.

This is Europe in 1913 - the year before the storm. Florian Illies captures a world on the edge of a cataclysm, in which armies are enlarged and and nationalistic lines are drawn.

But Illies' snapshots are of a Europe, though laden with premonition, that is still vibrant and creative. The Futurists, Fauvists and Expressionists are redefining art; Proust and Joyce are reshaping literature; Freud and Jung are battling their way through the subconscious; Stravinsky has tapped a primative nerve in music; and Einstein is, well, Einstein.

The anecdotes and observations embrace Picasso, Braque, the Mona Lisa (mostly missing), Thomas Mann, Duchamp, Franz Ferdinand, Kirchner, Klee, Klimt, Kandinsky, Kafka, Wedekind, Einstein, King George V, Stalin, Hitler, Redl, Machu Picchu, Münter and many more.

Florian Illies trained as an art historian at Bonn and Oxford. He was editor of FAZ's 'Berliner Seiten' and the arts section of 'Die Ziet', and he co-founded the arts magazine 'Monopol'. He is currently a managing partner at the fine art auction house Villa Grisebach in Berlin. 1913: The Year Before The Storm has so far sold over 200,000 copies in Germany.

Writer: Florian Illies
Translators: Shaun Whiteside and Jamie Lee Searle

Reader: Michael Maloney
Abridger: Pete Nichols

Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

On Jay Rayner's menu are Stephen Fry, Elisabeth Luard, Cyrus Todiwala and Clarissa Dickson Wright. From August 2005.

In the face of a bid to reduce class sizes, the governors try to balance school funds.

Created by Jim Eldridge, ten series of this comedy about a junior school ran between 1985 and 1998. King Street Junior Revisited ran from 2002 to 2005.

Written by John Fawcett Wilson.

Stars Karl Howman as Mr Sims, James Grout as the Headteacher, Marlene Sidaway as Miss Lewis, Margaret John as Mrs Stone, Paul Copley as Mr Long, Deirdre Costello as Mrs Patterson, Vivienne Martin as Mrs Rudd, Tom Watson as Mr Holliday, Helena Breck as Miss Hughes and Aaron Keeling as the Dean.

Producer: John Fawcett Wilson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1998.

Roland finds himself in the dying land of Elidor. His brothers and sister have disappeared into the Mound of Vandwy, but the wounded King Malebron can do nothing for them.

Only Roland can rescue them and find the four Treasures - a spear, a sword, a cauldron and a stone, which have the power to save Elidor.

Alan Garner's classic fantasy adventure dramatised in four-parts by Don Webb.

Stars Mossie Cassidy as Roland, Raffey Cassidy as Helen, William Rush as Nicholas, Stephen Hoyle as David, Toby Hadoke as Malebron, Fiona Clarke as Mrs Watson and Gerard Fletcher as the Foreman.

Original music composed by Ian Williams

Directed at BBC Manchester by Charlotte Riches.

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in April 2011.

Geoffrey Wheeler crosses the water to visit one of the finest venues on the variety circuit, in Ireland's capital city.

Lach was the King of Manhattan's East Village and host of the longest running open mic night in New York. He now lives in Scotland and finds himself back at square one, playing in a dive bar on the wrong side of Edinburgh.

His notorious night, held in various venues around New York, was called the Antihoot. Never quite fitting in and lost somewhere lonely between folk and punk music, Lach started the Antifolk movement. He played host to Suzanne Vega, Jeff Buckley and many others. He discovered and nurtured lots of talent including Beck, Regina Spektor and the Moldy Peaches - but nobody discovered him.

The road to success has many distractions, particularly on the journey through rock and roll. As an outsider, Lach didn't know what he was missing until a fateful night on the New Jersey border opened his eyes to the possibilities of the universe, the appeal of the Dark Side of the Moon and the high school house party.

Produced by Richard Melvin
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4.

By Christopher Green.

Ida Barr is a music hall singer who has embraced hip hop and rap, reflecting the cultural diversity of London's East End, where she has been living in retirement for several decades. Ida has a genuine love of talking to people so each week she investigates a new topic and creates a unique brand of music-hall, hip-hop fusion with beat boxer Shlomo. This week, the topic is "Choice".

Produced by Claire Grove

Ida Barr is the creation of award-winning performer Christopher Green (aka spoof country and western singer Tina C). "Missy Elliott meets Marie Lloyd" - Guardian. Each week Ida investigates a current political buzz word - Choice, Responsibility, Diversity and Transparency - and records her findings on her Ida-pod - an ancient battery operated cassette machine with a greasy earpiece. Her target groups include the Sutton House over 55's drama group, children from the Italia Conti Aacademy and Theatre Venture's Youth Company from Stratford East.

Beat box artist Shlomo was heard by 3.9 billion people around the world when he and Bjork performed "Oceania" at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympics. He has also worked with artists such as Martha Wainwright, Damon Albarn, and Nitin Sawhney. He is a classically-trained percussionist and heads the world's only human beatbox choir, the Vocal Orchestra.

Christopher Green has written and performed three Tina C series for BBC R4 plus Tina C's Election Night BBQ Special (Nov 2008). 'Ida Barr's Bingo' was at the Brighton Festival and the South Bank earlier this year and 'Ida Barr: So This Is Christmas' was at the Barbican Centre in December 2008.

From 10pm to midnight, 7 days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Rob Deering chats to Irish comedian Catherine Bohart.

The Questers continue their search for the Sword of Asnagar and are happy to be welcomed into the palace of the White Wizard, a man who is nothing but sweetness and light and, consequently, the very opposite to Lord Darkness. But extremism of any kind, whether for good or evil, is a dangerous thing - and Penthiselea (Sophie Winkleman) soon begins to smell that there's something not altogether unfishy about the White Wizard.

Meanwhile, Kreech and Lord Darkness are off to the Land of Dunes for their annual holiday...

Starring:

Darren Boyd as Vidar
Kevin Eldon as Dean/Kreech
Dave Lamb as Amis, aka the "Chosen One"
Alistair McGowan as Lord Darkness
Stephen Mangan as Sam
John Sessions as the White Wizard
and
Sophie Winkleman as Penthiselea

Written by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto

Producer: Sam Michell.

The new deputy museum curator gets a shock. Reginald Perrin writer David Nobbs's sitcom with Julian Rhind-Tutt. From June 2007.

As each day passes with Greg still missing after the fight, Detective Lippenholtz is finding Robert's story harder to believe.

Patricia Highsmith's intriguing tale of obsession stars John Sharian as Robert Forester, Adrian Lester as Greg Wyncoop, Joanne McQuinn as Jenny Theirolf, Briony Glassco as Nickie Jurgen and Peter Marinker as Detective Lippenholtz.

Adapted by Shaun McKenna.
Music composed and performed by David Chitton
Director: Marion Nancarrow
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.

Why does time seem to speed up the older you get?

Ian Peacock finds out what is going on in our brain when we perceive time. He discovers why, when we're young, summer holidays seem to stretch forever. But as we age, those precious two weeks in the sun are over in a flash.

He looks at how we measure time and how it can be distorted in our minds, and asks what we can do to make the most of the precious time we have.

Patrick gets a TV presenting job on the Barbeque Channel - filming on location in the family home.

As the flames get higher, Stella's precious garden is under threat!

Series 3 of Lucy Clare and Ian Davidson's sitcom about topsy-turvy family life.

Stars Duncan Preston as Patrick, Pippa Haywood as Stella, Claudie Blakley as Alison, Bruce MacKinnon as Rick, Catherine Shepherd as Xanthe, Daniela Denby-Ashe as Egg and and Russell Bently as Fergus.

Director: Elizabeth Freestone

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2006.

Join the staff of Fags, Mags and Bags in their tireless quest to bring nice-price custard creams and cans of coke with Arabic writing on them to an ungrateful nation. Ramesh Mahju has built it up over the course of over 30 years and is a firmly entrenched, friendly presence in the local area. He is joined by his shop sidekick, Dave.

Then of course there are Ramesh's sons Sanjay and Alok, both surly and not particularly keen on the old school approach to shopkeeping, but natural successors to the business. Ramesh is keen to pass all his worldly wisdom onto them - whether they like it or not!

Written by Donald Mcleary and Sanjeev Kohli

Producer: Gus Beattie
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4.

Left hand down a bit! HMS Troutbridge's bumbling navigator attempts to pass an examination.

Stars Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Stephen Murray as the Number One, Ronnie Barker as Franklin Pettigreaves, Richard Caldicote as Captain Povey and Heather Chasen as Ramona Povey.

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 February 1961.

It's Kenneth Horne to the rescue in 'The Gaylords', a tune from Rambling Syd Rumpo, plus Julian and Sandy get all musical in Bona Beats.

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 1966.

Wordaholics is Radio 4's brand new comedy panel game all about words.

Gyles Brandreth presides as linguistic brainboxes and comedians vie for supremacy in the ring.

Today's show features Fresh Meat star Jack Whitehall, Radio 4 regular Milton Jones and Countdown stalwart Susie Dent as well as Greek scholar and all-round clever clogs Natalie Haynes.

Today they reveal their least favourite words, attempt to decipher Cockney rhyming slang and try to guess the meaning of some words no longer in our common parlance, taken from the 1736 Dictionary of Canting Slang.

Gyles is the longest-serving wordsmith in Countdown's Dictionary Corner and the author of numerous wordplay books. But now it's time for him to encourage other people to show off their knowledge of words and playfulness with language.

Wordaholics is clever, intelligent, witty and unexpected. There are toponyms, abbreviations, euphemisms, old words, new words, cockney rhyming slang, Greek gobbledegook, plus the panellists' picks of the ugliest and the most beautiful words: the whole world of words in twenty-eight minutes.

Find out the meaning of words like giff-gaff, knock-knobbler and buckfitches - the difference between French marbles, French velvet and the French ache - hear the glorious poetry of the English language, as practiced from writers varying from William Shakespeare to Vanilla Ice - and spend half an hour laughing and learning with some of the finest Wordaholics in the business.

Writers: Jon Hunter and James Kettle
Producer: Claire Jones.

Sofa-bound TV presenters Mike and Sue Mike take a look at the flipside of fame, Mike meets his biggest fan and the week's good cause is Charity.

Starring Robert Duncan and Jan Ravens.

With Roger Blake, Alistair McGowan, Ronnie Ancona and Emma Kennedy.

Written by David Spicer and Hugh Rycroft from a format by Bill Dare.

Music by Mark Burton.

Producer: Aled Evans

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1999.

By James Fenimore Cooper, dramatised by DJ Britton.

Episode One

New York State, 1778. Henry Wharton, a young soldier for the British in the American War of Independence, creeps into no-man's land to spend an evening with his family. But the happy reunion is cut short when American troops surround the house. Can the mysterious peddler Harvey Birch provide Henry with a means of escape?

Cast:

Harvey Birch . . . . . Burn Gorman
Frances . . . . . Rose Leslie
Henry . . . . . Alex Waldmann
Mr Wharton . . . . . James Lailey
Sarah . . . . . Francine Chamberlain
Mr Harper . . . . . Timothy Watson
Caesar . . . . . Richard Pepple
Peyton Dunwoodie . . . . . Simon Bubb
Captain Lawton . . . . . Gerard McDermott
Colonel Wellmere . . . . . Adam Billington
Isabella Singleton . . . . . Victoria Inez Hardy

Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

Team:

Studio managers: Anne Bunting, Jenni Burnett, Alison Craig.
Editor: Anne Bunting
Production Co-ordinator: Beverly Tagg

Published in 1821, The Spy was the first commercially successful American work of popular fiction. On top of that, it is also generally regarded as the world's first espionage novel. Until Fenimore Cooper, spies in fiction had been villains, the lowest of the low. But in creating Harvey Birch (played here by Burn Gorman), a double agent during the American War of Independence, Cooper began the tradition of spy-as-hero, leading to the great genre novels of the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Set in Westchester County, New York State, in 1778, we meet Harvey Birch, a mysterious pedlar, when he turns up unexpectedly at The Locusts, a house in no-man's-land between British and American forces, owned by the wealthy Wharton family. The Whartons are a family of divided loyalties: one of the daughters, Frances, is engaged to an American officer. The other, Sarah, is a romantic royalist. Birch who, with his father, lives in a small house nearby is, it is rumoured, a double agent and both sides have put a price on his head. His house has been attacked by British forces, and Birch has been forced to take to the dangerous road...

Travelling on foot with his salesman's pack on his back, Birch appears to steer clear of political or military allegiances, trading with both sides. Yet whenever the honour and the safety of decent people is in danger, Birch is at hand. He suffers appalling indignities, is robbed, burnt out of his home by the terrifying Skinners - American outlaws posing as Patriot irregulars - and is sentenced to death by the American forces. He never uses his privileged position to save his own skin, for, only at the very end of the story is it revealed, that he has a personal commission - from George Washington himself.

A man's existence is shaken to the core when his wife suffers a nasty accident in her workplace. Read by Paul Copley.

New wartime challenges face warden, Alice Todd and the residents of the Women's Land Army hostel.

Julia Stoneham's continuing three-part story set in Devon.

Alice .... Samantha Bond
Rose .... June Barrie
Georgina ....Louise Lombard
Christopher ...Adrian Lukis
Taffy ....Elaine Claxton
Marian ....Becky Hindley
Winnie .....Deborah McAndrew
Annie ....Tilly Vosburgh
Martha ...Rachel Lewis
Mabel ...Cathy Murphy
Ferdie ...Bill Wallis
Roger... Ioan Meredith
Edward-John .... Sam Collings
James ... David Jarvis
Dave ....Dominic Taylor
Margery..... Tessa Worsley
Beryl ....Janet Maw
Joan ....Elaine Pyke
Kiwi ....Joanna Monro

Director: Tracey Neale

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.

Sophia's plan for escape is desperate, but will it be enough to convince her husband? Read by Emma Fielding and William Gaminara.

Clare Balding's at Cardiff Arms Park for this edition of the series that explores how sport made Britain and Britain made sport. Here she looks at the vital role rugby has played in shaping Welsh identity; the stadium was built to be an emblem of national pride, a fortress for Welsh sport in its capital city.

She talks to the legendary Welsh captain and scrum half, Gareth Edwards about Wales' glory days of the sixties and seventies and the impact the introduction of professionalism had on the national side. She also talks to Professor Tony Collins from The International Centre for Sports History and Culture, De Montfort University

The reader is Alun Raglan.
Producer : Lucy Lunt.

Series One (5 episodes)
Episode Three

Aylmer has fallen madly in love with Edith and she with him but they are resigned to being apart

Ada..............Haydn Gwynne
Bruce............Bertie Carvel
Edith.............Juliet Aubrey
Aylmer..........Jonathan Firth
Anne.............Jane Whittenshaw
Hyacinth........Alex Tregear
Cecil..............Stuart McLoughlin

Directed by Tracey Neale.

In Paris, Proust sets out in search of lost time in a sound-proofed study, Stravinsky creates musical mayhem, and Duchamp finds a wheel; in Prague, Einstein yearns for Elsa and Kafka for Felice; in Munich, Lulu is banned, and Münter captures her Klee; in Vienna, Freud falls out with Jung, and Stalin and Hitler stroll, and maybe meet, in the grounds of a palace.

This is Europe in 1913 - the year before the storm. Florian Illies captures a world on the edge of a cataclysm, in which armies are enlarged and and nationalistic lines are drawn.

But Illies' snapshots are of a Europe, though laden with premonition, that is still vibrant and creative. The Futurists, Fauvists and Expressionists are redefining art; Proust and Joyce are reshaping literature; Freud and Jung are battling their way through the subconscious; Stravinsky has tapped a primative nerve in music; and Einstein is, well, Einstein.

The anecdotes and observations embrace Picasso, Braque, the Mona Lisa (mostly missing), Thomas Mann, Duchamp, Franz Ferdinand, Kirchner, Klee, Klimt, Kandinsky, Kafka, Wedekind, Einstein, King George V, Stalin, Hitler, Redl, Machu Picchu, Münter and many more.

Florian Illies trained as an art historian at Bonn and Oxford. He was editor of FAZ's 'Berliner Seiten' and the arts section of 'Die Ziet', and he co-founded the arts magazine 'Monopol'. He is currently a managing partner at the fine art auction house Villa Grisebach in Berlin. 1913: The Year Before The Storm has so far sold over 200,000 copies in Germany.

Writer: Florian Illies
Translators: Shaun Whiteside and Jamie Lee Searle

Reader: Michael Maloney
Abridger: Pete Nichols

Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

Malebron continues to seek Findhorn in Elidor. Meanwhile, The Evil are closing in on the Treasures as they intensify their effort to break through worlds.

Roland senses that he and his family are in danger, but his strong imagination threatens to tip the balance.

Alan Garner's classic fantasy adventure dramatised in four-parts by Don Webb.

Stars Mossie Cassidy as Roland, Raffey Cassidy as Helen, William Rush as Nicholas, Stephen Hoyle as David, Toby Hadoke as Malebron and Fiona Clarke as Mrs Watson.

Original music composed by Ian Williams

Directed at BBC Manchester by Charlotte Riches.

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in April 2011.

Jazz legend Johnny Dankworth shares those special music moments that move him with Robin Ray.

Recalling his life and career - the composer, musical director and saxophonist's selection ranges from Ravel to Jacqui Dankworth,

Sir John Dankworth CBE (1927 -2010)

Producer: Caroline Adams

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1991.

Peter Sallis lays down a track for Lady Gaga's new album, Chancellor Merkel plays 'snog marry avoid' and Ed Miliband learns to boogie. It can only be the strange goings on in the show that shines a light on the private lives of public people.

With Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Jon Culshaw, Julian Dutton, Lewis MacLeod, Jess Robinson, and Duncan Wisbey. Produced by Bill Dare.

From 10pm to midnight, 7 days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Rob Deering chats to Irish comedian Catherine Bohart.

Sitcom by Lucy Clarke about a woman who wants to be Fabulous but can't cope. With Daisy Haggard, Adam Buxton, Katy Brand, Matthew Holness, Olivia Colman, Laura Solon. Music by Osymyso.

The Scotsmen are desperate to utilise Mrs Naughtie's hidden talents. Stars Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden. From March 2004.

The family's epic Crimean War struggle of carnage, carnality and cads. Improvised saga with Paul Merton. From July 1994.

Robert has been shot. Could Greg Wyncoop - who has not been seen since they both fought by the river - really have done it? Or is his body lying in the morgue?

Patricia Highsmith's intriguing tale of obsession stars John Sharian as Robert Forester, Adrian Lester as Greg Wyncoop, Briony Glassco as Nickie Jurgen and Peter Marinker as Detective Lippenholtz.

Adapted by Shaun McKenna.
Music composed and performed by David Chitton
Director: Marion Nancarrow
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.

As we reach the end of the Domesday Reloaded project, Prof Danny Dorling compares the 2011 and 1986 views of the UK to give a unique insight into how the country has changed in the last 25 years.

Since March 27th 2011, the public have been updating a repository of 24,000 photographs, taken for the BBC's Domesday project in 1986. Danny picks four areas in which to explore the transformations of the UK. He visits these places and talks to the individuals who have updated the squares about their lives and experience of the way that their locality has changed.

One theme Danny explores is the disappearance of an industrial landscape since the 1980s. He looks at Sheffield, where he is Professor of Human Geography, to explore how this once steel town has benefitted from the expansion of higher education to become a centre of student life.

He also looks at aspects of life that haven't changed in a quarter of a century, such as the pantomime in the Scottish village of Buchlyvie. The residents were keen contributors to the 1986 Domesday project and they have updated their square in 2011.

Producer: Alex Mansfield.

Our heroes decide to act on dangerous driving in the town - starting with their wheel-spinning American colleague, Jermain.

Britain's longest serving PCSO is paired with the laziest in Dave Lamb's sitcom. (Dave is the voice of TV's Come Dine With Me)

Geoff............................Richie Webb
Nigel............................ Nick Walker
The Guv....................... Sinead Keenan
Jermain.........................Leon Herbert
Bernie...........................Chris Emmett
Producer: Steve Doherty

A Top Dog production for BBC Radio 4.

Frank Skinner loves history, but just doesn't know much of it. So he's devised a comedy discussion show in order to find out more about it.

Along with his historian in residence, Professor Kate Williams, Frank is joined by a selection of celebrity guests who help him navigate his way through the annals of time, picking out and chewing over the funniest, oddest, and most interesting moments in history.

The guests are Chris Addison and Alun Cochrane, who discuss the three wise men, Jack Straw (not that one), Henry Austen and a weaponry timeline.

Produced by Mark Augustyn and Justin Pollard
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4.

The showbiz veteran relates a startling tale of a wife addicted to shock. Written and read by Peter Jones. From September 1993.

Admiral Seagoon is dispatched as bandits attack the British garrison. Stars Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan. From October 1956.

Peter Jones hosts the entertainment quiz about comedy as he tests a panel of experts: Leslie Crowther, Barry Cryer and Dick Vosburgh.

Funny You Should Ask ran for 8 series from 1976 to 1982.

Questions compiled by Michael Pointon.

Producer: Paul Mayhew-Archer.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1981.

After the cottage inferno in Steeple Bumpleigh, Bertie Wooster plots a fake burglary.

PG Wodehouse romp adapted in seven-parts by Chris Miller.

Starring Michael Hordern as Jeeves, Richard Briers as Bertie Wooster, Michael Kilgarriff as Stilton Cheesewright, Jonathan Cecil as Boko Fittleworth, Peter Woodthorpe as Percy, Lord Worplesden, Rosalind Adams as Nobby Hopwood and Denise Bryer as Edwin the Boy Scout.

Producer: Simon Brett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978.

By James Fenimore Cooper, dramatised by DJ Britton.

Episode Two

New York State, 1778. Henry Wharton, a young soldier for the British, has been captured by American forces while wearing a disguise in no-man's land. He must stand trial as a spy, and if found guilty, he will hang. Can General Washington be found in time to issue a pardon?

Cast:

Harvey Birch . . . . . Burn Gorman
Frances . . . . . Rose Leslie
Henry . . . . . Alex Waldmann
Mr Wharton . . . . . James Lailey
Sarah . . . . . Francine Chamberlain
Mr Harper . . . . . Timothy Watson
Caesar . . . . . Richard Pepple
Peyton Dunwoodie . . . . . Simon Bubb
Captain Lawton . . . . . Gerard McDermott
Skinner . . . . . Adam Billington
Isabella Singleton . . . . . Victoria Inez Hardy
Colonel Martin . . . . . Paul Moriarty

Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

A husband and wife go hill-walking, and cross a Rubicon. Short story read by Ann Scott Jones.

The Woman's Land Army hostel residents face wartime dangers - and some stark personal choices.

Conclusion of Julia Stoneham's continuing three-part story set in Devon.

Alice ....Samantha Bond
Edward-John ...Sam Collings
Georgina .... Louise Lombard
Christopher ... Adrian Lukis
Rose .... June Barrie
Eleanor ... Abigail Docherty
Martha ...Rachel Lewis
Taffy ... Elaine Claxton
Annie ....Tilly Vosburgh
Marian ....Becky Hindley
Winnie .... Deborah McAndrew
Mabel ... Cathy Murphy
Ferdie .... Bill Wallis
Margery ... Tessa Worsley
Roger ... Ioan Meredith
Fran ... Janet Maw
Dave .... Dominic Taylor
Lionel ...Alex Lowe
Fred .... Denys Hawthorne
Italian POW ... Chris Pavlo
Arthur .... William Howard

Director: Tracey Neale

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.

Sophia is in hiding and Jan is trying to plan their escape, but will fate intervene? Read by Emma Fielding and William Gaminara.

Clare Balding visits Croke Park in Dublin, to discover the story behind the formation of the Gaelic Athletic Association and it's founder Michael Cusack. All this week in Sport and the British Clare has been exploring how sport defined and gave an independence to the nations of the British Isles, nowhere is this more evident and vocal than in Ireland. The GAA defined what it was to be Irish - meaning how far removed that is from being English and hurling and Irish football were a way of exemplifying that. Clare talks to Dr Paul Rouse of University College Dublin and Professor Michael Cronin of Boston College Ireland about the history and future of the GAA.
The reader is Jonathan Forbes
Producer: Lucy Lunt.

Series One (5 episodes)
Episode Four

Edith is missing Aylmer terribly and she has written asking him to return but will he.....?

Ada...........Haydn Gwynne
Aylmer......Jonathan Firth
Bruce..........Bertie Carvel
Edith...........Juliet Aubrey
Mavis.........Deeivya Meir
Cecil..........Stuart McLoughlin
Eugenia......Joanna Monro
Anne...........Jane Whittenshaw
Hyacinth......Alex Tregear

Directed by Tracey Neale.

In Paris, Proust sets out in search of lost time in a sound-proofed study, Stravinsky creates musical mayhem, and Duchamp finds a wheel; in Prague, Einstein yearns for Elsa and Kafka for Felice; in Munich, Lulu is banned, and Münter captures her Klee; in Vienna, Freud falls out with Jung, and Stalin and Hitler stroll, and maybe meet, in the grounds of a palace.

This is Europe in 1913 - the year before the storm. Florian Illies captures a world on the edge of a cataclysm, in which armies are enlarged and and nationalistic lines are drawn.

But Illies' snapshots are of a Europe, though laden with premonition, that is still vibrant and creative. The Futurists, Fauvists and Expressionists are redefining art; Proust and Joyce are reshaping literature; Freud and Jung are battling their way through the subconscious; Stravinsky has tapped a primative nerve in music; and Einstein is, well, Einstein.

The anecdotes and observations embrace Picasso, Braque, the Mona Lisa (mostly missing), Thomas Mann, Duchamp, Franz Ferdinand, Kirchner, Klee, Klimt, Kandinsky, Kafka, Wedekind, Einstein, King George V, Stalin, Hitler, Redl, Machu Picchu, Münter and many more.

Florian Illies trained as an art historian at Bonn and Oxford. He was editor of FAZ's 'Berliner Seiten' and the arts section of 'Die Ziet', and he co-founded the arts magazine 'Monopol'. He is currently a managing partner at the fine art auction house Villa Grisebach in Berlin. 1913: The Year Before The Storm has so far sold over 200,000 copies in Germany.

Writer: Florian Illies
Translators: Shaun Whiteside and Jamie Lee Searle

Reader: Michael Maloney
Abridger: Pete Nichols

Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.