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/
Professor Barnhouse discovers a way of channelling his mind to control the forces of nature. The phenomenon becomes known as the "Barnhouse Effect". The academic sees his skill as a marvellous opportunity to secure world peace. However, the American government has other ideas...
Read by Stuart Milligan.
Report On The Barnhouse Effect was Kurt Vonnegut's first short story to be published in 1950.
Abridged and produced by Gemma Jenkins.
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2007.
John Wilson concludes the 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 5, the B-side. Having discussed the making of Spandau Ballet's international hit album 'True' (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 24th June and available online), Gary Kemp and Tony Hadley responds to questions from the audience and performs live versions of some of the songs from the album, which was made 30 years ago.
Producer: Helen Lennard.
Much to the Vicar's embarrassment, a murder has been committed in his study. But who killed Colonel Protheroe? Jane Marple is on the case.
Agatha Christie's whodunit stars June Whitfield as Miss Marple and Francis Matthews as the Rev Leonard Clement, Imelda Staunton as Griselda Clement and Nigel Davenport as Dr Haydock.
Dramatised by Michael Bakewell
Director Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1993.
'The Pleasure Principle' host, comedian, Dan Baptiste, continues his exploration of our desire for pleasure using the BBC radio archive by introducing:
With Great Pleasure
Veteran broadcaster Sir Trevor McDonald chooses his favourite words and poetry for With Great Pleasure, including Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken which brought him comfort far from home in a war zone.
'The Pleasure Principle' season on 4 Extra is produced for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Peter McHugh.
After such fun, Miss Pettigrew dreads the future. But it is time to let people know who she really is. Read by Maureen Lipman.
To end the first week of Raising the Bar, in the fifth of ten programmes tracing a century of black British theatre and screen, Lenny Henry takes a journey back to the 1960s and 70s to catch the spirit of protest and violent anger that welled up as the result of years of overt or thinly-veiled racism.
With the advent of the Black Power movement, British African Caribbeans found a new and angry voice - it expressed itself on stage and on screen, notably in Horace Ové's film Pressure, that tells the story of a young black British boy growing up under powerful influences: his old parents' rectitude, his own desire to make his way in the society he's been born into, and the angry, uncompromising voices of his Black Power advocate brother.
Horace Ové talks to Lenny Henry about the world that inspired this famous first British feature film by a black director.
Series Consultant Michael Pearce
Producer Simon Elmes.
Diana Griffiths's dramatisation of Winifred Holtby's tale of a woman's journey into self-fulfilment.
10/10. Muriel returns to Marshington in Yorkshire for the annual fete and is faced with a life-changing decision.
Muriel ...... Clare Goose
Godfrey ...... James D'Arcy
Mrs Hammond ...... Brigit Forsyth
Directed by Pauline Harris.
India's struggle with justice for women in the 21st century is becoming one of the most prominent news stories of the moment. In 2013, another terrible gang rape hit the headlines. Women's collectives are growing up all over the country and beginning to fight back. The most prominent and potent is the Pink Sari Gang. This is their story.
Sampat Devi Pal, raised in India's Uttar Pradesh region, was married off at twelve, had her first child at fifteen, and is essentially illiterate. Yet she has risen to become the fierce and courageous founder and commander in chief of India's Pink Gang, a 20,000-member women's vigilante group fighting for the rights of women in India.
In narrating the riveting story of the Pink Gang's work on behalf of a young girl unlawfully imprisoned at the hands of an abusive politician, journalist Amana Fontanella-Khan explores the origins and tactics of a fiery sisterhood that has grown to twice the size of the Irish army.
Merging courtroom drama, compelling personal history, and a triumphant portrait of grassroots organisation, Pink Sari Revolution highlights the extraordinary work of women who are shaking things up within their own country.
Amana is a Mumbai-based writer of Pakistani and Irish descent. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Financial Times and the FT magazine. An honorary gulabi member, this is her first book.
Episode Five
Deploying all the might of the Pink Gang, Sampat wins the day, and Sheelu is released from jail, but it is plain that this is only one battle in a long and ongoing war that Indian women must fight.
Read by Meera Syal
Written by Amana Fontanella-Khan
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.
'The Pleasure Principle' host, comedian, Dan Baptiste, continues his exploration of our desire for pleasure using the BBC radio archive by introducing:
Dane Baptiste introduces Oscar Wilde's classic gothic tale of desire, pleasure and self-destruction.
The aristocrat is living a life of selfish pleasure. But is retribution on the horizon? Stars Ian McDiarmid and Jamie Glover.
When Dorian Gray gazes at his portrait he is struck by his own youth and beauty and wishes they will last forever. The portrait becomes a point of transference for his life of debauchery - corrupting and becoming vile as he remains beautiful. It stars Ian McDermid. First heard on the BBC World Service in 2000.
'The Pleasure Principle' season on 4 Extra is produced for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Peter McHugh.
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents. Lloyd Langford, Lucy Porter, Tom Wrigglesworth and Fred MacAulay are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as women, Japan, owls and potatoes.
The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, the team behind Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.
Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
"In certain circumstances you steam fish when someone's ill or something. You don't steam potatoes.'
Sarah and her mother Eleanor argue over cooking the veg.
Simon Brett's comedy about three generations of women - struggling to cope after the death of Sarah's GP husband - who never quite manage to see eye to eye.
Starring Prunella Scales as Sarah, Joan Sanderson as Eleanor, Benjamin Whitrow as Russell and Gerry Cowper as Clare.
Four radio series were made, but instead of moving to BBC TV - Thames Television produced 'After Henry' for the ITV network.
Producer: Pete Atkin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1989.
Back to the BBC's early wireless days of 1922.
The Daily Sketch says the BBC's programmes are boring. Will DG John Brown finally agree to broadcast some light entertainment, or will his peccadillo with Auntie Phyllis force him over the edge? Either way, Fred "Keep 'Em Laughing" Hicks has got an unusual new act for radio.
Written by Jimmy Perry, the man behind Dad's Army and Hi-De-Hi.
Starring Graham Crowden as John Brown, Jimmy Perry as Colonel Beecham, Bill Pertwee as Sergeant Lucas, Jeffrey Holland as Roger Eccles and Roy Hudd as Fred "Keep 'Em Laughing" Hicks.
Producer: Jo Clegg.
First broadcast nightly on BBC Radio 2 in September 1994.
The third series of Jon Canter's not quite true autobiography of Richard Wilson. Believe what you like!
Richard was unwell last year. He had a heart attack. But now he's recovered and is fighting fit. With a new lease of life - he considers those things most likely to make him happy in the future. What's on his bucket list? Get a Knighthood of course!
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
Inspector Morse faces a puzzling trip into the world of the hearing impaired - with a murder investigation into the death of an invigilator in an Oxford exam syndicate...
Colin Dexter's thriller adapted by Guy Meredith.
Starring John Shrapnel as Inspector Morse, Robert Glenister as Sgt. Lewis, Richard Pasco as Dr Bartlett, Meg Davies as Monica Height, Stephen Critchlow as Donald Martin, David Timson as Phillip Ogleby, John Hartley as Chief Supt. Strange, Lyndham Gregory as Sgt. Dickson, Roger May as Nicholas Quinn, Alix Refaie as the Sheik, Denys Hawthorne as the Pathologist,Jane Whittenshaw as Mrs Evans, Patience Tomlinson as Elsie, Tracy Wiles as the Waitress, Zulema Dene as Mrs Bartlett, David Holt as Noakes, Ahmed Mustapha as the Arab voice, Alice Arnold as Ms Inga Nielssen, Caroline Strong as the Supermarket Manager and Geoffrey Whitehead.
Producer: Ned Chaillet
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
Michael Bentine remembers RAF adventures, messing about on boats and how Ed Sullivan saved him from the FBI.
Founding member of The Goon Show and one of the foremost comic minds of his generation - Michael Bentine offers more behind-the-scenes tales of his offbeat and extraordinary life in showbiz.
With extracts from some of his most memorable comic performances and eccentric characters.
Recorded at the Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke.
Michael Bentine CBE was born in 1922 and died in 1996.
Producer: Andy Aliffe
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in November 1994.
The Charles Parker Award is named after the famous radio producer who 60 years ago this year produced with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger the first in their series of innovative programmes which became known as the Radio Ballads.
The Charles Parker Prize is awarded annually to the best feature made by students studying radio at universities and colleges throughout the UK.
In this programme Charles's daughter Sara Parker, herself an award-winning radio producer, meets the 2018 prize-winners and plays their Bronze, Silver and Gold Award-winning features.
Producer: Jay Sykes
A Soundscape Production for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
They don't like it up 'em!
After winning their frontline TV offensive, how did the Home Guard win the war of the ears with a rearguard action for radio?
Legendary comedy producer Harold Snoad and actor Michael Knowles reveal how they went about adapting the classic BBC TV hit series for radio - as the writers Jimmy Perry and David Croft were too busy to do it themselves. Over three hours, enjoy six Dad's Army episodes made for radio:
The Enemy Within the Gates (1974)
Don't Forget the Diver (1975)
The Day the Balloon Went Up (1975)
When Did You Last See Your Money (1975)
If the Cap Fits (1975)
Put that Light Out (1975)
Snoad and Knowles reflect on how the cast took to re-recording the shows without cameras and discuss the changes that had to be made to make the TV scripts work.
The duo's association with Dad's Army continued with their spin off radio comedy series, It Sticks Out Half a Mile - still to be heard on BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Produced by Martin Dempsey.
The first outing of Kenneth Horne's revered comedy troupe poking fun at tax bills and atomic power, plus some advice from Miss Romney Marsh.
Starring Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden, Ron Moody and Stanley Unwin.
Written by Eric Merriman and Barry Took
Music from Pat Lancaster, the Malcolm Mitchell Trio and the BBC Review Orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.
Announcer: Douglas Smith
A madcap mix of sketches and songs, Beyond Our Ken hit the airwaves in 1958 and ran to 1964 - featuring regulars like Arthur Fallowfield, Cecil Snaith and Rodney and Charles.
The precursor to 'Round The Horne' - sadly only 13 shows survive from the original run of 21 episodes in Series 1. Audio restored using both home and overseas (BBC Transcription Service) recordings.
Producer: Jacques Brown
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in July 1958.
Gym shenanigans, finding a fox - and can you feel sexy at 60?
The sketch comedy for people growing older disgracefully.
Stars Eleanor Bron, Graeme Garden, Neil Innes, Clive Swift, Roger Blake and Pam Ayres.
Written by Pam Ayres, Mike Coleman, Jan Etherington, Graeme Garden, Neil Innes, Colin Bostock-Smith, Bob Sinfield, Chris Thompson, Pete Reynolds, Tony Bagley, Richard Turner and Phil Nice,
Script Editor: Geoff Parsons.
Music by Ronnie & The Rex and Neil Innes.
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2003.
It's festival time on the streets of Edinburgh, a time John and Susie usually relish. But this year, over the course of several days, their world will be turned upside down.
Jo Clifford's autobiographical drama about love, loss and the unexpected moments of grace that preserve us.
Starring Kathryn Howden as Susie and Liam Brennan as John.
Director: Kirsty Williams.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in in five-parts in July 2018.
The former wife of Ronnie Wood chooses 'Pata Pata' by Miriam Makeba and 'Stray Cat Blues' by the Rolling Stones.
Body Shop founder Anita Roddick explores her birthplace and home seaside town of Littlehampton in Sussex - from school days to sand dunes.
Down Your Way was one of the BBC's longest-running radio series - 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 its success in the 1950s, the series was attracting 10 million listeners a week.
Dame Anita Roddick was one of the most celebrated yet controversial figures of her generation in business and public life. She amassed a huge personal fortune from the growth and eventual sale of the Body Shop chain of beauty stores. Her championing of ethical business causes and unconventional management style put her at odds with many in the business world. She died aged 64 in 2007.
Producer: Kate Whitehead
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1989.
American master of suspense, Edgar Allan Poe's famous story of piracy and slavery from 1843.
His narrative of an obsession with the discovery of a "golden bug" evokes famous pirates, and drips with the casual racism of the old American South.
Dramatised by Gregory Evans giving the story a critical makeover, as a former slave recounts the "true" story.
Starring Clarke Peters as Charles, John Sharian as Legrand, Rhashan Stone as Jupiter and William Hootkins as the Doctor.
Director: Ned Chaillet
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
Satan is cross with Yeats over a poem, while Scumspawn and Thomas write their own verse. Satanic sitcom stars Andy Hamilton. From April 2001.
The pioneering American political comic of the 1950s and 60s in a special one-off performance. From December 2005.
From 10pm - midnight, 7 days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats again to Gary Delaney.
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.
In the final episode of the series British comedy legend and star of The Fast Show, Down the Line and Bellamy's People, Simon Day visits The Mallard Theatre as "himself".
Cast list:
Simon Day ..... Simon Day
Catherine ..... Catherine Shepherd
Goose ..... Felix Dexter
Ron Bone ..... Simon Greenall
Written by Simon Day
Produced by Colin Anderson.
Dolphins, and Sue Lawley's secret. Nick Golson and Tim de Jongh welcome special guest William Franklyn. From February 1995.
Muriel's sister Connie returns home unexpectedly with startling news.
Set in Yorkshire prior to the First World War, Winifred Holtby's story about a woman's journey - from her teens to womanhood - into independence and self-fulfilment.
Omnibus of the last five of ten episodes dramatised in by Diana Griffiths.
Muriel ...... Clare Goose
Connie ...... Joanne Froggatt
Mr Hammond ...... David Fleeshman
Mrs Hammond ...... Brigit Forsyth
Bobby Collins ...... Sam Curtis
Lady Grainger ...... Daryl Fishwick
Young man ...... Steven Rostance
Director: Pauline Harris.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
Don't panic! Memories of Dad's Army star Clive Dunn, who played Lance-Corporal Jack Jones for nearly a decade on TV, radio and film between 1968 to 1977.
Recalling highlights from his first 50 years in entertainment, Clive begins with his early years on tour with his mother in musical halls.
Clive was aged 68 at the time of recording. He died in Portugal in 2012, aged 92.
Producer: Edward Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1988.
John Finnemore, the writer and star of Cabin Pressure, regular guest on The Now Show and popper-upper in things like Miranda, records a fourth series of his hit sketch show.
2/6: This second edition of the fourth series has a sketch that you'll never really own; the rudest of awakenings for one particular pet; and a look at the often ignored positive side of stereotyping.
The first series of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme was described as "sparklingly clever" by The Daily Telegraph and "one of the most consistently funny sketch shows for quite some time" by The Guardian. The second series won Best Radio Comedy at both the Chortle and Comedy.co.uk awards, and was nominated for a Radio Academy award. The third series actually won a Radio Academy award.
In this fourth series, John has written more sketches, like the sketches from the other series. Not so much like them that they feel stale and repetitious; but on the other hand not so different that it feels like a misguided attempt to completely change the show. Quite like the old sketches, in other words, but about different things and with different jokes. (Although it's a pretty safe bet some of them will involve talking animals.)
Written by and starring ... John Finnemore
Also featuring ... Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan.
Original music by ... Susannah Pearse.
Producer ... Ed Morrish.
Can the cheeky schoolboy find the room to indulge his rather dangerous passion for chemistry?
Starring Jimmy Clitheroe. With Peter Sinclair as Grandfather, Patricia Burke as Mother, Diana Day as Susan, Danny Ross.as Alfie Hall, Leonard Williams as Theodore Craythorpe and Gordon Rollings.
Just 4 feet 3 inches tall, the success of comic entertainer Jimmy Clitheroe (1921-1973) sprang from a BBC Variety Playhouse try-out in the late 1950s. His naughty schoolboy act was a smash and he even wore school uniform during recordings! At its peak, ten million fans were tuning into 'The Clitheroe Kid' on the BBC Light Programme.
Every week, the Kid's schemes sparked havoc - with the ever present threat of a good spanking from Grandad. The Clitheroe Kid clocked up 16 series in its run from 1956 to 1972.
Theme music by Alan Roper and played by the BBC Northern Dance Orchestra directed by Alan Ainsworth
Scripted by James Casey and Ronnie Taylor.
Producer: James Casey.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in May 1960.
The Count of Monte Cristo's rude interruption and Ron and Eth's learn some new words in 'The Glums'.
Starring 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 March 1956.
Raja Shehadeh reflects on a friendship forged over 40 years across the Israel-Palestine border. Read by Peter Polycarpou .
Raja reflects on his 40 year friendship with Henry, a Jewish Israeli. As idealistic young men when they first meet in 1977, they connect over shared interests in literature, writing and walking.
As the years pass, their friendship is challenged by history, politics, enmity and violence, but it also points the way to a common future.
Raja Shehadeh is an award winning Palestinian writer, lawyer, and founder of the human right's organisation, Al Haq. His books include Occupation Diaries; Language of War, Language of Peace and Palestinian Walks which won the 2008 Orwell Prize. He has contributed to The New York Times, The Guardian and Granta.
The music is Reem Kelani's Sprinting Gazelle.
Abridged by Penny Leicester
Producer: Elizabeth Allard.
First broadcast in five-parts on BBC Radio 4 in July 2018.
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between former May Queens from Lustleigh in Devon, reflecting upon the pagan roots of the coronation that marked their transition into womanhood, and proving once again that 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 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 Mantovani to Pulp, the BAFTA-winning production designer shares her castaway choices with Kirsty Young. From August 2013.
True stories told live in in the USA: Meg Bowles stories were we deal with rejection, failure, and embarrassment.
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.
4/20. We sometimes forget that vegetables that we see as common-place today in all their varieties have wild origins. The potato for example is a name given to a tuber that both comes from Africa and South America - And the history of their discovery and export into our European markets can be traced by examining how those first explorers named the plants. In Foreign Fare, David Attenborough traces the discovery of some common vegetables to their wild beginnings - and the fascinating natural history of their use as food.
Written and presented by David Attenborough
Produced by Julian Hector.
It's 1967 and 11 year old Willa has to deal with a domestic crisis.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Tyler's novel about family and self-discovery.
Omnibus of the first five of ten episodes read by Barbara Barnes
Abridged by Sian Preece
Producer: Gaynor Macfarlane.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 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.
All mobile phones rely on hyper-intelligent silicon chips to run them. And the astonishing thing is 85% of the silicon chips inside all mobile phones are designed by one Cambridge-based company, ARM. Stephen Fry talks to the pioneers who designed these chips. They needed some micro-processors to build a better home computer, but didn't like what they saw and decided to make their own. Strapped for cash, they designed chips that were small, cheap and exceptionally low power and, quite by chance, ideally suited to the next generation of pocket-sized mobile phones. Not to mention today's power-hungry smartphones.
Producer: Anna Buckley.
Working in a London auction house, Chris meets his father by chance for the first time in 10 years.
Chris has grown up and his father has grown old.
Neither of them knows whether their meeting will prove to be an important beginning - or just a sad accident...
Family drama by Stephen Fagan.
Starring John le Mesurier as Father, Frank Grimes as Chris, Jane Knowles as the American woman, Christopher Scott as George, Alan Dudley as Lord Wrighton, Haydn Wood as Lord Soper and Stephen Garlick as Bernie.
Director: Margaret Windhau
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1981.
Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive with the first part of 'Poetry Of Gold and Angels: San Francisco'.
San Francisco is a place where a thousand stories meet - a port city where many cultures and races mix, the birthplace of counterculture and political ideologies, and now home to the high-tech revolution.
Poet, educator and weaver Kim Shuck was born in the city and has Tsalagi, Sauk and Fox and Polish ancestor's. She takes us on a tour of her San Francisco including North Beach and China Town and discusses how poets have been inspired by the city. The local poetry scene is so much more than the San Franciscan Beat poets - so here's a chance to hear some of the other poems coming out of the city.
Kim talks to poets including Devorah Major who was Poet Laureate of San Francisco and takes us to Marcus Books, the oldest Black book shop in America. And Jack Hirschman, part of the Beat generation and social activist, explains how music and jazz have influenced the city's poetic voice.
Other guests include poets Genny Lim, David Brazil, Micah Ballard and David Buuck.
Producer: Laura Parfitt
A White Pebble Media production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2013.
A miller's daughter marries a nobleman. But this is no fairy tale. It's the beginning of a terrifying adventure...
Elizabeth Gaskell's collection of intriguing "true" tales dramatised by Sally Hedges.
Stars Elizabeth Spriggs as Mrs Gaskell, Stella Gonet as Anna, Adjoa Andoh as Amante and Struan Rodger as Tourelle.
With Duncan Law, Richard Avery, Mary Wimbush, Andrew Harrison and Graham Colclough.
Producer: Nigel Bryant
An Armada production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 1998.
A man inherits some objects, but will he be able to control the events they set in motion? Read by Robert Lang.
by Bill Dare
Brian Gulliver, a seasoned presenter of travel documentaries, finds himself in a hospital's secure unit after claiming to have experienced a succession of bizarre adventures. This week, he relives his experiences in Anidara where Brian finds himself put out to stud.
Brian Gulliver ..... Neil Pearson
Rachel Gulliver ..... Mariah Gale
Computer ..... Duncan Wisby
Gem ..... Gerard McDermot
Markl ..... Harry Livingstone
Dorka ..... Vicki Pepperdine
Liberator ..... Duncan Wisby
Master ..... Patrick Brennan
Producer ..... Steven Canny
This is the second series of this satirical adventure story from Bill Dare. The series has attracted an excellent cast led by Neil Pearson and including, Duncan Wisby, Vicki Pepperdine, Lisa Dillon, Colin Hoult, Toby Longworth, Adrian Scarborough, Dan Tetsell, Barunka O'Shaughnessy, Debra Stephenson, Colin Hoult, Nina Conti, Jo Bobin and Marcus Brigstocke.
For years Bill Dare wanted to create a satire about different worlds exploring Kipling's idea that we travel, 'not just to explore civilizations, but to better understand our own'. But science fiction and space ships never interested him, so he put the idea on ice. Then Brian Gulliver arrived and meant that our hero could be lost in a fictional world without the need for any sci-fi.
Gulliver's Travels is the only book Bill Dare read at university. His father, Peter Jones, narrated a similarly peripatetic radio series: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
One of the most popular radio sitcoms of the past ten years bows out with a special double episode. In this second and concluding part, as the crew embark on a race against time, just what is Gerti's secret? And will it be happy ever after for Carolyn and Herc?
With the show titles running alphabetically from the first ever episode - "Abu Dhabi" through to this double finale "Zurich" - the cast and crew of MJN Air discover that whether it's choosing an ice-cream flavour, putting a princess in a van or remembering your grandmother's name, no job is too small, but many, many jobs are too difficult.
Starring Stephanie Cole as Carolyn Knapp-Shappey, Roger Allam as 1st Officer Douglas Richardson, Benedict Cumberbatch as Captain Martin Crieff and John Finnemore as Arthur Shappey.
With special guests including Anthony Head and Timothy West.
Written by John Finnemore
Produced and Directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
Alex is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice when his mum thinks she is pregnant. Stars Gerard Foster. From July 2001.
Multiple confessions to the murder of Colonel Protheroe mount up in the village of St. Mary Mead. But who does amateur sleuth Jane Marple believe?
First published in 1930, Agatha Christie's whodunit stars June Whitfield as Miss Marple.
With Francis Matthews as the Rev Leonard Clement, Imelda Staunton as Griselda Clement, Nigel Davenport as Dr Haydock, Jillie Meers as Mrs Lestrange, Alice Arnold as Mary, Lisa Howard as Hilda, James Telfer as Lawrence Redding, Nicholas Boulton as Dennis, David Thorpe as Hawes, Timothy Alcock as Dr Stone, Ian Masters as Raymond West, John Baddeley as Inspector Slack, Oona Beeson as Gladys Cram and Vivienne Rochester as Nancy.
Dramatised by Michael Bakewell
Director: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1993.
Poet Paul Henry, explores the true story of how Dad's Army's Private Godfrey, whom the nation took to its heart, belied an altogether more complex character: Arnold Ridley. Nearly a century after the outbreak of the First World War, one of its most enduring heroes lives on in the living rooms of millions.
Behind the genteel, lovable, incontinent elder that was Private Charles Godfrey was the much more complex character of the actor and playwright Arnold Ridley. In Excusing Private Godfrey, passionate Dad's Army fan Paul Henry will highlight the true story behind the humour, challenging the listener's preconceptions of Godfrey and bringing the horrors of WW1 and WW2 into sharp focus. The programme explores the many sides of Ridley's character and life through interview, personal diary, clips from the films, plays, and of course clips from Dad's Army. Paul Henry will delve into Ridley the soldier, how his Somme experience and war injuries shaped the rest of his life.
In Dad's Army, Godfrey was a former conscientious objector. In reality, Arnold had been a battle-hardened lance corporal with the 6th Somerset Light Infantry, who went over the top on the morning of September 16, 1916. Paul Henry finds out about his love and family life and relationship with his son Nicholas - who is interviewed for the programme. Henry delves into Ridley the playwright through his 1941 film The Ghost Train and other plays, and find out how this successful writer was both entrepreneur and eventual bankrupt. In addition, Paul Henry will unmask Ridley the actor - how did he end up as a character in Dad's Army, and what was the impact of his time spent in Forces entertainment.
Presenter: Paul Henry
Producer: Terry Lewis
A Tinderbox Production for BBC Radio 4.
What did Roy and Jane get up to after the concert? What lengths will Dick go to in his attempts to become Frank Sinatra? And will Elsa save Roy's bacon?
Conclusion of Tony Bagley's romantic six-part 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, Geoff McGivern as Dick, David Holt as Jacko, Sue Roderick as Wyn and Melanie Hudson as the Advert Voice-over.
Producer: Paul Schlesinger:
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1993.
The godfather of all panel shows pays a visit to the Playhouse Theatre in Oxford. Regulars Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined on the panel by programme stalwart Jeremy Hardy with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell accompanies on the piano.
Producer - Jon Naismith.
It is a BBC Studios production.
The 1956 musical film release of 'The King and I' inspires the lad's own unmusical and argumentative version.
Starring Tony Hancock, Sidney James, Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques.
Audio recovered in the BBC Archive Treasure Hunt.
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 November 1956.
1948: In the battle to restore the pier in Frambourne-on-Sea, hopes rest on a visit from an electrician...
A seaside saga of pier perpetuation starring John Le Mesurier as Arthur Wilson, Ian Lavender as Frank Pike, Bill Pertwee as Bert Hodges and Vivienne Martin as Miss Perkins.
After a pilot episode was made in 1981, Arthur Lowe sadly died. So this 13-part series was revamped to feature the Dad's Army characters played by Pertwee and Lavender instead. The series was later adapted for ITV by Yorkshire TV.
Written by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles, based on the characters originally created by Jimmy Perry and David Croft.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in November 1983.
Sue Perkins puts John Finnemore, Danielle Ward, Alun Cochrane and Dame Ann Leslie through the moral and ethical wringer in the show where there are no "right" answers - but some deeply damning ones...
Hypothetical situations involve old ladies shoplifting, gentlemen "pocket-patting", unqualified doctors and fake psychics.
The panel also debates which figure least deserves their place in history out of Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, and David Attenborough.
Devised by Danielle Ward.
Producer: Ed Morrish.
A rundown Dublin theatrical costumier is struggling to come to terms with modern working practices.
When an order comes in from a local nun's drama group, it leads to a mix-up with the Gaiety Theatre's opera production.
The opening episode of Christopher Fitz-Simon's five-part comedy.
Stars David Kelly as Dessie Doyle, Pauline McLynn as Violet Doyle, Eugene O'Brien as Antony Gogan, Frank Kelly as Mr McNamara, Doreen Keogh as Sister Accumulata, Mark Mulholland as Mr Hornibrooks and Derry Power as P.J Clohessy.
Music played by John Trotter.
Directed at BBC Belfast by Roland Jaquarello.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1998.
It's 1814 in the village of Uppercross in Somersetshire. Sir Walter Elliot of Kellynch Hall has long since given up any hope of his daughter making a favourable marriage.
But Anne did fall in love, eight years ago, with Frederick Wentworth , a young man with no fortune and no family connections. She was persuaded to give him up - and
he's not forgiven her...
First published in 1817, Jane Austen's novel dramatised in three parts by Michelene Wandor.
Starring Juliet Stevenson as Anne Elliot, Tim Brierley as Captain Wentworth, Sorcha Cusack as Jane Austen, Roger Hume as Sir Walter Elliot, Claire Faulconbridge as Elizabeth Elliot, Peter Harlowe as Mr Elliot, Kathryn Hurlbutt as Mary Musgrove, Alister Cameron as Charles Musgrove, John Abell as Little Charles, Alison Dowling as Henrietta Musgrove, Jayne Dowell as Louisa Musgrove, Sheila Grant as Mrs Musgrove, Patricia Gallimore as Lady Russell, Jeffery Dench as Admiral Croft, Tina Gray as Sophia Croft, Hedli Niklaus as Mrs Clay, Carole Boyd as Mrs Smith, Stephen Hancock as Mr Shepherd, Clive Marlowe as Charles Hayter, Paul Alexander as Captain Harville and Tony Turner as Captain Benwick.
Square piano (William Rolfe and Sons c 1810) played by Kenneth Mobbs
Directed at BBC Pebble Mill by Vanessa Whitburn.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1986.
Five readings from the work of the late Irish novelist and essayist John B Keane.
When young Dolly Hallon sees an advertisement for a postman, she knows that there is only one possible candidate for the job. Read by Dermot Crowley.
Celestine's mission, in her remote Italian hospital, to isolate the causes of trench fever is interrupted by an unexpected visitor from the newly formed Royal Air Force.
Series created by Jonathan Ruffle
Written by Neil Brand
Producers: David Hunter, Jonquil Panting, Jonathan Ruffle
Director: David Hunter.
Rose Tremain returns triumphantly to one of her best loved characters, in the long awaited sequel to her Booker short-listed best-selling novel, Restoration, published in 1989.
Seventeen years after the events related in Restoration, Merivel, a man of wit, wisdom and not a little passion, is facing a crisis. Life on his Norfolk estate and as a physician, a father and sometimes a fool to his adored King Charles 11, is no longer enough. Not only are he, and his loyal servant Will, ageing, but his beloved daughter Margaret is seventeen and will soon fly the nest. Even the King is failing. How can he reinvigorate his life?
As Merivel sets out in search of Wonders, he finds adventure and surprise. In a dazzling journey by way of the glittering court at Versailles, the purchase of a bear and a love affair in Switzerland, and with encounters with old lovers and new, Rose Tremain captures a man who knows himself and his follies and foibles only too well.
A delight equally to those who remember the young Merivel and to new listeners, Rose Tremain's novel promises to be a memorable three week Book at Bedtime.
The reader is the stage and screen actor Nicholas Woodeson.
The abridger was Sally Marmion and the producer was Di Speirs.
Lenny Henry investigates the sudden blossoming of black theatre groups in Britain in the late 1970s and 80s as new, second generation black Britons found their voices and created stages to express themselves. Most famous is Talawa, a theatre company founded by four renowned creative spirits, including Yvonne Brewster and Carmen Munroe, who applied for and were granted from the public purse £80,000 to stage The Black Jacobins, a play about Caribbean history, by the legendary writer CLR James.
Series consultant Michael Pearce
Producer Simon Elmes.
by Isabel Colegate, dramatised by DJ Britton, narrated by Olivia Colman
Autumn 1913. A shooting party on an Oxfordshire country estate. A whole society under the microscope, a society soon to be destroyed in the trenches of the Western Front.
The eve of the shoot.
Cast
Narrator ..... Olivia Colman
Cicely Nettleby ..... Ellie Kendrick
Sir Randolph Nettleby ..... Sam Dale
Olivia Lilburn ..... Jaimi Barbakoff
Lionel Stephens ..... Michael Shelford
Minnie Nettleby ..... Christine Kavanagh
Osbert Nettleby ..... Joshua Swinney
Lord Gilbert Hartlip ..... Sean Baker
Aline Hartlip ..... Sally Orrock
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
It was an error of judgement that resulted in a death. It took place in the autumn before the outbreak of what used to be known as the Great War.
Autumn 1913 and Sir Randolph Nettleby has invited guests to the biggest shoot of the season on his Oxfordshire country estate. We follow the action from one evening to the next, a dinner, a morning's shoot, a lunch, the fatal afternoon, and the fallout. An army of servants and gamekeepers has rehearsed the intricate age-old ritual of the hunt. Everything about it would seem a perfect affirmation of the certainties of Edwardian country life. Yet, their social and moral code is under siege from within and without. Competition beyond the bounds of sportsmanship, revulsion at the slaughter of animals, anger at the inequities of class - these and other forces are about to rise up and challenge the social order, an order that can last only a while longer. Funny, compassionate, sobering and dispassionate, the last throes of feudal England are recorded in perfect detail, together with the germ of its destruction. The book is an exquisitely written hymn to the passing of an age.
Over 5 episodes, abridged by Katrin Williams, the author Philip Hoare tells us about a lifetime's association with the sea. The sea that is local to him and other seas that wait in far flung parts of the world. He walks by them, dives into them, and is wholly inspired by them:
1. The family house is now empty and the author uses it as his base. Nearby is a 'suburban sea', which lures him every day..
Reader Anthony Calf
Producer Duncan Minshull.
BBC 6Music's Gideon Coe reads Robert Aickman's teasingly elusive strange tale, with a newly commissioned soundtrack by Vic Mars. From December 2016.
Sue MacGregor and her guests- Lesley Abdela, expert on womens' rights and journalist Greg Neale - discuss their favourite paperbacks by Michael Frayn, Anita Brookner and Janet Wallach. From 2006.
Leaving Home by Anita Brookner
Publisher: Penguin
Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell by Janet Wallach
Publisher: Phoenix
Towards the End of the Morning by Michael Frayn
Publisher: Faber.
Arthur and Ford are reunited on the distant and backward planet of Lamuella, and both have vital information for each other. Arthur's is that the young woman who just stole Ford's spaceship is Arthur's daughter by Trillian, Random. Ford's news is more sinister - the Vogons have taken over the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and have developed a new model of the famous book, the Guide Mark II, which exists in the form of a black bird and, with its Unfiltered Perception, exists across all layers of the Universe and at all times simultaneously, capable of changing any events or any bringing about any chain of cause-and-effect to achieve its owner's wishes. The result may be as simple as to manipulate events so that Ford Prefect survives a leap from a 23rd floor window and arrives on Lamuella in a spaceship which it new owner - Arthur's daughter Random - can then steal; or as complex as helping the Vogons effortlessly carry out their grandest schemes - from their general desire to turn the whole Galaxy into one vast Bureaucracy, to the more particular and irksome issue of making sure that once the planet Earth is destroyed it STAYS destroyed, rather than having replacement Earths keep popping up, due to the Plural nature of that particular Sector of space.
Lamuella itself is bisected by a Plural Zone and this is what causes the curious phenomenon of the Spring Migration of the Perfectly Normal Beasts, whereby a vast stampede of buffalo-like creatures appear at one end of the Anhondo mountains, thunder through the Anhondo Valley, and disappear at its far end. Arthur suddenly realises that this may be their ticket off the planet, and he and Ford scurry off to attempt to ride a Perfectly Normal Beast to ... wherever it goes ...
Meanwhile on the Planet Rupert, Tricia's help in recalibrating the Gerbulons' astrology computer has led to unforeseen complications. The Grebulon Leader's immediate future is revealed to be beset by adverse astrological signs, mainly to do with the positioning of the Planet Earth. It seems that the only solution to a very tedious month ahead is to somehow alter the movement of the planets. Perhaps eliminate one. He decides to investigate the astrological potential of his battle cruiser's gun turrets. As he does so, Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz monitors his deliberations from a safe and undetectable distance. The Guide Mark II has fulfilled its function. Everything is being tied up neatly, thanks to the ""lost"" Grebulons. A tick will soon be put in a long-empty box on his clipboard. The black bird hovers nearby. He orders it to engage the Total Perspective Vortex.
Arthur and Ford arrive on Earth. Pausing only to use the Dine-O-Charge card to buy The Langham Hilton and organise the repatriation of all the animals in London Zoo, they track Tricia and Random to Tricia's favourite drinking haunt in London, Club Beta, where reports indicate the female occupant of yet another spaceship lately arrived has headed. Arriving at the club, Arthur and Ford encounter a strange man on the stairs who seems to know Arthur but isn't quite sure. Ignoring him they descend and enter the bar to find Tricia, Trillian and Random, who has a gun pointed at both her mother and her mother's doppelganger, hopelessly confused and hysterical. Trillian is desperately trying to get everyone to leave. The space battle she went to cover as a news story when she left Random with Arthur never happened. The battle cruiser sent to fight it never arrived, but crashlanded on the outer planet of this solar system and is about to do something dreadful. But Random is beyond reason. The man that Arthur and Ford passed on the stairs attempts to wrestle the gun from the girl, but in the melee it goes off. Arthur ducks and the shot misses him, but hits the man, who dies in his arms, and, as he does so, looks at Arthur and says, ""You ...."". Arthur is reminded of Agrajag, the unhinged reincarnated creature who predicted he would only die after arriving at a place called Stavromula Beta. Thus when Trillian says they must all leave, now, or perish, Arthur is relaxed. Nothing can happen to him here. He is is not on Stavromula Beta. Horrified, Trillian shows him one of the club's menu covers. It is run by a Greek/German called Stavro Mueller. His first club, in New York, was called Alpha. This is his second Club. Arthur is appalled to read the heading on the menu: STAVRO MUELLER BETA.
As the particle cannon beams crash into the planet, ripping it apart, destroying the Earth once and for all, Ford can be heard laughing. "Oh that's good. That's very good ...".
An energetic, intelligent female-anchored show with a female panel - using the events, trends and talking points they think should really be top of the news agenda in a series of fresh and funny challenges.
Host Jo Bunting is joined by a panel of women including Sindhu Vee, Felicity Ward, Andi Oliver and Jess Phillips MP
Jo Bunting is a producer and writer of topical comedy and satire, with credits including Have I Got News For You, the Great British Bake Off spin off show An Extra Slice with Jo Brand, and the successful topical chat show That Sunday Night Show presented by Adrian Chiles on ITV. Jo was a guest interviewer on Loose Ends for several years and a panellist on Loose Women.
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4.
It's Awards Night! Can the Crayon Museum beat off the challenger, the World of Pencils? Stars Marcus Brigstocke. From August 2006.
Investigations into the murder of Colonel Protheroe don't go at all to plan. Who is the killer?
First published in 1930, Agatha Christie's whodunit stars June Whitfield as Miss Marple.
With Francis Matthews as the Rev Leonard Clement, Imelda Staunton as Griselda Clement, Nigel Davenport as Dr Haydock, Frances Jeater as Anne Protheroe, Rachel Atkins as Lettice Protheroe, John Baddeley as Inspector Slack, Oona Beeson as Gladys Cram, David Thorpe as Hawes and Margot Boyd as Mrs Price-Ridley.
Dramatised by Michael Bakewell
Director: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1993.
In this 10-part series Melvyn Bragg brings all his passion and knowledge to a subject that has enthralled and fascinated him throughout his life - the pivotal role of England's North in the shaping of modern Britain. As he traces the ebb and flow of Northern power he examines how this relatively small geographical area has had a profound effect of every part of the globe - its ideas and inventions, sport and music.
Melvyn Bragg begins the series atop Hadrian's Wall looking down onto the North of England. Programme One begins as the Roman Empire loses it grip on the area. Melvyn returns to the seaside town of Maryport in Cumbria - which he visited as a boy - and which displays an extensive collection of Roman military altar stones. Melvyn travels to Lindisfarne or Holy Island off the coast of Northumbria which became a crucial centre for the spread of Christianity coming from the west - and was to play no small part in shaping the fortunes of Northumbria and its Anglian royal family. Melvyn goes to Whitby in North Yorkshire - home of the great Abbey and its remarkable Abbess St Hilda and discusses the power well-born women could wield in the early church. He discusses the Northumbrian King Ecgfrith, one of the most powerful men of his day, who laid the basis for what was to be one of the great Renaissance moments in western civilisation. Professor Nick Higham's biography 'Ecgfrith' (Paul Watkins Publishing) recounts how he was killed in a battle against the Picts in Scotland. Melvyn asks what might have happened if Ecgfrith had won - the answer is that Scotland as we know it today may have never existed and the capital of Britain could well have been in the North, possibly in York.
Contributors:
Judi Dench
Michael Parkinson
Joan Bakewell
Ian McMillan
Professor Nick Higham, University of Manchester
Professor Ian Haynes, Newcastle University
Professor Katy Cubitt, University of York
Producer: Faith Lawrence.
Arty Trisha and sensible sister Clare open their new Edinburgh cafe together. Polish chef, Krzysztof, and uninvited waitress, Lizzie, both help and hinder - but will they all even get through Day 1?
Hilary Lyon's series sees erstwhile free spirit Trisha (played by Julie Graham) return to her native city of Edinburgh after years of living in London. Trisha, a generally relaxed and positive art teacher is coping with not only unexpectedly losing her job, but also trying to repair her bruised heart. Nonetheless, she arrives at Waverley Station enthusiastic and eager for the next chapter of her life to begin. Trisha's solvent big sister Clare (played by Hilary Lyon) is a non-practising qualified accountant, has been married for years, has two spoiled teenage children and has probably spent too much time on the school PTA. Clare struggles with a tendency towards suburban snobbery and an obsessive need to control but happily facilitates the opening of 'Cafe Culture' in leafy Bruntsfield, which marks the beginning of a whole new era for both sisters.
Throw in temperamental opera-loving Polish chef, Krzysztof (Simon Greenall) and a strangely forward teenage customer, Lizzie (Pearl Appleby), and you have the perfect recipe for volatile relationship tension, a lot of laughs and a few secrets for good measure.
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
Producers: Moray Hunter and Gordon Kennedy
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.
Jake Yapp applies his sharp satirical eye to the modern media, exploring its strengths, weaknesses and idiosyncrasies through stand-up, sketch and music.
Episode 1 - Daytime TV
Jake turns his focus to the Daytime TV schedule. Exploring its most common tropes and iterations while attempting to explain why he finds so much of it unwatchable.
Written, performed and composed by Jake Yapp
Starring George Fouracres and Emily Lloyd-Saini
Additional material by Robin Morgan
Produced by Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios Production.
Busy writing his new crime novel, Gerald doesn't want to be disturbed - but Diana has other ideas...
The convoluted chronicle of an optimistic author written by Basil Boothroyd.
Starring Ian Carmichael as Gerald C Potter and Charlotte Mitchell as his wife and more successful writer, Diana.
With Michael McClain
The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C Potter ran from 1976 to 1981
Producer: Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1976.
It's all change for the blundering civil servants - and there's a surprise in store for Brummies!
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 August 1976.
The new mayor has to chair his very first council meeting - and he's scared witless.
Lucy Flannery's local government sitcom stars Nelson David, John Duttine, James Grout, Rosy Fordham, Nick Hardy, Howard Lew Lewis, Toby Longworth, Jan Ravens, Vivienne Rochester and June Whitfield.
Producer: Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1995.
Captain Wentworth has returned to the village of Uppercross - becoming the centre of social life for the Musgrove family.
Only Anne Elliot appears to remember the past and her rejection of his love eight years ago. But is it coldness of indifference which she now senses in his attitude towards her?
First published in 1817, Jane Austen's novel dramatised in three parts by Michelene Wandor.
Starring Juliet Stevenson as Anne Elliot, Tim Brierley as Captain Wentworth, Sorcha Cusack as Jane Austen, Roger Hume as Sir Walter Elliot, Claire Faulconbridge as Elizabeth Elliot, Peter Harlowe as Mr Elliot, Kathryn Hurlbutt as Mary Musgrove, Alister Cameron as Charles Musgrove, John Abell as Little Charles, Alison Dowling as Henrietta Musgrove, Jayne Dowell as Louisa Musgrove, Sheila Grant as Mrs Musgrove, Patricia Gallimore as Lady Russell, Jeffery Dench as Admiral Croft, Tina Gray as Sophia Croft, Hedli Niklaus as Mrs Clay, Carole Boyd as Mrs Smith, Stephen Hancock as Mr Shepherd, Clive Marlowe as Charles Hayter, Paul Alexander as Captain Harville and Tony Turner as Captain Benwick.
Square piano (William Rolfe and Sons c 1810) played by Kenneth Mobbs
Directed at BBC Pebble Mill by Vanessa Whitburn.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1986.
Five readings from the work of the late Irish novelist and essayist John B Keane.
When Kitty Doody's dad dies, the next door Mickelow twins fear she'll sell up. What could make her stay? Read by Dermot Crowley.
The British Army is in pell-mell retreat towards the Channel Ports, and must face up to losing the First World War, in this story starring Lee Ross and John Macmillan.
Meticulously based on unit war diaries and eye-witness accounts, each episode of TOMMIES traces one real day at war, exactly 100 years ago.
And through it all, wel follow the fortunes of Mickey Bliss and his fellow signallers. They are the cogs in an immense machine, one which connects situations across the whole theatre of the war, over four long years.
Series created by Jonathan Ruffle
Written by Avin Shah
Producers: David Hunter, Jonquil Panting, Jonathan Ruffle
Director: Jonquil Panting.
Rose Tremain returns triumphantly to one of her best loved characters, in the long awaited sequel to her Booker short-listed best-selling novel, Restoration, published in 1989.
Seventeen years after the events related in Restoration, Merivel, a man of wit, wisdom and not a little passion, is facing a crisis. Life on his Norfolk estate and as a physician, a father and sometimes a fool to his adored King Charles 11, is no longer enough. Not only are he, and his loyal servant Will, ageing, but his beloved daughter Margaret is seventeen and will soon fly the nest. Even the King is failing. How can he reinvigorate his life?
In today's episode Merivel sets out in search of Wonders and finds adventure and surprise. He sets out on a dazzling journey to the glittering court at Versailles by way of the court of Charles II.
The reader is the stage and screen actor Nicholas Woodeson.
The abridger was Sally Marmion and the producer was Di Speirs.
Lenny Henry charts the breakthrough of a suite of powerful new black voices into serious theatre during the 1990s. Including Kwame Kwei-Armah, Winsome Pinnock, Paulette Randall, and Roy Williams.
Series Consultant Michael Pearce
Producer Simon Elmes.
by Isabel Colegate, dramatised by DJ Britton. Preparations for the shoot, below stairs and in the village.
Narrator ..... Olivia Colman
Sir Randolph Nettleby..... Sam Dale
Cornelius Cardew ..... Jude Akuwudike
Gamekeeper Glass ..... David Seddon
Ellen ..... Sally Orrock
Gilbert Hartlip ..... Sean Baker
John ..... Michael Shelford
Osbert ..... Joshua Swinney
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
Over 5 episodes, abridged by Katrin Williams, the author Philip Hoare tells us about a lifetime's association with the sea. The sea that is local to him and other seas that wait in far flung parts of the world. He walks by them, dives into them and is wholly inspired by them:
2. London has long been shaped by the waters that run through it, and this has produced some amazing stories down the decades.
Reader Anthony Calf
Producer Duncan Minshull.
Hosted by the Professor of Ignorance from the University of Buckingham John Lloyd C.B.E. and the intensely curious comedian Dave Gorman.
This week's guests:
Coming from a long line of vicars, Robin Ince is the UK's most rational comedian, and he tests his reason to the limit once every year by performing at least four shows a day at the Edinburgh fringe. His infamous Bad Book Club, which in which he invites his fellow comedians to celebrate awful literature, has become an institution, and his massive Christmas show Nine Lessons and Carols For Godless People is now a huge event, featuring the likes of Jarvis Cocker, Dara O Briain and Richard Dawkins.
Roger Highfield is a scientist, science author and the editor of New Scientist, but if you met him, you wouldn't immediately guess that science is his thing. He's jolly and worldly and has the hearty laugh of a comic supervillain. He first made his name as a scientist be being the first person ever to bounce a neutron off a soap bubble. Roger has written and co-written 9 best-selling science books, including a book on the hows and whys of Dolly the sheep, an explanation of the science of Harry Potter and a biography of Einstein.
Gareth Edwards is a filmmaker whose success and methods of achieving it have sent ripples of fear through the studios of Hollywood. His movie Monsters is an apocalyptic blockbuster which he made for one five hundredth of the budget for Avatar by shooting with a small, mobile team, hiring non-actors on the spot and using dazzling-but-cheap CGI effects.
"This is the first escape from one of our maximum security sanatoriums. And there might be another.... Are all the prisoners housed in this block?"
"We prefer to call them patients."
James Follett's political thriller explores dissention and danger in a repressive state in the Eastern Bloc.
Starring James Beattie as Jan Valery, Vernon Joyner as Suskin, Manning Wilson as the Governor, Francis de Wolff as Nero, Caroline John as Anna, Cyril Shaps as Danski, Brian Haines as Suskin's Chief, Rosayln Slater as Zoe and John Challis as the Interrogator.
The original audio was lost from the BBC archive, so our thanks to James Follett for the donation from his personal collection of his first radio play.
Producer: Margaret Hall
First broadcast as a 90 minute drama on BBC Radio 4 in 1973.
5/5
Hardeep Singh Kohli speaks to his father about his decision to move to Scotland from India, raising a Sikh family in Glasgow in the 1970s and how being brought up and living a multicultural life has impacted on both of their life paths.
Paul Sinha is proudly British. He also loves a quiz. So you would have thought that the UK Citizenship Test, which newcomers to this country must pass to become citizens, would have been right up his street. But the questions in the 2012 and 2013 Home Office guides seem either bizarrely easy - "Where is Welsh most widely spoken?" - or infuriatingly vague - "What happened in the First World War?".
So Paul has created his own test, to better reflect the things that aspiring migrants should understand before they can call themselves British. In this second episode he deals with the health of the nation - our diet, our drinking habits and our athletic prowess. And he tests the studio audience on their knowledge, with those that answer incorrectly being deported.
The series intertwines the sort of comedy Paul has become known for on The Now Show, The News Quiz, and Fighting Talk, as well as his own Radio 4 shows The Sinha Test and The Sinha Games, and the command of facts and figures he demonstrates on the ITV quiz show The Chase, with a dash of the patriotism that has seen him banned from the bar at the United Nations.
Written and performed by Paul Sinha.
Producer: Ed Morrish.
The wedding reception of the year ends in drunken chaos. 1770 America sitcom starring Andy Hamilton. From January 2000.
Senior museum staff head to a conference on the Isle of Wight, leaving Rod in charge. Stars Geoffrey Palmer. From July 2007.
Amateur sleuth Jane Marple battles to unearth the proof she needs to reveal the murderer's identity - along with a few other surprises.
Agatha Christie's whodunit stars June Whitfield as Miss Marple.
With Francis Matthews as the Rev Leonard Clement, Imelda Staunton as Griselda Clement, Nigel Davenport as Dr Haydock, Rachel Atkins as Lettice Protheroe, Richard Todd as Colonel Melchett, John Baddeley as Inspector Slack, Oona Beeson as Gladys Cram, Tina Gray as Mrs Sadler and Dominic Letts as the Constable.
Dramatised by Michael Bakewell
Director: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1993.
Episode Two features the glories of the glittering Northumbrian Renaissance. Melvyn begins with the Ruthwell Cross - now in Scotland - it is possible that it is inscribed with the world's oldest surviving text of English poetry - it has been described as one of the greatest art works of the Middle Ages. Melvyn travels to Jarrow to tell the story of Bede, known as the father of English History and author or The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, one of the most important books of the age. As well as writing history Bede was also one of the first people to describe the relationship between the moon and the tides. Melvyn crosses the causeway to Holy Island where the Lindisfarne Gospels were created and visits the British Library where they are preserved. The man who made the Gospels was an artist and a scientist, inventing the pencil 300 years before it was in common use. Melvyn ends in Durham Cathedral alongside the shrines of Bede and St Cuthbert - the latter occupying a special place in the hearts of local people who refer to him simply as Cuddy.
Contributors
Dr Chris Jones, University of St Andrews
Professor Nick Higham, University of Manchester
Claire Breay, British Library
Professor Michelle Brown, School of Advanced Study, University of London
Revd Canon Rosalind Brown, Durham Cathedral
Professor Richard Gameson, Durham University
Producer: Faith Lawrence.
It's duo Tommy and Sheila's second stab at fame - and she's been spending.
30 years after sweethearts Tommy Franklin and Sheila Parr won the 1962 Eurovision Song Contest, the musical double-act are back in the big time.
Series 2 of Mike Coleman's six-part sitcom stars June Whitfield and Roy Hudd.
With Pat Coombs, Julian Eardley and Edward Halstead.
Music by Frido Ruth.
Producer: Steve Doherty
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1999.
New sitcom in which stand-up comic Josh comes to terms with the impending birth of his first child.
In this third episode, Josh attempts to buy a pram on the cheap while also trying to convince his mechanic to give him a good deal.
Written by Josh Howie
Produced by Ashley Blaker
A Black Hat production for BBC Radio 4.
A fresh arrival makes waves aboard HMS Troutbridge and throws a NATO exercise into confusion.
100th episode of the seafaring sitcom.
Stars Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Stephen Murray as the Number One, Ronnie Barker as Able Seaman Johnson, Richard Caldicote as Captain Povey, Michael Bates as Commander Bracewell, Tenniel Evans as Taffy Goldstein and Janet Brown as Vera.
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 April 1963.
Kenneth Horne goes shopping at a department store - and what are the public reading?
Starring Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Ron Moody.
Written by Eric Merriman and Barry Took
Music from Pat Lancaster, the Malcolm Mitchell Trio and the BBC Review Orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.
Announcer: Douglas Smith
A madcap mix of sketches and songs, Beyond Our Ken hit the airwaves in 1958 and ran to 1964 - featuring regulars like Arthur Fallowfield, Cecil Snaith and Rodney and Charles.
The precursor to 'Round The Horne' - sadly only 13 shows survive from the original run of 21 episodes in Series 1. Audio restored using both home and overseas (BBC Transcription Service) recordings.
Producer: Jacques Brown
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in July 1958.
Martin Young chairs the quiz looking at lives of those who made it into the history books - and those who only enjoyed 15 minutes of fame...
Tackling the biographical teasers are team captains Francis Wheen and Fred Housego with guests Polly Toynbee and Miles Kington.
Producer: Aled Evans
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1998.
Facelift fracas - and a new TV quiz show for the hard of memory.
The sketch comedy for people growing older disgracefully.
Stars Eleanor Bron, Graeme Garden, Neil Innes, Clive Swift, Roger Blake and Paula Wilcox.
Written by Julie Balloo, Janet Ellis, Graeme Garden Mike Haskins, Jan Etherington, Alan Stafford, Colin Bostock Smith, Mike Pilman, Mark Brisenden and Robert Mills.
Script Editor: Jed Parsons.
Music by Ronnie & The Rex and Neil Innes.
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2003.
Louisa Musgrove has become engaged to Captain Benwick and Anne Elliot dares to hope that Captain Wentworth's affections might, once again, be hers...
First published in 1817, Jane Austen's novel dramatised in three parts by Michelene Wandor.
Starring Juliet Stevenson as Anne Elliot, Tim Brierley as Captain Wentworth, Sorcha Cusack as Jane Austen, Roger Hume as Sir Walter Elliot, Claire Faulconbridge as Elizabeth Elliot, Peter Harlowe as Mr Elliot, Kathryn Hurlbutt as Mary Musgrove, Alister Cameron as Charles Musgrove, Alison Dowling as Henrietta Musgrove, Sheila Grant as Mrs Musgrove, Patricia Gallimore as Lady Russell, Tina Gray as Sophia Croft, Hedli Niklaus as Mrs Clay, Carole Boyd as Mrs Smith and Paul Alexander as Captain Harville.
Square piano (William Rolfe and Sons c 1810) played by Kenneth Mobbs
Directed at BBC Pebble Mill by Vanessa Whitburn.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1986.
A man rides out with his married lover. Brian Gear reads Kipling's cautionary tale set in India at the time of the British Raj.
Michael Williams stars as Gladwyn Jebb, a man who sees his job as a vocation, his craft as an art - and his lies as truths...
Monologue written especially for Michael by Peter Tinniswood.
Director: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
Rose Tremain returns triumphantly to one of her best loved characters, in the long awaited sequel to her Booker short-listed best-selling novel, Restoration, published in 1989.
Seventeen years after the events related in Restoration, Merivel, a man of wit, wisdom and not a little passion, is facing a crisis. Life on his Norfolk estate and as a physician, a father and sometimes a fool to his adored King Charles 11,is no longer enough. Not only are he, and his loyal servant Will, ageing, but his beloved daughter Margaret is seventeen and will soon fly the nest. Even the King is failing. How can he reinvigorate his life?
In today's episode, Merivel arrives at the most glittering court in Europe - Versailles - but gaining an audience with Louis- or even finding a bed - proves more difficult than anticipated!
The reader is the stage and screen actor Nicholas Woodeson.
The abridger was Sally Marmion and the producer was Di Speirs.
Lenny Henry talks to black British film director Isaac Julien about his work as an out-gay film-maker who has from the beginning of his career confronted issues of discrimination, police brutality, and homophobia within the African Caribbean community. With his film Young Soul Rebels, which he made in 1991, but which was set in 1977 against the backdrop of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, Julien depicted head-on the violence and hatred of homosexuals within British black society. How, today, have attitudes changed?
Series Consultant Michael Pearce
Producer Simon Elmes.
by Isabel Colegate, dramatised by DJ Britton. As a frisson of romance ruffles the women, a fierce rivalry between Lord Hartlip and Lionel Stephens unsettles their host.
Narrator..... Olivia Colman
Sir Randolph ..... Sam Dale
Glass ..... David Seddon
Olivia ..... Jaimi Barbakoff
Cicely Nettleby ..... Ellie Kendrick
Aline ..... Sally Orrock
Gilbert Hartlip ..... Sean Baker
Count Tibor ..... David Seddon
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
Over 5 episodes, abridged by Katrin Williams, the author Philip Hoare tells us about a lifetime's association with the sea. The sea that is local to him and other seas that wait in far flung parts of the world. He walks by them, dives into them and is wholly inspired by them:
3. Sri Lanka. Crack of dawn. Aboard the Kushan Putha. On the glassy surface a sight of fins, then flashes of colour, then something magnificent appears..
Reader Anthony Calf
Producer Duncan Minshull.
Considered a threat to the state because of an unpublished manuscript, political prisoner Jan Valeri has escaped from the Sanatorium. The police have just picked him up...
James Follett's exploration of dissention and danger in a repressive state in the Eastern Bloc.
Starring James Beattie as Jan Valery, Vernon Joyner as Suskin, Manning Wilson as the Governor, Francis de Wolff as Nero, Caroline John as Anna, Cyril Shaps as Danski, Brian Haines as Suskin's Chief, Rosayln Slater as Zoe and John Challis as the Interrogator.
The original audio was lost from the BBC archive, so our thanks to James Follett for the donation from his personal collection.
Producer: Margaret Hall
First broadcast as a 90 minute drama on BBC Radio 4 in 1973.
Master of deadpan humour, Jimmy Carr on life on the road and writing his comedy routines.
Series in which Bruce Morton talks to top stand-up comedians about life, the universe and comedy.
Producer: Carol Purcell
First broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland in January 2006.
4/6: CTRL-ALT-DEL. The Computer catches a virus - in fact, it's probably the most common virus on Earth. With Uljabaan's sole method of control, analysis and communication now compromised, the invasion is doomed in more ways than one.
Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully is a sitcom about an alien race that have noticed that those all-at-once invasions of Earth never work out that well. So they've locked the small Buckinghamshire village of Cresdon Green behind an impenetrable force field in order to study human behaviour and decide if Earth is worth invading.
The only inhabitant who seems to be bothered by their new alien overlord is Katrina Lyons, who was only home for the weekend to borrow the money for a deposit for a flat when the force field went up. So along with Lucy Alexander (the only teenager in the village, willing to rebel against whatever you've got) she forms The Resistance - slightly to the annoyance of her parents Margaret and Richard who wish she wouldn't make so much of a fuss, and much to the annoyance of Field Commander Uljabaan who, alongside his unintelligible minions and The Computer (his hyperintelligent supercomputer), is trying to actually run the invasion.
Written by Eddie Robson
Script-edited by Arthur Mathews
Produced by Ed Morrish.
From 10pm - midnight, 7 days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Paul Garner chats to impressionist Naomi McDonald.
Sitcom by Lucy Clarke about a woman who wants to be Fabulous but can't cope.
With Daisy Haggard, Adam Buxton, Joanna Scanlan, Joanna Neary, Matthew Holness, Eve Dallas, Katy Brand, Olivia Colman.
Music by Osymyso.
The elderly Scotsmen's first trip to London ends in chaos. Stars Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Alison Steadman and Jeremy Hardy. From March 2004.
David Lander probes MI5 in a tale of dirty tricks, purple herrings and mauve sheep. Stars Stephen Fry as the spoof investigative journalist. From September 1985.
When two rival Glasgow gang-leaders (and would-be children's authors) find themselves competing head-to-head for a prestigious literary award, it's up to Boxer and Doberman to stop full-scale gang warfare - especially with campaign to win "European City of Kindness".
Alastair Jessiman's comedy police drama features grizzled old-school detective, DI Bob Boxer - and his slightly less grizzled and more instinctive young sidekick, DS Shona Doberman.
It's a case of Taggart meet The Naked Gun as the duo take to the road in Boxer's arthritic Austin Princess...
DI Boxer ..... Finlay Welsh
DS Doberman ..... Anita Vettesse
Butcher Brawley ..... James Bryce
Rosa Caputo ..... Ann Scott Jones
"The Shadow" ..... Cameron McNee
Joe Macnamarra ..... Alastair Jessiman
Director: David Jackson Young
Made for BBC Radio 7 by BBC Scotland and first broadcast in 2010.
In programme 3 Melvyn Bragg tells the stories of two sets of Vikings who left a permanent mark on the North of England - the Scandinavians who came from the East and the Norsemen who had alchemised into Normans, and came from the South. The Vikings shaped the English language and it is suggested that the key to their linguistic imprint on the North is likely to have been down to Viking women, as well as men, settling in this region, passing the language onto their children. Evidence of Viking presence persists today: scree, fell, gable, gill, tarns, rake, horse, house, husband, wife and egg. All Norse words. Melvyn visits the Gosforth Cross, which blends Anglo Saxon Christianity with Pagan Norse mythology. The cross is unique. There's no other like it anywhere in the world. The North then became victim to their distant cousins the Normans, who swept northwards with savage force, laying waste to much of it - the infamous harrying of the north. The increasing power of London and the south began to take real shape and the north looked to the Scottish Kings, in some cases preferring Scots rule to that of the distant southern monarchs.
Contributors
Professor Judith Jesch, University of Nottingham
Dr Matthew Townend, University of York
Professor Nick Higham, University of Manchester
Professor Keith Stringer, Lancaster University
Bill Lloyd
Producer: Faith Lawrence.
by Katherine Jakeways
Sheila Hancock narrates the bittersweet adventures of the residents of a small market town in Northamptonshire. This week, against her better judgement, Jan has dinner with her ex-husband, and Mary and Jonathan have crossed wires.
Producer: Steven Canny
As is well-known: Yorkshiremen wear flat caps and Essex girls wear short skirts; Liverpudlians are scallies and Cockneys are wideboys. Northamptonians gaze wistfully at these stereotypes and wish for an identity of any kind and a label less ridiculous than Northamptonians. Northamptonshire, let us be clear, is neither north, nor south nor in the Midlands. It floats somewhere between the three eyeing up the distinctiveness of each enviously. Now Katherine Jakeways is giving Northamptonshire an identity. And she waits, eagerly, for her home-county to thank her. And possibly make her some kind of Mayor.
Joined by nearly all of the incredible cast which graced Series One and Two - including Sheila Hancock as the Narrator, Penelope Wilton, Felicity Montagu, Geoffrey Palmer and Kevin Eldon - and with the exciting addition of Tim Key and Nathaniel Parker - North by Northamptonshire hopes (and promises) to once again delight and entertain audiences and critics alike.
Joe Lycett explores the nation's weird and wonderful obsessions by getting to know a selection of famous and not so famous guests, this week recorded in Birmingham. Joining Joe on the sofa this episode, comedian Janice Connolly shares her collection of de-cluttering books, whilst broadcasting legend Nick Owen introduces Joe to Luton Town FC. Joe also welcomes members of the public to share their secret passions, as well as this week's VOP (very obsessed person), Liz West a Guinness World record holding Spice Girls memorabilia collector.
Joe Lycett's Obsessions was written and performed by Joe Lycett, with material from James Kettle and additional material from Laura Major and Mike Shepherd. The production coordinator was Hayley Sterling. The producer was Suzy Grant and it was a BBC Studios production.
Newly re-elected, MP Jim Hacker is summoned to the PM's office.
Jim learns from his chauffeur that the new St Edwards Hospital has 300 administrators, cooks and cleaners, but no doctors, nurses or patients. How can he cure it? As usual the Minister doesn't know his ACAS from his NALGO.
Starring Paul Eddington as Jim Hacker, Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humphrey Appleby and Derek Fowldes as Bernard. Moira Stuart plays herself.
Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn satirical sitcom ran on BBC TV between 1980 and 1984. Yes Minister is centred around the hapless Jim Hacker and a collection of civil service underlings headed by the Machiavellian Sir Humphrey Appleby and obsequious Bernard.
Adapted for radio by producer Pete Atkin.
First broadcast on Radio 4 in 1984.
Neddie reveals his Arthurian roots and goes in search of treasure in deepest Cornwall. Stars Spike Milligan. From October 1956.
Broadcaster, writer and science enthusiast, Adam Hart-Davis quizzes a panel about himself.
With Sue Perkins, Lucy Porter, Will Smith and Robin Ince.
Series with changing hosts who quiz the panel.
Script by Richard Turner and Simon LIttlefield
Devised and produced by Aled Evans.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006.
Furious Uncle Percy gets trapped and Bertie Wooster tries to avoid getting arrested!
Conclusion of the PG Wodehouse romp adapted in seven-parts by Chris Miller.
Starring Michael Hordern as Jeeves, Richard Briers as Bertie Wooster, Jonathan Cecil as Boko Fittleworth, Peter Woodthorpe as Percy, Lord Worplesden, Rosalind Adams as Nobby Hopwood and Michael Kilgarriff as Stilton Cheesewright.
Producer: Simon Brett
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978.
Mary Wimbush stars as Lady Edith in this play written specially for her by Peter Tinniswood.
Lady Edith is sailing with her husband to the tiny South Atlantic island of St David's, of which he's about to become Governor. Her fellow passengers, not to mention the crew and the exuberant band on board, produce an invigorating and somewhat earthy effect on her Ladyship, a frustrated woman of 'a certain age' with a vivid imagination.
With John Moffatt as Sir Wilfred, Bernard Hepton as Dr Spoforth and Stephen Thorne as Captain McWhirter.
Radio kept Mary Wimbush particularly busy throughout her career. She was known to millions as Julia Pargetter in 'The Archers' until her death in 2005, shortly after she'd recorded an episode of the BBC's long-running soap opera at the BBC's Mailbox in Birmingham.
Director: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1993.
A cautionary tale of how the malign and sultry River Thames exacts a watery revenge. Short story read by Samantha Bond.
By Sarah Woods.
A love story about the power of mirror neurons.
Anja works in advertising, Rhys is a single dad. Their fates collide at a focus group, in which Rhys takes exception to Anja's baby food campaign. Both have their reasons to resist falling in love, but their brains have other ideas.
Anja and Rhys's love story is told from a neurological perspective, by neuroscientist Christian Keysers. It's the story of two individuals whose brains begin to 'mirror' each other as they gradually fall in love. As Christian says it's "...not so much an exchange of information as two brains becoming one."
Author of 'The Empathic Brain', Christian is Head of the Social Brain Lab at the Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences. He seeks to understand how, as social animals, our brains mirror those of other people, so that understanding others is not an effort of explicit thought but an intuitive sharing of emotions, sensations and actions.
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production.
Rose Tremain returns triumphantly to one of her best loved characters, in the long awaited sequel to her Booker short-listed best-selling novel, Restoration, published in 1989.
Seventeen years after the events related in Restoration, Merivel, a man of wit, wisdom and not a little passion, is facing a crisis. Life on his Norfolk estate and as a physician, a father and sometimes a fool to his adored King Charles 11,is no longer enough. Not only are he, and his loyal servant Will, ageing, but his beloved daughter Margaret is seventeen and will soon fly the nest. Even the King is failing. How can he reinvigorate his life?
He will set off in search of Wonders.
In today's episode: Merivel accepts a lift in Louise de Flamanville's coach but finds more in Paris than he bargained for.
The reader is the stage and screen actor Nicholas Woodeson.
The abridger was Sally Marmion and the producer was Di Speirs.
Lenny Henry investigates the sudden blossoming of new black British theatrical voices whose roots are not in the Caribbean but in Africa. From Nigeria via Peckham and Hastings comes the energetic talent of Bola Agbaje whose play Gone Too Far triumphed at London's Royal Court Theatre, winning an Olivier award in 2008 before being filmed for the big screen, with a slew of new work since. "Writing is easy" she tells Lenny Henry ...and, she says, it all came about only because she managed to squeeze a place on a Royal Court writers' scheme on the day applications closed.
Series Consultant Michael Pearce
Producer Simon Elmes.
by Isabel Colegate, dramatised by DJ Britton. As the path of Lionel and Olivia's true love runs surprisingly smoothly, an animal rights protestor interrupts the shoot, and barely notices how efficiently he is despatched.
Narrator ..... Olivia Colman
Sir Randolph ..... Sam Dale
Cardew ..... Jude Akuwudike
Glass ..... David Seddon
Olivia ..... Jaimi Barbakoff
Lionel ..... Michael Shelford
Cicely ..... Ellie Kendrick
Aline ..... Sally Orrock
Gilbert ..... Sean Baker
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
Over 5 episodes, abridged by Katrin Williams, the author Philip Hoare tells us about a lifetime's association with the sea. The sea that is local to him and other seas that wait in far flung parts of the world. He walks by them, dives into them and is wholly inspired by them:
4. On a ferry trip to New Zealand's South Island, lazily raising the binoculars and looking out
reveals a huge grey shape - that's not too far away!
Reader Anthony Calf
Producer Duncan Minshull.
How did Jan Valery make his latest escape? Will Suskin ever uncover the truth?
Conclusion of James Follett's political thriller exploring dissention and danger in a repressive state in the Eastern Bloc.
Starring James Beattie as Jan Valery, Vernon Joyner as Suskin, Manning Wilson as the Governor, Francis de Wolff as Nero, Caroline John as Anna, Cyril Shaps as Danski, Brian Haines as Suskin's Chief, Rosayln Slater as Zoe and John Challis as the Interrogator.
The original audio was lost from the BBC archive, so our thanks to James Follett for the donation from his personal collection.
Producer: Margaret Hall
First broadcast as a 90 minute drama on BBC Radio 4 in 1973.
This week's Great Life, Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, hated being tagged as the father of pop art, yet his representations of images from popular culture came almost two decades before Warhol and Lichtenstein. Prolific and generous, his public sculptures populate many cities across the country, yet his name is not as well known as Moore, Hepworth or Gormley. The diversity of the forms that he worked in, and his reluctance to be packaged and promoted by agents, accounts at least partly for that.
Paolozzi's personal story is no less complicated. Born in Edinburgh to Italian parents that sent him back to Fascist summer camp in Italy every year, all the men in his family, including the young Eduardo were interned when Mussolini declares war in 1940. Eduardo spent three months prison, but his father and grandfather met a far worse fate.
Joining Matthew in the studio are two close friends of Paolozzi's. Nominating him is the restaurateur Antonio Carluccio, who remembers dining and cooking with Paolozzi, and marvelling at how his 'fatty sausage' fingers could produce artwork of such intricacy. Cultural historian, Professor Sir Christopher Frayling who taught with Paolozzi for many years also has many anecdotes to tell, and he and Matthew agree to differ on their appraisal of one of Paolozzi's most well known works; the mosaics at Tottenham Court Road tube station.
Produced by: Sarah Langan.
Made for 4 Extra. Brand new podcast from the team behind the long-running main show, hosted Tez Ilyas.
John suggests to his neighbour Ken Worthington that he take his wet washing off the line because rain is forecast, but when Ken decides not to heed this warning John, with advice from wife Mary, takes matters into his own hands with disastrous consequences.
The Shuttleworths is written and performed by Graham Fellows, and the series is produced by Dawn Ellis.
From 10pm - midnight, 7 days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Paul Garner chats to impressionist Naomi McDonald.
Gurus, spirit guides and a sweat lodge ritual - Mel Hudson and Vicki Pepperdine take the plunge into new age therapies.
Starring Mel Hudson and Vicki Pepperdine with Martin Hyder, Felix Dexter, Lewis MacLeod and Jim North.
Written by the cast with Danny Robins, Dan Tetsell and and Richie Devlin - and script edited by Graeme Garden.
Music by Richie Webb.
Producer: Chris Neill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2003.
The sporting legend tries to gauge the English team's success in his own murky way. Stars Christopher Douglas. From June 2001.
When Boxer and Doberman are called to investigate the brutal murder of a popular Scottish actor, they become entangled (as you do) in a web of intrigue.
Things get even stickier when Boxer seems to fall for the murdered man's widow - seductive breakfast TV star Marion Swann. Doberman's suspicions are aroused. Boxer is just aroused...
Alastair Jessiman's comedy police drama features grizzled old-school, cardigan-wearing detective, DI Bob Boxer - and more instinctive, BlackBerry-wielding young sidekick, DS Shona Doberman.
Listen out for a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo from one of the stars of the show which "inspired" Boxer and Doberman - ITV's Taggart. (Clue: his appearance is a tea-time treat...)
DI Boxer ..... Finlay Welsh
DS Doberman ..... Anita Vettesse
Marion Swann ..... Juliet Cadzow
Mackenzie Baxter ..... Sean Scanlan
Joe Macnamarra ..... Alastair Jessiman
Director: David Jackson Young
Made for BBC Radio 7 by BBC Scotland and first broadcast in 2010.
Episode Four is the story of rebellion and dissent in the north - and the way northern dialect is beginning to be marginalised and even mocked. Melvyn Bragg begins at Clifford's Tower in York, site of a Norman fortress built to keep the north under control. It was also the site centuries later, where Robert Aske - one of the leaders of The Pilgrimage of Grace (a great Catholic Rebellion) was executed. It's in York that St Margaret Clitherow was tortured to death. Melvyn goes to Riveaulx Abbey in North Yorkshire and finds evidence that the monks were on the brink of producing high quality cast iron and even blast furnaces. If the Reformation hadn't happened could the Industrial Revolution have begun here hundreds of years earlier? Melvyn examines how the south is coming to view the north - and its dialect. There is an idea that northern kinds of English are less prestigious. An idea that persists. Melvyn discusses this with Joan Bakewell. The poet Simon Armitage celebrates the speech patterns of the medieval poetic masterpiece 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' and Melvyn meets Dame Judi Dench who remembers her time performing the York Mystery Plays.
Contributors
Jonnie Robinson, British Library
Joan Bakewell
Simon Armitage
Judi Dench
Toby Gordon
Natalie McCaul, Yorkshire Museum
Dr Sarah Bastow, University of Huddersfield
Susan Harrison, English Heritage
Prof Andy Wood, Durham University
Producer: Faith Lawrence.
DG John Brown has decided that the BBC will broadcast the 1923 Boat Race. So the rest of the staff must rally round to find a way to bring off the transmission.
Written by Jimmy Perry, the man behind Dad's Army and Hi-De-Hi.
Starring Graham Crowden as John Brown, Jimmy Perry as Colonel Beecham, Bill Pertwee as Sergeant Lucas, Jeffrey Holland as Roger Eccles and Roy Hudd as Fred "Keep 'Em Laughing" Hicks.
Producer: Jo Clegg.
First broadcast nightly on BBC Radio 2 in September 1994.
The third series of Jon Canter's not quite true autobiography of Richard Wilson.
After a brush with death, Richard Wilson concludes that it's time to tell the truth. To everybody. He can't just be nice all the time. Sometimes you've got to tell it how it is.
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
Your complete guide to the Aristocracy - and the hunt for Professor Prune's Time Trousers heads Down Under.
Starring Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Sketches written by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie
Originating from the Cambridge University Footlights revue 'Cambridge Circus', ISIRTA ran for 8 years on BBC Radio and quickly developed a cult following.
Music and songs by Bill Oddie, Liam Cohen and Dave Lee.
Producer: David Hatch/Peter Titheradge
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in March 1969.
Lugubrious Les Dawson with a tale of when the worm turned, and Cosmo discusses modern art.
With Daphne Oxenford, Eli Woods and Colin Edwynn.
Music by Brian Fitzgerald.
Scripted and produced by James Casey.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1985.
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents. Marcus Brigstocke, Holly Walsh, John Finnemore and Rufus Hound are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as board games, salt, guinea pigs and actors.
The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, the team behind Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.
Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
"'I don't know which of the two masculine approaches is the more offensive - Gary's straight boorishness or Vernon's patronising, undervaluing gallantry".
Trying to put up a new shelf, Sarah's goes to war in the battle of the sexes.
Simon Brett's comedy about three generations of women - struggling to cope after the death of Sarah's GP husband - who never quite manage to see eye to eye.
Starring Prunella Scales as Sarah, Joan Sanderson as Eleanor, Benjamin Whitrow as Russell, Gerry Cowper as Clare, Frederick Treves as Vernon and Ian Michie as Gary.
Four radio series were made, but instead of moving to BBC TV - Thames Television produced 'After Henry' for the ITV network.
Producer: Pete Atkin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1989.
by Nigel Planer
Lapo ..... Phil Daniels
Loti ..... Bryan Dick
Pope Julius ..... Gary Waldhorn
Cardinal Alidosi ..... Roger Lloyd Pack
Composer ..... Adam Cork
Directed by Mary Peate
High up on the wooden scaffolding tower of the Sistine Chapel, two fresco plasterers get on with the day's work preparing the ceiling for their boss Michelangelo who has not bothered to turn up for work again. As they do so, they bemoan the uselessness of the great master.
Pope Julius and Cardinal Alidosi visit the chapel to inspect the progress of their commission. They are never very impressed, and the Pope is more concerned about getting Michelangelo to do his funeral monument at a knock-down price.
On the Ceiling is not about great artists; it is about those people whose names don't go down in history: the ones who do the essential drudge work, their frustration at their lack of genius and their pride in their own technical expertise. In this version of events, low elements combine to make high art.
Nigel Planer is best known as Neil in The Young Ones, and as Nicholas Craig - The Naked Actor. Other television productions include Shine on Harvey Moon; Dennis Potter's Blackeyes. On stage, Nigel has performed in Simon Gray's Unnatural Pursuits; Ben Elton's We Will Rock You and Hairspray.
Made for 4 Extra. Olly Mann joins Amanda Litherland to recommend favourite podcasts. Features the Political Party with Matt Forde and Hidden Mickeys featuring Natalie Palamides and Carrie Poppy.
Rose Tremain returns triumphantly to one of her best loved characters, in the long awaited sequel to her Booker short-listed best-selling novel, Restoration, published in 1989.
Seventeen years after the events related in Restoration, Merivel, a man of wit, wisdom and not a little passion, is facing a crisis. Life on his Norfolk estate and as a physician, a father and sometimes a fool to his adored King Charles 11,is no longer enough. Not only are he, and his loyal servant Will, ageing, but his beloved daughter Margaret is seventeen and will soon fly the nest. Even the King is failing. How can he reinvigorate his life?
He will set off in search of Wonders.
In today's episode: Merivel rescues a bear and returns to Bidnold.
The reader is the stage and screen actor Nicholas Woodeson.
The abridger was Sally Marmion and the producer was Di Speirs.
In the last of his programmes tracing a century of black British theatre and screen, Lenny Henry explores the prospects for black British theatre and screen. He talks to black British film-director and creative artist Steve McQueen, who was the first ever black director to win an Academy Award for Best Picture - and who's also a proud winner of the Turner Prize for art. Lenny hears about Steve's new project for BBC television, a grand sweeping story of an African Caribbean family growing up across three decades from the late 1960s.
Also taking part in this assessment of the future shape of their art are director and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah, theatre director Michael Buffong and writer Roy Williams.
Series consultant Michael Pearce
Producer Simon Elmes.
by Isabel Colegate, dramatised by DJ Britton. Cardew is heading back to the shoot, Ellen and Osbert are looking for their pet duck, Olivia and Aline are watching the guns, Glass has put Dan with Tom at the head of the beaters for a better view. And an error of judgement results in a death.
Narrator ..... Olivia Colman
Sir Randolph ..... Sam Dale
Tom ..... Sean Baker
Cardew ..... Jude Akuwudike
Glass ..... David Seddon
Olivia ..... Jaimi Barbakoff
Lionel ..... Michael Shelford
Cicely ..... Ellie Kendrick
Ellen ..... Sally Orrock
Osbert ..... Joshua Swinney
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
Over 5 episodes, abridged by Katrin Williams, the author Philip Hoare tells us about a lifetime's association with the sea. The sea that is local to him and other seas that wait in far flung parts of the world. He walks by them, dives into them and is wholly inspired by them:
5. Travelling the world, seeing all things aquatic, yet it is the
'suburban sea' of childhood and the sound of the blackbird
that draws the author home...
Reader Anthony Calf
Producer Duncan Minshull.
A way of producing and harnessing happiness is revealed when a physicist plays out the sound of dark matter during a local radio programme.
The sound lulls the listeners into a state of euphoria, producing an effect not unlike a large dose of sedative.
The ethical and moral implications of marketing this new found product become evident - as the temptation to make money and control huge numbers of people proves too great.
Kurt Vonnegut's short story is read by Stuart Milligan.
One of the outstanding figures of modern US literature, Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was a cult figure among students in the 1960s and 1970s with his classics of US counterculture.
The bombing of Dresden by allied forces in 1945 was the pivotal moment of his life, which informed his best-known work 'Slaughterhouse Five'.
Abridged and produced by Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in 2007.
John Wilson returns with a new series of Mastertapes, 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 1, A-side. "Life Thru A Lens" with Robbie Williams
Today, Robbie Williams is the UK's best-selling solo artist of all time. But when he released his debut solo album, "Life Thru A Lens", after leaving the all-conquering boyband, Take That, it was initially met with negative reviews and was slow to take off. However, with songs like Ego A Go Go, Lazy Days, Let Me Entertain You and, of course, Angels, the album not only went on to spend more than 4 years in the charts and become the 58th best-selling album of all time, it also laid down the solid foundations for all that was to follow: nine further solo albums, seven number one singles and more BRIT awards than any other artist.
Here Robbie Williams talks candidly with John Wilson about the album that started it all and they are joined in the studio by the album's co-writer and producer, Guy Chambers as well as guitarist Gary Nuttall and a string quartet.
The B-side of the programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard tomorrow at 3.30pm.
Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
From 10pm - midnight, 7 days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith talks to Alice Fraser.
Made for 4 Extra. The fifth heat of the BBC New Comedy Award 2018, recorded at the Glee Club in Cardiff, hosted by Mike Bobbins.
Chat show in which one week's interviewee becomes the following week's interviewer.
Eddie Izzard interviews former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell. He asks him about his breakdown, working for Tony Blair and his beginnings as a soft porn writer.