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/
Ursula K Le Guin's enduring fantasy saga set on the magical archipelago rich with wizards and dragons. Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Based on the novels A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin. Adapted by Judith Adams.
Hungry for power and knowledge, the young wizard Ged tampers with long-held secrets and releases a terrible shadow into the world. Meanwhile, Tenar is taken away from her home and family to become Arha, the guardian of the ominous Tombs of Atuan.
Published between 1968 and 1972, the first three books of Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea cycle (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore) are re-told across six intertwined episodes. Set on a vast archipelago of islands, where magic is a central part of life, they tell the stories of Ged and Tenar. Ged is a boy from the island of Gont, born with innate magical talent and a reckless nature, who releases a terrible shadow into the world and must risk everything in order to restore the balance. Tenar, a girl from the island of Atuan, is taken from her home and family to become Arha, the Priestess Ever Reborn, guardian of the ominous Tombs of Atuan. Deep within the Tombs, Ged and Tenar encounter one another and seek a way of bringing peace to the troubled archipelago.
Ged ..... James McArdle
Tenar ..... Aysha Kala
Young Ged ..... Kasper Hilton-Hille
Young Tenar ..... Nishi Malde
Ogion ..... Paul Hilton
Manan ..... Zubin Varla
Thar ..... Souad Faress
Father ..... David Hounslow
Boy ..... Adam Thomas-Wright
Oarsman ..... Mark Edel-Hunt
Witch ..... Jessica Turner
Serret ..... Lucy Hutchinson
Shipmaster ..... Stephen Critchlow
Original music by Jon Nicholls.
Sound design by Caleb Knightley.
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
Chris Bigsby chairs a debate about taboo with Adam Mars-Jones and Daisy Sampson. Is there anything still forbidden these days?
In each programme, Professor Bigsby introduces a duo of writers of fact and fiction: new talent and established names. In the context of a discussion of one of the ideas and pre-occupations of our times, each presents a piece on this week's topic.
The best new writing and the freshest conversation from 2002.
A local villain tells DS Brook that he's going straight and wants to turn informant on some planned break-ins...
Stories of crime and detection in London by Robert Barr.
Starring Ray Brooks as long-serving, ducking-and-diving Detective Sergeant Dave Brook with his new partner, Detective Constable Tully played by Stephen Garlick.
With Peter Cleall as DS Harrison, Stephen Yardley as Chief Inspector Roach, Johnny Wade as Joe Harper and Christopher Douglas as DS Rigby.
Writer Robert Barr is best remembered for his work on BBC TV's crime serials 'Z-Cars' and 'Softly Softly'.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1985.
Matthew Sweet reveals the untold story of Harold McCarthy, arguably the most powerful British film critic of the twentieth century despite the fact that his name never appeared in a newspaper byline. From the 1930s to the 1960s, McCarthy supplied reviews of 11,000 films to independent cinema managers from Cork to Calcutta - reviews that shaped what cinemagoers saw on the screen. Yet his importance only became clear recently when a huge archive of his work surfaced at auction.
Set in 1880s Hawaii, Robert Louis Stevenson's story about an enchanted bottle - its glass tempered in the flames of hell - that grants its owner's every wish. The catch? If the owner dies before selling it on, his soul will burn in hell forever. But it must be sold at a loss, and the price drops with every trade...
Read by Ian McDiarmid
Written by Robert Louis Stevenson
Abridged by Kirsteen Cameron
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
James Naughtie presents a series chronicling the historical influences that affected the course of classical music.
25/30. Beethoven's Eroica
The original dedication to Napoleon was removed from the manuscript of Beethoven's Symphony No 3, allegedly by the composer's own hand, when Napoleon declared himself Emperor in 1804.
Read by Simon Russell Beale.
Sophie's campaign for equality continues, as she draws closer to seeing women receive medical degrees in their own country.
Conclusion of the true story of late 19th century pioneer Sophia Jex-Blake's in Maggie Allen's ten-part dramatisation.
Julia Watson stars as Sophia Jex-Blake; Gavin Muir as Henry Littlejohn; Joanna Monro as Ursula Du Pre; and Jenny Lee as Miss Gosse.
Director: Sue Wilson.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
Published when the National Theatre turned 50 in 2013, Philip Ziegler's biography, based on previously unseen letters and diaries, tells the story of Laurence Olivier as he developed his craft, focusing on his career path from early school days through rep theatre to Hollywood, before returning to triumph in his greatest role ever, as the first director of the National Theatre.
Episode 5:
Olivier goes to the Royal Court to star in 'The Entertainer' which, in turn, sets him on a path to the last two great loves of his life - Joan Plowright and the National Theatre.
Reader: Toby Jones
Producer: Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.
The extraordinary story of a battleship - made entirely of ice - designed for use in the Second World War.
It was left to dissolve in a lonely Canadian lake in Northern Alberta - and its eccentric English inventor, Professor Geofffey Pyke is one of the great unsung geniuses of the 20th Century.
Steve Walker's drama stars Tim McInnerney as Geoffrey Pyke, Dermot Crowley as JD Bernal, Melanie Hudson as Pamela Pleens, Chris Emmett as Winston Churchill and David Holt as Lord Mountbatten.
Director: Andy Jordan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
Breakfast TV queen Lorraine Kelly is in the hot seat posing questions all about her.
On the panel: comedians Sue Perkins, Lucy Porter, Robin Ince and Will Smith.
Comedy quiz presented by a new guest host every week. All the questions are about the host.
Script by Simon Littlefield and Kieron Quirke.
Devised and produced by Aled Evans.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
Smuggler Tamsyn Trelawney joins the customs men to stop Courageous Kate from marrying her dad.
Then things take a turn for the even more absurd...
18th century Cornish village sitcom by the writers of Dead Ringers - Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain.
Starring Lucy Speed as Tamsyn Trelawny, John Bowe as Jago Trelawny, Cameron Stewart as Major Thomas Falconer, Andrew McGibbon as Captain Marriot, Martin Hyder as Squire Bascombe, Mark Felgate as Dewey, Imelda Staunton as Courageous Kate and Mark Perry as Hobbs.
Producer: Jan Ravens.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2003.
Clare's in a flap when the Minister from the Northern Ireland office comes for dinner with this dog.
So cleaner Sally is booked for overtime to make sure the evening runs smoothly...
Series one of Annie McCartney's four-part sitcom.
Starring Frances Tomelty as Sally, Marcella Riordan as Clare, Roma Tomelty as Miss Black, Katy Gleadhill as Evie, Gerard Murphy as Fintan, Alan Mckee as Victor, Bethan Lloyd as Anna, Patrick Gleadhill as Simon, Robert Patterson as Tony, Emily Walmsley as Layla, Joel McElnay as Ben and Alfie Lloyd as Sam.
Director: Tanya Nash
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2001.
by Jeremy Front
based on Simon Brett's novel
Directed by Sally Avens
Charles is playing The Ghost and the Gravedigger in Hamlet but when the reality star playing the young Dane is badly injured he begins to suspect that the accident may have been deliberate and other members of the cast may be in danger.
Benedict Cumberbatch stars in the heart-breaking story of TS Eliot's marriage to Viv Haigh-Wood.
Michael Hastings' best known play charts the turbulent, doomed marriage of the young TS Eliot and the charismatic Vivienne Haigh-Wood. This moving, highly-charged study has been described as 'one of the most important plays of the 20th century'.
Stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Tom, Lia Williams as Viv, David Haig as Maurice and Judy Parfitt as Rose.
Adapted and directed by Peter Kavanagh.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2008.
Tom ............... Benedict Cumberbatch
Viv.................. Lia Williams
Maurice..............David Haig
Rose............... Judy Parfitt
Charles............ John Rowe
Louise..................Emily Randall
Janes............... Chris Pavlo
Dr Todd............ Gunnar Cauthery
Barrister............. Jonathan Tafler
Adapted and directed by......Peter Kavanagh.
Landlocked and mountainous Nepal is home to over 100 languages, many of which are now endangered. Languages spoken for generations may soon be extinct. Anthropologist and linguist Dr Mark Turin has spent years talking to the last speakers of languages under threat, and now he returns to the Himalayas to show us how communities are preserving and even reviving their speech forms, as well as what will be lost when languages die out.
Mark travels to the mountains of Eastern Nepal, where Thangmi is now spoken by only a few thousand people. Like many other languages that are at risk, Thangmi is a mine of unique indigenous terms for flora and fauna that have medical and ritual value. When people switch to speaking another language, traditional knowledge about man's place in nature falls into disuse. With the death of the last speaker, these unique ways of seeing the world can be lost forever.
Mark has lived with the Thangmi community for years, and speaks their ancestral language. Thangmi, whose speakers live in a highly mountainous region, has four distinct verbs that equate with the English verb 'to come', including yusa 'to come from above (down the mountain)' and wangsa 'to come from below (or up the mountain)'. Languages, like species, adapt to and reflect their environment.
Through these windows into the world of Thangmi speakers, and in discussions with language activists and educators across Nepal, Mark explores the enduring relationship between language, culture and identity and explains why it's so critical for linguists to work with indigenous communities to document and protect these vanishing voices before they disappear without record.
Producer Mark Rickards.
More than half a century on, Elinor Goodman tells the story of the election that changed the political course of the 1960s - but only just.
October 15th 1964: General Election day. It was a heady time - the Beatles had topped the charts all summer with A Hard Day's Night. And during the last days of campaigning, the Olympic Games in Tokyo were offering a welcome televisual distraction, with Mary Rand our gold-medal poster-girl all over the front and back pages as the polls opened.
For Britain's political leaders they were days of trading claims and counter-claims: in the blue corner, Tory grandee Alec Home - pronounced, aristocratically, as 'Hume' - the incumbent Prime Minister who'd two years previously had to renounce his peerage and fight a by-election in order to accept the premiership. Labour's leader was pipesmoking honest-john Northerner Harold Wilson, whose avuncular addressing of ordinary folk and champion of technology gave him for some a modern appeal in keeping with the age. The Liberals were led by Jo Grimond, statesmanlike and distinctly upper-middle class, whose party had just won a startling by-election. It was a fascinating fight.
Both Wilson and Home were relative newcomers: Macmillan's resignation had propelled Sir Alec, a charming, if diffident foreign-affairs specialist. into the limelight, where he often appeared out of touch with the concerns of ordinary voters. Wilson too had taken the top job unexpectedly when Labour's much loved and admired Hugh Gaitskell died unexpectedly in 1963. What with sex scandals, gaffes and the satirical bite of TW3 and Beyond the Fringe, it was quite a fight, and one Wilson was expected by many to cruise.
And yet, as the results poured in, it looked like it would be a dead heat...
Producer: Simon Elmes.
Liverpudlian Paul O'Grady celebrates some of Merseyside's funny Scouse men and women including Arthur Askey, Rob Wilton, Tommy Handley, Kenny Everett, Ken Dodd, Jimmy Tarbuck, Alexei Sayle, Patricia Routledge and John Bishop.
* Big-hearted Arthur Askey was born in Liverpool in 1900 and went on to front Band Waggon, the first regular BBC radio comedy series. Russell Davies introduces an episode of Turns of the Century profiling the man who coined the famous phase "Ay-Thang-You."
* Rob Wilton's was a different catch-phrase, but like Arthur Askey, his comedy entertained millions during the war years, kicking off with those immortal words "The Day War Broke Out". Mark Radcliffe tells Rob's story in an episode of How Tickled Am I?
* ITMA, or It's That Man Again for those not in the know, was the radio home of Tommy Handley, a comedian who was struck down in his prime, bringing to an end one of the most popular radio comedy series the BBC has ever known. And sticking with comedy catchphrases, it was Tommy who first started using the acronym TTFN - long before instant messaging and mobile phone text speak!
* Ken Dodd loves a catch phrase too, and he loves his tickling stick. Fellow Liverpudlian funny-man Ricky Tomlinson meets up with Doddy for a chat about his life.
* As radio revolutionaries go, they don't get much more radical than the late Kenny Everett. Well known on both commercial and BBC national radio, it's his time at local BBC Radio Merseyside that we hear about.
* Jimmy Tarbuck tells former Desert Island Discs presenter Sue Lawley how he got his start in comedy.
* Barry Cryer profiles a bit on an imposter to the programme - Patricia Routledge. As Paul O'Grady is quick to point out, Patricia hails from Birkenhead rather than Liverpool, but she's very welcome. The star of Keeping Up Appearances became best known for being the lady of the house at the notorious Bucket Residence.
* And finally, current star John Bishop chats to Desert Island Discs' Kirsty Young about the career change that took him from salesman to standup.
Producer: Elizabeth Clark
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by BBC Scotland.
It ran for 10 series on Channel 4 and found success in America, but the hit TV improvisation game actually started life on BBC radio.
When it began in January 1988, this show adopted a format with two regular team captains - Fry and Sessions and two guests each week, with Colin Sell at the piano.
In this first edition of the pioneering series, John Sessions, Dawn French, Stephen Fry and Lenny Henry are tasked to improvise by series chairman Clive Anderson.
Rounds include ghastly guests at a party and Goldilocks and the Three Bears performed as never before.
Devised and compiled by Mark Leveson. Additional material by Martin Booth.
Producer: Dan Patterson.
DJ Asif (Adil Ray) has dragged Barry (Roy Hudd) out of his room to act as on air 'posse' in his Lake Vista Care Home radio show.
But can Barry and Asif hold it together in the cupboard next to the vending machine, and make the kind of radio magic which will propel Asif all the way to a photocopying placement with Chris Evans?
The first in a series of comedies developed with the Comedians Theatre Company.
Written by Dave Florez
Produced and Directed by Jonquil Panting.
Single mother Maya loves music. She meets and marries former sailor Tosh in the record shop where she works, though troubled waters lay ahead.
Maya's Angelou's third volume of vivid memoirs set in the early 1950's
Dramatised by Winsome Pinnock
NARRATOR - Older Maya .... Adjoa Andoh
MAYA .... Pippa Bennett-Warner
TOSH .... Jamie Demetriou
VIVIAN BAXTER .... Ellen Thomas
CLYDE .... Tumo Reetsang
PREACHER .... Steve Toussaint
Director: Pauline Harris
First broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in October 2018.
Singer Kiki Dee chooses 'Some Of Your Lovin' by Dusty Springfield and 'Calling All Angels', performed by Jane Siberry.
Lynne Truss harks back to 1974, a time when she worked in a library, lived for literature, and proudly wrote "irony" in the margins of her books.
The writer's nostalgic selection ranges from Dickens and HG Wells, to less familiar names like Betty MacDonald and poet Vernon Scannell, with some heartfelt lyrics from Joni Mitchell's Blue.
Actors Helen Atkinson Wood, Philip Franks and Peter Marinker join Lynne at the Drill Hall, in London, to perform the extracts.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
Miriam Margolyes plays a proud manageress of an unchanging chocolate shop in a changing world. Bittersweet comedy from 1997.
A Prog Rock symphony rediscovered in the vaults can be catastrophic for the entire cosmos.
Peter Davison is the Fifth Doctor with his companion Nyssa played by Sarah Sutton.
This episode is one of four generated by Big Finish Productions' 2010 'Opportunity for New Writers' contest, which attracted around 1200 entries,
Peter Davison played the Fifth Doctor on BBC TV from 1981 to 1984.
Sarah Sutton played Nyssa between 1981 and 1983. She was first seen on 'The Keeper of Traken' - Traken being Nyssa's home planet, when she starred with the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)
Written by Rick Briggs.
Original music composed by Richard Fox and Lauren Yason.
Directed by Ken Bentley
Producer: David Richardson
A Big Finish production.
Something happened to Tom when he was six - something he's never been able to forget.
Every night when he tries to sleep, it starts.
Now, after nine years of marriage, Tom finally steals himself to tell his wife Janey about the tapping...
Fear on 4 brings you more in a series of nerve-tinglers.
Stars Siobhan Redmond as Janey, Mark Bonner as Tom and Alison Pettitt as the Girl.
Written by Colin Haydn Evans.
Director: David Blount
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1997.
A man walks into an isolated pub, sporting a peculiar jacket. What could he be hiding? Written and read by Will Self. From June 1998.
Satan starts a quest to improve mankind by infiltrating the world's great religions. Devilish comedy stars Andy Hamilton. From September 2005.
Sitcom by Nick Hornby and Giles Smith about an ageing rock star and his search for fulfilment.
Trillionnaire rocker Dave Mabbutt buys some last-minute holiday Euros and promptly brings down the entire international monetary system.
Dave Mabbutt ...... Mark Williams
Dom ...... Russell Tovey.
From 10pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats again to Angela Barnes about comedian Linda Smith.
Invention as it happens. Josie Lawrence and Jim Sweeney's improvised sketches driven by the audience. From February 2008.
Mark Watson continues his quest to improve the world, nimbly assisted by Tim Key and Tom Basden.
As broadcast live in November 2011 - Mark invites the audience join in via tweets and messages to work out how we can all make the world a better place.
Mark asks the big questions that are crucial to our understanding of ourselves and society - in a dynamic and thought provoking new format he opens the floor to the live audience and asks them to jump into the conversation via tweets and messages to work out how we can all make the world a better place.
This week Mark looks at "Faith" - What is faith? One of the most used, and feared, words of modern times. Yet these days, it's often used derisively about religious beliefs and so on. We look at odd things done in the name of 'faith', versus the obvious merits of having faith (belief that England will eventually win World Cup, ability to ride out difficult marriages). Should we be more credulous and believe people like estate agents? Or LESS credulous and destroy our TV sets altogether in case we accidentally absorb lies?
Mark Watson is a multi-award winning comedian, including the inaugural If.Comedy Panel Prize 2006. He is assisted by Tim Key, winner of Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2009 and Tom Basden who won the If.Comedy Award for Best Newcomer 2007.
Produced by Lianne Coop.
By 1876, Sophia finally has a medical degree and sets up her own practice, but the challenges ahead lead her to question her very calling...
Omnibus of the last five episodes of Maggie Allen's ten-part dramatisation of the life the medical pioneer who campaigned for women's right to education in the late 19th century.
Starring Julia Watson as Sophia Jex-Blake; Tina Gray as Mrs Jex-Blake; Christopher Scott as Mr Norton; Joanna Monro as Ursula Du Pre; Isabel Thorne as Sara Coward; Susan Jeffrey as Edith Pechey; Gavin Muir as Henry Littlejohn; Tracy Wiles as Elsie Inglis; Teresa Gallagher as Ina Cadell; Hilary MacLean as Jessie MacGregor; Bob Docherty as John Inglis; Jenny Lee as Miss Gosse; and Jamie Ballard as Dr Milne.
Director: Sue Wilson.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
4 Extra Debut. Jack wakes early on a perfect day for fishing. He's finally tall enough but is he sufficiently grown up? Read by Owen Roe. From November 2002.
After treatment for ovarian and breast cancer Chippy, is mad Jill is sad and Terri is definitely dangerous to know! The road back after cancer treatment can be tricky and full of obstacles.
In 'Bad Salsa', two middle aged women and their younger friend seek to regain their zest for life and love by learning to dance at Bad Salsa, the club where everyone knows your name but no-one knows your prognosis!
Depictions of people with cancer on TV and radio too often follow a standard format; there is the diagnosis, the depression the chemo, then the false recovery followed by the tragic death.
Bad Salsa tries to paint a picture at once more hopeful and more in line with survival rates which have improved immensely over the past 20 years.
For many, 'living with cancer' is now their day to day challenge. The characters in the series have finished their treatment and are in the process of finding their way back to normal life or at least finding a "new normal." As in the real world, the challenges of everyday life go on for our characters; like us they have boring marriages, distracting crushes, troublesome children, difficult workmates and infuriating parents, but unlike us their brush with mortality has given them a new perspective.
The fun and excitement of the series is in watching them decide to preserve the pre-cancer status quo or in Terri's words, to say "sod it all" and "go for it!"
Follow the women as they embrace the world of salsa whilst they adjust to life after cancer.
Joe and Fred's attempt to teach their wives a lesson backfires.
Stars Jack Warner as Joe, Kathleen Harrison as Ethel, George Howell as Bobby, Marion Collins as Jane, Charles Leno as Fred Stebbings, Molly Lumley as Clara and Kenneth Connor as the Insurance Salesman.
Popular working-class family, the Huggetts first hit the cinema screen with a series of Gainsborough films between 1947 and 1949. Their subsequent BBC radio series ran from 1953 to 1962.
Scripted by Eddie Maguire.
Producer: Jacques Brown
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in September 1957.
Flavours of Italy are on the menu, while Eth's claiming Ron is a daddy's boy in 'The Glums'.
Starring Professor Jimmy Edwards, Dick Bentley and June Whitfield.
Music from Wallace Eaton and the Keynotes and the BBC Revue Orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.
Scripted by Frank Muir and Denis Norden.
Producer: Charles Maxwell
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in April 1958.
Michael Palin reads from his book about the mysterious and tragic voyage of HMS Erebus in 1845:
A 19th century botanist, Joseph Hooker, and a press conference in Canada in 2014 sharpen the author's interest in the story. Erebus made a successful journey to the Antarctic and was being rigged and loaded for a second expedition to the Northwest Passage. Hopes were high when she finally set off from Greenhithe on the Thames estuary..
Omnibus of five parts abridged by Penny Leicester
Producer: Duncan Minshull
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.
Fi Glover introduces a conversation about whether a massage can ever feel too close for comfort, and the ups and downs of a working relationship.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
From Sid Vicious to Caetano Veloso, celebrity photographer Mario Testino makes his castaway choices. With Sue Lawley. From October 2005.
Radiolab's Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich explore stochasticity, a word which means randomness, and the role it plays in our lives.
From a woman suddenly consumed by a gambling addiction, to a meeting which seems to defy pure chance, and some very noisy bacteria, they consider chance and patterns in sport, lotteries, and the cells in our own body.
Radiolab is an award winning show about curiosity, where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy and the human experience.
First broadcast on public radio in the USA.
Claire Flannery has quit her marketing job in order to search for her true vocation. But months have passed and she's no closer to understanding what she wants to do with her life. It doesn't help that Luke, her long-term partner, is passionate about his job, which also happens to be one of the worthiest in the world... he's training to be a brain surgeon.
In addition, she's fallen out badly with her mother - who refuses to accept Claire's revelation that her grandfather exposed himself to her with she was little. It hadn't seemed like a big deal to Claire at the time, but her mother's reaction has left her hurt and reeling...
Lisa Owens's comic debut novel tells the story of a life unravelling in minute and spectacular ways, voicing the questions we've all asked ourselves but never dared to say out loud.
Read by Emily Bruni
Omnibus of the last five of ten episodes abridged by Robin Brooks.
Producer: Kirsteen Cameron.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2016.
London's King's Cross Station was built in 1851-2 and was hailed an important work of engineering.
15 years later, the Midland Railways Company, desperate to impose itself on London and outdo rival companies, built a new station next door - only bigger, grander and more expensive - St Pancras.
Series in which architectural historian Joe Kerr visits pairs of neighbouring buildings built as responses to the rivalry between their builders.
Robert Thorne champions St Pancras while Helen Evenden speaks up for King's Cross.
Producer: Matthew Dodd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
Set in a remote part of the Pennines, a widowed mother and her son battle to come to terms with the passage of time when hired worker, Tom arrives.
Son Harry, who has learning difficulties, is described by his school as 'challenged'. With Tom's encouragement he finds new confidence, but this creates fresh conflict for the trio.
Don Haworth's atmospheric drama stars Brigit Forsyth as Anne, Paul Copley as Tom and Matthew Booth as Harry.
Producer: Pauline Harris
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive with Maadai-Kara - an ancient epic Siberian poem with an oral tradition.
Described as an altai poem which involves throat singing - Benjamin Zephaniah goes on a journey to learn more about the epic, and about the great reciters of the poem.
Producer: Kevin Dawson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009.
It's the year 2020, and the world of technology rules supreme.
One of its successes is the Simon Swain show whose contestants fight for survival in a desperate bid to justify their existence.
Meanwhile, in an empty Norfolk seaside resort, a lone piano player - a relic from a lost world - plays to his dead wife in a deserted ballroom. His life is transformed when he is invited on the show.
Eric Pringles' futuristic drama stars Bernard Cribbins as Jack, Phillip Jackson as Simon, Becky Hindley as Kate and Andrew Wincott as Paul,
Piano: Stuart Hutchinson
Director: Cherry Cookson
First broadcast on BBC Radio in 2000.
"Something is lying in the empty room of the inn - and that 'something' is enough to give young Mr Thomson a fright he never forgets."
Mystery looms for a student during his stay in Suffolk...
A classic ghost story by master of the genre, MR James - first published in 1929.
Read by James Aubrey.
Producer: Mitch Raper
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1986.
The radical comedian offers his humorous assessment of the talented military commander. From September 2002.
BBC Radio 4 Extra's topical sketch show Newsjack with host Angela Barnes. A scrapbook sketch show written entirely by the Great British public.
Featuring: Angela Barnes, Jon Pointing, Sukh Ojla and Josh Berry
Script Editors: Tom Coles and Ed Amsden
Producers: Adnan Ahmed and Hayley Sterling
A BBC Studios Production.
Comedy by Christopher Douglas and Nicola Sanderson. Beauty Olonga works as a carer for the Featherdown Agency and sees herself as an inspiration to other African girls hoping to achieve their goals in the land of semi-skimmed milk.
Beauty has a particularly difficult client, but is distracted by her latest business venture. Lynette assures Beauty that 'Colour Me Wow' is no pyramid scheme, while Anil shows a surprising new side to himself.
Beauty ...... Jocelyn Jee Esien
Lynette ...... Doon Mackichan
Sandra ...... Nicola Sanderson
Sally ...... Felicity Montagu
Karen ...... Nicola Sanderson
Mrs Gupte ...... Indira Joshi
Anil ...... Paul Sharma
Dr Kavanagh ...... Phyllida Law
Hilary ...... Rachel Atkins
Clare ...... Doon Mackichan
Music by The West End Gospel Choir.
Caught out when forensic evidence is found in a getaway car, will a villain opt to shop the other gang members?
Stories of crime and detection in London by Robert Barr.
Starring Ray Brooks as long-serving, ducking-and-diving Detective Sergeant Dave Brook with his partner, Detective Constable Tully played by Stephen Garlick.
With Peter Cleall as DS Harrison, Stephen Yardley as Chief Inspector Roach, Mike Grady as Eddie Dean, Ian Brimble as Keller, Jenny Funnell as the Lab Assistant, Peter Acre as Steve Gray, Helena Breck as Mrs Pearce and Brian Smith as DC Knowles.
Writer Robert Barr is best remembered for his work on BBC TV's crime serials 'Z-Cars' and 'Softly Softly'.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1985.
An evocative sound portrait of Britain's largest lake, Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland. With a shoreline measuring over 70 miles long, this vast stretch of water is more like a sea than a lake. Recordings made above and below the waves reveal a moody, stormy, wild and even dangerous place where legends of a buried town, a horse god and three sisters emerge from the shallows, while smoke-like plumes and huge flocks of birds rise from the surface as the seasons unfold.
Why does the bear suck his paw in winter? And what does the answer have to do with the First Secretary's dinner suit?
The British Ambassador and his team plan their campaign for a diplomatic dinner.
Alex Shearer's Eastern bloc embassy sitcom.
Starring Dinsdale Landen as HM Ambassador Mackenzie, Peter Acre as William Frost, Moir Leslie as Helen Waterson, Stephen Greif as the United States Ambassador, Susie Brann as Mrs Newton and Peter Howell as George Sommers.
Producer: Pete Atkin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1987.
Professor of Ignorance John Lloyd and his brand new curator Lee Mack welcome comedian and writer Lucy Beaumont; scientist, writer and storyteller Dr Kat Arney; and multi-award-winning poet Benjamin Zephaniah.
This week, the Museum's Guest Committee find out how jumping genes took the world by surprise, peep through the smallest window in the world and practise the ancient art of Tai Chi.
The show was researched by Mike Turner and Emily Jupitus of QI.
The Producers were Richard Turner and Anne Miller.
A BBC Studios Production.
Hancock is keen to emigrate, but is met with refusals from other countries including Australia and Canada. Can Sid help him to leave Britain?
Stars Tony Hancock. With Sidney James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Theme and incidental music written by Wally Stott.
Producer: Denis Main Wilson
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in February 1957.
Pike and Hodges call in a clairvoyant to help them locate the rumoured booty hidden somewhere on the pier in Frambourne-on-Sea.
A seaside saga of pier perpetuation starring John Le Mesurier as Arthur Wilson, Ian Lavender as Frank Pike, Bill Pertwee as Bert Hodges, Vivienne Martin as Miss Perkins and Betty Marsden at Madame Zara..
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 October 1984.
Nicholas Parsons is joined by Julian Clary, Paul Merton, Graham Norton and Terry Wogan as they try to speak without hesitation, repetition or deviation. Subjects include, My Disastrous Trip to the Zoo and for Julian Clary especially... Innuendo.
Producer: Tilusha Ghelani.
A dilemma for the Head, the search for a truant - and a surprise at the School Fete.
School comedy created and written by Jim Eldridge. Ten series of this King Street Junior ran between 1985 and 1998. King Street Junior Revisited ran from 2002 to 2005.
Stars Carolyn Pickles as Mrs Devon, Marlene Sidaway as Miss Lewis, Michael Cochrane as Mr Maxwell, Paul Copley as Mr Long, Teresa Gallagher as Miss Featherstone, Jacqueline Beatty as Miss Reid, Janice Acquah as Mrs Khan, James Grout as Mr Beeston, Jordan Calvert as Mark Walker, Gregg Chillin as Jo-Jo and Jessica Hill as Sandy.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2002.
Ian McKellen stars in the story of John Hamer Shawcross - from his boyhood on the streets of Ancoats, Manchester to his pursuit of power and fame.
Set against the wider current of events in England in the early 19th century.
Howard Spring's novel freely adapted for radio in eight episodes by Ken Whitmore.
With Geoffrey Banks as Grandfather, Rosalie Williams as Ellen and Ian Flintoff as Gordon Stansfield, Elizabeth Kelly as Ma Hannaway, George Hagan as Charles Artingstall, Susan Revel as Ann Artingstall, Graham Tennant as Hawley, Rosalie Crutchley as Lizzie Lightowler, Gary Carp as John as a boy, Phillip Politt as Tom Hannaway as a youth, David Riley as Arnold Ryerson as a youth.
Director: Trevor Hill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1979.
Scared of fraud exposure, an art gallery curator dresses up to disguise the condemned look in his eyes. Read by James Bryce.
Dumped by his girlfriend, a man tries to drown his sorrows in the in the sharp and funny pub world of 1950s Dublin.
John McGahern's story dramatised by Patricia Cobey
Starring Brendan Gleeson as the Narrator, Pauline McLynn as Claire Mulvey, Mark Lambert as Paddy Mulvey, David Wilmot as Eamon Kelly and Karen Ardiff as the Woman,
Director: Pam Brighton
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
A Death in the Family is the first book in the six volume cycle of autobiographical novels, My Struggle. Karl Ove Knausgaard's memoir has been described, in many countries, as a masterpiece.
With searing honesty, and an unflinching gaze turned upon himself and those around him, he writes about his teenage years in Norway. Later, he looks back on the writing of this book, the changes in his life and his second marriage to Linda, and the arrival of their children. Becoming a father prompts further reflections on family life and his relationship with his own father.
Karl Ove Knausgaard was born in December 1968. He published two novels, in 1998 and 2004, which both won prizes in Norway. The six volume series of novels, titled Min Kamp in Norwegian, were published between 2009 and 2011, totalling over 3,500 pages. The sixth and final volume, translated by Don Bartlett, has recently been published in the UK. He lives in Sweden with his wife, the writer Linda Boström Knausgaard, and their four children.
Written by by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Translated by Don Bartlett
Read by David Threlfall
Abridged by Isobel Creed and Jill Waters
Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
James Naughtie presents a series chronicling the historical influences that affected the course of classical music.
26/30. Schubert and the Piano
Vienna in the 1820s. The piano became mass manufactured and improved in quality. Schubert gave the piano personality, and his pieces were the lifeblood of a new kind of music making.
By Toni Morrison
Adapted by Patricia Cumper
Toni Morrison's seminal 1987 novel about a haunted house in the era that followed the abolition of slavery in the United States is adapted for radio for the first time. Toni Morrison's masterpiece melds horror and poetry as it tells the story of Sethe, a woman who escaped slavery by crossing the Ohio river, but who, eighteen years later, is still not free.
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
Letters to and from President Kennedy are published in book form and edited by Martin W Sandler to mark fifty years since the assassination of 1963. And a selection, abridged in five episodes by Penny Leicester, reveal the drama and tensions to do with American foreign policy. Other letters reveal Kennedy's wit and warmth when contacting friends and members of the public.
1. During WW2 young Kennedy was in touch with his brother Joe and the lovely but frowned upon 'Binga'.
Readers Colin Stinton, Richard Laing, Trevor White and Kelly Burke
Producer Duncan Minshull.
Ursula K Le Guin's enduring fantasy saga set on the magical archipelago rich with wizards and dragons.
Based on the novels A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin. Adapted by Judith Adams.
The young mage Ged is sent to the school for wizards on Roke Island but his pride and recklessness prove fatal. Meanwhile on Atuan, Tenar struggles to understand her role as guardian of the ominous Tombs. Her first official task will fill her with horror.
Published between 1968 and 1972, the first three books of Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea cycle (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore) are re-told here across six intertwined episodes. Set on a vast archipelago of islands, where magic is a central part of life, they tell the stories of Ged and Tenar. Ged is a boy from the island of Gont, born with innate magical talent and a reckless nature, who releases a terrible shadow into the world and must risk everything in order to restore the balance. Tenar, a girl from the island of Atuan, is taken from her home and family to become Arha, the Priestess Ever Reborn, guardian of the ominous Tombs of Atuan. Deep within the Tombs, Ged and Tenar encounter one another and discover a way of bringing peace to the troubled archipelago.
Ged ..... James McArdle
Tenar ..... Aysha Kala
Young Ged ..... Kasper Hilton-Hillie
Young Tenar ..... Nishi Malde
Manan ..... Zubin Varla
Kossil ..... Souad Faress
Doorkeeper ..... Stephen Critchlow
Nemmerle ..... Sam Dale
Raven ..... Ayesha Antoine
Jasper ..... Richard Linnell
Vetch ..... Jack Kane
Hand ..... David Acton
Herbal ..... Mark Edel-Hunt
Gensher ..... David Hounslow
Dragon ..... Jessica Turner
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
Sue MacGregor and her guests - arts director, Jude Kelly, and broadcaster, Janet Street-Porter - discuss favourite books by AL Kennedy, Norman Lewis and Patrick McGrath.
Paradise by A L. Kennedy
Publisher: Vintage
Naples '44 by Norman Lewis
Publisher: Eland
Ghost Town: Tales of Manhattan Then and Now by Patrick McGrath
Publisher: Bloomsbury
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006.
The surreal zoo's staff tackle gangsters, a spirit and porpoises. Stars Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. From October 2001.
Made for 4 Extra. Miles Jupp hosts a satirical review of the week's news in an extended version of Friday's programme.
Comedian John Hegley makes a spectacle of himself in Barnet with visionary poems and songs. With Nigel Piper and the Popticians. From September 1998.
A woman asks DS Brook for advice when her down-and-out uncle leaves her a large amount of money in his will...
Stories of crime and detection in London by Robert Barr.
Starring Ray Brooks as long-serving, ducking-and-diving Detective Sergeant Dave Brook with his new partner, Detective Constable Tully played by Stephen Garlick.
With Peter Cleall as DS Harrison, Stephen Yardley as Chief Inspector Roach, Jill Lidstone as Mary, David Milner as Lawrence Yates, Narissa Knights as Mrs Yates, John Forbes-Robertson as Mr Winton, Peter Acre as Mr Watkins and Brian Smith as Mr Blackett.
Writer Robert Barr is best remembered for his work on BBC TV's crime serials 'Z-Cars' and 'Softly Softly'.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1985.
Singer and songwriter Erykah Badu presents a two-part series exploring the extraordinary underground music generated by the Black Power movement of the late Sixties and early Seventies: radical, beautiful and rare
Black Power - with its symbol of a fist clenched in anger and defiance - politicised African American music in ways the Civil Rights movement had not. The desire for integration gave way to a new, fighting impulse of cultural separatism and self-determination. Politics and music became explosively attuned. From 1968 The Black Arts Movement - 'the cultural and spiritual sister of the Black Power concept' - flourished, dedicated to the foundation of an authentic Black aesthetic in literature, poetry and music. 'The Black Power and Black Arts concept both relate to the Afro-American's desire for self-determination and nationhood' wrote the African American philosopher Larry Neale in 1968,'...a main tenet of Black Power is the necessity for Black people to define the world in their own terms. The Black artist will make the same point in the context of aesthetics.'
The quest for freedom had both a musical and political resonance. Musicians opened up new and unexplored worlds of musical possibility. Players like Ornette Coleman and Archie Shepp pioneered the 'New Thing' - an avant-garde in jazz, pushing the limits of harmony and rhythm. Music was explicitly pressed into political service: The Black Panther Party even produced its own album of underground anthems 'Seize the Time' and Black music as a whole became far more vocal in its opposition to white mainstream society. Poet-musicians like Gill Scott Heron and the Last Poets delivered stinging attacks on the political failure of Civil Rights and the reality of the black experience in cities across America. Meanwhile Africa became as a powerful symbol for a younger generation of black American artists, a source of political identification, spiritual sustenance and often exotic, musical inspiration.
Black Power transformed the way musicians negotiated control and ownership of their own music. The club and bar circuit gave way to performances in galleries, lofts, community halls and public spaces. The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians was inaugurated in Chicago (and still thrives today) and other collectives followed. Radical independent labels flourished with very limited vinyl release. Many of these records, infused with the Black Power ethos, are extremely rare, and are featured throughout the series.
Contributors include: Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp, founder of the Black Arts Movement Amiri Baraka, Black Arts poet Sonia Sanchez, jazz flautist Lloyd McNeil, Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets, Gill Scott Heron's co-writer Brian Jackson, hip-hop artist Talib Kweli and former Black Panther leader and songwriter Elaine Brown.
Presenter: Erykah Badu
Producer: Simon Hollis
A Brook Lapping Production for BBC Radio 4.
Broody Faith fancies starting a second family - but does Bill?
Sitcom about the battles of divorcees Bill MacGregor and Faith Greyshott trying to forge a relationship whilst balancing the demands of his ex-wife, Liza and her teenage children, Hannah and Joe.
Stars Lynda Bellingham as Faith, James Bolam as Bill, Kelda Holmes as Hannah, Norman Bird as Mr Burrows and Deborah Rowbottom as the Police Officer.
Series two of four inspired by the real lives of its writers, husband and wife Jan Etherington and Gavin Petrie.
A TV version made by LWT for ITV appeared in 1991 and ran for four series, with a spin-off 'Faith in the Future'.
Producer: Sioned Wiliam
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1989.
Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is 'Help!'.
King of the one-liners, Milton Jones returns BBC to Radio 4 for an amazing 10th series in a new format where he has decided to set himself up as a man who can help anyone anywhere - whether they need it or not. Because, in his own words, "No problem too problemy".
But each week, Milton and his trusty assistant Anton set out to help people and soon find they're embroiled in a new adventure. So when you're close to the edge, then Milton can give you a push.
This week, Milton Jones is asked to help out with the local book festival because the townsfolk are too distracted by their smartphones to.... Sorry, what was I saying? Sorry, just got a text.
Written by Milton with James Cary ("Bluestone 42", "Miranda") and Dan Evans (who co-wrote Milton's Channel 4 show "House Of Rooms") the man they call "Britain's funniest Milton," returns to the radio with a fully-working cast and a shipload of new jokes.
The cast includes regulars Tom Goodman-Hill ("Spamalot", "Mr. Selfridge") as the ever-faithful Anton, and Dan Tetsell ("Newsjack"), and features the one and only Josie Lawrence working with Milton for the first time.
Producer David Tyler's radio credits include Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive, Cabin Pressure, Bigipedia, Another Case Of Milton Jones, Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation, The Brig Society, Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off, The 99p Challenge, The Castle, The 3rd Degree and even, going back a bit, Radio Active.
Produced and Directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
Author Gerald and his wife Diana struggle to get on a getaway.
The convoluted chronicle of an optimistic author starring Ian Carmichael as Gerald C Potter and Charlotte Mitchell as his wife.
Written by Basil Boothroyd.
Producer: Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1977.
Battling to get the rest of Europe playing cricket - the bungling bureaucrats are on a sticky wicket.
The first of 14 shows not kept in the archive and re-recorded in 1980 - previously never broadcast in the UK, until the arrival of BBC Radio 4 Extra.
'The Men from the Ministry' ran for 14 series between 1962 and 1977.
Stars Richard Murdoch and Deryck Guyler (who replaced Wilfrid Hyde-White from 1966).
With Norma Ronald, Ronald Baddiley and John Graham.
Written by Edward Taylor and John Graham.
Producer: Edward Taylor
Re-recording of 'French Cricket" made in April 1980.
As John starts work, he studies, preaches and keeps fit - preparing to change the world.
Ian McKellen stars in the story of John Hamer Shawcross - set against the wider current of events in England in the early 19th century.
Howard Spring's novel freely adapted for radio in 8 episodes by Ken Whitmore.
With Gary Carp as John as a boy, George Hagan as Charles Artingstall, Romy Baskerville as Polly Burnsall, Graham Tennant as Hawley, Elizabeth Kelly as Lillian Artingstall, Lesly Nicol as Hilda, Andrew Jackson as Arnold Ryerson, Vida Paterson as Pen Muff, Ian Flintoff as Gordon Stansfield, Rosalie Williams as Ellen, Randal Herley as Richardson and Jimmy Bradock as Ezra Crompton.
Director: Trevor Hill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1979.
The sinister workings of a serial killer's mind are exposed when a fair arrives in Kirkcaldy. Read by Steven McNicoll.
At the height of his fame, William Morris left his wife Janey and mentor Rossetti to their affair and headed for Iceland, as ever in pursuit of an answer to the question: how to live? While travelling this starkly dramatic landscape, he kept a journal for his confidante Georgie, the wife of his friend Edward Burne-Jones. The journals are Morris at his best: visually attentive, relishing wonders and noting every good dinner as well as every shift of light and mood. He also writes about what he doesn't know he's feeling: what it means to go away and come back, to be apart and alone. Setting the journals in this context, Lavinia Greenlaw has drawn on the letters and journals of Morris's circle to reimagine the events of that summer.
The music is Debussy's String Quartet in G Minor performed by the Alban Berg Quartet.
Production Coordinator: Eleri McAuliffe
Sound: Nigel Lewis
A BBC/Cymru Wales production, written and directed by Lavinia Greenlaw and produced by Kate McAll.
A Death in the Family is the first book in the six volume cycle of autobiographical novels, My Struggle. Karl Ove Knausgaard's memoir has been described, in many countries, as a masterpiece.
With searing honesty, and an unflinching gaze turned upon himself and those around him, he writes about his teenage years in Norway. Later, he looks back on the writing of this book, the changes in his life and his second marriage to Linda, and the arrival of their children. Becoming a father prompts further reflections on family life and his relationship with his own father.
Karl Ove Knausgaard was born in December 1968. He published two novels, in 1998 and 2004, which both won prizes in Norway. The six volume series of novels, titled Min Kamp in Norwegian, were published between 2009 and 2011, totalling over 3,500 pages. The sixth and final volume, translated by Don Bartlett, has recently been published in the UK. He lives in Sweden with his wife, the writer Linda Boström Knausgaard, and their four children.
Written by by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Translated by Don Bartlett
Read by David Threlfall
Abridged by Isobel Creed and Jill Waters
Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
James Naughtie presents a series chronicling the historical influences that affected the course of classical music.
27/30. Weber and German Romanticism
Carl Maria Von Weber gave audiences what they wanted - storms and disasters, wild beasts and blood. Although German unification was a generation away, by drawing on folk tales, Weber wanted to create a German sensibility.
Read by Simon Russell Beale and Benedict Cumberbatch.
By Toni Morrison
Adapted by Patricia Cumper
Toni Morrison's seminal 1987 novel about a haunted house in the era that followed the abolition of slavery in the United States is adapted for radio for the first time. Toni Morrison's masterpiece melds horror and poetry as it tells the story of Sethe, a woman who escaped slavery by crossing the Ohio river, but who, eighteen years later, is still not free.
124 Bluestone Road, the house Sethe has lived in with her daughter Denver since she escaped slavery, has long been haunted by a baby ghost. For years, both mother and daughter have tried to discover what it wants.
Cast:
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Sound design by Caleb Knightley
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
Letters to and from President Kennedy are published in book form and edited by Martin W Sandler to mark fifty years since the assassination of 1963. And a selection, abridged in five episodes by Penny Leicester, reveal the drama and tensions to do with American foreign policy. Other letters reveal Kennedy's wit and warmth when contacting friends and members of the public:
2. At the time of his inauguration Kennedy was lauded by a famous poet. Afterwards he wrote about the threat of communism and America's youth abroad. He also wished somebody a very happy birthday.
Readers Colin Stinton, Richard Laing, Peter Marinker, Trevor White and Stephen Greif.
Producer Duncan Minshull.
Sue Perkins puts Miles Jupp, Isa Guha, Annie Nightingale and Sarah Kendall through the moral and ethical wringer.
Amongst the dilemmas facing the panel, Sue asks BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie whether she'd sell embarrassing recordings of media mogul, Rupert Murdoch.
Devised by Danielle Ward.
Producer: Ed Morrish.
The Americans are desperate to identify the owner of the Hoover cottage.
Series set in the sleepy town of Ballylenon, Co Donegal in 1956.
Written by Christopher Fitz-Simon.
Starring TP McKenna as Phonsie Doherty, Margaret D'Arcy as Muriel McConkey, Stella McCusker as Vera McConkey, Aine McCartney as Mrs McFinney, Gerard Murphy as the Reverend Hawthorne, Charlie Bonnar as Packy McGoldrick and Gerard McSorley as Stumpy Bonnar.
Music arranged and performed by Stephanie Hughes.
Director: Eoin O'Callaghan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
Ursula K Le Guin's enduring fantasy saga set on the magical archipelago rich with wizards and dragons.
Based on the novels A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin. Adapted by Judith Adams.
At Roke School, Ged released a terrible shadow into the world when he recklessly cast a spell for summoning the dead. It nearly cost him his life then and now it hunts him wherever he goes. He must make a choice: keep running or turn around and become hunter himself.
Ged ..... James McArdle
Tenar ..... Aysha Kala
Ogion ..... Paul Hilton
Vetch ..... Will Howard
Dragon ..... Jessica Turner
Pechvarry ..... Mark Edel-Hunt
Ship's Master ..... Sam Dale
2nd Ship's Master ..... Stephen Critchlow
Raven ..... Syesha Antoine
Skiorh ..... David Hounslow
Jessel ..... Chris Pavlo
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
With hit singles with songs like 'Pearl's A Singer', 'Fool if You Think it's Over' and 'Lilac Wine', Elkie Brooks is one of our most successful female artists.
As a fifteen-year-old she entered and won a singing competition which launched her professional career. Elkie's first big break came when she joined the Rock/Jazz fusion band Dada and then she joined Robert Palmer in the Rock' n Roll band Vinegar Joe in the early 1970's. She was The Melody Maker face of 1973.
Pearl's a Singer was a million seller for her in 1977 and several hit singles followed.
Talking to Phil Cunningham she reveals her love of paragliding, the important part Humphrey Lyttleton played in her life and how she shared a stage with The Beatles.
Still singing and touring Elkie has her own band and will be performing in Scotland in February.
Phil Cunningham opens the programme with Pearl's a Singer and Elkie goes on to pick these 5 songs.
Mavis Staples - Down in Mississippi
Buddy Guy - 74 Years Young
Steely Dan - Reeling In The Years
Ray Charles - Drown In My Own Tears
Bad Company - Seagull
Phil closes the programme with the track Purple Rain from her 2010 album Powerless.
Ryan and the management consultants try to overhaul the Post Office. Stars Marcus Brigstocke and David Mitchell. From July 2004.
The Questers find themselves in possession of the magical Dagger of Razzak-Dar, which kills anyone it touches, and realise this might be a golden opportunity to use it on Lord Darkness. The problem is, Lord Darkness' castle is impenetrable.
Luckily, Lord Darkness is looking for a new bard to soothe his nerves, so decides to hold a talent contest so throws open the doors of his castle to welcome applicants.
If only one of the Questers had any musical or acting experience.
Enter Penthiselea, stage left...
Starring:
Darren Boyd as Vidar
Kevin Eldon as Dean/Kreech
Dave Lamb as Amis/The Vet/Grunter
Stephen Mangan as Sam
Alistair McGowan as Lord Darkness
and
Ingrid Oliver as Penthiselea
Written by James Cary
Producer: Sam Michell.
The museum staff pitch their ideas for a special exhibition. Stars Geoffrey Palmer and Julian Rhind-Tutt. From June 2008.
An armed robbery, a shoot-out and a five-year-old murder to solve - all in a day's work for DS Brook and DC Tully.
Stories of crime and detection in London by Robert Barr.
Starring Ray Brooks as long-serving, ducking-and-diving Detective Sergeant Dave Brook with his new partner, Detective Constable Tully played by Stephen Garlick.
With Peter Cleall as DS Harrison, Stephen Yardley as Chief Inspector Roach, Garard Green as Mr Latimer, Ian Brimble as Steve Lockett, Robin Summers as Tommy, Brian Smith as Chief Inspector Williams, Colin Starkey as DS Mercer, Peter Acre as Richard and Helena Breck as Sandra.
Writer Robert Barr is best remembered for his work on BBC TV's crime serials 'Z-Cars' and 'Softly Softly'.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1985.
Singer and songwriter Erykah Badu presents a two-part series exploring the extraordinary underground music generated by the Black Power movement of the late Sixties and early Seventies: radical, beautiful and rare.
Black Power - with its symbol of a fist clenched in anger and defiance - politicised African American music in ways the Civil Rights movement had not. The desire for integration gave way to a new, fighting impulse of cultural separatism and self-determination. Politics and music became explosively attuned. From 1968 The Black Arts Movement - 'the cultural and spiritual sister of the Black Power concept' - flourished, dedicated to the foundation of an authentic Black aesthetic in literature, poetry and music. 'The Black Power and Black Arts concept both relate to the Afro-American's desire for self-determination and nationhood' wrote the African American philosopher Larry Neale in 1968,'...a main tenet of Black Power is the necessity for Black people to define the world in their own terms. The Black artist will make the same point in the context of aesthetics.'
The quest for freedom had both a musical and political resonance. Musicians opened up new and unexplored worlds of musical possibility. Players like Ornette Coleman and Archie Shepp pioneered the 'New Thing' - an avant-garde in jazz, pushing the limits of harmony and rhythm. Music was explicitly pressed into political service: The Black Panther Party even produced its own album of underground anthems 'Seize the Time' and Black music as a whole became far more vocal in its opposition to white mainstream society. Poet-musicians like Gill Scott Heron and the Last Poets delivered stinging attacks on the political failure of Civil Rights and the reality of the black experience in cities across America. Meanwhile Africa became as a powerful symbol for a younger generation of black American artists, a source of political identification, spiritual sustenance and often exotic, musical inspiration.
Black Power transformed the way musicians negotiated control and ownership of their own music. The club and bar circuit gave way to performances in galleries, lofts, community halls and public spaces. The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians was inaugurated in Chicago (and still thrives today) and other collectives followed. Radical independent labels flourished with very limited vinyl release. Many of these records, infused with the Black Power ethos, are extremely rare, and are featured throughout the series.
Contributors include: Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp, founder of the Black Arts Movement Amiri Baraka, Black Arts poet Sonia Sanchez, jazz flautist Lloyd McNeil, Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets, Gill Scott Heron's co-writer Brian Jackson, hip-hop artist Talib Kweli and former Black Panther leader and songwriter Elaine Brown.
Presenter: Erykah Badu
Producer: Simon Hollis
A Brook Lapping Production for BBC Radio 4.
Singers Tommy and Sheila have a supermarket to open - and go silver surfing.
Sweethearts Tommy Franklin and Sheila Parr won the 1962 Eurovision Song Contest, but now they're back in the big time.
Series 3 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 May 2001.
Mixing stand-up and sketches, comedian Rob Newman tackles the world of philosophy.
With romantic rivalry for Wren Chasen, HMS Troutbridge's new mission goes with a bang.
Stars Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Stephen Murray as the Number One, Ronnie Barker as Commander Stanton, Richard Caldicote as Captain Povey, Heather Chasen as Heather and Michael Bates as Lieutenant Bates and Tenniel Evans as the Admiral.
Laughs afloat aboard British Royal Navy frigate HMS Troutbridge. The Navy Lark ran for an impressive thirteen series between 1959 and 1976.
Scripted by Lawrie Wyman
Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in November 1963.
Kenneth Horne joins a literary group and 'Hornerama' probes the state of British food.
With 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 Paul Fenoulhet.
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 October 1958.
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. Tony Hawks, Susan Calman, Phill Jupitus and Miles Jupp are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as: The Brain, Victorians, Toads and Cooking.
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 production for BBC Radio 4.
"I have something that the Reverend Hornblower will never enjoy; the love and respect of my congregation..."
Shocks galore for the hapless vicar, Timothy Carswell with a disappearing congregation - and shock new title.
Stephen Sheridan's six-part series stars James Grout as the Reverend Timothy Carswell, Margaret Courtenay as Miss Tilling, Jean Heywood as Miss Tapp, Garrick Hagon as the Reverend Hornblower and Elizabeth Mansfield as Mrs Muir.
Producer: Lissa Evans.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1991.
John's political campaign starts in Bradford with rousing speeches to the crowds.
Ian McKellen stars in the story of John Hamer Shawcross - set against the wider current of events in England in the early 19th century.
Howard Spring's novel freely adapted for radio in 8 episodes by Ken Whitmore.
With Alan Meadows as Haslett, Geoffrey Wheeler as Tom Hannaway, Herbert Smith as Marsden, Jeffrey Wickham as Lord Lostwithiel of Hereward Castle, Helen Ryan as Lady Lettice Melland, June Barry as Anne Artingstall, Rosalie Crutchley as Lizzie Lightowler, Andrew Jackson as Arnold Ryerson, Vida Paterson as Pen Muff and Peter Bell as Bellows.
Director: Trevor Hill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1979.
This collection of crime writing features a compelling cast of suspects. Following the success of OxTales (2009) and OxTravels (2011), Oxfam has produced this collection of crime writing. We have chosen 5 of the best for Radio 4 Extra. A Scottish spinster with a buried secret, a man obsessed with casual murder and an artist's fascination with truth - all figure in this intriguing array of tales.
Among the readers are Ewan Bailey and Maggie Steed. Writers include 2008/2010 Stonewall Writer of the Year Stella Duffy (Room Of Lost Things, Theodora), multiple award-winning Inspector Rebus creator Ian Rankin OBE, Ann Cleeves (Vera, Shetland) and sometime Murder One bookshop owner-turned-crime-writer and columnist Maxim Jakubowski.
1: Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez interviews a Scottish spinster with a buried secret. Read by Sheila Reid.
Leni makes a surprising discovery at a public swimming pool. Moving drama about the loss of a baby. Stars Michelle Holmes. From December 1999.
A Death in the Family is the first book in the six volume cycle of autobiographical novels, My Struggle. Karl Ove Knausgaard's memoir has been described, in many countries, as a masterpiece.
With searing honesty, and an unflinching gaze turned upon himself and those around him, he writes about his teenage years in Norway. Later, he looks back on the writing of this book, the changes in his life and his second marriage to Linda, and the arrival of their children. Becoming a father prompts further reflections on family life and his relationship with his own father.
Karl Ove Knausgaard was born in December 1968. He published two novels, in 1998 and 2004, which both won prizes in Norway. The six volume series of novels, titled Min Kamp in Norwegian, were published between 2009 and 2011, totalling over 3,500 pages. The sixth and final volume, translated by Don Bartlett, has recently been published in the UK. He lives in Sweden with his wife, the writer Linda Boström Knausgaard, and their four children.
Written by by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Translated by Don Bartlett
Read by David Threlfall
Abridged by Isobel Creed and Jill Waters
Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
James Naughtie presents a series chronicling the historical influences that affected the course of classical music.
28/30. Virtuosi
In the 1820s and 30s, audiences craved virtuosi performances. Lizst, Paganini and Chopin thrilled on stage - the performer as magician had arrived.
By Toni Morrison
Adapted by Patricia Cumper
Toni Morrison's seminal 1987 novel about a haunted house in the era that followed the abolition of slavery in the United States is adapted for radio for the first time. Toni Morrison's masterpiece melds horror and poetry as it tells the story of Sethe, a woman who escaped slavery by crossing the Ohio river, but who, eighteen years later, is still not free.
Paul D's arrival at 124 Bluestone Road had the effect of ridding the house of the ghost that had haunted it for years. But he's about to discover that any sense of victory he might have, will be short-lived.
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Sound design by Caleb Knightley
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
Letters to and from President Kennedy are published in book form and edited by Martin W Sandler to mark fifty years since the assassination of 1963. And a selection, abridged in five episodes by Penny Leicester, reveal the drama and tension to do with American foreign policy. Other letters reveal Kennedy's wit and warmth when contacting friends and members of the public:
3. In the early 60's Kennedy is starkly reminded of events in Vietnam. He also jokes with a friend about the worth of his signature - and how to make more out of it!
Readers Colin Stinton, Richard Laing, Trevor White and Stephen Greif.
Producer Duncan Minshull.
Ursula K Le Guin's enduring fantasy saga set on the magical archipelago rich with wizards and dragons.
Based on the novel The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin. Adapted by Judith Adams.
When Tenar is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, everything is taken from her - home, family, even her name. She is now known only as Arha, the Eaten One, and guards the shadowy, labyrinthine Tombs of Atuan. Then Ged comes to steal the Tombs' greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. Tenar's duty is to protect the Ring, but Ged possesses the light of magic and tales of a world that Tenar has never known. Will she risk everything to escape from the darkness that has become her domain?
Ged ..... James McArdle
Tenar ..... Sysha Kala
Manan ..... Zubin Varla
Kossil ..... Souad Faress
Willow ..... Jessica Turner
Penthe ..... Ayesha Antoine
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
Mark Radcliffe profiles the Salford sausage-maker who became one of BBC radio's most popular comedians, Al Read.
Series exploring some of the North's best-loved and most influential comedians.
Producer: Libby Cross
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
The magical quest is helped by a tiny gold samurai who points. Stars Mark Heap, Nick Frost and Kevin Eldon. From November 2002.
From 10pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Jon Holmes chats to Ahir Shah.
A tricky restaurant customer and a confused football manager. Manchester sketch show with Kate Ward and Robin Ince. From June 2004.
David Lander probes shady shenanigans in London's Square Mile. Stars Stephen Fry and Harry Enfield. From September 1986.
Doctor Calgary comes to visit the Argyle family with good news. He tells the family he is there to clear the name of Jacko, who was convicted of the murder of his mother. But his information is not greeted with the enthusiasm he expects.
Along with Crooked House, Ordeal by Innocence was Agatha Christie's favourite of her own works. It is easy to see why. Eschewing the traditional detective format, it takes an original idea - how the innocent suffer more than the guilty when a crime goes unsolved - and explores it to the full within a family where everyone has a motive and means to have done it.
Eddie Mair tells the story of composer Lionel Bart, creator of Britain's most successful post-war musical, Oliver!
From the height of his dazzling fame in the 1960s, Bart endured a series of flops, leading to eventual bankruptcy, and he suffered serious health problems, including long battles with alcoholism and depression. He died aged 69 in 1999.
Eddie tells the story of this sensitive and troubled artist with the help of those who knew him intimately, including Tim Rice, Cameron Mackintosh, Miriam Karlin and Barbara Windsor.
Producers: Jo Coombs and Stewart Henderson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2008.
After losing his job in Urban Planning, Matt's been eking out the last of his money.
Luckily for him, his ex-partner has a stable job and is still fond of him. Possibly.
Second in a series of comedies developed with the Comedians Theatre Company.
Written by Alan Francis and Richard Turner
Produced and Directed by Jonquil Panting.
Welcome back to Hardacre's, the worst advertising agency in London, as Edward Rowett's award-winning sitcom returns for a third series.
The second series ended in euphoria, as Hardacre's secured their biggest ever account - the Cosmos X10 smartphone. Now there's a reality check, as the team realise how woefully ill-equipped they are to handle a client of this magnitude.
Accounts manager Amanda Barnes (Josie Lawrence) immediately sets to work hiring new staff, while agency chief and creative director Rupert Hardacre (Nigel Havers) heads into Soho to secure new and grander premises.
Meanwhile on the creative side, copywriter Joe Starling (Mathew Baynton) begins to doubt his ability to deliver work for an account this size, despite reassurance from his art director and best friend Teddy Beech (Rasmus Hardiker), leading Joe to take drastic action.
Cast:
Nigel Havers- Hardacre
Mathew Baynton- Joe
Josie Lawrence- Amanda
Rasmus Hardiker- Teddy
Holly Morgan- Singer/Waitress
Andrew Nolan- Irish Barrista
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.
Jim Hacker gets the better of Sir Humphrey over a crisis in Derbyshire.
Starring Paul Eddington as Jim Hacker, Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humphrey Appleby,Derek Fowldes as Bernard and Ian Lavender as Dr Cartwright.
Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn's 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 BBC Radio 4 in October 1984.
Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe star in a thrilling pursuit of a mysterious nose assailant! From February 1957.
Agitate your grey matter with Chris Maslanka, David Singmaster, William Harston and Professor Angela Newing. From June 1998.
It's party-time for students Paul and Ruby, but posh hote-time for Maria and Richard - and never the two shall meet, or shall they..?
Stars Barbara Flynn as Maria, Patrick Barlow as Richard, Diane Louise-Jordan as Ruby, Toby Longworth as Paul and Linda Polan as Amy.
Producer: Liz Anstee.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1993.
Dirty tricks are played by a ruthless opponent - how will Labour fare in the by-election?
Ian McKellen stars in the story of John Hamer Shawcross - set against the wider current of events in England in the early 19th century.
Howard Spring's novel freely adapted for radio in 8 episodes by Ken Whitmore.
With Peter Guinness as Harry, Viscount Liskeard, June Barry as Anne Artingstall, John Baldwin as Jimmy Newboult, Tom Harrison as Sergeant Newboult, Rosalie Williams as Ellen Stansfield, Helen Ryan as Lady Lettice Melland, Geoffrey Wheeler as Tom Hannaway, Jeffrey Wickham as Lord Lostwithiel of Hereward Castle, Rosalie Crutchley as Lizzie Lightowler, Andrew Jackson as Arnold Ryerson, Graham Tennant as Hawley Artingstall, Lesley Nicol as Hilda, Ann Rye as Edith Ryerson, Vida Paterson as Pen Muff and Anthony Wingate as the Election Official.
Director: Trevor Hill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1979.
Comedian Sarah Millican chooses 'Bossanova' from Fun in Acapulco by Elvis Presley and 'Wired for Sound' by Cliff Richard.
Sheila Read reads Ian Rankin's tale of match violence.
Ewan Bailey reads Peter Robinson's reminder about listening carefully.
Following the success of OxTales (2009) and OxTravels (2011), Oxfam has produced this collection of crime writing. We have chosen 5 of the best for Radio 4 Extra.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by the Waters Partnership.
What would have happened if Romeo had learnt from Friar Laurence that Juliet wasn't dead?
Samuel West stars as Romeo in this re-imagining of Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'. Written entirely in blank verse by Perry Pontac, a great tragedy becomes a riotous comedy.
With Rachel Atkins as Juliet; John Moffatt as Friar Laurence; Pam Ferris as Nurse; Nancy Carroll as Rosaline; Ben Crowe as Paris and Ray Lonnen as Chorus.
Director: David Hunter.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
A Death in the Family is the first book in the six volume cycle of autobiographical novels, My Struggle. Karl Ove Knausgaard's memoir has been described, in many countries, as a masterpiece.
With searing honesty, and an unflinching gaze turned upon himself and those around him, he writes about his teenage years in Norway. Later, he looks back on the writing of this book, the changes in his life and his second marriage to Linda, and the arrival of their children. Becoming a father prompts further reflections on family life and his relationship with his own father.
Karl Ove Knausgaard was born in December 1968. He published two novels, in 1998 and 2004, which both won prizes in Norway. The six volume series of novels, titled Min Kamp in Norwegian, were published between 2009 and 2011, totalling over 3,500 pages. The sixth and final volume, translated by Don Bartlett, has recently been published in the UK. He lives in Sweden with his wife, the writer Linda Boström Knausgaard, and their four children.
Written by by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Translated by Don Bartlett
Read by David Threlfall
Abridged by Isobel Creed and Jill Waters
Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
James Naughtie presents a series chronicling the historical influences that affected the course of classical music.
29/30. Grand Opera
In the first half of the 19th Century, Italy consummated its love affair with opera. Donizetti, Rossini and Bellini's new operas were greeted with frenzy on the streets.
Read by Simon Russell Beale.
By Toni Morrison
Adapted by Patricia Cumper
Toni Morrison's seminal 1987 novel about a haunted house in the era that followed the abolition of slavery in the United States is adapted for radio for the first time. Toni Morrison's masterpiece melds horror and poetry as it tells the story of Sethe, a woman who escaped slavery by crossing the Ohio river, but who, eighteen years later, is still not free.
The residents of 124 Bluestone Road return from a day trip to the Cincinnati fair to discover a young woman collapsed outside their home. They feed her and allow her to convalesce and yet the mysterious visitor reveals very little about herself, other than her name, Beloved.
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Sound design by Caleb Knightley
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
Letters to and from President Kennedy are published in book form and edited by Martin W Sandler to mark fifty years since the assassination of 1963. And a selection, abridged in five episodes by Penny Leicester, reveal the drama and tensions to do with American foreign policy. Other letters reveal Kennedy's wit and warmth when contacting friends and members of the public:
4. During the Berlin Crisis of 1961, the leaders of America and the Soviet Union agreed to communicate with letters that were 'personal and private'. Refreshingly, their respective tones were different to official missives. Kennedy also received thanks from Elizabeth II.
Readers Colin Stinton, Richard Laing, Stephen Greif and Kelly Burke
Producer Duncan Minshull.
Ursula K Le Guin's enduring fantasy saga set on the magical archipelago rich with wizards and dragons.
Based on the novel The Farthest Shore by Ursula Le Guin. Adapted by Judith Adams.
It's now over 20 years since the action of The Tombs of Atuan, and magic has gone out of Earthsea. Mages have forgotten their spells and the springs of wizardry have running dry. Ged, Dragonlord and now Archmage of Earthsea, sets out with a young prince to seek the source of the darkness.
Ged ..... Shaun Dooley
Tenar ..... Vineeta Rishi
Arren ..... Will Featherstone
Sailor ..... Jude Akudwudike
Doorkeeper ..... Stephen Critchlow
Summoner ..... Sam Dale
Sopli ..... Chris Pavlo
Hare ..... David Acton
Woman ..... Syesha Antoine
Egre ..... David Hounslow
Woman ..... Jessica Turner
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
Brian Sewell on his long-standing love of "Mad" King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who built the ultimate fantasy castle at Neuschwanstein. From his first fateful glimpse of one of Ludwig's palaces, Brian's been fascinated with the eccentric King, and his mysterious death, and has become personally involved in the story of his life. Presenter Matthew Parris and contributor Simon Winder find out more...
Producer Beth O'Dea.
BBC Radio 4 Extra's topical sketch show Newsjack with host Angela Barnes.
A scrapbook sketch show written entirely by the Great British public.
Featuring: Angela Barnes, Mike Wozniak, Celeste Dring and Raph Wakefield
Script Editors: Jenny Laville and Robin Morgan
Producers: Adnan Ahmed and Hayley Sterling
A BBC Studios Production.
From 10pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Jon Holmes chats to Ahir Shah.
Through the medium of four open letters, the comedian Tom Wrigglesworth investigates the myriad examples of corporate lunacy and maddening jobsworths in modern Britain.
In this series his subjects range from traffic wardens to estate agents, with Tom recalling his own funny and ridiculous experiences as well as recounting the absurd encounters of others.
Tom finds himself bemused by the peculiar practices of utilities companies.
Written by and starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb, this comedy follows the parallel stories of flatmates tetchy Ray and aimless Colin, and the mighty alien empire of Baron Amstrad and his hi-tech android, Info.
Colin starts attending ante-natal classes in the hope of finding a girlfriend, and Colin and Ray's kitchen is suddenly infested with ants. Meanwhile, in the infinite reaches of space, Baron Amstrad is feeling a bit broody, and the galaxy is suddenly invaded by ruthless alien hordes.
Dr. Calgary joins forces with Inspector Huish to try to find out the truth about Rachel Argyle's murder. But the family is still resisting his investigation.
"Henry Miller, Norman Mailer and Charles Manson, the three pillars of misogyny," according to Gore Vidal - yet many women writers today cite Miller as an influence.
Using his time in California as a prism, acclaimed poet Kim Addonizio explores how, despite his reputation as a pornographic, unredeemed misogynist, Miller's time in Big Sur, California, transformed him into a family man and ping pong fanatic.
With an exclusive interview with his son Tony Miller, a visit to the Henry Miller Memorial Library, in Big Sur, Addonizio hears great stories of epic table tennis tournaments during the long winters, struggles to make ends meet, as she meets those who remember Miller's time in the woods during his 18 year stay.
She explores the roots of the personal growth movement that flourished on the Californian coast, at the time, of which Miller became an unexpected exponent of, at the world famous Esalen Institute, and tries to find out why he appeals to young women readers today.
Producer: Sara Jane Hall.
Horrified residents of Marlborough Road discover Sally might be leaving them. They could never survive their own chaos without her.
Meanwhile, the free range children plan revenge on Victor...
Conclusion of series one of Annie McCartney's sitcom.
Starring Frances Tomelty as Sally, Ali White as Saffron, Marcella Riordan as Clare, Robert Patterson as Tony, Roma Tomelty as Miss Black, Katy Gleadhill as Evie, Gerard Murphy as Fintan, Alan Mckee as Victor, Bethan Lloyd as Anna, Patrick Gleadhill as Simon, Emily Walmsley as Layla, Joel McElnay as Ben, Alfie Lloyd as Sam and Gerard McSorley as Trevor.
Director: Tanya Nash
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2001.
by Jeremy Front
based on Simon Brett's novel
Directed by Sally Avens
Charles has eventually got a job in Hamlet but within a week the reality star playing Hamlet has been hospitalized and the one playing Ophelia found dead.
Charles may not have been a fan of their acting abilities but he doesn't want the show to close and he suspects foul play, but who would want to kill them?
The Radio Prune team hand out their gongs - and get saved by the bell.
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 Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Liam Cohen and Dave Lee.
Producer: David Hatch/Peter Titheradge
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in April 1970.
With their microscopes in at the pawn broker, the young medics need some cash in a hurry.
The misadventures of student doctor Simon Sparrow - adapted for radio by Ray Cooney from Richard Gordon's novel 'Doctor in the House' published in 1952.
Starring Richard Briers as Simon Sparrow, Geoffrey Sumner as Sir Lancelot Spratt, Ray Cooney as Tony Benskin, Edward Cast as Taffy Evans, Joan Young as Lady Spratt and David Jason as the Waiter.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1968.
Broadcaster and former Sunday Times Editor Andrew Neil is in the hot seat posing questions all about him.
On the panel: comedians Sue Perkins, Caroline Quinlan, Robin Ince and Will Smith.
Comedy quiz presented by a new guest host every week. All the questions are about the host.
Script by Simon Littlefield and Kieron Quirke.
Devised and produced by Aled Evans.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
The lives of Rosie and her granddaughter Jo are shaken by the return to Rosie's daughter Kate after a long spell working abroad.
Prunella Scales in the first of four series of Simon Brett's sitcom following the trials and tribulations of Rosie Burns and her event-management company based in Brighton.
With Arabella Weir as Kate, Rebecca Callard as Jo, Duncan Preston as Bob, Annette Badland as Tess, Michael Fenton Stevens as Mr Blantyre and Stephen Thorne as Mr Joost.
Producer: Maria Esposito
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2000.
John's political pursuits lead him to Westminster and Welsh valley mines.
Ian McKellen stars in the story of John Hamer Shawcross - set against the wider current of events in England in the early 19th century.
Howard Spring's novel freely adapted for radio in 8 episodes by Ken Whitmore.
With Alan Meadows as Haslett, Geoffrey Wheeler as Tom Hannaway, Herbert Smith as Marsden, Jeffrey Wickham as Lord Lostwithiel of Hereward Castle, Helen Ryan as Lady Lettice Melland, June Barry as Anne Artingstall and Rosalie Crutchley as Lizzie Lightowler.
With Peter Guinness as Harry Liskeard, Andrew Jackson as Arnold, Rosalie Williams as Ellen, Vida Paterson as Pen Muff, Nina Holloway as Nell Richards, Helen Ryan as Lady Lettice Melland, Geoffrey Wheeler as Tom Hannaway, Jeffrey Wickham as Lord Lostwithiel of Hereward Castle, James Tomlinson as Carrickfergus, June Barry as Anne Artingstall, Richard Clay-Jones as Evan Vaughan, John Baldwin as Jimmy Newboult, Rosalie Crutchley as Lizzie Lightowler, Herbert Smith as Marsden and Rory Scase as the Gallery Assistant.
Director: Trevor Hill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1979.
Made for 4 Extra. Amanda Litherland is joined by Rowan Slaney to recommend two improvised comedy podcasts - 'Capital' and 'Everything Is Alive'.
A Death in the Family is the first book in the six volume cycle of autobiographical novels, My Struggle. Karl Ove Knausgaard's memoir has been described, in many countries, as a masterpiece.
With searing honesty, and an unflinching gaze turned upon himself and those around him, he writes about his teenage years in Norway. Later, he looks back on the writing of this book, the changes in his life and his second marriage to Linda, and the arrival of their children. Becoming a father prompts further reflections on family life and his relationship with his own father.
Karl Ove Knausgaard was born in December 1968. He published two novels, in 1998 and 2004, which both won prizes in Norway. The six volume series of novels, titled Min Kamp in Norwegian, were published between 2009 and 2011, totalling over 3,500 pages. The sixth and final volume, translated by Don Bartlett, has recently been published in the UK. He lives in Sweden with his wife, the writer Linda Boström Knausgaard, and their four children.
Written by by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Translated by Don Bartlett
Read by David Threlfall
Abridged by Isobel Creed and Jill Waters
Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
James Naughtie presents a series chronicling the historical influences that affected the course of classical music.
30/30. Albertopolis
The Royal Albert Hall opened in 1871 and celebrated a Prince Consort who championed both music and culture.
By Toni Morrison
Adapted by Patricia Cumper
Toni Morrison's seminal 1987 novel about a haunted house in the era that followed the abolition of slavery in the United States is adapted for radio for the first time. Toni Morrison's masterpiece melds horror and poetry as it tells the story of Sethe, a woman who escaped slavery by crossing the Ohio river, but who, eighteen years later, is still not free.
A young woman calling herself Beloved has arrived and stayed at One Twenty-Four Bluestone Road, and her hold, on each of its residents, has strengthened day by day.
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Sound design by Caleb Knightley
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
Letters to and from President Kennedy are published in book form and edited by Martin W Sandler to mark fifty years since the assassination of 1963. And a selection, abridged in five episodes by Penny Leicester, reveal the drama and tensions to do with American foreign policy. Other letters reveal Kennedy's wit and warmth when contacting friends and family:
5. Kennedy receives a vivid communique from his advisor JK Galbraith about the practicalities of shelter during nuclear attack. Later he writes to the British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan - words of social nicety and trepidation about the Russians.
Readers Colin Stinton, Richard Laing, Peter Marinker and Trevor White
Producer Duncan Minshull.
Ursula Le Guin's enduring fantasy saga set on the magical archipelago rich with wizards and dragons.
Based on the novel The Farthest Shore by Ursula Le Guin. Adapted by Judith Adams.
A strange plague is spreading over Earthsea and the springs of wizardry are drying up. Driven to seek out the source of the trouble, Archmage Ged has embarked on a perilous journey with young prince Arren. Their travels have taken them to a land cursed with a strange soul sickness, as they seek the man behind this darkness.
Ged ..... Shaun Dooley
Tenar ..... Vineeta Rishi
Arren ..... Will Featherstone
Cob ..... Toby Jones
Nilgu ..... Noma Dumezweni
Orm Ember ..... Ayesha Antoine
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
Misha Glennie, Martin Newell and Elizabeth Bond join Chris Bigsby to explore family ties and blood relation.
In each programme, Professor Bigsby introduces a duo of writers of fact and fiction: new talent and established names. In the context of a discussion of one of the ideas and pre-occupations of our times, each presents a piece on this week's topic.
The best new writing and the freshest conversation from 2002.
Comedian Alex Horne is joined by his own 5 piece jazz band for a brand new series of music and comedy. This time they make music on the subject of 'hard water'; shine a spotlight on the troubled life of the double bassist and reveal the haunting sound of the 'ocarina'. The band are joined by guest comedian Isy Suttie who persuades Alex to sing in a duet...
Producer .... Julia McKenzie.
The writer's mate Craig proves a headache, while Vince the geranium encounters a bee. With Alistair McGowan. From February 1992.
From 10pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats to Hal Cruttenden.
David Baddiel, Rob Newman and Nick Hancock sum up the experience of school and eating out. With Mark Hurst. From January 1990.
Phyllis King and Ivor Cutler present offbeat humorous songs, stories and poems. With Craig Murray-Orr. From January 1990.