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/
Dragons threaten the Inner Isles. Tenar and Tehanu have arrived on Havnor to give counsel to the King. The threat is far greater than they first thought.
Ursula K Le Guin's enduring fantasy saga - based on the novel The Other Wind adapted by Judith Adams.
Published between 1968 and 2001, the five novels and short story collection of Ursula K Le Guin's Earthsea cycle (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, The Other Wind and Tales from Earthsea) are re-told across twelve episodes. Series 2 takes in the action of Tehanu, The Other Wind and the short story Dragonfly from Tales of Earthsea.
Set on a vast archipelago of islands, where magic is a central part of life, they tell the stories of Tenar and Ged.
Tehanu . . . Laura Elphinstone
Tenar . . . Nina Wadia
Azver . . . Narinder Samra
King Lebannen . . . Steven Robertson
Alder . . . Tom Vanson
Seserekh . . . Sabrina Sandhu
Tesla . . . Sean Murray
Kalessin . . . Emma Handy
Oak . . . Stephen Hogan
Lady Iyesa . . . Lauren Cornelius
Sailor . . . Ryan Early
Original music by Jon Nichols
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Three's a crowd? Jenny Ditski and Francis Spufford join Chris Bigsby to discuss solitude versus loneliness. From March 2002.
A lady's honour is at stake, but the great detective seems helpless to tackle a serial blackmailer - 'the worst man in London.'
Carleton Hobbs stars as Sherlock Holmes. The actor played the Baker Street sleuth in 80 radio dramas between 1952 and 1969.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tale originally appeared in 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes' published 1904. Adapted by Michael Hardwick.
With Norman Shelley as Dr Watson, Tony Church as Charles Augustus Milverton, Dudy Nimmo as Susan and Humphrey Morton as Inspector Lestrade
Producer: Robin Midgley.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in December 1961.
Writer and historian Alex Butterworth travels to Rome to meet the Carabinieri squad in charge of protecting Italy's priceless cultural heritage.
A helicopter circles overhead while Italian police officers and archaeologists peer into a 30-foot deep hole made in a field outside Rome. The land may look like ordinary farmland, but beneath the ground there are in fact Etruscan tombs full of treasures. The hole has been made by a group of "tombaroli"- tomb raiders who come in the night to smash open hidden tombs, and grab the artefacts inside. They sell them on to dealers, who in some cases offer them to museums for a massive price.
The police officers in attendance are a members of a special branch of the Italian Carabinieri (the military police) which was set up to try to deal with the problem of stolen art in the country. The unit, known as the Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (Comando Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale in Italian) has its main headquarters in Rome and branches throughout the country. Its job is to try to stop the looting of Italy's cultural treasures- from artefacts in excavations to paintings and statues in country churches.
To try to stop the trafficking, carabinieri officers carry out regular patrols on archaeological sites, They also check items of from auction houses and exhibitions against their vast database of stolen goods. Other officers carry out checks on more contemporary artworks to make sure that they're not forged. Since the unit began in 1969, the success rate has been high, with thousands of artworks recovered.
Alex Butterworth is in Rome to watch the work of the Carabinieri TPC at first hand. He follows the archaeological section on patrol and sees how the huge database is used to recover stolen works which are sometimes changed beyond almost all recognition by the thieves to avoid detection. For example, one vast painting was stolen and then cut into several pieces and sold as separate items.
While watching the officers at work, Alex explores the changing nature of cultural protection and asks what Italy's determination to find its treasures says about the mood of the country.
Producer Emma Kingsley.
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.
Global Gap is a series of five programmes where two people who do the same job, one from the UK and one from another country (in this series, Mexico), have a thought provoking conversation, to compare and contrast their working lives and the issues that arise in their jobs. The theme throughout the week is 'the next generation'; each programme features young people who are the new generation of workers in their countries. We capture the differences in society and attitudes through their conversation and recordings of in their workplace.
Episode 5 (of 5): Charity Workers
Fiona Patterson works for Barnardo's in Bradford. She helps provide a special service for girls aged between 11 and 18 who are being exploited or groomed for sexual exploitation. She speaks to Sofia Almanza, a charity worker at Casa Alianza in Mexico City, who works with 12 - 18 year olds who have been abandoned, neglected or abused.
While Fiona works with young people who are housed with family or friends, Sofia's service provide residential houses for homeless young people and helps people develop tools to deal with independent life. Sometimes in Mexico, the children are part of larger criminal organisations and many are drug dependent. There are worrying side effects of the drugs, such as blindness and stomach complaints.
Fiona sees many young people with very low self esteem, some of whom have left home to live with people who are now exploiting them sexually or using them to transport drugs. Her service helps the young people to identify their situations and remove themselves to a safer environment.
Producer: Laura Parfitt
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
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 women's isolation at One Twenty-Four Bluestone Road has put them all in peril, and Denver has decided to seek help from the community. After that, news spread like wildfire; news that the ghost of Sethe's other daughter, who she chose to kill rather than allow to be bonded back into slavery, has come back to reap her revenge.
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Singing arranged by Dominique Le Gendre
Sound design by Caleb Knightley
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
Originally broadcast in 2013, in the week marking the fiftieth anniversary of CS Lewis's death, and which saw a memorial stone to the author unveiled in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, Radio 4's Book of the Week marked the occasion with a reading of his famous letters from a senior to a junior devil.
Read by Simon Russell Beale
Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall.
A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.
After two marriage proposals, Margaret Mackenzie has turned down the first, but what of the second? Stars Hattie Morahan.
Ex-MP, novelist and broadcaster Edwina Currie is in the hot seat posing questions all about her.
Tackling the ultra-personal quiz are Sue Perkins, Caroline Quinlan, Robin Ince and Will Smith.
Comedy quiz presented by a new guest host every show. 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.
Rosie's company is about to launch the autobiography of the country's most famous footballer, Lloyd Gratton.
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, Jon Glover as Greg Turnball, Tracy-Ann Oberman as Lalage Croxton-Sackville and Will Ing as Lloyd Gratton.
Producer: Maria Esposito
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2000.
From nudism and reflexology to top-shelf magazines.
Sketch show about life, written and performed by people who've lived a bit.
Stars Eleanor Bron, Dudley Sutton , Roger Blake , Clive Swift and Paula Wilcox.
With guest star Arthur Smith.
Written by Colin Bostock-Smith, Jill Brodie, John Pidgeon, Mike Haskins, Jan Etherington, George Poles, Arthur Smith, Alan Stafford, Chris Thompson and Petr Reynolds.
Script editors: Ed Dyson and George Poles.
Music by Ronnie & The Rex.
Producer: Katie Marsden
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2004.
by Jeremy Front
Based on the novel by Simon Brett
Charles ..... Charles Paris
Frances ..... Suzanne Burden
Geraldine ..... Amelia Bullmore
Maurice ..... Jon Glover
Will ..... Caolan McCarthy
Sam ..... George Watkins
Ned ..... Brian Protheroe
Milly ..... Rebecca Hamilton
Artemis ..... Evie Killip
Horatio ..... Richard Pepple
Marcellus ...... Ewan Bailey
Directed by Sally Avens
Charles has joined the cast of Hamlet but the two leads played by the winners of a Reality Show have been eliminated from the production by injury and death.
Charles is determined to find out who wanted them dead and there are plenty of suspects.
"It came at me from nowhere ... eyes glarin' out of the dark like emeralds.
Teeth like rocks, tarnished with the blood of human flesh.
And hair streamin' out of its neck and hands and feet.
This isn't one of God's creatures, sir. It's the work of the devil himself!"
Set at the end of the 19th century, a werewolf is prowling around the Cambridge Fenlands. Judge Mathew Deacon is desperately worried about his son...
Starring Vincent Price as Judge Mathew Deacon, Coral Browne as Mrs Northcott, Hugh Manning as Professor Forrester, Sheila Grant as Sybil and Peter Whitman as Robert Deacon.
A Horror legend of Man and Beast specially written for radio by Victor Pemberton.
Producer: John Tydeman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Night Theatre in 1975.
New York has long been a city of immigrants, and as a result of waves of immigration, language experts describe it as the most linguistically dense city on earth. Mark Turin travels to the Big Apple to track the many languages of New York. He travels the 7 train, designated a US Heritage Trail, as it rattles its way from Flushing to the heart of Manhattan, passing through areas where Korean, Bengali and Spanish are the languages spoken on the street. He meets the linguists who are tracking New York's many languages and hears from those who believe that the US needs to promote the English language ahead of all others.
His journey ends with a story of linguistic rebirth as he discovers how the Yiddish language, once in decline, has attracted a new generation of speakers.
Barry Cryer investigates the cottage industry of Music Hall recording restoration, as well as the lives and works of some of its stars.
Thanks to modern computer technology we're now able to hear some of the rarer works of artists such as Mark Sheridan, Ernest Shand, Vesta Victoria and Albert Chevalier who originally recorded this material at the turn of the 19th century.
Written by Glenn Mitchell
Producer: Karl Phillips
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
BBC Radio 4 Extra takes to the open road for an audio adventure across the USA, travelling from the bright lights of New York City to the pacific breeze of California.
Using a mix of archive documentaries, stories and travelogues, the writer and broadcaster Laura Barton will be your guide on this ambitious road trip, heading west across the USA. Along the way the journey will include a free-wheeling buggy tour around New Orleans, a look at the Green Book travel guide and an encounter with the fearless rodeo cowgirls of the Deep South.
Writers including Joan Didion, Sam Shepard and Jonathan Raban also share some of their own perspectives about life on the American highway, while Joe Queenan explores the history of the roadside motel.
Laura Barton’s American Road Trip is a personal journey, a dreamlike exploration of life across the USA over the last 70 years, from blues singers on Beale Street to X-rated frogs in the French Quarter, and from LA hopefuls to the loneliest Opera House in Death Valley.
Made for 4 Extra.
Produced by Luke Doran.
On the down side, Roy has lost his job as journalist, blown his chance of romance with his former teacher, Jane and is about to have his house repossessed.
But just when he thought it was safe to retreat into self-pity and fantasies about The Archers, help comes from an unexpected quarter...
Series two of Tony Bagley's romantic comedy drama serial that mixes fantasy with reality.
Starring Martin Clunes as Roy Hitchcock, Geraldine James as Jane Gallaghan, Nicky Henson as Chad Mann., David Troughton as Colin, Rebecca Front as Mrs Churchill and Sue Roderick as Gwyn.
Other parts by Simon Treves and Melanie Hudson
Producer: Paul Schlesinger:
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1994.
The station staff at Parsley Sidings go all out to boost falling passenger numbers.
The eponymous series is set in a sleepy railway station. The Hepplewhites have run 'Parsley Sidings' station for generations and the current Station Master, Horace, hopes that his son Bert will continue the line. Mild-mannered Ticket Clerk Bert wants to work anywhere but on the railways. His colleague, Station Announcer Gloria Simpkins, secretly loves him. Porter Percy Valentine is an archetypal wheeler-dealer and the ancient Signalman, Bradshaw, causes havoc and dispenses home-made remedies in equal measure. The 'Parsley Sidings' nemesis is Phineas Perkins, the station master of Potwhistle Halt, one stop down the line.
Starring Arthur Lowe as Horace, Ian Lavender as Bert, Kenneth Connor as Percy, Liz Fraser as Gloria and Elizabeth Morgan as Ethel.
Re-created Announcements by Keith Skues.
Producer: Edward Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in December 1971.
Jackie Hartwell is assigned as family liaison officer to a woman viciously assaulted in her own home. It soon becomes clear the suspect is likely to strike again.
Meera Syal returns as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell. Her job, as ever, is to comfort and support the families of victims while keeping a watchful eye on their reactions and movements. You never know when he murderer might be close to home.
Jackie: Meera Syal
Peter: Mathew Marsh
Azra: Olivia Darnley
Denise: Joan Walker
Samantha: Janice Acquah
Keith: Darren Boyd
Writer - Scott Cherry
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in five parts in October 2018.
Comedian, writer and actress Helen Lederer chooses 'Que Sera, Sera' by Doris Day and 'All I Want' by Joni Mitchell.
Muriel Gray is joined in East Anglia by father and son, Peter and Dan Snow to walk along the Boudicca Way.
The pair have been walking together since Peter took Dan up a Welsh mountain, when he was just 27 days old. They've since shared a love of history, sailed together across the Atlantic, and bickered occasionally over a map.
Series exploring the areas around our greatest battlefields.
Producer: Lucy Lunt
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004 to coincide with BBC Two's Battlefield Britain.
Best selling crime writer Val McDermid turns to comedy capers among the carrots, as we rummage through the undergrowth of a murder on the allotments. Starring Julie Hesmondhalgh and Miriam Margolyes.
It's a case for Detective Chief Inspector Alma Blair, the Alpha Detective, her sergeant Jason Trotter, and Jo Blake the crime scene manager. Watch how the women behave towards each other. Rivals? Not quite. There may even be a barely detectable flirtatiousness between them.
In Episode 1 a body is found on an allotment in Cranby
Sound Designer: Eloise Whitmore
Writer: Val McDermid
Directed and Produced by Justine Potter
A Savvy Production for BBC Radio 4.
The Doctor contributes a DVD commentary to a cult 1970s horror movie re-release.
Peter Davison is the Fifth Doctor with his companion Nyssa played by Sarah Sutton. With James Fleet as Sir Jack Merrivale.
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 John Dorney.
Original music composed by Richard Fox and Lauren Yason.
Directed by Ken Bentley
Producer: David Richardson
A Big Finish production.
"I want the turret room when Alison's gone, and you've got to make sacrifices to get what you want."
After a nasty case of bullying, three girls learn about the darker side of life in a humorous view of fear and loathing in a girls' boarding school.
Fear on 4 brings you more in a series of nerve-tinglers.
Stars Caroline Strong as Alison, Sarah Rice as Kerry and Alison Pettitt as Corrina.
Written by Nick Warburton.
Director: Adrian Bean
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1997.
While Satan is away morally cleansing the media and internet, revolt is brewing in Hell. Satanic sitcom stars Andy Hamilton. From October 2005.
The new series of the tag team talk show continues as last week's guest, one of the UK's most celebrated and current comics Lee Mack, writer and star of BBC1's "Not Going Out" takes the microphone to interview alternative comedy legend, writer and star of "The Young Ones" and "Bottom", Ade Edmondson.
From 10pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats to Elis James and John Robins.
John Humphrys gives 28 performers 60 seconds to entertain an audience:
Richie Webb and Vicki Pepperdine
Jason Manford
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis
Josie Long
Ed Byrne
Matt Holt
Nick Mohammed
Phil Nichol
Matt Kirshen
Lemn Sissay
The Cowards
Jason John Whitehead
Howard Read
Janey Godley
Count Arthur Strong
Al Pitcher
Martin White
Edward Aczel
Marcus Birdman
Tom Price
John Bishop
The Consultants
Sue Vale
Miles Jupp
Stefano Paolini
Rhod Gilbert
Seymour Mace
Nicholas Parsons
Producers: Rohan Acharya and Ed Morrish
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006.
Mark Watson continues his quest to improve the world, nimbly assisted by Tim Key and Tom Basden and with the additional help of the listening audience as we broadcast live and invite them to join in.
Mark will be asking 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 "Passion" - Passion encompasses some of our most human qualities: emotion, energy desire. But is it a dangerous thing? In their hit Desire, U2 sang: 'Desire!/Desire!' But that isn't hugely helpful, that's just repeating the word over and over again. So we'll go into a bit more detail.
We are all passionate about something, whether it's sex, personal satisfaction, or sexy personal satisfaction. Without passion we're inert. But with passion, we can sometimes be all too ert. Where do we draw the line between normal passions, and being one of these guys like Othello who let themselves down and kill a girl over a hanky?
Next week Mark looks at "Tolerance" - Religious tolerance, moral tolerance, not striking the person next to you on the bus because their headphones are too loud. It's important to tolerate others' faults, but can it make us into doormats? Mark will once again invite you to join the debate at www.bbc.co.uk/radio 4 or tweet using #watsonlive.
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 the If.Comedy Award for Best Newcomer 2007.
Produced by Lianne Coop.
When Sethe welcomed him into her house, Paul D. thought that life had thrown him a second chance. But then Beloved arrived and he was unable to resist her advances. Now he must steady himself to face the consequences.
Toni Morrison's seminal 1987 novel about a haunted house in the era that followed the abolition of slavery in the United States. Melding horror and poetry, this is the story of Sethe, a woman who escaped slavery by crossing the Ohio river, but who, 18 years later, is still not free.
Narrator . . . . . Adjoa Andoh
Sethe . . . . . Nadine Marshall
Denver . . . . . Pippa Bennett-Warner
Paul D . . . . . Danny Sapani
Beloved . . . . . Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Stamp Paid . . . . . Richard Pepple
Baby Suggs . . . . . Alibe Parsons
Omnibus of the last five of ten parts adapted by Patricia Cumper.
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
Actor Ray Winstone chooses Nat King Cole's Smile and Dean Martin's version of West Ham FC's anthem I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles.
4 Extra Debut. Two old friends now lead very different lives. Will the glamorous Paru be persuaded to settle down? Read by Sudha Bhuchar. From September 1996.
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.
The poor Huggett family are suffering in a summer heat wave.
Stars Jack Warner as Joe, Kathleen Harrison as Ethel, George Howell as Bobby, Marion Collins as Jane, Charles Leno as Fred Stebbings and Kenneth Connor as Mr Cross/The Insurance Man/The Postman/The Decorator.
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.
A warring pantomime horse trots on in 'Ali Baba and the Nine Thieves', while Ron's love for Eth is tested on a night out 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 May 1958.
All cloth begins with a twist.
Kassia St Clair uncovers the fascinating stories of how fabrics have shaped the world we live in; from the secret power of the linens covering the bodies of Egyptian pharaohs to the lab-blended materials that allow us to travel further and faster than ever before.
Read by Francesca Dymond
Abridged by Laurence Wareing
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
First broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.
Fi Glover with a conversation between a poet fascinated by the limestone landscape of her home and a theatre director who values the secrets hidden beneath the limestone.
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 The Beatles to Luciano Pavarotti. Fashion designer George Davies shares his castaway choices with Sue Lawley. From April 2006.
Mae Martin, Bisha K Ali, Bobby Friction and Johnny Cochrane join Ned Sedgwick in a podcast compilation on the theme of 'adventure'.
If GrownUpLand is a place, then we got a bit lost along the way.
Each week on the GrownUpLand podcast, a special guest helps to answer listener questions and candidly shares their experiences, from failed dates and bizarre confrontations to guilty pleasures and worst nightmares.
Co-created by Deborah Frances-White for The Spontaneity Shop and BBC Radio 4.
Producer: Al Riddell.
All is not as it should be at Tranquillum House Health Resort. The guests discover they are being drugged as part of the unconventional programme to change their lives forever.
Nine strangers with a variety of differing emotional and physical needs have been thrown together at a very remote and unconventional health resort.
Tranquillum House, however, is no ordinary health resort. It's owned and run by an equally wounded and strange lady who is determined that these nine perfect strangers' lives will never be the same again after the ten days that lie ahead.
Kerry Fox reads best-selling author Liane Moriarty's page turner.
Omnibus of the last five of ten parts.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.
Joe Kerr explores 18th-century Castle Ward in County Down, where a married couple held opposing architectural tastes.
Bernard Ward, the Baron of Bangor, couldn't agree with his wife Lady Mary Magill over the design of their new country house.
So they split the house into two: her half was gothic and his was classical, both on the outside and inside. The result is a building with a glorious split personality.
Producer: Matthew Dodd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
4 Extra Debut. A violent death from Argentina's Dirty War affects the romantic notions of a young expat decades later. Stars Juliet Stevenson. From May 2002.
Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive with 'Rites of Passage' as Ian McMillan joins Druids to watch the sunrise at Stonehenge.
Ian is initiated as a Druidic bard, listens to some poems and talks to his fellow celebrants about why words matter.
Producer: Geoff Bird
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
A bleak and abandoned house and a ghost from the past troubles Anna, as she returns to Dartmoor - the scene of her childhood holidays.
Jane Beeson's drama was recorded on location at a farm on Dartmoor.
With Kim Hicks, Oona Beeson, Stewart Clapp, Elizabeth Revill, Daisy Martinez, Rorence Wood, Alex Maclaren, Stuart Crossman and Helen Weaver.
Director: Viv Beeby
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
An antiques collector finds a life-size doll in Italy - an exact replica of the old count's first wife. Read by Judy Bridgland. From October 1993.
The radical comedian offers his humorous assessment of the life and career of the creator of Frankenstein. From October 2002.
From 10pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats to Elis James and John Robins.
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, George Fouracres, Freya Parker and Lewis McLeod.
Script Editors: Gemma Arrowsmith and Liam Beirne.
Producers: Adnan Ahmed and Hayley Sterling
A BBC Studios Production.
Egypt, where Edwardian adventurer Lord Zimbabwe swashes a buckle or two. Stars Dan Freedman and Nick Romero. From July 2000.
A Christmas goose leads the Baker Street sleuth and Dr Watson to a priceless gem...
Carleton Hobbs stars as Sherlock Holmes. The actor played the Baker Street sleuth in 80 radio dramas between 1952 and 1969.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tale originally appeared in 'Strand Magazine' in 1892. Adapted by Michael Hardwick.
With Norman Shelley as Dr Watson, Will Leighton as Peterson, Kenneth Dight as Henry Baker, Derek Birch as Windigate, Pauline Wynn as Maggie, Wilfred Babbage as Beckinridge, Keith Buckley as Bill and John Pullen as James Ryder.
Producer: Robin Midgley.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in December 1961.
Mike Greenwood unlocks the secrets of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's classic novella, on the anniversary of its publication in 1943.
Barely 100 pages long, The Little Prince is one of the most read books in the world. Like the little prince himself, his creator Antoine de Saint Exupéry has become an enigma. An aristocrat and an aviator, he wrote The Little Prince in exile in America, when the world was at war and France was under Nazi occupation. Barely two years later he was dead - having failed to return from a reconnaissance mission over his homeland. His body was never found.
But the fable-like book he left behind continues to captivate generations of readers, from the child to the adult. Why?
"It is only with one's heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye." Is it a simple children's story engaging with simple truths about love, experience and loss? A manifesto for humanist values in time of strife? Or a manual for living on our fragile planet?
Mike Greenwood journeys to Paris to unravel the origins, meaning and enduring appeal of Le Petit Prince. He meets Saint-Exupery's nephew, Francois d'Agay, now 87, who remembers visits from Uncle Antoine in the 1930s, and Mike enters the inner circle of 'Saint-Exupérians' who have made it their life's work to interpret the symbols, biographical parallels and true message of the book.
The novelist Tracey Chevalier and children's author Michael Rosen also share their personal insights into the French classic, which is featured in a series of evocative readings.
Presenter: Mike Greenwood
Producer: Eve Streeter
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger have changed their image from tough-talking, macho men to gentle, child-caring new men.... can Roy follow suit in his own home movie?
Series two of Tony Bagley's romantic comedy drama serial that mixes fantasy with reality.
Starring Martin Clunes as Roy Hitchcock, Geraldine James as Jane Gallaghan, Nicky Henson as Chad Mann. David Troughton as Colin and Rebecca Front as Mrs Churchill.
Other parts by Peter Serafinowicz and Susannah Corbett.
Producer: Paul Schlesinger:
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1994.
Professor of Ignorance John Lloyd and his curator Lee Mack welcome comedian and writer Karen Dunbar, metallurgist Professor John Wood and breakfast radio host Shaun Keaveny.
This week, the Museum's Guest Committee steel themselves for some deadly karaoke, use a massive machine to show off a single atom of iron and experience the unalloyed joy of opening an old-fashioned tube of toothpaste.
The show was researched by Mike Turner and Emily Jupitus of QI.
The Producers were Richard Turner and Anne Miller.
A BBC Studios Production.
Big-headed from TV success, the lad's had enough of radio and is set to retire - until he discovers the plan for his replacement.
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: Tom Ronald
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in January 1958.
Parsley Sidings' Station Master Horace Hepplewhite hopes a new automated mail system will save the sleepy halt in a trial with his deadly rival.
Starring Arthur Lowe as Horace, Ian Lavender as Bert, Kenneth Connor as Percy, Liz Fraser as Gloria and John Graham as Phineas Perkins.
Jim Eldridge's eponymous series is set in a sleepy railway station. The Hepplewhites have run 'Parsley Sidings' station for generations and the current Station Master, Horace, hopes that his son Bert will continue the line. Mild-mannered Ticket Clerk Bert wants to work anywhere but on the railways. His colleague, Station Announcer Gloria Simpkins, secretly loves him. Porter Percy Valentine is an archetypal wheeler-dealer and the ancient Signalman, Bradshaw, causes havoc and dispenses home-made remedies in equal measure. The 'Parsley Sidings' nemesis is Phineas Perkins, the station master of Potwhistle Halt, one stop down the line.
Re-created Announcements by Keith Skues.
Producer: Edward Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in December 1971.
It's the panel game that rewards chatterboxes but only if they don't repeat themselves, hesitate or deviate from the subject given to them by chairman Nicholas Parsons.
Today's show sees Stephen Fry describing How to Clean a Chandelier, Sue Perkins revealing her violent style of Weeding, Paul Merton sharing all he knows about Aristotle and new girl Fi Glover describing The Best Sort of Babysitter.
Kaz is having problems at school and wants her dad to have a firm talk with her PE teacher from hell.
Meanwhile, Molly's concerned about Dawn who's concerned about Raymond. Is he having an affair?
Paul Mendelson's sitcom stars Rebecca Lacey as Molly, Paul Venables as Doug, Soumaya Keynes as Kaz, Jessie Sullivan as Ryan, Marlene Sidaway as Annie, Jonathan Tafler as Raymond and Samantha Spiro as Dawn.
Producer: David Ian Neville
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2004.
"She wouldn't lie in court to save her sister's life - so she had to find another way. "Mike Harris' fast paced adaptation of Walter Scott's most gripping, most contemporary novel.
'Heart of Midlothian' begins with a trial for child murder, and then never lets the tension drop with disguises, thwarted love, hazardous journeys, kidnappings, riots, rescues - and a shy, retiring, heroine who will stop at nothing to undo the terrible damage her virtue has done.
Adapted for radio by Mike Harris
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
SHORTS: Scottish Shorts is one of a returning series of short readings featuring new writing from first time or emerging writers.
A woman considers the role of numbers in her life as she sits by the bed of her dying grandmother. Francesca Dymond reads a lyrical exploration of death, permanence and mathematics, written by Pippa Goldschmidt.
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.
Pippa Goldschmidt is based in Edinburgh and came to creative writing from a previous career as an astronomer. She is the author of Dundee International Book Prize finalist, 'The Falling Sky'.
By the 1690s, Isaac Newton - already the world's greatest mathematician - was hungry for a new challenge and became Warden of the Royal Mint.
His pursuit of London's most notorious counterfeiter, William Chaloner, confirmed him as a man prepared to go to any lengths to solve a problem...
Ian McDiarmid stars as Isaac Newton.
Written by Philip Palmer.
With Katy Cavanagh as Catherine Barton, Barnaby Kay as William Chaloner, Peter Marinker as Mr Secretary Vernon, Freddie Annobil-Dodoo as Tom Holloway, Colin Adrian as Thomas Carter and Jeremy Swift as Lord Halifax
Director: Toby Swift
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. In 1957, sitting in his lodgings in Accra, he urgently sets out to write his story recounting his strange and tumultuous marriage to the elusive great beauty of Sligo, Mai Kirwan, and the inevitable fate that he now feels compelled to reconcile himself with. He feels he cannot take one step further, or even hardly a breath, without looking back at all that has befallen him. He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things.
The Temporary Gentleman is, ultimately, a story about a man's last bid for freedom, from the savage realities of the past and from himself.
Ciarán Hinds is one of Ireland's most prolific and esteemed actors. His many television and film credits include: Game of Thrones, Munich, The Sea, Road to Perdition, There Will Be Blood, Frozen, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Woman in Black and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
Read by Ciarán Hinds
Abridged by Neville Teller
Producer Gemma McMullan.
Global Gap is a series of five programmes where two people who do the same job, one from the UK and one from another country (for this week, Turkey), have a thought provoking conversation, to compare and contrast their working lives and the issues that arise in their jobs.
A predominately Muslim country, Turkey nevertheless straddles Western and Eastern culture - and the series this week focuses on the religious versus the secular, capturing the differences in attitudes and society between Turkey and UK through conversation and recordings in workplaces.
Episode 1 (of 5): The Religious Leader
Rev Canon Rosie Harper, vicar of a small church in Great Missenden and Chaplain to the Bishop of Buckingham, speaks to Ishak Kizilaslan, Imam at the Sultanahmet Mosque in Istanbul. Her father was a non-conformist minister. She wanted to be a vicar from early childhood and was one of the first to be ordained after women were accepted into the Church of England in 1994. She compares her experience and responsibilities as a religious leader to those of Imam Kizilaslan, who was appointed Imam by the Turkish Government because of his understanding of Islam, including having learnt the Qur'an by heart as a 10-year old boy.
Reporter: Sara Parker
Producer: Laura Parfitt
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, dramatises Charlotte Bronte's tale of romantic entanglements and turbulent times in the Yorkshire of 1811.
"Something unromantic as a Monday morning." And so begins this passionate love story ...
Directed by Tracey Neale
Set against a Yorkshire industrial background, Charlotte Bronte's powerful second novel is also an impassioned plea for social equality - for workers and women alike. Set during the time of the Luddite unrest, two strands weave together. One, the struggles of workers against mill owners, the other involving the romantic entanglements of the two heroines - Shirley Keelder and Caroline Helstone. It is the friendship of these two women, and the contrast between their situations, that lies at the heart of the piece. Many believe the character of Shirley was written for, and about, Charlotte's sister, Emily, who was dying as Charlotte wrote the novel.
Like The Professor, Villette and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, produced by the same team, this is an earthy, vivid and poignant re-telling of one of the lesser-known Bronte classics. The scenes of dangerous social unrest and conflict and love are as relevant today as when the novel was published. It's a story of friendship and love, longing and loss. A rollicking good story with plenty of cliffhangers to keep the listener hooked to the very end.
The cast includes Lesley Sharp (Scott and Bailey) Jemima Rooper (Atlantis) and Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey)
The dramatist Rachel Joyce has written over twenty original afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4 and major adaptations for the Classic Serial and Fifteen Minute Drama, as well as a TV period drama for BBC 2. In 2007 she won the Tinniswood Award for Best Radio Play.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was her first novel. It began its life as a Radio 4 play. It was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2012 and longlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize. Her second novel, Perfect, was published last year. She is currently writing a novella called The Love-Song of Queenie Hennessy which will be published in the Autumn. Rachel is also adapting the novella as a 5-part Fifteen Minute Drama to be broadcast at the same time as publication. Queenie is a character from The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
'Other nations have scandals. The French have affairs.' And Francois Mitterrand was no exception.
Former BBC foreign correspondent Philip Short has written a compelling biography of the French leader who was famous for his ambiguity.
Henry Goodman reads the fascinating story, starting with the infamous 'Observatory Affair', which nearly finished Mitterrand's political career.
Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall
A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.
Kalessin, the eldest of dragons, brings a message to the people of Havnor. At last, the King and his council know what they must do: travel to the beating heart of all of Earthsea.
Ursula K Le Guin's enduring fantasy saga - based on the novel The Other Wind adapted by Judith Adams.
Published between 1968 and 2001, the five novels and short story collection of Ursula K Le Guin's Earthsea cycle (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, The Other Wind and Tales from Earthsea) are re-told across twelve episodes. Series 2 takes in the action of Tehanu, The Other Wind and the short story Dragonfly from Tales of Earthsea.
Set on a vast archipelago of islands, where magic is a central part of life, they tell the stories of Tenar and Ged.
As a girl, Tenar, was taken from her home and family on the island of Atuan to become Arha, the Priestess Ever Reborn, guardian of the ominous Tombs of Atuan. Deep within the Tombs, Ged and Tenar met and became unlikely allies, escaped from Atuan, and brought peace to the troubled archipelago. Now in her late middle age, widowed and with grown up children, Tenar runs a farm on the island of Gont. She is reunited with Ged when he is brought back to the island of his birth on the back of a dragon.
Ged (also known as Sparrowhawk or Hawk) was born on Gont, with innate magical talent and a reckless nature. He trained in wizardry on the island Roke, where he released a terrible shadow into the world and then risked his life to restore the balance. He grew to become Archmage on Roke and the greatest wizard on all of Earthsea. When the evil wizard Cob attempted to cheat death and live forever, Ged found him and closed the breach between life and death. In doing so, he lost his powers of magic. While Tenar has traveled to Havnor, he has stayed at on Gont to mind the house.
Tehanu . . . Laura Elphinstone
Tenar . . . Nina Wadia
Azver . . . Narinder Samra
King Lebannen . . . Steven Robertson
Alder . . . Tom Vanson
Ged . . . Robert Glenister
Seserekh . . . Sabrina Sandhu
Thorion . . . Sam Dale
Tesla . . . Sean Murray
Doorkeeper . . . Stephen Hogan
Original music by Jon Nichols
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Sue MacGregor,and her guests - journalist, Lynn Barber and writer, Sara Wheeler - discuss three books featuring assorted Englishmen abroad, by Norman Lewis, Sherill Tippins and James Hamilton-Paterson. From 2007.
Voices of the Old Sea by Norman Lewis
Publisher: Picador
February House by Sherill Tippins
Publisher: Pocket Books
Amazing Disgrace by James Hamilton-Paterson
Publisher: Faber.
Howard and Vince try to find new attractions for the surreal zoo. Stars Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. From November 2001.
Made for 4 Extra. Miles Jupp hosts a satirical review of the week's news in an extended version of Friday's programme.
John Hegley performs poems dedicated to Bonfire Night and not waving. With Nigel Piper and the Popticians. From September 1998.
An American asks the Great Detective to help him clear the name of a governess charged with murdering his wife.
Starring Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes. The actor played the Baker Street sleuth in 80 radio dramas between 1952 and 1969.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tale was first published in 1922 as part of the 'Case Book of Sherlock Holmes' stories. Adapted by Michael Hardwick.
With Norman Shelley as Dr Watson, Humphrey Morton as Sergeant Coventry, Robert Ayres as Neil Gibson and Beryl Calder as Grace Dunbar and Mrs Hudson.
Producer: Robin Midgley
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in January 1962.
Rainer Hersch explores the musical significance of unusual instruments, including cannons, car horns, anvils, typewriters and salad bowls. All have featured in concert performances over the past 200 years, but who plays them?
With the help of two leading British percussion players, Mick Doran and Neil Percy, Rainer explores the soundscape that can conjured up by bowing a cymbal, rubbing a plastic cup on a gong or hitting a car suspension spring with a hammer.
Faith is worrying about money, when Bill gets an unexpected offer...
Sitcom about the battles of divorcees Bill MacGregor and Faith Greyshott trying to forge a relationship whilst balancing the demands of his ex-wife, Liza and her teenage children, Hannah and Joe.
Stars Lynda Bellingham as Faith, James Bolam as Bill, Kelda Holmes as Hannah, Mark Denham as Joe, Belinda Lang as Liza, Jo Kendall as Marjorie and Christopher Good as Richard.
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 December 1989.
Henry and Vera are on a lecture tour of the USA. Vera is invited to the Round Table at the Algonquin and meets Dorothy Barker, who she finds repellent. Henry, travelling towards Chicago on the sleeper, finds he is sharing a compartment with Al Padrone and his mysteriously heavy violin case.
Meanwhile, back at Sizzlinghurst, Ginny and Lionel are acting as caretakers and making a spectacular mess of things as they attempt to remodel the garden.
Cast:
VERA SACKCLOTH-VEST..............................MIRIAM MARGOLYES
HENRY MICKLETON.......................................JONATHAN COY
RICH WOMAN ..................................................MORWENNA BANKS
GINNY FOX.......................................................ALISON STEADMAN
LIONEL FOX......................................................NIGEL PLANER
MRS GOSLING..................................................ALISON STEADMAN
GOSLING............................................................NIGEL PLANER
AL PADRONE....................................................JOHN SESSIONS
DOROTHY BARKER.........................................MORWENNA BANKS
ROBERT BLETCHLEY......................................JOHN SESSIONS
TAXI DRIVER ...................................................JOHN SESSIONS
ROOM SERVICE .......................................JONATHAN COY
A Little Brother production for BBC Radio 4.
Bertie Wooster turns to Aunt Dahlia to help out Gussie.
PG Wodehouse romp adapted by Chris Miller.
Starring Michael Hordern as Jeeves, Richard Briers as Bertie Wooster, Patrick Cargill as Sir Watkin Bassett, James Villiers as Roderick Spode and Vivian Pickles as Aunt Dahlia.
Other parts by William Sleigh.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1973.
The panic-stricken pen-pushers mismanage Britain's space race with a mix-up over Mildred.
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 and produced by Edward Taylor.
Re-recording of 'The Big Rocket' made in April 1980.
Actor Bill Pertwee remembers his time with classic BBC comedy series, Beyond Our Ken - forerunner to Round the Horne.
Running for 7 series between 1958 and 1964, Bill joined from series 2 in 1959 replacing Ron Moody.
Bill shares memories of his fellow cast Kenneth Horne, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and the frequently mischievous Kenneth Williams.
Producer: Tim Suter
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1991.
Richard Wilson stars as The Antiquary, a man who hordes secrets as well as treasures. Will his knowledge allow Lovel to marry his secret love? With David Tennant as Walter Scott.
The Antiquary (1816) is a novel by Sir Walter Scott about an amateur historian, archaeologist and collector of items of dubious antiquity. Although he is the eponymous character, he is not necessarily the hero, as many of the characters around him undergo far more significant journeys or change. Instead, he provides a central figure for other more exciting characters and events - on which he provides a sardonic commentary.
This is Scott's gothic novel, redolent with family secrets, stories of hidden treasure and hopeless love, with a mysterious, handsome, young man, benighted aristocracy and a night-time funeral procession to a ruined abbey. The romance and mystery is counterpoised by some of Scott's more down-to-earth characters, and grittily unromantic events.
Scott wrote in an advertisement to the novel that his purpose in writing it, similar to that of his novels Waverley and Guy Mannering, was to document Scottish life and manners of a certain period - in this case the last decade of the 18th century.
Music by Ross Hughes and Esben Tjalve
Cello played by George Cooke
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
SHORTS: Scottish Shorts is one of a returning series of short readings featuring new writing from first time or emerging writers.
A family struggle with hardship in Imperial Japan. Claire Knight reads a tale of war seen through the hopeful eyes of a child.
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.
Kirstin Zhang was raised in Papua New Guinea and studied in Glasgow, London and Tokyo, where she worked as an extra in commercials. She is working on a collection of stories set in Japan in the final year of the Pacific War.
What happens when you combine a university drama lecturer locked in a studio with a shy student, a real gun and a copy of Hamlet?
Add Black Forest gateau, a scheming dean, a drunken parent and the police, sprinkle liberally with sharp one-liners, slapstick and comic tension, and you have a combination guaranteed to ruin any head of department's day.
Lloyd Peters' comedy stars Rik Mayall as Don, Helen Lederer as Sophie, Philip Glenister as Ronnie/Roy, Judi Earl as Deidre/Ms Jones-Juggler and Gary Brown as Inspector Snoddy/Dennis.
Directed in Manchester by Polly Thomas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. In 1957, sitting in his lodgings in Accra, he urgently sets out to write his story recounting his strange and tumultuous marriage to the elusive great beauty of Sligo, Mai Kirwan, and the inevitable fate that he now feels compelled to reconcile himself with. He feels he cannot take one step further, or even hardly a breath, without looking back at all that has befallen him. He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things.
The Temporary Gentleman is, ultimately, a story about a man's last bid for freedom, from the savage realities of the past and from himself.
Ciarán Hinds is one of Ireland's most prolific and esteemed actors. His many television and film credits include: Game of Thrones, Munich, The Sea, Road to Perdition, There Will Be Blood, Frozen, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Woman in Black and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
Read by Ciarán Hinds
Abridged by Neville Teller.
Global Gap is a series of five programmes where two people who do the same job, one from the UK and one from another country (for this week, Turkey), have a thought provoking conversation, to compare and contrast their working lives and the issues that arise in their jobs.
A predominately Muslim country, Turkey nevertheless straddles Western and Eastern culture - and the series this week focuses on the religious versus the secular, capturing the differences in attitudes and society between Turkey and UK through conversation and recordings in workplaces.
Episode 2 (of 5): Women in Business
Leading Turkish businesswoman Nur Ger talks to CEO Anne Walker MBE. Both have built up their companies over the past 30 years and now export all over the world. Both campaign for women to get a better deal and equality in business, although in Turkey the battle for recognition and acceptance is harder for business graduate Nur who would have found it difficult to take the lead on the family business and turn it into a multi-million Euro fashion export company if it hadn't been for the early death of her father. For dance teacher Anne, being brought up solely by her teacher mother fuelled her ambition. And her mum's £50 loan to buy her first sewing machine was the beginning of International Dance Supplies (IDS).
Reporter: Sara Parker
Producer: Laura Parfitt
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, dramatises Chrlotte Bronte's tale of romantic entanglements and turbulent times in the Yorkshire of 1811.
Caroline Helstone, is in love with Robert Moore but knows he will never be hers. Her sadness lifts a little when she receives an invitation to meet Shirley Keelder, the new owner of the manor house at Fieldhead.
Directed by Tracey Neale.
Francois Mitterrand was the son of a station master at Angouleme in Cognac country but by the late 1930's, as a student in Paris, he had discovered a fascination with politics.
And with his political ideas still forming in his mind, he was faced with the dilemma of whether to follow the right wing tradition of his conservative, Catholic family or whether to branch out; whether he would support the Vichy government or help to form a Resistance.
This new biography of Mitterrand has been written by former BBC Foreign Correspondent Philip Short.
Reader: Henry Goodman
Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall.
A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.
A funny and dynamic quiz show hosted by Steve Punt - this week from Queen's University Belfast with specialist subjects including History, Medicine and English and questions ranging from Emperor Vespasian to Ed Sheeran via handbags and haematoxylin.
The programme is recorded on location at a different University each week, and it pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors in an original and fresh take on an academic quiz.
The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds and the Highbrow and Lowbrow round cunningly devised to test not only the students' knowledge of current affairs, history, languages and science, but also their Professors' awareness of television, sport, and quite possibly Justin Bieber. In addition, the Head-to-Head rounds see students take on their Professors in their own subjects, offering plenty of scope for mild embarrassment on both sides.
Other Universities featured in this series include Roehampton, Hull, Derby, Liverpool and St John's College Cambridge.
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
The Water Boatman played by Sandi Toksvig and the Great Diving Beetle played by David Ryall, reveal the truth about life in a garden pond, in the second of three very funny tales, written and introduced by Lynne Truss, with sound recordings by Chris Watson and Tom Lawrence.
Messing about in water is what the Water Boatman loves to do most of all. Well actually the Water Boatman is a Boatwoman and in truth she is a Backswimmer not a Water Boatman, but she prefers to be called Water Boatman and being a decisive no-nonsense type, so be it! Her days are spent rowing around the pond and scooping up whatever tasty morsel takes her fancy and trying her hardest to ignore the 'singing' of her ardent admirer, Reg. Stridulation is the technical term for Reg's singing; moving one part of his body against another (a bit like crickets and grasshoppers) to create a courtship 'song'. His persistence finally pays off, but does he win her heart?
Meanwhile, the Great Diving Beetle soars up and down through the depths, spreading fear wherever he goes. With his coat of armour, fantastic mandibles for tearing prey to pieces and a highly unpleasant habit of ejecting toxic fumes at potential predators, he's a creature to avoid! He did have a mate once, but he ate her, and brothers and sisters too, but he ate them. So all alone, he has plenty of time to think and armed with his ballistic missiles he daydreams about being a film star; a hero with super powers, and a match for any creature ... even Batman! One evening though, whilst flying round the neighbourhood, he comes across a shocking scene at a nearby pond, and drawing on his armoury of weapons, he defends the rights of his fellow beetles in a vicious battle.
What happens when spare-part surgery becomes the norm?
When marketing expert Eleanor Riley is called in to re-vamp the image of a remote clone farm, she discovers there's more to 'Abbotsville' than meets the eye...
Jenny Stephens' sci-fi thriller in four parts.
Starring Oliver Hembrough as Jefferson 37, Dharmesh Patel as Patel 2, Alison Carney as Eleanor Riley, David Birrell as Dr Abbots, Rob Swinton as Dr Martell, Alex Jones as Paul Smith and Helen Monks as Saskia Treby 9.
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2006.
Kate Rusby's been described as one of the most talented folk singers of her generation.
Headlining at many national folk festivals and touring widely she's built a loyal following of fans and is one of our best known contemporary folk singers.
Her unwavering love of folk music hasn't stopped her collaborating with other well-known musicians and singers including Eddi Reader, Roddie Woomble and Ronan Keating. Kate's recording of the Ray Davis song The Village Green Preservation Society was used as the theme tune for the successful TV series Jam and Jerusalem.
Kate tells Phil Cunningham about her five special songs and reveals a newly found skill. She's a dab hand at stripping wallpaper and painting having recently restored a house in her home village which is now her family home.
Phil starts with Kate's song 'I Courted a Sailor' and Kate goes on to pick these five songs.
1: Nic Jones - Little Pot Stove
2: Hot Rize- Won't You Come and Sing For Me
3: The Cardigans- Lead Me into the Night
4: Aberfeldy- Slow Me Down
5: Damien O'Kane- Summer Hill.
Can the management consultants charge up an ailing electrical retailer? Stars Marcus Brigstocke and Robin Ince. From August 2004.
To mark the centenary of the birth of Spike Milligan, Jake Yapp presents two classic episodes of The Goon Show and chats to Spike's agent, Norma Farnes, and Colin Elmer, who is currently starring as Spike in a touring production of The Goon Show.
Spy Neddie must make contact with his informer. But can he whistle the secret tune? Stars Spike Milligan. From September 1954.
To mark the centenary of the birth of Spike Milligan, Jake Yapp presents two classic episodes of The Goon Show and chats to Spike's agent, Norma Farnes, and Colin Elmer, who is currently starring as Spike in a touring production of The Goon Show.
Min is counting rain drops, but why is everyone so wet? Is royalty to blame? Stars Spike Milligan. From December 1958.
Investigating the disappearance of young lord from his school, the Great Detective ponders upon the hoof-prints of cattle on a moor where there are no cattle...
Starring Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes. The actor played the Baker Street sleuth in 80 radio dramas between 1952 and 1969.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tale was first published in 1904 in 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes'. Adapted by Michael Hardwick.
With Norman Shelley as Dr Watson, Eric Anderson as Dr Huxtable, Peter Hutton as Roberts, Victor Lucas as Reubon Hayes, Wilfred Grantham as Duke of Holdernesse and David Spenser as James Wilder.
Producer: Robin Midgley
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in January 1962.
When the German born Karl Rose launched his opera company in 1873 at the Princess' Theatre London, he had no intention of becoming a musical institution running for over a hundred years. A concert violinist, his original motivation was to provide a platform for his wife, the wonderfully named singer Euphrosyne Parepa, but on her premature death he decided to continue his operatic ambitions. Changing his name to Carl Rosa he set about bringing opera to British audiences in English. And rather than rely on a London season he wanted to take his company, full orchestra, chorus, sceneary and soloists on the road.
Keel Watson tells the story of Rosa's success, including the British Premier of Puccini's La Boheme and Madame Butterfly, the former in Manchester. He finds out about the years after Rosa's death and between the wars when the company had its own train at Liverpool Street station and sometimes had three groups on the road at the same time. The tradition, established by Rosa himself, of commissioning new work by British composers, of using local singers and of providing full scale productions complete with elaborate scenery and effects was also maintained, and with Dame Eva Turner, they produced a genuine operatic superstar.
But after the second world war keeping the company going proved increasingly difficult.
Keel hears from the singer Joseph Ward who actually toured with them in the 1950's until the final performance in Nottingham in 1956. He also talks to Kenneth Rear, one of the many people introduced to opera by the Rosa's annual visits, in his case to the Lyceum Theatre Shefffield, and to Peter Malloy who runs the much smaller scale Carl Rosa company of today.
Keel address the challenges that Rosa faced and many opera enthusiasts still face today, of bringing opera to audiences outside the major Metropolitan centres in a form which doesn't undermine its natural scale and spectacle.
Producer: Tom Alban.
Sheila and Tommy tackle their memoirs, but are their memories up to it?
Ageing showbiz couple Tommy Franklin and Sheila Parr continue their second stab at fame.
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.
Andy Zaltzman and Anuvab Pal trace the rise and fall of the British Empire by looking at what's been left behind, in a combination of location recording and stand-up comedy.
In this second episode, Andy and Anuvab wander around Kolkata, from the colonial seat of power that is now a library, to the Army garrison that replaced the site of one of the most infamous events of the Raj .
What and who have we chosen to remember, and what have we decided to forget? Andy and Anuvab offer up contrasting perspectives on the shared history between Britain and India.
Andy Zaltzman is a comedian best-known for The Bugle, his weekly satirical podcast. He is a regular performer on Radio 4 both as a guest on programmes like The Now Show or as presenter of his own shows such as My Life As A... .
Anuvab Pal is a comedian who first appeared on Radio 4 on an episode of Just A Minute recorded in Mumbai. In 2018 he made his debut at the Edinburgh Fringe, and appeared on Radio 4's Fresh from The Fringe and BBC Two's Big Asian Stand-Up. He is Andy's regular co-presenter on The Bugle podcast.
Written and performed by Andy Zaltzman and Anuvab Pal.
Produced by Ed Morrish
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
HMS Troutbridge sails into the technological age, but can the crew keep up?
Stars Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Stephen Murray as the Number One, Richard Caldicote as Captain Povey, Heather Chasen as Heather and Michael Bates as Lieutenant Bates, Ronnie Barker as Mr Merrivale 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 is off to the pictures, plus wartime drama in Colditz, and 'Hornerama' on TV.
With Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and welcome to newcomer - Bill Pertwee.
Written by Eric Merriman and Barry Took
Music from Pat Lancaster, the Fraser Hayes Four and the BBC Variety 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 15 shows survive from the original run of 21 episodes in Series 2. Audio restored using both home and overseas (BBC Transcription Service) recordings.
Producer: Jacques Brown
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in October 1959.
Martin Young chairs the quiz about famous people, from Biblical times to the pages of celebrity magazines.
Tackling the biographical teasers are team captains Francis Wheen and Fred Housego with guests Sue Cook and Annabel Giles.
Producer: Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2000.
Busy monitoring phone calls, Simon is learning a lot about his family. Stars Hwyel Bennett and Alison Steadman. From March 1989.
The Talisman is the finale of Scott's novels set during the crusades but this one features the dying dog days of the Third Crusade. Richard the Lionheart is de facto leader but the military expedition has ground to a halt and the allies are getting itchy feet. They are sick of Richard's over-bearing leadership and, to make it worse, very few of them still believe Jerusalem can be reconquered.
To the modern reader this must be a rather recondite setting. Beyond the jousting and the knightliness, how much do we care about the crusades anymore? And that's without opening the can of worms as to whether the West had any more right to be there then than it does now.
Jonathan Myerson, the adapter, wondered how to update this story and find a modern parallel to this situation.
And then it came to him: Occupy London in 2011. Those protestors started with the same, almost ecstatic belief in the possibility of change. They aimed to seize the holiest of places - the London Stock Exchange - but were beaten back and forced to set up camp outside. As the original crusaders came to loathe the heat and insect life in their desert encampment outside Jerusalem, the protestors of Occupy came to much the same conclusion - as winter set in - about sleeping on the cold, wet flagstones of St.Paul's Churchyard. And, in much the same way, the competing groups started to feel it was time to pack up and go home.
So, new listeners will follow Scott's original story of conspiracy and counter-conspiracy and, most important of all, star-crossed lovers but will hear new resonances in this old tale.
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
SHORTS: Scottish Shorts is one of a returning series of short readings featuring new writing from first time or emerging writers.
A woman sworn off relationships after a series of romantic disappointments finds her resolve tested to the limit. Morven Christie reads a witty, contemporary tale which shows inspiration can come from the most unlikely quarter.
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.
Vicki Jarrett is a writer from Edinburgh. Her debut novel 'Nothing Is Heavy' was shortlisted for the Saltire Society Scottish First Book award. Her first collection of short stories, 'The Way Out', is published by Freight later this year.
In a Cornish churchyard, the words on a tombstone tell a startling story of friendship: of a former master and an African slave re-united in freedom.
Unravelling the historical mystery of the genuine epitaph, Patrick Carroll's play is an inspired and tender re-creation of a remarkable true story.
Salome Gylls ... Jasmine Hyde
Thomas Johns .... Geoffrey Hutchings
Evaristo Muchovela .... Seun Shote
Mary Johns ... Diana Berriman
Elizabeth Treloar .... Samantha Robinson
William Wales Jr.... Ben Crowe
Director: Ned Chaillet
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. In 1957, sitting in his lodgings in Accra, he urgently sets out to write his story recounting his strange and tumultuous marriage to the elusive great beauty of Sligo, Mai Kirwan, and the inevitable fate that he now feels compelled to reconcile himself with. He feels he cannot take one step further, or even hardly a breath, without looking back at all that has befallen him. He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things.
The Temporary Gentleman is, ultimately, a story about a man's last bid for freedom, from the savage realities of the past and from himself.
Ciarán Hinds is one of Ireland's most prolific and esteemed actors. His many television and film credits include: Game of Thrones, Munich, The Sea, Road to Perdition, There Will Be Blood, Frozen, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Woman in Black and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
Read by Ciarán Hinds
Abridged by Neville Teller
Producer Gemma McMullan.
Global Gap is a series of five programmes where two people who do the same job, one from the UK and one from another country (for this week, Turkey), have a thought provoking conversation, to compare and contrast their working lives and the issues that arise in their jobs.
A predominately Muslim country, Turkey nevertheless straddles Western and Eastern culture - and the series this week focuses on the religious versus the secular, capturing the differences in attitudes and society between Turkey and UK through conversation and recordings in workplaces.
Episode 1 (of 5): Sports Teachers
Sports teachers Kerry Barber in UK and Sinem Varder in Turkey share their experiences. Birmingham's Golden Hillock School has a large number of Muslim pupils, many of whom wear the hijab, and sports lessons with girls and boys segregated - while Sinem's Turkish school has mixed classes and forbids girls to cover their head. Sinem sees this as liberating for women and is concerned that a proposal by the current Turkish Government to re-introduce the wearing of the hijab in schools is a backward step.
Kerry and Sinem discuss these perhaps unexpected contrasts in their schools, as well as their own international success in male dominated sports - rugby for Kerry and basketball for Sinem.
Reporter: Sara Parker
Producer: Laura Parfitt
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, dramatises Charlotte Bronte's tale of romantic entanglements and turbulent times in the Yorkshire of 1811.
Shirley begins to question Caroline when she discovers that her friend wears a locket containing a lock of Robert's hair. And Caroline makes a startling discovery when work is begun to help the poor.
Directed by Tracey Neale.
For most of Francois Mitterrand's career, there was a gentleman's agreement among the French media that a politician's private life should not be splashed across the front pages.
And so Mitterrand's private life was kept quiet for most of his career - but he had two families and Philip Short, the author of this biography, has spoken both to his wife and his mistress.
Read by Henry Goodman
Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall
A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.
Eleanor discovers more about the true nature of the work of the clone farm, Abbotsville, And she reveals the real reason why she's been so affected by the little girl clone known as Saskia Treby 9.
Jenny Stephens' sci-fi thriller set on a clone farm.
Starring Oliver Hembrough as Jefferson 37, Dharmesh Patel as Patel 2, Alison Carney as Eleanor Riley, David Birrell as Dr Abbots, Rob Swinton as Dr Martell, Alex Jones as Paul Smith and Helen Monks as Saskia Treby.
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2006.
Mark Radcliffe profiles the stage, film and radio actor best remembered for his Diary of a Schoolmaster as well as his contribution to astronomy.
Series exploring some of the North's best-loved and most influential comedians.
Producer: Libby Cross
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
Sexy assassin Morpheena is called in, while Milford and Parker grab a cab. Stars Mark Heap and Nick Frost. From November 2002.
Memory issues and is Mary really Mary? Manchester sketch show with Kate Ward, Smug Roberts and Robin Ince. From June 2004.
It's Pundemonium! Former Loose Ends alumni Dan Freedman and Nick Romero's very own comedy extravaganza. From August 1998.
Two self-obsessed writers clash over rival biographies about Byron - communicating via answerphone. But could it be turned to their advantage?
Starring Anna Massey as Isobel and Bill Nighy as Rob.
With Anna Nygh as Lisa, Nicholas Courtney as Professor Bellini and Ian Michie as the Taxi Driver.
Director: Cherry Cookson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1989.
The Reverend Charles Edward Shaw was known by many monikers - The Laughing Vicar, The Weed King of the North or, more popularly, Vicar Shaw.
Whatever the name given, Reverend Shaw was loved by both parishioners and naturalists alike for his unusual botanical rambles and fun loving manner. Every week, friends would climb in his latest jalopy and head off to explore a piece of waste land - that's if they hadn't been kept awake by his home-made speaking clock which boomed hourly from the church tower.
Vicar Shaw was renowned for finding exotic and unusual plants at rubbish tips, factory dumps, sewage treatment sites and other unlikely places. Some of these finds might be plant life unfamiliar to the local area; others botanical foreign invaders, mysteriously appearing from the Middle East, the Americas, or Eurasia.
In a celebration of his life, work and passions, Lancashire born poet Lemn Sissay returns to the North West and joins the priest's former protégé, radio and television gardener Roy Lancaster. Together they visit sites where Roy and the Vicar would scour for exotic plants, catching up with mutual friends along the way, and sharing memories of Roy's friend and mentor. They take in an unlikely set of locations: the ultra modern Reebok Stadium, home to Bolton Wanderers Football Club; a former sulphuric acid works at Nob End near Bolton; Gallery Oldham, where collections and items relating to Vicar Shaw are still held; and Waterhead in Oldham, the last parish and final resting place of Vicar Shaw where his self-designed memorial window can still be enjoyed.
Producer: Russell Crewe
A Like It Is production for BBC Radio 4.
Anouska and Michael crave the simple life, and are willing to pay for it. So Barry and Gwen do their best to oblige. And so do the Druids.
Last of a series of new comedies developed with the Comedians Theatre Company.
Written by Matthew Osborn.
Produced and Directed by Jonquil Panting.
Hardacre's ad agency find themselves competing for an unusual account - Befriendr, a dating-style app designed to help lonely city-dwellers make friends.
Amanda (Josie Lawrence) recruits Joe (Mathew Baynton), as the most normal member of the agency, to accompany her to the Befriendr launch event - a chance to network, and maybe even make some new friends themselves.
Meanwhile Hardacre (Nigel Havers) and Teddy (Rasmus Hardiker) - both banned from attending the event for not being normal enough - seek solace in each other's company. Hardacre resolves to remake Teddy in his own image, teaching him how to be A Real Man.
Cast:
Hardacre......................Nigel Havers
Joe..................................Mathew Baynton
Amanda........................Josie Lawrence
Teddy............................Rasmus Hardiker
Laura /
'Gram Woman...........Olivia Nixon
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4
Producer Gordon Kennedy.
Jim Hacker gets floored by the high rise world of property business.
Starring Paul Eddington as Jim Hacker, Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humphrey Appleby, Derek Fowldes as Bernard, Richard Vernon as Sir Desmond and Selina Scott as herself.
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 November 1984.
Neddie Seagoon is sent to capture the German general who commands the island of Crete. Stars Spike Milligan. From March 1957.
More testing brain teasers with Chris Maslanka, Anne Bradford, Professor David Singmaster and William Harston. From June 1998.
Richard and Paul are entering a half-marathon, but Maria and Ruby are off down the pub.
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 June 1993.
Gudrun returns to the Midlands mining town of Beldover, intending to join her sister, Ursula in teaching. At a society wedding, the sisters attract the attention of Gerald Critch and Rupert Birkin.
Both are very different gentlemen - with very different responses to love.
DH Lawrence's passionate novel was first published in 1920.
Stars Stella Gonet as Gudrun, Clare Holman as Ursula, Douglas Hodge as Gerald and Nicholas Farrell as Rupert.
Dramatised in four parts by Elaine Feinstein.
Music composed by Anthea Gomez.
Director: Sue Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
An extended Las Palmas holiday, at someone else's expense, seems ideal. But is there a hidden agenda? Read by Patricia Brake. From July 1994.
1930s Britain: A young composer working in the film industry finds himself up against a number of eccentric types involved in a seemingly doomed picture.
Can he save the day with a magical score?
Guy Meredith's drama stars Maurice Denham as Alec Leeland, Ian Targett as Young Alec, Philip Voss as Maxwell Vine, Michael Graham Cox as Jack B Nimble, Petra Davies as Helen Holloway, Neville Jason as Claude Leroux, Joan Walker as Nellie Browne, Ian Michie as Billy, Philip Sully as the Film Narrator and Richard Tate as the Security Guard.
Director: Cherry Cookson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1989.
Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. In 1957, sitting in his lodgings in Accra, he urgently sets out to write his story recounting his strange and tumultuous marriage to the elusive great beauty of Sligo, Mai Kirwan, and the inevitable fate that he now feels compelled to reconcile himself with. He feels he cannot take one step further, or even hardly a breath, without looking back at all that has befallen him. He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things.
The Temporary Gentleman is, ultimately, a story about a man's last bid for freedom, from the savage realities of the past and from himself.
Ciarán Hinds is one of Ireland's most prolific and esteemed actors. His many television and film credits include: Game of Thrones, Munich, The Sea, Road to Perdition, There Will Be Blood, Frozen, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Woman in Black and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
Read by Ciarán Hinds
Abridged by Neville Teller
Producer Gemma McMullan.
Global Gap is a series of five programmes where two people who do the same job, one from the UK and one from another country (for this week, Turkey), have a thought provoking conversation, to compare and contrast their working lives and the issues that arise in their jobs.
A predominately Muslim country, Turkey nevertheless straddles Western and Eastern culture - and the series this week focuses on the religious versus the secular, capturing the differences in attitudes and society between Turkey and UK through conversation and recordings in workplaces.
Episode 4 (of 5): Tour Guides
Chris Allen is a tour guide at St Paul's Cathedral, and Saliha Kismet is a tour guide in Istanbul taking tourists round the Sultanahmet (Blue Mosque). Chris is retired from ICT and now volunteers as a guide, while 36 year-old Salida, a geology graduate, had to work hard to pass the Government exams to become a professional tour guide.
In conversation, they compare their jobs. They also compare the atmosphere and meaning of two of the world's most iconic religious buildings. The Blue Mosque is in daily use - tourists are ushered out during prayers, which take place five times daily, and they must take off their shoes to enter and women must cover their heads. St Paul's, however, is much more than a place of prayer - visitors are often more interested in the architecture and history than the religious nature of the building. It is also a place where people gather at times of crisis or disaster, such as following the 7/7 London bombings (the day Chris went for his interview) and it was a symbol of survival during the Blitz.
Producer: Laura Parfitt
Reporter: Sara Parker
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, dramatises Charlotte Bronte's tale of romantic entanglements and turbulent times in the Yorkshire of 1811.
Shirley's charity has begun to alleviate the suffering of the poor in Briarfield but she is convinced it is the calm before the storm. Meanwhile Caroline is dreading the approaching Whitsuntide celebrations.
Directed by Tracey Neale.
In 1984, when he was president of the EEC, and despite their political differences, Mitterrand went out of his way to cultivate 'Dear Mrs Thatcher'. He said of her accent, 'If you close your eyes, you could think she's Jane Birkin.'
This biography of the French President was written by Philip Short, and is read by Henry Goodman.
Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall
A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.
Dr Abbots attempts to prove to Eleanor that the clones have no human feelings. Meanwhile, Jefferson and Lucy White discover what has really happened to Carter 5, and give Dr Martell cause for alarm.
Jenny Stephens' sci-fi thriller set on a clone farm.
Starring Oliver Hembrough as Jefferson 37, Dharmesh Patel as Patel 2, Emily Chennery as Lucy White 44, Alison Carney as Eleanor Riley, David Birrell as Dr Abbots, Rob Swinton as Dr Martell and Alex Jones as Paul Smith.
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2006.
Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees tells Matthew Parris why his hero, physicist Joseph Rotblat, lived a "great life".
Rotblat was a brilliant physicist who was the only scientist to resign from the Manhattan Project once it became clear that Germany would not make an atomic bomb. Rotblat believed that all scientists have a moral obligation to work for the benefit of mankind, and spent his life campaigning against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Joining Lord Rees and Matthew Parris in the studio is Rotblat's friend and colleague Kit Hill.
Made for 4 Extra. Short-form show from the same team behind the long-running Newsjack.
The National Theatre of Brent tells the chaotic story of life on Earth. Stars Patrick Barlow and Jim Broadbent. From May 1990.
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 asks why we still bother with estate agents.
The French Resistance struggle to victory under General de Girl; Hitler gets stuck in a bunker with his Gerbil - and John Humphrys interviews Winston Churchill.
Craig Brown's satirical history of Britain reaches the 1940s.
Stars Joss Ackland, Eleanor Bron, Rory Bremner, Ewan Bailey, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and John Humphrys
Producer: Victoria Lloyd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2006.
Que? Andrew Sachs's pioneering thriller featuring sound effects and 11 actors, but no written dialogue.
This experimental play for radio an attempt to tell a story in terms of sounds alone. There is no dialogue, and no coherent speech, yet the play is a thriller with a straightforward storyline full of action and dramatic tension.
Recorded on location using the naturalistic recording techniques of binaural stereo.
Written and interpreted by Andrew Sachs, The Revenge, was the world's first radio drama without words...
With Andrew Sachs, Sean Barrett, Fraser Kerr, Graham Ashley, Paul Rosebury, Michael Deacon, Blain Fairman, John Rye, Melody Sachs, Frances Jeater and Leonard Fenton.
Producer: Glyn Dearman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978.
Sir Christopher Frayling presents a tribute to the renowned Italian film score composer Ennio Morricone, as he is set to turn 80. With contributions from Goldfrapp, Chris Rea, Nitin Sawhney, Anne Billson and Andrew Paresi.
From vampires and Feng Shui to turning 50.
Sketch show about life, written and performed by people who've lived a bit.
Stars Eleanor Bron, Dudley Sutton , Roger Blake, Paula Wilcox and Arthur Smith.
Written by Colin Bostock-Smith, Jill Brodie, John Pidgeon, Mike Haskins, Jan Etherington, Alex Lowe, George Poles, Arthur Smith, Chris Thompson and Pete Reynolds.
Script editors: Ed Dyson and George Poles.
Music by Ronnie & The Rex.
Producer: Katie Marsden
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2004.
Neil Brand's fast-talking musical comedy set in a 1930s Chicago Radio Studio starring Samantha Spiro and Chris Jarman, as the Hour of Charm team defend their show.
Oedipus Rex gets the Radio Prune treatment plus a Whitehall farce with a twist.
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 May 1970.
Medic Simon Sparrow must cope with both his hangover and a bad case of cold feet.
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 and Norma Ronald as Matron/Vera.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1968.
Pop sensation and actress Toyah Willcox is in the hot seat posing questions all about her.
Tackling the ultra-personal quiz are Sue Perkins, Caroline Quinlan, Robin Ince and Will Smith.
Comedy quiz presented by a new guest host every show. All the questions are about them. .
Script by Simon Littlefield and Kieron Quirke.
Devised and produced by Aled Evans.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
Rosie's company goes New Age, promoting the Brighton leg of a lecture tour by a Californian positive-thinking guru.
Prunella Scales stars 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, Alison Skilbeck as Darcy Philpotts and Kerry Shale as Lyndon Merchant.
Producer: Maria Esposito
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2000.
Gerald excites Gudrun with his physical brutality, but Ursula is infuriated by Rupert's prevarication. Stars Douglas Hodge.
Made for 4 Extra. Alex Lowe - aka Barry from Watford - and Stuart Ross share their favourite podcasts, including 'The Angelos and Barry Show', 'Podcast from the Past' and 'The Big Travel Podcast'.
Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. In 1957, sitting in his lodgings in Accra, he urgently sets out to write his story recounting his strange and tumultuous marriage to the elusive great beauty of Sligo, Mai Kirwan, and the inevitable fate that he now feels compelled to reconcile himself with. He feels he cannot take one step further, or even hardly a breath, without looking back at all that has befallen him. He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things.
The Temporary Gentleman is, ultimately, a story about a man's last bid for freedom, from the savage realities of the past and from himself.
Ciarán Hinds is one of Ireland's most prolific and esteemed actors. His many television and film credits include: Game of Thrones, Munich, The Sea, Road to Perdition, There Will Be Blood, Frozen, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Woman in Black and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
Read by Ciarán Hinds
Abridged by Neville Teller
Producer Gemma McMullan.
Global Gap is a series of five programmes where two people who do the same job, one from the UK and one from another country (for this week, Turkey), have a thought provoking conversation, to compare and contrast their working lives and the issues that arise in their jobs.
A predominately Muslim country, Turkey nevertheless straddles Western and Eastern culture - and the series this week focuses on the religious versus the secular, capturing the differences in attitudes and society between Turkey and UK through conversation and recordings in workplaces.
Episode 5 (of 5): Nightclub Owners
Blackpool nightclub owner Basil Newby shares his experiences with Suleyman Demir, millionaire owner of the famous Halikarnas nightclub in Turkey's fashionable Bodrum resort. Suleyman has good connections in Turkey, attracting stars on their mega yachts to the large open air Halikarnas, recently refurbished with white marble and palm trees.
Basil is equally famous in Blackpool with his drag queen show Funny Girls, who performed before the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance, and as the owner other big clubs in Blackpool. Basil often has celebrities from Coronation Street and Strictly Come Dancing, and Joan Collins opened Funny Girls to a huge crowd.
Both have had to resolve issues around bureaucracy and licensing, but in Turkey there is nothing like going to the top man. Suleyman sought permission from the former President before he used one of the largest laser beams in the world, reaching to the Greek Islands, and he was allowed to continue running the Halikarnas at night in 1984 even though there was a curfew following Turkish/Kurdish unrest.
Producer: Laura Parfitt
Reporter: Sara Parker
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, dramatises Charlotte Bronte's tale of romantic entanglements and turbulent times in the Yorkshire of 1811.
The Rioters have stormed Robert's mill and Shirley and Caroline wait anxiously for news. And some life changing decisions are about to be made.
Directed by Tracey Neale.
Mitterrand left the Elysee Palace for the last time in 1995, after 14 years in power. In the words of his rival Jacque Chirac, he bequeathed to France 'a modern, calm democracy'.
He spent his last days not at the house he had shared with his wife, but in a state apartment where both of his families could spend time with him.
This biography of the French President was written by Philip Short, and is read by Henry Goodman.
Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall.
A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.
Dr Abbots finds his own "party trick" being used against him, and Paul Smith tries to take advantage of the ensuing chaos. Eleanor forces Dr Abbots to take a hard look at his own morality.
Conclusion of Jenny Stephens' sci-fi thriller set on a clone farm.
Starring Oliver Hembrough as Jefferson 37, Dharmesh Patel as Patel 2, Emily Chennery as Lucy White 44, Alison Carney as Eleanor Riley, David Birrell as Dr Abbots, Rob Swinton as Dr Martell, Alex Jones as Paul Smith and Helen Monks as Saskia Treby 9.
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2006.
Veteran historian Correlli Barnett and youngster Decca Aitkenhead exchange views in a clash of the generations.
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.
The writer struggles for cash, while his geraniums moan about Christmas decorations. With Alistair McGowan. From February 1992.
David Baddiel, Rob Newman, Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis give timely Valentine's Day advice. With Mark Thomas. From February 1990.
Phyllis King and Ivor Cutler present offbeat humorous songs, stories and poems. With Craig Murray-Orr. From February 1990.