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 Home Now on 4Extra Contact

RADIO-LISTS: BBC RADIO 4 Extra
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC Radio 4 Extra — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/



SATURDAY 14 DECEMBER 2019

SAT 00:00 William Gibson - Pattern Recognition (b007k21k)
Episode 5

'Coolhunter' Cayce travels to Moscow for an emotional encounter with the maker of "the footage" - the mysteriously compelling online film haunting web-surfers around the world.

But why is Cayce's boss at the ad agency so interested in it?

William Gibson's fast-moving thriller concluded by Lorelei King.

Abridged by Ron Roberts.

Producer: David Jackson Young.

Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in February 2007.


SAT 00:30 Last Orders (b00qx1m5)
Episode 2

Conclusion of a two-part celebration of the pub landlord and landlady.

With pubs disappearing at the rate of more than three a day, signalling one of the most rapid cultural shifts of recent times, half a dozen landlords and landladies reflect on life as a licensee and explore what we're in danger of losing besides the beer and the buildings.

This rueful view from behind the bar includes reflections on the qualities of a good landlord or landlady; their role as community confessional and settler of tap room fights, dispenser of best bitter and pearls of wisdom.

We hear from old hands like Barbara, an ex-Bunny girl who runs the Grapes in London's Limehouse; Tetley Dave who fought a battle to keep the Shoulder of Mutton from closing in Castleford; Maureen from the Waggon and Horses at Langsett who's famous for her pies; ex miner Dennis from Barnsley, whose bête noir is health and safety; stand-up comedian Toby- who recalls lining up six pints apiece for the miners coming off shift at his auntie's pub in a Yorkshire pit village; and former Cambridge academic Tim, who's taken early retirement to open his first pub in York - the Phoenix- just as many others are shutting up shop.

How have these landlords and landladies kept their marriages together , living and working on the premises? How much of a tempatation was it to hit the top shelf and go for the optics after a hard day's graft behind the bar? Why do they think the pub can teach the next generation how to hold their drink. And how do they handle an objectionable customer without starting a wild-west barroom brawl?

Producer Lindsay Leonard.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2010


SAT 01:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000c58m)
The Photo Call

An actor dies as thespian sleuth Charles Paris is rehearsing for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

A stage dagger turns murderously into a real one...

Francis Matthews stars as Charles Paris.

Six-part thriller serial adapted from his book by Simon Brett.

Charles Paris ...... Francis Matthews
Brian Cassells ...... Hugh Laurie
Frances ...... Jennifer Hilary
James Milne ...... Alan McNaughtan
Maurice Skellern ...... Harry Landis
Pam Northcliffe ...... Sara Corper
Michael Vanderzee ...... Mark Wing-Davey
Martin Warburton ...... Michael Maloney
Willy Mariello ...... Billy McColl

Producer: Martin Fisher

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1985.


SAT 01:30 In Search of the Holy Whale (b00xnynk)
In this sequel to In Search Of The Holy Quail, broadcaster Marc Riley and two more friends from the world of popular music, Richard Hawley and Jarvis Cocker, set out on a quirky quest to find some of the world's most spectacular and elusive sights.

Riley's whale-watching passion has taken him from Baja, Mexico to Iceland but in 2003 he discovered that some of the most amazing sights could be seen right on our doorstep in Skibereen, Ireland.

Keen to share his discovery, Marc persuades his curious friends to set sail on the very rough seas in the hope of an exhilarating encounter with these elusive creatures. As they struggle to find their sea legs our intrepid three contemplate life, the universe and the most important questions - how do you stop your glasses falling off and why shouldn't you sing to whales?

Producer: John Leonard

A Smooth Operations production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2011.


SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b07hj93g)
Graham Greene: The Third Man

Bloody fool

Harry Lime is very much alive, but no longer the heroic figure from Rollo Martins’ school days. In a snow-covered, war-torn Vienna, Rollo decides to confront his old friend over the terrible crimes he’s said to have committed. But, first he has to track him down....

Samuel West reads the final part of Graham Greene's classic thriller - the inspiration for the 1949 film, starring Orson Welles.

Author: Graham Greene
Reader: Samuel West
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett

Music from the original soundtrack written and performed by Anton Karas.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2016.


SAT 02:15 Bone Stories (b0910svm)
Series 1

Man-eating Tiger

Evolutionary biologist Ben Garrod stares into the jaws of a man-eating tiger and learns how samples from the bones are providing vital evidence in understanding the role of predation on our evolutionary behaviour. Were our early ancestors primarily hunters or hunted?

Producer Sarah Blunt.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2017.


SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b019h2b6)
Edith Wharton - Ethan Frome

Episode 5

Mattie and Ethan take desperate measures not to be separated.

Ethan Frome ..... Dominic Mafham
Mattie ..... Jessica Raine
Zeena ..... Laurel Lefkow
Mrs Hale ..... Tracy Wiles
Edith Wharton ..... Fenella Woolgar

by Edith Wharton
dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Directed by Sally Avens

Ethan Frome is one of Edith Wharton's most enduring and powerful stories.
Set against the cold, grey, bleakness of a New England winter. Ethan Frome scrapes a living from his woodlot whilst trapped in an unhappy marriage with his hypochondriac wife, Zeena. A ray of light enters Ethan's life when his wife's cousin Mattie arrives to help. His life is transformed as he falls in love with Mattie but their fate is determined by their circumstances and the stifling conventions of the time.

Ethan Frome was deemed shocking when first published as it appeared to condone infidelity. What many readers did not know was that many of the novella's themes mirrored real events in the life of Edith Wharton. Her own story is told in 'The Jinx Element' that explores her own sexless marriage and a passionate affair that begun when she was 47.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2012.


SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b05nvb6f)
Boundless

Episode 5

As the passengers prepare for journey's end, there is an unscheduled stop.

Teresa Gallagher concludes Kathleen Winter's story of her journey as the Writer-in-Residence on a boat travelling through the Northwest Passage, and how the voyage became as much an exploration of her own roots as a venture into the arctic ice fields.

Kathleen Winter was born in Bill Quay, near Gateshead. When she was still young, the family emigrated to Newfoundland. Winter, who now lives in Montreal, was a TV scriptwriter and a newspaper columnist before turning her hand to short stories. Her first collection of stories - 'boYs' - was published in 2007 and her first novel 'Annabel' came out three years later.

'Annabel' was shortlisted for the three main Canadian literary prizes in 2010 - the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Rogers' Writers' Trust Prize and the Governor General's Award. Boundless was shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Award for non-fiction.

Abridged by Pete Nichols
Producer: Karen Rose

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in March 2015.


SAT 03:00 Grossman's War (b014qxbd)
Life and Fate

A Hero of the Soviet Union

November, 1942. Krymov denounces Grekov as an enemy of the state.

After speeches marking the 25th anniversary of the Revolution at which he is cold-shouldered by his colleagues, he slips out to find Stepan Spiridonov at the Central Power Station. He recalls the heady days of 1917 and Lenin's funeral and compares those ideals with the days of the show-trials.

Kenneth Branagh, Janet Suzman, David Tennant, Kenneth Cranham, Greta Scacchi and Harriet Walter star Vasily Grossman's epic saga.

Nikolai Krymov ..... David Tennant
Stepan Spiridonov ..... Kenneth Cranham
Pryakhin ..... Gerard McDermott
Pavel Andreyev ..... Malcolm Tierney
Ogibalov ..... Carl Prekopp
Makuladze ..... James Lailey

Dramatised by Jonathan Myerson.

Original music by John Hardy with Rob Whitehead.

Translated by Robert Chandler.

Director: Alison Hindell

Set against the ferocious Battle of Stalingrad, Life and Fate is a sweeping historical tale that charts the fate of both a nation and a family in the turmoil of war and is increasingly hailed as the most important Russian novel of the 20th century. Its comparison of Stalinism with Nazism was considered by Soviet authorities to be so dangerous that the manuscript itself was arrested and Grossman was told that it would not be published for at least 200 years. He died in 1964, never knowing that his book would be smuggled to the West and eventually published in 1980.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2011.


SAT 03:15 Grossman's War (b014qxbs)
Life and Fate

Krymov in Moscow

Moscow, Winter 1942. Commissar Nikolai Krymov has been denounced and arrested. He's taken to the dreaded Lubyanka prison in Moscow: a place where, in the past, he has denounced others.

Meanwhile his ex-wife Zhenya arrives in Moscow, to stay with Viktor and Lyuda, and to face the consequences of her actions.

Kenneth Branagh and David Tennant star in Vasily Grossman's epic saga.

Commissar Nikolai Krymov ..... David Tennant
Viktor Shtrum ..... Kenneth Branagh
Lyuda Shaposhnikova ..... Greta Scacchi
Zhenya Shaposhnikova ..... Raquel Cassidy
Marya Sokolova ..... Harriet Walter
Nadya ..... Ellie Kendrick
Katsenelenbogen ..... Ewan Bailey
NKVD Interrogator ..... Elliot Levey

With Simon Bubb, Elaine Claxton, Jonathan Forbes, James Lailey, Gerard McDermott, Chris Pavlo, Peter Polycarpou, Carl Prekopp, Alun Raglan and Susie Riddell

Dramatised by Jonathan Myerson.

Directors: Alison Hindell and Jonquil Panting

Producer: Alison Hindell

Set against the ferocious Battle of Stalingrad, Vasily Grossman's huge novel charts the fate of both a nation and a family in the turmoil of war and is increasingly hailed as the most important Russian novel of the 20th century. Its comparison of Stalinism with Nazism was considered by Soviet authorities to be so dangerous that the manuscript itself was arrested. Grossman died in 1964, never knowing that his book would be smuggled to the West and eventually published in 1980.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2011.


SAT 04:00 It's Not What You Know (b0640pnx)
Series 3

Episode 6

Who does Susan Calman often get mistaken for? What does Vernon Kay consider his career lowlight? What's the naughtiest thing Sara Pascoe did as a child?

All these burning questions, and more, will be answered in the show hosted by Miles Jupp, where panellists are tested on how well they know their nearest and dearest.

In this case, comedian Susan Calman picks her friend, presenter Vernon Kay picks his old university pal, and comedian Sara Pascoe chooses her mum.

Producer: Matt Stronge.


SAT 04:30 The Phenomenon Squad (b084p6qt)
Fraud

The undercover police squad try to foil a massive art fraud. But Crispin Pollock has other ideas.

Roy Kinnear and Simon Cadell star in Michael Snelgrove’s sitcom about the less-than-competent leader of a crack undercover police squad.

Supt Brabazon ...... Roy Kinnear
Endicott-Heap ...... Simon Cadell
Sigaloff ...... Royce Mills
WPI Nutkins ...... Susie Blake
MacTooley ...... Alex Norton
Humby ...... Stephen Frost
Crispin ...... Stephen Tomkinson
Mother ...... Julie Berry

Producer: Jonathan James-Moore

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1987.


SAT 05:00 1834 (b011db7v)
The Time Machine

Jason decides the invention of the toasted sandwich maker will sort out his new 19th-century life.

21st-century teacher, Jason Slater, is coming to terms with waking up in 19th-century Macclesfield.

In Jim Poyser's riotous comedy of transportation and delight, Jason is now Tarquin, third son of Lord Belport with a faithful valet, Ned.

Jason Slater ...... Michael Begley
Ned ...... Joe Caffrey
Hoskins ...... Kenneth Alan Taylor
Lord Belport ...... Mark Chatterton
Stubbs ...... Glenn Cunningham
Millicent ...... Julia Rounthwaite

Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2003.


SAT 05:30 Fred at The Stand (b09cz4d4)
Series 1

Johns, Storrie, Brister and Graffoe

Fred MacAulay introduces some of the funniest comedians in the UK doing what they do best - pure stand-up comedy. Recorded at The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh.

This week, Dave Johns tells tales of coping with stardom following the success of I, Daniel Blake, Glaswegian Ashley Storrie tries to get one over her father at Christmas time, Jen Brister is proud to not to be a biological mother, and Boothby Graffoe is himself and cares not what anyone thinks.

A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 06:00 David Buck - Barnsdale Wake (b05nxrtc)
In the heart of an English forest, King Richard I is encamped with a group of soldiers, prior to moving against a hunted enemy. To entertain his men, he orders two of his ballad singers to recount tales and legends of Robin Hood.

A Ballad play of the life and times of Robin Hood by David Buck.

Robin Hood ...... Bernard Hill
King Richard ...... Julian Glover
Prentis ...... David Timson
Serjeant ...... John Hollis
Blundel ...... Denis Quilley
Boy ...... Simon Hunt
Little John ...... Nigel Graham
Will Scarlet ...... Henry Stamper
Alan-a-Dale ...... Nigel Anthony
Friar ...... Alan Dudley
Much ...... Timothy Bateson

Characters in Ballads:
Bishop of Hereford ...... Timothy Bateson
Bishop of Pontefract ...... Steve Hodson
Scarlock ...... David Peart
Much ...... James Bryce
The Sheriff ...... Michael Bilton
Monk/Foster ...... Peter Tuddenham
Prioress ...... Simon Hunt

Music by Jim Parker.

Musicians: Francis Baines, Philip Thorby and Christopher Wilson

Director: Martin Jenkins.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1983.


SAT 07:30 Recycled Radio (b04d1kvd)
Series 2

Hell

Welcome to the chopped up, looped up, sped up world of Recycled Radio, old BBC broadcasts turned into something new.

Cartoonist Scarfe scavenges round his studio for depictions of the fiery realms of Satan, Hades and Mephistopheles, otherwise known as Recycled Hell.

This is the archive hour at breakneck speed, and our journey to the underworld makes surprising visits to both Glastonbury and Heathrow Terminal 5. Expect to hear from Dante, Milton and Eddie Mair, along with Tony Blair, Melvyn Bragg and Germaine Greer.

Fun, silly, thoughtful radio about a place that exerts an enormous grip on the imagination of people everywhere.

Producer: Miles Warde.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2014.


SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b05jbcf7)
Remembering Sue Townsend, Aged 68 ¾

"Went out to feed the pig, and saw Townsend being driven along the lane, in her vulgar purple Rolls Royce. She waved, I didn't wave back." @AdrianMole, Jan 19, 2012

In 1970, Sue Townsend was a single mother of three with three jobs. While her children were asleep she secretly wrote semi-autobiographical prose and poetry, which she showed no-one.

In 1980, a young actor asked Sue Townsend if she had anything he could use in an audition for 'Huckleberry Finn' – she gave him some handwritten entries of a diary of Nigel Mole

By 1990 Sue Townsend had become the bestselling author of the 1980's in terms of individual books – out-stripping Jeffrey Archer, Jackie Collins and Barbara Taylor Bradford

Sue Townsend died in 2014. Her legacy of one of the country's greatest comic writers is explored through her own interviews and through her many works (from her 1979 play 'Womberang' to her 2012 bestselling novel 'The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year'). Excerpts include unpublished and previously unperformed TV soap, 'The Spinney'

Also on hand are: her first and last publishers, Geoffrey Strachan and Louise Moore; theatre director and co-writer Carole Hayman; friend and agent Jane Villiers; and the man who since 1978 stood by her but consistently shunned her limelight, her husband – the normally silent Colin Broadway

Presented by Pearce Quigley, the most recent Adrian Mole on the BBC – the "representative voice from Middle England" who in 2007 was commissioned to present a feature on Tony Blair's ten years as prime minister.

Producer: Paul Kobrak

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2014.


SAT 09:00 Somebody Laughed: Eddie Braben Brings You Sunshine (b007lm74)
The man who brought sunshine to Eric and Ernie brings some golden rays into your ears - selecting shows what he wrote:

Most famed for his close working with relationship with evergreen double act Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, Eddie Braben penned some of their most famous lines.

Of course, that wasn't the only string to his bow – other beneficiaries of his strong comic writing include Ken Dodd and Jimmy Cricket, whose work also features. Eddie himself also steps into the spotlight to helm his own vehicle the Worst Show on the Wireless – joined by Alison Steadman. In between, he reminisces about radio and what it has meant to him.

* Morecambe and Wise (December 1977)

* The Show With Ten Legs (February 1977)

* The Ken Dodd Show - Star Parade (July 1963)

* Jimmy's Cricket Team (June 1991)

* The Worst Show in the Wireless (February 1975)

* The Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show (December 1977)

When Eddie Braben passed away at the age of 82 in May 2013, Bruce Forsyth was one of those keen to pay tribute. Eddie began his writing career penning jokes on the back of paper bags on a fruit and veg stall.

Producer: Martin Dempsey

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in May 2007.


SAT 12:00 Just a Minute (b01lhbgx)
Series 64

Episode 1

Join Nicholas Parsons and friends for the first of another series of the grandaddy of all panel games.

Panellists Paul Merton, Sue Perkins, Liza Tarbuck and Graham Norton join Nicholas for the verbal equivalent of the Olympics. It's an energetic game this week - but who will win gold medal for the greatest gift of the gab?

Paul talks about The Biggest Fib he Ever Told, Sue Perkins divulges a lot of information about her Famous Friends, Liza Tarbuck speaks knowledgeably on the subject of Fake Tan and Graham Norton gives his tips on How To Annoy The Audience.

Producer: Claire Jones

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2016.


SAT 12:30 Stilgoe's Around (b007k3xj)
City of London

Richard Stilgoe goes into Britain's financial heartland to dispel the myths of money making.

With Belinda Lang, Tim Piggott Smith, Charles Collingwood and Kathryn Tickell.

Written by Richard Stilgoe.

Producer: Neil Cargill

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1989.


SAT 13:00 The Country Girls (m000c98x)
Series 3 (Omnibus)

It's the 1960's. Kate and Baba are living in London, with enough to eat, married, dissatisfied.

The third book in Edna O'Brien's frank, funny and subversive trilogy.

Omnibus adapted by Lin Coghlan

Baba ..... Aoibhinn McGinnity
Kate ..... Charlie Murphy
Frank ..... Branwell Donaghey
Eugene ..... Jonathan Forbes
Duncan ..... Paul Hickey
Cash ..... Alfie Todd

Directed by Sally Avens and Jessica Dromgoole

First broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.


SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (m000c98z)
Jonathan Van Ness

Jonathan Van Ness of Queer Eye and YouTube’s Gay of Thrones picks ‘You Gotta Be’ by Des'ree and ‘Dream Big’ by Jazmine Sullivan.


SAT 14:15 Down Your Way (m000c991)
Muriel Gray in Glasgow

Broadcaster and author Muriel Gray visits Glasgow, exploring how her childhood city is responding to new challenges.

Down Your Way was a schedule staple for decades - starting on the BBC Home Service in 1946 and ending its run on BBC Radio 4 in 1992.

Using a variety of hosts, including Richard Dimbleby and Brian Johnston, the programme toured villages, towns and cities across the UK. At the height of the series' success in the 1950s, it was attracting 10 million listeners a week.

Producer: Kate Whitehead

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1990.


SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b05jbcf7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]


SAT 16:00 David Buck - Barnsdale Wake (b05nxrtc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


SAT 17:30 Recycled Radio (b04d1kvd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


SAT 18:00 Ray Bradbury - The Shape of Things to Come (b0499l5n)
The crew aboard shape ship ‘Venturer’ blast off from Cape Canaveral, but disaster awaits them in deep space along with some hard decisions...

Ray Bradbury's own adaptation of his short story from ‘The Illustrated Man’.

Hollis ...... Tom Watson
Applegate ...... Finaly Welsh
Stone ...... Rebecca Hawking
Stimson ...... John Yule
Lespere ...... Stuart McQuarrie
Barklay ...... Neil Shackleton
Woode ...... John Adam Baker
Houston Control ...... Lynn Bains

Director: Hamish Wilson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1991.


SAT 18:45 E Nesbit - Hurst of Hurstcote (b007jmyy)
"John! John! Let me go! For Heaven's sake let me go! Then she fell back dead."

John Hurst's murky past returns to haunt him when his wife dies unexpectedly of marsh fever.

Linus Roach reads E Nesbit’s Gothic Horror story.

Producer: Gemma Jenkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1996.


SAT 19:00 Somebody Laughed: Eddie Braben Brings You Sunshine (b007lm74)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


SAT 22:00 It's Jocelyn (b08gy87v)
Series 2

Friends

Jocelyn talks about friendship, Princess Pay As You Go gets into podcasting and the traffic wardens have a meeting about a meeting.

Series two of sketches and stand-up from the wonderful mind of Jocelyn Jee Esien.

With Paul Whitehouse as a cockney funeral director, plus the vocal talents of Ninia Benjamin, Curtis Walker, Dee Kaate, Gavi Chera and Karen Bartke.

Producer: Suzy Grant

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in March 2017.


SAT 22:30 Revolting People (b00ww9fh)
Series 4

Episode 6

The deserters lobby King George III over the war, and McGurk has plans. 1775 America sitcom stars Andy Hamilton. From June 2006.


SAT 23:00 Colin Hoult's Carnival of Monsters (b037j6vl)
Series 1

Episode 4

Master character comedian Colin Hoult presents his much anticipated debut comedy series for BBC Radio 4. Enter the Carnival of Monsters, a bizarre and hilarious world of sketches, stories and characters, presented by the sinister Ringmaster.

Meet such monstrous yet strangely familiar oddities as: Thwor - the mighty (but Leeds-based) god of Thwunder; Len Parker - Nottingham-born martial arts and transformers enthusiast; Anna Mann - outrageous star of such forgotten silver screen hits such as 'Rogue Baker', 'Who's For Turkish Delight' and 'A Bowl For My Bottom'; and many more.

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

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

Produced by Sam Bryant.


SAT 23:30 Ross Noble Goes Global (b01cvr0t)
Series 2

Egypt

The comedian entertains bewildered Bedouins in the desert and ponders the merits of doing a wildlife show. From May 2003.



SUNDAY 15 DECEMBER 2019

SUN 00:00 Ray Bradbury - The Shape of Things to Come (b0499l5n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]


SUN 00:45 E Nesbit - Hurst of Hurstcote (b007jmyy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:45 on Saturday]


SUN 01:00 The Country Girls (m000c98x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]


SUN 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (m000c98z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Saturday]


SUN 02:15 Down Your Way (m000c991)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Saturday]


SUN 03:00 Archive on 4 (b05jbcf7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Saturday]


SUN 04:00 David Buck - Barnsdale Wake (b05nxrtc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]


SUN 05:30 Recycled Radio (b04d1kvd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 Grossman's War (b0150b0c)
Life and Fate

Fortress Stalingrad

As the Russian tanks encircle Stalingrad, the commanders of the German 6th Army realise that the end is in sight but Hitler will not permit a surrender.

Spiridonov abandons the power station to join his daughter, Vera, and her new baby on a barge frozen into the Volga. As the citizens of Stalingrad start to reclaim their wrecked city, the family begin to make plans for the future.

Stepan Spiridonov ..... Kenneth Cranham
Vera Spiridonova ..... Morven Christie
Pavel Andreyev ..... Malcolm Tierney
General Von Paulus ..... Matthew Marsh
General Schmidt ..... Elliot Cowan
Colonel Adam ..... Jonathan Cullen
Lieutenant Peter Bach ..... Geoffrey Streatfeild
Sergeant Eisenaug ..... Michael Shelford
Zina ..... Jessica Raine
Major Byerozkin ..... Sam Dale
Alexandra Vladimirovna ..... Ann Mitchell
Natalya ..... Alison Pettit
Sergeyevna ..... Christine Kavanagh
Hitler's Orderly ..... David Seddon
Stalin's secretary ..... Tony Bell
Petenkoffer ..... Lloyd Thomas
Driver ..... Jude Akuwudike

Dramatised by Jonathan Myerson.

Original music by John Hardy with Rob Whitehead.

Director: Alison Hindell

Set against the ferocious Battle of Stalingrad, Life and Fate charts the fate of both a nation and a family in the turmoil of war and is increasingly hailed as the most important Russian novel of the 20th century. Its comparison of Stalinism with Nazism was considered by Soviet authorities to be so dangerous that the manuscript itself was arrested. Grossman died in 1964, never knowing that his book would be smuggled to the West and eventually published in 1980.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2011.


SUN 07:00 Creme de la Crime (b00807sd)
Series 1

Heist Society

A tale of 1960s cunning villainy coinciding with the World Cup.

Recalled by Michael Feydeau -TV's much-loved Inspector Niblett - and crime expert David Pershore

Using a daring mixture of reconstructions, interviews, music and specially made noises, tales from the vaults of villainy.

Written by and starring Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis.

With:
Emma Kennedy
Simon Greenall

Director: Adam Bromley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2001.


SUN 07:15 From the Vineyard (b06tq9rm)
Muscadet by Michele Roberts

Some chefs and waiters play a guessing game that conjures up aromas of this wine, recalled from the narrator's childhood.

Tracy-Ann Oberman reads Michele Roberts' short story.

Producer: Duncan Minshull

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2016.


SUN 07:30 Guilt Trip (b07lhg2q)
Episode 1

A mother and daughter undertake a two week sponsored walk along The Thames Path to raise money for the dead father's charity.

But the mother and father divorced nine years ago and he'd re-married, so relationships between them all have been strained. Things come to a head at any mention of the French Oak gable table that Ros and her now dead ex bought together in Camden. This has somehow ended up in the step-mother's house, much to Ros's annoyance: "I mean she sits at it! It's my table and she sits at it."

Comedy drama written by Katherine Jakeways with Felicity Montagu and Olivia Nixon.

Ros ...... Felicity Montagu
Laura ...... Olivia Nixon
Stepmother ...... Katherine Jakeways
Boyfriend ...... Tim Key

With Jeff Rawle and Velibor Topic.

In this opening episode, mother and daughter are just starting out and in her usual putting-her-large-foot-firmly-in-it manner Ros gets her daughter's ex-boyfriend to drop them at the source, but without any prior warning to the daughter. The renewed bonding Ros is hoping for may be a bit bumpier than expected. Especially when along the way Ros also manages to offend pretty much everyone she meets - not least an Eastern European camp site warden.

Producer: Jane Berthoud

A BBC Radio Comedy production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in July 2016.


SUN 08:00 ITMA - It's That Man Again (m000cb3q)
Tommy Handley’s recipe for seasonal mayhem includes gags, spoonerisms and a modern version of Cinderella.

ITMA proved to be one of the BBC's most popular radio comedies ever produced. It was first transmitted just before the start of the Second World War in 1939 and ran to 1949. Domestic audiences topped 20 million, and the audience worldwide was said to number 30 million. It starred Liverpudlian comic Tommy Handley, who with Ted Kavanagh created the series named after the phrase newspapers often used to describe Hitler: It's That Man Again!

The original setting on a ship was deemed inappropriate once war broke out, and was replaced with the Office Of Twerps, with Tommy as Minister of Aggravation and Mysteries.

With:

Jack Train
Hugh Morton
Fred Yule
Lind Joyce
Deryck Guyler
Molly Weir
Joan Harben.

Augmented BBC Variety Orchestra, conducted by Rae Jenkins.

Script by Ted Kavanagh

Producer: Francis Worsley

First broadcast on the BBC Home Service on Boxing Day in 1946.


SUN 08:30 Sid and Dora (b04vd29z)
Celebrating Christmas doesn't quite go to plan for Sid and Dora Edge.

Starring Sid James and Dora Bryan.

With Pat Coombs and Derek Lanyon.

Incidental music by Jack Emblow

Script by Eddie Maguire

Producer: John Browell

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in December 1965.


SUN 09:00 Three-a-Penny (Omnibus) (m000cb3s)
Diana Quick reads the autobiography of Lucy Malleson, a detective writer of the 1930s and 40s who wrote under the name “Anthony Gilbert”. First published in 1940, ‘Three-A-Penny’ is valuable now for its sharp social history of working life in the early decades of the 20th century, and particularly for its focus on what it was like for women at work in offices.

Lucy initially trains as a secretary and during the First World War starts work in the offices of the Red Cross notifying families of wounded and missing relatives. She works in various Government offices including the newly-created Health Ministry where she desperately tries to draft in enough doctors to cope with the post-War flu epidemic. She observes the disillusionment of peacetime employment as ex-soldiers try to find work and the country is hit with rising unemployment. Her sister Joan persuades her to take up a post as a sort of social worker in East End of London and she writes about the hardened personalities trying to survive in desperate economic hardship.

Whilst working in offices, Lucy tries hard to fulfil her writing ambitions and starts sending poems and stories to magazines in her lunch hour. After repeated rejections from publishers, she is inspired to take on a man’s name, Anthony Gilbert, and finds success with her first novel. By the 1930s her reputation as a writer grows and she is invited to join the ‘Detection Club’ alongside the author Dorothy Sayers.

Astonishingly modern, though a hundred years old, Lucy Malleson’s sharp and humorous account of working life is vividly brought to life by Diana Quick.

Omnibus read by Diana Quick

Produced by Elizabeth Burke

A Loftus Media Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in five parts in 2019.


SUN 10:10 The Listening Project (b05wz90g)
Helen and Roger – Feeding the 5000

Fi Glover with a conversation between the manager and a volunteer at a Birmingham Foodbank, reflecting on the generosity of donors and the dignity of those who use their service. Another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess


SUN 10:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b08ynt12)
Absent Friends

Peter Nichols

Sue Lawley's castaway is the playwright Peter Nichols. His award winning work, including Privates on Parade and A Day in The Death of Joe Egg has left audiences in stitches and sometimes in tears.

He talks about his life and writing, and chooses eight records to take to the mythical desert island.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2000.


SUN 11:00 The Moth Radio Hour (b09k85pj)
Series 6

Holiday Special

True stories told live in the USA: Sarah Austin Jenness presents tales of people's experiences during the last month of the year.

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

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

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

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

First broadcast on National Public Radio in the USA in 2017.


SUN 11:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00kr7bp)
Series 1

Sloths

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

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

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2019.


SUN 12:00 ITMA - It's That Man Again (m000cb3q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]


SUN 12:30 Sid and Dora (b04vd29z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]


SUN 13:00 Grossman's War (b0150b0c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


SUN 14:00 Creme de la Crime (b00807sd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]


SUN 14:15 From the Vineyard (b06tq9rm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]


SUN 14:30 Philip Pullman - The Book of Dust (Omnibus) (b09d5l7r)
La Belle Sauvage

Twenty two years after the publication of Philip Pullman's NORTHERN LIGHTS, the author Philip Pullman returned to the world of HIS DARK MATERIALS with a brand new trilogy.

LA BELLE SAUVAGE, read by Simon Russell Beale, is the first volume of THE BOOK OF DUST.

Set ten years before the events of HIS DARK MATERIALS, this novel explores the origins of that story.

We open in Oxford, at The Trout Inn, with a pot boy named Malcolm Polstead, and the whisper of a mysterious baby girl, hidden at the local convent, in the care of the nuns...

Omnibus of the first five of ten episodes.

Producer: Allegra McIlroy

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2017.


SUN 15:45 Who Ate All The Pies? (m000cb3v)
Bridies and Scotch Pies

On the Scottish leg of his pie odyssey, poet Ian McMillan heads to Forfar and Dundee to learn about Bridie and Scotch pies.

He’s joined by Bill Herbert, a poet, pie-eater and football fan, who shares a “pie-ku” or two, as Ian learns the correct way to eat a bridie, and discovers the delights of macaroni cheese in a pie.

Producer: Julian May

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2004.


SUN 16:00 Grossman's War (b0150ghf)
Life and Fate

Viktor and the Academy

Viktor's scientific breakthrough has not brought him the success he expected. Instead he is gradually ostracised for his 'anti-Soviet' science. He starts to dread the knock at the door.

Zhenya's visit to Moscow brings some distraction but it is Marya in whom he longs to confide.

Conclusion of Vasily Grossman’s epic saga.

Viktor Shtrum ..... Kenneth Branagh
Lyuda ..... Greta Scacchi
Marya Sokolova ..... Harriet Walter
Zhenya ..... Raquel Cassidy
Nadya ..... Ellie Kendrick
Shishakov ..... Jack Shepherd
Boris Badin ..... Carl Prekopp
Anna Stepanovna ..... Alex Tregear
Markov ..... Simon Bubb
Chepyzhin ..... James Greene
Vanya ..... Gerard McDermott
Stalin........ Philip Madoc

With Elaine Claxton, Jonathan Forbes and James Lailey

Dramatised by Mike Walker.

Original music by John Hardy with Rob Whitehead

Performed by Oliver Wilson-Dickson, Tom Jackson, Stacey Blythe and Max Pownall.

Translated by Robert Chandler

Director: Alison Hindell

Set against the ferocious Battle of Stalingrad, Life and Fate is a sweeping historical tale that charts the fate of both a nation and a family in the turmoil of war and is increasingly hailed as the most important Russian novel of the 20th century. Its comparison of Stalinism with Nazism was considered by Soviet authorities to be so dangerous that the manuscript itself was arrested and Grossman was told that it would not be published for at least 200 years. He died in 1964, never knowing that his book would be smuggled to the West and eventually published in 1980.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2011.


SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (m000cb3y)
Adventures in Poetry - Snow by Louis MacNeice

Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive and selects Adventures in Poetry: Snow - featuring the poem by Lous MacNeice.

Paul Muldoon, Michael Longley, Tom Paulin, Anthony Thwaite and Jill Balcon, with MacNeice's biographer Jon Stallworthy, join Peggy Reynolds to explore the background, effect and lasting appeal of this poem. The reader is Stephen Rea.

Producer: Frances Byrnes

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.


SUN 17:30 Guilt Trip (b07lhg2q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


SUN 18:00 HG Wells (b08hrkd4)
The Wonderful Visit

Everyday life in a small English village is completely disrupted when the vicar accidentally shoots and wounds an angel who's somehow flown off-course.

Bernard Cribbins and Richard Pearce star in HG Wells' tale.

Published in 1895, the original book is preceded by 'The Time Machine' and followed by 'The Island of Doctor Moreau'.

Vicar ...... Bernard Cribbins
Angel ...... Richard Pearce
Miss Hinijer ...... Margot Boyd
Dr Crump ...... Norman Bird
Storyteller ...... Kim Wall

Dramatised by Stephen Gallagher.

Music by Mia Soteriou.

Director: Martin Jenkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1988.


SUN 19:00 Peter Nichols - A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (m000cb40)
Written in 1967 by Peter Nichols, Joe Egg is a groundbreaking work that retains an undiminished capacity to disconcert. A modern classic.

A brilliant, heartbreaking and comic drama about a couple's relationship as parents of a profoundly mentally disabled child.

Brian .... Christopher Eccleston
Sheila .... Kaye Wragg
Joe .... Chloe Pabst-Bohan
Pam .... Julia Rounthwaite
Freddie .... Michael Maloney
Grace ... Lynda Baron

Director: Pauline Harris

First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in July 2005.


SUN 20:40 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b08ynt12)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:15 today]


SUN 21:25 The Listening Project (b05wz90g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 today]


SUN 21:30 Poetry Extra (m000cb3y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 today]


SUN 22:00 Guilt Trip (b07lhg2q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


SUN 22:30 The Remains of Foley and McColl (b007jrrn)
Snuff Radio

Sean and Hamish compete in a European Radio Drama competition.

Surreal comedy starring award-winning double act Sean Foley and Hamish McColl, the Right Size.

With Rose English, Count Arthur Strong, Chris Larner and Mark Stevens.

Producer: Lissa Evans

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2000.


SUN 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m000d0fk)
Steve Furst part 2

From 10.00pm until midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Arthur Smith talks to Steve Furst.


SUN 23:00 2000 Years of Radio (b007jng1)
Series 1

Crusade Roadshow

Join DJ Steve in the Afternoon on his AD 1200 Christian Crusade Roadshow as he gathers up an army of children and the plague-ridden to find salvation and a suntan in the Holy Land.

Six-part series that taps into the radio archive of a bygone age.

Written and performed by Marcus Brigstocke, Claire Downes, Stuart Lane, Al Holloway, Danny Robbins and Dan Tetsell.

Producers: Paul Dodgson & Sean Grundy

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2000.


SUN 23:15 Hannah Gadsby: Arts Clown (b055gcdq)
Michelangelo's David

Art historian Hannah Gadsby continues her radio series of comedy lectures about four masterpieces. This week she looks at Michelangelo's 'David', the 17ft statue he created between 1501 and 1504.

Born in Tasmania, Hannah got to know a lot about art from books. But it was only in her 20s when she visited Europe for the first time, that she saw the art she'd studied 'in the flesh', so to speak.

There in Florence she fell in love with David and in this programme she shares her affection for and knowledge of him, with all his imperfections.

Hannah is joined on stage by her very own 'Quotebot' who is inputted with every quote that's ever been written about art.

Quotebot sounds remarkably like comedy legend and all-round boffin John Lloyd.

Written by Hannah Gadsby
Performed by Hannah Gadsby with her Quotebot aka John Lloyd
Script edited by Jon Hunter
Produced by Claire Jones.


SUN 23:30 Radio 9 (b04hkfq5)
Series 2

Episode 5

An unusual doctor, the perils of parenthood and faking it as a boxer. Stars Johnny Daukes and Hils Barker. From August 2005.



MONDAY 16 DECEMBER 2019

MON 00:00 HG Wells (b08hrkd4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]


MON 01:00 Grossman's War (b0150b0c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]


MON 02:00 Creme de la Crime (b00807sd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Sunday]


MON 02:15 From the Vineyard (b06tq9rm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Sunday]


MON 02:30 Philip Pullman - The Book of Dust (Omnibus) (b09d5l7r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Sunday]


MON 03:45 Who Ate All The Pies? (m000cb3v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Sunday]


MON 04:00 Grossman's War (b0150ghf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (m000cb3y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]


MON 05:30 Guilt Trip (b07lhg2q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]


MON 06:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cb2p)
D.U.D.S. on the Fringe

Charles Paris investigates the death of Willy Mariello and meets Anna Duncan, one of the students appearing on the Edinburgh Fringe.

Francis Matthews stars as thespian sleuth, Charles Paris.

Six-part thriller serial adapted from his book by Simon Brett.

Charles Paris ...... Francis Matthews
Brian Cassells ...... Hugh Laurie
Pam Northcliffe ...... Sara Corper
Martin Warburton ...... Michael Maloney
Anna Duncan ...... Kim Thomson
Jean Mariello ...... Frances Low
Michael Vanderzee ...... Mark Wing-Davey

Producer: Martin Fisher

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1985.


MON 06:30 Ziggy Stardust Came from Isleworth (b00tdpz8)
Martyn Day explores the life the British-born singer Vince Taylor, who inspired David Bowie's mythical rockstar.

Ziggy Stardust was a rock and roll fantasy. But David Bowie's fictional rockstar, around whom his 1972 album, stage show, and film were built, was inspired by a real performer, Vince Taylor, born in Isleworth, Middlesex. This programme uncovers the truth about a singer whose wild lifestyle ultimately destroyed him, but in so doing he gave rise to a myth that transcended glam-rock and science fiction.

His record "Brand New Cadillac" remains to this day a British rock 'n' roll classic, covered later by The Clash.
But Vince was frustrated by his limited success in Britain and, already displaying the unpredictable behaviour and volcanic temper that were to dog him for the rest of his days, he moved to France where the "yé-yé" crowd really went wild for him. They called him 'Le Diable Noir' - the Black Devil.

Decked out in black leathers, chains, kohl eye make-up and with his hair greased up into a high pompadour he was immediately signed to the French Barclay label. But fuelled by alcohol and drugs Vince's behaviour became increasingly erratic. At a party he tried LSD for the first time. In his state of mind at the time it was absolutely the very last thing that he needed.

Vince Taylor underwent a kind of public breakdown at his next gig, where he started claiming he was a divine being. David Bowie bumped into him in London and later said: "Vince Taylor was the inspiration for Ziggy...He always stayed in my mind as an example of what can happen in rock n roll. I'm not sure if I held him up as an idol or as something not to become. There was something very tempting about him going completely off the edge."

The programme, presented by Martyn Day, tracks down many of the people who worked with Taylor, including members of his original band and his family.

First broadcast on BBC Radio in August 2010.


MON 07:00 55 and Over (b01p3hnx)
Episode 4

Hearts are more fragile than previously thought when disaster strikes and old lovers are forced to confront their new younger replacements around a hospital bed.

Juliet Stevenson and Philip Jackson star in Peter Souter's romantic comedy about love, sex and other foolhardy mistakes made by the modern 50-pluser.

Jane ..... Juliet Stevenson
Ray ..... Philip Jackson
Tony ..... Patrick Brennan
Heather ..... Liza Sadovy
Honey ..... Stephanie Racine
Sam ..... Adam Nagaitis
Portia ..... Sarah Thom

Director: Helen Perry.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2012.


MON 07:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m000c4x9)
Series 72

Episode 5

The 72nd series of the multi award-winning comedy panel game chaired by Jack Dee


MON 08:00 The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket (b04nd4k2)
Series 1

The Stackton Music Festival

A sonic jamboree as the two ladies are joined by actor and singer Peter Pratt.

Starring Dame Hilda Bracket and her lifelong companion Dr Evadne Hinge.

The dear ladies reside in the Suffolk village of Stackton Tressel. This was the genteel setting for three Radio 4 series between 1977 and 1979, with further spin-off seasons on Radio 2 until 1990. In the early 1980s, they expanded over to BBC TV with the series Dear Ladies.

Dame Hilda Bracket ...... George Logan
Dr Evadne Hinge ...... Patrick Fyffe
Peerless Peter Pratt ...... Peter Pratt

Scripted by Mike Craig, Lawrie Kinsley and Ron McDonnell.

Produced at BBC Manchester by James Casey

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1977.


MON 08:30 Dad's Army (b007jpp4)
Series 3

The Honourable Man

With a visitor due from the Soviet Union - Captain Mainwaring is feeling peeved with Sergeant Wilson.

Adapted for radio from Jimmy Perry and David Croft's TV scripts by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles.

Captain Mainwaring …. Arthur Lowe
Sergeant Wilson …. John Le Mesurier
Corporal Jones …. Clive Dunn
Private Frazer …. John Laurie
Private Pike …. Ian Lavender
Private Godfrey …. Arnold Ridley
Warden Hodges …. Bill Pertwee
Russian Visitor ...... Fraser Kerr

Producer: John Dyas

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1976.


MON 09:00 Just a Minute (b01lswv8)
Series 64

Episode 2

Nicholas Parsons challenges Paul Merton, Miles Jupp, Pam Ayres and Charles Collingwood to speak for 60 seconds. From 2012.


MON 09:30 Huddwinks (b009gc4p)
Series 1

Twenty-Twenty Vision

Professor Quarterpound gathers Britain's top scientists to witness his new time machine. Stars Roy Hudd. From August 1986.


MON 10:00 Dawn Lowe-Watson - Closed to Visitors (b04yf35h)
Once an artists' colony, Reedbeck Hall is now as a museum. One afternoon, when it’s closed, a young man turns up asking to be shown around. The curator, Sally, is apprehensive but he’s very persuasive.

Sally lives to regret her decision...

Drama written by Dawn Lowe-Watson.

Sally ...... Deborah Findlay
Frank ...... John Duttine
Pat ...... Ann Windsor
Crispin ...... Jill Lidstone
Policemen ...... John Webb & Steve Hodson

Director: Cherry Cookson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1992.


MON 11:00 TED Radio Hour (m000cb2s)
Decoding Our Emotions

Host Guy Raz explores the powerful emotions we all feel, but what are they? Where do they come from?

A journey through fascinating ideas based on talks by riveting speakers on the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) stage.

First broadcast in the USA on National Public Radio in 2018.


MON 11:50 Inheritance Tracks (b0bk12c9)
Robert Winston

Professor Robert Winston chooses the second movement from Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and JS Bach's Christmas Oratorio.


MON 12:00 The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket (b04nd4k2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]


MON 12:30 Dad's Army (b007jpp4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]


MON 13:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cb2p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


MON 13:30 Ziggy Stardust Came from Isleworth (b00tdpz8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]


MON 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b05v7tmb)
Sarah Hall - The Wolf Border

Episode 1

Sarah Hall's novel is a compelling story about personal and political borders - about power, land, family and love.

At its heart is Rachel Caine, tough, untouchable, an expert on wolves, and long estranged from her home county of Cumbria and her fiery mother and lost brother. Like the wolves she protects and champions, she is wary of humanity, happy in the untamed wilderness.

Set against the dramatic and artfully drawn backdrops of the Lakeland fells and the towering ranges of Idaho, The Wolf Border explores issues of ownership and vested power, of re-wilding and of family as Rachel reaches a turning point in her life and learns that choice and change are possible.

In this opening episode: The offer of a job from an eccentric Earl, whose plan is to reintroduce the Grey Wolf to England coincides with the chance to see her dying mother but is that enough to lure Rachel home?

Reader: Hattie Morahan

Abridged in ten parts by Sally Marmion.

Producer: Di Speirs

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.


MON 14:15 Prime Ministers' Props (b07mxt94)
Series 1

Neville Chamberlain's Umbrella

Professor Sir David Cannadine explores political fame and image by looking at how an object or prop, whether chosen deliberately or otherwise, can come to define a political leader.

Sir David looks at the significance of these props of power - what they mean and what they become, and what happens when, almost inevitably, Prime Ministers lose control of their image and their props take on a hostile meaning, very different from their original intentions.

Neville Chamberlain always liked to carry a big black umbrella. It was intended to project an image of the quintessential Englishman, who was always smart, prepared and, in a manner of speaking, neatly furled. When Chamberlain arrived home after meeting Hitler at Munich in 1938, he was clutching Hitler's signed piece of paper in one hand and his brolly in the other. His umbrella now took on a new and potent symbolism as a "peace umbrella" and one that would keep the German bombs from raining down on British heads. He was sent hundreds of umbrellas by a grateful public and there was even a song composed at the time that contained the lyrics, "You look swell holding your umbrella / All the world loves a wonderful fella".

Yet as war broke out in Europe, Chamberlain's trademark brolly was quickly seized upon by his enemies as a laughable symbol of his gentlemanly ineffectiveness and it became a lightening-rod for critics of appeasement. Declassified MI5 records reveal how Hitler mocked him for it - and Chamberlain's once so celebrated umbrella morphed from useful trademark into an embarrassing symbol of political weakness and pusillanimity.

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

A Blakeway production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2016.


MON 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b04vk6ky)
Nigel Slater - Eating for England

Episode 1

In the bleak Christmas following his mother's death, the young Nigel Slater sought refuge in food.

Sugar mice, pink wafers and mince pies helped him survive. So too did his Aunt Elvie who, against the wishes of his father, encouraged Nigel to cook.

Eating for England, the successor to his highly acclaimed memoir Toast, is part food memoir, part collective memory bank of a nation's taste. Using the book as source material along with further conversations with Nigel, dramatist Sarah Daniels has written a playful reimagining. A grown up Nigel - played by Julian Rhind Tutt, looks back on his childhood while caring for a now elderly, yet ever sparkling, Aunt Elvie, played by Celia Imrie.

Rich with sounds of the kitchen and recorded on location, with a cameo performance from Nigel himself.

What drives a cook to write about food? Why is there such a powerful link between memory and what we eat? And why is reading about food so irresistibly appetising?

In this opening episode, Nigel reflects on sugar mice and the bleak Christmas just after his mother's death, when Aunt Elvie helped him through.

Aunt Elvie......................Celia Imrie
Nigel Slater...................Julian Rhind Tutt
Tony..............................Adrian Scarborough
Young Nigel...................Isaac Whitmore

Dramatised by Sarah Daniels
Sound design by Eloise Whitmore

Director: Polly Thomas

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2014.


MON 14:45 Book of the Week (b059crs2)
The Utopia Experiment

Episode 1

A true story that you couldn't make up - one man's attempt to survive a global catastrophe by setting up a commune in Scotland.

While lecturing in robotics, academic Dylan Evans became increasingly concerned by the visible impacts of global warming, population increase, terrorism - and by our inability to cope with a doomsday scenario in a world engineered to just-in-time living.

The concern became an obsession and Evans left his post to run an experiment. He set up a camp that would create the conditions for a post-apocalyptic world. It was established in the Scottish Highlands with a collection of people chosen for talents and skills necessary in a life without technology or comforts.

The resulting story is a Lord of the Flies for the modern day, treating serious and normally sombre topics with dark humour. At its heart, however, is one man's well-intentioned dream and the price he paid for trying to do something good.

Written and read by Dylan Evans

Abridged by Barry Johnston

Producer: David Roper

A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in March 2015.


MON 15:00 Dawn Lowe-Watson - Closed to Visitors (b04yf35h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]


MON 16:00 Just a Minute (b01lswv8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 16:30 Huddwinks (b009gc4p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]


MON 17:00 55 and Over (b01p3hnx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]


MON 17:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m000c4x9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


MON 18:00 Short Works (m000cb2v)
Patricia Highsmith Stories

One For The Islands

While most people aboard the ship are heading for the mainland, Dan plans to disembark at a far island, where he can be alone. But this is no ordinary ship.

Read by Greta Scacchi.

Five tales by the celebrated American crime and psychological novelist and short story writer, Patricia Highsmith.

Patricia Highsmith was born in Texas in 1921-1995. She wrote eight collections of short stories and 22 novels, among them the five ‘Ripley’ novels for which she is perhaps best known. Her first, Strangers On A Train, was the basis for the eponymous Hitchcock film of 1951. She died in Switzerland in 1995.

Producer/abridger: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4 Extra


MON 18:15 Roald Dahl (b0105vtp)
Kiss Kiss

William And Mary

Meet Mary Pearl, who thinks she's finally free of William, the tyrannical husband who forbade her all life's pleasures, when he dies after a short illness.

She subsequently learns, however, that - hoping to cheat the grave - he allowed a scientist to remove his brain and attach it to a life support system. This gives her the opportunity to get her own back....

Five classic tales by Roald Dahl starring Charles Dance as the urbane Storyteller and Celia Imrie as Mary.

Taken from the anthology, Kiss, Kiss. Bizarre and amusing by turns, these black comedies are justly famous for their surprise endings. They show Dahl at the height of his powers as a writer of adult fiction, and are characterised by their deliciously cynical view of human nature and the relish with which they punish the charlatans, bullies and schemers who inhabit their world.

Dramatised by Stephen Sheridan.

Storyteller....Charles Dance
Mary.......Celia Imrie
William......John Rowe
Landy......Nigel Anthony

Director: David Blount

A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2011.


MON 18:30 A Good Read (b00jcq5h)
Ann Widdecombe and Kate Humble

Sue MacGregor and her guests - politician and novelist, Ann Widdecombe and broadcaster, Kate Humble - discuss favourite paperbacks by Robert Harris, Christopher Wilson and John McGahern.

Imperium by Robert Harris
Publisher: Arrow Books

The Ballad of Lee Cotton by Christopher Wilson
Publisher: Abacus

Memoir by John McGahern
Publisher: Faber & Faber

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2009.


MON 19:00 The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket (b04nd4k2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]


MON 19:30 Dad's Army (b007jpp4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]


MON 20:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cb2p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


MON 20:30 Ziggy Stardust Came from Isleworth (b00tdpz8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]


MON 21:00 TED Radio Hour (m000cb2s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]


MON 21:50 Inheritance Tracks (b0bk12c9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:50 today]


MON 22:00 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m000c4x9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


MON 22:30 Bleak Expectations (b00nyy8s)
Series 3

An Evil Life Sort of Explained

Pip Bin, Harry Biscuit and Gently Benevolent find themselves trapped in the vast emptiness of space.

As their doom looks increasingly inevitable, Mr Benevolent finally explains just why it is that he is so very very evil.

Comedy Victorian adventure by Mark Evans.

Sir Philip ...... Richard Johnson
Young Pip Bin ...... Tom Allen
Gently Benevolent ...... Anthony Head
Lovely Benevolent ...... Jane Asher
Harry Biscuit ...... James Bachman
Hardthrasher/Sternbeater/Wackwallop ...... Geoffrey Whitehead
Miss Christmasham ...... Sarah Hadland
Miss Sweetly Delightful ...... Raquel Cassidy.

Producer: Gareth Edwards

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2009


MON 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m000cy94)
Grace Campbell part 1

From 10.00pm until midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Laura Lexx talks to Grace Campbell.


MON 23:00 Dead Ringers (m000c4sj)
Christmas Specials 2019

Election Special 2019

With each sketch being written within moments of the results, this promises to be the most up-to-the-minute show in the programme’s history. Recorded at lunchtime and edited in the afternoon, every twist, turn and embarrassing face-saving platitude will be examined.

Staring Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis McLeod, Duncan Wisbey, Deborah Stevenson.

The writing team for the series: Tom Jamieson & Nev Fountain, Laurence Howarth, Sarah Campbell, Ed Amsden & Tom Coles, James Bugg, Sara Gibbs, Simon Alcock, Alex Hardy and others.


MON 23:30 Radio Active (b007k39v)
Series 5

Did You Catch It?

Sir Norman Tonsil attempts to review his radio station's output, including a novel way of choosing the Choir of the Year.

Starring Helen Atkinson-Wood, Angus Deayton, Geoffrey Perkins, Philip Pope and Michael Fenton-Stevens.

Music by Philip Pope and Richard Curtis.

Written by Angus Deayton and Geoffrey Perkins with Jeremy Pascall.

Producer: Jamie Rix

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1985.



TUESDAY 17 DECEMBER 2019

TUE 00:00 Short Works (m000cb2v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]


TUE 00:15 Roald Dahl (b0105vtp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Monday]


TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b00jcq5h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]


TUE 01:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cb2p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]


TUE 01:30 Ziggy Stardust Came from Isleworth (b00tdpz8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]


TUE 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b05v7tmb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]


TUE 02:15 Prime Ministers' Props (b07mxt94)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]


TUE 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b04vk6ky)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]


TUE 02:45 Book of the Week (b059crs2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Monday]


TUE 03:00 Dawn Lowe-Watson - Closed to Visitors (b04yf35h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]


TUE 04:00 Just a Minute (b01lswv8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]


TUE 04:30 Huddwinks (b009gc4p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]


TUE 05:00 55 and Over (b01p3hnx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]


TUE 05:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m000c4x9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]


TUE 06:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cctj)
First Lunch

Continuing his investigations into the death of Willy Mariello, Charles Paris turns to James Milne, owner of the house in which the other university actors are staying...

Francis Matthews stars as thespian sleuth, Charles Paris.

Six-part thriller serial adapted from his book by Simon Brett.

Charles Paris ...... Francis Matthews
Pam Northcliffe ...... Sara Corper
Martin Warburton ...... Michael Maloney
Anna Duncan ...... Kim Thomson
Lesley Petter ...... Lesley Manville
James Milne ...... Alan McNaughtan

Producer: Martin Fisher

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1985.


TUE 06:30 The Brown Camp (b03ggllz)
If you're the lone parent of mixed-race children, how do you make sure they have access to both parents' culture? Poet and parent Katie Grant visits a summer camp in Devon aimed at mixed-race families.

A mixed race camp can provide a supportive environment for families with parents from different cultural and racial backgrounds. They're particularly appealing to families who live in the countryside and lack the cultural opportunities available in cities.

"I found that living in Dorset – if I saw a family that looked like mine – another white mother with mixed race child – I'd want to say hello, yes I'm here too – how is it for you? Obviously you can't have this conversation when you're out shopping but a look goes between you – a shared understanding. There's a visible reference – you know what I know too."

Squeezed between black and white communities but sometimes not accepted by either, children at the 'brown camp' can meet people who look like them, share experiences and have fun together. But do camps like this have a lasting impact?

Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2013.


TUE 07:00 Four Joneses and a Jenkins (b007jz3j)
August - Harvest Home

Megan Jones snubs the Carnival Queen contest and heads off to see Nana. Stars Geoffrey Whitehead. From September 2000.


TUE 07:30 Rhys James (m000c4qk)
Series 2

Rhys James Isn’t… "A"

In an attempt to become more politically engaged, comedian Rhys James tries on opinions like clothes to see how they fit. This week he’s putting his left leg in first.

Dressed as a wishy-washy liberal Rhys asks: why are we not doing more to save the planet… Why is it taking so long to teach LGBT+ issues in schools… Why doesn’t everywhere have gender-neutral toilets… And why are we letting Facebook spy on us?

This is what he thinks this week, but next week he’ll be a week older and more right wing…

Written and performed by – Rhys James
Produced by – Carl Cooper

Production Co-ordinator – Gwyn Rhys Davies

A BBC Studios production


TUE 08:00 The Goon Show (b007k4c2)
The Canal

Back home after 43 years, why must Neddie Seagoon never go near the oily waters again?

Groundbreaking, surreal BBC radio comedy written by Spike Milligan.

Starring:

Peter Sellers
Harry Secombe
Spike Milligan

Special guest: Valentine Dyall

First billed as Crazy People, ten series of The Goon Show were recorded between 1951 and 1960, but sadly many of the earliest shows weren’t kept in the archive.

With the Ray Ellington Quartet and Max Geldray.

Orchestra conducted by Wally Stott.

Announcer: Wallace Greenslade

Producer: Peter Eton

First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in November 1954.


TUE 08:30 Round the Horne (b00lrv62)
Series 3

Episode 5

Kenneth Horne heads a gangster romp 'How The Bullet Proof Vest Was Won' - and can Julian and Sandy find him a Bona Soulmate?

With Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee.

Recorded at the BBC's Paris Studio in Lower Regent Street, London. Announcer: Douglas Smith

Round The Horne was born out of the demise of BBC radio comedy Beyond Our Ken, after the end of writer Eric Merriman's involvement. Using the same cast and producer, Barry Took and Marty Feldman were persuaded to write the scripts - which led to four series that ran between 1965 and 1968 - packed full of parodies, recurring characters, catchphrases and double-entendres.

Music by Edwin Braden and the Hornblowers and The Fraser Hayes Four.

Producer: John Simmonds

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in March 1967.


TUE 09:00 Dead Ringers (m000c4sj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]


TUE 09:30 Stilgoe's Around (m000cctl)
Clandon Park

Richard Stilgoe is in Surrey visiting the Marble Hall of the National Trust's Clandon Park to sample life on the other side of the velvet ropes.

Reminding him to keep off the grass and not to feed the lions are: Charles Collingwood, Peter Blake , Belinda Lang and musical guest Kathryn Tickell.

Written by Richard Stilgoe.

Producer: Neil Cargill

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1989.


TUE 10:00 Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe (b007jqy3)
Episode 1

Against the advice of his family, Robinson Crusoe is set on a life of adventure.

Roy Marsden and Tom Bevan star in Daniel Defoe’s epic tale.

Dramatised in two parts by Steve Chambers

Older Robinson ...... Roy Marsden
Younger Robinson ...... Tom Bevan
Wells ...... Gerard McDermott
Crusoe's Father ...... John Rowe
Crusoe's Mother ...... Jenny Lee
Captain ...... Christopher Wright
Jack ...... Iwan Thomas

Director: Marion Nancarrow

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.


TUE 11:00 Telling Tales (m000cctn)
Natalie Haynes

The writer and broadcaster Natalie Haynes combines a love of classical history and myth, with a background in teaching and stand-up.

In her first novel, The Amber Fury, a grief-stricken teacher turns to Greek tragedies and finds that the tales of fate, family and vengeance speak directly to her pupils. The Children of Jocasta followed, a re-imagining of the Oedipus myth; while Natalie’s most recent book, A Thousand Ships, re-tells the story of the Trojan War from the perspective of women (both mortal and immortal).

In this book Natalie highlights “the pain of the women who have always been relegated to the edges of the story, victims of men, survivors of men, slaves of men.” Natalie draws on two of the world’s oldest poems, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, imagining Penelope’s fidelity to her questing husband, stretched to its very limits, in a series of letters.

We re-visit a previous incarnation of Odysseus’ wife, in The Two Penelopes, a story commissioned by Writing West Midlands, which first broadcast on Radio 4 in 2014. In this short tale, Natalie sneaks in references to Homer’s epic poem, while imagining a latter day Penelope, knitting to while away the hours in a Birmingham care home.

Natalie also talks about standing up for the classics in her titular Radio 4 series. In the upcoming fifth series, she will turn once again to the foundational poems of Homer, with an impressively concise re-telling of The Iliad. All 24 books, recorded live at the BBC Radio Theatre, in 24 minutes.

Made for Radio 4 Extra.


TUE 12:00 The Goon Show (b007k4c2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]


TUE 12:30 Round the Horne (b00lrv62)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]


TUE 13:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cctj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


TUE 13:30 The Brown Camp (b03ggllz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]


TUE 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b05vy88z)
Sarah Hall - The Wolf Border

Episode 2

Back in Idaho, Rachel faces a new and life-changing dilemma, which a message from home might help to resolve.

Sarah Hall's novel is a compelling story about personal and political borders, about power, land, family and love. At its heart is Rachel Caine, tough, untouchable, an expert on wolves, and long estranged from her home county of Cumbria and her fiery mother and lost brother. Like the wolves she protects and champions, she is wary of humanity and happiest in the untamed wilderness.

Set against the dramatic and artfully drawn backdrops of the Lakeland fells and the towering ranges of Idaho, The Wolf Border explores issues of ownership and vested power, of re-wilding and of family as Rachel discovers that choice and change are possible.

Reader: Hattie Morahan

Abridged by Sally Marmion.

Producer: Di Speirs

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.


TUE 14:15 Prime Ministers' Props (b07nrlqn)
Series 1

Stanley Baldwin's Iron Gates

Professor Sir David Cannadine explores political fame and image by looking at how an object or prop, whether chosen deliberately or otherwise, can come to define a political leader - from Winston Churchill's cigar and siren suit to Margaret Thatcher's handbag.

Sir David looks at the significance of these props of power - what they mean and what they become, and what happens when, almost inevitably, Prime Ministers lose control of their image and their props take on a hostile meaning, very different from their original intentions.

In 1937, Stanley Baldwin retired in what was considered a blaze of glory, and he expected to live out his remaining days as a revered elder statesman behind his wrought-iron gates at his country estate, Astley Hall. But the Second World War changed everything and Baldwin's reputation collapsed when he became the scapegoat for Britain being ill-equipped to fight Hitler.

The problem became centred on his iron gates when, in September 1941, Stanley Baldwin's old enemy, Lord Beaverbrook, asked all local authorities to survey their area's iron and steel gates for requisitioning as scrap metal. Baldwin duly applied for exemption for the Astley Hall gates on the grounds of artistic merit. However Beaverbrook bit back and Baldwin's gates became something of a cause celebre and the focus for a national campaign hounding an old appeaser who was now seen to be hampering the war effort.

Stanley Baldwin's iron gates at Astley Hall were eventually removed, all except the pair of presentation gates given to him by the Worcestershire Association on his retirement. Sir David Cannadine goes in search of Baldwin's remaining gates to find out what happened to them.

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

A Blakeway production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2016.


TUE 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b04w0jfs)
Nigel Slater - Eating for England

Episode 2

When Nigel's dad announces his remarriage, Aunt Elvie and mince pies come to the rescue.

Aunt Elvie......................Celia Imrie
Nigel Slater...................Julian Rhind-Tutt
Tony..............................Adrian Scarborough
Joan..............................Fenella Woolgar
Humphrey.....................David Annen
Young Nigel...................Isaac Whitmore

In the bleak Christmas following his mother's death, the young Nigel Slater sought refuge in food. Sugar mice, pink wafers and mince pies helped him survive. So too did his Aunt Elvie who, against the wishes of his father, encouraged Nigel to cook.

Eating for England, the successor to his highly acclaimed memoir Toast, is part food memoir, part collective memory bank of a nation's taste. Using the book as source material along with further conversations with Nigel, dramatist Sarah Daniels has written a playful reimagining. A grown up Nigel - played by Julian Rhind-Tutt, looks back on his childhood while caring for a now elderly, yet ever sparkling, Aunt Elvie, played by Celia Imrie.

Rich with sounds of the kitchen and recorded on location, with a cameo performance from Nigel himself.

What drives a cook to write about food? Why is there such a powerful link between memory and what we eat? And why is reading about food so irresistibly appetising?

Dramatised by Sarah Daniels

Sound design by Eloise Whitmore

Director: Polly Thomas

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2014.


TUE 14:45 Book of the Week (b055fkbc)
The Utopia Experiment

Episode 2

The commune has only just begun to establish itself in its Highlands base but is already afflicted by competing visions for its future – even though there are only two members.

Written and read by Dylan Evans.

A true story that you couldn't make up - one man's attempt to survive a global catastrophe by setting up a commune in Scotland.

While lecturing in robotics, academic Dylan Evans became increasingly concerned by the visible impacts of global warming, population increase, terrorism - and by our inability to cope with a doomsday scenario in a world engineered to just-in-time living.

The concern became an obsession and Evans left his post to run an experiment. He set up a camp that would create the conditions for a post-apocalyptic world. It was established in the Scottish Highlands with a collection of people chosen for talents and skills necessary in a life without technology or comforts.

The resulting story is a Lord of the Flies for the modern day, treating serious and normally sombre topics with dark humour. At its heart, however, is one man's well-intentioned dream and the price he paid for trying to do something good.

Abridged by Barry Johnston

Producer: David Roper

A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in March 2015.


TUE 15:00 Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe (b007jqy3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]


TUE 16:00 The Unbelievable Truth (b06d2g56)
Series 15

Episode 6

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.

Sarah Millican, Victoria Coren Mitchell, Holly Walsh and Katherine Ryan are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as IKEA, marriage, Switzerland and chewing gum.

The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, the team behind Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.

Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 16:30 Kalangadog Junction (b09fggby)
Episode 5

Jane is in turmoil when her mum and ex-fiance reappear. But that's nothing compared to what's in store for Gaelene at her farewell barbecue.

Six-part comedy drama series by Moya O'Shea.

Starring Caroline Quentin as Jane, John Duttine as Thomas, Niall Ashdown as Jimmy, Toby Longworth as Pete, Brian Bowles as Len, Joanna Monro as Madge, Julie Gibbs as Milly, June Whitfield as Phoebe and Moya O'Shea as Gaylene.

Producer: Liz Anstee

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.


TUE 17:00 Four Joneses and a Jenkins (b007jz3j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]


TUE 17:30 Rhys James (m000c4qk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


TUE 18:00 Short Works (m000cctq)
Patricia Highsmith Stories

A Curious Suicide

At the suggestion of his wife, Stephen agrees to travel from Paris to Geneva to visit his old friend Roger Fane. Trouble is, Stephen detests him.

Read by Greta Scacchi.

Five tales by the celebrated American crime and psychological novelist and short story writer, Patricia Highsmith.

Patricia Highsmith was born in Texas in 1921-1995. She wrote eight collections of short stories and 22 novels, among them the five ‘Ripley’ novels for which she is perhaps best known. Her first, Strangers On A Train, was the basis for the eponymous Hitchcock film of 1951. She died in Switzerland in 1995.

Producer/abridger: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4 Extra


TUE 18:15 Roald Dahl (b0105zkh)
Kiss Kiss

Parson's Pleasure

Meet Cyril Boggis, an unscrupulous antiques dealer, who charms his way into people's homes disguised as a simple parson, hoping to pick up neglected treasures for a song.

One bright, Sunday afternoon however, all does not go according to plan when, in the home of farmer Rummins, he discovers a priceless Chippendale commode...

Five classic tales by Roald Dahl starring Charles Dance as the urbane Storyteller and Ronald Pickup as Cyril.

Taken from the anthology, Kiss, Kiss. Bizarre and amusing by turns, these black comedies are justly famous for their surprise endings. They show Dahl at the height of his powers as a writer of adult fiction, and are characterised by their deliciously cynical view of human nature and the relish with which they punish the charlatans, bullies and schemers who inhabit their world.

Dramatised by Stephen Sheridan.

Storyteller....Charles Dance
Cyril Boggis....Ronald Pickup
Rummins...David Ryall
Claud......John Baddeley
Lady Harcourt..Lucie Fitchett

Director: David Blount

A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2011.


TUE 18:30 Sounds Natural (b08yr9x7)
Dulcie Gray

Actress, crime writer and butterfly expert, Dulcie Gray, discusses her love of wildlife with Derek Jones.

Plus her choice of recordings from the vast BBC Sound Archives.

Produced in Bristol by John Burton.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1980.


TUE 19:00 The Goon Show (b007k4c2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]


TUE 19:30 Round the Horne (b00lrv62)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]


TUE 20:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cctj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


TUE 20:30 The Brown Camp (b03ggllz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]


TUE 21:00 Telling Tales (m000cctn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]


TUE 22:00 Rhys James (m000c4qk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


TUE 22:30 Armstrong and Miller (b00t3vjx)
Episode 2

Battles recreated, and National Trousers Day.

Sketches and songs with Ben Miller and Alexander Armstrong in their first series for radio.

With Samuel West and Tony Gardiner.

Written by Ben Miller, Alexander Armstrong and Tony Gardiner.

Producer: Gareth Edwards

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1998.


TUE 22:45 Jelly Mountain (b00fr1z3)
Episode 4

Musing on old cuppas and paying with Fool's Gold. Songs and stories from Ivor Cutler, with Craig Murray-Orr. From May 1996.


TUE 23:00 The Secret World (b0121myp)
Series 1

Episode 6

From William Hague to Simon Cowell, Jon Culshaw explores the bizarre private lives of famous folk. From May 2009.


TUE 23:30 Think the Unthinkable (b00cqh5b)
Series 2

Nambitrea

The consultants advise an African finance minister, and Ryan carries a package. Stars Marcus Brigstocke. From December 2002.



WEDNESDAY 18 DECEMBER 2019

WED 00:00 Short Works (m000cctq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]


WED 00:15 Roald Dahl (b0105zkh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Tuesday]


WED 00:30 Sounds Natural (b08yr9x7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]


WED 01:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cctj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]


WED 01:30 The Brown Camp (b03ggllz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]


WED 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b05vy88z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]


WED 02:15 Prime Ministers' Props (b07nrlqn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]


WED 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b04w0jfs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]


WED 02:45 Book of the Week (b055fkbc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Tuesday]


WED 03:00 Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe (b007jqy3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]


WED 04:00 The Unbelievable Truth (b06d2g56)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]


WED 04:30 Kalangadog Junction (b09fggby)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


WED 05:00 Four Joneses and a Jenkins (b007jz3j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]


WED 05:30 Rhys James (m000c4qk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]


WED 06:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cc9v)
Legal Aid

Convinced Willy Mariello’s been murdered, Charles Paris enlists the help of his solicitor friend, Gerald Venables, in the investigation...

Francis Matthews stars as thespian sleuth, Charles Paris.

Six-part thriller serial adapted from his book by Simon Brett.

Charles Paris ...... Francis Matthews
Anna Duncan ...... Kim Thomson
James Milne ...... Alan McNaughtan
Gerald Venables ...... Jeremy Child
Jean Mariello ...... Frances Low

Producer: Martin Fisher

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1985.


WED 06:30 The Wales Window of Alabama (b00z5zxv)
This is the story of what links the people of Wales, with one of the worst atrocities of the American Civil Rights movement. In 1963, racist bombers, blew up the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham Alabama, killing four girls in the blast. The murder of children marked another low in the violent resistance to civil rights.

News of the bombing was broadcast worldwide. The Welsh sculptor John Petts heard about it on the radio as he worked in his studio. He was so upset he wanted to do something to help. He contacted a local newspaper and a campaign was launched to raise money to help rebuild the devastated Church. No one was allowed to give more than half a crown - to ensure that no rich benefactor could take credit for the money raised. There were reports of children, black and white, queuing up in Cardiff to donate their pocket money.

Tens of thousands of people contributed to the fund. With the money that was raised, Petts was commissioned to make a new stained glass window for the Church. Grand in scale, it depicted a black man, arms out stretched, reminiscent of the crucifixion. Petts drew on his experiences as a medic in the second world war to create his image of the 'damaged male body'. He was also inspired by the Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa, which had happened only a few years before.

The window is now a focus of worship and has become one of the most famous pieces of art to come out of the darkness of the civil rights period. At its foot a simple message; 'Given by The People of Wales'.

Presenter: Gary Younge

Produced in Manchester by Nicola Swords.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2011.


WED 07:00 Electric Ink (b0116gvm)
Series 1

Episode 1

Maddox is an old school journalist struggling to keep up with new technology.

He feels the art of finding stories is being forgotten and he is not about to let that happen.

Old hacks meet new media in Alistair Beaton’s satire set in the changing world of the newspaper industry.

Maddox ...... Robert Lindsay
Oliver ...... Alex Jennings
Amelia ...... Elizabeth Berrington
Tasneem ...... Zita Sattar
Masha ...... Debbie Chazen
Freddy ...... Ben Willbond
Announcer ...... Matt Addis

With additional material by Tom Mitchelson.

Director: Sally Avens

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2009.


WED 07:30 Susan Calman Makes Me Happy (m000c4x4)
Episode 4

Taking part in Strictly Come Dancing made Susan Calman happy. Completely, totally happy. And having lived with anxiety for so long, it was something of a surprise to discover something new that gave her feelings of joy. So, in Susan Calman Makes Me Happy, she explores and explains the other things in life that bring her happiness.

This week, aided and abetted by her studio audience and her wife Lee, Susan waxes lyrical about her love for animals. She may have previously mentioned (once or twice) that she’s quite partial to cats, but her affections aren’t limited to the feline world. From the dogs in her local park, via the birds that visit her garden, to grumpy Icelandic Ponies (well, sort of), Susan adores them all.

Produced by Lyndsay Fenner
Written by Susan Calman and Jon Hunter

Production Co-ordinator: Tamara Shilham

A Somethin’ Else production for BBC Radio 4


WED 08:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b00j283n)
Series 3

The Bequest

The lad is set to inherit a fortune, but only if he can find a wife!

Starring Tony Hancock.

With Bill Kerr, Sidney James, Andree Melly and Kenneth Williams.

Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

Theme and incidental music composed by Wally Stott. Recorded by the BBC Revue Orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.

Producer: Dennis Main Wilson

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in November 1955.


WED 08:30 Listen to Les (b007wvm2)
From 25/09/1983

Les Dawson's life as a spy, a rare interview with boxer Sugar Albert Ackroyd and Cissie despairs of Ada.

With Roy Barraclough, Daphne Oxenford and Colin Edwynn.

Music by Brian Fitzgerald.

Scripted and produced by James Casey.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in September 1983.


WED 09:00 Many a Slip (b09wvq06)
Roy Plomley challenges Eleanor Summerfield and Gillian Reynolds to battle David Nixon and Tim Rice in the panel game to spot mistakes.

Plus more tune-twisters from Steve Race.

Devised and written by Ian Messiter.

Producer: Martin Fisher

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1978.


WED 09:30 An Actor's Life for Me (b00899ps)
Series 2

The Scottish Play

Robert gets involved in a performance of the play whose title we are not allowed to say. He is overly superstitious about saying "Macbeth" ... Whoops!

John Gordon Sinclair stars in Paul Mayhew-Archer's sitcom.

Robert Wilson ..... John Gordon Sinclair
Desmond Shaw ..... Gary Waldhorn
Sue ..... Caroline Quentin

With:
Jo Kendall
Joe Dunlop
Jonathan Kydd
Danny Schiller

Producer: Paul Spencer

First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in February 1990.


WED 10:00 Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe (b007jqyc)
Episode 2

Crusoe's acceptance of his solitude is shattered by a single footprint in the sand.

Conclusion of Daniel Defoe’s epic tale dramatised by Steve Chambers

Older Robinson ...... Roy Marsden
Younger Robinson ...... Tom Bevan
Wells ...... Gerard McDermott
Crusoe's Father ...... John Rowe
Crusoe's Mother ...... Jenny Lee
Captain ...... Christopher Wright
Jack ...... Iwan Thomas

Director: Marion Nancarrow

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.


WED 11:00 Sue Perkins' Christmas Comedy Stocking (m000cc9y)
1. Radio Active / The Masterson Inheritance

Sue Perkins gets the sherry and chocolates out to accompany some vintage BBC Christmas comedy.

The first of three festive fun-packed stockings:

* Radio Active's Christmas Turkey:
The National Local Radio Station links up with Bethlehem and visits some poorly hospital patients. Stars Helen Atkinson-Wood, Geoffrey Perkins and Angus Deayton. From 1983.

* The Masterson Inheritance Christmas Special:
The Masterson family's ancient culture reveals some curious customs. Improvised historical saga with Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Caroline Quentin and Jim Sweeney. From 1995.

Producer: Sarah Wade

Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2010.


WED 12:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b00j283n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]


WED 12:30 Listen to Les (b007wvm2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]


WED 13:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cc9v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


WED 13:30 The Wales Window of Alabama (b00z5zxv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]


WED 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b05vy89l)
Sarah Hall - The Wolf Border

Episode 3

Now employed on the Earl of Annerdale's estate, it's time for Rachel to meet the staff, make up her team and reconnect with her brother.

And she needs to make a fateful decision...

Sarah Hall's novel is a compelling story about political and personal borders - about power, land, family and love. At its heart is Rachel Caine, tough, untouchable, an expert on wolves, and long estranged from her home county of Cumbria and her fiery mother and lost brother. Like the wolves she protects and champions, she is wary of humanity, happy in the wilderness.

Set against the dramatic and perfectly evoked backdrop of the Lakeland fells, The Wolf Border explores issues of ownership and vested power, of re-wilding and of family as Rachel finds her way home.

Reader: Hattie Morahan

Abridger: Sally Marmion

Producer: Di Speirs

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.


WED 14:15 Prime Ministers' Props (b07pgwg1)
Series 1

Anthony Eden's Homburg Hat

Professor Sir David Cannadine explores political fame and image by looking at how an object or prop, whether chosen deliberately or otherwise, can come to define a political leader - from Winston Churchill's cigar and siren suit to Margaret Thatcher's handbag.

Sir David looks at the significance of these props of power - what they mean and what they become, and what happens when, almost inevitably, Prime Ministers lose control of their image and their props take on a hostile meaning, very different from their original intentions.

Anthony Eden was one of the briefest serving Prime Ministers of modern times, and his name became inseparably linked with the Suez fiasco of 1956, from which his reputation has never recovered. But in the earlier stages of his political career, Eden was widely regarded as the most attractive and glamorous figure in British public life. These qualities were both proclaimed and symbolised by his Homburg hat, which he briefly made fashionable when it became known as the Eden on Savile Row. In fact, Anthony Eden is the only British Prime Minister, apart from the Duke of Wellington, to have had an item of apparel named after him.

But with Eden's fall from grace, the Eden hat was quickly forgotten and one biographer wrote scathingly in the 1960s, "who wears an Anthony Eden hat today?"

And while we still use the phrase Wellington boot, and remember the victor of Waterloo, the Eden Homburg, and the man who gave his name to it, have both been largely forgotten.

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

A Blakeway production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2016.


WED 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b04w0jxk)
Nigel Slater - Eating for England

Episode 3

Chocolates, least favourite sweets and funerals occupy Nigel's time.

Aunt Elvie......................Celia Imrie
Nigel Slater...................Julian Rhind-Tutt
Tony..............................Adrian Scarborough
Joan..............................Fenella Woolgar
Young Nigel...................Isaac Whitmore

In the bleak Christmas following his mother's death, the young Nigel Slater sought refuge in food. Sugar mice, pink wafers and mince pies helped him survive. So too did his Aunt Elvie who, against the wishes of his father, encouraged Nigel to cook.

Eating for England, the successor to his highly acclaimed memoir Toast, is part food memoir, part collective memory bank of a nation's taste. Using the book as source material along with further conversations with Nigel, dramatist Sarah Daniels has written a playful reimagining. A grown up Nigel - played by Julian Rhind-Tutt, looks back on his childhood while caring for a now elderly, yet ever sparkling, Aunt Elvie, played by Celia Imrie.

Rich with sounds of the kitchen and recorded on location, with a cameo performance from Nigel himself.

What drives a cook to write about food? Why is there such a powerful link between memory and what we eat? And why is reading about food so irresistibly appetising?

Dramatised by Sarah Daniels.

Sound design by Eloise Whitmore

Director: Polly Thomas

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2014.


WED 14:45 Book of the Week (b059crlx)
The Utopia Experiment

Episode 3

The commune is opened to the public and inspires unexpectedly dark thoughts about what might happen if an angry, hungry, post-apocalyptic mob did actually fall upon the community.

Written and read by Dylan Evans.

A true story that you couldn't make up - one man's attempt to survive a global catastrophe by setting up a commune in Scotland.

While lecturing in robotics, academic Dylan Evans became increasingly concerned by the visible impacts of global warming, population increase, terrorism - and by our inability to cope with a doomsday scenario in a world engineered to just-in-time living.

The concern became an obsession and Evans left his post to run an experiment. He set up a camp that would create the conditions for a post-apocalyptic world. It was established in the Scottish Highlands with a collection of people chosen for talents and skills necessary in a life without technology or comforts.

The resulting story is a Lord of the Flies for the modern day, treating serious and normally sombre topics with dark humour. At its heart, however, is one man's well-intentioned dream and the price he paid for trying to do something good.

Abridged by Barry Johnston.

Producer: David Roper

A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in March 2015.


WED 15:00 Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe (b007jqyc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]


WED 16:00 Many a Slip (b09wvq06)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 16:30 An Actor's Life for Me (b00899ps)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]


WED 17:00 Electric Ink (b0116gvm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]


WED 17:30 Susan Calman Makes Me Happy (m000c4x4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


WED 18:00 Short Works (m000ccb0)
Patricia Highsmith Stories

The Terrors Of Basket-Weaving

While at her holiday cottage, Diane finds a broken Moses basket on the beach. She decides to repair it, but how did it come so easily?

Read by Greta Scacchi.

Five tales by the celebrated American crime and psychological novelist and short story writer, Patricia Highsmith.

Patricia Highsmith was born in Texas in 1921-1995. She wrote eight collections of short stories and 22 novels, among them the five ‘Ripley’ novels for which she is perhaps best known. Her first, Strangers On A Train, was the basis for the eponymous Hitchcock film of 1951. She died in Switzerland in 1995.

Producer/abridger: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4 Extra


WED 18:15 Roald Dahl (b01064yd)
Kiss Kiss

Royal Jelly

Meet beekeeper Albert Taylor and his wife Mabel. Worried that their newborn daughter isn't eating properly, Albert starts giving her royal jelly - a highly nutritious substance fed by bees to the larvae of their queens.

The baby starts to put on weight. But Mabel begins to notice other changes too…

Five classic tales by Roald Dahl starring Charles Dance as the urbane Storyteller and Chris Emmett as Albert.

Taken from the anthology, Kiss, Kiss. Bizarre and amusing by turns, these black comedies are justly famous for their surprise endings. They show Dahl at the height of his powers as a writer of adult fiction, and are characterised by their deliciously cynical view of human nature and the relish with which they punish the charlatans, bullies and schemers who inhabit their world.

Dramatised by Stephen Sheridan.

Storyteller....Charles Dance
Albert.....Chris Emmett
Mabel.....Rachel Atkins

Director: David Blount

A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2011.


WED 18:30 The Palace of Laughter (b007tzt7)
Series 1

Manchester Playhouse

Geoffrey Wheeler revisits the scene of the Manchester Playhouse.

Built back-to-back with the Hulme Hippodrome, itself a famous northern Variety venue, the Playhouse was host to some of the BBC's best-loved comedy and Variety programmes from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Ken Dodd, Sandy Powell, Harry Worth and Bill Waddington are among those featured in this nostalgic trip through the BBC's archives.

Series featuring Variety theatres from all over the United Kingdom.

Producer: Libby Cross

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2002.


WED 19:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b00j283n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]


WED 19:30 Listen to Les (b007wvm2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]


WED 20:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cc9v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


WED 20:30 The Wales Window of Alabama (b00z5zxv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]


WED 21:00 Sue Perkins' Christmas Comedy Stocking (m000cc9y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]


WED 22:00 Susan Calman Makes Me Happy (m000c4x4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


WED 22:30 Arthur Smith's Balham Bash (b00s3h46)
Series 2

Episode 3

Arthur Smith invites us into his Balham flat in south London for comedy, music and entertainment.

With his guests: Doc Brown, Gomez, Henry Paker and Richard Herring.

Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2010


WED 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m000d20b)
Grace Campbell part 2

From 10.00pm until midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Arthur smith talks to Steve Furst.


WED 23:00 Clare in the Community (b00snrjy)
Series 6

Some Others Do 'Ave 'Em

Clare Barker's back on the social work frontline as a vomiting bug hits her colleagues.

Clare Barker is the self-absorbed social worker who has the right jargon for every problem she comes across, though never a practical solution. But there are plenty of challenges out there for an involved, caring social worker. Or even Clare.

Clare ... Sally Phillips
Brian ... Alex Lowe
Helen ... Liza Tarbuck
Ray ... Richard Lumsden
Libby ... Sarah Kendall
Megan/Na ... Nina Conti
Peggy ... Rosemary Leach
Dolly ... Doreen Mantle

Written by Harry Venning and David Ramsden

Producer: Katie Tyrrell.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2010.


WED 23:30 The Consultants (b007jwvr)
Series 4

Episode 6

Inoculation against old age leads to unusual results. Neil Edmond and James Rawlings' cerebral sketches. From November 2005.



THURSDAY 19 DECEMBER 2019

THU 00:00 Short Works (m000ccb0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]


THU 00:15 Roald Dahl (b01064yd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Wednesday]


THU 00:30 The Palace of Laughter (b007tzt7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]


THU 01:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cc9v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]


THU 01:30 The Wales Window of Alabama (b00z5zxv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]


THU 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b05vy89l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]


THU 02:15 Prime Ministers' Props (b07pgwg1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]


THU 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b04w0jxk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]


THU 02:45 Book of the Week (b059crlx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Wednesday]


THU 03:00 Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe (b007jqyc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]


THU 04:00 Many a Slip (b09wvq06)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


THU 04:30 An Actor's Life for Me (b00899ps)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]


THU 05:00 Electric Ink (b0116gvm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]


THU 05:30 Susan Calman Makes Me Happy (m000c4x4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]


THU 06:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000ccwc)
Last Lunch

Charles suspects Anna Duncan of murdering Willy Mariello, but her fellow-student Martin Warburton is still behaving strangely...

Francis Matthews stars as thespian sleuth, Charles Paris.

Six-part thriller serial adapted from his book by Simon Brett.

Charles Paris ...... Francis Matthews
Anna Duncan ...... Kim Thomson
James Milne ...... Alan McNaughtan
Frances ...... Jennifer Hilary
Brian Cassells ...... Hugh Laurie
Martin Warburton ...... Michael Maloney
Stella Galpin-Lord ...... Sheila Mitchell
Guide ...... Fraser Kerr

Producer: Martin Fisher

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1985.


THU 06:30 The Playlist Series (b017ng3m)
Queen Victoria's Playlist

In Buckingham Palace, David Owen Norris and guests listen to Queen Victoria's favourite songs. We have been given access to Victoria's own gold piano, on which we'll hear music written specially by Mendelssohn for her to play in a duet with Albert. We also hear an amorous serenade written for her by Prince Albert and a song which was sung in the streets after their first child was born, Queen Victoria's Baby.

David Owen Norris has discovered a startling popular song of the period about the Great Exhibition - the excitement of setting off to see the Queen as a gold statue, and the reality of fleas, dirt, crowds, and dubious dark alleys where it was all too easy to lose one's virtue and return pregnant!

Listening to the music are Royal biographer Kate Williams, cultural critic Matthew Sweet, and expert on Victorian music Professor Jeremy Dibble. They'll be discussing what Queen Victoria's favourite songs reveal about a very musical monarch.

Producer: Elizabeth Burke.

A Loftus production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2011.


THU 07:00 Ballylenon (b00yqtqm)
Series 8

Crime Fiction

A writer finds the local denizens of Ballylenon ideal for a salacious work of fiction...

Written by Christopher Fitz-Simon.

Series set in the sleepy town of Ballylenon, Co Donegal in the 1960s.

Ballylenon, County Donegal. Pop. 1,999 was founded by St Lenon of Padua, when he fell into the river at this spot in 953. Ballylenon is situated on the shores of Lough Swilly with entrancing views of Muckish Mountain, in the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe. (Note: Ballylenon is a fictional name, but the other landmarks are identifiable.)

Written by Christopher Fitz-Simon.

Muriel McConkey ...... Margaret D'Arcy
Vera McConkey ...... Stella McCusker
Phonsie Doherty ...... Gerard Murphy
Mrs Vivienne Hawthorne ...... Aine McCartney
Rev. Samuel Hawthorne ...... Dermot Crowley
Kevin 'Stumpy' Bonnar ...... Gerard McSorley
Guard Gallagher ...... Frankie McCafferty
Daniel O'Searcaigh ...... James Greene
Monsignor McFadden ...... Niall Cusack
Aubrey Frawley ...... Chris McHallem
Polly Acton ...... Joanna Munro
Eamonn Doyle ...... Patrick Fitzsymons
Mr Boylan ...... Derek Bailey

Pianist: Michael Harrison

Director: Eoin O'Callaghan

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2011.


THU 07:30 Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice (m000c4zq)
Episode 2

A new series from Tom Allen, star of Mock The Week, Bake Off Extra Slice, The Apprentice: You're Fired and fresh from a sell out solo performance at The London Palladium.

Tom Allen is Actually Not Very Nice explores what happens when Tom's calm and collected exterior collapses. He used to be such a nice boy but what has happened to turn him naughty?

With help from the assembled studio audience, Tom works out how best to navigate some tricky social situations and how to keep a lid on his fury when confronted with life's small injustices.

Featuring Gabby Best.

Photo credit: Edward Moore @edshots

Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production


THU 08:00 The Ken Dodd Show (b05p67jy)
From 25/04/1965

Meet the World's Worst Weightlifter and Doddy undertakes a desert island stint with Man Friday.

Starring Ken Dodd.

With John Laurie, Judith Chalmers, Wallas Eaton and Percy Edwards.

Music from The Migil.

Doddy's Diddy Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Lockyer.

Script by Ken Dodd and Eddie Braben.

Producer: Bill Worsley

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in April 1965.


THU 08:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00rxf3m)
Series 3

Episode 4

The Archers sell up - and Admiral Lord Nelson's diary.

More quick-fire sketches, terrible puns, humorous songs and parodies.

Stars Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.

Written by John Esmond and Bob Larbey, Graeme Garden, Eric Idle, David & Peter Lund 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 Dave Lee and Bill Oddie.

Producer: Humphrey Barclay

First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in April 1966.


THU 09:00 It's Your Round (b00yjs4p)
Series 1

Episode 1

It's the comedy panel show with no format!

Find out what hilarity ensues when Rufus Hound, Miles Jupp, Sara Pascoe and Adam Hills do battle in the games that each of them have brought along,

Stand by for "Them Next Door", "What Does My Dad Know?", "Come To Romford!" and "Newspaper Headline or Cryptic Crossword Clue".

All these games are untried, untested and unpredictable so it could all end in disaster. But that's all part of the fun!

Angus Deayton is the host valiantly trying to keep the show together.

Writers: Angus Deayton, Ged Parsons and Paul Powell

Devised by Benjamin Partridge

Producer: Sam Michell.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2011.


THU 09:30 Change at Oglethorpe (b007k0dp)
Remember, Remember the Fifth of September

The blackest day of the year has come to Oglethorpe station - it's June's birthday. Rocket and Points are keeping out of her way, but station manager David is determined to make it a day to remember!

Peter Davison and Michael Williams star in Peter Morfoot's railway sitcom.

David ...... Peter Davison
Rocket ...... Michael Williams
June ...... Rosemary Martin
Points ...... Phillippa Wilson
Hattie ...... Madge Hindle
Sodd ...... Chris Emmett

Producer: Gareth Edwards

First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in December 1995.


THU 10:00 Drama (b06r1b2h)
The Arabian Nights

Episode 1

The immortal stories of The Arabian Nights are brought to life in an inventive fresh adaptation by Glen Neath, reviving favourites such as Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves and The Fisherman and The Demon along with lesser known tales.

This is a world of wonder, magic and comedy - but also of contemporary realism. Successive generations in the east and the west have reinterpreted these tales, recognising the inept rulers, the resourceful slaves and the wondrous magicians. That’s why this is one of the most enduring and influential books in literature.

In this opener, we join Ata Madri (Indira Varma) as she heads to modern day Cairo to track down an elusive medieval copy of The Nights - one that is said to contain the original ending. A sea of stories awaits her.

An extraordinary ensemble of actors from east and west come together to tell the tales.

Narrator....................Nadim Sawalha
Madri.........................Indira Varma
Clive, King Yunan.......Ewan Bailey
Taxi Driver, Hasan......Nayef Rashed
Ali Baba......................Muzz Khan
Ali Baba's wife............Noa Bodner
Cassim, King of the City's Vizier......Noof McEwan
Cassim's wife.............Alyssa Kyria
Marjaneh....................Laura Hanna
Cobbler, Vizier............Niall Ashdown
Robber........................Waleed Elgadi
Captain.......................Alexei Sayle
Ali Baba's son, Young Man..............Amir El-Masry
Shopkeeper, Fisherman..................Nabil Elouahabi
Professor, Demon........Stewart Scudamore
Sage Duban.................Renu Setna
King of the City............Bhasker Patel
Evil Wife.......................Sharlit Deyzac

Sound design by Alisdair McGregor
Music by Michael Ward with David Lewin and Peter Rophone

Director: Boz Temple-Morris

A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2015.


THU 11:00 Survivors by Laura Barnett (b08606t2)
Tamsin Greig reads Laura Barnett's story of blended families. Isabel makes a gesture of Christmas day diplomacy and discovers that whilst family history may be in the past, it is rarely truly over.

A Christmas story specially commissioned for BBC Radio 4 read by Tamsin Greig.

Laura Barnett is an author and journalist.

Producer: Simon Richardson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2016.


THU 11:15 Drama (b05nt1vb)
Sean Grundy - Far Side of the Moore

Tom Hollander (Rev, Pirates of The Caribbean) stars as Patrick Moore, with Patricia Hodge as his mother Gertrude.

It's 1957 and the little known Patrick Moore is living with his mother in East Grinstead, from where he studies the heavens and writes popular factual works on astronomy, as well as science fiction under a pseudonym.

When Moore's latest book 'Suns, Myths and Men' gets a terrible review from the stuffy academic Dr Henry King, Patrick is in despair and, when the phone rings, he braces himself for more bad news.

Sean Grundy's drama is both a moving and at times laugh out loud funny telling of a key moment in the life of Patrick Moore.

This is the story of how the self taught astronomer, whose Moon maps were later used by the Apollo missions, became the presenter of The Sky At Night. But it's also the story of a mysterious love affair, and a window into the mind of one of the nation's favourite broadcasters.

Lorna ...... Felicity Duncan
Gertrude Moore ...... Patricia Hodge
Patrick Moore ...... Tom Hollander
Dr Henry King ...... Anton Lesser
Eileen Wilkins ...... Charlotte Ritchie
Leonard Miall ...... David Shaw-Parker
Arthur C Clarke ...... Simon Treves
Paul Johnstone ...... Daniel Weyman

Director: Dirk Maggs

Producer: David Morley

A Perfectly Normal production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in March 2015


THU 12:00 The Ken Dodd Show (b05p67jy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]


THU 12:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00rxf3m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]


THU 13:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000ccwc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


THU 13:30 The Playlist Series (b017ng3m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]


THU 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b05vy8bv)
Sarah Hall - The Wolf Border

Episode 4

As the project gets underway, word reaches the local community and unleashes a backlash. Meanwhile Rachel has a life changing first encounter.

Sarah Hall's novel is a compelling story about power, land, family and love. At its heart is Rachel Caine, tough, untouchable, an expert on wolves, and long estranged from her home county of Cumbria and her fiery mother and lost brother. Like the wolves she protects and champions, she is wary of humanity and happiest in the untamed wilderness.

Set against the dramatic and perfectly evoked backdrop of the Lakeland fells, The Wolf Border explores issues of ownership and vested power, of re-wilding and of family as Rachel realises she can choose, and change.

Reader: Hattie Morahan

Abridger: Sally Marmion

Producer: Di Speirs

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.


THU 14:15 Prime Ministers' Props (b07qbcb0)
Series 1

Sir Alec Douglas-Home's Matchsticks

Professor Sir David Cannadine explores political fame and image by looking at how an object or prop, whether chosen deliberately or otherwise, can come to define a political leader.

Sir David looks at the significance of these props of power - what they mean and what they become, and what happens when, almost inevitably, Prime Ministers lose control of their image and their props take on a hostile meaning, very different from their original intentions.

The aristocratic Sir Alec Douglas-Home appeared removed both from the majority of the British people and, to some extent, the modern world itself. He showed the depth of his inexperience when he casually commented to a reporter that he used matchsticks to help him understand economic problems. "When I have to read economic documents I have to have a box of matches and start moving them into position to simplify and illustrate the points to myself."

It was a gift for Leader of the Opposition, Harold Wilson, who used the matchstick comment to goad and embarrass the Conservative Prime Minister at every opportunity. The matchsticks came to define Sir Alec's inadequacies as leader and, when it came to problem-solving, his ultimately successful opponent Wilson was more familiar with slide rules than matchsticks.

Home's premiership was the second briefest of the twentieth century, lasting just two days short of a year. Who knows what would have happened if Sir Alec hadn't made that careless matchstick comment.

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

A Blakeway production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2016.


THU 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b04vkg6n)
Nigel Slater - Eating for England

Episode 4

As an adult, Nigel enjoys time with an aging Aunt Elvie, who has some mysterious news to impart over cream tea and champagne.

Aunt Elvie......................Celia Imrie
Nigel Slater...................Julian Rhind-Tutt
Joan..............................Fenella Woolgar
Young Nigel...................Isaac Whitmore
Waiter...........................Nigel Slater

Eating for England, the successor to his highly acclaimed memoir Toast, is part food memoir, part collective memory bank of a nation's taste. Using the book as source material along with further conversations with Nigel, dramatist Sarah Daniels has written a playful reimagining. A grown up Nigel - played by Julian Rhind-Tutt, looks back on his childhood while caring for a now elderly, yet ever sparkling, Aunt Elvie, played by Celia Imrie.

Rich with sounds of the kitchen and recorded on location, with a cameo performance from Nigel himself.

What drives a cook to write about food? Why is there such a powerful link between memory and what we eat? And why is reading about food so irresistibly appetising?

Dramatised by Sarah Daniels

Sound design by Eloise Whitmore

Director: Polly Thomas

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2014.


THU 14:45 Book of the Week (b059dfhy)
The Utopia Experiment

Episode 4

The commune comes face to face with the challenges of local authority planning permission. That, however, is the least of Dylan's problems.

Written and read by Dylan Evans.

A true story that you couldn't make up - one man's attempt to survive a global catastrophe by setting up a commune in Scotland.

While lecturing in robotics, academic Dylan Evans became increasingly concerned by the visible impacts of global warming, population increase, terrorism - and by our inability to cope with a doomsday scenario in a world engineered to just-in-time living.

The concern became an obsession and Evans left his post to run an experiment. He set up a camp that would create the conditions for a post-apocalyptic world. It was established in the Scottish Highlands with a collection of people chosen for talents and skills necessary in a life without technology or comforts.

The resulting story is a Lord of the Flies for the modern day, treating serious and normally sombre topics with dark humour. At its heart, however, is one man's well-intentioned dream and the price he paid for trying to do something good.

Abridged by Barry Johnston

Producer: David Roper

A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in March 2015.


THU 15:00 Drama (b06r1b2h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]


THU 16:00 It's Your Round (b00yjs4p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 16:30 Change at Oglethorpe (b007k0dp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]


THU 17:00 Ballylenon (b00yqtqm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]


THU 17:30 Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice (m000c4zq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


THU 18:00 Short Works (m000ccwf)
Patricia Highsmith Stories

The Man Who Wrote Books In His Head

His wife described him as a novelist. But none of E Taylor Cheever’s 14 novels were ever committed to paper.

Read by Greta Scacchi.

Five tales by the celebrated American crime and psychological novelist and short story writer, Patricia Highsmith.

Patricia Highsmith was born in Texas in 1921-1995. She wrote eight collections of short stories and 22 novels, among them the five ‘Ripley’ novels for which she is perhaps best known. Her first, Strangers On A Train, was the basis for the eponymous Hitchcock film of 1951. She died in Switzerland in 1995.

Producer/abridger: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4 Extra


THU 18:15 Roald Dahl (b0106tjk)
Kiss Kiss

Mrs Bixby and The Colonel's Coat

Mrs Bixby - wife of a dull, New York dentist - is having an affair with a wealthy playboy known as the Colonel. When he decides to end their relationship, the Colonel gives her a mink coat as a keepsake.

Realizing that her husband will wonder where she acquired such an expensive gift, Mrs Bixby devises an ingenious plan to explain it away....

Five classic tales by Roald Dahl starring Charles Dance as the urbane Storyteller and Lorelei King as Mrs Bixby.

Taken from the anthology, Kiss, Kiss. Bizarre and amusing by turns, these black comedies are justly famous for their surprise endings. They show Dahl at the height of his powers as a writer of adult fiction, and are characterised by their deliciously cynical view of human nature and the relish with which they punish the charlatans, bullies and schemers who inhabit their world.

Dramatised by Stephen Sheridan.

Storyteller........Charles Dance
Mrs Bixby / Miss Pulteney........Lorelei King
Bixby / Colonel /
Wilkins / Pawnbroker......Kerry Shale

Director: David Blount

A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2011.


THU 18:30 Great Lives (b03s718g)
Series 32

DJ Sara Cox nominates singer Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes

The DJ Sara Cox nominates Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes, a hip hop artist and rapper who performed with the band TLC. She burned her lover's house down and TLC went bankrupt. Lisa died in a car accident aged 30, during a documentary shoot. The expert witness is music journalist Jacqueline Springer and the presenter is Matthew Parris.

Assistant Producer: Milly Chowles

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.


THU 19:00 The Ken Dodd Show (b05p67jy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]


THU 19:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00rxf3m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]


THU 20:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000ccwc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


THU 20:30 The Playlist Series (b017ng3m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]


THU 21:00 Survivors by Laura Barnett (b08606t2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]


THU 21:15 Drama (b05nt1vb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]


THU 22:00 Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice (m000c4zq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


THU 22:30 Lewis Macleod Is Not Himself (b04grrpq)
Episode 1

The impression and sketch show that looks behind the scenes at the life and work of star impressionist Lewis Macleod

Lewis has performed on 4 Extra's Newsjack, plus Postman Pat, The Phantom Menace and Dead Ringers.

With Kate O'Sullivan, Duncan Wisbey and Julian Dutton.

Producer: Lyndsay Fenner

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014,


THU 23:00 Mr and Mrs Smith (b01blzkq)
The Music Festival

Will reluctantly accompanies wife Annabelle to a music festival. She brings her annoying friend Heather along.

Will Smith's sitcom about a couple in marriage counselling,

Counsellor Guy must mediate another dispute between Will and Annabelle, with flashbacks to the events that spawned the argument, and by the end, the couple find marital equilibrium once more. Sort of.

Will Smith ..... Will Smith
Annabelle Smith ..... Sarah Hadland
Guy ..... Paterson Joseph
Heather ..... Morwenna Banks
Various ..... Simon Bubb

Producer: Tilusha Ghelani

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2012.


THU 23:30 Cowards (b00fbkz5)
Series 2

Episode 1

Step inside the strange and happy world of the Cowards.

Series 2 of sketch comedy with a comic slant on human frailties

Starring Tom Basden, Stefan Golaszewski, Tim Key and Lloyd Woolf.

Producer: Victoria Lloyd

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2008.



FRIDAY 20 DECEMBER 2019

FRI 00:00 Short Works (m000ccwf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]


FRI 00:15 Roald Dahl (b0106tjk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Thursday]


FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b03s718g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]


FRI 01:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000ccwc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]


FRI 01:30 The Playlist Series (b017ng3m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]


FRI 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b05vy8bv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]


FRI 02:15 Prime Ministers' Props (b07qbcb0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]


FRI 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b04vkg6n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]


FRI 02:45 Book of the Week (b059dfhy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Thursday]


FRI 03:00 Drama (b06r1b2h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]


FRI 04:00 It's Your Round (b00yjs4p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]


FRI 04:30 Change at Oglethorpe (b007k0dp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]


FRI 05:00 Ballylenon (b00yqtqm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]


FRI 05:30 Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice (m000c4zq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]


FRI 06:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cbjt)
Up In The Castle

With one suspect cleared of murdering Willy Mariello, a bomb is planted in Charles Paris's bag - meaning suspicions shift elsewhere...

Francis Matthews stars as thespian sleuth, Charles Paris.

Conclusion of Simon Brett’s thriller serial adapted from his book.

Charles Paris ...... Francis Matthews
Anna Duncan ...... Kim Thomson
James Milne ...... Alan McNaughtan
Martin Warburton ...... Michael Maloney
Frances ...... Jennifer Hilary

Producer: Martin Fisher

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1985.


FRI 06:30 Good Grief: The Story of Peanuts (b00vrvdm)
Pete Paphides, writer and music critic, talks to family, friends and fans of Charles Schulz, creator of the Peanuts cartoon. He asks why he related so strongly to long suffering Charlie Brown and why Peanuts was the most successful newspaper comic strip of all time.

The programme contains interviews with Schulz's widow, Jean Schulz, two of his children- Craig and Jill, as well as contributions from graphic designer Chip Kidd, comic book artist Chris Ware and life-long fan Russell T. Davies.

Schulz's died in 2000. He created Peanuts in 1950, and Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Shroeder et al still hold a huge place in people's lives and memories. The Peanuts comic strip was the most popular cartoon strip of all time and crossed boundaries of young and old- some claim it did for comic strips what the Beatles did for music. Others called it 'a beat strip', perfectly reflecting American society. But its appeal was global.

Using the most minimum of lines, Schulz was able to convey emotions and humour. His characters were contemplative, philosophical, isolated, sometimes depressed. And surprisingly they made clever observations about classical music, theology psychiatry and sport. Classic story-lines included the Great Pumpkin, Lucy vying for attention at Shroeder's piano, Linus' blanket, Snoopy versus the Red Baron, and Charlie Brown never kicking the football.

Charlie Brown, the central character was isolated and lonely. A real person, with real problems was a new idea in comics and he spoke to people all over the world- including the presenter of this programme, Pete Paphides, growing up in Birmingham.

Producer: Laura Parfitt
A White Pebble Media production first broadcast on for BBC Radio 4 in November 2010.


FRI 07:00 1834 (b011klyr)
Strong Continental Lager

21st-century teacher Jason decides 19th-century Macclesfield needs a decent pub with decent beer.

In Jim Poyser's riotous comedy of transportation and delight, Jason is now Tarquin, third son of Lord Belport with a faithful valet, Ned.

Stars Michael Begley as Jason Slater, Joe Caffrey as Ned, Kenneth Alan Taylor as Hoskins, Mark Chatterton as Lord Belport, Glenn Cunningham as Stubbs and Julia Rounthwaite as Millicent.

Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2003.


FRI 07:30 Fred at The Stand (m000cbjx)
Series 1

Cook, Sutherland, Vee and Waugh

Fred MacAulay introduces some of the funniest comedians in the UK doing what they do best - pure stand up comedy. Recorded at The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh.

This week, the unstoppable Jason Cook tells a story about performing on a cruise ship, JoJo Sutherland lets slip some of her supermum secrets, Sindu Vee tries to explain the leniency of her parenting compared to what can be found in India, and Scotsman Gareth Waugh has a plan to save the bees.

A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 08:00 The Burkiss Way (b007jrtv)
Series 4

Remember the Burkiss Way

It's the clash of the game shows! Jo Kendall, Chris Emmett, Fred Harris and Nigel Rees try to win the car.

Cult sketch comedy series which originally ran from 1976 to 1980.

Written by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick.

Producer: David Hatch

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1979.


FRI 08:30 Something to Shout About (m000cbk0)
Series 3

Episode 5

An American client asks Maggie for a UK advert to promote his new air freshener which promises to bring the smell of nature into our homes.

But why does Mavis have to type it in the bath?

"A light-hearted exposé of the advertising world!". Set in a London ad agency called 'Apsley, Addis, Cohen, Barbican, Blythe, Giddy & Partners'.

Michael Lightfoot.................... Michael Medwin
Maggie........................................ Eleanor Summerfield
Janet............................................. Fenella Fielding
Mavis........................................... .Joan Sims
Adrian Beates........................... Nicholas Phipps
Other characters...................... Roy Dotrice

Script by Myles Rudge and Ronnie Wolfe

Producer John Simmonds

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in October 1961.


FRI 09:00 The Food Quiz (b09k9g9q)
Christmas Special 2004

Jay Rayner gives Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Clarissa Dickson-Wright, Pat Chapman and Jancis Robinson a festive grilling on their knowledge of food and drink.

Producer: Dixi Stewart

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2004.


FRI 09:30 The Phenomenon Squad (b0855z15)
The Purge

Brabazon's intrepid cops are purging pornography. But WPI Nutkins wants a wimple. Stars Roy Kinnear and Susie Blake. From October 1987.


FRI 10:00 Drama (b06rwgd7)
The Arabian Nights

Episode 2

The immortal stories of The Arabian Nights are brought to life in an inventive new adaptation by Glen Neath, as present and past merge into one.

Ata Madri (Indira Varma) is in Cairo attempting to retrieve a lost manuscript of The Arabian Nights that is said to contain the real ending of the book. As we follow her search we slip into this sea of stories.

The Hunchback Cycle is told in this episode, including the story of The Barber (Alexei Sayle) and his brothers, as well as lesser known stories.

These tales of wonder and imagination have beguiled both east and west over generations and remain as seminal and influential as ever. Here, the stories are told in a rich world of sound by an ensemble of actors from around the world.

Cast:
Narrator.....................Nadim Sawalha
Madri..........................Indira Varma
Clive, Steward............Ewan Bailey
Ali Zum, Thief, Chief....Waleed Elgadi
Tailor...........................Bhasker Patel
Tailor’s Wife................Alyssa Kyria
Christian, Old Man.......Niall Ashdown
Lame Young Man,
Al-Haddar....................Muzz Khan
Mother,
Beautiful Woman..........Noa Bodner
Barber..........................Alexei Sayle
Jewish Physician’s maid,
Judge’s Daughter.........Sharlit Deyzac
Caliph...........................Renu Setna
Bakbook,
Jewish Physician...........Amir El-Masry
Young Woman..............Laura Hanna
Bakbak.........................Nabil Elouahabi
Blind Beggar.................Noof McEwan
Watchman, Al-Ashar.....Stewart Scudamore
Hasan, Taxi Driver........Nayef Rashed

Sound design by Alisdair McGregor
Music by Michael Ward with David Lewin and Peter Rophone
Directed by Boz Temple-Morris
A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 11:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m000cbk2)
Presenters recommend their favourite podcasts and speak to the people who make them.


FRI 12:00 The Burkiss Way (b007jrtv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]


FRI 12:30 Something to Shout About (m000cbk0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]


FRI 13:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cbjt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


FRI 13:30 Good Grief: The Story of Peanuts (b00vrvdm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]


FRI 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b05vy8cc)
Sarah Hall - The Wolf Border

Episode 5

With the wolves bonding, the time is approaching for their release into the estate where they must mate to guarantee the success of the project.

And Rachel has a new surprise...

Sarah Hall's novel is a compelling story about personal and political borders, about power, land, family and love. At its heart is Rachel Caine, tough, untouchable, an expert on wolves, and long estranged from her home county of Cumbria and her fiery mother and lost brother. Like the wolves she protects and champions, she is wary of human connections, happy in the untamed wilderness.

Set against the dramatic and artfully drawn backdrops of the Lakeland fells, The Wolf Border explores issues of ownership and vested power, of re-wilding and of family bonds as Rachel discovers that she can choose, and change.

Reader: Hattie Morahan

Abridger: Sally Marmion

Producer: Di Speirs

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.


FRI 14:15 Prime Ministers' Props (b07syyrk)
Series 1

Harold Wilson's Pipe and Mac

Professor Sir David Cannadine explores political fame and image by looking at how an object or prop, whether chosen deliberately or otherwise, can come to define a political leader - from Winston Churchill's cigar and siren suit to Margaret Thatcher's handbag.

Sir David looks at the significance of these props of power - what they mean and what they become, and what happens when, almost inevitably, Prime Ministers lose control of their image and their props take on a hostile meaning, very different from their original intentions.

Harold Wilson sought to enhance his political image, in part by wearing a Gannex mac which made him seem ordinary, and also by puffing at his pipe, as memorably expressed in Ruskin Spear's 1974 portrait of him.

Following Stanley Baldwin, who had also made much of his pipe, Harold Wilson hoped to convey an image that was homely, benevolent and avuncular, and to some extent he succeeded. But the unintended consequence was that the pipe also enhanced Wilson's reputation for evasiveness and deviousness. Whenever asked a difficult question by an interviewer, he would delay and distract attention by lighting up - and it was widely believed that, although he puffed his pipe in public, he preferred cigars in private. A rumour that his son, Robin Wilson, scotches.

The Gannex mac was also to become a hostage to fortune for Wilson. While he was the peak of his popularity, the Gannex made him look like a man of the people and the millionaire businessman who invented Gannex, Joseph Kagan, became a close friend of Wilson. But once Kagan fell from grace due to his crooked business dealings, Wilson's Kagan connection was further evidence to his enemies that he was not to be trusted.

Producer: Melissa FitzGerald

A Blakeway production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2016.


FRI 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b04w0k8x)
Nigel Slater - Eating for England

Episode 5

Aunt Elvie, now in a home, continues to play a central part in Nigel's life.

Aunt Elvie......................Celia Imrie
Nigel Slater...................Julian Rhind-Tutt
Waiter...........................Nigel Slater
Nellie.............................Buffy Davies
Cynthia..........................Effie MacMillan

Eating for England, the successor to his highly acclaimed memoir Toast, is part food memoir, part collective memory bank of a nation's taste. Using the book as source material along with further conversations with Nigel, dramatist Sarah Daniels has written a playful reimagining. A grown up Nigel - played by Julian Rhind-Tutt, looks back on his childhood while caring for a now elderly, yet ever sparkling, Aunt Elvie, played by Celia Imrie.

Rich with sounds of the kitchen and recorded on location, with a cameo performance from Nigel himself.

What drives a cook to write about food? Why is there such a powerful link between memory and what we eat? And why is reading about food so irresistibly appetising?

Dramatised by Sarah Daniels.

Sound design by Eloise Whitmore.

Director: Polly Thomas

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2014.


FRI 14:45 Book of the Week (b059jjn6)
The Utopia Experiment

Episode 5

Dylan finds himself sectioned in a hospital's psychiatric unit. It's not quite dystopia, but it's certainly not the future he had imagined.

Written and concluded by Dylan Evans.

A true story that you couldn't make up - one man's attempt to survive a global catastrophe by setting up a commune in Scotland.

While lecturing in robotics, academic Dylan Evans became increasingly concerned by the visible impacts of global warming, population increase, terrorism - and by our inability to cope with a doomsday scenario in a world engineered to just-in-time living.

The concern became an obsession and Evans left his post to run an experiment. He set up a camp that would create the conditions for a post-apocalyptic world. It was established in the Scottish Highlands with a collection of people chosen for talents and skills necessary in a life without technology or comforts.

The resulting story is a Lord of the Flies for the modern day, treating serious and normally sombre topics with dark humour. At its heart, however, is one man's well-intentioned dream and the price he paid for trying to do something good.

Abridged by Barry Johnston.

Producer: David Roper

A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in March 2015.


FRI 15:00 Drama (b06rwgd7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]


FRI 16:00 The Food Quiz (b09k9g9q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


FRI 16:30 The Phenomenon Squad (b0855z15)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]


FRI 17:00 1834 (b011klyr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]


FRI 17:30 Fred at The Stand (m000cbjx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


FRI 18:00 Short Works (m000cbk4)
Patricia Highsmith Stories

The Baby Spoon

Claude is more than irritated by his wife’s attachment to an old silver keepsake.

Read by Greta Scacchi.

Five tales by the celebrated American crime and psychological novelist and short story writer, Patricia Highsmith.

Patricia Highsmith was born in Texas in 1921-1995. She wrote eight collections of short stories and 22 novels, among them the five ‘Ripley’ novels for which she is perhaps best known. Her first, Strangers On A Train, was the basis for the eponymous Hitchcock film of 1951. She died in Switzerland in 1995.

Producer/abridger: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4 Extra


FRI 18:15 Roald Dahl (b0106vcp)
Kiss Kiss

The Landlady

Meet young Billy Weaver, who has just arrived in Bath to take up a new job. He books into a curiously deserted B&B. The landlady, who inhabits a sitting room filled with stuffed animals, is welcoming but odd. Wondering if he's her only guest, Billy checks the register and sees two strangely familiar names.

Taking tea with her later, Billy suddenly remembers reading in the papers that both her former guests disappeared in mysterious circumstances. The landlady tells Billy that, like him, each was a beautiful young man whom she didn't want to leave....

Five classic tales by Roald Dahl starring Charles Dance as the urbane Storyteller and Doreen Mantle as the Landlady.

Taken from the anthology, Kiss, Kiss. Bizarre and amusing by turns, these black comedies are justly famous for Dahl's surprise endings.

Storyteller........Charles Dance
Landlady.........Doreen Mantle
Billy Weaver.....James Joyce
Mr Greenslade...John Rowe

Director: David Blount

A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2011.


FRI 18:30 Off the Page (b0076qfw)
The King Is Dead

Matthew Parris discusses succession with Misha Glenny, Richard Gott and Daisy Sampson. From February 2005.


FRI 19:00 The Burkiss Way (b007jrtv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]


FRI 19:30 Something to Shout About (m000cbk0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]


FRI 20:00 Charles Paris: So Much Blood (m000cbjt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


FRI 20:30 Good Grief: The Story of Peanuts (b00vrvdm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]


FRI 21:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m000cbk2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]


FRI 22:00 Fred at The Stand (m000cbjx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


FRI 22:30 In and Out of the Kitchen (b03srgv9)
Series 3

The Awards

Damien is nominated for a 'Melvyn' for his TV show about the culinary habits of the great poets but finds it hard to think of what to write in his column for a new gentleman's magazine. Meanwhile, Anthony busies himself preparing for an audition for an amateur production of Noel Coward's Hay Fever.


FRI 23:00 The Iguanodon (b0075cpk)
Two Sausage Rolls Between the Seven of Us

A startling revelation for Sam after he survives a sinking and the pirates - again.

The passengers and crew of 'The Iganodon' are still adrift in the Woe Betides. Will they ever get back to the mainland?

A three-part comedy adventure by Paul Lucas.

Starring Paul Haigh as Sam Varley, Bernard Cribbins as Mr Brook, Rosemary Leach as Isabel, Dermot Crowley as Don O'Reilly, John Arthur as the Captain, Patsy Byrne as Harriet and Sally Phillips as Laura.

Other parts played by Fred Harris and Kevin Eldon.

Producer: Jo Clegg

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1997.


FRI 23:30 The Mel and Sue Thing (b00769y0)
Episode 3

A guitar legend, Jane Austen and a soap opera queen. Sketches galore with Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc. From October 2002.




LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)

15 Minute Drama 02:30 SAT (b019h2b6)

15 Minute Drama 14:30 MON (b04vk6ky)

15 Minute Drama 02:30 TUE (b04vk6ky)

15 Minute Drama 14:30 TUE (b04w0jfs)

15 Minute Drama 02:30 WED (b04w0jfs)

15 Minute Drama 14:30 WED (b04w0jxk)

15 Minute Drama 02:30 THU (b04w0jxk)

15 Minute Drama 14:30 THU (b04vkg6n)

15 Minute Drama 02:30 FRI (b04vkg6n)

15 Minute Drama 14:30 FRI (b04w0k8x)

1834 05:00 SAT (b011db7v)

1834 07:00 FRI (b011klyr)

1834 17:00 FRI (b011klyr)

2000 Years of Radio 23:00 SUN (b007jng1)

55 and Over 07:00 MON (b01p3hnx)

55 and Over 17:00 MON (b01p3hnx)

55 and Over 05:00 TUE (b01p3hnx)

A Good Read 18:30 MON (b00jcq5h)

A Good Read 00:30 TUE (b00jcq5h)

An Actor's Life for Me 09:30 WED (b00899ps)

An Actor's Life for Me 16:30 WED (b00899ps)

An Actor's Life for Me 04:30 THU (b00899ps)

Archive on 4 08:00 SAT (b05jbcf7)

Archive on 4 15:00 SAT (b05jbcf7)

Archive on 4 03:00 SUN (b05jbcf7)

Armstrong and Miller 22:30 TUE (b00t3vjx)

Arthur Smith's Balham Bash 22:30 WED (b00s3h46)

Ballylenon 07:00 THU (b00yqtqm)

Ballylenon 17:00 THU (b00yqtqm)

Ballylenon 05:00 FRI (b00yqtqm)

Bleak Expectations 22:30 MON (b00nyy8s)

Bone Stories 02:15 SAT (b0910svm)

Book at Bedtime 02:00 SAT (b07hj93g)

Book at Bedtime 14:00 MON (b05v7tmb)

Book at Bedtime 02:00 TUE (b05v7tmb)

Book at Bedtime 14:00 TUE (b05vy88z)

Book at Bedtime 02:00 WED (b05vy88z)

Book at Bedtime 14:00 WED (b05vy89l)

Book at Bedtime 02:00 THU (b05vy89l)

Book at Bedtime 14:00 THU (b05vy8bv)

Book at Bedtime 02:00 FRI (b05vy8bv)

Book at Bedtime 14:00 FRI (b05vy8cc)

Book of the Week 02:45 SAT (b05nvb6f)

Book of the Week 14:45 MON (b059crs2)

Book of the Week 02:45 TUE (b059crs2)

Book of the Week 14:45 TUE (b055fkbc)

Book of the Week 02:45 WED (b055fkbc)

Book of the Week 14:45 WED (b059crlx)

Book of the Week 02:45 THU (b059crlx)

Book of the Week 14:45 THU (b059dfhy)

Book of the Week 02:45 FRI (b059dfhy)

Book of the Week 14:45 FRI (b059jjn6)

Change at Oglethorpe 09:30 THU (b007k0dp)

Change at Oglethorpe 16:30 THU (b007k0dp)

Change at Oglethorpe 04:30 FRI (b007k0dp)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 01:00 SAT (m000c58m)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 06:00 MON (m000cb2p)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 13:00 MON (m000cb2p)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 20:00 MON (m000cb2p)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 01:00 TUE (m000cb2p)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 06:00 TUE (m000cctj)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 13:00 TUE (m000cctj)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 20:00 TUE (m000cctj)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 01:00 WED (m000cctj)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 06:00 WED (m000cc9v)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 13:00 WED (m000cc9v)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 20:00 WED (m000cc9v)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 01:00 THU (m000cc9v)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 06:00 THU (m000ccwc)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 13:00 THU (m000ccwc)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 20:00 THU (m000ccwc)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 01:00 FRI (m000ccwc)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 06:00 FRI (m000cbjt)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 13:00 FRI (m000cbjt)

Charles Paris: So Much Blood 20:00 FRI (m000cbjt)

Clare in the Community 23:00 WED (b00snrjy)

Colin Hoult's Carnival of Monsters 23:00 SAT (b037j6vl)

Cowards 23:30 THU (b00fbkz5)

Creme de la Crime 07:00 SUN (b00807sd)

Creme de la Crime 14:00 SUN (b00807sd)

Creme de la Crime 02:00 MON (b00807sd)

Dad's Army 08:30 MON (b007jpp4)

Dad's Army 12:30 MON (b007jpp4)

Dad's Army 19:30 MON (b007jpp4)

Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe 10:00 TUE (b007jqy3)

Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe 15:00 TUE (b007jqy3)

Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe 03:00 WED (b007jqy3)

Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe 10:00 WED (b007jqyc)

Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe 15:00 WED (b007jqyc)

Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe 03:00 THU (b007jqyc)

David Attenborough's Life Stories 11:50 SUN (b00kr7bp)

David Buck - Barnsdale Wake 06:00 SAT (b05nxrtc)

David Buck - Barnsdale Wake 16:00 SAT (b05nxrtc)

David Buck - Barnsdale Wake 04:00 SUN (b05nxrtc)

Dawn Lowe-Watson - Closed to Visitors 10:00 MON (b04yf35h)

Dawn Lowe-Watson - Closed to Visitors 15:00 MON (b04yf35h)

Dawn Lowe-Watson - Closed to Visitors 03:00 TUE (b04yf35h)

Dead Ringers 23:00 MON (m000c4sj)

Dead Ringers 09:00 TUE (m000c4sj)

Desert Island Discs Revisited 10:15 SUN (b08ynt12)

Desert Island Discs Revisited 20:40 SUN (b08ynt12)

Down Your Way 14:15 SAT (m000c991)

Down Your Way 02:15 SUN (m000c991)

Drama 10:00 THU (b06r1b2h)

Drama 11:15 THU (b05nt1vb)

Drama 15:00 THU (b06r1b2h)

Drama 21:15 THU (b05nt1vb)

Drama 03:00 FRI (b06r1b2h)

Drama 10:00 FRI (b06rwgd7)

Drama 15:00 FRI (b06rwgd7)

E Nesbit - Hurst of Hurstcote 18:45 SAT (b007jmyy)

E Nesbit - Hurst of Hurstcote 00:45 SUN (b007jmyy)

Electric Ink 07:00 WED (b0116gvm)

Electric Ink 17:00 WED (b0116gvm)

Electric Ink 05:00 THU (b0116gvm)

Four Joneses and a Jenkins 07:00 TUE (b007jz3j)

Four Joneses and a Jenkins 17:00 TUE (b007jz3j)

Four Joneses and a Jenkins 05:00 WED (b007jz3j)

Fred at The Stand 05:30 SAT (b09cz4d4)

Fred at The Stand 07:30 FRI (m000cbjx)

Fred at The Stand 17:30 FRI (m000cbjx)

Fred at The Stand 22:00 FRI (m000cbjx)

From the Vineyard 07:15 SUN (b06tq9rm)

From the Vineyard 14:15 SUN (b06tq9rm)

From the Vineyard 02:15 MON (b06tq9rm)

Good Grief: The Story of Peanuts 06:30 FRI (b00vrvdm)

Good Grief: The Story of Peanuts 13:30 FRI (b00vrvdm)

Good Grief: The Story of Peanuts 20:30 FRI (b00vrvdm)

Great Lives 18:30 THU (b03s718g)

Great Lives 00:30 FRI (b03s718g)

Grossman's War 03:00 SAT (b014qxbd)

Grossman's War 03:15 SAT (b014qxbs)

Grossman's War 06:00 SUN (b0150b0c)

Grossman's War 13:00 SUN (b0150b0c)

Grossman's War 16:00 SUN (b0150ghf)

Grossman's War 01:00 MON (b0150b0c)

Grossman's War 04:00 MON (b0150ghf)

Guilt Trip 07:30 SUN (b07lhg2q)

Guilt Trip 17:30 SUN (b07lhg2q)

Guilt Trip 22:00 SUN (b07lhg2q)

Guilt Trip 05:30 MON (b07lhg2q)

HG Wells 18:00 SUN (b08hrkd4)

HG Wells 00:00 MON (b08hrkd4)

Hancock's Half Hour 08:00 WED (b00j283n)

Hancock's Half Hour 12:00 WED (b00j283n)

Hancock's Half Hour 19:00 WED (b00j283n)

Hannah Gadsby: Arts Clown 23:15 SUN (b055gcdq)

Huddwinks 09:30 MON (b009gc4p)

Huddwinks 16:30 MON (b009gc4p)

Huddwinks 04:30 TUE (b009gc4p)

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue 07:30 MON (m000c4x9)

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue 17:30 MON (m000c4x9)

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue 22:00 MON (m000c4x9)

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue 05:30 TUE (m000c4x9)

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again 08:30 THU (b00rxf3m)

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again 12:30 THU (b00rxf3m)

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again 19:30 THU (b00rxf3m)

ITMA - It's That Man Again 08:00 SUN (m000cb3q)

ITMA - It's That Man Again 12:00 SUN (m000cb3q)

In Search of the Holy Whale 01:30 SAT (b00xnynk)

In and Out of the Kitchen 22:30 FRI (b03srgv9)

Inheritance Tracks 14:10 SAT (m000c98z)

Inheritance Tracks 02:10 SUN (m000c98z)

Inheritance Tracks 11:50 MON (b0bk12c9)

Inheritance Tracks 21:50 MON (b0bk12c9)

It's Jocelyn 22:00 SAT (b08gy87v)

It's Not What You Know 04:00 SAT (b0640pnx)

It's Your Round 09:00 THU (b00yjs4p)

It's Your Round 16:00 THU (b00yjs4p)

It's Your Round 04:00 FRI (b00yjs4p)

Jelly Mountain 22:45 TUE (b00fr1z3)

Just a Minute 12:00 SAT (b01lhbgx)

Just a Minute 09:00 MON (b01lswv8)

Just a Minute 16:00 MON (b01lswv8)

Just a Minute 04:00 TUE (b01lswv8)

Kalangadog Junction 16:30 TUE (b09fggby)

Kalangadog Junction 04:30 WED (b09fggby)

Last Orders 00:30 SAT (b00qx1m5)

Lewis Macleod Is Not Himself 22:30 THU (b04grrpq)

Listen to Les 08:30 WED (b007wvm2)

Listen to Les 12:30 WED (b007wvm2)

Listen to Les 19:30 WED (b007wvm2)

Many a Slip 09:00 WED (b09wvq06)

Many a Slip 16:00 WED (b09wvq06)

Many a Slip 04:00 THU (b09wvq06)

Mr and Mrs Smith 23:00 THU (b01blzkq)

Off the Page 18:30 FRI (b0076qfw)

Peter Nichols - A Day in the Death of Joe Egg 19:00 SUN (m000cb40)

Philip Pullman - The Book of Dust (Omnibus) 14:30 SUN (b09d5l7r)

Philip Pullman - The Book of Dust (Omnibus) 02:30 MON (b09d5l7r)

Podcast Radio Hour 11:00 FRI (m000cbk2)

Podcast Radio Hour 21:00 FRI (m000cbk2)

Poetry Extra 17:00 SUN (m000cb3y)

Poetry Extra 21:30 SUN (m000cb3y)

Poetry Extra 05:00 MON (m000cb3y)

Prime Ministers' Props 14:15 MON (b07mxt94)

Prime Ministers' Props 02:15 TUE (b07mxt94)

Prime Ministers' Props 14:15 TUE (b07nrlqn)

Prime Ministers' Props 02:15 WED (b07nrlqn)

Prime Ministers' Props 14:15 WED (b07pgwg1)

Prime Ministers' Props 02:15 THU (b07pgwg1)

Prime Ministers' Props 14:15 THU (b07qbcb0)

Prime Ministers' Props 02:15 FRI (b07qbcb0)

Prime Ministers' Props 14:15 FRI (b07syyrk)

Radio 9 23:30 SUN (b04hkfq5)

Radio Active 23:30 MON (b007k39v)

Ray Bradbury - The Shape of Things to Come 18:00 SAT (b0499l5n)

Ray Bradbury - The Shape of Things to Come 00:00 SUN (b0499l5n)

Recycled Radio 07:30 SAT (b04d1kvd)

Recycled Radio 17:30 SAT (b04d1kvd)

Recycled Radio 05:30 SUN (b04d1kvd)

Revolting People 22:30 SAT (b00ww9fh)

Rhys James 07:30 TUE (m000c4qk)

Rhys James 17:30 TUE (m000c4qk)

Rhys James 22:00 TUE (m000c4qk)

Rhys James 05:30 WED (m000c4qk)

Roald Dahl 18:15 MON (b0105vtp)

Roald Dahl 00:15 TUE (b0105vtp)

Roald Dahl 18:15 TUE (b0105zkh)

Roald Dahl 00:15 WED (b0105zkh)

Roald Dahl 18:15 WED (b01064yd)

Roald Dahl 00:15 THU (b01064yd)

Roald Dahl 18:15 THU (b0106tjk)

Roald Dahl 00:15 FRI (b0106tjk)

Roald Dahl 18:15 FRI (b0106vcp)

Ross Noble Goes Global 23:30 SAT (b01cvr0t)

Round the Horne 08:30 TUE (b00lrv62)

Round the Horne 12:30 TUE (b00lrv62)

Round the Horne 19:30 TUE (b00lrv62)

Short Works 18:00 MON (m000cb2v)

Short Works 00:00 TUE (m000cb2v)

Short Works 18:00 TUE (m000cctq)

Short Works 00:00 WED (m000cctq)

Short Works 18:00 WED (m000ccb0)

Short Works 00:00 THU (m000ccb0)

Short Works 18:00 THU (m000ccwf)

Short Works 00:00 FRI (m000ccwf)

Short Works 18:00 FRI (m000cbk4)

Sid and Dora 08:30 SUN (b04vd29z)

Sid and Dora 12:30 SUN (b04vd29z)

Somebody Laughed: Eddie Braben Brings You Sunshine 09:00 SAT (b007lm74)

Somebody Laughed: Eddie Braben Brings You Sunshine 19:00 SAT (b007lm74)

Something to Shout About 08:30 FRI (m000cbk0)

Something to Shout About 12:30 FRI (m000cbk0)

Something to Shout About 19:30 FRI (m000cbk0)

Sounds Natural 18:30 TUE (b08yr9x7)

Sounds Natural 00:30 WED (b08yr9x7)

Stilgoe's Around 12:30 SAT (b007k3xj)

Stilgoe's Around 09:30 TUE (m000cctl)

Sue Perkins' Christmas Comedy Stocking 11:00 WED (m000cc9y)

Sue Perkins' Christmas Comedy Stocking 21:00 WED (m000cc9y)

Survivors by Laura Barnett 11:00 THU (b08606t2)

Survivors by Laura Barnett 21:00 THU (b08606t2)

Susan Calman Makes Me Happy 07:30 WED (m000c4x4)

Susan Calman Makes Me Happy 17:30 WED (m000c4x4)

Susan Calman Makes Me Happy 22:00 WED (m000c4x4)

Susan Calman Makes Me Happy 05:30 THU (m000c4x4)

TED Radio Hour 11:00 MON (m000cb2s)

TED Radio Hour 21:00 MON (m000cb2s)

Telling Tales 11:00 TUE (m000cctn)

Telling Tales 21:00 TUE (m000cctn)

The Brown Camp 06:30 TUE (b03ggllz)

The Brown Camp 13:30 TUE (b03ggllz)

The Brown Camp 20:30 TUE (b03ggllz)

The Brown Camp 01:30 WED (b03ggllz)

The Burkiss Way 08:00 FRI (b007jrtv)

The Burkiss Way 12:00 FRI (b007jrtv)

The Burkiss Way 19:00 FRI (b007jrtv)

The Comedy Club Interviews 22:55 SUN (m000d0fk)

The Comedy Club Interviews 22:55 MON (m000cy94)

The Comedy Club Interviews 22:55 WED (m000d20b)

The Consultants 23:30 WED (b007jwvr)

The Country Girls 13:00 SAT (m000c98x)

The Country Girls 01:00 SUN (m000c98x)

The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket 08:00 MON (b04nd4k2)

The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket 12:00 MON (b04nd4k2)

The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket 19:00 MON (b04nd4k2)

The Food Quiz 09:00 FRI (b09k9g9q)

The Food Quiz 16:00 FRI (b09k9g9q)

The Goon Show 08:00 TUE (b007k4c2)

The Goon Show 12:00 TUE (b007k4c2)

The Goon Show 19:00 TUE (b007k4c2)

The Iguanodon 23:00 FRI (b0075cpk)

The Ken Dodd Show 08:00 THU (b05p67jy)

The Ken Dodd Show 12:00 THU (b05p67jy)

The Ken Dodd Show 19:00 THU (b05p67jy)

The Listening Project 10:10 SUN (b05wz90g)

The Listening Project 21:25 SUN (b05wz90g)

The Mel and Sue Thing 23:30 FRI (b00769y0)

The Moth Radio Hour 11:00 SUN (b09k85pj)

The Palace of Laughter 18:30 WED (b007tzt7)

The Palace of Laughter 00:30 THU (b007tzt7)

The Phenomenon Squad 04:30 SAT (b084p6qt)

The Phenomenon Squad 09:30 FRI (b0855z15)

The Phenomenon Squad 16:30 FRI (b0855z15)

The Playlist Series 06:30 THU (b017ng3m)

The Playlist Series 13:30 THU (b017ng3m)

The Playlist Series 20:30 THU (b017ng3m)

The Playlist Series 01:30 FRI (b017ng3m)

The Remains of Foley and McColl 22:30 SUN (b007jrrn)

The Secret World 23:00 TUE (b0121myp)

The Unbelievable Truth 16:00 TUE (b06d2g56)

The Unbelievable Truth 04:00 WED (b06d2g56)

The Wales Window of Alabama 06:30 WED (b00z5zxv)

The Wales Window of Alabama 13:30 WED (b00z5zxv)

The Wales Window of Alabama 20:30 WED (b00z5zxv)

The Wales Window of Alabama 01:30 THU (b00z5zxv)

Think the Unthinkable 23:30 TUE (b00cqh5b)

Three-a-Penny (Omnibus) 09:00 SUN (m000cb3s)

Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice 07:30 THU (m000c4zq)

Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice 17:30 THU (m000c4zq)

Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice 22:00 THU (m000c4zq)

Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice 05:30 FRI (m000c4zq)

Who Ate All The Pies? 15:45 SUN (m000cb3v)

Who Ate All The Pies? 03:45 MON (m000cb3v)

William Gibson - Pattern Recognition 00:00 SAT (b007k21k)

Ziggy Stardust Came from Isleworth 06:30 MON (b00tdpz8)

Ziggy Stardust Came from Isleworth 13:30 MON (b00tdpz8)

Ziggy Stardust Came from Isleworth 20:30 MON (b00tdpz8)

Ziggy Stardust Came from Isleworth 01:30 TUE (b00tdpz8)