SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2021

SAT 00:00 Carey Harrison - A Call From The Dead (b01nf2h9)
It's good to talk - or so they say - but not when you're called from beyond the grave...

Dr Edward Elmore...........,,,,,.........John Shrapnel
Stephen Warburton.......,,,,,.........Nick Dunning
Reverend Neville Barber........,,,,Christopher Scott
Martha..........................................,,,,Carolyn Jones

Written by Carey Harrison

Director: Sally Avens

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1997.


SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b011vh4y)
Instant Gratification

Cheap credit and immediate online access to infinite availability have contributed to one of the defining characteristics of our time - the 'have it all' culture of being able to instantly gratify our wants and needs. But at what cost?

Dominic Arkwright explores the pleasures and pitfalls of instant gratification in the company of three speakers from very different walks of life. Representing the complete antithesis of the quick hit, tapestry weaver Jane Freear-Wyld shows Dominic a textile the size of a paperback, explaining how it takes 250 hours, or six working weeks, to make. Hers is a world away from the work of advertising creative director Matt Beaumont who arguably fuels our lust for not only jam today, but yesterday and tomorrow too. Meanwhile, Times columnist and writer Sathnam Sanghera, recently returned from a holiday in Mumbai, argues that it's the recent shift towards instant gratification that is fuelling India's rapidly rising standard of living, very different to an ethos that promises fulfilment neither now nor in in this life at all, but in the next one.

Producer: Mark Smalley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2011.


SAT 01:00 Wimsey (b007jvk4)
Clouds of Witness

2. Mudstains and Bloodstains

The Duke of Denver stands accused of the murder of Captain Dennis Cathcart.

His brother, Lord Peter Wimsey desperately hunts for remaining clues at the scene of the shooting - Riddlesdale Lodge in Yorkshire

Ian Carmichael stars as the aristocratic sleuth.

Dorothy L Sayers' detective mystery dramatised by Peter Jones and Tania Lieven.

Lord Peter Wimsey …. Ian Carmichael
Bunter …. Peter Jones
Inspector Parker …. Gabriel Woolf
Freddie Arbuthnot …. Nigel Lambert
Pettigrew …. Bill Wallis
Duchess of Denver …. Betty Cardno
Mrs Hardraw ...... Miriam Margolyes

Other parts played by the cast.

Producer: Simon Brett.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1974.


SAT 01:30 New Creatives Dramas (m000zfdf)
Series 3

5. Train of Thought & Love Beyond the Zoo

Rebecca Jones presents two thought-provoking dramas from the next generation of storytellers. Train of Thought by Ren Scott-Bridge and Love Beyond the Zoo by Tom Powell."

Train of Thought by Ren Scott-Bridge.

Exhausted medical student Kieran is on a psychiatric placement. On his commute between hospital and home he revisits past conversations - writing them down as poetry. He works hard to make sense of his patients’ complex mental health needs, but will he get lost in his own troubled thoughts along the way?

Featuring the voices of Sabina Arthur, Tom Bevan, Alan Leith, Sian Webber and Rick Yale
Director: Ren Scott-Bridge
Sound Designer: Mike Woolley
Editor: Lamia Dabboussy
Broadcast Assistant: Ben Sivyer
Executive Producer: Alison Vernon Smith
A Pier Production for Screen South

Love Beyond the Zoo by Tom Powell.

A man falls in love with an elephant and they escape from the zoo, but life in the suburbs is full of surprises both grim and incredible…

Featuring the voices of Tom Powell and Saffron Coomber
Composer and Sound Designer: Madison Willing
Producers: Anna Campbell and Paul Dodgson
A Rural Media Production

New Creatives Dramas is presented by Rebecca Jones

Producer Paul Dodgson

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra.


SAT 02:00 The 9/11 Letters (b01463kz)
5. Michael Morpurgo

Five internationally acclaimed writers consider the impact of the momentous events of September 11th, 2001. Ten years on, these authors use imaginative letters to reflect on the consequences for Britain, America and the world.

The final 9/11 Letter is by the former Children's Laureate, Michael Morpurgo. Among the more than one hundred books he has written is 'War Horse', the stage version of which this year won a Tony Award on Broadway, and is being made into a film by Stephen Spielberg.

The imagined writer of Michael Morpurgo's letter is Ginny, who, when the first plane smashed into the North tower was waiting on a bench in Central Park for her husband to return from breakfast with their son, their first meeting since a rift seven years previously. What happened on 11th September, 2001 rent many families - including Ginny's - asunder, yet it also brought people together. Michael Morpurgo's letter, which he has titled 'A Proper Family' movingly explores this ambiguity.

Producer: Julian May

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2011.


SAT 02:15 Welsh Fargo by Sir Harry Secombe (m000zfdl)
5. Thursday

On the day that a rival bus service is mooted, Dai makes a decision about Elspeth.

Sir Harry Secombe reads his own tale about the goings-on in a remote Welsh mining village.

These are the adventures of Dai Fargo who drives the only bus connecting sleepy Panteg to Swansea. The dilapidated vehicle may need constant mechanical intervention, but it’s the locals’ lifeline.

Sir Harry’s satirical novel reflects his association with The Goon Show’s Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Michael Bentine and Eric Sykes.

Abridged by Elizabeth Proud.

Producer: Enyd Williams

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1982.


SAT 02:30 Pilot (b008m5xh)
Even in the Internet age, there's still a huge romantic buzz about a great ship. And as she manoeuvres her vast bulk round the buoys and bars of our great ports both the sleek liner and the towering container vessel will usually draw a crowd.

In this feature, keen sailor Libby Purves takes to the water to tell the little-known story of the men and women whose job it is to guide these big ships safely home in the best and the worst of weathers....and out to sea again - the ship's pilot.

Presented by Libby Purves.

Produced by Simon Elmes.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2008.


SAT 03:00 Wilkie Collins - No Name (b007jrhz)
1. March 1846

A mysterious letter from New Orleans arrives to disturb the untroubled existence of Combe Raven House in West Somersetshire.

What is the secret being kept by Mr and Mrs Vanstone from their devoted daughters, Magdalen and Norah?

Published in 1862, Wilkie Collins novel dramatised in six parts by Ray Jenkins.

Magdalen Vanstone ...... Sophie Thompson
Captain Wragge ...... Jack May
Norah Vanstone ...... Elizabeth Mansfield
Miss Garth ...... Kathleen Helme
Mrs Vanstone ...... Jo Kendall
Mr Vanstone ...... Michael Graham Cox
Mr Clare ...... Peter Woodthorpe
Frank Clare ...... Paul Downing
Manager ...... Christopher Good
Miss Marable ...... Susan Sheridan
Mrs Marable ...... Joanna Mackie
Mr Pendril ...... John Moffatt
Narrator ...... Philip Sully

Music by Peter Brewis and played by Maurice Cambridge.

Director: Janet Whitaker

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1989.


SAT 04:00 The Food Quiz (b0076mtq)
Series 2

Episode 3

Journalist and food critic, Jay Rayner gives four contestants a good grilling on their knowledge of food and drink.

What's a fucivore's favourite food? How is porridge traditionally eaten? Which wine writer had a bit part in a Hollywood blockbuster?

Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, food writers Anissa Helou and Sue Lawrence and greengrocer Charlie Hicks chew over these culinary conundrums.

Producer: Rebecca Wells

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2004.


SAT 04:30 Ballylenon (b007szbq)
Series 3

Episode 3

It's 1955 in the sleepy Irish town. The BBC's plan to record a programme at the church causes some upset.

CAST:

Phonsie Doherty …. T.P. McKenna
Vera McConkey …. Stella McCusker
Muriel McConkey …. Margaret D’Arcy
Vivienne Boal …. Aine McCartney
Guard Gallagher …. John Hewitt
Sister Gabriel …. Marcella Riordan
Rev. Hawthorne …. Gerard Murphy

Set in County Donegal in the ‘50s, this sitcom ran to thirty episodes over six series between 1994 and 1999. After a ten-year hiatus, there were two subsequent series in 2009 and 2010.

Written by Christopher Fitz-Simon.

Producer: Eoin O'Callaghan

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1996.


SAT 05:00 It's Jocelyn (b08g7mjt)
Series 2

Dates

Series 2 of It's Jocelyn - sketches and stand-up from the wonderful mind of Jocelyn Jee Esien.

In episode two, Jocelyn talks about a dating, we follow a day in the life of Britain's worst bus driver and Kingston's take away caters for a vegan customer.

This series Jocelyn is joined by Paul Whitehouse as a cockney funeral director, as well as the vocal talents of Ninia Benjamin, Curtis Walker, Dee Kaate, Gavi Chera and Karen Bartke.

The producer is Suzy Grant and It's Jocelyn is a BBC Studios production.


SAT 05:30 Michael Frayn's Magic Mobile (m000jmmf)
Episode 4

Michael Frayn’s masterful comic ideas, directed by Rosalind Ayres.

No upgrades to install - just click here for God’s new version of the Ten Commandments. Note how a character from a novel can literally jump out at you. Hear how credits now take up more screen time than the production. Observe how Auto-Jeeves, offering a Martini, shows itself to be an indispensable robot. And, from the news studio, witness thunderous reports from Olympus about a surprising reshuffle of the Pantheon.

Cast:
Susannah Fielding, David Suchet, George Blagden, Lisa Dillon, Anna-Louise Plowman, Moira Quirk, Rosalind Ayres, Nigel Anthony, Darren Richardson, Matthew Wolf

Writer: Michael Frayn
Director: Rosalind Ayres
A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 06:00 Daphne Du Maurier - The Years Between (b00qm3c3)
In the early 1940s, Diana Wentworth's MP husband, Michael, is reported missing - presumed killed in action.

Once over the shock, she builds a new life - taking over Michael's seat in parliament, and falling in love with a much more suitable man.

But on the eve of their wedding, a phone call brings Diana shattering news....

Daphne du Maurier's 1945 stage play dramatised for radio by Jill Hyem.

CAST

Diana Wentworth …. Diana Quick
Michael Wentworth …. Roger Allam
Richard Llewelyn …. David Collings
Robin Wentworth …. Peter England
Sir Ernest Foster …. Frederick Treves
The Vicar …. Derek Waring

Director: Cherry Cookson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.


SAT 07:30 Great Lives (b08pf09d)
Series 42

Steven Knight on Sitting Bull

For Steven Knight, the screen writer and director of ‘Peaky Blinders’ and ‘Taboo’, it was easy to nominate his great life. For him there was just one choice, his all-time hero Sitting Bull.

As a young boy growing up in Birmingham in the 1970s, Steven was obsessed with stories and tales of Native Indians. At the age of thirteen, Steven searched for pen-pals and ended up exchanging letters with the great grand-children of Sitting Bull who lived in South Dakota. The correspondence and friendship he built up has continued into his adult life.

Steven, makes his case for why Sitting Bull is a great life and to help unravel this story he is joined by Jacqueline Fear-Segal, Professor of American and Indigenous Histories at the University of East Anglia.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2017.


SAT 08:00 Whispers (b00c6rnk)
Series 2

Episode 5

Gyles Brandreth hosts the quiz show with scandal on its mind and slander at its heart.

Lynne Truss and Michelle Brown join team captains Lucy Moore and Anthony Holden to run the gauntlet of gossip.

Producer: Elizabeth Freestone

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2004.


SAT 08:30 Snap (m000zfbh)
Series 3

Episode 3

Divorced Doug and Molly come to blows over his mum Annie, who seems to be going senile. Stars Robin Weaver. From August 2005.


SAT 09:00 Dr John Cooper Clarke: Complete Control (b06p4syp)
Dr John Cooper Clarke has landed in your radio, and he is in Complete Control.

The poet, rock star, radio DJ, comedian and cultural icon has been given the keys to BBC Radio 4 Extra. Over three hours, he's running through the BBC Radio archives taking you on a personal journey travelling all the way from London's West End to the American Wild West – with some interesting diversions along the way. Dr John's choices include:

* John's hero Bob Hope performing stand-up in 1956

* A nod to the radio variety acts John grew up listening to, including Vic Oliver and Al Read

* A celebration of the pioneering radio DJ Jack Jackson

* A chilling drama starring the screen legends Vincent Price and Peter Cushing

* A reading of Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Black Cat' by film star James Stewart

* Brian Cox in the recent Western classic 'The Shootist', a drama so good Dr John Cooper Clarke admits "it was the only time I've stayed silent for an hour in my life".

Jump aboard a radio road-trip travelling all the way from childhood favourites to recent pleasures, with laughs, thrills and chills along the way.

Don't worry though, he is a Doctor and he will be in Complete Control.

Producer: Luke Doran

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in November 2015


SAT 12:00 Give Or Take (m000zfbd)
Episode 1

Bank clerk Sam Baker is determined to win the football pools.

But he upsets his wife Annabel. Can he win her round?

Wally K Daly's sitcom starring David Roper and Sharon Duce.

Sam …… David Roper
Annabel …… Sharon Duce
Rose …… Patsy Rowlands
Bank Manager …… John Horsley
Woman …… Petra Davies
Policeman …… Roland MacLeod
Cyril …… Jon Glover

Producer: John Fawcett Wilson .

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1979.


SAT 12:30 Nineteen Ninety-Eight (b01blmhz)
Episode 1

Can Edward keep his girlfriend and avoid explosions? Orwellian sitcom with David Threlfall and Hugh Laurie. From March 1987.


SAT 13:00 Pieces of Britney (p09mw5hn)
2. A Star is Born

Pandora Sykes tells the story of Britney's hardscrabble childhood and stint as a Disney child star.

In this eight-part series for BBC Radio 4, Pandora traces Britney’s incredible life: from her hardscrabble childhood in rural Louisiana, to her coronation as the inaugural pop princess of the internet, navigating an insatiable celebrity gossip complex; through to a young mother on trial by the paparazzi.

Britney is a pop culture phenomenon. Pandora looks behind that mask - and beyond Britney herself - to explore how Britney became the most Googled person in the world, for almost 7 years, and what it says, both then and now, about the entertainment industry, politics, sex and how we see women in the public eye.

Britney’s public struggles saw her placed in a conservatorship, in which she lost the right to control her finances and day to day life. Thirteen years later, and she is in court, pleading for this controversial legal arrangement to end. We will look at how Britney has been transformed from girl-next-door teen sensation to pop music’s Rapunzel, trapped in a supposedly rotten system.

Pieces of Britney mixes documentary, archive and interviews to tell Britney’s remarkable story. It also features drama, written by playwright Katie Hims, to bring Britney and her extraordinary world to life.

Pieces of Britney is a sympathetic portrayal of Britney, during a time of cultural reappraisal about how we treat women - famous, or otherwise.

Episode 2 Cast:

Britney . . . . . Samantha Dakin
Lynne . . . . . Laurel Lefkow
Jamie . . . . . Elliot Cowan
Young Britney . . . . . Maddie Evans
Young Christina . . . . . Tillie Murray
Young Justin . . . . . Aaron Gelkoff
Bryan . . . . . Joseph Ayre
Other parts were played by Julianna Jennings, Paul Chahidi and Adam El Hagar

Sound design by Peter Ringrose
Produced by Anne Isger and Sasha Yevtushenko
A BBC Audio Production


SAT 13:40 Sounds of the City (m000zcq0)
An audio snapshot of the city of Washington DC, captured in and around the moment of Barack Obama's inauguration for a second term as President of the United States.

From the roaring crowds of a Saturday night basketball game recorded amidst the spectators, the peace of Rock Creek Park, to the haunting melodies of street saxophonist Tim Turner, the atmosphere of the US capital is captured as the moment of inauguration approaches. Gathered by Marika Partridge of Washington's "Hear Now" audio collective, the portrait of the city that emerges from their months of recording is vibrant, idiosyncratic and aurally involving...

Featuring music by blues harmonica player Phil Wiggins, one man band David "Moe" Nelson, Christylez Bacon, guitar and beatbox and Tim Turner, alto saxophone.

Producer: Simon Elmes

First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in March 2013,


SAT 14:00 My Obsession (m000616z)
Series 1

Episode 1

Paul Merton and Suki Webster star in this warm-hearted comedy exploring the obsessive narcissistic culture of so-called celebrity, the desire to be famous and the urge to be near it.

After a bizarre first meeting when Sheryl, a superfan of stand-up comedian Danny Heywood, broke into his hotel bedroom, the perfectly mismatched pair are reunited. This time the self-obsessed comic pays his number one fan a surprise visit.

Will a bumpy road trip bring the obsessive lonely couple together or drive them both round the bend? And can this unlikely pair find happiness and a true connection or is the only thing they have in common that they are both obsessed with Danny?

Cast:

Danny – Paul Merton
Sheryl – Suki Webster
Malcolm – Matt Addis
Phoebe -Tilly Gaunt
Kevin - Terry Mynott

Written by Suki Webster

Producer: Liz Anstee

A CPL production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2019.


SAT 14:30 The Damien Slash Mixtape (b08tcx1g)
Series 1

Episode 1

Multi-character YouTube star Damien Slash in this fast-paced, one-man sketch comedy show. From the surreal to the satirical, from the zeitgeist to the absurd, Damien serves up a range of high octane characters, all from his own voice. Adverts, actors, hipsters, trolls - no aspect of modern life is left un-skewered.

Written by and starring Damien Slash (aka Daniel Barker)

Additional material by Robin Morgan

Produced by Sam Bryant

A BBC Studios production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2017.


SAT 14:45 Kieran Hodgson's Earworms (b08zd64p)
Series 1

Wagner

Critically-acclaimed comedian Kieran Hodgson is joined by Harry Enfield and Colin Hoult, in a series of comedy intros to the great composers. Can self-described 'music educator and inspiration' Ralph Lewis, the man behind 'Mozart's Mowing Masterclass' and 'How Clean is your Strauss', persuade self-confessed 'enemy of culture' Paul, that Wagner's worth a listen, and not just music for Nazis?

Written and starring Kieran Hodgson

With Colin Hoult and Harry Enfield

Producer: Sam Ward

A BBC Studios Production first broadcast in August 2017.


SAT 15:00 Josh Howie's Losing It (b07wc11v)
Series 1

The Plan

Josh and his wife Monique's big day finally arrives. Josh has the birth ball and all meditation music but typically, at the crucial moment, disaster strikes.

Stand-up comic Josh comes to terms with the impending birth of his first child.

Starring Josh Howie and Pippa Evans.

Written by Josh Howie.

With Jenny Bede, Carole Dance, Stella Duffy, Caroline Mabey, Debra Tammer and Wendy Wason.

Producer: Ashley Blaker

A Black Hat production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2016.


SAT 15:30 The Museum of Everything (b007k1qj)
Series 1

The History of the Future

Badgerland goes international and experience the History of the Future.

Written and performed by Marcus Brigstocke, Danny Robins and Dan Tetsell.

With Lucy Montgomery.

Music by Dominic Haslam and Ben Walker.

Producer: Alex Walsh-Taylor

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2004.


SAT 16:00 Daphne Du Maurier - The Years Between (b00qm3c3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


SAT 17:30 Great Lives (b08pf09d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


SAT 18:00 The Prisoner (m0001mzx)
Series 1

The Schizoid Man

Number 6 finds himself fascinated by a strange bond which has suddenly developed between himself and Number 9. But the next morning, he wakes to find himself changed. A moustache, different hair, and... a new designation - Number 12.

The original 17 episode TV series of The Prisoner created intrigue and controversy in equal measure when it first aired in the UK in 1967. In a taut psychological spy thriller the main character, dehumanised as ‘Number 6’, has committed no crime, save for having resigned from some unspecified branch of the British Secret Service. His prison is a heavily guarded coastal village.

Under constant surveillance, Number 6 can trust no-one and relentlessly works to establish who his captors are, a seemingly impossible task when the most senior figure he encounters – Number 2 – changes frequently...

CAST:

Number 6 …. Mark Elstob
Number 2 …. Celia Imrie
Number 9 …. Sara Powell
The Village Voice …. Helen Goldwyn
Cobb …. Jim Barclay
Number 17 …. Jez Fielder
The Butler …. Barnaby Edwards

Music: Jamie Robertson

Script Editor: Jamie Anderson

Written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

A Big Finish Production - based on the classic ITV series.


SAT 19:00 Dr John Cooper Clarke: Complete Control (b06p4syp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


SAT 22:00 Ross Noble Goes Global (b007jvv4)
Series 1

Singapore

Spotting a monkey and shopping malls galore - the globetrotting comedian is having a bad hair day in the city's incredible humidity.

Producer: Danny Wallace

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2002.


SAT 22:30 Elvenquest (b01qwc8m)
Series 4

The Fat Hog

The Questers find themselves seeking succour at the Fat Hog, a hostelry famed for its excellent cuisine, and run by its quixotic headchef Nigressa.

Meanwhile, Lord Darkness is having trouble with his new Ball of Infinite Vision.

Starring:
Darren Boyd as Vidar
Kevin Eldon as Dean/Kreech
Dave Lamb as Amis
Stephen Mangan as Sam
Alistair McGowan as Lord Darkness
Ingrid Oliver as Penthiselea
and
Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Nigressa

Written by James Cary.

Producer: Sam Michell

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2013.


SAT 23:00 The Lawrence Sweeney Mix (b00kpybx)
Series 1

Episode 4

Something you find in the Attic – and an unusual gathering with the neighbours...

Josie Lawrence and Jim Sweeney make it up as they go along!

Faced with a live studio audience and a couple of microphones - the masters of improve create sketches from shouted out suggestions.

Producer: Dawn Ellis

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2007.


SAT 23:30 Daphne Sounds Expensive (b07ks18z)
Series 1

Pirates

The gang set sail for New York but are waylaid by George's mathematical ineptitude.

Join critically-acclaimed sketch trio, Daphne, as they pull out all the stops in a dazzling array of peculiar characters, whacky scenarios, dodgy remarks, curious observations, minor altercations and major peacemaking - served on a bed of catchy little numbers with a live nine-piece band.

Written by and starring: Jason Forbes, Phil Wang & George Fouracres

Featuring Sir Willard White, Emma Sidi & David Elms

Original music composed by Jeff Carpenter

Musical Director: Freddie Tapner

Piano: Freddie Tapner
Drums: Ben Hartley
Bass: Rob Grist
Percussion: Ben Burton
Trumpet: Michael Maddocks
Tenor Sax: Greg Sterland
Trombone: Elliot Pooley
Violin: Hannah Bell
Cello: Nick Squires

Production Coordinator: Hayley Sterling
Producer: Matt Stronge

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