SATURDAY 18 DECEMBER 2021

SAT 00:00 The First Church of the New Millennium by Bryan Appleyard (b007jqqm)
Episode 10

Architect Stephen Rix's cathedral has finally been built.

But what has been the true cost?

Concluded by David Horovitch.

Set in 1999, Brian Appleyard's novel was first published in 1994.

Abridged by Ed Thomason.

Producer Duncan Minshull

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1996.


SAT 00:15 The Second Pan Book of Horror Stories (m0000z4y)
The Judge's House by Bram Stoker

A scholar moves into the former home of a judge with an evil reputation.

Written by Bram Stoker.

The Pan Book of Horror Stories was a paperback series of short story anthologies first published in 1959.

Early editions were known for their lurid cover art and editor Herbert Van Thal’s selection of stories by new authors alongside classics of the genre. It was credited with introducing a new generation to the horror tradition in the 1960s.

The Second Pan Book Of Horror Stories, published in 1962, was considered to be one of the best. Anita Sullivan has selected five from this edition for her own fresh interpretation.

Malcolmson …. Luke Thompson
Mrs Witham …. Pippa Haywood
Dempster …. Kathryn Drysdale

Producer/Director: Karen Rose

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2018.


SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b017wy7c)
The Making of You

Dominic Arkwright talks to three guests about their formative years.

Sports writer Julie Welch recalls boarding school days of innocence, lusting after her Games Captain.

Social entrepreneur, Gwilym Gibbons, remembers growing up in a commune, feeling an outsider from the mainstream world.

Psychotherapist Paul Welcomme, whose schooldays were far from halcyon, argues that the decisions adults make for their children can have a devastating and lasting affect on their lives.

Producer: Sarah Langan

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2011.


SAT 01:00 Dick Francis (b011qm8r)
Whip Hand

5. The Finish

Sid Halley believes he knows the truth behind the doping and phoney racing syndicates, but dare he reveal it?

Conclusion of Dick Francis's thriller set in the world of horse-racing.

Starring Mick Ford.

Dramatised by Alan England.

Sid Halley ...... Mick Ford
Chico Barnes ...... Kim Durham
Rosemary Caspar ...... Patricia Gallimore
Charles ...... Simon Carter
Trevor Deansgate ...... Terry Molloy
Rammileese ...... Andy Hockley
Ullaston ...... Geoff Serle
Jenny ...... Petra Markham
Mark Rammileese ...... Philip Molloy
George Casper ...... Alan Devereux

Producer: Philip Martin

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1991.


SAT 01:30 The Hot Kid (b055g8zr)
3. Teddy's on 18th and Central

Fed up with waiting for Deputy Marshal Carl Webster to take her dancing, Louly has gone to Kansas City to make a fresh start, with a new job and new name.

She arrives at the same time as Jack Belmont, who's fled Tulsa after shooting his partner and now plans to start robbing banks. Both soon come to the attention of local crime boss Teddy Ritz and it's not long before Carl has to bail them all out of trouble.

Elmore Leonard's enthralling criminal odyssey is set against the dusty, sun-kissed backdrop of Oklahoma and Kansas during America's Great Depression.

Starring Samantha Dakin and Lucian Msamati.

Dramatised Katie Hims.

Louly Brown . . . . . Samantha Dakin
Tony Antonelli . . . . . Nathan Osgood
Carl Webster . . . . . Luke Norris
Jack Belmont . . . . . Adam Gillen
Teddy Ritz . . . . . Lucian Msamati
Heidi Dilworth . . . . . Bettrys Jones
Lou Tessa . . . . . Shaun Mason
Bank Guard . . . . . David Acton
Bank Teller . . . . . Hannah Genesius
Bank Manager . . . . . Ian Conningham
Hotshot . . . . . Paul Heath

Director: Sasha Yevtushenko

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2015.


SAT 02:00 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (b09sr1k8)
Episode 10

Stephen is sloughing off the ties of his life in Ireland, in order to be free to pursue the life of an artist.

James Joyce's autobiographical masterpiece.

Concluded by Andrew Scott.

Abridged by Sara Davies.

Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2018.


SAT 02:15 D for Dexter (b06nrzqr)
Series 2

Episode 5

It's the early hours of Friday morning. Dexter could sleep through a riot. In fact, he just has.

But Skye isn't going down to see her Mum, not this time.

Amanda Whittington's heart-breakingly brave, funny and beautiful story exploring the issue of neglect.

Skye ... Sydney Wade
Dexter ... Alfie Johnson
Joe ... Bill Rodgers
Jak ... Una McNulty
Dean ... Peter Caulfield
Amber ... Liz Godber
Ant ... John Elkington

Director: Mary Ward-Lowery

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2015.


SAT 02:30 Mysteries from the Past (b01lhbg8)
A new outdoor production of the medieval York Cycle of Mystery Plays opened in 2012.

It starred Ferdinand Kingsley as Jesus and Graeme Hawley as the devil, with a community cast and crew of over 500 people.

The revival of these plays first took place as part of 1951’s Festival of Britain and were staged, like the 2012 production, against the backdrop of the ruined St Mary's Abbey in the Museum Gardens.

The York Mystery Plays are the most complete cycle telling stories from the bible in 48 separate plays each one originally performed by one of the city's medieval guilds. Staged on the back of waggons at various locations around the city the plays were performed on Corpus Christi Day from around 1390 until 1575 and took all day to perform. Since 1951 the plays were staged every three or four years until 2000 when the last full-scale production took place in York Minster directed by the RSC's Gregory Doran.

Playwright John Godber takes to the medieval streets of York to look back at how these 'modern-day' performances relate to the original ideas behind the plays of communicating bible stories to the illiterate masses.

Examining archive material including medieval manuscripts and recordings of the some of the productions, he talks to experts in medieval drama and some of the people involved in past productions which have launched the careers of actors Judi Dench, David Bradley and Mary Ure.

Productions have not been without controversy - such as casting a women as God or having Hindu actor, Victor Banerjee, playing Christ - guaranteeing publicity for these adventures in major community theatre production.

Producer: Andy Cartwright

A Soundscape production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in August 2012.


SAT 03:00 Choderlos de Laclos - Les Liaisons Dangereuses (b007jptt)
Episode 2

Can Vicomte Valmont and the Marquise de Marteuil win their game of seduction and revenge?

Choderlos de Laclos's 1782 epistolary novel.

Stars Ciaran Hinds, Lindsay Duncan and Emma Fielding.

Dramatised by Christopher Hampton

Le Vicomte de Valmont …… Ciaran Hinds
La Marquise de Merteuil …… Lindsay Duncan
Mme de Tourvel …… Emma Fielding
Chevalier Danceny …… Adam Godley
Mme de Volanges …… Joanna David
Cecile Volanges …… Alison Pettitt
Mme de Rosemonde …… Elizabeth Spriggs
Azolan …… Charles Simpson
Emilie …… Sarah-Jane Holm

Narrator: John Moffatt

Music composed by Ilona Sekacz.

Director: Gordon House:

First broadcast on the BBC World Service in December 1998.


SAT 04:00 Funny You Should Ask (b0b53jl3)
From 20/08/1979

Peter Jones hosts the entertainment quiz about comedy as he tests a panel of experts:

Barry Cryer, Sid Colin and John Junkin recall memories of careers and comic colleagues.

Funny You Should Ask ran for 8 series from 1976 to 1982.

Questions compiled by Michael Pointon.

Producer: Bob Oliver Rogers

First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in August 1979.


SAT 04:30 In the Red (b007k07w)
Episode 4

Reporter George Cragge grabs headlines, as the plot to overthrow the BBC Director General grows darker.

London is plagued by a series of bizarre murders of bank managers. Hot on the trail of the killer are old-style Chief Police Inspector Frank Jefferson and BBC Radio's anarchic crime correspondent, George Cragge.

Starring Michael Williams and Barry Foster.

Mark Tavener's blackly humorous murder mystery set in the world of City finance, the BBC and political parties.

Dramatised by his novel by Mark Tavener and Peter Baynham.

George Cragge ...... Michael Williams
Frank Jefferson ...... Barry Foster
Geoffrey Crichton-Potter ...... Stephen Moore
Henry ...... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Max ...... Peter Woodthorpe
Controller Radio 2 ...... Stephen Fry
Controller Radio 4 ...... John Bird
Dominic De'ath ...... Benjamin Whitrow
Hercules Fortescue ...... Nicholas Le Prevost
Andrew James ...... Peter Serafinowcz
Laetitia ...... Victoria Carling
Caroline ...... Susie Brann

Other parts played by Jonathan Keeble, Don Macorkindale, Annabel Mullion and Alice Arnold.

Music by Paul Mottram

Producer: Paul Schlesinger

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1995.


SAT 05:00 Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully (b01r7b8n)
Series 1

Power Block

Katrina Lyons was only visiting Cresdon Green, the village where she grew up, to borrow some money from her parents. But when she tried to head back to London, it turned out alien beings known as the Geonin had lowered a force field around the village - refusing to let anyone in or out.

Unfortunately almost everyone in the village is too cowardly, apathetic, polite or stupid to stand up to them, so Katrina’s had to start the resistance movement herself.

Eddie Robson's sitcom about an alien invasion of a small English village.

Starring Hattie Morahan and Julian Rhind-Tutt.

In this episode, Uljabaan is busy with a construction project and asks Margaret to help with some routine duties in the village - collecting data, checking up on the man they put down the old well, that sort of thing.

Katrina is dismayed - he's too busy to oppress the humans, so he's getting them to do it to each other.

But the construction project involves opening up the force-field that surrounds the village. Can Katrina and Lucy sneak a message into the outside world?

Katrina Lyons ...... Hattie Morahan
Field Commander Uljabaan ...... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Margaret Lyons ...... Jan Francis
Richard Lyons ...... Peter Davison
Lucy Alexander ...... Hannah Murray
Computer ...... John-Luke Roberts

Producer: Ed Morrish

First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 2013.


SAT 05:30 It's Not What You Know (b09wt185)
Series 5

Episode 4

What does Russell Kane's think his best personality trait is? What's Fern Britton's party trick and who does Ivo Graham believe is the funniest person he knows?

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

Produced by Matt Stronge.

It's Not What You Know is a BBC Studios production.


SAT 06:00 McLevy (b00pd7d0)
Christmas Special

McLevy is hardly a natural Yuletide reveller.

So as the good citizens prepare to make merry, it comes as a relief to the good Inspector to find that a supernatural thief is haunting the city.

Stars Brian Cox and Siobhan Redmond

David Ashton's special seasonal case for Victorian Edinburgh's most idiosyncratic policeman.

McLevy ...... Brian Cox
Jean Brash ...... Siobhan Redmond
Mulholland ...... Michael Perceval-Maxwell
Hannah ...... Colette O'Neil
Marcus Crowe ...... Matthew Pidgeon
Donald McIver ...... Andrew Neil
Margaret Beaton ...... Helen McAlpine
Percey Bierce ...... Stuart McQuarrie
Simone ...... Tracy Wiles
Finlay Hodge ...... Robert McIntosh
Lafferty ...... Mark Bonner
Daniel ...... Dominic Di Rollo
Child ...... Anna McPhail

Producer: Patrick Rayner

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2006.


SAT 07:30 Great Lives (b095rrzz)
Series 43

Helena Morrissey on Rachael Heyhoe Flint

City boss Dame Helena Morrissey champions the life of Rachael Heyhoe Flint, the pioneer of women's cricket.

Regarded as a ground breaker, Baroness Heyhoe Flint ruffled feathers and shook up a male dominated sport.

Helena Morrissey makes the case for why Heyhoe Flint is a great life.

With Matthew Parris and Dr Raf Nicholson who teaches history at Queen Mary University of London and is a writer on the women's game

Dame Helen has also made it to the top of her career in a male dominated word of the City. She is founder of the 30% Club, a campaign group whose aim is to get a minimum of 30% women on FTSE-100 boards. Now working as Head of Personal Investing with Legal and General Investment Management.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2017.


SAT 08:00 Listomania (b0b1xqns)
Series 1

Episode 6

From the magnificent to the mundane.

From the humble 'to do' list to the bucket list and many more...

Susan Calman hosts the series exploring the world of the lists.

With:

Sara Cox
Elis James
Isy Suttie
Gary Delaney

Written by James Kettle and Juliet Meyers with Max Davis

Producer: Jane Berthoud and Adnan Ahmed.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 2015.


SAT 08:30 All the Young Dudes (b007rkc3)
Series 1

People's Parties

Billy gets bullied into having some people round to his place.

It seems like a bad idea, until someone suggests a game of cards....

The lives of Patrick and wife Helen as they settle back into the town where he was born.

Comedy drama written by and starring Jim Sweeney.

Patrick …. Jim Sweeney
Helen …. Cathryn Harrison
Billy …. Steve Steen
Moira …. Sadie Shimmin
Joe …. Stephen Frost
Maria …. Flaminia Cinque

Producer: Steve Doherty

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2001.


SAT 09:00 Comedy Greats (b01kjsg3)
Overseas

Captain Barry Cryer welcomes you aboard a special edition of Comedy Greats showcasing a selection of the BBC's hit comedy shows that were adapted for listeners overseas.

During the 1950s to 1970s, a surprising number of series were either edited, rescripted or remade.

Barry reveals bits that never made it out of Blighty to enable shows to be better understood abroad.

* The Clitheroe Kid - Another Mother for Ossie. From November 1965

* The Navy Lark - Going Dutch. From November 1959

* The Men From the Ministry - Birds of a Feather. Re-recording from 1980.

* Hancock's Half Hour - The New Secretary. Re-recorded in November 1958.

* Round the Horne - The Man With the Golden Thunderball. Re-recorded July 1966 with an edited version of the original script.

* I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again - series 3 (10/13). Re-recording from 1966.

Producer: Kerry Reece

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in July 2012. .


SAT 12:00 Molesworth (m000fqk5)
Home Life

Remember that school boy terror who loved flicking ink pellets? Many trillions of eons ago Nigel Molesworth was The Curse of St Custards.

But he's come a long way since those days, and now returns with his guide to modem life.

Starring Willie Rushton.

Series written by Simon Brett based on characters created by Geoffrey Willans and by Ronald Searle.

Molesworth ...... Willie Rushton
Grimes ...... Clive Swift
Louise ...... Penelope Nice
Gillibrand ...... Robert Harley
Peason ...... Bob Sinfield
Fotherington-Thomas ...... Phil Nice
Arabella ...... Chrissy Roberts

Music: Oonagh Bernon

Producer: Mark Robson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1987.


SAT 12:30 Getting Nowhere Fast (b007k1fl)
Series 2

Episode 1

Chantal's biological clock is ticking. She knows she must have a baby and she desperately needs to find a mate.

Pamela remembers that feeling only too well. So does Merv and wishes he didn't.

But for Chantal the hunt for a suitable piece of trouser is on!

Return of the sitcom written by and starring Mervyn Stutter.

Merv ...... Mervyn Stutter
Pam ...... Lill Roughley
Dibden ...... John Challis
PC Dilkes ...... Michael Mears
Chantal ...... Tracy-Ann Oberman

Producer: Mario Stylianides

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2003.


SAT 13:00 Archive on 4 (b0b4ykkw)
The American Art Tapes

A unique insight into the vibrant art scene of mid-1960s America from an archive of recordings made then.

In 1965, painter and teacher John Jones headed to the USA for a year, intending to record the most important and most influential artists he could find. His wife Gaby and their two young daughters went with him. One of those daughters, Nicolette Jones is now a writer and critic and she tells the story of how they lodged in New York, while her father grabbed interviews with Yoko Ono, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg and many more.

This was the moment of Happenings, Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism, while the long shadow of Dada and Surrealism, represented on the tapes by Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray, reached forward to Louise Bourgeois.

Later, with nothing planned at all, the family set off on a three month road-trip in their old Ford station wagon, travelling America from East to West Coast, turning up in little towns on the off chance of getting an interview with artists like Jasper Johns in Florida or a young Ed Ruscha in California.

The unique archive of over 100 recordings, gathered by John Jones, lay in boxes in the family home for decades, waiting for him to write a book based on the tapes. He wasn't able to do this and so the family offered the whole set of recordings to the Tate Archive, which acquired them in 2015.

Listen out for a tantalising sample of this extraordinary material, airing a pivotal moment in 20th century art and revealing John Jones to be on a par with some of the great audio collectors like Alan Lomax and Studs Terkel.

The mood of the time is evoked by interweaving the artists' reflections with a soundscape of mid-60s American music, TV and location sound.
Art historian and Artistic Director of the Royal Academy, Tim Marlow gives a powerful sense of the artists' achievement, as Nicolette Jones conjures up the feeling of a great American road trip through the eyes of the child she was.

Extracts by kind permission of:

The Easton Foundation/DACS, London/VAGA, NY 2018
Estate of Roy Lichtenstein/DACS 2018
May Ray Trust/ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2018

Producer: Emma-Louise Williams

A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2018.


SAT 14:00 The Penny Dreadfuls (b08x2zf1)
Le Carré on Spying

David Cornwell (John Le Carré’s real name) desperately tries to uncover the latest mole in the Secret Service.

John F Kennedy's official visit to Berlin looms and the pressure is on to get to the truth.

Le Carre style comedy romp through 1960s Berlin courtesy of comedy trio, The Penny Dreadfuls.

Starring Humphrey Ker, David Reed and Thom Tuck

Also starring Miles Jupp and Mark Heap.

David Cornwell ...... Miles Jupp
Narrator ...... Mark Heap
Various ...... Humphrey Ker
Various ...... David Reed
Various ...... Thom Tuck
Lizbeth/Mrs M ...... Margaret Cabourn-Smith

Written by David Reed

Producer: Julia McKenzie

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


SAT 15:00 The Secret World (b0125n5t)
Series 2

Episode 1

From Al Pacino to Keith Harris and Orville.

The comedy impressions series examining the bizarre and private lives of public people.

Starring:

Jon Culshaw
Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Julian Dutton
Jess Robinson
Lewis Macleod
Duncan Wisbey

Written by Bill Dare and Julian Dutton.

Producer: Bill Dare

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2010.


SAT 15:30 Concrete Cow (b00768y0)
Series 1

Episode 1

Two kids from Peckham enter Narnia, Dr Jekyll get a telling off, and Radio 4’s new panel show - full of excessive pedantry and nit-picking - I Think You'll Find...

Six-part sketch show series in which anything is possible.

Starring

Olivia Colman
Robert Webb
Sally Hawkins
Steven Kynman
Chris Pavlo

Written by James Cary, Sally Hawkins, Catherine Shepherd, Ashley Blake, Jon Holmes, Adam Bromley, Stuart Barker, Robin Ince and Tim Key.

Producer: Adam Bromley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2002


SAT 16:00 McLevy (b00pd7d0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


SAT 17:30 Great Lives (b095rrzz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


SAT 18:00 Drama (m0001pjh)
The Haunting of MR James

Every Christmas, the master of the ghost story, MR James would read a tale to his Cambridge students.

But he discovers horrific events from those stories are echoed in reality - alongside the inevitable forces of change and modernism.

Starring Mark Gatiss.

Original chilling drama written by Neil Brand.

MR James ..... Mark Gatiss
Gwendolyn MacBryde ..... Fenella Woolgar
Jack Pownall ..... Ryan Whittle
Dr. Luxmoore ..... Gerard McDermott
Davey Steadman ..... Cameron Percival
Sellerman ..... Ronny Jhutti
Jukes ..... Michael Bertenshaw
Grant ..... Tony Turner
Thomas Herrick ..... Ewan Bailey
Dr. Cameron ..... Chris Harper
Webb ..... Sam Dale
Student ..... Lewis Bray

Director: David Hunter

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2018.


SAT 19:00 Comedy Greats (b01kjsg3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


SAT 22:00 The Lee Mack Show (b00c075z)
Tom Robinson

Lee Mack presents stand-up comedy, sketches and music.

With:

Tom Robinson
Mike Wilmot
Angela McHale

Music by Steve Brown, Mark Allis, David Catlin-Birch and Adam Phillips.

Written by Lee Mack and Neil Webster.

Additional material by Paul Kerensa and Tom Robinson.

Producer: Claire Jones

First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 2005.


SAT 22:30 Ida Barr: Artificial Hip Hop (b00txj0l)
Responsibility

Ida Barr is a music hall singer embracing hip hop and rap, reflecting the cultural diversity of London's East End, where she's lived in retirement for several decades.

With her genuine love of talking to people, Ida sets out investigate a new topic in each episode, creating a unique brand of music-hall, hip-hop fusion with beat boxer Shlomo.

Ida kicks off with "Responsibility".

Written by and starring Christopher Green as Ida Barr.

Producer: Claire Grove

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.


SAT 22:45 Paperback Hell (b0076cd4)
Series 1

Disco Shoes

A series of four chapters by four different authors, all of them imaginary, all of them straight out of the bestseller charts - and none of them very good.

This week, Chapter 15 of Disco Shoes by Mike Horner.

Starring:

Michael Fenton Stevens
Rebecca Front
Mel Hudson
Alex Lowe
Dan Tetsell

Written by Danny Robins and Dan Tetsell.

Producer: Lucy Armitage

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2003.


SAT 23:00 The Shuttleworths (b008hq68)
Plonker's Baby

Singer/songwriter John Shuttleworth is busy planning a nativity play which he intends to perform in the lounge for Grand Niece Michaela later that evening.

Unfortunately the task is fraught with problems: wife Mary thinks he's left it a little late and wants him to clean the bathroom instead; sole agent and next-door-neighbour Ken Worthington isn't happy with his costume, and John can't decide which role he wants to play.

Will the nativity play go ahead or will John have to provide an alternative entertainment?

Written and performed by Graham Fellows.

With a guest appearance by George Fellows.

Producer: Dawn Ellis.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2002.


SAT 23:30 Hut 33 (b00lv795)
Series 1

Don't Bet on It

The Bletchley Park codebreakers must play football against Italian prisoners of war.

James Cary's sitcom set in Bletchley Park in 1941.

Three code-breakers are forced to share a draughty wooden hut, as they try to break German ciphers. Unfortunately, they hate each other.

Charles …. Robert Bathurst
Archie …. Tom Goodman-Hill
Minka …. Olivia Colman
Gordon …. Fergus Craig
Mrs Best …. Lill Roughley
Joshua …. Alex MacQueen

Producer: Adam Bromley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2007.