SATURDAY 05 MAY 2012

SAT 00:00 Paradise Lost in Cyberspace (b007jpfm)
Episode 4
The Old-Age Paramilitaries have developed a secret weapon to destroy the Central Database computer. George Smith is the man to use it.
Colin Swash's dystopian comedy set in 22nd-century Britain, starring Stephen Moore as George Smith.
George ...... Stephen Moore
Doris ...... Patsy Byrne
O'Connell ...... Geoffrey McGivern
Mrs Cookson ...... Edna Dore
Andrea Sunbeam ...... Lorelei King
Dawkins ...... Melanie Hudson
Ronnie ...... Christopher Douglas
Other parts by Lewis MacLeod, Dave Lamb and Peter Serafinowicz.
Producer: Richard Wilson.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1998.
SAT 00:30 Doctor Who (b00ry8zd)
Doctor Who and the Giant Robot
Episode 5
The Time Lord is confronted by the robot and learns who is the real mastermind behind the deadly scheme. Read by Tom Baker.
SAT 01:00 DI Cromwell - Jagged Prayer (b00c3rlj)
Virtual Saints
Despite moving the convent into cyber space, Mother Helen and her nuns are not safe from declining numbers. And DI Cromwell has the small matter of an old murder to solve.
Timothy Spall stars as DI Cromwell and Cheryl Campbell as Mother Helen.
Crime and convents, the police and perdition come together in comedy writer and former monk Robert Smith's series of mysteries.
DI Cromwell ...... Timothy Spall
Mother Helen ...... Cheryl Campbell
DC Kelp ...... Jeremy Finch
Mr Lord ...... Bryan Pringle
Carer/Sister ...... Elizabeth Conboy
Youth ...... Tom George
Producer: Ned Chaillet
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2000.
SAT 01:30 Boxer and Doberman (b00jd9h8)
Series 1
The Big Cheese
Detective Inspector Bob Boxer falls into the clutches of an old sadistic adversary. At first he resists the pressure to go over to the "other side" and swell the ranks of Villains Incorporated. But when his enemies exploit one of his deepest childhood fears, even Bob's cast-iron will begins to crack like a caramel log. Might a good cop go to the bad?
Alastair Jessiman's gritty comedy police drama stars Finlay Welsh as DI Bob Boxer, Anita Vettesse as DC Shona Doberman and James Bryce as DCI Paton.
DC Shauna Doberman is regarded as the smart one in the crime-fighting duo, whilst DI Bob Boxer is the grizzled old-school cop, who aims to reach the right conclusion.
Producer: David Jackson Young.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by BBC Radio Scotland.
First broadcast in March 2009.
SAT 02:00 North East of Eden (b01h0kpm)
Cinema Paradiso
Marcia decides to inject a little culture into Paradise and starts a film club.
But will French art triumph over Mad Max III? Probably not.
Rebecca Front and Joan Sims stars in Peter Kerry's sitcom about a GP living on a remote island off the coast of Northumbria.
Dr Marcia Hulme …. Rebecca Front
Auntie Annie …. Joan Sims
Hjorst …. Niall Ashdown
Joseph …. James Garbutt
Mrs Peevis …. Jean Southern
Ralph …. Stephen Thirkeld
William …. Sammy Johnson
Producer: Kathy Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1997.
SAT 02:30 Puzzle Panel (b00yjr5c)
Episode 7
More testing brain teasers with Chris Maslanka, Victor Bryant, Val Gilbert and Professor David Singmaster. From July 1998.
SAT 03:00 Vivat Rex (b01h0zhl)
Treason
Richard Burton narrates the playwrights' chronicle of the English Crown. King Richard II risks rebellion. Stars Derek Jacobi.
SAT 04:00 Anthony Horowitz - Blackfriars Bridge (b012s2gc)
A cuckolded husband intends to murder his rival. What could go wrong with his fastidious plan? Anthony Horowitz's thriller, read by Robert Bathurst.
SAT 04:15 Sue Rodwell - The Last Trace (b00lbnyv)
Tracing your ancestors can be fun - as long as they are quite, quite dead.
Genealogy, murder and revenge in Sue Rodwell's black comedy.
Stars Elizabeth Mansfield as Sally, Peter Dahlsen as Frank, David Bannerman as Jimmy, Jan Shand as Penny, Susie Baxter as Liz, Anny Tobin as Sheila, Elizabeth Kelly as Emily, David King as Tom and Paul Downing as Paul.
Producer: Sue Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1990.'.
SAT 05:00 Millport (b0075sxz)
Series 1
The Storm
A pensioner mysteriously disappears from the town of Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae, off the west coast of Scotland.
Bittersweet comedy written by and starring Lynn Ferguson as 30-something barmaid Irene Bruce, who hankers after a better life on the mainland.
Irene ...... Lynn Ferguson
Moira/Agnes ...... Janet Brown
Alberto/Robert/Bob ...... Lewis McLeod
Ena/Bunty/Betty ...... Gabriel Quigley
Doogie ...... Matt Costello
DJ ...... Robert Paterson
Producer: Lucy Bacon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2000.
SAT 05:30 Ring Around the Bath (b01h0kph)
Series 3
Keeping Mum
It's Stella's birthday - and it's a big one with a nought on the end!
Surely the perfect time for a big family get-together?
Series 3 of Lucy Clare and Ian Davidson's sitcom about topsy-turvy family life.
Stars Duncan Preston as Patrick, Pippa Haywood as Stella, Claudie Blakley as Alison, Bruce MacKinnon as Rick, Catherine Shepherd as Xanthe and Daniela Denby-Ashe as Egg.
Director: Elizabeth Freestone
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2006.
SAT 06:00 David Pownall - Kitty Wilkinson (b01h789y)
As cholera strikes 19th-century Liverpool, one woman combats squalor and institutional indifference. Stars Maureen O'Brien.
SAT 07:30 The Great Gatsby Letters (b01130n7)
F Scott Fitzgerald tells his editor Maxwell Perkins about his hopes and fears for his new novel. Read by William Hope.
SAT 08:00 Garrison Keillor's Radio Show (b01h78b0)
Series 7
Episode 29
From Flagstaff, Arizona, the American funny man welcomes country star Jimmie Dale Gilmore and humorist Ian Frazier. From 2011.
SAT 09:00 The Big Steptoe Radio Show: Ray Galton and Alan Simpson (b007jwm9)
The duo behind the BBC's legendary rag and bone men comedy - writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson present their favourite episodes of Steptoe and Son.
This includes the very first episode, 'The Offer' – originally made for BBC TV's 'Comedy Playhouse' - one of ten one-off comedies penned by Ray and Alan. BBC bosses viewed it as a sweetener for the duo, who'd recently parted company with Tony Hancock. Despite several strong concepts, only 'The Offer' progressed from pilot to series development.
The TV pilot aired in January 1962, followed by the first Steptoe series in June starring Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett as father and son duo, Albert and Harold Steptoe.
Revealing how the series was created, the writers also explain why it prompted concerns in Parliament.
The duo's selected episodes were all adapted from the TV scripts and recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio by Gale Pedrick.
* The Offer
As the rag and bone father and son argue, Harold is set to leave. Stars Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett. From July 1966.
* Pilgrim's Progress
Old soldier Albert Steptoe is eager to revisit Flanders. Stars Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett. From June 1967.
* Crossed Swords
Excited Harold Steptoe lets greed get the better of him. Stars Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett. From July 1967.
* The Desperate Hours
Some unwelcome visitors arrive at the rag and bone yard. .Stars Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H Corbett and Leonard Rossiter. From May 1974.
* Oh What a Beautiful Mourning
The family clash at the funeral of Albert's brother. Stars Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett. From February 1976
* Seance in a Wet Rag and Bone Yard
Sceptical Harold slams Albert's claims about the power of spiritualism. Stars Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H Corbett and Patricia Routledge. From March 1976.
Producer: Sarah Wade.
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in February 2006.
SAT 12:00 44 Scotland Street (Omnibus) (b01h78b2)
Series 1 Omnibus
Alexander McCall Smith's series based on residents of a fictitious tenement building in a real Edinburgh New Town street.
SAT 13:15 Daunt and Dervish (b007s8d7)
Series 1
Games of Chance
The detective duo are called in on a 'sporting' assignment to keep a 24 hour watch on a young East End boy who's about to fight for a place in the 1948 boxing team. The local Catholic priest has been taking a special interest in the boy's progress, but why?
With the Second World War over, former spies Josephine Daunt and Susan Dervish are running their own detective agency.
Stars Imelda Staunton as Josephine Daunt, Anna Massey as Susan Dervish, Bill Patterson as Bill Mackie, Dermot Crowley as Father Mike Finucan and Carl Prekopp as Tommy.
Format by Imelda Staunton and Anna Massey. Written by Guy Meredith.
Producer: Cherry Cookson. Director: Janet Whitaker.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003.
SAT 14:00 The Goon Show (b007jtqc)
Series 7
Six Charlies in Search of an Author
Through pages and chapters, the fate of Neddie Seagoon is in the hands of the writer.
Groundbreaking, surreal BBC radio comedy written by Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens.
Starring:
Peter Sellers
Harry Secombe
Spike Milligan
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: Pat Dixon
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in December 1956.
SAT 14:30 Steptoe and Son (b007jl5j)
Series 1
The Offer
After a row with his father Albert, Harold decides to leave their rag and bone business and take up another offer of employment.
Starring Wilfrid Brambell as Albert and Harry H Corbett as Harold.
Following the conclusion of their hugely successful association with Tony Hancock, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson wrote 10 pilots for BBC TV's Comedy Playhouse in 1962.
The Offer was set in a house with a yard full of junk, featuring the lives of rag and bone men Albert Steptoe and his son Harold and it was the spark for a run of 8 series for TV.
Adapted for BBC radio from Galton and Simpson's TV script by Gale Pedrick.
Produced by Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in July 1966.
SAT 15:00 Garrison Keillor's Radio Show (b01h78b0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 David Pownall - Kitty Wilkinson (b01h789y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 18:00 The Routemasters by Andrew McGibbon (b007jnry)
3. On the Buses
Bernie is kidnapped by Hildegard and then escapes to the 24th century. Raymond discovers his true identity...
Starring Amanda Donohoe as Hilderghast, Andrew McGibbon as Raymond, Karl Minns as the Conductor, Owen Evans as Bernie, Nick Romero as the Driver, Andy Mulligan as Herr Grubberman, Dan Freedman as Kunitrol, Alex Lowe as the interpolator and Sophie Aldred as Spikea.
Written by Andrew McGibbon. Additional material by Rob Colley and Kevin Greening.
Theme by Ozzy Temple and other music by Nick Romero.
Producer: Julian Mayers
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1999.
SAT 18:30 A Short History of Gothic (b00pgnqn)
The Lady of the House of Love
By Angela Carter. A vampire tale with a twist. On the eve of war, an unwary army officer meets the last of the Nosferatu family. Read by Indira Varma.
SAT 19:00 The Big Steptoe Radio Show: Ray Galton and Alan Simpson (b007jwm9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 The Comedy Club Interviews (b01j2f6r)
It's a special long weekend for the Comedy Club as Arthur Smith brings you interviews and much more direct from the Machynlleth Comedy Festival.
SAT 22:05 Saturday Stand-Up (b01h78b4)
Dr Phil Hammond's Rude Health Show
Dr Phil Hammond ruminates on drugs, death, sex, the NHS and releasing his inner child. Recorded in Bath in December 2009.
SAT 22:50 Sarah at the Stand (b014qt9s)
Episode 4
Sarah Millican is in Edinburgh for stand-up and backstage chat with Stephen Carlin and Jim Jefferies. From October 2010.
SAT 23:05 Comedy Club at Machynlleth (b01j2f6t)
2012
Episode 5
It's a special long weekend for the Comedy Club as Arthur Smith brings you interviews and much more direct from the Machynlleth Comedy Festival.
SAT 23:10 Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off (b01h78b6)
Series 3
Japan
Giles is working in Tokyo, grappling with stocks and shares (and the boss's wife). Stars Marcus Brigstocke. From February 2005.
SAT 23:40 Comedy Club at Machynlleth (b01j2f6w)
2012
Episode 6
It's a special long weekend for the Comedy Club as Arthur Smith brings you interviews and much more direct from the Machynlleth Comedy Festival.
SAT 23:45 A Series of Psychotic Episodes (b00fgq4m)
Episode 2
Ever tried storming a bouncy castle? Welcome to the surreal world of Miriam Elia. With Dan Tetsall and Joanna Neary. From November 2008.