1. Murder
A murder in an East Anglian village reveals hidden passions beneath the calm surface.
Robin Ellis stars as detective Adam Dalgliesh in the debut crime novel of PD James.
Co-starring Sian Phillips and Hugh Grant.
Cover Her Face was first published in 1962, where the author created her famous poetry-writing detective who went on to feature in many more of her stories.
Dramatised in four-parts by Neville Teller.
Inspector Adam Dalgliesh .... Robin Ellis
Mrs Maxie …. Sian Phillips
Felix Hearne …. Hugh Grant
Deborah …. Beatie Edney
Stephen Maxie …. David Thorpe
Catherine Bowers …. Oona Beeson
Miss Liddell …. Kate Binchy
Dr Epps …. Philip Anthony
Martha …. Jill Graham
Sally Jupp …. Melanie Hudson
Mrs Webster …. Linda Polan
Miss Donleavy is ill and somebody is trying to kill both Holmes and Mary.
The question is: which of the Baker Street sleuth's enemies would hate him enough to not only try and kill him, but his friends as well?
Starring James Fox as Holmes, Shaun Prendergast as Watson and Monica Dolan as Mary Russell.
Laurie King's witty and humorous homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - dramatised by Shaun Prendergast.
Directed in Manchester by Melanie Harris.
Mother Nature pays another visit, and discovers spring has arrived and love is in the air. Stars Jenny Eclair. From July 1998.
In his debut solo Radio 4 show, comedian Thom Tuck recounted heart-rending tales of loves lost while drawing comparisons with 54 Straight-to-DVD Disney movies he'd watched, so we don't ever have to.
Thom now turns his attention to other genres of Straight-to-DVD movies - seeking out further underrated gems and drawing parallels with captivating personal tales from his own life experience, backed by cinematic music, so we can rest easy.
In this third episode, Thom looks at the Straight-to-DVD offerings from "The Olsen Twins", self made millionaires from their empire of teenage market films. Thom looks at the journey of their success, and draws parallels with the wise (and not so wise) choices he's made in his life.
It is 1942, and Neddie Seagoon must stop the Germans' secret weapon. Stars Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. From December 1959.
The King of Knotty Ash aims his tickling stick at holidays and DIY.
This show is from the 'Star Parade' series - one-off shows featuring the biggest stars of TV and radio at the time
With Judith Chalmers, Cardew Robinson and Harold Berens.
Music from The Springfields.
Script co-written with Eddie Braben.
Producer: Eric Miller.
Series of plays by Mike Walker, inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles, charting the early years of the Plantagenet dynasty.
Prince Richard has become heir apparent, but in the face of Henry II's refusal to acknowledge his position, he turns to the Crusades.
Queen Eleanor ...... Jane Lapotaire
Richard ...... Ed Stoppard
King Henry II ...... David Warner
William Marshall ...... Stephen Hogan
King Philip ...... John Biggins
Saladin ...... Raad Rawi
El-adel ...... Khalid Laith
Baldwin ...... Ewan Hooper
Prince John ...... Neil Stuke
Hugh ...... Philip Fox
Robert of Champagne ...... Rhys Jennings
Conrad ...... Piers Wehner
A night out leaves a playwright contemplating relationships and success. Written in 1972 and read by Tracy Wiles.
By Mark Burgess.
The action of A King's Speech takes place on Coronation Day, 12th May 1937, and deals with King George VI's preparations for his evening BBC Radio broadcast to the Nation - a terrifying prospect for perhaps the most notable Briton to have suffered from a stammer.
The Coronation Ceremony in Westminster Abbey completed, the new King must face a further challenge - the dreaded royal broadcast, to be delivered under the watchful gaze of the BBC's first Director General, Sir John Reith himself. As the tension mounts, speech therapist, Lionel Logue (played by Trevor Littledale) must work hard to calm the King's nerves and to prepare him for his ordeal at the microphone. No easy task. As the King says himself, exploding in fury:
"Dammit!! I can't say 'crowned', can't say 'King'! What use is that? The whole speech is a minefield of 'Commonwealths', 'Queens' and 'Kings'! Five hundred and seventy-two words in total, and most of them impossible for me to say!"
The central scenes of the play feature Logue and his pupil. Comfortable in each other's company, they discuss the speech the King must make in a few hours' time. Logue's working methods are revealed: the tongue-twisters, breathing exercises, Shakespearean quotations - all designed to relax the speaker. The King's dependence on, and great friendship with Logue becomes apparent. Their conversation is wide-ranging, dealing with, among other things, the Abdication Crisis; George VI's childhood - when being both left-handed and a stammerer was frowned on; the King's envy of his elder brother; and his uneasy relationship with his father, King George V.
This is Mark Burgess's sixth play for BBC Radio 4, all of which have dealt with prominent people at pivotal moments in their lives.
Meena is called on to help with baby Sunil and sets about healing the rift with Anita. Meera Syal reads her own novel.
Mark Whitaker shows how the 'Drink Question' was of central importance for both of England's most original and influential political thinkers of the 19th century - John Stuart Mill and TH Green.
For both of them it raised the question of how far the state could be justified in interfering in the lives of individuals. The debate had started in the letters page of the Times in 1856, in a high-level exchange between the Tory MP Lord Stanley and Samuel Pope, Secretary of the temperance movement the UK Alliance. The latter argued that his rights as a citizen were "invaded" by the behaviour of heavy drinkers; the former that no Englishman would agree to be "coerced for his own benefit".
Mill picked up the topic in his essay On Liberty, published in 1859. Mill was mid-Victorian England's most influential public intellectual, and his books were best-sellers even though his ideas were radical. He insisted that "drunkenness is not a fit subject for legislative purposes", and feared that the weight of public opinion would crush individualism.
TH Green was an academic philosopher at Oxford, and was deeply involved in the temperance movement during the 1870s. He believed that individual freedom lay in pursuing the common good and that mass drunkenness made this impossible in England. He thought that "moderate drinkers" had to sacrifice their pleasure for the sake of society as a whole.
Actors read extracts from their work.
How did American Caro Bliss come to settle in a close farming community in England? Read by Robin Ellis.
Starting to make a mark, the inevitable backlash against the first women university students begins. Read by Miriam Margolyes.
The dear ladies decide to enter a shop window-dressing competition. Stars Dr Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket. From December 1984.
A priest's faith is severely tested during an expedition on a burnt planet. John Shrapnel reads Arthur C Clarke's short story.
The Tyromancers of Nano plan an attack. Will Thor become the planetoid's god? Sequel to Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, with Stephen Mangan.
Hoarder of horror Lovecraft returns to share three more chilling tales.
By Richard Vincent. Scratching in the walls, under the floorboards, in the pipes: their new home is trying to tell the Williams family something and they won't be given a moment's peace until its secret is out in the open.
Geoff Williams ...... Jamie Glover
Jane Williams ...... Julia Ford
Sarah Williams ...... Agnes Dromgoole
Martin Crabtree ...... John Biggins
DCI Cram ...... Piers Wehner
Psychiatrist ...... Melissa Advani
Lovecraft ...... Stephen Hogan
Cycling solo on a tandem, the inept student is Russia-bound, fundraising for donkeys. Stars Marcus Brigstocke. From August 2002.
For two hours, six nights a week, the Comedy Club offers the best laughs around. Plus more from Arthur Smith's chat with Barry Cryer.
The Bletchley Park codebreakers grapple with the complexities of religion.
Charles …. Robert Bathurst
Archie …. Tom Goodman-Hill
Minka …. Olivia Colman
Gordon …. Fergus Craig
Mrs Best …. Lill Roughley
Joshua …. Alex MacQueen.
Written by James Carey.
The Brummie musicologist reveals the impact of so many rock legends dying at the age of 27. Stars Graham Fellows. From October 2001.
A moody fridge speaks out to Paul Copley and Helen Moon. Sketch show mixing up language and sounds. From October 2007.
WEDNESDAY 24 APRIL 2013
WED 00:00 Arthur C Clarke Stories (b010721b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:15 Eoin Colfer - And Another Thing... (b0132plq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Weird Tales (b00wr8s9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Adam Dalgliesh - Cover Her Face (b008ycyr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 Sherlock Holmes (b0075zbj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 The News Quiz Extra (b01s2601)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 on Monday]
WED 02:45 Armando Iannucci - Facts and Fancies (b007jrlb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:45 on Monday]
WED 03:00 Classic Serial (b00qs5kh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 Five Stories by Margaret Drabble (b0170mty)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:15 Drama (b00k3xld)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 The Random Jottings of Hinge and Bracket (b01s2bjw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
17:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 On Baby Street (b00sf1tt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Adam Dalgliesh - Cover Her Face (b008ypyg)
2. Investigation
Inspector Adam Dalgliesh arrives on the scene to investigate the murder of Sally Jupp in a peaceful Essex village.
Robin Ellis stars as Dalgliesh with Sian Phillips and Hugh Grant.
PD James's debut crime novel about her gentleman detective.
Inspector Adam Dalgliesh .... Robin Ellis
Mrs Maxie …. Sian Phillips
Felix …. Hugh Grant
Deborah …. Beatie Edney
Catherine …. Oona Beeson
Miss Liddell …. Kate Binchy
Stephen …. David Thorpe
Dr Epps …. Philip Anthony
Martha ... Jill Graham
Thornton/Hicks …. John Church
Sgt Martin …. Steve Hodson
Inspector Manning …. John Fleming
Police Doctor …. John Baddeley
Dramatised by Neville Teller.
Producer: Matthew Walters
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1993.
WED 06:30 Sherlock Holmes (b0075zg4)
The Beekeeper's Apprentice
A Battle Royal
In the aftermath of another bomb - with their lives in grave danger - Holmes and Mary formulate a tactical plan to catch the killer. But can they outwit the devious mind behind the bombs?
Starring James Fox as Holmes, Shaun Prendergast as Watson, Monica Dolan as Mary Russell and Sian Thomas as Donleavy.
Laurie King's witty and humorous homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - dramatised by Shaun Prendergast.
Directed in Manchester by Melanie Harris
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
WED 07:00 Two Doors Down (b0076h2y)
Series 3
Give the Dog a Bone
Miss Black's new lodger is a successful actor, but he’s not who she was hoping for...
Annie McCartney's comedy drama about the bohemian residents of Marlborough Road, Belfast, who are saved from their own chaos by Sally, their cleaning lady.
Sally ...... Frances Tomelty
Edith ...... Roma Tomelty
Gervase ...... James Greene
Victor ...... Alan McKee
Clare ...... Marcella Riordan
Evie ...... Katy Gleadhill
Anna ...... Hannah R Gordon
Trevor ...... Gerard McSorley
Simon ...... Lloyd Houston
Layla ...... Eadaoin Hegarty
Ben ...... Conor Hinds OA
Eddie McIlwaine ...... As Himself
Director: Tanya Nash
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2003.
WED 07:30 Alun Cochrane's Fun House (b01rvpvf)
The Bathroom
Comedian Alun Cochrane has a 25 year mortgage which he can only pay off by being funny. In this series he takes us on a room by room, stand up tour of his house.
He has a fridge that beeps at him when he doesn't move quickly enough and a fire alarm he can't reach. His relationship with his house is a complicated one.
A hoarder of funny and original observations on everyday life, Alun invites us to help him de-clutter his mind and tidy his ideas into one of those bags that you hoover all the air out of and keep under your bed. This show will help Alun and his house work through their relationship issues and prevent a separation that Alun can ill afford; at least not until the market picks up anyway.
Starring ... Alun Cochrane and Gavin Osborn
Written by ... Alun Cochrane and Andy Wolton
Produced by ... Carl Cooper.
WED 08:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007k15z)
Series 2
The Holiday Camp
Sid hires the lad to run his new venture, but then he discovers a surprise next door.
Starring Tony Hancock.
With Bill Kerr, Sidney James. Andree Melly, Kenneth Williams and Denis Wilson.
Announcer: 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 May 1955.
WED 08:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00ckcmh)
Series 5
Episode 10
Censorship, a ghost story - and a depraved dentist.
More quick-fire sketches, terrible puns, humorous songs and parodies.
Stars Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, David Hatch, Bill Oddie and Jean Hart.
Written by David Hatch, Bill Oddie, Derek Farmer and Tim Brooke-Taylor.
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, Leon Cohen and Bill Oddie.
Producer: Humphrey Barclay
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in June 1967.
WED 09:00 After Henry (b007qgnr)
Series 4
Relative Movement
"If you've decided you're going to settle permanently in Australia.... well, it could make sense for me to rent the place out."
With daughter Clare off on her travels, Sarah is plotting... .
Simon Brett's comedy about three generations of women - struggling to cope after the death of Sarah's GP husband - who never quite manage to see eye to eye.
Sarah ...... Prunella Scales
Eleanor ...... Joan Sanderson
Russell ...... Benjamin Whitrow
Clare ...... Gerry Cowpe
Lady Newby ...... Fabia Drake
Four radio series were made, but instead of moving to BBC TV - Thames Television produced 'After Henry' for the ITV network.
Producer: Pete Atkin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1989.
WED 09:30 It's Your Round (b00yz3t4)
Series 1
Episode 3
Angus Deayton hosts the comedy panel show with no format.
Arthur Smith, Lucy Montgomery, Tom Wrigglesworth and Will Smith battle it out to see who can beat each other at their own games.
Find out the hilarity that ensues when each of them play the games they've brought along. What will Arthur make of Tom's "Re-wound, Sped Up Played Backwards"? How will Twitter-fan Will Smith get on with Lucy's "Twitter-witter-witter-who" game? And how much would it take for Tom Wrigglesworth to change his name to Adolf Hitler when he plays Arthur Smith's round?
Angus Deayton valiantly tries to make sure everyone comes out of it with their reputations intact.
Writers: Angus Deayton, Ged Parsons and Paul Powell
Devised by Benjamin Partridge
Producer: Sam Michell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2011.
WED 10:00 Classic Serial (b00qzd3b)
Plantagenet: Series 1
John, By the Grace of God
Series of plays by Mike Walker, inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles, chronicling the early years of the Plantagenet dynasty.
The fourth son of Henry II never expected to succeed to the English throne. When he does, he reveals a talent for making enemies.
Queen Eleanor ...... Jane Lapotaire
King Richard ...... Ed Stoppard
King John ...... Neil Stuke
William Marshall ...... Stephen Hogan
Prince Arthur ...... Ryan Watson
Queen Isabelle ...... Emerald O'Hanrahan
King Philip ...... John Biggins
Saladin ...... Raad Rawi
El-Adel ...... Khalid Laith
Doctor/Langton ...... Ewan Hooper
Girard ...... Joseph Cohen-Cole
De Roche ...... Bruce Alexander
Fitzwalter ...... Piers Wehner
Will Marshall ...... Rhys Jennings
Prince Henry ...... Bertie Gilbert
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer.
WED 11:00 Five Stories by Margaret Drabble (b0175j83)
A Voyage to Cythera
A chance encounter on a train leads a lonely woman to a romantic fantasy. Written in 1967 and read by Lucy Akhurst.
WED 11:15 John Mortimer - Mr Luby's Fear of Heaven (b007jwfc)
Lewis Luby - lecturer and authority on the poet, Lord Byron - is at one moment enjoying British Council sherry on the balcony of an Italian palazzo and the next moment he's somewhere entirely different...
John Mortimer's play for radio stars John Gielgud as Lewis Luby, Peter Woodthorpe as Tommy Fletcher, Leslie Heritage as the English Guide, Hana-Maria Pravda as Sophie Luby, Robert Rietty as Dr Benjamini, Madi Hedd as Miss Waterlow, Deborah Paige as Jennifer, Gigi Gatti as the Nun, Norma Ronald as English Mother, Michael Shannon as English Father, Gilles Dattas as French Guide, Michael Wolf as German Guide, Yasuko Nagazumi as Japanese Guide and Leonardo Pierroni as Italian Guide.
Producer: John Tydeman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 1976.
WED 12:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007k15z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
WED 12:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00ckcmh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Adam Dalgliesh - Cover Her Face (b008ypyg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
WED 13:30 Sherlock Holmes (b0075zg4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Meera Syal - Anita and Me (b00fy2qp)
Episode 8
With Meena and Anita back on track, the girls begin to tackle the tricky subject of sex. Meera Syal reads her own novel.
WED 14:15 Britain on the Bottle: Alcohol and the State (b00t3t9d)
Habitual Drunkards and the Asylum
Mark Whitaker focuses on a new sort of panic that swept the nation at the very end of the 19th century - a panic about the number of 'habitual drunkards' in the country and the impact they were having.
This was the time of pioneering social research by the likes of Booth and Rowntree, and also of a new belief in the ability of government to intervene to change social conditions. Allied to this was a growing medical confidence that addiction to alcohol was a disease that could be isolated and treated - and a new term was invented, 'inebriety'.
Public and political opinion on the matter was hugely influenced by the publication by the Daily Telegraph in 1891 of a long series of letters giving first-hand accounts of alcohol addiction. They were revelatory, and the paper called them a "sad mirror of the National Sin". There was particular concern over the extent of female drunkenness, and this fed into fears about a deterioration of the 'national stock'.
A leading medical figure argued that "the wide-spread prevalence of alcoholism among women, especially during the reproductive period of life, is one of the important factors making for racial decay".
Such fears came to a head when many young men proved insufficiently healthy to fight in the Boer War. In 1898 Parliament passed an Inebriates Act that required local authorities to set up special 'reformatories' as an alternative to prison for those arrested time after time for being drunk and disorderly. Courts could sentence people to them for up to three years. The shift was from condemnation to cure: but the reformatories couldn't survive after the outbreak if war in 1914.
Producer: Mark Whitaker
A Square Dog production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 14:30 Joanna Trollope - Next of Kin (b007qx32)
Episode 3
Grieving for her mother Caro, daughter Judy Meredith prepares to visit her father. Read by Robin Ellis.
WED 14:45 Jane Robinson - Bluestockings (b012ylgf)
Episode 3
Undergraduette glamour and bluestocking fashion. Miriam Margolyes continues the story of the first female university students.
WED 15:00 Classic Serial (b00qzd3b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 today]
WED 16:00 The 4 O'Clock Show (b01s2fwj)
Afternoon chat with Mel Giedroyc.
WED 17:00 Stilgoe's Around (b007k3r0)
Guy's Hospital, London
Richard Stilgoe and company are admitted to Guy's Hospital in London for sound tests.
Visiting time is 'now', so, pull up a chair, don't eat all the grapes but put on the headphones and hear the result.
With Emma Thompson and The Cambridge Buskers
Producer: Mike Craig
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1984.
WED 17:30 Two Doors Down (b0076h2y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 today]
WED 18:00 Arthur C Clarke Stories (b010gqsf)
The Nine Billion Names of God
Death and the Senator
If a medical space station can cure cardiac conditions, who gets treatment? John Shrapnel reads Arthur C Clarke's short story.
WED 18:15 Eoin Colfer - And Another Thing... (b0132vvd)
Episode 8
It's the big fight - Thor v Wowbagger. Sequel to Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, with Stephen Mangan.
WED 18:30 A Short History of Vampires (b00yhwyc)
Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker
The ultimate killing machines.
Natalie Haynes introduces a four-part series of dark stories, as she examines why the vampire - an iconic figure in horror-fiction - continues to exert such a powerful hold on our imaginations...
Dan Stevens reads Bram Stoker’s tale: Count Dracula looks out for a curious Englishman.
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in February 2011.
WED 19:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007k15z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
WED 19:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00ckcmh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Adam Dalgliesh - Cover Her Face (b008ypyg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
WED 20:30 Sherlock Holmes (b0075zg4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Five Stories by Margaret Drabble (b0175j83)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 today]
WED 21:15 John Mortimer - Mr Luby's Fear of Heaven (b007jwfc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 today]
WED 22:00 Alun Cochrane's Fun House (b01rvpvf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
WED 22:30 The Mark Steel Solution (b007jmtg)
Series 1
Anyone Born in England Should Be Deported
Radical proposals to improve our lives, with the comedian's emigration shake-up. From November 1992.
WED 23:00 We Are Klang: Amazing Lives (b007k3vt)
Musical
On its 25th anniversary, writers and performers reflect on Gummy Monkey: The Musical. Stars Greg Davies. From April 2007.
WED 23:30 Knocker (b00890vp)
Privinvasionacy
Armed with a broken clipboard, puny incentives, inappropriate footwear and an unflagging commitment to the Market Researcher's Code of Conduct, Ian Dunn seeks the precious opinions of a hostile public.
CAST:
Ian Dunn …. Neil Edmond
Mary/Mrs Rapidis …. Paula Wilcox
Mrs Worth …. Julia Deakin
Ms Shape …. Tina Gray
Mr Bluff …. Simone Treves
Written by Neil Edmond
Producer: Tilusha Ghelani
First broadcast on BBC Radio 7 in 2007.
WED 23:45 Peter Bradshaw - For One Horrible Moment (b0082khk)
Episode 1
Peter Bradshaw's hilariously disturbing personal account of one boy's transition into adulthood in 1970s Cambridgeshire at the hands of an eccentric father.
In this opening episode, our young hero's chance playground encounter opens the long-concealed door into a dark erotic journey of the soul.
Read by the author.
Producer: Jon Naismith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1999.
THURSDAY 25 APRIL 2013
THU 00:00 Arthur C Clarke Stories (b010gqsf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:15 Eoin Colfer - And Another Thing... (b0132vvd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 A Short History of Vampires (b00yhwyc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Adam Dalgliesh - Cover Her Face (b008ypyg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 Sherlock Holmes (b0075zg4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 After Henry (b007qgnr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 It's Your Round (b00yz3t4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Classic Serial (b00qzd3b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 Five Stories by Margaret Drabble (b0175j83)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:15 John Mortimer - Mr Luby's Fear of Heaven (b007jwfc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Stilgoe's Around (b007k3r0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
17:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 Two Doors Down (b0076h2y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Adam Dalgliesh - Cover Her Face (b008yszy)
3. Fresh Leads
As Inspector Dalgliesh continues his investigation, the evidence points to one of the family. But which one?
Robin Ellis stars as Dalgliesh with Sian Phillips and Hugh Grant.
PD James's debut crime novel about her gentleman detective.
Inspector Adam Dalgliesh …. Robin Ellis
Mrs Maxie …. Sian Phillips
Felix Hearne …. Hugh Grant
Deborah Riscoe …. Beatie Edney
Stephen Maxie …. David Thorpe
Catherine Bowers …. Oona Beeson
Derek Pullen …. David Holt
Mrs Proctor …. Jillie Meers
Johnny Wilcox/Lilly Burwood …. Susan Sheridan
Sgt Martin …. Steve Hodson
Mr Wilson …. John Fleming
Sir Reynold Price …. Jonathan Adams
Miss Malpass …. Linda Polan
The Rev Hinks …. John Church
James Ritchie …. James Telfer
Dramatised by Neville Teller.
Producer: Matthew Walters
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1993.
THU 06:30 Detective (b01s2kd7)
Series 3
1. The Trap
A suspect in an armed London hold-up asks to see Detective Sergeant Brook - whose new assistant, Jack Tully, arrives and is plunged straight into the sharp end of police work.
Starring Ray Brooks and Stephen Garlick.
More tough stories of crime and detection in London written by Robert Barr
Detective Sergeant Brook …. Ray Brooks
Detective Constable Tully …. Stephen Garlick
Thomas Brady …. Stephen Grief
Detective Sergeant Harrison …. Peter Cleall
Chief Inspector Roach …. Stephen Yardley
Tommy …. Michael Ripper
Chris Thompson …. Peter Acre
Bill …. Michael Jenner
DC Tim O'Brien/Prison Warder …. Anthony Jackson
Kathy/Hotel Receptionist …. Eileen Tully
Robert Barr also wrote TV scripts for the BBC's Z Cars and Softly Softly. He was also a prize-winning TV producer.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast weekly on BBC Radio 2 in June 1984.
THU 07:00 Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me (b0076hbd)
Series 1
The Folks Who Live on the Hill
Vi is sick, and Roy is no help. Then unexpected guests arrive for Victor's birthday party. Stars Ram Jam Holder. From October 2003.
THU 07:30 Mark Thomas: The Manifesto (b01rw3ym)
Series 5
Canterbury
Comedian and activist Mark Thomas creates a People's Manifesto from the policies of his Gulbenkian Theatre audience in Canterbury.
Agenda:
1) Farmers to stop spraypainting sheep
2) Abandon the recycling of plastic bottles
3) Land Value Tax to replace all other taxation.
Researcher: Susan McNicholas
Producer: Colin Anderson.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
THU 08:00 It Sticks Out Half A Mile (b007jqc5)
Hidden Treasure
Pike and Hodges call in a clairvoyant to help them locate the rumoured booty hidden somewhere on the pier in Frambourne-on-Sea.
A seaside saga of pier perpetuation starring John Le Mesurier, Ian Lavender and Bill Pertwee.
Arthur Wilson …. John Le Mesurier
Frank Pike …. Ian Lavender
Bert Hodges …. Bill Pertwee
Miss Perkins …. Vivienne Martin
Madame Zara …. Betty Marsden
Written by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles, based on the characters originally created by Jimmy Perry and David Croft.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in October 1984.
THU 08:30 Take It From Here (b0180fds)
From 21/02/1956
Can Ron pull off his starring stage role in 'The Glums'? - and the adventure of the Scarlet Pimple!
Starring Professor Jimmy Edwards, Dick Bentley, June Whitfield, Alma Cogan and Wallace Eton.
Classic comedy scripted by Frank Muir and Denis Norden.
Music from The Keynotes and the BBC Revue Orchestra with Harry Rabinowitz.
Announcer. David Dunhill
Producer: Charles Maxwell
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in February 1956.
THU 09:00 The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (b00brb8n)
The Demon Cobbler of Greek Street
The spoof sleuth probes a shoe clue connection in two mystery murders. Stars Roy Hudd and June Whitfield. From February 1999.
THU 09:30 The 99p Challenge (b01s2v0x)
Series 5
Episode 6
Crazy panel show capers with Sue Perkins, Rob Rouse, Nick Frost, Armando Iannucci and Peter Serafinowicz. From September 2004.
THU 10:00 RL Stevenson - Kidnapped (b01c7rym)
The House of Shaws
Scotland is in turmoil after the Jacobite rebellion, as young David sets off to Edinburgh. Robert Louis Stevenson's historical adventure stars David Rintoul.
THU 11:00 Five Stories by Margaret Drabble (b0175mgk)
Hassan's Tower
Kenneth reaches a new understanding on his honeymoon in foreign parts. Written in 1966 and read by Carl Prekopp.
THU 11:15 Never Mind, I Stopped My Train (b01hbrw2)
July 18th 1898: The heroism of driver, Walter Peart and fireman, Harry Dean when the boiler of their Great Western Railway steam engine horrifically exploded.
Martin Sorrell recreates the background to this story which acts as a tribute to all railwaymen.
Narrated by Martin Jarvis and Joanna Myers. With Ann Windsor as Ada Peart, Nicholas Murchie as Edmund Mears/William Jarrett and Jonathan Tafler as John Hodges.
Director: Martin Jenkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1992.
THU 12:00 It Sticks Out Half A Mile (b007jqc5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
THU 12:30 Take It From Here (b0180fds)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Adam Dalgliesh - Cover Her Face (b008yszy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
THU 13:30 Detective (b01s2kd7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Meera Syal - Anita and Me (b00fwq9n)
Episode 9
Tough times for Meena, with a stay in hospital and major changes in her circle of friends. Meera Syal reads her own novel.
THU 14:15 Britain on the Bottle: Alcohol and the State (b00t3tb3)
The Central Control Board of 1915
"Drink is doing us more damage in the War than all the German submarines put together", insisted Lloyd George in February 1915.
Continuing his history series on how British governments have approached the 'Drink Question', Mark Whitaker looks at the years of the First World War, when everything was determined by the needs of 'national efficiency'.
After a few months of war it became clear that Britain needed to make more munitions - and fast. But output was slowed down by the workers' drinking habits. "We are fighting German, Austrians and Drink", said Lloyd George as he embarked on a plan for the government to buy up the country's whole liquor trade.
But the Cabinet balked at the price. Instead a Central Control Board (CCB) was set up in 1915 with the power to take over the trade in areas of particular sensitivity to the war effort. The largest of these was Gretna-Carlisle, where a new national munitions factory was built.
The number of licences was drastically reduced: the beer was weakened: the sale of spirits limited: and pubs encouraged to provide food as well as drink. Newspapers called it "the largest social experiment of our time". A Carlisle vicar called state control "the dawning of a new era". It worked too. Convictions for drunkenness in CCB-controlled areas declined dramatically, and many began to think that nationalisation might finally be the solution to the 'Drink Question'.
Producer: Mark Whitaker
A Square Dog production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:30 Joanna Trollope - Next of Kin (b007qw7h)
Episode 4
Lyndsay struggles with her husband's depression over the death of Caro Meredith. Read by Robin Ellis.
THU 14:45 Jane Robinson - Bluestockings (b012yp7q)
Episode 4
The suffragette movement makes its mark on academia. Miriam Margolyes tells the story of the first female university students.
THU 15:00 RL Stevenson - Kidnapped (b01c7rym)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 today]
THU 16:00 The 4 O'Clock Show (b01s2x9j)
Afternoon chat with Mel Giedroyc.
THU 17:00 Ballylenon (b00gddtk)
Series 2
Episode 4
After "overhearing" that Reverend Hawthorne is leaving Ballylenon for a larger congregation, telephone operator Vera McConkey loses no time in communicating the good news to the local newspaper, The Vindicator.
Series set in the sleepy town of Ballylenon, Co Donegal, in 1954, before the days of mass tourism and proper plumbing in every home.
Written by Christopher Fitz-Simon.
Starring TP McKenna as Phonsie Doherty, Margaret D'Arcy as Muriel McConkey, Stella McCusker as Vera McConkey, Aine McCartney as Vivienne Boal, John Hewitt as Guard Gallagher, Charlie Bonnar as Packy McGoldrick, Ciara McKeown as Josie Doherty and Gerard Murphy as Rev Samuel Hawthorne.
Music arranged and performed by Stephanie Hughes.
Director: Eoin O'Callaghan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.
THU 17:30 Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me (b0076hbd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 today]
THU 18:00 Arthur C Clarke Stories (b010m6lf)
The Nine Billion Names of God
Superiority
In war, the more technologically advanced side can still be defeated. John Shrapnel reads Arthur C Clarke's short story.
THU 18:15 Eoin Colfer - And Another Thing... (b0133hgn)
Episode 9
Can Thor save planetoid Nano from the Vogons and their Quite Unwieldy Torpedo? Sequel to Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, with Stephen Mangan.
THU 18:30 A Short History of Vampires (b00yqqs8)
Hero Dust By Kristine Kathryn Rusch
The ultimate killing machines.
Natalie Haynes introduces another dark story, as she examines why the vampire - an iconic figure in horror-fiction - continues to exert such a powerful hold on our imaginations...
David Horovitch reads Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s tale: Vampire slayer Bram is getting old and tired so starts the search for his successor.
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in February 2011.
THU 19:00 It Sticks Out Half A Mile (b007jqc5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
THU 19:30 Take It From Here (b0180fds)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Adam Dalgliesh - Cover Her Face (b008yszy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
THU 20:30 Detective (b01s2kd7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Five Stories by Margaret Drabble (b0175mgk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 today]
THU 21:15 Never Mind, I Stopped My Train (b01hbrw2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 today]
THU 22:00 Mark Thomas: The Manifesto (b01rw3ym)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
THU 22:30 Old Harry's Game (b00hlcr4)
Series 7
Episode 1
Hell faces confusion when a dog turns up - as animals aren't evil, except dolphins.
Jean-Paul Sartre said "Hell is other people", but, as Satan will tell you, Hell is actually a fiery, unendingly cruel domain where Oliver Reed can never catch the barman's eye and Yves St Laurent is forced to wear a donkey jacket.
Hell is thrown into confusion when a dog turns up. Animals aren't meant to be in Satan's care because they aren't inherently evil - except for dolphins!
Stars Andy Hamilton as Satan, Annette Crosbie as Edith, Robert Duncan as Scumspawn and Jimmy Mulville as Thomas.
Additional roles played by Michael Fenton Stevens and Philip Pope.
Written by Andy Hamilton.
Producer: Paul Mayhew-Archer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2009.
THU 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b01sbch4)
For two hours, six nights a week, the Comedy Club offers the best laughs around. Plus Isy Suttie is joined by Chris Neill.
THU 23:00 Deep Trouble (b00spp7t)
Series 1
Episode 4
A stray astronaut and a rock band spark confusion on board submarine HMS Goliath. Stars Jim Field Smith. From November 2005.
THU 23:30 The Skivers (b007jpsp)
Series 1
Leslie Phillips
Lecturer Leslie Phillips guest stars in Nick Golson and Tim de Jongh's skilful sketch show.
From the people who brought you ‘And Now in Colour’.
Written and performed by Nick Golson and Tim de Jongh.
With Peter Bradshaw and Mel Giedroyc
Producer: Jon Naismith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1994.
FRIDAY 26 APRIL 2013
FRI 00:00 Arthur C Clarke Stories (b010m6lf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:15 Eoin Colfer - And Another Thing... (b0133hgn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 A Short History of Vampires (b00yqqs8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Adam Dalgliesh - Cover Her Face (b008yszy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Detective (b01s2kd7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (b00brb8n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 The 99p Challenge (b01s2v0x)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 RL Stevenson - Kidnapped (b01c7rym)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 Five Stories by Margaret Drabble (b0175mgk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:15 Never Mind, I Stopped My Train (b01hbrw2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 Ballylenon (b00gddtk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
17:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me (b0076hbd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 Adam Dalgliesh - Cover Her Face (b008yv5r)
4. The Gathering
Inspector Adam Dalgliesh summons the entire household to hear his conclusions about the killer of Sally Jupp.
Robin Ellis stars as Dalgliesh with Sian Phillips and Hugh Grant.
The climax of PD James's debut crime novel about her gentleman detective.
Inspector Adam Dalgliesh …. Robin Ellis
Mrs Maxie …. Sian Phillips
Felix Hearne …. Hugh Grant
Deborah Riscoe …. Beatie Edney
Stephen Maxie …. David Thorpe
Catherine Bowers …. Oona Beeson
Mrs Proctor …. Jillie Meers
Victor Proctor …. John Baddeley
Sgt Martin …. Steve Hodson
James Ritchie …. James Telfer
Johnny Wilcox …. Susan Sheridan
Martha …. Jill Graham
Sally Jupp …. Melanie Hudson
Dramatised by Neville Teller.
Producer: Matthew Walters
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1993.
FRI 06:30 Detective (b01s316s)
Series 3
2. A Bit of a Grudge
Detectives Brook and Tully have unfinished business with a dangerous crook.
Can he be caught before he flees the country?
Starring Ray Brooks and Stephen Garlick.
More tough stories of crime and detection in London written by Robert Barr
Detective Sergeant Brook …. Ray Brooks
Detective Constable Tully …. Stephen Garlick
Detective Sergeant Harrison …. Peter Cleall
Tommy …. Michael Ripper
Paul Caville …. Douglas Blackwell
Billy Dale …. David Milner
Superintendent …. Arnold Diamond
Detective Constable Mathieson …. Peter Acre
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast weekly on BBC Radio 2 in June 1984.
FRI 07:00 The National Theatre of Brent's Iconic Icons (b0132l7g)
The Dalai Lama, or How the West Was Won
The multi award winning National Theatre of Brent - Artistic Director Desmond Olivier Dingle and the entire acting company (Raymond Box) - returns triumphantly to Radio 4 in the last of an occasional series celebrating the rare but rarefied beings deemed in Desmond's expert view to be Iconic Icons. Previous celebratees include Bob Dylan and Tracey Emin.
The final and climactic iconic icon is his holiness the Dalai Lama. Desmond and Raymond trace his journey from two year old yak boy to disaffected teenage Dalai to the mature Lama, exiled from his country, separated from his people, but spiritually at one with himself and the world, and possessor of a top twinkly smile. They also present Buddhism in a Nutshell.
Written and performed by the National Theatre of Brent, who are Patrick Barlow and John Ramm, in front of an audience at the Bush Hall in London, this latest addition to the Brent canon will be as essential and massive a contribution to the current artistic and spiritual life of this country as the rest of their work. And, of course it will be very funny.
Desmond Olivier Dingle ..... Patrick Barlow
Raymond Box ..... John Ramm
Director: Patrick Barlow
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 07:30 Believe It! (b01hxmw4)
Series 1
Boots
Celebrity autobiographies are everywhere. Richard Wilson has always said he'd never write one.
Based on glimmers of truth, Believe It is the hilarious, bizarre, revealing (and, most importantly, untrue) celebrity radiography of Richard Wilson.
He narrates the series, weaving in and out of dramatised scenes from his fictional life-story. He plays a heavily exaggerated version of himself: a Scots actor and national treasure, unmarried, private, passionate about politics, theatre and Manchester United (all true), who's a confidant of the powerful and has survived childhood poverty, a drunken father, years of fruitless grind, too much success, monstrosity, addiction, charity work, secret work for governments and fierce rivalry with Sean Connery (not true).
All the melodramatic staples of celebrity-autobiography are wonderfully undercut by Richard's deadpan delivery.
(The title - in case you hadn't spotted - is an unashamed reference to his famous catchphrase.)
Richard is supported by a small core cast viz
David Tennant
John Sessions
Lewis Macleod
Arabella Weir
and Jane Slavin
who play anyone and everyone!
Ghost written by Jon Canter
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 08:00 The Navy Lark (b01s2xz4)
Series 8
Searching for Their Ship
The crewmates return from leave, but there's no sign of HMS Troutbridge...
Stars Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Stephen Murray as the Number One, Richard Caldicot as Captain Povey, Heather Chasen as Heather, Ronnie Barker as AS Johnson, Tenniel Evans as the Admiral and Michael Bates as the Train Guard.
Laughs afloat aboard British Royal Navy frigate HMS Troutbridge. The Navy Lark ran for an impressive thirteen series between 1959 and 1976.
Scripted by Lawrie Wyman
Incidental Music by Tommy Riley and James Moody.
Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in September 1966.
FRI 08:30 J Kingston Platt (b01s2y7s)
Platt vs Rooney and Day
The long untold calamitous tale of a double act gone wrong on a visit to Australia.
The doyen of British showbiz, the insider's insider, J Kingston Platt, returns to the wireless with more startlingly persuasive recollections.
Written and read by Peter Jones.
Producer: Pete Atkin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1993.
FRI 09:00 Bristow (b007vgv7)
Series 3
Chapter and Verse
As the Chester-Perry clerk writes for the house journal, he learns the meaning of poetic justice.
Michael Williams stars as Bristow.
Frank Dickens' sitcom is based on his famous long-running newspaper cartoon strip about the Chester-Perry buying clerk.
Bristow ...... Michael Williams
Jones ...... Rodney Bewes
Mrs Purdy ...... Dora Bryan
Hewitt ...... Owen Brenman
Miss Sunman ...... Katy Odey
Fudge ...... Jon Glover
Postboy ...... Simon Schatzberger
Hickford ...... Roger Lloyd Pack
Liftboy ...... Ian Kelland
Music: John Whitehall
Producer: Neil Cargill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2000.
FRI 09:30 Act Your Age (b00qhrxb)
Series 2
Episode 4
Simon Mayo hosts the comedy show that pits the comic generations against each other to find out which is the funniest.
Team captains Jon Richardson, Ed Byrne and Johnnie Casson are joined by Mike Wozniak, Robin Ince and Ted Robbins.
Producers: Ashley Blaker and Bill Matthews.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2010.
FRI 10:00 RL Stevenson - Kidnapped (b01c7x03)
Murder in Appin
David Balfour is shipwrecked off Scotland's coast. Cast ashore, he heads to Appin and a fateful encounter. Robert Louis Stevenson's historical adventure stars Paul Young.
FRI 11:00 Five Stories by Margaret Drabble (b0176nbj)
Faithful Lovers
An idle decision to return to an old stomping ground, and its echoes of love, leads to an unexpected and unsettling encounter. Faithful Lovers was written in 1968 and appears in A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman: The Collected Stories by Margaret Drabble.
Read by Adjoa Andoh.
Abridged by Katrin Williams.
Produced by Duncan Minshull.
FRI 11:15 Aelish Michael - Dreaming of Foxes (b01s2yc9)
Ted Hughes is reunited with a long-lost school friend nearly 50 years on. But what do they have in common? Stars Robert Garrett.
FRI 12:00 The Navy Lark (b01s2xz4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 J Kingston Platt (b01s2y7s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Adam Dalgliesh - Cover Her Face (b008yv5r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 Detective (b01s316s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Meera Syal - Anita and Me (b007jvvd)
Episode 10
On the eve of her 11-plus, the exam seems to be the least of Meena's worries. Meera Syal reads her own novel.
FRI 14:15 Britain on the Bottle: Alcohol and the State (b00t3tbw)
Improving the Pub
It seemed possible during the 1920s that the 'Drink Question' that had bedevilled British governments for so long might finally be about to be consigned to the past.
The fall in consumption - which had started during the First World War - continued throughout the decade, and political attention focused on why. This was when the Labour Party formed its first governments, and there were powerful socialist voices arguing for a full nationalisation of the drinks industry. This could be a route to weaning the working classes away from a product that was "a powerful weapon in the hands of the exploiters". George Bernard Shaw called liquor "a chloroform that allows the poor to endure the painful operation of living".
But while governments chose to sit on the fence during the 1920s, the brewing industry got busy. Led by people like Ernest Nevile, the head of Whitbread's, they set about designing and building a new type of pub - one that would attract a new middle class clientele. "The presence in public houses of people who will not tolerate insobriety makes excess unfashionable".
What were called 'improved pubs' - huge buildings with bars, restaurants, ball rooms, bowling greens and even tennis courts - sprung up in the new suburbs. When Nevile said "if I can cure drunkenness in the country in my time, that will satisfy me" he was talking business, not morality.
The programme also looks at the first attempts at a sociology of the pub, and what people wanted from it.
Producer: Mark Whitaker
A Square Dog production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:30 Joanna Trollope - Next of Kin (b007qtm2)
Episode 5
As they struggle with the death of Caro Meredith, further tragedy strikes in the farming community. Read by Robin Ellis.
FRI 14:45 Jane Robinson - Bluestockings (b012yylw)
Episode 5
The quest for women's higher education has finally succeeded, but what next for the Bluestockings? Read by Miriam Margolyes.
FRI 15:00 RL Stevenson - Kidnapped (b01c7x03)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 The 4 O'Clock Show (b01s2yh6)
Afternoon chat with Mel Giedroyc.
FRI 17:00 For Better or for Worse (b00h9t2d)
Series 1
Episode 7
A day trip to France brings buried memories to the surface for Bernard. Stars Su Pollard and Gorden Kaye. From March 1993.
FRI 17:30 The National Theatre of Brent's Iconic Icons (b0132l7g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 today]
FRI 18:00 Arthur C Clarke Stories (b010tbkp)
The Nine Billion Names of God
The Sentinel
The story from which Arthur C Clarke developed the film '2001: A Space Odyssey' with Stanley Kubrick. Read by John Shrapnel.
FRI 18:15 Eoin Colfer - And Another Thing... (b0133m09)
Episode 10
Will the Vogons wipe out Nano? Is this The End, or just the end of a middle? Sequel to Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, with Stephen Mangan.
FRI 18:30 A Short History of Vampires (b00yy6vt)
Israbel By Tanith Lee
The ultimate killing machines.
Natalie Haynes introduces another dark story, as she examines why the vampire - an iconic figure in horror-fiction - continues to exert such a powerful hold on our imaginations...
Mark Bonnar and Claire Harry read Tanith Lee’s tale: A beautiful vampire hires an artist to paint her portrait, but then he develops a dangerous obsession...
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in February 2011.
FRI 19:00 The Navy Lark (b01s2xz4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 J Kingston Platt (b01s2y7s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 Adam Dalgliesh - Cover Her Face (b008yv5r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 Detective (b01s316s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Five Stories by Margaret Drabble (b0176nbj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 today]
FRI 21:15 Aelish Michael - Dreaming of Foxes (b01s2yc9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 today]
FRI 22:00 Believe It! (b01hxmw4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 Down the Line (b011tzmj)
Series 2
Global Warming
Gary Bellamy hosts the spoof phone-in discussing the environment and global warming. Stars Rhys Thomas and Simon Day. From February 2007.
FRI 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b01sbch6)
For two hours, six nights a week, the Comedy Club offers the best laughs around. Plus Arthur Smith is joined by Austentatious.
FRI 23:00 The Machynlleth Comedy Festival (b01hbxsr)
2012
Elis James hosts highlights of 2012's Machynlleth Comedy Festival in Wales, featuring James Acaster and Bridget Christie.
FRI 23:30 Isy Suttie: Pearl and Dave (b0196rpc)
Isy Suttie ('Dobby' from Channel 4's 'Peep Show' & double British Comedy Award nominee.) recounts a moving love story involving a socially awkward childhood neighbour (her first pen pal) and a 'well-bred' girl from Surrey - the titular Pearl and Dave. She interweaves the narrative with her own tales of failed relationships, internet dating and eventual happiness, much of which is told through song. Adapted from her sell out Edinburgh 2011 Edinburgh show of the same name. From BBC Radio Comedy.
"I'm overjoyed to be doing my Edinburgh show on Radio 4. Having spent a month playing to audiences who'd been rained on all day, some of them dashing in late, I advise listeners to wrap up warm, eat a hearty meal and leave enough time for the journey from the sofa to the radio." Isy Suttie Nov 2011.
The Producer is John Pocock.