SATURDAY 17 AUGUST 2013

SAT 00:00 Blake's 7 (b008hscc)
Rebel
The Galactic Federation thinks it has seen the last of space outlaw Roj Blake, when he is framed and exiled. Stars Derek Riddell.
SAT 01:00 GK Chesterton - The Club of Queer Trades (b0076rmh)
The Noticeable Conduct of Professor Chadd
The Noticeable Conduct of Professor Chadd is apparent to everyone who calls at the home of the noted ethnologist.
However, his three sisters become alarmed when he suddenly refuses to speak. The sisters waste no time in summoning the Professor's equally eccentric acquaintance, Basil Grant.
Can Basil save the highly respected Professor from his madness and the wrath of his employers at the British Museum? And just why does Professor Chadd insist on shaking his leg in the manner of a bee?
Stars David Warner as Basil Grant, Martin Freeman as Rupert Grant, Geoffrey McGivern as Charlie Swinburne, Amelia Bullmore as Christina, Chris Douglas as Bingham, Martin Hyder as Dr Colman, Felicity Montagu as Adeleide and John Nettleton as Professor Chadd.
GK Chesterton stories dramatised by Simon Littlefield
Producer: Simon Nicholls
First broadcast on Radio 4 in 2005.
SAT 01:30 Inspector Resnick (b00mbmh4)
Wasted Years
Episode 5
A spate of armed robberies has DI Charlie Resnick recalling his 1980s nemesis, the soon-to-be-paroled John Prior. Philip Jackson reads John Harvey's thriller.
SAT 02:00 King Street Junior (b007jnql)
Series 10
Accusations
The spread of damaging rumours creates a nightmare classroom scenario for Mr Sims.
Created and written by Jim Eldridge, ten series of this comedy about a junior school ran between 1985 and 1998. King Street Junior Revisited ran from 2002 to 2005.
Stars Karl Howman as Mr Sims, James Grout as the Headmaster, Marlene Sidaway as Miss Lewis, Margaret John as Mrs Stone, Paul Copley as Mr Long, Deirdre Costello as Mrs Patterson, Vivienne Martin as Mrs Rudd, Tom Watson as Mr Holliday, Jacqueline Beatty as Miss Reed, Mark Straker as Mr Stewart and Susan Tordoff as Mrs Stewart.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1998.
SAT 02:30 Electric Ink (b011f3pc)
Series 1
Episode 2
Circulation is going through the roof.
Old hacks meet new media in Alistair Beaton’s satire set in the changing world of the newspaper industry.
Maddox ...... Robert Lindsay
Oliver ...... Alex Jennings
Amelia ...... Elizabeth Berrington
Tasneem ...... Zita Sattar
Masha ...... Debbie Chazen
Freddy ...... Ben Willbond
Announcer ...... Matt Addis
With additional material by Tom Mitchelson.
Director: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2009.
SAT 03:00 Annie Caulfield - Almost Always African (b007k30r)
"Music may go or come but almost always it is African."
Gambian musician, Moses Biama is invited to London to make an album with fading English rock star, Frank.
But the recording doesn't work out the way Frank has planned...
Annie Caulfield's comedy drama about cultural cross purposes and the Music Industry.
Starring Lenny Henry as Moses, Bill Nighy as Frank, Curtis Walker as Moses' brother, Joy Elias-Rilwan as Binta, Donna Croll as Fatima, Joanna Myers as Tara, James Greene as Jack and Mark Straker as the Journalist.
Music composed by Dominique Le Gendre.
Hit single by Neil Arthur and Joe Hagan.
Director: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1991.
SAT 04:00 Vincent McInerney - Bringing Home a Budgie for Mum (b0389s5c)
A young sailor's loyalty to his family is tested after his mother makes a seemingly innocent request.
Keith Drinkel reads Vincent McInerney’s short story.
Producer: Pam Fraser Solomon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1996.
SAT 04:15 Tanika Gupta - The Whispering Tree (b007jy9f)
A year after her mother's death, 14 year old Sharmila prefers to escape into a world of Hindu myths and legends - rather than confront her guilt and pain...
Tanika Gupta's family drama stars Parminder K Nagra as Sharmila, Souad Faress as Madhu, Lyndam Gregory as Ranjeet, Amanda Gordon as Danny and Akbar Kurtha as Sunil.
Producer: Pam Fraser Solomon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
SAT 05:00 Second Thoughts (b00l6gf2)
Series 4
Unhappy Returns
Bill makes a flying return visit from his new job in Germany. It’s the ideal opportunity for a quiet weekend with Faith but interventions from Hannah and Liza ensures the weekend is anything but romantic....
Sitcom about the battles of married life for ex-divorcees Bill and Faith, whilst balancing the demands of his ex-wife, Liza and Faith's teenage children.
Stars James Bolam as Bill, Lynda Bellingham as Faith, Belinda Lang as Liza, Julia Sawalha as Hannah, Mark Denham as Joe, Geoffrey Whitehead as Richard and David Learner as Kevin.
Series three of four inspired by the real lives of its writers, husband and wife Jan Etherington and Gavin Petrie.
A TV version made by LWT for ITV appeared in 1991 and ran for four series, with a spin-off 'Faith in the Future'.
Producer: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1992.
SAT 05:30 The Right Time (b00c5snp)
Series 3
Episode 5
Time-share shock, home shopping revenge - and the perils of redundancy...
The sketch comedy for people growing older disgracefully.
Stars Eleanor Bron, Graeme Garden, Neil Innes, Clive Swift, Roger Blake and Paula Wilcox.
Written by Nicholas Barber and Glenn Dakin, Mike Coleman, Jan Etherington, Graeme Garden, Mike Haskins, Ged Parsons, Bob Sinfield, Chris Thompson and Pete Reynolds.
Script Editor: Ged Parsons.
Music by Ronnie & The Rex and Neil Innes.
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2003.
SAT 06:00 Saturday Drama (b00f8zvc)
Marks & Gran - Von Ribbentrop's Watch
By Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran.
Wine shop owner Gerald desperately needs money: his business is failing and the landlord has raised the cost of the lease. When he inherits a watch that used to belong to wartime Nazi Joachim Von Ribbentrop he believes that his financial troubles are over. But it sparks conflict with his wife and brother, who question the ethics of the potential sale.
Gerald ...... Allan Corduner
Ruth ...... Harriet Walter
Lila ...... Miriam Margolyes
David ...... Nicholas Woodeson
Sasha ...... Sophie Winkleman.
SAT 07:30 The Balancing Bluebottle (b00jz7cc)
The natural history film is a hundred years old. Percy Smith was its greatest pioneer, making dozens of short but brilliant films on subjects like flies and slime mould. In his principal studio, the back garden of his home in north London, he developed innovative microscope- and time-lapse photography in the 1920s that still makes viewers gasp and filmmakers jealous.
Talking to historians and to Sir David Attenborough and eavesdropping on flickering reels of film, Tim Boon of the Science Museum tells how the balancing bluebottle came to be.
Producer: Tim Dee.
SAT 08:00 The Frankie Howerd Variety Show (b008jw8j)
From 05/12/1978
Titters aplenty as Frankie Howerd turns agony uncle and tries his hand at being a trendy male escort...
Plus stars from the world of entertainment - singer Lyn Paul, comedians, Mike Burton and Bryan Carroll and pop group, The Dooleys.
Music from the Max Harris Orchestra
Scripted by Rory McGrath, Jimmy Mulville, Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran
Producer: Richard Willcox
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in November 1978.
SAT 09:00 Comedy Greats (b007k3x4)
The Noughties
Episode 1
Decade by decade, Barry Cryer showcases some of the funniest and finest shows ever broadcast by the BBC.
Baz finally reaches the 21st century of radio comedy with his first selection from the noughties:
* The Small World of Dominic Holland
Series 1 (6/6)
Dominic ponders the journey of life to adulthood. Stand-up and sketches with Dave Lamb, Sally Grace and Simon Greenall. From 2000.
* At Home With The Snails
Series 1 (1/4)
Fed-up Alex has done nothing since university, but then he discovers an unusual hobby. Stars Geoffrey Palmer, Angela Thorne, Gerard Foster and Miranda Hart. From 2001.
* Clare in the Community
Series 1 (4/6)
Social worker Clare Barker is racked with relief when her most detested client dies. Stars Sally Phillips, Alex Lowe, Richard Lumsden, Gemma Craven, Ellen Thomas and Nina Conti. From 2004.
* Radio Shuttleworth
Series 2 (5/6)
1997 Eurovision Song Contest winner Katrina Leskanich drops into visit Sheffield singer John Shuttleworth, but his wife Mary gets the ironing board out. From 2000.
* Mark Watson Makes The World Substantially Better
Series 1 (3/6) Pride
Welsh comic Mark continues his quest to free us from the seven deadly sins. With Tim Key and Tim Minchin. From 2007.
* Little Britain
Series 2 (3/4)
Fat fighting with Marjorie and the hypnotic Kenny Craig. Back where it started out - Matt Lucas and David Walliams's oddball TV smash hit - without the cameras. From 2002.
Produced and scripted by Peter Reed.
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in August 2003.
SAT 12:00 How to Have a Perfect Marriage (b038l216)
By Nicholas McInerny. After 19 years of marriage, Jack tells Karen he's gay and wants a lover. Can they work it out? Stars Greg Wise and Julia Ford.
SAT 13:15 Baldi (b007jlp5)
Series 2
Early Retirement
A retired policeman, a fatal shooting, Thomas Hardy and a murky past revealed. With David Threlfall as the priest-cum-sleuth.
SAT 14:00 Life With The Lyons (b012qrpv)
Time Marches Back
Ben needs jokes for his big speech at the Festival of Britain - can the family help?
Starring real-life American family: Ben Lyon and his wife Bebe Daniels and their children, Richard and Barbara.
With Doris Rogers as Florrie, Molly Weir as Aggie, Horace Percival as Mr Wimple, Ian Sadler and David Enders.
Life With The Lyons was one the BBC's most popular radio sitcoms between1950 and 1961. It was also adapted for BBC Television.
Written by Bebe Daniels, Bob Block and Bill Harding.
BBC Revue Orchestra conducted by Robert Busby
Incidental music by Arthur Wilkinson
Producer: Tom Ronald
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in February 1951.
SAT 14:30 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b007jrk2)
I'll Never Forget Whatshername
Bob asks his fiancee Thelma to fix Terry up with a date.
Starring James Bolam as Terry Collier, Rodney Bewes as Bob Ferris and Brigit Forsyth as Thelma Chambers. With Lois Daine and Lorna Wilde.
Created and scripted for BBC TV by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. Adapted for radio by Patrick Tilley.
Producer: John Browell
Originally lost from the archive, the audio was recovered in a BBC Treasure Hunt.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1975.
SAT 15:00 The Frankie Howerd Variety Show (b008jw8j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Saturday Drama (b00f8zvc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Jo Caulfield's Speakeasy (b0381lzj)
Episode 2
Comedian Jo Caulfield invites best selling authors, comedians and a man who played with Pink Floyd to tell true stories from their lives. The results are revealing, hilarious and hugely entertaining.
The performers are all recorded live at the historic Scottish Story Telling centre in Edinburgh.
This week Ian Rankin tells us why not to get on the wrong side of a crime writer, Boothby Graffoe shares a gruesome tale about the world's worst serial killer and Janey Godley and Pink Floyd's Guy Pratt share with us moments they'd rather forget.
Created by Jo Caulfield and Kevin Anderson
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 18:00 The Scarifyers (b00j18v0)
For King and Country
Episode 3
MI-13's Lionheart and Dunning discover the identity of the Stour Banshee and the Faraday Murderer. Stars Nicholas Courtney and Terry Molloy.
SAT 18:25 The Fanthorpe Investigations (b038l0d7)
The Croglin Grange Vampire
The strange story of a vampire in North-West England.
Priest and paranormal investigator Lionel Fanthorpe relates a story from the world of the strange and unexplained.
Producer: Paul Arnold
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in 2013.
SAT 18:30 Arthur C Clarke Stories (b008h36w)
All the Time in the World
Professional thief Robert Ashton receives an unexpected visit... Time is altered so the world's treasures can be stolen - but who is behind it?
Arthur C Clarke's 1952 short story read by Nicholas Boulton.
Somerset-born author Arthur C Clarke (1917-2008) achieved his greatest fame in 1968 when his short story The Sentinel was turned into the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. His visions of space travel and computing sparked the imagination of readers and scientists alike.
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2007.
SAT 19:00 Comedy Greats (b007k3x4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Lee Mack and Friends at the Fringe (b007klvl)
Episode 2
BAFTA award-winning Lee Mack introduces another top line-up of fellow comics Andy Parsons, Tim Minchin, Lucy Porter, Alan Cochran and Jim Owen
Recorded at The Edinburgh Fringe.
Producer: Will Saunders
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in August 2005.
SAT 22:30 Another Case of Milton Jones (b00rfj1b)
Series 4
World-Famous Cyclist
In this episode, Milton's a world-beating cyclist who gets tangled up in a close-fitting body suit and the population of Holland... So if you want motivation, speed, adrenalin and a low-energy light bulb that takes forty minutes to come on, then put on your yellow jersey and catch up with "Another Case Of Milton Jones"
He's joined in his endeavours by his co-stars Tom Goodman-Hill ("Camelot"), Ben Willbond ("Horrible Histories") and Lucy Montgomery ("Down The Line").
Britain's funniest Milton and the king of the one-liner returns with a fully-working cast and a shipload of new jokes for a series of daffy comedy adventures
Each week, Milton is a complete and utter expert at something - Top Gun aviator, Weatherman, Billy Elliot-style dancer, World-beating cyclist, mathematical genius and Extreme Travel Entrepreneur ...
... and each week, with absolutely no ability or competence, he plunges into a big adventure with utterly funny results...
"Milton Jones is one of Britain's best gagsmiths with a flair for creating daft yet perfect one-liners" - The Guardian
"King of the surreal one-liners" - The Times
"If you haven't caught up with Jones yet - do so!" - The Daily Mail
Written by Milton with James Cary ("Think The Unthinkable", "Miranda")
Produced & directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 23:00 Saturday Drama (b00c7fc9)
Rebus: Black and Blue
Episode 1
SATURDAY PLAY: REBUS - BLACK & BLUE
BY IAN RANKIN, DRAMATISED BY CHRIS DOLAN. 1/2.
REBUS INVESTIGATES THE VIOLENT DEATH OF A NORTH SEA OIL WORKER IN EDINBURGH AND UNCOVERS POSSIBLE MOTIVES RANGING FROM GANGLAND INFIGHTING OVER DRUGS TO ECO PROTESTS AGAINST OIL EXPLORATION. BUT AS REBUS'S INQUIRIES TAKE HIM FROM EDINBURGH TO GLASGOW AND THEN TO ABERDEEN HE FINDS HIS INVESTIGATION OVERLAPPING WITH A MAJOR HUNT FOR A SERIAL KILLER WHO HAS STRUCK IN ALL THREE CITIES.
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: BRUCE YOUNG.