Another mysterious death makes Health and Safety executive Simon consider the relevance of cruets.
Following the death of one of its most prominent Dons, celebrity TV historian Peter Devanti - everyone at a Cambridge College gathers to attend the funeral. Simon, an ex-student and now disillusioned health and safety officer, starts wondering whether his death was not as straightforward as it at first appeared.
Gilbert …. Geoffrey Palmer
Simon …. Samuel West
Patricia …. Rebecca Front
with Sharon Small, Michael Maloney, Jonathan Coy, Emily Wachter, Nicholas Boulton, Jason Chan and Beth Chalmers
Engineer Mark Miodownik presents an instruction manual on how to write an instruction manual, exploring the history and the future of product guides and how they chart our changing relationship with technology.
He looks at how product guides have changed over the centuries, from the very first examples, written by James Watt on his new 'copying' machine, to the latest Ikea pictograms.
In the first half of the 20th century, manuals not only described how to use your television, but also how to fix it. Now, the first few pages of any TV manual contain stern health and safety warnings about the dangers of tinkering inside the TV.
Mark travels to Yeovil to visit Mr Haynes, of Haynes car and motorcycle manuals, to ask whether people still need a manual to fix their vehicle. As our products get more sophisticated, is the instruction manual becoming extinct?
The sketch show about modern life, with people who have lived a bit of it. Stars Eleanor Bron and Clive Swift. From August 2001.
Sue Perkins puts the big moral and ethical questions to a mixed panel to discern their own personal codes of ethics.
With comedians Nathan Caton and Celia Pacquola, historian Dan Snow, and writer and broadcaster Natalie Haynes.
Up for discussion are unusual meals, lying to children, and the best way to deal with noisy, but happy, neighbours .
Devised by Danielle Ward.
Shock news for Captain Mainwaring sparks an upheaval in the Home Guard platoon.
The comic exploits of a Second World War Home Guard platoon in Walmington-on-Sea.
Adapted for radio from Jimmy Perry and David Croft's TV scripts by Michael Knowles and Harold Snoad.
Captain Mainwaring …. Arthur Lowe
Sergeant Wilson …. John Le Mesurier
Corporal Jones …. Clive Dunn
Private Godfrey …. Arnold Ridley
Private Fraser …. John Laurie
Captain Turner …. John Ringham
The Sergeant …. Jack Watson
Announcer …. John Snagge
Will Lionel and Jean's trip to Paris go as planned? Adapted from TV with Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer. From January 1998.
Ian McMillan introduces the Cat in the Hat and sends Mellors to meet Captain Hornblower, in the maverick literary game.
With Mark Thomas, Dillie Keane, Roger McGough and Miles Kington.
Comedy by Christopher William Hill.
Eliott makes a film to encourage US investment in the NHS, explaining that 'where there's pain, there's gain'.
Eliott Thurber ...... Michael Brandon
Esther Finn ...... Samantha Bond
Hannah Walker ...... Pippa Haywood
Zadie ...... Joannah Tincey
Baz ...... Inam Mirza
Ted ...... Malcolm Tierney
Carl ...... Jonathan Tafler
Moses ...... Stephen Critchlow
Film Director ...... Janice Acquah
Hospital Exec ...... Dan Starkey
Other Parts played by Stephen Critchlow, Jonathan Tafler, Dan Starkey, Gunnar Cauthery and Donnla Hughes.
Fidel Castro is in Cuba - dare Noel Coward turn spy again for Great Britain? Adventure with Malcolm Sinclair and Eleanor Bron.
Shelley gets to grips with her cleaning job, and her thoughts turn to her son who is serving in Afghanistan. Read by Julia Ford.
Highwaymen, duels, swirling fogs, escaped convicts - part one of a thrilling two-part dramatisation of Leon Garfield's classic 18th C. mystery adventure.
14 year-old George is the oldest of the seven Treet children. Captained by their larger-than-life father, the Treets are touring thespians, forever on the edge of poverty. But their normally happy lives are shadowed by the twice yearly arrival of "the Stranger" who hands Mr Treet a sum of money and disappears. This year, however, the Stranger appears for the last time and Mr Treet reveals to George that he is the son of a nobleman, Sir John Dexter. Now, George must, reluctantly, be returned to him.
At the gloomy Dexter family home, George is welcomed by Sir John, who is recovering from a pistol wound received in the course of a duel with his black-hearted brother Richard. Richard has been imprisoned as a result. George does his best to settle into life in his forbidding new home.
But trouble is waiting in the fog that surrounds the house. Richard Dexter has escaped from Newgate and is hiding in a nearby copse. What's more, it soon becomes clear that someone is trying to kill George...
After finishing school, Grace Melbury returns to her small woodland village, where her childhood sweetheart Giles Winterbourne is waiting for her...
First published in 1887, Thomas Hardy's classic tale of thwarted love and ambition set amongst the woodsmen and women of Little Hintock.
Read by Juliet Stevenson.
James Naughtie discovers how history has shaped the development of classical music.Why should the Devil ahve all the best tunes? Luther changed religion and religious music forever. He harnessed secular songs for sacred purposes and introduced congregational singing.
An adaptation of Trezza Azzopardi's new novel, a compelling psychological thriller involving a young woman with a secret in her past. During a rainy summer Maggie arrives for a job interview at a large house in the country. The house is empty apart from Kenneth, an elderly man, who wants a secretary to do an unusual live-in job. He wants someone to listen to his music collection, and transcribe his impressions and memories connected to each piece of music. Kenneth is odd, isolated, perhaps on the edge of dementia, slightly threatening. But Maggie is mysterious too and she has some hidden plan in taking this job. She knows this place, she's been here before. Piece by piece, as the rain intensifies and the river begins to flood, we learn about Maggie's shocking past.
Trezza Azzopardi's novels have been short-listed for numerous awards, including the Booker. Critics praise her story-telling ability, her psychological acuity and her intense poetic atmosphere.
WILLIAM............ MARK MEADOWS
RUSTY............ MARILYN LE CONTE
The life of Margaretha Zelle, who became one of the most notorious women of the 20th century. Read by Juliet Stevenson.
Gregor Samsa wakes one day to find himself hideously transformed into a monstrous insect. His family react with horror at his bizarre transformation but this slowly turns to revulsion - and then monstrous indifference - as he is left to quietly waste away in his bedroom.
First published in 1912, Benedict Cumberbatch reads Franz Kafka's classic novel in four parts.
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) ranks among the 20th century's most acclaimed writers. He is often cited as the author whose works best evoke the concerns and preoccupations of modern life. The world in his stories is portrayed as one in which the fantastic is entirely normal, the irrational is rational, and the unreasonable seems reasonable. As Ernst Pawel wrote in his biography of the writer, "Kafka articulates the anguish of being human."
Kafka, although Czech and living in Prague, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, spoke fluent German and Czech and actually wrote in German and thought it his mother tongue. The tensions between those who spoke German and those who spoke Czech were a direct reflection of the rise of nationalism and the quest for national identity.
Metamorphosis was translated by Richard Stokes. Abridged and produced by Gemma Jenkins.
Sarah LeFanu and her guests, actress Souad Faress and writer and lecturer Professor John Sutherland, discuss three favourite paperbacks. From 1999.
Dramatisation of Rohinton Mistry's acclaimed novel about India's underclass.
Two tailors - uncle and nephew, Ishvar and Om - come to the city to escape from the caste violence in their native village. They are employed by a Parsi woman, Dina Dalal, who runs a sweatshop from her apartment and is struggling to preserve her independence. She has a lodger too - a reluctant student, Maneck, from the mountains.
As their initial suspicion of each other turns to friendship and then love, their lives take dramatic and often shocking turns against a backdrop of India in crisis, during "the Emergency" of the mid-1970s - a period marked by huge political unrest and human rights violations.
A comedy, a tragedy, and a story of the triumph of the human spirit under inhuman conditions.
The Luton poet is by the sea in Aldeburgh, and gets some help with limericks from comedian Arnold Brown. From March 2000.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be.
Adam Bloom explores what happens when you give something to someone and then ask for it back.
With stand-up reconstructions and help from Rob Rouse.
Written by Adam Bloom.
The best in contemporary comedy. Tonight, Diane Morgan is joined by Ian Hislop.
The topical impressions show returns just in time to reflect the build up to one of the most important and incisive votes for decades. Will Austria win again or does Britain's Electro Velvet stand a chance? Satire meets silliness in the flagship comedy for hard working families up and down the country.
Starring Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Duncan Wisbey, Lewis MacLeod, Debra Stephenson.
Andrew delivers a Brief Encounter themed date for Lind at the office. Dave's former school bully rears his ugly head. Sitcom by Ian Kershaw, set around a Manchester taxi company.
TUESDAY 12 MAY 2015
TUE 00:00 Franz Kafka - Metamorphosis (b007jwnt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b0075n31)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008wmnj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 How to Write an Instruction Manual (b00m4470)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Thomas Hardy - The Woodlanders (b007jx6r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 The Making of Music (b007nf4j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b00swpqv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:45 Femme Fatale: A Biography of Mata Hari (b0178fh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:45 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Marcy Kahan - Our Man in Jamaica (b00tdzjv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Booked (b00753z7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 Says on the Tin (b00gvhxv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 The Right Time (b007xw0h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 Dilemma (b05sstcb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008wzvk)
Series 1
Episode 3
As dead don Peter Devanti's sordid side is made public, Simon struggles with his day job.
Following the death of one of its most prominent Dons, celebrity TV historian Peter Devanti - everyone at a Cambridge College gathers to attend the funeral. Simon, an ex-student and now disillusioned health and safety officer, starts wondering whether his death was not as straightforward as it at first appeared.
CAST:
Gilbert …. Geoffrey Palmer
Simon …. Samuel West
Patricia …. Rebecca Front
with Sharon Small, Michael Maloney, Jonathan Coy, Emily Wachter, Nicholas Boulton, Jason Chan and Beth Chalmers
Script Editor: Paul Schlesinger
Producer: Dawn Ellis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2005.
TUE 06:30 From Dots to Downloads - Tune-Books on the Web (b00lp15m)
People have always gathered the music they like in custom-made collections. Before iPods and downloads there were cassette compilations, and before recordings, tune-books. These are small manuscript books people carried in their pockets or instrument cases. Thomas Hardy and John Clare both had them. Now, all over the country, tune books are being unearthed. They date from the 1690s to the 1860s and belonged mostly to artisans - shoemakers, papermakers - but some have been found in manor houses, such as Prideaux Place in Padstow. The music they contain ranges as widely, too. Tim van Eyken, award-winning young singer and squeezebox player, reveals how today's musicians are rediscovering these manuscripts, and sharing them - in the way musicians always have, but nowadays online - so, all over the world, people are playing these tunes once again in an ongoing global virtual session.
In Dorchester Tim van Eyken meets the musicians Bonny Sartin and Colin Thompson to consider the importance of music to him, pore over Hardy's tune book, and to play some of the tunes he loved on Hardy's own fiddle (an interesting instrument with a lions' head carved on the scroll).
Tim hears from Johnny Adams of the Village Music Project which researches, catalogues and makes these tune books available online. He reveals their importance historically as one of the few sources of information about the cultural lives of working people, and how they spent their leisure time.
Colin Thompson also plays from the recently discovered and exquisite tune-book of Benjamin Rose, a farmer who began collecting tunes he liked in 1820, when he was a single man of 24 - he went on to have five children, who have left their mark on his book, too. Tim also looks at tune book of William Winter, who was a shoe-maker from the Quantocks, and some of whose collection he has recorded.
These tune books are musically very revealing, too. Several pieces are common to collections from distant regions, and some have been copied from published sources. Those that remain aside from survive from the indigenous musical tradition of the area where the tune book was used. Tim talks to Mike O'Connor in Cornwall, who has found five tune books, learned a good deal about Cornish music from them, and heard it being played there - and elsewhere - again.
Tim goes to Greenwich University to meet Dr Chris Walshaw, lecturer in Maths and Computing (and in demand as a musician - he plays French bagpipes). He demonstrates the simple form of notation he invented that makes is easy to put tunes on the internet using an ordinary keyboard. There's software that turns it into conventional music on a stave and allows you to hear the tune. There are now thousands of tunes available online, and Walshaw's website has had more than 100,000 hits from all over the world - including Timbuctoo.
'From Dots to Downloads' explores how these tune-books, which have been a valuable resource to historians are reverting to their original purpose. Now, using the latest technology young players are accessing them, playing the old tunes once again, and bringing their modern musical sensibilities to bear on them. So Laurel Swift of the band Gadarene brings to bear the techniques of modern dance music, the kind of work the Chemical Brothers do, on centuries old country dance music.
Tim van Eyken puts it all to the test: he accesses a tune from one of the old books online, made by one Henry Atkinson in 1694, and with bouzouki player James Fagan spends a morning in a BBC studio learning and working on it, then performing their arrangement to end the programme.
TUE 07:00 Dry Slopes (b00lr3nz)
Series 1
The Day of Judgement
Perpetually unemployed and friendless loser Angus Dry agonises over the death of a bee.
Nick Ball’s sitcom about the unemployed son of a high-flying mother.
Angus Dry ...... Nick Ball
Mum ...... Louisa Rix
With Robert Harley, Toby Longworth and Julie Gibbs.
Producer: Gareth Edwards
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1995.
TUE 07:30 Lemn Sissay's Homecoming (b05stkr9)
Addis Ababa
We all leave. We all migrate from childhood to adulthood, from village to town to city, from single to married. We all hate and love where we are from. We are all immigrants of time. There are problems with home and a need to leave. There is a love of home and a need to leave. Goodbye is who we are.
Lemn Sissay explores what "home" means through stand-up, poetry and conversation. It's surely not just a physical location - it's the people, the memories, the feeling. It's not home if you don't belong there, it's just where you live.
The first of these two shows was recorded at the Ghion Hotel, in Addis Ababa.
Addis is a place that Lemn feels at home in - but why? He wasn't born there, doesn't live there, and can't even speak the language. Helping Lemn understand this are two Ethiopians who were brought up in Europe but who, unlike Lemn, moved back to Addis in adulthood; a social anthropologist who is an Ethiopian with a famous English name; and his own sister, who is Addis born and bred.
Written and performed by Lemn Sissay,
Lemn Sissay is the author of five collections of poetry. He’s also written plays for stage and BBC radio. He was the first poet to write for the Olympics 2012 and received an MBE from the Queen for Services to Literature. He is associate artist at London’s Southbank Centre, and an (hon) doctor of letters. If you should google "Lemn Sissay" all the returning hits will be about him. There is only one person named Lemn Sissay in the world.
Producer: Ed Morrish
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2015.
TUE 08:00 Round the Horne (b00hzpgy)
Series 1
Episode 10
Master Spy Kenneth Horne probes why Wilfred Pickles is barking. Plus Bona home-styling from Julian and his friend Sandy.
With Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee.
Recorded at the BBC's Paris Studio in Lower Regent Street, London.
Announcer: Douglas Smith
Round The Horne was born out of the demise of BBC radio comedy Beyond Our Ken, after the end of writer Eric Merriman's involvement. Using the same cast and producer, Barry Took and Marty Feldman were persuaded to write the scripts - which led to four series that ran between 1965 and 1968 - packed full of parodies, recurring characters, catchphrases and double-entendres.
Music by Edwin Braden and the Hornblowers and The Fraser Hayes Four.
Producer: John Simmonds
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in May 1965.
TUE 08:30 The Ken Dodd Show (b05tyv7s)
From 10/08/1975
The King of Knotty Ash and pals on their poor but happy childhoods - and all is revealed about the Legover legacy.
Starring Ken Dodd.
With Jo Manning Wilson, Miriam Margolyes, Talfryn Thomas, Chris Emmett and Michael McClain.
Devised and written by Ken Dodd with Dave Dutton, Terry Ravenscroft, Maurice Bird and Philip and Mike Brennan.
Doddy's Diddy Orchestra conducted by Geoff Alderson.
Producer: Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in August 1975.
TUE 09:00 Dead Ringers (b05sycdj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:30 Such Rotten Luck (b01p0rq5)
Series 1
Red Whales in the Funhouse
Wordsmith Woodhouse tries an oratorio and some candid writing about a pregnancy.
The ups and downs of a second class writer
Comedy drama series written by Ronald Hayman.
Woodhouse ...... Tim Pigott-Smith
Gila ...... Zoe Wanamaker
Seamus ...... Stephen Rea
Wilhelmina ...... Susie Bran
Henrietta Masterson ...... Miriam Karlin
Hamish McVomitory ...... Bill Wallis
With Eva Stuart, Susan Sheridan and Shaun Prendergast as the other members of the Creative Writing Class.
Music by Elizabeth Parker of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Director: Piers Plowright
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in September 1989.
TUE 10:00 Saturday Drama (b00hh28z)
Patrick Barlow - Joan of Arc, and How She Became a Saint
Written and directed by Patrick Barlow. Comic interpretation of the story of Joan of Arc performed by comic troupe the National Theatre of Brent.
Crowd and courtiers played by Beth Nestor, Carrie Quinlan, Humphrey Ker, David Reed and Thom Tuck.
TUE 11:00 Tessa Hadley - Married Love (b01dts86)
Because the Night, pt 1/2
When her parents decide to have a party, Kristen comes up with an escape plan. Coming of age story read by Susie Riddell.
TUE 11:15 Drama (b00wqgms)
Leon Garfield - Devil in the Fog
Episode 2
What murky secrets lie at the heart of the fog? Who is the principal? And who is the Devil? Part two of a dramatisation of Leon Garfield's thrilling 18th C. mystery adventure.
Dramatised by Martin Jameson
Epiosde 2 of 2
Directed by Marc Beeby.
TUE 12:00 Round the Horne (b00hzpgy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 The Ken Dodd Show (b05tyv7s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008wzvk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 From Dots to Downloads - Tune-Books on the Web (b00lp15m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Thomas Hardy - The Woodlanders (b007jx6z)
Reunited?
Giles Winterbourne is reunited with his childhood sweetheart Grace, but will she return his love? Read by Juliet Stevenson.
TUE 14:15 The Making of Music (b007nlbn)
Series 1
The Counter Reformation
James Naughtie discovers how history has shaped the development of classical music. Luther's hymns were accessible - and popular. The Counter Reformation responded to Luther's musical revolution by giving an edict that the words of church music had to be clear and understood. This is the story of the composer Palestrina who became embroiled in the politics of the high church.
Reader : Simon Russell Beale
Produced by Rosie Boutlon, Sara Conkey, Lucy Lunt
BBC Birmingham.
TUE 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b00swqbw)
Trezza Azzopardi - The Song House
Episode 2
An adaptation of Trezza Azzopardi's new novel - a compelling psychological thriller involving a young woman with a secret in her past. During a rainy summer, Maggie arrives for a job interview at a large house in the country. The house is empty apart from Kenneth, an elderly man, who wants a secretary to do an unusual live-in job. He wants someone to listen to his vast and eclectic music collection, then transcribe his impressions and memories connected to each piece of music. Kenneth is odd, isolated, perhaps on the edge of dementia. He wants to record what each piece of music means to him while he can still remember. But Maggie is mysterious too and she has some hidden plan in taking this job. Lonely and dependent, Kenneth has no inkling as yet of the real reason she's here.
Trezza Azzopardi's novels have been short-listed for numerous awards, including the Booker.
Cast:
MAGGIE.............KAY CURRAM
NARRATOR..........SHARON MORGAN
KENNETH...........JOHN CASTLE
ALISON............CAROLINE HARKER
WILLIAM............ MARK MEADOWS
RUSTY............ MARILYN LE CONTE
Adapted by Elizabeth Burke. Produced and Directed by: Kate McAll.
TUE 14:45 Femme Fatale: A Biography of Mata Hari (b0178mlc)
Episode 2
In the biography of Dutch woman Margaretha Zelle, tragedy stikes her family in Indonesia. Read by Juliet Stevenson. From July 2007.
TUE 15:00 Saturday Drama (b00hh28z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 Whispers (b00c3nw7)
Series 2
Episode 4
Gyles Brandreth hosts the quiz show with scandal on its mind and slander at its heart.
Valerie Grove and Geoffrey Durham join team captains Lucy Moore and Anthony Holden to run the gauntlet of gossip.
Producer: Elizabeth Freestone
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2004.
TUE 16:30 Such Rotten Luck (b01p0rq5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 today]
TUE 17:00 Dry Slopes (b00lr3nz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Lemn Sissay's Homecoming (b05stkr9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Franz Kafka - Metamorphosis (b007k3r4)
Episode 2
Gregor is adapting to his new insect form, but his shocked family find it harder to accept. Read by Benedict Cumberbatch.
TUE 18:30 Frankly Speaking (b05tz4q1)
William Walton
British composer Sir William Walton answers the questions from Dilys Powell and Antony Hopkins.
Living in Italy at the time, Sir William had not long turned 60. Revealing his regrets and musical influences, he explains how he goes about his work.
Asked about getting married late in life, Sir William reveals how love struck when he spotted Susana - who became Lady Walton.
Launched in 1952, Frankly Speaking was a completely novel and ground breaking BBC series. Initially there were three interviewers and the series was both unrehearsed and unscripted.
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in 1962.
TUE 19:00 Round the Horne (b00hzpgy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 The Ken Dodd Show (b05tyv7s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008wzvk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 From Dots to Downloads - Tune-Books on the Web (b00lp15m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 Drama (b05nsgbc)
A Fine Balance
Episode 2
Dramatisation of Rohinton Mistry's acclaimed novel about India's underclass.
Uncle and nephew, Ishvar and Om have come to the city to escape the caste violence in their native village. They start working as tailors in the cramped flat of Dina, a middle-aged Parsi widow. Maneck, a reluctant student from the mountains, rents a room from Dina and the four strangers form an unlikely bond against a backdrop of India in crisis - during "the Emergency" of the mid-1970s, a period marked by huge political unrest and human rights violations.
A comedy, a tragedy, and a story of the triumph of the human spirit under inhuman conditions.
Music: Sacha Putnam
Sound Design: Steve Bond
Dramatised by Ayeesha Menon and Kewel Karim from the novel by Rohinton Mistry
Producer: Nadir Khan
Director: John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 22:00 Lemn Sissay's Homecoming (b05stkr9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b00rbkyc)
Series 3
Jon Culshaw
Marcus Brigstocke invites his guest Jon Culshaw to try five things he's never done before, including visiting a casino.
Whether the experiences are banal or profound, the show is about embracing the new and getting out of our comfort zones.
The title comes from the fact that the show's producer and creator Bill Dare had never seen Star Wars.
Producer: Bill Dare
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2010.
TUE 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b05vstg8)
The best in contemporary comedy. Tonight, Diane Morgan is joined by Ian Hislop.
TUE 23:00 Big Shot: A Trip Through the Canyons of Viv Stanshall's Mind (b007kdyf)
Vivian Stanshall died in his London flat aged only 52 - on 5th March 1995.
Stephen Fry presents this tribute to his unique and extraordinary talents - humorist, lyricist, musician, writer, painter, potter, sculptor, lead singer and inspired clown of the Bonzo Dog Band.
Featuring Viv's brother Mark Stanshall, Neil Innes, John Peel, Steve Winwood, John Walters and Brian Patten.
First broadcast on Radio 2 in 2001.
WEDNESDAY 13 MAY 2015
WED 00:00 Franz Kafka - Metamorphosis (b007k3r4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Frankly Speaking (b05tz4q1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008wzvk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 From Dots to Downloads - Tune-Books on the Web (b00lp15m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Thomas Hardy - The Woodlanders (b007jx6z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 The Making of Music (b007nlbn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b00swqbw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Femme Fatale: A Biography of Mata Hari (b0178mlc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Saturday Drama (b00hh28z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 Whispers (b00c3nw7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Such Rotten Luck (b01p0rq5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 Dry Slopes (b00lr3nz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Lemn Sissay's Homecoming (b05stkr9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008x3lv)
Series 1
Episode 4
Simon has to investigate the college chapel, while also trying to identify Peter Devanti's murderer. But is Zoe the next target?
Following the death of one of its most prominent Dons, celebrity TV historian Peter Devanti - everyone at a Cambridge College gathers to attend the funeral. Simon, an ex-student and now disillusioned health and safety officer, starts wondering whether his death was not as straightforward as it at first appeared.
CAST:
Gilbert …. Geoffrey Palmer
Simon …. Samuel West
Patricia …. Rebecca Front
with Sharon Small, Michael Maloney, Jonathan Coy, Emily Wachter, Nicholas Boulton, Stephen Hogan and Beth Chalmers
Script Editor: Paul Schlesinger
Producer: Dawn Ellis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2005.
WED 06:30 Arthur Mee - Encyclopaedist (b00cdr0g)
The story of Arthur Mee, the prolific educationalist, editor and writer whose Children's Encyclopaedia and Children's Newspaper were bought by millions throughout the first half of the 20th century.
Many children remember fondly the place it occupied on their shelves and their knowledge of the world and other cultures came in large part filtered through the eclectic and eccentric lens of Mee's encyclopaedia - Mee was staunchly Christian, patriotic, imperialist and, to present day readers, a racist as well as an energetic campaigner for the temperance movement.
Ian Sansom interviews Mee's biographer Maisie Robson, publishers who have lovingly curated a huge backlist of Arthur Mee titles and people who grew up with his encyclopaedia in pride of place on their bookshelves.
WED 07:00 The Older Woman (b039tqfd)
Series 2
Episode 4
Roy continues to vie for Jane's affections from the vantage point of a caravan in her garden...
Series two of Tony Bagley’s romantic comedy drama serial that mixes fantasy with reality.
Starring Martin Clunes as Roy Hitchcock, Geraldine James as Jane Gallaghan, Nicky Henson as Chad Mann, David Troughton as Colin, Tilly Vosburgh as Marina and Sue Roderick as Wynn.
Other parts played by Alistair McGowan, Melanie Hudson and Peter Serafinowcz.
Producer: Paul Schlesinger:
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1994.
WED 07:30 Clare in the Community (b03pjcyf)
Series 9
In Blog We Trust
Clare is convinced that the Sparrowhawk Centre is the home of a blogger called 'The Secret Social Worker' and sets out to track them down. Meanwhile Brian accepts Simon's help to find a date.
Sally Phillips is Clare Barker the social worker who has all the right jargon but never a practical solution.
A control freak, Clare likes nothing better than interfering in other people's lives on both a professional and personal basis. Clare is in her thirties, white, middle class and heterosexual, all of which are occasional causes of discomfort to her.
Clare continually struggles to control both her professional and private life.
In today's Big Society there are plenty of challenges out there for an involved, caring social worker. Or even Clare.
Written by Harry Venning and David Ramsden.
Clare ...... Sally Phillips
Brian ...... Alex Lowe
Megan ...... Nina Conti
Nali ...... Nina Conti
Ray ...... Richard Lumsden
Helen ...... Liza Tarbuck
Simon Andrew Wincott
Libby ...... Sarah Kendall
Joan ...... Sarah Thom
Delphine ...... Sarah Thom
Teacher ...... Arthur Hughes
Student ...... Arthur Hughes
Producer: Alexandra Smith.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.
WED 08:00 The Navy Lark (b05tzgds)
Series 2
Mr Murray Goes Sick
Stanton thinks Number One is looking poorly, which gives cunning Pertwee an idea...
Starring Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Stephen Murray as Number One, Richard Caldicot as Commander Povey, Ronnie Barker as Captain Stanton, Heather Chasen as Heather, Michael Bates as the MO and Tenniel Evans as Uncle Ebenezer Pertwee.
The Navy Lark ran for an impressive 13 series on BBC Radio between 1959 and 1976.
Scripted by Lawrie Wyman.
Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in April 1960.
WED 08:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00bwshp)
Series 5
Episode 1
John Cleese's magic tricks - and a talking baboon called Dermot.
More quick-fire sketches, terrible puns, humorous songs and parodies.
Stars Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Written by Graeme Garden, David Idle, Eric Idle and Bill Oddie.
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 and Bill Oddie.
Producer: Humphrey Barclay
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in April 1967.
WED 09:00 Trivia Test Match (b00whw4d)
From 12/11/1991
Brian Johnston umpires, as Willie Rushton and Paul Merton battle Tim Rice and Alfred Marks. From November 1991.
WED 09:30 The House of the Spirit Levels (b007n1wk)
Prodigal Son Returns - Veal Off
Having escaped the clutches of the B-movie Russian gangsters, Tony Hardstaff returns to West Yorkshire and the bosom of the family he left a decade earlier.
But things in the town of Grimedale have changed, and his 183-year-old father Obadiah and mother Alice are less than pleased to meet him.
Nick Revell 's epic comedy saga continues.
Tony ...... Nick Revell
Obadiah ...... David Swift
Alice ...... Maggie Steed
Jane ...... Alison Steadman
Dave/Carl ...... Peter Serafinowcz
Joanna ...... Natalie Walter
Jeff ...... Peter Gunn
The Narrator ...... Alistair McGowan
Music composed by Paul Mottram.
Producer: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1997.
WED 10:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b0512lnj)
2-6 February 1915 (Season 3 start)
Epic drama series set in Great War Britain exactly a hundred years before it was first broadcast, in this first omnibus edition of Season 3 the focus shifts to industrial Tynemouth, experiencing a quite different war from that felt in Folkestone.
Written by Shaun McKenna
Consultant Historian: Professor Maggie Andrews
Music: Matthew Strachan
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
WED 11:00 Tessa Hadley - Married Love (b01dvvrw)
Because the Night, pt 2/2
Kristen's plan to escape her parents' party hits an annoying snag. Coming of age story concluded by Susie Riddell.
WED 11:15 The Drought (b007jw1l)
Jean's former home, submerged in a reservoir, has been uncovered by a drought. Her visit there does not bring back the happy memories her nurses expect.
Drama by Stephen Dunstone.
Stars Kathleen Helme as Jean, Angela Winter as Ernestine, Tessa Worsley as Nurse 1, Becky Hindley as Nurse 2, Seamus O'Neill as Grandad, Olwen May as Mother, Ben Frain as Kenneth, Malcolm Scates as Mr Dacre, Susan Cookson as Young Jean, Rebecca George as Little Jean 1, Rebecca Harper as Little Jean 2, Adam Binns as Harry and Royston Bayfield as Norman.
Producer: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1999.
WED 12:00 The Navy Lark (b05tzgds)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
WED 12:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00bwshp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008x3lv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
WED 13:30 Arthur Mee - Encyclopaedist (b00cdr0g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Thomas Hardy - The Woodlanders (b007jx73)
Doubts
Grace Melbury's timber merchant father starts doubting woodsman Giles's suitability for his daughter. Read by Juliet Stevenson.
WED 14:15 The Making of Music (b007njhr)
Series 1
Venice
James Naughtie discovers how history has shaped the development of classical music. An uncle and nephew, Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli wrote music that filled St Marks Basilica, using the space as a stage for many voices. The music inspired travellers who passed through the Serene City, then the crossroads of the known world.
Reader: Laurence Fox.
Produced by Rosie Boulton, Sara Conkey, Lucy Lunt
BBC Birmingham.
WED 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b00swqr9)
Trezza Azzopardi - The Song House
Episode 3
An adaptation of Trezza Azzopardi's new novel - a compelling psychological thriller involving a young woman with a secret in her past.
During a rainy summer, Maggie has taken a job as a live-in secretary in a large house in the country. Ostensibly she's there to catalogue Kenneth's music collection, and to write a memoir of the elderly man's life. Kenneth is odd, isolated, perhaps on the edge of dementia. He wants to record what each piece of music means to him while he can still remember. Now he has fallen in love with her. But Maggie has a deeper purpose, one she has not yet revealed to him. She is trying to find out what happened to her as a child, when she was abducted, at the age of four.
Trezza Azzopardi's novels have been short-listed for numerous awards, including the Booker.
Cast:
MAGGIE.............KAY CURRAM
NARRATOR..........SHARON MORGAN
KENNETH...........JOHN CASTLE
ALISON............CAROLINE HARKER
WILLIAM............ MARK MEADOWS
RUSTY............ MARILYN LE CONTE
Adapted by Elizabeth Burke Produced and Directed by: Kate McAll.
WED 14:45 Femme Fatale: A Biography of Mata Hari (b0178pql)
Episode 3
Margaretha Zelle is heartbroken after the death of her son and moves to Paris. Read by Juliet Stevenson. From July 2007.
WED 15:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b0512lnj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 today]
WED 16:00 Trivia Test Match (b00whw4d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 16:30 The House of the Spirit Levels (b007n1wk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 today]
WED 17:00 The Older Woman (b039tqfd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 today]
WED 17:30 Clare in the Community (b03pjcyf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
WED 18:00 Franz Kafka - Metamorphosis (b007k3xn)
Episode 3
Now a monstrous insect, Gregor strives to stay close to his family - but his father turns on him. Read by Benedict Cumberbatch.
PROMOTION NOTE
"When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous insect."
This shocking opening introduces one of the twentieth century's most famous stories.
Gregor's family react with horror at his bizarre transformation but their horror slowly turns to revulsion and then monstrous indifference as he is left to quietly waste away in his bedroom.
Metamorphosis was first published in 1912.
Benedict Cumberbatch reads this surreal classic in four parts.
Stage and screen actor, Benedict Cumberbatch was Bafta nominated for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in the BBC TV drama, "Hawking". Most recently he appeared in the TV dramatisation of William Golding's seafaring trilogy, "To The Ends of The Earth". He also won critical acclaim playing Hedda's husband, George, in last year's West End production of "Hedda Gabler".
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) ranks among the twentieth-century's most acclaimed writers. He is often cited as the author whose works best evoke the concerns and preoccupations of modern life. The world in his stories is portrayed as one in which the fantastic is entirely normal, the irrational is rational, and the unreasonable seems reasonable. As Ernst Pawel wrote in his biography of the writer, "Kafka articulates the anguish of being human."
Translated by Richard Stokes
(Abridged and produced by Gemma Jenkins).
WED 18:30 Off the Page (b0076mrp)
Anger
Matthew Parris talks about rage with broadcaster Shyama Perera, journalist Cristina Odone and Rouzbeh Pirouz. From August 2004.
WED 19:00 The Navy Lark (b05tzgds)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
WED 19:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00bwshp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008x3lv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
WED 20:30 Arthur Mee - Encyclopaedist (b00cdr0g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Drama (b05pl647)
A Fine Balance
Episode 3
Dramatisation of Rohinton Mistry's acclaimed novel about India's underclass.
Uncle and nephew, Ishvar and Om have come to the city to escape the caste violence in their native village. They start working as tailors in the cramped flat of Dina, a middle-aged Parsi widow. Maneck, a reluctant student from the mountains, rents a room from Dina and the four strangers form an unlikely bond against a backdrop of India in crisis - during "the Emergency" of the mid-1970s, a period marked by huge political unrest and human rights violations.
A comedy, a tragedy, and a story of the triumph of the human spirit under inhuman conditions.
Music: Sacha Putnam
Sound Design: Steve Bond
Dramatised by Ayeesha Menon and Kewel Karim from the novel by Rohinton Mistry
Producer: Nadir Khan
Director: John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 22:00 Clare in the Community (b03pjcyf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
WED 22:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b015brnj)
Series 1
Episode 3
John Finnemore, writer and star of Cabin Pressure, regular guest on The Now Show and popper-up in things like Miranda and That Mitchell and Webb Look returns with half an hour of his own sketches, each funnier than the last. Although, hang on, that system means starting the whole series with the least funny sketch. Might need to rethink that. OK, it's a new show filled with sketches written and performed by John Finnemore, but now no longer arranged in strict order of funniness. Also, he's cut the sketch that would have gone first.
In this third edition, the show visits some documentary-makers, has a big debate, and then treats itself to a little trophy.
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme is written by and stars John Finnemore. It also features Carrie Quinlan (The News Quiz, The Late Edition), Lawry Lewin (The Life & Times of Vivienne Vyle, Horrible Histories) and Simon Kane (Six Impossible Things).
Producer: Ed Morrish.
WED 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b05vstjn)
The best in contemporary comedy. Tonight, Diane Morgan is joined by Ian Hislop.
WED 23:00 Arthur Smith's Balham Bash (b00lp32n)
Series 1
Episode 3
Arthur Smith invites an audience into his home in Balham, south London, for music and comedy.
With comedians Nat Luurtsema, Seann Walsh and Micky Flanagan.
In the kitchen, Arthur learns a thing or two about rock n' roll from guest band Alabama 3 (responsible for the theme tune to The Sopranos).
Pippa Evans - as singer-songwriter Loretta Maine - lends a hand.
Producers: Sam Michell and Alison Vernon-Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2009.
WED 23:30 The Harpoon (b007k4cc)
Series 1
Episode 1
From patent cures to whaling for the under 5s.
The nostalgic spiffing spoof of adventure story papers for boys. Hip hip!
With Susie Brann, Alistair McGowan, Mary Elliot-Nelson, Julian Dutton and Peter Baynham.
Producer: Sarah Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1991.
THURSDAY 14 MAY 2015
THU 00:00 Franz Kafka - Metamorphosis (b007k3xn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 Off the Page (b0076mrp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008x3lv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 Arthur Mee - Encyclopaedist (b00cdr0g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Thomas Hardy - The Woodlanders (b007jx73)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 The Making of Music (b007njhr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b00swqr9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Femme Fatale: A Biography of Mata Hari (b0178pql)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b0512lnj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 Trivia Test Match (b00whw4d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 The House of the Spirit Levels (b007n1wk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 The Older Woman (b039tqfd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 Clare in the Community (b03pjcyf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008x7tk)
Series 1
Episode 5
Losing the struggle to keep his job, Simon receives an intriguing offer.
Following the death of one of its most prominent Dons, celebrity TV historian Peter Devanti - everyone at a Cambridge College gathers to attend the funeral. Simon, an ex-student and now disillusioned health and safety officer, starts wondering whether his death was not as straightforward as it at first appeared.
CAST:
Gilbert …. Geoffrey Palmer
Simon …. Samuel West
Patricia …. Rebecca Front
with Sharon Small, Michael Maloney, Jonathan Coy, Emily Wachter, Nicholas Boulton, Martin Hyder, Laurence Howarth and Beth Chalmers
Script Editor: Paul Schlesinger
Producer: Dawn Ellis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2005.
THU 06:30 Poisoned Angel - The Story of Alma Rose (b00yyfrq)
Niece of composer Gustav Mahler, the violinist Alma Rose was Viennese musical royalty. But that didn't save her from Auschwitz during the Second World War.
There, she was ordered to transform a ragged group of female musicians into an orchestra to play as the work details came and left their death-camp hell. Her success saved the women from the gas chambers.
Alyn Shipton looks at her life, the suspicion surrounding her death and controversy over the misrepresentation of her character by some of those she saved.
Producer: Paul Evans
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
THU 07:00 Tomorrow, Today! (b012b3dy)
Series 1
To the Moon and Back
Comedy series by Christopher William Hill, set in 1961. A BBC producer struggles to make a radio soap set in the unimaginably futuristic world of 2006.
The actors callously use the show to secure advertising deals.
Nigel Lavery ...... Peter Bowles
Sylvia Hann ...... Cheryl Campbell
Godfrey Winnard ...... John Fortune
Sir Angus McNairn ...... Gary Waldhorn
Hugo Kellerman ...... Joseph Kloska
Douglas Bennings ...... Jon Glover
Colin Franks ...... Paul Richard Biggin
Waitress ...... Miranda Keeling.
THU 07:30 Best Behaviour (b05sy25w)
Episode 1
Holly Walsh presents the comedy panel show devoted to clarifying the etiquette rules for modern life.
The guest panellists are Clive Anderson, Sarah Millican and Joe Lycett, who compete to supply the most entertaining ideas for best behaviour in the 21st century.
Knowing how to conduct yourself used to be simple - there were books, finishing schools and often a stern nanny to make sure you did the right thing. But nowadays the world is such a social minefield - made worse by the fact that every time you mess up, someone's inevitably filming it on a camera phone.
In this episode, etiquette at work is under comic scrutiny with the notion that 'the customer is NOT always right' being one of the main conclusions. The case for never sharing food during meals is also up for debate, and the panellists solver an etiquette problem from the studio audience - 'how can I tell my friends that I'm not as interested in their kids as they are?'
Producer: Aled Evans
A Zeppotron production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 08:00 Steptoe and Son (b00rlb08)
Series 1
65 Today
Albert Steptoe's 65th birthday outing turns into a disaster for his son Harold.
Starring Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett.
Following the conclusion of their hugely successful association with Tony Hancock, writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson wrote 10 pilots for the BBC TV's Comedy Playhouse in 1962.
The Offer featured the lives of rag and bone men Albert Steptoe and son Harold - and was the spark for a run of 8 series on TV.
Albert ...... Wilfrid Brambell
Harold ...... Harry H Corbett
With Ian Burford and David Charlesworth
Adapted for radio from Galton and Simpson's TV script by Gale Pedrick.
Producer: Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in July 1966.
THU 08:30 Yes Minister (b007jzxt)
Series 2
The Compassionate Society
A new hospital needs a cure, but does MP Jim Hacker know his ACAS from his NALGO?
Starring Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds.
Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn's satirical sitcom centred around the hapless Jim Hacker and a collection of civil service underlings headed by the Machiavellian Sir Humphrey Appleby and obsequious Bernard.
It first ran on BBC TV between 1980 and 1984.
Jim Hacker …. Paul Eddington
Sir Humphrey Appleby …. Nigel Hawthorne
Bernard Woolley …. Derek Fowldes
Sir Ian …. Peter Jeffrey
Brian Baker …. Norman Bird
George …. Arthur Cox
Mrs Rogers …. Ellen McIntosh
Billy Fraser …. Peter Acre
James Lawford, MP …. John Bott
With Narissa Knights, Bernard Brown and Arnold Diamond
Featuring Bryan Martin and Moira Stuart as themselves
Adapted for radio by the producer, Pete Atkin.
First broadcast on Radio 4 in October 1984.
THU 09:00 Who Goes There? (b0075zbk)
Series 4
Episode 6
Martin Young chairs the quiz which looks at the noteworthy and the notorious from history.
Tackling the biographical teasers are team captains Francis Wheen and Fred Housego with guests David Aaronovitch and Claire Rayner.
Producer: Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2000.
THU 09:30 No Commitments (b007jn4z)
Series 5
Who You Know
Budding actress Emily is due on stage, with a large helping hand from her Aunt Charlotte. Stars Celia Imrie. From July 1998.
THU 10:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b051w4f4)
9-13 February 1915
The Mayor of Tynemouth honours the first local soldier to be awarded a V.C and Edie shares the town's excitement.
Written by Shaun McKenna
Consultant Historian: Professor Maggie Andrews
Music: Matthew Strachan
Directed and produced by Lucy Collingwood
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
THU 11:00 Tessa Hadley - Married Love (b01dvzd3)
Journey Home
Snowbound in Paris, Alec worries about why his sister back home hasn't replied to his text. Short story read by Adam Billington.
THU 11:15 Drama (b00t7h90)
Marcia Layne - The Barber and the Ark
by Marcia Layne
Issachar has been given an ultimatum by Yvonne, either the dreadlocks go or she does. But the veteran barber he visits has other ideas. Over a bottle of his 'special ingredient roots tonic' the barber shares his dream of discovering the Ark of the Covenant in Ethiopia. A dream that will change Isaachar's life.
Directed by Nadia Molinari.
THU 12:00 Steptoe and Son (b00rlb08)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
THU 12:30 Yes Minister (b007jzxt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008x7tk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
THU 13:30 Poisoned Angel - The Story of Alma Rose (b00yyfrq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Thomas Hardy - The Woodlanders (b007jx78)
The Doctor
Ambition and attraction coincide when Grace Melbury encounters young Doctor Fitzpiers. Read by Juliet Stevenson.
THU 14:15 The Making of Music (b007njht)
Series 1
Elizabeth I
James Naughtie discovers how history has shaped the development of classical music. Two composers, William Byrd and Thomas Tallis, turned the end of the sixteenth century into a golden age for English music, despite being on the wrong side of the political and religious divide.
Produced by Rosie Boulton, Sara Conkey and Lucy Lunt
BBC Birmingham.
THU 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b00swqrc)
Trezza Azzopardi - The Song House
Episode 4
An adaptation of Trezza Azzopardi's new novel, a compelling psychological thriller involving a young woman with a secret in her past. During a rainy summer Maggie arrives for a job interview at a large house in the country. The house is empty apart from Kenneth, an elderly man, who wants a secretary to do an unusual live-in job. He wants someone to listen to his vast and eclectic music collection, and transcribe his impressions and memories connected to each piece of music. She is to be a kind of ghostwriter of his autobiography, through music. Kenneth is odd, isolated, perhaps on the edge of dementia, slightly threatening. But Maggie is mysterious too and she has some hidden plan in taking this job. She knows this place, she's been here before. Piece by piece, as the rain intensifies and the river begins to flood, we learn about Maggie's shocking past and the childhood trauma that involves Kenneth's son, William.
Trezza Azzopardi's novels have been short-listed for numerous awards, including the Booker.
Cast:
MAGGIE.............KAY CURRAM
NARRATOR..........SHARON MORGAN
KENNETH...........JOHN CASTLE
ALISON............CAROLINE HARKER
WILLIAM............ MARK MEADOWS
RUSTY............ MARILYN LE CONTE
Adapted by Elizabeth Burke Produced and Directed by : Kate McAll.
THU 14:45 Femme Fatale: A Biography of Mata Hari (b0178xl8)
Episode 4
In the life story of Margaretha Zelle, the reinvented sensual dancer senses a plot unfolding against her. Read by Juliet Stevenson. From July 2007.
THU 15:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b051w4f4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 today]
THU 16:00 Who Goes There? (b0075zbk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 16:30 No Commitments (b007jn4z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 today]
THU 17:00 Anything Legal (b008fxrd)
Episode 8
With their business struggling, Charles and George turn to nanny.
Starring Donald Hewlett and Michael Knowles.
A Tale of Two City Gents by Wally K Daly
Charles ...... Donald Hewlett
George ...... Michael Knowles
Nanny ...... Marjorie Withers
Theme music by Jim Parker
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1985.
THU 17:30 Tomorrow, Today! (b012b3dy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 today]
THU 18:00 Franz Kafka - Metamorphosis (b007k43b)
Episode 4
Now a monstrous insect, Gregor strives to stay close to his family - but his father turns on him. Read by Benedict Cumberbatch.
PROMOTION NOTE
"When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous insect."
This shocking opening introduces one of the twentieth century's most famous stories.
Gregor's family react with horror at his bizarre transformation but their horror slowly turns to revulsion and then monstrous indifference as he is left to quietly waste away in his bedroom.
Metamorphosis was first published in 1912.
Benedict Cumberbatch reads this surreal classic in four parts.
Stage and screen actor, Benedict Cumberbatch was Bafta nominated for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in the BBC TV drama, "Hawking". Most recently he appeared in the TV dramatisation of William Golding's seafaring trilogy, "To The Ends of The Earth". He also won critical acclaim playing Hedda's husband, George, in last year's West End production of "Hedda Gabler".
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) ranks among the twentieth-century's most acclaimed writers. He is often cited as the author whose works best evoke the concerns and preoccupations of modern life. The world in his stories is portrayed as one in which the fantastic is entirely normal, the irrational is rational, and the unreasonable seems reasonable. As Ernst Pawel wrote in his biography of the writer, "Kafka articulates the anguish of being human."
Translated by Richard Stokes
(Abridged and produced by Gemma Jenkins).
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b0076lcs)
Series 5
Lyndon Johnson
Veteran journalist Charles Wheeler chooses the USA's 36th president, Lyndon Johnson. With Humphrey Carpenter. From May 2004.
THU 19:00 Steptoe and Son (b00rlb08)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
THU 19:30 Yes Minister (b007jzxt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008x7tk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
THU 20:30 Poisoned Angel - The Story of Alma Rose (b00yyfrq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Tessa Hadley - Married Love (b01dvzd3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 today]
THU 21:15 Drama (b00t7h90)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 today]
THU 22:00 Best Behaviour (b05sy25w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
THU 22:30 My Teenage Diary (b01l0kc5)
Series 4
Rhona Cameron
My Teenage Diary returns with six more brave celebrities ready to revisit their formative years by opening up their intimate teenage diaries, and reading them out in public for the very first time. In this episode, comedian Rufus Hound is joined by Rhona Cameron who revisits her teenage years when she struggled to come to terms with her sexuality and had to cope with the sudden death of her father.
Producer: Harriet Jaine
A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:00 My Booze Hell, by Little Johnny Cartilage (b010j4pd)
And Cue Supersonic
The washed-up TV star finds himself 'In the Psychiatrist's Chair' with Dr Anthony Clare.
The not-terribly-true autobiography of 1970s idol Little Johnny Cartilage.
Written by and starring Johnny Meres.
With:
Dr Anthony Clare
Ben Miller
Peter Serafinowicz
Geoff McGivern
Rosemary Martin
Deborah Berlin
Producer: Gareth Edwards
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1996.
THU 23:15 Date With Fate (b0090x8s)
Nice Little Number
Vernon Hedges sets out to disprove the existence of Lady Luck.
Harold Wing Pinero is your host.
Another of four comic close encounters with fate written by Gary Parker and Phil Whelans.
Vernon ...... Philip Jackson
Harold Wing Pinero ...... Charles Gray
Arthur ...... Michael Troughton
Dory/Shelley ...... Tracy Wiles
All other parts played by Toby Longworth.
Producer: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1996.
THU 23:30 Hut 33 (b00wlldq)
Series 2
Yankee Diddle
The Bletchley Park cipher-busting team decide that a wealthy American visitor is a ripe target for fleecing...
James Cary's sitcom set at Bletchley Park - the top-secret home of the Second World War codebreakers.
Professor Charles Gardner …. Robert Bathurst
Archie …. Tom Goodman-Hill
Fergus Craig (Gordon)
3rd Lieutenant Joshua Fanshawe-Marshall …. Alex MacQueen
Minka …. Olivia Coleman
Mrs Best …. Lill Roughley
Freddie G. Roosevelt …. Arnab Chanda
Producer: Adam Bromley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2008.
FRIDAY 15 MAY 2015
FRI 00:00 Franz Kafka - Metamorphosis (b007k43b)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b0076lcs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008x7tk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Poisoned Angel - The Story of Alma Rose (b00yyfrq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Thomas Hardy - The Woodlanders (b007jx78)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 The Making of Music (b007njht)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b00swqrc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Femme Fatale: A Biography of Mata Hari (b0178xl8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b051w4f4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 Who Goes There? (b0075zbk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 No Commitments (b007jn4z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 Anything Legal (b008fxrd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
17:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Tomorrow, Today! (b012b3dy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008y4fg)
Series 1
Episode 6
Exams loom large. Simon Harrison delves into his Health and Safety background for one final ruse. Can he unveil the killer?
Mark Tavener's comedy thriller.
CAST:
Gilbert …. Geoffrey Palmer
Simon …. Samuel West
Patricia …. Rebecca Front
with Michael Maloney, Jonathan Coy, Sharon Small, Emily Wachter, Beth Chalmers and Nicholas Boulton.
Script Editor: Paul Schlesinger
Producer: Dawn Ellis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2005.
FRI 06:30 Young, Gifted and Black (b00scjx2)
Adjoa Andoh reflects on the brief but highly influential career of the African American playwright and social activist.
In 1959, Hansberry became the first black woman to have a play produced on Broadway and the youngest recipient of the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. An eloquent and impassioned orator for civil rights, Lorraine Hansberry quickly became one of the most famous women in the country.
Friend to the likes of Paul Robeson, James Baldwin and Nina Simone, who composed 'To Be Young, Gifted and Black' in her honour, Hansberry's prescient speeches and artfully constructed drama played a key role in the ongoing civil rights struggle.
In this programme we hear from her sister Mamie Hansberry, poet and playwright Jackie Kay, Chicago Southside historian Timuel Black and theatre directors Michael Buffong and Paulette Randall.
Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 07:00 Lucky Heather (b0075rz9)
Wild Bunch
Heather helps a neighbour who is being harassed on the estate and also tries line dancing.
Just this side of nosey, Heather is western movie-mad. She's also the Sherlock Holmes of the rundown Sutter Estate.
Sue Teddern's six-part comedy series star Lindsey Coulson as Heather. (Carol Jackson in BBC TV's EastEnders until 2015)
With Abigail Hart as Natalie, Ben Crowe as Ryan and Kelly Wright as Emma, Gemma Saunders as Chloe, Elizabeth Kelly as Olive, Harry Myers as Tommy and Dearbhla Molloy as Maev.
Director: David Hunter
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2000.
FRI 07:30 The Vote Now Show (b05wpwcn)
Series 2
Episode 6
The last in a series of election specials from the Now Show team. Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by special guests to give their own unique take on the week's shennanigans and the election outcome.
Episode six features John Finnemore, Holly Walsh, Isabel Hardman and Pippa Evans.
Producers; Alexandra Smith, Joe Nunnery and Rachel Wheeley.
Executive Producer Alison Vernon-Smith.
FRI 08:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007k4v4)
Series 4
The Income Tax Demand
With a tax bill looming, the lad consults crooked chartered accountant Sid.
Starring Tony Hancock.
With Sidney James, Bill Kerr and 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 October 1956.
FRI 08:30 The Goon Show (b007jln0)
Series 4
The Greatest Mountain in the World
Neddie Seagoon attempts to climb a peak even higher than Everest.
Groundbreaking, surreal BBC radio comedy written by Spike Milligan.
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: Peter Eton
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in March 1954.
FRI 09:00 The National Theatre of Brent's Iconic Icons (b00lsxh0)
Bob Dylan
The multi award winning National Theatre of Brent Artistic Director Desmond Olivier Dingle and the entire acting company (Raymond Box) return, celebrating the living artists deemed by Desmond to be Iconic Icons.
The first iconic icon is the legendary singer, songwriter and artist Bob Dylan. Desmond and Raymond will trace his path from his humble beginnings as Robert Zimmerman in Hibbin, Minnesota, through journeying to bohemian New York, finding his inner voice and becoming the icon that is Bob Dylan.
Written by Patrick Barlow, with additional material by John Ramm, and performed by Patrick and John in front of an audience at the Bush Hall in London.
Desmond Olivier Dingle ..... Patrick Barlow
Raymond Box ..... John Ramm
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 09:30 On Baby Street (b00drrz9)
Series 1
Episode 2
Three expectant mothers prepare for their arrivals in different ways. Stars Kathy Burke and Keith Allen. From January 1996.
FRI 10:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b052mjzq)
16-20 February 1915
The country may be at war, and the factories at peak production, but there's time for romance in industrial Tynemouth.
Written by Melissa Murray
Story-led by Shaun McKenna
Consultant Historian: Professor Maggie Andrews
Music: Matthew Strachan
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
FRI 11:00 Tessa Hadley - Married Love (b01dw5lw)
Pretending
Bittersweet recollections of a childhood friendship founded on pretending games. Short story read by Saskia Wickham.
FRI 11:15 Drama (b00770n6)
Catherine Shepherd - Cats and Monkeys
By Catherine Shepherd.
Eve has come to India following the recent death of her parents. While everyone around her is seeking enlightenment, she is only concerned with obtaining a legal document which will allow probate on her parents' estate to be granted.
Vivanti ...... Anna Carteret
Eve ...... Madelaine Brolly
Piturbaba ...... Jack Shepherd
Xavier ...... Ben Lewis
Mette ...... Catherine Shepherd
Daniel ...... Paddy Anderson
Directed by Lu Kemp.
FRI 12:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007k4v4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 The Goon Show (b007jln0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008y4fg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 Young, Gifted and Black (b00scjx2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Thomas Hardy - The Woodlanders (b007k0t1)
Midsummer Evening
Doctor Fitzpiers and Grace Melbury's paths cross on Midsummer's Eve in Little Hintock. Read by Juliet Stevenson.
FRI 14:15 The Making of Music (b007njhw)
Series 1
The Birth of Opera
James Naughtie discovers how history has shaped the development of classical music. Opera was invented by a group of Italian intellectuals called the Camerata in Florence around 1600. They stumbled across something extraordinary - why not tell a story in music? It took off and soon theatres were springing up all over Italy - forty in Venice alone.
Reader Benedict Cumberbatch
Produced by Rosie Boulton, Sara Conkey and Lucy Lunt.
BBC Birmingham.
FRI 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b00swqrf)
Trezza Azzopardi - The Song House
Episode 5
An adaptation of Trezza Azzopardi's new novel, a compelling psychological thriller involving a young woman with a secret in her past.
Kenneth has fallen in love with a woman thirty years younger, Maggie,who'd been working for him as a live-in secretary. As for Maggie, she has motives of her own - she's been trying to investigate a traumatic incident in her childhood, when she was abducted by Kenneth's son, William. So far, Kenneth doesn't know what really happened; and William doesn't know who Maggie really is. But as the river floods, all three make their way to the safety of the big house - and a final confrontation.
Trezza Azzopardi's novels have been short-listed for numerous awards, including the Booker.
Cast:
MAGGIE.............KAY CURRAM
NARRATOR..........SHARON MORGAN
KENNETH...........JOHN CASTLE
ALISON............CAROLINE HARKER
WILLIAM............ MARK MEADOWS
RUSTY............ MARILYN LE CONTE
Adapted by Elizabeth Burke. Produced and Directed by: Kate McAll.
FRI 14:45 Femme Fatale: A Biography of Mata Hari (b0179w13)
Episode 5
Now under arrest for espionage in Paris, Mata Hari's fate is in the hands of the Grand Inquisitor. Read by Juliet Stevenson. From July 2007.
FRI 15:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b052mjzq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 The National Theatre of Brent's Iconic Icons (b00lsxh0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 On Baby Street (b00drrz9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 Lucky Heather (b0075rz9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 The Vote Now Show (b05wpwcn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 The Heart of Hark'un (b007jq83)
Episode 1
The Great Wizard sends student sorcerer Arcos on a mission, little realising how perilous and menacing it will prove to be...
A fantasy-adventure by Peter Thomson and Jamie Thomson in six parts.
Arcos ..... Francis Thomson
Kaddah ..... Trevor Peacock
Vanna ..... Elizabeth Whiting
Shazir ..... Crawford Logan
Bereneth ..... Edward Kelsey
Va ..... Melanie Hudson
Alviza ..... Emma Fielding
Zander ..... Robert Portal
Kishah ..... John Church
Rashiq ..... Theresa Streatfeild
Producer: Peter Hutchings
First broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in September 1991.
FRI 18:30 My Life in Five Songs (b01bmmpq)
Series 4
Elkie Brooks
With hit singles with songs like 'Pearl's A Singer', 'Fool if You Think it's Over' and 'Lilac Wine', Elkie Brooks is one of our most successful female artists.
As a fifteen-year-old she entered and won a singing competition which launched her professional career. Elkie's first big break came when she joined the Rock/Jazz fusion band Dada and then she joined Robert Palmer in the Rock' n Roll band Vinegar Joe in the early 1970's. She was The Melody Maker face of 1973.
Pearl's a Singer was a million seller for her in 1977 and several hit singles followed.
Talking to Phil Cunningham she reveals her love of paragliding, the important part Humphrey Lyttleton played in her life and how she shared a stage with The Beatles.
Still singing and touring Elkie has her own band and will be performing in Scotland in February.
Phil Cunningham opens the programme with Pearl's a Singer and Elkie goes on to pick these 5 songs.
Mavis Staples - Down in Mississippi
Buddy Guy - 74 Years Young
Steely Dan - Reeling In The Years
Ray Charles - Drown In My Own Tears
Bad Company - Seagull
Phil closes the programme with the track Purple Rain from her 2010 album Powerless.
FRI 19:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007k4v4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 The Goon Show (b007jln0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008y4fg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 Young, Gifted and Black (b00scjx2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Tessa Hadley - Married Love (b01dw5lw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 today]
FRI 21:15 Drama (b00770n6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 today]
FRI 22:00 The Vote Now Show (b05wpwcn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 Victor Lewis-Smith (b05v3fyw)
Episode 2
Learn to be a DJ, the real Antiques Roadshow and is Marcel Proust in? The darkly comic world of Victor Lewis-Smith.
Award-winning controversial comedy surfaced on BBC Radio 1 in 1990 in the shape of Victor Lewis-Smith. The writer and producer took a comedy cudgel to the self-satisfied, mid-Atlantic style of the very network he was appearing on - with hoax phone calls, sketches, plus comic takedowns of high profile celebs. It's all deliciously sandwiched between the original jangly Radio 1 jingles made by JAM Creative Productions in Dallas, USA.
Winner of the British Comedy Awards 1990 for Best Radio Comedy.
After making 12 late night programmes for Radio 1, Victor took aim at TV in 1993 with BBC TWO's Inside Victor Lewis Smith, before sparking another stir on Channel 4 in 1998 with TV Offal.
Written by Victor Lewis Smith and Paul Sparks
Produced by Victor Lewis Smith
First heard on BBC Radio 1 in April 1990.
FRI 23:00 Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive (b007wvrn)
Series 2
Episode 2
The comedy guru's radio drop-in centre this week examines croquet and nothing else. With Clive Anderson. From June 2006.
FRI 23:30 Sir Ralph Stanza's Letter from Salford (b0076f4x)
Series 2
A View From the Stanza
Greater Manchester’s Poet in Residence for Salford, Sir Ralph Stanza bases himself at a local football club.
Featuring a special guest appearance by veteran BBC radio star - Mr. Higginbottom in The Clitheroe Kid – Tony Melody.
Written by and starring James Quinn.
With:
Alison Darling
Neil Bell
Jemma Thompson
Mark Chatterton
Produced in Manchester by Graham Frost
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2003.
FRI 23:45 I, Regress (b019rqcx)
Series 1
Episode 4
A dark, David Lynch-ian comedy, ideally suited for an unsettling and surreal late night listen. 'I, Regress' sees Matt Berry (The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi's Dark Place, Snuff Box) playing a corrupt and bizarre hypnotherapist taking unsuspecting clients on twisted, misleading journeys through their subconscious.
Each episode sees the doctor dealing with a different client who has come to him for a different problem (quitting smoking, fear of water, etc). As the patient is put under hypnosis, we 'enter' their mind, and all the various situations the hypnotherapist takes them through are played out for us to hear. The result is a dream- (or nightmare-) like trip through the patient's mind, as funny as it is disturbing.
Episode 4: Ray Highknock (Alex Lowe) goes to Dr Matt Berry hoping that his experimental regressive hypnotherapy will cure his smoking addiction. The result is a series of strange encounters that all seem strangely familiar...
The cast across the series include Katherine Parkinson (IT Crowd), Morgana Robinson (The Morgana Show), Simon Greenall (I'm Alan Partridge), Jack Klaff (Star Wars, For Your Eyes Only), Tara Flynn (The Impressions Show, Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle), Alex Lowe (Barry From Watford, The Peter Serafinowicz Show), and Derek Griffiths (Playschool, Bod, and The Royal Exchange).
A compelling late night listen: tune in and occupy someone else's head!
Produced by Sam Bryant.