SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER 2015

SAT 00:00 Kurt Vonnegut - Thanasphere (b007jqzb)
Major Allen Rice is the first American astronaut in space. His military mission is to report back weather conditions over enemy terrain. Lift off goes well and the spaceship settles into its orbit, with regular radio reports coming back to base.
But then, somehow the major hears a child crying. What happens next takes this pioneering mission in a direction no-one could have predicted...
American writer, Kurt Vonnuegut's delicious piece of sci-fi philosophy from the 1950's is read by Kerry Shale.
Producer: Joanne Lafferty
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in 2004.
SAT 00:30 Soul Music (b00763hf)
Series 2
In the Mood
Critic Alyn Shipton and Glen Miller’s trombonist Paul Tanner, reflect on the impact of the jitterbug super hit.
Series about music that makes the hairs stand up on the back of our necks.
Producer: Lucy Lunt
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2001.
SAT 01:00 JM Barrie - Peter Pan (b00sct9q)
Spring Cleaning Time Again
Wendy longs for home, but first she and the brothers must be rescued from Captain Hook.
Starring Toyah Willcox as Peter Pan, Ron Moody as Mr Darling / Hook, June Whitfield as Mrs Darling, Georgina Cates as Wendy, Roy Hudd as Smee and Chris Emmett as Starkey.
Dramatist: Philip Glassborow
Producer: Dirk Maggs
First heard on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.
SAT 01:30 Merry Widows (b00mb9pk)
Women whose much-loved husbands have died describe finding unexpected happiness late in life, and the challenge of creating a new identity. Restarting a life when one suddenly finds oneself alone, having been married for decades, and for all of one's adult life, is never easy. There are contributions from women who had never lived on their own: people who married early, and happily, and stayed married. But then comes the blow of their husbands' death; they explain what happened next - and it surprised everyone
A Loftus Audio production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b00yrgzc)
Virginia Woolf - Flush
Episode 5
5/5 Virginia Woolf's biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's beloved spaniel, Flush, is read by Jenny Coverack.
The Brownings have settled happily in Florence, their little boy is growing up, and Flush is growing old. He can't understand his mistress's new enthusiasm for summoning the spirits, and he's lost his old passion for roaming the streets and fields of Florence. It's time for him to lie in the shade of a market stall and remember the good times he's lived through.
Abridged and produced by Sara Davies.
SAT 02:15 Grimm Thoughts (b01pgll1)
Episode 10
When the Grimm brothers first published their Children's and Household Tales in 1812, in a scholarly effort to collate a national identity of the people, it was the beginning of an obsessive project of two intricately interwoven lifetimes.
To mark the bicentenary of the first edition, writer and mythographer Marina Warner explores the many compelling and often controversial aspects of the tales in a 10-part series, revealing new insights into the stories we think we know so well, and introducing us to the charms and challenges of those that we don't.
Alongside beautifully narrated extracts from the tales themselves, renowned academics and artists who work closely with the Grimm's rich heritage add to our understanding of these deceptively complex stories.
In the final episode, with fairy tales enjoying a renaissance across film and literature, we look to the future of these tales that have haunted our past and the fundamental appeal of storytelling.
Considering Hansel and Gretel, a universal story of the joys and dangers of youth and innocence, we speak to playwright Lucy Kirkwood about her brand new National Theatre adaptation of the tale, and explore what the many contemporary takes on the Grimms' legacy might tell us about the modern world.
Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b012llrv)
Alison Lurie - Imaginary Friends
Episode 10
By Alison Lurie. Dramatised by Melissa Murray
10/10
Roger, on his way to visit Tom McCann in hospital, has stopped off to visit Elsie, where he has heard some terrible news.
Roger ... Jonathan Forbes
McCann ... Nathan Osgood
Elsie ... Barbara Barnes
Mrs Munger ... Jane Whittenshaw
Nurse ... Elaine Claxton
Directed by Marc Beeby.
SAT 02:45 Kenneth Tynan - Theatre Writings (b00r9y0y)
An Open Letter
The critic's surprisingly negative 1962 review about his idol Laurence Olivier. Read by Michael Sheen and David Horovitch.
SAT 03:00 Don Taylor - God's Revolution (b00vcwhw)
For the Agreement of the Sword
1649, and Cromwell is determined to foil the soldiers' rebellion. English Civil War drama with Bernard Hepton and Graham Blockey.
SAT 04:00 The 3rd Degree (b00yyc89)
Series 1
Durham
Coming this week from Durham University, host Steve Punt asks Earth Scientists about Philip Larkin, and English Literature professors about Fish from Marillion. So if you're struggling to remember what happened to Solomon Grundy on Saturday, why the witches in Macbeth speak in trochees not iambs and which footballer was sent off during the 2006 World Cup Final for nutting his opponent - this is the quiz show for you.
"The 3rd Degree" is a funny, lively and dynamic new quiz show aimed at cultivating the next generation of Radio 4 listeners whilst delighting the current ones. It's recorded on location at a different University each week, and it pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors. Being a Radio 4 programme, it of course meets the most stringent standards of academic rigour - but with lots of facts and jokes thrown in for good measure.
Together with host Steve Punt, the show tours the (sometimes posh, sometimes murky, but always welcoming!) Union buildings, cafés and lecture halls of six universities across the UK.
The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds and the 'Highbrow & Lowbrow' round cunningly devised to test not only the students' knowledge of current affairs, history, languages and science, but also their Professors' awareness of television, film, and Lady Gaga... In addition, the Head-to-Head rounds, in which students take on their Professors in their own subjects, were particularly lively, and offered plenty of scope for mild embarrassment on both sides...
The resulting show is funny, fresh, and not a little bit surprising, with a truly varied range of scores, friendly rivalry, and moments where students wished they had more than just glanced at that reading list...
Producer: David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 04:30 Albert and Me (b007js8c)
Series 1
Looking for a Job
Single dad Bryan needs a job, but can he find an employer who'll let him bring his young son Albert along?
Stars Richard Beckinsale as Bryan Archer, Pat Coombs as Mum/Albert and John Comer as Dad. With Terence Alexander as Rex and Madeline Smith as Stephanie.
Written by Jim Eldridge.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in November 1977.
SAT 05:00 The Change (b0076p3r)
Series 3
Episode 3
With both couples' relationships seemingly over, another bombshell hits: there's a baby on the way. How on earth will the news be received?
Carol …. Lynda Bellingham
George …. Philip Jackson
Violet ...... Marcia Warren
Maureen …. Maureen Beattie
Ken …. James Vaugnan
Sonia …. Emma Kennedy
Jerry …. Barnaby Kay
Dave …. Mark Powley
Doctor ...... Rosie Armstrong
Diana Aitchison ...... Herself
Series 3 of the sitcom about a married couple's attempts to smooth over their singularly troubled midlife funk - Carol is hormonal and 15-stone George is a transvestite. Onlookers can't quite agree on the nature of their dynamic.
Written by Jan Etherington and Gavin Petrie.
Producer: Elizabeth Freestone
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2004.
SAT 05:30 Shedtown (b01ppn91)
Series 2
Shed Report
Who hasn't thought about running away from it all at some time or other? Throwing caution to the wind, wrenching oneself out of a long established orbit to head for the deep space of the unknown?
In series two of Shedtown, our wooden icon of escape and isolation - the shed - continues to be a symbol of possibility and change. Our Sheddists arrived and survived - and, now waking from a beach-baked slumber, the familiar residents find faces old and new on the sand.
Episode 1:
Deborah Dearden arrives back at the beach. Not such a stranger - yet stranger still.
Barry............................Tony Pitts
Jimmy..........................Stephen Mangan
Eleanor..................Ronni Ancona
Colin........................Johnny Vegas
Deborah.....................Emma Fryer
William..................Adrian Manfredi
Diane....................Rosina Carbone
Dave......................Shaun Dooley
Father Michael........James Quinn
Wes......................Warren Brown
Nell...........................Eleanor Samson
Narrator.................Maxine Peake
Music....................Paul Heaton and Jonny Lexus
Written and Directed by Tony Pitts
Produced by Sally Harrison
A Woolyback Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 06:00 King Lear on Boxing Day (b007728h)
On Boxing Day 1606, the entertainment offered to King James I and his guests at Whitehall Palace was a new play by William Shakespeare - King Lear.
Four hundred years on, Francine Stock and a studio full of guests, including actors Fiona Shaw and Oliver Ford Davis; scholars Jonathan Bate, Richard Dutton, Brett Dolman and Tiffany Stern; food historian Ivan Day and musicians Passamezzo (along with some distinguished contributors from the BBC Archives), bring to life every aspect of that momentous opening night.
SAT 07:30 Lucinda Lambton's Elevations and Revelations (b0075xw9)
Hatchlands Park
The historian visits Hatchlands Park near Guilford, featuring Robert Adam's first English interior. From September 2000.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b01pgq4j)
Blithe Margaret
Margaret Rutherford was a benign battleaxe, chin wagging like a windsock, famous as Miss Marple, Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit and for her roles in Passport to Pimlico, The Importance of Being Earnest and an Oscar-winning performance in The VIPs. Stephen Fry looks back at the life and work of one of our finest comedy actors and one of Britain's best-loved box office stars.
The comic and dramatic roles Margaret played were as nothing to the astonishing true crime stories that shaped her life and career. Murder was to play a part in her life, beyond the role of Miss Marple. She was also a regular visitor to a young offenders' institution and had a family secret that she never revealed.
The programme includes archive of Margaret herself, film director David Lean, writer Rumer Godden, comedian Frankie Howerd, actor Robert Morley, her husband Stringer Davis, and informally adopted daughter Dawn Langley Simmons. We also hear from Andy Merriman (author of Margaret Rutherford: Dreadnought with Good Manners) and actress Damaris Hayman.
And Stephen talks to one of Margaret's distant relatives. Somewhat surprisingly, it's the Rt.Hon.Tony Benn.
Producer: Tamsin Hughes
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 09:00 Comedy Greats (b007jthv)
The 1960s
Episode 1
Decade by decade, Barry Cryer showcases some of the funniest and finest shows ever broadcast by the BBC.
Six favourite shows plucked from the swinging 1960s schedules of the BBC Light Programme and BBC Home Service:
* Beyond Our Ken
Series 3 (7/14)
Kenneth Horne's busy week - and check out the latest film releases in 'Picture Go Round'. With Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee. From May 1960.
* It's A Fair Cop
From 19/06/61
Eric Sykes plays a hapless copper on a bank stake-out. With Hattie Jacques, Deryck Guyler and Dick Emery. From June 1961.
* The Navy Lark
Series 9 (16/20) Cuthbert Joins the Navy
Mrs Povey insists that her snooty nephew samples a career on the ocean wave aboard HMS Troutbridge. Stars Stephen Murray, Jon Pertwee, Leslie Phillips, Ronnie Barker, Michael Bates, Richard Caldicot, Heather Chasen and Tenniel Evans. From October 1967.
* Benny Hill Time
From 29/03/64
Fred Scuttle in a James Bond spoof. Topical sketches and more with Peter Vernon, Jan Waters and Anthony Sharp. From March 1964
* The Clitheroe Kid
Series 12 (11/20) Stop the Wedding, I Want to Get Off
The cheeky youngster is due to be a page boy at his Auntie's wedding, but he's not too keen on his satin outfit - so soon sparks more mayhem. Stars Jimmy Clitheroe, Peter Sinclair, Patricia Burke, Danny Ross, Diana Day, Fred Gaunt and Brian Trueman. From December 1968.
* I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again
Series 6 (4/13)
Schools debate, Merseyside mariachi and trouble at t'mill. Songs and sketches with John Cleese, Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, David Hatch and Jo Kendall. From May 1968.
Produced and scripted by Peter Reed
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in May 2003.
SAT 12:00 The Motion Show (b0075rmr)
Series 1
Episode 3
The merits of watching TV - and retiring at the age of 30.
Dr Phil Hammond watches over proceedings in the quirky debating game.
With Simon Fanshawe, Peter Bradshaw, Brian Sewell and Steve Punt
Producer: Helen Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1998.
SAT 12:30 No Commitments (b007jntb)
Series 6
Make My Day
It's a big day for Anna's new partner Stuart at his gallery, but will her sisters ruin it? Stars Rosemary Leach. From July 1999.
SAT 13:00 Virginia Baily - Early One Morning Omnibus (b06knj7b)
Episode 1
Rome 1943. A split-second decision is about to change Chiara's life forever.
Cardiff 1973. Welsh teenager Maria learns some shocking news about her past.
Greta Scacchi, Juliet Aubrey and Sophie Melville star in Miranda Emmerson's dramatisation of Virginia Baily's powerful novel of love, loss and learning to be a mother.
Omnibus of the first five of ten parts. The action moves between Nazi-occupied Rome and 1973.
Narrator.....Greta Scacchi
Chiara.....Juliet Aubrey
Maria.....Sophie Melville
Cecilia.....Alex Tregear
Daniele.....Adam Thomas Wright
Gennaro/ Adult Daniele.....Cesare Taurasi
Simone/ Nonna.....Jessica Turner
Antonio.....David Hounslow
Gabriele.....David Acton
Tommaso/ Nazi officer/ Brian.....Felix Auer
Edna.....Amelia Lowdell
Barry/ Goffredo.....Chris Pavlo
Gianni.....Sam Dale
Director: Emma Harding
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2015.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b06j2h4d)
Raymond Blanc
Renowned chef Raymond Blanc selects Edith Piaf's 'La Vie En Rose' and Arvo Part's 'Spiegel Im Spiegel'.
SAT 14:15 Drama (b00ryl01)
Peter Whalley - The Disappearance
By Peter Whalley
A compelling psychological thriller with fraudulent identity at its heart.
Alice moves into a converted Victorian house and rents the top floor. The landlord lives below. Both tenant and landlord are not who they say they are, and as each discovers the truth, it's clear one of them is going to die.
Martin ..... Lee Ingleby
Alice ..... Joanne Froggatt
Denise ..... Becky Hindley
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b01pgq4j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 King Lear on Boxing Day (b007728h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Lucinda Lambton's Elevations and Revelations (b0075xw9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Doctor Who (b06j6wry)
The Entropy Composition
A Prog Rock symphony rediscovered in the vaults can be catastrophic for the entire cosmos.
Peter Davison is the Fifth Doctor with his companion Nyssa played by Sarah Sutton.
This episode is one of four generated by Big Finish Productions' 2010 'Opportunity for New Writers' contest, which attracted around 1200 entries,
Peter Davison played the Fifth Doctor on BBC TV from 1981 to 1984.
Sarah Sutton played Nyssa between 1981 and 1983. She was first seen on 'The Keeper of Traken' - Traken being Nyssa's home planet, when she starred with the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)
Written by Rick Briggs.
Original music composed by Richard Fox and Lauren Yason.
Directed by Ken Bentley
Producer: David Richardson
A Big Finish production.
SAT 18:30 The Routemasters by Andrew McGibbon (b007jnrf)
2. Don't Be a Freud
The time travellers hit 19th-century Austria, where Freud is about to give a historic paper on telepathy, which Raymond and Hildegard are bent on stealing...
Starring Amanda Donohoe as Hilderghast, Andrew McGibbon as Raymond, Karl Minns as the Conductor, Owen Evans as Bernie, Nick Romero as Karl, Andy Mulligan as Herr Grubberman, Dan Freedman as Breyer, Alex Lowe as the interpolator and Sophie Aldred as Martha.
Written by Andrew McGibbon. Additional material by Rob Colley, Julian Mayers and Kevin Greening.
Theme by Ozzy Temple and other music by Nick Romero.
Producer: Julian Mayers
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1999.
SAT 19:00 Comedy Greats (b007jthv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better (b00db05r)
Series 2
Diligence
The comedian examines the virtue of hard work. Tim Key and Tom Basden pay great attention to detail in their poems and songs. From September 2008.
SAT 22:30 Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive (b00cymp0)
Series 4
Episode 1
The comedy zookeeper unleashes his menagerie of laugh-beasts. With Robin Ince, Lucy Porter and Matt Kirshen. From August 2008.
SAT 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b06jp78x)
The best in contemporary comedy. Arthur Smith chats to Lolly Adefope.
SAT 23:00 Saturday Night Fry (b00936hz)
Episode 5
Stephen Fry shares some fishy thoughts as he serves up more witty banter and sketches.
With Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Emma Thompson and her mother Phyllida Law.
Written by Stephen Fry with additional material by Ian Brown and James Hendrie.
Producer: Dan Patterson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1988.
SAT 23:30 28 Acts in 28 Minutes (b009ly1p)
Series 2
Episode 3
28 performers have just 60 seconds in which to entertain the audience in this traditional variety show, featuring established stand-ups, and some newer talent
The whole thing is presided over by John Humphrys, who sits at the side of the stage with a stopwatch, ready to cut the microphone when the time is up.
And hey - if there's an act you don't like, well, there's another one along in 55 seconds or so...
Phil Cornwell
Francesca Beard
The Bearded Ladies
Matt Morisroe
James Sherwood
John Richardson
Tom McRae
Geoffrey McGivern
Liam Mullone
Danielle Ward
John Finnemore
Greedy
Ian Stone
Gwyn Herbert
Kerry Godliman and David Lane
Lee Bannard
Simon Jones
Terry Saunders
Ginger & Black
Simon Evans
Nathan Penlington
Tim Fitzhigham
Carol Smith
Alex Lowe
Producers: Rohan Acharya and Ed Morrish
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2008.