SATURDAY 23 JANUARY 2016

SAT 00:00 Bill Murphy - Vostok (b007jzm4)
Three intrepid divers plunge into the world's last unexplored Antarctic lake. Stars Stuart Milligan and Ingvar Sigurdsson.
SAT 00:30 Soul Music (b0076m60)
Series 4
Swing Low Sweet Chariot
An exploration of the spiritual song, from its origins in slavery in America, to its role in English rugby. From July 2004.
SAT 01:00 Cadfael (b007jldz)
The Virgin in the Ice
5. Discoveries
Detective monk Brother Cadfael discovers outlaws have taken Ives Hugonin prisoner.
Conclusion starring Philip Madoc as Brother Cadfael.
Written by Ellis Peters and dramatised by Bert Coules.
Brother Cadfael ...... Philip Madoc
Narrator ...... Sir Michael Hordern
Ermina ...... Moira Buffini
Leonard ...... Leonard Fenton
Hugh ...... Douglas Hodge
Le Gaucher ...... Peter Laird
Ives ...... Dean Magri
Elyas ...... Crispin Letts
Axeman ...... Peter Gunn
Boterel ...... Andrew Wincott
Other parts played by the cast.
Music by Peter Salem.
Producer: Phil Clarke.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1992.
SAT 01:30 Open the Vaults (b00p6rr0)
Razia Iqbal examines the tradition of banks as patrons of art - a role which dates back to 14th-century Italy.
She also asks what responsibility comes with owning great art, particularly in light of the 2007-2008 UK banking crisis.
Producer: Henrietta Harrison
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009.
SAT 02:00 Donna Tartt - The Secret History (b03pm1hw)
Episode 10
The murder has finally been committed. However, a phone call complicates things. Donna Tartt thriller read by William Hope. From April 1995.
SAT 02:15 Incarnations: India in 50 Lives (b05tpy82)
Ashoka: Power and Persuasion
Professor Sunil Khilnani of the King's India Institute in London looks at the life and legacy of the emperor Ashoka, who ruled over a large part of the Indian sub-continent. He came to power around the time the Romans were fighting Carthage and the Chinese were building their Great Wall but faded from view over time. Rediscovered by the British, he went on to become an inspiration to India's nationalists. Ashoka's symbol of four lions, each facing in a different direction, can be found on official Indian documents and the nation's currency. His most remarkable legacy is the rock edicts, public instructions to his people on correct behaviour - including religious tolerance and his own principle of Dhamma. "Dhamma described the ruler's duty to interest himself in the welfare of his people, their health and happiness. It even committed him to planting banyan trees and mango groves along the roads, to provide water and resting places for travellers . . an early statement about the private faith of a leader and the responsibilities of public office"
Producer: Mark Savage.
Researcher: Manu Pillai
With incidental music by the composer Talvin Singh.
Listeners can catch up with the series and see the list of remarkable Indians featured on the Radio 4 website.
SAT 02:30 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving (b015fv20)
Episode 10
Things come to a head in Vic and Ingrid's marriage. Who can Vic turn to for advice? Stars Lee Ingleby and Rebecca Callard. From July 2010.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b03k2gqd)
Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
Episode 5
Penelope Fitzgerald's novels were short, spare masterpieces, self-concealing, oblique and subtle. She won the Booker Prize for her novel Offshore in 1979, and her last work, The Blue Flower, was acclaimed as a work of genius.
The early novels drew on her own experiences - a boat on the Thames in the 1960s, the BBC in war-time, a failing bookshop in Suffolk, an eccentric stage-school. The later ones opened out to encompass historical worlds which, magically, she seemed to possess entirely: Russia before the Revolution, post-war Italy, Germany in the time of the Romantic writer Novalis.
Fitzgerald's life is as various and as cryptic as her fiction. It spans most of the twentieth century, and moves from a Bishop's Palace to a sinking barge, from a demanding intellectual family to hardship and poverty, from a life of teaching and obscurity to a blaze of renown.
She was first published at sixty and became famous at eighty. This is a story of lateness, patience and persistence - a private form of heroism.
Loved and admired, and increasingly recognised as one of the outstanding novelists of her time, she remains also mysterious and intriguing. She liked to mislead people with a good imitation of an absent-minded old lady, but under that scatty front was a steel-sharp brain and an imagination of wonderful reach.
This biography by Hermione Lee pursues Fitzgerald's life, her writing, and her secret self, with fascinated interest.
Read by Penelope Wilton
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 03:00 Jill Paton Walsh - A Piece of Justice (b010vyt7)
When Fran gets the chance to take over the biography of the great mathematician Gideon Summerfield, she rapidly discovers there's a mystery over a few days he went missing in August 1978.
Her friend Imogen is the first to realise she may be in danger...
Dramatised by Neville Teller from the novel by Jill Paton Walsh.
Imogen Quy ..... Barbara Flynn
Janet Somerfield ..... Rosemary Leach
Francis Bullion ..... Tracy Wiles
Josh ..... Robert Harper
Dr Mistral ..... James Greene
Lady Buckmote ..... Marlene Sidaway
Sir William Buckmote ..... Geoffrey Whitehead
Professor Maverack ..... Colin Starkey
Meredith Bagadeuce ..... Peter Howell(
Pamela Zephyr ..... Di Botcher
David Swann ..... Iwan Thomas
Director: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
SAT 04:00 The 3rd Degree (b01f5hp1)
Series 2
University of Sussex
Coming this week from the University of Sussex, "The 3rd Degree" is a funny, lively and dynamic 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 in a genuinely original and fresh take on an academic quiz. 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 (b007jzdc)
Series 2
Minder
Bryan is offered a job at last, but where will he find a babysitter?
Stars Robert Lindsay and Pat Coombs.
Single parent Bryan Archer struggles to find work while raising his baby son, Albert.
Bryan Archer ...... Robert Lindsay
Mum/Albert ...... Pat Coombs
Mrs Willis ...... Diana King
Vera ...... Marcia Warren
Joe ...... Ron Pember
Mr Graham ...... Douglas Blackwell
Job Centre Clerk ...... David Graham
Incidental music by Max Harris.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1983.
SAT 05:00 1834 (b011pw52)
Dentists and Lovers
Ned needs root canal work, but 21st-century Jason needs lessons in 19th-century courting.
In Jim Poyser's riotous comedy of transportation and delight, Jason is now Tarquin, third son of Lord Belport with a faithful valet, Ned.
Jason Slater ...... Michael Begley
Ned ...... Joe Caffrey
Hoskins ...... Kenneth Alan Taylor
Lord Belport ...... Mark Chatterton
Stubbs ...... Glenn Cunningham
Millicent ...... Julia Rounthwaite
Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2003.
SAT 05:30 So Wrong It's Right (b01hxmws)
Series 3
Episode 2
Presented by Charlie Brooker, 'So Wrong It's Right' is a competitive game of failure where coming up with the wrong answer is the right thing to do.
Over a series of rounds, Charlie asks three guests a number of questions to rummage through their pasts and test their creativity. So Wrong It's Right celebrates the pungent taste of disappointment by turning embarrassing mistakes into perverse triumphs.
In this episode, the guests joining him to try and out-wrong each other are comedians Lee Mack, Holly Walsh and panel show legend Barry Cryer.
The panel's worst experiences at school and the best ideas for the worst TV News gimmicks are put to the panel. Will anyone surpass Barry Cryer's suggestion of a revamped 'Newsnight' presented by tabloid darling and reality TV superstar Katie Price?
The host of So Wrong It's Right, Charlie Brooker, also presents BBC2's How TV Ruined Your Life, Channel 4's You Have Been Watching and 10 O'Clock Live, and writes for The Guardian. He won Columnist of the Year at the 2009 British Press Awards and Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards 2009.
Produced by Aled Evans
A Zeppotron Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 06:00 Thomas Love Peacock - Headlong Hall (b06y048x)
Winter, 1815: Harry Headlong, like all Welsh squires, is fond of shooting, hunting and drinking. But he becomes seized with a passion to form the acquaintance of philosophers and dilettanti.
Sir Michael Hordern narrates Thomas Love Peacock's novella.
Escot. the deteriorationist ...... Daniel Massey
Foster, the perfectibilian ...... Ronald Lacey
Jenkison, the statu-quo-ite ...... John Grillo
Cranium, the craniologist ...... John Horsley
Headlong ...... William Simons
Cephalis ...... Polly James
Gaster ...... Alan Dudley
Milestone ...... Andrew Branch
Gall ...... Simon Cuff
Norman ...... BirdPanscope
Tenorina ...... Caroline Gruber
MacLaurel ...... Michael Deacon
O'Prism ...... John Tate
Chromatic ...... John Baddeley
Graziosa ...... Joan Walker
Dramatised by James Saunders.
Producer: Matthew Walters
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1988
SAT 07:30 Marguerite Patten's Century of British Cooking (b0075plw)
Pesto With Chips - 1990 to 1999
Hummus, couscous, polenta, prawns in lime and coconut, Thai curries, pesto, pork satay, tempura, passion fruit and kiwi sorbet and pistachio and pineapple ice cream.
Marguerite Patten mingles diverse recipes of the 1990s with memories of the Queen's "annus horribilis", Margaret Thatcher stepping down as Prime Minister, the freeing of Nelson Mandela, the opening of the Channel Tunnel, the handing back of Hong Kong to China and Labour elected to power with their biggest majority ever.
Marguerite told us how to make the most of our rations during the Second World War in 'Kitchen Front' on the BBC Home Service. She fronted her first BBC TV cookery show in 1947.
Born in Bath, the home economist was widely considered to be the first celebrity cook, and wrote more than 170 books with worldwide sales of 17 million.
A regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour programme from 1946, Marguerite's final appearance was in 2011. She was awarded the OBE in 1991 and CBE in 2011.
Born November 4th 1915, Marguerite Patten died just a few months short of her 100th birthday in June 2015.
Producer: Ian Willox
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1999.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b0075vj7)
Metropolis
Novelist Paul Bailey takes an autobiographical journey through the BBC sound archive in celebration of London, as documented by the microphone from 1930 onwards.
He recalls aspects of the city which have disappeared forever, from horse traffic to street markets, and looks at how radio has represented - and misrepresented - the average Londoner.
Producer: Thomas Morris
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
SAT 09:00 Comedy Greats (b007k228)
1980s
Episode 2
Decade by decade, Barry Cryer showcases some of the funniest and finest shows ever broadcast by the BBC.
OK, yah? The original 1980s Sloane Ranger - complete with leg-warmers and shoulder-pads - presents six favourite shows plucked from the schedules of BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4:
* Naked Radio
(23rd March 1985)
The Scottish comedy team pokes fun at topical events. Recorded at the Glasgow Theatre Club at the Tron. Stars Ian Aldred, Ron Bain, Andy Gray, Tony Roper and Elaine C Smith. From 1985.
* The Grumbleweeds
(10th August 1980)
Impressions and sketches in an episode of the long-running series featuring the musical comedy band of Graham Walker, Albert Sutcliffe, Carl Sutcliffe, Maurice Lee and Robin Colvill. From 1980.
* The Jason Explanation... of Myths and Legends
Does the Loch Ness monster really exist? Is there life after death? Why do fingers and toes go all crinkly in the bath? David Jason explains all with Sheila Steafel and Jon Glover. From 1981.
* The Million Pound Radio Show
Series 2 (8/8)
Back to the days of Mrs Thatcher, Sir Clive Sinclair and Brookside courtesy of Andy Hamilton and Nick Revell's sharp-edged topical humour. From 1986.
* The Big Fun Show
Series 1 (5/6)
Sketches galore in the series starring Paul Merton, Julian Clary, Tony Hawks and Josie Lawrence - before they hit the big time. From 1988.
* Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Ep 4/6
The improv game before it moved to TV. Clive Anderson hosts more ad-lib fun with Stephen Fry, John Sessions, Kate Robbins and Griff Rhys-Jones. From 1988.
Produced and scripted by Peter Reed
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in July 2003.
SAT 12:00 Round the Horne (b00n905p)
Series 3
Episode 17
'What Shall We Do With The Drunken Nurker?' Rambling Syd Rumpo sings - and it's a Horne from home for Kenneth at Julian and Sandy's Bona Guest House.
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 1967.
SAT 12:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b011ppvg)
Series 7
Episode 10
Gooseberries and Centurion tanks in Arthur Price's shopping news.
Starring Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Sketches written by Graeme Garden 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 Bill Oddie, Liam Cohen and Dave Lee.
Producer: David Hatch/Peter Titheradge
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in March 1969.
SAT 13:00 The One About the Social Worker: Omnibus (b06y0mfj)
How did the boy in boxers become wanted for an armed siege? A tough case for social worker, Liz Beecham. Stars Claire Skinner.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b06y0mqj)
Tessa Peake-Jones
Actress Tessa Peake-Jones chooses 'She Loves You' by The Beatles, and 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police.
SAT 14:15 Drama (b03c3cn6)
Anita Sullivan - The Octopus
By Anita Sullivan
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have eight legs, no bones, and skin that changes colour?
Hester is a Marine Biologist seeking to discover what it means to be an octopus. When she's called in to help the local aquarium try to breed two Giant Pacific Octopus (GPO), she uses the opportunity to carry out a social recognition experiment. Can an octopus recognise an individual human being? As Hester delves deeper into questions of cephalopod consciousness, she develops an attachment with 'Monster' - the male GPO.
"Four-hundred million years ago, when we shared the ocean, I was a bony fish, a prototype. But you... were already you. An octopus. Now I stand here, human. Confounded by you."
A strange and compelling journey into the mind of an ancient creature.
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b0075vj7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Thomas Love Peacock - Headlong Hall (b06y048x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Marguerite Patten's Century of British Cooking (b0075plw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Planet B (b00y1whc)
Series 3
Haunted
As the rogues face their biggest threat yet, a familiar face returns. Virtual reality saga by Dawn King. Stars Lloyd Thomas.
SAT 18:30 Ghost Zone (b007k31r)
Episode 1
As Jill Logan telephones her ex-husband Dan at the Highland village of Inchbrae, she hears a devastating explosion behind his anguished voice...
In this sci-fi thriller - specially-written for the BBC by Marty Ross - an alien archaeologist takes over a Scottish village and examines the past lives of its inhabitants by 'unpeeling' layers of time.
Stars Simon Tait as Dan Collins, Gayanne Potter as Jill Logan, Joanna Tope as Dr Beth Granger, Sandy Neilson as Captain Cairns, Lesley Hart as Heather Logan, Stevie Hannan as Soldier/Pilot/Jamie and John Paul Hurley as the Technician.
Producer: Bruce Young
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in 2004.
SAT 19:00 Comedy Greats (b007k228)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Colin Hoult's Carnival of Monsters (b0375b3z)
Series 1
Episode 3
Master character comedian Colin Hoult presents his debut comedy series. Enter the Carnival of Monsters, a bizarre and hilarious world of sketches, stories and characters, presented by the sinister Ringmaster.
Meet such monstrous yet strangely familiar oddities as: Thwor - the mighty (but Leeds-based) god of Thwunder; Len Parker - Nottingham-born martial arts and transformers enthusiast; Anna Mann - outrageous star of such forgotten silver screen hits such as 'Rogue Baker', 'Who's For Turkish Delight' and 'A Bowl For My Bottom'; and many more.
Writers Guild Award-winner Colin Hoult is best known for his highly acclaimed starring roles in 'Being Human', 'Life's Too Short', and 'Russell Howard's Good News', as well as his many hit shows at the Edinburgh Festival. He has also appeared and written for a number of Radio 4 series including 'The Headset Set' and 'Colin and Fergus' Digi-Radio'.
'Lewis Carol meets The League Of Gentlemen . A beautifully staged masterclass in character comedy' - Time Out
'Comic gold' - Metro
'Delightfully funny' - The Telegraph
Produced by Sam Bryant.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
SAT 22:30 Mordrin McDonald: 21st Century Wizard (b00yqvkb)
Series 2
Team Building
Written by David Kay and Gavin Smith, Mordrin McDonald is a 2000 year old Wizard living in the modern world where settling garden disputes and watching Countdown are just as important as slaying the odd Jakonty Dragon.
This week Mordrin is convinced by Councillor Campbell to take part in a team building exercise.
Featuring and co-written by Scottish stand up David Kay, and starring Gordon Kennedy and Jack Docherty with this week's guest star Brian Pettifer. Mordrin McDonald mixes the magical with the mundane and offers a hilarious take on the life of a modern day Wizard.
Cast:
Mordrin ..... David Kay
Geoff ..... Gordon Kennedy
Councillor Campbell ..... Callum Cuthbertson
Pete The Pict ..... Brian Pettifer
Heather ..... Hannah Donaldson
Producer/Director: Gus Beattie
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 22:45 Warhorses of Letters (b01p7by2)
Series 2
Episode 3
The romantic correspondence between two of history's most important horses: Napoleon's mount Marengo and the Duke of Wellington's own Copenhagen.
The opposing armies are on the march through Belgium, but our lovers face a more immediate challenge to their relationship as Marengo's stablemate Marcy turns out to be a stalking horse.
Marengo ..... Stephen Fry
Copenhagen ..... Daniel Rigby
Narrator ..... Tamsin Greig
Written by Robbie Hudson and Marie Phillips.
Producer: Gareth Edwards.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2012.
SAT 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b06ynztp)
From 10.00pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats again to Jon Ronson.
SAT 23:00 The Jason Byrne Show (b01phj38)
Series 3
The Irish and the Scottish Are Black-Belts in Misery
Jason compares international attitudes to other people's good fortune and explains why his Irish background means that revelling in misery is never far away.
Why is British fruit so bitter? Can Jason relieve heart-ache in the audience and what simple pleasures make Jason and his son happy?
Themed audience comedy show with high-energy stand-up and sketches featuring Laurence Howarth and Daisy Haggard.
Producer: Julia McKenzie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in December 2010.
SAT 23:30 The Big Booth (b007k32y)
Series 2: The Big Booth Too
Episode 2
Boothby stays the night in a haunted Scottish castle.
More guitar-flavoured songs and surreal laughs from Boothby Graffoe.
With Stephen Frost, Vivienne Soan, Big Al and Kevin Eldon.
Special guest: singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock.
Written by Boothby Graffoe and Dave Thompson.
Producer: Julia McKenzie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2001.