SATURDAY 02 APRIL 2016

SAT 00:00 Paul Magrs - Never the Bride (b009gctd)
Our Frank
A cliff-top drama for Whitby landlady Brenda, when her monstrous old fiance appears. Stars Joanna Tope and Monica Gibb.
SAT 00:30 Soul Music (b008pygx)
Series 6
Tainted Love
Originally a Motown song written by Ed Cobb and recorded by Gloria Jones, Tainted Love became famous on the UK's Northern Soul scene in the late 1970s.
It was heard by Marc Almond and Dave Ball who later became Soft Cell, and recorded a classic version.
Featuring:
Mark Ravenhill
Peter Christopherson
Ray Harris
Russ Winstanley
Alan King
Dave Ball
Mike Thorne
Danny McNamara
Nev Fountain
Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.
Producer: Sara Conkey
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2008.
SAT 01:00 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - The Lost Special (b01c8cbn)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's story of the mysterious disappearance of a train en route from Liverpool. Read by David Schofield.
SAT 01:30 M1: The Modernist Marvel (b00nk9hz)
Poet and musician John Hegley shares his reflections on Britain's first major motorway which opened in 1959, with a poetic meditation.
With his mandolin in tow, John slows down, turns off and seeks out the overlooked sights and sounds of the M1 - the 200-mile stretch of road that's the transport backbone of Britain.
John learns why there is no Junction 3, discovers how a scientific formula for loo breaks determined how far apart service stations should be built, and admires the road for the glimpse on the modern world it offers us.
Producer: Simon Jacobs
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2009.
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b01sdw31)
John le Carré - A Delicate Truth
A Ghost from the Past
If the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, how can they remain silent? Damian Lewis begins reading A Delicate Truth, the brand new novel from the master of his genre, John le Carré, a novel which tells the story of a good man who must choose between his conscience and his duty to the Service.
An undercover counter-operation in the British colony of Gibraltar; a middle-ranking man from the Foreign Office serving as 'eyes on' and reporting to an ambitious Minister; the aim to capture a jihadist arms-buyer - the success, assured.
But back in the UK a junior officer has his doubts and commits an unthinkable act. Three years on, he will find himself facing an impossible choice. In a journey that will take him from Cornwall to Wales via murky secrets in the depths of Whitehall, Toby Bell will try to find out the truth about the night on the Rock and bring it the attention and justice it deserves.
Tonight: A Ghost from the Past - Sir Christopher Probyn's idyllic retirement is about to be shattered.
John le Carré was born in 1931 and attended the universities of Bern and Oxford. He taught at Eton and served briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. For the last fifty years he has lived by his pen. He divides his time between London and Cornwall.
Damian Lewis is a British actor best known for his role as Nicholas Brody in Homeland. His many credits include Band of Brothers, Life and The Forsyte Saga.
The reader is Damian Lewis
The abridger is Sally Marmion
The producer is Di Speirs.
SAT 02:15 Five Hundred Years of Friendship (b03yqyz9)
When William Met Mary
Social networking appears to be expanding our circles of friendship just as our sense of community is contracting: Dr Thomas Dixon presents a timely history of how the meaning and experience of friendship have changed over the centuries.
The famous 1989 film, When Harry Met Sally, crystallised for modern viewers the key question of whether a man and woman can truly be friends without any sexual element.
This was a question which radical and educated people were beginning to ask in the 18th century, alongside its mirror image - can a husband and wife also be friends?
Thomas Dixon traces the changing face of friendship and the new idea of "companionate marriage" during this era, through the linked histories of the feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and the radical philosopher William Godwin.
With the help of the historian Barbara Taylor, he considers three moving stories: Mary's early friendship with Fanny Blood, of whom she declared: "To live with this friend is the height of my ambition"; the halting start, close friendship and devoted but tragically short marriage of Wollstonecraft with Godwin, who described their relationship as "friendship melting into love"; and the marriage of their daughter, Mary, who wrote of her desolation after the death by drowning of her husband, the poet Percy Shelley: "I have now no friend."
Thomas Dixon brings together issues of friendship and marriage in this most contemporary of historical series.
Producer: Beaty Rubens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2014.
SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b04vjh7t)
The Skool Days of Nigel Molesworth
Fun with Scrumms
As the school term comes to an end, Molesworth must find a way to survive the perils of the playing field and the wrath of skool bully Grabber if he’s to have any hope of tucking into some Christmas turkey.
Imelda Staunton stars as Nigel Molesworth, the Curse of St Custards, in this fresh adaptation of the notorious Goriller of 3B's guide to skool life for tiny pupils and their parents.
Aided by best friend Peason and thwarted by everyone from Grabber the skool bully to Wandsworth the skool dog, Nigel Molesworth teaches us the ins and outs of skool life - including how to avoid lessens and how to build your own H-bomb.
Molesworth ...... Imelda Staunton
Peason ...... Sophie Thompson
Grabber ...... Jack Farthing
Prudence ...... Jessica Brown Findlay
Headmaster ...... Patrick Barlow
Chief Prune ...... Lewis Macleod
Adapted by Patrick Barlow and George Poles from the books by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle, with additional material by Abigail Wilson.
Director: Patrick Barlow
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2014.
SAT 02:45 The Shepherd's Life (b05r6sx0)
Episode 5
Spring is the farmer's reward for the hard days of winter - and in this final episode, the cycle of the year begins again, as James Rebanks prepares for lambing.
The first son of a shepherd, who was himself the first son of a shepherd, James and his family have lived and worked in and around the Lake District for generations. Through his eyes we see that the Lake District is not a playground or a scenic backdrop, it's a working landscape that needs sheep and its farmers to survive.
Concluded by Bryan Dick
Written by James Rebanks
Abridged by Sian Preece
Producer: Kirsteen Cameron
Music details:
Track: "The Nightshift"
CD: Country Escape
Label: BBC Production Music BBCPM031.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2015.
SAT 03:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b06l4n8z)
8-12 February 1916
In the week that conscription came into effect, there are secrets and celebrations in Folkestone. Final Omnibus of the season, Home Front returns on 4th April 2016
Adeline Lumley ..... Helen Schlesinger
Albert Wilson ..... Jamie Foreman
Anna White ..... Amelia Lowdell
Charles Chaplin ..... Owen Clarke
Cristine ..... Ysabelle Cooper
Dolly Clout ..... Elaine Claxton
Dorothea Winwood ..... Rachel Shelley
Dr Streatfield ..... Chris Pavlo
Elsie Buss ..... Tracey Wiles
Eric Morton ..... Paul Rainbow
Florrie Wilson ..... Claire Rushbrook
Gabriel Graham ..... Michael Bertenshaw
Hilary Pearce ..... Craige Els
Isabel Graham ..... Keely Beresford
Ivor Davies ..... Alun Raglan
Ivy Layton ..... Lizzy Watts
Jessie Moore ..... Lucy Hutchinson
Johnnie Marshall ..... Paul Ready
Kitty Lumley ..... Ami Metcalf
Laurie Pearce ..... Will Howard
Lilian Frost ..... Alex Tregear
Maisie Harris ..... Cassie Layton
Nancy Parker ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Norman Harris ..... Sean Baker
Roland Pemble ..... Jack Holden
Ruby Tulliver ..... Martine McCutcheon
Ruth Billings ..... Katie Redford
Sylvia Graham ..... Joanna David
Victor Lumley ..... Joel MacCormack
Winifred Dinsdale ..... Alice Lowe
Clerk ..... Richard Pepple
Written by Shaun McKenna
Directed by Allegra McIlroy
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole
Story-led by Shaun McKenna
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Composer: Matthew Strachan
Consultant Historian: Maggie Andrews.
SAT 04:00 Wildbrain (b075pp7l)
1997 - Semi-final
Lionel Kelleway visits Bristol, to test more wildlife knowledge in the BBC Natural History Unit's quiz.
SAT 04:30 No Commitments (b007jp3z)
Series 8
Impossibly High Standards
Victoria grows more irritating, as Anna gets a surprise proposition. Simon Brett comedy starring Celia Imrie. From January 2002.
SAT 05:00 1835 (b012mbjv)
Down at the Old Bull and Bush
Belport falls in love with renowned music-hall artiste Emilia La Rue. But can he prise her away from Svyatislav the strong man? Probably not.
Comic saga of an aristocrat and his servant who struggle to find things to do in the mid- 1830s.
Belport ...... Paul Rider
Ned ...... Jason Done
Danvers ...... Roy Barraclough
The Great Fettuccine ...... Simon Greenall
Emelia ...... Sue Cleaver
Written and directed at BBC Manchester by Jim Poyser.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2004.
SAT 05:30 Wordaholics (b01sdmd2)
Series 2
Episode 6
Gyles Brandreth presides over the comedy panel game where, this week, Susie Dent and Lloyd Langford compete against Dave Gorman and Natalie Haynes to find out which team is the most passionate and knowledgeable about words.
This week Susie Dent reveals two of her favourite now-defunct words from Samuel Johnson's Dictionary are 'pandiculation' (to stretch while yawning) and 'snirtle' (to laugh in a quiet and restrained manner); Dave Gorman comes up with a new cliche to replace 'Curiosity Killed the Cat'; Natalie Haynes tells us what the Cockney rhyming slang 'a Basil' refers to and Lloyd Langford is asked the meaning of 'dumpoke' from the 1903 dictionary, 'Hobson Jobson - A Glossary of Anglo Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases' (a book which Susie Dent claims is 'a very good read').
Writers: Jon Hunter and James Kettle
Producer: Claire Jones.
SAT 06:00 Jonathan Smith - Abandoned (b07609r8)
In 1914 at the age of 74 the French sculptor, Auguste Rodin spent a few weeks in a guest house in Cheltenham with his secretary Judith and his mistress Rose. But the love of his life, Camille Claudel, was left behind in a lunatic asylum in France.
Jonathan Smith's drama stars Freddie Jones as Auguste Rodin, Carolyn Backhouse as Camille Claudel, Maureen O'Brien as Judith, Mary Wimbush as Rose, Hugh Dickson as Alain Duval and June Barrie as Mrs Parker.
Producer: Shaun McLoughlin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1991.
SAT 07:30 Touchline Tales (b00t0jcl)
Series 1
New Balls Please
Old friends Des Lynam and Christopher Matthew head for some famous sporting venues - to enjoy, observe, reminisce and trade tales about some of the greatest pleasures in their lives. Today they drop in at the opening weekend of this year's International Championship at Eastbourne and dodge autograph hunters as they recall their own successes and failures and the exploits of others on the tennis court
As a commentator and friend of sporting stars, Des is never short of a story to tell, or an insight to reveal, about the men and women in professional sport - their lives, their characters, their training regimes, their triumphs and their disasters. And Christopher continues to knock the ball back with his own experiences as a lifelong spectator at the highest levels of sport (and an occasional participant at the lowest).
And at the end of it all, Des reveals the career path he might have followed had sport not led him astray.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b04n20v4)
Tears of a Clown
Robin Ince looks at the enduring cliché of the Sad Clown. What is the relationship between stand-up comedy and mental health?
"A room filled with comedians standing in silence is rarity, especially after midnight during the Edinburgh Fringe, but this was a scene across the bars and venues when the news of Robin Williams' suicide broke. The death of a comedian resurrects the numerous images of the comedian surrounded by laughter they have created, yet miserable themselves.
"But how true is this image of the melancholy comedian? While the lives of Kenneth Williams, Tony Hancock and Spike Milligan are raked over with new books and documentaries appearing on a yearly basis, hundreds of comedians seemingly live and perform without facing anxiety that reaches clinical levels.
"Is the image of the sad comedian a comfort for an audience: "they made us all laugh and brought so much joy, but don't worry, they were wracked with existential agony for the rest of their lives"?
"Is pain required to create comedy, or would Spike Milligan have created as much, if not more, absurd and delightful comedy had he not been so frequently institutionalised?
"Do plays and documentaries on comedians focus so much on the bleak side of their existence that they create a false vision of perpetual despair?
"Is the act of being a comedian more of a cure than a burden? While others may have no valve to release their festering thoughts, the stand up can transform their ludicrousness or burdensome thoughts into jokes. They are able to laugh at, and with, themselves and even make money out of it too.
"Is comedy just like every other profession, or is there a need for some loss or pain in childhood to create the outsider who wishes to spend each night making themselves face one of the top three fears of human beings, public speaking?
"Romantic vision, bitter truth, debatable myth - can we really work out the formula that makes a comedian?
"Give me the child until they are seven, and I will show you the entertainer?"
-Robin Ince, Aged 45 and 3/4.
SAT 09:00 4 Extra Celebrates Dora Bryan (b03szf7d)
A celebration of the life of Dora Bryan, hailed as one of Britain's great all-round performers.
Journalist and writer Lynne Truss looks back on Dora's remarkable career with handpicked highlights from the BBC radio archive. Lynne is joined by Dora's friend and co-star Bernard Cribbins, BBC radio drama producer Martin Jenkins, theatre critic Benedict Nightingale and film writer Matthew Sweet.
With her unmistakable voice and scene-stealing comic timing, Dora was a regular pleasure of 1950s and 60s British cinema, playing a series of 'tarts with hearts'. But she was just at home on stage performing Pinter, belting out show tunes in Hello, Dolly! or captivating listeners from behind a microphone. And well into her 70s she was still in the West End singing, dancing and doing the splits.
The archive selection includes:
* Desert Islands Discs from 1987, when Dora was Michael Parkinson's castaway
* Jimmy Chinn's drama Perfect Timing about a struggling music hall duo all at sea on a cruise ship booking starring Dora, Bernard Cribbins and Roy Barraclough
* That Reminds Me from 2000, in which Dora recalls her stage, film and TV career
* With Great Pleasure from 2003, featuring readings from Dora's favourite books
* The Child Within, Wally K Daly's moving monologue written especially for and performed by Dora Bryan.
Dora Bryan died on 23rd July 2014 aged 91.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Pier Productions and first broadcast in March 2014.
SAT 12:00 All the Young Dudes (b007ncd1)
Series 1
Homeward Bound
Moving back where he grew up, Patrick meets school mate Billy. Jim Sweeney's comedy-drama with Steve Steen. From July 2001.
SAT 12:30 Listen to Les (b01n21nt)
From 10/02/1985
Lugubrious Les Dawson tells us of thin Albert, and Cosmo Smallpiece discusses modern teenagers.
With Daphne Oxenford, Eli Woods and Colin Edwynn.
Music by Brian Fitzgerald.
Scripted and produced by James Casey.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in February 1985.
SAT 13:00 Detective Anna Caceres - Hollywood Endings (Omnibus) (b0760jkv)
Series 2 Doubles
Kim and Boyd are a pair of wannabe actors living in the unfashionable part of Venice Beach, Los Angeles. They struggle to make the rent and keep themselves busy working out and doing the endless round of auditions for commercials and bit-parts in films. So it comes as a surprise when Kim is mistaken for the Hollywood 'A Lister' Faye Dexter, to whom she bears a passing resemblance.
Kim at first tries to explain to her admirer, Danica, that there has been a mistake, but Danica will not be dissuaded. So to keep her happy and to get her out of her hair, Kim agrees to have a selfie taken with Danica and gives her an autograph.
She little knows this will become the worst day of her life.

A Big Fish production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b0760k87)
Jung Chang
The writer Jung Chang selects 'God Bless the Child', by Billie Holliday and 'The Sweetest Embrace' by Barry Adamson.
SAT 14:15 Drama (b0076y59)
Lee Pressman - Harpo Goes to Leningrad
Lee Pressman's play is based on the true story of Harpo Marx's 1933 tour of Russia. Misunderstood as a comic, arrested as a terrorist and enlisted as a spy, Harpo finds himself alone in a strange country with only his burly female minder for company.
Harpo ...... Garrick Hagon
Woollcott ...... Philip Voss
Bullitt ...... William Hope
Malekinov ...... Sarah Badel
Captain/Vasiliev ...... Ian Masters
Director/Chico ...... Simon Treves
Groucho/Colonel ...... Keith Drinkel
Directed by Celia De Wolff.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b04n20v4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Jonathan Smith - Abandoned (b07609r8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Touchline Tales (b00t0jcl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 The Twilight Zone (b0760lwd)
Series 3
I Sing the Body Electric
A newly widowed father chooses a hi-tech solution for the nurturing of his young children and domestic needs.
Stars Dee Wallace. With David Pasquesi, Tony Mockus Jr and Donna Jay Fulks.
Narrator: Stacy Keach.
Written by Ray Bradbury and adapted by Dennis Etchison.

Originally a cult sci-fi and horror TV series created by Rod Serling and broadcast in the USA on CBS from 1959 to 1964, The Twilight Zone was first adapted by American producer Carl Amari in 2002 as a 40-minute radio drama series.
Rod Serling had managed to electrify the new medium of television - so armed with a licence from CBS and the Serling estate, Amari's slick adaptions are based on the original TV scripts.
Actor Stacy Keach (best known here as TV detective Mike Hammer) takes Serling's original role as narrator - with a full cast, music and sound effects.
Produced by Carl Amari and directed by JoBe Cerny for Falcon Picture Group.
SAT 18:40 James Follett - The Pentworth Trilogy (b007jrkc)
Temple of the Winds
Episode 5
Pentworth, West Sussex, is now surrounded by a supernatural 'force wall'. Is there any way out? Read by Nigel Anthony.
SAT 19:00 4 Extra Celebrates Dora Bryan (b03szf7d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Chain Reaction Extra (b0760mpf)
Ed Byrne interviews Al Murray
Specially extended episode for BBC Radio 4 Extra from series 11 of Chain Reaction, with bonus material. Two heavyweights of stand-up are in conversation as Ed Byrne interviews Al Murray.
Ed Byrne is an Irish stand-up comedian and actor - a favourite for 20 years. His celebrated observational routines made him a leading light of the UK stand-up circuit in the mid-90s and he went on to tour internationally, playing festivals and theatres across the world. In 1998 he was nominated for the prestigious Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival alongside eventual winner Tommy Tiernan, Peter Kay and his interviewee today, Al Murray.
After an early foray into stand-up as a character called 'The Murderer', Al Murray created his famous Pub Landlord character in the mid-90s as part of a touring show with Harry Hill. The Pub Landlord toured worldwide before making his own chat show and sitcom for Sky. Outside of the Pub Landlord, Al is well known as a presenter of history documentaries and more recently as a candidate for parliament - standing against Nigel Farage in South Thanet during the 2015 UK General Election.
In this extended version of the original programme, Ed tackles Al on a vast array of topics from Thackeray's attitude to the Irish to the thorny issue of offence in comedy via how best to talk to McFly.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Radio Comedy Production
The original, un-extended programme was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2016.
SAT 22:45 Poets' Tree (b00shngl)
Episode 1
The first of Poet Paul Hamilton's poetry magazine programmes.
Paul hears some classic poetry from Derek Harricot, and inspires an unusual person to try poetry for the very first time.
Poetry spoof by Kevin Eldon and Stewart Lee.
With Olivia Colman and Peter Serafinowicz.
Producer: Ed Morrish
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2008.
SAT 23:00 Micky Flanagan: What Chance Change? (b00sg13d)
1970s
Cockney geezer Micky Flanagan regales us with the story of his journey from tabloid to broadsheet; from the street party to the dinner party; from apples and pears to stocks and shares... Well you've got the idea.
Each week's episode focuses on a different decade of Micky's life. Micky regales us with stories from his life told through stand up comedy. In between, the programmes goes 'behind the scenes' with short interviews that give an insight into the stand up.
In this opening episode Micky talks about growing up in the East End in the 1970's. He chats to his school friends about their shared experiences of leaving with no qualifications to work at Billingsgate Fish Market. He also interviews Sociology Professor Paul Willis about his research on working class boys in a 1970's school.
Micky's transition from the mean streets of the East End, working as a Billingsgate Fish Porter to an entertainer living in the leafy lanes of Dulwich is a fascinating story, all the better for being told through jokes. The issue of class is a crucial theme in Micky's stand up. However it is framed less as "Do we now have a classless society?" and more as "Is it ok to ask for Tomato sauce in a fancy French restaurant?"
The series is written and performed by Micky Flanagan.
The producer is Tilusha Ghelani.
SAT 23:30 The Museum of Everything (b007k3wp)
Series 2
The Museum Reopens
Discover the fate of Badgerland as well as finding out about the life and work of Victorian author Thomas Queesley.
Feel free to wander around our many galleries and experience the history of everything.
Written and performed by Marcus Brigstocke, Danny Robins and Dan Tetsell.
With Lucy Montgomery.
Music by Dominic Haslam and Ben Walker.
Producer: Alex Walsh-Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2005.