SATURDAY 18 MARCH 2017

SAT 00:00 Marty Ross - Catch My Breath (b007k3bt)
Episode 5
The truth about Isla is revealed, and aid arrives from an unexpected quarter. Stars Claire Knight and Suzanne Donaldson.
SAT 00:30 Soul Music (b01mqp1r)
Series 14, Brothers in Arms
An exploration into the enduring appeal of the Dire Straits classic, Brothers in Arms.
Although thought to have been written by Mark Knopfler in response to the Falklands war in the mid 80's, it's a piece that people now associate with many other conflicts ; military, personal and social.
Dire Straits bass player, John Illsley explains why it remains such a special piece for the band, while Marines chaplain, Nigel Beardsley, recalls the important part it's played in the lives of so many soldiers in Iran and Afghanistan and why it's now often heard at military funerals.
The Irish playwright, Sam Millar describes why he based a very personal play around the song and Snuffy Walden, music director of the hit American TV show, The West Wing, talks about how the series writer, Aaron Sorkin insisted on it being used in its entirety during a crucial episode.
Prof Alan Moore of Surrey University explains how it's Knopfler's brilliant use of harmony that gives the song the sense of yearning that has made it into one of the most enduring pop songs of the last century.
Producer: Lucy Lunt.
SAT 01:00 Miss Marple (b007jnp6)
At Bertram's Hotel, Episode 5
The police ask Miss Marple to take part in a little experiment.
Agatha Christie's whodunit stars June Whitfield as Miss Marple, Frederick Jaeger as Chief Inspector Davy, Sian Phillips as Bess Sedgwick, Maurice Denham as Canon Pennyfather, Jillie Meers as Miss Gorringe, Tracy Wiles as Elvira Blake, Gavin Muir as Ladislaus Malinowski and Patrick Allen as Sir Ronald Graves.
Dramatised in five-parts by Michael Bakewell.
Director: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.
SAT 01:30 The Real Patron Saints (b00768nd)
Saint Patrick
Associated with the Shamrock, how did a 5th-century British preacher become Ireland's patron saint? Ian Hislop investigates.
SAT 02:00 Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany's (b0089htv)
Episode 10
With the police hot on her tail, Holly Golightly makes decisions about her future. Concluded by Henry Goodman.
SAT 02:15 Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's Escape to the Country (b00skxgk)
Villadom in the Cotswolds
How the idea of escaping to the countryside, seen as a modern symbol of city dweller angst, is as old as the Romans.
SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b01j0xm8)
In the Van, Episode 5
Written by Clare Bayley.
MI5 officer, Yasmin, on her fist stake out, is deeply compromised. Acceptance in MI5 and her future marriage to Jonathan come at the cost of suspects Rachid and Samira's happiness. Can Yasmin bring herself to carry out the decisive move?
Cast:
Yasmin ....... Amber Agar
Jonathan ...... Matt Rawle
Rachid ........ Nitzan Sharron
Samira ....... Sirine Saba
Bob ...... Felix Dexter
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Bona Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b01gk6v3)
Sightlines, On Rona
Read by: Maureen Beattie
Abridged by: Pete Nichols
"The outer world flew open like a door, and I wondered - what is it that we're just not seeing?"
In the final essay from her book SIGHTLINES Scottish poet and travel writer Kathleen Jamie makes a few house calls and learns to dit-dit diddle-dit.
Five years after FINDINGS broke the mould of nature writing, award-winning Scottish poet Kathleen Jamie subtly shifts our focus on landscape and the living world, daring us to look again at the 'natural', the remote and the human-made.
"Kathleen Jamie, the Scottish poet, has written a book that transcends the definition of nature study ... SIGHTLINES is a work of intense purity and quiet genius and we're lucky to have it."
Philip Hoare
The Sunday Telegraph
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 03:00 EM Forster - A Room with a View (b007qvgf)
The Triumph of Phaeton
Engaged to Cecil but haunted by her dreams of George, Lucy Honeychurch feels muddled. Stars Sheila Hancock and Julia McKenzie.
SAT 04:00 The 3rd Degree (b05v7tjp)
Series 5, De Montfort University
A quiz show hosted by Steve Punt where a team of three University students take on a team of three of their professors.
Coming this week from De Montfort University, The 3rd Degree is a funny, lively and dynamic quiz show aimed at cultivating the next generation of Radio 4 listeners while delighting the current ones.
The Specialist Subjects in this episode are Film, Forensic Science and Contour Fashion. So there are questions on X-rated films, the analysis of blood spatter patterns and the history of lingerie. And also Gogglebox.
The show is 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.
The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quick-fire 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 One Direction.
The host, Steve Punt, although best known as a satirist on The Now Show also delights in all facets of knowledge, not just in the Humanities (his educational background) but in the sciences as well. He has made a number of documentaries for Radio 4, including The Poet Unwound - The History Of The Spleen, as well as a half-hour comedy for Radio 4's Big Bang Day set in the Large Hadron Collider, called The Genuine Particle.
Producer: David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 04:30 Are You From the Bugle? (b01jzq5m)
Butterthwaite White Hell
Will snow play havoc with Graham's chances of landing a story? Stars Jeffrey Holland and Robert Beck. From June 1996.
SAT 05:00 Romantic Friction (b00764dy)
Episode 2
As love blossoms for romance writer Anna, her characters become increasingly annoyed by the lack of authorial presence in their plot lines.
Not only does Anna keep having Lady Chatterley fantasies, but she's worried Brian only wants her as a friend...
Michelle Read's four-part comedy-drama stars Samantha Bond and Hugh Bonneville.
With Beth Chambers, Michelle Read, Kammy Darweish, Adjoa Andoh, Andrew Wincott, Sue Elliott-Nicholls and Michael Fenton Stevens.
Producer: Dawn Ellis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2001.
SAT 05:30 Boswell's Lives (b053bq4l)
Series 1, Boswell's Life of Freud
by Jon Canter
Comedy as James Boswell Dr Johnson's celebrated biographer pursues other legends to immortalise. Today he attempts to write a biography of Sigmund Freud but finds it is Freud who is asking all the questions.
Directed by Sally Avens
Other celebrities that have their lives penned by James Boswell will include - Maria Callas (Arabella Weir), Harold Pinter (Harry Enfield) and Boris Johnson (Alistair McGowan).
Jon Canter is an award winning comedy writer for both television and radio. He recently penned the radio series 'Believe It' starring Richard Wilson but his work goes back to Spitting Image. He is also the author of several books and has been called our greatest living comic novelist.
Miles Jupp is an actor and stand up. He is best known for playing Nigel in the series 'Rev' and is a regular contributor to R4 panel games and 'Have I Got News For You' on BBC1. In March he will open in a new play at the National Theatre: 'Rules For Living'.
Henry Goodman has recently been seen as Sir Humphrey Appleby in the stage version of Yes Minister and Arturo Ui. Films include 'The Damned United', The Life and Death of Peter Sellars' and 'Notting Hill'.
SAT 06:00 Saturday Drama (b01shqcf)
The Last Tycoon
The celebrated theatre director Bill Bryden adapts F Scott Fitzgerald's last and unfinished novel. Starring Aiden Gillen, Jack Shepherd and Charlotte Emmerson.
Haunted by the death of his wife, 1930s Studio Head Monroe Stahr works eighteen hour days, each one a collision of talent meetings, set visits, script brainstorms and preview screenings. He's the "last of the princes", is making the studio millions and seems bullet proof.
At the end of an epic day, an earthquake breaks two water mains, sending a roaring river of water through the studio. And with it, the huge floating head of the goddess Shiva - a film prop.
As Stahr leaves his office to inspect the damage he sees the head floating by and on it two women, one of them the mesmerising Kathleen.
It's the beginning of a love affair that will destroy him.
As their affair plays out, we follow the disintegration of one of the great Hollywood legends, and also witness the darker heart of the Hollywood machine as a paranoid fear of communism comes to the fore.
It's a gorgeous, excruciating, heady tale - based on Fitzgerald's own painful experiences working in Hollywood as a screenwriter.
Produced by Laurence Bowen
Adapted and directed by Bill Bryden
Production Associate - John Tams
Sound Design - Mark Smith
A Feelgood Fiction production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 07:30 Yes Yes Yes (b00t8xfp)
Series 1, The Last Stand
John Rawling relives the cricket-packed drama of the second Test between England and West Indies at Lord's in 1963.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b04frcvv)
The Eccentric Entrepreneur
"Radio Normandy Calling!" The Belles of Normandy sing the station ident; Roy Plomley (of Desert Island Discs fame) introduces the artistes from the Bradford Alhambra, and another melody-packed hour - sponsored by a patent medicine - begins on the commercial radio station that, back in the 1930s, was often more popular than the majestic BBC.
The man behind it all was called, improbably, Captain Leonard Plugge. And in this programme, Dominic Sandbrook tells the story of this clever, enterprising and subversive man. Tory MP, passionate European and backroom boffin, Plugge created a string of brilliantly successful commercial stations in France and beyond that challenged Sir John Reith's radio monopoly with popular music and variety shows, sponsored by Bile Beans, Persil and Diploma cheddar cheese. So wealthy did his radio network make him that he owned two yachts, six cars (including two Rolls Royces), a Mayfair mansion, employed twelve staff, and lived a life that lay somewhere between The Great Gatsby and Citizen Kane.
With Plugge's son Frank, Dominic leafs through his father's mountain of diaries and scrapbooks - news cuttings, photographs... memorabilia of a life that brought him the Legion d'Honneur, a medal from US broadcaster NBC and made him a worldwide celebrity. With a rich archive of contributions from Roy Plomley, Bob Danvers-Walker and many others who first made their names on Plugge's stations, plus recordings from the shows they broadcast, Dominic Sandbrook brings a forgotten mogul of a bygone era to life.
And next time you approach a road junction with an elongated 'SLOW' painted on the tarmac, you can thank Captain Plugge for it, because that was his idea too...
Producer Simon Elmes.
SAT 09:00 The Real Comedy Controllers: The Things That Made Us Laugh (b007wv2m)
Origins
Instead of guest Comedy Controllers, choosing their comedy favourites, it is now the turn of those who, in their own ways, have to take the blame for many of the shows often featured on Radio 4 Extra. Between them, Paul Jackson, Beryl Vertue, John Lloyd and Jimmy Mulville have well over a 150 years of gut-busting, side-aching woofers, gags and - let's be honest - the occasional horrific mistimed silence.
In front of an audience in the iconic Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House - the home of British Radio comedy - they reveal why they do it and what it was (and is) that made them laugh. Over four extended episodes they survey broadcast comedy from its origins before and during the Second World War to the laughs (and groans) of the internet age. And they select their favourite moments.
Programme 1. Origins - The Real Comedy Controllers take us back to the stars of Variety and the entertainers of World War II, the men and women (though largely men) who entertained us through the dark days of conflict and the drab times of austerity and rationing. Episodes featured include:
* ITMA - It's That Man Again (Victory Edition).
Tommy Handley's gang celebrate victory in Europe, as broadcast on 10th May 1945. With the BBC Augmented Variety Orchestra.
* The Goon Show - "The Phantom Head Shaver (of Brighton)"
As baldness breaks out in Brighton, is there a connection to a glut of cheap tobacco? From October 1954.
* The Navy Lark - "The Multiple Mines"
A drunken night out sparks chaos when an old mine used as a collection box is set adrift. From May 1959
* Hancock's Half Hour - "Sunday Afternoon At Home"
Bored and miserable, the lad tries to decide what to do. From April 1958
Series Producers: Paul Kobrak and Dixi Stewart.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
SAT 12:00 Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me (b0076sdr)
Series 2, Lulu's Back in Town
Musician Roy panics when his wife's vivacious sister takes best pal George out for dinner. Stars Don Warrington. From June 2005.
SAT 12:30 In the Chair (b007jpw1)
Episode 1
At last maverick crime reporter, George Cragge is retiring from the BBC to the delight of executives attending his retirement party. But his retirement is cut short by an urgent phone call - a serial killer is murdering dentists in London...
Mark Tavener's six-part satirical comedy thriller stars Michael Williams as George Cragge, Barry Foster as DCI Frank Jefferson, Hugh Laurie as the Prime Minister, Richard Griffiths as Crichton-Potter, John Bird as Martin, Stephen Fry as Charles Prentiss, Rebecca Front as Marcia Mallon, Kenneth Cranham as Jim Hardie, Geoffrey Whitehead as Director of Personnel, Simon Greehall as the Chancellor, Jonathan Keeble as John and Susie Brann as Caroline.
Music by Paul Mottram.
Producer: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
SAT 13:00 Going Straight: Omnibus (b08jlm8w)
When lesbian Emma has an affair with a man, she inadvertently betrays the trust of those closest to her. Stars Helen Schlesinger.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b061xs4z)
Vera Lynn
The Second World War forces' sweetheart chooses Nat Travers' 'What Is a Mammy, Daddy?' and her own 'We'll Meet Again'.
SAT 14:15 Pam Ayres' Open Road (b007kd9d)
Hickling and the Norfolk Broads
Pam meets a Norfolk Broads river pilot, climbs Britain's tallest windmill and wields a scythe with a legendary reed-cutter.
Series in which poet and raconteuse, Pam Ayres takes to the open road, visiting eight places in Britain to hear tales from the people who live there.
Producer: Simon Elmes
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 2000.
SAT 14:45 Uncle Mort's Celtic Fringe (b007jnbj)
Series 1, Happy Days
An old man acts like a child when Carter Brandon and Uncle Mort take him out for the day, in Peter Tinniswood's adventures with Sam Kelly.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b04frcvv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Saturday Drama (b01shqcf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Yes Yes Yes (b00t8xfp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 The Twilight Zone (b08jln7c)
Series 4, Steel
It's 2040. Boxing is banned, but one of the last human fighters has faith in a battered fighting robot.
Written by Richard Matheson and adapted by Dennis Etchison and JoBe Cerny.
Stars Lou Gossett Junior, JoBe Cerny, Danny Goldring, Rich Komenich, Sam Derrence and Pat Fraley - with Stacy Keach as the narrator.
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 and directed by Carl Amari and JoBe Cerny for Falcon Picture Group.
SAT 18:40 James Follett - Wicca (b007js98)
Episode 6
As their execution approaches in Pentworth, can Malone save the "witches" Ellen and Vikki ?
The second book in James Follett's 'The Silent Vulcan Trilogy'
Abridged in 8-parts by Miranda Davis.
Producer: Richard Bannerman
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in 2004.
SAT 19:00 The Real Comedy Controllers: The Things That Made Us Laugh (b007wv2m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 28 Acts in 28 Minutes (b01nq3p1)
Series 1, Episode 1
John Humphrys gives 28 performers 60 seconds to entertain. With Jason Manford, Ed Byrne and Nicholas Parsons. From June 2006.
SAT 22:30 Will Smith's Midlife Crisis Management (b00gd5hv)
Episode 4
Comedy series in which comedian Will Smith seeks help and advice - primarily from his godfather Peter - on coping with the onset of middle age.
Will enlists the help of explorer Rebecca to try to become more adventurous, but has trouble venturing out of his front door because of his strange neighbour.
With Roger Allam, Rebecca Front, Paul Rider.
SAT 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b08kgd5g)
Arthur Smith presents the best in contemporary comedy and Rob Deering chats to Brian Conley.
SAT 23:00 Rhod Gilbert's Bulging Barrel of Laughs (b00tml87)
Episode 2
Another chance to hear Rhod Gilbert's comedy show featuring comedy regulars Lloyd Langford and Greg Davies, along with Sarah Millican who takes a weekly look at The Six Stages of Woman
This second episode features live music from Athlete, including hits Superhuman Touch and Half Light, and the guest comedian is Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Russell Kane.
Join Rhod for his Rant on road rage, delve into Rhods Confessions where Lloyd Langford reveals an unusual passion for Star Wars figures and see if Greg Davies can tempt you with his Indecent Proposal.

SUNDAY 19 MARCH 2017

SUN 00:00 The Twilight Zone (b08jln7c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 00:40 James Follett - Wicca (b007js98)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:40 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 Going Straight: Omnibus (b08jlm8w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (b061xs4z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Saturday]
SUN 02:15 Pam Ayres' Open Road (b007kd9d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Saturday]
SUN 02:45 Uncle Mort's Celtic Fringe (b007jnbj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Archive on 4 (b04frcvv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 Saturday Drama (b01shqcf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 Yes Yes Yes (b00t8xfp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 In the Van: Omnibus (b01j8735)
It is Yasmin's first day in the van on MI5 surveillance. Her lover is also on the case. Stars Amber Agar. Recorded on location.
SUN 07:15 A Box of Wittgensteins (b00g215j)
The Moody Genius
Margaret Stonborough, the great-niece of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, talks to artist and historian Michael Huey as she delves into six boxes of newly-inherited family archives. As she digs deeper into the talented but tortured lives of the Wittgensteins she finds her cramped London house becoming ever more crowded with her larger-than-life forbears.
At the end of the First World War, letters and artefacts show that the surviving Wittgensteins were attempting to pick up their lives but they are rarely far from tragedy. Within a few years, the family history of suicide loomed over them once again.
The readers are Sarah Finch, Nicholas Rowe and Dan Starkey.
SUN 07:30 My Teenage Diary (b04sxzqx)
Series 6, Chris Difford
Rufus Hound is joined by the musician and Squeeze founder member Chris Difford. His 1974 diary talks about the very early days of the band and describes life behind the scenes - including a wild ride down the A20 on the back of a motorbike.
Produced by Harriet Jaine
A Talkback production for BBC Radio.
SUN 08:00 All Gas and Gaiters (b007jpmz)
When in Rome
The Bishop regrets inviting the Dean to his birthday dinner.
Starring Robertson Hare as the Archdeacon, William Mervyn as the Bishop, Jonathan Cecil as Bishop's Chaplain - the Reverend Mervyn Noote and John Barron as the Dean. With Joan Sanderson as Mrs Pugh-Critchley.
The ecclesiastical sitcom started life as a TV pilot in Comedy Playhouse, ahead of a run on BBC1 from 1966 to 1971. Selected scripts were revised and re-recorded for radio.
Written for radio by Pauline Devaney and Edwin Apps.
Producer: David Hatch.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1972.
SUN 08:30 ITMA - It's That Man Again (b007k310)
From 04/12/1947
By Royal Command, Tommy Handley tours around the BBC's Broadcasting House trying to liven up some old favourites.
Recorded at the BBC Concert Hall in the presence of the King and Queen and Princess Margaret.
With Jack Train, Lind Joyce, Hugh Morton, Deryck Guyler, Fred Yule, Joan Harben, Diana Morrison and Hattie Jacques.
It's That Man Again - ITMA made a radio superstar of Tommy Handley (1894-1949) and had more than 20 million devoted listeners to the BBC Home Service each week - with millions more around the world. The show's title came from a newspaper headline used in stories about Adolf Hitler in the lead up to the Second World War.
Catchphrases like "TTFN - Ta-Ta for now" and "Can I Do You Now, Sir?" coupled with a frenetic, topical approach made it utterly distinctive.
From 1939 to 1949, over 310 episodes were broadcast, breaking away from existing comedy and music hall conventions with an anarchic and irreverent style - created by its writer Ted Kavanagh.
BBC Variety Orchestra, conducted by Rae Jenkins.
Producer: Francis Worsley.
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in December 1947.
SUN 09:00 The Rule of the Land: Omnibus (b08jlvm9)
Mapmaker Garrett Carr follows the border exploring landscapes and people that make up the UK's fragile borderland with Ireland.
SUN 10:10 Inheritance Tracks (b08jlvmc)
Bill Turnbull
TV's Bill Turnbull chooses Gilbert & Sullivan's 'Three Little Maids' and Puccini's 'Che Gelida Manina' sung by Vittorio Grigolo.
SUN 10:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b08jlvmf)
Dame Vera Lynn
4 Extra Debut. From Lloyd Webber to her own songs. Wartime forces' sweetheart Vera Lynn shares castaway choices with Sue Lawley. From September 1989.
SUN 11:00 TED Radio Hour (b08jlvpk)
Series 4, Giving It Away
Guy Raz explores why some people give away their time, money, food and ideas. Why did they and what happened when they did?
A journey through fascinating ideas based on talks by riveting speakers on the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) stage.
SUN 11:55 The Listening Project (b03cv48d)
Abigail and Lina - Leaving Home
Fi Glover introduces a conversation uploaded by a listener, about how she and her friend deal with the things that make them happy and sad, and the pain of letting go of dreams, in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
SUN 12:00 All Gas and Gaiters (b007jpmz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SUN 12:30 ITMA - It's That Man Again (b007k310)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
SUN 13:00 In the Van: Omnibus (b01j8735)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 14:15 A Box of Wittgensteins (b00g215j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]
SUN 14:30 Helen Dunmore - Birdcage Walk: Omnibus (b08jlx5b)
Episode 2
Radicals, property and love in 1790s Bristol. A chance encounter reveals more of Diner's past. Read by Hattie Morahan.
SUN 15:45 Virginia Woolf - Legacy (b08jlx2d)
4 Extra Debut. Every friend had been given some little token of her affection - and for her husband, there was the diary. Read by June Barrie.
SUN 16:00 Michael Punter - Come to Me (b0075685)
Theo Popplewell knows he must solve the riddle of his birth for the sake of his survival in America, where he lives in Kansas. But can the answers really lie in a crumbling house on the south coast of England?
Michael Punter's dark comedy stars John Guerrasio as Theo, Avril Elgar as May, Jane Lapotaire as Greta, Michael Troughton as Raymond and Patti Love as Winnie.
Director: Jane Morgan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (b08jp68t)
Street Reach Girls
BBC Radio 4's Poet in Residence, Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive with 'Street Reach Girls'.
At a drop-in centre in Yorkshire prostitutes get more than just condoms, health advice, showers and tea: they get Barnsley poet Ian McMillan to help them write poems about their life.
A documentary with verse that tells their story, written by Ian and the Street Reach Girls.
Produced in Bristol by Mark Jobst.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1999.
SUN 17:30 My Teenage Diary (b04sxzqx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 18:00 The Price of Fear (b007jmn9)
Goody Two Shoes
Horror legend Vincent Price's sobering tale of Anne and David and their unwelcome lodger.
Married for five years, David and Anne Fordyce escape the London rat race by buying a deserted cottage in Devon. But their idyllic life is shattered by the intrusion of a previous tenant - from another century...
Co-starring Michael Jayston as David Fordyce, Sandra Clark as Anne Fordyce, Daphne Heard as Mrs Perkins, Frances Jeater as Victoria and Nigel Graham as Charles.
Scripted by William Ingram.
Producer: John Dyas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1983.
SUN 18:30 A Sting in the Tale (b0076jgf)
No Conferring
Your starter for ten-sion. A Christmas bonding week in an isolated moorland cottage for the 1983 University Challenge team from Bracewell College, Cambridge, goes horribly wrong...
Jonathan Holloway's spine-tingling tale stars Damian Lynch as Derek, Lydia Leonard as Dilly, Kenny Blyth as Ernest, Peter Darney as Donald and Jaimi Barbakoff as Emily.
With Bamber Gascoigne and Jeremy Paxman as themselves.
Director : David Hunter
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003.
SUN 19:00 TED Radio Hour (b08jlvpk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 19:55 The Listening Project (b03cv48d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:55 today]
SUN 20:00 The Rule of the Land: Omnibus (b08jlvm9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SUN 21:10 Inheritance Tracks (b08jlvmc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 today]
SUN 21:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b08jlvmf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:15 today]
SUN 22:00 My Teenage Diary (b04sxzqx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 22:30 Down the Line (b012f9j0)
Series 3, Communications and Technology
The problems of technology and communication on Gary Bellamy's phone-in. Stars Rhys Thomas and Felix Dexter. From January 2008.
SUN 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b08k1s1x)
Arthur Smith presents the best in contemporary comedy and Rob Deering chats to Brian Conley.
SUN 23:00 The In Crowd (b0085jl5)
Series 4, Episode 2
A tricky restaurant customer and a confused football manager. Manchester sketch show with Kate Ward and Robin Ince. From June 2004.
SUN 23:30 Jon Ronson On (b01rr7zq)
Series 7, Brainstorming
Brainstorming.
Writer and documentary maker Jon Ronson returns for the second episode of his latest series of fascinating stories shedding light on the human condition.
In this programme, he looks at brainstorming and asks whether it really works.
He travels to Latvia to investigate the story of how media PR agency Inspired came up with a bizarre idea after a mobile phone company asked them for a concept to advertise their new tariff. Their brief was that it had to have a superhero theme. The agency decided then to fake a meteorite landing in a field outside Riga by digging a giant hole in the middle of the night and setting fire to it.
Jon finds out what happened when the stunt backfired.
He also speaks to the author Susan Cain who says forty years of research into brainstorming in groups has shown it doesn't work.
And Jon considers other brainstormed ideas that have gone wrong - such as the decision by the American restaurant chain Hooters, known for its young waitresses dressed in revealing outfits,
to go into the airline business.
Finally Jon asks whether we should listen more to quiet, thoughtful introverts who say little in brainstorming meetings, rather than the extroverts who shout loudest?
Producer: Lucy Greenwell
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

MONDAY 20 MARCH 2017

MON 00:00 The Price of Fear (b007jmn9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:30 A Sting in the Tale (b0076jgf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 In the Van: Omnibus (b01j8735)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:15 A Box of Wittgensteins (b00g215j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Sunday]
MON 02:30 Helen Dunmore - Birdcage Walk: Omnibus (b08jlx5b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Sunday]
MON 03:45 Virginia Woolf - Legacy (b08jlx2d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Michael Punter - Come to Me (b0075685)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (b08jp68t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 My Teenage Diary (b04sxzqx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04f8g8h)
Series 2, A Dream of Riches
A robbery from a scrap merchant turns out to be a far from straightforward case - and a 'quiet' student proves to be anything but...
Detective Sergeant Dave Brook is back on the beat.
Stories of crime and detection in London by Robert Barr starring Ray Brooks as long-serving, ducking-and-diving DS Dave Brook with Christopher Blake as his assistant, Detective Constable Blair Maxton.
With Peter Cleall as Detective Constable Harrison, Jacqueline Tong as Judy, Betty Alberge as Mrs Brown, Stephen Yardley as Chief Inspector Roach, Tony Caunter as Carson and Nicholas Courtney as Inspector Stevens.
Writer Robert Barr is well remembered for his work on BBC TV's 'Z-Cars' and 'Softly Softly'.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1982.
MON 06:30 Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover (b00zm2nw)
Dame Vera Lynn's wartime classic is British, original, but not entirely without controversy. Ian Hislop discovers the chequered history of this musical mainstay of the British nation in its finest hour. Could it really be a song weighed down by politics, propaganda and even a touch of plagiarism? And what about those bluebirds - have you ever seen any in the Dover area?
Ian meets Dame Vera Lynn, veterans, musicologists and even an ornithologist in his quest to find the hidden meaning of this classic wartime song.
MON 07:00 Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me (b0076shv)
Series 2, I Get Along Without You Very Well
When Barry's wife leaves him for another man, Roy of course thinks he knows the best way to get her back. But at 2am and after many fortifying glasses of rum, it's not looking so hopeful.
Don Warrington........... Roy
Yvonne Brewster.........Vi
Sam Kelly.......................George
George Layton..............Barry
Caroline Lee Johnson...Bernadette
Mike Kearsey..................Trombonist
Written by Marcus Powell
Producer Carol Smith.
MON 07:30 Just a Minute (b08hm9vy)
Series 77, Episode 4
Just A Minute is 50 years old this year! Nicholas Parsons has been hosting since day one, and continues to host with skill and panache! This week our panelists are Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Zoe Lyons and Graham Norton, who will endeavor to talk on a given subject for sixty seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation.
What can Graham Norton tell us about Marie Tussaud? How long can Josie Lawrence talk about Sherwood Forest? Paul Merton begs his pardon and does Zoe plough her own furrow?
Warning! This episode contains not one but TWO uninterrupted minutes! But who scores them and on what subject? Tune in to find out!
Hayley Sterling blows the whistle and it was produced by Matt Stronge.
Just A Minute is a BBC Studios production.
MON 08:00 Not in Front of the Children (b08jpftk)
Series 2, Pastures New
It's moving day for the Corner family, but the removal men are a little too thorough...
Starring Wendy Craig as Jennifer Corner, Francis Matthews as Henry Corner, Charlotte Mitchell as Mary, Roberta Tovey as Trudi, Jill Riddick as Amanda, Hugo Keith-Johnston as Robin, plus Benny Lee and David Tate as the removal men.
The second series of comedy mishaps of the Corner family: Jennifer and Henry and their three children Trudi, Amanda and Robin. Not in Front of the Children originally ran for four series from 1967 to 1970 on BBC TV. Richard Waring adapted his own scripts for this radio version, now fully restored from the original reel-to-reel tapes.
Wendy Craig won a Best Actress BAFTA award for the TV version of Not in Front of the Children in 1969. This was the first of several housewife roles that Wendy Craig was to play on television. Later series included And Mother Makes Three/Five and Butterflies.
Music by Ronnie Hazlehurst
Producer: Trafford Whitelock.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in November 1970.
MON 08:30 Dad's Army (b007js9w)
Series 1, A Stripe for Frazer
When Captain Mainwaring promotes Private Frazer, his new powers go to his head...
Six years after legendary sitcom Dad's Army started on BBC TV, these specially adapted radio versions began recording with the original cast.
Starring Arthur Lowe as Captain Mainwaring, John Le Mesurier as Sergeant Wilson, Clive Dunn as Corporal Jones, James Beck as Private Walker, Arnold Ridley as Private Godfrey, Ian Lavender as Private Pike, John Laurie as Private Frazer, Michael Knowles as Captain Bailey, Geoffrey Lumsden as Colonel Square and John Snagge as the announcer.
Adapted from Jimmy Perry and David Croft's original BBC TV scripts by Michael Knowles and Harold Snoad.
Producer: John Dyas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1974.
MON 09:00 Quote... Unquote (b04g825s)
Quote ... Unquote, the popular quotations quiz, returns for its 50th series.
In almost forty years, Nigel Rees has been joined by writers, actors, musicians, scientists and various comedy types. Kenneth Williams, Judi Dench, PD James, Larry Adler, Ian McKellen, Peter Cook, Kingsley Amis, Peter Ustinov... have all graced the Quote Unquote stage.
Join Nigel as he quizzes a host of celebrity guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the famous panel to share their favourite anecdotes.
Episode 5
Comedian and writer Dave Gorman
Novelist and journalist Philip Hensher
Presenter, critic and author Libby Purves
Writer, poet and former Children's Laureate Michael Rosen
Presenter ... Nigel Rees
Producer ... Carl Cooper.
MON 09:30 The World As We Know It (b00fj2bt)
The Election
The last five people left on Earth try to elect a head of the household. Stars Meera Syal and Simon Greenall. From May 1999.
MON 10:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmn6)
I Fall Into Disgrace
The idyllic childhood of a young boy is shattered when his widowed mother remarries.
Charles Dickens described this novel as his "favourite child".
All-star dramatisation in ten-parts by Betty Davies.
Stars Gary Cady as David Copperfield, Susan Sheridan as David's Mother, Miriam Margolyes as Betsey Trotwood, John Moffatt as Mr Murdstone, Timothy Spall as Ham Peggotty and Mary Wimbush as Mrs Gummidge.
Producer: Marilyn Imrie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1991.
MON 11:00 The Stories of Adam Marek (b03y0qx0)
Fewer Things
A father and son save some chicks from choking. But who will save the boy?
A selection of stories from Adam Marek's dark, often quirky collections read by Carl Prekopp..
Adam Marek is the award-winning writer of two short story collections - Instruction Manual For Swallowing and The Stone Thrower. He won the 2011 Arts Foundation Short Story Fellowship, and was shortlisted for the inaugural Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. His stories have appeared in many magazines, including Prospect and The Sunday Times Magazine, and in many anthologies including Lemistry and Biopunk and The Best British Short Stories 2011.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Sweet Talk Productions.
MON 11:15 Kings (b007jqvc)
True Anointed
Sebastian Baczkiewicz's tales of biblical King David's reign. King Saul's staff chief seeks a shepherd boy. Stars David Calder.
MON 12:00 Not in Front of the Children (b08jpftk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 Dad's Army (b007js9w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04f8g8h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover (b00zm2nw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b01r5g2t)
Lucy Caldwell - All the Beggars Riding, Episode 1
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. (Trad.)
After the death of her mother, Lara Moorhouse finds herself besieged with questions about her childhood that she never had the courage to ask her mother when she was alive. In particular, questions about her father.
When Lara and her younger brother Alfie were children, their father, an eminent surgeon, died in a helicopter crash. He had been largely absent from their lives, spending much of his time working in Belfast during the Troubles and only coming back to London two weekends a month to work at the Harley Street Clinic where he had first met their mother years before.
For unbeknownst to her, Lara's father had another life in Belfast; a wife, other children: another family.
As she delves into her parents' lives and the story of their relationship, Lara confronts her own past, and theirs, and discovers an unexpected legacy from her father's hidden double life.
All the Beggars Riding is Lucy Caldwell's third novel. In 2011 Lucy won the The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was awarded the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize for her second novel 'The Meeting Point'. A playwright and novelist Lucy's theatre credits include the award-winning 'Leaves', 'Guardians' and 'Notes to Future Self'. For radio she has written the Imison Award-winning 'Girl from Mars', 'Avenues of Eternal Peace', 'Witch Week' a dramatization of Diana Wynne Jones' novel for BBC Radio 4 Extra, and most recently she adapted her stage play 'Notes to Future Self' for Radio 4.
Read by Anne-Marie Duff
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Producer Heather Larmour.
MON 14:15 The People of the British Museum (b009nh09)
Mummies, Myths and Magic
Through the eyes of its employees, Danny Danziger explores the wealth of treasures held in the vast collections.
MON 14:30 George Eliot - Adam Bede (b007jnq6)
Episode 1
Summer, 1799 in the Staffordshire village of Hayslope, and one of Lisbeth Bede's sons has marriage on his mind.
George Eliot's haunting story of love betrayed and love rewarded dramatised in 15 episodes by Robert Forrest.
An immediate bestseller in 1859, Eliot's second novel established her reputation and paved the way for masterpieces such as The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch.
Starring Thomas Arnold as Adam, Ann Scott-Jones as Lisbeth, John Kielty as Seth and Victoria Liddelle as Dinah.
Director: Patrick Rayner.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
MON 14:45 Book of the Week (b01gnq90)
Pico Iyer - The Man within My Head, Episode 1
"The high, thin light was turning the shacks and shanties on the hills to gold as I put my thoughts of Graham Greene behind me."
The travel writer Pico Iyer (author of Video Nights in Kathmandu, Falling Off The Map) has always wandered the world with a mentor 'looking on'. Whether it be Bogota, Cuba, California, Japan, the man inside Iyer's head, as he puts it, is always Graham Greene. And it is Greene's fights with faith, his reservations about innocence, his generous spirit, that are really inspiring. In the course of five episodes and from various destinations the author describes his fascination for the great man..
Pico Iyer is in Bogota where he first tells us that his mentor whilst wandering the globe is Graham Greene. Abridged in five parts by Katrin Williams and read by Paul Basely
Producer Duncan Minshull.
MON 15:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmn6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 Quote... Unquote (b04g825s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 The World As We Know It (b00fj2bt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me (b0076shv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 Just a Minute (b08hm9vy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 Stephen Baxter - Voyage (b007p1fy)
1969-71 Decision
President JF Kennedy survived the 1963 Dallas shootings. Now, as Project Apollo reaches the moon, he issues a new challenge - a manned mission to Mars.
Stephen Baxter's 1996 novel presents an alternative history of the US space programme.
Dramatised in five-parts by Dirk Maggs
Starring Laurel Lefklow as Natalie York, William Dufris as Mike Conlig, Michael Roberts as Gregory Dana, Vincent Marzello as Joe Muldoon, Frank Lazarus as Chuck Jones, Russell Bentley as Jim Dana and William Roberts as Ben Priest.
Music by Wilfredo Acosta.
Producer: Dirk Maggs
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1999.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (b0076h1m)
Alan Coren & Anna Shapiro
Sue MacGregor and her guests - writer, Alan Coren and theatre director, Anna Shapiro - discuss favourite books by Philip Roth, Leo Tolstoy and Ali Smith. From 2003.
Hotel World by Ali Smith
Publisher: Penguin
Childhood, Boyhood, Youth by Leo Tolstoy
Publisher: Penguin
Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
Publisher: Vintage.
MON 19:00 Not in Front of the Children (b08jpftk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Dad's Army (b007js9w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04f8g8h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover (b00zm2nw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 The Stories of Adam Marek (b03y0qx0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:15 Kings (b007jqvc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
MON 22:00 Just a Minute (b08hm9vy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive (b00d56bp)
Series 4, Episode 3
Comedic judge Armando Iannucci presides at clown court, with Phill Jupitus, Dara O Briain and David Mitchell. From August 2008.
MON 23:00 The Now Show (b08hqm35)
Series 50, 17/03/2017
Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis and guests present the week in news through stand-up and sketches.
Jack Carroll explores the possible impact of President Trump's health-care reform, Jake Yapp plans for a time when robots take all of our jobs and Lord West of Spithead joins Punt and Dennis to discuss the function of the House of Lords in modern politics.
MON 23:30 The Sofa of Time (b00hxqnm)
And the Hackett March on...
The magical quest is helped by a tiny gold samurai who points. Stars Mark Heap, Nick Frost and Kevin Eldon. From November 2002.

TUESDAY 21 MARCH 2017

TUE 00:00 Stephen Baxter - Voyage (b007p1fy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b0076h1m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04f8g8h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover (b00zm2nw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b01r5g2t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 The People of the British Museum (b009nh09)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 George Eliot - Adam Bede (b007jnq6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:45 Book of the Week (b01gnq90)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmn6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Quote... Unquote (b04g825s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 The World As We Know It (b00fj2bt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me (b0076shv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 Just a Minute (b08hm9vy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fc958)
Series 2, Two on the Run
Detective Sergeant Dave Brook finds himself pursuing a pair of foolish students - and fighting for a share of police resources.
Stories of crime and detection in London by Robert Barr.
Starring Ray Brooks as long-serving, ducking-and-diving DS Dave Brook with Christopher Blake as his assistant, Detective Constable Blair Maxton.
With Stephen Yardley as Chief Inspector Roach, Peter Cleall as Detective Constable Harrison, Jacqueline Tong as Judy, John Judd as Detective Sergeant Kelly, Emily Morgan as Anna, Gary Cady as Clark and Stephen Garlick as Drayton.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1982.
TUE 06:30 A Kiss Is... Never Just a Kiss (b01gg8h0)
The kiss is the most deceptive gesture. Seemingly simple, it is in fact a highly complex action and - depending on the depth of passion used - can ignite a plethora of emotional, sensual and physical reactions including lowering blood pleasure, extending life expectancy and helping to choose a mate.
But the kiss we know and practice today, didn't always have emotional and erotic overtones. In Roman times a kiss was used as a symbol of power: the lower the rank the nearer the ground you planted your kiss, only kissing someone on the mouth if you were their equal. The Greeks believed that breath was the life of man, and kissing an adored object represented a sort of sacrifice. And when European explorers introduced the practice of kissing in South Africa, the Tsonga people were horrified exclaiming "Look at these people! They suck each other! They eat each other's saliva and dirt!" So you see, the idea of kissing someone on the lips hasn't always thrilled people.
Today, just about every culture on the planet kisses - but some cultures are still reluctant. In Arab countries, public displays of affection can land you in prison - and if you kiss someone in Japan, you can find yourself engaged to be married!
In "A Kiss is...Never Just a Kiss", the former Editor of the Erotic Review Rowan Pelling tries to discover how and why our views of kissing have changed and whether it has lost some of its magic with over-use, and takes a lesson in how to do it for stage and screen when you've never met the person you're kissing before.
Presenter: Rowan Pelling
Producer: Angela Hind
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 07:00 Girlies (b08jqfh6)
Episode 2
Vinny's exciting news gets mixed reactions and Sonal is shocked by who's invited Tula on a date.
Four-part comedy serial written by Sudha Bhuchar and Shaheen Khan.
Stars Ameet Chaana as Ramesh, Bharti Patel as Vinny, Zita Sattar as Tula, Roger Liddle as Dan, Alice Arnold as Marianne, Sophie Levy as Alia, Nyla Levy as Sara, Shaheen Khan as Jabeen, Sudha Bhuchar as Sonal, Sakuntala Ramanee as Samina, Charubala Chokshi as Masi, Susan Sheridan as Karan, Shiv Grewal as Salim, Burt Caesar as Ali and Omar Salimi as Javed.
Directed at BBC Pebble Mill by Kristine Landon-Smith.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1977.
TUE 07:30 The Missing Hancocks (b08hnpmg)
A Holiday in France
The Missing Hancocks recreates those episodes of the classic Hancock's Half Hour that have been wiped or lost from the archive. Something else has gone missing in this episode from the second series - the lad 'imself, who had absconded to Rome. In 1955, he was replaced for the first three episodes by the Goon Show's Harry Secombe. In this recreation, he has been replaced by Andy Secombe - Harry's son. Not heard since then, this is a real piece of comedy history.
The first modern sitcom, Hancock's Half Hour made stars of Tony Hancock, Sid James and Kenneth Williams, and launched Ray Galton and Alan Simpson on one of the most successful comedy-writing partnerships in history. But 20 episodes of the show are missing from the BBC archives. Now, after two highly successful series, another five of those episodes have been lovingly re-recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC Radio Theatre.
Tonight's episode: A Holiday In France. Harry Secombe and Bill leave for a holiday in Southend but they get on the wrong train and end up in Paris where they first meet Andree.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and with the classic score newly recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, the show stars Andy Secombe, Kevin Eldon, Simon Greenall, Robin Sebastian and Susy Kane. A Holiday In France was first broadcast on the 19th April, 1955.
Produced by Ed Morrish & Neil Pearson.
Written by Ray Galton & Simpson
Music recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Levon Parikian.
A BBC Studios Production.
TUE 08:00 Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead (b00g42td)
From 08/03/1971
A eulogy to Beethoven - and the epic tale of the building of a new bus shelter.
A sequential entertainment for radio starring Ronnie Barker.
With Terence Brady, Pauline Yates and Josephine Gordon. Pianist: Gordon Langford
Written by Chris Allen, JHB Peel, John Graham, Allan Scott and Chris Bryant, Peter Spence and Gerald Wiley ( Ronnie's Barker's pseudonym)
Producer John Fawcett-Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1971.
TUE 08:30 The Men From the Ministry (b01cwpns)
A Great Convenience
The calamitous civil servants have to make a decision about a historic toilet. Starring Richard Murdoch. Re-recorded May 1980.
TUE 09:00 The Now Show (b08hqm35)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:30 Getting Nowhere Fast (b0080r6y)
Series 1, Episode 3
Pam tries online dating and Merv offers a cafe cyber pass for 'Love Byte Night'. Stars Mervyn Stutter. From December 2001.
TUE 10:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmnd)
I Begin Life On My Own Account
The boy's new life at boarding school brings both friendship and hardship. Stars Sheila Hancock, Timothy Spall and Gary Cady.
TUE 11:00 The Stories of Adam Marek (b03y3ylp)
The 40-Litre Monkey
A simple pet shop purchase leads to a strange encounter with a shop owner committed to growing super-sized animals.
A selection of stories from Adam Marek's dark, often quirky collections read by Carl Prekopp.
Adam Marek is the award-winning writer of two short story collections - Instruction Manual For Swallowing and The Stone Thrower. He won the 2011 Arts Foundation Short Story Fellowship, and was shortlisted for the inaugural Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. His stories have appeared in many magazines, including Prospect and The Sunday Times Magazine, and in many anthologies including Lemistry and Biopunk and The Best British Short Stories 2011.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Sweet Talk Productions.
TUE 11:15 Kings (b007jqvs)
Hazar's Chicken
Bone is an unlikely chicken killer and a far from plausible spy. Tales from the reign of biblical King David. Stars Ewan Bailey.
TUE 12:00 Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead (b00g42td)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 The Men From the Ministry (b01cwpns)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fc958)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 A Kiss Is... Never Just a Kiss (b01gg8h0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b01r76bc)
Lucy Caldwell - All the Beggars Riding, Episode 2
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. (Trad.)
After the death of her mother, Lara Moorhouse finds herself besieged with questions about her childhood that she never had the courage to ask her mother when she was alive. In particular, questions about her father.
When Lara and her younger brother Alfie were children, their father, an eminent surgeon, died in a helicopter crash. He had been largely absent from their lives, spending much of his time working in Belfast during the Troubles and only coming back to London two weekends a month to work at the Harley Street Clinic where he had first met their mother years before.
For unbeknownst to her, Lara's father had another life in Belfast; a wife, other children: another family.
As she delves into her parents' lives and the story of their relationship, Lara confronts her own past, and theirs, and discovers an unexpected legacy from her father's hidden double life.
All the Beggars Riding is Lucy Caldwell's third novel. In 2011 Lucy won the The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was awarded the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize for her second novel 'The Meeting Point'. A playwright and novelist Lucy's theatre credits include the award-winning 'Leaves', 'Guardians' and 'Notes to Future Self'. For radio she has written the Imison Award-winning 'Girl from Mars', 'Avenues of Eternal Peace', 'Witch Week' a dramatization of Diana Wynne Jones' novel for BBC Radio 4 Extra, and most recently she adapted her stage play 'Notes to Future Self' for Radio 4.
Read by Anne-Marie Duff
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Producer Heather Larmour.
TUE 14:15 The People of the British Museum (b009nlxx)
Storehouse of Knowledge
Danny Danziger visits the cuneiform tablet collection to meet Dr Irving Finkel, who can decipher the ancient inscriptions.
TUE 14:30 George Eliot - Adam Bede (b007jnqp)
Episode 2
Remarkable young Methodist preacher Dinah Morris arrives to comfort Lisbeth Bede. Stars Ann Scott-Jones.
TUE 14:45 Book of the Week (b01gvljv)
Pico Iyer - The Man within My Head, Episode 2
"The high, thin light was turning the shacks and shanties on the hills to gold as I put my thoughts of Graham Greene behind me."
The travel writer Pico Iyer (author of Video Nights in Kathmandu, Falling Off The Map) has always wandered the world with a mentor 'looking on'. Whether it be Bogota, Cuba, California, Japan, the man inside Iyer's head, as he puts it, is always Graham Greene. And it is Greene's fights with faith, his reservations about innocence, his generous spirit, that are really inspiring. In the course of five episodes and from various destinations the author describes his fascination for the great man..
Pico Iyer's recalls schooldays in Oxford and then a remarkable decision to commute to California!
Reader Paul Bazely
Producer Duncan Minshull.
TUE 15:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmnd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 Puzzle Panel (b00yjr5c)
Episode 7
More testing brain teasers with Chris Maslanka, Victor Bryant, Val Gilbert and Professor David Singmaster. From July 1998.
TUE 16:30 Babblewick Hall (b01nh8zv)
Series 1, Episode 5
As Fenton pens his maiden speech for Parliament, can manservant August flee Yorkshire? Stars Nick Le Prevost. From January 1996.
TUE 17:00 Girlies (b08jqfh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 The Missing Hancocks (b08hnpmg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Stephen Baxter - Voyage (b007q9p3)
1972-80 Trajectories
Geologist Natalie York battles for a seat on the first manned Mars mission. Alternative space history drama with Laurel Lefkow.
TUE 18:30 And The Academy Award Goes To ... (b008yj95)
Series 1, The Silence of the Lambs
Paul Gambaccini traces the history of the Oscars and tells the stories behind award-winning films.
Jodie Foster recalls the experience of working with Anthony Hopkins and director Jonathan Demme. Screenwriter Ted Tally considers the extent to which The Silence of the Lambs reveals more about celebrity culture than serial killers.
TUE 19:00 Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead (b00g42td)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 The Men From the Ministry (b01cwpns)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fc958)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 A Kiss Is... Never Just a Kiss (b01gg8h0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 The Stories of Adam Marek (b03y3ylp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 21:15 Kings (b007jqvs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
TUE 22:00 The Missing Hancocks (b08hnpmg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 Kerry's List (b01sd5gh)
Series 1, Episode 3
The third in a four-part sketch show co-written by and starring comedian and actress Kerry Godliman.
Kerry is a married mother of two, a stand up comedian and has two children. Her life can only properly function with her daily list - if she didn't compile this vital list, her life would simply fall apart.
Each week, this series looks at a different list and delves into Kerry's madcap world by looking at various elements of that week's list in sketches, narrative and stand up.
In this third episode, Kerry's List involves bleaching mugs, napping, sorting out cobwebs, distressing a chest of drawers, organizing CDs, keeping my friend's secret, growing vegetables and buying Puy Lentils.
Joining Kerry is her husband Ben (played by her real husband Ben Abell) and her five year old daughter Elsie (played by Melissa Bury) together with a range of bizarre characters - including an enthusiastic council environment worker, some disgruntled satsumas, a bored therapist, a Fairy Jeanmother and a very keen gym instructor.
Any busy parent who's ever compiled a list of their own will relate to Kerry Godliman's incident filled world.
The cast includes David Pusey (who co-wrote the series), Bridget Christie, Lucy Briers, Rosie Cavaliero and Nicholas Le Prevost.
Kerry Godliman is fast establishing herself as a highly skilful stand up comic and actress, from her recent appearances on Live at The Apollo (BBC 1), Derek (C4) and Our Girl (BBC 1).
Producer: Paul Russell
An Open Mike production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b08k1s7j)
Rob Deering chats to pre-award winning comedian Laura Lexx.
TUE 23:00 Concrete Cow (b0076jns)
Series 1, Episode 2
Temping at Nasa and planning permission for the Death Star. Sketch show with Robert Webb and Olivia Colman. From August 2002.
TUE 23:30 We Are Klang: Amazing Lives (b007k3b7)
Poet
The late controversial poet Adam Croxton, according to those who knew him. Spoof with Greg Davies and Steve Hall. From March 2007.

WEDNESDAY 22 MARCH 2017

WED 00:00 Stephen Baxter - Voyage (b007q9p3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 And The Academy Award Goes To ... (b008yj95)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fc958)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 A Kiss Is... Never Just a Kiss (b01gg8h0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b01r76bc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 The People of the British Museum (b009nlxx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 George Eliot - Adam Bede (b007jnqp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Book of the Week (b01gvljv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmnd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 Puzzle Panel (b00yjr5c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Babblewick Hall (b01nh8zv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 Girlies (b08jqfh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 The Missing Hancocks (b08hnpmg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fcx1d)
Series 2, A Meeting With Anna
Tension between DS Dave Brook and DS Sam Kelly is showing. Meanwhile Anna asks for help. Can she be trusted?
Stories of crime and detection in London by Robert Barr.
Starring Ray Brooks as long-serving, ducking-and-diving DS Dave Brook with Christopher Blake as his assistant, Detective Constable Blair Maxton.
With Stephen Yardley as Chief Inspector Roach, Peter Cleall as Detective Constable Harrison, Jacqueline Tong as Judy, John Judd as Detective Sergeant Kelly, Emily Morgan as Anna, Stephen Garlick as PC Anderson, Gary Cady as Clark and David Milner as Jenkins.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1982.
WED 06:30 One Man's War (b01n651t)
This is the story of classical music life in London during the Second World War, which instead of stopping altogether once war was declared in 1939, actually flourished as the bombs fell. Lionel Bradley was a Librarian at the London Library, and also an avid lover of ballet, opera, orchestral and chamber music. After each event he attended, Lionel would write a personal bulletin describing the occasion, which he then circulated to his friends. Katie Derham explores musical life in London during the Second World War, through the writings of Bradley who often provides invaluable insight into world premieres, refugee artists, and a classical music scene which flourished during a world in turmoil.
Lionel Bradley was passionate about the arts. He often went to see the same productions, or hear the same works again and again, and through his diaries, Bradley captures developments, changes, or nuggets of social history, otherwise forgotten today. These priceless insights into a bygone world contained within Bradley's bulletins, are held at the Royal College of Music, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Professor Paul Banks from the RCM, and V&A's Curator of Dance Jane Pritchard, team up with Katie Derham to explore these written narratives, whilst Joan Bailey who worked with Bradley at the London Library, brings Bradley the man to life.
This story begins with the discovery of the Bradley documents at the RCM, and continues with the investigation of musical life in London during World War Two. Enlisting the help of historians Terry Charman, Patrick Bade and Suzanne Bosman, Katie Derham glimpses through the windows of Bradley's writings, exploring the determination of the likes of Myra Hess to continue concert life during war time, and surveying how the influx of refugee musicians, the falling bombs, and conscription, all impacted upon the musical scene of the day.
WED 07:00 Robin and Wendy's Wet Weekends (b0076t5h)
Series 4, Ground Control to Major Derek
Sitcom by Kay Stonham.
Wendy and Maureen take the weekend off while Robin and Derek receive unexpected visitors.
Robin ...... Brian Capron
Wendy ...... Kay Stonham
Derek ...... Martin Trenaman
Maureen ...... Amelia Bullmore.
WED 07:30 It's Jocelyn (b08hpf79)
Series 2, Family
It's Jocelyn returns for a second series of sketches and stand-up from the wonderful mind of Jocelyn Jee Esien.
In episode four, Jocelyn talks about family, a spiritual medium goes over to the other side and the doctors receptionist shows her true feelings for 'big bad Don'.
This series Jocelyn is joined by Paul Whitehouse as a cockney funeral director, as well as the vocal talents of Ninia Benjamin, Curtis Walker, Dee Kaate, Gavi Chera and Karen Bartke.
The producer is Suzy Grant and It's Jocelyn is a BBC Studios production.
WED 08:00 The Navy Lark (b007jngd)
The Montezuela Revolution
Ramona Povey causes havoc on HMS Troutbridge's goodwill visit to Montezuela.
Starring Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Stephen Murray as the Commanding Officer, Richard Caldicot as Captain Povey, Heather Chasen as Ramona Povey, Tenniel Evans as Carlo and Michael Bates as Manuelo.
Laughs afloat aboard British Royal Navy frigate HMS Troutbridge. The Navy Lark ran for an impressive thirteen series between 1959 and 1976.
Scripted by Lawrie Wyman and George Evans.
Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in July 1973.
WED 08:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b007w3y4)
The Emigrant
Hancock is keen to emigrate, but is met with refusals from other countries including Australia and Canada. Can Sid help him to leave Britain?
Stars Tony Hancock. With Sidney James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Theme and incidental music written by Wally Stott.
Producer: Denis Main Wilson
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in February 1957.
WED 09:00 Genius (b008m9f6)
Series 1, Episode 5
Dave Gorman asks Stewart Lee to select the public's best loopy idea, like a CD player/microwave oven. From November 2005.
WED 09:30 Up the Garden Path (b00803k9)
Series 2, Arrivals and Departures
Returning from a year in San Francisco, Izzy Comyn lands in a great deal of confusion. Stars Imelda Staunton. From October 1988.
WED 10:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmqs)
Betsy Trotwood
The boy flees London in search of his only living relative. Stars Miriam Margolyes, David Bamber and Gary Cady.
WED 11:00 The Stories of Adam Marek (b03y6v7m)
Remember the Bride Who Got Stung?
A father resorts to drastic measures on a family picnic.
Carl Prekopp reads a selection of stories from Adam Marek's dark and quirky collections.
Adam Marek is the award-winning writer of two short story collections - Instruction Manual For Swallowing and The Stone Thrower. He won the 2011 Arts Foundation Short Story Fellowship, and was shortlisted for the inaugural Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. His stories have appeared in many magazines, including Prospect and The Sunday Times Magazine, and in many anthologies including Lemistry and Biopunk and The Best British Short Stories 2011.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Sweet Talk Productions.
WED 11:15 Kings (b007jqw4)
The Loved One
Anat refuses to leave her home as the Israelites approach. Tales from the reign of biblical King David. Stars David Calder.
WED 12:00 The Navy Lark (b007jngd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b007w3y4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fcx1d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 One Man's War (b01n651t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b01r76ll)
Lucy Caldwell - All the Beggars Riding, Episode 3
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. (Trad.)
After the death of her mother, Lara Moorhouse finds herself besieged with questions about her childhood that she never had the courage to ask her mother when she was alive. In particular, questions about her father.
When Lara and her younger brother Alfie were children, their father, an eminent surgeon, died in a helicopter crash. He had been largely absent from their lives, spending much of his time working in Belfast during the Troubles and only coming back to London two weekends a month to work at the Harley Street Clinic where he had first met their mother years before.
For unbeknownst to her, Lara's father had another life in Belfast; a wife, other children: another family.
As she delves into her parents' lives and the story of their relationship, Lara confronts her own past, and theirs, and discovers an unexpected legacy from her father's hidden double life.
All the Beggars Riding is Lucy Caldwell's third novel. In 2011 Lucy won the The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was awarded the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize for her second novel 'The Meeting Point'. A playwright and novelist Lucy's theatre credits include the award-winning 'Leaves', 'Guardians' and 'Notes to Future Self'. For radio she has written the Imison Award-winning 'Girl from Mars', 'Avenues of Eternal Peace', 'Witch Week' a dramatization of Diana Wynne Jones' novel for BBC Radio 4 Extra, and most recently she adapted her stage play 'Notes to Future Self' for Radio 4.
Read by Anne-Marie Duff
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Producer Heather Larmour.
WED 14:15 The People of the British Museum (b009nqfw)
Heavenly Houses
Danny Danziger meets the long-serving curator of clocks and watches, David Thompson, and tours the beautiful collections.
WED 14:30 George Eliot - Adam Bede (b007jnr6)
Episode 3
The young squire Arthur Donnithorne pays a visit to Hall Farm, and the seeds of love are sown. Stars Richard Greenwood.
WED 14:45 Book of the Week (b01gvqnj)
Pico Iyer - The Man within My Head, Episode 3
"The high, thin light was turning the shacks and shanties on the hills to gold as I put my thoughts of Graham Greene behind me."
The travel writer Pico Iyer (author of Video Nights in Kathmandu, Falling Off The Map) has always wandered the world with a mentor 'looking on'. Whether it be Bogota, Cuba, California, Japan, the man inside Iyer's head, as he puts it, is always Graham Greene. And it is Greene's fights with faith, his reservations about innocence, his generous spirit, that are really inspiring. In the course of five episodes and from various destinations the author describes his fascination for the great man..
Pico Iyer hits the hot and sultry streets of Havana, and of course Graham Greene is with him once more..
Reader Paul Bazely
Producer Duncan Minshull.
WED 15:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmqs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 Genius (b008m9f6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 Up the Garden Path (b00803k9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 Robin and Wendy's Wet Weekends (b0076t5h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 It's Jocelyn (b08hpf79)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 Stephen Baxter - Voyage (b007qbdb)
1980 Apollo N
The first manned mission to Mars hangs on the success of the NERVA nuclear booster test flight. Stars Vincent Marzello.
WED 18:30 Off the Page (b00vy37b)
Luck
Are some people just born lucky, or can we control our fate ? Professor Richard Wiseman claims to have begun scientifically to investigate the concept of luck. In Off The Page he writes about his interviews with over a thousand so-called lucky and unlucky people, and reveals why resilience and not the supernatural is what affects us all. Playwright Annie Caulfield describes a brush with voodoo in west Africa; while sports writer Matthew Syed explains why his own sporting success was due in part to growing up in a lucky Reading postcode.
Dominic Akwright presents, and the producer is Miles Warde.
WED 19:00 The Navy Lark (b007jngd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b007w3y4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fcx1d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 One Man's War (b01n651t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 The Stories of Adam Marek (b03y6v7m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 21:15 Kings (b007jqw4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
WED 22:00 It's Jocelyn (b08hpf79)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 Goodness Gracious Me (b007jwn0)
Series 1, Episode 4
The multi-talented Mrs Bedi lands in hospital - and meet 'The Six Million Rupee Man'.
Stars Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kulvinder Ghir, Nitin Sawhney, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia.
Gold Winner of the Sony Radio Academy Awards. The sketch comedy show originally ran on BBC Radio 4 from 1996 to 1998, later transferring to TV on BBC Two from 1998 to 2001.
Scripted by Sharat Sardana, Richard Pinto and the cast.
Produced by Gareth Edwards and Anil Gupta.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1996.
WED 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b08k1slw)
Rob Deering chats to pre-award winning comedian Laura Lexx.
WED 23:00 Elis James's Pantheon of Heroes (b03kpl9j)
Series 3, Episode 1
Comedian Elis James compares key figures in Welsh history to determine Wales's true heroes.
The Severn Bridge and Millennium Stadium do battle with wildcard entry, Stonehenge.
Also starring Benjamin Partridge and Nadia Kamil. Written by Gareth Gwynn, Elis James, and Benjamin Partridge.
WED 23:30 The Mark Steel Lecture (b007jv1g)
Series 1, Oliver Cromwell
The soldier statesman kicks off the radical comic's profile of key English historical figures. From September 1999. Episode 1 of 4.

THURSDAY 23 MARCH 2017

THU 00:00 Stephen Baxter - Voyage (b007qbdb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 Off the Page (b00vy37b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fcx1d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 One Man's War (b01n651t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b01r76ll)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 The People of the British Museum (b009nqfw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 George Eliot - Adam Bede (b007jnr6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Book of the Week (b01gvqnj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmqs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 Genius (b008m9f6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 Up the Garden Path (b00803k9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Robin and Wendy's Wet Weekends (b0076t5h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 It's Jocelyn (b08hpf79)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fgp85)
Series 2, Contract to Kill
DC Maxton finds himself in line for a possible promotion, while DS Brook gets a visit from a mystery woman...
Stories of crime and detection in London by Robert Barr.
Starring Ray Brooks as long-serving, ducking-and-diving DS Dave Brook with Christopher Blake as his assistant, Detective Constable Blair Maxton.
With Stephen Yardley as Chief Inspector Roach, Peter Cleall as Detective Constable Harrison, Jacqueline Tong as Judy, John Judd as Detective Sergeant Kelly, Emily Morgan as Anna, Deidre Costello as Tessa Mitchell, Roy Holder as Ronald Blake and Steve Hodson as the Desk Sergeant.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1982.
THU 06:30 There's a Guy Works Down our Local Swears He's Elvis (b0076gsg)
Ian McMillan delves into the world of Elvis impersonators. What motivates them to do it, and are they ever off duty? From September 2003.
THU 07:00 In the Chair (b007jssr)
Episode 2
Maverick BBC hack George Cragge probes New Labour links to the murders.
Mark Tavener's six-part satirical comedy thriller stars Michael Williams as George Cragge, Barry Foster as DCI Frank Jefferson, Hugh Laurie as the Prime Minister, Richard Griffiths as Crichton-Potter, John Bird as Martin, Stephen Fry as Charles Prentiss, Rebecca Front as Marcia Mallon, Kenneth Cranham as Jim Hardie, Geoffrey Whitehead as Director of Personnel, Simon Greehall as the Chancellor, Jonathan Keeble as John and Susie Brann as Caroline.
Music by Paul Mottram.
Producer: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
THU 07:30 Meet David Sedaris (b065xch2)
Series 5, Little Guy, The Ones That Got Away, Now Hiring Friendly People
One of the world's finest storytellers, back on BBC Radio 4 doing what he does best.
This week, there are reflections on being small in Little Guy, fulmination in the coffee queue in Now Hiring Friendly People, and an off the cuff question to David's boyfriend leads to a surprising answer in The Ones That Got Away. There are also some more questions from the audience.
Produced by Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 08:00 Jim the Great (b01sjjwr)
Series 1, The March of Democracy
King Jim is duped into holding an election. But surely he's a shoe-in for the throne?
Historical regal romp starring Jimmy Edwards.
With Julian Orchard, John Baddeley, Andrew Palmer, Ronald Baddiley, Jon Glover and Chris Emmett.
Jim The Great ran for 2 series on BBC Radio 2 between 1976 - 1979.
Producer: Edward Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in April 1977.
THU 08:30 Know Your Place (b019dvsb)
Sisterly Feelings
Cleaner Elsie is facing eviction. Can caretaker Ramsay save the day? Stars Roy Dotrice and Patricia Hayes. From July 1983.
THU 09:00 Guess What? (b00757gr)
Episode 1
Animal, vegetable or mineral? Barry Took's revised 20 questions. With Geoffrey Durham and Helen Atkinson Wood. From April 1998.
THU 09:30 Country Matters (b00lk9mb)
Episode 3
Dave tackles the local traffic problem, but will the villagers support him? Stars Jonathan Tafler and Lesley Sharp. From May 1994.
THU 10:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmr2)
The Question of My Future
David and Steerforth's trip to Yarmouth has unforeseen consequences. Stars Miriam Margolyes, Gary Cady and Timothy Spall.
THU 11:00 The Stories of Adam Marek (b03y7lmj)
The Thorn
Removing a thorn from Wellie Page's toe turns out strangely for Wellie.
Carl Prekopp reads a selection of stories from Adam Marek's dark and quirky collections.
Adam Marek is the award-winning writer of two short story collections - Instruction Manual For Swallowing and The Stone Thrower. He won the 2011 Arts Foundation Short Story Fellowship, and was shortlisted for the inaugural Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. His stories have appeared in many magazines, including Prospect and The Sunday Times Magazine, and in many anthologies including Lemistry and Biopunk and The Best British Short Stories 2011.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Sweet Talk Productions.
THU 11:15 Kings (b007jqwf)
Michal, Saul's Daughter
In the monarch's harem, three wives fight their case. Tales from the reign of biblical King David. Stars Caroline Langrishe.
THU 12:00 Jim the Great (b01sjjwr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 Know Your Place (b019dvsb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fgp85)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 There's a Guy Works Down our Local Swears He's Elvis (b0076gsg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b01r77x0)
Lucy Caldwell - All the Beggars Riding, Episode 4
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. (Trad.)
After the death of her mother, Lara Moorhouse finds herself besieged with questions about her childhood that she never had the courage to ask her mother when she was alive. In particular, questions about her father.
When Lara and her younger brother Alfie were children, their father, an eminent surgeon, died in a helicopter crash. He had been largely absent from their lives, spending much of his time working in Belfast during the Troubles and only coming back to London two weekends a month to work at the Harley Street Clinic where he had first met their mother years before.
For unbeknownst to her, Lara's father had another life in Belfast; a wife, other children: another family.
As she delves into her parents' lives and the story of their relationship, Lara confronts her own past, and theirs, and discovers an unexpected legacy from her father's hidden double life.
All the Beggars Riding is Lucy Caldwell's third novel. In 2011 Lucy won the The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was awarded the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize for her second novel 'The Meeting Point'. A playwright and novelist Lucy's theatre credits include the award-winning 'Leaves', 'Guardians' and 'Notes to Future Self'. For radio she has written the Imison Award-winning 'Girl from Mars', 'Avenues of Eternal Peace', 'Witch Week' a dramatization of Diana Wynne Jones' novel for BBC Radio 4 Extra, and most recently she adapted her stage play 'Notes to Future Self' for Radio 4.
Read by Anne-Marie Duff
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Producer Heather Larmour.
THU 14:15 The People of the British Museum (b009pp7y)
Art of the Sword
Danny Danziger meets assistant Paul Martin who talks about his dream job - looking after the Japanese weaponry collection.
THU 14:30 George Eliot - Adam Bede (b007jnrq)
Episode 4
Young squire Arthur invites the flirtatious Hetty for an evening stroll in Donnithorne Woods. Stars Richard Greenwood.
THU 14:45 Book of the Week (b01hxhn4)
Pico Iyer - The Man within My Head, Episode 4
"The high, thin light was turning the shacks and shanties on the hills to gold as I put my thoughts of Graham Greene behind me."
The travel writer Pico Iyer (author of Video Nights in Kathmandu, Falling Off The Map) has always wandered the world with a mentor 'looking on'. Whether it be Bogota, Cuba, California, Japan, the man inside Iyer's head, as he puts it, is always Graham Greene. And it is Greene's fights with faith, his reservations about innocence, his generous spirit, that are really inspiring. In the course of five episodes and from various destinations the author describes his fascination for the great man..
Pico Iyer is in Santa Barbara with his mother and wife, and forest fires put the family home under threat. Then Graham Greene comes to mind...
Reader Paul Bazely
Producer Duncan Minshull.
THU 15:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmr2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 Guess What? (b00757gr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 Country Matters (b00lk9mb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 In the Chair (b007jssr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 Meet David Sedaris (b065xch2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 Stephen Baxter - Voyage (b007qgns)
1981-85 Approaches
After the latest disaster, Natalie York's hopes of a seat on the first manned mission to Mars look bleak. Stars Laurel Lefkow.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b00ft3m2)
Series 17, Luciano Pavarotti
Series of biographical discussions with Matthew Parris.
Luciano Pavarotti is nominated by the music promoter Harvey Goldsmith, the man behind the Pavarotti in the Park concert. The opera director John Copley and Anne Midgette of the Washington Post join the discussion.
THU 19:00 Jim the Great (b01sjjwr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 Know Your Place (b019dvsb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fgp85)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 There's a Guy Works Down our Local Swears He's Elvis (b0076gsg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 The Stories of Adam Marek (b03y7lmj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
THU 21:15 Kings (b007jqwf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
THU 22:00 Meet David Sedaris (b065xch2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 Detective Sergeant Nick Mohammed (b03b0yz2)
Series 2, Fugitive
DS Nick Mohammed is on the trail of a fugitive, assisted by longsuffering constables Colin and Anna. Written and performed by Nick Mohammed, with Anna Crilly, Colin Hoult, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and Will Andrews. Script Editor: Johnny Sweet. Producer: Victoria Lloyd.
THU 23:00 Elastic Planet (b007k2h5)
The Babies
Cosmic comedy connections. A spoof documentary series that stretches the truth, narrated by Oliver Postgate. From May 1995.
THU 23:15 The Shuttleworths (b00s9fh0)
Series 5, Tale of a Toaster
John's wife Mary starts bidding for a fancy toaster on the internet, complete with crumb tray, but John becomes obsessed that she'll be outbid.
The Shuttleworths is written and performed by Graham Fellows, and the series is produced by Dawn Ellis.
THU 23:30 Hut 33 (b01k6hfc)
Series 3, Unlucky for Some
1942: It's unlucky for some of the code breakers at Bletchley when they're forced to move into spooky Hut 13.
Stars Tom Goodman-Hill as Archie, Robert Bathurst as Professor Charles Gardner, Fergus Craig as Gordon, Alex MacQueen as 3rd Lt. Joshua Featherstonhaugh-Marshall, Olivia Colman as Minka and Lill Roughley as Mrs Best.
Written by James Cary.
Producer: Adam Bromley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2009.

FRIDAY 24 MARCH 2017

FRI 00:00 Stephen Baxter - Voyage (b007qgns)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b00ft3m2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fgp85)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 There's a Guy Works Down our Local Swears He's Elvis (b0076gsg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b01r77x0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 The People of the British Museum (b009pp7y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 George Eliot - Adam Bede (b007jnrq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Book of the Week (b01hxhn4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmr2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 Guess What? (b00757gr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 Country Matters (b00lk9mb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 In the Chair (b007jssr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Meet David Sedaris (b065xch2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fgwcj)
Series 2, Four Faces of Crime
DS Brook and DC Harrison meet the eccentric Mr Parsons. Meanwhile a gruesome meat axe murder is investigated...
Stories of crime and detection in London by Robert Barr.
Starring Ray Brooks as long-serving, ducking-and-diving DS Dave Brook with Christopher Blake as his assistant, Detective Constable Blair Maxton.
With Stephen Yardley as Chief Inspector Roach, Peter Cleall as Detective Constable Harrison, Jacqueline Tong as Judy, Derek Francis as Peter Parsons and Johnny Wade as Tommy.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1982.
FRI 06:30 The Secret Power of Trees (b01p7fgv)
Britain's woodlands were planted for timber or hunting but nowadays you're as likely to find ex-prisoners or mentally ill elderly folk in the woods. With the rise of "social forestry", woodlands have come to be seen as therapeutic and healing, and not just by new age eco types. In Japan, doctors take seriously the practice of "forest air bathing", and claim all kinds of health benefits from simply being in the woods. Ian Marchant explores whether trees really do have miraculous powers and asks what happened to the idea of forests as scary places, full of evil spirits and outlaws.
Producer: Jolyon Jenkins.
FRI 07:00 Romantic Friction (b00764j4)
Episode 3
Romance writer, Anna is blissfully happy, Brian is finding that grading sand paper is fun when he's thinking about Anna, and even faithful cockney muse Minnie is happy because it looks as if Anna's new-found romance is spilling over into her prose.
But could there be a cloud on the horizon when Brian's old friend Dougie unexpectedly turns up with the tempting offer of building fibreglass ducks in the Shetland Islands?
Michelle Read's four-part comedy-drama stars Samantha Bond and Hugh Bonneville.
With Beth Chambers, Michelle Read, Kammy Darweish, Adjoa Andoh, Andrew Wincott, Sue Elliott-Nicholls, Michael Fenton Stevens and Ewan Bailey.
Producer: Dawn Ellis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2001.
FRI 07:30 Boswell's Lives (b05415pv)
Series 1, Boswell's Life of Callas
by Jon Canter
Comedy as James Boswell Dr Johnson's celebrated biographer pursues other legends to immortalise. Today he meets Maria Callas and her poodle and finds himself in an opera of his own making.
Directed by Sally Avens
Jon Canter is an award winning comedy writer for both television and radio. He recently penned the radio series 'Believe It' starring Richard Wilson but his work goes back to Spitting Image. He is also the author of several books and has been called our greatest living comic novelist.
Miles Jupp is an actor and stand up. He is best known for playing Nigel in the series 'Rev' and is a regular contributor to R4 panel games and 'Have I Got News For You' on BBC1. In March he will open in a new play at the National Theatre: 'Rules For Living'.
Arabella Weir is best known for her roles in The Fast Show and Posh Nosh (written with Jon Canter) and for writing several books including the international best seller Does My Bum Look Big in This?
FRI 08:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00qt2hk)
Series 2, Episode 6
Young inventors, 1930s vintage musical 'Adam and Eve' and Private Eye Mike Spanner is on the case...
More quick-fire sketches, terrible puns, humorous songs plus TV and cinema parodies.
Stars Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Written by Les Lilley, Chic Jacob, Graeme Garden, Johnnie Mortimer & Brian Cooke 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.
Songs by Bill Oddie and Jean Hart with music by Dave Lee.
Producer: Humphrey Barclay
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in November 1965.
FRI 08:30 The Goon Show (b00jz5x2)
The Tay Bridge
On Scotland's crab-ridden shores, Neddie Seagoon is bridging a gap. Stars Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. From February 1959.
FRI 09:00 The 3rd Degree (b05vx4dx)
Series 5, Aston University
A quiz show hosted by Steve Punt where a team of three University students take on a team of three of their professors.
Coming this week from Aston University, The 3rd Degree is a funny, lively and dynamic quiz show aimed at cultivating the next generation of Radio 4 listeners while delighting the current ones.
The Specialist Subjects in this episode are Law, Psychology and Computer Science and the questions range from Wile E Coyote and manslaughter to tennis balls, stamp-collecting and the Treaty of Westphalia.
The show is 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.
The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds and the 'Highbrow and 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 One Direction.
The host, Steve Punt, although best known as a satirist on The Now Show also delights in all facets of knowledge, not just in the Humanities (his educational background) but in the sciences as well. He has made a number of documentaries for Radio 4, including The Poet Unwound - The History Of The Spleen, as well as a half-hour comedy for Radio 4's Big Bang Day set in the Large Hadron Collider, called The Genuine Particle.
Producer: David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 09:30 Tickets Please (b00nv6nh)
Episode 1
A wedding party en route to Exeter is delayed by a car on the track. Railway sitcom starring Jeremy Swift. From November 2009.
FRI 10:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmtp)
Good and Bad Angels
David falls in love, and questions his friendship with Steerforth. Stars Miriam Margolyes, Sheila Hancock and Phil Daniels.
FRI 11:00 The Stories of Adam Marek (b03y83fb)
Dead Fish
A boy steals a fish from the marketplace, prompting a chase. But can he be caught?
Carl Prekopp reads a selection of stories from Adam Marek's dark and quirky collections.
Adam Marek is the award-winning writer of two short story collections - Instruction Manual For Swallowing and The Stone Thrower. He won the 2011 Arts Foundation Short Story Fellowship, and was shortlisted for the inaugural Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. His stories have appeared in many magazines, including Prospect and The Sunday Times Magazine, and in many anthologies including Lemistry and Biopunk and The Best British Short Stories 2011.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Sweet Talk Productions.
FRI 11:15 Kings (b007jqwr)
Abishag, the Virgin
The monarch is dying. Bathsheba and his new wife attend him. Tales from the reign of biblical King David. Stars Alison Pettitt.
FRI 12:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00qt2hk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 The Goon Show (b00jz5x2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fgwcj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 The Secret Power of Trees (b01p7fgv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b01r78by)
Lucy Caldwell - All the Beggars Riding, Episode 5
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. (Trad.)
After the death of her mother, Lara Moorhouse finds herself besieged with questions about her childhood that she never had the courage to ask her mother when she was alive. In particular, questions about her father.
When Lara and her younger brother Alfie were children, their father, an eminent surgeon, died in a helicopter crash. He had been largely absent from their lives, spending much of his time working in Belfast during the Troubles and only coming back to London two weekends a month to work at the Harley Street Clinic where he had first met their mother years before.
For unbeknownst to her, Lara's father had another life in Belfast; a wife, other children: another family.
As she delves into her parents' lives and the story of their relationship, Lara confronts her own past, and theirs, and discovers an unexpected legacy from her father's hidden double life.
All the Beggars Riding is Lucy Caldwell's third novel. In 2011 Lucy won the The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was awarded the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize for her second novel 'The Meeting Point'. A playwright and novelist Lucy's theatre credits include the award-winning 'Leaves', 'Guardians' and 'Notes to Future Self'. For radio she has written the Imison Award-winning 'Girl from Mars', 'Avenues of Eternal Peace', 'Witch Week' a dramatization of Diana Wynne Jones' novel for BBC Radio 4 Extra, and most recently she adapted her stage play 'Notes to Future Self' for Radio 4.
Read by Anne-Marie Duff
Abridged by Doreen Estall
Producer Heather Larmour.
FRI 14:15 The People of the British Museum (b009prl1)
Treasure and Healing
Danny Danziger visits the coin and medal collections, with a Swedish coin the size of a tea-tray and millions of art prints.
FRI 14:30 George Eliot - Adam Bede (b007jns8)
Episode 5
As Hetty receives a gift from the captain, Adam waits in the wings hoping she will marry him. Stars Thomas Arnold.
FRI 14:45 Book of the Week (b01hxhnb)
Pico Iyer - The Man within My Head, Episode 5
"The high, thin light was turning the shacks and shanties on the hills to gold as I put my thoughts of Graham Greene behind me."
The travel writer Pico Iyer (author of Video Nights in Kathmandu, Falling Off The Map) has always wandered the world with a mentor 'looking on'. Whether it be Bogota, Cuba, California, Japan, the man inside Iyer's head, as he puts it, is always Graham Greene. And it is Greene's fights with faith, his reservations about innocence, his generous spirit, that are really inspiring. In the course of five episodes and from various destinations the author describes his fascination for the great man..
Pico Iyer is back in Bogota and a journey outside the city causes a roadside drama, which has him asking questions of Graham Greene again..
Reader Paul Bazely
Producer Duncan Minshull.
FRI 15:00 Charles Dickens - The Personal History of David Copperfield (b007jmtp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 The 3rd Degree (b05vx4dx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 Tickets Please (b00nv6nh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 Romantic Friction (b00764j4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 Boswell's Lives (b05415pv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 Stephen Baxter - Voyage (b007q9ld)
1985-86 Project Ares
The first manned Mars mission blasts off on a perilous voyage of discovery - both scientific and personal. Stars Laurel Lefkow.
FRI 18:30 Soul Music (b01mw2dj)
Series 14, Bach's St Matthew Passion
Bach's St Matthew Passion was written in 1727 and was probably first performed as part of the Good Friday Service at Thomaskirche in Leipzig. This programme explores ways in which Bach's St Mattew Passion touches and changes people's lives. Guitarist Andrew Schulman describes what happened when he was played this music whilst he was in a coma. James Jacobs talks about the St Matthew Passion providing solace in difficult times during childhood. And singer Emma Kirkby, conductor Paul Spicer and musical historian Simon Heighes explore how the music works and what it's like to perform.
Producer: Rosie Boulton.
FRI 19:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00qt2hk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 The Goon Show (b00jz5x2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 Robert Barr - Detective (b04fgwcj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 The Secret Power of Trees (b01p7fgv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 The Stories of Adam Marek (b03y83fb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 21:15 Kings (b007jqwr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
FRI 22:00 Boswell's Lives (b05415pv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 Spotlight Tonight with Nish Kumar (b08jbfhh)
Series 1, 22/03/2017
We all like to think we know about the news and yet, whilst jokes about Boris Johnson's haircut are all well and good, do you still have that nagging suspicion there's important things going on beneath the headlines you'd like to know about? Well, help is at hand! Nish Kumar is here to cast his spotlight on the week's most talked about news items, taking an in-depth look at the biggest stories from the past seven days to scrutinise what's actually going on beneath the bluster.
Recorded on the day of transmission, Spotlight Tonight brings you the most reactive up to date in-depth look at the news.
Starring Nish Kumar & Sarah Campbell.
Written by Robin Morgan, Sarah Campbell, Max Davis, Gabby Hutchinson-Crouch, Nish Kumar, and Tom Neenan.
It was produced by Matt Stronge and was a BBC Studios Production.
FRI 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b08k1swj)
Arthur Smith chats to Gareth Joyner, the man behind the actress, singer, and former barmaid from Rotherham, Myra DuBois.
FRI 23:00 Everyone Quite Likes Justin (b01mvzft)
Series 2, Episode 4
by Justin Moorhouse and Jim Poyser
Justin's still living with his father-in-law, still working with his ex-wife and still calling on his Gran for her words of wisdom. This week he also has to cope with a game of golf.
Justin ..... Justin Moorhouse
Gran ..... Anne Reid
Lisa ..... Christine Bottomley
Bryn ..... Lloyd Langford
Ray ..... Paul Copley
Tanya ..... Victoria Elliott
Charlie ..... Mark Chatterton
Barbara ..... Kathryn Hunt
Producer: Steven Canny
In one version of his life, Justin is a loveable celebrity who is successful, funny, and stopped in the street by adoring fans. He's the man who has everything.
In the more realistic version he's a DJ in a slightly shabby local radio station who gets hassled by the occasional oddball on the street. And he's the man who hopes for everything.
And at home? Well, it's chaotic. His wife has left him, taking custody of his 8-year-old son Justin jnr. So he's back on the market. So he's currently living in his father-in-law's spare room in Bury. The only person who understands him is his Gran, living in luxury in an old folk's home in Warrington. Oh, and his producer Bryn but this might not be such a good thing.
Everyone Quite Likes Justin is written by Justin Moorhouse and Jim Poyser. Justin is a comedian who sells out gigs across the country. He has also written plays, a previous show for Radio 4 and the first series of Everyone Quite Likes Justin. Jim Poyser is a writer and producer of enormous experience in both radio and television.
Recorded in front of an audience in Manchester.
FRI 23:30 The Skivers (b00j1ff4)
Series 3, Episode 2
High winds alert! Weatherman Michael Fish bids for stardom. Sketch show with Nick Golsen and Tim de Jongh. From January 1997.