SATURDAY 24 JUNE 2017

SAT 00:00 Kingsley Amis - To See the Sun (b04ttwmp)
Vampires, a mad Scots librarian, a handsome Englishman and a Countess of uncertain age - all in Dacia in the 1920s.
Starring Christopher Cazenone as Stephen Hillier, Gayle Hunnicutt as Countess Valvazor and Graham Crowden as Robert McNeill
Dramatised by John Scotney. Directed by Jane Morgan
From 'Kingsley Amis Sextet' - a season of plays adapted from his short stories. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1987.
SAT 00:30 Soul Music (b03jznqg)
Series 17, Gymnopédie No 1From the seat of a concert hall piano, Pascal Rogé, one of the world's greatest interpreters of French piano music, leads us through a personal and musical journey of Erik Satie's Gymnopédies. You may not immediately know the title but in hearing just the first few notes you are most likely to know the music.
Erik Satie's Gymnopédies are a collection of short, atmospheric pieces of which Gymnopédie No.1 is perhaps the most popular. Music historian and author Mark Prendergast has studied Satie's work and reveals the complex character of the man who revolutionised the 19th century classical music of Europe. Melbourne based artist Colin Duncan reflects on the music's 'physical form which takes you into space and time' and for him inspired a body of work created in brail. Murder Mystery writer Cathy Ace remembers how this meditative music could shut out the noise of the city as she sped around London in her old brown mini, whilst Mathematician and author Ian Stewart explores the mathematics of this special piece and how music can touch our soul.
SAT 01:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jr60)
Honeymoon for OneBarbara Lawn is about to marry the Toff's old chum, Major Guy Lessing - against her father's wishes - in a gripping tale of blackmail and murder.
Terence Alexander stars as the Toff - upper-class amateur sleuth, the Honourable Richard Rollison.
Created by John Creasey, The Toff appears in over 60 novels. First published in 1959, The Toff and the Runaway Bride was dramatised in six-parts for the BBC World Service by Roy Lomax.
With Robert Dorning as Jolly, Rosalind Shanks as Barbara Lessing, Peggy Ann Wood as Aunt Gloria, David Graham as Holy Joe, Frances Jeater as Maggie and Alan Cuthbertson as Major Guy Lessing.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on the BBC World Service in June 1975.
SAT 01:30 What's in a Name? (b01nq2zp)
Impiaz - yes. Oisin - yes. Musa - yes. Ayisat - yes. Araya - yes. Tianna - yes. Taking the register at the start of the school day at one London primary school says much about names in 21st century Britain.
As a child growing up in 1980s Britain, journalist Sangita Myska desperately wanted a name her white English friends could pronounce. She says getting someone to pronounce her name was like sending it through a verbal mincer: Sanjeeta, Fangita, Sageeta, Sangria. As she tries to book a table in a restaurant, we hear just what this feels like when you have a "foreign" sounding name.
Years of garbled pronunciations and awkward corrections later, she now believes those challenges have helped her forge her sense of identity.
Sangita talks to other people whose names have had a huge effect on their lives and work. Over honey cake with Rabbi Lionel Blue, he tells Sangita "I'd much rather be called Pete. I don't feel like being labelled. I'd like to be something like Pete Brown or Pete Smith or Pete Jones or something like that. It would mean I'd finally graduated into English life".
She meets poet Musa Okwonga, who describes how his surname led to his family being expelled from Uganda under Idi Amin's regime....and later influenced many of his career choices. He wanted to study English at university. But in the jobs market he thought he'd get nowhere with a name like his. So he did law at Oxford.
Shahid Iqbal and Richard Brown (one and the same person) explains why he has both names. One for his personal life - and one for business. "People would cancel contracts when they heard my name".
Producer: Adele Armstrong
Original music by Giles Hayter.
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b07ns0rf)
Eight Months on Ghazzah Street, Episode 5Nearly 30 years on from its original publication, Hilary Mantel's third novel is still as disturbing, incisive and illuminating as ever. In an unusual collaboration, the author has revisited the book to create, with the abridger, this new ten-part serialisation.
Frances Shore is a cartographer by trade, but when her husband's work takes them to Saudi Arabia she finds herself unable to map either the ever changing landscape or the Kingdom's heavily veiled ways of working. The regime is corrupt and harsh, the expatriates are hard-drinking money-grubbers, and her Muslim neighbours are secretive and watchful.
She soon discovers that the streets are not a woman's territory. Confined in her flat, she finds her sense of self beginning to dissolve. She hears footsteps, sounds of distress from the supposedly empty flat above. She has only constantly changing rumours to hang on to, and no one with whom to share her creeping unease.
Reader: Anna Maxwell Martin
Author: Hilary Mantel
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Alexa Moore
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 02:15 On the Map (b00rlwwy)
Maps of the Mind10/10 Maps of the Mind. The most powerful maps aren't found on paper or a computer screen. They're the maps we hold in our memories and imaginations. Mike Parker visits a primary school in his home town to compare the pupils' maps with his own, drawn from childhood recollection. And he takes a trip to Ambridge, home of the Archers, to meet Eddie Grundy and ask him for directions around the village.
SAT 02:30 Dave Sheasby - Shifting the Leaves (b007jtch)
Episode 5In her quest to finally come to terms with her Cornish past, Marjorie gets help from some youngsters. Stars Elizabeth Bradley.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b00g2565)
My Judy Garland Life, Get HappyTamsin Grieg reads from Susie Boyt's tribute to her screen idol Judy Garland.
After an unexpected duet with Mickey Rooney over breakfast, Susie gingerly accepts an invitation to perform at a 'Judy Night' in Brooklyn. Before she knows it, she is draped over the lid of a baby grand piano in her best satin dress, singing her heart out.
SAT 03:00 Robert Graves - I, Claudius (b01jyq9f)
MessalinaThe ageing Emperor Claudius works to restore the Republic. But his beautiful young wife Messalina has other plans.
The conclusion of Robert Graves' scandalous histories of Roman political vice dramatised by Robin Brooks.
Claudius ..... Tom Goodman-Hill
Messalina ..... Jessica Raine
Narcissus ..... Robin Soans
Calpurnia ..... Sally Orrock
Burrhus ..... Jude Akuwudike
Britannicus ..... Ryan Watson
Euodus ..... Adeel Akhtar
Asiaticus ..... Sean Baker
Frontinus ..... Tony Bell
Tacitus ..... Sam Dale
Callistus ..... Henry Devas
Agrippinilla ..... Claire Harry
Soldier ..... Iain Batchelor
Specially composed music by David Pickvance.
Director: Jonquil Panting.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
SAT 04:00 The 3rd Degree (b07ffd8g)
Series 6, The University of BathA funny and dynamic quiz show hosted by Steve Punt - this week from the University of Bath, with specialist subjects including Biology, Politics and Maths, and questions ranging from Sierpinski Gaskets to Scottish Nationalism via Francois Mitterand and Adele.
The programme is recorded on location at a different University each week, and it pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors in an original and fresh take on an academic quiz.
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, sport, and quite possibly Justin Bieber. In addition, the Head-to-Head rounds see students take on their Professors in their own subjects, offering plenty of scope for mild embarrassment on both sides.
Other Universities featured in this series include Gloucestershire, Chester, Birmingham City, Glasgow and York.
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 04:30 Nikolai Gogol - Three Ivans, Two Aunts and an Overcoat (b00nsnhd)
The NoseMajor Kovalyov's nose vanishes and reappears in St Petersburg disguised as a councillor. With Stephen Moore. From April 2002.
SAT 05:00 Boogie Up the River (b007jzcw)
I'll See You at the SourceAs their Thames quest climaxes, Jennifer attempts to drink Sam under the table. Stars Timothy Spall. From January 1993.
SAT 05:30 Austentatious (b08tvyw0)
The world premiere of an incredible lost Jane Austen novel, full of wit, flirtation and dastardly behaviour - and cooked up completely on the spot by the UK's finest improv troupe.
All the cast know is that they will perform a story in the style of Jane Austen, based on a title suggested by the studio audience. Be prepared for anything from Strictly Come Darcy to Mansfield Shark.
Austentatious are Amy Cooke-Hodgson, Graham Dickson, Charlotte Gittins, Cariad Lloyd, Joseph Morpurgo, Andrew Hunter Murray, Rachel Parris and Daniel Nils Roberts, with violin by Oliver Izod.
Produced by Jon Harvey
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 06:00 Noel Coward - South Sea Bubble (b08w91wz)
Passions run high in the usually sleepy little South Sea island of Samolo over a proposal to build a public convenience.
But passions of quite another sort rage in the rugged breast of young Hali Alani whenever he sees the lovely Lady Sandra, the Governor's wife...
Noel Coward's witty but affectionate satire on the British rulers and the native ruled.
Stars Hugh Burden as Boffin, Nigel Greave as Captain Mortlock, Michael Denison as Sir George Shotter, Moira Lister as Lady Alexandra, Tony Osoba as Hali Alani, Lockwood West as Edward Honey, Margaretta Scott as Cuckoo Honey, Bryan Pringle as Punalo Alani and Leonard Fenton as Sanyamo.
Producer: David Johnston
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1980.
SAT 07:30 Hardeep's Sunday Lunch (b01ph7f4)
Series 1, Episode 6In the heart of the Hertfordshire countryside live snow leopards, pumas, amur leopards, ocelot and jaguar. For Hardeep Singh Kohli's last Sunday lunch this week he visits the Cat Survival Trust and with the help of its Director, Terry Moore he cooks lunch for some of the volunteers who work for the charity for free. Whilst preparing his fish pie he finds out why Terry Moore set up his charity over 30 years ago and hears some of the incredible stories about the cats and their keepers.
Producer: Amanda Hancox.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b00hh46x)
Island DreamsPoet Gwyneth Lewis explores the idea of the island and island life, and the ways in which it continues to capture the British imagination. She uses drama, talks and documentary from the BBC audio archive to illustrate its appeal, from reality TV programmes to Desert Island Discs and the Shipping Forecast, and also cites the many instances of island settings in classic literature, including Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Peter Pan and Lord of the Flies.
Including contributions from literary critic Dame Gillian Beer, historian Robert Colls, a group of people who tried to set up an island utopia in the 1960s and the very last man to leave the island of St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides.
SAT 09:00 Josie Long Hears the Truth (b06s9rcn)
The truth in all of its forms can be complicated, but that's not to say it's not worth the quest. From heartfelt, emotional encounters to awe-inspiring experiences, Josie Long presents the best in true storytelling from both home and abroad.
The items featured in this programme are:
The Worst Haircut Ever - Radio producer Jeff Cohen interviews his two young daughters about a haircut that went terribly wrong.
Produced by Jeff Cohen
The Blow Up Bra - 94-year-old Betty Jenkins remembers a quirky gift from her mother.
Produced by Nadia Reiman
School Night - Storyteller Ameera Chowdhury recalls writing a pop music review as a teen and receiving a surprising response.
Produced for The Moth Radio Hour
Don't Go Far - The adventure of two Dublin children in August 1985 who chanced a free ride on the DART and ended up further away than they expected...
Produced by Ronan Kelly and Paul Russell
The Real Tom Banks - 23 year old gay teen Tom Banks is on the search for love...on the internet.
Produced by Jesse Cox
Split Brain - Brain scientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor remembers every moment of her life-altering stroke.
Produced by Nick Van der Kolk
Freud's Couch - Roman Mars on the story behind the most famous couch in history.
Produced by Ann Hepperman
Myrtle and Denika - Fi Glover hears from Myrtle, one of the first single parents to adopt in the UK, and Denika, who was 5 when she went to live with her.
Produced by Victoria McArthur
Dame Mitsuko Uchida - Japanese born classical pianist, Dame Mitsuko Uchida talks about her inspiration and passion for piano playing.
Produced for Front Row
Helen Sharman - The first British person to travel in space, Helen remembers docking with the Mir space station in 1991 and her regret at having to return to Earth.
Produced for My Century
Millie The Jack Russell - We hear the story of the overweight Jack Russell Millie's return to fitness for 2014's PDSA Pet Fit Club.
Produced for You And Yours
Norma Miller - Harlem born Norma Miller tells the story of her lindy hop days.
Produced for My Century
Living With Birdie - Birdie McDonald tells the extraordinary story of her life as a foster mother of more than 850 children over the last 35 years.
Produced by Emily Jeal
Made for BBC Radio 4 in Extra and first broadcast in December 2015.
SAT 12:00 It's Not What You Know (b01c7snf)
Series 1, Episode 1Miles Jupp takes the chair of It's Not What You Know, a new series which sets out to see how well panellists know those closest to them. For in this show it's not what, but who you know that matters - and more importantly how well you know them.
Rachel Johnson, Desmond Lynam and Mark Steel nominate one of their nearest and dearest to answer a selection of questions - anything from "Who would you like to be stranded on a desert island with?" to "What is your favourite film?" to "How much is a pint of milk?" - and they must then attempt to second-guess how their nominee responded. If they can get it right, or come close, they get points.
Each episode also features a very special guest contributor whose answers the panel must also try to predict. In this episode, that very special guest is renowned film director and food critic, Michael Winner.
Producer: Sam Michell.
SAT 12:30 Getting Nowhere Fast (b007k1fl)
Series 2, Episode 1Back at the Cyber Pass cafe, Chantal's biological clock is ticking, so the hunt is on. Stars Mervyn Stutter. From March 2003.
SAT 13:00 Hozan Akko - Stories from Hay el Matar: Omnibus (b08w92nd)
Sumayya Hilmi must decide the future of the family-run hospital. Syrians give a rare glimpse of contemporary life in Damascus.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b05sy1kw)
Philip GlassThe composer inherits La Création du Monde by Milhaud and passes on his own collaboration with Ginsberg, Wichita Vortex Sutra.
SAT 14:15 Frankly Speaking (b05tz4q1)
William WaltonBritish composer Sir William Walton answers the questions from Dilys Powell and Antony Hopkins.
Living in Italy at the time, Sir William had not long turned 60. Revealing his regrets and musical influences, he explains how he goes about his work.
Asked about getting married late in life, Sir William reveals how love struck when he spotted Susana - who became Lady Walton.
Launched in 1952, Frankly Speaking was a completely novel and ground breaking BBC series. Initially there were three interviewers and the series was both unrehearsed and unscripted.
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in 1962.
SAT 14:45 Marriott's Monologues (b00sp4g9)
Roy HuddMore of the famous monologues of Marriott Edgar. Roy Hudd performs 'Jonah and the Grampus' and 'Gunner Joe'.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b00hh46x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Noel Coward - South Sea Bubble (b08w91wz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Hardeep's Sunday Lunch (b01ph7f4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Doctor Who (b08w9346)
The Lost Stories: Point of Entry, Episode 1The Sixth Doctor and his assistant Peri are aboard the TARDIS when it crash lands in Elizabethan England, as dark forces are preparing to invade Earth...
An adventure originally written for the BBC's Doctor Who TV series but never made.
Colin Baker stars as the Sixth Doctor.
With Nicola Bryant as Peri, Matt Addis as Kit Marlowe, Luis Solo as Velez, Sean Connolly as Iguano, Tam Williams as Tom, Gemma Wardle as Alys and Ian Brooker as Sir Francis Walsingham.
Written by Barbara Clegg and Marc Platt.
Director: John Ainsworth
Producer: David Richardson
Made by Big Finish and reversioned for broadcast by BBC Radio 4 Extra.
SAT 19:00 Josie Long Hears the Truth (b06s9rcn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Saturday Night Fry (b0091t5j)
Episode 4Stephen Fry serves up more witty banter and sketches. With Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent and Alison Steadman. From May 1988.
SAT 22:30 The Jason Byrne Show (b00mw69r)
Series 1, SportProbing a fresh theme each week, the Irish comedian hosts stand-up and sketches. With Ivan Brackenbury. From August 2008.
SAT 23:00 Mark Steel's in Town (b01phjb0)
Series 4, Chipping NortonComedian Mark Steel returns with a new series, looking under the surface of some of the UK's more distinctive towns to shed some light on the people, history, rivalries, slang, traditions, and eccentricities that makes them unique.
Creating a bespoke stand-up set for each town, Mark performs the show in front of a local audience.
As well as examining the less visited areas of Britain, Mark uncovers stories and experiences that resonate with us all as we recognise the quirkiness of the British way of life and the rich tapestry of remarkable events and people who have shaped where we live.
During this 4th series of 'Mark Steel's In Town', Mark will visit Tobermory, Whitehaven, Handsworth, Ottery St Mary, Corby, and Chipping Norton.
This week, Mark visits Chipping Norton and uncovers the relationship between the Camerons, the Clarksons, and a town full of rebels.
Additional material by Pete Sinclair.
Produced by Sam Bryant.
SAT 23:30 28 Acts in 28 Minutes (b008khpv)
Series 2, Episode 1John Humphrys gives 28 performers 60 seconds each to entertain. With Shappi Khorsandi and Stephen K Amos. From December 2007.

SUNDAY 25 JUNE 2017

SUN 00:00 Doctor Who (b08w9346)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 Hozan Akko - Stories from Hay el Matar: Omnibus (b08w92nd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (b05sy1kw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Saturday]
SUN 02:15 Frankly Speaking (b05tz4q1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Saturday]
SUN 02:45 Marriott's Monologues (b00sp4g9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Archive on 4 (b00hh46x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 Noel Coward - South Sea Bubble (b08w91wz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 Hardeep's Sunday Lunch (b01ph7f4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 Dave Sheasby - Shifting the Leaves (b007jtcr)
OmnibusOmnibus. Back in Cornwall after 60 years, Marjorie tries to come to terms with her past. Stars Elizabeth Bradley and Tristan Sturrock.
SUN 07:15 Berlie Doherty - Crossing the Glacier (b007jv9m)
Gerda and Pam are two women who find themselves emotionally frozen in the past, but they get to know and help each other. Short story read by Janet Dale.
SUN 07:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b04p85z2)
Series 2, Point of No ReturnAfter a mere twenty-one years of service the Wrigglesworth dishwasher has finally packed in, so Mr Wrigglesworth is bringing Tom's mum and his gran down to London to have it out with the manufacturers at the Ideal Home Show. A visit which is made inordinately complicated by Mr Wrigglesworth's ambitious travel plans...
SUN 08:00 Educating Archie (b007jx7p)
From 11/02/1954Archie gets up to some high jinks with inks, thanks to cheeky schoolgirl chum, Monica.
Radio ventriloquism from Peter Brough and schoolboy, Archie Andrews.
With Harry Secombe, Beryl Reid, Hattie Jacques, Bernard Miles, Ronald Chesney and Peter Madden.
Running from 1950- 1958, Educating Archie introduced a number of soon-to-be household names to listeners, including Tony Hancock, Benny Hill, Harry Secombe, Dick Emery, Hattie Jacques, Bruce Forsyth and Max Bygraves - all taking a turn in tutoring Archie.
Script by Eric Sykes with Walter Ridley.
Music by the BBC Revue Orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.
Producer: Roy Speer
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in February 1954.
SUN 08:30 Whack-O! (b062n97r)
From 11/07/1961Professor Jimmy Edwards' elevation to PhD status comes at a cost - to someone else! With June Whitfield.
Starting life on BBC TV before transferring to radio, Chiselbury School is run "for the sons of gentlefolk".
Headmaster, Professor James Edwards, M.A. never misses a trick when it comes to exploiting the students and their parents. Sports pitches are given over to growing vegetables, which the boys nurture for their head to sell. Classes never exceed 95 pupils - 50 if private tuition is paid for at five guineas extra. It's only thanks to the efforts of the devoted deputy head, Mr Pettigrew, that the school exists at all.
Written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden and adapted for radio by David Climie.
Producer: Edward Taylor
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in July 1961.
SUN 09:00 The Secret Lives of Colour: Omnibus (b08w9w2m)
Kassia St Clair explores the colour palette, starting with hidden stories of various shades of white. Read by Francesca Dymond.
SUN 10:10 The Listening Project (b01rlt11)
Tumi and Tilly - Best Cousin EverFi Glover presents a conversation between cousins Tumi and Tilly, cousins who have very different views of life, yet support each other throughout, proving that 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 10:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b08w9w54)
Islands, Dawn French4 Extra Debut. From Alison Moyet to James Taylor. Comedy star Dawn French shares her castaway choices with Kirsty Young. From December 2012.
SUN 11:00 Radiolab (b08w9x4f)
Talking to MachinesChatbots, robot therapists, robots that learn and an electronic robotic toy. Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich talk to machines.
Radiolab is a Peabody-award winning show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and the human experience.
First broadcast on public radio in the USA.
SUN 12:00 Educating Archie (b007jx7p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SUN 12:30 Whack-O! (b062n97r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
SUN 13:00 Dave Sheasby - Shifting the Leaves (b007jtcr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 14:15 Berlie Doherty - Crossing the Glacier (b007jv9m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]
SUN 14:30 Arundhati Roy - The Ministry of Utmost Happiness: Omnibus (b08w9y31)
Episode 31996: As the conflict rages in war-torn Kashmir, Musa is compelled to make an impossible choice. Read by Indira Varma.
SUN 15:45 Journey Into Language (b00dk921)
Listening to LorcaRenowned linguist Professor Eric Hawkins recalls studying in France and Germany during the 1930s rise of fascism.
SUN 16:00 Drama (b069h37w)
A Place of Greater Safety, EqualityHilary Mantel's epic account of the French Revolution as seen through the eyes of its principal characters. Pressure is growing on the revolutionaries to depose the king and create a republic.
Dramatised by Melissa Murray
Part 2: Equality
Directed by Marc Beeby.
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (b08w9z5k)
Broken ParadiseBBC Radio 4's Poet in Residence, Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry with 'Broken Paradise' featuring poetry from Sri Lanka's bitter civil war.
To mark the fourth anniversary of the ending of Sri Lanka's civil war, in May 2009, translator Lakshmi Holmström introduces some of the most powerful Tamil poetry to emerge from the 26 year long conflict, in which an estimated 70,000 people were killed as militant Tamil Tigers fought to establish a separate Tamil state in the north of the island.
These poems bear witness to the atrocities committed by both sides and reflect on some of the war's most significant turning points, from the deadly introduction of female suicide bombers to the final bloody showdown on a beach near Jaffna, where government forces conclusively defeated the Tamil Tigers.
Poets featured include Cheran, probably the most significant living Tamil poet and a former journalist now exiled in Canada, whose poems chart the history of the war and of a landscape once idyllic, now devastated. There is also a poem by S. Sivaramani, a promising young woman poet who committed suicide in 1991. In Oppressed by Nights of War she describes the impact of the violence and fear on children.
Presenter Lakshmi Holmström MBE is a widely acclaimed translator of Tamil fiction and poetry. A collection of her translations of Cheran's poetry is to be published this summer, titled In a Time of Burning.
Readings by Hiran Abeysekara, Vayu Naidu and Vignarajan
Producer: Mukti Jain Campion
A Culture Wise production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2013.
SUN 17:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b04p85z2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 18:00 Afternoon Drama (b01s4vf2)
Michael Stewart - Dead Man's SuitDead Man's Suit
A strange loner buys a suit in a charity shop and it changes his life. He secures a powerful new job and women notice him for the first time. Does the suit possess some sort of supernatural power? Or is it something more sinister? A black comedy by Michael Stewart.
Director/ Producer Gary Brown
Michael Stewart is a former winner of the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award for writers new to radio; this is his third Afternoon Drama. His novel 'King Crow' was published in 2011 to great critical acclaim.
SUN 18:45 Book at Bedtime (b03cmnzx)
Algernon Blackwood's Ghost Stories, Keeping His PromiseMarriott is cramming for an exam when he is disturbed by a late-night visitor, and an unexpected reminder of the past. It is an old school friend, but why is he so tired and so hungry?
Stories abridged by Robin Brooks
Read by Matthew Marsh
Producer: Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 19:00 Radiolab (b08w9x4f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 20:00 The Secret Lives of Colour: Omnibus (b08w9w2m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SUN 21:10 The Listening Project (b01rlt11)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 today]
SUN 21:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b08w9w54)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:15 today]
SUN 22:00 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b04p85z2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 22:30 The Brig Society (b04d4w5z)
Series 2, Drug DealerUh-oh - Marcus Brigstocke has been put in charge of a thing! Each week, Marcus finds he's volunteered to be in charge of a big old thing and each week he starts out by thinking "Well, it can't be that difficult, surely?" and ends up with "Oh - turns out it's utterly difficult and complicated. Who knew...?"
This week, Marcus has Broken Bad and become a drug dealer. He'll also go on a long personal journey and, along the way, he'll examine the complex inter-relationship between legalisation, culture, hypocrisy and cheese.
Helping him to cook up a storm will be Rufus Jones (W1A, Holy Flying Circus), William Andrews (Sorry I've Got No Head) and Margaret Cabourn-Smith (Miranda)
The show is produced by Marcus's long-standing accomplice David Tyler, who also produces Marcus appearances as the inimitable as Giles Wemmbley Hogg. David's other radio credits include Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation, Cabin Pressure, Thanks A Lot, Milton Jones!, Kevin Eldon Will See You Now, Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive, The Castle, The 3rd Degree, The 99p Challenge, My First Planet, Radio Active and Bigipedia.
Written by Marcus Brigstocke, Jeremy Salsby, Toby Davies, Nick Doody, Steve Punt and Dan Tetsell.
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b08wzn54)
The best in contemporary comedy. Arthur Smith chats to Sam Wills.
SUN 23:00 Irish Micks and Legends (b01nl8gr)
Series 1, The Salmon of KnowledgeAisling Bea and Yasmine Akram become Ais and Yaz and are the very best pals. They are taking their role as Ireland's freshest story-tellers to the British nation very seriously indeed but they haven't had the time to do much research, learn their lines or work out who is doing which parts.
The girls' unconventional way of telling stories involves a concoction of thoroughly inappropriate modern-day metaphors and references to many of the ancient Irish stories.
With a natural knack for both comedy and character voices Yasmine Akram and Aisling Bea will bring you warm, modern re-workings of popular ancient Irish stories.
Today it's the Salmon of Knowledge.
Written and performed by Aisling Bea and Yasmine Akram
Producer: Raymond Lau.
SUN 23:15 Don't Start (b01ml8b3)
Series 2, The NotebookWhat do long term partners really argue about? Sharp new comedy from Frank Skinner returns for a second series. Starring Frank Skinner and Katherine Parkinson.
The first series of Don't Start met with instant critical and audience acclaim: "That he can deliver such a heavy premise for a series with such a lightness of touch is testament to his skills as a writer and, given that the protagonists are both bookworms, he's also permitted to use a flourish of fine words that would be lost in his stand-up routines". Jane Anderson, Radio Times.
"Writing and starring in the four-parter Don't Start (Radio 4) Frank Skinner gives full rein to his sharp but splenetic comedy. He and his co-star Katherine Parkinson play a bickering couple exchanging acerbic ripostes in a cruelly precise dissection of a relationship". Daily Mail
... "a lesson in relationship ping-pong" - Miranda Sawyer, The Observer.
Series 2 follows hard on its heels. Well observed, clever and funny, Don't Start is a scripted comedy with a deceptively simple premise - an argument. Each week, our couple fall out over another apparently trivial flashpoint - the Krankies, toenail trimming and semantics. Each week, the stakes mount as Neil and Kim battle with words. But these are no ordinary arguments. The two outdo each other with increasingly absurd images, unexpected literary references (the Old Testament, Jack Spratt and the first Mrs Rochester, to name a few) and razor sharp analysis of their beloved's weaknesses. Underneath the cutting wit, however, there is an unmistakable tenderness".
Frank says:
"Having established in the first series that Neil and Kim are a childless academic couple who during their numerous arguments, luxuriate in their own and each other's learning and wit, I've tried in the second series to dig a little deeper into their relationship. Love and affection occasionally splutter into view, like a Higgs boson in a big tunnel-thing, but can such emotions ever prevail in a relationship where the couple prefers to wear their brains, rather than their hearts, on their sleeves? Is that too much offal imagery?
Episode 1: The Notebook
Frank's apparently innocent discovery of an old notebook strangely rekindles Kim's former enthusiasm for Frisbee throwing.
Directed and produced by Polly Thomas
An Avalon Production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 23:30 On the Town with the League of Gentlemen (b0081tbs)
The WeddingReg finds Barbara through the local Close Encounters dating agency.
The first incarnation of the award-winning black comedy, about the "local people" of the town of Spent - before it hit TV.
Starring Mark Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton.
Written by the cast and Jeremy Dyson.
The League of Gentlemen won a Perrier Edinburgh Fesvital award in 1997 and this radio series debuted in the same year. They also won a Sony Radio Award. The cult series switched to TV for three series on BBC 2 from 1999, plus stage shows and a feature film.
Producer: Sarah Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1997.

MONDAY 26 JUNE 2017

MON 00:00 Afternoon Drama (b01s4vf2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:45 Book at Bedtime (b03cmnzx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:45 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 Dave Sheasby - Shifting the Leaves (b007jtcr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:15 Berlie Doherty - Crossing the Glacier (b007jv9m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Sunday]
MON 02:30 Arundhati Roy - The Ministry of Utmost Happiness: Omnibus (b08w9y31)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Sunday]
MON 03:45 Journey Into Language (b00dk921)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Drama (b069h37w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (b08w9z5k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b04p85z2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jr8v)
The Finger of SuspicionAfter bride Barbara's disappearance, the Honourable Richard Rollison faces more mystery - on the trail of Major Guy Lessing's first wife...
Terence Alexander stars as the Toff - upper-class amateur sleuth, the Honourable Richard Rollison.
Created by John Creasey, The Toff appears in over 60 novels. First published in 1959, The Toff and the Runaway Bride was dramatised in six-parts for the BBC World Service by Roy Lomax.
With Robert Dorning as Jolly, Alan Cuthbertson as Major Guy Lessing, Rosalind Shanks as Barbara Lessing, Dennis McCarthy as the Doctor, Robert Lawn as Kevin Brennan and Godfrey James as the Superintendent.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on the BBC World Service in June 1975.
MON 06:30 Anuta - An Island Governed By Love (b00k8lfz)
Situated in the South Pacific, Anuta is home to 300 people, which based on the size of the island is a population density to rival Bangladesh.
It is a place where people follow a traditional way of life that goes back hundreds of years. The nearest school is hundreds of miles away and there is no clinic. Few people earn money, but they don't need it. Everything they need they grow or harvest themselves, and have sustained their resources across the generations.
Reporter Huw Cordey visited Anuta to record part of a BBC television series, South Pacific. In this programme he meets the islanders and their chief, and hears about their lives. He fishes, catches birds and lives with them, discovering that all Anutans live by the principle of 'Arofa', or love.
He also finds out how modern life is catching up with the Anutans, and why not everyone there is happy with the island idyll where tradition is all and individualism is nothing.
MON 07:00 On the Rocks (b03jfk21)
Series 1, Spiesby Christopher William Hill. It's 1937 on the remote Scilly Island of St. Martin's, where the islanders are resisting the attempts of the Penzance GPO man to modernise the post office - around which their world revolves.
Episode 1: Spies
directed by Mary Peate.
Sound by Jenni Burnett, Anne Bunting and Graham Harper
Production Co-ordinator, Jessica Brown.
MON 07:30 Just a Minute (b08v07n4)
Series 78, 19/06/2017Just A Minute is 50 years old this year! Nicholas Parsons has been hosting since day one and presides over an all-star panel: Paul Merton, Ross Noble, Fern Britton and Gyles Brandreth.
Hayley Sterling blows the whistle and it was produced by Matt Stronge.
Just A Minute is a BBC Studios production.
MON 08:00 The Burkiss Way (b00d16g6)
Series 5, Sack the Burkiss WayConfusion at Eddie's 24 Hour Sniffery and let's play 'Family Fortunes'.
Starring Fred Harris, Jo Kendall, Nigel Rees and Chris Emmett.
Cult sketch comedy series which originally ran from 1976 to 1980.
Scripted by David Renwick and Andrew Marshall.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1980.
MON 08:30 Dad's Army (b00qxh17)
Series 2, War DanceCaptain Mainwaring's platoon dance is disrupted by an announcement from Private Pike.
Starring Arthur Lowe as Captain Mainwaring, John Le Mesurier as Sergeant Wilson, Clive Dunn as Corporal Jones, John Laurie as Private Frazer, Ian Lavender as Private Pike, Arnold Ridley as Godfrey, and Larry Martyn as Private Walker. With Wendy Richards as Violet Gibbons.
Adapted for radio from Jimmy Perry and David Croft's TV scripts by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles.
Producer: John Dyas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1975.
MON 09:00 The Write Stuff (b019h2bb)
Series 15, Sir John BetjemanJames Walton hosts another series of the book-based panel show. This episode's Author of the Week is former poet laureate, Sir John Betjeman.
Sebastian Faulks is joined by children's author, Sue Limb, and John Walsh is joined by Sir Andrew Motion, a previous poet laureate himself, to solve more literary challenges, based on Betjeman's life and work, as posed to them by James Walton.
The teams are also asked to imagine what Betjeman might have written about were he alive today, and still poet laureate.
MON 09:30 The Change (b0076pdx)
Series 3, Episode 6Tensions mount as Carol approaches full term and she and George appear on Radio 4's Woman's Hour.
Starring Lynda Bellingham as Carol, Philip Jackson as George, Maureen Beattie as Maureen, Marcia Warren as Violet, Emma Kennedy as Sonia and Jenni Murray as herself.
Series 3 of the sitcom about a married couple's attempts to smooth over their singularly troubled midlife funk - Carol is hormonal and 15-stone George is a transvestite. Onlookers can't quite agree on the nature of their dynamic.
Written by Jan Etherington and Gavin Petrie.
Producer: Elizabeth Freestone
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2004.
MON 10:00 Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White (b007jlgx)
Episode 1Walter Hartright meets a strange woman dressed in white as he returns home across Hampstead Heath late one night. He's about to travel north to take up a post as drawing master to two young ladies. Little does he realise how this chance encounter and his new position are inextricably linked.
Wilkie Collins's Victorian thriller dramatised in four episodes by Martyn Wade.
Stars Toby Stephens as Walter Hartright, Juliet Aubrey as Marian Halcombe, Emily Bruni as Laura Fairlie, Jeremy Clyde as Sir Percival Glyde, Alice Hart as Anne Catherick, Sean Baker as Mr Gilmore, Ioan Meredith as Pesca, Edward Petherbridge as Frederick Fairlie, Jonathan Keeble as Mr Dempster and Oliver Cookson as Jacob.
Music: Elizabeth Parker
Director: Cherry Cookson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
MON 11:00 George Mackay Brown Stories (b01s39zl)
The Wireless SetThe first in a series of three short stories by one of Orkney's finest writers, George Mackay Brown. An internationally renowned poet and Booker-nominated novelist, Mackay Brown's work was infused by the islands history and culture; his friend Seamus Heaney said of him: "He transforms everything by passing it through the eye of the needle of Orkney."
In today's story, set in 1939, a couple are bemused by their son's gift of a wireless set, but when he leaves the small island community for service in the Navy, they and their neighbours keep a close ear upon the news it brings of the war's progress.
George Mackay Brown (1921 - 1996) was a prolific short story writer. "The Wireless Set" can be found in the collection "A Time to Keep", which is republished this month by Birlinn.
Read by Claire Knight.
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
The opening music is "Shapinsay Polka" by Jennifer and Hazel Wrigley, taken from their album Mither O' The Sea.
MON 11:15 Peter Tinniswood (b007jz06)
Dorothy, a Manager's WifeA resentful soccer spouse rants about the game and her football manager husband. Stars Pauline Collins and Timothy West.
MON 12:00 The Burkiss Way (b00d16g6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 Dad's Army (b00qxh17)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jr8v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 Anuta - An Island Governed By Love (b00k8lfz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b07pfc3g)
Eight Months on Ghazzah Street, Episode 6Nearly 30 years on from its original publication, Hilary Mantel's third novel is still as disturbing, incisive and illuminating as ever. In an unusual collaboration, the author has revisited the book to create, with the abridger, this new ten-part serialisation.
Frances Shore is a cartographer by trade, but when her husband's work takes them to Saudi Arabia she finds herself unable to map either the ever changing landscape or the Kingdom's heavily veiled ways of working. The regime is corrupt and harsh, the expatriates are hard-drinking money-grubbers, and her Muslim neighbours are secretive and watchful.
She soon discovers that the streets are not a woman's territory. Confined in her flat, she finds her sense of self beginning to dissolve. She hears footsteps, sounds of distress from the supposedly empty flat above. She has only constantly changing rumours to hang on to, and no one with whom to share her creeping unease.
In episode six, Frances gives her first dinner party.
Reader: Anna Maxwell Martin
Author: Hilary Mantel
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Alexa Moore
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b048s4tn)
A Rose by Any Other NameThe 18th century's age of travel and enlightenment meant that a vast influx of newly discovered plants into Europe was creating a botanical tower of Babel. No common language for plants and a wealth of long and localised names made communication about plant species often impossible. Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus dedicated his life to developing a proper system of naming and placing plants into a new ordered hierarchy.
Professor Kathy Willis launches the series by talking to Jim Endersby, historian at Sussex University, who argues that Linnaeus' system of plant classification established the roots of botany as we now know it and revolutionised the economics and movement of plant species and their riches across the globe, and how they are referred to.
She speaks with Linnaean archivist Gina Douglas and learns how in 1753 his System Naturae placed plants into a hierarchy of relationships based on the number of reproductive organs, in the hope of uncovering the machinery of nature. Whilst much of what Linnaeus developed has now been superseded by a more natural system of classification, his method of naming still dominates today
Producer: Adrian Washbourne
Presenter: KATHY WILLIS is Director of Science at Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. She is also Professor of Long-term Ecology and a fellow of Merton College, both at Oxford University. Winner of several awards, she has spent over 20 years researching and teaching biodiversity and conservation at Oxford and Cambridge.
MON 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b01nkwxk)
Une Vie, Episode 11/5 Adrian Penketh's adaptation of Maupassant's first novel. Jeanne de Lamare - a sheltered and naive country aristocrat - leaves her convent education filled with thoughts of love and romance.
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
MON 14:45 Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island (b007jp0m)
Dover to LondonRecalling tea with tinned biscuits, American comic writer, Bill Bryson takes a sentimental journey around Britain.
Five readings abridged and performed by Kerry Shale.
Producer: Paul Kent
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
MON 15:00 Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White (b007jlgx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 The Write Stuff (b019h2bb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 The Change (b0076pdx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 On the Rocks (b03jfk21)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 Just a Minute (b08v07n4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016pyp1)
The Linen MillWhen 82-year-old Ellie revisits her old workplace, she is in turn visited by the past. Can she be forgiven? Stars Doreen Keogh.
MON 18:15 Ghost Stories by HG Wells (b08wb7hr)
The Moth4 Extra Debut. When one of a pair of rival entomologists dies, the other believes he discovers an elusive new species. Read by David McAlister.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (b0076l6w)
Sir Menzies Campbell & Alain de BottonSue MacGregor and her guests - politican, Sir Menzies Campbell and author, Alain de Botton - discuss favourite books by Roy Hattersley, Nicholson Baker and Diana Athill. From 2004.
Stet by Diana Athill
Published by Granta
Who Goes Home by Roy Hattersley
Published by Abacus
U & I: A True Story by Nicholson Baker
Published by Granta.
MON 19:00 The Burkiss Way (b00d16g6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Dad's Army (b00qxh17)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jr8v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 Anuta - An Island Governed By Love (b00k8lfz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 George Mackay Brown Stories (b01s39zl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:15 Peter Tinniswood (b007jz06)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
MON 22:00 Just a Minute (b08v07n4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 The Consultants (b007k2w7)
Series 3, Episode 6Unisex barbers and wrong telephone numbers. Cerebral sketch show with Neil Edmond and Justin Edwards. From January 2005.
MON 23:00 Dead Ringers (b08v8vgt)
Series 18, 23/06/2017Recorded the day before transmission, the satirical sketch show remains as sharp and topical as ever. Impressions and caricatures are the charming couriers of explosively satirical truth-bombs.
The series is written by Private Eye writers Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain, together with Tom Coles, Ed Amsden, Sarah Campbell, Laurence Howarth, James Bugg, Laura Major, Max Davis, Jack Bernhardt and others.
The series stars Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis MacLeod, Deborah Stephenson and Duncan Wisbey.
A BBC Studios Production.
MON 23:30 A Look Back at the Future (b01rlngt)
2005Recorded in June 1994, Brian Perkins, Kate Robbins and John O'Farrell look forward to the Year of the Telepathone.

TUESDAY 27 JUNE 2017

TUE 00:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016pyp1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:15 Ghost Stories by HG Wells (b08wb7hr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b0076l6w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jr8v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 Anuta - An Island Governed By Love (b00k8lfz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b07pfc3g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b048s4tn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b01nkwxk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:45 Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island (b007jp0m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White (b007jlgx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 The Write Stuff (b019h2bb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 The Change (b0076pdx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 On the Rocks (b03jfk21)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 Just a Minute (b08v07n4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrcm)
No Sleep for the WickedWith Guy and Barbara both now murder suspects - the Toff gets a shock when breaking into the Major's flat.
Terence Alexander stars as the Toff - upper-class amateur sleuth, the Honourable Richard Rollison.
Created by John Creasey, The Toff appears in over 60 novels. First published in 1959, The Toff and the Runaway Bride was dramatised in six-parts for the BBC World Service by Roy Lomax.
With Robert Dorning as Jolly, Godfrey James as the Superintendent, Rosalind Shanks as Barbara Lessing, Clifford Norgate as the Police Officer, Alan Cuthbertson as Major Guy Lessing, Rose Lessing as Denise Buckley and David Graham as Holy Joe.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on the BBC World Service in June 1975.
TUE 06:30 The Bow Street Magistrates' Court (b0076z45)
There has been a Magistrates Court in London's Bow Street since 1740, dispensing justice to an extraordinary range of characters from Casanova to the Krays. But the court is closing to be turned into a boutique hotel.
On the day of its final sitting, Rory MacLean is given unique access behind the scenes as staff prepare to leave and almost three centuries of tradition comes to an end.
TUE 07:00 Lucky Heather (b0075s9h)
UnforgivenRecently widowed Denis hires Heather to trace his first love Yvonne.
Just this side of nosey, Heather is western movie-mad. She's also the Sherlock Holmes of the rundown Sutter Estate.
Sue Teddern's six-part comedy series star Lindsey Coulson as Heather. (Carol Jackson in BBC TV's EastEnders until 2015)
With Abigail Hart as Natalie, Ben Crowe as Ryan, Tom George as Craig, Beth Chalmers as Lisa and Dearbhla Molloy as Maev.
Director: David Hunter
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2000.
TUE 07:30 Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar (b083p88m)
CareerismThe Godfather of Alternative Comedy delivers a mixture of stand-up, memoir and philosophy from behind the counter of his Imaginary Sandwich Bar.
Episode 3 - Careerism
Alexei reveals the surprising reason he disappeared from our TV screens in the 1990's, recounts a chance meeting with Ed Miliband, discusses rampant nepotism in most coveted careers and draws a striking comparisons between capitalism and all you can eat buffets.
Written and performed by Alexei Sayle
Additional Material from Liam Beirne
Produced by Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios Production.
TUE 08:00 Steptoe and Son (b007jnqv)
Series 6, Live Now, Paye LaterThe tax inspector catches up with Albert Steptoe and son Harold is not impressed.
Starring Wilfrid Brambell as Albert and Harry H Corbett as Harold. With Michael Shannon, Peter Williams and Edward Kelsey.
Following the conclusion of their hugely successful association with Tony Hancock, writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson wrote 10 pilots for the BBC TV's Comedy Playhouse in 1962. The Offer was set in a house with a yard full of junk, featuring the lives of rag and bone men Albert Steptoe and his son Harold and it was the spark for a run of 8 series for TV.
Written for TV and adapted for radio by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Produced by Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in February 1976.
TUE 08:30 The Men From the Ministry (b007jmck)
Bare NecessitiesThe bumbling bureaucrats hit obstacles galore when deciding a new route for a motorway...
A weekly tribute to all those who work in government departments.
Stars Richard Murdoch and Deryck Guyler.
With Norma Ronald, John Graham, Ronald Baddiley and Joan Sanderson.
Written by Edward Taylor and John Graham.
'The Men from the Ministry' ran for 14 series between 1962 and 1977. Deryck Guyler replaced Wilfrid Hyde-White from 1966. Sadly many episodes didn't survive in the archive, however the BBC's Transcription Service re-recorded 14 shows in 1980 - never broadcast in the UK, until the arrival of BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Producer: Edward Taylor,
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in March 1970.
TUE 09:00 Dead Ringers (b07glx81)
Series 16, Episode 2With the Referendum result now in the team give in-depth analysis of the highs, lows and madness of the EU Campaigns. Performed by Jon Culshaw, Lewis MacLeod, Jan Ravens, Debra Stephenson and Duncan Wisbey.
Written by... Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain, Tom Coles and Ed Amsden, Laurence Howarth, Duncan Wisbey, Sarah Campbell, Laura Major, James Bugg, Jack Bernhardt, Liam Beirne and Max Davis.
Producer.. Bill Dare
A BBC Studios Production.
TUE 09:30 Getting Nowhere Fast (b008gdc5)
Series 2, Episode 2Feeling old and penniless, 1960s flower child Merv decides to return to his garden roots. Stars Mervyn Stutter. From April 2003.
TUE 10:00 Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White (b007jlhn)
Episode 2Walter has left Limmeridge House as Laura prepares to marry Sir Percival. Laura's half-sister Marian knows of Laura's feelings for Walter, has great doubts about the marriage, yet is powerless to stop it...
Wilkie Collins's Victorian thriller dramatised by Martyn Wade.
Stars Toby Stephens as Walter Hartright, Juliet Aubrey as Marian Halcombe, Emily Bruni as Laura Fairlie, Jeremy Clyde as Sir Percival Glyde, Alice Hart as Anne Catherick, Sean Baker as Mr Gilmore, Ioan Meredith as Pesca, Edward Petherbridge as Frederick Fairlie, Jonathan Keeble as Messenger, Philip Voss as Count Fosco and Geraldine Fitzgerald as Madame Fosco.
Music: Elizabeth Parker
Director: Cherry Cookson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
TUE 11:00 George Mackay Brown Stories (b01s7xsp)
The Five of SpadesShort story by one of Orkney's finest writers, George Mackay Brown. An internationally renowned poet and Booker-nominated novelist, Mackay Brown's work was infused by the islands history and culture; his friend Seamus Heaney said of him: "He transforms everything by passing it through the eye of the needle of Orkney."
Today's story is set in the 1800s and depicts the trials and tribulations of Check Harra, a young Orcadian whose love of gambling leads him into a series of extraordinary adventures.
George MacKay Brown (1921 - 1996) was a prolific short story writer. "The Five of Spades" can be found in the collection "A Time to Keep", which was republished by Birlinn at the end of last month.
Read by Andy Clark.
Abridged and produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
The theme music is "Way Oot West" by Jennifer and Hazel Wrigley, taken from the album Mither O' The Sea.
TUE 11:15 Alexandra Cadell - Desert Island Desserts (b00757wy)
When two interviewees from Desert Island Discs - a bumptious anthropologist and a footballer - are marooned on an island, their choice of music and survival techniques fail to live up to expectations.
Alexandra Cadell's fantasy comedy stars Nicholas Le Provost as Benedict and Eddie Marsan as Frank. With Sue Lawley as herself.
Director: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
TUE 12:00 Steptoe and Son (b007jnqv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 The Men From the Ministry (b007jmck)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrcm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 The Bow Street Magistrates' Court (b0076z45)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b07pgw3p)
Eight Months on Ghazzah Street, Episode 7Nearly 30 years on from its original publication, Hilary Mantel's third novel is still as disturbing, incisive and illuminating as ever. In an unusual collaboration, the author has revisited the book to create, with the abridger, this new ten-part serialisation.
Frances Shore is a cartographer by trade, but when her husband's work takes them to Saudi Arabia she finds herself unable to map either the ever changing landscape or the Kingdom's heavily veiled ways of working. The regime is corrupt and harsh, the expatriates are hard-drinking money-grubbers, and her Muslim neighbours are secretive and watchful.
She soon discovers that the streets are not a woman's territory. Confined in her flat, she finds her sense of self beginning to dissolve. She hears footsteps, sounds of distress from the supposedly empty flat above. She has only constantly changing rumours to hang on to, and no one with whom to share her creeping unease.
In episode seven, Yasmin confides in Frances.
Reader: Anna Maxwell Martin
Author: Hilary Mantel
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Alexa Moore
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b049yhd5)
Plants to Shape SocietyThe 18th century botanical impresario Sir Joseph Banks was convinced that Britain's destiny was as the major civilising power in the world, and this could be achieved by harnessing botany and imperial progress to each other's mutual benefit.
Professor Kathy Willis talks to Linnaean Society honorary archivist, Gina Douglas, on how Britain's acquisition of Carl Linnaeus' collection of books and specimens proved the tool to promote, identify, and trade plants across the Empire.
She hears from Richard Barley, Director of Horticulture at Kew and former director of Melbourne's Botanic Gardens, who discusses Banks' influence on the choice of plants taken with the first settlers to Australia.
But how central were plants to Britain's colonial project? Historian Jim Endersby weighs up Joseph Banks' 18th century vision to use Kew as a centre to gather as many plants and plant products as possible, not only to enrich the Royal Garden's collection but for Kew to also function as a botanical exchange house between the colonies.
Producer: Adrian Washbourne
Presenter: KATHY WILLIS is Director of Science at Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. She is also Professor of Long-term Ecology and a fellow of Merton College, both at Oxford University. Winner of several awards, she has spent over 20 years researching and teaching biodiversity and conservation at Oxford and Cambridge.
TUE 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b01nl6hb)
Une Vie, Episode 22/5 Adrian Penketh's adaptation of Maupassant's first novel. Jeanne de Lamare - a sheltered and naive country aristocrat - has married a smallminded local landowner, and begins to adapt to the disappointments of life.
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
TUE 14:45 Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island (b007jp13)
Virginia WaterRecalling driving and his hospital job, the American author takes a sentimental journey around Britain. Read by Kerry Shale.
TUE 15:00 Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White (b007jlhn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 The Museum of Curiosity (b00knwyq)
Series 2, Episode 5John Lloyd and Sean Lock invite guests Jon Richardson, Roger Law and Kate Adie to increase the collection. From June 2009.
TUE 16:30 The Six Mothers-in-Law of Henry VIII (b0076j4t)
Episode 4Venturing away from home for the first time, Anne of Cleves comes to England. Henry thinks he has a demure and compliant wife, but he reckons without Mrs Loew.
An unreliable history, created and written in six parts by Barry Grossman.
Starring Jonathan Coy as Henry VIII, Milton Jones as Thomas Cromwell, Alfred Burke as the Chronicler, Jasmin Hyde as Jane Seymour, Eve Matheson as Lady Margaret, John Webb as Sir John and Jonathan Kydd as Antonio, Sasha Pick as Anne of Cleves, Aletta Lawson as Mrs Loew, Chris Emmett as the Fool and Peter Van Dissel as Hans Holbein/Sir Richard.
Music by Jim Parker.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003.
TUE 17:00 Lucky Heather (b0075s9h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar (b083p88m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016q309)
The Wedding BouquetCould the tale of a tragic marriage from 1677 have implications for a couple tying the knot today? Stars Alison McKenna.
TUE 18:15 Ghost Stories by HG Wells (b08wdhpv)
The Story of The Late Mr ElveshamA medical student doesn't appreciate the sacrifice he has made when an old stranger makes him his heir. Read by David McAlister.
TUE 18:30 Sounds Natural (b08wdhvr)
Derek WaringBest remembered from TV's Z Cars and Moody and Pegg, actor Derek Waring shares his love of wildlife with Derek Jones.
The Barn Owl, Kingfisher, Mallard and Shrew are among his choice of recordings from the BBC Sound Archives.
Produced in Bristol by John Burton.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1975.
TUE 19:00 Steptoe and Son (b007jnqv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 The Men From the Ministry (b007jmck)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrcm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 The Bow Street Magistrates' Court (b0076z45)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 George Mackay Brown Stories (b01s7xsp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 21:15 Alexandra Cadell - Desert Island Desserts (b00757wy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
TUE 22:00 Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar (b083p88m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 Revolting People (b00fy2qr)
Series 2, Still in Trying TimesEzekiel sets out to uncover who is his new son's real father. 1770 America sitcom stars Andy Hamilton and Jay Tarses. From February 2001.
TUE 23:00 As Told to Craig Brown (b01g6l4z)
Craig Brown's Lost Diaries, March and AprilA second chance to hear satirist Craig Brown dip into the private lives of public figures from the 1960's to the present day.
March and April: Gyles Brandreth celebrates his birthday through the years, and Sharon Osbourne auditions some handsome young singers.
Voiced by Jan Ravens, Alistair McGowan, Lewis McLeod, Ewan Bailey, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and Dolly Wells.
Written by Craig Brown.
Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
TUE 23:30 Bird Island (b01jrknt)
Series 1, Episode 1On the one hand, Ben is on the trip of a lifetime to Sub-Antarctica. On the other, he's trapped in an icy hell with one other person, a dodgy internet connection and a dictaphone. Loneliness is something of a problem. His fellow travelling scientist Graham should alleviate this, but the tragi-comic fact is, they are nerdy blokes, so they can only stumble through yet another awkward exchange. Ben experiences all the highs and lows that this beautiful, but lonely place has to offer but fails miserably to communicate this to Graham. So, Ben shares his thoughts with us in the form of an audio 'log'.
Apart from his research studying the Albatross on the Island, Ben attempts to continue normal life with an earnestness and enthusiasm which is ultimately very endearing. We're with him as chats awkwardly with Graham, telephones his mother and as he tries to form a long distance relationship with a woman through Chemistry.com. In fact, we follow Ben as everything occurs to him. We also hear the pings and whirrs of machinery, the Squawks and screeches of the birds and the vast expanse outside. Oh, and ice. Lots of ice.
Bird Island is written by Katy Wix, one half of the sketch Duo 'Anna and Katy'. Katy is a writer performer who has made appearances in 'Miranda', 'Outnumbered' and stars regularly as Daisy in 'Not Going Out'.
EPISODE ONE:
Bird Island is the story of Ben, a young scientist working in Antarctica, trying to socially adapt to the loneliness by keeping a cheery audio diary on his Dictaphone. An atmospheric 15 minute non-audience comedy. In episode 1, Ben loses his watch and logs on to a dating website.
Written by ..... Katy Wix
Produced by ..... Tilusha Ghelani.
TUE 23:45 Tina C (b0076q33)
Tina C's Tiny Island Tour, EnglandThe country singer and global activist brings her unique brand of gingham-flavoured repartee to explore the US and UK's special relationship. Stars Christopher Green. From Jan 2005.

WEDNESDAY 28 JUNE 2017

WED 00:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016q309)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:15 Ghost Stories by HG Wells (b08wdhpv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Sounds Natural (b08wdhvr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrcm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 The Bow Street Magistrates' Court (b0076z45)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b07pgw3p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b049yhd5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b01nl6hb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island (b007jp13)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White (b007jlhn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 The Museum of Curiosity (b00knwyq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 The Six Mothers-in-Law of Henry VIII (b0076j4t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 Lucky Heather (b0075s9h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar (b083p88m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrfz)
Death Is No AlibiAs the murder count mounts, the police hunt Richard - and there's a discovery in the River Thames...
Terence Alexander stars as the Toff - upper-class amateur sleuth, the Honourable Richard Rollison.
Created by John Creasey, The Toff appears in over 60 novels. First published in 1959, The Toff and the Runaway Bride was dramatised in six-parts for the BBC World Service by Roy Lomax.
With Robert Dorning as Jolly, Roger Gartland as Inspector Ellerby, Michael Shannon as the Sergeant, Godfrey James as Inspector Reno, Kevin Brennan as Robert Lawn and Rosalind Shanks as Barbara Lessing.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on the BBC World Service in June 1975.
WED 06:30 The Island (b01m5n7q)
"The Island" is what everyone calls it. The Isle of Sheppey is a forgotten corner of Kent, an island 11 miles long tucked behind London at the mouth of the Thames and the Medway. The harbourmaster looks out from her high-tech tower within a Napoleonic era fortress over thousands of craft who plough the strait heading for the port of Sheerness, laden with bananas and cars. At the far end of the island from the port, vast acreages of caravans and dumpy chalets spread in serried rows from the sea's edge, ready to house East-End families for the long summer break. In between, birdsong-filled marshland fringes the water and the wind ceaselessly tears through the high-standing reeds. Sheppey boasts three prisons and once housed glass factories ('the Bottleworks') and Royal Doulton ceramics ('the Potteries'). The steelworks recently closed and now only Sheerness port, with its huge inflow and outpouring of motor vehicles and soft fruit, timber and wood-pulp keep industrial wheels turning. Unemployment is high, and prospects are low.
A modern road bridge now connects the island with the rest of Kent, which many regret; yet Sheppey remains a lonely place and not easy to reach; special, they say; strange, other.
Jean, Glenn, Ray and the rest of their large extended family have lived almost all their lives on Sheppey - they tell a tale of hard lives, tough times, and of a place they love, that has shaped their lives and that they'd not leave willingly.
Reporter: Sara Parker
Producer: Simon Elmes.
WED 07:00 Electric Ink (b011qfr8)
Series 1, Episode 4A new reality star columnist means Maddox must rewrite her copy without causing upset. Stars Robert Lindsay. From June 2009.
WED 07:30 John Finnemore's Double Acts (b08v8dxm)
Series 2, The Rebel AllianceEileen and Lizzie are both determined to enjoy the wedding. No matter what Yvonne does.
Una Stubbs and Tamzin Outhwaite star in the fourth of six two-handers written by Cabin Pressure's John Finnemore.
Written by John Finnemore
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 08:00 The Navy Lark (b00bzfsf)
Series 1, The Missing JeepPertwee's in a pickle over Commander Shaw's inspection aboard HMS Troutbridge.
Starring Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Dennis Price as Number One, Richard Caldicot as Captain Povey, Heather Chasen as Heather, Michael Bates as Commander Shaw, Ronnie Barker as AS Johnson and Tenniel Evans as LS Goldstein/Uncle Sebastian.
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.
Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1959.
WED 08:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b0089k50)
Series 5, The Foreign LegionThe lad is set to entertain troops in Malta, but he's duped into making an appearance on the frontline.
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: Tom Ronald
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in April 1958.
WED 09:00 It's Not What You Know (b01ckr46)
Series 1, Episode 2Joining Miles this time round are "The Thick Of It" star, Rebecca Front, Fast Show actor and character comedian, Simon Day, and award-winning Geordie comic, Jason Cook, all of whom have nominated one of their intimate circle to answer questions about their relationship, in an attempt to prove how well they know them.
If the panel can predict the responses their nominees gave, they get points.
Rebecca thinks she knows her father, Charles Front, a retired illustrator and calligrapher, pretty well. Simon examines his relationship with best friend, Conrad Butlin, a stylist from Notting Hill in London. And Jason plumps for his mother, Pat, a recruitment consultant from Hebburn in Newcastle - and, it turns out, something of a Loose Women fan...
Producer: Sam Michell.
WED 09:30 Married (b00dbqws)
Series 3, Episode 2With the two universes collided, Dirk sees an ideal opportunity to make money so opens 'Cafe Apocalypse'. This gives Robin ample opportunity to dole out some of his usual scathing criticism - especially as Lesley has decided to display her new artwork there too...
Hugh Bonneville stars in the third series of the comedy drama about a confirmed bachelor Robin Lightfoot dealing with life in a parallel universe where he has kids and an ex-wife who hates him.
With Josie Lawrence as Lesley, Stephen Frost as Dirk, Ann Gosling as Maxine, Sam Bradley as Ned and Arthur Smith as Arthur Smith.
Written by Tony Bagley.
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2001.
WED 10:00 Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White (b007jlj1)
Episode 3Laura has finally come face to face with the woman in white who so resembles her. She had hoped to discover more about Sir Percival's secret, but their meeting was interrupted. Marian begins to fear for her sister's safety and is determined to learn what Sir Percival and Count Fosco are secretly planning.
Wilkie Collins's Victorian thriller dramatised by Martyn Wade.
Stars Toby Stephens as Walter Hartright, Juliet Aubrey as Marian Halcombe, Emily Bruni as Laura Fairlie, Jeremy Clyde as Sir Percival Glyde, Alice Hart as Anne Catherick, Sean Baker as Mr Gilmore, Jonathan Keeble as Mr Dawson, Carolyn Pickles as Mrs Michelson, Philip Voss as Count Fosco, Edward Petherbridge as Frederick Fairlie, Geraldine Fitzgerald as Madame Fosco and Richenda Carey as Mrs Rubelle.
Music: Elizabeth Parker
Director: Cherry Cookson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
WED 11:00 George Mackay Brown Stories (b01sd23l)
The Masked FishermanA bold fishwife inspires a Viking Earl to write a poem of great humility. Short story set in twelfth century Shetland by George Mackay Brown.
One of the major figures of Scottish twentieth century literature, George Mackay Brown (1921 - 1996) was a prolific poet and novelist who took much of his inspiration from the culture, history and landscape of the Northern Isles. "The Masked Fisherman" appears in the story collection of the same title.
Read by Paul Young.
Abridged and produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
WED 11:15 Mike Akers - Skomer (b00770vp)
By Mike Akers.
Nick, depressed and haunted by dreams, is persuaded by Rachel to go camping in Wales. But will their relationship survive what they find there?
Rachel ...... Katy Cavanagh
Nick ...... Christian Patterson
Tom ...... Paul Richard Biggin
Director Marc Beeby.
WED 12:00 The Navy Lark (b00bzfsf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b0089k50)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrfz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 The Island (b01m5n7q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b07pj2py)
Eight Months on Ghazzah Street, Episode 8Nearly 30 years on from its original publication, Hilary Mantel's third novel is still as disturbing, incisive and illuminating as ever. In an unusual collaboration, the author has revisited the book to create, with the abridger, this new ten-part serialisation.
Frances Shore is a cartographer by trade, but when her husband's work takes them to Saudi Arabia she finds herself unable to map either the ever changing landscape or the Kingdom's heavily veiled ways of working. The regime is corrupt and harsh, the expatriates are hard-drinking money-grubbers, and her Muslim neighbours are secretive and watchful.
She soon discovers that the streets are not a woman's territory. Confined in her flat, she finds her sense of self beginning to dissolve. She hears footsteps, sounds of distress from the supposedly empty flat above. She has only constantly changing rumours to hang on to, and no one with whom to share her creeping unease.
In episode eight, Frances' suspicions about the empty flat grow.
Reader: Anna Maxwell Martin
Author: Hilary Mantel
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Alexa Moore
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b049z4x6)
Pressed Plants and PossibilitiesThe Victorians realised that preserving the structural features of a plant was essential to classifying it, placing it on a plant family tree and building up an overall understanding of the relationships between plants. Central to this was the herbarium - a collection of dried plants documented, pressed and mounted onto identical sheets of paper. Kathy Willis examines the genesis of this process at Kew which plays host today to over 7 million specimens, and is now one of a network of herbaria around the world.
If you want to know what a plant is, the herbarium is where you come. But how was the Kew collection established? Kathy Willis hears from historian Jim Endersby on the influence of William Jackson Hooker whose private plant collection forms the basis of the collection.
Historian Anne Secord of Cambridge University examines the delicate relationship between artisan collectors in the field and gentlemen botanists which defied the rigid social divide to enable specimens to be gathered from far afield to advance botanical knowledge.
Kathy Willis learns from Kew botanist, Bill Baker, how patterns now emerge in the herbarium that enable changing patterns of plant behaviour from flowering times to plant distribution to feed into wider questions about the effect of changing climate and land use.
And in an age when the Empire was aiming to show everything to its best advantage researcher Caroline Cornish reveals how plants could be effectively displayed to a curious Victorian public through Britain's first Museum of Economic Botany.
Producer: Adrian Washbourne
Presenter: KATHY WILLIS is director of science at Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. She is also professor of long-term ecology and a fellow of Merton College, both at Oxford University. Winner of several awards, she has spent over 20 years researching and teaching biodiversity and conservation at Oxford and Cambridge.
WED 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b01nl7wj)
Une Vie, Episode 33/5 Adrian Penketh's adaptation of Maupassant's first novel. Jeanne de Lamare - a naive country aristocrat married to a selfish man, begins to discover how rotten and treacherous adult life is all around her.
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
WED 14:45 Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island (b007jp1k)
DorsetMusing on maps, socks and castles, the American author takes a sentimental journey around Britain. Read by Kerry Shale.
WED 15:00 Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White (b007jlj1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 It's Not What You Know (b01ckr46)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 Married (b00dbqws)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 Electric Ink (b011qfr8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 John Finnemore's Double Acts (b08v8dxm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016r25v)
The Waiting WallGrandmother Sarah returns to the village she grew up in, and relives the scandal and tragedy of her sister. Stars Doreen Keogh.
WED 18:15 Ghost Stories by HG Wells (b08wdmr7)
The Temptation of HarringayAny artist can take constructive criticism, but what happens when the painting itself has an opinion? Read by David McAlister.
WED 18:30 Off the Page (b016wzrl)
GlutDominic Arkwright invites his three guests to debate excess and gluttony - what exactly is enough? Cityboy Geraint Anderson explains why he retired in his mid 30s with £2.5M. That, argues punk poet Attila the Stockbroker, is an obscene amount, as he recalls former East Germany in the late '80s before the introduction of advertising and mass consumerism. Meanwhile, it's the consumption of her autumn glut of apples and quinces that motivates food writer Xanthe Clay to waste not a single piece of fruit.
Producer: Mark Smalley.
WED 19:00 The Navy Lark (b00bzfsf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b0089k50)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrfz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 The Island (b01m5n7q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 George Mackay Brown Stories (b01sd23l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 21:15 Mike Akers - Skomer (b00770vp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
WED 22:00 John Finnemore's Double Acts (b08v8dxm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 What Does the K Stand For? (b04xrl8k)
Series 2, Balham's Got TalentStephen K Amos' sitcom about growing up black, gay and funny in 1980s South London. Written by Jonathan Harvey with Stephen K Amos.
Produced by Colin Anderson.
WED 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b08wzn6j)
The best in contemporary comedy. Rob Deering chats to Rob Auton.
WED 23:00 Bridget Christie Minds the Gap (b01r5s2l)
Series 1, Episode 2Last year, comedian Bridget Christie noticed that misogyny, like shiny leggings, had made an unexpected comeback. But did it ever really go away? Bridget Christie Minds the Gap is a new four-part stand up comedy series on the state of British feminism today.
In episode two Bridget considers women and their day-to-day relationships with each other, via an organic herb puff snack, a church pew and a bag of dirty laundry.
Fred MacAulay helps her remember some of the key incidents which brought her to an epiphany and a call to arms.
Producers; Alison Vernon-Smith and Alexandra Smith.
WED 23:30 The Big Booth (b007k25t)
Series 1, Episode 4Boothby Graffoe's thoughts, sketches and soup time machine. With Steve Frost and guitarist Antonio Forcione. From January 2000.

THURSDAY 29 JUNE 2017

THU 00:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016r25v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:15 Ghost Stories by HG Wells (b08wdmr7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 Off the Page (b016wzrl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrfz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 The Island (b01m5n7q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b07pj2py)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b049z4x6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b01nl7wj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island (b007jp1k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White (b007jlj1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 It's Not What You Know (b01ckr46)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 Married (b00dbqws)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Electric Ink (b011qfr8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 John Finnemore's Double Acts (b08v8dxm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrjk)
Motive for MurderWith fresh clues discovered over Barbara's history - the Toff is Paris-bound, when police stop his car...
Terence Alexander stars as the Toff - upper-class amateur sleuth, the Honourable Richard Rollison.
Created by John Creasey, The Toff appears in over 60 novels. First published in 1959, The Toff and the Runaway Bride was dramatised in six-parts for the BBC World Service by Roy Lomax.
With Robert Dorning as Jolly, Roger Gartland as Inspector Ellerby, Peggy Ann Wood as Lady Gloria, David Graham as the Sergeant and John Bull as the Police Constable.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on the BBC World Service in June 1975.
THU 06:30 Carnival Queens (b00763pf)
Does the idea of the Carnival Queen still appeal to the modern girl? Will the tradition survive? With Sara Parker. From August 2001.
THU 07:00 Richard Barton: General Practitioner! (b007582j)
Episode 4Richard's flu is not getting any better. Old Dr Willoughby is called in, and it seems his fondness for whisky hasn't abated in retirement. A herbal remedy made from tree bark that Sally finds in a perfectly reputable health food shop has dramatic if unexpected results - the kind of results that require an immediate antidote. Can his father Dick Barton find the antidote in time?
Starring Robert Bathurst as Richard Barton, Moray Watson as Old Dick Barton, Iain Cuthbertson as Jock, Julian Dutton as Young Dick Barton and Matilda Ziegler as Sally Barton.
Guest star: Joss Ackland as Dr Willoughby
In 1946, Edward J Mason wrote the first episode of Dick Barton - Special Agent. The BBC Light Programme's hugely popular serial followed the adventures of the ex-Commando and his mates Jock Anderson and Snowy White. Despite facing a series of never-ending cliff-hangers at the hands of dastardly villains, our hero always triumphed. "With one bound Dick was free!".
Half a century later, Edward J's son Lol created Richard Barton, son of Dick, in an affectionate homage to one of BBC Radio's most enduring heroes.
Producer: Jo Clegg
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.
THU 07:30 Paul Sinha's History Revision (b08v8m1q)
Series 3, Episode 2Comedian and quizzer Paul Sinha returns to Radio 4 for a third series of his award-winning History Revision. In previous series, Paul has told you how Portugal's invasion of Morocco in 1415 lead directly to the 2014 World Cup; how the 1909 launch of an Austro-Hungarian submarine prevented Dr Zhivago winning an Oscar; and the story the black woman who refused to give up a seat on an Alabama bus and ended up changing the law - no, it wasn't Rosa Parks.
This series will once again see Paul shine a light on the important historical moments that you never got taught at school, and explain why so much of what you did learn is wrong. There will also, as ever, be puns.
In this second episode of the series, Paul decries the amount of misinformation in our general knowledge. He also tells the story of significant gay figures from history that you may not have heard of, from the earliest known gay couple, to the rebels whose death brought about the first democracy, to the man who saved a President but whose outing possibly killed him.
Paul Sinha's History Revision was the winner of the 2016 Rose d'Or for 'Best Radio Comedy'.
Written and performed by ... Paul Sinha
Producer ... Ed Morrish
Production co-ordinator ... Tamara Shilham
A BBC Studios production.
THU 08:00 Marriage Lines (b04tvkt2)
Series 1, The IllnessKate's not feeling well - will George be able to cope?
A series based on the mutual love and mistrust of two newly-weds. Starring Richard Briers as George Starling and Prunella Scales as Kate Starling.
With Frederick Treves, Peter Hawkins, Audrey Nicholson, Penny Morrell, Geoffrey Sumner and Diana King
This 1960's newlyweds sitcom brought Richard Briers and Prunella Scales to prominence. Originating on BBC TV, it was adapted for radio due to its popularity. A decade later, Richard Briers went on to play Tom Good in The Good Life and Prunella Scales went on to star as Sybil in Fawlty Towers.
Written by Richard Waring.
Producer: Charles Maxwell
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in July 1965.
THU 08:30 Play It Cool (b05s7k0b)
Episode 5Ian Carmichael, Hugh Paddick and Joan Sims mix music and comedy for a slice of 60s cool. From August 1964.
THU 09:00 All the Way From Memphis (b00mjktm)
Series 2, Episode 5James Walton's pop music history quiz with Andrew Collins, Tracey MacLeod, Stewart Lee and David Quantick. From June 2006.
THU 09:30 Nineteen Ninety-Eight (b01cvp13)
Episode 5Even Edward's allies find themselves absorbed by AmJap. Orwellian sitcom with David Threlfall and Hugh Laurie. From May 1987.
THU 10:00 Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White (b007jljf)
Episode 4Laura Fairlee and Walter Hartright have been reunited, but their happiness is marred by the fact that both their lives are in danger.
Wilkie Collins's Victorian thriller dramatised by Martyn Wade.
Stars Toby Stephens as Walter Hartright, Juliet Aubrey as Marian Halcombe, Emily Bruni as Laura Fairlie, Jeremy Clyde as Sir Percival Glyde, Alice Hart as Anne Catherick, Sean Baker as Mr Gilmore, Carolyn Pickles as Mrs Catherick, Philip Voss as Count Fosco, Edward Petherbridge as Frederick Fairlie, Geraldine Fitzgerald as Madame Fosco, Richenda Carey as Mrs Clements and Ioan Meredith as Pesca.
Music: Elizabeth Parker
Director: Cherry Cookson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
THU 11:00 Deborah Moggach - Hot Tickets (b03zm4bq)
A waitress falls for a neurotic poet who is just her type, except that sometimes she longs to find 'a real man'. Read by Josie Lawrence.
THU 11:15 William Stanton - Three Chickens (b08wdqzk)
On a magic island in Brazil, the Englishman William Marlow is seduced by tales of witchcraft. In a story about three chickens he finds uncanny and uncomfortable echoes of a life he thought he had left behind him.
William Stanton's drama stars Anton Lesser as William, Valerie Braddell as Maris, Suzanna Hamilton as Nina, David Thorpe as Andre, Alison Pettitt as Camilla and Richenda Carey as the Witch.
Director: Ned Chaillet
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
THU 12:00 Marriage Lines (b04tvkt2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 Play It Cool (b05s7k0b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrjk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 Carnival Queens (b00763pf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b07pjbd4)
Eight Months on Ghazzah Street, Episode 9Nearly 30 years on from its original publication, Hilary Mantel's third novel is still as disturbing, incisive and illuminating as ever. In an unusual collaboration, the author has revisited the book to create, with the abridger, this new ten-part serialisation.
Frances Shore is a cartographer by trade, but when her husband's work takes them to Saudi Arabia she finds herself unable to map either the ever changing landscape or the Kingdom's heavily veiled ways of working. The regime is corrupt and harsh, the expatriates are hard-drinking money-grubbers, and her Muslim neighbours are secretive and watchful.
She soon discovers that the streets are not a woman's territory. Confined in her flat, she finds her sense of self beginning to dissolve. She hears footsteps, sounds of distress from the supposedly empty flat above. She has only constantly changing rumours to hang on to, and no one with whom to share her creeping unease.
In episode nine, there is a break-in and a new arrival.
Reader: Anna Maxwell Martin
Author: Hilary Mantel
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Alexa Moore
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04b22yh)
Blight on the LandscapeOut of the tragedy of the Irish potato famine was to emerge a major new discipline in science - plant pathology. Infectious micro-organisms would come to be accepted as a cause of disease rather than its result.
Kathy Willis hears from Kew's head of mycology, Brin Dentinger, on the significance of German botanist Antony de Bary's experiments that would lead to a new understanding of the causes of potato blight.
Insights into the life cycle and behaviour of fungal spores required detailed and repetitive observations. Some of the most important insights in the 19th century came from children's story writer and natural history illustrator Beatrix Potter. Historian Jim Endersby explains how her careful observations contributed to the controversial idea that many fungi, far from being destructive, live in symbiosis with a host of plants.
Kew mycologist Martin Bidartondo studies this relationship and we hear how thanks to new technology enabling researchers to identify fungal DNA we're on the brink of elucidating the real importance of fungi in today's ecosystems.
Producer Adrian Washbourne
Presenter: KATHY WILLIS is director of science at Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. She is also professor of long-term ecology and a fellow of Merton College, both at Oxford University. Winner of several awards, she has spent over 20 years researching and teaching biodiversity and conservation at Oxford and Cambridge.
THU 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b01nl967)
Une Vie, Episode 44/5 Adrian Penketh's adaptation of Maupassant's first novel. Jeanne believes that conceiving a second child will heal the ache in her heart caused by a loveless marriage in a rotten world.
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
THU 14:45 Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island (b007jp20)
Weston-super-Mare and BeyondGetting soaked and pestered by a passenger, the American author's sentimental journey around Britain. Read by Kerry Shale.
THU 15:00 Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White (b007jljf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 All the Way From Memphis (b00mjktm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 Nineteen Ninety-Eight (b01cvp13)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 Richard Barton: General Practitioner! (b007582j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 Paul Sinha's History Revision (b08v8m1q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016r526)
The Shimmering DressIn 19th-century Ireland, the beautiful Cecilia rejects the squire's advances. But can she ever escape him? Stars Alison McKenna.
THU 18:15 Ghost Stories by HG Wells (b08wdr4b)
The Inexperienced GhostWhen a man comes across an unconvincing apparition, he helps it out. But at a cost. Read by David McAlister.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b00lv28d)
Series 19, Alfred, Lord TennysonMatthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
Andrew Motion champions the life of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate for over 40 years and creator of In Memoriam and The Charge of the Light Brigade.
Ann Thwaite provides further details of Tennyson's often-troubled life.
THU 19:00 Marriage Lines (b04tvkt2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 Play It Cool (b05s7k0b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrjk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 Carnival Queens (b00763pf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Deborah Moggach - Hot Tickets (b03zm4bq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
THU 21:15 William Stanton - Three Chickens (b08wdqzk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
THU 22:00 Paul Sinha's History Revision (b08v8m1q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 Laura Solon: Talking and Not Talking (b00cbptt)
Series 2, Episode 6Divorcee Carol tries to sell covers - for cushion covers. Rosie Cavaliero joins the award-winning comedian. With Ben Moor and Ben Willbond. From July 2008.
THU 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b08wzn74)
The best in contemporary comedy. Rob Deering chats to Rob Auton.
THU 23:00 The Harpoon (b007k4t8)
Series 2, Episode 3Evolution's epic story is revealed in the nostalgic spoof of boys' adventure story papers. With Peter Baynham. From August 1992.
THU 23:30 Party (b00rfhjq)
Series 1, Episode 3Satirical sitcom by Tom Basden about a group of young idealists trying to set up a new political party.
The Party clarifies its policies on climate change, while Duncan deals with the aftermath of under-cooked chicken sausages from a BBQ. Before long, murder is committed and the young idealists are placed in a compromising position.
Simon ...... Tom Basden
Mel ...... Anna Crilly
Duncan ...... Tim Key
Jared ...... Johnny Sweet
Phoebe ...... Katy Wix.

FRIDAY 30 JUNE 2017

FRI 00:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016r526)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:15 Ghost Stories by HG Wells (b08wdr4b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b00lv28d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrjk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Carnival Queens (b00763pf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b07pjbd4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04b22yh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b01nl967)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island (b007jp20)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White (b007jljf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 All the Way From Memphis (b00mjktm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 Nineteen Ninety-Eight (b01cvp13)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 Richard Barton: General Practitioner! (b007582j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Paul Sinha's History Revision (b08v8m1q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrmb)
Confrontation in ParisCan the Honourable Richard Rollison finally unravel the mystery - and reveal the murderer's identity?
Terence Alexander stars as the Toff - upper-class amateur sleuth, the Honourable Richard Rollison.
Created by John Creasey, The Toff appears in over 60 novels. First published in 1959, The Toff and the Runaway Bride was dramatised in six-parts for the BBC World Service by Roy Lomax.
With Robert Dorning as Jolly, David Graham as Carruthers, Alan Cuthbertson as Major Guy Lessing, Kevin Brennan as Robert Lawn, Rosalind Shanks as Barbara Lessing and Jean Dryant as the Inspector.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on the BBC World Service in June 1975.
FRI 06:30 Sable Island: A Dune Adrift (b00p8c15)
One hundred miles east of Nova Scotia lies a 30-mile-long sand dune, Sable Island. It has a population of just two, who work in the weather and research station, and is also home to 300 wild horses. Sean Street reveals how this remote place is providing information vital to us all, and how it has gained a powerful presence in the imagination.
In the middle of the world's worst weather systems, held tentatively in place by ocean currents, Sable Island is the perfect place to monitor climate change, and air and sea pollution. More than 500 ships have been wrecked here. There have been several attempts at colonisation, by the Portuguese, the French (Sable is the French word for Sand) and even a group of prominent Bostonians, and all have failed. The story is cultural as well. Thomas Raddell, Nova Scotia's finest writer, was a radio operator on Sable for a year, and this inspired his novel The Nymph and the Lamp. The poet Elizabeth Bishop visited and wrote about the island.
Sean examines wreckage from some of more than 500 ships that have come to grief on the island. There is poignant baby's crib made from wreck wood, there being no trees. At the Natural History Museum in Halifax, he witnesses the unpacking of the latest consignment of bones and specimens - extraordinary ancient walrus skulls - collected as they are exposed in storms by Zoe Lucas, who has been on the island for decades. Sean meets artist Roger Savage, who had to tie his easel down, clamp his paper and battle with the scouring sand as he captured the landscape of the place in his paintings. And he meets a man who dedicated years to studying the rare Ipswich Sparrow, which nests only on Sable Island.
What emerges is that Sable Island is for the Canadians what the Galapagos are for the people of Ecuador, or Easter Island for Chileans. It is important scientifically and historically, but more than this it is important culturally, as part of their identity, even though hardly any of the Canadian population will ever go there.
Indeed, because of concern about climate change and damage to a unique and fragile ecosystem, people are now anxious not to go there. Which is just as well, because getting to, and from, Sable is difficult, with there being no harbour or regular air service. The wind blows almost constantly, and there is often thick fog. Access is restricted by the Canadian government as well as by nature.
FRI 07:00 Ayres on the Air (b00m19m6)
Series 3, PassionHow to get all loved up. Poetry and sketches from Pam Ayres. With Felicity Montagu and Geoffrey Whitehead. From August 2009.
FRI 07:30 The Absolutely Radio Show (b08vxl9m)
Series 2, Episode 1The cast of TV's hugely popular sketch show return for their second series on BBC Radio 4. Pete Baikie, Morwenna Banks, Moray Hunter, Gordon Kennedy and John Sparkes revisit some of their much-loved sketch characters, while also introducing some newcomers to the show.
In 2013, the group that made their name on Channel Four in the 1980s and 90s got back together for Radio 4's Sketchorama: Absolutely Special - which won the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Live Scripted Comedy. The first series of The Absolutely Radio Show picked up a Celtic Media Award nomination for Best Radio Comedy.
The opening episode of this series features the Stoneybridge Town Council preparing to receive the town's first ever tourist, the Little Girl giving her explanation of Brexit and Calum Gilhooley launching his own YouTube series. There are sketches about the downside of voice technology on smartphones, while Melania Trump presents a brand new podcast offering an insight into her life as First Lady.
Produced by Gordon Kennedy and Gus Beattie.
An Absolutely/Gusman production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 08:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00scw5v)
Series 3, Episode 9The Addictive Knitter - and a rare madrigal by Risotto.
More quick-fire sketches, terrible puns, humorous songs and parodies.
Stars Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Written by Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden, Alan Hutchinson and Eric Idle.
Originating from the Cambridge University Footlights revue 'Cambridge Circus', ISIRTA ran for 8 years on BBC Radio and quickly developed a cult following.
Music and songs by Dave Lee, Bill Oddie, Eric Idle and John Cameron.
Producer: Humphrey Barclay
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in May 1966.
FRI 08:30 Doctor at Large (b009xxrs)
In General PracticeSimon Sparrow lands a job in Aberdeen, where he's forced to tackle a pepped-up port loving lady.
The misadventures of newly qualified doctor, Simon Sparrow - adapted for radio by Ray Cooney from Richard Gordon's 'Doctor at Large' published in 1955.
Starring Richard Briers as Simon Sparrow, Geoffrey Sumner as Captain Spratt, Ray Cooney as Tony Benskin, Joan Sanderson as Mrs Russell, Stanley Baxter as Dr Hockett and Joan Sims as Dora.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1969.
FRI 09:00 Who Goes There? (b0075yw8)
Series 4, Episode 2Martin Young presents the famous people quiz, with team captains Francis Wheen and Fred Housego and guests Gyles Brandreth and Sheridan Morley. From November 2000.
FRI 09:30 Nikolai Gogol - Three Ivans, Two Aunts and an Overcoat (b00nw3x9)
The Mysterious PortraitChertkoff is St Petersburg's most high-minded young artist, until he makes a pact with the devil. With Stephen Moore. From April 2002.
FRI 10:00 Hugh Walpole - Rogue Herries (b007k1mf)
WildernessThe wild and tormented Francis Herries begins a new life in Cumberland. 18th-century family saga with Gavin Muir.
FRI 11:00 Deborah Moggach - Playing the Part (b03zm819)
A couple are house-sitting in Holland Park where they meet an unappealing dog and a celebrity neighbour. Read by Josie Lawrence.
FRI 11:15 Afternoon Drama (b00tg1c7)
Jonathan Davidson - Miss Balcombe's OrchardA drama-documentary by Jonathan Davidson set and recorded in an apple orchard. Miss Balcombe is getting on but she is determined to keep her apple trees. Her workers don't much care but there is a trespasser among her russets.
With Susan Engel as Miss Balcombe, Richard Bremmer as Claud, Sonia Ritter as Barbara, and Hayley Doherty as Sophie; and featuring Barrie Juniper, author of The Story of the Apple. Recorded on location in Oxfordshire. Producer: Tim Dee.
FRI 12:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00scw5v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 Doctor at Large (b009xxrs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrmb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 Sable Island: A Dune Adrift (b00p8c15)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b07pjn92)
Eight Months on Ghazzah Street, Episode 10Nearly 30 years on from its original publication, Hilary Mantel's third novel is still as disturbing, incisive and illuminating as ever. In an unusual collaboration, the author has revisited the book to create, with the abridger, this new ten-part serialisation.
Frances Shore is a cartographer by trade, but when her husband's work takes them to Saudi Arabia she finds herself unable to map either the ever changing landscape or the Kingdom's heavily veiled ways of working. The regime is corrupt and harsh, the expatriates are hard-drinking money-grubbers, and her Muslim neighbours are secretive and watchful.
She soon discovers that the streets are not a woman's territory. Confined in her flat, she finds her sense of self beginning to dissolve. She hears footsteps, sounds of distress from the supposedly empty flat above. She has only constantly changing rumours to hang on to, and no one with whom to share her creeping unease.
In the final episode, Frances tries to discover the truth.
Reader: Anna Maxwell Martin
Author: Hilary Mantel
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Alexa Moore
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04b2wzn)
Lumping and SplittingBy 1850 identifying and classifying plants had become far more important than mere list making. Establishing the global laws of botany - what grew where and why - occupied the well travelled naturalist Joseph Hooker - son of Kew's director William Hooker and close friend of Charles Darwin. Kathy Willis hears from historian Jim Endersby on how Hooker was to acquire species from all over the world to build up the first accurate maps of the world's flora.
Mark Nesbitt, curator of Kew's economic botany collection, reveals how gifts to Hooker in the collection reveal the relationship between the amateur collector in the field and Hooker back at Kew was one built on trust and mutual understanding.
But, as Jim Endersby explains, the relationships were frought with tension when it came to naming new plants. Arguments between those claiming they had found new species (often called "splitters") versus cautious botanists, such as Hooker, who would often "lump" together species as variants of the same, raised new debates about what constitutes a new species. And as Mark Chase, Keeper of Kew's Jodrell Laboratory reveals, the arguments continue today.
Producer: Adrian Washbourne
Presenter: KATHY WILLIS is director of science at Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. She is also professor of long-term ecology and a fellow of Merton College, both at Oxford University. Winner of several awards, she has spent over 20 years researching and teaching biodiversity and conservation at Oxford and Cambridge.
FRI 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b01nlbf9)
Une Vie, Episode 55/5 Adrian Penketh's adaptation of Maupassant's first novel. In this final episode, we see the coda to the detailed story so far of Jeanne de Lamare, in which we see a whole life pan out.
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
FRI 14:45 Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island (b007jp2g)
Glasgow to the Yorkshire DalesSoaking up culture and off to a pub, the American author concludes his sentimental journey around Britain. Read by Kerry Shale.
FRI 15:00 Hugh Walpole - Rogue Herries (b007k1mf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 Who Goes There? (b0075yw8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 Nikolai Gogol - Three Ivans, Two Aunts and an Overcoat (b00nw3x9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 Ayres on the Air (b00m19m6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 The Absolutely Radio Show (b08vxl9m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016q02f)
The Riding CropA bitter dispute between sisters 200 years ago means a precious wedding gift must be cared for in the present.
FRI 18:15 Ghost Stories by HG Wells (b08wdsnj)
The Stolen BodyWhen a paranormal researcher experiments with astral projection, an interested party intervenes. Read by David McAlister.
FRI 18:30 Soul Music (b03kqf04)
Series 17, Can't Take My Eyes Off YouFew songs can claim to be - quite literally - as far reaching as the 1967 classic 'Can't Take My Eyes off You'. In this edition of Radio 4's 'Soul Music', we hear from former astronaut Christopher Ferguson who heard this song as an early morning wake-up call aboard the space shuttle Endeavour. And from mum of two Michelle Noakes who sang this classic piece to the baby she was told she may never be able to carry. We also hear from the honeymoon couple whose marriage proposal began with a hundred strong 'flash mob' performance of this track and from Frankie Valli himself, who reflects on one of the most moving performances he ever gave when he sang 'Can't Take My Eyes off You' to a crowd of recently returned Vietnam Veterans. DJ Mark Radcliff recalls the many artists since Valli that have covered this song (not least his mum as she sang along to the Andy Williams version) and composer Bob Gaudio tells us how this now universally famous piece of music began life in a room over looking Central Park with a melody originally penned for a children's nursery rhyme.
Producer: Nicola Humphries.
FRI 19:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00scw5v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 Doctor at Large (b009xxrs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 John Creasey - The Toff and the Runaway Bride (b007jrmb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 Sable Island: A Dune Adrift (b00p8c15)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Deborah Moggach - Playing the Part (b03zm819)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 21:15 Afternoon Drama (b00tg1c7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
FRI 22:00 The Absolutely Radio Show (b08vxl9m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 BBC New Comedy Award (b08x2tl3)
2017, Heat 1 - LondonThe first heat of the BBC New Comedy Award 2017 will be recorded at Up The Creek in London and it will be hosted by Nish Kumar.
The judges will be the comedian Mae Martin, BBC Radio Comedy Editor Simon Nicholls, and Steve Bennett from Chortle.
Ten new comedians will perform in the hope of making it through to the semi-final at the Edinburgh Festival.
FRI 23:25 The Comedy Club Interviews (b08wznj5)
The best in contemporary comedy. Arthur Smith chats to Dane Baptiste.
FRI 23:30 Chain Reaction (b00lgkzc)
Series 1, Alan Moore Interviews Brian EnoThe acclaimed writer and the influential musician in the tag talk show, where this week's guest is the next interviewer.