SATURDAY 12 AUGUST 2017

SAT 00:00 Haunted (b01qrljn)
EsmeraldaBy John Keir Cross. Felix might finally be free of his wife, but who is the mysterious woman claiming to be his daughter? Starring George Baker.
SAT 00:30 Soul Music (b041xbxf)
Series 18, Adagio in G minorAlbinoni's Adagio in G Minor, is one of the most popular and moving pieces of music but, as academic and composer Andrew Gant explains, it wasn't written by Albinoni and is now attributed to the twentieth century Italian composer, Giazotto.
Award-winning veteran BBC foreign correspondent, Malcolm Brabant recalls the ' cellist of Sarajevo', Vedran Smailovic, playing it everyday for weeks amidst the wreckage of the beautiful city, as Serbian gunfire raged around.
Virginia McKenna explains how the piece became so special to her and her late husband, Bill Travers, who died twenty years ago this month, the piece was played at the beginning and end of his memorial service.
And TV producer, Gareth Gwenlan reveals why it was chosen as the theme for the character played by Wendy Craig, in the seventies sitcom, Butterflies.
Producer: Lucy Lunt.
SAT 01:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nm9s4)
Episode 2Tricked into abducting the wrong man, dangerous Peterson gives a stern warning to the ex-officer. Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt.
SAT 01:30 Mapping Britain's Underworld (b01hxt5n)
Four million holes are dug every year in the UK. Five billion pounds are lost through the economic effects of disruption and traffic hold ups, while hitting a utility pipe or cable can prove fatal for those working on the road. Adam Hart- Davis reports on a major research project which is trying to solve the problems.
He takes us underground from his ancient ice house at the bottom of his Devon garden to report on Mapping the Underworld, the £3.5m programme involving universities throughout Britain. The aim is to improve how we locate the increasingly confusing and complex array of pipes, cables and sewers beneath our streets, and assess their condition - as well as ultimately providing a better map of what is beneath our cities to improve planning both above and below ground.
At the moment it's often difficult to know where such utilities are - an estimated one in four of all holes are dug in the wrong place. Maps may not be accurate because original records of where the pipes and cables are located often use reference points on the surface which have long since gone.
Existing sensors may have problems finding what is underground because of soil or weather conditions, while modern materials such as plastic or fibre optics pose a challenge to existing technologies.
Adam Hart-Davis tries out the prototype of a multi-sensor cart where four different sensors operate together to produce an all-in-one solution, so if one technology doesn't work well in certain conditions and with particular materials, another one will.
It is not an easy undertaking for the research teams or, as it turns out, for Adam testing the multi-sensor cart.
Producer: Sara Parker
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b01snykr)
Sarah Dunant - Blood and Beauty, Episode 5Acclaimed novelist of the Italian Renaissance Sarah Dunant takes on the era's most infamous family - the Borgias.
The story of the Borgia Pope is not long - Roderigo Borgia, Alexander VI, was the Head of the Church for barely a decade - but an enormous amount of activity, social, political and sexual was crammed into that period.
Our abridgement begins in August 1492 when Roderigo Borgia wins his campaign to become Pope, and describes the repercussions for his children, Cesare, Juan, Lucrezia and Jofre. Juan, the only legitimate son, will be allied in marriage to Spain, while Cesare is promised to the church - thus ensuring their legacy within the Vatican. As for Lucrezia, she is part of the price Borgia paid for his Papacy - though only 12, she must wed to shore up an uneasy alliance with the powerful Milanese Sforza family.
Episode 5:
Alexander's difficulties with his enemies are complicated by his children's marital problems. As the French prepare to invade Italy, his Papacy hangs in the balance.
Read by Robert Glenister
Written by Sarah Dunant
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 02:15 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00psrg1)
Series 1, Adam's FaceSeries of talks by Sir David Attenborough on the natural histories of creatures and plants from around the world.
What are human eyebrows for? Possibly to allow communication without the use of words. Testing the value of eyebrow communication came into its own when David Attenborough met the men of an aboriginal tribe in New Guinea where there was no other common language.
SAT 02:25 Gay Britannia (b0903pg3)
How to Have a Perfect Marriage, series 1, ep 5/54 Extra's 'Gay Britannia' season host Ben Hunte introduces the final part of Series One of Nicholas McInerny's How to Have a Perfect Marriage.
Karen and Jack celebrate their wedding anniversary the way they always do, on Primrose Hill, with flowers and a take-away. But this year is different.
Stars Julia Ford as Karen, Greg Wise as Jack, Liza Sadovy as Cecily, Katriona Perrett as Naomi and Toby Sawyer as Tom.
Producer: Melanie Harris
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2013.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b01m7p7g)
Ross King - Leonardo and the Last Supper, Episode 5An eyewitness records the fitful progress that Leonardo was making on his masterpiece and the frustration of the prior of Santa Maria delle Grazie at the artist's capricious regime. But when his Last Supper was finally finished, the world came to wonder at this new marvel.
Nigel Anthony reads from Leonardo and the Last Supper by Ross King.
Abridged by Jane Marshall Productions
Producer: Jane Marshall
A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 03:00 Classic Serial (b037gnxr)
Patrick O'Brian - Desolation Island, Episode 22 / 2. By Patrick O'Brian. Jack Aubrey is pursued through the South Atlantic by a powerful Dutch warship whose 74 guns threaten to blow HMS Leopard out of the water. As the Leopard tries to out-run the enemy, Jack and Stephen have to contend with a fever that lays waste to the crew and an unexpected childbirth. A confrontation with the Dutch ship leaves Jack seriously wounded - and a dangerous situation turns to disaster when his first officer takes command and runs the Leopard into an iceberg. Dramatised by Roger Danes.
SAT 04:00 Who Goes There? (b00766w1)
Series 5, Episode 5Martin Young presents the biographical quiz show. Francis Wheen and Fred Housego captain the teams, with guests Geoffrey Durham and Lynne Truss.
SAT 04:30 Gush (b0527j88)
Episode 5Foxwell Cravate and Max Pomeroy come to an arrangement about the incriminating photograph. With Caroline Quentin. From December 1994.
SAT 05:00 Safety Catch (b00fkyrd)
Series 1, Loose Lips Sink ShipsWill Simon blow the whistle on his murky world of international arms dealing? Stars Darren Boyd. From October 2007.
SAT 05:30 Dave Podmore Crosses the Boundary (b09002vb)
The world of sport is in crisis. England's king of cricket sleaze Dave Podmore has lost his mojo. Has Brexit robbed Pod of his trademark salty wisdom? They didn't put this on the side of that bus.
Written by Christopher Douglas, Andrew Nickolds and Nick Newman
Produced by Jon Harvey
Executive Producer: Richard Wilson
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 06:00 Peter Ackroyd - The House of Doctor Dee (b0080gm9)
Matthew Palmer is left an old house in London's Clerkenwell. Once owned by an Elizabethan scholar who was reputedly involved in black magic, the house hides dark secrets...
Peter Ackroyd's 1993 novel, dramatised by Alan Drury.
Stars Philip Glenister as Matthew Palmer, Anthony Ofoegbu as Daniel Moore, Gerard McDermott as Edward Kelley, Nigel Anthony as Dr John Dee, Stephen Thorne as Matthew's father, Carolyn Jones as Matthew's mother, David Bannerman as Geoffrey, Tracy-Ann Oberman as Mrs John Dee, Alison Pettitt as Audrey, Jillie Meers as Mrs Lucas, John Rowe as Laurie and James Bell as the little boy.
Director: Claire Grove
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1997.
SAT 07:30 The Art of Monarchy (b01cj1lt)
FaithThe Royal Collection is one of the most wide-ranging collections of art and artefacts in the world and provides an intriguing insight into the minds of the monarchs who assembled it.
In this series, BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz encounters dozens of these unique objects - some priceless, others no more than souvenirs - each shedding light on our relationship with the monarchy and giving a glimpse into the essential ingredients of a successful sovereign.
A thousand years of monarchical history tell us that one crucial relationship for a monarch is with the church. In today's programme, Will sees how hard successive rulers have worked to make sure religion stayed on their side. It has not always been easy. The relationship with the church has through the centuries been so fraught as to threaten the survival of a sovereign.
Will begins with an object used - only for a brief but crucial moment - in the coronation of the present Queen, then encounters an object that dates from the time of William the Conqueror and that has anointed some of England's most famous Kings and Queens in the eyes of God. He reads Henry VIII's robust defence of the Catholic faith, written just a few years before political expediency drove him to break with the Papacy; and sees a landscape painting that provides a possible insight into the private faith of Queen Victoria.
Along the way, Will enlists the help of curators from the Royal Collection, Lord Indarjit Singh, historians Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch, Anna Whitelock and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.
Producer: Sarah Taylor.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b01ng15n)
A Life Less Ordinary, Lisa PottsIn July 1996, Horrett Campbell attacked children and staff at St Lukes School in Wolverhampton with a machete. Lisa Potts was a nursery nurse helping to run a teddy bears picnic for the under-fives, and in the course of the attack she suffered major wounds while protecting children who might otherwise well have been killed.
Over the next few days she became a national hero, championed in the press as the so-called angel whose courage led to numerous awards including the George Medal. What the press rarely mentioned, however, was the pressure that not only the attack but also the massive media attention put on Lisa, and the dark periods during which she longed for an end to the press coverage and a return to normal life.
In the final part of this series of 'A Life Less Ordinary' Geoff Bird takes her back over the TV, newspaper and radio coverage of her story to find out what it's like to declared a hero and how difficult that can make returning to a normal life away from the media spotlight.
Produced by Geoff Bird.
SAT 09:00 4 Extra at the British Seaside (b038xhc6)
Seaside entertainer Tony Lidington takes a trip to Brighton for Radio 4 Extra and reflects how this city has inspired a wealth of seaside memories captured in the BBC Sound Archive.
Tony came to Brighton in the eighties as a student and set up his own Pierrot Troupe, The Pierroters, named after the rotting West Pier. There are first hand memories of what it was like to go on a seaside holiday between the wars in the 1984 programme called ‘Sand Between the Toes’.
Tony meets Max Tyler an expert on the Fol De Rols. He and Tony hear them perform in an extraordinary piece of archive from 1937 when four of the shows, hundreds of miles apart, were brought together live by the magic of wireless. There are also insights into Brighton’s very own Cheeky Chappie, as Tony visits a Fish and Chip Shop in Brighton where the Max Miller Society has set up a museum.
‘Casting Shadows’ a wonderfully evocative play by Mark Burgess conjures up an imaginary meeting between the actor Laurence Oliver, playwright Terence Rattigan and Brighton’s famous seaside entertainer, Max Miller. Roy Hudd headlines as Miller.
Gavin Henderson president of the National Piers Society reveals that seaside Piers were initially places of sophistication, almost the arts centres of their day, and Rachel Clark of the West Pier Trust looks to the future and the plans to create a new vertical Pier on Brighton seafront.
Tony celebrates the Great Days of the West Pier in his 1995 Archive Hour ‘Oh What a Lovely Pier!’ with contributions from among others the late Corin Redgrave.
SAT 12:00 Listen to Les (b007w2n4)
From 11/08/1974Les Dawson presents the debut of comic discovery Justin Jest and a wonky piano sing-along.
With Daphne Oxenford and Colin Edwynn.
Music by Brian Fitzgerald.
Scripted and produced by James Casey.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in November 1974.
SAT 12:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jp42)
Series 5, The Threatening LettersThe lad is full of the joys of Spring - until the postman arrives.
Starring 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 May 1958 .
SAT 13:00 A Small Town Murder: Omnibus (b090wdl6)
Series 10Karla's husband seems to be the victim of a deliberately set fire, while a previous case refuses to go away. Stars Meera Syal.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b0902g53)
Peter TatchellHuman rights activist Peter Tatchell chooses 'We Shall Overcome' by Joan Baez and 'Imagine' by John Lennon.
SAT 14:15 Down Your Way (b090wdlg)
Jancis Robinson in SouthwoldMaster of wine Jancis Robinson returns to the place of happy teenage holiday memories, the East Suffolk town of Southwold.
Down Your Way was one of the BBC's longest-running radio series - starting on the BBC Home Service in 1946 and ending its run on BBC Radio 4 in 1992. Using a variety of hosts, including Richard Dimbleby and Brian Johnston, the programme toured villages, towns and cities across the UK. At the height of its success in the 1950s, the series was attracting 10 million listeners a week.
Producer: Lyn Hartman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1988.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b01ng15n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Peter Ackroyd - The House of Doctor Dee (b0080gm9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 The Art of Monarchy (b01cj1lt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Anita Sullivan - The Bee Maker (b092ky54)
By Anita Sullivan
It's 2020 and the bees are nearly all gone. Human beings might be next.
Robotics expert Deborah builds artificial bees in order to help pollinate fruit trees across the world - real bees having been driven to the brink of extinction. But then a strange phenomenon strikes mankind - people start getting lost. It happens slowly, people lose their way, forget where they are. But before long society starts to crumble.
Deborah must fight her way across an apocalyptic Britain and find her way back home. But first she must remember where that is.
A dark and cautionary tale about our busy technology-filled lives.
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
SAT 18:45 Dorothy K Haynes - The Cure (b041ydwd)
A poor man was hung for theft; now his widow and her frightened son climb a hill to visit the gallows. Read by Sarah Collier.
SAT 19:00 4 Extra at the British Seaside (b038xhc6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Andrew Lawrence: How Did We End Up Like This? (b01njxp8)
Dietary PracticesFosters nominated and talented comedian, Andrew Lawrence, kicks off his new series in which he brings us a comic explanation of our development via stand up, sketch and song. This week Andrew looks at what goes in to making our diet: "what we shove in our mouths, dissolve in our guts and shunt out of our poo pipes". Including a rather different view of fair trade, a comment on road-kill as food and a moving song about the extinction of the Mammoth. Sara Pascoe and Marek Larwood assist.
Producer: Jane Berthoud.
SAT 22:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b01nbrjc)
Series 2, Episode 6John Finnemore, the writer and star of Cabin Pressure, regular guest on The Now Show and popper-upper in things like Miranda and Family Guy, presents the last in this second series of his hit sketch show.
The first series was described as "sparklingly clever" by The Daily Telegraph and "one of the most consistently funny sketch shows for quite some time" by The Guardian. It featured Winnie the Pooh coming to terms with his abusive relationship with honey, how The Archers sounds to people who don't listen to the Archers and how Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde decided whose turn it was to do the washing up.
This week's show starts by going to the dogs and ends with what is surely the oldest hymn in the world.
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme is written by and stars John Finnemore. It also features Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan. The original music is by Susannah Pearse. It is produced by Ed Morrish.
SAT 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b091fg8r)
Jonny Pelham 1/2The best in contemporary comedy. Tonight Arthur Smith chats to Jonny Pelham.
SAT 23:00 Hardeep at The Stand (b01ml1c8)
Series 2, Episode 11/6
The Stand captures the entire comedy experience, there's backstage revelations, jokes, anecdotes and lots and lots of laughter. In this episode, LA resident and genuine Hollywood star, Greg Proops talks of his impressions of Glasgow, Zoe Lyons recounts family holidays in Scotland and there are some good old-fashioned jokes from Stuart Mitchell and Jim Park.
SAT 23:15 Gus Murdoch's Sacred Cows (b00fcbgm)
PubsThe incisive reporter investigates Britain's public houses. Written by and starring Stephen Carlin. From November 2008.
SAT 23:30 The Headset Set (b01p0t39)
Series 2, Episode 5EPISODE 5
Audience sketch show set in the world of a call centre called Smile5, a company that sells anything and everything. Bernie brings her dog in to the office and starts a craze.
Aleesha and other characters ..... Chizzy Akudolu
Bernie and other characters ..... Margaret-Cabourn Smith
Big Tony, Ralph and other characters ..... Colin Hoult
Sailesh, Bradley and other characters ..... Phaldut sharma
Writers ..... Various
Producer ..... Tilusha Ghelani.

SUNDAY 13 AUGUST 2017

SUN 00:00 Anita Sullivan - The Bee Maker (b092ky54)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 00:45 Dorothy K Haynes - The Cure (b041ydwd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:45 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 A Small Town Murder: Omnibus (b090wdl6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (b0902g53)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Saturday]
SUN 02:15 Down Your Way (b090wdlg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Archive on 4 (b01ng15n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 Peter Ackroyd - The House of Doctor Dee (b0080gm9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 The Art of Monarchy (b01cj1lt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 Gay Britannia (b090wh29)
How to Have a Perfect Marriage, Series 1 OmnibusWriter Nicholas McInerny's autobiographical look at modern relationships. Introduced by Ben Hunte.
Karen is a busy mum of teenage girls, contentedly burbling along in her humdrum, happy-enough life. She finds an odd text on husband Jack's phone. Her confrontation reveals a seismic shock she did not see coming...
Stars Julia Ford as Karen, Greg Wise as Jack, Katriona Perrett as Naomi, Ellie Bindman as Ella, Liza Sadovy as Cecily and Con O'Neil as Ben.
Music: instrumental by Greg Wise, vocals by Amy Liptrott
Producer: Melanie Harris
Sound designer: Eloise Whitmore
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2013.
SUN 07:15 Leila Keys - The Indian Lauren Bacall (b090wh2c)
4 Extra Debut. India 1951, as Nina recalls her friend Laurie and their cruel parting after the division of their country. Read by Sudha Bhuchar.
SUN 07:30 Susan Calman Is Convicted (b01qm4q4)
Series 1, Death PenaltyIn a brand new series for Radio 4, Susan Calman explores issues on which she has strong opinions. This week, she examines the issues surrounding the Death Penalty from the perspective gained whilst working on Death Row.
Susan was always stoically against capital punishment - because that was the expected position for a liberal student to take - and thought that she knew all about it. But it's very easy being so liberal when you're sitting in a country that doesn't have the death penalty. Then, as a law student, she travelled to North Carolina and worked on Death Row for a time. What she experienced whilst there persuaded her absolutely that she thought Capital Punishment was utterly wrong.
This is a story about the transition from casually adopting received opinion to developing your own belief system.
Produced by Lyndsay Fenner.
SUN 08:00 Life With the Lyons (b0131zxx)
Lovely to Look AtBen's pal Tex arrives for Queen Elizabeth's Coronation. Will he succumb to Olde England's charms?
Starring real-life American family: Ben Lyon and his wife Bebe Daniels and their children, Richard and Barbara.
With Doris Rogers as Florrie, Molly Weir as Aggie, Horace Percival as Mr Wimple, David Enders, Clive Baxter, Hugh Morton and Arthur Hill.
Life With the Lyons was one the BBC's most popular radio sitcoms between1950 and 1961. It was also adapted for BBC TV.
Written by Bebe Daniels, Bob Block, Ronnie Hanbury and Bill Harding.
BBC Variety Orchestra conducted by Paul Fenoulhet.
Producer: Tom Ronald
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in June 1953.
SUN 08:30 Whack-O! (b068j4q8)
From 12/09/1961Cricket ashes of a different kind when the new school pavilion burns down. 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 September 1961.
SUN 09:00 Gainsborough - Omnibus (b00kym54)
A legacy from his uncle lets 13-year-old Thomas Gainsborough leave Sudbury to study art in London. Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt.
SUN 10:10 The Listening Project (b01sdw2g)
Will and Matt - Stone Age MenFi Glover presents a conversation between friends who share an ancient history and enjoy spending their time flint-knapping - making iron age tools. Another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
SUN 10:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b090wh2f)
Stagecraft, Barrie Rutter4 Extra Debut. From The Band to Tina Turner, theatre director Barrie Rutter shares his castaway choices with Kirsty Young. From June 2016.
SUN 11:00 The Moth Radio Hour (b090wh2h)
Series 5, More Women in the WorldTrue stories told live in in the USA: Sarah Austin Jenness introduces tales from Ireland, Kenya, Germany, France and the USA.
The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling based in the USA. Since 1997, it has celebrated both the raconteur and the storytelling novice, who has lived through something extraordinary and yearns to share it. Originally formed by the writer George Dawes Green as an intimate gathering of friends on a porch in Georgia (where moths would flutter in through a hole in the screen), and then recreated in a New York City living room, The Moth quickly grew to produce immensely popular events at theatres and clubs around New York City and later around the USA, the UK and other parts of the world.
The Moth has presented more than 15,000 stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. The Moth podcast is downloaded over 27 million times a year.
Featuring true stories told live on stage without scripts, from the humorous to the heart-breaking.
The Moth Radio Hour is produced by Jay Allison and Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange.
SUN 11:55 Inheritance Tracks (b091fggn)
Ute LemperActress and singer Ute Lemper chooses 'Where Have All the Flowers Gone?' by Marlene Dietrich and 'The Rose' by Bette Midler.
SUN 12:00 Life With the Lyons (b0131zxx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SUN 12:30 Whack-O! (b068j4q8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
SUN 13:00 Gay Britannia (b090wh29)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 14:15 Leila Keys - The Indian Lauren Bacall (b090wh2c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]
SUN 14:30 Amanda Craig - The Lie of the Land (b090wh2k)
Episode 2Dawn's health is worsening, but Xan is not sure how best to help her. Amanda Craig's black comedy read by Amanda Lawrence.
SUN 15:45 The Old Road (b0075r05)
Journey's EndPatrick Muirhead retraces Hilaire Belloc's 1899 walk from Winchester to Canterbury. Today he arrives in Canterbury. From December 1999.
SUN 16:00 Edith Wharton - Madame de Treymes (b0089brw)
John Durham's fight for the woman he loves sparks a confrontation with a powerful and devious French family.
Stars Anna Massey as Christiane de Treymes, Philip Voss as John Durham, Gwen Humble as Fanny de Malrive, Elizabeth Kelly as Bessie Boykin and Valerie Sarruf as the Narrator.
Adapted from Edith Wharton's novella by John Peacock.
Director: Jane Morgan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1990.
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (b092kymn)
The Echo Chamber: Liz Berry and Helen MortBBC Radio 4's Poet in Residence, Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry with 'The Echo Chamber' with Liz Berry and Helen Mort.
Two of the most striking and original first poetry collections in the last few years have been Division Street by Helen Mort and Black Country by Liz Berry. Both books are steeped in the places they were made in: West Yorkshire and the West Midlands. With Paul Farley, both poets have travelled towards one another and taken some poems back to their source. Helen Mort in the Peaks, on Sheffield streets, and then the memorably twisted spire of the church in Chesterfield. Liz Berry in a Black Country pigeon loft, an echoing canal tunnel and an ancient geological treasure trove. The heart of England is remade in these new poems. The poets end up half way between one anothers' places in a hotel that W H Auden (great poet of the unloved world) said served the best martinis in the land.
Producer: Tim Dee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
SUN 17:30 Susan Calman Is Convicted (b01qm4q4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 18:00 Robert Holmes - Aliens in the Mind (b007jlt5)
Island GenesisThe curiosity of the inhabitants of the remote Scottish island of Luig is aroused when two strangers arrive for the funeral of the local doctor.
The two men are no strangers to each other, nor were they to the late Dr Hugh Dexter. One is Professor Curtis Lark - a flamboyant American explorer, scientist and Nobel Prize winner whose research has been in the field of telepathy and telekinesis; the other is John Cornelius - the eminent British brain surgeon.
What starts as a brief visit by two colleagues to honour an old friend quickly develops into a series of bizarre and frightening events uncovering the presence of forces unknown bent on world domination...
Stars Peter Cushing as John Cornelius, Vincent Price as Professor Curtis Lark, Henry Stamper as Minister Donald Schooler, Shirley Dixon as Mrs Kyle, Sandra Clarke as Flora Kiery, Irene Sutcliffe as Mary and Frazer Carr as Dr Hugh Dexter.
Written by Rene Basilico from an idea by Robert Holmes.
Producer: John Dyas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1977.
SUN 18:30 The Man in Black (b00g9m6j)
Series 1, The TowerThe creepy story of Ro and Zee, who stumble into a world where time has stopped.
Mike Walker's tale is introduced by Mark Gatiss as sinister raconteur, The Man in Black.
Starring Robert Lonsdale as Ro, Inam Mirza as Zee and Malcolm Tierney as Mr Fisher.
Horrifying series of tales from The Man in Black. You might meet him at a luggage carousel in an airport, or behind the desk at an employment agency or he might approach you in the corridor of a care home.
Wherever you encounter him, he's eager to pass on his stories. Stories to unsettle and horrify. Stories to haunt you.
Director: Jeremy Mortimer
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2009.
SUN 19:00 The Moth Radio Hour (b090wh2h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 19:55 Inheritance Tracks (b091fggn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:55 today]
SUN 20:00 Joe Orton - The Orton Diaries (b090wh2m)
Outrage greeted Joe Orton's plays while he was alive and his diaries after he was dead.
But the journals document a remarkable final year starting in December 1966.
Diary selections read by John Sessions.
Playwright Joe Orton was bludgeoned to death by his boyfriend, Kenneth Halliwell at the peak of his career on 9th August 1967 aged 34.
Producer: Ned Chaillet
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1994.
SUN 20:30 Joe Orton - Loot (b090wh2p)
Can two young robbers - using a family bereavement to cover their tracks - avoid the long arm of the law?
The first-ever radio production of Orton's hilarious, black masterpiece made to mark the 30th anniversary of his death.
Stars Trevor Peacock as McLeavy, Debra Gillett as Fay, Neil Stuke as Hal, Andy Serkis as Dennis and Timothy Spall as Truscott.
Playwright Joe Orton was bludgeoned to death by his boyfriend, Kenneth Halliwell at the peak of his career on 9th August 1967 aged 34.
Director: Lindsay Posner
Made for BBC Radio 3 by Catherine Bailey Productions and first broadcast in 1997.
SUN 22:00 Susan Calman Is Convicted (b01qm4q4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 22:30 Gloomsbury (b0418p77)
Series 2, Ever Decreasing Literary CirclesFlushed with her recent success, Ginny is to hold a literary salon, but she wants Vera to co-host it. They argue about where to have it, whom to invite and what kind of refreshments should be offered. Mrs Gosling is obstructive about the possibility of vegetarianism.
Meanwhile, Henry can't decide whether to carry on working for the Foreign Office or write a biography of Byron or Tennyson, and follows Vera round the castle unsuccessfully trying to elicit her advice.
When the great day arrives, Henry is banished from the castle lest he gets in the way. Instead of the longed-for literary celebrities, however, the only arrival at Sizzlinghurst that day is a snowstorm of apologetic telegrams. Hurt and aghast that nobody loves them, Vera and Ginny blame each other.
The only person who turns up is Venus, who wasn't invited and has never read a book in her life. Only as the day draws to a close does Vera remember with horror that today was Henry's birthday and that she has neglected him without so much as a card, a gift or a kiss. Wracked with guilt, Vera makes up to Henry on a pile of dusty sacks in Gosling's shed.
GLOOMSBURY - THE SERIES
Green-fingered Sapphist Vera Sackcloth-Vest shares a bijou castle in Kent with her devoted husband Henry, but longs for exotic adventures with nervy novelist Ginny Fox and wilful beauty Venus Traduces. It's 1921, the dawn of modern love, life and lingerie, but Vera still hasn't learnt how to boil a kettle.
Producer: Jamie Rix
A ittle Brother Production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b091fg8y)
Jonny Pelham 2/2The best in contemporary comedy. Tonight Arthur Smith chats again to Jonny Pelham.
SUN 23:00 Clare in the Community (b008h5z7)
Series 1, Last WordsThe social worker is wracked with relief when her most detested client dies. Stars Sally Phillips. From December 2004.
SUN 23:30 Beauty of Britain (b01064yj)
Series 2, LaurelmeadNo professional care-worker can afford to miss Beauty Olonga's survival guide to Britain - its overheated houses, its disappointing church services and its world-class charity shops. Series 2 of this Radio 4 comedy follows Beauty's continuing adventures as the Featherdown Agency sends her to provide care for the elderly.
Beauty sees herself as an inspiration to other African girls hoping to live the dream in Britain. The series breaks the embarrassed silence about what happens to us when we get old and start to lose our faculties. It shows the process in all its chaotic, tragi-comedy but it does so from the point of view of Beauty, whose Zimbabwean Shona background has taught her to respect age. Beauty sees Britain at its best, its worst and also sometimes without its clothes on running the wrong way down the M6 with a toy dog shouting 'Come on!'
Episode 2 'Laurelmead'
'A British care home is basically a big house named after a tree' observes Beauty, as she decides to work at Laurelmead this week. A change from her usual live in work, but working for the care home brings its own difficulties. There is some good news- her church choir is through to the regional finals of 'Go for Gospel'.
CAST:
Beauty ... Jocelyn Jee Esien
Kriss ... Felix Dexter
Neville ... Clive Swift
Mrs Gupte ... Indira Joshi
Anil ... Paul Sharma
Worship Leader Wayne ... Lloyd Thomas
Uncle Custard ... Chris Douglas
Sandra ... Nicola Sanderson
The music for the series was performed by The West End Gospel Choir.
Written by Christopher Douglas and Nicola Sanderson
The producer is Tilusha Ghelani.

MONDAY 14 AUGUST 2017

MON 00:00 Robert Holmes - Aliens in the Mind (b007jlt5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:30 The Man in Black (b00g9m6j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 Gay Britannia (b090wh29)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:15 Leila Keys - The Indian Lauren Bacall (b090wh2c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Sunday]
MON 02:30 Amanda Craig - The Lie of the Land (b090wh2k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Sunday]
MON 03:45 The Old Road (b0075r05)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Edith Wharton - Madame de Treymes (b0089brw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (b092kymn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 Susan Calman Is Convicted (b01qm4q4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nmzm3)
Episode 3In his ongoing battle with the evil Peterson, our hero has to grapple with a gorilla. Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt.
MON 06:30 A Nasty Case of the Vapours (b0082dzp)
Vivienne Parry explores the lives, deaths and immune systems of heroines of English literature through the eyes of modern medicine. She takes an unusual look at great British novels by distinguishing plot devices from real medicine, finding out much about Victorian depiction of illness in the process.
MON 07:00 Living With the Enemy (b00771l8)
Episode 4Sitcom written by and starring Nick Revell and Gyles Brandreth as an alternative comedian turned holistic therapist and a Tory MP turned media figure.
4/6. Gyles takes Nick and Sophie to a swanky art exhibition in Mayfair.
MON 07:30 Just a Minute (b0901bw4)
Series 79, 07/08/2017Just A Minute is 50 years old this year! Nicholas Parsons has been hosting since day one, and kicks off the first episode of the new series with a cracking line-up: Paul Merton, Gyles Brandreth, Andy Hamilton and Sue Perkins.
Hayley Sterling blows the whistle and it was produced by Victoria Lloyd.
Just A Minute is a BBC Studios production.
MON 08:00 To the Manor Born (b007k4dj)
What's in a Name?Hard-up Audrey needs a secret job - but what on earth is she qualified to do?
Starring Penelope Keith as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, Keith Barron as Richard DeVere, Angela Thorne as Marjory Frobisher, Nicholas McArdle as Brabinger and Margery Withers as Mrs Polouvicka.
The tale of lady of the manor Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, forced to sell her beloved Grantleigh Estate when her husband's death leaves her financially strapped. With butler Brabinger in tow, they've decamped to the tiny Old Lodge cottage.
From this vantage point, Audrey keeps a close and disapproving eye on the estate's new owner, the nouveau-riche Richard DeVere, a wholesale foods magnate of Czech descent.
First piloted on radio and then whisked off to TV before it ever appeared, finally arrived home in 1997.
Adapted from his TV scripts by Peter Spence.
Producer: Jane Berthoud
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in February 1997.
MON 08:30 Dad's Army (b007jp95)
Series 2, A Wilson (Manager)Captain Mainwaring is aghast when his chief clerk comes up in the world.
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 and Arnold Ridley as Godfrey.
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 June 1975.
MON 09:00 Hidden Treasures (b0075xyh)
Petworth HouseThe antiques quiz visits Petworth House in West Sussex. With Lars Tharp, Eric Knowles and Bunny Campione. From April 1998.
MON 09:30 Be Prepared (b0076t37)
SurvivalRecently separated from his wife and with a teenage son, Miles Rummings sets out to fulfil his dream of running a scout troop.
Family and friends don't quite share his enthusiasm, but nevertheless four misfits attempt to venture where no scout has ventured before...
Stars Kim Wall as Miles, Emma Amos as Dawn, Barnaby Power as Steve and Louis Dunsford as Jason and Gerard McDermott as the Farmer.
Producer: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2005.
MON 10:00 Charles Dickens (b01b20s5)
Little Dorrit, Episode 1Arthur Clennam returns from China, fearful of a wrong committed by his parents. Curious and feeling protective when he meets young seamstress, Amy Dorrit - he follows her home, to the Marshalsea Debtor's Prison, where he's introduced to her extraordinary family.
Charles Dickens's masterpiece of social satire and imprisonment dramatised in five episodes by Doug Lucie.
Recorded on location in London.
Starring Sir Ian McKellen as Charles Dickens, Julian Wadham as Arthur Clennam, Margaret Tyzack as Mrs Clennam, John Wood as William Dorrit, Jasmine Hyde as Little Dorrit, Sophie Thompson as Flora Finching, Indira Varma as Fanny Dorrit, Peter Tuddenham as Frederick Dorrit, Jennie Stoller as Affery, Kenny Blyth as Barnacle Junior, Helen Ayres as Maggy, Philip Joseph as Pancks, Ioan Meredith as Flintwinch, Gordon Reid as Tite Barnacle and Jonathan Keeble as Plornish,
Music by Mia Soteriou
Director: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
MON 11:00 Saki (b03kvd4v)
The She Wolfby Hector Hugh Munro, better known by his pen name Saki.
A mischievous story in which Saki's regular character Clovis springs an elaborate trick on fellow guests at a house party. A playful satire on Edwardian society with a streak of the ludicrous.
Read by Maureen Beattie
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
MON 11:15 Afternoon Drama (b017mv20)
Oliver Emanuel - Ancient GreekSony nominated writer, Oliver Emanuel's sharp contemporary drama about a sixth-former who decides to take a stand.
Since Christmas, strange words have been appearing all over the school - on the walls of the maths department, across the windows of the gym, scratched into the deputy head's Mondeo. A protest of sorts it would seem. Apparently written in Ancient Greek.
On the last day of school, Alex King walks into Head's office and admits that the work is all his. He's one of the brightest students in the school. And now he wants his chance to speak.
Directed by Lu Kemp.
MON 12:00 To the Manor Born (b007k4dj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 Dad's Army (b007jp95)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nmzm3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 A Nasty Case of the Vapours (b0082dzp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b0211jzx)
Sarah Dunant - Blood and Beauty, Episode 6Acclaimed novelist of the Italian Renaissance, Sarah Dunant, takes on the era's most infamous family - the Borgias.
The story of the Borgia Pope is not long - Roderigo Borgia, Alexander VI, was the Head of the Church for barely a decade - but an enormous amount of activity, social, political and sexual, was crammed into that period.
Our abridgement began last week in August 1492 when Roderigo Borgia won his campaign to become Pope. This week, we move on to the next four years of his reign. The problems seeded in the first year are blossoming into crises at every turn, as Italy explodes into war against the invading French. Rising above this challenge through a series of canny political manoeuvres, Alexander proves less able in his ability to control his children.
Read by Robert Glenister
Written by Sarah Dunant
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 14:15 Me, My Selfie and I: Aimee Fuller's Generation Game (b06084kl)
Episode 1It's two years since the Oxford English Dictionary made 'selfie' its word of the year. Since then, 'selfie' has been used to describe the 'selfie generation' and recently, the 'selfie election'. Aimee Fuller is a 23 year old snowboarder who competed at last year's Winter Olympics - she explores the selfie phenomenon and asks whether it really defines her generation. Aimee explains how social media is part and parcel of what she does as an athlete, helping her to communicate with her fans - and the selfie is an important element of that.
The programme explores the broader significance of the selfie as a form of photography. What sort of a photograph is the selfie and what do photographers make of it? Katrina Sluis from the Photographers Gallery in London puts it into the context of self portraits.
Why have younger people taken to the selfie with such enthusiasm and what does that tell us about their social attitudes? Economist writer, Jeremy Cliffe explains how the selfie generation use social media and why.
Producer: Philip Reevell
A Manchester Digital Media production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b019f8bc)
Edith Wharton - Ethan Frome, Episode 1by Edith Wharton
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Why does Ethan Frome walk with a limp?
And what is the tragedy that befell him over twenty years earlier?
A visitor to the town attempts to find out.
Ethan Frome ..... Dominic Mafham
Mattie .....Jessica Raine
Zeena .....Laurel Lefkow
Denis Eady ..... Christopher Webster
Post Mistress ..... Adjoa Andoh
Andrew Hale ..... Paul Moriarty
Edith Wharton ..... Fenella Woolgar
Directed by Sally Avens
Ethan Frome is one of Edith Wharton's most enduring and powerful stories.
Set against the cold, grey, bleakness of a New England winter. Ethan Frome scrapes a living from his woodlot whilst trapped in an unhappy marriage with his hypochondriac wife, Zeena. A ray of light enters Ethan's life when his wife's cousin Mattie arrives to help. His life is transformed as he falls in love with Mattie but their fate is determined by their circumstances and the stifling conventions of the time.
Ethan Frome was deemed shocking when first published as it appeared to condone infidelity. What many readers did not know was that many of the novella's themes mirrored real events in the life of Edith Wharton. Her own story is told in an accompanying play 'The Jinx Element' that explores her own sexless marriage and a passionate affair that begun when she was 47.
MON 14:45 Richard Ingrams - The Life and Adventures of William Cobbett (b0076sfq)
Episode 1The rise of a one-man force of the early 1800s. Biography of the author, political reformer and ardent agriculturalist. With Stephen Critchlow.
MON 15:00 Charles Dickens (b01b20s5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 Hidden Treasures (b0075xyh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 Be Prepared (b0076t37)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 Living With the Enemy (b00771l8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 Just a Minute (b0901bw4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 Bruce Bedford - The Gibson (b007js7p)
Episode 1Aspiring poet Saul Judd gets drawn into a web of dark and mysterious forces - as a leprous prince ignores sinister warnings and a Bath playgroup's blind terror baffles the adults...
Bruce Bedford's time-hopping supernatural thriller serial in six episodes.
Starring Robert Glenister as Saul Judd, Sharon Duce as Elise Judd, Freddie Jones as the Scribe, Kate Binchy as Scribe's Wife, Constance Chapman as Haensel Sethria, John Telfer as Prince Bladud, Trevor Cooper as Rough Peasant, Sam Dastor as Karim el Hatel, June Barrie as Chairwoman, Geoff Serle as Northern Man and Jonathan Adams as the Guardian
Original music composed by Thomas Johnson
Music realised by Robin Lever
Special effects: Dick Mills (Radiophonic Workshop)
Directed at BBC Bristol by Andy Jordan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1992.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (b0076mt8)
Ralph Steadman & Hugh ThomsonSue MacGregor and her two guests - cartoonist and illustrator Ralph Steadman and documentary-maker Hugh Thomson - discuss favourite books by Gwen Raverat, Oscar Wilde and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. From 2004.
Period Piece, by Gwen Raverat
Publisher: Faber
De Profundis, by Oscar Wilde
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Publisher: Penguin.
MON 19:00 To the Manor Born (b007k4dj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Dad's Army (b007jp95)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nmzm3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 A Nasty Case of the Vapours (b0082dzp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 Saki (b03kvd4v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:15 Afternoon Drama (b017mv20)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
MON 22:00 Just a Minute (b0901bw4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 Jason Cook's School of Hard Knocks (b03vgr6q)
Best Man Speeches and WeddingsComedian and creator of BBC2's "Hebburn" Jason Cook uses his life experiences to help listeners better navigate the choppy waters of life. This epsiode Jason and his team, Zoe Harrison and Neil Grainger, examine the pitfalls that lie in making best man speeches and give advice on how to make a wedding memorable.
Producer: Sam Michell.
MON 23:00 The Museum of Curiosity (b0902v53)
Series 11, Episode 3This week, the Professor of Ignorance John Lloyd and his curator, the brilliant Romesh Ranganathan welcome:
The internationally acclaimed conductor, actor, writer, comedian and broadcaster Rainer Hersch
The doctor, Antarctic explorer, and prospective Martian astronaut Beth Healey
and
The painter, author and textile, ceramics & costume designer Kaffe Fassett.
This week, the Museum's Guest Committee offer as exhibits a vast home-made architectural folly, a wind instrument that takes you back to school and a station the size of a football pitch that weighs absolutely nothing and moves at 18,000 mph.
The show was researched by Anne Miller of QI and Mike Turner.
The production coordinator was Tamara Shilham.
The producers were Richard Turner and James Harkin.
It was a BBC Studios Production.
MON 23:30 Vent (b00tv7x3)
Series 2, I Want YouBen's unconscious mind puts him in a compromising situation with a fellow coma patient. Stars Neil Pearson. From October 2007.

TUESDAY 15 AUGUST 2017

TUE 00:00 Bruce Bedford - The Gibson (b007js7p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b0076mt8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nmzm3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 A Nasty Case of the Vapours (b0082dzp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b0211jzx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 Me, My Selfie and I: Aimee Fuller's Generation Game (b06084kl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b019f8bc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:45 Richard Ingrams - The Life and Adventures of William Cobbett (b0076sfq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Charles Dickens (b01b20s5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Hidden Treasures (b0075xyh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 Be Prepared (b0076t37)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 Living With the Enemy (b00771l8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 Just a Minute (b0901bw4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nn7s8)
Episode 4Britain is in peril and Potts is in danger. Our hero follows his enemy to Paris. Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt.
TUE 06:30 Cerys Matthews' Blue Horizon (b01jqjl7)
Among Cerys Matthews' landmark musical memories is a very sunny summer Sunday afternoon in 2009. It was the day that, browsing albums in Portobello Market, she parted with £70 and took home a rare copy of Fleetwood Mac's Sweet Pious Bird of Youth. She played it over and over again. She was hooked.
Since that day Cerys has fed her addiction to Blue Horizon records and has sought out and amassed a valuable collection of her own. She is passionately enthusiastic about these gems of recordings that are almost too precious to play.
The Blue Horizon record label linked the roots of the blues in the US with the UK blues scene of the 60s. It was the home of American blues artists Champion Jack Dupree, Bukka White, Mississippi Joe Callicot and Furry Lewis, Eddie Boyd, Otis Spann, Ainsley Dunbar, Elmore James but also of the British blues artists Chickenshack and Fleetwood Mac.
Label founder Mike Vernon also invented the blues sound we still hear today. In 1966, he produced the Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, considered one of the most influential British blues recordings. It was notable for its driving rhythms and Clapton's rapid blues licks with a full distorted sound derived from a Gibson Les Paul and a Marshall amp. This became something of a classic combination for British blues guitarists.
In the programme, Cerys talks to Mike Vernon about his passion for the blues and how he left the old-school Decca Record company to strike out on his own. Artists from Blue Horizon's roster, including former members of The Yardbirds, Fleetwood Mac and Chickenshack reflect on the part Blue Horizon played in their careers and establishing the credibility of Britain as a home for the blues.
Producer: Nick Barraclough
A Smooth Operations production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 07:00 Mr Finchley Goes to Paris (b007k087)
Episode 5Back in London, Robert gets into trouble and the solicitor's clerk receives an unlikely visitor.
Richard Griffiths is the shy solicitor's clerk, Edgar Finchley.
With Anna Cropper as Mrs Crantell, James Cohen as Robert Gillespie, Serena Evans as Marie Peters, James Cohen as Robert Gillespie, John Bird as Mr Barker and James Villiers as the Narrator.
Written by Victor Canning and adapted for radio by Andy and Eric Merriman.
Producer: Gareth Edwards
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in June 1994.
TUE 07:30 Meet David Sedaris (b0901fqt)
Series 6, The Perfect Fit; Audience Q&AThe globetrotting, trash-picking, aisle-rolling storyteller is back with more words of wit and wisdom. The series ends with an essay about the wilder end of his fashion sense, The Perfect Fit, and a lively audience question and answer session.
With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, David Sedaris has become one of America's pre-eminent humour writers. The great skill with which he slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness proves that he is a master of satire and one of the most observant writers addressing the human condition today.
David Sedaris's first book, Barrel Fever (1994), which included The SantaLand Diaries. was a critical and commercial success, as were his follow-up efforts, Naked (1997), Holidays on Ice (1997) and Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000). He became known for his bitingly funny recollections of his youth, family life and travels, making semi-celebrities out of his parents and siblings.
David Sedaris has been nominated for three Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word and Best Comedy Album. A feature film adaptation of his story C.O.G. was released after a premier at the Sundance Film Festival (2013). He has been a contributor to BBC Radio 4 since 1996.
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 08:00 Listen to Les (b01696lw)
From 07/12/1980Les Dawson presents a gritty UK version of TV's Dallas, plus culture with Cosmo Smallpiece and a not-so-tuneful piano singalong.
With Daphne Oxenford and Colin Edwynn.
Music by Brian Fitzgerald.
Scripted and produced by James Casey.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in December 1980.
TUE 08:30 The Men From the Ministry (b010v747)
Fair ExchangeThe bungling bureaucrats mix up the designs for the new pound note.
A weekly tribute to all those who work in government departments.
Stars Richard Murdoch and Deryck Guyler. With Norma Ronald, John Graham and Ronald Baddiley.
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 Radio 4 in September 1970.
TUE 09:00 The Museum of Curiosity (b0902v53)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:30 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b007jq4v)
Series 1, Episode 5The sofa-bound presenters look at shopaholics and dangerous ducks. Stars Robert Duncan and Julia Hills. From May 1996.
TUE 10:00 Charles Dickens (b01b2wb5)
Little Dorrit, Episode 2Arthur Clannam worries about his parents, but thinks he's found a new love. Amy receives a proposal. Dickens adaptation stars Ian McKellen.
TUE 11:00 Saki (b03m3rn2)
The Music on the Hillby Hector Hugh Munro, better known by his pen name Saki.
Feisty Edwardian bride Sylvia has triumphed against the odds in her society marriage, but gradually becomes aware of a strange and threatening presence in the woods...
Read by Francesca Dymond
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
TUE 11:15 Afternoon Drama (b00776b3)
Adam Beeson - The Magician's DaughterShot on stage, a dying magician passes secrets of his act to his daughter. Fearing rivals, she disappears. Stars James Bryce.
TUE 12:00 Listen to Les (b01696lw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 The Men From the Ministry (b010v747)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nn7s8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 Cerys Matthews' Blue Horizon (b01jqjl7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b0213z02)
Sarah Dunant - Blood and Beauty, Episode 7Acclaimed novelist of the Italian Renaissance, Sarah Dunant, takes on the era's most infamous family - the Borgias.
The story of the Borgia Pope is not long - Roderigo Borgia, Alexander VI, was the Head of the Church for barely a decade - but an enormous amount of activity, social, political and sexual, was crammed into that period.
Our abridgement began last week in August 1492 when Roderigo Borgia won his campaign to become Pope. This week, we move on to the next four years of his reign. The problems seeded in the first year are blossoming into crises at every turn, as Italy explodes into war against the invading French. Rising above this challenge through a series of canny political manoeuvres, Alexander proves less able in his ability to control his children.
Read by Robert Glenister
Written by Sarah Dunant
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 14:15 Me, My Selfie and I: Aimee Fuller's Generation Game (b0617194)
Episode 2Snowboarder Aimee Fuller presents the second part of her series exploring the significance of the selfie.
In today's programme, 19 year old singer songwriter Nina Nesbitt talks about her song 'Selfies'. Nina has used social media to communicate with her fans since she was 15 and explains how it has helped her develop her career. She wrote the song to explain why people take selfies in their relationships and the image that they want to present about themselves. She discusses why people want to take the best picture of themselves in a selfie
Katrina Sluis from the Photographers Gallery discusses the selfie as a cultural form of photography and explains how photographers are interested in it as a new form, using networks like Instagram.
David Houghton, a lecturer at Birmingham University Business School, specialises in research into online relationship development. He explains how the selfie is received in different ways by different groups on social networks. He says this means people undertake 'impression management' to convey an impression to groups on their network.
The criticism by musician Damon Albarn of the young generation of musicians for being self absorbed as 'the selfie generation' is questioned by Economist writer Jeremy Cliffe who says, although it is a self centred activity, it is also a social activity. He says it channels instincts through a new form of technology.
Producer: Philip Reevell
A Manchester Digital Media production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b019f9hc)
Edith Wharton - Ethan Frome, Episode 2by Edith Wharton
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Zeena goes away to visit a Doctor and Ethan and Mattie are left alone together for the first time.
Ethan Frome ..... Dominic Mafham
Mattie ..... Jessica Raine
Zeena ..... Laurel Lefkow
Andrew Hale ..... Paul Moriarty
Edith Wharton ..... Fenella Woolgar
Directed by Sally Avens
Ethan Frome is one of Edith Wharton's most enduring and powerful stories. Set against the cold, grey, bleakness of a New England winter. Ethan Frome scrapes a living from his woodlot whilst trapped in an unhappy marriage with his hypochondriac wife, Zeena. A ray of light enters Ethan's life when his wife's cousin Mattie arrives to help. His life is transformed as he falls in love with Mattie but their fate is determined by their circumstances and the stifling conventions of the time.
Ethan Frome was deemed shocking when first published as it appeared to condone infidelity. What many readers did not know was that many of the novella's themes mirrored real events in the life of Edith Wharton. Her own story is told in an accompanying play 'The Jinx Element' which explores her own sexless marriage and a passionate affair that begun when she was 47.
TUE 14:45 Richard Ingrams - The Life and Adventures of William Cobbett (b0076sg7)
Episode 2Political activism lands William in prison, where his main worries are lack of exercise and bad food. With Oliver Ford Davies.
TUE 15:00 Charles Dickens (b01b2wb5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 Whispers (b007k3jf)
Series 1, Episode 6Gyles Brandreth's scandals quiz, with Anthony Holden, Stella Duffy, Jennie Bond and Geoffrey Durham. From December 2003.
TUE 16:30 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b007jq4v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
TUE 17:00 Mr Finchley Goes to Paris (b007k087)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Meet David Sedaris (b0901fqt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Bruce Bedford - The Gibson (b007js82)
Episode 2After Saul and his family win a competition, strange events happen. A time-hopping thriller set in Bath, starring Robert Glenister.
TUE 18:30 That Reminds Me (b007jmv2)
Series 1, Nicholas ParsonsThe TV and radio host recalls his start in showbusiness, leading up to Just a Minute and Sale of the Century. From April 1999.
TUE 19:00 Listen to Les (b01696lw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 The Men From the Ministry (b010v747)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nn7s8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 Cerys Matthews' Blue Horizon (b01jqjl7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 Saki (b03m3rn2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 21:15 Afternoon Drama (b00776b3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
TUE 22:00 Meet David Sedaris (b0901fqt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 The Maltby Collection (b00mvr2w)
Series 3, Episode 6Sitcom by David Nobbs, set in a museum.
Walter continues to be suspicious of his wife's attempts at reconciliation, and the Crumb-Looselys' long-distance relationship steers towards the rocks.
Rod Millet ...... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Walter Brindle ...... Geoffrey Palmer
Prunella Edgecumbe ...... Rachel Atkins
Susie Maltby ...... Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Julian Crumb-Loosely ...... Ben Willbond
Wilf Arbuthnot ...... Geoff McGivern
Eva Tattle ...... Juklia Deakin
Des Wainwright ...... Michael Smiley
Stelios Constantinopoulis ...... Chris Pavlo
Gloria Brindle ...... Helen Atkinson-Wood
Vicar ...... Stephen K Amos.
TUE 23:00 Rudy's Rare Records (b01nb1s7)
Series 4, Best Local BusinessEPISODE TWO: BEST LOCAL BUSINESS
Father and son comedy set in the finest old-school record shop in Birmingham. Starring Lenny Henry, Larrington Walker and some terrific tunes.
Rudy's Rare Records is a tiny down at heel old reggae record shop in Birmingham - one of a dying breed; a place with real soul, stacked with piles of vinyl, where the slogan is "if we don't have it - them don't mek it". It's owned by the charismatic, irrepressible Rudy Sharpe (Larrington Walker), reluctantly helped out by his long-suffering neurotic son Adam (Lenny Henry) and Handsworth's first, black, surly girly goth, Tasha (Natasha Godfrey). Rudy has recently married his long-term love interest Doreen (Claire Benedict) which is leaving his best friend Clifton (Jeffery Kissoon) feeling left out.
But business is not booming and Adam enters a competition for the Best Local Business hoping the publicity and the prize money will give the record shop a much needed boost. It also means war between Rudy's Rare Records and Clifton's Blooms.
Adam ..... Lenny Henry
Rudy ..... Larrington Walker
Tasha ..... Natasha Godfrey
Doreen ..... Claire Benedict
Clifton ..... Jeffery Kissoon
Richie ..... Joe Jacobs
Darnell ..... Javone Prince
Secret Shopper ..... Sarah Thom
Ainsley Harriott ..... Himself
Twitch ..... Adam Nagaitis
Written by Paula Hines
Script Editor: Danny Robins
Producer: Katie Tyrrell
Music in this episode:
GET UP EDINA DESMOND DEKKER
RUN THIS TOWN JAY Z, RIHANNA & KANYE WEST
FUSSIN AND FIGHTING BOB MARLEY
BE PREPARED WINSTON SAMUEL
DON'T PLAY NO GAME
THAT I CAN'T WIN BEASTIE BOYS FEAT. SANTIGOLD
DO I WORRY DERRICK HARRIOT
NO FRIEND DELROY WILLIAMS.
TUE 23:30 Britain Versus the World (b04xntwp)
Series 1, Episode 4Episode FOUR:
The fourth episode of the new comedy panel show - Britain Versus The World - that pits two British comedians against a team of comics from overseas to find out which side is superior. Joining the British captain, Hal Cruttenden, is the English comedian Joe Lycett while the captain of the Rest of the World - Henning Wehn - is teamed with Canadian stand-up Celia Pacquola. The contest is overseen by Irishman Ed Byrne who does his very best to stay impartial.
Host
Ed Byrne
Guests
Hal Cruttenden
Henning Wehn
Joe Lycett
Celia Pacquola
Programme Associate Bill Matthews
Devised and produced by Ashley Blaker.

WEDNESDAY 16 AUGUST 2017

WED 00:00 Bruce Bedford - The Gibson (b007js82)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 That Reminds Me (b007jmv2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nn7s8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 Cerys Matthews' Blue Horizon (b01jqjl7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b0213z02)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 Me, My Selfie and I: Aimee Fuller's Generation Game (b0617194)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b019f9hc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Richard Ingrams - The Life and Adventures of William Cobbett (b0076sg7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Charles Dickens (b01b2wb5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 Whispers (b007k3jf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b007jq4v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 Mr Finchley Goes to Paris (b007k087)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Meet David Sedaris (b0901fqt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nnpb3)
Episode 5The ex-officer heads to Godalming to protect Phyllis. And are the Duchess' pearls safe? Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt.
WED 06:30 From Ivory to Plastic (b0075fw3)
The pianist David Owen Norris goes on a journey in search of the private life of the piano. With Jools Holland. From December 1998.
WED 07:00 Rent (b066fy4b)
Series 4, Episode 5Dave's band gets a paying gig and heads for Manchester, but where does that leave Eva? Stars Toby Longworth. From June 1998.
WED 07:30 Chain Reaction (b054qfjd)
Series 10, Vic Reeves talks to Olivia ColmanChain Reaction is Radio 4's long running hostless chat show where last week's interviewee becomes this week's interviewer.
In the fourth episode of the series one half of comedy double-act Vic & Bob, Vic Reeves, talks to three-time BAFTA Award winning actress Olivia Colman.
Producer ... Arnab Chanda.
WED 08:00 The Navy Lark (b00vhyy9)
Series 1, The Hank of HeatherHMS Troutbridge launches an anti-invasion exercise for the visit of Heather's old flame.
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 Hank, Ronnie Barker as AS Johnson and Tenniel Evans as Uncle Sebastian Pertwee.
The Navy Lark ran for an impressive thirteen series on BBC Radio between 1959 and 1976.
Scripted by Lawrie Wyman.
Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in May 1959.
WED 08:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b008v13d)
Series 5, The Sleepless NightThe lad tries to get a good night's sleep, but everybody else keeps him awake.
Starring 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 June 1958.
WED 09:00 Booked (b0075b53)
Series 6, Episode 5Ian McMillan chairs the irreverent literary quiz with Arthur Smith, Stuart Maconie, Sophie Howard and Linda Smith. From July 1999.
WED 09:30 Up the Garden Path (b008g7p2)
Series 3, Over-Drawn, Over-Sexed and Over-OptimisticIt is crunch time for Izzy, with Bill, Michael and Razors all vying for her attention. Stars Imelda Staunton. From December 1993.
WED 10:00 Charles Dickens (b01b311m)
Little Dorrit, Episode 3Surprising discoveries about the Dorrits are revealed, but Arthur is yet to solve his family's secret. Dickens adaptation stars Ian McKellen.
WED 11:00 Saki (b03m81b3)
The Seventh Pulletby Saki (Hector Hugh Munro)
When his boring stories of unusually large potatoes fail to elicit any interest at all from fellow travellers on the daily commute, John Blenkinthrope begins to invent increasingly ludicrous and elaborate fantasies. A gently funny story about the diminishing rewards of the daily grind.
Read by Richard Greenwood.
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
WED 11:15 Lucy Catherine - Mablethorpe (b00760hr)
Alison is young and has her future ahead of her.
Mrs Gawkrodger is too old to even plant her window box.
So why is it that Alison wants to discover a past - and Mrs Gawkrodger thinks only of the future?
These two unlikely neighbours are drawn together by an old photograph with the caption "Mablethorpe 1952".
Lucy Catherine's drama stars Lia Williams as Alison and Anna Wing as Mrs Gawkrodger.
Producer: Tracey Neale
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
WED 12:00 The Navy Lark (b00vhyy9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b008v13d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nnpb3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 From Ivory to Plastic (b0075fw3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b02147zx)
Sarah Dunant - Blood and Beauty, Episode 8Acclaimed novelist of the Italian Renaissance, Sarah Dunant, takes on the era's most infamous family - the Borgias.
The story of the Borgia Pope is not long - Roderigo Borgia, Alexander VI, was the Head of the Church for barely a decade - but an enormous amount of activity, social, political and sexual, was crammed into that period.
Our abridgement began last week in August 1492 when Roderigo Borgia won his campaign to become Pope. This week, we move on to the next four years of his reign. The problems seeded in the first year are blossoming into crises at every turn, as Italy explodes into war against the invading French. Rising above this challenge through a series of canny political manoeuvres, Alexander proves less able in his ability to control his children.
Read by Robert Glenister
Written by Sarah Dunant
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 14:15 Me, My Selfie and I: Aimee Fuller's Generation Game (b061728g)
Episode 3What's it like to be on the receiving end of a 'selfie' photograph taken by a fan? Snowboarder Aimee Fuller continues her exploration of the selfie phenomenon.
In this third episode, Aimee starts at an event promoting the This Girl Can sporting campaign to encourage girls to take part in sports. She meets her fans and takes selfies with them before explaining how it feels to be on the receiving end of a selfie. She explains why she likes them - and how instant communication using social media makes it possible for her to stay in touch with her fans in a way that was not possible before.
David Houghton, a lecturer at the Birmingham University Business School, explains how brands have linked the way people interact on social media and with branded content. He explains how a brand and a selfie can overlap.
Katrina Sluis at the Photographers Gallery discusses how young bloggers become brand ambassadors.
Producer: Philip Reevell
A Manchester Digital Media production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b019fxjc)
Edith Wharton - Ethan Frome, Episode 3by Edith Wharton
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Ethan and Mattie's idyll is shattered by the return of Zeena.
Ethan Frome ..... Dominic Mafham
Mattie ..... Jessica Raine
Zeena ..... Laurel Lefkow
Jotham Powell ..... Adam Billington
Denis Eady ..... Christopher Webster
Widow Homan ...... Victoria Inez Hardy
Edith Wharton ..... Fenella Woolgar
Directed by Sally Avens
Ethan Frome is one of Edith Wharton's most enduring and powerful stories.
Set against the cold, grey, bleakness of a New England winter. Ethan Frome scrapes a living from his woodlot whilst trapped in an unhappy marriage with his hypochondriac wife, Zeena. A ray of light enters Ethan's life when his wife's cousin Mattie arrives to help. His life is transformed as he falls in love with Mattie but their fate is determined by their circumstances and the stifling conventions of the time.
Ethan Frome was deemed shocking when first published as it appeared to condone infidelity. What many readers did not know was that many of the novella's themes mirrored real events in the life of Edith Wharton. Her own story is told in the play 'The Jinx Element' which explores her own sexless marriage and a passionate affair that begun when she was 47.
WED 14:45 Richard Ingrams - The Life and Adventures of William Cobbett (b0076sgs)
Episode 3Cobbett surveyed England's agricultural scene on his horse, leading to his famous book Rural Rides. With Stephen Critchlow.
WED 15:00 Charles Dickens (b01b311m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 Booked (b0075b53)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 Up the Garden Path (b008g7p2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 Rent (b066fy4b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 Chain Reaction (b054qfjd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 Bruce Bedford - The Gibson (b007js8d)
Episode 3Haensel warns Elise, and Saul is summoned by Selwyn. More time-hopping mystery in Roman Bath, starring Robert Glenister and Sharon Duce.
WED 18:30 Off the Page (b01j5j2s)
No Country for Old Men"That is no country for old men," wrote Yeats in the opening line of his poem Sailing to Byzantium. "I am trying to write about the state of my soul," he later explained. Since when the phrase has been picked up in a novel by Cormac McCarthy, and a Coen brothers film based on the same book. But are we any closer to understanding what this phrase means, beyond realising something poignant is at work ?
Tibor Fischer, Katharine Whitehorn and Guy Browning all approach the subject with three very different columns about age, experience, and youth. For Guy Browing this is no longer a country for old men because they've decided that staying young is more to their taste. Katharine Whitehorn, agony aunt at Saga, argues for the creation of a fourth age of man, while Tibor Fischer worries about what has changed more, his world or him.
Dominic Arkwright presents.
WED 19:00 The Navy Lark (b00vhyy9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b008v13d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nnpb3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 From Ivory to Plastic (b0075fw3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Saki (b03m81b3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 21:15 Lucy Catherine - Mablethorpe (b00760hr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
WED 22:00 Chain Reaction (b054qfjd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 Armando Iannucci (b007vlzx)
Series 1, Episode 2Anarchic humour originally heard on Radio 1 in 1993. Armando Iannucci is joined by David Schneider, Rebecca Front and Peter Baynham.
WED 23:00 Delve Special (b007jmzk)
Series 4, Not-So-SupergrassesIf criminals are liars, David Lander asks why the police believe crooked informers. Stars Stephen Fry.
WED 23:30 The Nick Revell Show (b007k1n0)
Series 2, HomelessThe writer and his talking geraniums outstay their welcome at Craig and Shona's place. With Alistair McGowan. From June 1993.

THURSDAY 17 AUGUST 2017

THU 00:00 Bruce Bedford - The Gibson (b007js8d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 Off the Page (b01j5j2s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nnpb3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 From Ivory to Plastic (b0075fw3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b02147zx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 Me, My Selfie and I: Aimee Fuller's Generation Game (b061728g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b019fxjc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Richard Ingrams - The Life and Adventures of William Cobbett (b0076sgs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Charles Dickens (b01b311m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 Booked (b0075b53)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 Up the Garden Path (b008g7p2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Rent (b066fy4b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 Chain Reaction (b054qfjd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nskjl)
Episode 6Can our hero foil evil Peterson's plan to overthrow the government? Sapper's yarn is concluded by Julian Rhind-Tutt.
THU 06:30 Who Was Bessie Head? (b0075mfm)
Hugh Quarshie talks to those who knew Bessie Head, one of Africa's most brilliant, but troubled, writers. From August 1999.
THU 07:00 In the Balance (b007k26c)
Episode 5Maverick BBC crime correspondent George Cragge has been murdered - or has he?
Mark Tavener's six-part sequel to his comedy thriller 'In the Red' set in the world of football, the BBC and party politics.
Starring Michael Williams as George Cragge and Barry Foster as Superintendent Jefferson.
With Jeremy Clyde, Robert Bathurst, Tracy Ann Oberman, Jim Carter, Peter Woodthorpe, Susie Brann, Christian Rodska, Ioan Meredith, Shirley Dixon, Dave Lamb, Joanna Monro, Alex Lowe, Christopher Scott and Alice Arnold.
Music by Paul Mottram
Producer: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1997.
THU 07:30 Mark Steel's in Town (b05wy64j)
Series 6, ShrewsburyMark Steel's In Town - Shrewsbury
"Floreat Salopia - May Shrewsbury Flourish"
Mark Steel returns to Radio 4 for a sixth series of the award winning show that travels around the country, researching the history, heritage and culture of six towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness, and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for the local residents.
In the third programme, Mark visits the Shropshire Town of Shrewsbury, birthplace of Charles Darwin and home to the oldest building in the world to house a McDonalds.
Mark finds Shrewsbury to be a beautiful place with an identity crisis. Once in Wales, but now in England, Shrewsbury is a peaceful town with a bloody history. As one local points out, "We killed Owain Glyndwr outside WH Smith".
An Idyllic setting in a loop of the river Severn, with its beautiful public gardens designed by Percy Thrower, patrolled daily by a Croatian nightclub bouncer.
Voted the politest town in Britain, the locals have very little to complain about. Apart from the disagreements over the buildings... and the statues... and the one-way system... and most of all, how to pronounce the name of the place.
Written and performed by ... Mark Steel
Additional material by ... Pete Sinclair
Production co-ordinator ... Hayley Sterling
Producer ... Carl Cooper
It was a BBC Radio Comedy Production.
THU 08:00 Stop Messing About! (b00r93xt)
Series 2, Episode 4A waltz from the bona singers, a lovers' tiff, and does education add up?
Starring Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Joan Sims and announcer Douglas Smith.
After the unexpected death of Kenneth Horne in 1969, plans for the next series of Round the Horne were axed. Instead - using an old catchphrase of Kenneth Williams as a series title - Kenneth joined Hugh Paddick to continue the comedy tradition and was also reunited with his "Carry On" film co-star Joan Sims.
Written by Myles Rudge, David Cumming and Derek Collyer.
With the Max Harris Group.
Producer: John Simmonds
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in May 1970.
THU 08:30 The Goon Show (b00r39c5)
The Lost EmperorArchaeologist Seagoon hunts for the missing treasure of Genghis Khan. Stars Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. From October 1955.
THU 09:00 Act Your Age (b00qvm9f)
Series 2, Episode 6Simon Mayo hosts the comedy show that pits the comic generations against each other to find out which is the funniest.
Team captains Jon Richardson, Lucy Porter and Roy Walker are joined by Hills Barker and Cannon and Ball.
THU 09:30 HR (b00j5885)
Series 1, A Bus PassComedy drama series by Nigel Williams that charts the misfortunes of a middle-aged HR officer and his trouble-making colleague.
The work machine has finally excreted Peter and Sam. Now the two friends meet, of all places, in the queue for their senior bus passes.
Peter ...... Jonathan Pryce
Sam ...... Nicholas le Prevost
Man with no teeth ...... Malcolm Tierney
Mechanical voice ...... Stephen Critchlow
Directed by Peter Kavanagh.
THU 10:00 Charles Dickens (b01b3clm)
Little Dorrit, Episode 4The newly wealthy Dorrits set off on a tour of Europe, but Amy is feeling homesick. Dickens adaptation stars Ian McKellen.
THU 11:00 Bloody Scotland (b03bg9h8)
Secrets of SoilThe first of three specially commissioned stories from leading crime writers, recorded in front of an audience at the Bloody Scotland festival in Stirling.
In this brand new short story for Radio 4, Ann Cleeves reveals a glimpse into the childhood of Willow Reeves, the detective at the centre of her Shetland television series. Willow returns to her childhood home on the Scottish island of North Uist, where she must face up to a tragic and deeply buried secret from her own past. The story is read by Lesley Hart
Award-winning crime writer Ann Cleeves is the author of the 'Vera Stanhope' novels, now a television series starring Brenda Blethyn. Her 'Shetland' novels inspired the major BBC TV series of the same name.
Our Bloody Scotland series continues with stories from two Scottish crime writers: Malcolm Mackay, who has lived all his life on the island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides but writes noir-ish tales of the urban underworld in Glasgow, and Stuart MacBride, most famous for his detective novels set in the 'Granite City', Aberdeen.
Read by Lesley Hart
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
THU 11:15 Afternoon Drama (b00q3kw2)
Richard Monks - The JourneyBy Richard Monks. A chance sighting on a news report leads to an extraordinary reunion between two siblings and the father they cremated four years previously. A play exploring the emotional hinterland of reconciliation.
Stephen ...... Robert Glenister
Clare ...... Suranne Jones
Sophie ...... Joanne Mitchell
Alan ...... David Hargreaves
Nurse/Reporter/TV Reporter/Custody Sergeant/Mechanic ...... Terence Mann
Directed by Nadia Molinari.
THU 12:00 Stop Messing About! (b00r93xt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 The Goon Show (b00r39c5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nskjl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 Who Was Bessie Head? (b0075mfm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b021499r)
Sarah Dunant - Blood and Beauty, Episode 9Acclaimed novelist of the Italian Renaissance, Sarah Dunant, takes on the era's most infamous family - the Borgias.
The story of the Borgia Pope is not long - Roderigo Borgia, Alexander VI, was the Head of the Church for barely a decade - but an enormous amount of activity, social, political and sexual, was crammed into that period.
Our abridgement began last week in August 1492 when Roderigo Borgia won his campaign to become Pope. This week, we move on to the next four years of his reign. The problems seeded in the first year are blossoming into crises at every turn, as Italy explodes into war against the invading French. Rising above this challenge through a series of canny political manoeuvres, Alexander proves less able in his ability to control his children.
Read by Robert Glenister
Written by Sarah Dunant
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:15 Me, My Selfie and I: Aimee Fuller's Generation Game (b06172jb)
Episode 4The recent election was dubbed the 'selfie election'. In the fourth part of her series on selfies, snowboarder Aimee Fuller explores why politicians embraced this new way to meet the voters - from the phenomenon called Millifandom to David Cameron using a selfie stick to take a picture at Pirate FM.
The Economist writer Jeremy Cliffe tells of his experience covering the election and seeing selfies being taken everywhere - but, when he asked those taking them if it would change the way they vote, they tended to say it wouldn't. He explores what role the selfie played, and why politicians embraced it.
Jeremy also discusses the social attitudes of the selfie generation of young people. He says as work has become more insecure and self employment has risen, the autonomy of creating a personal image and brand through selfies and social media is in keeping with the attitudes of this generation. There has also been a decline in the appeal of big monolithic organisations, so young people are less likely to get behind a big political party to declare who they are.
He argues that this generation is more individualistic and more at home with building an identity online.
Katrina Sluis of the Photographers Gallery says selfies are part of the process of breaking down barriers between the private and public life, and this also affects institutions.
Producer: Philip Reevell
A Manchester Digital Media production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b019gy9t)
Edith Wharton - Ethan Frome, Episode 4by Edith Wharton
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Ethan becomes determined to escape his marriage and runaway with Mattie.
Ethan Frome ..... Dominic Mafham
Mattie ..... Jessica Raine
Zeena ..... Laurel Lefkow
Edith Wharton .... Fenella Woolgar
Directed by Sally Avens
Ethan Frome is one of Edith Wharton's most enduring and powerful stories.
Set against the cold, grey, bleakness of a New England winter. Ethan Frome scrapes a living from his woodlot whilst trapped in an unhappy marriage with his hypochondriac wife, Zeena. A ray of light enters Ethan's life when his wife's cousin Mattie arrives to help. His life is transformed as he falls in love with Mattie but their fate is determined by their circumstances and the stifling conventions of the time.
Ethan Frome was deemed shocking when first published as it appeared to condone infidelity. What many readers did not know was that many of the novella's themes mirrored real events in the life of Edith Wharton. Her own story is told in a play 'The Jinx Element' which explores her own sexless marriage and a passionate affair that begun when she was 47.
THU 14:45 Richard Ingrams - The Life and Adventures of William Cobbett (b0076sh9)
Episode 4In his 60s, William becomes an MP supporting political reform, which disconcerts the House of Commons. Biography of the renowned author, read by Oliver Ford Davies.
THU 15:00 Charles Dickens (b01b3clm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 Act Your Age (b00qvm9f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 HR (b00j5885)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 In the Balance (b007k26c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 Mark Steel's in Town (b05wy64j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 Bruce Bedford - The Gibson (b007js8q)
Episode 4Saul learns the truth about Stonehenge and the sinister Gibson room, and two cavers push too deep. A time-hopping thriller with Robert Glenister.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b00mr4w1)
Series 19, Harry HoudiniMatthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
Paul Daniels explores the life of Harry Houdini. They are joined by Houdini biographer William Kalush, who argues that the master escapologist may have been murdered by spiritualists.
THU 19:00 Stop Messing About! (b00r93xt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 The Goon Show (b00r39c5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nskjl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 Who Was Bessie Head? (b0075mfm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Bloody Scotland (b03bg9h8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
THU 21:15 Afternoon Drama (b00q3kw2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
THU 22:00 Mark Steel's in Town (b05wy64j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 Party (b011jrmq)
Series 2, All Publicity Is Good PublicityThe young aspiring politicians of the new political Party attempt to step up a gear and get the recognition and publicity they deserve. All they need to do is sort out the diversity of their group first. Second series of a satirical comedy written by Tom Basden.
Simon - Tom Basden,
Duncan - Tim Key
Jared - Jonny Sweet
Mel - Ann Crilly
Phoebe - Katy Wix
Photographer - Jane Wittenshaw
Producer - Julia McKenzie.
THU 23:00 And Now in Colour (b007wqf1)
Series 1, Salisbury PlainThe sketch show team take their audience on Territorial Army manoeuvres. With Tim de Jongh and Michael Rutger. From April 1990.
THU 23:30 The Museum of Everything (b00899zt)
Series 1, Welcome to the Museum of EverythingWander around the many galleries and discover the real identity of Jack the Ripper. Stars Marcus Brigstocke. From March 2004.

FRIDAY 18 AUGUST 2017

FRI 00:00 Bruce Bedford - The Gibson (b007js8q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b00mr4w1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Sapper - Bulldog Drummond (b00nskjl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Who Was Bessie Head? (b0075mfm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b021499r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 Me, My Selfie and I: Aimee Fuller's Generation Game (b06172jb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b019gy9t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Richard Ingrams - The Life and Adventures of William Cobbett (b0076sh9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Charles Dickens (b01b3clm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 Act Your Age (b00qvm9f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 HR (b00j5885)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 In the Balance (b007k26c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Mark Steel's in Town (b05wy64j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 A Case for Dr Morelle (b007qs41)
Alarm CallCantankerous criminal psychologist Dr Morelle investigates the mystery death of wealthy French baroness in a hotel.
Ernest Dudley's Harley Street psychiatrist-turned-detective uses psychology as well as criminology to hunt down lawbreakers by deducing their felonious personalities.
Following on from the success of the 1949 Hammer Film 'Dr Morelle: The Case Of The Missing Heiress', this is the first of 13 BBC radio episodes starring British film veteran, Cecil Parker as Dr Morelle and Sheila Sim as his long-suffering assistant, Miss Frayle.
With Sydney Tafler as the Hotel Waiter, Tonia Bern as Mam'selle Rolin, Hugh Manning as Anthony Winter, Molly Rankin as the Hotel Receptionist and Kathleen Helme as Miss Shawcroft.
Audio recovered by BBC Radio 4 Extra listener, Steve Arnold.
Director: Leslie Bridgmont
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in April 1957.
FRI 06:30 Looking for Ruritania (b01l4f8h)
For a country that doesn't exist, Ruritania crops up a great deal. Comedian Tony Hawks goes in search of the truth. He finds himself at Angels costumiers being dressed up in gold braid and meets historian Jeffrey Richards, who explains that Ruritania was invented in 1894 by novelist Anthony Hope for his adventure The Prisoner of Zenda.
Tony is plunged into the swashbuckling world of romance novels and Ivor Novello operetta. He travels the realms of Hollywood for their versions of Ruritania in films such as Roman Holiday, Duck Soup and Prince and the Showgirl, discovering startling truths behind the fantasies. There was a Romanian prince who behaved as badly as Lawrence Olivier's character - but was Audrey Hepburn's princess who gives up the love of an unsuitable man based on truths closer to home?
When it was written, The Prisoner of Zenda captured a middle Europe of British imagination - full of inbred rulers, florid ceremony, intrigue and threats to democracy. Why did these romances become so popular? What do they tell us about the Britain that adored them?
Geographical detective work with foreign correspondent Alan Little places Ruritania in the Balkans. Belgrade born writer, Vesna Goldsworthy joins Tony and Alan in exploring how the Ruritanian image has had a demeaning effect on political relations with eastern Europe that continues into the present.
Tony has his sword, his epaulettes and knows how a Ruritanian hero behaves, he's even learnt a Ruritanian song but does he still want to go there?
This programme may contain swashbuckling.
Produced by Annie Caulfield and Marilyn Imrie
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 07:00 Safety Catch (b00fn9d1)
Series 1, Whatever Happened to the Unlikely Lad?Arms dealer Simon dreads his school reunion, but could he be the coolest kid in class? Stars Darren Boyd. From October 2007.
FRI 07:30 28 Dates Later (b037ty8s)
4 Extra Debut. Shona and best friend Kristen tackle the tricky world of romance and dating. Stars Miss London and Gráinne Maguire. From August 2013.
FRI 08:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00sxklf)
Series 4, Episode 3It's bath night for John Cleese, plus a nude surprise in an art gallery.
More quick-fire sketches, terrible puns, humorous songs and parodies.
Stars Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Written by Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graeme Garden, Peter Hutchins and Leslie Sellers.
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 and Bill Oddie.
Producer: Humphrey Barclay
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in October 1966.
FRI 08:30 Brothers in Law (b007jrs5)
Series 1, The Expert WitnessRookie barrister Roger Thursby must bone up for a medical case.
Starring Richard Briers as Roger Thursby, Richard Waring as Henry Blagrove and Ann Davies as Sally Mannering. With John Le Mesurier as The Judge
Adapted for radio by Richard Waring from the BBC TV scripts.
Restored from BBC Transcription Service tapes - originally edited for sale abroad.
Published in 1955, Henry Cecil's comic legal novel Brothers in Law was adapted first for TV in 1962 by Frank Muir and Denis Norden. It provided the first regular starring role for Richard Briers, who later reprised his role of the idealistic young lawyer Roger Thursby for BBC Radio between 1970 and 1972.
Produced by David Hatch.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1970.
FRI 09:00 Who Goes There? (b00766zc)
Series 5, Episode 6Martin Young presents the biographical quiz show. Francis Wheen and Fred Housego captain the teams.
FRI 09:30 Gush (b052tqx6)
Episode 6Cravate and Pomeroy achieve freedom, but soon find themselves on a collision course. With Caroline Quentin. From December 1994.
FRI 10:00 Charles Dickens (b01b3fqd)
Little Dorrit, Episode 5Arthur is struck by disaster, and Mrs Clennam is finally forced into revealing the family secret. Dickens adaptation stars Ian McKellen.
FRI 11:00 Bloody Scotland (b03bq5tv)
Waiting With the BodyMalcolm Mackay continues our series of brand new commissions from leading crime writers, all recorded in front of an audience at the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival in Stirling.
'Waiting With the Body' is a tale from the seedy underbelly of Glasgow, where a professional hitman finds himself in an unexpected situation. Read by Robin Laing
Crime writer Malcolm Mackay has lived all his life on the island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, but writes noir-ish tales set in the criminal urban underworld of Glasgow.
Read by Robin Laing
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
FRI 11:15 Zosia Wand - A Half Name for a Half Person (b00766jq)
It's a year since Janina's husband died, her son's marriage is in crisis and there's a letter from Poland on her doormat calling her home... but where is home?
Zosia Wand's lyrical play weaves a delicate atmosphere of longing together with an unsentimental view of the pressures and events that make or break relationships.
Stars Rula Lenska as Janina, Deborah McAndrew as Stella, Michael Begley as Christopher, Peter Czajkowski as Stefan, James Baglow as Daniel and Daniel Hanbridge as Jake.
Producer: Nadia Molinari
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
FRI 12:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00sxklf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 Brothers in Law (b007jrs5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 A Case for Dr Morelle (b007qs41)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 Looking for Ruritania (b01l4f8h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b02143qr)
Sarah Dunant - Blood and Beauty, Episode 10Acclaimed novelist of the Italian Renaissance, Sarah Dunant, takes on the era's most infamous family - the Borgias.
The story of the Borgia Pope is not long - Roderigo Borgia, Alexander VI, was the Head of the Church for barely a decade - but an enormous amount of activity, social, political and sexual, was crammed into that period.
Our abridgement began last week in August 1492 when Roderigo Borgia won his campaign to become Pope. This week, we move on to the next four years of his reign. The problems seeded in the first year are blossoming into crises at every turn, as Italy explodes into war against the invading French. Rising above this challenge through a series of canny political manoeuvres, Alexander proves less able in his ability to control his children.
Read by Robert Glenister
Written by Sarah Dunant
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:15 Me, My Selfie and I: Aimee Fuller's Generation Game (b06172qq)
Episode 5In the final part of her exploration of the selfie phenomenon, snowboarder Aimee Fuller describes how she will be using social media as she sets out to compete for a place at the next Winter Olympics. As she looks ahead, she also considers what she will share with fans - and what she would like to keep to herself.
Birmingham University Business School lecturer David Houghton explains how photographs of the self are viewed when posted frequently and how attitudes change depending on what is posted and how often. He explains the role of narcissism in social media and the difference between 'look at me' selfies and photos taken at tourist locations to explain where people are.
Nina Nesbitt is a singer-songwriter who uses social media to connect with her fans, including via a live video stream, and appreciates the way she gets feedback and encouragement from fans. She talks with her fans on Twitter most days and says it helps her when she is recording.
Aimee explains her views on what should be posted online - she posts in order to convey herself - and how there is a difference between 'social media Aimee' and her ordinary, day-to-day life. She talks about the people who criticise photographs taken and the drawbacks of social media.
Producer: Philip Reevell
A Manchester Digital Media production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b019h2b6)
Edith Wharton - Ethan Frome, Episode 5by Edith Wharton
dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Mattie and Ethan take desperate measures not to be separated.
Ethan Frome ..... Dominic Mafham
Mattie ..... Jessica Raine
Zeena ..... Laurel Lefkow
Mrs Hale ..... Tracy Wiles
Edith Wharton ..... Fenella Woolgar
Ethan Frome is one of Edith Wharton's most enduring and powerful stories.
Set against the cold, grey, bleakness of a New England winter. Ethan Frome scrapes a living from his woodlot whilst trapped in an unhappy marriage with his hypochondriac wife, Zeena. A ray of light enters Ethan's life when his wife's cousin Mattie arrives to help. His life is transformed as he falls in love with Mattie but their fate is determined by their circumstances and the stifling conventions of the time.
Ethan Frome was deemed shocking when first published as it appeared to condone infidelity. What many readers did not know was that many of the novella's themes mirrored real events in the life of Edith Wharton. Her own story is told in 'The Jinx Element' that explores her own sexless marriage and a passionate affair that begun when she was 47.
FRI 14:45 Richard Ingrams - The Life and Adventures of William Cobbett (b0076shs)
Episode 5Time is nearly up as Cobbett pens a last register. But even on his death bed, some merriment shines through. Biography of the renowned political reformer, read by Oliver Ford.
FRI 15:00 Charles Dickens (b01b3fqd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 Who Goes There? (b00766zc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 Gush (b052tqx6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 Safety Catch (b00fn9d1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 28 Dates Later (b037ty8s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 Bruce Bedford - The Gibson (b007js93)
Episode 5Saul and Elise make a grim discovery in the nursing home. Time-hopping thriller with Robert Glenister and Freddie Jones.
FRI 18:30 Soul Music (b04nrw25)
Series 19, A Shropshire Lad"Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again."
So wrote the poet AE Housman lamenting the loss of his brother in the Boer war in his epic poem A Shropshire Lad. It harks back to a simple idyllic rural way of life that is forever changed at the end of the nineteenth century as hundreds of country boys go off to fight and never return. George Butterworth adapted his words to music in 1913 just before the outbreak of the Great War. This edition of Soul Music hears from those whose lives continue to be touched by the loss of so many young men between 1914 and 1918. Broadcaster Sybil Ruscoe recalls visiting her Great Uncle's grave in a military cemetery in France with Butterworth's Rhapsody as the soundtrack to her journey. A concert at Bromsgrove School in Worcestershire where Housman was a pupil remembers the former schoolboys killed in action, and singer Steve Knightley discusses and performs his adaptation of The Lads In Their Hundreds as part of the centenary commemorations. The Bishop of Woolwich connects his love of the countryside and Butterworth's music with his father's battered copy of Housman's poems which comforted him while held captive in Singapore during the Second World War.
Producer: Maggie Ayre.
FRI 19:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00sxklf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 Brothers in Law (b007jrs5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 A Case for Dr Morelle (b007qs41)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 Looking for Ruritania (b01l4f8h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Bloody Scotland (b03bq5tv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 21:15 Zosia Wand - A Half Name for a Half Person (b00766jq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
FRI 22:00 28 Dates Later (b037ty8s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 The Comedy Club at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (b0911cn6)
2017, Episode 14 Extra's Comedy Club catches up on all the latest from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
FRI 22:38 4 Extra Stands Up (b07qf6b8)
4 Extra Stands Up at the Fringe 2016, Episode 2Jo Caulfield takes to the stage to introduce some of the best comedians from 2016's Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Nowhere else will you find such a melting pot of creativity, as Jo welcomes Tommy Tiernan, Michelle Wolf, Nick Cody, Des Clarke, Christopher MacArthur Boyd, Harriet Dyer, Mark Nelson and Darren Harriot to the stage. A night of comedy not to be missed!
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Dabster Productions.
FRI 23:38 The Comedy Club at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (b0911cn8)
2017, Episode 24 Extra's Comedy Club catches up on all the latest from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
FRI 23:45 Ivor Cutler - A Wet Handle (b00cl648)
Episode 2Music, prosaic idiosyncrasy and whimsy from the unique Ivor Cutler. With Alison O'Kill and Craig Murray-Orr. From June 1997.