SATURDAY 21 APRIL 2018

SAT 00:00 GK Chesterton - The Man Who Was Thursday (b007w525)
The Exposure
Sunday unmasks one of the anarchists as a Scotland Yard detective, leaving Gabriel Syme in despair.
Published in 1908, GK Chersterton's most famous novel is read in 13 parts by Geoffrey Palmer.
Director: Lawrence Jackson
Made for BBC Radio 7 by BBC Northern Ireland.
First broadcast in 2005.
SAT 00:30 Mastertapes (b01p41h4)
Series 1, Corinne Bailey Rae (the A-Side)
John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.
Corinne Bailey Rae - The Sea. Four years after her number one debut album, Grammy-award-winning Corinne Bailey Rae returns to its follow-up, released in 2010. An extremely personal album, it explored a range of human emotions from grief and loss to love and joy. In a revealing interview, Corinne describes not just her musical upbringing and influences, but also talks movingly about the impact that the death of her husband had on the making of this album. Together with pianist Steve Brown, she performs an exclusive live version of the title track from the album.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, where a new series of Mastertapes began on 11th November.
SAT 01:00 Julie Enfield Investigates (b007jl8s)
The Net and the Canal, Beyond the Firewall
Detective Superintendent Julie Enfield thinks she's moving closer to a solving the murder mystery, but her internet tormentor has other ideas...
The conclusion of Nick Fisher's atmospheric thriller.
Starring Imelda Staunton as Julie Enfield, Geoffrey Matthews as Dad, Ross Livingstone as DS Lawrence Evans, Denys Hawthorne as Goodfellow and Jane Whittenshaw as Charmaine.
Producer: Richard Wortley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
SAT 01:30 Death By Chocolate (b00ybzdh)
From Brighton's chocolate-cream poisoner to chocolate hand grenades, Jo Brand looks at the sinister history of the sweet treat. From March 2007.
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b039rwdj)
Jonathan Coe - Expo 58, Episode 5
London 1958: Unassuming civil servant Thomas Foley is plucked from his desk at the Central Office of Information and sent on a six-month trip to Brussels. His task - to keep an eye on The Britannia, a brand new pub which will form the heart of the British presence at Expo 58, the biggest World's Fair of the century and the first to be held since the Second World War.
As soon as he arrives at the site, Thomas feels that he has escaped a repressed, backward-looking country and fallen headlong into an era of modernity and optimism. He is equally bewitched by the surreal, gigantic Atomium, which stands at the heart of this brave new world, and by Anneke, the lovely Flemish hostess who meets him off his plane.
But Thomas's new-found sense of freedom comes at a price. The Cold War is at its height, the mischievous Belgians have placed the American and Soviet pavilions right next to each other - and why is he being followed everywhere by two mysterious emissaries of the British Secret Service?
Expo 58 may represent a glittering future, both for Europe and for Thomas himself, but he will soon be forced to decide where his public and private loyalties really lie.
Written by Jonathan Coe
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Read by Tim McInnerny
Produced by Joanna Green
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 02:15 Shakespeare's Restless World (b01g65gz)
Swordplay and Swagger
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived.
With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England.
Programme 5. SWORDPLAY AND SWAGGER - The essential accoutrements of any self-respecting gentleman illustrate the extent of violence in Elizabethan London - both onstage and off.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
SAT 02:30 Laurence Sterne - Tristram Shandy (b09zb3wl)
All Good Things Come to an End
Widow Wadman makes a discovery and Tristram brings his life story to a surprising conclusion. Stars Neil Dudgeon. From February 2005.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b01rgmcq)
Simon Morrison - The Love and Wars of Lina Prokofiev, A parcel changes everything
Simon Morrison's new biography of Lina Prokofiev tells the story of the remarkable woman who married the brilliant composer Serge Prokofiev. Today, a parcel delivery changes everything.
Simon Morrison is Professor of Music History at Princeton. He is the author of The People's Artist, a definitive account of Prokofiev's career.
The reader is Sian Thomas. Abridged by Richard Hamilton. Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
SAT 03:00 The Barchester Chronicles (b03vd163)
Anthony Trollope's Barchester Towers, Games at Ullathorne
3/3
Games at Ullathorne
by Anthony Trollope, dramatised by Nick Warburton
Miss Thorne brings the whole of Barchester together for a summer Fete - and unwittingly introduces the two adversaries, Mr Arabin and Mr Slope. But now their rivalry is at a height, each having realised their love for the widow, Eleanor Bold.
Music composed by David Tobin, Jeff Meegan and Julian Gallant
Director: Marion Nancarrow
Barchester Towers is the sequel to The Warden. Starting 4 years later, it follows Mr Harding, his daughter Eleanor and his son-in-law, Archdeacon Grantly. Eleanor has returned home after Archdeacon Grantly has accused her of wanting to marry Obidiah Slope. Her disappointment in Francis Arabin has increased, as he seems to be more interested in the tantalising Madeline Neroni. Unknown to Eleanor, Madeline is encouraging her brother, Bertie, to pursue Eleanor too. And on top of all this, there are still two unanswered questions: who will be Warden of Hiram's Hospital and who will replace the old Dean if he dies?
The Barchester Chronicles is Anthony Trollope's much-loved series of witty, gently satirical stories of provincial life set within the fictional cathedral town of Barchester and the surrounding county of Barsetshire. With a focus on the lives, loves and tribulations of the local clergy and rural gentry, the canvas is broad and colourful, with a wonderful set of iconic characters whose lives we become intimately involved in as they grow up, grow old and fall in or out of love and friendship across the years.
And the Barchester Chronicles return with "Dr Thorne" in May.
SAT 04:00 It's Your Round (b018wb95)
Series 2, Episode 2
Angus Deayton presides over another episode of the show conceived not for the panellists but by them. This time, Sandi Toksvig, Clive Anderson, Humphrey Ker and Milton Jones have each brought their own rounds for them all to play.
The rounds this episode include:
Clive Anderson's "I Fought The Law", a selection of questions based around the idiosyncrasies of British Law.
Sandi Toksvig's "Lost for Words", in which panellists must guess the meaning of various foreign words that have no direct translation in English.
Humphrey Ker's "Pet, Lunch or Hat", a variation on "Snog, Marry, Avoid".
And Milton Jones' "Joke Jeopardy" in which panellists are given punchlines to cracker jokes and the panellists must guess the set-ups.
Producer: Sam Michell.
SAT 04:30 After Henry (b007jpwp)
Series 3, Poor Relations
"No, they're lovely. They'd never make me feel awkward. They'll keep inviting me, even if I never ask them back. That's not the problem. It's my pride. I want to be equal with them. I don't want to traipse around in their wake like something out of Anita Brookner."
Proud Sarah suffers her mother's nosiness, as well as some unexpected advances.
Simon Brett's comedy about three generations of women - struggling to cope after the death of Sarah's GP husband - who never quite manage to see eye to eye.
Starring Prunella Scales as Sarah, Joan Sanderson as Eleanor, Benjamin Whitrow as Russell, Gerry Cowper as Clare and Ian Thompson as Neville.
Four radio series were made, but instead of moving to BBC TV - Thames Television produced 'After Henry' for the ITV network.
Producer: Pete Atkin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1987.
SAT 05:00 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b06s9j7d)
Series 7, Two Desperate Men
Inspired by a story by O. Henry, we travel to Perthshire in the days when the streets had more horses than horsepower. We encounter two 1930s tricksters who get their just deserts when they attempt to kidnap and hold to ransom a young lad who's learned a thing or two from the Wild West.
Stanley Baxter and Joe Caffrey are those two desperate men and young member of the Royal Lyceum Youth Theatre Tom Borley is the lad who gets the better of them in this classic screwball comedy.
Written by Colin MacDonald
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 05:30 Stand-Up Specials (b09z3dkg)
Ruby Wax: Frazzled
Ruby Wax talks about mental health in her inimitable style, focusing on how we are all frazzled, how we got to be that way and what we can do about it - using comedy, mindfulness and chat with the audience.
There is so much to say about mental health and feeling frazzled and Ruby has the knowledge - a Master's degree in mindfulness-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. She also has the experience after years of struggles with mental health. And of course she has the comic gifts to say it in an articulate, funny and entertaining way
In this show, she wants to make us laugh at her and at ourselves, make our lives feel more manageable, and share tools for how to cope.
Written and performed by Ruby Wax
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 06:00 David Storey - This Sporting Life (b0b05251)
Beautiful, repressed northern drama - juxtaposing the trapped wants and needs of protagonist Arthur Machin with the stark aggression of the rugby pitch.
The sounds are rich - the rugby scrum, the atmosphere of the match, the changing rooms, the dancehall, struggles in the bedroom, arguments by the kitchen hearth.
David Storey's 1960 novel was adapted into Lindsay Anderson classic 1963 film starring Richard Harris.
Dramatised for radio by Andrew Lynch and directed by Johnny Vegas.
Cast:
Arthur Machin ...........................James Purefoy
Mrs Hammond...........................Emily Watson
Maurice Braithwaite ..................John Thomson
Judith Parkes ........................... Sheridan Smith
Mr Weaver ................................Philip Jackson
Mrs Weaver.............................. Julia Davis
Dai, Slomer and other parts......Peter Temple
Lynda Hammond.......................Sophie Wright
Mam (Machin)........................... Gwyneth Powell
Dad (Machin).............................Wayne Forester
Commentary for the Rugby League game-play is provided by commentator Ray French, who witnessed some of the 1963 filming.
Producer: Sally Harrison
Director: Johnny Vegas
A Woolyback production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2013.
SAT 07:30 Freedom Pass (b00sw6bx)
Episode 7
Using free over-60s travel, Alan Coren and Christopher Matthew head to London Zoo and Regents Park's boating pond. From September 2005.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b01nwp35)
Regulating the Press
As the British press braces itself for the Leveson Report, Steve Hewlett explores past attempts to regulate it - or encourage it to regulate itself.
Steve begins by discovering how offending publishers were treated in the seventeenth century, when if you were flogged down Fleet St to the pillory you were getting off relatively lightly.
With the help of original documents from the period, he traces how, once licensing was lifted in 1695, the ideal of the free British press was born, only for real journalists and publishers to find themselves encumbered by taxes, libel laws and political influence.
In the 1920s, the rising divorce rate gave journalists ample opportunity to report the salacious sexual details revealed in the consequent flurry of court cases.
After a long period when governments had largely given up trying to regulate the press, the hardline Home Secretary, Sir William Joynson-Hicks moved a law to ban such unpleasantness.
However, it was only after the Second World War that there was a new series of attempts not to regulate the press by law, but to find a way to avoid that - by fostering self-regulation.
Steve finds out why the post-war period saw no less than three Royal Commissions on the Press - only for these to be followed by widespread objections in the 1980s that the press was out of control.
Instances like the publication of a rape victim's photograph and some of the reporting of the Hillsborough disaster, along with political objections to the invasion of privacy, were followed by yet another Inquiry, led by Sir David Calcutt.
And so, in 1990, the Government announced that the press was being given one final chance to make self-regulation work - or legal controls would follow.
But that never happened. The Calcutt Report led to the setting up of the Press Complaints Commission, but was then shelved - a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Lord Justice Leveson.
Producer: Phil Tinline.
SAT 09:00 Lloyd Webber & Rice - Jesus Christ Superstar (b07mqkng)
The world-renowned rock opera that propelled Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber into the musicals firmament.
Jesus Christ Superstar began life as a 1970 concept album before making its Broadway debut in 1971, transferring to London's West End a year later and hitting the big screen in 1973. Originally banned by the BBC for being "sacrilegious", this all-star cast production was recorded for BBC Radio 2 in 1996.
Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet) stars as Jesus with Roger Daltrey (The Who) as Judas, Frances Ruffelle as Mary Magdalene, Julian Clary as King Herod, John Barr as Simon, Jeff Shankley as Pilate, Bogdan Kominowski as Annas and Gary Martin as Caiaphas
Sung all the way through, this timeless and powerful work explores the final days of Christ as seen through the eyes of Judas Iscariot.
With the Stephen Hill Singers and the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Michael Reed
Producer John Langridge
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1996.
SAT 10:40 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b0076m21)
Sir Tim Rice
From David Essex to the King's College Choir, lyricist Tim Rice shares his castaway choices with Sue Lawley. From June 2004.
SAT 11:25 Inheritance Tracks (b0b0grrl)
Frances Ruffelle
Singer Frances Ruffelle chooses 'All Your Pals May Leave You' by Kate Carney and 'Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien' by Edith Piaf.
SAT 11:30 Musical Legends (b0139466)
Roger Daltrey
The Who's legendary lead singer Roger Daltrey joins Tom Morton for an in depth interview about his life and career to date. From fighting against bullying at school to fighting with his fellow band members over drug use. In this very open and frank account Daltrey talks about his passion for singing and performing, his move from music to film and the on going feelings of loss over the deaths of band members Keith Moon and John Entwistle.
SAT 12:00 Hopes and Desires (b0076dx4)
Series 1, Vongole
Professor Swann's favourite pastime is seducing female students over a languorous meal of Spaghetti Vongole.
But what is he really looking for? And can he improve before he is landed in deeper water than the ornate Italian clam he so relishes?
Hopes and Desires is a series of comedies about unconscious yearnings.
Michael Butt's comedy drama stars Bill Nighy as Tristram, Emma Callander as Minnie, Miranda Colchester as Helen, Stephen Critchlow as Freddie and Carolyn Jones as Mamma.
Director: Peter Kavanagh
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003.
SAT 12:30 Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel (b0080jsp)
Series 2, Episode 1
Shady lawyer, Waldorf T Flywheel needs patients - in his latest scam as a doctor.
Recreation of the Marx Brothers' lost shows charting the adventures of shady lawyer Waldorf T Flywheel and his assistant, Emmanuel Ravelli. Originally broadcast with sponsors on America's NBC radio network in the 1930s. The scripts were rediscovered in 1988.
Starring Michael Roberts as Groucho Marx as Waldorf T Flywheel and Frank Lazarus as Chico Marx as Emmanuel Ravelli
With Lorelei King, Graham Hoadly and Vincent Marzello.
Written by Nat Perrin and Athur Sheekman. Adapted by Mark Brisenden.
Music arranged and conducted by David Firman.
Producer: Dirk Maggs
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1991.
SAT 13:00 Erin Kelly - She Said/He Said (Omnibus) (b0b05253)
Autumn term at Addison University. Two months after a freshers' week party, Stephanie makes her way to the police station and a young man is stunned to be accused of rape.
Eileen Horne's fiction is inspired by far too many real events. Many students in the UK today will be impacted during their time at university by a sexual assault case, as complainant, witness, supporter - or the accused.
Stephanie is a fresher at a party when she encounters Charlie and, in a few short minutes, their lives are changed forever. The subjectivity and so-called 'grey areas' in the ensuing legal case are explored through the use of rolling monologues, as the narrative passes between the two young people at the centre of the accusation and on to those who surround and support them.
Director: Clive Brill
A Brill production first broadcast in 5 parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b0b05255)
Jeremy Vine
Broadcaster Jeremy Vine inherits 'Old Comrades' by the Band of HM Royal Marines and passes on Elvis Costello's 'Lipstick Vogue'.
SAT 14:15 Sentimental Journey (b0076zc2)
Tony Benn
Arthur Smith accompanies Tony Benn on a trip back to the place where he was born, grew up, and spent most of his political life - the village of Westminster.
Producer: Sharon Banoff
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006.
SAT 14:45 Robb Wilton - I Should Say So (b01lk6wp)
Series 1, The Bigamist
Robb Wilton (1881-1957) was one of the most popular music hall and radio comics of the 1930s and 1940s.
Famed as an all-round pessimist - what would he have made of 1980s Britain - trying to solve a tricky marital problem?
Michael Williams stars as Robb Wilton - making as little sense out of life as he did 40 years before...
Written by Allen Saddler.
Produced at BBC Bristol by Brian Miller
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1986.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b01nwp35)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 David Storey - This Sporting Life (b0b05251)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Freedom Pass (b00sw6bx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Afternoon Drama (b012fcym)
Torchwood - The Lost Files, Submission
In Ryan Scott's episode, Torchwood are chasing aliens down the M4, when Jack accidentally blows a hole in the Severn Bridge, and the SUV hits the water. Whilst submerged John, Gwen and Ianto hear a strange noise, which, back at the Hub they realise is a cry for help. They track the cry to its source which turns out to be the deepest part of the Ocean - the Mariana Trench. Ianto rings old Torchwood flame, Carlie Roberts, who's an expert in marine geology, and Jack pulls strings with the US government to get them all on board the USS Calvin, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer, which is heading for the Trench. From there they board the Octopus Rock, the only submarine built to withstand the pressure at that depth, and follow the signal. But when the Submarine crashes, the team are left at the mercy of a hungry alien.
Recorded at The Invisible Studios, by Mark Holden and mixed at BBC Wales by Nigel Lewis.
A BBC/Cymru Wales production, directed by Kate McAll.
SAT 18:45 Edinburgh Haunts (b03fftgq)
The Misadventures of Magnus Lovatt
By Susie Maguire.
Continuing our series of newly commissioned ghost stories set in Edinburgh, Susie Maguire's tale draws on the city's theatrical history.
An actor at the Edinburgh Festival performs a one man show of a Robert Louis Stevenson story - but the words begin to echo back to him in a deeply unsettling way.
Read by Steven McNicoll
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
SAT 19:00 Steve Punt's Hancock Cuttings (b04n61gw)
Tony Hancock fan Steve Punt presents oddities and rarities featuring the lad himself:
* BBC TV's Face To Face interview (1960)
Episode from the TV series in which John Freeman cross-examined leading personalities of the day. Here he interviews the radio and TV comedian, Tony Hancock.
* 'Ancock's Anthology - the BBC Light Programme's Christmas Day miscellany of the comic's favourite music, readings and an interview with Stirling Moss (25/12/1964)
* The Missing Page - the Pye Records re-recording of the TV episode (1965) On a visit to Cheam Library, the lad is appalled to be told he has some outstanding fines to pay. With Graham Stark, Clive Dunn and Frank Thornton. Written by Ray Galton & Alan Simpson.
* Educating Archie (19/10/1951)
Tony Hancock, Julie Andrews and Hattie Jacques join wisecracking schoolboy Archie Andrews. Cinema high-jinks and Dr Hancock lets Archie use his 'Wishing Chair'. Radio ventriloquism from Peter Brough. Written by Eric Sykes.
* The first ever episode of Hancock's Half Hour - 'The First Night Party' (BBC Light Programme 02/11/1954) The lad throws a launch party for his new series, but things don't quite go to plan. With Moira Lister, Bill Kerr, Sidney James, Kenneth Williams and Gerald Campion. Written by Ray Galton & Alan Simpson.
Producer: Mik Wilkojc.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in 2014.
SAT 22:00 My Teenage Diary (b03bfkb7)
Series 5, Kate Mosse
Comedian Rufus Hound is joined by author Kate Mosse, whose diary tells of a rain-soaked family holiday to the Lake District in the 1970s.
Highlights of the trip included getting lost in the Newbury one-way system and a visit to a pencil factory.
Producer: Harriet Jaine
A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 22:30 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (b007jm2k)
The Primary Phase, Fit The Sixth
Arthur and company escape from a war, but exactly when have they escaped to? By Douglas Adams. From April 1978.
Arthur Dent is one of only two survivors from Earth, demolished to make way for a by-pass. He survived thanks to his friend, Ford Prefect (who hails not from Guildford, but somewhere near Betelgeuse), a writer for the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, "the most successful book ever to have come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor". They've managed to escape from Restaurant at the End of Universe on the Black Ship only to find themselves where they never thought they'd be, only 2 million years earlier. What on earth are they going to do when face to face with 'how, why and where phases' of galactic development?
The global multi-media success story that is "Hitchhiker's" started life as a Radio 4 series in March 1978. The original scripts by the late Douglas Adams then went on to spawn a series of novels, a feature film, at least three stage shows, a TV series, a computer game, a collection of comic books - and various towels.
The Guide helpfully informs us that the most obscene expletive in the Galaxy is "Belgium".
Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge and died in 2001 aged 49, after a fatal heart attack in his gym in California.
The answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything is 42.
With Peter Jones, Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern and Jo Kendall. Produced by the late Geoffrey Perkins.
SAT 23:00 Colin Hoult's Carnival of Monsters (b036mykr)
Series 1, Episode 1
Master character comedian Colin Hoult presents his much anticipated debut comedy series for BBC Radio 4. Enter the Carnival of Monsters, a bizarre and hilarious world of sketches, stories and characters, presented by the sinister Ringmaster.
Meet such monstrous yet strangely familiar oddities as: Thwor - the mighty (but Leeds-based) god of Thwunder; Len Parker - Nottingham-born martial arts and transformers enthusiast; Anna Mann - outrageous star of such forgotten silver screen hits such as 'Rogue Baker', 'Who's For Turkish Delight' and 'A Bowl For My Bottom'; and many more.
Writers Guild Award-winner Colin Hoult is best known for his highly acclaimed starring roles in 'Being Human', 'Life's Too Short', and 'Russell Howard's Good News', as well as his many hit shows at the Edinburgh Festival. He has also appeared and written for a number of Radio 4 series including 'The Headset Set' and 'Colin and Fergus' Digi-Radio'.
'Lewis Carol meets The League Of Gentlemen . A beautifully staged masterclass in character comedy' - Time Out
'Comic gold' - Metro
'Delightfully funny' - The Telegraph
Produced by Sam Bryant.
SAT 23:30 Think the Unthinkable (b007m4dz)
Series 2, Riddlington Plastic
The consultants marvel at the world wide web, and Ryan gets embroiled in a protest. Stars Marcus Brigstocke. From November 2002.

SUNDAY 22 APRIL 2018

SUN 00:00 Afternoon Drama (b012fcym)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 00:45 Edinburgh Haunts (b03fftgq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:45 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 Erin Kelly - She Said/He Said (Omnibus) (b0b05253)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (b0b05255)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Saturday]
SUN 02:15 Sentimental Journey (b0076zc2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Saturday]
SUN 02:45 Robb Wilton - I Should Say So (b01lk6wp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Archive on 4 (b01nwp35)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 David Storey - This Sporting Life (b0b05251)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 Freedom Pass (b00sw6bx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 Laurence Sterne - Tristram Shandy (b0b05528)
Omnibus 2/2
Having recovered from the disastrous incident with Tristram's nose, his Father is dealt another blow.
18th century gentleman Tristram tries to tell his tragicomic life story through accounts of his family and friends, his experiences and his ideas. But he continually finds he must digress...
Conclusion of Laurence Sterne's groundbreaking comic novel dramatised in 10 parts by Graham White.
Stars Neil Dudgeon as Tristram, Julia Ford as Mother, David Troughton as Father, Adrian Scarborough as Toby, Deborah Findlay as Widow Wadman, Stephen Hogan as Obadiah, Paul Ritter as Trim, Tony Rohr as Dr Slop, Helen Longworth as Susannah, Ndidi Del Fatti as Bridget, Hugh Dickson as Le Fever and Stuart Mcloughlin as Death,
Director: Mary Peate
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005.
SUN 07:15 Harry Towb - Chicago, Chicago (b0b0552b)
4 Extra Debut. A Belfast crime reporter gets more than he bargained for during a visit to the Windy City. Written and read by Harry Towb.
SUN 07:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b03c3dx7)
Series 3, Episode 6
John Finnemore, the writer and star of Cabin Pressure, regular guest on The Now Show and popper-upper in things like Miranda, presents a third series 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. The second series won Best Radio Comedy at both the Chortle and Comedy.co.uk awards, and was nominated for a Sony award.
This time around, John promises to stop doing silly sketches about nonsense like Winnie the Pooh's honey addiction or how goldfish invented computer programming, and concentrate instead on the the big, serious issues.
This final episode of the series looks at some pretty creative accounting; cross-examines an expert witness; and asks why it is that posh men's trousers are all the same colour.
Written by and starring John Finnemore, with Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan. Original music by Susannah Pearse.
Producer: Ed Morrish.
SUN 08:00 Ray's a Laugh (b007js9f)
From 01/04/1954
When Mrs Easy quits, Ted and wife Kitty wrestle with finding a new cleaner.
With Kitty Bluett, Peter Sellers, Patricia Hayes, Charles Hawtrey and Kenneth Connor.
Ray's A Laugh - the successor to ITMA - follows the comedy exploits of Ted's life at home with his 'radio' wife Kitty, as well as in a variety of jobs. It ran from 1949-1961.
Scripted by Eddie Maguire, George Wadmore and Ted Ray.
Music from Bob & Alf Pearson and The Beaux and The Belles.
BBC Variety Orchestra conducted by Paul Fenoulhet.
Producer: George Inns
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in April 1954.
SUN 08:30 Take It From Here (b0b0552g)
From 25/10/1955
'The Glums' plan to open a sweet shop - and Madam Butterfly as you've never heard it before..
Starring Professor Jimmy Edwards, Dick Bentley, June Whitfield, Alma Cogan and Wallace Eton.
Music from The Keynotes and the BBC Revue Orchestra with Charles Shadwell.
Announcer: David Dunhill
Classic comedy scripted by Frank Muir and Denis Norden.
Producer: Charles Maxwell
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in October 1955.
SUN 09:00 John Osborne and Pamela Lane - Dearest Squirrel (Omnibus) (b0b0552j)
John Osborne meets Pamela Lane in 1951 and within three months the couple are married. So begins an extraordinary love affair that lasts over 30 years.
A completely fresh insight into the mind of one of the UK's greatest playwrights, the letters between John Osborne and his first wife, actress Pamela Lane, are also a love letter to a now defunct system of repertory theatre and life in post-war Britain.
As these letters reveal, soon after their divorce, Osborne and Lane began a mutually supportive, loyal, frequently stormy and sometimes sexually intimate alliance lasting thirty years until Osborne's death. By the mid- 1980s, they had become closer and more trusting than they had been since their earliest years together.
'You are for me what you always were,' Pamela told him, 'I am in love with you still.'
'It is,' he declared, 'my fortune to have loved someone for a lifetime.'
Acerbic, witty, candid and heartbreaking, the letters reveal a unique relationship - troubled, tender and enduring.
The author, Peter Whitebrook, was born in London and has written and broadcast extensively on the theatre and literature. His co-adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath won a Fringe First Award. His biography of John Osborne was nominated for both the Sheridan Morley Prize for biography and the Theatre Book Prize.
Read by Simon Shepherd and Amanda Root.
Abridged by Polly Coles.
Producer: Clive Brill
A Brill production first broadcast in 5 parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.
SUN 10:10 The Listening Project (b04hyxyk)
John and Laura - A Working Relationship
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between colleagues who went for the same job but didn't both get it. Twelve years on, they reflect upon power in the workplace, proving once again that it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
SUN 10:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b0b0552n)
Artists, Jack Vettriano
4 Extra Debut. From Bob Dylan to Leonard Cohen, artist Jack Vettriano (of erotic poster) fame shares his musical choices with Sue Lawley. From March 2004.
SUN 11:00 Radiolab (b0b0552q)
Series 3, Colours
Radiolab explores why something so intangible as colour can pack such a visceral punch? With Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich.
Radiolab is a Peabody Award-winning show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and the human experience.
First broadcast on public radio in the USA.
SUN 12:00 Ray's a Laugh (b007js9f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SUN 12:30 Take It From Here (b0b0552g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
SUN 13:00 Laurence Sterne - Tristram Shandy (b0b05528)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 14:15 Harry Towb - Chicago, Chicago (b0b0552b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]
SUN 14:30 Nikesh Shukla - The One Who Wrote Destiny (b0b0552v)
Omnibus 1/2
Keighley, 1966. Mukesh arrives from Kenya to study, and first meets Nisha...
Decades later, Mukesh's daughter Neha is dying from lung cancer, a genetic gift from her mother and an invocation to forge a better relationship with her brother and her widowed father before it's too late.
Neha's brother Rakesh is a comedian but his career is flatlining and he's grieving his mother and sister. Ba has never looked after her two young grandchildren before. After the death of her daughter, they come to stay with her and she has to work out how to bond with two children who are used England, not to the rhythms of Kenya...
Nikesh Shukla's hilarious and moving story about three generations of one family, riven by falling-outs, united by fates and fortunes: featuring Mukesh, Neha, Laila, Ingrid and Ba.
Omnibus of episodes 1 to 5 read by Bhasker Patel, Chetna Pandya, Maya Sondhi, Indira Varma and Taru Devani.
Producer: Mair Bosworth
First broadcast in 10 parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.
SUN 15:45 The Lore of the Land (b068tl6k)
Episode 1
In the first of a five part series examining the enduring relevance of the creatures of British folklore, medieval literature scholar Dr Carolyne Larrington travels to Shropshire to the foot of the mighty Wrekin in search of the most prolific landscape shapers in British folk tales - the giants.
A hill that stands tall above its surroundings, the Wrekin offers panoramic views of eleven counties. Carolyne is joined by local storyteller Amy Douglas who has lived in the shadow of the Wrekin all her life.
Walking up the side of the Wrekin, Amy tells the story of the giant who is said to have formed the hill following an attempt to drown the people of Shrewsbury. When Carolyne reaches the peak she comes across a peculiar rock formation called the Needle's Eye which was said to have been created during a violent struggle between two giants.
As well as shaping the landscape through excessive rage, giants also take on the role of oversized engineers in the folklore of Great Britain. Carolyne reveals that the Anglo Saxons had no tradition of building in stone so the Roman cities fell into disrepair. The Old English poets often remarked on these ruins as the ancient work of giants.
It's not just giants who bring about landscape features, the Devil is said to create standing stones and strange rock formations across the British Isles. In Cornwall, monoliths and stone circles are often associated with King Arthur, who has become a mythical being in our traditional folk tales. Carolyne explains that, in British folklore, these figures become a way of talking about huge processes, about geological time which slowly, but irreversibly leaves its marks on a landscape.
Producer: Max O'Brien
A Juniper Production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 16:00 Saturday Drama (b03f86l3)
Lucy Gannon - Topaz
In Lucy Gannon's comic drama, Brian Cox stars as the unfortunate 19th century poet, William Topaz McGonagall.
In the face of widespread ridicule at his lack of talent, MacGonagall dreams of rescuing his reputation by seeking royal patronage. He decides to walk from Dundee to Balmoral to see Queen Victoria, accompanied by his long-suffering son, Billy. A desperate desire for fame and celebrity has almost destroyed McGonagall's life - but if he can meet her Majesty his fortunes would be transformed.
Other parts are played by the cast.
Producer/director: Bruce Young.
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (b0b0561f)
Time for Verse - Gavin Ewart
Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive with 'Time for Verse' featuring Gavin Ewart.
Poet Gavin Ewart (1916-1995) talks about his life and range of work including reflections on fighting in the Second World War.
Presenter: George MacBeth
Producer: Alec Reid
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1988.
SUN 17:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b03c3dx7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 18:00 Terry Pratchett (b00b8rpc)
Small Gods, Episode 3
Ephebian philosophers argue violently among themselves but they're no match for Deacon Vorbis. However one philosopher, Didactylos, is prepared to stand up to him.
Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy stars Anton Lesser as the Narrator, Patrick Barlow as Om, Carl Prekopp as Brutha, Alex Jennings as Vorbis, Gerard McDermott as Didactylos, John Cummins as Urn, Geoffrey Beevers as the Guard and Nick Sayce as Sergeant Simony.
Dramatised by Robin Brooks.
Producer: Claire Grove
Director: Gordon House
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2006.
SUN 18:30 Voices From the Grave (b007jwn9)
50 Berkeley Square
The most haunted house in Victorian London is set to give up its dark secret. 100 years back in time, Molly discovers that passion never dies.
Dylan Ritson's horror stars Harry Myers as Robert, Sophie Roberts as Molly and John Cummins as Angel.
Voices From The Grave is a series of four chilling and intimate dramas, inspired by existing ghost stories from around Britain. The writers make these stories more than simply scary - they are studies of humanity, love, rage and despair, of passion, longing and pain.
Writer Dylan Ritson has a long and successful career in theatre, film and radio. His radio work includes The Dream-Workings and Brain-Sayings of James Tilly Matthews and The Hunting of the Snark.
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2007.
SUN 19:00 Radiolab (b0b0552q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 20:00 John Osborne and Pamela Lane - Dearest Squirrel (Omnibus) (b0b0552j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SUN 21:10 The Listening Project (b04hyxyk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 today]
SUN 21:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b0b0552n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:15 today]
SUN 22:00 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b03c3dx7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 22:30 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (b007jm34)
The Secondary Phase, Fit The Seventh
Who hasn't been confronted with a temporal anomaly while drunk? Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect struggle to work it out.
The show that began with the end of the world continues with Arthur and Ford stranded on prehistoric earth, and Zaphod Beeblebrox and Marvin thoroughly devoured by a carbon-copy of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal.
Starring Peter Jones as The Book, Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect/ Frogstar Robot, Stephen Moore as Marvin, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Bill Paterson as Assistant Arcturan Pilot, David Tate as the Captain/ the Receptionist/the Lift and Alan Ford as Roosta.
The global multi-media success story that is 'Hitchhiker's' started life on Radio 4 in March 1978. The original scripts by Douglas Adams (1952-2001) went on to spawn a series of novels, a feature film, at least three stage shows, a TV series, a computer game, a collection of comic books - and various towels.
The answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything is 42. If you work out what the Ultimate Question is, please let us know.
Radiophonic sound and music by Paddy Kingsland.
Producer: Geoffrey Perkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1978.
SUN 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b0b1czys)
Tiff Stevenson 2/2
The best in contemporary comedy. Arthur Smith talks to Tiff Stevenson.
SUN 23:00 Chat Show Roulette (b055jslz)
Episode 1
Justin Edwards is the host of the new improvised chat show. His guests are Susan Calman, Marek Larwood and Kevin Eldon, with musical accompaniment from James Sherwood.
Devised by Ashley Blaker and Justin Edwards.
Produced by Ashley Blaker
A John Stanley production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 23:30 Hannah Gadsby: Arts Clown (b05419l4)
Edouard Manet's Olympia
Art historian Hannah Gadsby kicks off her radio series of comedy lectures about four masterpieces, with Edouard Manet's masterpiece 'Olympia'. She shares her first encounter with the art work as well as looking at what critics had to say about it at the time it was created.
Born in Tasmania, Hannah's first encounters with art was solely through books. These books taught her the language of art appreciation but they also legitimised her desire to look at 'boobs'. This was just as well as Hannah realised in her teens that she was 'a little bit lesbian' but homosexuality was still illegal in Tasmania at that time.
The painting 'Olympia' was first exhibited in Paris in 1865. It made a lot of people very angry at the time. Here was a reclining nude but this woman had attitude, looking right at the observer with no embarrassment or demureness. She was a whore - what of it?
The woman who posed for the painting was Victorine Meurent, not a prostitute but an artist in her own right and, says Gadsby, surely she had a major influence on Manet's considerably feminist approach to 'the reclining nude' in this painting.
Hannah explains what makes 'Olympia' a cornerstone of modern art and what bring her personally back to this painting again and again.
Hannah Gadsby is assisted in this series by her very own 'Quotebot' who has been inputted with every quote that's ever been written about art.
Quotebot sounds remarkably like comedy legend and all-round boffin John Lloyd.
Written by Hannah Gadsby
Performed by Hannah Gadsby with her Quotebot aka John Lloyd
Script edited by Jon Hunter
Produced by Claire Jones.
SUN 23:45 Mission Improbable (b044j3gn)
Series 2, India!
Jane Roberts' (Catriona Knox) career in journalism has stalled. Wanting a high-profile, hard-hitting crime column in which she revives and then solves long since given-up-on cold cases, all she gets offered is the chance to review a spa in the Himalayas for a minor fitness magazine.
Lucy (Lizzie Bates) is delighted and desperate to come along in order to lose weight for her forthcoming school reunion. Amelia (Anna Emerson) is in too, as she is desperate to see a real life tiger in the wild. So a reluctant Jane and her excited companions head for India and find themselves in a yoga class.
Inevitably Lucy falls heavily and inappropriately in love with their highly bendy instructor and tries to get him to notice her by noisily running through a series of stretches directly in his eye-line. Jane is also intrigued by him too. She recognises him from somewhere. When all this attention spooks the instructor, he makes a run for it and the team set off in hot pursuit - a pursuit which will see them journey on trains, in a rickshaw and into an extremely close encounter with a fully grown tiger.
Written by Anna Emerson, Lizzie Bates and Catriona Knox
Audio production by Matt Katz
Produced by Dave Lamb and Richie Webb
A Top Dog Production for Radio 4.

MONDAY 23 APRIL 2018

MON 00:00 Terry Pratchett (b00b8rpc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:30 Voices From the Grave (b007jwn9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 Laurence Sterne - Tristram Shandy (b0b05528)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:15 Harry Towb - Chicago, Chicago (b0b0552b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Sunday]
MON 02:30 Nikesh Shukla - The One Who Wrote Destiny (b0b0552v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Sunday]
MON 03:45 The Lore of the Land (b068tl6k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Saturday Drama (b03f86l3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (b0b0561f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b03c3dx7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h76wt)
Episode 1
The hero - an anonymous, wealthy Englishman - is now caged in a German prison with scores to settle. But there's been an air raid....
Read in 5 parts by Michael Jayston.
Geoffrey Household's sequel to his acclaimed British thriller 'Rogue Male' was published over 40 years later in 1982.
Abridged by Patricia Hannah.
Producer: David Jackson Young
Made for BBC 7 by BBC Scotland and first broadcast in 2009.
MON 06:30 The Taking Part (b01jqd3s)
Tim Franks recalls the 1972 Olympics and the triumph of Dame Mary Peters in the Pentathlon and asks those who strove to beat her what impact being an Olympian had on their lives.
For millions of British viewers the grainy picture of Mary Peters giving her all in the final event of the Pentathlon in the Munich Olympics was the brightest moment of a games lit up by Mark Spitz and Olga Korbut only to be blighted by the massacre of Israeli athletes.
But for those taking part in the Pentathlon this was their moment, their chance to take part in Olympic competition. The impact of winning on Dame Mary Peters is a familiar story but what of the others who made up that field, the German Heide Rosendahl who lost out by the blink of an eye, or the Canadian Diane Jones who gashed her leg on the hurdles in the first event. And he goes further into the field hearing from the other British athlete Anne Wilson who was well placed after the first event, and Margaret Murphy, the Republic of Ireland's only competitor. And way back down the field Lin Chu-Yu.
In this unique view of those two days of competition and the lives that followed Tim hears what it meant to be an Olympian and how those memories have played out over forty years since Mary Peters smile shone across the Stadium in Munich on hearing, from her rival Heide, that she'd triumphed.
So was it enough to Take Part or are their nagging frustrations still about the tiny margins between winning and losing or the giant chasms between the competitors supported by their national sporting bodies and those, like Margaret Murphy who relied on the goodwill of local schools and a generous priest who cleared a run up to a temporary sandpit so that she could work on her long jump.
MON 07:00 Millport (b0076bk4)
Series 3, The Siege
Millport's under siege by the neighbouring islands, furious that this little insignificant town has its own independent public house.
Amidst the madness Irene and Moira find romance where they least expect it - and Alberto unveils an unusual secret defence system.
Bittersweet comedy written by and starring Lynn Ferguson as 30-something barmaid Irene Bruce, who hankers after a better life on the mainland.
With Janet Brown as Agnes / Moira, Lewis McLeod as Alberto / Doctor / Robert the dog / Mr Shetland / Mr Sky, Gabriel Quigley as Ena / Bunty, Robert Paterson as the Minister /Bob / Mr Dunoon / Mr Orkney and Kenneth Bryans as Dougie / Mr Arran.
Producer: Lucy Bacon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2002.
MON 07:30 The Unbelievable Truth (b09z4fyz)
Series 20, Episode 3
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.
Arthur Smith, Jack Dee, Lucy Porter and Lloyd Langford are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as rabbits, inventions, butterflies and drugs.
Produced by Richard Turner
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 08:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b00j1wj3)
The Pet Dog
The lad buys Andree a puppy for her birthday, but to his alarm - it won't stop growing!
Starring Tony Hancock, Bill Kerr, Sidney James, Andree Melly and Kenneth Williams.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Theme and incidental music composed by Wally Stott. Recorded by the BBC Revue Orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.
Producer: Dennis Main Wilson
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in October 1955.
MON 08:30 Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel (b0081b4j)
Series 2, Episode 2
Shady lawyer, Waldorf T Flywheel turns farmer for a wealthy Uncle.
Recreation of the Marx Brothers' lost shows charting the adventures of shady lawyer Waldorf T Flywheel and his assistant, Emmanuel Ravelli. Originally broadcast with sponsors on America's NBC radio network in the 1930s. The scripts were rediscovered in 1988.
Starring Michael Roberts as Groucho Marx as Waldorf T Flywheel and Frank Lazarus as Chico Marx as Emmanuel Ravelli
With Lorelei King, Graham Hoadly and Vincent Marzello.
Written by Nat Perrin and Athur Sheekman. Adapted by Mark Brisenden.
Music arranged and conducted by David Firman.
Producer: Dirk Maggs
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1991.
MON 09:00 Just a Minute (b00w1bf9)
Series 58, Episode 3
Nicholas Parsons presides over the grandaddy of all panel games where the idea is to see who has the gift of the gab.
This week's programme comes from the Lowry Centre in Salford where the panellists are Paul Merton, Tony Hawks, Kit Hesketh-Harvey and Alun Cochrane.
The panellists are given subjects on which they must speak without hesitation, repetition or deviation. A task much more difficult than it sounds...
This week Paul has to speak on the subject of What Nicholas Keeps in his Wallet; Kit talks about Seeing the Dentist, Tony declaims on the subject of The Age of the Dinosaur and Alun explains What Makes Me Furious.
MON 09:30 King Street Junior (b007jnn0)
Series 9, Financial Times
Who'd be a school crime reporter? Young Rafat learns the hard way.
Created by Jim Eldridge, ten series of this comedy about a junior school ran between 1985 and 1998. King Street Junior Revisited ran from 2002 to 2005.
Written by Paul Copley.
Stars Karl Howman as Mr Sims, James Grout as the Headmaster, Margaret John as Mrs Stone, Deirdre Costello as Mrs Patterson, Paul Copley as Mr Long, Marlene Sidaway as Miss Lewis, Vivienne Martin as Mrs Rudd, Tom Watson as Mr Holliday, Danny Webb as Bill Clay, Tilly Vosburgh as Sandra Clay, Dax O'Callaghan as Damon Clay, Robert Thomas as Jamie, Anthony Hamblin as Rafat and Sara French as Shireen.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1997.
MON 10:00 Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot (b00sr4hr)
Episode 1
Prince Myshkin courageously battles to return to Russian society, after years abroad being treated for his epilepsy.
On the long train journey home, he firsts learns the story of a woman who will dominate his life from now on.
One of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's most famous and personal novels adapted by Melissa Murray.
Starring Paul Rhys as Prince Myshkin, Alex Jennings as Ganya, Roger Allam as Rogazhin, Lia Williams as Nastasya, David Swift as General Yepanchin and Paula Jacobs as Mrs Yepanchin,
Producer: Cherry Cookson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
MON 11:00 Rebecca F John - Clown's Shoes (b06p09x1)
Clown's Shoes
1930s London. Every night in the theatre, a young woman performs a reluctant striptease. Read by Ruth Gemmell.
An ambitious debut collection of short stories by Rebecca F John, dipping into the shadows and spotlights of life.
Rebecca F John is from Pwll, a village on the South Wales coast, and works as a Ski Instructor. Her short story The Dog Track was broadcast on Radio 4 as part of The Time Being series in 2013, and Crow Road was broadcast in the Nights Of The Hunter series in 2015.
The Glove Maker's Numbers was shortlisted for The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award in 2015. Rebecca won the PEN International New Voices Award for her story Moon Dog in October 2015.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Sweet Talk Productions.
MON 11:15 Sue Teddern - From Galway to Graceland (b0075hcv)
Living in a remote Irish village, Marie becomes increasingly fixated with the music of Elvis Presley.
One night, after a bitter row, she walks out of her home and sets off on a journey to Graceland.
Sue Teddern's drama stars Marcella Riordan as Marie, Struan Rodger as Brendan, Clare Cathcart as Kate, Sharon Holm as Amy, Dean Hill as Joseph and Beth Porter as Rosalie.
Music composed and played by Richard Thompson.
Producer: Paul Dodgson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1999.
MON 12:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b00j1wj3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel (b0081b4j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h76wt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 The Taking Part (b01jqd3s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b03b0sl7)
Jonathan Coe - Expo 58, Episode 6
London, 1958: unassuming civil servant Thomas Foley is plucked from his desk at the Central Office of Information and sent on a six-month trip to Brussels. His task: to keep an eye on The Britannia, a brand new pub which will form the heart of the British presence at Expo 58 - the biggest World's Fair of the century, and the first to be held since the Second World War.
As soon as he arrives at the site, Thomas feels that he has escaped a repressed, backward-looking country and fallen headlong into an era of modernity and optimism. He is equally bewitched by the surreal, gigantic Atomium, which stands at the heart of this brave new world, and by Anneke, the lovely Flemish hostess who meets him off his plane.
But Thomas's new-found sense of freedom comes at a price: the Cold War is at its height, the mischievous Belgians have placed the American and Soviet pavilions right next to each other - and why is he being followed everywhere by two mysterious emissaries of the British Secret Service?
Expo 58 may represent a glittering future, both for Europe and for Thomas himself, but he will soon be forced to decide where his public and private loyalties really lie.
CREDITS:
READER: TIM MCINNERNY
EXPO 58
BY JONATHAN COE
ABRIDGED BY LIBBY SPURRIER
PRODUCED BY JOANNA GREEN.
MON 14:15 Shakespeare's Restless World (b01gf5t0)
Europe: Triumphs of the Past
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived.
With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England.
Programme 6. EUROPE: TRIUMPHS OF THE PAST - As a tourist attraction in Westminster Abbey, Henry V's instruments of battle reflect the view of English history as depicted on the Elizabeth stage.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
MON 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b03757ct)
Melissa Murray - Good News, Episode 1
by Melissa Murray.
Part 1
Following a serious misdiagnosis, Adrienne is forced to confront some unexpected issues.
Directed by Marc Beeby.
MON 14:45 Frank W Abagnale (b00td4zq)
Catch Me If You Can, Episode 1
Early memories and the first scam in the true story of a con man.
Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams and Ringo Monjo were all aliases of Frank W Abagnale - in this tale of deceit about one of the most daring con men, forgers, imposters and escape artists ever.
Notorious conman Frank Abagnale Jr's autobiography, with Stan Redding. Read by William Hope.
Abridged in 5 parts by Mark Mason.
Producer: Joanna Green
Made for BBC Radio 7 by Pier Productions and first broadcast in 2010.
MON 15:00 Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot (b00sr4hr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 Just a Minute (b00w1bf9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 King Street Junior (b007jnn0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 Millport (b0076bk4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 The Unbelievable Truth (b09z4fyz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 GK Chesterton - The Man Who Was Thursday (b007jvbd)
Unaccountable Conduct of Professor de Worms
Young poet Syme is chased through the London snow from Soho to St Paul's by the strange figure of the Professor.
Published in 1908, GK Chesterton's most famous novel is read in 13-parts by Geoffrey Palmer.
Director: Lawrence Jackson
Made for BBC Radio 7 by BBC Northern Ireland.
First broadcast in 2005.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (b0b09jpf)
Andrew Graham-Dixon and Tim Bentinck
Sue MacGregor and her guests - art critic, Andrew Graham-Dixon and actor, Tim Bentinck [David in The Archers] discuss favourite books by Henry James, Christopher Logue and Bill Bryson. From 2006.
'War Music' by Christopher Logue
Publisher: Faber & Faber
'Troublesome Words' by Bill Bryson
Publisher: Penguin
'The Turn of the Screw' by Henry James
Publisher: Oxford World Classics.
MON 19:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b00j1wj3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel (b0081b4j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h76wt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 The Taking Part (b01jqd3s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 Rebecca F John - Clown's Shoes (b06p09x1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:15 Sue Teddern - From Galway to Graceland (b0075hcv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
MON 22:00 State of the Nations (b086s8z1)
England
Star of BBC3's Josh and Radio 4 News Quiz regular Elis James hosts four stand-up shows from the four nations of the United Kingdom which explore what it means to be variously Welsh, English, Scottish and Northern Irish in today's United Kingdom.
This week Elis is in The Stand Comedy Club in Newcastle where he's joined by Rahul Kohli, Suzi Ruffell and Tom Allen to get a comedy snapshot of England and Englishness.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production.
MON 22:30 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (b007jm3n)
The Secondary Phase, Fit The Eighth
Zaphod and Roosta are being taken to the evil Frogstar, white Ford and Arthur are stranded on prehistoric Earth.
Starring Peter Jones as The Book, Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Alan Ford as Roosta. David Tate as Eddie and Valentine Dyall as Gargravarr.
The original scripts by Douglas Adams (1952-2001) went on to spawn a series of novels, a feature film, at least three stage shows, a TV series, a computer game, a collection of comic books - and various towels.
Radiophonic sound and music by Paddy Kingsland.
Producer: Geoffrey Perkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1978.
MON 23:00 News Quiz Extra (b0b09q8t)
Series 23, Episode 2
Miles Jupp is joined by Michael Deacon, Kerry Godliman, Jeremy Hardy and Felicity Ward for a satirical review of the week's news.
In this extended edition of Friday's show, the panel discuss the parliamentary debate over military action in Syria, the treatment of the Windrush Generation and the best way to get out of a binding gym contract in Belgium.
Written by James Kettle, Jenny Laville and Benjamin Partridge with additional material by Laura Major, Mike Shephard and Michael Stranney.
Produced by Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios Production.
MON 23:45 The Shuttleworths (b007jm2l)
Series 1, John Goes to London
Sheffield singer John Shuttleworth's efforts to find Big City fame don't go to plan. Stars Graham Fellows. From April 1994.

TUESDAY 24 APRIL 2018

TUE 00:00 GK Chesterton - The Man Who Was Thursday (b007jvbd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b0b09jpf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h76wt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 The Taking Part (b01jqd3s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b03b0sl7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 Shakespeare's Restless World (b01gf5t0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b03757ct)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:45 Frank W Abagnale (b00td4zq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot (b00sr4hr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Just a Minute (b00w1bf9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 King Street Junior (b007jnn0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 Millport (b0076bk4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 The Unbelievable Truth (b09z4fyz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h8qlv)
Episode 2
Facing a perilous flight across occupied Europe, the aristocratic English hero must rely on his wits.
Read in 5 parts by Michael Jayston.
Geoffrey Household's sequel to his acclaimed British thriller 'Rogue Male' was published over 40 years later in 1982.
Abridged by Patricia Hannah.
Producer: David Jackson Young
Made for BBC 7 by BBC Scotland and first broadcast in 2009.
TUE 06:30 Grasshead Racers (b00x58v4)
Legendary motor racing commentator Murray Walker explores the most democratic of motor sports - lawnmower racing. From July 2004.
TUE 07:00 Stockport, So Good They Named It Once (b01n2p30)
Series 2, Mint
Jason and Michael stake their claim in cyberspace. Meanwhile, the Conroys become the subject of an academic study.
The lives of the Stockport-based, Conroy family - in series 2 of Damian Lanigan and Jim Poyser's comedy drama.
Starring Andrew Knott as Jason, Beverley Callard as Maureen, John Henshaw as Eddie, Jason Done as Michael and Rolf Saxon as Larry.
Music: Big George
Producer: Neil Mossey
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2000.
TUE 07:30 Love in Recovery (b076hsdd)
Series 2, Parents
Second series of the award-nominated comedy drama set in Alcoholics Anonymous, written by Pete Jackson and inspired by his own road to recovery. Stars Sue Johnston, John Hannah, Eddie Marsan, Rebecca Front, Paul Kaye and Julia Deakin.
Love in Recovery follows the lives of five very different recovering alcoholics. Taking place entirely at their weekly meetings, we hear them moan, argue, laugh, fall apart, fall in love and - most importantly - tell their stories.
In this fifth episode, Simon's son Joe (Alex Lawther) is grounded, so Simon (John Hannah) has dragged him along to the meeting. He's in trouble, he's worried, he's out of his depth. And that's just Simon. Will Julie (Sue Johnston) have the answers he's looking for?
Writer Pete Jackson is a recovering alcoholic and has spent time in Alcoholics Anonymous. It was there he found support from the unlikeliest group of disparate souls - with one common bond. As well as offering the support he needed throughout a difficult time, AA also offered a weekly, sometimes daily, dose of hilarity, upset, heartbreak and friendship.
There are lots of different kinds of AA meetings. Love in Recovery is about meetings where people tell their stories. There are funny stories, sad stories, stories of small victories and milestones, stories of loss, stories of hope, and those stories that you really shouldn't laugh at - but still do, along with the storyteller.
Written and created by Pete Jackson
Producer/Director: Ben Worsfield
A Lucky Giant production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 08:00 The Ken Dodd Show (b05z1jdy)
From 14/09/1975
Shocks, suggestions, banjos and sackings are tickling the King of Knotty Ash.
Starring Ken Dodd.
With Jo Manning Wilson, Gretchen Franklin, Talfryn Thomas, Chris Emmett and Michael McClain.
Devised and written by Ken Dodd with Dave Dutton, David McKellar-Philip, Norman Beadle and John Pye.
Doddy's Diddy Orchestra conducted by Geoff Alderson.
Producer: Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in September 1975.
TUE 08:30 The Men From the Ministry (b016r51w)
Torn to Shreds
The bungling bureaucrats must dispose of a budget surplus of 75p, but their efforts spark more ministerial mayhem.
Stars Richard Murdoch and Deryck Guyler.
With Norma Ronald, Ronald Baddiley and John Graham.
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 June 1975.
TUE 09:00 News Quiz Extra (b0b09q8t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:45 Helen Keen's It Is Rocket Science (b04003l7)
Series 3, Episode 2
The only radio comedy programme to give you an accurate overview of the science of space travel.
This episode examines humanity's enduring obsession with UFOs. How long have we been seeing them? What might they really be? And what questions might their possible occupants be asking about us?
Starring Helen Keen, Peter Serafinowicz and Susy Kane
Written by Helen Keen and Miriam Underhill
Produced by Gareth Edwards.
TUE 10:00 Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot (b00srkfz)
Episode 2
Despite the dark tales he has heard about her, Prince Myshkin eagerly heads to Nastasya's birthday party. Stars Alex Jennings. From November 2002.
TUE 11:00 Grounded (b04nqv74)
The Silt Path, by Togara Muzanenhamo
A series of three specially commissioned stories taking our relationship with the land beneath our feet as a starting point.
The first story, The Silt Path by Togara Muzanenhamo, is set on a farm in Zimbabwe where the author grew up and is told from the perspective of an elderly farm labourer.
Read by Togara Muzanenhamo
Commissioned for radio by Ellah Allfrey
Directed by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 11:15 Colin Haydn Evans - Forest Tales (b039ljtw)
Tristan and Iselda, by Colin Haydn Evans
Princess Iselda is betrothed to the old King, but doesn't want to marry him. When his son arrives to collect her, she takes drastic action - in this traveller's tale told by Guy.
14th-century France: in the mysterious Forest of Lussac, fleeing plague and war, five travellers (Guy, Constance, Gerard, Dame Ghislaine and Joan) tell tales to dispel the night shadows. But outside the firelight someone else is listening...
Three-part drama by Colin Haydn Evans.
Starring Michael Povey as Gerard, John Webb as Guy, Christine Pritchard as Dame Ghislane, Richard Elfyn as Tristan, Manon Edwards as Melusine, Elusine Jones as Constance and Julie Higginson as Iselda.
Director: Alison Hindell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
TUE 12:00 The Ken Dodd Show (b05z1jdy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 The Men From the Ministry (b016r51w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h8qlv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 Grasshead Racers (b00x58v4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b03b0yz0)
Jonathan Coe - Expo 58, Episode 7
London, 1958: unassuming civil servant Thomas Foley is plucked from his desk at the Central Office of Information and sent on a six-month trip to Brussels. His task: to keep an eye on The Britannia, a brand new pub which will form the heart of the British presence at Expo 58 - the biggest World's Fair of the century, and the first to be held since the Second World War.
As soon as he arrives at the site, Thomas feels that he has escaped a repressed, backward-looking country and fallen headlong into an era of modernity and optimism. He is equally bewitched by the surreal, gigantic Atomium, which stands at the heart of this brave new world, and by Anneke, the lovely Flemish hostess who meets him off his plane.
But Thomas's new-found sense of freedom comes at a price: the Cold War is at its height, the mischievous Belgians have placed the American and Soviet pavilions right next to each other - and why is he being followed everywhere by two mysterious emissaries of the British Secret Service?
Expo 58 may represent a glittering future, both for Europe and for Thomas himself, but he will soon be forced to decide where his public and private loyalties really lie.
CREDITS:
EXPO 58
BY JONATHAN COE
BOOK AT BEDTIME: Monday 9 - Friday 13 September 2013 and
Monday 16 - Friday 20 September 2013
READER: TIM MCINNERNY
ABRIDGED BY LIBBY SPURRIER
PRODUCED BY JOANNA GREEN
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 14:15 Shakespeare's Restless World (b01gg7dt)
Ireland: Failures in the Present
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived.
With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England.
Programme 7. IRELAND: FAILURES IN THE PRESENT - A rare woodcut offers a equally rare visual impression of the troubles and tragedies of Elizabethan Ireland.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
TUE 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b0375qt4)
Melissa Murray - Good News, Episode 2
by Melissa Murray.
Part 2
With the discovery that her friend Adrienne is not going to die, fellow teacher Louise tries to come to terms with the good news.
Directed by Marc Beeby.
TUE 14:45 Frank W Abagnale (b00td5s4)
Catch Me If You Can, Episode 2
Renowned conman Frank Abagnale Jr eases into the guise of airline pilot when he moves to New York aged 16. Read by William Hope. From August 2010.
TUE 15:00 Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot (b00srkfz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 It's Not What You Know (b061qzx0)
Series 3, Episode 3
Who would play Romesh Ranganathan in a film of his life? What's Christoper Biggins' proudest moment of his career? What would Katherine Ryan do if she was Beyonce for a day?
All these burning questions, and more, will be answered in the show hosted by Miles Jupp, where panellists are tested on how well they know their nearest and dearest.
In this case, comedian Katherine Ryan picks her best friend, comedian Romesh Ranganathan picks his brother, and Christopher Biggins picks an old showbiz pal.
TUE 16:30 The Wordsmiths at Gorsemere (b00bx21n)
Series 2, 21 July 1799
Dorothy is worried about William's impending marriage. Iris bangs bolsters. Samuel Tailor Cholericke falls from grace. And Thomas de Quinine arrives....
An everyday story of towering genius in Sue Limb's six-part soap opera, set in and around the Lake District at the turn of the 18th century.
Stars Geoffrey Whitehead as William Wordsmith, Denise Coffey as Dorothy Wordsmith, Simon Callow as Samuel Tailor Cholericke, Nickolas Grace as Thomas de Quinine, Miriam Margolyes as Stinking Iris and Chris Emmett as the Leechpedlar.
Music by Stephen Oliver and performed by Cantabile.
Producer: Jonathan James-Moore
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1985.
TUE 17:00 Stockport, So Good They Named It Once (b01n2p30)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Love in Recovery (b076hsdd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 GK Chesterton - The Man Who Was Thursday (b007jzqp)
The Man in Spectacles
With his new-found ally - the Professor - Gabriel Syme rests up before they both set off to confront Doctor Bull.
Published in 1908, GK Chersterton's most famous novel is read in 13 parts by Geoffrey Palmer.
Director: Lawrence Jackson
Made for BBC Radio 7 by BBC Northern Ireland.
First broadcast in 2005.
TUE 18:30 Pioneers (b0151wpr)
Series 2, David Gow
David Gow chats to Clare English about how he came up with the idea of the world's first bionic hand.
Huge advancements in prosthetics are now enhancing the lives of amputees.
Producer: Philip Sime
First broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland in 2011.
TUE 19:00 The Ken Dodd Show (b05z1jdy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 The Men From the Ministry (b016r51w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h8qlv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 Grasshead Racers (b00x58v4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 Grounded (b04nqv74)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 21:15 Colin Haydn Evans - Forest Tales (b039ljtw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
TUE 22:00 Love in Recovery (b076hsdd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (b007jm46)
The Secondary Phase, Fit The Ninth
The Vogons make an unwelcome return, Zaphod holds a séance, and Arthur's quest for tea paralyses the ship.
Starring Peter Jones as The Book, Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, David Tate as Eddie, Stephen Moore as Marvin, Leueen Willoughby as the Nutrimat Machine, Bill Wallis as the Vogon Captain and Richard Goolden as Zaphod Beeblebrox IV.
The original scripts by Douglas Adams (1952-2001) went on to spawn a series of novels, a feature film, at least three stage shows, a TV series, a computer game, a collection of comic books - and various towels.
Radiophonic sound and music by Paddy Kingsland.
Producer: Geoffrey Perkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1978.
TUE 23:00 Elvenquest (b00wlgt5)
Series 2, Episode 5
The Questers continue their search for the Sword of Asnagar. This time they accidentally trespass upon grounds of the Emperor Jackie. Jackie claims to have the Sword of Asnagar but he'll only hand it over if the Questers, and particularly Penthiselea, stay with him for a while.
In the meantime, Lord Darkness' main evil priest, Gaydok, is upset - he doesn't believe Darkness is evil anymore. In a fit of pique Darkness fires him. But it's not long before he realises that keeping the faith with the evil hordes isn't as easy as he originally thought...
An all-star cast, featuring:
Stephen Mangan as "Sam",
Alistair McGowan as "Lord Darkness",
Sanjeev Bhaskar as "Emperor Jackie",
Kevin Eldon as "Dean/Kreech",
Darren Boyd as "Vidar",
Dave Lamb as "Amis - The Chosen One"
Sophie Winkleman as "Penthiselea"
Written by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto (Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars At No.42)
The producer is Sam Michell.
TUE 23:30 The Lawrence Sweeney Mix (b00klk4r)
Series 1, Episode 3
Living by their wit - Josie Lawrence and Jim Sweeney's improvised sketches driven by the audience. From March 2007.

WEDNESDAY 25 APRIL 2018

WED 00:00 GK Chesterton - The Man Who Was Thursday (b007jzqp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Pioneers (b0151wpr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h8qlv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 Grasshead Racers (b00x58v4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b03b0yz0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 Shakespeare's Restless World (b01gg7dt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b0375qt4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Frank W Abagnale (b00td5s4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot (b00srkfz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 It's Not What You Know (b061qzx0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 The Wordsmiths at Gorsemere (b00bx21n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 Stockport, So Good They Named It Once (b01n2p30)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Love in Recovery (b076hsdd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h8x8g)
Episode 3
The aristocratic English hero is intercepted in his struggle to cross wartime enemy territory on horseback.
Read in 5 parts by Michael Jayston.
Geoffrey Household's sequel to his acclaimed British thriller 'Rogue Male' was published over 40 years later in 1982.
Abridged by Patricia Hannah.
Producer: David Jackson Young
Made for BBC 7 by BBC Scotland and first broadcast in 2009.
WED 06:30 Balalaika Born Again (b01g61v9)
Pat Metheny or Paganini? Who is Alexey Arhipovskiy?
This is the story of the humble, three-stringed balalaika and the story of a maverick Russian virtuoso, Alexey, who wants to transform the balalaika's image; to show it is more than a piece of folksy soviet souvenir kitsch. Alexey has developed a beautiful new sound and a new repertoire for the balalaika, mixing a classical music sensibility with the temperament of prog rock. With his trusty manager, Mikhail, he wants to take the balalaika out of Russia and beyond the former Soviet borders. But can he take Russia out of the balalaika? Nick Baker travels to Moscow to meet him.
He finds a musical rebel and an intriguing character who combines both adult seriousness and childlike enthusiasm for an instrument once played only by peasants. At the Gnessian Musical Academy, Alexey's Professor recalls a gifted musical student who took his formal classical training and turned it into something else. He added his own spirited individualism, as well as some electronic effects.
In Dubrovnik, Croatia, Nick meets up with Alexey again as he prepares to perform at the Julian Rachlin and Friends Chamber Music Festival. He is virtually the only non-classical act on the bill. The festival is full of five star ex-Russian prodigies whose families left Russia in the 1980s and brought with them tried and tested classical music. What happens next?
Producer: Tamsin Hughes
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 07:00 Ring Around the Bath (b00tzw38)
Series 2, The Birds and the Bees
If Stella can't move to the country, then the country must move to Stella.
Series 2 of Lucy Clare and Ian Davidson's sitcom about topsy-turvy family life.
Stars Duncan Preston as Patrick, Penny Downie as Stella, Claudie Blakley as Alison, Bruce MacKinnon as Rick, Catherine Shepherd as Xanthe and Daniela Denby-Ashe as Egg.
Producer: Elizabeth Freestone
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2004.
WED 07:30 Sketchtopia (b09z5lbs)
Series 1, Episode 3
Broadcaster and comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli sets out to find the next generation of white, black, Asian and minority ethnic satirical sketch writers, with a keen eye on finding the funny in a multicultural Britain.
Traditionally, some of the best UK sketch comedy shines a satirical light on social issues of the time, finding comedy from difficult subject matter or awkward social convention. When it comes to multiculturalism, sketch team Goodness, Gracious Me kicked open the door with their classic 90s sketch show, including the legendary Going For An English routine.
Sketchtopia aims to make sharp observations about modern Britain and, most importantly, allow shared experiences, common points of reference and authenticity to come together and hold a mirror up to our society and tell us a truth about ourselves.
Stand-ups and comedy writers from diverse backgrounds have been invited to give us a comic snapshot of UK society through their own observations and experiences. In these divisive times, Sketchtopia aims to poke fun at our multicultural society and tries to discover a diverse, multi-ethnic Utopia through good old-fashioned British sketch comedy.
This third episode was recorded at the Oran Mor in the West End of Glasgow, featuring sketches about arranged marriages, the portrayal of women in American fantasy dramas, and a new app for pushy Asian parents.
Host: Hardeep Singh Kohli.
Performer: Vivienne Acheampong
Performer: Luke Manning
Performer: Jamie-Rose Monk
Performer: Nimisha Odedra
Performer: Paul G Raymond.
Script Editors: Sanjeev Kohli and Donny Mcleary
Writers: Maryam Hamidi, Bilal Zafar, Jim Felton, Kai Samra, Rory Chiplin, Alice Gregg, Waleed Akhtar, Michael Callaghan and In Cahoots.
Producer: Gus Beattie
A Gusman production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 08:00 The Navy Lark (b007wwf0)
50th Show - Mr Murray's Houseboat
Number One entrusts Uncle Ebeneezer and his tug with the purchase of his new houseboat - meaning disaster isn't faraway...
The 50th show in the series stars Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Stephen Murray as the Number One, Ronnie Barker as AS Johnson Tenniel Evans as Nunky, Richard Caldicot as Captain Povey and Heather Chasen and Michael Bates as Mr & Mrs Granthamum.
Laughs afloat aboard British Royal Navy frigate HMS Troutbridge. The Navy Lark ran for an impressive thirteen series between 1959 and 1976.
Scripted by Lawrie Wyman.
Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in December 1960.
WED 08:30 Round the Horne (b007jr8c)
Series 2, Episode 1
Big Ben's missing, so Kenneth Horne gets spying - and Julian and Sandy open a bona boutique.
With Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee.
Recorded at the BBC's Paris Studio in Lower Regent Street, London. Announcer: Douglas Smith
Round The Horne was born out of the demise of BBC radio comedy Beyond Our Ken, after the end of writer Eric Merriman's involvement. Using the same cast and producer, Barry Took and Marty Feldman were persuaded to write the scripts - which led to four series that ran between 1965 and 1968 - packed full of parodies, recurring characters, catchphrases and double-entendres.
Music by Edwin Braden and the Hornblowers and The Fraser Hayes Four.
Producer: John Simmonds
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in March 1966.
WED 09:00 The Write Stuff (b0b0d3fh)
Series 17, Jerome K Jerome
Radio 4's literary panel show, hosted by James Walton, with team captains Sebastian Faulks and John Walsh and guests Mark Billingham and Lynne Truss. The author of the week - Jerome K Jerome.
Produced by Alexandra Smith.
WED 09:30 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b0075p4w)
Series 3, Episode 5
Sofa-bound TV presenters Mike and Sue tackle stress and honesty - plus an everyday problem for Miriam Stoops.
Starring Robert Duncan and Jan Ravens.
With Ronnie Ancona, Alistair McGowan, Roger Blake and Toby Longworth.
Written by Tim De Jongh from a format by Bill Dare.
Music by Mark Burton.
Producer: Aled Evans
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1998.
WED 10:00 Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot (b00srqfj)
Episode 3
Prince Myshkin analyses his feelings for the spoilt but captivating Nastasya and the more timid Aglaya. Stars Paul Rhys. From November 2002.
WED 11:00 Grounded (b04p5vl3)
Are You Listening? by Laura Beatty
The second of three specially commissioned stories taking our relationship with the land beneath our feet as their starting point. 'Are You Listening?' by Laura Beatty takes place in a former mining community in Northumberland, not far from Newcastle.
Read by Joe Caffrey
Directed by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 11:15 Colin Haydn Evans - Forest Tales (b039ljv1)
A Tale of Three Beds
A cheery bedroom romp from Romania told by Constance entertains the fugitives, while Melusine's presence still haunts them.
14th-century France: In the mysterious Forest of Lussac, fleeing plague and war, five travellers tell tales to dispel the night shadows. But outside the firelight someone else is listening.
Three-part drama by Colin Haydn Evans.
Starring Eluned Jones as Constance, Michael Povey as Gerard, John Webb as Guy, Christine Pritchard as Dame Ghislane, Richard Elfyn as Tristan, Manon Edwards as Melusine, Lynne Seymour as Nicola, Nia Davis as Joan, Lynn Hunter as Wife, John Hartley as Innkeeper, Rolant Prys as Arianno and Keiron Self as Pennuchio.
Director: Alison Hindell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
WED 12:00 The Navy Lark (b007wwf0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 Round the Horne (b007jr8c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h8x8g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 Balalaika Born Again (b01g61v9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b03b2mdd)
Jonathan Coe - Expo 58, Episode 8
London, 1958: unassuming civil servant Thomas Foley is plucked from his desk at the Central Office of Information and sent on a six-month trip to Brussels. His task: to keep an eye on The Britannia, a brand new pub which will form the heart of the British presence at Expo 58 - the biggest World's Fair of the century, and the first to be held since the Second World War.
As soon as he arrives at the site, Thomas feels that he has escaped a repressed, backward-looking country and fallen headlong into an era of modernity and optimism. He is equally bewitched by the surreal, gigantic Atomium, which stands at the heart of this brave new world, and by Anneke, the lovely Flemish hostess who meets him off his plane.
But Thomas's new-found sense of freedom comes at a price: the Cold War is at its height, the mischievous Belgians have placed the American and Soviet pavilions right next to each other - and why is he being followed everywhere by two mysterious emissaries of the British Secret Service?
Expo 58 may represent a glittering future, both for Europe and for Thomas himself, but he will soon be forced to decide where his public and private loyalties really lie.
EXPO 58
BY JONATHAN COE
BOOK AT BEDTIME: Monday 9 - Friday 13 September 2013 and
Monday 16 - Friday 20 September 2013
READER: TIM MCINNERNY
ABRIDGED BY LIBBY SPURRIER
PRODUCED BY JOANNA GREEN
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 14:15 Shakespeare's Restless World (b01gg8h6)
City Life, Urban Strife
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived.
With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England.
Programme 8. CITY LIFE, URBAN STRIFE - The life of London's apprentices and Shakespeare's groundlings told through a rare woollen cap.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
WED 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b0375xv6)
Melissa Murray - Good News, Episode 3
by Melissa Murray.
Part 3
Adrienne learns that while she was ill her husband Mal has been making plans for a life without her.
Directed by Marc Beeby.
WED 14:45 Frank W Abagnale (b00td6m9)
Catch Me If You Can, Episode 3
Conman Frank Abagnale Jr continues to fake his way around the States. But how long will it be before he is found out? Read by William Hope. From August 2010.
WED 15:00 Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot (b00srqfj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 The Write Stuff (b0b0d3fh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b0075p4w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 Ring Around the Bath (b00tzw38)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 Sketchtopia (b09z5lbs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 GK Chesterton - The Man Who Was Thursday (b007jzrz)
The Duel
The three men travel to France where Gabriel Syme challenges the Marquis to a deadly combat...
Published in 1908, GK Chersterton's most famous novel is read in 13 parts by Geoffrey Palmer.
Director: Lawrence Jackson
Made for BBC Radio 7 by BBC Northern Ireland.
First broadcast in 2005.
WED 18:30 The Tingle Factor (b07d7yr3)
Alan Ayckbourn
Playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn talks to Robin Ray about the music which stirs his emotions. Recorded in Scarborough.
In between his music choices, Alan remembers his musical father, recounts some of his successes and flops - and how he became the owner of a special cat.
Producer: Andrew Mussett
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1992.
WED 19:00 The Navy Lark (b007wwf0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 Round the Horne (b007jr8c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h8x8g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 Balalaika Born Again (b01g61v9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Grounded (b04p5vl3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 21:15 Colin Haydn Evans - Forest Tales (b039ljv1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
WED 22:00 Sketchtopia (b09z5lbs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (b007jm4s)
The Secondary Phase, Fit The Tenth
Arthur discovers his unique contribution to the history of Brontitall. And a close encounter for Ford and Zaphod...
Starring Peter Jones as The Book, Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, David Tate as Eddie, Stephen Moore as Marvin, Ronald Baddiley as Bird One, John Le Mesurier as the Wise Old Bird, John Baddeley as Bird Two and Rula Lenska as Lintilla.
The original scripts by Douglas Adams (1952-2001) went on to spawn a series of novels, a feature film, at least three stage shows, a TV series, a computer game, a collection of comic books - and various towels.
Radiophonic sound and music by Paddy Kingsland.
Producer: Geoffrey Perkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1980.
WED 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b0b1czyx)
Robin Ince 1/2
The best in contemporary comedy. Jake Yapp talks to Robin Ince.
WED 23:00 As Told to Craig Brown (b00bfp2j)
Series 1, Episode 6
Craig Brown introduces a mixture of satire, social observation and nonsense.
Narrated by Juliet Stevenson and Steve Wright, with John Humphrys, Ronni Ancona, Jon Culshaw, Lewis MacLeod, Sally Grace, Ewan Bailey and Margaret Cabourn-Smith.
WED 23:30 The Consultants (b0076pz9)
Series 2, Episode 5
The Adventure-Bakers make a time-strudel and travel through history. With Neil Edmond and Justin Edwards. From December 2003.

THURSDAY 26 APRIL 2018

THU 00:00 GK Chesterton - The Man Who Was Thursday (b007jzrz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 The Tingle Factor (b07d7yr3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h8x8g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 Balalaika Born Again (b01g61v9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b03b2mdd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 Shakespeare's Restless World (b01gg8h6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b0375xv6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Frank W Abagnale (b00td6m9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot (b00srqfj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 The Write Stuff (b0b0d3fh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b0075p4w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Ring Around the Bath (b00tzw38)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 Sketchtopia (b09z5lbs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h91l2)
Episode 4
The aristocratic English hero makes it to Romania, but trouble is in store on the way to Istanbul.
Geoffrey Household's sequel to his acclaimed British thriller 'Rogue Male' was published over 40 years later in 1982.
Abridged by Patricia Hannah.
Producer: David Jackson Young
Made for BBC 7 by BBC Scotland and first broadcast in 2009.
THU 06:30 Sud-U-Like (b00tbcdt)
From the very first UK laundrette in Queensway, West London (opened in 1949) to present day laundry-services, the laundrette has played a vital part in the UK's modern history. But is the popular opinion of laundrettes as unsavoury places to visit only when you are at your lowest a fair assertion?
As Yasmeen Khan discovers, not everyone finds laundrettes depressing places - for many, the local laundrette is as much a community centre and social hub as the pub - more Dot.com than Dot Cotton - such as Manchester's first Internet launderette, where customers can surf the net and watch films while washing their smalls!
Yasmeen also visits the Liverpool offices of Associated Liver Laundrettes, the UK's largest chain of laundrettes, and learns first-hand what business is really like in the clothes-cleaning industry - and what the future holds. The programme will also hear from Yasmeen's family - about why and how they ended up in the laundrette business (5 shops across Huddersfield), what the ups and downs of owning laundrettes were and just how much the people, machines and washing powder impacted on their lives.
Yasmeen takes a trip back to her Yorkshire home town of Huddersfield to visit the only one that has remained as a laundrette. And then there's "that advert", with the guy stripping off in the laundrette in front of the admiring ladies - did it only sell jeans, or did the laundrette business profit as well?
And of course, what programme about laundrettes would be complete without a trip to the most famous laundrette in the country? Yasmeen pops down to Albert Square to learn all about the role the Eastenders washeteria has had in the history of the soap-opera, and to find out why it has remained a key location for so many years.
Produced by Neil Gardner and Yasmeen Khan
A Ladbroke Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 07:00 Hopes and Desires (b0076f0c)
Series 1, The Non-Entity
Moscow. Dmitri once made a good living writing dull social-realist stories that pleased the ruling Communist Party.
Now times have changed and his work is ignored. So why has a young woman publisher flown all the way from London to meet him?
Hopes and Desires is a series of comedies about unconscious yearnings.
Marcy Kahan's comedy drama stars Kenneth Cranham as Dmitri, Eleanor Bron as Annoushka, Sylvestra Le Touzel as Claire and Stephen Critchlow as Robert.
Director: Peter Kavanagh
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003.
THU 07:30 Alone (b087p3mj)
The Only Way Is Ethics
A sitcom, written by Moray Hunter and starring Angus Deayton, about five single, middle aged neighbours living in flats in a converted house in North London.
Mitch (Angus Deayton) is a widower and part-time therapist who's looking to put his life back together now he is single and living - supposedly temporarily - with Will (Pearce Quigley), his younger, more volatile and unhappily divorced half-brother.
Elsewhere in the building are schoolteacher Ellie (Abigail Cruttenden) who is shy, nervous and desperately missing her ex-boyfriend, as well as overly honest, frustrated actress Louisa (Kate Isitt), and socially inept IT nerd Morris (Bennett Arron).
In this first episode, The Only Way is Ethics, Mitch struggles to maintain professional confidentiality when Ellie arranges a date with one of his clients, womanising Rob (Alastair McKenzie). Meanwhile, Will and Louisa are in bitter competition as they try to give up smoking together. Quitting buddies they are not, and poor Morris is very much caught in the crossfire.
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 08:00 J Kingston Platt's Showbiz Handbook (b007jzkv)
Brian Allington
The man of many parts uses the wealth and poverty of his experience to discuss his old chum. Stars Peter Jones. From May 1986.
THU 08:30 The Goon Show (b0b0fty1)
The Fireball of Milton Street
Neddie Seagoon springs into action when he discovers the sun is on fire.
Starring Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe.
Beginning in May 1951 as 'Crazy People', The Goon Show ran for 10 series stretching the boundaries of radio comedy in new and influential directions concluding in January 1960.
The team reunited in October 1972 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the BBC for The Last Goon Show of All.
Scripted by Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes.
With the Ray Ellington Quartet and Max Geldray.
Orchestra conducted by Wally Stott.
Announcer: Wallace Greenslade
Producer: Peter Eton
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in February 1955.
THU 09:00 Listomania (b0b0fty3)
Series 1, Episode 4
Susan Calman hosts the series exploring the world of the list - from the magnificent to the mundane - from the humble 'to do' list to the bucket list and many more...
With Lucy Beaumont, Nat Luurtsema, Alun Cochrane and Richard Herring.
Written by James Kettle and Juliet Meyers with Max Davis and Gabby Hutchinson Crouch.
Producer: Sam Bryant
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 2015.
THU 09:30 HR (b01ckgfz)
Series 3, Robbed
Nigel William's retirement comedy series, starring Jonathan Pryce and Nicholas le Prevost. The two friends, having discovered that their pensions are worthless, take every measure thinkable to survive. This week, Sam tries to remortgage their home.
Peter ..... Jonathan Pryce
Sam ..... Nicholas Le Prevost
Mr Loomis ..... Philip Jackson.
THU 10:00 Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot (b00srvkn)
Episode 4
Nastasya and Aglaya meet to talk over their feelings for Prince Myshkin, as he begins to fear for his life. Stars Paul Rhys. From November 2002.
THU 11:00 Grounded (b04prbfk)
Dreamland, by Fred D'Aguiar
A series of specially commissioned stories - each taking our relationship with the land beneath our feet as a starting point. In 'Dreamland' by the Guyanese writer Fred D'Aguiar, the lack of land and the craving for space is the driving force which is overwhelmed by the events of the story.
Read by David Ajao
Commissioned for radio by Ellah Allfrey
Directed by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 11:15 Colin Haydn Evans - Forest Tales (b039ljv3)
The Story of Melusine
Ghislaine tells how the water spirit married Raymond of Poitou and gave birth to his children. And how he broke a vow.
14th-century France: In the mysterious Forest of Lussac, fleeing plague and war, five travellers tell tales to dispel the night shadows. But outside the firelight someone else is listening.
Conclusion of the three-part drama by Colin Haydn Evans.
Starring Manon Edwards as Melusine, Michael Povey as Gerard, John Webb as Guy, Christine Pritchard as Dame Ghislane, Eluned Jones as Constance, Geraint Owen as Raymond and Nia Davis as Joan,
Director: Alison Hindell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
THU 12:00 J Kingston Platt's Showbiz Handbook (b007jzkv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 The Goon Show (b0b0fty1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h91l2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 Sud-U-Like (b00tbcdt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b03b2vyv)
Jonathan Coe - Expo 58, Episode 9
London, 1958: unassuming civil servant Thomas Foley is plucked from his desk at the Central Office of Information and sent on a six-month trip to Brussels. His task: to keep an eye on The Britannia, a brand new pub which will form the heart of the British presence at Expo 58 - the biggest World's Fair of the century, and the first to be held since the Second World War.
As soon as he arrives at the site, Thomas feels that he has escaped a repressed, backward-looking country and fallen headlong into an era of modernity and optimism. He is equally bewitched by the surreal, gigantic Atomium, which stands at the heart of this brave new world, and by Anneke, the lovely Flemish hostess who meets him off his plane.
But Thomas's new-found sense of freedom comes at a price: the Cold War is at its height, the mischievous Belgians have placed the American and Soviet pavilions right next to each other - and why is he being followed everywhere by two mysterious emissaries of the British Secret Service?
Expo 58 may represent a glittering future, both for Europe and for Thomas himself, but he will soon be forced to decide where his public and private loyalties really lie.
CREDITS:
EXPO 58
BY JONATHAN COE
READER: TIM MCINNERNY
ABRIDGED BY LIBBY SPURRIER
PRODUCED BY JOANNA GREEN
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:15 Shakespeare's Restless World (b01ghc4h)
New Science, Old Magic
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived.
With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England.
Programme 9. NEW SCIENCE, OLD MAGIC - Dr Dee's Mirror was actually a highly polished disk of black obsidian from Mexico but it reflects the Elizabethan fascination with the new sciences of cosmology and astrology.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
THU 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b037706c)
Melissa Murray - Good News, Episode 4
by Melissa Murray.
Part 4
With the discovery that her mother is not terminally ill, Fred, Adrienne's indecisive daughter, is forced to reassess her life.
Directed by Marc Beeby.
THU 14:45 Frank W Abagnale (b00td8rp)
Catch Me If You Can, Episode 4
The FBI is in hot pursuit, but Frank Abagnale Jr's scams become even more daring. William Hope reads the infamous conman's story. From August 2010.
THU 15:00 Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot (b00srvkn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 Listomania (b0b0fty3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 HR (b01ckgfz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 Hopes and Desires (b0076f0c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 Alone (b087p3mj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 GK Chesterton - The Man Who Was Thursday (b007wpnm)
The Criminals Chase the Police
As Gabriel Syme engages his opponent in a duel, there's a revelation from the Marquis.
Published in 1908, GK Chersterton's most famous novel is read in 13 parts by Geoffrey Palmer.
Director: Lawrence Jackson
Made for BBC Radio 7 by BBC Northern Ireland.
First broadcast in 2005.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b00xhh2q)
Series 23, Gertrude Bell
Gertrude Bell was a British woman who arguably founded the modern state of Iraq. Explorer, mountaineer and archaeologist, this extraordinarily talented woman travelled widely across Arabia in the years preceding the first world war. When war came, her knowledge of the tribes, geography and politics of the area made her a vital asset to British intelligence. In the wake of British victory in Mesopotamia, she became a key figure in the the post-war administration of the turbulent area, as the British grappled with how best to reduce their military commitment while still retaining influence - a situation that was to find strong echoes in post-war Iraq 90 years later. A woman who rose to the top in a man's world, her personal life was beset with ill-starred romance and tragedy.
Physicist Jim al-Khalili was born in Iraq at a time when Gertrude Bell was still revered as someone who fought for Iraqi self-determination. With the help of Bell's biographer, Janet Wallach, he explores her remarkable life. Matthew Parris chairs.
THU 19:00 J Kingston Platt's Showbiz Handbook (b007jzkv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 The Goon Show (b0b0fty1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h91l2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 Sud-U-Like (b00tbcdt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Grounded (b04prbfk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
THU 21:15 Colin Haydn Evans - Forest Tales (b039ljv3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
THU 22:00 Alone (b087p3mj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (b007jm5y)
The Secondary Phase, Fit The Eleventh
On Brontitall, Arthur meets an archaeologist, gets captured and learns all about the Shoe Event Horizon.
Starring Peter Jones as The Book, Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, David Tate as Eddie, Stephen Moore as Marvin, John Baddeley as Bird Two Rula Lenska as Lintilla and Mark Smith as Hig Hurtenflurst.
The original scripts by Douglas Adams (1952-2001) went on to spawn a series of novels, a feature film, at least three stage shows, a TV series, a computer game, a collection of comic books - and various towels.
Radiophonic sound and music by Paddy Kingsland.
Producer: Geoffrey Perkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1980.
THU 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b0b1czyz)
Robin Ince 2/2
The best in contemporary comedy. Jake Yapp talks to Robin Ince.
THU 23:00 Wondermentalist Cabaret (b00yj96p)
Series 1, Episode 3
3 of 4. Poet, performer, enemy of all that's difficult and upsetting, Matt Harvey presents this comedy-infused, musically-enhanced, slightly interactive poetry cabaret. Recorded in front of an audience at The Royal Seven Stars in Totnes, South Devon, he's joined by the poet Murray Lachlan Young and one man house band Jerri Hart. Fellow poets Liv Torc and Nathan Filer battle it out with Murray in a Dead Poets' Slam, while the audience compose their own poem on the subject of gerbils.
Producer: Mark Smalley.
THU 23:30 Bleak Expectations (b00p3380)
Series 3, Lives Lost, Ruined, Wrecked and Redeemed
Comedy Victorian adventure by Mark Evans.
Pip and Ripely find themselves facing a vast and evil undead army. England has only one hope - that Miss Sweetly Delightful can melt Mr Benevolent's cruel, undead heart.
Sir Philip ...... Richard Johnson
Young Pip Bin ...... Tom Allen
Gently Benevolent ...... Anthony Head
Harry Biscuit ...... James Bachman
Bishop Wackwallop ...... Geoffrey Whitehead
Ripely Bin ...... Sarah Hadland
Miss Sweetly Delightful ...... Raquel Cassidy
The Duke of Chelsea ...... Mark Evans.

FRIDAY 27 APRIL 2018

FRI 00:00 GK Chesterton - The Man Who Was Thursday (b007wpnm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b00xhh2q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h91l2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Sud-U-Like (b00tbcdt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b03b2vyv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 Shakespeare's Restless World (b01ghc4h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b037706c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Frank W Abagnale (b00td8rp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Idiot (b00srvkn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 Listomania (b0b0fty3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 HR (b01ckgfz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 Hopes and Desires (b0076f0c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Alone (b087p3mj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h9t28)
Episode 5
Fuelled by unremitting vengeance, the English hero's personal war with the Third Reich comes to an end. Read by Michael Jayston. From February 2009.
FRI 06:30 ...But Still They Come (b01pf5cx)
"...But Still They Come' explores the enormous impact and influence of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of The World's, telling the story of the recording of the original album, the various incarnations produced in the 35 years since its release and the 2012 version, re-recorded for a new generation.
This programme explains how and why Jeff Wayne began working on a concept album based on H.G. Wells' science fiction masterpiece and the years of hard work it took to realise his vision.
In the summer of 1978, the UK album charts were dominated by Disco and Punk, with the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack firmly entrenched at number one. It was an audacious move and a huge gamble to release a double concept album based on a Victorian science fiction novel. But the compelling blend of progressive rock, classical music, Richard Burton's narration and the fascinating story struck a chord with music fans all over the world and the album became a massive hit, supported by the singles Forever Autumn and Eve of the War.
Guests contributing recollections of the part they played in Jeff's creation include David Essex who voiced The Artilleryman and Justin Hayward who sang Forever Autumn. The programme also contains never-before-heard studio interaction with Richard Burton, David Essex and Jeff Wayne during the original recording sessions.
In the years since its release The War Of The Worlds has morphed in to live stage shows, computer games and apps. Now Jeff has re-interpreted the record for a 21st century audience with a new recording featuring Liam Neeson and Gary Barlow (who both contribute to this programme), and Joss Stone.
Produced by Des Shaw and Chris O'Shaughnessy
A Ten Alps production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 07:00 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b06shzjj)
Series 7, The Pool
Set on one of Scotland's most famous salmon fishing rivers, we meet two old men with a shared love of the art of fishing and a shared past which haunts them both. Geoffrey Palmer joins Stanley Baxter on the edge of a famous salmon pool in Scotland, on a cold wintry day.
Written by Michael Chaplin
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 07:30 Stand-Up Specials (b09ztzpw)
Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice
A new one-off show as part of Radio 4's season of Sunday night stand-up specials from Tom Allen, star of The Royal Variety Performance, 8 out of 10 Cats and Mock The Week amongst many others.
Tom Allen is Actually Not Very Nice explores what happens when Tom's calm and collected exterior collapses, be it when confronting some rowdy teenagers on a bus or arguing with his Mum's friend Joyce about ham. He used to be such a nice boy but what has happened to turn him naughty?
With help from the assembled studio audience, Tom works out how best to navigate some tricky social situations and how to keep a lid on his fury when confronted with life's small injustices.
Featuring Gabby Best.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production.
FRI 08:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00zfp3n)
Series 6, Episode 11
Back to the Roaring 1920s and a one-sided debate. Songs and sketches with John Cleese and Tim Brooke-Taylor. From June 1968.
FRI 08:30 Brothers in Law (b007k2p3)
Series 2, But...
Juggling his cases and girlfriends, barrister Roger has trouble with toggles and grommets. With Richard Briers. From August 1971.
FRI 09:00 It's Your Round (b01946wq)
Series 2, Episode 3
Another panel of comedians endeavour to beat each other at their own games, watched over by Angus Deayton.
The rounds this episode include:
Will Self's "What's In My Hand?"...further explanation unnecessary.
Glyes Brandreth's "It's My Party", in which panellists must all pitch their own, new political party.
Sara Pascoe's "Tax Loss Entertainment", in which panellists must improvise the worst play in history.
Arthur Smith's "How Much Would It Cost For You To?", a refinement of a game he's played before in which panellists must guess the money they'd require in order to complete various unpleasant tasks.
Producer: Sam Michell.
FRI 09:30 After Henry (b007k47s)
Series 3, Guilty Secrets
Sarah tidies up husband Henry's study four years after his death. Stars Prunella Scales and Joan Sanderson. From October 1987.
FRI 10:00 Dawn Lowe-Watson - Closed to Visitors (b04yf35h)
A young man persuades the curator to show him around a museum after closing. Sally regrets her decision. Stars Deborah Findlay. From December 1992.
FRI 11:00 Podcast Radio Hour (b0b0j7nj)
Danny Robins: 'Atlanta Monster' and 'Death In Ice Valley'
Made for 4 Extra. Amanda Litherland is joined by Danny Robins to recommend the best podcasts. They listen to two true crime series,'Death In Ice Valley' and 'Atlanta Monster'.
FRI 12:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00zfp3n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 Brothers in Law (b007k2p3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h9t28)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 ...But Still They Come (b01pf5cx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b03b2zc4)
Jonathan Coe - Expo 58, Episode 10
London, 1958: unassuming civil servant Thomas Foley is plucked from his desk at the Central Office of Information and sent on a six-month trip to Brussels. His task: to keep an eye on The Britannia, a brand new pub which will form the heart of the British presence at Expo 58 - the biggest World's Fair of the century, and the first to be held since the Second World War.
As soon as he arrives at the site, Thomas feels that he has escaped a repressed, backward-looking country and fallen headlong into an era of modernity and optimism. He is equally bewitched by the surreal, gigantic Atomium, which stands at the heart of this brave new world, and by Anneke, the lovely Flemish hostess who meets him off his plane.
But Thomas's new-found sense of freedom comes at a price: the Cold War is at its height, the mischievous Belgians have placed the American and Soviet pavilions right next to each other - and why is he being followed everywhere by two mysterious emissaries of the British Secret Service?
Expo 58 may represent a glittering future, both for Europe and for Thomas himself, but he will soon be forced to decide where his public and private loyalties really lie.
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:15 Shakespeare's Restless World (b01ghgk3)
Toil and Trouble
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived.
With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England.
Programme 10. TOIL AND TROUBLE - The differences between Scottish and English witches are revealed by a model ship, made to be hung in a church.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
FRI 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b03775fw)
Melissa Murray - Good News, Episode 5
by Melissa Murray.
Part 5
With the discovery that she is not ill, Adrienne faces a life-changing dilemma: whether to sink back into old habits or break away from the routines of work and family life.
Directed by Marc Beeby.
FRI 14:45 Frank W Abagnale (b00tdmc4)
Catch Me If You Can, Episode 5
The authorities have conman Frank Abagnale Jr within their reach, but he's a very slippery catch. Concluded by William Hope. From August 2010.
FRI 15:00 Dawn Lowe-Watson - Closed to Visitors (b04yf35h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 It's Your Round (b01946wq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 After Henry (b007k47s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b06shzjj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 Stand-Up Specials (b09ztzpw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 GK Chesterton - The Man Who Was Thursday (b007wqf0)
The Earth in Anarchy
The allies head for the coastal town using horses, then motor cars, to outrun their masked pursuers. Read by Geoffrey Palmer. From March 2005.
FRI 18:30 Mastertapes (b01p70cv)
Series 1, Corinne Bailey Rae (the B-Side)
John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.
Programme 6, the B-side. Having discussed the making of her second album, "The Sea" (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Tuesday 4th December and available online), Corinne Bailey Rae responds to questions from the audience and, together with pianist Steve Brown, performs acoustic live versions of some of the songs discussed.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
FRI 19:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00zfp3n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 Brothers in Law (b007k2p3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 Geoffrey Household - Rogue Justice (b00h9t28)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 ...But Still They Come (b01pf5cx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Podcast Radio Hour (b0b0j7nj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 22:00 Stand-Up Specials (b09ztzpw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (b007jm6g)
The Secondary Phase, Fit The Twelfth
Arthur and Zaphod learn some unpalatable home truths, but not before disappointment from the ruler of the universe. From 1980.
The global multi-media success story that is "Hitchhiker's" started life as a Radio 4 series in March 1978 and a second in 1980. The original scripts by the late Douglas Adams then went on to spawn a series of novels, a feature film, at least three stage shows, a TV series, a computer game, a collection of comic books - and various towels.
The Guide helpfully informs us that the most obscene expletive in the Galaxy is "Belgium" - greater detail is forthcoming in an earlier episode of this second radio series.
Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge and died in 2001 aged 49, after a fatal heart attack in his gym in California.
The answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything is 42. If you work out what the Ultimate Question is, please let us know.
First heard on BBC Radio 4 with Peter Jones, Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern and Stephen Moore. Produced by the late Geoffrey Perkins.
FRI 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b0b1v3sx)
David Quantick 1/2
From 10.00 to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats to David Quantick.
FRI 23:00 Spike Milligan - Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (b00fzwp7)
Episode 2
Finally, some usable ammunition is found and fired. The late Spike Milligan reads from his own idiosyncratic military memoir. From December 2008.
FRI 23:30 A Look Back at the Nineties (b007jqxy)
1999
Brian Perkins, Kate Robbins and Rory Bremner 'look back' at the decade that was yet to happen. Recorded in July 1993.