SATURDAY 20 OCTOBER 2018

SAT 00:00 Ursula K Le Guin - Earthsea (b0bng122)
Series 2
The Princess
Dragons threaten the Inner Isles. Tenar and Tehanu have arrived on Havnor to give counsel to the King. The threat is far greater than they first thought.
Ursula K Le Guin's enduring fantasy saga - based on the novel The Other Wind adapted by Judith Adams.
Published between 1968 and 2001, the five novels and short story collection of Ursula K Le Guin's Earthsea cycle (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, The Other Wind and Tales from Earthsea) are re-told across twelve episodes. Series 2 takes in the action of Tehanu, The Other Wind and the short story Dragonfly from Tales of Earthsea.
Set on a vast archipelago of islands, where magic is a central part of life, they tell the stories of Tenar and Ged.
Tehanu . . . Laura Elphinstone
Tenar . . . Nina Wadia
Azver . . . Narinder Samra
King Lebannen . . . Steven Robertson
Alder . . . Tom Vanson
Seserekh . . . Sabrina Sandhu
Tesla . . . Sean Murray
Kalessin . . . Emma Handy
Oak . . . Stephen Hogan
Lady Iyesa . . . Lauren Cornelius
Sailor . . . Ryan Early
Original music by Jon Nichols
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b00766lg)
Being Alone
Three's a crowd? Jenny Ditski and Francis Spufford join Chris Bigsby to discuss solitude versus loneliness. From March 2002.
SAT 01:00 Sherlock Holmes (b0bnfytx)
Sherlock Holmes with Carleton Hobbs - Series 3
Charles Augustus Milverton
A lady's honour is at stake, but the great detective seems helpless to tackle a serial blackmailer - 'the worst man in London.'
Carleton Hobbs stars as Sherlock Holmes. The actor played the Baker Street sleuth in 80 radio dramas between 1952 and 1969.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tale originally appeared in 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes' published 1904. Adapted by Michael Hardwick.
With Norman Shelley as Dr Watson, Tony Church as Charles Augustus Milverton, Dudy Nimmo as Susan and Humphrey Morton as Inspector Lestrade
Producer: Robin Midgley.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in December 1961.
SAT 01:30 The Carabinieri Art Squad (b00sm8tn)
Writer and historian Alex Butterworth travels to Rome to meet the Carabinieri squad in charge of protecting Italy's priceless cultural heritage.
A helicopter circles overhead while Italian police officers and archaeologists peer into a 30-foot deep hole made in a field outside Rome. The land may look like ordinary farmland, but beneath the ground there are in fact Etruscan tombs full of treasures. The hole has been made by a group of "tombaroli"- tomb raiders who come in the night to smash open hidden tombs, and grab the artefacts inside. They sell them on to dealers, who in some cases offer them to museums for a massive price.
The police officers in attendance are a members of a special branch of the Italian Carabinieri (the military police) which was set up to try to deal with the problem of stolen art in the country. The unit, known as the Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (Comando Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale in Italian) has its main headquarters in Rome and branches throughout the country. Its job is to try to stop the looting of Italy's cultural treasures- from artefacts in excavations to paintings and statues in country churches.
To try to stop the trafficking, carabinieri officers carry out regular patrols on archaeological sites, They also check items of from auction houses and exhibitions against their vast database of stolen goods. Other officers carry out checks on more contemporary artworks to make sure that they're not forged. Since the unit began in 1969, the success rate has been high, with thousands of artworks recovered.
Alex Butterworth is in Rome to watch the work of the Carabinieri TPC at first hand. He follows the archaeological section on patrol and sees how the huge database is used to recover stolen works which are sometimes changed beyond almost all recognition by the thieves to avoid detection. For example, one vast painting was stolen and then cut into several pieces and sold as separate items.
While watching the officers at work, Alex explores the changing nature of cultural protection and asks what Italy's determination to find its treasures says about the mood of the country.
Producer Emma Kingsley.
SAT 02:00 Karl Ove Knausgaard - A Death in the Family (b0bng11w)
Episode 10
A Death in the Family is the first book in the six volume cycle of autobiographical novels, My Struggle. Karl Ove Knausgaard's memoir has been described, in many countries, as a masterpiece.
With searing honesty, and an unflinching gaze turned upon himself and those around him, he writes about his teenage years in Norway. Later, he looks back on the writing of this book, the changes in his life and his second marriage to Linda, and the arrival of their children. Becoming a father prompts further reflections on family life and his relationship with his own father.
Karl Ove Knausgaard was born in December 1968. He published two novels, in 1998 and 2004, which both won prizes in Norway. The six volume series of novels, titled Min Kamp in Norwegian, were published between 2009 and 2011, totalling over 3,500 pages. The sixth and final volume, translated by Don Bartlett, has recently been published in the UK. He lives in Sweden with his wife, the writer Linda Boström Knausgaard, and their four children.
Written by by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Translated by Don Bartlett
Read by David Threlfall
Abridged by Isobel Creed and Jill Waters
Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 02:15 The Global Gap (b01p450w)
Series 1: Mexico
Charity Workers
Global Gap is a series of five programmes where two people who do the same job, one from the UK and one from another country (in this series, Mexico), have a thought provoking conversation, to compare and contrast their working lives and the issues that arise in their jobs. The theme throughout the week is 'the next generation'; each programme features young people who are the new generation of workers in their countries. We capture the differences in society and attitudes through their conversation and recordings of in their workplace.
Episode 5 (of 5): Charity Workers
Fiona Patterson works for Barnardo's in Bradford. She helps provide a special service for girls aged between 11 and 18 who are being exploited or groomed for sexual exploitation. She speaks to Sofia Almanza, a charity worker at Casa Alianza in Mexico City, who works with 12 - 18 year olds who have been abandoned, neglected or abused.
While Fiona works with young people who are housed with family or friends, Sofia's service provide residential houses for homeless young people and helps people develop tools to deal with independent life. Sometimes in Mexico, the children are part of larger criminal organisations and many are drug dependent. There are worrying side effects of the drugs, such as blindness and stomach complaints.
Fiona sees many young people with very low self esteem, some of whom have left home to live with people who are now exploiting them sexually or using them to transport drugs. Her service helps the young people to identify their situations and remove themselves to a safer environment.
Producer: Laura Parfitt
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b06vn6zt)
Toni Morrison - Beloved
Episode 10
By Toni Morrison
Adapted by Patricia Cumper
Toni Morrison's seminal 1987 novel about a haunted house in the era that followed the abolition of slavery in the United States is adapted for radio for the first time. Toni Morrison's masterpiece melds horror and poetry as it tells the story of Sethe, a woman who escaped slavery by crossing the Ohio river, but who, eighteen years later, is still not free.
The women's isolation at One Twenty-Four Bluestone Road has put them all in peril, and Denver has decided to seek help from the community. After that, news spread like wildfire; news that the ghost of Sethe's other daughter, who she chose to kill rather than allow to be bonded back into slavery, has come back to reap her revenge.
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Singing arranged by Dominique Le Gendre
Sound design by Caleb Knightley
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b03j5czk)
CS Lewis - The Screwtape Letters
Episode 5
Originally broadcast in 2013, in the week marking the fiftieth anniversary of CS Lewis's death, and which saw a memorial stone to the author unveiled in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, Radio 4's Book of the Week marked the occasion with a reading of his famous letters from a senior to a junior devil.
Read by Simon Russell Beale
Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall.
A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 03:00 Anthony Trollope - Miss MacKenzie (b01pgs6s)
Episode 2
After two marriage proposals, Margaret Mackenzie has turned down the first, but what of the second? Stars Hattie Morahan.
SAT 04:00 The Personality Test (b007tckc)
Series 3
Edwina Currie
Ex-MP, novelist and broadcaster Edwina Currie is in the hot seat posing questions all about her.
Tackling the ultra-personal quiz are Sue Perkins, Caroline Quinlan, Robin Ince and Will Smith.
Comedy quiz presented by a new guest host every show. All the questions are about the host.
Script by Simon Littlefield and Kieron Quirke.
Devised and produced by Aled Evans.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
SAT 04:30 Smelling of Roses (b007jzm2)
Series 1
Out to Launch
Rosie's company is about to launch the autobiography of the country's most famous footballer, Lloyd Gratton.
The lives of Rosie and her granddaughter Jo are shaken by the return to Rosie's daughter Kate after a long spell working abroad.
Prunella Scales in the first of four series of Simon Brett's sitcom following the trials and tribulations of Rosie Burns and her event-management company based in Brighton.
With Arabella Weir as Kate, Rebecca Callard as Jo, Duncan Preston as Bob, Annette Badland as Tess, Jon Glover as Greg Turnball, Tracy-Ann Oberman as Lalage Croxton-Sackville and Will Ing as Lloyd Gratton.
Producer: Maria Esposito
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2000.
SAT 05:00 The Right Time (b0076m76)
Series 4
Episode 1
From nudism and reflexology to top-shelf magazines.
Sketch show about life, written and performed by people who've lived a bit.
Stars Eleanor Bron, Dudley Sutton , Roger Blake , Clive Swift and Paula Wilcox.
With guest star Arthur Smith.
Written by Colin Bostock-Smith, Jill Brodie, John Pidgeon, Mike Haskins, Jan Etherington, George Poles, Arthur Smith, Alan Stafford, Chris Thompson and Petr Reynolds.
Script editors: Ed Dyson and George Poles.
Music by Ronnie & The Rex.
Producer: Katie Marsden
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2004.
SAT 05:30 A Charles Paris Mystery (b0bqf4rt)
A Decent Interval
Episode 4
by Jeremy Front
Based on the novel by Simon Brett
Charles ..... Charles Paris
Frances ..... Suzanne Burden
Geraldine ..... Amelia Bullmore
Maurice ..... Jon Glover
Will ..... Caolan McCarthy
Sam ..... George Watkins
Ned ..... Brian Protheroe
Milly ..... Rebecca Hamilton
Artemis ..... Evie Killip
Horatio ..... Richard Pepple
Marcellus ...... Ewan Bailey
Directed by Sally Avens
Charles has joined the cast of Hamlet but the two leads played by the winners of a Reality Show have been eliminated from the production by injury and death.
Charles is determined to find out who wanted them dead and there are plenty of suspects.
SAT 06:00 Victor Pemberton - Night of the Wolf (b07fm8zs)
"It came at me from nowhere ... eyes glarin' out of the dark like emeralds.
Teeth like rocks, tarnished with the blood of human flesh.
And hair streamin' out of its neck and hands and feet.
This isn't one of God's creatures, sir. It's the work of the devil himself!"
Set at the end of the 19th century, a werewolf is prowling around the Cambridge Fenlands. Judge Mathew Deacon is desperately worried about his son...
Starring Vincent Price as Judge Mathew Deacon, Coral Browne as Mrs Northcott, Hugh Manning as Professor Forrester, Sheila Grant as Sybil and Peter Whitman as Robert Deacon.
A Horror legend of Man and Beast specially written for radio by Victor Pemberton.
Producer: John Tydeman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Night Theatre in 1975.
SAT 07:30 Our Language in Your Hands (b01pbhw3)
New York City
New York has long been a city of immigrants, and as a result of waves of immigration, language experts describe it as the most linguistically dense city on earth. Mark Turin travels to the Big Apple to track the many languages of New York. He travels the 7 train, designated a US Heritage Trail, as it rattles its way from Flushing to the heart of Manhattan, passing through areas where Korean, Bengali and Spanish are the languages spoken on the street. He meets the linguists who are tracking New York's many languages and hears from those who believe that the US needs to promote the English language ahead of all others.
His journey ends with a story of linguistic rebirth as he discovers how the Yiddish language, once in decline, has attracted a new generation of speakers.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b0076h68)
Music Hall Reclaimed
Barry Cryer investigates the cottage industry of Music Hall recording restoration, as well as the lives and works of some of its stars.
Thanks to modern computer technology we're now able to hear some of the rarer works of artists such as Mark Sheridan, Ernest Shand, Vesta Victoria and Albert Chevalier who originally recorded this material at the turn of the 19th century.
Written by Glenn Mitchell
Producer: Karl Phillips
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
SAT 09:00 Laura Barton's American Road Trip (b0bntd2l)
BBC Radio 4 Extra takes to the open road for an audio adventure across the USA, travelling from the bright lights of New York City to the pacific breeze of California.
Using a mix of archive documentaries, stories and travelogues, the writer and broadcaster Laura Barton will be your guide on this ambitious road trip, heading west across the USA. Along the way the journey will include a free-wheeling buggy tour around New Orleans, a look at the Green Book travel guide and an encounter with the fearless rodeo cowgirls of the Deep South.
Writers including Joan Didion, Sam Shepard and Jonathan Raban also share some of their own perspectives about life on the American highway, while Joe Queenan explores the history of the roadside motel.
Laura Barton’s American Road Trip is a personal journey, a dreamlike exploration of life across the USA over the last 70 years, from blues singers on Beale Street to X-rated frogs in the French Quarter, and from LA hopefuls to the loneliest Opera House in Death Valley.
Made for 4 Extra.
Produced by Luke Doran.
SAT 12:00 The Older Woman (b0391n2w)
Series 2
Episode 1
On the down side, Roy has lost his job as journalist, blown his chance of romance with his former teacher, Jane and is about to have his house repossessed.
But just when he thought it was safe to retreat into self-pity and fantasies about The Archers, help comes from an unexpected quarter...
Series two of Tony Bagley's romantic comedy drama serial that mixes fantasy with reality.
Starring Martin Clunes as Roy Hitchcock, Geraldine James as Jane Gallaghan, Nicky Henson as Chad Mann., David Troughton as Colin, Rebecca Front as Mrs Churchill and Sue Roderick as Gwyn.
Other parts by Simon Treves and Melanie Hudson
Producer: Paul Schlesinger:
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1994.
SAT 12:30 Parsley Sidings (b01nrmxq)
Series 1
The Market Special
The station staff at Parsley Sidings go all out to boost falling passenger numbers.
The eponymous series is set in a sleepy railway station. The Hepplewhites have run 'Parsley Sidings' station for generations and the current Station Master, Horace, hopes that his son Bert will continue the line. Mild-mannered Ticket Clerk Bert wants to work anywhere but on the railways. His colleague, Station Announcer Gloria Simpkins, secretly loves him. Porter Percy Valentine is an archetypal wheeler-dealer and the ancient Signalman, Bradshaw, causes havoc and dispenses home-made remedies in equal measure. The 'Parsley Sidings' nemesis is Phineas Perkins, the station master of Potwhistle Halt, one stop down the line.
Starring Arthur Lowe as Horace, Ian Lavender as Bert, Kenneth Connor as Percy, Liz Fraser as Gloria and Elizabeth Morgan as Ethel.
Re-created Announcements by Keith Skues.
Producer: Edward Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in December 1971.
SAT 13:00 A Small Town Murder (Omnibus) (b0bntfs0)
Jackie Hartwell is assigned as family liaison officer to a woman viciously assaulted in her own home. It soon becomes clear the suspect is likely to strike again.
Meera Syal returns as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell. Her job, as ever, is to comfort and support the families of victims while keeping a watchful eye on their reactions and movements. You never know when he murderer might be close to home.
Jackie: Meera Syal
Peter: Mathew Marsh
Azra: Olivia Darnley
Denise: Joan Walker
Samantha: Janice Acquah
Keith: Darren Boyd
Writer - Scott Cherry
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in five parts in October 2018.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b0bntfs4)
Helen Lederer
Comedian, writer and actress Helen Lederer chooses 'Que Sera, Sera' by Doris Day and 'All I Want' by Joni Mitchell.
SAT 14:15 Battlefield Ramblings (b0bntj26)
Series 1
Boudicca's Way
Muriel Gray is joined in East Anglia by father and son, Peter and Dan Snow to walk along the Boudicca Way.
The pair have been walking together since Peter took Dan up a Welsh mountain, when he was just 27 days old. They've since shared a love of history, sailed together across the Atlantic, and bickered occasionally over a map.
Series exploring the areas around our greatest battlefields.
Producer: Lucy Lunt
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004 to coincide with BBC Two's Battlefield Britain.
SAT 14:45 15 Minute Drama (b045y41q)
Val McDermid - Deadheading
Episode 1
Best selling crime writer Val McDermid turns to comedy capers among the carrots, as we rummage through the undergrowth of a murder on the allotments. Starring Julie Hesmondhalgh and Miriam Margolyes.
It's a case for Detective Chief Inspector Alma Blair, the Alpha Detective, her sergeant Jason Trotter, and Jo Blake the crime scene manager. Watch how the women behave towards each other. Rivals? Not quite. There may even be a barely detectable flirtatiousness between them.
In Episode 1 a body is found on an allotment in Cranby
Sound Designer: Eloise Whitmore
Writer: Val McDermid
Directed and Produced by Justine Potter
A Savvy Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b0076h68)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Victor Pemberton - Night of the Wolf (b07fm8zs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Our Language in Your Hands (b01pbhw3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Doctor Who (b06nsy8k)
Special Features
The Doctor contributes a DVD commentary to a cult 1970s horror movie re-release.
Peter Davison is the Fifth Doctor with his companion Nyssa played by Sarah Sutton. With James Fleet as Sir Jack Merrivale.
This episode is one of four generated by Big Finish Productions' 2010 'Opportunity for New Writers' contest, which attracted around 1200 entries,
Peter Davison played the Fifth Doctor on BBC TV from 1981 to 1984.
Sarah Sutton played Nyssa between 1981 and 1983. She was first seen on 'The Keeper of Traken' - Traken being Nyssa's home planet, when she starred with the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)
Written by John Dorney.
Original music composed by Richard Fox and Lauren Yason.
Directed by Ken Bentley
Producer: David Richardson
A Big Finish production.
SAT 18:30 Fear On 4 (b007jqlh)
Making Sacrifices
"I want the turret room when Alison's gone, and you've got to make sacrifices to get what you want."
After a nasty case of bullying, three girls learn about the darker side of life in a humorous view of fear and loathing in a girls' boarding school.
Fear on 4 brings you more in a series of nerve-tinglers.
Stars Caroline Strong as Alison, Sarah Rice as Kerry and Alison Pettitt as Corrina.
Written by Nick Warburton.
Director: Adrian Bean
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1997.
SAT 19:00 Laura Barton's American Road Trip (b0bntd2l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Old Harry's Game (b00cl63c)
Series 5
I Blame the Media
While Satan is away morally cleansing the media and internet, revolt is brewing in Hell. Satanic sitcom stars Andy Hamilton. From October 2005.
SAT 22:30 Chain Reaction (b00tdx5w)
Series 6
Lee Mack interviews Ade Edmondson
The new series of the tag team talk show continues as last week's guest, one of the UK's most celebrated and current comics Lee Mack, writer and star of BBC1's "Not Going Out" takes the microphone to interview alternative comedy legend, writer and star of "The Young Ones" and "Bottom", Ade Edmondson.
SAT 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b0bpcn25)
Elis James and John Robins 1/2
From 10pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats to Elis James and John Robins.
SAT 23:00 28 Acts in 28 Minutes (b01nq3p1)
Series 1
Episode 1
John Humphrys gives 28 performers 60 seconds to entertain an audience:
Richie Webb and Vicki Pepperdine
Jason Manford
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis
Josie Long
Ed Byrne
Matt Holt
Nick Mohammed
Phil Nichol
Matt Kirshen
Lemn Sissay
The Cowards
Jason John Whitehead
Howard Read
Janey Godley
Count Arthur Strong
Al Pitcher
Martin White
Edward Aczel
Marcus Birdman
Tom Price
John Bishop
The Consultants
Sue Vale
Miles Jupp
Stefano Paolini
Rhod Gilbert
Seymour Mace
Nicholas Parsons
Producers: Rohan Acharya and Ed Morrish
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006.
SAT 23:30 Mark Watson's Live Address to the Nation (b017chqv)
Passion
Mark Watson continues his quest to improve the world, nimbly assisted by Tim Key and Tom Basden and with the additional help of the listening audience as we broadcast live and invite them to join in.
Mark will be asking the big questions that are crucial to our understanding of ourselves and society - in a dynamic and thought provoking new format he opens the floor to the live audience and asks them to jump into the conversation via tweets and messages to work out how we can all make the world a better place.
This week Mark looks at "Passion" - Passion encompasses some of our most human qualities: emotion, energy desire. But is it a dangerous thing? In their hit Desire, U2 sang: 'Desire!/Desire!' But that isn't hugely helpful, that's just repeating the word over and over again. So we'll go into a bit more detail.
We are all passionate about something, whether it's sex, personal satisfaction, or sexy personal satisfaction. Without passion we're inert. But with passion, we can sometimes be all too ert. Where do we draw the line between normal passions, and being one of these guys like Othello who let themselves down and kill a girl over a hanky?
Next week Mark looks at "Tolerance" - Religious tolerance, moral tolerance, not striking the person next to you on the bus because their headphones are too loud. It's important to tolerate others' faults, but can it make us into doormats? Mark will once again invite you to join the debate at www.bbc.co.uk/radio 4 or tweet using #watsonlive.
Mark Watson is a multi award winning comedian, including the inaugural If.Comedy Panel Prize 2006. He is assisted by Tim Key, winner of Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2009 and Tom Basden who won the the If.Comedy Award for Best Newcomer 2007.
Produced by Lianne Coop.