SATURDAY 24 NOVEMBER 2018

SAT 00:00 Charles Chilton - Journey Into Space (b007jmx1)
Operation Luna
Episode 10
Stranded in Earth's past, the Voice tries tempting Captain Jet Morgan and his crew out into the city of the aliens.
Futuristic tale set in 1965 as first broadcast in 1953.
Stars Andrew Faulds as Jet Morgan, Alfie Bass as Lemmy Barnett, Guy Kingsley-Poynter as Doc, David Williams as Mitch, Other parts by Deryck Guyler.
Music composed and orchestra conducted by Van Phillips.
Written and produced by Charles Chilton.
Though first heard in 1953, the original recordings were wiped.
Re-recording first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in 1958.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (m00018d5)
Competition
Chris Bigsby talks competition with laid-back writer Howard Jacobson and highly driven FT columnist Mrs Moneypenny. From April 2002.
In each programme, Professor Bigsby introduces a duo of writers of fact and fiction: new talent and established names. In the context of a discussion of one of the ideas and pre-occupations of our times, each presents a piece on this week's topic.
The best new writing and the freshest conversation from 2002.
SAT 01:00 S-Laughter In the Dark (m00018cy)
More Than Meets The Ear
Detective Jack Dunroody is trapped in a cave, with the tide rising - and a monastery murder still to solve...
Chandleresque noir-fiction from the pen of Marius Brill.
Paul B Davies stars as Jack Dunroody, with Rebecca Front as Terry Moore, David Collings as Thelonious the monk, John Turner as the Councillor, Natasha Pyne as Rose Scarlet, David Holt as Watson the dog & Damian; John Hartley as Underwood; Ian Masters as Boots and Jonathan Keeble as the parrot
Director: Andy Jordan.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1991.
SAT 01:30 Bombay's Beatle (b00hv1dt)
Sarfraz Manzoor visits Mumbai to visit some of the musicians who were recruited in 1968 by George Harrison to help him record the soundtrack to the psychedelic film Wonderwall
SAT 02:00 Roald Dahl (b07ccqys)
Beware of the Dog
Beware of the Dog
On his way back to base following a mission, a badly injured Spitfire pilot is forced to bail out. Read by James Aubrey. From September 1986.
SAT 02:15 A History of the Brain (b017551t)
Einstein's Brain
Dr Geoff Bunn's ten-part History of the Brain is a journey through 5000 years of our understanding of this complex organ in our heads. From Neolithic times to the present day, he reveals the contemporary beliefs about what the brain is for and how it fulfils its functions.
While referencing the core physiology and neuroscience, this is a cultural, not a scientific history. What soon becomes obvious is that our understanding of this most inscrutable organ has in all periods been coloured by the social and political expedients of the day no less than by the contemporary scope of scientific or biological exploration.
Episode 10: Einstein's Brain focuses on how advances in neurology have influenced our understanding of human's as 'neurochemical selves'. Examining the recent trend to explain every aspect of personality by underlying brain processes, Geoff Bunn highlights how disciplines from aesthetics to sociology have felt the impact of neuroscience. He acknowledges the benefits supplied by MRI scanning but points out the flaws in promoting an understanding of humanity based entirely on analysis of the brain. If the dissection of Einstein's brain were all we had to go on, we wouldn't know much about the famous physicist's life and character.
The series is entirely written and presented by Dr Geoff Bunn of Manchester Metropolitan University, with actors Paul Bhattacharjee and Jonathan Forbes providing the voices of those who have written about the brain from Ancient Egypt to the present day. The original, atmospheric score is supplied by composer, Barney Quinton.
Producer: Marya Burgess.
SAT 02:30 Where Angels Fear to Tread (b007jrx0)
Episode 5
The peace of Sawston is disturbed by the latest news from Italy about Lilia. With Teresa Gallagher and Tom George.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b03ntb28)
Michael Paterniti - The Telling Room
Episode 5
In the picturesque Spanish village of Guzmán, villagers have gathered for centuries in 'the telling room' to share their stories. It was here, in the summer of 2000, that Michael Paterniti listened as Ambrosio Molinos de las Heras spun an odd and compelling tale about a cheese made from an ancient family recipe. Reputed to be among the finest in the world - one bite could conjure long-lost memories. But then, Ambrosio said, things had gone horribly wrong.
Paterniti was hooked. Relocating his young family to Guzmán, he was soon sucked into the heart of an unfolding mystery - a blood feud that includes accusations of betrayal and theft, death threats, and a murder plot. As the village began to spill its long-held secrets, Paterniti found himself implicated in the very story he was writing.
Michael Paterniti is a journalist and has been nominated eight times for the National Magazine Award. One of his stories was chosen for True Stories: A Century of Literary Non-fiction, joining four other writers as the best examples of literary journalism from the last hundred years. He is also the author of the New York Times bestselling book Driving Mr Albert. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Read by: Will Adamsdale
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Produced by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 03:00 Classic Serial (b0122r2m)
LP Hartley - The Hireling
Episode 2
In this 1957 thriller by the author of The Go-Between, L.P.Hartley, ex-Sergeant Stephen Leadbitter, raised from an unhappy working class childhood between the wars, is on a peacetime mission to business success as a chauffeur and car for hire. He uniformly despises his clients, especially the ladies, until the young, widowed, naive and immensely rich Lady Franklin hires him to take her on trips to cathedrals which she had visited with her late husband.
Lady Franklin has been in mourning for her late husband - a man considerably older than her and an invalid - for two years, and is finding it impossible to return to normal life. In the confines of the car, and in search of a cure for her depression, she shares her burden with him. He obliges with a story of his own, a fiction, which grows, monster-like, to plague the inventor. Two alien classes are put on a collision course, causing salvation or destruction to all involved, from the epicentre of an unexpected burst of love.
Simon Day (The Simon Day Show (R4), The Fast Show) stars as the lonely damaged anti-hero and Lisa Dillon (Cranford, Bright Young Things) as the hugely rich and very young widow who is the unwitting cause of his downfall. Kenneth Cranham narrates.
Dramatised by Judith Adams from the novel by L.P.Hartley.
Cast:
Narrator ...... Kenneth Cranham
Steve Leadbitter ..... Simon Day
Lady Franklin ..... Lisa Dillon
Hughie ..... Joseph Millson
Constance ..... Ursula Burton
Clarice ..... Nicola Duffett
Simmonds ..... Anthony Gleave
Bert Standing ..... Kevin James
Landlady ..... Jane Purcell
Porter ..... Andrew Cullimore
Producer/Director: Chris Wallis
An Autolycus production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 04:00 Guess What? (b0627zhy)
Episode 3
Animal, vegetable or mineral?
Barry Took hosts a revised version of popular radio parlour game of 20 questions.
Regular Geoffrey Durham is joined by Jeremy Hanley and Helen Atkinson-Wood.
Written by Michael Dines.
Producer: Andy Aliffe
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1998.
SAT 04:30 Life in London (b01167w4)
1. In Training for a Swell
A tour of the sprawling post-Regency Metropolis in the years before the Victorians turned up and made everything boring - in the company of garrulous author Pierce Egan, cocksure urbanite Corinthian Tom, his naive Somerset cousin Jerry Hawthorn and their drunken compatriot Bob Logic.
Written by Pierce Egan and adapted in six parts by Dan Tetsell.
Pierce Egan .... Geoffrey McGivern
Corinthian Kate .... Amanda Abbingdon
Corinthian Tom .... Greg Wise
Old Hawthorn .... Christopher Douglas
Jerry Hawthorn .... Mark Gatiss
Mrs Belcher .... Laura Shavin
Bob Logic .... James Bachman
Mr Primefit .... Dave Lamb
Producer: Tilusha Ghelani
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2006.
SAT 05:00 The Right Time (b0076mqw)
Series 4
Episode 6
The wine police are called - and a couple take up Satanism.
Sketch show about growing older disgracefully.
Stars Eleanor Bron, Dudley Sutton, Roger Blake, Paula Wilcox. Clive Swift and Barry Cryer.
Written by Nicholas Barber & Glenn Dakin, Jill Brodie & John Pidgeon, Barry Cryer, Jan Etherington, Ronnie Golden, Mike Haskins, Simon Littlefield, George Poles and Chris Thompson & Pete Reynolds.
Script editor: George Poles.
Music by Ronnie & The Rex.
Producer: Katie Marsden
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2004.
SAT 05:30 A Trespasser's Guide to the Classics (b06kdxsg)
Series 1
A Fistful of Sand
By John Nicholson, Richard Katz and Javier Marzan
Richard Wilson plays Robinson Crusoe in an irreverent re-boot of Daniel Defoe's classic.
After cheating their captain of the ship's treasure, a couple of sailors go into hiding on a deserted island. Their plans to lay low are rumbled when they're discovered by a long-forgotten castaway and his Spanish manservant.
In this new series the comedy troupe Peepolykus assume the roles of minor characters in great works of fiction and derail the plot of the book through their hapless buffoonery.
Cast:
Crusoe . . . . . Richard Wilson
Friday . . . . . Javier Marzan
John . . . . . John Nicholson
Richard . . . . . Richard Katz
Captain . . . . . Sam Dale
First Mate . . . . . Leo Wan
Briggs . . . . . David Hounslow
Dodd . . . . . Caolan McCarthy
Director . . . . . Sasha Yevtushenko
SAT 06:00 Mervyn Peake - Titus Groan (m00019hn)
The arrival of baby Titus, the 77th Earl of Groan, causes consternation in the crumbling citadel of Gormenghast
The first of two plays based on the Gormenghast novels by Mervyn Peake - dramatised by Brian Sibley.
Starring Sting as Steerpike
Freddie Jones as The Artist
Bernard Hepton as Dr Prunesquallor
Judy Parfitt as Irma Prunesquallor
David Warner as Sepulchrave
Eleanor Bron as Gertrude
Sheila Hancock as Clarice and Cora
Jill Lidstone as Fuchsia
Cyril Shaps as Flay
Robert Eddison as Sourdust
Maurice Denham as Barquentine
Stratford Johns as Swelter
Hilda Schroder as Nannie Slagg
Melinda Walker as Keda
Graham Blockey as Rantel
and Peter Acre as Braigon
Director: Glyn Dearman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1984.
SAT 07:30 Follow-Up Albums (b01hl29f)
Dexys Midnight Runners - Don't Stand Me Down
Music critic Pete Paphides tells the story behind three 'follow-up' albums - from Dexys Midnight Runners, Fleetwood Mac and Suede - with tales of musical pressure, creative differences, personal politics and mixed results.
How many bands have found themselves with a massive and often unexpected hit album, only to struggle with the creation of their next opus? Sometimes the follow-up exceeds the first album, but often nerves kick in and bands are removed from the very stimulus that created their magic in the first place, finding themselves in a world of creative confusion, sycophants and accountants.
Pete Paphides talks to musicians, producers, and critics to explore the stories of follow-up albums with the same expert knowledge he brought to Lost Albums.
Programme 1: Dexys Midnight Runners - Don't Stand Me Down.
Kevin Rowland and Helen O'Hara give rare interviews about a pivotal time in Dexys Midnight Runners' history. Having been the best-selling UK band of 1982 with their massive hit single Come On Eileen and the hugely popular album Too-Rye-Ay, Dexys took some time to consider what to do next.
Don't Stand Me Down was brave and different to Too-Rye-Ay. Rowland had a clear vision and went to great lengths to record and mix it to his own specifications.
His interest in his Irish roots and Irish politics was one of the themes of the record. Misunderstood in its day, it received poor reviews but has since gone on to receive critical acclaim.
Produced by Laura Parfitt
A White Pebble Media Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b053s0zp)
The Petticoat Vote
Jo Fidgen explores how the women's vote has changed British politics and society.
In the 1929 general election, women voted on the same terms as men for the first time. It was dubbed the Flapper Vote and had an instant effect on how politicians went about their business. With women now the majority of the electorate, there was talk of "petticoat government" and dire predictions that politics would be reduced to a narrow preoccupation with the cost of living.
It soon became clear that women do vote differently from men. For decades, they swung the country Right. Without them, there would have been no Conservative governments between 1945 and 1979. But that all began to change, and it was women who thrust Tony Blair to power.
Jo Fidgen delves into the archives in search of the female voter and the ways politicians have sought to win her over. She digs up rare archive from the 1929 campaign trail, overhears a conversation between a young Margaret Thatcher and a prospective voter, and eavesdrops on a discussion between Tony Benn and his father about how female voters had changed the job of constituency MPs, and curtailed their drunken behaviour.
Neil Kinnock reflects on his struggle to get the Labour party to change its attitude to women. There's a personal take from Emma Nicholson on the soul-searching in the Conservative party as it started to lose the housewives' vote.
Many things have been said about female voters - including that they have made politics petty and personality-driven. Academics and pollsters consider the evidence, and bring us up-to-date with women's voting preferences.
Producers: Jo Fidgen and Kate Taylor
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 09:00 In the Lumber Room With Saki (b082m09r)
In 1916 on the battlefield of the Somme, a German sniper brought to an end the life of perhaps Britain's greatest short-story writer.
Hector Hugh Munro was a political sketch-writer, foreign correspondent, historian and novelist. But he is best known under the pen name Saki for his short story writing.
Saki's dark and twisted tales make delicious radio drama. Many of them centre on childish mischief, small acts of rebellion against pretentious or overbearing authority figures, and supernatural beasts.
The stories draw on the author's upbringing in North Devon, where Saki was raised by his aunts and grandmother.
Shaun Ley, who also grew up in Devon, returns to Saki's childhood home to explore the environment that made the author.
In this three-hour programme, Shaun brings together a series of adaptations, including The Lumber Room, The Toys of Peace, The She-Wolf, The Schartz-Metterklume Method, Mrs Packeltide's Tiger, The Open Window and Sredni Vashtar.
Contributors include: Sir Richard Eyre, Will Self and Dr Sandie Byrne.
Producer: Adam Bowen
SAT 12:00 Just a Minute (m00016g8)
Series 61
From 08/08/2011
Ventriloquism and PAs. Nicholas Parsons welcomes Paul Merton, Tony Hawks, Shelia Hancock and Graham Norton. From August 2011.
SAT 12:30 Something to Shout About (m00017l0)
Series 2
Episode 1
Maggie wins an award for a cold cure advert – then catches a cold before the ceremony.
"A light-hearted exposé of the advertising world!". Set in a London ad agency called 'Apsley, Addis, Cohen, Barbican, Blythe, Giddy & Partners'.
Starring Michael Medwin as Michael, Fenella Fielding as Janet, Joan Sims as Mavis, Eleanor Summerfield as Maggie and Nicholas Phipps as Adrian. Other parts by Warren Mitchell.
Series two (of three) written by Myles Rudge with Ronnie Wolfe.
Producer: Eric Miller
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in January 1961.
SAT 13:00 Incredible Women - Omnibuses (m00019hr)
Series 7 Omnibus
Jeremy Front arrives in Cambridge to visit the 'Zinoviev School of International Relations' to find out more about its new head Jessica Kennedy.
Jessica has managed to jump from high-level job to high-level job, with seemingly few qualifications. Is she just a consummate power player? Or are there more sinister forces at work?
Jeremy Front is here to find out. And he won't let anything get in his way. Not even breakfast.
Jeremy Front stars as Jeremy Front
Rebecca Front as Jessica Kennedy
Emma Sidi as Eva
Ewan Bailey as Trader/Porter
Simon Yadoo as Bus driver/Protester
Producer: Sam Michell
A BBC Studios Production first broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in November 2018.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (m0001b2w)
Zandra Rhodes
4 Extra Debut. Fashion Designer Zandra Rhodes chooses 'Bolero' by Ravel and the duet from 'The Pearl Fishers' by Bizet.
SAT 14:15 Battlefield Ramblings (m00019ht)
Series 1
Naseby
Muriel Gray is joined by Susie Frith and Anne Chapman for a ramble around the gentle rolling landscape of the famous Northamptonshire battlefield.
Series exploring the areas around our greatest battlefields.
Producer: Lucy Lunt
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
SAT 14:45 15 Minute Drama (b0467tyh)
Val McDermid - Deadheading
Episode 5
And so, Val McDermid's crime comedy draws to a climax in the traditional mode of the detective story. The date of Friday 13th adds to the air of danger and mystery - almost as if it was planned that way.
As the suspense builds. What, we ask ourselves, what is that unfamiliar sound? Is it a mating cry? An alarm call?
In the wild, hunters have to rely on their tracking skills - their eyesight, their hearing, their knowledge of their environment and their experience. Luckily for Detective Sergeant Trotter, he has something more sophisticated to count on.
There's nothing quite like a good murder - apart, of course, from another good murder in a second series....
Cast:
DSI Alma Blair......................Julie Hesmondhalgh
DS Jason Trotter..................John Hollingworth
CSM Jo Blake.......................Miriam Margolyes
Narrator / Brian Masters......Jonathan Keeble
Eric Ollerinshaw..................Alan Rothwell
PC Sparks / Claire...............Victoria Brazier
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 (b053s0zp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Mervyn Peake - Titus Groan (m00019hn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Follow-Up Albums (b01hl29f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Robert Westall - The Wheatstone Pond (b00768rk)
Once an Edwardian boating haven, the Wheatstone Pond has acquired a dark and chilling atmosphere – with a vile odour hanging around its waters.
After a tragic suicide, the pond is drained and some rather unusual artefacts begin to emerge...
Robert Westall’s deadly occult mystery dramatised by Martyn Read
Starring John Duttine as Morgan, Teresa Gallagher as Hermione, John Webb as James, Ian Brooker as DI Crittenden, Christopher Scott as Mr Makepeace, Peter Meakin as Mossy, Lorna Laidlaw as Rose and Jack Halsey and Richard Ganjavi as the Children.
Directed at BBC Birmingham by Rosemary Watts.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
SAT 19:00 In the Lumber Room With Saki (b082m09r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Old Harry's Game (b00w0d8p)
Series 6
Edith
Satan strikes a bizarre bargain with an eminent historian. Devilish sitcom starring Andy Hamilton and Annette Crosbie. From September 2007.
SAT 22:30 The Shuttleworths (b007k4tn)
John Shuttleworth's Open Mind
UFOs
The Sheffield singer-songwriter investigates unsolved phenomena, with agent Ken Worthington and guest Patrick Mower. From March 2006.
SAT 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m0001j57)
Brennen Reece 1/2
The best in contemporary comedy. Arthur Smith chats to Brennen Reece.
SAT 23:00 Rhod Gilbert's Bulging Barrel of Laughs (b00trxr0)
Episode 3
Welsh comic Rhod Gilbert introduces regulars Lloyd Langford and Greg Davies, plus Sarah Millican who takes a weekly look at The Six Stages of Woman.
With live music from Kid British, including Lost in London, Winner and Two Out of Seven.
Guest comedian is Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Mark Watson.
Join Rhod for his Rant on irritating products, delve into Rhod’s Confessions where Lloyd Langford impresses the girls with his French - and see if Greg Davies can tempt you with his Indecent Proposal.
Producers: Julia Mckenzie and Lianne Coop.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in September 2010