SATURDAY 02 MARCH 2019

SAT 00:00 Charles Chilton - Space Force (b007jmdr)
Series 1
Threshold of Stars
"And what happens if we fail the test?"."It's obvious we'll be killed."Held captive by their abductors, the Space Force crew discover exactly what the aliens are after - while Chipper causes concern.Charles Chilton's intergalatic adventure in six-parts starring Barry Foster as Captain Saxon Berry, Nicky Henson as Chipper, Nigel Stock as Magnus, Tony Osoba as Lauderic, Wendy Murray as Ifwa, Theresa Streatfeild as Treia, Lolly Cockerell as Voedica and Jenny Twigge as Jennie.Producer: Paul Mayhew-ArcherFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1984.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b0076cwt)
Rules
Rules and how to break them. Matthew Parris joins Pauline Melville, journalist Matthew Syed and writer Hugh Collins.In each programme, Matthew Parris introduces a group 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 2003.
SAT 01:00 Russell Thorndike - Doctor Syn (b00d8km5)
Episode 4
Dubbed Captain Clegg, the swashbuckling hero wins renown as the most feared of pirates. Read by Rufus Sewell.Christopher Syn, a brilliant young scholar, is a Doctor of Divinity at Oxford, but his eventual decision to throw away the Bible for the sword in a mad quest for vengeance will influence the rest of his life.Russell Thorndike's 18th Century, Kent-based adventure features pirates, smuggling, highwaymen, duels, wicked squires and beautiful Spanish ladies. Based on the first two novels (published 1935 and 1936) in the seven-title sequence, 'Doctor Syn on the High Seas' and 'Doctor Syn Returns'. Abridged by Doreen Estall.Writer Russell Thorndike (1885-1972) is less well-known than his sister, the actress Dame Sybil Thorndike, but his Doctor Syn novels hold a special place in the affection of lovers of atmospheric, swashbuckling storytelling everywhere. His novels have been filmed with actors as diverse as George Arliss, Peter Cushing and Patrick McGoohan in the role of Syn, and the Kent village of Dymchurch holds an official 'Day of Syn' every other year, to commemorate a home-grown literary folk hero.Producer: Lawrence JacksonMade for BBC Radio 7 by BBC Northern IrelandFirst broadcast in 2006.
SAT 01:30 The Thrilla in Manila (b01rr48f)
Manila, 1975. President Ferdinand Marcos maintains a tight grip over his nation. For three years martial law has silenced opposition and strengthened his rule but what he longs for most is international prestige and national love. What he needs is the greatest sporting event his nation has ever seen. A titanic clash between the two greatest heavyweights of their day, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. The whole world would watch as one of boxing's most brutal and legendary fights unfolded but how on earth did the fight ever take place? John McDonald gets the inside story from those commanded by the Philippines dictator to make boxing historyProducer: Mark Burman.
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b065xk29)
Go Set a Watchman
Episode 10
GO SET A WATCHMANIn the literary event of the year Harper Lee's explosive second novel has finally been published. Believed lost for decades after the publication of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', this book revisits much-loved characters, this time through adult eyes. This abridgement for Book at Bedtime brings a compelling and important release to Radio 4.Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch travels from New York to Maycomb for her annual visit home. It's always a relief to slip into the comfortable rhythms of the South; to spend time with her beloved father Atticus and rekindle her spiky relationship with Aunt Alexandra. But mid-50s Alabama is not the same place where young Scout spent idyllic summers with brother Jem, and the 26-year old will be betrayed and have her trust shattered before she is able to become her own woman.Harper Lee is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', a book which has been studied, loved, wept over and revered by generations since its publication in 1960. She lives in Monroeville, Alabama.Read by Fenella WoolgarWritten by Harper LeeAbridged by Robin BrooksProduced by Eilidh McCreadie.
SAT 02:15 On the Map (b00rlwwy)
Maps of the Mind
Self-confessed map addict Mike Parker explores modern cartography.Maps of the Mind. The most powerful maps aren't found on paper or a computer screen. They're the maps we hold in our memories and imaginations. Mike Parker visits a primary school in his home town to compare the pupils' maps with his own, drawn from childhood recollection. And he takes a trip to Ambridge, home of the Archers, to meet Eddie Grundy and ask him for directions around the village.From 2010.
SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b046p078)
Modesty Blaise
Episode 5
Modesty and Willie are being held by ruthless villain Gabriel on a remote Mediterranean island. He has used them to help him steal a huge consignment of diamonds but now has no further use for them. Propects look bad for the pair and they must call upon all their resources to save the day.Modesty Blaise, by Peter O'Donnell, was adapted from the novel of the same name by Stef Penney.CastModesty Blaise . . . Daphne Alexander, Willie Garvin . . . Neil Maskell, Sir Gerald Tarrant . . . Alun Armstrong, Gabriel . . . Ewan Bailey, McWhirter . . . Alex Ferns, Grant . . . Matthew Gravelle, Paul . . . John Hollingworth.With an original score by Goldfrapp's Will Gregory, arranged by Ian Gardiner, and performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Ben Foster.A BBC/Cymru Wales production, produced and directed by Kate McAll
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b03zdkjz)
Thomas Brothers - Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism
Episode 5
A definitive account by Thomas Brothers of Louis Armstrong, his life and legacy, during the most creative period of his career.Nearly 100 years after bursting onto Chicago's music scene under the tutelage of Joe 'King' Oliver, Louis Armstrong is recognized as one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. A trumpet virtuoso, seductive crooner, and consummate entertainer, Armstrong laid the foundation for the future of jazz with his stylistic innovations. But his story would be incomplete without examining how he struggled in a society seething with brutally racist ideologies, laws, and practices.Episode 5:Louis befriends Al Capone. He's singing and dancing for white audiences, and embracing the popular big band sound, but is he selling out?Reader: Colin McFarlaneAbridged by Eileen HorneProduced by Clive BrillA Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 03:00 Saturday Drama (b04dh091)
Murder Under Trust: The Massacre at Glencoe
In 1692 soldiers billeted in the homes of the MacDonald clan in Glencoe rose up and killed their hosts. Was this Highland massacre the inevitable outcome of a long-standing clan feud? Or were there other factors behind this infamous betrayal? Adrian Bean's play - based on the contemporary parliamentary Commission Of Enquiry into the massacre and on historian John Prebble's seminal book, Glencoe - dramatises these tragic 17th century events.Producer/director: Bruce Young.
SAT 04:00 Foul Play (b00zshr5)
Series 4
Dead as a Parrot
Crime writers Ian Rankin and Stella Duffy try to solve a murder mystery involving footballers and models.With the help of witnesses played by Maria McErlane and Lee Simpson.Murder mystery panel game chaired by Simon Brett.Producer: Liz AnsteeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1998.
SAT 04:30 Mr Finchley Takes the Road (b007k0qs)
Episode 1
Mr Finchley falls in love with a canary-coloured caravan and a rather stubborn horse.Victor Canning's novel about the adventures of a man and his horse-drawn caravan touring the 1930s countryside of Kent.Richard Griffiths stars as Mr Finchley.With Dinah Sheridan as Mrs Finchley, Ron Pember as Mr Rivers, Peter Vaughan as Turk.James Grout as Mr Sprake and Alan Thompson as Mr Harricot.Narrated by James Villiers.Adapted in six parts by Andy and Eric Merriman.Producer: Gareth EdwardsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in April 1993.
SAT 05:00 The Cold Swedish Winter (b04fyjqb)
Series 1
Autumn
Episode Four and it's a new season of the year in this Englishman abroad sitcom from Danny Robins (the writer of the Lenny Henry comedy 'Rudy's Rare Records') This series is set and recorded in Sweden and stars Adam Riches, Danny Robins and some of Sweden's most popular TV comedy actors. Geoff, a marginally successful stand-up comic from London, is moving to the tiny, cold and unpronounceable village of Yxsjö in northern Sweden; a culture shock forced on him by his Swedish girlfriend Linda's decision to move home to raise their child. This series follows his first year attempting to settle in his new home, each episode set in a different season.Geoff has to contend with snow, moose, pickled herring, unemployment, snow, Maypole dancing, snowmobiles, snow, meatball rolling, saunas, social democracy, snow, the weirdest pizzas in Europe, bears, deep forests, death metal, illegal alcohol, snow... Above all he has a new family to contend with. The Andersson's bewilder him - from father Sten (Thomas Oredsson - Crimes of Passion to be broadcast on BBC Four this year), who has a worrying tendency to growl like a bear and threaten him with any blunt instrument to hand to Gunilla (playwright and comedian Anna-Lena Bergelin), who threatens him with naked folk-dancing. It's worth it all for Linda, of course, apart from her new found urge to conform with everything and except for her brother, a Goth with a propensity to set fire to things. And his fellow immigrants are no less unsettling: Ian (Danny Robins), a divorcee, who has been depressed for the last eight years and Soran (Farshad Kohlgi - The Killing), a Danish Kurd with Swedophobia.Episode 4 -"Autumn": In which Geoff tries to be different, a heavily pregnant Linda throws a "fika" party and Sten campaigns for re-electionWriter: Danny RobinsDirector: Frank StirlingA Unique Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 05:30 Clare in the Community (b084x76y)
Series 11
Joan Alone
Episode 5 - Joan AloneJoan's birthday offers Clare a really good example of why it's so important to be aware of loneliness and isolation in the community. With added morris dancing.Sally Phillips is Clare Barker the social worker who has all the right jargon but never a practical solution.A control freak, Clare likes nothing better than interfering in other people's lives on both a professional and personal basis. Clare is in her thirties, white, middle class and heterosexual, all of which are occasional causes of discomfort to her.Each week we join Clare in her continued struggle to control both her professional and private life In today's Big Society there are plenty of challenges out there for an involved, caring social worker. Or even Clare.Written by Harry Venning and David RamsdenProducer Alexandra SmithA BBC Studios production.
SAT 06:00 Daphne du Maurier - The Years Between (b00qm3c3)
In the early 1940s, Diana Wentworth's MP husband, Michael, is reported missing - presumed killed in action.Once over the shock, she builds a new life - taking over Michael's seat in parliament, and falling in love with a much more suitable man.But on the eve of their wedding, a phone call brings Diana shattering news....Daphne du Maurier's 1945 stage play dramatised for radio by Jill Hyem.Stars Diana Quick as Diana Wentworth, Roger Allam as Michael Wentworth, David Collings as Richard Llewelyn, Peter England as Robin Wentworth, Frederick Treves as Sir Ernest Foster and Derek Waring as the Vicar.Director: Cherry CooksonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.
SAT 07:30 Last Chance to See (m0002zlc)
A Man-Eating, Evil-Smelling Dragon
Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine search for a slightly terrifying creature, with terrible breath: the Komodo Dragon.Series in which Douglas Adams and conservationist Mark Carwardine go in search of weird, exotic endangered animals.Producer: Gaynor ShutteFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1989.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b0075qjt)
Some Like It Hot
Cleo Laine revisits the golden age of the all-girl swing band in the UK and America.From Ivy Benson to the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, she explores the careers of professional women musicians in the 1940s in their own words.Cleo speaks to musicians Sheila Tracey, Gracie Cole, Elsie Ford, Helen Wood, Carline Ray, Maxine Kneper, Rosa Bellamy and Viola Smith - plus historians Sally Placksin and Sherrie Tucker.Producer: Virginia CromptonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1999.
SAT 09:00 Comedy Club Extravaganza (m0002zlf)
The Comedy Club is a two-hour nightly showcase of the best in contemporary radio comedy, hosted by the best contemporary comedy voices. This three-hour Comedy Club Extravaganza celebrates the highlights of the Comedy Club, looking back at the regular and guest hosts, the sketches and songs broadcast only in the Comedy Club, and the best interviews with guests from the world of comedy. Comedy Club presenters Jake Yapp, Jessica Fostekew, Jon Holmes, Sarah Campbell, Rob Deering, Laura Lexx, Iain Lee, Angela Barnes, Paul Garner and Arthur Smith look through the rich, varied and hilarious Comedy Club archive to present their favourite guests, sketches, and songs.
SAT 12:00 Counterpoint (b009s09v)
Series 22
2008 Heat 1
Paul Gambaccini takes over as chairman of the long-running music quiz.With Margaret Eccles from Cheltenham, Martin Kimber from Cheltenham, and Adrian Salter from London.Producer: Paul BajoriaFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2008.
SAT 12:30 The Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise Show (b01rqbf9)
Series 2
Episode 1
Eric’s got a surprise for Ernie’s birthday – and guest Gayle Hunnicutt is desperate to be in one of Ernie's plays what he wrote.Written and adapted by Eddie Braben.With Richard Caldicot and April Walker.Music from Syd Lawrence and his Orchestra – with Roy Marsden, Sue Adams and The Seranaders.Producer: John BrowellFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in September 1976.
SAT 13:00 Maya Angelou: A Song Flung up to Heaven (Omnibus) (m0002zlh)
When Maya returns from Ghana the first person she calls is Malcolm X. She wants to spend some time with her mother and brother in San Francisco before she begins working with Malcolm in New York.Then Malcolm is assassinated. Devastated, Maya is shocked by people's apathetic reaction to the news.Omnibus of the sixth and final series of May Angelou's amazing autobiographies.Narrator, Older Maya - Adjoa AndohMaya - Pippa Bennett-WarnerMalcolm X - Don GiletBailey - Samuel AndersonMother - Ellen ThomasDramatised by Patricia CumperProduced and Directed by Pauline HarrisFirst broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (m0002zlk)
Brian Conley
Comedian Brian Conley chooses ‘Jailhouse Rock’ by Elvis Presley and ‘Who Loves You’ by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
SAT 14:15 Down Your Way (m0002zlm)
Beryl Bainbridge in Camden Town
Author Beryl Bainbridge explores cosmopolitan Camden Town in north London, her home from the late 1960s.Dame Beryl Bainbridge (1932-2010).Down Your Way was a schedule staple for decades - starting on the BBC Home Service in 1946 and ending its run on BBC Radio 4 in 1992. Using a variety of hosts, including Richard Dimbleby and Brian Johnston, the programme toured villages, towns and cities across the UK. At the height of the series' success in the 1950s, it was attracting 10 million listeners a week.Producer: Lyn Hartman.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1987.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b0075qjt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Daphne du Maurier - The Years Between (b00qm3c3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Last Chance to See (m0002zlc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 David Ashton - Two Sisters (b0721g5y)
A lecherous salesman stumbles into the claustrophobic world of two sisters with a grim secret.David Ashton 's darkly humorous horror story has several decidedly "unsisterly" twists and turns.Starring Joan Sims, Barbara Jefford and Robert Glenister.Producer: Martin JenkinsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
SAT 19:00 Comedy Club Extravaganza (m0002zlf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Bridget Christie Minds the Gap (b01r9swd)
Series 1
Episode 3
Bridget considers women and their relationship with their bodies via a lap dance, TOWIE and a fish called Michael.Fred MacAulay helps her remember some of the key incidents which brought her to an epiphany and a call to arms.Four-part stand-up comedy series on the state of British feminism today.Producer: Alison Vernon-SmithFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
SAT 22:30 Liam Williams: Ladhood (b06ptymb)
Series 1
Truants
Liam Williams - a two-time Edinburgh Festival Award nominated comedian - shares his teenage misadventures in the Yorkshire suburbs.With evocative monologues by "Adult Liam" being interjected with flashback scenes from his teenage years, this four-part series was recorded in Leeds and stars teens from Yorkshire.Each episode delves into Liam's memories of his first fight, virginity loss, the best house party ever organised, and his marvellous outwitting of an entire teaching staff.This is the New Labour, post-mining, aspirational heartland, meeting 50 Cent and Generation Y ennui, represented in a bourgeois radio format - by one of Britain's most exciting comedians.Producer: Arnab ChandaA BBC Radio Comedy production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2015.
SAT 23:00 28 Acts in 28 Minutes (b008khpv)
Series 2
Episode 1
John Humphrys gives 28 performers 60 seconds each to entertain. With Shappi Khorsandi and Stephen K Amos. From December 2007.
SAT 23:30 Saturday Night Fry (b00936hz)
Episode 5
Stephen Fry shares some fishy thoughts as he serves up more witty banter and sketches.With Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Emma Thompson and her mother Phyllida Law. Written by Stephen Fry with additional material by Ian Brown and James Hendrie.Producer: Dan PattersonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1988.