SATURDAY 11 MAY 2019

SAT 00:00 Charles Chilton - Journey into Space (b007jq7r)
The Red Planet
Episode 10
Captain Jet Morgan and his crew are on Mars, but he's alarmed when more of the fleet appear to arrive...Charles Chilton’s 1954 classic set in 1971.Andrew Faulds ..... Jet MorganDavid Kossoff ..... LemmyGuy Kingsley Poynter ..... DocBruce Beeby ..... MitchDavid Jacobs ..... Announcer/VariousAnthony Marriott ..... VariousMusic composed and conducted by Van Phillips.Producer: Charles ChiltonFirst broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in November 1954.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b0076gkq)
Secrets
Writers Alice Jolly, Kris Kenway and Duncan Fallowell reveal all on matters undisclosed to Matthew Parris.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 Castles in Spain (m0004xw1)
Episode 5
'Whatever you think it is, bookseller, Terry copied pictures. End of story. Right?'.Will Forrest’s death release bookseller Grahame Mayer from the business of tracking down Jock Cameron?Conclusion of Edward Boyd’s five-part thriller serial.Grahame Mayer ..... Ray BrooksColeman ..... John WestbrookTeresa ..... Alexandra MathieDr Lovat ..... Roy HanlonJoseph Greig ..... CameronProduced at BBC Scotland by Patrick Rayner. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1987.
SAT 01:30 The Shapes of Things: BB Remembered (b00v71w4)
Kate Best looks back at the life and work of 'BB' - the pen-name of the writer and illustrator Denys Wakins-Pitchford. Best known for his children's books which include a much-loved classic, The Little Grey Men, BB also wrote prolifically about the countryside, documenting the wildlife which was his lifelong obsession. Kate visits some of his Northamptonshire haunts and talks to those who knew him - and fans including Ian McMillan and Philip Ardagh explain his lasting appeal. With readings by Sir Derek Jacobi.Producer: Thomas Morris
SAT 02:00 Michael Palin - Hemingway's Chair (b01sf1x0)
Episode 10
Martin returns to the post office, seeking Geraldine. Meanwhile, Nick anticipates a big day.Michael Palin concludes this ten-part reading of his first novel.Producer: Rosemary WattsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1995.
SAT 02:15 Foreign Bodies (b01mnz8f)
Series 1
Italy - Inspector Montalbano
Andrea Camilleri discusses the influence of both the Spanish writer Montalbán and Belgian author Georges Simenon on the creation of his Sicilian detective Inspector Montalbano.In a conversation recorded at his home in Rome with Mark Lawson, he describes the way he uses his crime stories to comment upon the effects of both the Mafia and Berlusconi's leadership on Italian society today.Producer: Robyn ReadFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012.
SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b052t2yv)
The Embrace
Episode 5
As the repercussions of Tabby's betrayal unfold, Iona and Charlie come to understand the price of their love.Linda Marshall Griffiths' unflinching drama about betrayal and the power of money cracks open the impossibilities and difficulties of love.IONA.....LYNDSEY MARSHALCHARLIE.....WILLIAM ASHGRACE.....OLIVIA HALLINANDAN.....BLAKE RITSONTABBY.....OLWEN MAYCLEM.....JONATHAN KEEBLEDirector: Nadia MolinariFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b043kj32)
Gironimo! Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy
Episode 5
Nearing the end of his epic cycle ride retracing the route of the 1914 Giro d'Italia, Tim's bike is falling to pieces and his sat-nav directs him onto the most terrifying road yet.It's 12 years since Tim Moore, the ultimate amateur, slogged around the route of the Tour de France. At 48 years old, and distraught by those riders who are despoiling the heroic image of cycling, he decides it's time to reacquaint his feet with cleats and show these soft modern-day cyclists what a real challenge is.A brief internet search later, he discovers the 1914 Giro d'Italia, the hardest bike race in history. Eighty-one riders started and only eight finished, after enduring cataclysmic storms, roads strewn with nails and even the loss of an eye by one competitor.Undeterred, Tim sets off to cycle all 3,200km of it. For authenticity, he decides to do it on a 100-year-old bike, which, unburdened by relevant experience, he opts to build himself. Wearing period leather goggles, a woollen jersey, and with an account of the 1914 Giro as his trusty companion, Tim sets off to tell the story of this historic race, as well as the travails of a middle-aged man cycling up a lot of large mountains on a mainly wooden bicycle.Tim Moore's Gironimo! Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy - abridged in five-parts by Libby SpurrierReader: Stephen ManganProducer: Joanna GreenA Pier production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2014.
SAT 03:00 Jill Paton Walsh - A Piece of Justice (b010vyt7)
When Fran gets the chance to take over the biography of the great mathematician Gideon Summerfield, she rapidly discovers there's a mystery over a few days he went missing in August 1978.Her friend Imogen is the first to realise she may be in danger...Dramatised by Neville Teller from the novel by Jill Paton Walsh. Imogen Quy ..... Barbara FlynnJanet Somerfield ..... Rosemary Leach Francis Bullion ..... Tracy WilesJosh ..... Robert HarperDr Mistral ..... James GreeneLady Buckmote ..... Marlene SidawaySir William Buckmote ..... Geoffrey WhiteheadProfessor Maverack ..... Colin StarkeyMeredith Bagadeuce ..... Peter Howell(Pamela Zephyr ..... Di BotcherDavid Swann ..... Iwan ThomasDirector: Janet WhitakerFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
SAT 04:00 Hidden Treasures (b05ndg4y)
Syon House
From bronze statues to Lalique.Lars Tharp chairs the light-hearted antiques quiz from the London home of the Duke of Northumberland, Syon House.With John Bly, Philippa Glanville, Jane Hay and Peter Brown.Producers: Elizabeth Abrahams and Annie Bristow.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.
SAT 04:30 Home Again (m0004xw3)
The Family Gathering
As suddenly as he disappeared, Fulton Jones returns to his family – wife Margaret and children Rosie and Martin.He went to the newsagent to buy matches 20 years before and, bold as brass, waltzes back assuming his role as father figure once more.Margaret is perplexed, whilst Rosie and Martin are furious with him.Robin Bailey … FultonDoreen Mantle … MargaretLiz Goulding … RosieDavid Troughton … MartinChristopher Benjamin … Ernest BlackrockScript writer: Peter TinniswoodProducer: Griff Rhys Jones First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1980.
SAT 05:00 Reluctant Persuaders (b06bnq1g)
Series 1
We Try Harder
Change is afoot at Hardacre's, London's worst advertising agency. New accounts chief Amanda Brook is well underway with her plans to turn the agency around, insisting they take any work they can get. Creative team Joe and Teddy thus find themselves reduced to working on posters for industrial adhesives, cast iron stoves, and jewellery for dogs.Horrified at seeing his name associated with such a low calibre of clients, creative director and advertising legend Rupert Hardacre resolves to bring in a better class of account. He enlists Amanda's help to chase down McCutcheon's Whisky, a client he worked with many years earlier.While Hardacre and Amanda head off, Joe and Teddy are left at the office determined to prove that they can design a poster, hire a plumber, and interview a client entirely unsupervised. Their jobs may just depend on it.Rupert Hardacre - Nigel HaversAmanda Brook - Josie LawrenceJoe - Matthew BayntonTeddy - Rasmus HardikerDirector Alan NixonProducer Gordon KennedyAn Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 05:30 Stand-Up Specials (m0004t03)
Ruby Wax: Frazzled - 2
Ruby Wax returns to talk about mental health in her inimitable style, using comedy and insight to make us laugh and also think about what it means to be human.It follows her well-received show for Radio 4 last year."Excellent" - The Guardian."Appealing and wise" - The Times"Articulate and entertaining" - iThere is so much to say about mental health and, with a Master’s degree in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and years of struggles with mental health, Ruby has the knowledge, the experience and the comic gifts to say it in an articulate, funny and entertaining way, engaging the audience both in the room and at home.She wants to make us laugh at her and at ourselves, share her thoughts about where we are now, how we can make ourselves think and feel a bit better and how we can all be a bit less isolated.Written and performed by Ruby WaxProducer: Liz AnsteeA CPL production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:00 Noel Coward - Nude With Violin (b055f6vq)
Paris 1956: Paul Sorodin, the world-famous artist, has just died.His family, gathered together for the funeral, is shocked by the discovery that during his life Sorodin had perpetrated an enormous hoax on the international art world.Only Sebastien, his former valet, knows all the answers ...Noel Coward’s comedy of manners dramatised by Peggy Wells.Sebastien ..... Aubrey Woods Isobel Sorodin ..... Joyce CareyJane Patricia ..... RoutledgeCherry-May Waterton ..... Barbara MitchellAnya Pavlikov ..... Betty Huntley-WrightJacob Friedland ..... Wilfrid CarterPamela ..... Margaret WolfitColin Allan ..... CuthbertsonClinton Preminger ..... Junior Kerry FrancisLauderdale ..... Rufus FramptonProducer: Glyn DearmanFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1970.
SAT 07:30 Let Me Entertain You (b00dl98j)
The Sporting Hero
A look at the hundred-year period from the Restoration of 1660 onwards, and the rise of a new figure in popular entertainment: the sporting hero.Plus, the importance of the increasing use of printing, as a way of spreading popular entertainment around the country and of establishing popular tunes and songs.John Sessions continues his series charting the history of popular entertainment in Britain, from medieval minstrels to Victorian freakshows.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2008.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b06386cs)
Shhhhhhh
Examining the nature of silence might not seem the most obvious thing to do on the radio, the medium most wholly given over to noise and which was in its day seen as a direct threat to the realm of silence in our personal and public lives.It might seem, too, that silence is a singular thing, an absence that offers little to any would-be investigation. But it's a subject that's fascinated Lucy Powell ever since she was set a koan by a Zen master, who asked her what the sound is before the bird sings.Now she sets out to answer that problem through an analysis of archive recordings from religious scholars, authors, comedians and poets, as well as conducting fresh interviews with the likes of conductor Edward Gardner, neuro-scientist Jan Schnupp and Buddhist nun Tenzin Palmo, who spent seven years on silent retreat in a Himalayan cave.Lucy hears a freshly composed improvisation on the theme of silence from the classical duo 'Folie a Deux Femmes' and argues that in fact silence is a rich, multiple property that can vary dramatically depending on the context within which it is placed.Producer: Geoff BirdPresenter: Lucy PowellFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
SAT 09:00 Being David Sedaris (m00055bd)
Emma Freud is joined in her kitchen by author David Sedaris to discuss his life and career and listen to extracts from his extensive BBC archive, dating back to the late 1990s.Programmes featured in this three-hour showcase include: :The New York Diaries: Smoking Diary - 5 April 1997The New York Diaries: Naked - 12 April 1997Ramblings with Clare Balding - 7 March 2013The Santaland Diaries - 24 December 2014An American In Paris - 12 June 1999Paperback Writers (extract) - 5 August 2018Meet David Sedaris - 27 June 2011Being David Sedaris theme: Recado Bossa Nova by Hank MobleyPresented by Emma FreudProducer: Steve DohertyA Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 Extra first broadcast in 2019.
SAT 12:00 The Write Stuff (m0004xwd)
Series 2
William Shakespeare
James Walton chairs the literary quiz with Sebastian Faulks, John Walsh, Lynne Truss and Nigel Williams.Author of the week: ShakespeareReader: Becky HindleyProducer: Dawn EllisFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1999.
SAT 12:30 Bookcases (m0004tvc)
Series 2
Self Help
There are some eccentric and desperate plans to save Spavin and Spavin from financial ruin involving Prince Albert and Samuel Smiles.Second series of Martyn Wade’s comedy series set in a Victorian publishing house.Starring Michael Cochrane as Primus, Maggie Steed as Cordelia, David Horovitch as Gerald, Elizabeth Spriggs as Edith, Joan Sims as Mrs Quirk, Charles Simpson as Simeon, Ioan Meredith as Prince Albert/Smiles, Stephen Critchlow as John, Rachel Atkins as Mrs Beeton and Becky Hindley as Lizzie Siddal.Director: Cherry CooksonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2001.
SAT 13:00 The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend (Omnibus) (m00055bg)
Dramatisation of Katrina Bivald's warm, funny and moving story of love and friendship which was originally published in Swedish.The heroine Sara, who is in her 20s, leaves her native Sweden to visit her much older pen pal Amy in a remote part of Iowa, a town aptly called Broken Wheel.But, when she arrives, all is not as she had foreseen.Knowing nobody there, the townspeople who are initially wary of her, take her into their hearts. The joint passion between Sara and Amy was books, and she soon decides that Broken Wheel needs a bookstore. With some help from the locals, she sets one up and it proves quite a hit.But how long can she stay there on a tourist visa? And what if she were to be persuaded to fall in love with one of the residents, making it possible to marry and stay on indefinitely? And which of the rather curious collection of suitors would be the most likely?Unexpectedly, she finds herself falling in love - not just with one of the men in question, but with the whole town itself.Omnibus cast: SARA...................Anna KovalTOM.....................Richard GouldingCAROLINE..........Lorelei KingJEN.......................Laurel LefkowAMY.....................Adjoa AndohGEORGE...............William HopeANDY....................Martin T. ShermanGRACE .................Kate HarperAuthor: Katarina BivaldTranslator: Alice MenziesDramatist: Jeremy RaisonDirector: Cherry CooksonA Wireless Theatre production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in five parts in 2019.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b010gj9c)
Andrea Levy
Author Andrea Levy inherits 'Magic Moments' by Perry Como and passes on 'London Is the Place for Me' by Lord Kitchener.
SAT 14:15 With Great Pleasure (b007vlng)
Carmen Callil
Publisher and writer, Carmen Callil draws on a working lifetime's experience of writers and writing to present some of her own favourite pieces to an audience at the Hay Festival.Including works by John McGahern and Angela Carter.Readers: Diana Quick and Richard Mitchley.Producer: Christine Hall First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2007.
SAT 14:45 The (Almost) Accidental Adventures of Bell and Todd (m00055bk)
Episode 5
Stuck in a swamp pretending to be frogs, Todd and Bell are still in danger.Mischievous narrator Diana is suffering tooJune Whitfield stars as Diana in John Eggleston's six-part comedy adventure series.With Matthew Bell as Bell and Toby Longworth as ToddProducer: Liz AnsteeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1998.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b06386cs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Noel Coward - Nude With Violin (b055f6vq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Let Me Entertain You (b00dl98j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Anita Sullivan - The Bee Maker (b092ky54)
It's 2020 and the bees are nearly all gone. Human beings might be next.Robotics expert, Deborah, builds artificial bees in order to help pollinate fruit trees across the world - real bees having been driven to the brink of extinction. But then a strange phenomenon strikes mankind - people start getting lost. It happens slowly, people lose their way, forget where they are. But before long society starts to crumble.Deborah must fight her way across an apocalyptic Britain and find her way back home. But first she must remember where that is.Anita Sullivan's dark and cautionary tale about our busy technology-filled lives first heard in 2014.Deborah... Alice LoweMay... Harriet WalterAnt... Stuart McLoughlinHire Car Salesman... Alun RaglanCustoms Official... John NortonLost passenger... Claire CageDirector: James RobinsonA BBC Cymru Wales Production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014
SAT 18:45 EF Benson - The Terror by Night (b04ybn10)
"Fear lay like a black cloak over my mind; I did not know what I dreaded ... but it was something that was very near."Inexplicable moods and smells mar a friendly reunion. What can it mean?Written by the author of Mapp and Lucia, EF Benson. Read by Brian Gear.Produced at BBC Bristol by Viv Beeby.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1993.
SAT 19:00 Being David Sedaris (m00055bd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Mark Steel's in Town (b05wy64j)
Series 6
Shrewsbury
"Floreat Salopia - May Shrewsbury Flourish"Mark visits the Shropshire Town of Shrewsbury, birthplace of Charles Darwin and home to the oldest building in the world to house a McDonalds.Mark finds Shrewsbury to be a beautiful place with an identity crisis. Once in Wales, but now in England, Shrewsbury is a peaceful town with a bloody history. As one local points out, "We killed Owain Glyndwr outside WH Smith".An Idyllic setting in a loop of the river Severn, with its beautiful public gardens designed by Percy Thrower, patrolled daily by a Croatian nightclub bouncer.Voted the politest town in Britain, the locals have very little to complain about. Apart from the disagreements over the buildings... and the statues... and the one-way system... and most of all, how to pronounce the name of the place.Mark Steel's sixth series of the award winning show that travels around the country, researching the history, heritage and culture of six towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness, and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for the local residents.Written and performed by ... Mark SteelAdditional material by ... Pete SinclairProduction co-ordinator ... Hayley SterlingProducer ... Carl CooperA BBC Radio Comedy Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2015. .
SAT 22:30 Revolting People (b00fnrmh)
Series 2
And Yet Even More Trying Times
Samuel is left a fortune by his puritanical Aunt Sybil. But only if his family can fulfil her final wish.Comedy set just before the American Revolution.Written by Andy Hamilton and Jay Tarses.Stars Jay Tarses as Samuel Oliphant, Andy Hamilton as Sergeant McGurk, James Fleet as Captain Brimshaw, Jan Ravens as Mary, Hugh Dennis as Ezekiel Spriggs, Penelope Nice as Cora Oliphant, Tony Maudsley as Joshua Oliphant and Phillip Pope as Snavely.Producer: Paul Mayhew-ArcherFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2001.
SAT 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m00055bn)
Michael Fabbri 2/3
From 10.00pm until midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Angela Barnes chats to Michael Fabbri.
SAT 23:00 Ivor Cutler - Cutler the Lax (b03vczgx)
Episode 1
Legendary Scottish surrealist Ivor Cutler provides disappointment for cavemen and a cheap alternative to liquor.With Fiona MacDonald.Producer: Mark SavageFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1991.
SAT 23:15 Guy Browning's Small Talk (b0076d5r)
Series 1
How to Poach an Egg
"Eggs are no different from most people. Drop them into hot water and they go to pieces".Some surreal food for thought.Written by and starring Guy Browning.Producer: Jonquil PantingFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2003.
SAT 23:30 Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing (b04hz62m)
Series 3
About Paranoia
In a mix of stand-up and re-enacted family life - Nathan Caton illustrates how watching too much TV can make you paranoid and that can have serious repercussions for your family.Written by Nathan Caton and James KettleAfter becoming the first in his family to graduate from University, Nathan opted not to use his architecture degree but instead to try his hand at being a full-time stand-up comedian, much to his family's horror and disgust. They desperately want him to get a 'proper job.'Janet a.k.a. Mum is probably the kindest and most lenient of the disappointed family members. At the end of the day she just wants the best for her son. However, she'd also love to brag and show her son off to her friends, but with Nathan only telling jokes for a living that's kind of hard to do.Martin a.k.a. Dad works in the construction industry and was looking forward to his son getting a degree so the two of them could work together in the same field. But now Nathan has blown that dream out of the window. Martin is clumsy and hard-headed and leaves running the house to his wife (she wouldn't allow it to be any other way).Shirley a.k.a. Grandma cannot believe Nathan turned down architecture for comedy. She can't believe she left the paradise in the West Indies and came to the freezing United Kingdom for a better life so that years later her grandson could 'tell jokes!' How can her grandson go on stage and use foul language and filthy material... it's not the good Christian way!So with all this going on in the household what will Nathan do? Will he persevere and follow his dreams? Or will he give in to his family's interference? Or will he finally leave home?!Producer: Katie TyrrellFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.