SATURDAY 08 JUNE 2019

SAT 00:00 HP Lovecraft - The Tomb (b007jzmv)
The obsessive Jervas Dudley reveals the sinister events leading up to his incarceration in an asylum.First published in 1917, HP Lovecraft’s chilling tale read by Ryan McCluskey.American writer, H P Lovecraft (1890-1937) is recognised as one of the most significant figures in 20th century supernatural fiction. Contemporary horror writers, including Stephen King, often cite him as a major influence. His own outlook on life is mirrored in his writing."I am so beastly tired of mankind and the world that nothing can interest me unless it contains a couple of murders on each page or deals with the horrors unnameable and unaccountable that leer down from the external universes."Lovecraft found living, the everyday stuff of life a painful experience. At every turn he felt disillusioned by what life had to offer. Through his writing he sought to put into words these sentiments.Producer: Gemma JenkinsMade for BBC 7 and first broadcast in 2005.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b0076gs9)
Irritation
Novelist Patrick Neate, journalists Ros Taylor and Martin Freeman on the causes of irritation. With 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 A Change in the Weather (m0005nzm)
The End?
A dramatic climax on the Lakeland Fells. Is this the beginning of the end for Jiffy and Burco?Conclusion of Eric Pringle’s unlikely adventure about a singing duo. Starring Dilys Laye as Henrietta and Polly James as Louise.Jiffy Perkins ..... Peter CrazeBurco Madrid ..... John HollisBB ..... William SimonsDet Sgt Digly ..... Trevor NicholsCity Nigel ..... Philip SullyDet Inspector ..... David SinclairJohn ..... Richard TateDirector: Ian CotterellFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1988.
SAT 01:30 The Mystery of The Mystery of Edwin Drood (b019gz0c)
'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' is a tantalising element of the Dickens manuscript archive held by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Along with fellow crime-writer Simon Brett and Dickens scholar Professor Jenny Hartley, Frances Fyfield uses the packed manuscript pages, detailed number plans and early cover designs to try and make sense of one of English Literature's great mysteries: what really happened to the eponymous hero. Edwin Drood.Dickens died shortly after bringing the curtain down on Chapter 23, barely half way through the twelve monthly instalments. He suffered a massive stroke later that day, 8 June 1870, and died the next day. By that stage in Dickens' novel, Edwin has gone missing and it is suspected that he has been murdered but no body has been found. The finger of suspicion points at Neville Landless but the author seems to be hinting at the guilt of a more sinister figure, the leader of the Cathedral choir, John Jasper. Ever since, Dickensian enthusiasts have searched the book for every hint of a clue as to what the author intended to do with the characters he'd created. Frances isn't afraid of joining these so-called 'Droodians' in trying to employ her crime-writer's insights to make sense of the pieces of the jigsaw left to us.But her investigation, which takes her to Rochester where the novel is set, also examines the state of Dickens' mind at the time, and his fascination with the criminal mentality, including vintage Dickensian types like Mr Crisparkle, the angular Mr Grewgious and the hideous auctioneer Mr Sapsea.Frances and her colleagues also search the manuscript for signs of the author's failing health, and, perhaps more importantly, failing ability. What they find is the usual high octane writing style, brilliant inventiveness and perhaps a greater subtlety in characterisation than in many of the earlier works. Producer: Tom AlbanFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b05qt8jb)
Gorsky
Episode 5
Chelski: a London home for Russian wealth. Gorsky: a story about beauty, money and books.Nick Kimovic is rewarded for his efforts in the antiquarian book auctions with a holiday of unsurpassed luxury on Gorsky's private island. The other guests are an eclectic array of Russian gangsters and English financiers.On his return he meets Gery, who has something to tell him.Read by Philip ArdittiWritten by Vesna GoldsworthyAbridged by Isobel CreedProduced by Jill WatersA Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 02:15 Noise: A Human History (b01rlsvg)
Restraint
The 16th and 17th centuries brought a new emphasis on self-discipline in every day life - and with it a revulsion against noise of every kind. City authorities banned singing and feasting from public squares and tore down maypoles, while town-dwellers raised petitions against noisy neighbours. Spitting, snorting and breaking wind - once part of everyday life - were now a cause for wrinkled noses and dismay.Professor David Hendy of the University of Sussex cocks a genteel ear to the polite sound-world of the 16th and 17th centuries.30-part series made in collaboration with the British Library Sound Archive.Producer: Matt Thompson.A Rockethouse production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2013.
SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b053c3p0)
The Henry Experiment
Episode 5
A mother (Emma Fielding) fears that a child parenting expert (Matthew Marsh) is endangering his own 7 year old son Henry by testing out his theories of early independence on him.Anna has been forced to question whether her own problems with empty nest syndrome and with the way she was raised have made her over-obsess about Professor Henderson's son. But she finally meets Henry's mother Nancy and is horrified to hear that Henderson and Henry are missing. A thriller which asks whether our society bubble wraps children, whether we have the right to interfere in other people's children's lives and how we become parents with the spectres of our own childhoods still looming over our shoulders.Based on a novel by the journalist Sophie Radice who contributes to The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent and many magazines. Adapted for radio by award winning writer Charlotte Jones who has written extensively for TV, theatre and radio. Her most celebrated play "Humble Boy has played all over the world, she wrote the book for Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical of "The Woman in White" and most recently ITV aired her three part thriller "Without you".Anna ... Emma FieldingHenderson ... Matthew MarshJason ... Paul HeathNancy ... Jane SlavinProducer ... Liz WebbFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b04807hb)
Last Days of the Bus Club
The Rain In Spain Part 2
The eponymous Bus Club is the author's term for the three fathers, of which he is one, who meet each morning when they drop their children at the school bus stop. Chris Stewart's daughter Chloe is in her final year at school and times will soon be changing for the author.In his latest memoir, Chris once again taps into the rich seam of story-telling in the Alpujarras Hills, and brings us tales that are, by turns, warm, funny and moving.Chris Stewart had a brief flirtation with fame as the drummer in Genesis. But he was, by his own admission, not a very good drummer. After college, he embarked on a peripatetic career that saw him travelling across Europe in a converted ambulance, and playing drums in a circus, before becoming a sheep farmer in deepest Sussex.In the early days of the Rough Guides, he persuaded the originator and publisher of the series, Mark Ellingham, to let him write the guide to China, and so began his career as a writer.Over 20 years ago, Chris and his wife Ana settled in the Alpujarras region of Andalucia, buying their own farm. Their experiences in the remote region formed the basis of his first memoir in 1999, 'Driving Over Lemons', which became an international best-seller.Writer and Reader: Chris StewartAbridger: Pete NicholsProducer: Karen RoseA Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 03:00 Charles Dickens (b007k02r)
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Redress
The man who Jasper believes killed Edwin, Neville Landless, has been found stabbed to death.But Datchery has a plan...Conclusion of Charles Dickens's unfinished book completed by Leon Garfield and dramatised for radio by David Buck.John Jasper ..... Ian HolmRev. Chrisparkle ..... Gareth ThomasDeputy ..... Susan SheridanMiss Twinkleton ..... Margaret CourtenayRosa Bud ..... Moir LeslieGrewgious ..... John Gabriel Sapsea ..... Timothy Alock Durdles ..... Gordon Gostelow 1st Constable ..... David Goudge2nd Constable ..... Simon TrevesHelena Landless ..... Helena BreckJohn Moffatt ..... DatcheryAnna Cropper ..... Mrs TopeTartar ..... Michael CochraneBazzard ..... John SamsonJudge ..... David KingDurdles ..... Gordon GostelowCrisparkle's Mother ..... Hilda KrisemanSapsea ..... Timothy AlcockMrs MacSiddons ..... Anne JamesonMichael Cox ..... DoctorPianist: Nicholas KokDirector: Gordon HouseA BBC Radio 4/BBC World Service co-production first broadcast in 1990.
SAT 04:00 Say the Word (b00764j5)
Episode 1
Frank Delaney's panel game series revolving around the English language from the Ways with Words literary festival in Totnes, Devon.With Sandi Toksvig, Tommy Pearson, Laura Wright and Christopher Matthew.On hand to offer a witty perspective on the world of words are the Nimmo TwinsProducer: Simon ElmesFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2001.
SAT 04:30 Home Again (m0005nzq)
Doctor Thumper and the Incredibly Inky Ruler
Fulton discloses the facts behind his long absence, and where he’s been...As suddenly as he disappeared, Fulton Jones returned to his family – wife Margaret and children Rosie and Martin. He went to the newsagent to buy matches 20 years previously 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 … MartinUrsula Smith … CyrillaChristopher Benjamin … Ernest BlackrockScript writer: Peter TinniswoodProducer: Griff Rhys Jones First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1980.
SAT 05:00 On the Rocks (b05v7tcj)
Series 2
Adventure
Ben tries to prove to Morwenna-May that he's a man of action.1930s comedy set on the Isles of Scilly by Christopher William Hill.Frank Gunwallow ..... Joseph KloskaTommy Trenear ..... Stuart FoxBen Trenear ..... Alex PalmerMorwenna-May ..... Alex TregearPender ..... Christopher William HillEven on the remote island of St Martin's war seems inevitable, but the islanders have their own battles to contend with, stuck on a rock flung 27 miles out into the Atlantic with only their natural grit and gallows humour to see them through.Director ..... Mary PeateFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
SAT 05:30 Jacob Hawley's Welcome to Britain (m0005mgs)
Jacob Hawley is a BBC New Comedy Award Finalist, a tattoo-emblazoned young man from a working class, leave-voting town, who now boasts an arts degree, a vegetarian girlfriend and an almost convincing concern for climate change - so not far off Billy Elliot.In this stand-up special, he brings material from his 2018 Edinburgh show Howl so that foreigners and, if they’re listening, aliens, can find out first hand what Britain is really like - based on Jacob's experiences of the monotonous suburbs, the insular small towns, the hypocritically righteous city and their inhabitants.Written and performed by Jacob HawleyProduced by Daisy KnightAn Avalon production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:00 Drama (b06l22pr)
Unmade Movies
Hitchcock's The Blind Man
Alfred Hitchcock and Ernest Lehman’s unfinished screenplay, the follow-up to North by Northwest - completed by Mark Gatiss in 2015.Adapted for radio by Laurence Bowen.Set in 1961, a famous blind jazz pianist, Larry Keating, agrees to a radical new medical procedure - an eye transplant. The operation is a success but his new eyes are those of a murdered man, and captured on their retina is the image of his murderer. Larry and his new nurse, Jenny, begin a quest to track him down - before someone else dies.The Blind Man is part of Unmade Movies, a season of radio adaptions of unproduced screenplays by the major authors of the 20th century - including Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and Ernest Lehman.Cast:LARRY KEATING ............ Hugh LaurieSYLVIA WHITEHEAD ............ Rebecca FrontVICTOR FARMER ............ Nicholas WoodesonJENNY STILES ............ Kelly BurkeMORTIE LEVITT / CAPTAIN BARZONI ............ Andy NymanLINDA WHITEHEAD ............ Hilary ConnellHERMAN GRAUBNER ............ John GuerrasioDR. MCGRAW ............ John LightAUTOGRAPH GIRL ............ Hollie BurgessNARRATOR, ALFRED HITCHCOCK ............ Peter SerafinowiczMusic by Blair MowatSound Design by Wilfredo AcostaProduced by Laurence Bowen and Peter EttedguiCo-Producer Laurent Bouzereau.Directed by Mark GatissA Feelgood Fiction production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2015.
SAT 07:30 Recycled Radio (b02m7fzh)
Series 1
Money
What connects Ken Clarke, Chris Moyles, and Sue MacGregor, along with Brenda Blethyn, Milton Friedman and The Goons?The answer is money - courtesy of Recycled Radio.We've chopped, looped and teased tales as diverse as Aesop's fable about the goose that lay the golden egg to Ian Duncan Smith being asked to live on £53 a week.There's music from Buddy Ella and the Johnsons, Phoenix, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. John Major claims that lottery fever will make Britain a better place to live; Melvyn Bragg asks if money is the root of all evil; and the American economist Milton Friedman asks what is greed."Of course none of us are greedy," he says, "it's only the other fellow who is greedy."Producer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b039g8px)
Southern Journeys
The story of American traditional music is dominated by the father and son team John and Alan Lomax who discovered, recorded, and popularised the music of the poor, the dispossessed and voiceless.During Alan Lomax 's 1959 tour of the southern states, he was accompanied by his then lover, English folk singer Shirley Collins , and here she tells the story of how he recorded the sounds of a world that was fast disappearing, but which still influences popular music today.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2002.
SAT 09:00 Edgar Wallace: The Man Who Wrote Too Much? (b055fy0h)
How can a writer, whose publisher declared him the 'King of Thrillers', and was thought to be responsible for a quarter of all new books read in Britain by the late 1920s, be largely forgotten today? In this 3 hour archive special, crime writer Mark Billingham investigates the life of the man called the 'fiction factory', the best-selling author, journalist, playwright, film director and creator of King Kong – Edgar Wallace.Wallace's life seems the stuff of fantasy. An illegitimate child in London, largely self-educated, he was the newspaper boy who became one of the most famous writers in the world. He sold millions of books, but he was plagued by debts. He died in Hollywood in 1932, aged 56, after writing the original story for King Kong. His body was returned by ocean liner in honour to Britain, only to be reunited with an ocean of outstanding bills.Crime writer Mark Billingham presents some of the best adaptations and documentaries about Edgar Wallace from the BBC Radio archive: a 1951 version of one of Wallace's biggest successes, The Ringer; one of his best crime creations, The Mind of Mr JG Reeder; and the loveable racing 'turf tipster' Educated Evans, starring Roy Hudd and Andrew Sachs. And though he died in 1932, Mark has a hunch that he may be able to hear from Edgar Wallace himself.His work was the source of countless 50s and 60s TV and film adaptions. His books have sold in their multi-millions. But from the 'Golden Age' of crime fiction it is Dorothy L Sayers and Agatha Christie who are really remembered today. Was Edgar Wallace just a man who wrote, and did, too much?Producer: Peter McHugh
SAT 12:00 The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (b00b01jz)
The Case of the Clockwork Fiend
Baker Street’s Great Detective Sherlock Holmes investigates mystery deaths from some new fangled inventions.Roy Hudd spoofs the famous sleuth in Tony Hare’s comedy series.With Chris Emmett as Dr Watson, Jeffrey Holland as Inspector Lestrade and June Whitfield as Mrs Hudson.Musical accompaniment: Ian Smith.Producer: Chris NeillFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in January 1999.
SAT 12:30 To the Manor Born (b007jpzw)
The Rhythms of the Earth
Audrey fforbes-Hamilton must educate the new squire into the ways of the Lord of the Manor.Starring Penelope Keith as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton.Keith Barron ..... Richard DeVereAngela Thorne ..... Marjory FrobisherNicholas McArdle ..... BrabingerMargery Withers ..... Mrs PolouvickaFrank Middlemass ..... NedThe tale of lady of the manor Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, forced to sell her beloved Grantleigh Estate when her husband's death leaves her financially strapped. With butler Brabinger in tow, they've decamped to the tiny Old Lodge cottage.From this vantage point, Audrey keeps a close and disapproving eye on the estate's new owner, the nouveau-riche Richard DeVere, a wholesale foods magnate of Czech descendent.First piloted on radio and then whisked off to TV before it ever appeared, before finally arriving home in 1997.Adapted for radio by Peter Spence from his TV script.Producer: Jane BerthoudFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in January 1997.
SAT 13:00 I'm a Slave (Omnibus) (m0005tnj)
Modern slavery is all around us in the UK - in nail bars, car washes, brothels and on farms. This drama series is inspired by real stories, getting under the skin of a cruel trade that has grown enormously across the world in the the past decade.Kept in their job through physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse, confiscated identity documents, threats of violence to their family members, or debt bondage and financial dependence, modern slavery has been identified in many areas, including Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, London, the West Country, and Wales.Individuals are predominantly transported from Eastern and Central Europe, South East Asia, Southern Asia, or from within the UK. Victims are often exploited by people of the same nationality.It's not an easy subject for a variety of reasons. David Morley's drama series goes behind the headlines, drawing out the detail and conveying the impact on real people's lives.The series has been made with the help of anti-slavery charity, Stop The Traffik.Omnibus cast:Eri Shuka - MirelaArthur Ustinov - ValdasNicholas Boulton - DS Hodges/ KenAnnette McLaughlin - Constable HughesSimonas Mozura - Ernestas/ Polish Crop PickerFelicity Duncan - Babs/ Janet Porter/ SuzieCatherine Lamb - Job Centre Adviser/ MotherWilf Scolding - Fire Chief/ Driver/ German touristTuyen Do - Tin/ LucyOrli Shuka - DelminWriter: David MorleySound Presentation: Wilfredo AcostaDirector: Richard ClemmowA Perfectly Normal production first broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b06qn1gl)
Simon Armitage
The poet Simon Armitage chooses 'Tonight' from West Side Story and 'Live on a Hot August Night' by Crispy Ambulance.
SAT 14:15 In the Psychiatrist's Chair (b06wdlbd)
Nicholas Mosley
Award-winning novelist Nicholas Mosley tells Professor Anthony Clare about growing up with his father, fascist leader Oswald Mosley.Psychiatrist Dr Anthony Clare's in depth interviews with prominent people from different walks of life.Born in Dublin, author Anthony held a doctorate in medicine, a master's degree in philosophy and was a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. After becoming a regular on BBC Radio 4's Stop the Week in the 1980s, he became Britain's best-known psychiatrist and earned his own vehicle, In the Psychiatrist's Chair.Starting in 1982, this series ran until 2001 and also transferred to TV.Anthony Clare died suddenly in Paris aged 64 in 2007.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1996.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b039g8px)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Drama (b06l22pr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Recycled Radio (b02m7fzh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Spine Chillers (b08ch63p)
Peter Redgrove - Dracula in White
Prisoners up and down the country seem to be disappearing mysteriously from Her Majesty's jails.Fearing they've been used as guinea-pigs in some unspeakable experiments, TV journalist Joanna sets out on a perilous course to verify her worst suspicions...Peter Redgrove's chilling drama stars Maggie McCarthy as Joanna, Benjamin Whitrow as Dr Exeter- White and Jerold Wells as Sam Mellish.Directed at BBC Bristol by Brian MillerFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1984.
SAT 18:45 The Cobweb Kiss (m0005tnl)
In an old abandoned house, covered in dust apart from a shiny toy merry-go-round, young parents Jonathan and Lydia wait patiently for their six-year-old son to return home.They've been waiting a long time…Gemma Craven …. LydiaRichard O'Callaghan …. JonathanManning Wilson …. JamesEva Stuart …. MaryWritten by Peter J Hammond.Director: Glyn Dearman.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978.
SAT 19:00 Edgar Wallace: The Man Who Wrote Too Much? (b055fy0h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Mark Steel's in Town (b07tbfmw)
Series 7
Stockport
"Welcome to Stockport - Home of Stockport College"Mark Steel returns for a seventh 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.In the first programme, Mark visits the Greater Manchester town of Stockport, once the centre of the hatting industry.He takes a trip on the infamous 192 bus, visits the world famous hat museum and tries to get to the bottom of how one of its suburbs ended up with an infestation of marauding peacocks.In this series Mark visits Stockport in Greater Manchester, Colchester in Essex, Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire, The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames, Lynton in North Devon and the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.Written and performed by ... Mark SteelAdditional material by ... Pete SinclairProduction co-ordinator ... Hayley SterlingProducer ... Carl CooperA BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2016.
SAT 22:30 Chain Reaction (b03mjcbp)
Series 9
Kevin Bridges talks to Frankie Boyle
Razor sharp Scottish comedian Kevin Bridges talks to his comedy mentor, Frankie Boyle.Chain Reaction is the long running host-less chat show where last week's interviewee becomes this week's interviewer.Producer: Carl CooperFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.
SAT 22:55 Comedy Club Extra (m0005tnn)
A Book at Bathtime 2/7
A Book at Bathtime is a series of seven short comedy programmes, to be broadcast across a week of Comedy Clubs on BBC Radio 4 Extra.Jon Holmes is reading us a serialised bedtime story from the bath. So far so good. The only problem is that he happens to be sharing his bath with Jake Yapp. And so, with a constant series of asides and interjections, they stagger bravely through the novella, hopefully reaching some kind of a coherent conclusion by the end of the week.It might not.Jon is sharing a serious and important piece of literature: Dusty Passages by Malcolm Throbbswell. A new tale of lust and longing, truth and redemption, and vigorously requited passion in later life, with all its accompanying, rather dreary, pretentious and self-indulgent tropes. Jake’s attitude is that if it doesn’t have guns or at least aeroplanes it’s probably not worth bothering with. Just the right sort of late night literary debate. In the bath.There will also be a lot of bath-related asides (because they are actually in the bath) about what your flavour of body spray says about you, who gets the tap end, and how bath bombs work.
SAT 23:00 Sabotage (b05n7rfw)
Series 2
Episode 2
Developed by the team behind the live comedy night of the same name, Sabotage prides itself on being a comedy show for comedy fans; a unique event where the acts love coming to perform, and the fans seek out something special.MC Mark Talbot introduces:Ivo GrahamColin HoultMae MartinSheepsDan ClarkMade for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Hat Trick Productions.