The detective monk's plan for a hostage exchange falters when love raises its head.Ellis Peters’ medieval thriller featuring Benedictine monk Brother Cadfael.Dramatised by Bert Coules.It’s 1141. Beyond the walls of Shrewsbury’s Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, civil war rages. The Deputy Sheriff of Shropshire returns from the Battle of Lincoln with disastrous news that King Stephen has been captured. The Sheriff himself has been kidnapped by the Welsh, and England’s very future is uncertain.Philip Madoc …. CadfaelJonathan Tafler …. Hugh BeringarJason Hughes …. ElisKate Odey …. MelicentSion Probert …. Prince OwainTrevor Peacock …. RadulfusSiobahn Flynn …. CristinaMark Lewis Jones …. EliudShaun Prendergast …. Edmund/IthelDouglas Blackwell …. MauriceMichael Kitchen …. NarratorMusic by Peter Salem.Producer: Neil Cargill.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.
There are still few black leaders in British political life - but life-long trade unionist Bill Morris finds that as far back as the London of 1848 the son of slave was leading one of this country’s most powerful political movements.Few of us have heard of William Cuffay, a physically deformed tailor who lived in Soho. And yet, he was notorious in his day, to the extent that the political class of the 1840s dubbed him "the pore old blackymore rogue" as he went on to lead a political movement so powerful that Britain cowered behind its shuttered windows and the massed ranks of its armies.Just as the thrones of Europe were yet again tumbling to revolution, the 1848 Chartist uprising in favour of democracy and equality in London threatened the status quo in Britain. History records that an articulate democrat, William Cuffay, emerged as a key organiser of the mass demonstration that faced the Duke of Wellington's army in the demand for the vote. Revolution threatened the capital - but who was the diminutive tailor holding such sway? Lord Morris follows a predecessor in the labour movement through his fascinating story - from son of a St Kitts slave to political leader, and ultimately into exile at Her Majesty's pleasure in Tasmania.Producer: Philip SellarsFirst broadcast on Radio 4 in 2010.
Rosie's no expert on Russian folk music but when she's asked to promote The Gulbekistan Dance Ensemble, she's sure she'll be equal to the challenge...Another assignment for Rosie Burns and the event management company, where the clients are only part of the problem...Written by Simon Brett.Rosie ..... Prunella ScalesJo ..... Rebecca CallardBob ..... Duncan PrestonTess ..... Annette BadlandRobert ..... Simon TrinderLeonid ..... Chris EmmettLudmilla ..... Lorelei KingProducer: Maria EspositoFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2002.
Victoria Coren Mitchell presents another edition of the show which dares to commit heresy.Evelyn Mock, Andrew Hunter Murray and David Baddiel discuss Eurovision, public apologies and climate change.Produced by Victoria Coren Mitchell and Daisy KnightAn Avalon production for BBC Radio 4
The joys of motoring – and modern cafeterias.Monologues and sketches from Salford sausage maker turned monarch of the monologue.With Louise Traill. Music from the Silvertones and the Augmented BBC Northern Variety Orchestra.Conductor: Alyn AinsworthProduced in the North of England by Ronnie Taylor.First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in November 1955.
Clearing out the cellar - Audrey finds more than she'd bargained for.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 descent.First piloted on radio and then whisked off to TV before it ever appeared, before finally arriving home in 1997.Adapted from his TV scripts by Peter Spence.Producer: Jane BerthoudFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in February 1997.
Things are hotting up between Travis and Grace - perhaps too hot for his liking.When they nearly get caught out twice, Travis wonders if he's really cut out to be the other man.Written by Jan Etherington and Gavin Petrie.Travis ..... Julian Rhind-TuttGrace ..... Charlotte RandleCharlie ..... Paul ReynoldsSerena ..... Alice LoweMiss Lambourne ...... Harvey VirdiAlice ...... Clare CathcartSerena ...... Alice LoweSerano ...... Andrew WestfieldProducer: Elizabeth FreestoneFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2006.
A cockney flower girl is trained by professor of phonetics, Henry Higgins, to pass as a duchess.Alistair McGowan, Morgana Robinson, Sian Phillips and Al Murray star in George Bernard Shaw's classic tale of Eliza Doolittle.Henry Higgins ...... Alistair McGowanEliza Doolittle ...... Morgana RobinsonAlfred Doolittle ...... Al MurrayColonel Pickering ...... Hugh FraserMrs Higgins ...... Siân PhillipsMrs Pearce ...... Charlotte PageMaid ...... Charlotte PageMrs Eynsford-Hill ...... Georgie GlenClara Eynsford-Hill ...... Maeve Bluebell WellsFreddy Eynsford-Hill ...... Tom ForristerNepommuck ...... David SturzakerAmbassador ...... John DougallAmbassador's Wife ...... Sarah RidgewayBystander ...... David SterneDirector: Emma HardingFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.
Katherine Jakeways is an actor and writer, whose brilliant character comedy in North By Northamptonshire led to a Radio Times declaration that she was “the new Victoria Wood.”Her popular Radio 4 series, which began life as an Edinburgh show with Katherine playing all the parts, was first heard in 2010. The all-star cast includes Penelope Wilton, Felicity Montagu, Mackenzie Crook, Kevin Eldon and Sheila Hancock as the narrator.It is a masterclass in how to mine the rich comic scene of middle England, set in the fictional town of Waddenbrooke, where everybody knows each other’s business and the supermarket manager uses the public address system to overshare.Katherine’s other sitcoms include All Those Women, Guilt Trip, and she co-writes Ability with Lee Ridley, AKA Lost Voice Guy. Her radio plays include a slow-burn romantic drama, which began with 2016’s Where This Service Will Terminate and concluded with Where This Service Will Separate earlier this year.This episode of Telling Tales features the first instalment and the couple’s “meet-cute” is a disagreement over a train seat reservation, as Suzie and David get to know each other, on the journey from London to Penzance. The drama stars Justin Edwards and Rosie Cavaliero.Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
E M Delafield was great friends with Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda, and became a director of Time and Tide magazine.When the editor "wanted some light middles", preferably in serial form, she promised to "think of something". And so it was, in 1930, Delafield began writing her largely autobiographical novels detailing the day-to-day life of a Devonshire-dwelling upper-middle class lady and her attempts to keep her somewhat ramshackle household from falling into chaos.Substituting the names of Robin and Vicky for her own children, Lionel and Rosamund, The Diary of a Provincial Lady has never been out of print.In this second book, The Provincial Lady Goes Further, written in 1932, our Lady is now a published author. Success and a sizeable royalty cheque allow her to travel further afield. She attends a literary conference in Brussels, takes a lease on a small flat in London and the family goes on holiday to Brittany.But while she endeavours to embrace the London literary scene, things at home remain reassuring the same. Mademoiselle weeps on the sofa and refuses to eat when Vicky decides she'd like to go away to school, Robert is his usual monosyllabic self, snoozing behind a copy of the Times, and there's a seemingly endless stream of visitors arriving at the house.This second volume is just as appealing, charming and wickedly witty as the first.A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
The 18th-century botanical impresario Sir Joseph Banks was convinced that Britain's destiny was as the major civilising power in the world, and this could be achieved by harnessing botany and imperial progress to each other's mutual benefit.Professor Kathy Willis talks to Linnaean Society honorary archivist, Gina Douglas, on how Britain's acquisition of Carl Linnaeus' collection of books and specimens proved the tool to promote, identify, and trade plants across the Empire.She hears from Richard Barley, Director of Horticulture at Kew and former director of Melbourne's Botanic Gardens, who discusses Banks' influence on the choice of plants taken with the first settlers to Australia.But how central were plants to Britain's colonial project? Historian Jim Endersby weighs up Joseph Banks' 18th-century vision to use Kew as a centre to gather as many plants and plant products as possible, not only to enrich the Royal Garden's collection but for Kew to also function as a botanical exchange house between the colonies.Producer: Adrian WashbournePresenter: Kathy Willis is director of science at Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. She is also professor of long-term ecology and a fellow of Merton College, both at Oxford University. Winner of several awards, she has spent over 20 years researching and teaching biodiversity and conservation at Oxford and Cambridge.
De Courcy has fallen completely for Laura, but fears that she is still in love with Hargrave.Mary Brunton’s romantic tale set in Perthshire and London - dramatised in ten parts by Gerda Stevenson.Laura Montreville is loved by two men - a reckless Libertine and a dignified but reserved landowner. In a world where polite society and sexual hypocrisy rub shoulders easily, can she choose wisely between passion and virtue?Narrated by Maureen BeattieLaura ...... Gerda StevensonLady Pelham ...... Barbara Leigh-HuntDe Courcy ...... Tom Goodman HillHargrave ...... Andrew WincottHarriet ...... Tracy-Ann ObermanProducer: Bruce YoungFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2003.
Silbury Hill in Wiltshire - together with Stonehenge, Avebury and the remains of numerous barrows - forms part of a Neolithic landscape about which very little is known or understood.Adam Thorpe describes his book as '"a marble cake of different soils. Memoir, data, theory, streaks of poetry, swirls of fiction" - but he is not alone in having been drawn to explore the meaning of the largest prehistoric mound in Europe. Artists and archaeologists as well as various cults and neo-pagan traditions have focussed on the blank canvas that the hill presents as a way of exploring our complicated relationship with the past and the people who lived there."An estimated million hours spent on construction rather than herding or cooking or stitching must have had a point, but we don't get it. Is conjecture a species of fiction? To muddy the difference further, Silbury insisted on being called 'she'. I obeyed, not out of New Age winsomeness but from the influence of country dialect, in which neuter pronouns are as alien as robot leaf blowers."This chalkland memoir told in fragments and snapshots, takes a circular route around the hill, a monument which we can no longer climb, and celebrates the urge to stand and wonder.Episode 2:The author's boarding school was three miles up the road from Silbury Hill. The target of vicious bullying, he was grateful for the soothing mysteries of the landscape.Abridged, directed and produced by Jill WatersA Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
Speeding motorway services? Two year dogs?Dave Gorman asks writer and humourist Charlie Brooker to select the public's best loopy idea.Award-winning comedian Dave Gorman and a celebrity guest chew over the ridiculous, unworkable but sometimes genius inventions, schemes and policies of the public.Producer: Simon NichollsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2007.
Phonsie Doherty treats Muriel Maconchy to a meal, and Bernie Gallagher is back in town...Series set in the sleepy town of Ballylenon, Co Donegal in 1959.Written by Christopher Fitz-Simon.Muriel Maconchy ...... Margaret D'ArcyVera Maconchy ...... Stella McCuskerPhonsie Doherty ...... Gerard MurphyVivienne Hawthorne ...... Annie McCartneyStumpy Bonner ...... Gerard McSorleyGuard Gallagher ...... Frankie McCaffertyPianist: Michael HarrisonDirector: Eoin O'CallaghanFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009.
'London was a city of the blind, the capital of a blind country in a blind world.'Bill Masen finds a new companion, but can they survive the chaos of their surroundings?First published in 1951, John Wyndham's classic sci-fi novel dramatised by Giles Cooper.Gary Watson …. Bill MasenBarbara Shelley …. Josella PlaytonJohn Wyse …. Blind ManJohn Pullen …. Radio CommentatorMusic composed by David Cain.Producer: John Powell.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1968.
Austrian born actress and former Miss World - Eva Rueber-Staier, shares some of her encounters with wildlife in Africa with Derek Jones.Her chosen excerpts from the BBC Sound Archives include cheetahs purring and hippos grunting.Produced at BBC Bristol by John BurtonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1976.
Comedian Alun Cochrane has a 25 year mortgage which he can only pay off by being funny. In this series he takes us on a room by room, stand up tour of his house.He has a fridge that beeps at him when he doesn't move quickly enough and a fire alarm he can't reach. His relationship with his house is a complicated one.A hoarder of funny and original observations on everyday life, Alun invites us to help him de-clutter his mind and tidy his ideas into one of those bags that you hoover all the air out of and keep under your bed. This show will help Alun and his house work through their relationship issues and prevent a separation that Alun can ill afford; at least not until the market picks up anyway.Performers: Alun Cochrane and Gavin OsbornWriters: Alun Cochrane and Andy WoltonProducer: Carl Cooper.
until midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Jessica Fostekew chats to Ed Byrne.
An elderly Mrs Chiltern comes to stay after her cat goes missing. Sophie tries to get some bits and pieces together to sell, to pay for a car, her mother buys an antique crystal ball and attempts to tell the fortune of a neighbour with piles.Lucy Beaumont stars as the daughter trying to escape her overbearing mother played by Maureen Lipman in the second series of this warm-hearted sitcom set in Hull.Sophie ...... Lucy BeaumontSheila ...... Maureen LipmanJean ...... Kerrie MarshErnie ...... Norman LovettMrs Chiltern ...... Elizabeth BennettBarbara ...... Elizabeth BennettDenise ...... Debra BakerDJ Richie ...... Jon RichardsonWritten by Lucy Beaumont."It's like a cross between a Victoria Wood Sketch and a Mike Leigh film". Radio TimesProducer: Carl CooperA BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2016.
Comedian-activist Mark Thomas takes his People's Manifesto to Manchester.With policies on low-cost housing, happier train carriages and novel road safety techniques.Producer: Colin AndersonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013
WEDNESDAY 03 JULY 2019
WED 00:00 John Wyndham - The Day of the Triffids (m0006fxb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Sounds Natural (m0006fxd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Cadfael (b007k254)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 Britain's Black Revolutionary (b00t4q0j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b06t61ck)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b049yhd5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 Mary Brunton - Self Control (b011pwwn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Book of the Week (b04fc169)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Drama (b08rpdgz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 Genius (b00850j1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Ballylenon (b00p67dy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 Smelling of Roses (b00dh89p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Heresy (m000675p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Cadfael (b007k26f)
Dead Man's Ransom
A Princely Death
Ellis goes from being a hostage to a murder suspect. Detective monk Brother Cadfael investigates.Ellis Peters’ medieval thriller featuring Benedictine monk Brother Cadfael.Dramatised by Bert Coules.It’s 1141. Beyond the walls of Shrewsbury’s Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, civil war rages. The Deputy Sheriff of Shropshire returns from the Battle of Lincoln with disastrous news that King Stephen has been captured. The Sheriff himself has been kidnapped by the Welsh, and England’s very future is uncertain.Philip Madoc …. CadfaelJonathan Tafler …. Hugh BeringarSusannah York …. Sister MagdalenJason Hughes …. ElisKate Odey …. MelicentMark Lewis Jones …. EliudTrevor Peacock …. RadulfusShaun Prendergast …. Herbard/IthelDouglas Blackwell …. Maurice/RhysMatthew Morgan …. AnionMichael Kitchen …. NarratorMusic by Peter Salem.Producer: Neil Cargill.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.
WED 06:30 Friends with my Ex (b03jz1hx)
Some couples manage to separate and not hate each other. They choose to carry on seeing each other, going on holiday and spending Christmas together. How and why do they do it? What happens when new partners come along? A light-hearted feature about what family means in Britain today - three long-term couples describe their separation and reconciliation as friends.Nicola and Barry met when Nicola was 16, married when she was 21 and had two boys, but the tension between them grew until they couldn't bear to be in the same room. They separated after 12 years: "There were lots of tears, but from that day everything got better." Now they speak on the phone every day. This month, Nicola is re-marrying; Barry is going to the wedding and staying in the same hotel as the honeymoon couple.The husband of the second couple is a divorce lawyer. Adam and Brigitte lived together for 35 years until Brigitte fell in love with Gleb – 28 years her junior. Adam decided to let her go without a fight: "I'm a lawyer committed to making divorce less contentious." They now see each other several times a week for chats and evenings out: "I love him like a brother, a best friend, but I never want to sleep with him again, we've changed."Mark and John built a house, got a dog and celebrated their civil partnership – but then Mark fell in love with another man. But John was quite happy to carry on living together: "I was devastated. But as time goes by you make your peace with the situation. Six months later he moved in and we shared the same house for eighteen months. I enjoyed it actually."Producers: Kim Normanton and Elizabeth Burke.A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2013.
WED 07:00 The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (b00bf0l6)
Holmes Strikes a Happy Medium
Baker Street’s Great Detective Sherlock Holmes tries to unravel murderous goings-on at a seance.Roy Hudd spoofs the famous sleuth in Tony Hare’s comedy series.With Chris Emmett as Dr Watson, June Whitfield as Mrs Hudson, Geoffrey Whitehead as Moriarty and Jeffrey Holland as Inspector LestradeMusical accompaniment: Ian Smith.Producer: Chris NeillFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in February 1999.
WED 07:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (m0006776)
Series 8
Episode 6
John Finnemore returns to Radio 4 with an eighth series of his multi-award-winning sketch show, joined by his regular ensemble cast of Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan.In this clinically efficient episode, John does the voice, and we also hear what sort of song he could have had on the show if he'd wanted. And, well... since you ask him for a story of a breakneck race against time...John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme was described by The Radio Times as "the best sketch show in years, on television or radio", and by The Daily Telegraph as "funny enough to make even the surliest cat laugh". Already the winner of a Radio Academy Silver Award and a Broadcasting Press Guild award, this year Souvenir Programme won its second BBC Audio Drama award.Written by & starring ... John FinnemoreCast ... Margaret Cabourn-SmithCast ... Simon KaneCast ... Lawry LewinCast ... Carrie QuinlanOriginal music & piano ... Susannah PearseCello ... Sally StaresAdditional musical arrangement ... Rich EvansProduction Coordinator ... Beverly TaggProducer ... Ed MorrishA BBC Studios production
WED 08:00 The Navy Lark (b007k27k)
Series 8
Getting Rid Of Pertwee
Has Pertwee finally come unstuck? Captain Povey's certainly keen for a new Chief Petty Officer...Stars Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Stephen Murray as the Number One, Richard Caldicot as Captain Povey, Heather Chasen as Aunt Morpeth, Michael Bates as the Padre, Ronnie Barker as Lieutenant Queeg and Tenniel Evans as Taffy Goldstein.Laughs afloat aboard British Royal Navy frigate HMS Troutbridge. The Navy Lark ran for an impressive thirteen series between 1959 and 1976.Scripted by Lawrie WymanIncidental Music by Tommy Riley and James Moody.Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston.First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in November 1966.
WED 08:30 Doctor at Large (b009m43k)
Farewell Las Palmas
When ship's doctor Simon Sparrow is caught in a compromising position - twice! - only Easter can save him. The misadventures of newly qualified doctor, Simon Sparrow - adapted for radio by Ray Cooney from Richard Gordon's 'Doctor at Large' published in 1955.Starring Richard Briers as Simon Sparrow, Geoffrey Sumner as Sir Lancelot Spratt, Ray Cooney as First Mate Jock Hornbeam, Patsy Rowlands as Miss Bottomley, Dennis Ramsden as Colonel Swithinbank, Peter Jones as Easter and Norma Ronald as Wendy Swithenbank.Producer: David HatchFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1969.
WED 09:00 The 99p Challenge (b00ph8rz)
Series 3
Episode 6
Crazy panel show capers as host Sue Perkins grills Tom Binns, Ben Moor, Nick Frost and Peter Serafinowicz.The game where someone stands to leave the studio 99p richer than when they came in.Written by Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley.Producer: David TylerA Pozzitive production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2001
WED 09:30 The Attractive Young Rabbi (b007k31j)
Series 2
Babies
The two rabbis are submerged in baby talk, while Melvin struggles with his conscience.Barry Grossman’s comedy-drama about the collision between the old and the new in the Jewish community of Hillfield.Rabbi Abraham Fine ...... David De KeyserRabbi Su Jacobs ...... Tracy-Ann ObermanMelvin ...... Henry GoodmanBrian ...... Jonathan KyddSadie Fine ...... Doreen MantleFay ...... Diane KeenSimone ...... Rachel SmithJudith ...... Rebecca GethingsMusic: Max Harris.Producer: John Fawcett WilsonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2000.
WED 10:00 Drama (b08skykk)
George Bernard Shaw - Pygmalion
Episode 2
Eliza faces the day of reckoning: can she pass as a lady at the Ambassador's Ball?Alistair McGowan, Morgana Robinson, Sian Phillips and Al Murray star in George Bernard Shaw's classic tale of Eliza Doolittle, the Cockney flower girl who is trained to talk 'like a lady' by irascible professor of phonetics, Henry Higgins.Henry Higgins ...... Alistair McGowanEliza Doolittle ...... Morgana RobinsonAlfred Doolittle ...... Al MurrayColonel Pickering ...... Hugh FraserMrs Higgins ...... Siân PhillipsMrs Pearce ...... Charlotte PageMaid ...... Charlotte PageMrs Eynsford-Hill ...... Georgie GlenClara Eynsford-Hill ...... Maeve Bluebell WellsFreddy Eynsford-Hill ...... Tom ForristerNepommuck ...... David SturzakerAmbassador ...... John DougallAmbassador's Wife ...... Sarah RidgewayDirector: Emma HardingFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.
WED 11:00 Unforgettable (b07pf4vy)
Series 1
David Temple/Derek Jarman
David Temple has an imagined conversation with his late brother-in-law, Derek Jarman who died in 1994.The two differ in many ways but their mutual affection, and a similar sense of humour, shine as they share impressions of Jarman's films.There is much laughter in the exchange between the living and the deceased as David and Derek recount stories of film premieres and family Christmases. There is sadness also as Jarman talks of the death of his mother from cancer. Temple tells Jarman of a death, also from cancer, that he did not live long enough to know of, that of Derek's sister, David's wife. Derek's own HIV-related death is a constant backdrop to the dialogue.At times, it's easy to suspend disbelief and to imagine these two men are actually in the same room together, catching up after more than two decades apart, such is the spontaneity and quiet energy of their conversation.In 1991, Natalie Cole sang a duet with her long dead father, Nat King Cole - the result was Unforgettable. This is the radio equivalent. In each edition of the series, a different guest is invited to interact with someone, now dead, with whom they have, or have wanted to have, a connection. Using technology designed for musicians and DJs to spontaneously play out short musical clips, producer Adam Fowler facilitates a real-time conversation between the two participants, using conversational snippets of the deceased from past recordings.The guest has no advance knowledge of the excerpts, and the conversation can take unexpected turns, occasionally leading to some emotionally charged interchanges, as living voices engage with those preserved in the archive.Research: Philippa GeeringProducer: Adam FowlerAn Overtone production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2016.
WED 11:15 Jonathan Davidson - Life Cycles (m0006fxj)
Three lives on three bicycles from three different eras.1960s: Bill might win the Tour de France but his legs are begging him to stop.1930s: Tom is out with his cycling club in Yorkshire, but is it his last ride as a single man?2002: Susan wants to ride around the world but the men in her life are struggling to keep up. Then the wheels begin to turn.Jonathan Davidson's fantastical dramaBill .....Mark MeadowsTom .... David BamberSusan ... Suzanna HamiltonOther parts by Jon Glover, Mark Buffery and Ric JerronDirector: Tim DeeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
WED 12:00 The Navy Lark (b007k27k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
WED 12:30 Doctor at Large (b009m43k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Cadfael (b007k26f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
WED 13:30 Friends with my Ex (b03jz1hx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b06t5x73)
The Provincial Lady Goes Further
Episode 3
E M Delafield was great friends with Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda, and became a director of Time and Tide magazine.When the editor "wanted some light middles", preferably in serial form, she promised to "think of something". And so it was, in 1930, Delafield began writing her largely autobiographical novels detailing the day-to-day life of a Devonshire-dwelling upper-middle class lady and her attempts to keep her somewhat ramshackle household from falling into chaos.Substituting the names of Robin and Vicky for her own children, Lionel and Rosamund, The Diary of a Provincial Lady has never been out of print.In this second book, The Provincial Lady Goes Further, written in 1932, our Lady is now a published author. Success and a sizeable royalty cheque allow her to travel further afield. She attends a literary conference in Brussels, takes a lease on a small flat in London and the family goes on holiday to Brittany.But while she endeavours to embrace the London literary scene, things at home remain reassuring the same. Mademoiselle weeps on the sofa and refuses to eat when Vicky decides she'd like to go away to school, Robert is his usual monosyllabic self, snoozing behind a copy of the Times, and there's a seemingly endless stream of visitors arriving at the house.This second volume is just as appealing, charming and wickedly witty as the first.A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
WED 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b049z4x6)
Pressed Plants and Possibilities
The Victorians realised that preserving the structural features of a plant was essential to classifying it, placing it on a plant family tree and building up an overall understanding of the relationships between plants. Central to this was the herbarium - a collection of dried plants documented, pressed and mounted onto identical sheets of paper. Kathy Willis examines the genesis of this process at Kew which plays host today to over 7 million specimens, and is now one of a network of herbaria around the world.If you want to know what a plant is, the herbarium is where you come. But how was the Kew collection established? Kathy Willis hears from historian Jim Endersby on the influence of William Jackson Hooker whose private plant collection forms the basis of the collection.Historian Anne Secord of Cambridge University examines the delicate relationship between artisan collectors in the field and gentlemen botanists which defied the rigid social divide to enable specimens to be gathered from far afield to advance botanical knowledge.Kathy Willis learns from Kew botanist, Bill Baker, how patterns now emerge in the herbarium that enable changing patterns of plant behaviour from flowering times to plant distribution to feed into wider questions about the effect of changing climate and land use.And in an age when the Empire was aiming to show everything to its best advantage researcher Caroline Cornish reveals how plants could be effectively displayed to a curious Victorian public through Britain's first Museum of Economic Botany.Producer: Adrian WashbournePresenter: Kathy Willis is director of science at Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. She is also professor of long-term ecology and a fellow of Merton College, both at Oxford University. Winner of several awards, she has spent over 20 years researching and teaching biodiversity and conservation at Oxford and Cambridge.
WED 14:30 Mary Brunton - Self Control (b011q9gg)
A Request
Laura learns more about Hargrave's conduct and receives a request from De Courcy. But will she accept?Mary Brunton’s romantic tale set in Perthshire and London - dramatised by Gerda Stevenson.Laura Montreville is loved by two men - a reckless Libertine and a dignified but reserved landowner. In a world where polite society and sexual hypocrisy rub shoulders easily, can she choose wisely between passion and virtue?Narrated by Maureen BeattieLaura ...... Gerda StevensonLady Pelham ...... Barbara Leigh-HuntDe Courcy ...... Tom Goodman HillHarriet ...... Tracy-Ann ObermanMrs Hargrave ...... Phyllida LawProducer: Bruce YoungFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2003.
WED 14:45 Book of the Week (b04fc21r)
On Silbury Hill
Episode 3
Silbury Hill in Wiltshire - together with Stonehenge, Avebury and the remains of numerous barrows - forms part of a Neolithic landscape about which very little is known or understood.Adam Thorpe describes his book as '"a marble cake of different soils. Memoir, data, theory, streaks of poetry, swirls of fiction" - but he is not alone in having been drawn to explore the meaning of the largest prehistoric mound in Europe. Artists and archaeologists as well as various cults and neo-pagan traditions have focussed on the blank canvas that the hill presents as a way of exploring our complicated relationship with the past and the people who lived there."An estimated million hours spent on construction rather than herding or cooking or stitching must have had a point, but we don't get it. Is conjecture a species of fiction? To muddy the difference further, Silbury insisted on being called 'she'. I obeyed, not out of New Age winsomeness but from the influence of country dialect, in which neuter pronouns are as alien as robot leaf blowers."This chalkland memoir told in fragments and snapshots, takes a circular route around the hill, a monument which we can no longer climb, and celebrates the urge to stand and wonder.Episode 3:What can archaeology really tell us? Face-to-face with Neolithic man.Abridged, directed and produced by Jill WatersA Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
WED 15:00 Drama (b08skykk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 today]
WED 16:00 The 99p Challenge (b00ph8rz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 16:30 The Attractive Young Rabbi (b007k31j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 today]
WED 17:00 The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (b00bf0l6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 today]
WED 17:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (m0006776)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
WED 18:00 John Wyndham - The Day of the Triffids (m0006fxl)
Conference and Confusion
'There's a light... someone's trying to get the sighted people together - we're not alone!'Bill and Josella join an army-led group, but their plans for a new community falter...First published in 1951, John Wyndham's classic sci-fi novel dramatised by Giles Cooper.Gary Watson …. Bill MasenBarbara Shelley …. Josella PlaytonAnthony Viccars …. Colonel JaquesPeter Sallis …. CokerFreda Dowie …. ElspethVictor Lucas …. Doctor VarlessMichael McClain …. Michael BeadleyNigel Graham …. Ivan SimpsonMarjorie Westbury …. Miss BarrMichael Deacon …. MacJan Edwards …. LucyJames McManus …. AlfHilda Kriseman …. ChildAnthony Jackson …. OtherPauline Letts …. OtherChristopher Bidmead …. OtherMusic composed by David Cain.Producer: John Powell.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1968.
WED 18:30 That Reminds Me (b007jnyc)
Series 3
John Fortune
Satirist, comedian, writer and actor John Fortune shares memories of his career with an audience.Giving his frank take on fame, John talks of his recent working encounters with John Bird and Rory Bremner - and names the top three funniest men that he's met - one of them is Peter Cook.John Fortune: Born: 30 June 1939. Died: 31 December 2013.Producer: Claire JonesFirst broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 in November 2001.
WED 19:00 The Navy Lark (b007k27k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
WED 19:30 Doctor at Large (b009m43k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Cadfael (b007k26f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
WED 20:30 Friends with my Ex (b03jz1hx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Unforgettable (b07pf4vy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 today]
WED 21:15 Jonathan Davidson - Life Cycles (m0006fxj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 today]
WED 22:00 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (m0006776)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
WED 22:30 The Problem With Adam Bloom (b007r0c7)
Series 1
Lending Things
Neither a borrower nor a lender be.Adam Bloom explores what happens when you give something to someone and then ask for it back.With stand-up reconstructions and help from Rob Rouse.Written by Adam Bloom.Producer: Adam BromleyFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2003.
WED 22:45 The Shuttleworths (b007jqt5)
Series 2
Shuttleworth Diplomacy
John Shuttleworth decides he's not spending enough “quality time" with his family – so sets out to be a nicer, more approachable person.Written and performed by Graham Fellows.Producer: Paul SchlesingerFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1995.
WED 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m0006n91)
Ed Byrne 2/3
From
10.00pm until midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Jessica Fostekew in conversation with Ed Byrne.
WED 23:00 The Jason Byrne Show (b01dtjh4)
Series 2
Food
Award-winning comedian Jason Byrne grills the topic of food - revealing his love for an animated rabbit, and his hatred of baguette nibbling.Stand up and sketches with Laurence Howarth and Anna Bengo.Producer: Julia McKenzieFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2009.
WED 23:30 Hamish and Dougal: You'll Have Had Your Tea (b0076zx3)
Series 3
There's Something About Mrs Naughtie
Mrs Naughtie comes into a large inheritance from her mysterious Uncle Nab and attracts the not altogether unwelcome advances of Hamish, Dougal and the Laird.Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden star as the two Scotsmen famed for their appearances on BBC Radio’s I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.With Alison Steadman as their cleaning-lady-cum-housekeeper, Mrs Naughtie, and Jeremy Hardy as the local Laird.Producer: Jon NaismithFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2006.
WED 23:45 Love in Recovery (b04xrnm1)
Series 1
Julie
The lives of five very different recovering alcoholics.Set entirely at their weekly meetings, we hear them get to know each other, learn to hate each other, argue, moan, laugh, fall apart, fall in love and, most importantly, tell their stories.Comedy drama by Pete Jackson, set in Alcoholics Anonymous. Starring Sue Johnston, John Hannah, Eddie Marsan, Rebecca Front, Paul Kaye and Julia Deakin.In this episode, Julie's husband comes back to her after six years and it's up to the rest of the group to pick up the pieces.Julie ...... Sue JohnstonMarion ...... Julia DeakinFiona ...... Rebecca FrontSimon ...... John HannahDanno ...... Paul KayeAndy ...... Eddie MarsanThere are funny stories, sad stories, stories of small victories and milestones, stories of loss, stories of hope, and stories that you really shouldn't laugh at - but still do. Along with the storyteller.Writer Pete Jackson is a recovering alcoholic and has spent time with Alcoholics Anonymous. It was there he found, as many people do, support from the unlikeliest group of disparate souls, all banded together due to one common bond. As well as offering the support he needed throughout a difficult time, AA also offered a weekly, sometimes daily, dose of hilarity, upset, heartbreak and friendship.Director: Ben WorsfieldA Lucky Giant production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2014.
THURSDAY 04 JULY 2019
THU 00:00 John Wyndham - The Day of the Triffids (m0006fxl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 That Reminds Me (b007jnyc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Cadfael (b007k26f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 Friends with my Ex (b03jz1hx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b06t5x73)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b049z4x6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 Mary Brunton - Self Control (b011q9gg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Book of the Week (b04fc21r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Drama (b08skykk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 The 99p Challenge (b00ph8rz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 The Attractive Young Rabbi (b007k31j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (b00bf0l6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (m0006776)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Cadfael (b007k27q)
Dead Man's Ransom
Allies
A second murder suspect disappears, and monk-cum-sleuth Brother Cadfael journeys to Wales.Ellis Peters’ medieval thriller featuring Benedictine monk Brother Cadfael.Dramatised by Bert Coules.It’s 1141. Beyond the walls of Shrewsbury’s Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, civil war rages. The Deputy Sheriff of Shropshire returns from the Battle of Lincoln with disastrous news that King Stephen has been captured. The Sheriff himself has been kidnapped by the Welsh, and England’s very future is uncertain.Philip Madoc …. CadfaelJonathan Tafler …. Hugh BeringarSusannah York …. Sister MagdalenJason Hughes …. ElisKate Odey …. MelicentSion Probert …. Prince OwainTrevor Peacock …. RadulfusMark Lewis Jones …. EliudShaun Prendergast …. Ithel/Edmund/HerbardSiobahn Flynn …. CristinaDouglas Blackwell …. GriffriMatthew Morgan …. AnionMichael Kitchen …. NarratorMusic by Peter Salem.Producer: Neil Cargill.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.
THU 06:30 The Seven Car Parks of Croydon (b00vk2fx)
Sue Perkins revisits her former hometown of Croydon to ask just how South London's 'Mini-Manhattan' became the butt of so many jokes, mocked by comedians from the great Morecambe and Wise to Basil Brush. With a skyline made up of 60's brutalist office blocks and re-clad 80's ones, Croydon's aesthetics are hard to love, but whether you're heading to town from Gatwick Airport, commuting from the South Coast, or a new immigrant registering at the Home Office's Lunar House, Croydon is your welcome to London. With a powerful sense of nostalgia tinged with panic, Sue, who's joined by fellow comedian Steve Punt, lurks on the stairwells and top storeys of seven car parks in Croydon, trying to get a new perspective on local planning decisions, past and present. She hears historic tales of Elizabeth the First and punk svengali Malcolm McLaren, Bridget Riley - Queen of OpArt - and the emergence of the hottest current urban music Dubstep. Vincent Lacovara, fan of Croydon, and its current urban planner believes these concrete viewing platforms can provide a fresh vantage point from which the history and super-future of Croydon can be laid out before Sue - so that she can see all the possibilities it had to offer her, and which she missed growing up. The great architectural commentator Nikolaus Pevsner said Croydon's skyline was 'thrilling from a distance' but maybe that's the problem - up close it takes a trained or loving eye to appreciate the uniqueness of Croydon - and after all we can't all come from the Cotswolds.The time has come to reassess the concrete dreams of the 1960's - and Sue is the woman to do it.Producers Sara Jane Hall and Gillian Darlington.First broadcast on Radio 4 in 2010.
THU 07:00 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b0499n67)
Series 6
Meg's Tale
How Robert Burns discovered the real story of Tam O'Shanter's big night out at Alloway Kirk.Revealed from the point of view of a young barmaid called Norah and her Aunty Meg, who finds herself the victim of a spell malfunction, becoming the horse whom Burns made famous in Tam O'Shanter.Murdo Fletcher ...... Stanley BaxterJohn Knox ...... Stuart McQuarrieMary Queen of Scots ...... Tracy WilesChronicler ...... Hugh RossOther parts played by the cast. Written by Rona Munro.Director: Marilyn ImrieA Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2014.
THU 07:30 My Obsession (m000671f)
Series 1
Episode 2
Paul Merton and Suki Webster star in a new episode of this warm-hearted comedy, exploring the obsessive narcissistic culture of so-called celebrity, the desire to be famous and the urge to be near it.Surprisingly, after Sheryl broke into the hotel room of her favorite stand-up comedian Danny Heywood and castigated him for not replying to her fan mail, the pair met again and agreed to go on a proper date. All is going well until Danny spots TV producer Karen Francis. She is looking for a comedy magician to perform the “saw the woman in half" illusion.Danny would love to perform the trick but he needs to find an assistant quickly. Much to Sheryl’s surprise, Danny asks if she’d like to become half the woman she used to be?Then the TV producer throws a spanner into the works that could rip our would-be lovers apart forever.Cast:Danny – Paul MertonSheryl – Suki WebsterThe Plumber – Terry MynottThe Priest – Matt AddisKaren Francis -Tilly GauntWritten by Suki Webster.Producer: Liz AnsteeA CPL production for BBC Radio 4
THU 08:00 Benny Hill (b08rbw5t)
Benny Hill Time
From 28/03/1965
Benny Hill seeks romance in a rowing boat and tries to get a handle on bank robbery.With Peter Vernon, Jan Waters and Patricia Hayes.Music from Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson with The Hill Time Band conducted by Malcolm Lockyer.Scripted by Benny Hill.Producer: John BrowellFirst broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in March 1965.
THU 08:30 The Goon Show (b007jyp0)
Dishonoured - Again
Neddie Seagoon gets a bank job, but is it wise to put him in charge of the gold vault? Stars Spike Milligan. From January 1959.
THU 09:00 Booked (b0075lq5)
Series 2
Episode 3
Mrs Danvers sneaks into the plot of Noel Coward's Private Lives. The Pilgrim's Progress is re-worked to include a brush with Michael Palin and assorted other media moguls.Literary havoc from Dillie Keane, Miles Kington, Roger McGough and Mark Thomas..Irreverent literary game chaired by Ian McMillan.Producer: Marc JobstFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1997.
THU 09:30 Bristow (b007rgl8)
Series 2
The Power of the Press
The Chester-Perry buying clerk crusades to improve conditions for cleaning ladies.Michael Williams stars as Bristow, the buying clerk from Frank Dickens' famous newspaper cartoon strip. Syndicated internationally, it ran for 41 years in London's Evening Standard.Bristow ...... Michael WilliamsJones ...... Rodney BewesGert ...... Liz FraserDaisy ...... Joan SimsMrs Purdy ...... Dora BryanHewitt ...... Owen BrenmanMiss Sunman ...... Katy OdeyStationmaster ...... Jon GloverStoke ...... David BattleyHickford ...... Roger Lloyd PackLift Boy ...... Ian KellandMusic composed and performed by John Whitehall.Producer: Neil CargillFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1999.
THU 10:00 Mrs Henry Wood - East Lynne (m0006fdd)
The Broken Cross
Lord Mount Severn's country seat, East Lynne, would seem to speak most eloquently of its owner's wealth and power, but it is a hollow facade.The noble lord is penniless and therein lie the seeds of the tragedy that is to be the lot of his only child, the Lady Isabel.First published in 1861, Mrs Henry Wood’s novel dramatised in seven parts by Michael Bakewell.Mrs Henry Wood ... Rosemary LeachLady Isabel ... Moir LeslieLord Mount Severn ... Alan DudleyMr Carlyle .... David CollingsFrancis Levison ... Anthony EdridgeMiss Cornelia .... Maxine AudleyBarbara Hare .... Julie BerryRichard Hare ... Kim WallJustice Hare ... Brian HewlettMrs Hare ... Joan MathesonEmma Vane ... Margaret WardMrs Levison ... Sheila GrantCharles ... Stephen HattersleyAndrew ... Andrew BranchDill ... Tim ReynoldsWainwright ... Paul GregoryDirector: David JohnstonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1987
THU 11:00 The Computer Speaks (b061tqv9)
Vox Humana by Timothy X Atack
The first in a series of three short stories about the intimate relationship we have with our computers and what they might say if they could talk.A woman lies comatose in a hospital bed. A father yearns to hear his daughter's voice again. A computer begins to find its voice. But whose voice is it? An original short story for radio by Timothy X Atack.Timothy X Atack is a writer, sound artist, composer and film-maker. He's worked with Bristol Old Vic, BBC Radio, Neil Bartlett, Tobacco Factory Theatres, Paines Plough, Arnolfini, Matt Lucas and David Walliams, Raucous Collective, BAC, Edgar Wright, Channel 4 TV and BBC Film Lab amongst others. He's an artist in residence at Pervasive Media Studios, Watershed, a member of the radiophonic pop group Angeltech and a co-founder of Sleepdogs with director Tanuja Amarasuriya. His afternoon play The Morpeth Carol won the Radio Academy Award for Best Drama 2014.Producer: Mair Bosworth.
THU 11:15 Drama (b04d1kvs)
EV Crowe - How to Say Goodbye Properly
Lucy feels as if she's been in the army her whole life. Her father swears this is their last posting. But can she believe him? And if not, can she cope with another tour of duty?Written by EV Crowe - winner of the 2015 Imison Award for best debut radio drama.Lucy ..... Ellie KendrickAngela ..... Hermione NorrisMartin ..... Stuart McQuarrieToby ..... Alex LawtherDirector ..... Abigail le FlemingFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
THU 12:00 Benny Hill (b08rbw5t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
THU 12:30 The Goon Show (b007jyp0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Cadfael (b007k27q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
THU 13:30 The Seven Car Parks of Croydon (b00vk2fx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b06t58qq)
The Provincial Lady Goes Further
Episode 4
E M Delafield was great friends with Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda, and became a director of Time and Tide magazine.When the editor "wanted some light middles", preferably in serial form, she promised to "think of something". And so it was, in 1930, Delafield began writing her largely autobiographical novels detailing the day-to-day life of a Devonshire-dwelling upper-middle class lady and her attempts to keep her somewhat ramshackle household from falling into chaos.Substituting the names of Robin and Vicky for her own children, Lionel and Rosamund, The Diary of a Provincial Lady has never been out of print.In this second book, The Provincial Lady Goes Further, written in 1932, our Lady is now a published author. Success and a sizeable royalty cheque allow her to travel further afield. She attends a literary conference in Brussels, takes a lease on a small flat in London and the family goes on holiday to Brittany.But while she endeavours to embrace the London literary scene, things at home remain reassuring the same. Mademoiselle weeps on the sofa and refuses to eat when Vicky decides she'd like to go away to school, Robert is his usual monosyllabic self, snoozing behind a copy of the Times, and there's a seemingly endless stream of visitors arriving at the house.This second volume is just as appealing, charming and wickedly witty as the first.A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
THU 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04b22yh)
Blight on the Landscape
Out of the tragedy of the Irish potato famine was to emerge a major new discipline in science - plant pathology. Infectious micro-organisms would come to be accepted as a cause of disease rather than its result.Kathy Willis hears from Kew's head of mycology, Brin Dentinger, on the significance of German botanist Antony de Bary's experiments that would lead to a new understanding of the causes of potato blight.Insights into the life cycle and behaviour of fungal spores required detailed and repetitive observations. Some of the most important insights in the 19th century came from children's story writer and natural history illustrator Beatrix Potter. Historian Jim Endersby explains how her careful observations contributed to the controversial idea that many fungi, far from being destructive, live in symbiosis with a host of plants.Kew mycologist Martin Bidartondo studies this relationship and we hear how thanks to new technology enabling researchers to identify fungal DNA we're on the brink of elucidating the real importance of fungi in today's ecosystems.Producer Adrian WashbournePresenter: Kathy Willis is director of science at Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. She is also professor of long-term ecology and a fellow of Merton College, both at Oxford University. Winner of several awards, she has spent over 20 years researching and teaching biodiversity and conservation at Oxford and Cambridge.
THU 14:30 Mary Brunton - Self Control (b011qjfr)
Turmoil
Laura has agreed to marry De Courcy, but will Hargrave let her? Could danger be lurking?Mary Brunton’s romantic tale set in Perthshire and London - dramatised in ten parts by Gerda Stevenson.Laura Montreville is loved by two men - a reckless Libertine and a dignified but reserved landowner. In a world where polite society and sexual hypocrisy rub shoulders easily, can she choose wisely between passion and virtue?Narrated by Maureen BeattieLaura ...... Gerda StevensonLady Pelham ...... Barbara Leigh-HuntDe Courcy ...... Tom Goodman HillHargrave ...... Andrew WincottMary ...... Emma WoolliamsSurgeon ...... Stuart McGuganProducer: Bruce YoungFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2003.
THU 14:45 Book of the Week (b04fc29d)
On Silbury Hill
Episode 4
Silbury Hill in Wiltshire - together with Stonehenge, Avebury and the remains of numerous barrows - forms part of a Neolithic landscape about which very little is known or understood.Adam Thorpe describes his book as '"a marble cake of different soils. Memoir, data, theory, streaks of poetry, swirls of fiction" - but he is not alone in having been drawn to explore the meaning of the largest prehistoric mound in Europe. Artists and archaeologists as well as various cults and neo-pagan traditions have focussed on the blank canvas that the hill presents as a way of exploring our complicated relationship with the past and the people who lived there."An estimated million hours spent on construction rather than herding or cooking or stitching must have had a point, but we don't get it. Is conjecture a species of fiction? To muddy the difference further, Silbury insisted on being called 'she'. I obeyed, not out of New Age winsomeness but from the influence of country dialect, in which neuter pronouns are as alien as robot leaf blowers."This chalkland memoir told in fragments and snapshots, takes a circular route around the hill, a monument which we can no longer climb, and celebrates the urge to stand and wonder.Episode 4:The author meets a pair of enthusiastic Wiccan drummers.Abridged, directed and produced by Jill WatersA Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
THU 15:00 Mrs Henry Wood - East Lynne (m0006fdd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 today]
THU 16:00 Booked (b0075lq5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 16:30 Bristow (b007rgl8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 today]
THU 17:00 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b0499n67)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 today]
THU 17:30 My Obsession (m000671f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
THU 18:00 John Wyndham - The Day of the Triffids (m0006fdh)
Dead End
'How am I supposed to find supplies like this - chained to a lot of blind men?'Bill is forced to help a group of blind survivors. Will he ever find Josella, again?First published in 1951, John Wyndham's classic sci-fi novel dramatised by Giles Cooper.Gary Watson …. Bill MasenJames McManus …. AlfMichael Deacon …. MacJan Edwards …. LucyPeter Sallis …. CokerHilda Kriseman …. Miss DurrantJohn Pullen …. Stephen BrennellWilfred Carter …. SidRosalind Shanks …. VeraAnn Murray …. WomanMusic composed by David Cain.Producer: John Powell.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1968.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b076hrcq)
Series 39
Nancy Dell'Olio chooses the life of Lucrezia Borgia.
Nancy Dell'Olio champions Lucrezia Borgia, a Renaissance woman who was much maligned.Lucrezia Borgia was the Pope's daughter and, over the centuries, her name has been a byword for poison, incest and intrigue. Novels, television series, plays and an opera have been written about her. But was she just a victim of malicious gossip that vastly exaggerated her actual misdeeds?Nancy Dell'Olio explains why she identifies with Lucrezia Borgia and with the help of historian Sarah Dunant attempts to debunk some of the myths.Produced by Perminder Khatkar.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
THU 19:00 Benny Hill (b08rbw5t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:00 today]
THU 19:30 The Goon Show (b007jyp0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Cadfael (b007k27q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 today]
THU 20:30 The Seven Car Parks of Croydon (b00vk2fx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 today]
THU 21:00 The Computer Speaks (b061tqv9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 today]
THU 21:15 Drama (b04d1kvs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 today]
THU 22:00 My Obsession (m000671f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 today]
THU 22:30 Richard Marsh (b069y6sm)
Cardboard Heart
Engagement
Award-winning writer and poet Richard Marsh stars alongside Russell Tovey and Phil Daniels in this heart-warming sitcom set in a greetings card company.This week, Will's asked to help someone find the words to break some difficult news. As a man who struggles to express his own feelings, what chance does he have of putting the right words in someone else's mouth?Richard Marsh is the writer and star of Love and Sweets, a Radio 4 comedy series that won Best Comedy in the BBC Audio Drama awards 2014. Now, in Cardboard Heart, he plays Will, a hapless romantic who's keen to find love and an aspiring writer with a 9 to 5 job writing poetry at a greetings card company.Will shares an office with Goadsby (Rebecca Scroggs), who's responsible for the card artwork and being Will's nemesis, Colin (Sam Troughton), the firm's safety and survival-obsessed accountant, and charming renegade salesman Beast (Russell Tovey). Phil Daniels plays Rog, their roguish boss.Paid to express heartfelt emotions for people he will never meet, Will consistently fails to express himself properly to anyone he does meet. Every social interaction is a minefield for Will. In his head, he knows exactly what to say but the minute he opens his mouth, it's a disaster. Luckily for you, Will shares his inner thoughts with the audience.Written and created by Richard MarshDirected by Pia FurtadoProduced by Ben WorsfieldA Lucky Giant production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m0006n93)
Ed Byrne 3/3
From
10.00pm until midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Jessica Fostekew chats to the lovely Ed Byrne.
THU 23:00 The Museum of Everything (b007k1qj)
Series 1
The History of the Future
Badgerland goes international and experience the History of the Future.Written and performed by Marcus Brigstocke, Danny Robins and Dan Tetsell.With Lucy Montgomery.Music by Dominic Haslam and Ben Walker.Producer: Alex Walsh-TaylorFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2004.
THU 23:30 Two Episodes of Mash (b01mk9nz)
Series 2
Episode 2
Barricaded inside their studio, David O'Doherty is holding all the Radio 4 microphones hostage in an attempt to make the network give them the team their own radio series.Prepare for unique versions of the news, weather, sport, traffic and a fly on the wall documentary about working behind-the-scenes on a sketch show.Things look set take a turn for the worse with a phone call from the Radio 4 Negotiator.An online animation of the Fishing Sketch by Tom Rourke is available via the Radio 4 Extra website.A mix of silly, surreal sketches and banter with Diane Morgan, David O'Doherty, Joe Wilkinson, Paul Harry Allen, Bobbie Pryor and Gary Newman.Producer: Clair WordsworthFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2012.
FRIDAY 05 JULY 2019
FRI 00:00 John Wyndham - The Day of the Triffids (m0006fdh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b076hrcq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Cadfael (b007k27q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 The Seven Car Parks of Croydon (b00vk2fx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b06t58qq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04b22yh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 Mary Brunton - Self Control (b011qjfr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Book of the Week (b04fc29d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Mrs Henry Wood - East Lynne (m0006fdd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 Booked (b0075lq5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 Bristow (b007rgl8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b0499n67)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 My Obsession (m000671f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 Cadfael (b007k28z)
Dead Man's Ransom
A Helping Hand
With a strong case against Elis, will Brother Cadfael solve the sheriff's murder?Conclusion of Ellis Peters’ medieval thriller dramatised by Bert Coules.It’s 1141. Beyond the walls of Shrewsbury’s Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, civil war rages. The Deputy Sheriff of Shropshire returns from the Battle of Lincoln with disastrous news that King Stephen has been captured. The Sheriff himself has been kidnapped by the Welsh, and England’s very future is uncertain.Philip Madoc …. CadfaelJonathan Tafler …. Hugh BeringarSusannah York …. Sister MagdalenJason Hughes …. ElisKate Odey …. MelicentSion Probert …. Prince OwainMark Lewis Jones …. EliudShaun Prendergast …. Ithel/HerbardSiobahn Flynn …. CristinaDavid Holt …. VillagerMichael Kitchen …. NarratorMusic by Peter Salem.Producer: Lissa EvansFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1991.
FRI 06:30 Van Gogh: Seeing Red (b00pfrzs)
Art historian Richard Cork explores the mind of the painter Vincent van Gogh through his extraordinary letters.Richard Cork explores the mind of Vincent van Gogh through his correspondence.A keen and expressive correspondent who regaled acquaintances with his views on love, religion and sex, he put pen to paper with the same creative vigour as he put paintbrush to canvas.By the time he walked into a field in the town of Auvers-sur-Oise and shot himself in the chest, the 37-year-old van Gogh had left behind a rich literary legacy that would, like his painting, outlive his short and tortured life.Producer: Kate BlandFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2009.
FRI 07:00 Charles Dickens (b00s2zbh)
Sketches by Boz: Series 2
The Steam Excursion
Mr Percy Noakes was a friend to all until the organisation of a river trip proves to be his undoing.Gloriously comic stories of London Life by Charles Dickens - dramatised by Stephen Wyatt.Boz ...... Nicholas FarrellPercy Noakes ...... Marston BloomMrs Taunton ...... Shirley DixonMrs Briggs ...... Joanna MonroCousin Hardy ...... Jeremy SwiftJulia Briggs ...... Becky HindleyAlexander Briggs ...... Ben CroweCaptain Helves ...... Stephen CritchlowDirector: Sally AvensFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1999.
FRI 07:30 A Trespasser's Guide to the Classics (b08k4zw1)
Series 2
The Auction
By John NicholsonIn early 20th-century Russia, the future of a large family estate hangs in the balance. It risks being turned into a golf course.In this second series, the comedy troupe Peepolykus assume the roles of minor characters in great works of fiction and derail the plot through their hapless buffoonery.Director . . . . . Sasha Yevtushenko.
FRI 08:00 The Burkiss Way (b00gsb7z)
Series 2
Govern Britain the Burkiss Way
The comedy team sweep to a political landslide.The Burkiss Way to Dynamic Living from radio's Advanced Correspondence CourseWith democratic instruction from Jo Kendall , Nigel Rees, Chris Emmett and Fred Harris.A proportionally representative script by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick.Ministerial production by Simon Brett.Cult sketch show first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1977.
FRI 08:30 Steptoe and Son (b007k0rm)
Series 4
The Lodger
Albert and Harold Steptoe argue over their lack of cash.Starring Wilfrid Brambell as Albert and Harry H Corbett as Harold. With William Eadie.Following the conclusion of their hugely successful association with Tony Hancock, writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson wrote 10 pilots for the BBC TV's Comedy Playhouse in 1962. The Offer was set in a house with a yard full of junk, featuring the lives of rag and bone men Albert Steptoe and his son Harold and it was the spark for a run of 8 series for TV.Written for TV and adapted for radio by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.Produced by Bobby JayeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in February 1972.
FRI 09:00 Say the Word (b00764zg)
Episode 5
Frank Delaney's panel game revolving around the English language.With Andrew Sachs, Felix Dexter, Helen Lederer and Kathy Lette.Plus words of wit from the Nimmo TwinsProducer: Simon ElmesFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2001.
FRI 09:30 A Whole 'Nother Story (b007641j)
Series 1
It's a Fig, Not a Date
Cassie and Pete launch into the world of dating agencies.Cassie's blind date is Simon. He sounds attractive, but his occupation is shrouded in mystery.Meanwhile, Pete's blind date leads him to realise a few things about Cassie who in turn has been realising a few things about Pete...Amanda Murphy’s comedy-drama series about a friendship between a man and a woman.Starring Debra Stephenson as Cassie and David Lamb as Pete.PJ ...... Brendan BurnsDad ...... Mike GradyMum ...... Anne ReidSimon ...... Shaun DooleyCheck Out Girl ...... Victoria AshleyProducer: Graham FrostFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2001.
FRI 10:00 Mrs Henry Wood - East Lynne (m0006fwx)
The Keepers of the Dead
Lord Mount Severn has died suddenly, leaving his daughter, the Lady Isabel, destitute.Meanwhile young Richard Hare has risked his life, wanted as he is for the murder of Hallijohn, by returning secretly to West Lynne in a desperate attempt to clear his name.Novel by Mrs Henry Wood dramatised by Michael Bakewell.Mrs Henry Wood ... Rosemary LeachLady Isabel ... Moir LeslieMr Carlyle ... David CollingsFrancis Levison ... Anthony EdridgeMiss Cornelia ... Maxine AudleyBarbara Hare ... Julie BerryLord Vane ... Stephen ThorneVane's butler ... Michael Tudor BarnesDill / 2nd Creditor ... Tim ReynoldsMarvel / Servant ... Susie BrannWarburton /Lambert ... Paul GregoryJoyce ... Jo KendallWilliam Vane ... Alexander GoodmanDirector: David JohnstonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1987.
FRI 11:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m0006fwz)
Made for 4 Extra. Presenters recommend their favourite podcasts and speak to the people who make them.
FRI 12:00 The Burkiss Way (b00gsb7z)
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08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 Steptoe and Son (b007k0rm)
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FRI 13:00 Cadfael (b007k28z)
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06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 Van Gogh: Seeing Red (b00pfrzs)
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FRI 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b06t608f)
The Provincial Lady Goes Further
Episode 5
E M Delafield was great friends with Margaret Mackworth, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda, and became a director of Time and Tide magazine.When the editor "wanted some light middles", preferably in serial form, she promised to "think of something". And so it was, in 1930, Delafield began writing her largely autobiographical novels detailing the day-to-day life of a Devonshire-dwelling upper-middle class lady and her attempts to keep her somewhat ramshackle household from falling into chaos.Substituting the names of Robin and Vicky for her own children, Lionel and Rosamund, The Diary of a Provincial Lady has never been out of print.In this second book, The Provincial Lady Goes Further, written in 1932, our Lady is now a published author. Success and a sizeable royalty cheque allow her to travel further afield. She attends a literary conference in Brussels, takes a lease on a small flat in London and the family goes on holiday to Brittany.But while she endeavours to embrace the London literary scene, things at home remain reassuring the same. Mademoiselle weeps on the sofa and refuses to eat when Vicky decides she'd like to go away to school, Robert is his usual monosyllabic self, snoozing behind a copy of the Times, and there's a seemingly endless stream of visitors arriving at the house.This second volume is just as appealing, charming and wickedly witty as the first.A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04b2wzn)
Lumping and Splitting
By 1850 identifying and classifying plants had become far more important than mere list making. Establishing the global laws of botany - what grew where and why - occupied the well travelled naturalist Joseph Hooker - son of Kew's director William Hooker and close friend of Charles Darwin. Kathy Willis hears from historian Jim Endersby on how Hooker was to acquire species from all over the world to build up the first accurate maps of the world's flora.Mark Nesbitt, curator of Kew's economic botany collection, reveals how gifts to Hooker in the collection reveal the relationship between the amateur collector in the field and Hooker back at Kew was one built on trust and mutual understanding.But, as Jim Endersby explains, the relationships were frought with tension when it came to naming new plants. Arguments between those claiming they had found new species (often called "splitters") versus cautious botanists, such as Hooker, who would often "lump" together species as variants of the same, raised new debates about what constitutes a new species. And as Mark Chase, Keeper of Kew's Jodrell Laboratory reveals, the arguments continue today.Producer: Adrian WashbournePresenter: Kathy Willis is director of science at Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. She is also professor of long-term ecology and a fellow of Merton College, both at Oxford University. Winner of several awards, she has spent over 20 years researching and teaching biodiversity and conservation at Oxford and Cambridge.
FRI 14:30 Mary Brunton - Self Control (b011qm90)
Kidnapped
Kidnapped by the love-crazed Hargrave, Laura will inherit a fortune - if she agrees to marry him...Conclusion of Mary Brunton’s romantic tale set in Perthshire and London - dramatised by Gerda Stevenson.In a world where polite society and sexual hypocrisy rub shoulders easily, can Laura Montreville choose wisely between passion and virtue?Narrated by Maureen BeattieLaura ...... Gerda StevensonMrs Falkland ...... Barbara Leigh-HuntHargrave ...... Andrew WincottMrs Dougalas ...... Phyllida LawAnnie ...... Tracy-Ann ObermanMary ...... Emma WoolliamsRobert ...... Stuart McGuganProducer: Bruce YoungFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2003.
FRI 14:45 Book of the Week (b04fc2k9)
On Silbury Hill
Episode 5
Silbury Hill in Wiltshire - together with Stonehenge, Avebury and the remains of numerous barrows - forms part of a Neolithic landscape about which very little is known or understood.Adam Thorpe describes his book as '"a marble cake of different soils. Memoir, data, theory, streaks of poetry, swirls of fiction" - but he is not alone in having been drawn to explore the meaning of the largest prehistoric mound in Europe. Artists and archaeologists as well as various cults and neo-pagan traditions have focussed on the blank canvas that the hill presents as a way of exploring our complicated relationship with the past and the people who lived there."An estimated million hours spent on construction rather than herding or cooking or stitching must have had a point, but we don't get it. Is conjecture a species of fiction? To muddy the difference further, Silbury insisted on being called 'she'. I obeyed, not out of New Age winsomeness but from the influence of country dialect, in which neuter pronouns are as alien as robot leaf blowers."This chalkland memoir told in fragments and snapshots, takes a circular route around the hill, a monument which we can no longer climb, and celebrates the urge to stand and wonder.Episode 5:All Hallow's Eve 2013 – Silbury and the stone circle at Avebury, shadows and rituals.Abridged, directed and produced by Jill WatersA Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:00 Mrs Henry Wood - East Lynne (m0006fwx)
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FRI 16:00 Say the Word (b00764zg)
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FRI 16:30 A Whole 'Nother Story (b007641j)
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FRI 17:00 Charles Dickens (b00s2zbh)
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FRI 17:30 A Trespasser's Guide to the Classics (b08k4zw1)
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FRI 18:00 John Wyndham - The Day of the Triffids (m0006fx1)
World Narrowing
'The utter loneliness was beginning to get on my nerves.'Killer plants are on the rampage across the countryside. Bill sets-off in search of Josella but finds a new companion...First published in 1951, John Wyndham's classic sci-fi novel dramatised by Giles Cooper.Gary Watson …. Bill MasenBarbara Shelley …. Josella PlaytonJill Cary …. SusanFreda Dowie …. MaryDavid Brierley …. DennisMargaret Robertson …. JoyceMusic composed by David Cain.Producer: John Powell.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1968.
FRI 18:30 Off the Page (b0076jxf)
Middle Age
Novelist Carol Clewlow, TV writer and novelist David Nicholls and veteran soul singer Tony Cassidy discuss 'middle age'.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 2004.
FRI 19:00 The Burkiss Way (b00gsb7z)
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FRI 19:30 Steptoe and Son (b007k0rm)
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FRI 20:00 Cadfael (b007k28z)
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06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 Van Gogh: Seeing Red (b00pfrzs)
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FRI 21:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m0006fwz)
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11:00 today]
FRI 22:00 A Trespasser's Guide to the Classics (b08k4zw1)
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07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 BBC Introducing Radio 4 Comedy Award (m0006fx3)
2019
Heat 1
The nationwide search to find the best new stand-up talent in the UK.
FRI 23:30 The Big Booth (b007jv50)
Series 2: The Big Booth Too
Episode 3
Boothby Graffoe meets a man with a replacement tongue and a man in a washing machine.More guitar-flavoured songs and surreal laughs from Boothby Graffoe.With Stephen Frost , Vivienne Soan, Big Al, Jim Sweeney and guitarist Antonio Forcione.Written by Boothby Graffoe and Dave Thompson.Producer: Lucy ArmitageFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2001.