SATURDAY 03 AUGUST 2019

SAT 00:00 Angela Carter's Book of Fairytales (b0076vxb)
The Company of Wolves
Angela Carter's retelling of the story of Little Red Riding Hood in her own inimitable style. Read by Eileen McCallum.
SAT 00:15 15 Minute Drama (b09ppwdx)
The Truth About Hawaii
Resistance
Potent and playful drama set in a near-future in which doctors can no longer prescribe antibiotics. By award-winning dramatist, Oliver Emanuel.Sarah is 10 years old. She scratched her knee and developed an infection. When the infection threatened her life, her parents agreed to have her leg amputated. But the amputation didn't stop the infection.Her family have been told she has days to live, but a scientist has offered them a glimmer of hope.We join Sarah's imaginative world as she heads to the front line in the war between humanity and bacteria.The Truth About Hawaii was developed through Wellcome Experimental Stories in consultation with Prof. Joanna Coast (Professor in the Economics of Health & Care, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol) and Dr Adam Roberts (Senior Lecturer in Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and Resistance at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine).Consultants: Prof Joanna Coast and Dr Adam RobertsDirector: Kirsty Williams.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b0076k92)
Idealism
Matthew Parris and writers Peter Flannery, Mimi Khalvati and Jemma Kennedy discuss hope versus cynicism.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.
SAT 01:00 Book at Beachtime (b0124v3t)
SJ Watson - Before I Go to Sleep
Episode 5
What if you lost your memory every time you went to sleep?How would you cope with having to relearn your history every day only to lose it again?In SJ Watson's desperately compelling and ambitious debut thriller, a woman has no memory of who she is. She lives in the suburbs cared for by her husband, she can't work, she doesn't have any friends, she's trying to live a normal life but she can't remember anything when she wakes up in the morning. Slowly she starts to try and rebuild her memory, to piece together what has happened to her, who she is.This is Christine's story.Abridged by Alison JosephRead by Stella GonetProduced by Lucy Collingwood
SAT 01:30 Plumbers and Penguins (b00wr6qk)
To mark the centenary of the conquest of the South Pole there's another chance to hear the stories of some of the tradesmen who live and work on Antarctica. In the summer of 2009, British Antarctic Survey very publicly recruited 43 plumbers, carpenters, mechanics, electricians and doctors to spend 18 months working on their most southerly research stations - promising "the most exhilarating experience of a lifetime". Chris Eldon Lee discovers what actually happened to the new recruits. Almost 2000 tradesman applied to be parted from their white vans and sent into whiteout conditions. Doctors were also hired to care for their welfare in such extreme conditions.Mark Green, a 48-year-old Bristol plumber, was sent to Halley Research Station on the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. His job is to keep water supplies flowing at temperatures of minus 50 Celsius. 30-year-old Claire Lehman, a recently qualified Wiltshire GP, was posted to Rothera, on the western shore of the Peninsula.Like everybody else in Antarctica, both have had to learn brand new skills to help keep their Bases going. Mark finds himself abseiling down precipitous crevasses and learning to be a sea-ice driver's mate. Claire is refuelling planes and supplying all the field scientists with freshly baked Christmas Cakes.Producer: Chris Eldon LeeA Culture Wise Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b04v5r70)
Mary Costello - Academy Street
Episode 10
Mary Costello's acclaimed debut – which has been shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award - traces the arc of a quiet woman's life: from Tess Lohan's childhood in 1940s rural Ireland through to her emigration to America and a career as a nurse in New York.Carrying the sorrow for her loss deep within her, Tess returns to visit her family in Ireland – her first trip back since she left in 1962.Read by Niamh CusackWritten by Mary CostelloAbridged by Kirsteen CameronProduced by Kirsteen Cameron
SAT 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dqwyh)
The Great Providers
Prof Kathy Willis concludes her major new history series by asking how much plant biodiversity is worth, and examines new research into securing the future of our staple crops.Understanding the distribution, diversity and potential of plants for food, lay at the heart of the 18th century botanical impresario Joseph Banks' vision to "improve Britain's estates of the world". To secure future resilience of crops in today's world there's a growing need to conserve the closest wild relatives of our staple crops.Kathy Willis discovers, given climatic threats to some of our most substantial crops such as coffee - for which the industry currently depends on a single species, the economic value of wild relatives of today's domestic crops is considerable.And as we hear, some important future crops are still to be found from previously overlooked plants.With contributions from Richard Thompson, Business valuations partner at Price-Waterhouse Cooper; historian Jim Endersby; head of coffee research at Kew, Aaron Davis; Kew's head of yams Paul Wilkin.Producer Adrian WashbourneMusic for the series was composed by Mark Russell.
SAT 02:30 Lynne Reid Banks - The Backward Shadow (m00076s3)
Episode 5
Christmas has gone terribly wrong with David's illness, and Jane is furious that Toby isn't more helpful! But why is Dottie so upset?Lynne Reid Banks' sequel to The L-Shaped RoomDramatised by Juliet AceJane ...... Lynne SeymourDottie .....Rachel AtkinsToby ......John McAndrewHenry .... Simon LuddersFather .... Don McCorkindaleBilly Lee ...Lesley RooneyAlan ....... Keiron SelfMrs Stephens ...... Manon EdwardsDora ......Siriol JenkinsDirector: Alison HindellFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 n May 2005.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b04hc1r3)
Alan Johnson - Please, Mr Postman
Episode 5
In July 1969, while the Rolling Stones played a free concert in Hyde Park, future Cabinet Minister Alan Johnson and his young family left West London to start a new life. The Britwell Estate in Slough, notorious among the locals, came as a blessed relief after the tensions of London's troubled Notting Hill, and the local community welcomed them with open arms.Alan Johnson had become a postman the previous year and, in order to support his growing family, took on every bit of overtime he could, often working twelve-hour shifts six days a week. It was hard work, but not without its compensations – the crafty fag snatched in a country lane, the farmer's wife offering a hearty breakfast and even the mysterious lady on Glebe Road who appeared daily, topless, at her window as the postman passed by.Please, Mister Postman paints a vivid picture of England in the 1970s, where no celebration was complete without a Party Seven of Watney's Red Barrel, smoking was the norm rather than the exception, and Sunday lunchtime was about beer and bingo. But as Alan Johnson's life appears to be settling down and his career in the Union of Postal Workers begins to take off, his close-knit family is struck once again by tragedy.Epsiode 5:By 1982 Alan Johnson's union career is going from strength to strength with a position on the Executive beckoning. Work keeps him away from home and the Thatcher government at its height ensures life is tough for the union. But the biggest storm clouds transpire to be personal rather than political.Read by Alan JohnsonProducer: David RoperA Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 03:00 David Wade - Alexander (b007jx2n)
I am also Alexander
Alexander is used as a pawn in the war between his parents, and is educated by Aristotle.David Wade's six-part serial on the life of Alexander the GreatSpirit of Achilles ...... Barry FosterSpirit of Patroclus ...... Simon WardKing Philip of Macedon ...... Brian CoxAlexander ...... Michael MaloneyYoung Alexander ...... Sam CraneHephaistion ...... Alex JenningsYoung Hephaistion ...... Gary KingQueen Olympias ...... Geraldine JamesAristotle ...... John MoffatDemosthenes ...... Malcolm Sinclair Lysimachos ...... Keith DrinkelLeonidas ...... John WebbPtolemy ...... Julian Rhind-TuttPhilotas ...... Michael OnslowPusanias ...... James TelferMenapis ...... David ThorpeAristander ...... Barry GordonDemaratos ...... John EvittsMusic: Wilfredo AcostaDirector: Glyn DearmanFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1993.
SAT 04:00 It's Not What You Know (b01cwvbf)
Series 1
Episode 3
Miles Jupp hosts the show in which it's not what you know that matters, but who. And more importantly, how well you know them.Roisin Conaty, Ed Byrne and Richard Madeley nominate one of their intimate circle to answer a series of questions and they then have to second-guess how their nominees responded. Roisin picks her best friend, Caroline, Ed chooses his mum, Jill, and Richard Madeley opts for his daughter, Chloe - all with varying degrees of success.The panel also have to try and predict the responses of legendary football commentator, John Motson, as he is asked "what's your favourite film?", "what would you have been if you weren't a football commentator?" and "which other famous TV coat-wearer would you be? The Fonz, Columbo, or Paddington Bear?"Producer: Sam Michell.
SAT 04:30 Mr Finchley Goes to Paris (b007jzrh)
Episode 3
Edgar finally meets his client and visits a fair. But will this bring down the curtain on his visit?Starring Richard Griffiths as shy solicitor's clerk, Edgar Finchley.Lawrence Hume ...... Piers GibbonRobert Gillespie ...... James CohenMr Hammerton ...... Nicky HensonMarie Peters ...... Serena EvansMichel ...... Jeffrey HollandJerome Giraud ...... Simon RobertsRobert Gillespie ...... James CohenGaston ...... David HowarthNarrated by James Villiers.Written by Victor Canning and adapted for radio by Andy and Eric Merriman.Producer: Gareth EdwardsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in June 1994.
SAT 05:00 Secrets and Lattes (b060z7c5)
Series 2
All Change
It's the return of sisters Trisha and Clare and their Edinburgh coffee shop, Cafe Culture.Can they rise to the challenge of keeping the business going while coping with a missing chef and dealing with 20 year-old waitress, Lizzie falling off the kleptomania wagon?Throw in Trisha's married ex-boyfriend and Clare's absent husband and it's emotional carnage all round.Clare can't cope with change but Trisha positively craves it - praise the Lord for God-fearing Minty (June Watson), an eccentric but helpful customer who won't make a drama out of a crisis.Series two of Hilary Lyon's caffeine-fuelled sitcomTrisha ...... Hilary MacleanClare ...... Hilary LyonLizzie ...... Pearl ApplebyMinty ...... June WatsonDirector: Marilyn ImrieProducers: Gordon Kennedy and Moray HunterAn Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in July 2015.
SAT 05:30 The Absolutely Radio Show (m000747y)
Series 3
Episode 4
The hugely popular sketch show concludes its third series on BBC Radio 4. Pete Baikie, Morwenna Banks, Moray Hunter, Gordon Kennedy and John Sparkes revisit some of their much-loved characters, and also introduce some newcomers.Absolutely was a big hit on Channel Four in the late 80s and early 90s. In 2013, the group got back together for the Sketchorama: Absolutely Special for BBC Radio 4 - winning a BBC Audio Drama Award in the Best Live Scripted Comedy category. The Absolutely Radio Show followed, with the first two series picking up Celtic Media Award nominations for Best Radio Comedy, while the second series was also nominated for a BBC Audio Drama Award in 2018In the final episode of the series, Mr Muzak takes on his social media network’s algorithms, the Little Girl explains global warming and Stoneybridge Town Council discuss possible content for their brand-new Digital Information Board. The show also features two followers of Sober October revealing the rhyming activities they do for the other months of the year and we also find out far too much about Gwynned’s previous boyfriends.Written and Performed by: Peter Baikie, Morwenna Banks, Moray Hunter, Gordon Kennedy and John SparkesProduction Manager Sarah TomblingRecording Engineer Dave MurricaneEditor Pete BaikieProducer Gus BeattieProducer Gordon KennedyBBC Executive Sioned WiliamRecording Venue The Oran Mor, GlasgowAn Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:00 Stanley Houghton - Hindle Wakes (b0414dj7)
Lancashire, 1912: It’s Wakes Week in Hindle and Fanny Hawthorn has gone to Blackpool with her friend Mary.At least, that's what she tells her parents. But when the truth's revealed, that she’s been with wealthy mill owner's son Alan Jeffcote, then everybody has their own ideas as to what Fanny should do...Stanley Houghton’s classic Lancashire comedy was written in 1911, and revived by the Royal Exchange Theatre Company in Manchester in the 1990s.Fanny Hawthorn ...... Sophie StantonMrs Hawthorn ...... Bridget TurnerChris Hawthorn ...... Colin ProckterAlan Jeffcote ...... Nicholas GleavesMr Jeffcote ...... Ewan HooperMrs Jeffcote ...... Sue JohnstonSir Timothy Farrar ...... Brian RawlinsonBeatrice Farrar ...... Trilby JamesAda ...... Sarah KirkmanDirector: Kate RowlandFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1996
SAT 07:30 Roy Hudd - Stick a Geranium in Your Hat! (b016n7xs)
My Word You Do Look Queer
Love and marriage figure in the comic celebration of the words and music of renowned songwriters RP Weston and Bert Lee.Starring Roy Hudd as Bert Weston and Billy Dainty as Bert Lee.Devised and written by Roy Hudd.Musical arrangements by Ian Smith.Producer: Jonathan James-MooreFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in November 1982.
SAT 08:00 World Book Club (w3csyx65)
Tessa Hadley - The Past
Highly acclaimed British author Tessa Hadley talks to Harriett Gilbert about her award-winning novel - The Past.Recorded at the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival in the elegant surroundings of The Mathematical Institute, part of the university.Tessa skilfully evokes a brewing storm of lust and envy, the indelible connections of memory and affection, the fierce, nostalgic beauty of the natural world, and the shifting currents of history running beneath the surface of these seemingly steady lives.Over three long, hot summer weeks, four siblings and their children assemble at their country house for a family reunion, where simmering tensions and secrets come to a head.First broadcast on the BBC World Service in April 2019.
SAT 09:00 People Talking (b09ggc2f)
Fi Glover trawls the archives for intimate stories of the everyday, tracing how curated wartime spirit developed into today's unmediated snapshots of life, with the help of writer and lido supporter, Tanya Shadrick.From Olive Shapley's Mass Observation-inspired recordings in the 1930s and 40s, via Radio Ballads and Down Your Way, they arrive at the verbatim examples of 20th Century Vox and The Listening Project, charting the development from patronised 'ordinary folk' to the autonomy of contemporary voices.Producer: Marya BurgessMade for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in November 2017.
SAT 12:00 The Motion Show (m00076b9)
Series 5
Episode 1
From banning wasps to arts subsidies.Graeme Garden hosts the comedy debating show.With Gyles Brandreth, Steve Punt, Garry Bushell and Gina Yashere.Producer: Jane BerthoudFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2002.
SAT 12:30 The Goon Show (b00k7xd2)
The £50 Cure
Kenneth Connor takes Harry Secombe's place, as Ned picks up a lavish NHS prescription for his broken legs. From February 1959.
SAT 13:00 Flying Visits (Omnibus) (m0007cn5)
Leonardo is not on the horizonClaire Rushbrook stars as Hayleigh, a resourceful and conscientious care-worker pushed to the limits by a system that still relies on 15 minute homecare visits. It's not just Mr Ellison's ceiling that is in danger of collapsing.Omnibus written by Charlotte Bogard Macleod.Hayleigh ..... Claire RushbrookMr. Ellison ..... Karl JohnsonMel ..... Debbie KorleyChloe ..... Emily MeechanCouncillor ..... Paul HickeyDirector: David HunterFirst broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (m0007cn7)
Noel Fitzpatrick
Noel "The Supervet" Fitzpatrick chooses 'Stairway to Heaven' performed by Led Zeppelin and 'One' by U2.
SAT 14:15 Pam Ayres' Open Road (b007kdc9)
Series 1
Saffron Walden, Essex
Pam arrives in Essex to admire Audley End's restored country house kitchen and drops in on Wallace the stuffed lion at the Saffron Walden Museum.Series in which poet and raconteuse, Pam Ayres takes to the open road, visiting eight places in Britain to hear tales from the people who live there.Producer: Simon ElmesFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in December 2000.
SAT 14:45 Peter Tinniswood - Tales from the Backbench (b00764rh)
Series 2
The Campaign
Useless and forgetful MP, Sir Plympton Makepeace, recalls how he and his fellow candidates resolved to keep the General Election to themselves in the constituency of Witney Scrotum - and to plan their non-existent campaign from the snug bar of The Jug and Arlott.Starring Leslie Phillips.Written by Peter Tinniswood.Producer: Enyd WilliamsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2001.
SAT 15:00 World Book Club (w3csyx65)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Stanley Houghton - Hindle Wakes (b0414dj7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Roy Hudd - Stick a Geranium in Your Hat! (b016n7xs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Mike Walker - 2025 (b00j0hbm)
Episode 2
Olivia and Irena take a step closer to gaining access to illegal genetic engineering. But who can they trust?The conclusion of Mike Walker's futuristic two-part sci-fi serial.Irena ...... Alphonsia EmmanuelOlivia ...... Mona HammondDr Beth David ...... Daniela NardiniHenry ...... David YipAnno ...... Su-Lin LooiPraeger ...... John RoweDr Finzey ...... Alastair DansonKate ...... Rachel AtkinsThe Shopkeeper ...... Ravin J GanatraDirector: Sally AvensFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1998.
SAT 19:00 People Talking (b09ggc2f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Lee Mack and Friends at the Fringe (b007kltt)
Episode 1
BAFTA award-winning Lee Mack introduces a top line-up of fellow comics Dara Ó Briain, Alan Carr, Rhod Gilbert and Tim Minchin.Recorded at The Edinburgh Fringe.Producer: Will SaundersFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in August 2005.
SAT 22:30 Revolting People (b008ff6d)
Series 3
A Kiss Is Just a Kiss
Samuel turns his shop into a bar called Sam's place...and an old flame called Ingrid turns up.Sitcom set just before the American War of Independence.Written by Andy Hamilton and Jay Tarses.McGurk ...... Andy HamiltonSamuel ...... Jay TarsesCaptain Brimshaw ...... James FleetMary ...... Jan RavensJoshua ...... Tony MaudsleyEzekiel ...... Hugh DennisCora ...... Penelope NiceProducer: Paul Mayhew-ArcherFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2004.
SAT 23:00 4 Extra Stands Up (b0bfx20m)
4 Extra Stands Up at the Fringe 2018
Episode 1
Zoe Lyons hosts a night of comedy, introducing some of the best stand-up from 2018's Edinburgh Fringe Festival.From the largest arts festival in the world comes the finest selection of comedians. Some names you'll know, and there are others who'll be household names in the near future. If they don't become household names, well that's the Fringe for you, but they are all hilarious, unique and welcome at our party.Featuring: Evelyn Mok, Julia Sutherland, Terry Alderton, Janey Godley, Mickey Bartlett, John Hastings, Maisie Adams and Hal Cruttenden.Recorded live at BBC at the Edinburgh Festivals in the grounds of George Heriot's School, Edinburgh.A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4 Extra.