SATURDAY 10 AUGUST 2019

SAT 00:00 Planet B (b00j0hqr)
Series 1
The Smart Money
John and Medley are transported to a world of orgies and circuses, where the slaves seek a new leader.Ten-part series about a mystery virtual world.Written by Paul May.John ...... Gunnar CautheryLioba ...... Donnla HughesMedley ...... Lizzy WattsCerberus ...... Chris PavloTrader 1 ...... Janice AcquahTrader 2 ...... Robert LonsdaleWheeler ...... Paul RiderRegulator ...... Stephen CritchlowLyall ...... Inam MirzaFracta ...... Jill CardoOther parts played by the cast.Director: Jessica DromgooleMade for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in March 2009.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b0076kcy)
Risk
Matthew Parris takes a gamble on writer David Tremayne, journalist Melissa Kite and neurotic novelist Geoff Dyer.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 (b01kv7wq)
Sadie Jones - The Uninvited Guests
Episode 5
A horse and child unite the beleaguered party guests and the train crash survivors demand release.Dark secrets threaten to tear a family apart in Sadie Jones' country house drama set in Edwardian England - abridged by Alison Joseph.Concluded by Hattie Morahan.Producer: Gemma JenkinsMade for BBC Radio 4 Extra. First broadcast in 2012.
SAT 01:30 Men Against The Eiger (b07525kg)
Dougal Haston tells Jack Singleton about becoming the first Briton to climb the Eiger mountain of the Bernese Alps by the direct route on 25th March 1966.With Chris Bonnington and Ian McNaught-DavisProducer: Alex TurnbullFirst broadcast on the BBC Third Programme in May 1966
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b05wz911)
Owen Sheers - I Saw a Man
Episode 5
On a Nevada air base, Major Daniel McCullen is given a new mission. One which will have shattering consequences for the Turners."The event that changed all of their lives happened on a Saturday afternoon in June, just minutes after Michael Turner - thinking the Nelsons' house was empty - stepped through their back door."After the sudden loss of his wife, writer Michael Turner moves to London and develops a close friendship with the Nelsons, who live next door - Josh, Samantha and their two young daughters Lucy and Rachel. The family seem to represent everything Michael fears he may now never have: intimacy, children, stability and a family home. The new friendship at first seems to offer the prospect of healing, but then a catastrophic event changes everything.Owen Sheers' compelling story of the search for truth, the burden of secrets and the desire for redemption. It explores how our lives are interconnected, even in today's increasingly depersonalised, globalised world.Written by Owen SheersAbridged by Lauris Morgan-GriffithsRead by Mark BazeleyProducer: Mair BosworthFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
SAT 02:15 Hunting the Beagle (m0007dfz)
Episode 5
Dr Robert Prescott has sent for analysis of the samples from the ship they found buried in the Essex marshes.Could it be the HMS Beagle?Producer: Jeremy GrangeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2008.
SAT 02:30 Lynne Reid Banks - The Backward Shadow (m0007dg1)
Episode 10
After the fire, Jane and Dottie have cleaned up the shop but Henry's death brings a crisis to their lives.Conclusion of Lynne Reid Banks' sequel to The L-Shaped RoomDramatised by Juliet AceJane ...... Lynne SeymourDottie ...... Rachel AtkinsToby .........John McAndrewDora ......... Siriol JenkinsJohn ......... Trevor LairdMrs Stephens ... Manon EdwardsTed ............... Don McCorkindaleJoanna ......... Nickie RainsfordBilly Lee ...... Lesley RooneyDirector: Alison HindellFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 n May 2005.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b04hyvth)
Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh
Crisis Point
Drink and pills lead Tennessee Williams to crisis point. His troubled relationship with Frank Merlo is reflected in a new play, Sweet Bird of Youth.John Lahr's evocative biography of America's great playwright.Read by Damian Lewis with Trevor White as the voice of Tennessee Williams.With the voices of Elaine Claxton, Bettrys Jones and Ian Conningham.Abridged by Richard HamiltonProducer: Elizabeth AllardFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.
SAT 03:00 Trevor Lloyd - The MacGuffin (m0007dfv)
An homage to Alfred Hitchcock's script editor, Angus MacPhail, who - according to the film director - coined the name for the movie plot device, the MacGuffin.Trevor Lloyd's play takes place on the day of the Queen's Coronation in 1953.Angus MacPhail .... Ian McDiarmidRobert Hamer ... Peter BlytheKatrin Eisler .... Indira VarmaFrank .... Ben CroweMonique ... Alison PettittFreda .... Carolyn JonesJack ..... Bruce PurchaseGeoffrey .... Stephen CritchlowIsobel .... Liza SadovyPC .... Andrew HarrisonHitchcock..... Ewan BaileyDirector: Janet Whitaker.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2003.
SAT 04:00 It's Not What You Know (b01d2rz3)
Series 1
Episode 4
Miles Jupp presides over more relation revelations in the show where it's not what you know that matters, but who. And more importantly, how well you know them.Writer and broadcaster, Emma Freud, stand-up Tom Wrigglesworth and breakfast show host on BBC 6Music, Shaun Keaveny, each nominate one of their intimate circle to answer a series of questions and they then have to second-guess how their nominees responded. Emma picks her son, Jake, Tom his dad, Richard, and Shaun plumps for younger brother, Paul.Producer: Sam Michell.
SAT 04:30 Mr Finchley Goes to Paris (b007k00f)
Episode 4
Edgar and young Robert have been kidnapped - but is it a case of mistaken identity?Starring Richard Griffiths as shy solicitor's clerk, Edgar Finchley.Lawrence Hume ...... Piers GibbonRobert Gillespie ...... James CohenMr Hammerton ...... Nicky HensonMichel ...... Jeffrey HollandJerome Giraud ...... Simon RobertsRobert Gillespie ...... James CohenMarie Peters ...... Serena EvansJacques ...... David HowarthBaptiste Mignard ...... Albert WellingMadame Mignard ...... Jacqueline TongNarrated 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 (b061q92n)
Series 2
Off Piste
Clare has great expectations of expanding the Edinburgh coffee shop Cafe Culture, although her big sister Trisha has rather more pressing, personal matters on her mind.Lizzie harbours dreams of becoming a chef, while eccentric temporary cook Minty drives Clare to Health and Safety distraction.Can a good-looking man on a bike help save the day on a soaking wet Sunday when the team is faced with a sea of folk in kilts?Series two of Hilary Lyon's caffeine-fuelled sitcomTrisha ...... Hilary MacleanClare ...... Hilary LyonLizzie ...... Pearl ApplebyMinty ...... June WatsonCalum ...... Derek RiddellDirector: Marilyn ImrieProducers: Gordon Kennedy and Moray HunterAn Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in July 2015
SAT 05:30 Me and My Shadow (m0007b58)
By Georgia Pritchett. The Titter sisters are a mid-20th century comic duo playing the clubs. They can’t stand one another. A dark comedy - tantalisingly acerbic, witty and macabre, exploring the curse of being the eternal stooge.Miranda Richardson, star of Harry Potter and Blackadder, plays dark comedy monster and genius Joy. Jessica Gunning (Dr Who and BAFTA nominated film Pride) is Jane - the stooge with hate in her heart, revenge on her mind and a total sense of humour bypass.The drama marks a welcome return to Radio 4 for star comedy writer Georgia Pritchett, who says, "The play is an investigation, and also a celebration, of comedy, comedians, double acts and jokes." Georgia is a multi-award-winning comedy writer with four Emmys, three WGA awards and a BAFTA. She is co-executive producer and writer on the HBO multi Emmy-winning show Veep and writer and co-executive producer on HBO's show, Succession, now on its second series. She is also writing episodes of Avenue Five, Armando Iannucci’s latest series for television starring Hugh Laurie. Cast:Jane ... Jessica GunningJoy ... Miranda RichardsonRonnie/Ollie ... Adrian ScarboroughEric/M.C. ... Sam AlexanderPianist ... Simon TomlinsonDirected by Marilyn ImrieProduced by Catherine BaileyA Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:00 Patrick Carroll - Scattering Day (m0007k35)
Two young Irish singers meet: Aidan is part of the folk-rock revival and Joe is a traditional singer from Sligo. There's friendship and respect until their careers and affections diverge.Written by Patrick Carroll. Aidan ... Adrian DunbarJoe ... John KeeganMaurice ... Tony DoyleNandy ... Gerard McSorleyPatsey ... Sean RocksAnnie .... Jane WhittenshawColin .... Eric AllanDavidge ... Alan BarkerDr Booth ... David BannermanMegan... Joanna MyersCompere ... Richard PearceDirector: Pam BrightonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1991.
SAT 07:30 Roy Hudd - Stick a Geranium in Your Hat! (b016vk54)
Hush! Here Comes a Whizzbang
Love and war feature 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 (m0007k38)
Hilary Mantel - Bring Up the Bodies
British writer Hilary Mantel talks to Harriett Gilbert about her second novel exploring the life of Thomas Cromwell.Recorded at the Man Booker 50 Festival at the Southbank Centre in London, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the renowned prize.The double-Booker prize-winning writer Hilary Mantel discussing the second volume in her acclaimed series of novels about Thomas Cromwell. Bring Up the Bodies delves into the heart of Tudor history and the downfall of Queen Anne Boleyn whom King Henry VIII had battled for seven years to marry.First broadcast on the BBC World Service in August 2018.
SAT 09:00 Great Lives - 400 and Counting (b09hw6j5)
From Leon Trotsky to Morecambe and Wise - Matthew Parris on the rows, revelations and rank incompetence behind 400 editions of Great Lives.Deep in the summer of 2001, a new programme tiptoed out onto Radio 4. The concept was simple – book someone famous to talk about someone dead. Except there was a problem; famous people don’t talk much about someone else. In a world of the celebrity plug, getting voices to commit to a radio programme where they couldn’t talk about themselves was proving tough. Twelve slots to fill, and nobody signed up.400 episodes later …. Barbara Castle, Beryl Bainbridge, Bernard Manning, eventually everyone says yes. David Attenborough chose a man who first drew a flea, George Osborne the king who taxed the non-doms. Then there was Christopher Hitchens, so incensed by the presenter that he walked out. “You’re a bleeding Tory,” he said, “and always have been. Have you done? I have to be somewhere at one.”Matthew Parris and original series producer Miles Warde go behind the scenes to find out how Great Lives was born. Featuring material never previously played - nominators and experts about their hopes and fears; archive of original presenters Joan Bakewell and Humphrey Carpenter; plus a special selection of the very best of Great Lives. “There’s a joy in judging people by their choice of hero. It’s one reason Matthew Parris’s Great Lives series has run for 40 series.” Ben Preston, Radio Times editor, 2016.Programme extracts also to include: Penelope Keith on Morecambe and Wise; Michael Sheen on Philip K Dick; Grace Dent on Nancy Mitford; Brian Sewell on Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria; Maureen Lipmann on Cicely Saunders.Produced at BBC Bristol by Miles Warde.Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in December 2017.
SAT 12:00 The Unbelievable Truth (b04vk9np)
Series 14
Episode 1
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.Lloyd Langford, David O'Doherty, Susan Calman and Josh Widdicombe are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as penguins, spoons, dolls and letters.The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, the team behind Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.Produced by Jon NaismithA Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:30 Double Science (b012ry02)
Pilot
Teacher turmoil erupts at a Sixth Form College specialising in drama, when a new female head arrives determined to revitalise the science department.Incompetent science teachers Dr Colin Jackson and Dr Kenneth Farley-Pittman react in different ways to the arrival of Dr Alison Hatton.Pilot episode for the series written by and starring Ben Willbond and Justin Edwards.With Rebecca Front, Raza Jaffrey and Dustin Demri-Burns.Producer: Adam BromleyFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2007.
SAT 13:00 Curious Under the Stars (m0007k3b)
The Fruits of Gwyddno
A low tide reveals a sunken forest on the shores of Glan Don. And one of the trees bears forbidden fruit..More of the magical drama set in Glan Don, a mysterious village perched on the wild Welsh coast.Omnibus by Annamaria Murphy.Starring Sion Pritchard (Phoneshop), Emma Sidi (Pls Like) and Ifan Huw Dafydd (Gavin and Stacey).Gareth.... Sion PritchardDiane.... Emma SidiEmlyn..... Ifan Huw DafyddMegan.... Aimee Ffion EdwardsGwynn.... Matthew GravelleSeries created by Meic PoveyDirected by James Robinson and John NortonA BBC Cymru Wales Production first broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (m0007k3d)
Sir Michael Caine
Legendary actor Sir Michael Caine shares My Old Man's a Dustman by Lonnie Donegan and Comme D'habitude by Claude Francois.
SAT 14:15 Pam Ayres' Open Road (b007kdd4)
Series 1
Isle of Skye
Pam returns to the West Coast of Scotland to look for otters and to discover the aphrodisiac power of herrings.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 2000.
SAT 14:45 Peter Tinniswood - Tales from the Backbench (b00764w1)
Series 2
How Long, How Long?
Useless and forgetful MP, Sir Plympton Makepeace wonders why he allowed himself to be persuaded back into politics?Starring Leslie Phillips.Written by Peter Tinniswood.Producer: Enyd WilliamsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2001.
SAT 15:00 World Book Club (m0007k38)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Patrick Carroll - Scattering Day (m0007k35)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Roy Hudd - Stick a Geranium in Your Hat! (b016vk54)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Aldous Huxley - Brave New World (m0007k3h)
Episode 1
It's 2116 and Helmholtz Watson and Bernard Marx are token rebels in an irretrievably corrupted society where promiscuity is the norm, eugenics a respectable science, and the drug Soma freely available.Aldous Huxley's uneasy reflections of the future opens dramatised by Jonathan Holloway.Bernard ..... Justin SalingerHelmholtz ..... Jonathan CoyLenina ..... Pippa Bennett-WarnerThe Director ..... Anton LesserJohn ..... Milton LopesLinda ..... Karina FernandezFanny ..... Nicola FergusonHenry ..... Sam RixThe Warden ..... James LaileyMustapha Mond ..... Sean BakerGirl ..... Scarlett Brookes,Heliport Man ..... Brian ProtheroeDirector: David HunterFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.
SAT 19:00 Great Lives - 400 and Counting (b09hw6j5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Lee Mack and Friends at the Fringe (b007klvl)
Episode 2
BAFTA award-winning Lee Mack introduces another top line-up of fellow comics Andy Parsons, Tim Minchin, Lucy Porter, Alan Cochran and Jim OwenRecorded at The Edinburgh Fringe.Producer: Will SaundersFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in August 2005.
SAT 22:30 Funny From the Fringe (m0007lfb)
2019
Episode 1
Award-winning comedian, Catherine Bohart takes us on a journey to the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Across the series, Catherine gets amongst it, taking us from the big glitzy theatres to the sweaty underground venues where the best shows you've never heard of perform.This is the full Edinburgh Festival Fringe experience, but in your ears.A BBC Studios Production.
SAT 23:00 Richard Herring's Objective (b016wzrz)
Series 2
The Golliwog
'The golliwog' has been the cause of much controversy.Richard debates whether it's an object we should reclaim, or consign to the dustbin of history?Series in which Richard Herring tries to see whether controversial objects we've grown to hate can be reclaimed.With Emma Kennedy and Ava Vidal.Producer: Tilusha GhelaniFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2011.
SAT 23:30 Mark Watson Talks a Bit About Life (b04l0x01)
Series 1
Success
Multi-award winning comic Mark Watson attempts to answer the big questions and make sense of life, nimbly assisted by Tim Key and Tom Basden.Written and performed by Mark Watson, Tim Key and Tom Basden as they tackle academic and abstract topics.In this episode, Mark looks at "Success". Everyone wants to be successful, just as everyone wants to be loved, or have a big flashy car. But how do we actually measure success? Is it measured by how many things we have, how many swimming certificates are on our walls, whether or not we are Lionel Richie? Some people appear to be doing well in the world but are miserable. Other people don't have money, a good job or anything - but are happy.Is that, in fact, the true definition of success - to find contentment with whatever life brings you?Mark, Tim and Tom draw on modern definitions of success, and decide which ones are worthwhile. They look at successful people and those who have made a dog's dinner of life, to draw what conclusions they can.Mark Watson is a multi-award winning comedian - his awards include the inaugural if.comeddies Panel Prize 2006. He is assisted by Tim Key, winner of an Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2009, and Tom Basden who won the the if.comedy award for Best Newcomer in 2007.Producer: Lianne CoopAn Impatient production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in October 2014.