SATURDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2019

SAT 00:00 Daphne du Maurier - The Blue Lenses (b007k4rp)
Episode 2
Afer discovering she's able to see things that others can't, Marda West fears for her survival in this dangerous new world.The conclusion of Daphne du Maurier's two-part fantasy thriller exploring the darker aspects of human nature.Read by Emma Fielding.Produced and abridged by Gemma Jenkins.Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in 2007.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b0076mw8)
Boredom
Matthew Parris and his guests are inspired by boredom. With writers Brian Dooley, Matthew Sharpe and Susan Elderkin. From August 2004.
SAT 01:00 Wimsey (b007jvlj)
Unnatural Death
2. Death in Epping Forest
After another killing, Lord Peter Wimsey questions an evasive would-be divorcee.Ian Carmichael stars as the aristocratic sleuth.British gentleman detective Lord Peter Wimsey features in a number of detective novels and short stories by English crime writer, Dorothy L Sayers. Have Unnatural Death was first published in 1927.Classy and sharp-witted, aristocratic amateur sleuth Lord Peter Bredon Wimsey was born in 1890 and educated at Eton and Oxford, before serving in the military during the First World War.Ian Carmichael appeared as Lord Peter Wimsey for BBC Radio from 1973 to 1983, in addition to the BBC TV adaptations that were broadcast between 1972 and 1975.Adapted for radio in seven episodes by Chris Miller.Lord Peter Wimsey …. Ian CarmichaelMiss Climpson …. Ambrosine PhillpottsInspector Parker …. Gabriel WoolfMrs. Peasgood …. Betty CardnoMrs. Forrest …. Bridget McConnelSuperintendent Walmisley …. Godfrey KentonMrs. Gulliver …. Pauline LettsMiss Murgatroyd …. Madi HeddProducer: Simon Brett.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1975.
SAT 01:30 Going on the Gallopers (b011c222)
A portrait of the life, popular art and remarkable engineering of Carters Steam Fair. John Carter was interested in old machinery and fairground art. People began giving him gear and rides, or selling them to him when they retired, knowing he would keep them working.His obsession encompassed his family and now, a decade after his death, Carters Steam Fair, staffed by John's widow, his sons and many old friends, travels for 7 months of the year, and spends winter in the yard fettling, burnishing and painting.There are gallopers (no, not carousels) of extraordinary glamour and beauty, dizzying steam yachts and the amazing Chair -o - Planes. The family and workers live in exquisite 1940s art deco showmen's wagons, with cut-glass clerestories.Their set-up is different everywhere they go because they regard all this as art and architecture - that moves. Even their lorries are ancient and beautiful - This programme, recorded in their winter yard and on site while they work, captures the wild, bright, musical, oily beauty, and thoughtful philosophy, of the life of the steam fair.Producer: Julian MayFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2011.
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b053c3q9)
In Certain Circles
"You must solve yourself"
Endings and new beginnings, as Anna and Zoe realise what love is.Conclusion of internationally acclaimed Australian author Elizabeth Harrower's novel written in 1971 and finally published in 2015.This tale of love, class and freedom is set among the grand houses and lush gardens of Sydney Harbour just after the Second World War, following the lives of Zoe and Russell Howard.Charismatic and confident, the children of affluent and loving parents, they welcome into their circle two orphans, Stephen and Anna. It's a meeting that will resonate for decades.Reader: Penny DownieAbridger: Sally MarmionProducer: Justine WillettFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2015.
SAT 02:15 Five Hundred Years of Friendship (b03yqyz9)
When William Met Mary
Social networking appears to be expanding our circles of friendship just as our sense of community is contracting: Dr Thomas Dixon presents a timely history of how the meaning and experience of friendship have changed over the centuries.The famous 1989 film, When Harry Met Sally, crystallised for modern viewers the key question of whether a man and woman can truly be friends without any sexual element.This was a question which radical and educated people were beginning to ask in the 18th century, alongside its mirror image - can a husband and wife also be friends?Thomas Dixon traces the changing face of friendship and the new idea of "companionate marriage" during this era, through the linked histories of the feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and the radical philosopher William Godwin.With the help of the historian Barbara Taylor, he considers three moving stories: Mary's early friendship with Fanny Blood, of whom she declared: "To live with this friend is the height of my ambition"; the halting start, close friendship and devoted but tragically short marriage of Wollstonecraft with Godwin, who described their relationship as "friendship melting into love"; and the marriage of their daughter, Mary, who wrote of her desolation after the death by drowning of her husband, the poet Percy Shelley: "I have now no friend."Thomas Dixon brings together issues of friendship and marriage in this most contemporary of historical series.Producer: Beaty RubensFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2014.
SAT 02:30 Dave Sheasby - Shifting the Leaves (b007jtch)
Episode 5
In her quest to finally come to terms with her Cornish past, Marjorie gets help from some youngsters.Written by Dave Sheasby.Marjorie Beaumont ...... Elizabeth Bradley.Mrs Nugent ...... June BarrieMandy ...... Alison PettittTilson ...... Tristan SturrockProducer: David HunterFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1998.
SAT 02:45 Ricky Tomlinson - Ricky (m0008r28)
Episode 5
Concluding his autobiography, actor Ricky Tomlinson recalls how disaster followed TV success in 'Brookside' - until Jim Royle barged in.Producer: Liz WebbFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2003.
SAT 03:00 Classic Serial (b01hdyq0)
F Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
Episode 2
Nick has fallen in with the wealthy crowd on Long Island. His neighbour, Gatsby, asks Nick to engineer a meeting with his lost love, Nick's cousin, Daisy.Conclusion of F Scott Fitzgerald's seminal novel, a portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, is perhaps the greatest book on the fallibility of the American dream. Dramatised by Robert Forrest.Nick ..... Bryan DickGatsby ..... Andrew ScottTom ..... Andrew BuchanDaisy ..... Pippa Bennett-WarnerJordan ..... Melody GroveWolfsheim ..... Karl JohnsonKlipspringer/Michaelis ..... Sam DaleWilson/Gatz ..... Gerard McDermottMyrtle ..... Susie RiddellAlice ..... Amaka OkaforDirector: Gaynor MacfarlaneFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2012.
SAT 04:00 It's Not What You Know (b036kbm5)
Series 2
Episode 1
What is Frankie Boyle's worst habit? What is the best piece of advice Diane Morgan's dad ever gave her? Which government department did Alan Johnson most like being in charge of?All these questions, and more, will be answered in the show hosted by Miles Jupp, where panellists are tested on how well they know their nearest and dearest.In this case, Alan Johnson picks his son Jamie, Diane Morgan her father Peter and Frankie Boyle his mate Stuart to answer questions about each other.Producer: Sam Michell.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
SAT 04:30 Mark Tavener - In the Red (b007k0hz)
Episode 5
A crucial by-election result is due, as the murders continue - but reporter George Cragge is on the case.London is plagued by a series of bizarre murders of bank managers. Hot on the trail of the killer are an old-style Chief Police Inspector and BBC Radio's crime correspondent, George Cragge.A blackly humorous murder mystery set in the world of City finance, the BBC and political parties. Dramatised in seven-parts by Mark Tavener and Peter Baynham from Mark Tavener's novel.George Cragge ...... Michael WilliamsFrank Jefferson ...... Barry FosterGeoffrey Crichton-Potter ...... Stephen MooreHenry ...... Julian Rhind-TuttMax ...... Peter WoodthorpeController Radio 2 ...... Stephen FryController Radio 4 ...... John BirdDominic De'ath ...... Benjamin WhitrowHercules Fortescue ...... Nicholas Le PrevostAndrew James ...... Peter SerafinowczLaetitia ...... Victoria CarlingCaroline ...... Susie BrannHome Secretary ...... Peter YappAuntie Agony ...... Eva StuartController BBC 1 ...... Ian McNiecePA Woman ...... Annabel MullionWith Alice Arnold, Richard Turner and Tim Hope.Music by Paul MottramProducer: Paul SchlesingerFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.
SAT 05:00 Babblewick Hall (b01n6zrr)
Series 1
Episode 3
After a sermon from Parson Flinch on the dangers of worldly lusts, Fenton Babblewick finds himself smitten by the exquisite charms of Miss Lucinda Bluntstone.However, before any progress can be made Fenton must satisfy the terms and conditions of Lucinda's formidable mother which includes strict stipulations concerning the long-suffering Augustus Snipe - will this prove the end of an enduring master/servant relationship?Starring Nicholas Le Prevost as Fenton Babblewick and Forbes Masson as Augustus Snipe.Scott Cherry’s six-part sitcom set in the 18th-century.Fenton Babblewick ...... Nick Le PrevostAugustus Snipe ...... Forbes MassonBarney ...... David AntrobusJack ...... Sam KellyMolly ...... Gillian BevanFlinch ...... Maurice DenhamMrs Bluntstone ...... Liz SpriggsLucinda ...... Tracie BennettSmellie ...... David TimsonHartson ...... Geoffrey WhiteheadMusic by Paul Mottram.Producer: Paul SchlesingerFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1996.
SAT 05:30 Cooking in a Bedsitter (b09jcd4g)
Series 2
Green Pea Sandwiches
Beattie Edmondson and Nikesh Patel star in Sue Teddern's romantic comedy, inspired by Katharine Whitehorn's cookery classic. Deepak takes Trisha on an outing to Oxford. But it's not quite the punting and picnic she expects. Extracts from Cooking in a Bedsitter are read by Eleanor Bron.Directed by Emma Harding.
SAT 06:00 Peter Tinniswood (m0008x5q)
Stoker Leishman's Diaries
Frederick Leishman was the lower deck member of a British party which made a dash for the South Pole with fatal consequences for all except himself and his leader.For years his family have tried to get hold of the stoker's diaries, for they believe his account of the epic journey should be worth a fortune. It turns out to be a revelation.Robin Bailey stars as Stoker Leishman in Peter Tinniswood's drama.Frederick Leishman ....Robin BaileyMrs Bentall ... Shirley DixonDora .... Barbara MartenGordon .... Christian RodskaBarbara .... Liz GouldingEdgar ... Martin MatthewsDirector: Tony Cliff.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1981.
SAT 07:30 Mabey in the Wild (b02qd1s3)
Series 2
Yew, Sycamore And Ash
In the first of two programmes about British trees, Richard Mabey is in Hampshire to tell the natural and the cultural history of a selection of British trees.His journey takes him from Gilbert White's village of Selborne down into the New Forest. He gives an account of these favourite British trees not only in terms of what they have contributed to the landscape but what their uses have been and what part they have played in human history, mythology and religion.From the 3000 year old Yew to the recent resurgence of young elm after the devastation of Dutch Elm disease, this is also a fascinating glimpse of the tenacity and resilience of trees in the wild.Producer: Susan MarlingA Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2013.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b06q9xyh)
Lives in a Landscape
In 2005, Radio 4 broadcast the first in a series of observational documentaries about contemporary Britain. It was called Lives in a Landscape. It would focus on stories of individuals facing challenges, excitements and big changes in their lives, and those of their families and communities.Using the programme's archive, Alan Dein looks at what's changed – and unchanging – about Britain's social and physical landscape, from the lonely, depopulating island of Canna in Scotland, to the Cornish village that was about to be sold, lock, stock and barrel.The first ever Lives featured two very different sets of people: on one hand was Brian, ex-miner from Barnsley turned ratcatcher; on the other, a group of wealthy Londoners who'd met Brian on a Countryside Alliance march. They would go ratting together, they promised each other. And so they did; but what emerged were revelations that had nothing to do with long-tailed rodents.From the wealthy suburb of Clapham, just a few months before the financial crash, to the Hackney riots of 2011, Lives in a Landscape has observed changes on the streets of the capital. It's tracked the controversial installation of wind turbines in a Welsh beauty spot, the passionate pigeon-racers of inner-city Edinburgh and the fortunes of a Zimbabwean refugee musician trying to rebuild his formerly starry career in downtown Belfast. Other enthusiastic performers include the teenage schoolboy band Socio from Grimsby who face an uncertain future as the close friends prepare for their grown-up lives, and the Bath pub-crooner whose livelihood is threatened by heart disease...Alan Dein sets out to explore ten years of change as charted by one hundred editions of Lives in a Landscape.Producer: Simon ElmesFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
SAT 09:00 You're Entering Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone (m0008yx7)
October 1959, America was deep into the 'age of unease' as viewers took their first steps into 'another dimension, not only of sight & sound but of mind. Their 'next stop, The Twilight Zone.Through these doors of perception they have forever dwelled in stories of pixelated shadow and substance. A black & white realm presided over by a neat little man in a sharp suit whose perpetual cigarette smoke forever curls upwards as he ushers you into his realm. The aliens are among us and due on Maple Street but maybe we are the monsters? Are we on earth & is it dying? Where is everybody? Why are they vanishing & is that death hitching a ride or knocking at my door looking uncannily like Robert Redford. And why is Captain Kirk screaming at that thing on the wing that no one else can see?!Rod Serling, America's most famous television playwright, astonished people with his announcement that he was to explore the realms of science fiction and fantasy in a new anthology show. Like Dennis Potter starting up Dr Who. But Serling, an impeccable liberal haunted by war, racial strife & the possibilities of nuclear Armageddon smuggled stories of conscience, doubt and possibility into 5 seasons of a remarkable show that has never died & has been revisited for a fourth time with Jordan Peele as host. In truth, nothing can match a realm of the American weird that Serling made uniquely his own.In this special Radio 4 Extra documentary Alan Dein hears from Serling's family, veteran directors Richard Donner & John Frankenheimer, actors Earl Holliman (star of the first ever episode) & Jean Marsh as well as the writers Jonathan Lethem & David Thomson & Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker. 2 Twilight Zone radio episodes accompany the documentary.Producer Mark Burman
SAT 12:00 The Write Stuff (m0008qt8)
Series 3
1. Thomas Hardy
James Walton chairs the game of literary correctness testing Sebastian Faulks, John Walsh, Lynne Truss and Sue Limb.Author of the week: Thomas HardyReader: Beth Chalmers.Producer: Jon RolphFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2000.
SAT 12:30 Potting On (b00kmn18)
Stones
Pam and Gordon Grant are a couple at odds running a garden centre.While Pam still feels young, Gordon wants to dive, slippers first, into middle age. She wants to go to a rock gig, but he wants to join the bowls club.Let battle among the begonias commence!Starring Pam Ayres and Geoffrey Whitehead as Pam and Gordon Grant.With Trevor Bannister, Karl Theobald and Alex Tregear.Sitcom by Chris Thompson and Peter Reynolds.Producer Claire JonesFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2008.
SAT 13:00 Just a Woman (Omnibus) (m0008x5s)
Omnibus of the fifth series about Amy - just your average transgender child in the modern world.Now 18, Amy is ready to fly the nest and assert her independence, with new friends, a trip to Amsterdam and maybe some romance. It's exactly what many people look forward to as they reach adulthood. And then there's A level results when she gets back.This accessible new drama is inspired by real life experiences.Amy is packing for a trip to Amsterdam, with new best friend Rachel. Her family are trying very hard to stay calm, but not succeeding.Amy........................................Tigger BlaizeRachel......................................Rosa HesmondhalghGary........................................Don GiletCharlotte...................................Bettrys JonesTed.........................................Michael Garner Producer..............................Polly Thomas Script consultant...................Emily Joh Miller Production co-ordinator...........Lucy Duffield Executive Producer...............Joby Waldman Writer...............................Mark Davies Markham Piano played by Alfie DaviesA Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in five parts in 2019.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (m0008x5v)
George RR Martin
Game of Thrones author George RR Martin chooses ‘The Wayward Wind’ by Gogi Grant and ‘Ripple’ by The Grateful Dead.
SAT 14:15 With Great Pleasure (m0008x5x)
Brian Patten
One of the 1960s Liverpool poets Brian Patten chooses some of his favourite pieces of writing, including works by Robert Graves and Philippa Pearce. Readers: Christian Rodska and Alison Reid.Producer: Christine HallFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2008.
SAT 14:45 15 Minute Drama (b09jgnf8)
Holmes and Watford
Speed
Comedy about two policewoman crewing in a small village. For PC Sue Holmes policing is about keeping the peace but PC Tina Watford yearns for excitement and she'll stop at nothing to ensure some action. Today a speeding driver brings back painful memories of her schooldays for Sue.by Jon CanterDirected by Sally Avens
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b06q9xyh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Peter Tinniswood (m0008x5q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Mabey in the Wild (b02qd1s3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Doctor Who (b08w9346)
The Lost Stories: Point of Entry
Episode 1
The Sixth Doctor and his assistant Peri are aboard the TARDIS when it crash lands in Elizabethan England, as dark forces are preparing to invade Earth...An adventure originally written for the BBC's Doctor Who TV series but never made.Colin Baker stars as the Sixth Doctor.Peri ...... Nicola BryantKit Marlowe ...... Matt AddisVelez ...... Luis SoloIguano ...... Sean ConnollyTom ...... Tam WilliamsAlys ...... Gemma WardleSir Francis Walsingham ...... Ian BrookerWritten by Barbara Clegg and Marc Platt.Director: John AinsworthProducer: David RichardsonMade by Big Finish and reversioned for broadcast by BBC Radio 4 Extra.
SAT 19:00 You're Entering Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone (m0008yx7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Political Animals (b01m5nt0)
Series 1
Sybil
Sybil, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office 2007 to 2008, reflects on her troubled life with Gordon and Alistair.Series of scurrilous talks given by well-known, if unreliable, Downing Street cats, who relate their trials and tribulations under four different Prime Ministers.Starring Tracy Wiles.Written by Tony Bagley.Director: Marc BeebyFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2012.
SAT 22:15 Gus Murdoch's Sacred Cows (b00fl0jv)
Football
Incisive reporter Gus Murdoch focuses on the joys of lower league soccer.Written by and starring Stephen Carlin.With Neil Edmond, Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Stephen Carlin, Helen Longworth and Chris Pavlo.Producer: Tilusha GhelaniMade for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in November 2008.
SAT 22:30 The Museum of Curiosity (b068xwm7)
Coding Special
The Museum's Steering Committee discusses computers made with dominoes, praises the mother of all computer programs and reveals that the first computer bug was actually a moth.Professor of Ignorance John Lloyd and his newest new curator Sarah Millican welcome:- Matt Parker, who left Australia to teach maths in the UK before joining the Festival of the Spoken Nerd comedy group. He is a regular on Radio 4's The Infinite Monkey Cage, presents the Discovery Channel's You Have Been Warned and has shown off his Rubik's Cube skills on CBBC's How to Be Epic at Everything. His latest book Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension explores such topics as the fairest way to cut a pizza and the most efficient way to tie your shoelaces. Matt's favourite numbers are 496, 3,435 and 2,025.- Eben Upton, who in 2006 conceived the idea of the Raspberry Pi, a credit-card sized fully-programmable computer that went on sale in 2011 and has since sold more than 5 million, becoming the fastest-selling British personal computer in history. MIT has since named him one of the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35 and he has been awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal.- Sydney Padua, a Canadian graphic novelist and animator and who has worked on blockbuster movies such as The Illusionist, Clash of the Titans and John Carter as well as teaching at the Animation Workshop in Denmark and at the University of Middlesex. Most recently she has written and illustrated The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, a New York Times bestselling graphic novel in which 19th century computer pioneers Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage build a vast mechanical computer - and use it to fight crime for Queen Victoria.Researchers: Anne Miller and Stevyn Colgan of QI.Producers: Richard Turner and James HarkinA BBC Radio Comedy production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.
SAT 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m00092h2)
Flo and Joan 1/2
Jake Yapp is joined by the musical comedy duo Flo & Joan - who also sing for us!
SAT 23:00 Alice's Wunderland (b01l8n82)
Series 1
Episode 4
A trip round Wunderland, a poundland of magical realms. It's a kingdom much like our own, and also nothing like it in the slightest.Stay a while and meet waifs and strays, wigshops and witches, murderous pensioners and squirrels of this delightful land as they go about their bizarre business.A sketch show written and performed by Alice Lowe.Also starring Richard Glover, Simon Greenall, Rachel Stubbings, Clare Thompson and Marcia Warren.Producer: Sam BryantFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2012.
SAT 23:30 Ross Noble Goes Global (b007jvt7)
Series 1
Ireland
Travelling from rainy Sligo to busy Dublin, the comedian performs for the locals and learns to play the penny whistle - badly.Producer: Danny WallaceFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2002.