SATURDAY 16 MAY 2020

SAT 00:00 Ghost Stories of Walter De La Mare (b00wwd8m)
The Almond Tree
A man looks back on the complex relationship between his parents and a female friend of his father's. It's one that will influence the rest of his life...
Read by Julian Wadham.
Walter de la Mare (1873-1956) was a popular award-wining poet, short story writer and novelist. He wrote for both children and adults.
Abridged by Doreen Estall.
Producer: Lawrence Jackson
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in December 2010.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b0076wzf)
Crime Sells
Victoria Coren discusses the morality of crime writing with Will Self, Martin Short and Maxim Jakubowski. From February 2006.
SAT 01:00 Len Deighton - XPD (m000j3k1)
8. Expedient Demise
Stein and Colonel Pitman are making their getaway with the Hitler papers when Pitman is struck down - and a Swiss agent picks them up.
Can Boyd Stuart get to Switzerland in time to collect them..?
Conclusion of Len Deighton’s riveting thriller drramatised by Michael Bakewell.
Boyd Stuart ...... Trevor Nichols
Charles Stein: ...... Bruce Boa
Max Breslow: ...... Bernard Hepton
Willi Kleiber: ...... Clifford Rose
Shumuk: ...... George Coulouris
Ivan: ...... David Garth
Koch: ...... Garard Green
Case officer: ...... Alan Thompson
Mary Breslow: ...... Helena Breck
Parker: ...... Colin Starkey
Billy Stein: ...... Ian Tyler
Kalkhoven: ...... Stuart Milligan
Jennifer: ...... Jenny Funnell
Producer: Peter King
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1985
SAT 01:30 Father Brown Stories (b0081lvr)
Series 2
Actor and Alibi
A theatrical murder amid much back-stabbing is announced in the Chop-House. Father Brown finds himself in the midst of a School for Scandal.
Stars Andrew Sachs as Father Brown.
GK Chesterton's stories of an amateur clerical sleuth with an uncanny understanding of the criminal mind at work.
Father Brown ...... Andrew Sachs
Mundon Mandeville ...... Peter Jeffrey
Mrs Mandeville ...... Sheila Grant
Inspector Bagshaw ...... Bill Wallis
Ashton Jarvis ...... David Brierly
Norman Knight ...... Charles Baillie
Lady Miriam Talbot ...... Fleur Chandler
Miss Maroni ...... Karen Ascoe
Mrs Sans ...... Pauline Letts
House Manager ...... Jonathan Scott
Dramatised by John Scotney
Directed at BBC Bristol by Alec Reid.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1986.
SAT 02:00 The 3rd Degree (m0007k6j)
Series 9
St Catharine’s College, Cambridge
A funny and dynamic quiz show hosted by Steve Punt - this week from St Catharine's College, Cambridge, with specialist subjects including Geography, French and Veterinary Medicine and questions ranging from French gender to horse teeth via James Bond and Dick Dastardly.
The programme is recorded on location at a different University each week, and it pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors in an original and fresh take on an academic quiz.
The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds and the Highbrow and Lowbrow round cunningly devised to test not only the students' knowledge of current affairs, history, languages and science, but also their Professors' awareness of television, sport, and quite possibly Ed Sheeran. In addition, the Head-to-Head rounds see students take on their Professors in their own subjects, offering plenty of scope for mild embarrassment on both sides.
Other Universities featured in this series include Royal Holloway University of London, Aberdeen, Plymouth, Brighton and Oxford Brookes.
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2019.
SAT 02:30 1835 (b012mbjv)
Down at the Old Bull and Bush
Belport falls in love with renowned music-hall artiste Emilia La Rue. But can he prise her away from Svyatislav the strong man? Probably not.
Comic saga of an aristocrat and his servant who struggle to find things to do in the mid- 1830s.
Belport ...... Paul Rider
Ned ...... Jason Done
Danvers ...... Roy Barraclough
The Great Fettuccine ...... Simon Greenall
Emelia ...... Sue Cleaver
Written and directed at BBC Manchester by Jim Poyser.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2004.
SAT 03:00 Virginia Woolf - Night and Day (b0076fym)
Episode 2
Katharine Hilbery is engaged to the eminently suitable, if faintly ridiculous, William Rodney. They’ve gone to Katharine's cousins in Norfolk for Christmas, where things are not going well.
Meanwhile, Katharine's secret admirer, solicitor and aspiring writer Ralph Denham has also gone to Norfolk for Christmas, at the invitation of Suffrage campaigner Mary Datchet. Mary’s been carrying a torch for Ralph, whilst wrestling with her desire for an independent life...
Narrator Kristin Scott Thomas concludes Virginia Woolf's comic novel set in pre-first world war London, challenging all assumptions about the nature of love.
Ralph Denham .... Jamie Glover
Katharine Hilbery ...... Dervla Kirwan
Mary Datchet .... Susannah Corbett
William Rodney.... John MacKay
Mrs Hilbery..... Phyllida Nash
Mrs Seal..... Jacqueline Tong
Aunt Millicent..... June Barrie
Cassandra Otway ...... Rebecca Smart
Dramatised by Lavinia Greenlaw.
Produced at BBC Bristol by Kate McAll
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2003.
SAT 04:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m000j3k5)
Eurovision, Prison, and Parenting
Amanda Litherland and Greg Cochrane recommend a selection of podcasts, including great new releases, podcasts for new parents and podcasts celebrating Eurovision.
Recommended this week:
James Acaster's Perfect Sounds (BBC Sounds)
Dom Joly's Earworm (Audible)
Prison Bag (Falling Tree)
Son of a Hitman (Spotify)
True Spies (Cup & Nuzzle)
Over The Road (Radiotopia)
Parenting Podcasts:
Crib Notes
Nappy Days
Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe's Lockdown Parenting Hell
Eurovision/European Podcasts:
Vision Again
Second Cherry
The Nordic Podcast
Britalian
SAT 05:00 Electric Ink (b01kkqc9)
Series 2
Episode 6
Maddox's future is uncertain as a rather shady character plans to buy the newspaper.
Alistair Beaton and Tom Mitchelson's comic satire set in the struggling world of newspapers.
A group of dysfunctional journalists attempt to cover major news stories whilst grappling with the demands of a multi-platform environment, as circulation figures plummet as the recession means half the workforce is laid off.
Maddox ..... John Sessions
Oliver ..... Alex Jennings
Freddy ..... Stephen Wight
Carol ..... Polly Frame
Masha ..... Debbie Chazen
Andrei Zinoviev ..... Ewan Bailey
Steward ..... Adeel Akhtar
Producer: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2011.
SAT 05:30 Just a Minute (b07bbd50)
Series 75
Episode 1
Nicholas Parsons and guests return for the 75th series of the panel show where participants must try to speak for 60 seconds without hesitation, deviation or repetition. No repetition? That's no small order after nearly 50 years.
Paul Merton, now the second most prolific player of the game after Kenneth Williams, will be joined by guests including series regulars Josie Lawrence, Sheila Hancock, Marcus Brigstocke and Gyles Brandreth. Comedian Alexei Sayle, and Broadcaster of the Year John Finnemore make their first appearances.
Episode one features Paul Merton, John Finnemore, Gyles Brandreth and Sheila Hancock talking about such diverse topics as Halley's Comet, Carbon Dating and Answering the Telephone.
Hayley Sterling blows the whistle.
Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
SAT 06:00 Winston Graham - The Little Walls (b076wbmj)
Philip has returned to Europe from America after his brother appeared to commit suicide in Amsterdam.
His search for the truth takes him from England to Holland and Italy...
Winston Graham's novel was the first winner of the Crime Writers' Association award for best crime novel of the year in 1955.
Dramatised by Juliet Ace.
Philip Turner ...... Alex Jennings
Martin Coxon ...... Roger Lloyd Pack
Leonie Winter ...... Kate Buffery
Charlotte Weber ...... Vivian Pickles
Captain Sanbergh ...... Norman Jones
Hermina Maas ...... Helen Cooper
Van Renkum ...... Terence Edmond
Tholen ...... Timothy Morand
With Eric Allen, Ronald Herdman, Siriol Jenkins, Cassie McFarlane, Neil Roberts, David Sinclair, Matthew Sim and Auriol Smith.
Producer: Ned Chaillet
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1991
SAT 07:30 Great Lives (b04jk3qm)
Series 34
Professor Edith Hall on Lucille Ball
Matthew Parris discovers that Edith Hall, Professor of Classics at King’s College, London, has a surprising nomination for a Great Life – that of Lucille Ball, the vivacious redhead who in the 1950s and 1960s was one of the best-known and best-loved actresses on television, both in the United States and here.
What makes a professor of Greek and Roman writing such a great fan of a zany American actress? What was Lucy like behind the television persona? Matthew finds out in the company of Carole Cook, Lucy’s long-time friend and protégée.
Producer Christine Hall
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
SAT 08:00 Counterpoint (b00jrnw6)
Series 23
2009 Heat 7
Paul Gambaccini chairs the general knowledge music quiz.
The questions cover every aspect of music - from the classical repertoire to world music, show tunes, film scores, jazz, rock and pop.
Three contestants battle it out:
David Dean from London
Gillian Hensley-Gray from Croydon
Peter Whitehead from Bromley, Kent
Producer: Paul Bajoria
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2009.
SAT 08:30 The Change (b0076p6t)
Series 3
Episode 4
With George's big birthday looming, he gets two surprises - one from his wife and the other from his mother.
Carol …. Lynda Bellingham
George …. Philip Jackson
Violet ...... Marcia Warren
Maureen …. Maureen Beattie
Ken …. James Vaugnan
Sonia …. Emma Kennedy
Jerry …. Barnaby Kay
Dave …. Mark Powley
Nurse ...... Rosie Armstrong
Series 3 of the sitcom about a married couple's attempts to smooth over their singularly troubled midlife funk - Carol is hormonal and 15-stone George is a transvestite. Onlookers can't quite agree on the nature of their dynamic.
Written by Jan Etherington and Gavin Petrie.
Producer: Elizabeth Freestone
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2004.
SAT 09:00 The Mastertapes Guide to Writing the Perfect Song (m000j8wb)
Paul McCartney, Emeli Sande, Randy Newman, Elvis Costello, Lily Allen, Corinne Bailey Rae, Paul Weller, Ray Davis, Benjamin Clementine, Sinead O’Connor and many more leading musicians give a masterclass in the art of songwriting.

John Wilson has talked to 45 acclaimed songwriters for BBC Radio 4's series Mastertapes. In each episode, recorded with an audience of fans at the BBC Maida Vale Studios, the guest focuses a key album from their career, describing in detail how dozens of much loved hit songs were written.

Now the Mastertapes guests are brought together to offer a unique how-to guide to writing the perfect song. Sir Paul McCartney demonstrates the building blocks of songwriting, reveals how a chord ‘borrowed’ from a Picasso painting became the basis of a collaborative composition with Kanye West. McCartney also talks candidly about his songwriting partnership with John Lennon in The Beatles. Suzanne Vega and Emeli Sandé remember - and try to play - the very first songs that they wrote as children.

Ray Davies reveals how the character studies he created for his songs with The Kinks - including Dedicated Follower Of Fashion - were based on real people. Paul Weller breaks down the words and chords to A Town Called Malice, and remembers how, as a younger songwriter, he would ritually destroy his latest lyric books after completing a new album. Randy Newman offers unique insight into the art of songwriting for the big screen, showing how the bittersweet sentiments of You’ve Got A Friend In Me from Toy Story won him an Oscar.

Presented and produced by John Wilson.

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
SAT 12:00 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b084xgvn)
Series 8
The Boy Who Ran Away From The Circus
On a Glasgow rooftop, a former Circus trapeze artist and a sad and misunderstood young man become connected by circumstance and a shared experience of life, as each tells his story.
TV sitcom star Scott Hoatson joins Stanley Baxter in another story written especially for him by award winning TV writer Michael Chaplin.
Recorded on Stanley’s 90th birthday in 2016 marking 77 years of his work in broadcasting.
Tam ..... Stanley Baxter
Robbie ... Scott Hoatson
Director: Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2016.
SAT 12:30 London Calling (b05ndzw7)
In the Beginning
The man behind TV hits Dad's Army and Hi-De-Hi - Jimmy Perry's star-packed comedy about the early wireless days of the BBC.
Back in 1922, when a microphone jammed if a speaker talked too loudly, the letters of praise and complaint flooded in.
Then a new Director-General, John Brown, came to take over the British Broadcasting Company.
John Brown ...... Graham Crowden
Colonel Beecham ...... Jimmy Perry
Fred "Keep 'em Laughing" Hicks ...... Roy Hudd
Sergeant Lucas ...... Bill Pertwee
Roger Eccles ...... Jeffrey Holland
Miss Nightingale ...... Joanna Munro
Arthur ...... Toby Longworth
Admiral Carpenter ...... Peter Cellier
Jeffrey Stainton ...... Chris Luscombe
Bobby Bright ...... Leonard Kirby
Phyllis Godfrey ...... Amanda Bellamy
Rex Murray ...... Logan Murray
Music by Roy Moore.
Producer: Jo Clegg.
First broadcast nightly on BBC Radio 2 in September 1994.
SAT 13:00 Father Brown Stories (b00f0sgw)
Series 2
The Perishing of the Pendragons
Mystery afloat as a Cornish family's curse starts to unravel. Who will come into his rightful inheritance - and will Father Brown be in time to avert a tragedy?
Stars Andrew Sachs as Father Brown.
GK Chesterton's stories of an amateur clerical sleuth with an uncanny understanding of the criminal mind at work.
Father Brown ...... Andrew Sachs
Flambeau ...... Olivier Pierre
The Admiral ...... Edward Kelsey
Sir Cecil Fanshaw ...... Brian Hewlett
Tregear ...... Keith Kraushaar
Tommy/Walter ...... James Goode
Dramatised by John Scotney
Directed at BBC Bristol by Alec Reid
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1986
SAT 13:30 Father Brown Stories (b00f0sgy)
Series 2
The Arrow of Heaven
An American millionaire safe in his fortress, death threats, a murky past and a bolt from the blue. Father Brown, on his first visit to the United States, unravels the mystery and exposes thereby a mire of hypocrisy.
Stars Andrew Sachs as Father Brown.
GK Chesterton's stories of an amateur clerical sleuth with an uncanny understanding of the criminal mind at work.
Father Brown ...... Andrew Sachs
Barnard ...... Ed Bishop
Harris ...... Guy Gregory
Wendell ...... Andrew Branch
Norman Drage ...... Sean Prendergast
Brander Merton ...... Richard Durden
Peter Wayne ...... Johnny Myers
Matt ...... Harry Towb
Customs Officer ...... Tim Reynolds
Dramatised by John Scotney
Directed at BBC Bristol by Alec Reid.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1986.
SAT 14:00 Father Brown Stories (b007jp3p)
Series 2
The Mistake of the Machine
A suspect is locked away, but has a prison governor got the right man? Can Father Brown discover the answer as he makes his way across America?
Stars Andrew Sachs as Father Brown.
GK Chesterton's stories of an amateur clerical sleuth with an uncanny understanding of the criminal mind at work.
Father Brown ...... Andrew Sachs
O'Connor ...... TP McKenna
McGurk ...... Billy Boyle
Usher ...... Don Fellows
Prisoner ...... Brian Haines
Todd ...... Ed Bishop
Butler ...... Manning Wilson
Convict ...... Stuart Organ
Dramatised by John Scotney
Directed at BBC Bristol by Alec Reid.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1986.
SAT 14:30 Father Brown Stories (b007jp44)
Series 2
The Curse of the Golden Cross
What do an itinerant gambler, an English lady, a steward, a vicar and a professor have in common? And who has the right to it? Father Brown finds the answer.
Stars Andrew Sachs as Father Brown.
GK Chesterton's stories of an amateur clerical sleuth with an uncanny understanding of the criminal mind at work.
Father Brown ...... Andrew Sachs
Professor Smail ...... Tim Reynolds
Mr Tarrant ...... Peter Marinker
Lady Diana ...... Natasha Pyne
Leonard Smythe ...... Peter Wickham
Steward ...... Terry O'Brien
Driver ...... Jonathan Tafler
Doctor ...... Eric Stovell
Dramatised by John Scotney
Directed at BBC Bristol by Alec Reid.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1986.
SAT 15:00 Father Brown Stories (b0081lvr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 01:30 today]
SAT 15:30 A Good Read (b00qvm1h)
Kenneth Cranham and Adam Nicolson
Actor Kenneth Cranham and writer Adam Nicolson join Sue MacGregor to discuss their favourite paperbacks by David Niven, Helen Thomas and John Lahr.
Sue MacGregor - The Moon's a Balloon by David Niven
Publisher. Penguin
Adam Nicolson - Under Storm's Wing by Helen Thomas
Publisher. Carcanet
Kenneth Cranham - Prick up Your Ears by John Lahr
Publisher. Bloomsbury
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2010.
SAT 16:00 Winston Graham - The Little Walls (b076wbmj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Great Lives (b04jk3qm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (b0076nlx)
The Tertiary Phase
Fit The Sixteenth
Arthur Dent has been diverted from arriving at the Longest Party Ever Held to find himself in a sinister labyrinth, leading him to a subterranean Cathedral of Hate in which a fifty-foot high statue of himself is depicted causing harm to various creatures. It turns out that the organisms that he has inadvertently been killed - and/or eaten - throughout his life have all been the same person, reincarnated over-and-over again, only to be killed - over and over again - by Arthur. Its last, most desperate incarnation, one it had to fight for, and one which gives it a last chance for revenge against his tormentor, is as a four-foot fruitbat with an orthodontic condition called Agrajag. Can Arthur escape Agrajag’s clutches and get to the party?
The Book …. William Franklyn
Arthur Dent …. Simon Jones
Ford Prefect …. Geoff McGivern
Marvin …. Stephen Moore
Trillian …. Susan Sheridan
Zaphod Beeblebrox …. Mark Wing-Davey
Slartibartfast …. Richard Griffiths
Thor …. Dominic Hawksley
Agrajag …. Douglas Adams
Award Winner …. Bob Golding
Woman with the Sydney Opera House Head …. Joanna Lumley
Party Doorman …. Paul Wickens
Written by Douglas Adams
Music by Philip Pope and Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens
Adapted and Directed by Dirk Maggs
Produced by Helen Chattwell and Bruce Hyman
An Above the Title production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in October 2004.
SAT 18:30 The Man in Black (b00h31fd)
Series 1
Hide and Seek by Mike Carey
With her eyes bandaged, Amelia Stowe lies confined to a bed recovering from a major operation. With recuperation stretching before her, she agrees to take part in a psychiatrist's experiment to unlock early memories. But a chilling voice from the past come backs to haunt her...
Mike Carey's tale is introduced by Mark Gatiss as sinister raconteur, The Man in Black.
Stars Abigail Hollick as Amelia Stowe, Joseph Millson as Doctor Bewlay, Janice Acquah as Nurse Sargent, Stephen Critchlow as the Demon and Jill Cardo as Amelia's Mother
Horrifying series of tales from The Man in Black. You might meet him at a luggage carousel in an airport, or behind the desk at an employment agency or he might approach you in the corridor of a care home.
Wherever you encounter him, he's eager to pass on his stories. Stories to unsettle and horrify. Stories to haunt you.
The Man In Black first appeared in the 1940s as the chilling voice who introduced a series of terrifying radio dramas. He returned on Radio 4 in the 1970s and then again in the late 80s/early 90s.
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2009.
SAT 19:00 The Mastertapes Guide to Writing the Perfect Song (m000j8wb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 The Boosh (b007jmfm)
Jungle
Howard and Vince set out to find the zoo's former owner Tommy. Stars Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. From October 2001.
SAT 22:30 And Now in Colour (b00804kc)
Series 2
Astronaut Training
The sketch team take the audience to Nevada for selection by NASA. Stars Tim de Jongh and William Vandyck. From February 1991.
SAT 23:00 That Mitchell and Webb Sound (b00mk7rn)
Series 4
Episode 4
A visit to Britain's only sanctuary for balloon animals. Stars David Mitchell and Robert Webb. From September 2009.
SAT 23:30 Earls of the Court (b00rp1dt)
The Hangover
Is Lloydie ready for what is coming when Johnno makes a hungover, life-changing decision? Stars Stewart Wright. From March 2010.
SAT 23:45 Foley and McColl: The Interview (b0076dcq)
For You the War is Over
Has Sean's hobby of historical re-enactment gone too far? With Sean Foley, Hamish McColl and Michael Parkinson. From March 2003.