SATURDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2021

SAT 00:00 Simon Bovey - The Voice of God (b007jwlh)
5. Can You Hear That
Conclusion of Simon Bovey's sci-fi thriller set in Australia. The Colonel plans to fire the sonic weapon and risk a global catastrophe.
Joshua....................................................Matthew Dyktynski
Sam..........................................................Clare Corbett
Nick..........................................................David Tho
Walker/ Chairman..............................Geoffrey Beevers
American/ Soldier 2...........................Gerard McDermott
Scientist 2...............................................John Cummins
Soldier 1/ Scientist 1..........................Delroy Brown
Soldier.....................................................Nick Sayce
Paxton......................................................Sophie Roberts
Written by Simon Bovey
Producer Marc Beeby
First broadcast on BBC 7 in February 2006.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b011zzhl)
Pleasure and Pain of Public Transport
The three contributors to this edition of Off the Page are all seasoned travellers who know very well both the pleasures and the pain of public transport.
Ian Marchant wanted to write a book about inland waterways but was persuaded to write about trains instead and while researching that he fell in love with the idea of the railway.
The poet Lavinia Greenlaw made a sound installation based on comments overheard at a station.
Writer and broadcaster Simon Fanshawe has never owned a car.
Presenter Dominic Arkwright reveals a loathing for public transport and claims he will go to any length to avoid it.
Producer Paul Dodgson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2011.
SAT 01:00 Wimsey (b007jvl0)
Clouds of Witness
7. The Barometer Falls
Lord Peter Wimsey probes the whereabouts of his brother on the night of the murder - and Mary takes the stand...
Ian Carmichael stars as the aristocratic sleuth.
Dorothy L Sayers' detective mystery dramatised by Peter Jones and Tania Lieven
Lord Peter Wimsey …. Ian Carmichael
Bunter …. Peter Jones
Inspector Parker …. Gabriel Woolf
Lady Mary Wimsey …. Maria Aitken
Sir Impey Biggs …. Brian Oulton
Grimethorpe …. Bill Wallis
Mrs Grimethorpe …. Elizabeth Proud
Jake …. David Sinclair
Freddie Arbuthnot …. Nigel Lambert
Sir Wigmore Rinsing …. Garard Green
Benson …. John Forrest
Producer: Simon Brett.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1974.
SAT 01:30 Colvil and Soames (m000zkz3)
Series 1
A Matter of Judgement
The intelligence officers delve further into the mystery that is Donna – and are concerned for Mrs Wedlock. With Amanda Redman.
SAT 02:00 Tom Stoppard: A Life by Hermione Lee (m000n6qg)
On Leopoldstadt
Hermione Lee's vivid biography of one of our finest playwrights Tom Stoppard concludes. Today, attention turns movingly to Leopoldstadt, his most recent play, where he reflects on his family and the Holocaust.
Tom Stoppard is among British theatre’s giants and in Hermione Lee's evocative and immersive biography we come to know the man and his work. Since 1964 Stoppard has been writing for the theatre, big screen, television, and radio,. His plays are among the most studied of the last century.
Hermione Lee is one of our leading literary biographers, and with access to private papers, diaries and letters, interviews with the playwright's friends, and Stoppard himself she has created an intimate portrait of the writer. Here we learn of his formative years as a young child forced to flee Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia; growing up in India and then England; his activism and campaigning on behalf of Eastern European and Soviet prisoners of conscience; the influence of, and his friendship with Vaclav Havel., and always his work, the writing, rehearsing, casting and his ever present humour.
Sir Tom Stoppard remains at the forefront of British theatrical life. His most recent, personal and highly acclaimed play, Leopoldstadt, fell victim to Covid-19, when its run in the West End was suspended in March, 2020.
Reader Alex Jennings
Abridged in five parts by Katrin Williams
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2020.
SAT 02:15 Welsh Fargo by Sir Harry Secombe (m000zkzl)
10. Finder's Keepers
Heroes and villains emerge as Panteg’s weirdest night draws to a close.
Sir Harry Secombe concludes his own tale about the goings-on in a remote Welsh mining village.
Abridged by Elizabeth Proud.
Producer: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1982.
SAT 02:30 The Art of the Nation (b04cb9h2)
Fathers and Sons
Most of the nation's greatest works of art are in our museums and galleries, but there are also thousands of significant works – some valuable, some not - in homes across the country.
BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz discovers extraordinary stories behind the art-works on our domestic walls or shelves, and the tales they tell about our nation - an unwritten biography charting ups and downs, highs and lows.
In this edition, Will looks at art passed from fathers to sons. Many art-works - and the tales behind them - are handed down in this way, and the programme includes the story of how Luke, son of celebrated artist Mark Gertler, began to understand his father's life through the art he now owns.
Producer Neil George
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2014.
SAT 03:00 Wilkie Collins - No Name (b007jryr)
6. December 1847
Magdalen Vanstone searches for a letter that might win back her inheritance.
Conclusion of Wilkie Collins’ novel dramatised by Ray Jenkins.
Magdalen Vanstone ...... Sophie Thompson
Captain Wragge ...... Jack May
Miss Garth ...... Kathleen Helme
Norah Vanstone ...... Elizabeth Mansfield
Mrs Wragge ...... Vivian Pickles
Pendril ...... John Moffatt
Admiral Bartram ...... Alan MacNaughtan
George Bartram ...... Christopher Scott
Louisa ...... Susan Sheridan
Loscombe ...... Christopher Good
Mrs Ruddock ...... Joanna Mackie
Captain Kirke ...... Robin Ellis
Mazey ...... Peter Tuddenham
Mrs Drake ...... Jo Manning Wilson
Dr Merrick ...... David Goudge
Narrator ...... Philip Sully
Music by Peter Brewis and played by Maurice Cambridge.
Director: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1989.
SAT 04:00 The Food Quiz (b0076n4w)
Series 2
Episode 6
Journalist and food critic, Jay Rayner puts four gastronomes through their culinary paces.
Wine writer Jancis Robinson, wild man Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, chef Alastair Little and restaurateur Ruth Watson are set for a good grilling.
Issues for digestion include what a Fat Rascal is, who spent £67,000 on a new oven, and where dried tuna sperm is served as a delicacy.
Producer: Rebecca Wells
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2004.
SAT 04:30 Ballylenon (b007tcbg)
Series 3
Episode 4
A job offer for the Reverend Hawthorne raises Ms Boal's expectations.
Series set in the sleepy town of Ballylenon, Co Donegal, in 1953, before the days of mass tourism and proper plumbing in every home.
CAST:
Phonsie Doherty …. T.P. McKenna
Vera McConkey …. Stella McCusker
Muriel McConkey …. Margaret D'Arcy
Vivienne Boal …. Aine McCartney
Stumpy Bonnar …. Gerard McSorley
Guard Gallagher …. John Hewitt
Reverend Hawthorne …. Gerard Murphy
Music arranged and performed by Stephanie Hughes.
Written by Christopher Fitz-Simon.
Director: Eoin O'Callaghan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1996.
SAT 05:00 It's Jocelyn (b08gy87v)
Series 2
Friends
Jocelyn talks about friendship, Princess Pay As You Go gets into podcasting and the traffic wardens have a meeting about a meeting.
Series two of sketches and stand-up from the wonderful mind of Jocelyn Jee Esien.
With Paul Whitehouse as a cockney funeral director, plus the vocal talents of Ninia Benjamin, Curtis Walker, Dee Kaate, Gavi Chera and Karen Bartke.
Producer: Suzy Grant
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in March 2017.
SAT 05:30 Henry Normal: A Normal... (m00035w0)
Nature
Henry Normal: A Normal... Nature
"Shove up National Treasures. We need to make room for Henry Normal"
Simon O'Hagan - Radio Times
The fifth instalment in this acclaimed, occasional series in which acclaimed, occasional writer Henry Normal uses poetry, stories and comedy to tackle those subjects so big only radio can possibly contain them.
In this new episode, Henry looks our relationship with nature in an exploration of unsung nature from the point of view of a busy urban human.
Henry Normal is a multi-award winning writer, producer and poet. Co-writer of award winning TV programmes such as The Royle Family, The Mrs Merton Show, Coogan’s Run and Paul Calf, and producer of, amongst many others, Oscar-Nominated Philomena, Gavin and Stacey and Alan Partridge.
He has published several volumes of poetry, including Travelling Second Class Through Hope, Staring Directly at the Eclipse, Raining Upwards and his new volume This Phantom Breath. And his memoir, A Normal Family: Everyday adventures with our autistic son.
Praise for previous episodes in this series:
"It's a rare and lovely thing: half an hour of radio that stops you short, gently demands your attention and then wipes your tears away while you have to have a little sit down"
"It's a real treat to hear a seasoned professional like Henry taking command of this evening comedy spot to deliver a show that's idiosyncratic and effortlessly funny"
"Not heard anything that jumps from hilarious to moving in such an intelligent, subtle way as Henry Normal's show"
Written and performed by Henry Normal
Production Coordinator - Beverly Tagg
Produced by Carl Cooper
This was a BBC Studios production.
SAT 06:00 Drama (b08lfbh5)
Nick Dear - The Dark Earth and the Light Sky
A moving account of the years leading up to the death of the poet Edward Thomas. Nick Dear's play explores Thomas' relationships with the American poet Robert Frost, who became his mentor and close friend, and British author and poet Eleanor Farjeon, with whom he shared a mutual adoration.
We also journey into his somewhat uneasy marriage with Helen Thomas who suffered at the hands of both these relationships as well as having to suffer the effects of Thomas' regular bouts of grim depression.
We eventually discover that Thomas' great passion for nature and the countryside was the real reason for him signing up to go to War - his overwhelming need to protect The Dark Earth and The Light Sky.
CAST:
Edward Thomas .... James D'Arcy
Robert Frost .... Rupert Evans
Helen Thomas .... Charlotte Emmerson
Eleanor Farjeon .... Sylvestra le Touzel
Philip Thomas .... Alan David
Bott/Major Lushington .... Nicholas Boulton
Originally produced by the Almeida Theatre Company
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2017.
SAT 07:30 Great Lives (b08n2wcq)
Series 42
Anton Du Beke on Arnold Palmer
Strictly Come Dancing's Anton Du Beke chooses the golf legend Arnold Palmer as his great life. Along with the sports broadcaster John Inverdale, he sets out the reasons why Palmer left a legacy far beyond the sporting world and far beyond the golf course.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.
SAT 08:00 Whispers (b00cbszf)
Series 2
Episode 6
Gyles Brandreth hosts the quiz show with scandal on its mind and slander at its heart.
Charles Collingwood and Simon Fanshawe join team captains Lucy Moore and Anthony Holden to run the gauntlet of gossip.
Producer: Elizabeth Freestone
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2004.
SAT 08:30 Snap (b012yvf2)
Series 3
Episode 4
Doug wonders if he can rely on his ex-wife Molly for help during his mum's convalescence.
Continuing Paul Mendelson's sitcom about a couple trying to rebuild their relationship after divorce.
Starring Rebecca Lacey as Molly, Paul Venables as Doug, Soumaya Keynes as Kaz, Jessie Sullivan as Ryan, Marlene Sidaway as Annie, Robin Weaver as Dawn, Jonathan Tafler as Raymond and Richard Firth as Ansel.
Producer: David Ian Neville
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2005.
SAT 09:00 Isy Suttie's Guide to the Family (b06r9b2t)
Isy Suttie returns to Derbyshire, the home of her teenage years as she ambles through the radio archives to celebrate family life and growing up. On her travels we hear contributions from her close friends along with some classic BBC comedy.
* "The Shoe Box of Memories"
A new programme where comedian and actress Isy Suttie searches through a shoe box of special items recalling her adventures in Matlock, Derbyshire as a child and teenager, evoking bitter sweet memories of her journey to adulthood
She is joined by her family of friends Holly and Caroline to reminisce.
* "Sarah Millican's Support Group"
Comedy by Sarah Millican, who plays Sarah, life counsellor and modern-day agony aunt. In this episode she helps solve various family issues.
* "After Henry"
Mr Right: A classic episode from the popular 1980's sitcom about three generations of women in one family, starring Prunella Scales.
* "Old Dog And Partridge"
Nineties comedy about a landlord who runs a pub with his, until recently, estranged daughter. In this episode old chum Ralph arrives with his trophy wife.
* "Not In Front of the Children"
Family sitcom starring Wendy Craig. In this episode titled Echo From the Past, Jen gets jealous when she sees Henry talking to a new girlfriend.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra
Producer: Stephen Garner
First broadcast in 2015.
SAT 12:00 The Goon Show (b0080hxc)
The Last Goon Show of All
Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers reunite to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the BBC in 1972.
Recorded on 30th April 1972, their farewell performance with a distinguished audience is broadcast complete with the pre-show warm-up at the Camden Theatre, London. It was simultaneously recorded for broadcast on BBC TV.
Written by Spike Milligan and featuring:
Peter Sellers as Grytpype-Thynne, Bluebottle, Major Denis Bloodnok, Henry Crun.
Harry Secombe as Neddy Seagoon in floral cretonne.
Spike Milligan as Eccles, Minnie Bannister, Moriarty
With the Ray Ellington Quartet, Max Geldray and the Wally Stott Orchestra conducted by Peter Knight.
Producer: John Browell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 5th October 1972.
SAT 13:00 Pieces of Britney (p09mw5q8)
3. The Fame Game
Pandora Sykes explores how her controversially-named debut single catapulted teenage Britney into stardom.
In this eight-part series for BBC Radio 4, Pandora traces Britney’s incredible life: from her hardscrabble childhood in rural Louisiana, to her coronation as the inaugural pop princess of the internet, navigating an insatiable celebrity gossip complex; through to a young mother on trial by the paparazzi.
Britney is a pop culture phenomenon. Pandora looks behind that mask - and beyond Britney herself - to explore how Britney became the most Googled person in the world, for almost 7 years, and what it says, both then and now, about the entertainment industry, politics, sex and how we see women in the public eye.
Britney’s public struggles saw her placed in a conservatorship, in which she lost the right to control her finances and day to day life. Thirteen years later, and she is in court, pleading for this controversial legal arrangement to end. We will look at how Britney has been transformed from girl-next-door teen sensation to pop music’s Rapunzel, trapped in a supposedly rotten system.
Pieces of Britney mixes documentary, archive and interviews to tell Britney’s remarkable story. It also features drama, written by playwright Katie Hims, to bring Britney and her extraordinary world to life.
Pieces of Britney is a sympathetic portrayal of Britney, during a time of cultural reappraisal about how we treat women - famous, or otherwise.
Episode 3 Cast:
Britney . . . . . Samantha Dakin
Lynne . . . . . Laurel Lefkow
Dave . . . . . Paul Chahidi
Jamie . . . . . Elliot Cowan
Jamie Lynn . . . . . Tillie Murray
Other parts were played by Joseph Ayre and Julianna Jennings
Sound design by Peter Ringrose
Produced by Sasha Yevtushenko and Anne Isger
SAT 13:40 Twenty Minutes (b01m5lh7)
The Human Jukebox
Do you sing in the bath, whistle in the corridors, or hum nervously waiting on the phone?
Why do we sing to ourselves, do we even know we are doing it, and what about those infuriating phrases of music that we find stuck in our heads?
It seems that 90% of the population have experienced the mysterious playing of the 'Human Jukebox' - either whole tunes or short repetitive phrases. Whether to hide embarrassment, pass the time in a mundane job, or celebrate a happy moment, unconscious singing or whistling is a common trait.
Peter Curran, a self-hummer, explores a phenomenon which is under increased investigation.
As our understanding of the brain increases, so we can gather more understanding of how we relate to muisic, and that includes how so we select tunes from our internal jukebox.
Peter Curran, finds out from Professor Paul Robertson, founder of the Medici Quartet, the connection between music and emotion, and Dr Lauren Stewart, Reader in Psychology at Goldsmiths University, about her research project into the origination and nature of earworms, (or 'Ohrwurm' as they were originally described in German).
Pop producer Clive Langer, writer David Stafford and an assortment of human jukeboxes also share their compulsion to sing out loud.
Next time you find yourself whistling in the bath, maybe you'll understand more about what you are doing.
Producer: Sara Jane Hall
First broadcast on the BBC World Service in 2012.
SAT 14:00 Sisters (b08yn9np)
Series 2
Oh Brother
Susan and Fiona are grown up sisters who live together. But that's all they have in common. Sisters tackles the painfully funny world of the love/hate relationship you can never escape.
When their brother Cliff, who they very rarely speak to, announces he's coming to stay, the sisters start to speculate about the reason for his visit. The favourite theory on their shortlist is that he's finally come out. But what he reveals is altogether more surprising and they enlist Blake's help in getting to the truth of the matter.
Susan...............................Susan Calman
Fiona................................Ashley Jensen
Blake................................Nick Helm
Cliff...................................Derek Riddell
Joy....................................Gabby Best
Written by Susan Calman
Producer Paul Schlesinger
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in July 2017.
SAT 14:30 And Now in Colour (b007jmn1)
Series 1
Intercity
The sketch show team takes the audience to Margate and asks 'Whose Pencil Line is it Anyway?'
Precision comedy written and performed by Tim Firth, Tim de Jongh, Michael Rutger and William Vandyck.
Producer: Lissa Evans
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1990
SAT 15:00 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b09qhf19)
Series 7
Episode 6
Popular award winning sketch show from the creator of Cabin Pressure.
In the final programme of the seventh series, you'll learn about the downsides of adopting animals, and hear a modern shanty that anyone who works in an office will identify with.
Written by & starring ... John Finnemore
With:
Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Simon Kane
Lawry Lewin
Carrie Quinlan
Original music composed by ... Susannah Pearse
Piano ... Susannah Pearse
Squeezebox/cello ... Sally Stares
Production Coordinator ... Beverly Tagg
Producer ... Ed Morrish
A BBC Studios production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2018.
SAT 15:30 The Casebook of Max and Ivan (b08015ry)
Case #124 - Against the Grain
Acclaimed double-act Max and Ivan return as incompetent private detectives for hire.
Thrown out of their office by unhinged landlord Malcolm McMichaelmas, a holiday with Ivan's anthropologist Uncle Cornelius on the remote Isle of Sudley seems to be the perfect solution. However, things quickly go awry, as the boys get mixed up in a sinister underworld of murder, human sacrifice and sand.
Max.................................................Max Olesker
Ivan.................................................Ivan Gonzalez
Dr Cornelius Cornelius............Mark Heap
Narrator /
Malcolm McMichaelmas.........Lewis MacLeod
Griselda /
Sharon the Tourism Lady /
Creepy Twin.................................Jessica Ransom
Keane / Scared Man /
Coffin Maker / Susan /
Other Creepy Twin.......................David Reed
Written by and Max Olesker and Ivan Gonzalez
Developed by John Stanley Productions
Produced by Ben Walker
A Retort production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in October 2016.
SAT 16:00 Drama (b08lfbh5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Great Lives (b08n2wcq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 The Prisoner (m0001q06)
Series 1
Your Beautiful Village
Something is very wrong, as Number 6 experiences the most disturbing sense deprivation.
Almost complete darkness, filled with haunting sounds, fragments of conversations, and a desperate call from Number 9 start to test Number 6’s reason.
The original seventeen episode TV series of The Prisoner created intrigue and controversy in equal measure when it first aired in the UK in 1967. In a taut psychological spy thriller the main character, dehumanised as ‘Number 6’, has committed no crime, save for having resigned from some unspecified branch of the British Secret Service. His prison is a heavily guarded coastal village.
Under constant surveillance, Number 6 can trust no-one and relentlessly works to establish who his captors are, a seemingly impossible task when the most senior figure he encounters – Number 2 – changes frequently...
CAST:
Number 6 …. Mark Elstob
Number 2 …. Ramon Tikaram
Number 9 …. Sara Powell
The Village Voice …. Helen Goldwyn
Music: Jamie Robertson
Script Editor: Jamie Anderson
Written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.
A Big Finish Production - based on the classic ITV series.
SAT 19:00 Isy Suttie's Guide to the Family (b06r9b2t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b01cj461)
Pilot
Alex Horne and his band learn to speak 'jazz' and head into space. With explorer Benedict Allen. Series warm-up from March 2011.
SAT 22:30 Elvenquest (b01r0gjg)
Series 4
The Underworld
The Questers are forced into the Underworld where they must find Penthiselea's mum to ask her an all important question that could finally lead them to the Sword of Asnagar.
Meanwhile, Lord Darkness faces a testing time too, when he tries to raise an army of the dead.
Fantasy-based sitcom set in Lower Earth written by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto
Vidar ...... Darren Boyd
Penthiselea's mother ...... Louise Delamere
Dean/Kreech ...... Kevin Eldon
Amis/The Gatekeeper ...... Dave Lamb
Sam ...... Stephen Mangan
Lord Darkness ...... Alistair McGowan
Penthiselea ...... Ingrid Oliver
Producer: Sam Michell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013.
SAT 23:00 The Curried Goat Show (b007k41b)
Episode 1
Cake night, and an odd flat-share. Dan Gaster, Will Ing and Ben Silburn's sketch-bonanza. With Gary Olsen. From January 1998.
SAT 23:30 Daphne Sounds Expensive (b07lhj87)
Series 1
D.A.P.H.N.E.
Jason has an out-of-this-world plan to increase the show's listenership.
Join critically-acclaimed sketch trio, Daphne, as they pull out all the stops in a dazzling array of peculiar characters, whacky scenarios, dodgy remarks, curious observations, minor altercations and major peacemaking - served on a bed of catchy little numbers with a live nine-piece band.
Written by and starring Jason Forbes, Phil Wang and George Fouracres
Featuring Sir Willard White, Emma Sidi and David Elms
Original music composed by Jeff Carpenter
Orchestrator: Simon Nathan
Musical Director: Freddie Tapner
Piano: Jeff Carpenter
Drums: Ben Hartley
Bass: Rob Grist
Percussion: Ben Burton
Trumpet: Michael Maddocks
Tenor Sax: Greg Sterland
Trombone: Elliot Pooley
Violin: Hannah Bell
Cello: Nick Squires
Production Coordinator, Hayley Sterling
Producer, Matt Stronge
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in July 2016.