SATURDAY 30 APRIL 2022

SAT 00:00 The Interplanetary Notes of Ambassador B (b03vh0c6)
Episode 5
Ambassador B decides to turn in her badge on the next planet she finds.
But when she gets there, there's no one to surrender to.
Mind-bending, interstellar fun and adventure from gold award-winning writer Ed Harris.
Ambassador B should be inspecting minor planets of far-away suns for the peaceful Interplanetary Commonwealth.
Instead, her recorded reports reveal that she is veering off-course, pursuing a vendetta and bringing anything but peace
Ambassador B ..... Fenella Woolgar
Man In Message ..... David Cann
Woman 1 ..... Carolyn Pickles
Woman 2 ..... Cassie Layton
Man in Forest ..... Matthew Watson
Ambassador A ..... Priyanga Burford
With Michael Bertenshaw, Steve Toussaint and Wilf Scolding.
Produced and directed by Jonquil Panting.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2014.
SAT 00:15 Ghost Story (m0001cs9)
The Tower by Marghanita Laski
A Tuscan tower fills a solitary visitor with dread. Is the cause vertigo, or something more menacing?
Joss Ackland reads a final tale to chill the blood.
In Marghanita Laski’s story, Caroline visits The Tower of Sacrifice, in Florence, built in 1535 by Niccolo de Ferremano who was said to have dabbled in black magic.
She climbs the 470 steps to the top, then finds herself fighting an impulse to hurl herself off. Caroline resists and climbs back down in the darkness, counting as she goes... into the five hundreds.
Abridged and produced by Richard Dunn.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1986.
SAT 00:30 Sounds Natural (b07k0ts9)
Bernard Cribbins
From the Meadow Pipit to the Red-Backed Shrike.
Actor Bernard Cribbins talks to Derek Jones about his love of bird watching, fishing and the importance of conservation.
Aided by recordings from the BBC Sound Archive.
Producer: John Burton.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1972.
SAT 01:00 A Walk in the Dark (m000m0kf)
5. The Ends Justify the Means?
After the kidnapping of Ruth Cobb, DC ‘Birdie’ Partridge gets an unexpected ally.
But an ever bigger surprise is still to come...
Patrick Mower stars as Detective Constable ‘Birdie’ Partridge.
Chris Boucher's vintage crime serial about the mystery disappearance of a passenger from an ocean liner.
DC ‘Birdie’ Partridge …. Patrick Mower
Ruth Cobb …. Helen Atkinson Wood
Daryl Kennedy…. John Rowe
Garvey …. Gregory de Polnay
Bank Clerk …. Gary Cady
Stuart Cobb …. David Timson
Producer: Gerry Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1981.
SAT 01:30 Dick Francis (b007ncw9)
Proof
8. Connections
Tony Beach and his detective chum Gerard MacGregor attempt to unearth the true identity of Paul Young.
Starring Nigel Havers.
Fine living, fast horses, and shattering suspense - the gripping conclusion of Dick Francis's compelling thriller.
Dramatised by Ernest Dudley.
Tony Beach …. Nigel Havers
Gerard …. George Parsons
Paul Young …. Stuart Organ
Chief Superintendent Wilson …. Manning Wilson
Producer: Matthew Walters
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1987.
SAT 02:00 The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale (b009ppjq)
Episode 5
1865: Millbank Prison. As Constance Kent begins her sentence in one of London's more squalid gaols, the remainder of the Kent family attempt to move on.
Now vindicated by Constance's confession, Jack Whicher's investigations become immortalised by the great crime novelists of the day.
Meanwhile, Constance's brother, William, becomes a celebrated scientist in Australia, and Constance, by contrast, ends up serving every day of her 20-year sentence.
On her release, she joins her brother in Australia, where she nurses in a lepers' colony, her past hidden from those around her. Only in 1928, with the arrival of an anonymous letter from Sydney, do the real events at Road Hill House back in 1860 finally come to light...
Kate Summerscale's gripping account of the Victorian murder case that shook the nation.
Concluded by Deborah Findlay.
Abridged by Doreen Estall.
Producer: Justine Willett
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2008.
SAT 02:15 The Invention of Murder by Judith Flanders (b00xf9t2)
5. New Technology
Over the course of the 19th century, murder - in reality a rarity - became ubiquitous: transformed into novels, into broadsides and ballads, into theatre and melodrama.
Judith Flanders explores this fascination with deadly violence by relating some of the century's most gripping and gruesome cases and the ways in which they were commercially exploited.
The public imagination was particularly stirred when new technology was used to bring criminals to justice.
The final episode looks at one such case in which an enterprising railway clerk used the electric telegraph to send a description of a suspected murderer ahead of the train he was travelling on, so that the suspect could be met by police at his journey's end.
And, bringing us right up to the final years of the century, how the funeral of an acclaimed actor - and murder victim - was captured on film for posterity.
Written by Judith Flanders.
Concluded by Robert Glenister.
Abridged by David Jackson Young.
Producer: Kirsteen Cameron
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2011.
SAT 02:30 The Kampala Dream House (b06086dq)
Sarah Taylor visits this remarkable children's home in Kampala, Uganda.
Amidst the slums of Kampala, MLISADA is a success story. (Music, life skills and arts for destitution alleviation.)
It's a children's home set up and run by former street kids who learned to play brass instruments. 12 years on, it cares for 90 children, teaches them music and acrobatics and they are safe from the perils of street life.
Former pupils like euphonium player, Franke, have gone on to be teachers within the wider school communities of Kampala. It's supported by keen brass players from around the world – including BA pilot and trumpet player, Jim Trott who took star trumpet players Alison Balsom and Guy Barker out there last January to run music workshops with the pupils.
Sarah talks to Alison about how her involvement with the work of Brass for Africa has influenced her approach to performing on concert platforms around the world.

Most importantly, if you get to live in the Dream House, as it's known by the kids, you've got a chance of a future. A future where you can learn to be a teacher, or simply access a better school and then go on to get a better job because you've got the bedrock of living at MLISADA.
And you'll be a great trumpet player too!
Producer: Sarah Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2015.
SAT 03:00 HG Wells (m0001p3q)
Kipps
5. The Kippses
Artie Kipps, our heroic draper-turned-gentleman, is building a dream home for Ann.
But is his fortune lost?
Conclusion of HG Wells's novel adapted by Michelene Wandor.

HG Wells …. Paul Daneman
Kipps …. Mark Straker
Ann …. Moir Leslie
Chitterlow …. Nickolas Grace
Miss Walshingham …. Kathryn Hurlbutt
Fanny …. Theresa Streatfeild
Sid …. Michael Jenner
Masterman …. Nigel Anthony
Architect …. Brett Usher
Uncle …. John Hollis
Music by Ilona Sekacz.
Director: Martin Jenkins.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1984.
SAT 04:00 Guess What? (b064dw48)
Episode 6
Animal, vegetable or mineral?
Barry Took hosts a revised version of popular radio parlour game of 20 questions.
On the panel:
Geoffrey Durham
Neil Innes
Jan Ravens
Written by Michael Dines.
Producer: Andy Aliffe
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.
SAT 04:30 Millport (b00761z4)
Series 2
Dark Secrets
Irene enlists Bob's help when strange events send the tiny Scottish island into disarray.
Bittersweet comedy written by and starring Lynn Ferguson.
Barmaid Irene Bruce is 30-something and hankering after a better life on the mainland.
Irene ...... Lynn Ferguson
Moira/Agnes ...... Janet Brown
Alberto/Robert/Doctor ...... Lewis McLeod
Ena/Bunty ...... Gabriel Quigley
Dougie ...... Matt Costello
Bob/Minister ...... Robert Patterson
Music arranged by Olly Fox.
Producer: Lucy Bacon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2001.
SAT 05:00 Says on the Tin (b00gb0bt)
Cat Food
Eliott struggles to promote gourmet cat food for an intensely conservative company.
Starring Michael Brandon.
Christopher William Hill's sitcom set in the shallow, dog-eat-dog world of advertising.
Eliott Thurber ...... Michael Brandon
Esther Finn ...... Samantha Bond
Hannah Walker ...... Pippa Haywood
Pippa Walker ...... Manjeet Mann
Zadie ...... Joannah Tincey
Ted ...... Malcolm Tierney
Mrs Braden ...... Rachel Atkins
Other parts played by Stephen Critchlow, Donnla Hughes, Janice Acquah and Jill Cardo.
Producer: Liz Webb
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2009.
SAT 05:30 Stand-Up Specials (m0016pbb)
Athena Kugblenu: Magnifying Class
Athena has a conservatory (it came with the man). But what does that tell us about her identity? She’s got an aluminium-hooded extractor fan and uses fabric conditioner. But does the quilted toilet roll in both of Athena’s toilets signify a working class girl done good? Or does it say that the rigid way we look at class might need a rethink? This stand-up show tackles these questions and gives Athena the courage to finally live her truth as an upwardly mobile individual.

Producer... Leila Navabi
Production Coordinator... Caroline Barlow
A BBC Studios Production
SAT 06:00 David Gooderson - Walk or Die (m0016zjp)
Burma 1942. The Japanese were only 20 miles away.
Thousands tried to escape through the jungle, across deep rivers and over massive mountains to reach India - risking life and limb with every step of the way.
David Gooderson's play draws upon the actual experience of survivors, to tell the story of the 250 mile trek.
Major Crowther RAMC .... Michael Kitchen
Captain Banks .... Mark Straker
Brigadier Wyatt .... David King
Captain Lewis .... Trevor Cooper
Corporal Wills .... Nicholas Murchie
Sergeant Bilson .... David Goodland
Colonel Dass .... Renu Setna
Lieutenant Hunter .... Matthew Morgan
Clive Popplewell .... Paul Downing
Sunny .... Bhasker
Neil West .... David Learner
lan McHugh .... Gordon Reid
Reverend Windrush .... Eric Allan
Private Jones .... Keith Drinkel
Sister .... Kate Binchy
Colonel from GHQ .... Terence Edmond
Staff Officer .... Jonathan Adams
RAF Mechanic .... Jonathan Tafler
Young English Woman .... Alison Reid
Indian Woman .... Melinda Walker
Voice of the BBC .... Brian Martin
Director Richard Wortley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1992
SAT 07:30 Great Lives (b0bf59s3)
Series 46
Simon Evans on JS Mill
Towards the end of his comic rant about the descent of man, Simon Evans does something very dangerous.
He starts to read out to his audience an extract of John Stuart Mill. Potential comedy death?
He tells Matthew Parris why the famous Victorian philosopher with the squirly hair is his idea of genius.
As well as On Liberty, Mill wrote The Subjection of Women and was the first member of Parliament to call for women's right to vote.
The expert witness is Professor Anne Phillips of the London School of Economics.
Producer: Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.
SAT 08:00 The Write Stuff (b009tvdp)
Series 11
Hans Christian Andersen
James Walton takes the chair for the game of literary correctness.
Team captains Sebastian Faulks and John Walsh are joined by Wendy Holden and John O'Farrell.
Author of the week is Hans Christian Andersen.
Reader: Beth Chalmers
Producer: Katie Marsden
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2008.
SAT 08:30 1834 (b01137b8)
What Century Are You Living In?
Jason Slater is a 21st-century English teacher from Cheadle Hulme who wakes in 19th-century Macclesfield.
He discovers he's now Tarquin, third son of Lord Belport with a faithful valet, Ned who can't explain what's happened.
He's also acquired a suspicious brother, Henry; a spurned ex-girlfriend, Millicent, now going out with Henry; and an over excited Luddite-cum-cauliflower farmer.
Jim Poyser's riotous six-part comedy of transportation and delight.
Jason Slater ...... Michael Begley
Ned ...... Joe Caffrey
Hoskins ...... Kenneth Alan Taylor
Lord Belport ...... Mark Chatterton
Henry ...... James Nickerson
Luddite ...... Toby Hadoke
Millicent ...... Julia Rounthwaite
Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2003.
SAT 09:00 4 Extra Goes Gardening (b03tws3x)
The great gardener Gertrude Jekyll once said:
"A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust."
Through her fascination with colour, cottage gardens and experimentation, it has been said she "changed the face of England more than any save the Creator and perhaps Capability Brown".
Penelope Keith explores Miss Jekyll's own 10-acre garden – the enchanting Munstead Wood in Surrey – and along the way unearths some horticultural wisdoms and delights from the BBC sound archive.
Joining Penelope to discuss Gertrude's influence and changing horticultural fashions are broadcaster and author, James Wong, author Catherine Horwood and Munstead Wood's head gardener, Annabel Watts.
Archive includes:
* Great Gardens: Gertrude Jekyll, with Chris Serle from 1984
* Gardeners' Question Time from 1947
* The BBC Home Service's Radio Allotment from 1942
* At Home With the Snails, from 2001 starring Geoffrey Palmer and Angela Thorne
* An interview with Percy Thrower from 1963 in Beyond the Back Door: That Reminds Me
* Desert Island Discs from 2000 when Sue Lawley's castaway was the gardening writer Christopher Lloyd.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Pier Productions and first broadcast in February 2014.
SAT 12:00 My Favorite Husband (m000nzkg)
The Surprise Halloween Party
Liz and George Cooper feel like social outcasts when a party invitation fails to arrive.
Starring Lucille Ball as Liz and Richard Denning as George.
The story of Liz and George Cooper, a happily married couple living in Sheridan Falls. Based on the novels by Isabel Scott Rorick. Originally called the Cugats, their name by now was changed to Cooper.
Liz Cooper …. Lucille Ball
George Cooper …. Richard Denning
Katy …. Ruth Perrot
Iris Atterbury …. Bea Benaderet
Rudolph Atterbury …. Gale Gordon
Writers: Madelyn Pugh, Bob Carroll Jr. and Jess Oppenheimer
Producer: Jess Oppenheimer
First broadcast in the USA on CBS Radio in October 1949.
SAT 12:30 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b007jr9f)
Home is the Hero
Bob's fiancee Thelma is appalled by the return of Terry to his home town after seven years.
Starring James Bolam and Rodney Bewes.
Created and written for BBC TV by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.
Adapted for BBC Radio by Patrick Tilley.
Terry ...... James Bolam
Bob ...... Rodney Bewes
Thelma ...... Brigit Forsyth
Audrey ...... Sheila Fearn
Stan ...... Peter Whitman
Producer: John Browell
Originally lost from the archive, the audio was recovered in the BBC's Archive Treasure Hunt in 2003.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1975.
SAT 13:00 Archive on 4 (b00kmhl4)
Lynne Truss - Did I Really Ask That?
Lynne Truss shares her personal treasure trove of interviews with world-famous writers.
Between 1980 and 1990, Lynne was a part-time arts journalist, meeting and interviewing many giants of the theatre, including Arthur Miller, Tom Stoppard, Simon Gray, Athol Fugard and Anthony Minghella.
For over 20 years these audio cassettes gathered dust in her garage, but now Lynne airs them and finds out, with horror and humour, what her younger self was like as an interviewer, and what she learnt from meeting these great talents.
Producer: Sara Jane Hall
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2009.
SAT 14:00 Tim Key's Suspended Sentence (b0128pyh)
Truths universally acknowledged. Clocks striking 13. Bests and worsts of times. A truly great opening line can make a novel iconic. But what makes these famous first sentences sing to us?
Comedian and poet Tim Key is on the case!
After chasing down the meaning of Nikolai Gogol's enigmatic short story "The Overcoat", Tim tries to sleuth out what makes a great literary opening line with the help of author Joe Dunthorne, comedian Mark Watson, and literary critics Maureen Freely and John Sutherland.
You see, Tim's desperate to write his first novel - it's in him, just waiting, waiting to be unleashed. If only he could think of a good beginning with the ultimate opening line...
Tim also tries to galvanise his imagination - taking a spin of one of the world's strangest literary board games...
The pressure's on, as we hear a roll-call of some of the finest and most famous first lines in publishing history - from Dickens to Dostoevsky to uh, Dan Brown.
Overwhelmed with information, we also hear a crash course on what not to do - as Tim visits Knebworth House, ancestral pile of a man whose most famous first sentence is legendary for all the wrong reasons: Edward Bulwer-Lytton, author of the infamous "It was a dark and stormy night..."
Finally it's time to try out Tim's sentence of the unsuspecting public, as he visits the award-winning Brick Lane Book Club for a focus group...before in the final moments, he unleashes that killer first sentence on the world...(so then Tim: what comes next?).
Producer: Steven Rajam
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2013.
SAT 14:30 Our Woman in Norton Tripton (b01r5lqr)
Washed up Fleet Street journalist Ros Moss has ended up back in her childhood village of Norton Tripton.
The only job she can get is working for her loathed ex-sister-in-law who runs the local tourist website.
Ros and her nerdy cameraman Keith visit Tammington Towers, the location of the cult horror film "Woman in a Petticoat. They discover that things are still going bump in the night...
Comedy starring Jenny Eclair as jaded community website journalist.
Written by Jenny Éclair and Julie Balloo.
Ros ..... Jenny Eclair
Keith ..... Mark Heap
Debra ..... Felicity Montagu
Dolly ..... Marlene Sidaway
Mrs Tammington ..... Liza Sadovy
Mr. Tammington ..... Ben Crowe
Producer: Liz Webb
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
SAT 15:00 The Sinha Carta (b051s4qh)
Magna Carta is a document, over 800 years old, that surprisingly few people have read, considering how important it is.
Luckily for you, comedian and quizzer Paul Sinha (The Chase) has read it, and it turns out it's ace, especially if you love keeping your own timber and hate fishing traps in the River Medway.
Get ready as Paul will be explaining why what’s in it is in it - how it came to be - and guide you through some of its 63 clauses of medieval Latin.
He'll also supply some new, modern clauses, for a Magna Carta fit for a modern Britain.
Written and performed by Paul Sinha.
Producer: Ed Morrish
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2015.
SAT 15:30 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b01rfy5w)
Series 2
With Doc Brown
Comedy show hosted by Alex Horne and his five piece band and specially written, original music.
This episode explores the theme of children including songs on George Formby, the alphabet and Rastafarians. Guest starring Doc Brown who raps with the band and talks to whales.
Guest starring comedian Doc Brown.
Alex's Horne Section are:
Trumpet/banjo .... Joe Auckland
Saxophone/clarinet ....Mark Brown
Double Bass/Bass .... Will Collier
Drums and Percussion .... Ben Reynolds
Piano/keyboard .... Ed Sheldrake
Producer: Julia McKenzie.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013.
SAT 16:00 David Gooderson - Walk or Die (m0016zjp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Great Lives (b0bf59s3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Peter Redgrove - The Valley of Trelamia (b07tzdxv)
Author John writes books about unusual phenomena around the world, but has never penetrated "our own mysterious Celtic back yard".
So he travels deep into Cornwall, where he finds the Valley of Trelamia, and a girl who lives as one with it...
A Cornish mystery written by Peter Redgrove.
John …. James Aubrey
Rose …. Maggie Tarver
Clemence …. Sarah Badel
Mrs Treviles …. June Barrie
Barman/Policeman …. Graham Padden
Young Man …. Mark Audley
Director: Brian Miller
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1986.
SAT 18:45 RD Wingfield (b00sw79x)
The Cellar
'There is a cellar sir, yes, but we can't get to it. the previous owner had it bricked up".
A ghostly tale written by RD Wingfield.
Paul Baker …. John Pullen
Susan Baker …. Rosalind Ayres
Mr Crawford …. Leonard Fenton
Bill …. Fred Bryant
Little Boy …. Elizabeth Lindsay
With Gordon Dulieu.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1979.
SAT 19:00 4 Extra Goes Gardening (b03tws3x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b01rl1y3)
Series 2
With Matt Lucas and Liane Carroll
Comedy show hosted by Alex Horne and his five piece band and specially written, original music.
This episode explores the theme of the Four Seasons.
Guest starring Matt Lucas who performs some songs with the band - and jazz singer Liane Carroll who Alex conducts with the aid of a ping pong ball.
Alex's Horne Section are:
Trumpet/banjo .... Joe Auckland
Saxophone/clarinet ....Mark Brown
Double Bass/Bass .... Will Collier
Drums and Percussion .... Ben Reynolds
Piano/keyboard .... Ed Sheldrake
Producer: Julia McKenzie.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013.
SAT 22:30 Agendum (b0bh468b)
Series 1
Threat
Current affairs parody and stupidly feasible visit to the 24-hour Hall Of Opinion Mirrors. Because there are two stories to every story.
The very young, the very old and Stevenage all come under the microscope of talking, collimated by Alexandra Palisades in this parody created by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris
Chaired by chairperson-in-chief Alexandra Palisades.
Parody created and written by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris.
Starring Carrie Quinlan as Alexandra Palisades
And the voices of:
Justin Edwards
Melanie Hudson
Simon Kane
Jess Robinson
Luke Sumner
Tony Way
Producer: David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2018.
SAT 23:00 Comedy Club at Machynlleth (m0016z9b)
2022
30/04/2022
Jake Yapp presents highlights from the Machynlleth Comedy Festival.
Produced by Laura Grimshaw and Anne-Marie Luff for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
SAT 23:15 James Acaster's Findings (b04pbmkd)
Series 1
3. Wheels
James Acaster presents the results of his in-depth research into a variety of subjects.
This time, he's been investigating 'Wheels'.
With:
Nathaniel Metcalfe
Bryony Hannah
Producer: Lyndsay Fenner
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2014.
SAT 23:30 Tudur Owen - Where on Earth is Anglesey? (m0001b1t)
Episode 1
What do CenterParcs, Sky Sports and The Royal Horticultural Society all have in common?
They’ve all accidentally omitted Anglesey from their official maps of the UK in the recent past.
It seems that despite being the largest island in the Irish Sea and the largest island of Wales, Anglesey remains a mystery to most and so one man is going to have to work his socks off to put it firmly back on the map.
Hosted by Wales and Anglesey’s very own favourite stand-up, Tudur Owen, this programme is one man’s mission to both rejoice in and roast the island he calls home.
For starters, Tudur gives us a whistle-stop tour of Anglesey history, from ancient invaders to the present day.
Written by Tudur Owen
Additional material by Gareth Gwynn.
With:
Gareth Pierce
Lisa-Jên Brown
Recorded at Canolfan Beaumaris on Anglesey.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2018.