SATURDAY 20 AUGUST 2022

SAT 00:00 Hordes of the Things (b007jqyx)
4. All Manner of Badness
Can the assembled forces of Radox the Green win the battle?
Starring Paul Eddington, Paul Magee and Simon Callow.
Conclusion of Andrew Marshall and John Lloyd's epic Tolkien parody.
King Yulfric the Wise …. Paul Eddington
The Chronicler …. Patrick Magee
Crown Prince Veganin …. Simon Callow
Agar …. Christian Rodska
Radox the Green …. Frank Middlemass
Queen Elfreda …. Maggie Steed
The Evil Flesh-Eating Lord of Craarn …. Aubrey Woods
Baddedas the Blue …. Ballard Berkeley
Hob-Lob, The Monstrous Spider …. Bob Grant
Xanspur, the Skylord …. Michael Cule
Golin Longshanks …. Jonathan Lynn
Producer: Geoffrey Perkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1980.
SAT 00:30 Sounds Natural (b0b90cgs)
Sir Martin Furnival-Jones
Former MI5 chief Sir Martin Furnival Jones tells Derek Jones about his love of birdwatching.
The Redshank and Bee Eater are among his choice of recordings from the BBC Sound Archives.
Sir Martin Furnival Jones CBE (1912-1997) was director general of MI5, the UK's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, from 1965 to 1972.
Produced in Bristol by John Burton
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1975.
SAT 01:00 Inspector Purbright - Naked Nuns (m000pqhw)
5. Over-armed and Over Here
Inspector Purbright investigates the murder of Hatch at the medieval banquet.
Colin Watson's serial about vice and violence stirring beneath the surface of the peaceful market town of Flaxborough.
Starring John Rowe.
Dramatised by Christopher Denys.
Inspector Purbright …. John Rowe
Sergeant Love …. Paul Downing
Amis …. Daniel Coll
Mrs Hatch …. Patricia Wilcock
Joxy …. Robin Polley
Hyacinth …. Cathryn Hunt
Chubb …. Geoffrey Banks
Janice …. Sally Whittaker
Tudor …. David Fleeshman
Director: Tony Cliff
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1993.
SAT 01:30 Boxer and Doberman (b00wh02c)
Series 2
2. The Black Widow
Boxer and Doberman investigate the brutal murder of a popular Scottish actor and get entangled (as you do) in a web of intrigue.
Things get even stickier when Boxer seems to fall for the murdered man's widow - seductive breakfast TV star Marion Swann.
Doberman's suspicions are aroused. Boxer is just aroused...
Alastair Jessiman's gritty police comedy drama series.
Featuring grizzled old-school detective, DI Bob Boxer - and his slightly less grizzled and more instinctive young sidekick, DS Shona Doberman.
Starring Finlay Welsh and Anita Vettesse.
Listen out for a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo from one of the stars of the show which "inspired" Boxer and Doberman - ITV's Taggart. Clue: his appearance is a tea-time treat...
DI Boxer ..... Finlay Welsh
DS Doberman ..... Anita Vettesse
Marion Swann ..... Juliet Cadzow
Mackenzie Baxter ..... Sean Scanlan
Joe Macnamarra ..... Alastair Jessiman
Directed at BBC Scotland by David Jackson Young.
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in December 2010.
SAT 02:00 Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (m0000pfn)
Episode 5
Heather realises that something is not quite right with the rhythm of Tranquillium House.
She's one of nine guests here for a little restorative break.
It's owned and run by an equally wounded and strange woman who is determined that her guests’ lives will never be the same again after their ten-day stay.
Written by Liane Moriarty.
Read by Kerry Fox.
Abridged by Robin Brooks.
Producer: Celia De Wolff
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2018.
SAT 02:15 Jo Clifford - Five Days Which Changed Everything (b0bbtbcq)
Episode 5
On Monday Susie had a fit in her sleep. On Tuesday they scanned her brain and found a tumour.
On Wednesday they confirmed the tumour was malignant and likely to kill Susie within days or weeks.
On Thursday the family said their goodbyes.
It's now Friday, 15 years later...
Conclusion of Jo Clifford’s autobiographical drama about love, loss and the unexpected moments of grace that preserve us.
It's festival time on the streets of Edinburgh, a time John and Susie usually relish. But this year, over the course of several days, their world turns upside down.
Susie ...... Kathryn Howden
John ...... Liam Brennan
Rebecca ...... Melody Grove
Katie ...... Anna Russell-Martin
Director: Kirsty Williams.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2018.
SAT 02:30 I Was... (b069r80x)
Series 2
George Orwell's Pupil
Andrew McGibbon presents the series analysing great artists at a significant time in their careers - but from the perspective of someone who worked for them, inspired them, employed them, was taught by them or even did their job for them while no one was looking.
In 1932, George Orwell was still known as Eric Blair and supporting himself by teaching in a private middle school run by tradesmen in semi-rural Hayes in London.
Geoffrey Stevens was one of his pupils during the year that saw him publish his first book - Down and Out in Paris and London – and also change his name to George Orwell.
Geoffrey, now 96, remembers Orwell teaching him French – badly, Orwell’s harsh classroom style and reliance on corporal punishment, his avuncular after school country walks to look for puss moth larva and collect marsh gas, and Orwell directing the school play which he wrote himself.
He recalls how Orwell was driven mad by the school owner’s wife playing Baptist hymns on the piano late into the night, the curious role of the school parrot during mealtimes and Orwell coming round for tea with Geoffrey’s mum and dad and giving him more homework as a result.
It's a fragment of time that reveals fascinating and mundane insights into George Orwell, a powerful sense of early 30s suburban London during the depression and the story of an underperforming pupil who went on to run two businesses and, at nearly 100, still walks 30 miles a week.
Written and presented by Andrew McGibbon.
Reader: Gunnar Cauthery
Producer: Nick Romero and Andrew McGibbon
A Curtains For Radio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2015.
SAT 03:00 Baldi (b007jln9)
Series 2
3. Schecter's Knot
A talented young mathematics professor is found murdered on campus.
Paolo and Tina wonder if this is merely an extreme case of professional jealousy...
Starring David Threlfall.
Series of murder mysteries about Franciscan priest and philosophy lecturer turned amateur sleuth, Paolo Baldi.
Written by Martin Meenan.
Paolo Baldi .... David Threlfall
Tina Mahon .... Tina Kellegher
Superintendent Rynne ....Owen Roe
Father Troy .... T P McKenna
Mrs Reid .... Margaret D'Arcy
Margaret .... Julia Dearden
Dr Graham .... Gerard McSorley
Charles Powers .... John Hewitt
Oliver Timms .... Jack Lynch
Cecilia Timms .... Anne Byrne
Deirdre .... Katy Gleadhill
Alexander Maher .... Luke Griffin
Format created by Barry Devlin.
Developed and produced by BBC Northern Ireland.
Directed in Belfast by Lawrence Jackson.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2001
SAT 03:45 Short Works (b0b6phm3)
A Long Silence by Remi Graves
Silence takes on a new shape for Ethel.
In a house that is now too big for her, she waits for her granddaughter Efua to visit.
Short story for radio, written and performed by poet Remi Graves.
Producer: Becky Ripley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2018.
SAT 04:00 Hidden Treasures (b05p6jmr)
Syon House
From dining habits to the wonders of metamorphic furniture.
Lars Tharp chairs the light-hearted antiques quiz.
From the London home of the Duke of Northumberland, Syon House.
With:
John Bly
Christine Lalumia
Clive Stewart-Lockhart
Max Rutherston
Producers: Elizabeth Abrahams and Annie Bristow.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.
SAT 04:30 One Flat Summer (b07wb9l1)
The St Leger
Unable to locate the money he liberated as a courier for 'Racecourse Rita', Ken is a wanted man.
Stars Gerard McDermott.
Conclusion of Dave Sheasby's comedy drama series set in the world of horse racing.
Ken …. Gerard McDermott
Margaret …. Gillian Bevan
Curly …. Anthony Ofoegbu
Rita …. Janet Maw
Christine …. Rachel Atkins
Tam …. Tom Georgeson
Super Yankee …. David Brooks
Bank Manager …. Hugh Dickson
Director: David Hunter
First broadcast on BBC Radio in September 1997.
SAT 05:00 Dot (b08rptr4)
Series 2
Trees
Dot and the gals are tasked with a top secret mission in the countryside.
A German plane crashes nearby; will this be Dot's big chance for promotion?
Rollicking war time comedy by Ed Harris about the staff from the personnel department of the Cabinet Rooms.
Dot ...... Fenella Woolgar
Myrtle ...... Kate O'Flynn
Peg ...... Freya Parker
Millicent ...... Jane Slavin
Hans ...... Nicholas Murchie
Pip Crudely ...... David Sterne
Producer: Jessica Mitic.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2017.
SAT 05:30 Alexei Sayle's Strangers on a Train (m001b3vr)
Series 1
Hull Liverpool
Author, actor and comedy icon, Alexei Sayle takes his last journey in the series travelling around the country by rail. Alexei’s mission is to break the golden rule of travelling by train and actually talk to his fellow passengers in a quest for conversations that will reveal their lives, hopes, dreams and destinations.
There’s humour, sadness and surprise as people reveal what is going on in their lives and, as Alexei passes through familiar towns and cities, he also reveals the stories and memories of his career and childhood.
Alexei has a lifelong ticket to ride in his DNA, as his father was a railway guard and so the Sayle family benefited from free travel in the UK and across Europe. As a boy, Alexei and his family roamed far and wide from the family home in Anfield, Liverpool. At a time when most people thought an exciting trip by train was to Brighton or Blackpool, Alexei travelled thousands of miles to mysterious towns with unpronounceable names in far flung corners of the continent.
In each programme in the series, Alexei embarks on a rail journey, taking pot-luck on who he might meet and inviting them to have a conversation with him. In this episode, Alexei travels on the Hull-Liverpool line and meets Oscar who hopes to become a barrister specialising in human rights cases, Nick and Rachel who have taken up a more simple life after Nick’s stressful career as a consulting engineer working on huge projects like the Shard in London, and mother and daughter Jill and Isobel who tell Alexei how their lives have changed after they both lived through the Ariana Grande concert bombing in Manchester.
And finally, as the last episode in the series ends in Alexei’s home town of Liverpool, he recalls a moving story about his mum, Molly.
A Ride production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:00 E Nesbit - The Story of the Amulet (b00tn4p7)
In a quest to achieve their hearts' desire, Anthea, Cyril, Robert and Jane travel through history to discover the whereabouts of an ancient and magical amulet.
E Nesbit's story, first published in 1906.
Dramatised by Malcolm McKee.
Learned Gentleman …… Clive Francis
Anthea …… Fiona Christie
Robert …… Justlyn Tower
Cyril …… James Richard
Jane …… Lexi Rose
Psammead …… Simon Carter
Rekhmara …… Kim Wall
Old Nurse/Queen …… Sunny Ormonde
Shopkeeper/Sergeant …… Terry Molloy
Marduk …… Ian Brooker
Pharoah/King of Babylon …… Robert Lister
Monsieur Devant/Nisroch …… Malcolm McKee
Edith/Amulet …… Annabelle Dowler
Music composed by Malcolm McKee.
Musicians:
Helen Bool
Audrey Douglas
Paul Arden Taylor
Malcolm McKee
Directed at BBC Birmingham by Rosemary Watts.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1999.
SAT 07:30 Great Lives (m0004f28)
Malcolm Lowry, nominated by Ian McMillan
Matthew Parris meets the poet Ian McMillan to find out about the life of his literary hero Malcolm Lowry.
Ian first discovered this 20th century writer's work as a young sixth former searching for literary inspiration. He stumbled by chance upon the writer's most famous novel, Under the Volcano, and Lowry's lyrical lines have remained with Ian ever since.
Joining Matthew and Ian to discuss the life of this Merseyside writer is the artistic director of Liverpool's Bluecoat Theatre, Bryan Biggs.
Together, they discuss the biography of this complex and intense man, a life that was full of sea-voyaging, shack-dwelling and heavy drinking.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 April 2019.
SAT 08:00 Booked (b0075llz)
Series 3
Episode 2
From unlikely conversation consequences to guess the baddie!
Outrageous parody, biting wit and bizarre couplings from:
Mark Thomas
Dillie Keane
Roger McGough
Miles Kington
Ian McMillan chairs the irreverent literary game.
Producer: Marc Jobst
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1997.
SAT 08:30 North by Northamptonshire (b018xy2d)
Series 2
Episode 5
The dawn of the Dickensian festival brings chaos to Wadenbrook, and Angela has something to tell Frank.
Sheila Hancock narrates the bittersweet adventures of the residents of a small town in Northamptonshire.
Written by Katherine Jakeways.
John Biggins................................Keith
Mackenzie Crook...........................Rod
Kevin Eldon...................Jonathan / Ken
Shelia Hancock....................... Narrator
Jessica Henwick...........................Helen
Katherine Jakeways........ Esther / Jacqui
Felicity Montagu..............................Jan
Geoffrey Palmer........................Norman
Lizzie Roper..............................Angela
Penelope Wilton............................Mary
Rufus Wright................................Frank
Producer: Victoria Lloyd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2012.
SAT 09:00 Brian Blessed's Radio Adventures (b07y77x3)
Arthur Bostrom meets with Brian Blessed to celebrate the adventurer’s remarkable life and career as presented on radio.
A giant of a man accompanied by an eloquent wit and booming, operatic voice, the boisterous British actor Brian Blessed is known for his hearty, king-sized portrayals on film and TV. However, what is often overlooked is his fascinating career in radio.
There are over 40 years of recordings in the BBC radio archives, including dramas, poetry readings, panel shows and hilarious interviews.
Brian was memorably interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Midweek revealing how he helped to deliver a baby in a south London park.
With an enthusiastic audience at the BBC Radio Theatre in London, Arthur introduces extracts and programmes from Brian’s radio years - creating an enthralling and unique insight into the actor and explorer’s life.
In his own irreverent style, Brian reveals a passion for radio which has rarely been discussed.
Programmes include:
* DOWN YOUR WAY: STRATFORD SHAKESPEARE *
Brian was to have gone to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford straight after drama school. Instead he joined Z Cars and was unable to do a season until 1984. He finally returns in this episode from 1991.
* SOUNDS NATURAL *
Brian discusses his interest in wildlife and mountaineering with Derek Jones - choosing recordings from the BBC's Sound Archive. From 1975.
* OUTLOOK - GALAHAD OF EVEREST *
Brian talks to John Waite about his expedition to climb Everest in the footsteps of George Mallory
* THE BRIAN BLESSED SHOW *
A programme from 1988 sees Brian talk to theatre critic Jack Tinker about his career.
Producer: Stephen Garner
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in October 2016
SAT 12:00 Dilemma (b01747kt)
Series 1
Episode 1
Would you provide an alibi to someone you hate?
Would you confront an elderly relative about casual racism at a family gathering?
And what are the relative merits of Silvio Berlusconi, Vlad the Impaler, L Ron Hubbard and Amanda Holden?
Sue Perkins presents moral and ethical posers to:
Dave Gorman
Richard Herring
Rebecca Front
Dominic Lawson
This is the panel show spotlighting the choices bombarding us in Britain today, as well as some more theoretical problems.
There are no "right" answers - but there are some deeply damning ones.
Devised by Danielle Ward.
Producer: Ed Morrish.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2011.
SAT 12:30 Yes Minister (b007jl60)
Series 1
Open Government
Newly re-elected, MP Jim Hacker is summoned to the PM's office.
Jim learns from his chauffeur that the new St Edwards Hospital has 300 administrators, cooks and cleaners, but no doctors, nurses or patients.
How can he cure it?
As usual the Minister doesn't know his ACAS from his NALGO.
Starring Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds.
Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn satirical sitcom ran on BBC TV between 1980 and 1984.
Yes Minister is centred around the hapless Jim Hacker and a collection of civil service underlings headed by the Machiavellian Sir Humphrey Appleby and obsequious Bernard.
Jim Hacker ...... Paul Eddington
Sir Humphrey Appleby ...... Nigel Hawthorne
Bernard ...... Derek Fowlds
Annie Hacker ...... Diana Hoddinot
Frank Weisel ...... Bill Nighy
Sir Arnold ...... John Nettleton
Chief Whip ...... Edward Jewesbury
Nigel ...... Haydn Wood
Radio Presenter ...... Gordon Clyde
Newsreader ...... Bob Docherty
Adapted for radio by producer Pete Atkin.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1983.
SAT 13:00 Archive on 4 (m00099qw)
Our Anniversary Obsession
50 years since the Moon landings?
30 years since the publication of The Satanic Verses?
200 years since the Peterloo Massacre?
Turn on the radio any day of the year and it won't be long before someone mentions an anniversary.
Why are BBC Radio 4 commissioners, news editors, book publishers and us, the audience, so obsessed with anniversaries? What impact does our preoccupation with round numbers have on the way we understand history?
Historian Hannah Mawdsley wrote her thesis on the Spanish flu pandemic. It's an area of history that felt like a footnote to the First World War - until we reached its centenary in 2018.
Suddenly there was an explosion of interest in Hannah's work. She was invited to speak on panels, to curate exhibitions and to discuss her research on the BBC.
Hannah talks to fellow historians Elisabeth Shipton, Bill Niven and Chris Kempshall about the power of anniversaries and their potentially distorting impact on history.
Does marking one day a year give us permission to forget difficult parts of history for the rest of the year? What about aspects of history that don't have easily marked anniversaries?
Sociologist Professor Eviatar Zerubavel explains why we're all so drawn to pattern and repetition, and why time isn't always linear. And a group of nine-year-olds talk about why numbers with a zero at the end are so important.
And just in case you were in any doubt how much anniversaries inform Radio 4's schedule, this was first broadcast on the 10th anniversary of another programme on exactly the same subject.
Producer: Hannah Marshall
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in October 2019.
SAT 14:00 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (m000gkw2)
Series 4
Police, Camera, Milton!
High drama in the line of duty when Milton is asked to form a Police Corruption Unit and takes it a little too literally.
It's the radio return of the man they call "Britain's funniest Milton," with a fully-working cast and a shipload of new jokes.
Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is "Help!".
In this series, Milton and his trusty assistant Anton set out to help people and soon find they're embroiled in a new adventure. Because when you're close to the edge, then Milton can give you a push.
Written by Milton with James Cary and Dan Evans.
With regulars:
Tom Goodman-Hill as the ever-faithful Anton
Josie Lawrence
Dan Tetsell
Music by Guy Jackson.
Produced and directed by David Tyler.
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2020.
SAT 14:30 Susan Calman - Keep Calman Carry On (b073j5cg)
Series 1
Hillwalking with Muriel Gray
Susan Calman is the least relaxed person she knows.
She has no down time, no hobbies (unless you count dressing up your cats in silly outfits) and her idea of relaxation is to play Grand Theft Auto, an hour into which she is in a murderous rage with sky high blood pressure. Her wife had to threaten to divorce her to make her go on holiday last year. Her first for four years. But she's been told by the same long-suffering wife, that unless she finds a way to switch off, and soon, she's going to be unbearable.
So Susan is looking at her options to try and immerse herself in the pursuits that her friends find relaxing, to find her inner zen and outer tranquillity.
Can she ditch the old Susan Calman and attempt to find the new Susan Calm?
For her first attempt, Susan tries to learn how to unwind, by going hillwalking with Muriel Gray.
Keep Calman Carry On is an audience stand up show in which Susan reports on how successful she's been - both at relaxing and at the pursuit itself - as well as playing in and discussing a handful of illustrative clips from her efforts.
It's an attempt to find out how people find solace or sanctuary in these worlds and how Susan can negotiate her own place in them.
Producer: Lyndsay Fenner.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2016.
SAT 15:00 Paul Sinha's History Revision (b08tfyqj)
Series 3
Episode 1
Comedian and quizzer Paul Sinha returns to shine a light on the important historical moments that you never got taught at school.
He also explains why so much of what you did learn is wrong.
There will also, as ever, be puns.
He begins with a look at the sheer volume of history created since series two, including Brexit, every celebrity in the world seeming to pass away, and the election of Donald Trump.
He also assesses the contributions to American culture of immigrants, including iconic clothing, iconic entertainment, and iconic icons.
Written and performed by Paul Sinha.
In previous series, Paul revealed how Portugal's invasion of Morocco in 1415 lead directly to the 2014 World Cup; how the 1909 launch of an Austro-Hungarian submarine prevented Dr Zhivago winning an Oscar; and the story of the black woman who refused to give up a seat on an Alabama bus ended up changing the law - no, it wasn't Rosa Parks.
Paul Sinha's History Revision won the 2016 Rose d'Or for 'Best Radio Comedy'.
Producer: Ed Morrish
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2017.
SAT 15:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b03fdh2c)
Series 1
Time to Celebrate
Tom Wrigglesworth phones home for his weekly check-in with his Mum, Dad and Gran.
This gives us a fascinating and hilarious glimpse into his background and influences shaping his temperament, opinions and hang-ups.
During his first call, we discover why he hates celebrations, why his mum can't stop organising them and why his father needs an electric whisk…
As the conversation unfolds, Tom takes time out to explain the situation, his parent's reactions plus anecdotes from the past illustrating his family's views.
So get underneath the skin of Tom and the Wrigglesworth family in a 30 minute totally legal bit of phone hacking.
Written by Tom Wrigglesworth and James Kettle
Additional Material by Miles Jupp.
Tom ...... Tom Wrigglesworth
Granny ...... Judy Parfitt
Dad ...... Paul Copley
Mum ...... Kate Anthony
Producer: Katie Tyrrell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2013.
SAT 16:00 E Nesbit - The Story of the Amulet (b00tn4p7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Great Lives (m0004f28)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Doctor Who (m001bb8z)
Tenth Doctor Adventures
Technophobia
When The Doctor and Donna visit London’s Technology Museum for a glimpse into the future, things don’t go to plan.
The most brilliant IT brain in the country can’t use her computer. More worryingly, the exhibits are attacking the visitors, while outside, people seem to be losing control of the technology that runs their lives.
Is it all down to human stupidity, or is something more sinister going on?
Beneath the streets, the Koggnossenti are waiting for all of London to fall prey to technophobia...
The first of six adventures featuring the tenth incarnation of The Doctor.
Starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate.
Written by Matt Fitton.
The Doctor …. David Tennant
Donna Noble …. Catherine Tate
Jill Meadow …. Rachael Stirling
Bex …. Niky Wardley
Brian …. Chook Sibtain
Lukas …. Jot Davies
Kevin …. Rory Keenan
Original music by Howard Carter.
Producer: David Richardson
A Big Finish production.
* Cover artwork by Tom Webster *
SAT 19:00 Brian Blessed's Radio Adventures (b07y77x3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b043x48z)
Series 3
Marcus Brigstocke
Stand-up Alex Horne and his five-piece band explore fashion and trends through live music and comedy.
This week there's a ceilidh and songs about Alex's car and the first dance at his wedding amongst others.
With special guest comedian Marcus Brigstocke and singer Vula Malinga.
Band: Joe Auckland, Mark Brown, Will Collier, Ben Reynolds, Ed Sheldrake
Producer: Charlie Perkins.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
SAT 22:30 Chain Reaction (b008z74b)
Series 4
Catherine Tate interviews David Tennant
Two Doctor Who stalwarts meet. Catherine Tate takes the host's chair as she talks to - or mercilessly teases - David Tennant.
Chain Reaction is the tag talk show with a twist where the guest becomes the interviewer in the next show.
Based on the original 1991 BBC Radio 5 programme of the same name, Chain Reaction is a simple idea of big name stars from the world of entertainment interviewing others whose work they appreciate and admire.
Recorded with an audience, the interviews focus on the life, career and the passions of the interviewee but often prove to be as revealing about the interviewer.
Producer: Tilusha Ghelani.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2008.
SAT 23:00 Susan Calman - Keep Calman Carry On (b0717j1y)
Series 1
Cricket with Andy Zaltzman
Susan Calman is the least relaxed person she knows.
She has no down time, no hobbies (unless you count dressing up your cats in silly outfits) and her idea of relaxation is to play Grand Theft Auto, an hour into which she is in a murderous rage with sky-high blood pressure. Her wife had to threaten to divorce her to make her go on holiday last year. Her first for four years. But she's been told by the same long-suffering wife that unless she finds a way to switch off, and soon, she's going to be unbearable.
So Susan is looking at her options to try and immerse herself in the pursuits that her friends find relaxing, to find her inner zen and outer tranquillity. Can she ditch the old Susan Calman and attempt to find the new Susan Calm?
This time, in a typically British leisure pursuit, Susan goes to a cricket match with comedian and author, Andy Zaltzman.
Keep Calman Carry On is an audience stand-up show in which Susan reports on how successful she's been - both at relaxing and at the pursuit itself - as well as playing in and discussing a handful of illustrative clips from her efforts.
It's an attempt to find out how people find solace or sanctuary in these worlds and how Susan can negotiate her own place in them.
Producer: Lyndsay Fenner.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2016.
SAT 23:30 Old Harry's Game (b007jpf2)
Series 2
Too Far
Satan instructs Scumspawn to perform the most gross and humiliating act of all time.
Has the Prince of Darkness finally gone too far?
Andy Hamilton’s devilishly funny sitcom set in Hell.
Satan ...... Andy Hamilton
The Professor ...... James Grout
Thomas ...... Jimmy Mulville
Scumspawn ...... Robert Duncan
Other characters played by:
Philip Pope
Felicity Montagu
Nick Revell
Producer Paul Mayhew-Archer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.

SUNDAY 21 AUGUST 2022

SUN 00:00 Doctor Who (m001bb8z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 Archive on 4 (m00099qw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:00 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (m000gkw2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:30 Susan Calman - Keep Calman Carry On (b073j5cg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Paul Sinha's History Revision (b08tfyqj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 on Saturday]
SUN 03:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b03fdh2c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 E Nesbit - The Story of the Amulet (b00tn4p7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 Great Lives (m0004f28)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (Omnibus) (b0bn57wf)
Episode 1
Nine strangers with a variety of differing emotional and physical needs find themselves thrown together at a very remote and unconventional health resort - Tranquillum House.
Romantic novelist Frances Welty, for example, is there to mend a broken heart, a bad back and a wounded ego.
The other eight guests, though seemingly fine on the outside, are all harbouring ghosts or pain of some kind and they arrive for a little restorative break.
Tranquillum House, however, is no ordinary health resort. It's owned and run by an equally wounded and strange lady who is determined that these nine perfect strangers' lives will never be the same again after the ten days that lie ahead.
Written by bestselling author Liane Moriarty.
Omnibus of the first five of ten parts abridged by Robin Brooks.
Read by Kerry Fox.
Producer: Celia de Wolff
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2018.
SUN 07:10 Inheritance Tracks (m0001sh6)
Stephen Mangan
Stephen Mangan chooses ‘I Recall A Gypsy Woman’ by Don Williams and ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes?’ by Fairport Convention.
SUN 07:20 Jo Clifford - Five Days Which Changed Everything (Omnibus) (b0bcg5wm)
It's festival time on the streets of Edinburgh, a time John and Susie usually relish.
But this year, over the course of several days, their world will be turned upside down.
Jo Clifford’s autobiographical drama about love, loss and the unexpected moments of grace that preserve us.
Omnibus of five parts.
Susie ...... Kathryn Howden
John ...... Liam Brennan
Rebecca/Doctor ...... Melody Grove
Katie ...... Anna Russell-Martin
Director: Kirsty Williams.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2018.
SUN 08:30 Home to Roost (m001bb6g)
Father's Little Problems
William’s hypochondria results in a visit to the hospital.
Stars Molly Sugden and Deryck Guyler.
Olive and William Wheeler are a crusty old married couple, who call each other ‘Mother’ and ‘Father’.
He's still adapting to his retirement after 40 years in the same office, while she's trying to cope with him being under her feet all day.
Sitcom written by Anne Jones.
William Wheeler …. Deryck Guyler
Olive Wheeler …. Mollie Sugden
Jack Bailey …. Norman Rossington
Kath …. Patricia Greene
Nev …. John Baddeley
Theme music composed and played by Alex Walsh and his Band.
Producer: Trafford Whitelock.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1975.
SUN 09:00 Take It From Here (b00dyywt)
From 24/08/1948
A song for a musical, a look at leisure time and a musical twist in a medical drama.
Long-running classic comedy written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden.
Starring:
Professor Jimmy Edwards
Dick Bentley
Joy Nichols
Clarence Wright
Alan Dean
Music from The Keynotes and the BBC Revue Orchestra conducted by Frank Cantell.
Producer: Charles Maxwell
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in August 1948.
SUN 09:30 Coming Alive (b00h3ngz)
Series 2
Big Trouble
Terry is plagued by smugglers with big ideas - and Sandra has a stalker.
Starring Karl Howman and Phylis Logan.
Jim Eldridge's sitcom about ex-convict Terry King's efforts to run a community centre.
Terry King ...... Karl Howman
Sandra Gaines ...... Phyllis Logan
Steve Addison ...... Ben Crowe
Marlene …. Hetty Baynes
Andy Edwards …. Tom George
Annie …. Alison Pettitt
Producer: Marilyn Imrie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2000.
SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m001bb6k)
Comedians
Micky Flanagan
From Bruce Springsteen to The Jam.
Comedian Micky Flanagan shares his castaway choices with Kirsty Young.
Micky found mainstream success as a comic in 2007 with his autobiographical What Chance Change? show at the Edinburgh Fringe, where he was nominated as best newcomer.
Raised in London's East End, he left school at 15 with no qualifications and followed his dad into work as a fish porter at Billingsgate fish market. When he quit that job, he spent a summer working in a kitchen in New York, and then returned to London to spend much of the 1980s working in the furniture trade. When his business collapsed, he worked as a window cleaner and decorator.
He played truant through much of his secondary school career, but in his mid-20s he studied for a GCSE in English, and later gained a place at City University, London, graduating with a social sciences degree. He trained to become a teacher, and then discovered comedy through night classes.
Sell-out UK tours and appearances on Mock the Week and Would I Lie to You followed, and he's made two TV series for Sky - Detour De France and Micky Flanagan: Thinking Aloud.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2017.
SUN 10:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00kr7bp)
Series 1
Sloths
Sir David muses on the natural history of the sloth - perhaps the most lethargic beast in the animal world, and one that he has admitted to wanting to be.
Series of talks by Sir David Attenborough on the natural histories of creatures and plants from around the world.
Producer: Julian Hector
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2009.
SUN 11:00 Radiolab (m001bb6m)
Series 10
Hello, My Name Is
Radiolab explores the importance of names and our need to name everything around us. With Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser.
Radiolab is a Peabody-award winning show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and the human experience.
Lulu Miller, Latif Nasser and the Radiolab team investigate a strange world.
From WNYC. First broadcast on national public radio in the USA in 2022.
SUN 11:55 Inheritance Tracks (m0001sh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:10 today]
SUN 12:00 Poetry Extra (m001bb6p)
Between the Ears - Drever, Ligo
Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's poetry archive and chooses Between the Ears - Drever, Ligo - Robert Crawford's poetic meditation on the Scottish physicist Ronald Drever, and his role in the search for Gravitational Waves.
The detection of Gravitational Waves in 2015 was hailed as an astounding breakthrough in the world of physics and a triumph for the LIGO project, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. But the discovery was also a triumph for the men and women who had worked at LIGO during tumultuous times.
Music by Jeremy Thurlow.
Producer: David Stenhouse.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.
SUN 12:30 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (m000gt6b)
Series 4
The Art Dealer
Milton’s attempt to become an international art dealer leads to a deadly brush with danger.
Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is "Help!".
In this series, Milton and his trusty assistant Anton set out to help people and soon find they're embroiled in a new adventure. Because when you're close to the edge, then Milton can give you a push.
Written by Milton with James Cary and Dan Evans.
With regulars:
Tom Goodman-Hill as the ever-faithful Anton
Josie Lawrence
Ben Willbond
Music by Guy Jackson.
Produced and directed by David Tyler.
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2020.
SUN 13:00 No Place to Lay One's Head by Francoise Frenkel (Omnibus) (b09qhsy0)
Francoise Frenkel's real-life account of flight from Berlin on the 'Night of Broken Glass'.
The author had a thriving bookshop in Berlin, selling French editions, newspapers and magazines.
Society types and celebrities would drop by to browse, buy and socialise.
Then 1935 heralded a dark dawn..
Translated by Stephanie Smee.
Omnibus of five parts abridged by Katrin Williams.
Read by Samantha Spiro.
Producer: Duncan Minshull
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018
SUN 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b06sb17d)
Rick Stein
Chef Rick Stein chooses 'Wouldn't It Be Lovely' from My Fair Lady, and 'Afternoons And Coffee Spoons' by the Crash Test Dummies.
SUN 14:20 AS Byatt - The Frederica Quartet (Omnibus) (b07gry2w)
Still Life
AS Byatt novel adaptations chronicling the lives of the Potter family, set against the social and political landscape of England of 1953-1970.
‘The Frederica Quartet’ comprises:
'The Virgin in the Garden' [1978]
'Still Life' [1985]
'Babel Tower' [1996]
'A Whistling Woman' [2002].
This omnibus covers the conclusion of 'Still Life' - episodes 3 to 7 episodes.
The arrivals of a new baby and a singular new vicar have big impacts on the lives of the Potter family.
Dramatised by John Harvey.
Older Frederica …. Rosemary Leach
Middle Frederica …. Indira Varma
Hugh Pink …. Mark Umbers
Pippy Mammott …. Deborah Findlay
Nigel …. Mark Bazeley
Leo …. Jack Langan
Ginnie …. Hannah Dee
Ruth …. Jasmine Hyde
Mary …. Ruby Williams
Will …. Alex Etchart
Bill/First Caller …. Geoffrey Whitehead
Daniel …. Shaun Dooley
Steelwire/Jude Mason …. Mark Heap
Winifred …. Barbara Flynn
Male Voice …. Ian Masters
Alexander …. Adam Kotz
Alan …. Kenny Blyth
Begbie …. Ben Onwukwe
Producer: Mary Peate
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2002.
SUN 15:30 Frinton Forever (b04thhpd)
Every Summer season, Frinton Summer Theatre stages weekly rep with seven plays performed back to back in the Essex seaside town.
To celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2014, Richard Wilson agreed to perform in a new play by Jon Canter - The Dog - preceded by two weeks rehearsal.
Follow his progress from first day through to the last night - from rehearsing in the local scout hut and line runs in a beach hut, to the Friends of Frinton Summer garden party and the ever popular performance raffle.
And meet some of the key people who make Frinton's rep season happen every year, plus Sir Antony Sher who owes his Equity card and first ever professional job to Frinton.
With many thanks to The Friends of Frinton Theatre.
Producer: Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2014.
**** Check 4 Extra's schedule for 18th August 2022 - if you'd like to hear Richard Wilson star in the radio version of The Dog.
SUN 16:00 Roald Dahl (b01479m0)
Matilda
Episode 2
Matilda is determined to save the school and her favourite teacher Miss Honey from the vicious grip of its terrifying head Miss Trunchbull.
Narrator ...... Lenny Henry
Matilda ...... Lauren Mote
Miss Trunchbull ...... Nichola McAuliffe
Mrs Wormwood ...... Claire Rushbrook
Mr Wormwood ...... John Biggins
Miss Honey ...... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Michael ...... Ryan Watson
Lavender ...... Sinead Michael
Nigel ...... Bertie Gilbert
Directed by Claire Grove
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2009.
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (m001bb6p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 today]
SUN 17:30 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (m000gt6b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:30 today]
SUN 18:00 Ray Bradbury's Tales of the Bizarre (b007jpvj)
Series 1
The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl
Murder is the ultimate crime.
Acton realises it's important - vitally so when committing the murder - to pay attention to detail.
Ray Bradbury introduces his own dark tale.
Dramatised by Brian Sibley.
Acton ...... Nigel Anthony
Huxley ...... John Hartley
Police Officer ...... Roger May
Director: Martin Jenkins.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1995.
SUN 18:30 Earthsea (b0bnfqwx)
Series 2
The Mender
Alder, a man tormented by his dreams, seeks out the reclusive Archmage on the island of Gont.
Ursula Le Guin's enduring fantasy saga - based on the novel The Other Wind adapted by Judith Adams.
Published between 1968 and 2001, the five novels and short story collection of Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea cycle (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, The Other Wind and Tales from Earthsea) are re-told across twelve episodes.
Series 2 takes in the action of Tehanu, The Other Wind and the short story Dragonfly from Tales of Earthsea.
Set on a vast archipelago of islands, where magic is a central part of life, they tell the stories of Tenar and Ged.
Tehanu ...... Laura Elphinstone
Ged ...... Robert Glenister
Azver ...... Narinder Samra
Alder ...... Tom Vanson
Thorion ...... Sam Dale
Woman ...... Elizabeth Counsell
Sailor ...... Ryan Early
Fishwife ...... Emma Handy
Lily ...... Lauren Cornelius
Doorkeeper ...... Stephen Hogan
Original music by Jon Nichols.
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in October 2018.
SUN 19:00 Radiolab (m001bb6m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 19:55 Inheritance Tracks (m0001sh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:10 today]
SUN 20:00 Roald Dahl (b01479m0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 today]
SUN 21:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m001bb6k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
SUN 21:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00kr7bp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]
SUN 22:00 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (m000gt6b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:30 today]
SUN 22:30 Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing (b01cws2l)
Series 1
About Work
Despite his comedy career, Nathan's family try persuading him to take a job at Dad's office.
This is the story of young, up-and-coming comedian Nathan Caton, who becomes the first in his family to graduate from university - only to opt for a career in comedy - much to his family's annoyance who want him to get a 'proper job' using his architecture degree.
Each episode shows the criticism, interference and rollercoaster ride that Nathan endures from his family as he pursues his career against their wishes.
A mix of Nathan's stand-up intercut with scenes from his family life.
Written by: Nathan Caton.
Additional material by: Ola and Maff Brown.
Nathan ...... Nathan Caton
Grandma ...... Mona Hammond
Mum ...... Adjoa Andoh
Dad ...... Curtis Walker
Mr Brimson ...... Don Gilet
Paul ...... Ola
Lingerie Customer / Boss ...... Chizzy Akudolu
Script Editor: James Kettle
Producer: Katie Tyrrell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2012.
SUN 22:45 Mastering the Universe (b00sjw5l)
Series 1
Party On Down
Professor Joy Klamp explores the miserable world of partying.
Starring Dawn French.
Written by Nick Newman and Christopher Douglas.
With:
Christopher Douglas
Sally Grace
Lucy Montgomery
Dan Tetsell
Ewan Bailey
Geoffrey McGivern
Brian Perkins
Producer: Simon Nicholls
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2005.
SUN 23:00 We Are Klang: Amazing Lives (b007k3vt)
Musical
On its 25th anniversary, writers and performers reflect on Gummy Monkey: The Musical.
It was - its creators claim - one of the most controversial shows in the history of Broadway.
Improvised mockumentary series in which Klang examines the career of four living legends.
Starring:
Greg Davies
Steve Hall
Marek Larwood
Producer: Victoria Lloyd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2007.
SUN 23:30 The Museum of Everything (b00hg82b)
Series 3
The Expo
Marvel at the meerkats, visit a new theme park... and one man must face 'The Curator'.
Written and performed by:
Marcus Brigstocke
Danny Robins
Dan Tetsell
With Lucy Montgomery.
Music by Dominic Haslam and Ben Walker.
Producer: Alex Walsh-Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2006.

MONDAY 22 AUGUST 2022

MON 00:00 Ray Bradbury's Tales of the Bizarre (b007jpvj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:30 Earthsea (b0bnfqwx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 No Place to Lay One's Head by Francoise Frenkel (Omnibus) (b09qhsy0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (b06sb17d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Sunday]
MON 02:20 AS Byatt - The Frederica Quartet (Omnibus) (b07gry2w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:20 on Sunday]
MON 03:30 Frinton Forever (b04thhpd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Roald Dahl (b01479m0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (m001bb6p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (m000gt6b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 Inspector Purbright - Naked Nuns (m000pt45)
6. A Question of Postage
Inspector Purbright finally learns the identity of the Naked Nuns.
Conclusion of Colin Watson's serial about vice and violence stirring beneath the surface of the peaceful market town of Flaxborough.
Starring John Rowe.
Dramatised by Christopher Denys.
Inspector Purbright …. John Rowe
Sergeant Love …. Paul Downing
Lucy Teatime …. Ann Rye
Bernard …. Joseph Alessi
Pook …. Peter Rylands
Chubb …. Geoffrey Banks
Amis …. Daniel Coll
Tudor …. David Fleeshman
Director: Tony Cliff
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1993.
MON 06:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b007jnq4)
1. The Arrival
Mountfern is a quiet rural village in Ireland until the arrival of an ambitious Irish-American called Patrick O'Neil.
Starring David Soul.
Maeve Binchy's novel, first published in 1987.
Dramatised in six episodes by Jane Cassidy
Patrick O'Neill ...... David Soul
Kate Ryan ...... Anna Healy
John Ryan ...... Lorcan Cranitch
Fergus ...... Dan Gordon
Kerry O'Neill ...... Luke Griffin
Grace O'Neill ...... Melissa Smith
Dr White ...... Denys Hawthorne
Marion ...... Stella McCusker
Mrs White: ...... Helen Norton
Judy ...... Farrell Fleming
Shelia ...... Marie Jones
Jack Coyne ...... Ray McBride
Mr Murphy ...... Maurice Cehoe
Matt Foley ...... Fergal Mcelherron
Mrs Doyle ...... Brenda Winter
Dara ...... Audrey Dempsey
Michael ...... Brendan Lennon
Eddie ...... Ken Farmer
Declan ...... Paul Fitzpatrick
Other parts played by the cast.
Music composed by Jane Cassidy.
Music performed by Rod McVey (piano) and Kate O'Brien (violin)
Directed in Belfast by Pam Brighton.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1996.
MON 07:00 Josh Howie's Losing It (m0000xx0)
Series 2
The Playgroup
Stand-up comic Josh and his wife battle to come to terms with the arrival of their first child.
Monique has work so Josh has to take their son to his playgroup single-handed.
What could possibly go wrong?
Sitcom starring Josh Howie and Pippa Evans.
Written by Josh Howie.
Josh ...... Josh Howie
Monique ...... Pippa Evans
With:
Donal Coxi
Julian Deane
Stephen Hagen
Jonathan Kemp
Debra Tammer
Wendy Wason
Producer: Ashley Blaker.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2018.
MON 07:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m001b3zh)
Series 77
Episode 6
Back for a second week at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham, panellists Fred MacAulay, Jon Culshaw, Vicki Pepperdine and Milton Jones compete amongst one another, with Jack Dee the unimpressed umpire. Piano accompaniment is provided by Colin Sell. Producer - Jon Naismith. It is a BBC Studios production.
MON 08:00 Round the Horne (b00lvz50)
Series 3
Episode 6
Kenneth Horne heads a Bohemian Paris romp, while bona journos Julian and Sandy report the latest goings on for the Daily Polari.
Packed full of colourful characters, parodies, memorable catchphrases, and double-entendres.
Starring:
Kenneth Horne
Kenneth Williams
Hugh Paddick
Betty Marsden
Bill Pertwee
Announcer: Douglas Smith
Recorded at the BBC's Paris Studio in Lower Regent Street, London.
Music by Edwin Braden and the Hornblowers and The Fraser Hayes Four.
Round The Horne was born out of the demise of BBC radio comedy Beyond Our Ken. Using the same cast and producer, Barry Took and Marty Feldman wrote the brilliantly inventive - and sometimes outrageous - scripts for four series between 1965 and 1968.
Producer: John Simmonds
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in March 1967
MON 08:30 Yes Minister (b007jl89)
Series 1
Big Brother
MP Jim Hacker crosses swords with Sir Humphrey over civil liberties.
Starring Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds.
Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn satirical sitcom ran on BBC TV between 1980 and 1984.
Yes Minister is centred around the hapless Jim Hacker and a collection of civil service underlings headed by the Machiavellian Sir Humphrey Appleby and obsequious Bernard.
Jim Hacker…. Paul Eddington
Sir Humphrey Appleby …. Nigel Hawthorne
Bernard …. Derek Fowlds
Annie Hacker …. Diana Hoddinot
Frank Weisel …. Bill Nighy
Tom …. Fulton McKay
Godfrey Finch …. Gordon Clyde
Floor Manager …. Haydn Wood
Richard Linley …. Himself
Adapted for radio by producer Pete Atkin.
First broadcast on Radio 4 in October 1983.
MON 09:00 Dilemma (b017c9pp)
Series 1
Episode 2
Would you take part in a sham marriage?
Would you let an annoying colleague take credit for your work if it meant they would get a job elsewhere?
Sue Perkins presents moral and ethical posers to:
Dave Gorman
Richard Herring
Rebecca Front
Dominic Lawson
Plus the panel try to solve some Dilemmas from the audience.
This is the panel show spotlighting the choices bombarding us in Britain today, as well as some more theoretical problems.
There are no "right" answers - but there are some deeply damning ones.
Devised by Danielle Ward.
Producer: Ed Morrish.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2011.
MON 09:30 Heated Rollers (b007rn40)
Episode 5
Wartime heroines - and Oliver with a twist.
The first ever all-women sketch show made for BBC Radio 2.
Starring:
Lynda Bellingham
Gwyneth Strong
Joanna Monro
With music supplied by the Lorraine Bowen Experience.
Producer: Maria Esposito
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1999.
MON 10:00 Baldi (b007jlnl)
Series 2
4. Not for Life
The suicide of a young girl sends the priestly sleuth on an internet murder trail...
Starring David Threlfall.
Series of murder mysteries about Franciscan priest and philosophy lecturer turned amateur sleuth, Paolo Baldi.
Written by Simon Brett.
Paolo Baldi .... David Threlfall
Tina Mahon ....Tina Kellegher
Father Troy .... T P McKenna
Carl Bradley .... Robert Bathurst
Elaine .... Lucie McAnespie
Peter McCabe .... Alan McKee
Willie Dolan .... Des Nealon
Kieran Banks .... Conor Delaney
Maureen .... Alice Barry
Format created by Barry Devlin.
Developed and produced by BBC Northern Ireland.
Directed in Belfast by Lawrence Jackson.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2001
MON 10:45 Short Works (b0bdbrz8)
The Strandline by Lucy Wood
A message in a bottle on a Cornish beach provides unexpected answers.
Alex Tregear reads Lucy Wood's story.
Writer: Lucy Wood is the author of a critically acclaimed collection of short stories based on Cornish folklore Diving Belles.
She has been longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize and was a runner-up in the BBC National Short Story Award.
Producer: Justine Willett.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.
MON 11:00 TED Radio Hour (m001bb70)
Series 9
What Leadership Looks Like
A journey through fascinating ideas based on talks by riveting speakers on the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) stage.
Manoush Zomorodi explores what it takes to be a leader. How can they solve complex problems with humility and braver?
First broadcast in the USA on National Public Radio in 2022.
MON 11:50 Inheritance Tracks (m001bb74)
Karin Slaughter
American crime writer Karin Slaughter chooses ‘You May Be Right’ by Billy Joel and ‘We Got The Beat’ by The Go-Go’s.
MON 12:00 Round the Horne (b00lvz50)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 Yes Minister (b007jl89)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 Inspector Purbright - Naked Nuns (m000pt45)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b007jnq4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (m0000qwf)
Episode 6
The Tranquillum House guests discover they are being drugged as part of the unconventional programme.
Nine strangers are thrown together at a remote health resort where their lives will change forever.
Written by Liane Moriarty, the bestselling author behind Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO series ‘Big Little Lies’, this is a tale of nine strangers with a variety of emotional and physical needs, gathered at a health-and-wellness retreat that hides a dark agenda beneath its glamorous façade.
Romantic novelist Frances Welty, for example, is there to mend a broken heart, a bad back and a wounded ego. The other eight guests, though seemingly fine on the outside all harbour ghosts or pain of some kind as they arrive at Tranquillum House for a little restorative break. However, it’s no ordinary health resort. It is owned and run by an equally wounded and strange woman who is determined that these guests’ lives will never be the same again after their ten day stay.
Kerry Fox reads Liane Moriarty’s page turner.
Writer: Liane Moriarty
Abridger: Robin Brooks
Producer: Celia De Wolff
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2018.
MON 14:15 Following Pappano (b09526h6)
Episode 1
All major opera houses rely on well established productions of repertoire classics. Puccini's La Bohème is a permanent fixture in the list of the world's top five operas as measured by performance numbers and John Copley's 1974 staging at Covent Garden was a familiar and much loved favourite. However the time has come to replace it with a new production and the challenge to do that with a fresh staging falls to the team of Music Director Sir Antonio Pappano and stage director Richard Jones.
The series follows Maestro Pappano as the new production takes shape. We hear him working with singers, discussing the particular challenges of operating at the very highest level of operatic performance and expectation and giving candid insights into the often perilous journey to an opening night.
We also hear from the team both on and off stage who work alongside Pappano, including the young cast who are acutely aware that the production they are replacing opened with singers like Placido Domingo and Sir Thomas Allen. There are also stage directors, set-builders, movement directors and Maestro Pappano's trusted repetiteur.
But at the heart of it, in the weeks leading up to opening night and as the curtain rises, is the Music director himself, combining the orchestral brilliance of Puccini's score and the dazzling qualities of the singers on stage to produce what they all hope will be a worthy addition to the Royal Opera House's Puccini tradition. "He is" as one orchestra member says, "more of a storyteller than a conductor. Everything he tells us is about the drama and the dramatic purpose of what's happening on stage."
Produced by Tom Alban.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2017.
MON 14:30 Speak Spirit Speak (b00xmv2b)
Voices of the dead, aliens or from our own minds? Writer Ken Hollings probes the mysteries of electronic voice phenomena.
The writer Ken Hollings tries to explain the mysteries of EVP: voices of the dead, alien transmissions or a product of our own inquisitive minds?
The programme includes examples of EVP never heard before.
Contributors:
Edith Cass
Ian Astbury
Tina Laurent
Keith Battye
Justine Picardie
Dr Jane Lewty
Erik Davis
Niall Johnson
Tina Laurent EVP - private recordings
Producer: John Calver
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
MON 15:00 Baldi (b007jlnl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 15:45 Short Works (b0bdbrz8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]
MON 16:00 Dilemma (b017c9pp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 Heated Rollers (b007rn40)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 Josh Howie's Losing It (m0000xx0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m001b3zh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 Alan Garner - The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (b0952xvg)
Episode 1
Two children on holiday in the North of England encounter perilous magical forces.
Alan Garner's fantasy novel starring Robin Bailey.
Dramatised in four parts by David Wade.
Cadellin ...... Robin Bailey
Gowther Mossock/Narrator ...... James Tomlinson
Susan ...... Andrea Murphy
Colin ...... Mark Kingston
Selina Place ...... Rosalind Knight
Bess ...... Patsy Byrne
Guard/Ticket collector ...... George Parsons
Farmer/Porter ...... Ronald Herdman
Crow ...... Anne Jameson
Directed at BBC Manchester by Caroline Smith.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1989.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (b04n3384)
Eliza Manningham-Buller and Elif Shafak
Former head of MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller, and Turkish author Elif Shafak discuss their book choices with Harriett Gilbert.
BOOKS DISCUSSED:
Eliza Manningham-Buller's choice - ‘Americanah’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Harriett Gilbert's choice - ‘The War Between the Tates’ by Alison Lurie
Publisher: Vintage
Elif Shafak’s choice - ‘Gentlemen of the Road’ by Michael Chabon
Publisher: Sceptre
Producer: Sally Heaven.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2014.
MON 19:00 Round the Horne (b00lvz50)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Yes Minister (b007jl89)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 Inspector Purbright - Naked Nuns (m000pt45)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b007jnq4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 TED Radio Hour (m001bb70)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:50 Inheritance Tracks (m001bb74)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:50 today]
MON 22:00 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m001b3zh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 Everyone Quite Likes Justin (b01n0wj1)
Series 2
Episode 5
Justin's still living with his father-in-law, still working with his ex-wife and still calling on his Gran for her words of wisdom.
Now he also has to cope with a chance of his big break.
Starring Justin Moorhouse, Anne Reid and Paul Copley.
Sitcom written by Justin Moorhouse and Jim Poyser
Justin ...... Justin Moorhouse
Gran ...... Anne Reid
Lisa ...... Christine Bottomley
Bryn ...... Lloyd Langford
Ray ...... Paul Copley
Tanya ...... Victoria Elliott
Charlie ...... Mark Chatterton
Recorded in front of an audience in Manchester.
Producer: Steven Canny
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2012.
MON 23:00 Party's Over (m001b4g8)
Series 2
Sister Act
What happens when the Prime Minister suddenly stops being prime minister? One day you're the most powerful person in the country, the next you're irrelevant, forced into retirement 30 years ahead of schedule and find yourself asking 'What do I do now?'
"I can't just disappear like Gordon Brown. They say he barely gets out of bed now. Just sits there doing word searches and eating Kit Kat Chunkies. Miserable. I hate the chunky ones." Former British Prime Minister Henry Tobin
This week, Henry receives an unwanted family visit.
Starring Miles Jupp, Ingrid Oliver, Emma Sidi, Justin Edwards and Ruth Bratt.
Written by Paul Doolan and Jon Hunter
Producer: Richard Morris
Production co-ordinator: Caroline Barlow
Sound recordist and designer: David Thomas
A BBC Studios Production
MON 23:30 The Wilson Dixon Line (b00kdnj9)
Words of Wisdom
Cowboy philosopher Wilson Dixon shares his viewpoints on life, love and relationships through songs and anecdotes.
Introduced by Johnnie Walker. Wilson’s affectionate tribute to the philosophy of country music begins with his observations of society and the differences between the UK and Cripple Creek.
Saddled up with sidekick Snake Wizzelteats, his observations on everyday life draw the audience into world full of larger than life characters and situations.
Wilson Dixon is the creation of Jesse Griffin; an award winning comedian, actor and founding member of the acclaimed comedy trio The 4 Noels. Since his creation, Wilson Dixon has performed extensively around Australia and New Zealand as well as the UK comedy circuit.
Sidekick Snake Wizzelteats is performed by Jesse Budd.
Written and performed by Jesse Griffin.
Recorded with an audience at BBC Maida Vale, London.
Producer: Lianne Coop.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in May 2009.

TUESDAY 23 AUGUST 2022

TUE 00:00 Alan Garner - The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (b0952xvg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b04n3384)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Inspector Purbright - Naked Nuns (m000pt45)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b007jnq4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (m0000qwf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 Following Pappano (b09526h6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 Speak Spirit Speak (b00xmv2b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Baldi (b007jlnl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 03:45 Short Works (b0bdbrz8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Dilemma (b017c9pp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 Heated Rollers (b007rn40)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 Josh Howie's Losing It (m0000xx0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m001b3zh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Falco (b007wpf1)
The Silver Pigs
1. Illegal Trade
Rome, AD 70: Roman sleuth Marcus Didius Falco chances upon an illegal trade in precious metal (the silver pigs) after mounting a rescue from a kidnap gang.
Anton Lesser brings the popular detective to life in Lindsey Davis's witty and enthralling adventures set in the days of the Roman Empire.
Dramatised in four parts by Mary Cutler.
Falco …. Anton Lesser
Sosia …. Felicity Jones
Lenia …. Gillian Goodman
Petronius …. Ben Crowe
Decimus …. Robert Lister
Publius …. Richard Derrington
Pertinax/Julius …. Sean Connolly
Falco’s Mother …. Frances Jeater
Marcia …. Helen Monks
Directed at BBC Birmingham by Peter Leslie Wild.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2004.
TUE 06:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049dm9k)
2. The Plans
An American, Patrick O'Neill, has arrived in Mountfern - the Irish village that his impoverished grandfather emigrated from many years before.
O'Neill has bought the ruins of Fernscourt, the big house, and plans to rebuild it as a hotel, but how will the locals feel?
Starring David Soul as Patrick O'Neill
Maeve Binchy's novel dramatised by Jane Cassidy.
Kate Ryan ...... Anna Healy
John Ryan ...... Lorcan Cranitch
Rachel ...... Susan Slot
Fergus ...... Dan Gordon
Kerry O'Neill ...... Luke Griffin
Grace O'Neill ...... Melissa Smith
Porter ...... John Keegan
Father Minchan ...... John Hewitt
Rev Williams ...... Trevor Moore
Sheila Whelan ...... Marie Jones
Jack Coyne ...... Ray McBride
Mr Murphy ...... Maurice Kehoe
Brian Doyle ...... Conleth Hill
With Audrey Dempsey, Brendan Lennon, Sean McKenna, Ken Farmer
Music Composed by Jane Cassidy and performed by Rod McVey and Kate O'Brien
Director: Pam Brighton
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1996.
TUE 07:00 North by Northamptonshire (b0196tyh)
Series 2
Episode 6
Norman may have stopped the parade, but the festival must go on. Meanwhile Helen has news for Jan and Frank, and love blossoms for a most unlikely couple.
Sheila Hancock narrates the bittersweet adventures of the residents of a small town in Northamptonshire.
Written by Katherine Jakeways.
John Biggins................................Keith
Mackenzie Crook...........................Rod
Kevin Eldon...................Jonathan / Ken
Shelia Hancock....................... Narrator
Jessica Henwick...........................Helen
Katherine Jakeways........ Esther / Jacqui
Felicity Montagu..............................Jan
Geoffrey Palmer........................Norman
Lizzie Roper..............................Angela
Penelope Wilton............................Mary
Rufus Wright................................Frank
Producer: Victoria Lloyd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2012.
TUE 07:30 Alone (m001b41s)
Series 4
Episode 1- Best Upstairs Neighbour Ever
A sitcom, written by Moray Hunter and starring Angus Deayton, Abigail Cruttenden, Pearce Quigley, Kate Isitt and Bennett Arron, about five, mainly single, middle aged neighbours living in flats in a converted house in North London.
Mitch (Angus Deayton) is a widower and part-time therapist who is looking to put his life back together now that he is single and living with Will (Pearce Quigley), his younger, more volatile half-brother. Mitch is currently in a new relationship with Ellie (Abigail Cruttenden) who is a somewhat shy, nervous and sensitive schoolteacher. Overly honest, frustrated actress Louisa (Kate Isitt), and socially inept IT nerd Morris (Bennett Arron) complete the line-up of mis-matched neighbours.
In the series opener, Best Upstairs Neighbour Ever, Mitch and Ellie are trying to work out ground rules for their relationship, with matters such as the frequency of present-giving, meeting up and overnight stays on the agenda. Morris meanwhile fancies a group Sunday roast, if someone else will cook it, and Will and Louisa are just trying to get used to the fact that Mitch and Ellie are now a thing.
Cast:
Angus Deayton - Mitch
Abigail Cruttenden - Ellie
Pearce Quigley - Will
Kate Isitt - Louisa
Bennett Arron - Morris
Written by Moray Hunter
Directed by Moray Hunter and Gordon Kennedy
Script Edited by Ian Brown and James Hendrie
Edited and Studio Managed by Jerry Peal
Production Manager - Sarah Tombling
Production Runner - Kareem Elshehawy
Recorded at The Shaw Theatre, London
Based on an original idea developed in association with Dandy Productions
Producer - Gordon Kennedy
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 08:00 The Goon Show (b0081rvd)
Series 6
The Mighty Wurlitzer
Neddie Seagoon propels his mighty organ across the Sahara
Groundbreaking, surreal BBC radio comedy written by Spike Milligan.
Starring:
Peter Sellers
Harry Secombe
Spike Milligan
First billed as Crazy People, ten series of The Goon Show were recorded between 1951 and 1960, but sadly many of the earliest shows weren’t kept in the archive.
With the Ray Ellington Quartet and Max Geldray.
Orchestra conducted by Wally Stott.
Announcer: Wallace Greenslade
Producer: Peter Eton
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in January 1956.
TUE 08:30 King Street Junior (b007jn8j)
Series 7
Witch Hunt
A peeved parent asks whether teacher knows best, and Mrs Rudd won't take no for an answer.
Created and written by Jim Eldridge.
Ten series of this comedy about King Street Junior School ran between 1985 and 1998. King Street Junior Revisited ran from 2002 to 2005.
CAST:
Mr Sims …. Karl Howman
Mr Beeston …. James Grout
Mr Holiday …. Tom Watson
Mrs Stone …. Margaret John
Mr Long …. Paul Copley
Mrs Patterson …. Deirdre Costello
Mrs Rudd …. Vivienne Martin
Miss Lewis …. Marlene Sidaway
Mr Hammond …. Crawford Logan
Justin …. Rikki Belsham
Samantha …. Caroline Dandeker
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1992.
TUE 09:00 Party's Over (m001b4g8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:30 Chambers (b007jyzz)
Series 3
Outward Bound
A legal firm invites Fuller-Carp, Ruth and Hilary to take part in an outward-bound weekend - with disastrous results...
Clive Coleman's sitcom set in perhaps the country's least spectacular set of chambers.
John Fuller Carp ...... John Bird
Hilary Tripping ...... James Fleet
Ruth Quirke ...... Sarah Lancashire
Vince ...... Jonathan Kydd
With Chris Pavlo, Simon Greenall, Tracy-Ann Oberman and Natalie Walker.
Producer: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1999.
TUE 10:00 Baldi (b007k01n)
Series 2
5. Scratching the Surface
The priest-cum-sleuth gets embroiled in mystery and death on a pot-holing expedition.
Paolo Baldi .... David Threlfall
Tina Mahon .... Tina Kellegher
Stella .... Maggie Shevlin
Gillian .... Eva Birthistle
Jack O'Brien .... Brian McGrath
Danny Armstrong .... Frank O'Sullivan
Coops .... Jo Savino
Garda Sergeant .... Kieran Hurley
Director: Lawrence Jackson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2001
TUE 10:45 Short Works (b0bf84nt)
Edinburgh by Kieran Hurley
It's a dreich August morning during Edinburgh Festival and a 22 year-old student is home for summer, handing out flyers.
What does it feel like to have your home town turned into a stand-up comedy theme park for tourists every August? It's a story of soggy flyers, disappointing encounters and splitting headaches. It's also about that transient moment when teenage memories and adult hopes are as raw as each other.
Edinburgh is an original short work for radio written and performed by Kieran Hurley.
Kieran Hurley is a writer, performer and theatre maker based in Glasgow. His Fringe First-winning play Heads Up won Best New Play at the Critics' Awards 2017 for Theatre in Scotland. Other plays include Rantin: a ceilidh-play with music; Hitch: an autobiographical story with a live band, and Beats: a monologue performed with a DJ, which is currently being adapted into a screenplay.
Produced by Eliza Lomas.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.
TUE 11:00 Archive on 4 (m000b7s6)
Here's Looking at You, Parents!
At home, surrounded by their own parenting paraphernalia, comedy couple Josie Long and Jonny Donahoe leap into the fictional and factual world of parenting to discover what lessons we can learn or loose from our TV and Radio counterparts.
Script writers from every generation have embraced parents, and the misadventures of mums and dads have kept TV and Radio in business for decades. In the early days, putting parents on TV and Radio was all about showing us how it 'should' be done, but in recent years writers have reflected back to us what we’re really like!
And as family set ups have evolved from mum and dad, to mum and mum, dad and dad or mums or dad, Radio and TV writers have travelled that route too. Parents have provided them with a seemingly endless source of material which in turn has provided us with ideas as to how to parent better or simply reassured us that we’re not the only ones doing it badly.
From 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em' to 'Motherland', sit back, relax and enjoy a journey of parenting mayhem and memories that will unite us all!
Presented by Josie Long and Jonny Donahoe
Produced by Nicola Humphries
Featuring TV Writer and Critic Michael Hogan, Jennifer Traig, author of Act Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting, and Dr Charlotte Faircloth, Lecturer in Sociology of Gender at UCL.
TUE 12:00 The Goon Show (b0081rvd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 King Street Junior (b007jn8j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Falco (b007wpf1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049dm9k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (m0000qrj)
Episode 7
The owner of Tranquillum House decides to play a very dark game and her guests’ futures remain uncertain.
Nine strangers are thrown together at a remote health resort where their lives will change forever.
Written by Liane Moriarty, the bestselling author behind Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO series ‘Big Little Lies’, this is a tale of nine strangers with a variety of emotional and physical needs, gathered at a health-and-wellness retreat that hides a dark agenda beneath its glamorous façade.
Romantic Novelist Frances Welty, for example, is there to mend a broken heart, a bad back and a wounded ego. The other eight guests, though seemingly fine on the outside are all harbouring ghosts or pain of some kind and they arrive at Tranquillum House for a little restorative break.
Tranquillum House, however, is no ordinary health resort. It is owned and run by an equally wounded and strange lady who is determined that these nine perfect strangers' lives will never be the same again after the ten days that lie ahead.
Kerry Fox reads Liane Moriarty’s page turner.
Writer: Liane Moriarty
Abridger: Robin Brooks
Producer: Celia De Wolff
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2018.
TUE 14:15 Following Pappano (b0952ph2)
Episode 2
The second in the series of programmes following Sir Antonio Pappano and his team as they prepare for a new production of Puccini's La Boheme.
All major opera houses rely on well established productions of repertoire classics. Puccini's La bohème is a permanent fixture in the world's top five Operas as measured by performance numbers and John Copley's 1974 staging at Covent Garden was a familiar and much loved favourite. However the time has come to replace it with a new production and the challenge to do that with a fresh staging falls to the team of Music Director Sir Antonio Pappano and stage director Richard Jones.
Five programmes across the week follow Maestro Pappano as the new production takes shape. He works with singers, discusses the particular challenges of operating at the very highest level of Operatic performance and expectation and gives candid insights into the often perilous journey to an opening night.
We also hear from the team both on and off stage who work alongside Pappano, including the young cast who are acutely aware that the production they are replacing opened with singers like Placido Domingo and Sir Thomas Allen. There are also stage directors, set-builders, movement directors and Maestro Pappano's trusted repetiteur.
But at the heart of it, in the weeks leading up to opening night and as the curtain rises, is the Music director himself, combining the orchestral brilliance of Puccini's score and the dazzling qualities of the singers on stage to produce what they all hope will be a worthy addition to the Royal Opera House's Puccini tradition.
Produced by Tom Alban.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2017.
TUE 14:30 Scallop (b03hvn5q)
Maggi Hambling's controversial sculpture Scallop was unveiled on Aldeburgh beach in Suffolk in 2003.
It was the artist's gift to the town and intended to commemorate Benjamin Britten - the composer inspired by this stretch of the East Anglian coast and who created a music festival that brought the town international recognition.
Maggi explains the origins and development of the piece and why Scallop is, in her view, 'the most beautiful thing' she's made and the work by which she would like to be remembered. We tell the story of that making with the Peggs, the local metal fabricators, and of the extreme difficulty she had securing permission to site the sculpture on the beach.
We also consider the strong opposition it stirred in Aldeburgh. Why was the piece daubed with graffiti 13 times in the years after its unveiling? The row raises questions about public consultation, about whether the planning system is the appropriate way to make decisions about public art, and about public attitudes to Britten himself.
In Britten's centenary year, Scallop became a focal point of many people's visit to Aldeburgh, but it still raises hackles.
With contributions from Mel Gooding, Simon Loftus, Jonathan Reekie, Dennis Pegg, Ray Herring and Humphrey Burton.
Producer: Susan Marling
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 2013.
TUE 15:00 Baldi (b007k01n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 15:45 Short Works (b0bf84nt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]
TUE 16:00 The Museum of Curiosity (m000111g)
Series 13
Episode 6
Professor of Ignorance John Lloyd and his curator Lee Mack welcome:
* Comedian and writer Bridget Christie
* Writer and historian Andrea Wulf
* Oscar-winning documentary-maker Vikram Jayanti
The Museum's Guest Committee discover the therapeutic value of spontaneous crying, look hard into the mirror and make neat little labels for their herbs and spices.
Researched by QI and Mike Turner.
Produced by Richard Turner and Anne Miller.
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2018.
TUE 16:30 Chambers (b007jyzz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
TUE 17:00 North by Northamptonshire (b0196tyh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Alone (m001b41s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Alan Garner - The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (b095w197)
Episode 2
With Weirdstone lost, can Colin and Susan protect the sleepers who could save the world?
Alan Garner's fantasy novel starring Robin Bailey.
Dramatised by David Wade.
Cadellin ...... Robin Bailey
Grinmer ...... Robin Bailey
Susan ...... Andrea Murphy
Colin ...... Mark Kingston
Gowther ...... James Tomlinson
Narrator ...... James Tomlinson
Bess ...... Patsy Byrne
Fenodyree ...... George Parsons
Selina ...... Rosalind Knight
Directed at BBC Manchester by Caroline Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1989.
TUE 18:30 Soul Music (b09l07ly)
Series 25
Ich Habe Genug
J.S Bach wrote his cantata Ich Habe Genug for the Feast of the Purification of Mary to be performed in Leipzig on 2nd February 1727. The work is a retelling of the story of the old man Simeon who, waiting in the temple, was presented with the baby Jesus. As he held the baby in his arms, in Bach's version he says:
It is enough.
I have held the Saviour, the hope of all peoples,
In the warm embrace of my arms.
It is enough.
In this edition of Soul Music, oboist George Caird recalls playing Ich Habe Genug at his father's funeral. Theologian Paula Gooder recalls the effect of putting her new born baby into the arms of an elderly relative. Danish music therapist Lars Ole Bonde tells how this music provided vital solace for him as a teenager growing up with a father suffering from depression. American Susan Dray remembers how the Cantata helped her when she was grieving for her baby. And tenor Ian Bostridge wonders why we never feel that we have "enough".
Producer: Rosie Boulton
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.
TUE 19:00 The Goon Show (b0081rvd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 King Street Junior (b007jn8j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Falco (b007wpf1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049dm9k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 Archive on 4 (m000b7s6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 22:00 Alone (m001b41s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 Detective Sergeant Nick Mohammed (b018gr0v)
Series 1
Episode 2
Someone's been Kidnapped... Yikes! Join DS Nick Mohammed as he tackles the hostage negotiations.
Written by and starring Nick Mohammed
With:
Anna Crilly
Colin Hoult
and special guests Peter Dickson and Kae Alexander.
Producer: Victoria Lloyd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2011.
TUE 23:00 It's Jocelyn (b06vkjc0)
Series 1
Episode 3
Sketch comedy from Jocelyn Jee Esien. Includes Dionne Button MP, a power hungry traffic warden and a grumpy couple.
Jocelyn vents her frustration at the world around her through sketches and stand-up.
Jocelyn Jee Esien is delighted to be joined in the cast by Curtis Walker, Ninia Benjamin and Kevin J.
Producer: John Pocock
A BBC Radio Comedy production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2016.
TUE 23:30 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b014r5qh)
Series 4
Alan Davies
Marcus Brigstocke invites reluctant vocalist, actor Alan Davies to sing in public for the first time.
Whether the experiences are banal or profound, the show is about embracing the new and getting out of our comfort zones.
The title comes from the fact that the show's producer and creator Bill Dare had never seen the film Star Wars.
Producer: Bill Dare
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2011.

WEDNESDAY 24 AUGUST 2022

WED 00:00 Alan Garner - The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (b095w197)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Soul Music (b09l07ly)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Falco (b007wpf1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049dm9k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (m0000qrj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 Following Pappano (b0952ph2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 Scallop (b03hvn5q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Baldi (b007k01n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 03:45 Short Works (b0bf84nt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 The Museum of Curiosity (m000111g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Chambers (b007jyzz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 North by Northamptonshire (b0196tyh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Alone (m001b41s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Falco (b007wpz2)
The Silver Pigs
2. Dangerous Outpost
Roman detective, Falco is investigating the mystery of how a stolen lead ingot containing silver came to be in the bank box of a senator's daughter.
And things have taken a turn for the worse, as he's now probing a murder and - worse still - he's forced to visit a remote and dangerous outpost of the Empire - Britain.
Starring Anton Lesser as Marcus Didius Falco.
Lindsey Davis's witty and enthralling adventure set in the days of the Roman Empire.
Falco …. Anton Lesser
Petronius …. Ben Crowe
Decimus …. Robert Lister
Publius …. Richard Derrington
Gaius Hilaris …. Ian Brooker
Helena …. Fritha Goodey
Aelia …. Susan Jeffrey
Triferus/Cornix …. Alex Jones
Dramatised by Mary Cutler.
Directed at BBC Birmingham by Peter Leslie Wild.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2004.
WED 06:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049dzvr)
3. The Diggers
A year has passed since O'Neill arrived in the Irish village of Mountfern with plans to build a hotel.
The ruins of old Ferncourt House have finally been demolished. On the day that Patrick's friend Rachel arrives, Kate Ryan wanders into the path of one of the diggers.
Starring David Soul as Patrick O'Neill
Maeve Binchy's novel dramatised by Jane Cassidy.
Kate Ryan ...... Anna Healy
John Ryan ...... Lorcan Cranitch
Rachel ...... Susan Slot
Fergus ...... Dan Gordon
Kerry O'Neill ...... Luke Griffin
Grace O'Neill ...... Melissa Smith
Dr White ...... Denys Hawthorne
Mary Donnelly ...... Helen Norton
Sheila Whelan ...... Marie Jones
Jack Coyne ...... Ray McBride
Brian Doyle ...... Conleth Hill
Nurse ...... Susie Kelly
Sister ...... Brenda Winter
Doctor ...... Seamus Fox
With Audrey, Sean McKenna, Ken Farmer, Paul Fitzpatrick
Music Composed by Jane Cassidy and performed by Rod McVey and Kate O'Brien
Director: Pam Brighton
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1996.
WED 07:00 Michael Frayn's Pocket Playhouse (b0b6phln)
Episode 4
Martin Jarvis directs Michael Frayn’s masterly comic series with an outstanding cast led by Ian McKellen, Joanna Lumley, Stephen Fry, Alfred Molina, Alex Jennings and Jarvis himself.
Michael Frayn - author of Noises Off - is the most comic philosophical writer of our time.
The final episode reveals his infectious delight in writing between the lines of theatre, fiction, TV and the media, the church, relationships - life in general.
* Joanna Lumley presents a surprising travel programme
* Janie Dee and Alex Jennings have memory lapses, and the ensemble provides an unusual restaurant menu.
* Alex Jennings fronts a manic infomercial
* Gyles Brandreth chairs the TV-watching Championships, assisted by Nigel Anthony and George Blagden
* Alfred Molina and Yeni Alvarez speak "international English"
* Martin Jarvis and Rosalind Ayres wonder what's really happening on the radio.
Director: Martin Jarvis
A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2018.
WED 07:30 Joe Lycett's Obsessions (b0b9zbpj)
Series 1
Katherine Ryan and Greg James
Joe Lycett explores the nation's weird and wonderful obsessions by getting to know a selection of famous and not so famous guests. Joining Joe on the sofa this week, comedian Katherine Ryan shares her love of the Kardashians, whilst Radio 1 DJ Greg James introduces Joe to the world of cricket. Joe also welcomes members of the public to share their secret passions, as well as this week's VOP (very obsessed person), Mattie Faint the curator of The Clown Gallery and Museum.
Joe Lycett's Obsessions was written and performed by Joe Lycett, with material from James Kettle and additional material from Laura Major and Mike Shepherd. The production coordinator was Hayley Sterling. The producer was Suzy Grant and it was a BBC Studios production.
WED 08:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b009l7jt)
Series 6
The Waxwork
The Lad is set to be immortalised in wax, but the trouble is, it's not quite how he'd envisaged...
Starring Tony Hancock.
With Sidney James, Bill Kerr and Warren Mitchell.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Theme and incidental music written by Wally Stott.
Producer: Tom Ronald
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in November 1959.
WED 08:30 Any Other Business (b013n7gx)
Episode 5
The argy bargy of Chesbury politics presents a brand new Chestnut and a spot of blackmail.
Lucy Flannery's local government sitcom
Starring:
Nelson David
John Duttine
James Grout
Rosy Fordham
Nick Hardy
Howard Lew Lewis
Toby Longworth
Jan Ravens
Vivienne Rochester
June Whitfield.
Producer: Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1995.
WED 09:00 Booked (b0075lrs)
Series 3
Episode 3
Ian McMillan's irreverent literary game with Mark Thomas, Roger McGough, Dillie Keane and Miles Kington.
Producer: Marc Jobst
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1997.
WED 09:30 The Attractive Young Rabbi (b007k2mq)
Series 2
The Lift
Rabbi Fine and Rabbi Jacobs have an intimate meeting - but not one they would have chosen...
Barry Grossman’s comedy-drama about the collision between the old and the new in the Jewish community of Hillfield.
Rabbi Abraham Fine ...... David De Keyser
Rabbi Su Jacobs ...... Tracy-Ann Oberman
Sadie Fine ...... Doreen Mantle
Melvin ...... Henry Goodman
Brian ...... Jonathan Kydd
Caretaker ...... Howard Lew Lewis
Mr Mukherjee ...... Harry Landis
Bernice ...... Renu Setna
Ambulance Man ...... Simon Balfour (
Music: Max Harris.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2000.
WED 10:00 Baldi (b007jlp5)
Series 2
6. Early Retirement
The murder of a senior officer in the Dublin police force causes Tina to reassess her relationship with a beloved father figure.
The priest-cum-sleuth investigates.
CAST:
Paolo Baldi .... David Threlfall
Tina Mahon .... Tina Kellegher
Superintendent Rynne .... Owen Roe
Father Troy .... TP McKenna
Patsy Walsh .... Stella McCusker
Bella .... Marcella Riordan
Milo Walsh .... Pat Laffan
Hugh O'Neill .... Des Nealon
Jack O'Donnell .... Kieran Hurley
Johnner Hogan .... Frank O'Sullivan
Maureen .... Alice Barry
Director Lawrence Jackson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2001
WED 10:45 Short Works (b0bg1r6x)
Two People Shorten the Road by Rosemary Jenkinson
Picking up an unusual passenger leads to a race against time for one unsuspecting taxi driver.
Julie Maxwell (BBC 'Soft Border Patrol') reads an original short story for BBC Radio 4 from the Northern Irish writer Rosemary Jenkinson.
Rosemary Jenkinson is a playwright and short story writer from Belfast. Winner of The Sunday Tribune's Hennessy Award for New Irish Writing, she has published several short story collections including 'Contemporary Problems Nos. 53 & 54', ' Aphrodite's Kiss' and 'Catholic Boy'. Her work for radio includes 'Castlereagh to Kandahar' (BBC Radio 3) and 'The Blackthorn Tree' (BBC Radio 4).
Produced by Michael Shannon.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.
WED 11:00 The Freedland Files (m001bbw7)
1. Vera Lynn to George Raft
In a programme made to mark the 90th Academy Awards ceremony in 2018, Michael Freedland, the prolific author and broadcaster, opened his audio archives for the very first time.
As a writer, presenter and interviewer for over fifty years Freedland, who died six months after this programme first aired, accumulated an extensive collection of recordings featuring the biggest Oscar-winning names, great entertainers and leading public figures.
In this special BBC Radio 4 Extra showcase recorded in his Bournemouth home he shared the private recordings made for his books and other projects. There are also extracts from his radio documentaries, revealing some of the lesser-known tales of the great stars of stage and screen.
Many selections had never been broadcast before. In this first of three hour-long programmes, Freedland talks with:
Vera Lynn
The Rev William Gowland
Maurice Chevalier
George Burns
Jack Benny
Walter Matthau
Jack Lemmon
Frankie Vaughan and his wife Stella Shock
Gregory Peck
Julie Andrews
George Raft
Producer: Stephen Garner
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in March 2018.
WED 12:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b009l7jt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 Any Other Business (b013n7gx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Falco (b007wpz2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049dzvr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (m0000qmp)
Episode 8
The guests are locked in a room for 38 hours without food as they are forced to play Masha’s dark games.
Nine strangers are thrown together at a remote health resort where their lives will change forever.
Written by Liane Moriarty, the bestselling author behind Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO series ‘Big Little Lies’, this is a tale of nine strangers with a variety of emotional and physical needs, gathered at a health-and-wellness retreat that hides a dark agenda beneath its glamorous façade.
Romantic Novelist Frances Welty, for example, is there to mend a broken heart, a bad back and a wounded ego. The other eight guests, though seemingly fine on the outside are all harbouring ghosts or pain of some kind and they arrive at Tranquillum House for a little restorative break.
Tranquillum House, however, is no ordinary health resort. It is owned and run by an equally wounded and strange lady who is determined that these nine perfect strangers' lives will never be the same again after the ten days that lie ahead.
Kerry Fox reads Liane Moriarty’s page turner.
Writer: Liane Moriarty
Abridger: Robin Brooks
Producer: Celia De Wolff
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2018.
WED 14:15 Following Pappano (b0952stt)
Episode 3
The third programme in the series following Sir Antonio Pappano as he and his collaborator Richard Jones prepare for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden's first new production of Puccini's La Boheme in over forty years.
All major opera houses rely on well established productions of repertoire classics. Puccini's La bohème is a permanent fixture in the world's top five Operas as measured by performance numbers and John Copley's 1974 staging at Covent Garden was a familiar and much loved favourite. However the time has come to replace it with a new production and the challenge to do that with a fresh staging falls to the team of Music Director Sir Antonio Pappano and stage director Richard Jones.
In five programmes across the week Radio Four follows Maestro Pappano as the new production takes shape. He works with singers, discusses the particular challenges of operating at the very highest level of Operatic performance and expectation and gives candid insights into the often perilous journey to an opening night.
We also hear from the team both on and off stage who work alongside Pappano, including the young cast who are acutely aware that the production they are replacing opened with singers like Placido Domingo and Sir Thomas Allen. There are also stage directors, set-builders, movement directors and Maestro Pappano's trusted repetiteur.
But at the heart of it, in the weeks leading up to opening night and as the curtain rises, is the Music director himself, combining the orchestral brilliance of Puccini's score and the dazzling qualities of the singers on stage to produce what they all hope will be a worthy addition to the Royal Opera House's Puccini tradition.
Produced by Tom Alban.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2017.
WED 14:30 The Disused Chapel on the Cornish Skyline (b06s871d)
Petroc Trelawny investigates what has happened to a distinguishing feature of Cornwall, its chapels.
Petroc grew up in St Martin, on the Lizard, and went to Sunday school at the Methodist chapel. Producer Julian May lived in Carnon Downs, near Truro. He sometimes went to Quenchwell Chapel. Cornish life revolved round chapels: as well as services and Sunday schools there were ‘tea treats’, anniversary feasts, concerts and a strong social network.
Clive Buckingham, a Methodist and an architect, takes Petroc to Ponsanooth, a small village with a huge, beautiful, grade II* listed chapel that seats 600. Once workers from the nearby gunpowder works filled its pews. These, like Cornish miners and fishermen were wild people. Then, in the 19th century, came religious revival. Billy Bray, famously dissolute, was ‘saved’, became a preacher and built chapels with his own hands.
In the 1850's, archivist David Thomas says, there were 1,200 chapels in Cornwall. Fewer than 200 are still used. Today only 20 or so people worship at Ponsanooth. The disused chapel on the Cornish skyline is a familiar sight.
But, Petroc discovers, some find new life. St Martin chapel is now a family home. Quenchwell chapel has been converted, too, and Tipu Choudhury tells Petroc how it became the Cornwall Islamic Community Centre. The chapel on the skyline at Tregona is tiny, made of cob and remote. Petroc meets Andrew Tebbs and Jane Darke, artists who, resisting attempts to turn it into a holiday cottage, are making it an art space, an amenity, as it always was, for locals.
Petroc tells the story of the abandonment and rebirth of Cornwall’s chapels. He meets, too, those still worshipping, who think it's not the chapels that need converting, but the people.
Producer: Julian May
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
WED 15:00 Baldi (b007jlp5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 15:45 Short Works (b0bg1r6x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]
WED 16:00 Booked (b0075lrs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 The Attractive Young Rabbi (b007k2mq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 Michael Frayn's Pocket Playhouse (b0b6phln)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 Joe Lycett's Obsessions (b0b9zbpj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 Alan Garner - The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (b096p58m)
Episode 3
Can Colin and Susan recover the Weirdstone and escape the clutches of Selina Place?
Alan Garner's fantasy novel starring Robin Bailey.
Dramatised by David Wade.
Cadellin ...... Robin Bailey
Grinmer ...... Robin Bailey
Susan ...... Andrea Murphy
Colin ...... Mark Kingston
Selina ...... Rosalind Knight
Durathror ...... Ronald Herdman
Fenodyree ...... George Parsons
Stromkarl ...... Edward de Souza
Bess ...... Patsy Byrne
Directed at BBC Manchester by Caroline Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1989.
WED 18:30 Dad Made Me Laugh (b00mzw55)
Anthony Bygraves
Max Bygraves' son chats to Sally Magnusson about growing up with a famous showbiz father.
Producer: Mike Walker
First broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland in September 2006.
WED 19:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b009l7jt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 Any Other Business (b013n7gx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Falco (b007wpz2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049dzvr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 The Freedland Files (m001bbw7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 22:00 Joe Lycett's Obsessions (b0b9zbpj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 Paul Sinha's History Revision (b08v8m1q)
Series 3
Episode 2
Comedian and quizzer Paul Sinha returns to Radio 4 for a third series of his award-winning History Revision. In previous series, Paul has told you how Portugal's invasion of Morocco in 1415 lead directly to the 2014 World Cup; how the 1909 launch of an Austro-Hungarian submarine prevented Dr Zhivago winning an Oscar; and the story the black woman who refused to give up a seat on an Alabama bus and ended up changing the law - no, it wasn't Rosa Parks.
This series will once again see Paul shine a light on the important historical moments that you never got taught at school, and explain why so much of what you did learn is wrong. There will also, as ever, be puns.
In this second episode of the series, Paul decries the amount of misinformation in our general knowledge. He also tells the story of significant gay figures from history that you may not have heard of, from the earliest known gay couple, to the rebels whose death brought about the first democracy, to the man who saved a President but whose outing possibly killed him.
Paul Sinha's History Revision was the winner of the 2016 Rose d'Or for 'Best Radio Comedy'.
Written and performed by ... Paul Sinha
Producer ... Ed Morrish
Production co-ordinator ... Tamara Shilham
A BBC Studios production.
WED 23:00 What Does the K Stand For? (b08bb33b)
Series 3
Working for a Living
Stephen takes his first steps into working life.
Stephen K Amos stars in this sitcom about growing up black, gay and funny in 1980s south London.
Written by Jonathan Harvey with Stephen K Amos.
With
Ellen Thomas
Laurie Kynaston
Frances Barber
Bola Okun
Emerald Crankson
Karen Bartke
David Sterne
Producer: Paul Sheehan
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in January 2017.
WED 23:30 Hearing With Hegley (b0082c3x)
Series 2
Episode 6
John Hegley entertains an audience in Luton with poems about his father and more.
John is the poet laureate of alternative comedy,
With contributions from:
Keith Moore
Susan Norton
Andrew Bailey
Nigel Piper
Producer: Phil Clarke
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1998.
WED 23:45 Crème de la Crime (b00824r5)
Series 2
A Pyramid Scheme
Michael Feydeau -TV's much loved Inspector Niblett - and crime expert, David Pershore probe the mysterious curse of a mummy.
Tales from the vaults of villainy written by and starring Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis.
Director: Adam Bromley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2002.

THURSDAY 25 AUGUST 2022

THU 00:00 Alan Garner - The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (b096p58m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 Dad Made Me Laugh (b00mzw55)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Falco (b007wpz2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049dzvr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (m0000qmp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 Following Pappano (b0952stt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 The Disused Chapel on the Cornish Skyline (b06s871d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Baldi (b007jlp5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 03:45 Short Works (b0bg1r6x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 Booked (b0075lrs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 The Attractive Young Rabbi (b007k2mq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Michael Frayn's Pocket Playhouse (b0b6phln)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 Joe Lycett's Obsessions (b0b9zbpj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Falco (b007wpsz)
The Silver Pigs
3. Sinister Plot
Probing the illegal imports of the ingots, Roman sleuth Falco has chanced upon a sinister plot to overthrow the Emperor Vespasian.
And he's also discovered the identity of Helena's ex-husband: which has made him realise the pot is much closer to home than he thought.
Starring Anton Lesser as Marcus Didius Falco.
Lindsey Davis's witty and enthralling adventure set in the days of the Roman Empire.
Falco …. Anton Lesser
Lenia …. Gillian Goodman
Petronius …. Ben Crowe
Decimus …. Robert Lister
Falco’s Mother …. Frances Jeater
Marcia …. Helen Monks
Helena …. Fritha Goodey
Titus …. Jonathan Keeble
Domitian …. Declan Wilson
Dramatised by Mary Cutler.
Directed at BBC Birmingham by Peter Leslie Wild.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2004.
THU 06:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049j1sm)
4. The Repercussions
Patrick O'Neill has arrived from America with big plans for his ancestral village of Mountfern in Ireland.
However, things have turned sour since Kate Ryan suffered a severe accident on the site of his hotel.
Starring David Soul as Patrick O'Neill
Maeve Binchy novel dramatisation by Jane Cassidy
Kate Ryan ...... Anna Healy
John Ryan ...... Lorcan Cranitch
Rachel ...... Susan Slot
Fergus ...... Dan Gordon
Kerry O'Neill ...... Luke Griffin
Grace O'Neill ...... Melissa Smith
Loretta ...... Julia Deardon
Mary Donnelly ...... Helen Norton
Brian Doyle ...... Conleith Hill
Mrs Meagher ...... Trudy Kelly
With Audrey Dempsey, Sean McKenna, Ken Farmer, Paul Fitzpatrick
Music composed by Jane Cassidy and performed by Rod McVey and Kate O'Brien
Director: Pam Brighton
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1996.
THU 07:00 The Tim Vine Chat Show (b07j7j6f)
Series 1
Episode 2
Internationally acclaimed master of the one-liner Tim Vine interviews members of a live audience as he embarks on a quest to hear the life stories of the Great British public while simultaneously showcasing his trademark mirthful wordplay and preposterous songs.
From the Wakefield Theatre Royal, Tim meets a secretary and sings an imaginary country song.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in July 2016.
THU 07:30 Michael Spicer: Before Next Door (m000xmg7)
Series 1
Marketing Genius
What happens when a socially awkward and neurotic part-time comedian becomes a global internet sensation? After an acclaimed pilot, Michael Spicer gets a full series of Michael Spicer: Before Next Door to chart his real-life progress. Of sorts.
Should this married father of two quit as a copywriter for a kitchen worktop company to follow a calling that shows no sign of paying the mortgage, the bills or for a variety of bafflingly expensive anthropomorphic steam trains? Or should he keep juggling the increasingly unmanageable balls of office work, family life and comedy?
As Michael’s Room Next Door videos amass tens of millions of views online, he finally wins plaudits for his comedy. But it also leads to awkward encounters with fans, stressful award ceremonies and an audition to play an upbeat cheese string. Michael’s wife Roberta pushes him to take chances, wanting him to build on his success while also being desperate to leave her own disappointing job and manage him full-time.
After twenty years of making comedy under the radar, can an ordinary person like Michael successfully navigate the unpredictable road to fame? Only you can decide. By listening to the show. Please.
Cast: Michael Spicer with Ellie Taylor, Joanna Neary, Peter Curran, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Greig Johnson.
Writer: Michael Spicer
Producer: Matt Tiller
A Starstruck and Tillervision Production for BBC Radio 4
THU 08:00 The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C Potter (b007jthd)
Series 2
The Banquet
Author Gerald writes off his car whilst trying to help his wife Diana find inspiration.
The convoluted chronicle of an optimistic author starring Ian Carmichael as Gerald C Potter and Charlotte Mitchell as his wife.
Written by Basil Boothroyd.
Producer: Bobby Jaye
The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C Potter ran from 1976 to 1981
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1977.
THU 08:30 Little Blighty on the Down (b007jxd2)
Series 2
Episode 4
Troubles abound in the village boatyard and surgery - with a sleazy press.
Satirical soap opera telling the everyday story of country folk.
Jo Kendall
Michael Troughton
John Baddeley
Bernadine Corrigan
Daniel Strauss
Jonathan Kydd
Written by Mark Burton, John O'Farrell and Mike Coleman.
Producer: Lissa Evans
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1989.
THU 08:55 Leonard Rossiter - In a Nutshell (m001bm5k)
To Everybody a Season
In a caring society, a football player must be safe from the fear that he, or she. will be thrown onto the scrap heap, with failing eyesight and lumbago,
Leonard Rossiter reads Barry Pilton's mercurial musings.
Producer: Catherine Wearing
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in January 1982.
THU 09:00 The Personality Test (b007sq67)
Series 3
Andrew Neil
Broadcaster and former Sunday Times Editor Andrew Neil is in the hot seat posing questions all about him.
On the panel: comedians Sue Perkins, Caroline Quinlan, Robin Ince and Will Smith.
Comedy quiz presented by a new guest host every week. All the questions are about the host.
Script by Simon Littlefield and Kieron Quirke.
Devised and produced by Aled Evans.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
THU 09:30 Coming Alive (b00h8zb4)
Series 2
Out Of The Mouth of Babes
Terry and Sandra face the threat of the community centre being closed.
Jim Eldridge's sitcom about ex-convict Terry King's efforts to run a community centre.
Terry King …. Karl Howman
Sandra Gaines …. Phyllis Logan
Steve Addison …. Ben Crowe
Mr Preston …. David Holt
Mr Marsden …. Roger Walker
Gail …. Jennifer Wheelan
Producer: Marilyn Imrie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2000.
THU 10:00 Dick George - Private Investigator (m000ndr0)
The Case of the Cool Canary
Private investigator Dick George and his lovely ex-wife, Dora, are called upon by heiress Ruth-Ann Rogers for protection from gangsters intent upon wresting her fortune from her.
The adventures in the life of private investigator Dick George starring Francis Matthews.
A spoof of Hollywood comedy thrillers of the 1930s written by Sarah Maxwell.
Dick George......................................................Francis Matthews
Dora.....................................................................Margaret Robertson
Ruth-Ann Rogers/Lucille Lamont..............Lisa Jacobs
Louie....................................................................Nigel Anthony
Mugsy..................................................................Harry Towb
Blore.....................................................................Edward de Souza
Charlie............................................................ ... Alan Tilvern
Pasta, the dog ..................................................Ronald Herdman
Director: Glyn Dearman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1986.
THU 11:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m001bb6k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]
THU 11:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00kr7bp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 on Sunday]
THU 12:00 The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C Potter (b007jthd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 Little Blighty on the Down (b007jxd2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 12:55 Leonard Rossiter - In a Nutshell (m001bm5k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:55 today]
THU 13:00 Falco (b007wpsz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049j1sm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (m0000qqz)
Episode 9
As things get out of control at Tranquillum House, will the nine guests escape from the locked room as the threat of fire creeps ever closer, or will Masha win the day?
Nine strangers are thrown together at a remote health resort where their lives will change forever.
Written by Liane Moriarty, the bestselling author behind Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO series ‘Big Little Lies’, this is a tale of nine strangers with a variety of emotional and physical needs, gathered at a health-and-wellness retreat that hides a dark agenda beneath its glamorous façade.
Romantic Novelist Frances Welty, for example, is there to mend a broken heart, a bad back and a wounded ego. The other eight guests, though seemingly fine on the outside are all harbouring ghosts or pain of some kind and they arrive at Tranquillum House for a little restorative break.
Tranquillum House, however, is no ordinary health resort. It is owned and run by an equally wounded and strange lady who is determined that these nine perfect strangers' lives will never be the same again after the ten days that lie ahead.
Kerry Fox reads Liane Moriarty’s page turner.
Writer: Liane Moriarty
Abridger: Robin Brooks
Producer: Celia De Wolff
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2018.
THU 14:15 Following Pappano (b0952zl5)
Episode 4
The fourth programme in the series following Sir Antonio Pappano and his collaborator Richard Jones prepare for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden's new production of Puccini's La Boheme.
All major opera houses rely on well established productions of repertoire classics. Puccini's La Bohème is a permanent fixture in the world's top five Operas as measured by performance numbers and John Copley's 1974 staging at Covent Garden was a familiar and much loved favourite. However the time has come to replace it with a new production and the challenge to do that with a fresh staging falls to the team of Music Director Sir Antonio Pappano and stage director Richard Jones.
In five programmes across the week Radio Four follows Maestro Pappano as the new production takes shape. He works with singers, discusses the particular challenges of operating at the very highest level of Operatic performance and expectation and gives candid insights into the often perilous journey to an opening night.
We also hear from the team both on and off stage who work alongside Pappano, including the young cast who are acutely aware that the production they are replacing opened with singers like Placido Domingo and Sir Thomas Allen. There are also stage directors, set-builders, movement directors and Maestro Pappano's trusted repetiteur. But at the heart of it, in the weeks leading up to opening night and as the curtain rises, is the Music director himself, combining the orchestral brilliance of Puccini's score and the dazzling qualities of the singers on stage to produce what they all hope will be a worthy addition to the Royal Opera House's Puccini tradition.
Produced by Tom Alban.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2017.
THU 14:30 The Chinese Grand Tour (b01s452x)
Overseas Chinese tourism is on the rise. Chinese visitors are venturing to Britain in increasing numbers, encouraged by their home government, keen that Chinese citizens are seen to be enjoying the fruits of the country's economic miracle.
And Chinese visitors abroad are left in no doubt that they are representing their country. Official circulars remind them to act as "ambassadors" for their country. Several times in the past few years the Spiritual Civilisation Steering Committee of the Communist Party has issued bossy instructions calling on Chinese tourists to avoid spitting, queue-jumping, loudness or haggling in shops with fixed prices.
The favoured mode of travel for Chinese visitors to Britain is the planned bus tour, but the route these bus tours follow is rather idiosyncratic. Whereas most foreign tourists to Britain follow a predictable tourist trail - Buckingham Palace, ruined Castles, beautiful cathedrals and quaint market towns, the Chinese are more interested in seeing places with a Chinese connection.
The Willow Tree in Cambridge is famous in China because it is where the modern poet Xu Zhimo wrote his poem "On Leaving Cambridge." Bus loads of Chinese Tourists stop there now. Philip Dodd boards a coach and goes with the Chinese tourists who have an idiocratic view of Britain and spends a night with them in Manchester's Chinatown.
Producer: Kate Bissell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
THU 15:00 Dick George - Private Investigator (m000ndr0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 The Personality Test (b007sq67)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 Coming Alive (b00h8zb4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 The Tim Vine Chat Show (b07j7j6f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 Michael Spicer: Before Next Door (m000xmg7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 Alan Garner - The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (b097m5fm)
Episode 4
Can Susan and Colin escape their pursuers and return the Weirdstone to the wizard Cadellin?
Conclusion of Alan Garner's fantasy novel starring Robin Bailey.
Dramatised by David Wade.
Cadellin ...... Robin Bailey
Grinmer ...... Robin Bailey
Susan ...... Andrea Murphy
Colin ...... Mark Kingston
Mossock ...... James Tomlinson
Fenodyree ...... George Parsons
Durathror ...... Ronald Herdman
Angharad ...... Anne Jameson
Gaberlenzie ...... Edward de Souza
Selina ...... Rosalind Knight
Directed at BBC Manchester by Caroline Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1989.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (m0004l97)
Kirill Gerstein on Ferruccio Busoni
Pianist Kirill Gerstein chooses the conductor and composer Ferruccio Busoni. Matthew Parris presents.
When Busoni died in Berlin in 1924, his pupil Kurt Weill said, "We did not lose a human being but a value."
Unravelling exactly what this means is the pianist Kirill Gerstein, a great admirer of Busoni and also a performer of his work. Busoni was a thinker as well as a composer. His book from 1907, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, has influenced generations of musicians.
With contributions from Erinn Knyt and Anthony Beaumont
Producer: Miles Warde.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.
THU 19:00 The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C Potter (b007jthd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 Little Blighty on the Down (b007jxd2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 19:55 Leonard Rossiter - In a Nutshell (m001bm5k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:55 today]
THU 20:00 Falco (b007wpsz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049j1sm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m001bb6k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]
THU 21:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00kr7bp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 on Sunday]
THU 22:00 Michael Spicer: Before Next Door (m000xmg7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 Craig Brown's Lost Diaries (b00v1nhb)
January and February
Satirist Craig Brown dips into the private lives of public figures from the 1960s to the present day.
As the New Year begins, great thinkers like Barack Obama, John Prescott and Barbara Cartland turn their thoughts to new beginnings.
Voiced by Jan Ravens, Alistair McGowan, Lewis McLeod, Ewan Bailey, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and Dolly Wells.
Written by Craig Brown.
Producer: Victoria Lloyd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
THU 23:00 The Consultants (b007k37k)
Series 3
Episode 3
Chesney brings his daughter to work. Or does he?
Cerebral sketch show written by and starring Neil Edmond, Justin Edwards and James Rawlings.
Producer: Will Saunders
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2004.
THU 23:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b03gg7n7)
Series 1
Problems with a Package
Tom's parents are in Tenerife but that doesn't stop Tom making his weekly call. Tom lives to regret persuading them to explore more than just the hotel whilst they're on holiday.
Get underneath the skin of Tom and the Wrigglesworth family, as you sit back and enjoy a bit of totally legal phone hacking.
Classic Wrigglesworth rants combined with a fascinating and hilarious glimpse into his family background and the influences that have shaped his temperament, opinions and hang-ups.
Every episode, Tom rings his parents for his weekly check-in. As the conversation unfolds, Tom takes time out from the phone call to explain the situation, his parent's reactions and relate various anecdotes from the past which illustrate his family's views. And sometimes he just needs to sound-off about the maddening world around him and bemoan everyday annoyances.
During all this Hang Ups explores class, living away from 'home', trans-generational phenomena, what we inherit from our families and how the past repeats in the present. All in a 30 minute phone call.
Tom Wrigglesworth ...Tom
Judy Parfitt ... Granny
Paul Copley ... Dad
Kate Anthony ... Mum
Amy Wrigglesworth ... Amy
Written by Tom Wrigglesworth and James Kettle
Additional Material by Miles Jupp
Producer: Katie Tyrrell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2013.

FRIDAY 26 AUGUST 2022

FRI 00:00 Alan Garner - The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (b097m5fm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (m0004l97)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Falco (b007wpsz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049j1sm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (m0000qqz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 Following Pappano (b0952zl5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 The Chinese Grand Tour (b01s452x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Dick George - Private Investigator (m000ndr0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 The Personality Test (b007sq67)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 Coming Alive (b00h8zb4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 The Tim Vine Chat Show (b07j7j6f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Michael Spicer: Before Next Door (m000xmg7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 Falco (b007wpcl)
The Silver Pigs
4. Lessons in Love
Falco battles to discover who killed Sosia - and to unmask the plotters against the Emperor.
He also discovers that true love can cross the boundaries of the strict Roman class structure...
Starring Anton Lesser as Marcus Didius Falco.
Conclusion of Lindsey Davis's adventure set in the days of the Roman Empire.
Falco …. Anton Lesser
Decimus …. Robert Lister
Publius …. Richard Derrington
Falco’s Mother …. Frances Jeater
Marcia …. Helen Monks
Helena …. Fritha Goodey
Titus …. Jonathan Keeble
Vespasian …. Michael Tudor Barnes
Dramatised by Mary Cutler.
Directed at BBC Birmingham by Peter Leslie Wild.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2004.
FRI 06:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049mt8r)
5. The Legacy
After 18 months in New York, Rachel Fine has been summoned back to Ireland by Patrick O'Neill to oversee the decoration of his new hotel.
Rachel has become a close friend of Kate Ryan, who is now in a wheelchair as a result of an accident on the site of the hotel, over three years ago
Starring David Soul as Patrick O'Neill
Novel by Maeve Binchy dramatised by Jane Cassidy
Kate Ryan ...... Anna Healy
John Ryan ...... Lorcan Cranitch
Rachel ...... Susan Slot
Fergus ...... Dan Gordon
Kerry O'Neill ...... Luke Griffin
Grace O'Neill ...... Melissa Smith
Dr White ...... Denys Hawthorne
Costello ...... John Keegan
Loretta ...... Julia Deardon
Jack Coyne ...... Ray McBride
Brian Doyle ...... Conleth Hill
Dennis Hill ...... Gordon Fulton
Dara ...... Audrey Dempsey
Music Composed by Jane Cassidy and performed by Rod McVey and Kate O'Brien
Director: Pam Brighton
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1996.
FRI 07:00 The Golden Age (b01nt07r)
Interesting Talks
Set in the BBC's Broadcasting House in London during the 1930s, this series follows head of programmes, John Tharb and his assistant, Mabel Hopcraft as they struggle to deal with the foibles and fragile egos of radio's biggest stars.
These include the perpetually drunk band-leader, Ronaldo and the most boring man in radio, Mallard Tofts. Tharb's task is not made any easier by having to constantly defer to the whims and wishes of his irascible boss, Lord Reith.
Robert Bathurst stars in the first radio sitcom to be written by Channel 4's Father Ted writer, Arthur Mathews.
In this episode, a series of mysterious deaths brings the police to the BBC.
What could be causing people to die in front of their wireless sets? Meanwhile, Mabel tries to introduce some modern entertainment to the BBC from "up north".
John Tharb ...... Robert Bathurst
Mabel Hopcraft ...... Vicky McClure
Lord Reith ...... Ford Kiernan
Inspector Cawls ...... Peter Egan
Captain Mallard Tofts ...... Malcolm Tierney
Chip Gibney ...... Kevin Bishop
Ronaldo / Dickie Squires ...... Ewan Bailey
Producer: Simon Mayhew-Archer.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2012.
FRI 07:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b099yh8d)
Series 12
The Writer in the Van
Ed Reardon is back, and after being sent down from University for misappropriation of funds he finds himself temporarily living in a hotel trying to write the first in a new series of novels about his eponymous hero, Inspector Masterson, for which he has high hopes.
These are soon dashed by Ed's agent, Ping, who informs him he must write 'grip-lit' with a girl in the title who gets drunk, goes to bed with everyone and then gets chopped up.
Ping also palms Ed and Jaz Milvain off with her new assistant, Maggie, a jam-making, sock knitting 'older' lady (who also designs draft excluders) whilst she goes "oop North" to trawl the universities for the next generation of stand-ups. Whilst Jaz is furious with being "tossed on the scrapheap" Ed decides to give Maggie a chance and is soon rewarded when she gets him a writing gig on "Your Motorhome Magazine".
This turn of events not only furnishes him with a small but steady income, but also a new home with floral upholstery, carpet on the ceiling and the advantage of letting him and his companion , Elgar, celebrate the freedom of the open road.
Ed Reardon ...... Christopher Douglas
Receptionist ...... Nicola Sanderson
Ping ...... Barunka O'Shaughnessy
Jaz Milvain ...... Philip Jackson
Maggie ...... Monica Dolan
Stan ...... Geoffrey Whitehead
Pearl ...... Brigit Forsyth
Olive ...... Stephanie Cole
Policeman ...... Dan Tetsell
Written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas
The regular cast this series are joined by guests Monica Dolan, Vicki Pepperdine, Don Gilet, Karl Theobald and Tyger Drew-Honey.
Producer: Dawn Ellis
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in Octoberl 2017.
FRI 08:00 It Sticks Out Half A Mile (b007jq15)
The Fancy Dress Parade
Frambourne-on-Sea's pier restoration fund-raising costume party is going well, until Pike brings a piano.
The seaside saga of pier perpetuation.
CAST:
Arthur Wilson …. John Le Mesurier
Frank Pike …. Ian Lavender
Bert Hodges …. Bill Pertwee
Miss Perkins …. Vivienne Martin
Mrs Pike …. Janet Davies
Ernest Wolcott …. Michael Knowles
Mrs Briggs …. Hilda Braid
Willerby Smallpiece …. Gordon Clyde
Waitress …. Miranda Forbes
Written by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles, based on the characters originally created by Jimmy Perry and David Croft.
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in January 1984.
FRI 08:30 Harry Worth (b00r2jxk)
Thirty Minutes Worth
The Holiday
Harry Worth's doctor prescribes him a sunshine holiday.
Starring Harry Worth.
The amiable, woolly-minded bumbler, causes more confusion!
With Jacqueline Clarke, Charles Collingwood, Julie Higginson and Milton Johns.
Written by Vince Powell
Producer: Mike Craig
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in October 1988.
FRI 09:00 Hidden Treasures (b05pwn3r)
Parham House
The times of Jacobean, Cromwellian and Elizabethan England as it was lived in the pre-industrial age.
Lars Tharp chairs the lighthearted Antiques Quiz from the Elizabethan splendour of Parham House in West Sussex, passed to one Robert Palmer by King Henry VIII in 1540.
With William Lorimer, Stella Beddoe, Clive Stewart-Lockhart and Henry Sandon.
Producers: Elizabeth Abrahams and Annie Bristow.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.
FRI 09:30 The Circle (m001bcqw)
Squaring The Circle
When snooker club owner Geoff joins a babysitting circle, his wife Jenny knows he’s up to something.
A six-part comedy series by Elizabeth Baines, set on an estate – described as an ‘exclusive village development’ – in Whittleshulme, Cheshire.
Being the late ‘90s, the estate is squarely aimed at yuppies, the nouveau-riche and high-fliers. The trouble is, there are no local teenagers to babysit to allow the residents to pursue their busy careers and social lives. Hence the local babysitting circle…
Jenny Bryant .... Sherrie Hewson
Geoff Bryant .... John McArdle
Trish Abbas .... Jane Hazelgrove
Julian Percival .... Jonathon Morris
Doug Lewis …. Shaun Parkes
Vanessa Percival ..., Melissa Sinden
Emma …. Tara Pendergast
Hailey …. Jane Cawdron
Crystal …. Holly Grainger
Benedict …. Oliver Hamilton
Jessica …. Gemma Salusbury
Director: Andy Jordan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1999.
FRI 10:00 Dick George - Private Investigator (m000nmn7)
The Case of the Substitute Spouse
Private Investigator Dick and his wife Dora travel to Maine where they immediately make a deadly discovery.
More adventures in the life of private investigator Dick George starring Francis Matthews.
A spoof of Hollywood comedy thrillers of the 1930s written by Sarah Maxwell.
Dick George …. Francis Matthews
Dora …. Margaret Robertson
Blore, Dick's valet …. Edward de Souza
Pasta, the dog …. Ronald Herdman
Connie Morgan/Operator/Librarian …. Bonnie Hurren
Sheriff Johnson …. Bob Sherman
Antony Legrange …. Liza Ross
Barrett Legrange …. Blain Fairman
Zebediah …. Don Fellows
Director: Glyn Dearman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1989.
FRI 11:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m0010qqw)
Audio Drama spin-offs
Chris Pearson and Ella Watts recommend audio fiction podcasts, which are re-making, adapting, or spinning off from other stories.
Dirk Maggs joins us to discuss Audible's The Sandman: Act 2, as well as his venerable career in adapting other works for audio.
Plus Realm Productions on Orphan Black: The Next Chapter. Senior producer Marco Palmieri and head of Audience Development Tara Sonin tell us about the pressures of continuing the television show in podcast form.
And we'll hear extracts from
Marvel's Wolverine
Team B: A War Robots Story
Rebel Robin: Surviving Hawkins
Children of the Stones
The Phenomenon
FRI 12:00 It Sticks Out Half A Mile (b007jq15)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 Harry Worth (b00r2jxk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Falco (b007wpcl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049mt8r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (m0000sfm)
Episode 10
The nine perfect strangers free themselves from Masha’s clutches. Their lives will never be the same again.
Nine strangers are thrown together at a remote health resort where their lives will change forever.
Written by Liane Moriarty, the bestselling author behind Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO series ‘Big Little Lies’, this is a tale of nine strangers with a variety of emotional and physical needs, gathered at a health-and-wellness retreat that hides a dark agenda beneath its glamorous façade.
Romantic Novelist Frances Welty, for example, is there to mend a broken heart, a bad back and a wounded ego. The other eight guests, though seemingly fine on the outside are all harbouring ghosts or pain of some kind and they arrive at Tranquillum House for a little restorative break.
Tranquillum House, however, is no ordinary health resort. It is owned and run by an equally wounded and strange lady who is determined that these nine perfect strangers' lives will never be the same again after the ten days that lie ahead.
Kerry Fox reads Liane Moriarty’s page turner.
Writer: Liane Moriarty
Abridger: Robin Brooks
Producer: Celia De Wolff
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2018.
FRI 14:15 Following Pappano (b09534g7)
Episode 5
The final episode in the series following the Music Director of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Sir Antonio Pappano, as he and his team prepare for a brand new staging of Puccini's Opera La Boheme.
All major opera houses rely on well established productions of repertoire classics. Puccini's La bohème is a permanent fixture in the world's top five Operas as measured by performance numbers and John Copley's 1974 staging at Covent Garden was a familiar and much loved favourite. However the time has come to replace it with a new production and the challenge to do that with a fresh staging falls to the team of Music Director Sir Antonio Pappano and stage director Richard Jones.
In five programmes across the week Radio Four follows Maestro Pappano as the new production takes shape. He works with singers, discusses the particular challenges of operating at the very highest level of Operatic performance and expectation and gives candid insights into the often perilous journey to an opening night.
We also hear from the team both on and off stage who work alongside Pappano, including the young cast who are acutely aware that the production they are replacing opened with singers like Placido Domingo and Sir Thomas Allen. There are also stage directors, set-builders, movement directors and Maestro Pappano's trusted repetiteur.
But at the heart of it, in the weeks leading up to opening night and as the curtain rises, is the Music director himself, combining the orchestral brilliance of Puccini's score and the dazzling qualities of the singers on stage to produce what they all hope will be a worthy addition to the Royal Opera House's Puccini tradition.
Produced by Tom Alban.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2017.
FRI 14:30 I Was... (b06bnbpg)
Series 2
Chet Baker's Last Tour Manager
Chet Baker, the jazz trumpeter and singer came to prominence after he joined the Gerry Mulligan quartet in 1952 at the heart of the world’s first piano-less jazz quartet and the originator of cool jazz. Using their instruments, (Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax and Chet Baker on trumpet, sometimes singing) and playing engaging, contrapuntal improvisations they made a startling breakthrough in cool jazz. Chet Baker, the singing, trumpet playing star was hatched.
When the elements of sex, jazz and cool combined they created the equivalent of an intellectual nuclear fusion. No one encapsulates that explosion better than the arrival on the jazz scene of Chet Baker.
Jim Coleman, owner of a hi fi store on New York's 2nd Avenue managed Chet’s touring schedules for the last four years of his life. Chet was unable to play in certain American clubs as a result of his being criminalised by heroin addiction. He had been busted in Europe too.
Jim tells the story of how they met briefly across three time periods: once when Jim was thirteen and studying trumpet in Rome, when his sister Joan married Chet's bass player and when Jim opened his hi fi store. In the eighties Jim offered to manage Chet's difficult touring schedule. A moving and fascinating account of the final years of Chet Baker as they intertwined with the owner of a hi fi shop, as Chet tried to tour the US and Europe whilst in the fatal grip of heroin addiction.
Written and Presented by Andrew McGibbon
Produced by Nick Romero and Andrew McGibbon
A Curtains For Radio production
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015
FRI 15:00 Dick George - Private Investigator (m000nmn7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 Hidden Treasures (b05pwn3r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 The Circle (m001bcqw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 The Golden Age (b01nt07r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b099yh8d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 Charles Chilton - Journey into Space (b007jmqp)
Operation Luna
1. Countdown to Peril
It’s 1965. Captain Jet Morgan is in Australia - preparing for 'Operation Luna' - set to be man's first trip to the Moon.
Written and produced by Charles Chilton.
Jet Morgan …. Andrew Faulds
Lemmy Barnett …. Alfie Bass
Doc …. Guy Kingsley-Poynter
Mitch …. David Williams
Other parts by John Cazabon.
Music composed and orchestra conducted by Van Phillips.
The original 1953 recordings of this futuristic series were erased.
This series was re-recorded and first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in March 1958.
FRI 18:30 Sounds Natural (b0b9tkgp)
Norman Thelwell
Cartoonist Norman Thelwell welcomes Derek Jones to Hampshire to discuss kingfishers, water voles and a walnut tree.
Brown Trout feeding and a Cormorant are among his choice of recordings from the BBC Sound Archives.
Norman Thelwell (1923 - 2004) was a prolific British artist known for his humorous cartoons of ponies and horses.
Produced in Bristol by John Burton
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1980.
FRI 19:00 It Sticks Out Half A Mile (b007jq15)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 Harry Worth (b00r2jxk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 Falco (b007wpcl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 Maeve Binchy - Firefly Summer (b049mt8r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m0010qqw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 22:00 Ed Reardon's Week (b099yh8d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music (b00c90fq)
Series 2
Relaunch
An anarchic mix of comedy, music, gay disco, Morrissey and Duran Duran.
Mitch Benn 's facing the difficult second-series dilemma, so is it time to relaunch himself in a glorious new comeback?
Robin has a few suggestions, but Alfie won't shut up about Lindisfarne. Mitch agrees to a makeover but it all goes a bit Pete Tong.
With Robin Ince, Alfie Joey, Tasha Bayliss and Kirsty Newton.
Written by Mitch Benn and Robin Ince.
Producer: Adam Bromley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2005
FRI 23:00 28 Acts in 28 Minutes (b0076zsq)
Edinburgh Special
28 performers have just 60 seconds in which to entertain the audience in this traditional variety show, featuring established stand-ups, and some newer talent
The whole thing is presided over by John Humphrys, who sits at the side of the stage with a stopwatch, ready to cut the microphone when the time is up.
And hey - if there's an act you don't like, well, there's another one along in 55 seconds or so...
David O'Doherty
Alan Parker
Jimeoin
Laurence Howarth and Gus Brown
Tim Minchin
Kevin McAleer
Andrew Lawrence
Colin and Fergus
Peter Buckley Hill
Fred MacAulay
Rhys Darby
Maria Bamford
Three Mo Tenors
Henry Kellner
Brendon Burns
God's Pottery
Paul Provenza
Bad Play
Luke Roberts
Watson and Oliver
Nick Doody
Jason Wood
Tim Key
Robin Ince
Jason Byrne
The Kransky sisters
Adam Hills
Barry Cryer and Ronnie Golden
Producers: Rohan Acharya and Ed Morrish
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2006.
FRI 23:30 James Acaster's Perfect Sounds (p0b69d2f)
Series 2
Aparna Nancherla & A Rich, Heavy Ethereal Blanket
Mirror Breathing by Shield Patterns is an electronic album of inventive melodies, set in atmospheric and sometimes haunting soundscapes. But will Aparna Nancherla be scared or (like James) seduced?