SATURDAY 24 AUGUST 2019

SAT 00:00 Short Works (m0007s32)
Robert Aickman Stories

Just a Song at Twilight

All their London friends said Lydia and Timo were mad. But when the dream takes hold...

Born in 1914, Robert Aickman was the son of architect William Arthur Aickman and worked briefly with his father, a notable eccentric. The younger Aickman was a man of diverse interests (co-founder of the Inland Waterways Association and chair of the London Opera Society included) and did not publish his first stories until 1951, in the collection We Are For The Dark. Half the stories in that collection were written by Aickman and half of them by Elizabeth Jane Howard, his lover at the time.

Aickman would go on to publish 48 “strange stories”, the term he would use for his own works.

Although the grandson of horror writer Richard Marsh, best known for his occult thriller, The Beetle (1897), Aickman never became a full-time writer, but his long-standing membership of the Society for Psychical Research and The Ghost Club is testament to his fascination with the occult, and his mystery stories constantly reshape time in unorthodox ways. Since his death in 1981, his reputation as a writer has grown.

Reader: Tim McInnerny
Producer: Karen Rose

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 Extra


SAT 00:15 Julia Jones - Over and Done With (m0007s34)
Having learned that her father is gravely ill, Sybil heads to the family home for the first time in ages.

Carole Hayman …. Sybil
Jack Watson …. Father
Christian Rodska …. Mr Lumkin
Julia Jones …. Mrs Worksop

Written by Julia Jones.

Producer: Shaun MacLoughlin.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1979


SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b0076kl4)
Alter Egos

Matthew Parris welcomes three guests. Or is it more? John Fortune, Martin Newell and Pauline Black explore identity. From March 2004.


SAT 01:00 Book at Beachtime (b012bs1w)
Jill Mansell - To the Moon and Back

Episode 5

While Ellie is uncertain about her own love life, she helps to bring another couple back together.

Jill Mansell's sparky romantic comedy about learning to fall in love with life again.

Concluded by Alex Tregear

Abridged by Miranda Davies

Producer: Gemma Jenkins

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in July 2011.


SAT 01:30 The Last Of The Hardy Players (b00vrxjx)
President of the Hardy Society Julian Fellowes tells the extraordinary story of The Hardy Players, an amateur theatre group inspired and supported by Thomas Hardy. He meets original cast member Norrie Woodhall, who recalls rehearsals at Hardy's home at Max Gate, near Dorchester.

Hardy's celebrity status drew the attention of London critics, who thronged to Dorchester to see and review the Players' performances for the national newspapers. Hardy invited the drama critic of The Times, Harold Child, to stay with him and was rewarded by a whole column for the review and a leading article on the players. Hardy later wrote to Child suggesting that "the special attributes of the production were that the great grandparents of the actors were the real actors in the scenes depicted... they all know the events traditionally and of course are themselves continuators of the dialect, humours etc of the personages.."

There are many comical anecdotes about the members of the group and their performances which could come directly off the pages of 'Under the Greenwood Tree' or 'The Trumpet Major'. In 1909, the Hardy Players staged 'Far From the Madding Crowd'. Hardy insisted the sheep shearing scene was done properly so the director employed a professional sheep shearer to do the job on stage. The man was offered beer as payment - as he clipped the sheep he kissed and sang to them, drowning out the words of the actors, much to the amusement of the audience. For 'The Three Fiddlers' a local fiddle player was engaged to play for a scene. Harry Bailey (the fiddler) got so carried away it proved difficult to get him off stage when the scene ended.

The programme also reveals telling biographical detail about Hardy himself. First readings would often take place at Max Gate, in the presence of Hardy's guests - James Barrie, Sir Henry Newbolt and TE Lawrence among them. In 1910 Hardy supplied music for 'The Mellstock Choir' and at one rehearsal seized Mrs Emma Tilley as his partner to demonstrate a country dance he remembered from his youth. In 1913 Gertrude Bugler (sister of Norrie Woodhall) made her first appearance - an exceptional talent whom The Daily Mirror compared to Ellen Terry and Sarah Bernhardt. Hardy was said to be infatuated with the beautiful Gertrude - an assertion Norrie denies, although she recalls the 'insane jealousy' of Hardy's wife, Florence. When Gertrude married a cousin in 1921, her acting career was interrupted by inconvenient (from the Players' point of view) pregnancies, but she was later able to play Tess (a pre-condition of Hardy allowing permission) and went on to a season on the London stage.

Hardy presented the Players with an original verse play called 'The Famous Tragedy of the Queen of Cornwall' in 1923. Such was the national interest in this play that the BBC (only a year old) broadcast it 'radiated from the Bournemouth station only.' But Hardy refused permission for London productions of his plays, perhaps protective of the special local qualities of the Hardy Players.

The New Hardy Players were formed in 2005, with original Player Norrie Woodhall as President. Norrie was cast by Hardy himself as Tess' sister, Liza Lu, in the stage version of his novel, Tess of the D'Urbervilles. She recalls how Hardy added some lines to her role at the read-through. Norrie still performs occasionally with the Players, at the age of 104.

A fascinating and entertaining story, beautifully told by Julian Fellowes, brings new insight to the Hardy story.

Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2011.


SAT 02:00 Romesh Gunesekera - Reef (m0007s30)
Episode 5

Triton greets a new era as Miss Nili moves in with Mr Salgado.

Read by Shiv Grewal.

Romesh Gunesekera's first novel reveals a world of love and illusion, dreams of exile and return, seen through the eyes of a young boy, taken into employment by an eminent marine biologist.

Abridged by Brian Miller.

Producer: Rosemary Watts

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1996.


SAT 02:15 A Brief History of Mathematics (b00stcgv)
Nicolas Bourbaki

This ten part history of mathematics from Newton to the present day, reveals the personalities behind the calculations: the passions and rivalries of mathematicians struggling to get their ideas heard. Professor Marcus du Sautoy shows how these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world and proves that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science.

Today, the mathematician that never was, Nicolas Bourbaki. A group of French mathematicians, working between the two world wars and writing under the pseudonym Nicolas Bourbaki transformed their discipline and paved the way for several mathematical breakthroughs in the 21st century.

Producer: Anna Buckley

From 2010.


SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b06810pn)
Bindi Business: Series 1

Episode 5

With her family’s help, can Bindi overcome her business obstacles and lead Bindi's Beauty Box to success?

Tanika Gupta's drama about an 'olderpreneur' who sets up a mobile beauty business.

BINDI.....Meera Syal
RAJ.....Chris Nayak
ANU.....Krupa Pattani
UNCLE BASH....Vincent Ebrahim

Director: Nadia Molinari

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.


SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b04pc6kw)
Alan Cumming - Not My Father's Son: A Family Memoir

Wrapping Up

Alan Cumming is wrapping up as he concludes his moving memoir about his relationship with his father and a family mystery.

Written and read by Alan Cumming.
Abridged by Sara Davies.

Producer: Elizabeth Allard

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.


SAT 03:00 Gwyn Thomas - All Things Betray Thee (m0007s2w)
Episode 3 The Verdict

The iron workers' uprising is defeated and Leigh has become an accessory to murder.

Conclusion of Gywn Thomas's novel dramatised by Alan Plater.

Leigh ... Ian Hughes
John Simon .... Patrick Brennan
Katherine ... Manon Edwards
Helen ..... Melanie Walters
Jefferies .... Laurence Allan
Clark ... Gerald James
Longridge ... Sion Probert
Parr ... Ian Rowlands
Jabez ... Hubert Rees
Penbury .... Bill Stewart
Lemuel ... Ray Llewellyn
Lord Plimmon ... Ric Jerrom

Music by Ruth Wall
Harp ... Ruth Wall

Director: Alison Hindell.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1996.


SAT 04:00 Who Goes There? (b00766rs)
Series 5

Episode 4

Martin Young's famous people quiz. With Francis Wheen, Fred Housego, Gyles Brandreth and Antonia Fraser. From March 2002.


SAT 04:30 Mr Finchley Goes to Paris (b007k0j8)
Episode 6

Back in London after his first trip to Paris, Mr Finchley upstages a ham and demands a decision - and Robert goes home.

Richard Griffiths is the shy solicitor's clerk, Edgar Finchley.

Robert Gillespie ...... James Cohen
Mrs Crantell ...... Anna Cropper
Marie Peters ...... Serena Evans
Mr Barker ...... John Bird
Mr Sprake ...... James Grout
Mr Hammerton ...... Nicky Henson
Esmond Lockwood ...... Edward de Souza
Perkins ...... Richard Ridings
Lanky ...... Harris Alex Arkell

Narrated by James Villiers.

Written by Victor Canning and adapted for radio by Andy and Eric Merriman.

Producer: Gareth Edwards

First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in July 1994.


SAT 05:00 Secrets and Lattes (b0639gxs)
Series 2

Burns and a' that

It's January and time to beat the post-festive blues at Cafe Culture in Edinburgh's leafy Bruntsfield.

Trisha is on a single-minded start-of-the-year health kick while trying to get over yet another breakup with her long-distance lover Richard, and her sister Clare is desperate for a business project to get over her crush on sexually-ambivalent chef Callum.

Trisha and Clare find they have distinctly different ideas about hosting a Burns Supper, trainee chef and recovering kleptomaniac Lizzie makes a new friend, and everybody parties in true Rabbie Burns' spirit until an unexpected guest makes for a dramatic turn of events.

Series two of Hilary Lyon's caffeine-fuelled sitcom

Trisha ...... Hilary Maclean
Clare ...... Hilary Lyon
Lizzie ...... Pearl Appleby
Callum ...... Derek Riddell
Richard ...... Roger May
Minty ...... June Watson
Max ...... Scott Hoatson

Director: Marilyn Imrie

Producers: Gordon Kennedy and Moray Hunter

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in July 2015.


SAT 05:30 Cooking in a Bedsitter (b08492g1)
Series 1

Stuffed Eggs

Katharine Whitehorn's cult cookery classic is the inspiration for Sue Teddern's new comedy drama, set in 1964, starring Beattie Edmondson and Nikesh Patel.

In this episode, Trisha tries to impress new friend Jill with some stuffed eggs.

Trisha.....Beattie Edmondson
Deepak.....Nikesh Patel
Tony.....John Dougall
Jill.....Natasha Cowley
Keith.....Finlay Robertson
The Hunk.....Luke MacGregor
Male Guest.....Gavi Singh Chera
Female Guest.....Catriona McFarlane
Katharine Whitehorn.....Karen Bartke

Directed by Emma Harding


SAT 06:00 Stewart Conn - Thistlewood (b00hw8hs)
"We will have to take to arms.... we must occupy the Tower and barricade the bridges. Blow open the prison doors and see these lofty Bastilles reduced to ashes. We must take what is ours ... "

Executed at Newgate in 1820 for murder and high treason, Arthur Thistlegate was one of those historical rarities: an English Revolutionary.

Written by Stewart Conn.

John Bull ... John Hollis
Arthur Thistlewood ... Ian Hogg
George Edwards ... Russell Dixon
Orator Hunt ... Peter Wheeler
Samuel Bamford/Richard Tidd ... James Tomlinson
Mrs Bamford ... Daphne Oxenford
Susan .... Judith Barker
Viscount Sidmouth ... Geoffrey Banks
Secretary Taylor .... John Franklyn-Robbins
Dr Watson .... Brian Miller

Music composed and arranged by Adrian Secchi

Director: Robert Cooper

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1976.


SAT 07:30 Roger Deakin - The House (b00t0zm0)
Soundings from an ancient farmhouse as it flexes its joints, sighs with the passing of the seasons and echoes with the sounds of its residents.

These include spiders which hang out in the window frames, bees that bumble round the bedrooms, slugs which slither across the doorsteps, hedgehogs that hang out in the kitchen and swallows up the chimney.

Writer and naturalist Roger Deakin presents a unique sound portrait of life in the timber-framed house in Suffolk.

In the following episode, Roger heads to ‘The Garden”.

Producer: Sarah Blunt

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2004.


SAT 08:00 World Book Club (m0007xyg)
Celeste Ng - Everything I Never Told You

Lawrence Pollard talks to chart-topping Chinese-American writer Celeste Ng and an audience about her bestselling novel Everything I Never Told You.

In 1970s small-town Ohio Lydia is the favorite child of parents, determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Chinese-American Lee family together is destroyed.

A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, racism and longing, Everything I Never Told You uncovers the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.

From the local Boston radio Newsfeed Café in the Boston Public Library

First broadcast on the BBC World Service in 2018.


SAT 08:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00mcxcs)
Series 1

The Dodo

The dodo is the caricature of extinction. This turkey-sized flightless pigeon lived on a remote island and was slaughtered by seafarers for its meat. The same fate has met other flightless species. Can we learn this lesson from history?

Series of talks by Sir David Attenborough on the natural histories of creatures and plants from around the world.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2009.


SAT 09:00 How to Have a Hit Show (b09sn83p)
Maria Friedman - actress, singer and musical theatre director - explores the BBC archives to hear advice from the great songwriters of the past about How to Have a Hit Show.

The BBC archives teem with interviews with the great songwriters which were carried out for landmark series like "Ragtime to Rock'n'Roll" decades ago, but which have rarely had an airing since, apart from short snippets. All the songwriting greats are there- from early interviews with Rodgers and Hammerstein to Irving Berlin, Yip Harburg, Dorothy Fields and Cy Coleman. More modern songwriters like Stephen Sondheim and many others also feature strongly. Recordings of the legendary song performers also abound - the great names who premiered the seminal show roles like Ethel Merman, and Mary Martin.

This special three-hour showcase compilation takes us through the journey of writing a hit musical show, from first thought to the final performance as seen through the eyes - and ears- of these great names.

Divided into different sections - The Idea, The Producer, The Songs, The Orchestrator etc - Maria uses the archives to take us on a journey which explores all the different facets of songwriting, promoting and plugging within the narrative of composing that one elusive hit show. With examples like Alan Jay Lerner describing how he sweated over one line in a lyric for two months, we provide a window into a creative world interwoven with music.

Maria will also re-introduce us to some standalone programmes featuring the great names of songwriting history and the musicals they created.

Producer: Emma Kingsley

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in February 2018.


SAT 12:00 The Rest is History (b04v2ssq)
Series 1

Episode 1

Frank Skinner loves history, but just doesn't know much of it.

This comedy discussion show with celebrity guests promises to help him find out more about it.

With Dave Gorman, Sara Pascoe and historian in residence Dr Kate Williams

Frank and company navigate their way through the annals of time, picking out and chewing over the funniest, oddest, and most interesting moments in history.

Producers: Dan Schreiber and Justin Pollard

An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2014.


SAT 12:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b00dyp5l)
The First Night Party

The lad throws a launch party - with cocktails and dinner - for his very first half hour, but things don't quite go to plan.

Starring Tony Hancock.

With Moira Lister, Bill Kerr, Sidney James, Gerald Campion and Kenneth Williams.

Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

Theme and incidental music written by Wally Stott.

Producer: Dennis Main Wilson

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in November 1954.


SAT 13:00 The Country Girls (Omnibus) (m0007xyj)
Episode 1

Kate’s father is off on a drinking binge, so the farm has to cope without him.

Edna O’Brien’s frank, funny story of growing up in rural Ireland in the 50s. Kate and Baba – girls who occupy the twin poles of romance and realism - have nonetheless been friends forever, united by a tacit resilience to the world they have to endure.

Omnibus of the first five of ten parts dramatised by Lin Coghlan.

Kate ..... Charlie Murphy
Baba ..... Aoibhinn McGinnity
Mama ..... Catherine Cusack
Dada ..... David Ganly
Hickey ..... Lloyd Hutchinson
Jack Holland ..... Jonjo O’Neill
Miss Moriarty ..... Helen Clapp

Director: Sally Avens & Jessica Dromgoole

Edna O’Brien – born in 1930 - is now celebrated as the fearless chronicler of the dark underbelly of rural Ireland. Originally published in the 1960s, The Country Girls, and the two other novels in the Country Girls Trilogy (The Lonely Girl and Girls in their Married Bliss), were banned by the Irish Censorship Board, burnt publicly in O’Brien’s home town, and described by the Justice Minister (a young Charles Haughey) as filth. Fifty years later, the trilogy is recognised as an iconic work of 20th century Irish fiction. Radio 4 is dramatising all three books in 2019. .

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.


SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (m0007xyl)
David Gower

Cricketer and commentator David Gower chooses Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, fourth movement and ‘Candle in the Wind’ by Elton John.


SAT 14:15 Frankly Speaking (b05pwnvh)
Dr Jacob Bronowski

Dr Jacob Bronowski discusses his career as a mathematician, scientist, writer and broadcaster with Mary Stocks and John Maddox.

Recorded in January 1964, shortly before he left England to take up a new research post in California.

Launched in 1952 on the BBC Home Service, Frankly Speaking was a novel, ground breaking series. Unrehearsed and unscripted, the traditional interviewee/interviewer pairing was initially jettisoned for three interviewers firing direct questions - straight to the point.

Early critics described it as 'unkempt', 'an inquisition' and described the guest as prey being cornered, quarry being pursued - with calls to axe the unscripted interview. But the format won out and eventually won over its detractors.

Unknown or very inexperienced broadcasters were employed as interviewers, notably John Freeman, John Betjeman, Malcolm Muggeridge, Harold Hobson, Penelope Mortimer, Elizabeth Beresford and Katherine Whitehorn.

Only about 40 of the original 100 programmes survive in the BBC archive.

First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in February 1964.


SAT 14:45 Peter Tinniswood - Tales from the Backbench (b007652v)
Series 2

Time to Confess

The useless and forgetful MP, Sir Plympton Makepeace admits to having created his persona on untruths and fantasy.

Starring Leslie Phillips.

Written by Peter Tinniswood.

Producer: Enyd Williams

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2001.


SAT 15:00 World Book Club (m0007xyg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]


SAT 15:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00mcxcs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:50 today]


SAT 16:00 Stewart Conn - Thistlewood (b00hw8hs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


SAT 17:30 Roger Deakin - The House (b00t0zm0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


SAT 18:00 Grimm's Fairy Tales (m0007xyp)
The Master Thief

A stranger returns to the land of his origins, the richer for having spent a lifetime existing on his nimble wits. Now, to crown his self-made achievements, he seeks to awaken his long-sleeping sister princess....

Drawn from Grimm's Fairy Tales and written by Peter Redgrove.

Sonny ...... Paul Lockwood
Meg ...... Jennifer Piercey
Greg ...... Andrew Branch
Mark ...... Jonathan Tafler
Uncle ...... Paul Gregory
Student ...... Deborah Makepeace
Princess ...... Susie Brann
Cat ...... Sheila Grant
Old Man ...... Alan Dudley
Tsar ...... Scott Peters

Music arranged and realised by Stephen Rollings

Directed at BBC Bristol by Brian Miller.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 1987.


SAT 18:45 Edgar Allan Poe (m0007xyr)
The Pit and the Pendulum

A man held prisoner in a dark dungeon by the Spanish Inquisition faces a grim threat...

David Horovitch reads Edgar Allan Poe's chilling tale.

Producer: Emma Harding

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2007.


SAT 19:00 How to Have a Hit Show (b09sn83p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


SAT 22:00 It's Jocelyn (b06tvbz1)
Series 1

Episode 2

A raft of fresh new characters from Jocelyn including a terrible shop assistant, a pair of terrible bedroom DJ's and an old lady obsessed with dying.

Jocelyn vents her frustration at the world around her through sketches and stand-up. From pedantic dinner dates to coping with annoying friends, Jocelyn's life provides a rich seam of humour.

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.


SAT 22:30 Funny From the Fringe (m0007xyt)
2019

Episode 3

Award-winning Irish comedian, Catherine Bohart takes us on a journey to the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Across the series, Catherine gets amongst it, taking us from the big glitzy theatres to the sweaty underground venues where the best shows you've never heard of perform.

This is the full Edinburgh Festival Fringe experience, but in your ears.

A BBC Studios Production.


SAT 22:55 Comedy Club Extra (m00084n1)
Marcel Morceaux

A La Recherche Des Faits Perdus

Post-experts Jake Yapp & Jon Holmes discuss the legacy of Marcel Proust's A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu and its relevance today.


SAT 23:00 Richard Herring's Objective (b017cfkv)
Series 2

Page 3

'Page 3' has been the cause of controversy, so Richard debates whether it's something that we should celebrate, or consign to the dustbin of history.

Series in which Richard Herring pokes and prods a variety controversial objects and see if the controversy falls out. Through vox pops, interviews and stand up comedy Richard examines the objects' history, meaning and significance and challenges our assumed logic and stereotypes.

Can we reclaim these objects away from their unfortunate associations?

Written by and starring Richard Herring.

With Emma Kennedy and special guest, the glamour model Lucy Pinder.

Producer: Tilusha Ghelani

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2011.


SAT 23:30 Mark Watson Talks a Bit About Life (b04mcssb)
Series 1

Money

Mark Watson attempts to answer the big questions and make sense of life.

Written and performed by Mark Watson, Tim Key and Tom Basden as they tackle academic and abstract topics.

In this episode, Mark looks at "Money". These days it's quite unfashionable to like money. People get demonised for having high salaries. Bankers are seen as bad-guys. Less-is-more philosophies abound, yet they are flawed - mathematically, more is actually more. Is it so bad to try and get rich?

Mark probes the corrupting influence of money and the harm it does versus the good impact it can have, and weigh them up. Mark discusses his own experiences of being poor and quite well-off and how each impacted his personality.

Is money really the root of all evil? Or a useful way of buying things like Polo mints, fruit, etc?

Producer: Lianne Coop

An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in October 2014.