SATURDAY 16 JANUARY 2021

SAT 00:00 The Routemasters by Andrew McGibbon (b007jnsh)
4. Wolfie and Beetie

Raymond and Hildegard kidnap Beethoven and Mozart in their plot to create the greatest ever rock band.

Herr Grubberman comes clean, while Bernie finally discovers the truth about who - or what- is driving the time bus.

Starring Amanda Donohoe as Hilderghast, Andrew McGibbon as Raymond, Karl Minns as the Conductor, Owen Evans as Bernie, Nick Romero as Mozart, Andy Mulligan as Herr Grubberman, Dan Freedman as Glenn Miller, Alex Lowe as Taffy and Sophie Aldred as Spikea.

Written by Andrew McGibbon. Additional material by Rob Colley and Kevin Greening.

Theme by Ozzy Temple and other music by Nick Romero.

Producer: Julian Mayers

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1999.


SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b00hlbp4)
Organisation

Dominic Arkwright chairs a discussion on the word 'organisation' with former director general of the British Council Sir David Green, punk poet Attila the Stockbroker and writer Jay Griffiths.


SAT 01:00 Bulldog Drummond by Sapper (b00nnpb3)
5. Godalming

The ex-officer heads to Godalming to protect Phyllis. And are the Duchess' pearls safe? Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt.


SAT 01:30 Cadfael (b007jldz)
The Virgin in the Ice

5. Discoveries

Detective monk Brother Cadfael discovers outlaws have taken Ives Hugonin prisoner.

Conclusion starring Philip Madoc as Brother Cadfael.

Written by Ellis Peters and dramatised by Bert Coules.

Brother Cadfael ...... Philip Madoc
Narrator ...... Sir Michael Hordern
Ermina ...... Moira Buffini
Leonard ...... Leonard Fenton
Hugh ...... Douglas Hodge
Le Gaucher ...... Peter Laird
Ives ...... Dean Magri
Elyas ...... Crispin Letts
Axeman ...... Peter Gunn
Boterel ...... Andrew Wincott

Other parts played by the cast.

Music by Peter Salem.

Producer: Phil Clarke.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1992.


SAT 02:00 Robb Wilton: I Should Say So (b01lk6wp)
Series 1

The Bigamist

Robb Wilton (1881-1957) was one of the most popular music hall and radio comics of the 1930s and 1940s.

Famed as an all-round pessimist - what would he have made of 1980s Britain - trying to solve a tricky marital problem?

Michael Williams stars as Robb Wilton - making as little sense out of life as he did 40 years before...

Written by Allen Saddler.
Produced at BBC Bristol by Brian Miller

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1986.


SAT 02:15 Gregory Evans - Blood and Milk (b07qc3g7)
Series 1

Episode 10

Things come to a head when Meg makes an offer to predatory dairyman Iolo Jones and Annie confronts the creepy Madog Prys. Last in the series.

Megan Evans ….. Bettrys Jones
Samuel Singer ….. David Horovitch
Annie Riley ….. Alice Haig
Nance Barker ….. Clare Perkins
Madog Prys ….. James Lailey
Iolo Jones ….. Nick Underwood
Moses Lipski ….. Brian Protheroe
Sergeant Fred Wensley ….. Jason Barnett

by Gregory Evans
Directed by Marc Beeby

In 1900 over half London's milk came from Welsh dairies. One of those dairies, on the Commercial Road, was owned and run by the writer’s family.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2016.


SAT 02:30 The Perfumed Mountaineer (b01hf12x)
Hayden Lorimer explores the double life of Walter Poucher: mountain photographer and perfumer.

Poucher invented the perfume 'Bond Street' and also wrote upland guidebooks. He was a pioneer of mountain photography from the 1930s onwards and devised guidebooks that used photos to help hillwalkers and climbers. But he had a second life as well - in 1923 he had published a three volume handbook on perfumes and cosmetics that remains in print and, working for the perfumers Yardley, he invented one of their signature smells, the perfume Bond Street. These unlikely twin lives came together when he field tested his fragrances and make-up across the hills and fells of Britain. Sweaty mountaineers were not quite sure what to make of Walter but he resolutely and happily continued to mix his two lives and interests. In a celebrated moment of TV history in 1980 the pop singer Grace Jones attacked the chat show host Russell Harty live on air, the other guest on camera at the time was a befuddled looking Walter Poucher.

Yet when it came to staging and managing your life Walter perhaps was ahead of the game and knew things that would have surprised both Grace Jones and Russell Harty. Here was a metrosexual man decades before he was supposed to have evolved. Hayden Lorimer, geographer at Glasgow University and committed hill-runner, explores the life and times of the Perfumed Mountaineer.

Producer: Tim Dee

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012.


SAT 03:00 Drama (b08n22rp)
The Hours by Michael Cunningham

Episode 2

The Pulitzer winning book by Michael Cunningham inspired by Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway. Starring Rosamund Pike, Fenella Woolgar and Teresa Gallagher.

Three very separate women. They live in different locations and different eras but they are bound by their passion for Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs Dalloway. As they experience life on a Tuesday in June, their thoughts and experiences echo each other and become intertwined.

In Richmond in 1923, Virginia Woolf (Fenella Woolgar) sits down to write a novel calling her heroine Mrs Dalloway. In Los Angeles in 1949, Laura (Teresa Gallagher) sits in bed reading Mrs Dalloway. In New York in the 1990s, Clarissa (Rosamund Pike) goes out to buy flowers for a party mirroring the start of the day for the fictional Mrs Dalloway. The party is for her best friend Richard who long ago dubbed her Mrs Dalloway.

Weaving together themes of bisexuality, mental illness, middle age, the trials of creativity, parental guilt, marital discord, suburban isolation, infertility, friendship and loss - the three stories become one.

In the second and concluding episode, Virginia, Laura and Clarissa all experience conflict between their need to be free and their domestic responsibilities and ties. Virginia Woolf creates a pivotal moment when Mrs Dalloway sees a book in a shop window open at a page with a song from Shakespeare's Cymbeline. It haunts her - and it haunts Laura and Clarissa too. As their stories become interwoven there more and more parallels.

Michael Cunningham's enormously popular and critically successful book won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and inspired the film starring Nicole Kidman. He called his story The Hours because that was a title that Virginia Woolf had considered. He says Mrs Dalloway was a huge influence on his life because he read the novel as a response to a dare when he was 15 and then decided to be a writer.

Sony Award winning writer Frances Byrnes adapted the book for radio.

Cast:
Vanessa/Sally .... Lia Williams
Virginia .... Fenella Woolgar
Laura ….Teresa Gallagher
Richie … Jack Towbin
Clarissa …. Rosamund Pike
Julia … Haley McGee
Walter/Dan ….Corey Johnson
Leonard …. David Annen
Nelly …. Rachel Atkins

Composer: Gene Pritsker
Pianist: Carollyn Eden
Sound Design: Steve Bond

Adapted for radio by Frances Byrnes
Directed by Judith Kampfner and Polly Thomas
Produced by Judith Kampfner
Executive Producer Celia De Wolff

A Corporation For Independent Media production

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.


SAT 04:00 The Personality Test (b007tzff)
Series 3

Toyah Willcox

Pop sensation and actress Toyah Willcox is in the hot seat posing questions all about her.

Tackling the ultra-personal quiz are Sue Perkins, Caroline Quinlan, Robin Ince and Will Smith.

Comedy quiz presented by a new guest host every show. All the questions are about them.

Script by Simon Littlefield and Kieron Quirke.

Devised and produced by Aled Evans.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.


SAT 04:30 Bristow (b007r031)
Series 2

When Melancholy Autumn Comes to Chester-Perry

The promise of a Christmas bonus lifts Bristow's spirits - for once, his generosity knows no bounds... But then he takes matters into his own hands when it becomes clear that a bonus for Chester Perry staff isn't forthcoming.

Michael Williams stars as Bristow, the buying clerk from Frank Dickens' famous newspaper cartoon strip. Syndicated internationally, it ran for 41 years in London's Evening Standard.

Bristow ...... Michael Williams
Jones ...... Rodney Bewes
Jonathan Quartly ...... Bernard Cribbins
Mrs Purdy ...... Dora Bryan
Hewitt ...... Owen Brenman
Molly ...... Sheila Reid
Rupert Clement ...... Royce Mills
Miss Sunman ...... Katy Odey
Richard Blobb ...... Norman Bird
Miss Golightly ...... Lucy Akhurst
Postboy ...... Simon Schatzberger
Receptionist ...... Zeena Eate

Music composed and performed by John Whitehall.

Producer: Neil Cargill

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1999.


SAT 05:00 Dot (b071skpf)
Series 1

The Extraordinary Example of the Ha'penny Exchange

A little East End snotling has infiltrated the Cabinet War Rooms. But Dot's got important propaganda work to do.

How will she dispose of the little gremlin, whilst simultaneously concocting a stirring, yet pithy slogan for the war effort? For King and country, she'll bally well try!

Comic adventures with Dot and the gals from personnel in the rollicking wartime comedy by Ed Harris.

Dot ..... Fenella Woolgar
Myrtle ..... Kate O'Flynn
Peg ..... Freya Parker
Millicent ..... Jane Slavin
Peabody ..... David Acton
Ha'penny ..... Alicia Ambrose-Bayly
Matron ..... Susan Jameson
Right Honourable Washtunrub ..... Sean Baker

Director: Jessica Mitic

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.


SAT 05:30 Stand-Up Specials (m000r31x)
Kiri Pritchard-McLean: Egg-sistential Crisis

Stand-up Kiri Pritchard-Mclean brings a special show to BBC Radio 4 all about millennials and why they have stopped procreating.

Producer: Suzy Grant

BBC Studios Production


SAT 06:00 Anthony Hope - The Prisoner Of Zenda (b01qkm4l)
The great swashbuckling story of the English gentleman Rudolf Rassendyll and his adventures in the East European province of Ruritania. Epic historical tale of subterfuge and doppelgangers.

Starring Julian Glover as King Rudolf/Rudolf Rassendyll, Nigel Stock as Colonel Sapt, Hannah Gordon as Princess Flavia and Martin Jarvis as Rupert of Hentzau.

Adapted by Eric Maschwitz and Kay Patrick

Original music (1939) by Robert Chignell and Leslie Woodgate

Cast:
Rudolf Rassendyll / King Rudolf .... Julian Glover
Colonel Sapt .... Nigel Stock
Princess Flavia .... Hannah Gordon
Count Fritz .... David Timson
Rupert of Hentzau .... Martin Jarvis
Duke Michael .... Michael Spice
Antoinette de Mauban .... Anne Kidd
Lord Burlesdon .... Clive Swift
Lady Rose Burlesdon/ Innkeeper .... Diana Bishop
Countess Helga .... Hilda Schroder
Rosa .... Cherry Gilliam
Captain Detchard .... Terry Scully
Johann .... Sam Dastor
Josef .... Haydn Jones
Train guard .... William Sleigh
Bersonin .... David Gooderson
Customs officer .... Brian Haines

Producer: Martin Jenkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1973.


SAT 07:30 Great Lives (b06wd26b)
Series 38

Nitin Sawhney on Jeff Buckley

Musician and performer Nitin Sawhney champions the life of Jeff Buckley who he regards as a genius singer, songwriter.
The expert is Steve Abbott who was a friend of Buckley's and released his debut record.

Presenter: Matthew Parris
Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.


SAT 08:00 All the Way from Memphis (b00mpqkn)
Series 2

Episode 6

James Walton tests and tickles the knowledge of industry pundits and people passionate about pop music.

Team captains Tracey MacLeod and Andrew Collins are joined by Clare Grogan and Danny Kelly to be put through their musical paces

Reader: Beth Chalmers

Written and researched by James Walton

Producer: Dawn Ellis

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006.


SAT 08:30 Rent (b00752fm)
Series 3

Episode 3

It's havoc in the Reynolds household as the preparations for the baby's naming ceremony reach a climax.

Series 3 of Lucy Flannery's award-winning sitcom about Maria and Richard Reynolds and their lodgers.

Stars Barbara Flynn as Maria, Patrick Barlow as Richard, Linda Polan as Amy, Vivienne Rochester as Ruby, Dave Lamb as Paul, Sally Grace as Mother and Chris Emmett as Father.

Producer: Liz Anstee.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1997.


SAT 09:00 Miriam Margolyes' Adventures in Radio (b07qcf7j)
Much-loved actress Miriam Margolyes looks back over her radio lives, choosing some of her favourite performances from the BBC Radio Archive.

Despite winning awards (BAFTA), Miriam’s on the record as saying she has many regrets in her stage career, but when it comes to her radio back catalogue, she’s immensely proud. Since she joined the BBC Radio Drama Repertory Company in 1965 – radio has been a true love.

Miriam's choices include:

* Sentimental Journey (Radio 4 1999) where she made an emotional trip to Belarus, with Arthur Smith to find out more about her family history;

* After Albert (Radio 4 1996) where she plays a feisty Queen Victoria, with surprising desires, after the death of Prince Albert;

* The Queen and I (Radio 4, 1992) in a Sony Radio Academy Best Actress winning performance, Miriam brings to life Sue Townsend’s (Adrian Mole) comic tale about the House of Windsor, whose members are rather down on their luck;

* The Child (1979, Radio 4) where she stars in Olwen Wymark’s sensitive story about a mother caring for her daughter who has profound mental health issues;

* Dickens’ Women (Radio 4, 1991) Miriam chooses a favourite character, Miss Havisham, from her celebrated one-woman show stage show, recorded for Radio 4;

* The Picnic (Radio 3, 1985) Miriam stars with Timothy West in Anthony Horowitz’s powerful story based on a real event in the Soviet Union in 1981;

* Singular Women, (Radio 4, 1997) Miriam becomes Stella, the manageress of a chocolate shop, demonstrating the power of the radio monologue to create a magical link of imaginations between an actor, a character and the listener.

Producer: Peter McHugh

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in August 2016.


SAT 12:00 The Jack Benny Program (m000rcxw)
I Was Betrayed

The cast plead to be paid before performing in a medical drama.

On radio, The Jack Benny Show ran from February 1932 to May 1955. From that date, new shows were produced for television but there were re-runs on radio until 1958. Over the years, the programme was sponsored by a diverse range of products from jelly, to tyres and cigarettes.

With a fine cast of supporting players Benny made his show into one of the all-time great radio comedies, portraying him as likeable character, despite being vain, argumentative and a skinflint. It’s classic comedy that stood the test of time.

With Eddie Anderson as the irrepressible Rochester, Mary Livingstone, Dennis Day, The Sportsmen Quartet, announcer Don Wilson and orchestra conducted by Bob Crosby.

First broadcast on the Columbia Broadcasting System in January 1950.


SAT 12:30 Round the Horne (b00j05vh)
Series 1

Episode 1

The bona beginnings of one of the BBC's most popular comedies. The story so far, the BBC's Backroom Boys and part one of The Clissold Saga.

Starring Kenneth Horne. With Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee.

Recorded at the BBC's Paris Studio in Lower Regent Street, London. Announcer: Douglas Smith

Round The Horne was born out of the demise of BBC radio comedy Beyond Our Ken, after the end of writer Eric Merriman's involvement. Using the same cast and producer, Barry Took and Marty Feldman were persuaded to write the scripts - which led to four series that ran between 1965 and 1968 - packed full of parodies, recurring characters, catchphrases and double-entendres.

Music by Edwin Braden and the Hornblowers and The Fraser Hayes Four.

Producer: John Simmonds

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in March 1965.


SAT 13:00 Cadfael (b007jlcr)
The Virgin in the Ice

1. Casualties of War

Shrewsbury, Winter in the year 1139: Amid a civil war, medieval sleuth Brother Cadfael sets out to find a missing boy and his sister.

Starring Philip Madoc as Brother Cadfael.

Written by Ellis Peters and dramatised in five parts by Bert Coules.

Narrator … Sir Michael Hordern
Brother Cadfael … Philip Madoc
Hugh Beringar …. Douglas Hodge
Leonard …. Leonard Fenton
Olivier …. Raad Rawi
Ermina …. Moira Buffini
Ives …. Dean Magri
Elyas …. Crispin Letts
Abbot Radulfus …. John Church

Other parts played by Jonathan Tafler, Steve Hodson, Eric Allen, Julian Rhind-Tutt and David Holt.

Music by Peter Salem.

Producer: Phil Clarke.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1992.


SAT 13:30 Cadfael (b007jld1)
The Virgin in the Ice

2. Danger From All Sides

Amid bitter civil war in 1139, detective monk Brother Cadfael makes headway in his medieval crime hunt, but it's mixed news.

Starring Philip Madoc as Brother Cadfael.

Written by Ellis Peters and dramatised by Bert Coules.

Brother Cadfael ...... Philip Madoc
Narrator ...... Sir Michael Hordern
Boterel ...... Andrew Wincott
Leonard ...... Leonard Fenton
Elyas ...... Crispin Letts
Ives ...... Dean Magri
Hugh ...... Douglas Hodge
Ermina ...... Moira Buffini
Olivier ...... Raad Rawi

Other parts played by Jonathan Tafler, John Fleming, Kate Binchy

Music by Peter Salem.

Producer: Phil Clarke.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1992.


SAT 14:00 Cadfael (b007jldd)
The Virgin in the Ice

3. Found and Lost

As the 1139 English civil war rages in Shropshire, monk-cum-sleuth, Brother Cadfael's brave search for Ermina leads him to the isolated medieval manor of Ledditch.

Starring Philip Madoc as Brother Cadfael.

Written by Ellis Peters and dramatised by Bert Coules.

Brother Cadfael ...... Philip Madoc
Narrator ...... Sir Michael Hordern
Boterel ...... Andrew Wincott
Leonard ...... Leonard Fenton
Elyas ...... Crispin Letts
Ives ...... Dean Magri
Porter ...... Steve Hodson
Hugh ...... Douglas Hodge
Ermina ...... Moira Buffini
Dutton ...... Eric Allan

Music by Peter Salem.

Producer: Phil Clarke.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1992.


SAT 14:30 Cadfael (b007jldr)
The Virgin in the Ice

4. The Wolves' Nest

Brother Cadfael searches for Ives Hugonin and Brother Elyas who are missing in a blizzard.

Starring Philip Madoc as Brother Cadfael.

Written by Ellis Peters and dramatised by Bert Coules.

Brother Cadfael ...... Philip Madoc
Narrator ...... Sir Michael Hordern
Ermina ...... Moira Buffini
Leonard ...... Leonard Fenton
Hugh ...... Douglas Hodge
Le Gaucher ...... Peter Laird
Ives ...... Dean Magri
Olivier ...... Raad Raw
Outlaw ...... Jonathan Adams
Soldier ...... Steve Hodson
Sergeant ...... Jonathan Tafler

Other parts played by the cast.

Music by Peter Salem.

Producer: Phil Clarke.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1992.


SAT 15:00 Cadfael (b007jldz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 01:30 today]


SAT 15:30 A Good Read (b0128q6y)
Fay Weldon and Louise Welsh

Fay Weldon, Louise Welsh and Harriett Gilbert discuss favourite books by Lionel Shriver, HG Wells and Jean Rhys.

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Publisher: Penguin

Fay Weldon's choice: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Publisher: Penguin

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Publisher: Serpent's Tail

Producer: Beth O'Dea

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.


SAT 16:00 Anthony Hope - The Prisoner Of Zenda (b01qkm4l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


SAT 17:30 Great Lives (b06wd26b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


SAT 18:00 Jules Verne (m000rcxz)
The Mysterious Island

Three very different people escape the American Civil war by stealing a balloon - which crashes near a deserted island. But perhaps it is not quite as deserted as they think it is...

Cyrus Harding ...... Nathan Osgood
Grace Spilett ...... Kerry Gooderson
Neb ...... Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
Tom Ayrton ...... Rupert Holliday Evans
Captain Nemo ...... Sagar Arya

Written by Jules Verne
Dramatised by Gregory Evans
Directed by Marc Beeby

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.


SAT 19:00 Miriam Margolyes' Adventures in Radio (b07qcf7j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


SAT 22:00 I Think I've Got a Problem (b007xvrp)
Series 1

Episode 3

Tom gets a job as an international courier and has to deliver a package to a contact in Spain.

However, after his "imaginary" band spark mayhem on the plane, Tom and Sadie find themselves caught up in a world of death and deception.

Still, if a good song won't cheer them all up, nothing will.

Andrew McGibbon and Nick Romero's everyday story about a man who can't stop himself from breaking into song.

Suggs ..... Tom Caine
Bob Monkhouse ..... Dr Boone
Mika Simmons ..... Sadie
Phil Cornwell ..... Bouche
Michael Roberts ..... Clammy Clemence
Andrew McGibbon ..... Jake
Nick Romero ..... Monty DeVere
Emma Clarke ..... Air Stewardess

Songs: Andrew McGibbon. Nick Romero and Suggs

Director: Chris Neill

Producers: Torquil MacLeod. Julian Mayers and Andrew McGibbon.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2001.


SAT 22:30 What Does the K Stand For? (b04xrl8k)
Series 2

Balham's Got Talent

Who’s got talent?

Stephen K Amos's sitcom about growing up black, gay and funny in 1980s south London.

Written by Jonathan Harvey with Stephen K Amos.

Stephen K Amos … Stephen K Amos
Young Stephen … Shaquille Ali-Yebuah
Stephanie Amos … Fatou Sohna
Virginia Amos … Ellen Thomas
Vincent Amos … Don Gilet
Miss Bliss … Michelle Butterly
Jayson Jackson … Frankie Wilson
Mary ... Nadia Kamil

Producer: Colin Anderson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2015.


SAT 23:00 Mark Steel's in Town (b07vs3mw)
Series 7

Hebden Bridge

"That was So Hebden Bridge"

Mark visits the beautiful Yorkshire town of Hebden Bridge, where he discovers how this former mill town and one time home of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath become the new age, multi cafe, hippie friendly, lesbian capital of Britain that it is today.

Mark Steel's award winning show that travels around the country, researching the history, heritage and culture of six towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness, and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for the local residents.

Written and performed by ... Mark Steel
Additional material by ... Pete Sinclair
Production co-ordinator ... Hayley Stirling
Producer ... Carl Cooper

A BBC Radio Comedy production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.


SAT 23:30 4 at the Store (b00ddx9h)
Series 2

Episode 4

Stand-up at London's Comedy Store with host Simon Bligh, Andrew Maxwell, Pierre Hollins and Simon Evans. From January 2002.