SATURDAY 14 AUGUST 2021

SAT 00:00 Wally K Daly (b007jv1s)
The Children of Witchwood

5. The Agenda

BQ Brown of the Ministry of Defence pays a visit to the Cranford family council – as many secrets are finally revealed…

Starring Wendy Baxter.

The conclusion of the final drama series written by Wally K Daly.

B.Q. Brown …. Michael Cochrane
Jackie Lamont …. Wendy Baxter
Mandy Lamont …. Emily Chennery
Sion Lamont …. Scott Gray
Jason Cranford …. Laurence Saunders
Cheever Cranford …. Jez Thomas
Becky Cranford …. Becky Wright
DC Danny Sparks …. Daniel Settatree
WPC Polly Bell …. Lorraine Coady
Mother …. Jilly Bond
Iron Peter …. Robert Lister

Directed at BBC Birmingham by Jenny Stephens.

Made for BBC7 and first broadcast in September 2005.


SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b00wdjrn)
Never Trust a Writer

Never Trust a Writer, or you'll end up in their book, and you might not like what you read. Is everything fair game in the artistic process?

Three writers who have all either dished on their loved ones - or been dished on.

Antonia Quirke, Terence Blacker and Bill Coles, battle it out, refereed by presenter Dominic Arkwright.

Producer: Beth O'Dea.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2010.


SAT 01:00 The House (m000ymz0)
Series 1

2. Clashes

'Mr Speaker, will the Home Secretary give the House his assurance that no member, nor potential member, of the Select Committee on Defence will be investigated by MI5, MI6, the Special Branch, nor by any other agency of the Government?'

Why is Dougal Baxter so keen to persuade political rival Denis Wigton on to his Select Committee?

Meanwhile, Polly causes chaos for her father - Chief Whip, Charles Bannister.

Starring Julian Glover and Timothy West.

Political thriller serial by Christopher Lee.

Charles Bannister ...... Julian Glover
Dougal Baxter ...... Timothy West
Mary Bannister ...... Sarah Badel
Denis Wigton ...... David Ryall
Henry Colville ...... Christopher Benjamin
Juliet Cameron ...... Siobhan Redmond
Rose ...... Sheila Reid
The Speaker ...... David McAlister
Michael Friend ...... Stuart Organ
Keith Chadwick ...... Graham Blockey
Nick Beresford ...... Rupert Baker
Grace ...... Joan Matheson
Polly Bannister ...... Ruth Gemmell

Producer: Pete Atkin

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1989.


SAT 01:30 Agatha Raisin (b011l9l8)
Series 2

4. The Civil War

The search to find the killer leads Agatha and James to the dreaming spires of Oxford, where they soon get intimate - in a cupboard full of EM Forster first editions...

Penelope Keith stars as Agatha Raisin - the PR guru turned amateur sleuth.

Dramatised by David Semple from MC Beaton’s novel.

Agatha Raisin ...... Penelope Keith
James Lacey ...... Malcolm Sinclair
DC Bill Wong ...... Stephen Hogan
Mrs Friendly ...... Joanna Brookes
Mrs Hicks ...... Lynda Baron
Professor Wolf ...... Simon Treves

Director: Carol Smith

First broadcast on BBC Radio in October 2005.


SAT 02:00 Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (b08q7l8n)
5. Chief

After the dinner to celebrate the king's birthday, the chief justice holds forth while playing cards.

Septimus is a captive audience.

This is New York in its infancy, a place where a young man with a fast tongue can invent himself afresh, fall in love, and find a world of trouble.

Francis Spufford’s novel read by Jamie Parker

Abridged by Isobel Creed and Jill Waters
Producer: Jill Waters

A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in May 2017.


SAT 02:15 Promenade Rock by Christopher Denys (b0076ddm)
10. Absent Without Leave

It seems that Matthew's past is about to catch up with him when a mystery army sergeant arrives in town.

Starring Nerys Hughes.

Conclusion of Christopher Denys' series set in the booming 1950s seaside resort of Llantwit-on-Sea.

Eirlys Richards …… Nerys Hughes
Matthew Dolan …… Russell Boulter
Iorweth Jenkins …… Iwan Thomas
Arnold Pilton …… Christopher Scott
Cox'n Hughes …… Andy Hockley
Attercliffe …… David Bannerman

Director: Sue Wilson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2003.


SAT 02:30 A Gothic Cathedral (b0075cdg)
Simon Fanshawe tells the story of Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases - the retirement project of an eminent Victorian with a passion for order, organisation and classification.

Roget was like a George Eliot character - and having been to Edinburgh Medical School, he felt entitled to just pitch in. He was involved with the first uses of electricity, worked with Humphrey Davey and Sir James Watt and Jeremy Bentham on major projects of the time. He even tried to build a computer.

Interviewees: Jim Crace, Betty Kirkpatrick, Philip Hobsbawn, David Crystal, John Vincent, Lawrence Norfolk and Tom Sutcliffe

Reader: Bill Wallis

Producer Paul Dodgson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1998.


SAT 03:00 Stephen Wyatt - Piglaw (b007jvly)
Who would be foolish enough to put a pig on trial?

Yet the lawyer Lebrun suggests this is the right thing to do when a crime is committed in a small market town in mediaeval France. His proposal leads him and the parish priest, Fr. Bernard, into deeper waters than either of them could have foreseen.

Starring Christian Rodska and Tony Robinson.

Written by Stephen Wyatt.

Fr. Bernard .... Christian Rodska
Pierre Lebrun .... Tony Robinson
Master Bailly .... Hugh Dickson
Jehan Delalande .... Peter Craze
Marie, his wife .... Zelah Clarke
Filliol, a pig-keeper .... Michael Graham Cox
Mayor .... Geoffrey Matthews
Man .... Kenneth Shanley
Anne Lebrun .... Melinda Walker
Confessor …. Simon Cuff
Jailer .... Joe Hall
Woman .... Jane Gambier

Producer: Peter Fozzard.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in April 1989.


SAT 04:00 It's Not What You Know (b0383z2q)
Series 2

Episode 6

What is Joe Lycett's favourite book?

Which is Anneka Rice's filmmaker son's favourite film?

Who is Dave Gorman's all-time hero?

All these questions, and more, will be answered in the show hosted by Miles Jupp, where panellists are tested on how well they know their nearest and dearest.

Producer: Sam Michell

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2013.


SAT 04:30 To the Manor Born (b007jm4q)
The Honours List

News leaks out that someone in the community is to appear in the New Year's Honours list. Will it be Devere?

Audrey finds herself having to be nice to him, just in case...

Starring Penelope Keith and Keith Barron.

Lady of the manor Audrey Fforbes-Hamilton, forced to sell her beloved Grantleigh Estate, has decamped to the tiny Old Lodge cottage with her butler in tow.

From this vantage point, Audrey keeps a close and disapproving eye on new owner, the nouveau-riche Richard DeVere.

Adapted for radio by Peter Spence from his BBC TV script

Keith Barron ..... Richard DeVere
Angela Thorne ..... Marjory Frobisher
Nicholas McArdle ..... Brabinger
Margery Withers ..... Mrs Polouvicka
Frank Middlemass ..... Ned
Brigadier ...... Jonathan Adams

First piloted on radio and then whisked off to TV before it ever appeared, before finally arriving home in 1997.

Producer: Jane Berthoud

First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1997.


SAT 05:00 The Wilsons Save the World (m0002zrd)
Series 2

You Can’t Do That Anymore

Mike Wilson has some key loves in his life – his sourdough starter, his wife and children (obviously), but also the cult rock group of his formative years - The Smiths.

Jangly and heartfelt, it’s perfect music for the tortured soul; albeit one with a comfortable and privileged life.

Until that is, Cat comes crashing in with her questions. Are some of Morrissey’s more recent statements problematic and if so, can we separate the arts from the artist? What else can’t we enjoy anymore?

A rummage through his parent’s attic suggests LOTS, it turns out. Mike’s dilemma contorts him with anxiety as the family pick their way through this new minefield. Can we ‘offset’ liking problematic things?

Sitcom about trying to live ethically and do the right thing.

Written by Marcus Brigstocke and Sarah Morgan.

Mike …… Marcus Brigstocke
Max …… Kerry Godliman
Cat …… Mia Jenkins
Lola …… India Brown
Jennifer …… Vicki Pepperdine

Producer Julia McKenzie

A BBC Studios production first broadcast on Radio 4 in March 2019.


SAT 05:30 Stand-Up Specials (m000yl9x)
Scrambled EGG

Comedy duo Egg - Anna Leong Brophy and Emily Lloyd-Saini - write and star in this brand-new comedy special, exploring what it means to be mixed race, and their very different experiences growing up in the UK.

An increasingly surreal dinner date turns into a trip down memory lane for the pair, as a curt waitress guides them grudgingly through some of their formative mixed-race memories.

Through break-out sketches, the duo narrowly avoid coming to blows with streetwise teenage schoolgirls Jacanda and Malika on the streets of north west London, culturally appropriate their own cultural heritage in a Portakabin in Nottingham, and befuddle renowned Race and Socio-Political expert Professor Jojo Mojojo with a simple question. All the while waiting for their main course to arrive.

Can the mixed-race experience really be defined in a single comedy special? The Egg girls aren’t sure, but they take a crack at it in Scrambled Egg.

Cast:
Anna - Anna Leong Brophy
Emily - Emily Lloyd-Saini
Waitress – Rebecca Boey

Written by Anna Leong Brophy and Emily Lloyd-Saini
Producer: Mobashir Dar

A CPL production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 06:00 Oscar Wilde (b007jr48)
A Woman of No Importance

At a country house party, Mrs Arbuthnot's long-concealed secret comes back to haunt her.

Oscar Wilde's audacious social comedy - first performed on stage in 1893.

Starring Diana Rigg, Martin Jarvis and Annette Crosbie.

Mrs Arbuthnot ...... Diana Rigg
Lord Illingworth ...... Martin Jarvis
Lady Hunstanton ...... Annette Crosbie
Lady Caroline Pontefract ...... Irene Sutcliffe
Mrs Allonby ...... Susan Sheridan
Lady Stutfield ...... Auriol Smith
Gerald Arbuthnot ...... Dominic Letts
Hester Worsley ...... Teresa Gallagher
Archdeacon Daubeny ...... David King
Sir John Pontefract ...... Geoffrey Chater
Mr Kelvill, MP ...... Jack Klaff
Alice ...... Adjoa Andoh
Lord Alfred Rufford ...... Peter Penry-Jones

Violin: Alexander Balanescu.

Adapted and directed by Adrian Bean.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1991.


SAT 07:30 Great Lives (b08lh6r3)
Series 42

Germaine Greer on Dame Elizabeth Frink

Germaine Greer nominates sculptor Dame Elizabeth Frink

She was best known for striking sculptures ranging from horses and goats, to wild eagles and disembodied heads.

As a female sculptor working in a man's world, Elisabeth Frink found it hard to establish herself in the 1950s.

To help tell the story of her hero, Germaine Greer is joined by Frink's son, Lin Jammet, and the art critic Richard Cork.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2017.


SAT 08:00 Whispers (b007k2kr)
Series 2

Episode 1

Revelations about Rasputin and accordion playing from Idi Amin.

Gyles Brandreth hosts the quiz show with scandal on its mind and slander at its heart.

Geoffrey Durham and Valerie Grove join team captains Lucy Moore and Anthony Holden to run the gauntlet of gossip.

Producer: Elizabeth Freestone

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2004.


SAT 08:30 Smelling of Roses (b007k22c)
Series 2

Bill of Fare

Rosie and her team are asked to organise a food fair by the formidable Lord Pickton.

But they don't realise the event is a setup to promote Hinchcliff Manor - rather than the stallholders...

Prunella Scales stars in Simon Brett's sitcom.

The trials and tribulations of Rosie Burns and her event management company, based in Brighton.

Rosie ...... Prunella Scales
Kate ...... Arabella Weir
Jo ...... Rebecca Callard
Bob ...... Duncan Preston
Tess ...... Annette Badland
Nigel Mazoni ...... Jon Glover
Lord Pickton ...... Bill Wallis
Vicks ...... Natalie Walter
Rupert ...... Will Ing

Producer: Maria Esposito

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2001.


SAT 09:00 4 Extra Celebrates Dora Bryan (b03szf7d)
A celebration of the life of Dora Bryan, hailed as one of Britain's great all-round performers.

Journalist and writer Lynne Truss looks back on Dora's remarkable career.

With Dora's friend and co-star Bernard Cribbins, BBC radio drama producer Martin Jenkins, theatre critic Benedict Nightingale and film writer Matthew Sweet.

Handpicked highlights from the BBC radio archive include:

* Desert Islands Discs from 1987, when Dora was Michael Parkinson's castaway

* Perfect Timing - Jimmy Chinn's drama about a struggling music hall duo all at sea on a cruise ship booking starring Dora, Bernard Cribbins and Roy Barraclough

* That Reminds Me from 2000, in which Dora recalls her stage, film and TV career

* With Great Pleasure from 2003, featuring readings from Dora's favourite books

* The Child Within, Wally K Daly's moving monologue written especially for and performed by Dora Bryan.

Dora Bryan died in 2014 aged 91.

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Pier Productions and first broadcast in March 2014.


SAT 12:00 The Goon Show (b007jz4z)
Series 9

The Gold Plate Robbery

Neddie Seagoon goes overseas to pursue some stolen booty, but can Bloodnok be far behind?

Groundbreaking, surreal BBC radio comedy written by Spike Milligan.

Starring:

Harry Secombe
Spike Milligan
Peter Sellers

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: John Browell

First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in February 1959.


SAT 12:30 The Wordsmiths at Gorsemere (b00bx21n)
Series 2

21 July 1799

An Everyday Story of Towering Genius.

Sue Limb’s soap opera set in and around the Lake District at the turn of the 18th century

Dorothy is worried about William's impending marriage. Iris bangs bolsters.

Samuel Tailor Cholericke falls from grace. And Thomas de Quinine arrives....

Dorothy Wordsmith ...... Denise Coffey
William Wordsmith ...... Geoffrey Whitehead
Samuel Tailor Cholericke ...... Simon Callow
Thomas de Quinine ...... Nickolas Grace
Stinking Iris ...... Miriam Margolyes
The Leechpedlar ...... Chris Emmett

Music by Stephen Oliver and sung by Cantabile

Producer: Jonathan James-Moore

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1987.


SAT 13:00 Archive on 4 (b08vwk1l)
999 - Which Service Do You Require?

999 was the first emergency telephone number in the world when it was launched on June 30th, 1937.

Within the first week, more than a thousand calls were made to the service with one burglar arrested less than five minutes after a member of the public had dialled 999. Impressive stuff. But there were teething problems...

In the early days, only those wealthy enough to own a telephone could hope to avail of the service. Exchange room operators complained of stress caused by the raucous buzzers which alerted them to 999 calls. Advancing technology connected with the system began to alter the relationship between public and police. Almost unbelievably in hindsight, the 999 service wasn't made fully available across the nation until 1976.

Exactly 80 years after it was introduced, Ian Sansom dials up the remarkable story of our three digit emergency number. Between rare archive, real life-or-death emergencies and interviews with call handlers on the front line, Ian takes a personal look at the evolution of 999 and asks what the future holds for this pioneering British institution.

Producer: Conor Garrett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2017.


SAT 14:00 A Bit of Fry and Laurie (b0485v71)
Episode 1

An unusual first kiss, a vision of the future and some shocking TV soap revelations.

Starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

On their journey to international stardom - Cambridge Footlights graduates, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie wrote and starred together in a pilot show for BBC TV.

This was followed by four acclaimed TV series of 'A Bit of Fry & Laurie' from 1989 to 1995.

Hugh Laurie introduces the first of two audio collections of choice comedy morsels culled from the TV soundtracks.

Producer: Aled Evans

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1994.


SAT 14:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b09k8fsn)
Series 7

Episode 1

Listen out for a very awkward phone call, and a poem from a world-famous polymath.

There's also a correction to something that happened in the first series and a story about the importance of good manners...

This is the show described by Radio Times as "the best sketch show in years, on television or radio", and by The Daily Telegraph as "funny enough to make even the surliest cat laugh".

Written by and starring John Finnemore

With:

Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Simon Kane
Lawry Lewin
Carrie Quinlan

Producer Ed Morrish

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in January 2018.


SAT 15:00 The Pin (b07b3snr)
Series 2

Award

Strap in for a 15-minute delve into a world of oddness performed in front of a live studio audience.

The Pin are an award-winning comedy duo, and legends of Edinburgh festival. They deconstruct the sketch form, in a show that exists somewhere between razor-sharp smartness and utterly joyous silliness.

Written by Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen

Performed by:

Ben Ashenden
Alex Owen
Freya Parker
Brian Protheroe

Producer: Sam Bryant

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2016.


SAT 15:15 Poets' Tree (b00shngl)
Episode 1

A guide to the world of poetry by Islington-based poet, Paul Hamilton.

Despite being a stalwart of the poetry-reading circuit for 25 years, Paul has yet to have anything published.

Featuring some classic poetry from Derek Harricot, and Paul inspires an unusual person to try their hand at poetry for the very first time.

Poetry spoof by Kevin Eldon and Stewart Lee

Starring Kevin Eldon.

With:

Olivia Colman
Peter Serafinowicz

Producer: Ed Morrish

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2008.


SAT 15:30 Absolute Power (b018jp4b)
Series 4

Episode 1

The Machiavellian masters of spin get a lucrative contract to represent BBC television.

Stephen Fry and John Bird star in Mark Tavener's biting satire.

Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe are spin masters in the world of government and media relations.

Charles Prentiss …. Stephen Fry
Martin McCabe …. John Bird
Archie …. Alex Lowe
Clive …. Tom George
Morganna …. Rachel Atkins
Debbie …. Jalml Barbakoff
Headmaster …. Kim Wall

Producer: Dawn Ellis

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2004.


SAT 16:00 Oscar Wilde (b007jr48)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]


SAT 17:30 Great Lives (b08lh6r3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]


SAT 18:00 Yevgeny Zamyatin - We (b0076l2s)
1. Rationality

In a post-revolutionary future, OneState is ruled according to the principles of rationality. The penalty for dissent is death.

D-503, the chief engineer of the state, meets the beautiful 1-330. Her initial intentions seem innocent, but soon D starts to question her identity and indeed his own.

Starring Anton Lesser, Don Warrington and Brigit Forsyth.

The first great dystopian novel of the 20th century, written in secret in early Soviet Russia by Yevgeni Zamyatin.

D-503 …. Anton Lesser
R-13 …. Don Warrington
U …. Brigit Forsyth
1-330 …. Joanna Riding
0-90 …. Julia Rounthwaite
Benefactor …. Russell Dixon
Tannoy …. Emma Clarke
Babushka …. Judith Davis
S …. Patrick Bridgman
2nd Engineer …. Paul Viragh

Dramatised in two-parts by Sean O'Brien.

Director: Jim Poyser

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2004.


SAT 19:00 4 Extra Celebrates Dora Bryan (b03szf7d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


SAT 22:00 Ross Noble Goes Global (b007jvrg)
Series 1

Budapest and Warsaw

Kicking off his comedy travelogues in the capital of Hungary, the stand-up comic then takes the train to Poland.

Ross entertains the locals with his unique brand of stand-up

He also chats to the Mayor of Warsaw about furry hats, uncovers the truth about suicidal Hungarian monks and even shares a curry with Poland's only comedian...

Producer: Danny Wallace

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2001.


SAT 22:30 Chain Reaction (b055gcbk)
Series 10

Olivia Colman talks to Sharon Horgan

The star of The Crown, Broadchurch, Twenty Twelve and Peep Show, Olivia Colman

talks to

Creator, writer and star of BBC's BAFTA nominated sitcom Pulling, and winner of the British Comedy Award for best actress, Sharon Horgan.

Chain Reaction is the long running hostless chat show where last week's interviewee becomes this week's interviewer.

Producer: Charlie Perkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2015.


SAT 23:00 Sara Pascoe: The Modern Monkey (b09v3fdy)
Series 1

Charity

How does our monkey past influence our modern lives and how come we can still get emotionally hijacked by our primitive emotions?

In a lecture combined with her stand up, Sara Pascoe investigates - Charity

After some of the less pleasant aspects of humans in previous episodes, this show is all about the positive.

There are lots of examples of altruistic behaviour and feats of generosity - the social traits of our species are at the root of why we're so successful. But it's complicated.

Can we find compassion for each other when we're doing the wrong things for the right reasons?

Recorded on location at The Foundling Museum in London.

Written by and starring Sara Pascoe

Producer: Alexandra Smith

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2018.


SAT 23:30 Armstrong and Miller (b00t3vjx)
Episode 2

Battles recreated, and National Trousers Day.

Sketches and songs with Ben Miller and Alexander Armstrong in their first series for radio.

With:

Samuel West
Tony Gardiner

Written by Ben Miller, Alexander Armstrong and Tony Gardiner.

Producer: Gareth Edwards

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1998.


SAT 23:45 The Pin (b07v2ncp)
Series 2

Shoestring

The Pin are out to prove their accountant wrong, and make a great show on a budget.

Strap in for a 15-minute delve into a world of oddness performed in front of a live studio audience.

The Pin are an award-winning comedy duo, and legends of Edinburgh festival. They deconstruct the sketch form, in a show that exists somewhere between razor-sharp smartness and utterly joyous silliness.

Written by Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen.

Performed by:

Ben Ashenden
Alex Owen
Nick Mohammed

Producer: Sam Bryant

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2016.