SATURDAY 16 JANUARY 2016

SAT 00:00 Ben Moor - Undone (b007jxhj)
Series 1
Unravelled
Things go from strange to stranger for Edna, Tankerton and both the Carlos...
Conclusion of series one of Ben Moor's comic sci-fi saga.
Edna ...... Sarah Solemani
Tankerton ...... Ben Moor
Carlo ...... Duncan Wisbey
Grant ...... Tim Key
Producer: Colin Anderson
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in October 2006.
SAT 00:30 Soul Music (b0076m2z)
Series 4
Mad About the Boy
Noël Coward wrote Mad about the Boy in 1932 for the review Words and Music to celebrate the powerful appeal of the silent movie star.
Most recently it's been taken up as a gay anthem.
Sheridan Morley, Sir John Mills, Maria Aitken and Kit Hesketh-Harvey explain why this has become the most recorded number of all Coward's work.
Series about music that makes the hairs stand up on the back of our necks.
Producer: Lucy Lunt
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2004.
SAT 01:00 Susan Hill - Gentleman and Ladies (b00t5jml)
7 Premiere
Friendship and family ties are tested as the villagers of Haverstock hear the sound of wedding bells
Susan Hill's novel of family ties, friendship and loneliness, set in a small Midland village.
Starring Patricia Hayes as Eleanor Thorne, Gwen Watford as Dorothea Shottery, Stephanie Cole as Alida Thorne, Sian Phillips as Isabel Lavender, Anna Cropper as Florence Ames and Pauline Letts as Ma Gaily.
Adapted by Bill Matthews.
Music by Peter Salem
Producer: Lissa Evans
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1993.
SAT 01:30 Fort Dunlop (b00qpmgh)
Giles Poyner, who works in Brand Design at the iconic Fort Dunlop building, pays tribute to the Birmingham landmark. He, his mother and grandfather talk about their working lives there.
Drive through Birmingham on the M6 and you can't fail to notice an imposing fort-like building, standing proud against the city's industrial skyline. The Fort Dunlop building was built for the tyre company in the early 20th century to accommodate the thousands of workers needed to supply the growing motoring and aviation industries. The Dunlop Tyre Company, was one of Birmingham's largest employers, and those who worked there were looked after and had a job for life. But by the end of the century, competition from overseas led to the closure of the site, as Dunlop transferred much of its operation abroad.
The Fort was abandoned in the late 1980s and stood empty for 20 years, until it was taken over by an innovative urban design company who transformed the vast empty tyre store into state of the art offices, cafes and shops.
This is where Giles Poyner works as brand design manager. The achingly hip surroundings of his office are a far cry from his 92-year-old grandfather's experience of working at the Fort. He recalls the stench of rubber in the air, the workers arriving by canal boat before the road was built and, above all, the sense of being part of a family, cared for by a benevolent employer.
Giles's mother Susan also worked at Fort Dunlop as a typist during the 1960s. She remembers the generous facilities provided for the workers, including a pub, theatre and playing fields.
Giles Poyner pays tribute to this iconic Birmingham landmark and discovers how his workplace has changed both physically and culturally over the decades.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2010.
SAT 02:00 Donna Tartt - The Secret History (b03npbkf)
Episode 5
Why are four bookworms covered in wounds and bruises? Donna Tartt's thriller, read by William Hope.
SAT 02:15 London: Just off the Plane (b00sz4z2)
Episode 5
Every day planes descend into London, and on board, there is likely to be someone who will arrive into the capital for their very first time. To most of us, another faceless statistic, another visitor from abroad, one of the 120 million who fly into the capital every year. But what if we choose find out who they are - and what are they thinking of as they step off the plane?
Alan Dein goes to Heathrow airport to greet people who've flown in from anywhere in the world, and explores their hopes and jet-lagged dreams of London. What does the place mean to them, why have they come, who do they know in the City?
Picked out at random as they wearily wait at the baggage carousels, his interviewees share revealing, comic, and sometimes very moving tales of adventure, family reunions, opportunities, romance and tragedy. And then they head off, melting into the London crowds.
Producer Sara Jane Hall.
SAT 02:30 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving (b015272f)
Episode 5
Vic is increasingly indifferent towards Ingrid, but can he let her out of his life? Stars Lee Ingleby and Rebecca Callard.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b00xw4y0)
Alison Gangel - The Sun Hasn't Fallen From the Sky
Episode 5
Overwhelmed by both the atmosphere and the other confident students at the Academy of Music, Ailsa has not been attending her Saturday classes. But when the people at the orphanage find out and tell her beloved music teacher she is desperate to make amends.
Maureen Beattie reads Alison Gangel's vibrant memoir.
Producer: Jane Marshall
A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 03:00 Plantagenet (b02qnn10)
Series 2
Edward II - The Greatest Traitor
While Edward's power is prey to his passions, his queen, Isabella, and his most powerful ally, Roger Mortimer, find a passion of their own.
Mike Walker's trilogy - inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles.
Stars Sam Troughton as Edward the Second, Hattie Morahan as Isabella, Trystan Gravelle as Mortimer, Joseph Samrai as Prince Edward and Jonathan Forbes as Despenser.
Other parts were played by Sean Baker, Simon Bubb, James Lailey, Peter Polycarpou, Daniel Rabin, and Alun Raglan.
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer and Jessica Dromgoole.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
SAT 04:00 The 3rd Degree (b01dtkjn)
Series 2
Warwick
Coming this week from the University of Warwick, "The 3rd Degree" is a funny, lively and dynamic quiz show aimed at cultivating the next generation of Radio 4 listeners whilst delighting the current ones. It's recorded on location at a different University each week, and it pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors in a genuinely original and fresh take on an academic quiz. Being a Radio 4 programme, it of course meets the most stringent standards of academic rigour - but with lots of facts and jokes thrown in for good measure.
Together with host Steve Punt, the show tours the (sometimes posh, sometimes murky, but always welcoming!) Union buildings, cafés and lecture halls of six universities across the UK.
The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds and the 'Highbrow & Lowbrow' round cunningly devised to test not only the students' knowledge of current affairs, history, languages and science, but also their Professors' awareness of television, film, and Lady Gaga... In addition, the Head-to-Head rounds, in which students take on their Professors in their own subjects, were particularly lively, and offered plenty of scope for mild embarrassment on both sides...
The resulting show is funny, fresh, and not a little bit surprising, with a truly varied range of scores, friendly rivalry, and moments where students wished they had more than just glanced at that reading list...
Producer: David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 04:30 Albert and Me (b007jzd2)
Series 2
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
Can Bryan save his sister Vera's marriage from breakdown?
Stars Robert Lindsay and Pat Coombs.
Robert Lindsay plays single parent Bryan Archer struggling to find work while raising his baby son, Albert.
Bryan Archer ...... Robert Lindsay
Mum/Albert ...... Pat Coombs
Mrs Willis ...... Diana King
Vera ...... Marcia Warren
Edward ...... Gorden Kaye
Incidental music by Max Harris.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1983.
SAT 05:00 1834 (b011klyr)
Strong Continental Lager
21st-century teacher Jason decides 19th-century Macclesfield needs a decent pub with decent beer.
In Jim Poyser's riotous comedy of transportation and delight, Jason is now Tarquin, third son of Lord Belport with a faithful valet, Ned.
Jason Slater ...... Michael Begley
Ned ...... Joe Caffrey
Hoskins ...... Kenneth Alan Taylor
Lord Belport ...... Mark Chatterton
Stubbs ...... Glenn Cunningham
Millicent ...... Julia Rounthwaite
Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2003.
SAT 05:30 So Wrong It's Right (b01hkz2n)
Series 3
Episode 1
Charlie Brooker hosts the comedy panel show celebrating one of Britain's favourite subjects - failure.
He plunders his guests' pasts and creativity over a series of rounds in which panellists have to be wrong to be right. In this episode, the guests joining him to try and out-wrong each other with their ideas and stories are comedians Lee Mack, Susan Calman and "Harry Hill's TV Burp" writer Daniel Maier.
In this edition the phrase 'keep calm and carry on' and ridiculous things to get angry about both come under the 'wrong' spotlight - as well as the best ideas for the worst new concept albums. Will anyone beat Susan Calman's pitch for an album based on her cat's bid to take part in the 2012 Olympics?
The host of So Wrong It's Right, Charlie Brooker, also presents BBC2's How TV Ruined Your Life, Channel 4's You Have Been Watching and 10 O'Clock Live, and writes for The Guardian. He won Columnist of the Year' at the 2009 British Press Awards for his column, and Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards 2009.
Produced by: Aled Evans
A Zeppotron Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 06:00 James Follett - The Light of a Thousand Suns (b007jv75)
A bizarre chain of unforeseen coincidences sparks a 1990s British nuclear submarine to prepare to launch an all-out attack. Devastating, unpreventable, unless...
James Follett's thriller starring Manning Wilson as Captain Harrison.

Lieutenant Sinclair ...... John Rye
Stride ...... Ian Thompson
Floyd ...... Michael Shannon
Louise Arnott ...... Sheila Mitchell
Wallis ...... James Hayes
The Prime Minister ...... Conrad Phillips
Aitkin ...... Sion Probert
Master-at-Arms ...... Nigel Graham
Fisher ...... John Bull
Theodore Pike ...... Vernon Joyner
1st Rating ...... Hugh Ross
2nd Rating ...... Roger Gartland
Computer Operator ...... Carole Boyd
Producer: Margaret Etall
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1974
SAT 07:30 Marguerite Patten's Century of British Cooking (b0075pg0)
From Taramasalata to Tiramisu - 1980 to 1989
Taramasalata, Mayonnaise, Moules Mariniere, Beef Wellington, Venison, Pizza, Tiramisu, Banoffee Pie and Creme Brulee.
Marguerite Patten mingles diverse recipes of the 1980s with memories of the Royal Wedding for Charles and Diana, the Falklands Conflict, the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the Great Storm of 1987.
Marguerite told us how to make the most of our rations during the Second World War in 'Kitchen Front' on the BBC Home Service. She fronted her first BBC TV cookery show in 1947.
Born in Bath, the home economist was widely considered to be the first celebrity cook, and wrote more than 170 books with worldwide sales of 17 million.
A regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour programme from 1946, Marguerite's final appearance was in 2011. She was awarded the OBE in 1991 and CBE in 2011.
Born November 4th 1915, Marguerite Patten died just a few months short of her 100th birthday in June 2015.
Producer: Ian Willox
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1999.
SAT 08:00 The Archive Hour (b007b36g)
The Stone of Destiny
James Naughtie tells the story of an audacious raid carried out on Christmas Day 1950. Three young men and one woman removed the Stone of Destiny from under King Edward I's Chair in Westminster Abbey, where it had lain since its removal from Scone in Scotland in 1296. The exploit brought the cause of Scottish independence to the front pages. To this day, the Stone, now installed in Edinburgh Castle, remains a symbol of the pride of Scotland in its nationhood.
SAT 09:00 Comedy Greats (b007k1tc)
1980s
Episode 1
Decade by decade, Barry Cryer showcases some of the funniest and finest shows ever broadcast by the BBC.
The original New Romantic brings you six favourite shows plucked from the 1980s schedules of BBC Radio 1 and Radio 4:-
* Radio Active
Series 2 (3/6) Good Day Sport
Get all the sport results you need from your local national radio station. Stars Angus Deayton, Geoffrey Perkins, Helen Atkinson-Wood, Michael Fenton Stevens and Philip Pope. From 1982.
* After Henry
Series 1 (4/8) The Dinner Party
Sarah plays hostess, Mother plays the martyr and daughter Clare holds a flat-warming party. Stars Prunella Scales, Joan Sanderson, Gerry Cowper and Benjamin Whitrow. From 1985.
* Unnatural Acts
Series 1 (2/6) A Death in the Family
As Caroline mourns Monty the gerbil, a séance brings some surprises. Stars Jeremy Hardy, Kit Hollerbach and Caroline Leddy. Later series were renamed 'At Home With The Hardys'. From 1987.
* Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful
Series 1 (2/6)
Activist turned advertising copywriter, Ken Handley finds himself assigned to the Conservative Party. Stars Martin Jarvis, Wendy Richard, Michael Jayston and Bill Fraser. From 1982.
* Saturday Night Fry
Series 1 (5/6)
Stephen Fry hosts humorous banter and sketches with his chums Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent and Phyllida Law. From 1988.
* The Mary Whitehouse Experience
Series 3 (7/12)
The original billing proclaimed it was "The show that dares to ignore the issues that other shows would tackle". Starring David Baddiel, Rob Newman, Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. Series debuted in 1989. Episode from 1990.
Produced and scripted by Peter Reed
First broadcast on BBC 7 in 2003.
SAT 12:00 Dad's Army (b007jqh1)
Series 3
The Big Parade
Captain Mainwaring wants a parade mascot, so he decides his Home Guard platoon must catch one.
The comic exploits of a Second World War Home Guard platoon in Walmington-on-Sea.
Adapted for radio from Jimmy Perry and David Croft's TV scripts by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles.
Captain Mainwaring …. Arthur Lowe
Sergeant Wilson …. John Le Mesurier
Corporal Jones …. Clive Dunn
Private Frazer …. John Laurie
Private Godfrey …. Arnold Ridley
Private Pike …. Ian Lavender
Warden Hodges …. Bill Pertwee
The Verger …. Edward Sinclair
Private Walker …. Larry Martyn
Mrs Pike …. Pearl Hackney
Announcer/Newsreader …. John Snagge
Producer: John Dyas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1976.
SAT 12:30 The Navy Lark (b01g8dd4)
Series 5
HMS Troutbridge Gets a Rocket
Paranoia sets in when the crew of HMS Troutbridge are charged with a top secret mission.

Stars Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Stephen Murray as the Number One, Ronnie Barker as Captain Bell, Richard Caldicote as Captain Povey and Tenniel Evans as Taffy Goldstein.

Laughs afloat aboard British Royal Navy frigate HMS Troutbridge. The Navy Lark ran for an impressive thirteen series between 1959 and 1976.

Scripted by Lawrie Wyman

Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston.

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in May 1963.
SAT 13:00 Toni Morrison - Beloved (b06wd5f6)
Omnibus
When Sethe welcomed him into her house, Paul D. thought that life had thrown him a second chance. But then Beloved arrived and he was unable to resist her advances. Now he must steady himself to face the consequences.
Toni Morrison's seminal 1987 novel about a haunted house in the era that followed the abolition of slavery in the United States. Melding horror and poetry, this is the story of Sethe, a woman who escaped slavery by crossing the Ohio river, but who, 18 years later, is still not free.
Narrator . . . . . Adjoa Andoh
Sethe . . . . . Nadine Marshall
Denver . . . . . Pippa Bennett-Warner
Paul D . . . . . Danny Sapani
Beloved . . . . . Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Stamp Paid . . . . . Richard Pepple
Baby Suggs . . . . . Alibe Parsons
Omnibus of the last five of ten parts adapted by Patricia Cumper.
Original music by Jon Nicholls
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b06wd9rd)
Biddy Baxter
The former Blue Peter editor chooses 'Passing By' by Paul Robeson, and Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro'.
SAT 14:15 In the Psychiatrist's Chair (b06wdlbd)
Nicholas Mosley
Award-winning novelist Nicholas Mosley tells Professor Anthony Clare about growing up with his father, fascist leader Oswald Mosley.
Psychiatrist Dr Anthony Clare's in depth interviews with prominent people from different walks of life.
Born in Dublin, author Anthony held a doctorate in medicine, a master's degree in philosophy and was a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. After becoming a regular on BBC Radio 4's Stop the Week in the 1980s, he became Britain's best-known psychiatrist and earned his own vehicle, In the Psychiatrist's Chair.
Starting in 1982, this series ran until 2001 and also transferred to TV.
Anthony Clare died suddenly in Paris aged 64 in 2007.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1996.
SAT 15:00 The Archive Hour (b007b36g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 James Follett - The Light of a Thousand Suns (b007jv75)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Marguerite Patten's Century of British Cooking (b0075pg0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Black Velvet (b007jqnf)
It's the 17th Century: Young Master Richard forces a servant girl, Annie, to play at being the mistress of Thoresby Hall.
But it sparks disastrously claustrophobic consequences...
Tony Ramsay's macabre tale stars Rachel Atkins and Richard Pearce.
Recorded on location at Tythrop House in Buckinghamshire.
Annie ....... Rachel Atkins
Master Richard Beckford ....... Richard Pearce
Cousin ....... Christopher Scott
Uncle ....... James Taylor
Other parts played by the cast.
Director: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1993.
SAT 18:45 Roald Dahl (b06wdqb5)
The Umbrella Man
The Umbrella Man
It's raining, and a seemingly kind old gentleman offers a mother and her daughter an umbrella, for a price. Read by Oona Beeson. From March 1990.
SAT 19:00 Comedy Greats (b007k1tc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Colin Hoult's Carnival of Monsters (b036vtc2)
Series 1
Episode 2
Enter the Carnival of Monsters, a bizarre and hilarious world of sketches, stories and characters, presented by the sinister Ringmaster.
Master character comedian Colin Hoult's debut comedy series.
Meet such monstrous yet strangely familiar oddities as: Thwor - the mighty (but Leeds-based) god of Thwunder; Andy Parker - Nottingham-born martial arts and transformers enthusiast; Anna Mann - outrageous star of such forgotten silver screen hits such as 'Rogue Baker', 'Who's For Turkish Delight' and 'A Bowl For My Bottom'; and many more.
Writers Guild Award-winner Colin Hoult is best known for his highly acclaimed starring roles in 'Being Human', 'Life's Too Short', and 'Russell Howard's Good News', as well as his many hit shows at the Edinburgh Festival. He has also appeared and written for a number of Radio 4 series including 'The Headset Set' and 'Colin and Fergus' Digi-Radio'.
Producer: Sam Bryant.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2013.
SAT 22:30 Mordrin McDonald: 21st Century Wizard (b00yjcp6)
Series 2
Birthday Magic
This week Mordrin takes on childminding duties for his neighbour Jill, but inadvertently gives Tracey a special Wizard edition of Treasure Island to read with disastrous results.
Featuring and co-written by Scottish stand up David Kay, and starring Gordon Kennedy and Jack Docherty with guest star Arnold Brown. Mordrin McDonald mixes the magical with the mundane and offers a hilarious take on the life of a modern day Wizard.
Cast:
Mordrin ..... David Kay
Bernard The Blue ..... Jack Docherty
Jill ..... Katrina Bryan
Tracey ..... Rosemary Hollands
Producer/ Director: Gus Beattie
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 22:45 Warhorses of Letters (b01p4252)
Series 2
Episode 2
The world's greatest epistolary equine love story.
The Duke of Wellington's horse Copenhagen's romance with Marengo (Napoleon's horse) has lead to a proposal of marriage.
But planning a wedding is fraught with arguments for our gay horses... church or wood? Should people be invited or just horses? And which of them is the groom?
Marengo ..... Stephen Fry
Copenhagen ..... Daniel Rigby
Narrator ..... Tamsin Greig
Written by Robbie Hudson and Marie Phillips
Producer: Gareth Edwards.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2012.
SAT 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b06ynwps)
From 10.00pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats again to Kieran Hodgson.
SAT 23:00 The Jason Byrne Show (b01pfrm4)
Series 3
Use Your Imagination to Have the Best Fun
Jason Byrne looks at the subject of technology – getting all nostalgic over the novelty of 24 hour photos.
Amongst the audience, he discovers a human wheelbarrow; an advertiser who struggles to give a name to things and everything he needs to recreate the sounds of a Clangers' convention.
Themed audience comedy show with high-energy stand-up and sketches featuring Laurence Howarth and Margaret Cabourn-Smith.
Producer: Julia McKenzie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2010.
SAT 23:30 The Big Booth (b007k2ww)
Series 2: The Big Booth Too
Episode 1
Boothby Graffoe returns with a series of guitar-flavoured songs and surreal laughs.
From the Pieasance Cabaret Bar at the Edinburgh Festival.
With Stephen Frost, Kevin Eldon, Big Al, Vivienne Soan and Antonio Forcione.
Written by Boothby Graffoe and Dave Thompson.
Producer: Julia McKenzie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2001.


SUNDAY 17 JANUARY 2016

SUN 00:00 Black Velvet (b007jqnf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 00:45 Roald Dahl (b06wdqb5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:45 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 Toni Morrison - Beloved (b06wd5f6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (b06wd9rd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Saturday]
SUN 02:15 In the Psychiatrist's Chair (b06wdlbd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 The Archive Hour (b007b36g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 James Follett - The Light of a Thousand Suns (b007jv75)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 Marguerite Patten's Century of British Cooking (b0075pg0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving Omnibus (b015f99x)
Episode 1
Vic Brown is infatuated with his work colleague Ingrid Rothwell, but how will he manage to break the ice?
Set in Yorkshire, Stan Barstow's iconic 1960s novel is a compelling, poignant and humorous account of 20-year-old Vic's infatuation for Ingrid - which develops into an emotional crisis, thanks in part to her spiteful friend, Dorothy.
Dramatised by Stan Barstow's partner Diana Griffiths.
Starring Lee Ingleby as Vic Brown, Rebecca Callard as Ingrid Rothwell, Kate Layden as Mrs Brown and Fine Time Fontayne as Mr Brown.
Director: Pauline Harris
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
SUN 07:15 Good Timing (b0076z7f)
Do you have a good sense of timing? If timing is an integral part of what you do, how do you think about time?
In this 'composed feature' the theme of good timing is explored through conversations with four people with exceptional timing: professional drummer Dawne Adams, who has played with Lionel Richie and the Pet Shop Boys; Head Chef Brian Fantoni, who currently works in a regional Italian restaurant in London and has previously worked at The Savoy and Claridges; a top ranking squash player and a stand-up comedian.
Each of the contributors reflects upon the importance of timing in what they do, how good timing is experienced, how timing can be improved and whether their timing abilities affect other areas of their life, such as time-keeping and time management.
Playing upon the rhythmic and tonal qualities of the contributors' observations, composer Nina Perry marries form and content in a radio feature that's akin to a piece of music.
Producer: Nina Perry
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 07:30 Life: An Idiot's Guide (b01pw39f)
Series 2
Role Models
Series two of Life: An Idiot's guide again sees Stephen K Amos investigate a series of themes using guest stand-ups and the hilarious audience interaction that he's become famous for.
In episode 1, Stephen tackles "Role Models": Who are our role models? What does it mean to be a role model? And why did Stephen's parents made him impersonate Trevor McDonald around the house?
Guests Sarah Kendall, Gráinne Maguire and James Acaster all offer their own perspectives.
Additional material by Christine Rose and Hugh Sington. Produced by Colin Anderson.
SUN 08:00 Jim the Great (b011f57l)
Series 1
The Turn of the Tide
The King needs to entertain the peasants, what about a lecture on ecology? Starring Jimmy Edwards. From September 1979.
SUN 08:30 A Life of Bliss (b04d0n5l)
Penny Gay's Return
Shy bachelor David Bliss has got some thinking to do when an old flame arrives in town.
Stars George Cole as David Bliss, Petula Clark as Penny Gay, Diana Churchill as Anne Fellows, Colin Gordon as Tony Fellows, Sarah Lawson as Maxine Avery and animal impersonator Percy Edwards as 'Psyche' the Dog.
Part of a run of 6 episodes from Godfrey Harrison's sitcom about shy, bumbling bachelor David Alexander Bliss. Beginning in 1953, it ran for six series of 118 episodes concluding in 1969 - but very few survive in the BBC archive. (A TV series was made in 1969). For the first 7 episodes, David Tomlinson played David, but the rest starred the future star of The St Trinian's films, destined to find great fame as the dodgy Arthur Daley in ITV's Minder - the late George Cole.
Producer: Leslie Bridgmont
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in September 1957.
SUN 09:00 Laura Cumming - The Vanishing Man: Omnibus (b06wf7l9)
Spanish genius Velazquez painted few pictures. Did John Snare discover a long-lost treasure in 1845? Read by Siobhan Redmond.
SUN 10:10 Inheritance Tracks (b06wf7lc)
Bob Harris
Broadcaster Bob Harris chooses 'Land of My Fathers', and 'Stand By Me', in two versions, by Ben E King and Playing for Change.
SUN 10:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b06wj5yf)
Absent Friends
Denis Healey
4 Extra Debut. From Beethoven to Edith Piaf, politician Denis Healey makes his second set of castaway choices. With Kirsty Young. From June 2009.
SUN 11:00 The Moth Radio Hour (b06wj67c)
Series 1
Chinatown, Hotdogs and Genetics
True stories told live in the USA: Catherine Burns introduces tales about birth and identity. With geneticist Sir Paul Nurse.
The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling based in the USA. Since 1997, it has celebrated both the raconteur and the storytelling novice, who has lived through something extraordinary and yearns to share it. Originally formed by the writer George Dawes Green as an intimate gathering of friends on a porch in Georgia (where moths would flutter in through a hole in the screen), and then recreated in a New York City living room, The Moth quickly grew to produce immensely popular events at theatres and clubs around New York City and later around the USA, the UK and other parts of the world.
The Moth has presented more than 15,000 stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. The Moth podcast is downloaded over 27 million times a year.
Featuring true stories told live on stage without scripts, from the humorous to the heart-breaking.
The Moth Radio Hour is produced by Jay Allison and Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange.
SUN 11:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00yz55m)
Series 2
Charnia
David Attenborough has always been fascinated by fossils; even as a boy he'd spend many hours exploring the local quarry near his home in Leicestershire.
Near his family home was a forest which he visited frequently, but didn't hunt for fossils there because he knew the rocks were too old to have any post cards of early life embedded in their layers.
But he was wrong - those rocks harboured a wonderful secret - a secret that would rattle the cages of the big thinkers of the time and would change the story of life on earth for ever.
Written and presented by Sir David Attenborough.
Producer: Julian Hector.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2011.
SUN 12:00 Jim the Great (b011f57l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SUN 12:30 A Life of Bliss (b04d0n5l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
SUN 13:00 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving Omnibus (b015f99x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 14:15 Good Timing (b0076z7f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]
SUN 14:30 Alex Garland - The Beach: Omnibus (b06wj6s9)
Episode 2
Crises rock the traveller community in Thailand. As tensions escalate, Richard dreams of escape. Read by Joe Dempsie.
SUN 15:45 Frederic Raphael - A Fairly Regular Four (b018ts6x)
Cheating, competition and class loom large for a male quartet of tennis players. Read by Norman Rodway.
SUN 16:00 Saturday Drama (b00sqgdw)
Simon Bovey - Mountain of Light
by Simon Bovey
London, 1851. The world's largest diamond is on show at the Great Exhibition. And John Rayverne must find a way to steal it to save the people he loves.
John.......Carl Prekopp
Emily.......Lizzy Watts
Hawkesworth....Ben Crowe
Rilke.......Harry Myers
Hobbs....Sam Dale
Galloway......Michael Shelford
Cobbet.....David Seddon
Wyatt.....Nigel Hastings
Directed by Marc Beeby
STEREO
1851: London buzzes with the wonders at The Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. To John Rayverne, housebreaker par excellence, it's harvest time as fine houses stand empty while the occupants attend the spectacle. But his activities have come to the notice of a Governor of the Bank of England, George Galloway. Galloway has Rayverne abducted In return for not to hand him over to the police - and in order to protect the people he cares about - Rayverne is forced to agree to the impossible. He must steal one of the Exhibition's most famous exhibits: the world's largest diamond, the Koh-i-Noor. Galloway professes idealistic reasons for the theft: he fears cutting the diamond to fit the centrepiece in the Queen's crown (where it has its place today) will degrade the priceless original. But the theft appears impossible. By day the gem is sealed in an iron cage, at night it sinks into a vault. Rayverne, hounded by the police, spends much time among the mechanical wonders of the Exhibition looking for the necessary technical inspiration to carry out the theft. But has he bitten off more than even he can chew?
Simon Bovey's impeccably researched work for Radio 4 has been extremely successful. His plays include 'Red in Tooth and Claw', ' The Iceman' - 'a murkily atmospheric Victorian thriller that keeps the shivers coming' (Daily Mail) and the very well received Sargasso. Simon is also a film maker. His most recent production The Un-gone has been optioned by Miramax.
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (b06wk4t3)
The Echo Chamber - Solsticial
BBC Radio 4's Poet in Residence, Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive.
In 'The Echo Chamber', Paul Farley introduces a poem called Tithonus for the year's midnight from Alice Oswald - a poem which lasts as long as dawn - plus music from nykelharpist Griselda Sanderson.
Producer: Tim Dee.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
SUN 17:30 Life: An Idiot's Guide (b01pw39f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 18:00 Fear on 4 (b007jz4b)
Series 3
A Routine Operation
The Man in Black tells how Mary is suffering dreams of hospitals ahead of her appendectomy.

Starring Hannah Gordon as Mary, Michael Cochrane as Derek, Geoffrey Whitehead as the Surgeon and Edward de Souza as the Man in Black.

Fear on 4 brings you more in a series of nerve-tinglers.

Written by Martyn Wade.

Producer: Martin Jenkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1991.
SUN 18:30 Martin Jameson - Ice (b007jlp2)
Episode 2
Michelle is convinced her brother has been abducted by aliens. But what would they be doing in Manchester?
Retelling of 'The Snow Queen' by Martin Jameson.
Michelle ...... Tara Prendergast
Novod Scaa ...... Ishia Bennison
Gary ...... Gerard McDermott
Stash ...... Vincent Davies
Roth ...... Bradley Lavelle
Keith ...... Christopher Wright
Bandit ...... Miles Anderson
Sergeant ...... Christopher Wright
Chaperoning Child ...... Margaret Jervis
Director: Sally Avens.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1998.
SUN 19:00 The Moth Radio Hour (b06wj67c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 19:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00yz55m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:50 today]
SUN 20:00 Laura Cumming - The Vanishing Man: Omnibus (b06wf7l9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SUN 21:10 Inheritance Tracks (b06wf7lc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 today]
SUN 21:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b06wj5yf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:15 today]
SUN 22:00 Life: An Idiot's Guide (b01pw39f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 22:30 Clayton Grange (b01mw5jb)
Series 1
Episode 1
Anthony Head leads a team of brilliantly stupid scientists.
This is Clayton Grange, top secret Scientific Institute with a government brief to solve the global fuel crisis, cheer people up and make war just a bit more gentle. Meet the scientists who are a bit rubbish at life. And not much better at science.
Comedy by Neil Warhurst with extra material by Paul Barnhill.
Saunders ..... Anthony Head
Geoff ..... Neil Warhurst
Roger ..... Paul Barnhill
Jameson ..... Stephanie Racine
Helen/Bunty ..... Don Gilet
Alan Dobson ..... Paul Stonehouse
Director: Marion Nancarrow
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2012.
SUN 23:00 Laura Solon - Talking and Not Talking (b00bz9zn)
Series 1
Episode 1
Meet a reluctant beekeeper, two feuding librarians and a man determined to strike a deal with Santa.
Perrier award-winning comedian Laura Solon's sketch and character comedy series
With Ben Moor, Katherine Parkinson and Ben Willbond.
Written by Laura Solon. With additional material by the cast, Carl Cooper, Tony Roche and Andy Marlatt.
Producer: Colin Anderson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2007.
SUN 23:30 The Harpoon (b00ckyjg)
Series 3
Episode 2
Handy hints on body language, sewing corner and three cheers for Swanky Beaumont!
More nostalgic fun in the spoof of boys' adventure story papers.
Performed by Alistair McGowan, Peter Baynham, Susie Brann, Mary Elliot-Nelson and Julian Dutton.
Producer: Sarah Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1994.


MONDAY 18 JANUARY 2016

MON 00:00 Fear on 4 (b007jz4b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:30 Martin Jameson - Ice (b007jlp2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving Omnibus (b015f99x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:15 Good Timing (b0076z7f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Sunday]
MON 02:30 Alex Garland - The Beach: Omnibus (b06wj6s9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Sunday]
MON 03:45 Frederic Raphael - A Fairly Regular Four (b018ts6x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Saturday Drama (b00sqgdw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (b06wk4t3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 Life: An Idiot's Guide (b01pw39f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 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.
MON 06:30 Big in Bangalore, Big in Beijing (b00n6v4f)
Episode 1
With the collapse of The Iron Curtain in the 1980s, a new frontier was open for Western Music acts to exploit.
For years, fans in Eastern Europe had been starved of live performances by Western bands and singers due to the difficulties involved in trying to perform in countries cut off by ideology and politics. So where is the new frontier now? Perhaps bands should look east? With the rise of India and China as economic powerhouses, complete with growing middle classes, are these now the new territories for bands and artists to target as they seek new audiences and revenue streams?
Rajan Datar follows legendary British band Iron Maiden as they head to Bangalore for a sold out festival appearance. With exclusive access Rajan hangs out backstage with singer Bruce Dickinson, who not only fronts the band, but is also the pilot of the specially-converted plane which they use to travel the world whilst on tour.
Rajan speaks to the promoters who are trying to make India the new destination of choice for Western music artists and hears from fans who have travelled for days from all parts of the sub continent to be at the concert. He also discovers, with surprising results, which musical genres sell in India and which don't.
Producer: Tim Mansel.
A Bite Yer Legs production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2010.
MON 07:00 Street and Lane (b00vzz09)
Series 2
Estimates Day
When the Yorkshire builders price up fitting mirrors, they start seeing double...
Series 2 of Ian McMillan and Dave Sheasby's comedy stars Shaun Dooley as Johnny Street, Fine Time Fontayne as Arthur Lane, Christine Kavanagh as Janet, Mark Straker as John, Sam Dale as Franklin and Rachel Atkins as Julia.
Producer: David Hunter
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2007.
MON 07:30 The Museum of Curiosity (b06vk8xv)
Series 8
Walsh, Dubner, Bramwell
Professor of Ignorance John Lloyd and his curator Sarah Millican welcome:
* Holly Walsh, comedian and would-be medieval scholar
* Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics, a best-selling book that turned our understanding of economics on its head
* Dr David Bramwell, author, comic, and adventurer whose book The No 9 Bus To Utopia recounts his year-long pilgrimage in search of a Better Life.
The Museum's Guest Committee speculate on what drove medieval monks to draw obscene doodles on sacred manuscripts; why a mind-reading microchip could see the end of civilisation as we know it; and an interesting theory about who all those streakers were at 1970s sports events.
Researchers: Anne Miller and Molly Oldfield of QI.
Producers: Richard Turner and James Harkin.
A BBC Radio Comedy production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in January 2016.
MON 08:00 Dad's Army (b007jqjv)
Series 3
Asleep in the Deep
Walker and Godfrey get trapped in a pumping station, but so do their rescuers from the rest of the Home Guard platoon.
The comic exploits of a Second World War Home Guard platoon in Walmington-on-Sea.
Adapted for radio from Jimmy Perry and David Croft's TV scripts by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles.
Captain Mainwaring …. Arthur Lowe
Sergeant Wilson …. John Le Mesurier
Corporal Jones …. Clive Dunn
Private Pike …. Ian Lavender
Private Godfrey …. Arnold Ridley
Private Frazer …. John Laurie
Private Walker …. Larry Martyn
Warden Hodges …. Bill Pertwee
Announcer …. John Snagge
Producer: John Dyas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1976.
MON 08:30 Brothers in Law (b007k25g)
Series 2
Circling the Square
Lawyer Roger Thursby defends an author whose publisher refuses to print his new book.
Starring Richard Briers as Roger Thursby, John Glyn-Jones as Grimes, Julia Lockwood as Sally, Bridget Armstrong as Joy, Bill Wallis as Denton and Robert Dorning.
Others parts by Douglas Blackwell.
Written by Henry Cecil and Basil Dawson.
Published in 1955, Henry Cecil's comic legal novel Brothers in Law was adapted first for TV in 1962 by Frank Muir and Denis Norden. It provided the first regular starring role for Richard Briers, who later reprised his role of the idealistic young lawyer Roger Thursby for BBC Radio between 1970 and 1972.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1971.
MON 09:00 Quote... Unquote (b012wdrw)
Episode 5 in the new series of Quote...Unquote, hosted by Nigel Rees. This week's quote fans are legendary actress, Sian Phillips, sports journalist James Richardson, broadcaster Edward Stourton and the comedian and actress, Rebecca Front.
The reader is Peter Jefferson.
Produced by Simon Mayhew-Archer.
MON 09:30 King Street Junior (b007jmjc)
Series 5
The Reunion
The end of the school year is in sight and Mr Sims comes up with a bright idea for the evening of Sports Day. Stars Karl Howman. From June 1990.
MON 10:00 Plantagenet (b02qtfn6)
Series 2
Richard II - And All Our Dreams Will End in Death
Richard II, having proved his mettle in quelling the Peasants' Revolt, disappoints his courtiers as he pursues peace and culture as an alternative to fighting and swiving.
Mike Walker's trilogy - inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles.
'Plantagenet' tells the story of the birth of a new Europe after the dark ages. The issues of control, of freedom, of belief, above all, perhaps, the temptations of power which are so familiar to us now were new to an age which had no template for domination on this scale.
Stars Patrick Kennedy as Richard II, Blake Ritson as Henry Bolingbroke, Alex Tregear as Queen Ann, Peter Polycarpou as Gloucester, Sean Baker as John of Gaunt, James Lailey as DeVere, Stuart McLoughlin as Burley, Simon Bubb as Tyler, Daniel Rabin as Walworth, Jonathan Forbes as John Ball, Claire Harry as Joan and Alun Raglan as Welshman.
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer and Jessica Dromgoole.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
MON 11:00 Lucy Wood - Diving Belles (b019jw4n)
Diving Belles
An abandoned wife sets out to fetch her husband back from the watery spirits who lured him away. Read by Amanda Lawrence.
MON 11:15 Old Ladies at the Zoo (b03lnyc8)
Every Monday they go to the zoo, look at the animals, talk about their lives and loves - and share a joke or two. Sometimes Bruno's jokes are a bit too vulgar for Lily's liking. But one Monday...
David Ashton's poignant, comic drama was a joint winner of the 1985 Radio Times Drama Awards.
Starring Liz Smith as Lily and Peggy Mount as Bruno.
Producer: Jane Morgan.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
MON 12:00 Dad's Army (b007jqjv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 Brothers in Law (b007k25g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 Cadfael (b007jlcr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 Big in Bangalore, Big in Beijing (b00n6v4f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Donna Tartt - The Secret History (b03ph302)
Episode 6
Richard recovers from his illness, but makes an odd discovery about Henry. Donna Tartt's thriller, read by William Hope. From April 1995.
MON 14:15 Incarnations: India in 50 Lives (b05rptcs)
The Buddha: Waking India Up
Over the course of 50 episodes, Sunil Khilnani, director of the King's India Institute in London, takes listeners on a whirlwind journey from ancient India to the 21st century through the prism of the life stories of 50 remarkable individuals. He will also explore their surprising afterlives, which illuminate both the astonishments and urgent conflicts of India today. He begins with the Buddha, exploring the story of his life and how he has been reinvented in modern India by those who oppose the caste system. "Buddha's solution to suffering lay in the individual mind. But he was also sketching a new form of society," says Professor Khilnani. "He was a moral meritocrat, and to an extent a social one too."
Produced by Mark Savage
Listeners can catch up with the series and see the list of remarkable Indians featured on the Radio 4 website.
MON 14:30 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving (b015fkl6)
Episode 6
Vic Brown wangles a new job - but the same old confused emotions persist when it comes to Ingrid...
Set in Yorkshire, Stan Barstow's iconic 1960s novel is a compelling, poignant and humorous account of 20 year-old Vic's infatuation for Ingrid - which develops into an emotional crisis, thanks in part to her spiteful friend, Dorothy.
Dramatised by Stan Barstow's partner Diana Griffiths.
Starring Lee Ingleby as Vic Brown, Rebecca Callard as Ingrid Rothwell, Kate Layden as Mrs Brown and Seamus O'Neill as Mr Van Huyton.
Director: Pauline Harris
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
MON 14:45 Book of the Week (b03jz1hq)
Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
Episode 1
Penelope Fitzgerald's novels were short, spare masterpieces, self-concealing, oblique and subtle. She won the Booker Prize for her novel Offshore in 1979, and her last work, The Blue Flower, was acclaimed as a work of genius.
The early novels drew on her own experiences - a boat on the Thames in the 1960s, the BBC in war-time, a failing bookshop in Suffolk, an eccentric stage-school. The later ones opened out to encompass historical worlds which, magically, she seemed to possess entirely: Russia before the Revolution, post-war Italy, Germany in the time of the Romantic writer Novalis.
Fitzgerald's life is as various and as cryptic as her fiction. It spans most of the twentieth century, and moves from a Bishop's Palace to a sinking barge, from a demanding intellectual family to hardship and poverty, from a life of teaching and obscurity to a blaze of renown.
She was first published at sixty and became famous at eighty. This is a story of lateness, patience and persistence - a private form of heroism.
Loved and admired, and increasingly recognised as one of the outstanding novelists of her time, she remains also mysterious and intriguing. She liked to mislead people with a good imitation of an absent-minded old lady, but under that scatty front was a steel-sharp brain and an imagination of wonderful reach.
This biography by Hermione Lee pursues Fitzgerald's life, her writing, and her secret self, with fascinated interest.
Read by Penelope Wilton
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 15:00 Plantagenet (b02qtfn6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 Quote... Unquote (b012wdrw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 King Street Junior (b007jmjc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 Street and Lane (b00vzz09)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 The Museum of Curiosity (b06vk8xv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 Terry Pratchett (b007jl80)
Wyrd Sisters
1. Surprise Bundle
Three witches meet on a blasted heath while murder is in the air.
Starring Sheila Hancock, Lynda Baron and Deborah Berlin.
Terry Pratchett's popular tale dramatised in four parts by Vince Foxall.
Granny Weatherwax …. Sheila Hancock
Nanny Ogg …. Lynda Baron
Magrat Garlick …. Deborah Berlin
Duke Felmet …. Ian Masters
Lady Felmet …. Kristin Milward
King Verence …. John Hartley
Mrs Vitoller …. Natasha Pyne
Hwel …. Brian Hibbard
Fool …. Andrew Branch
Vitoller …. Gavin Muir
Death was played by himself.
All other parts played by the cast.
Director: Claire Grove
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1995.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (b00761xy)
Simon Calder and Satish Kumar
Matthew Parris and his guests, travel writer Simon Calder and educationalist Satish Kumar, discuss favourite paperbacks by Peter Godwin, John O'Farrell and Gita Mehta. From 2001.
Mukiwa by Peter Godwin
Publisher: Picador
The Best a Man Can Get by John O'Farrell
Publisher: Transworld
A River Sutra by Gita Mehta
Publisher: Vintage.
MON 19:00 Dad's Army (b007jqjv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Brothers in Law (b007k25g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 Cadfael (b007jlcr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 Big in Bangalore, Big in Beijing (b00n6v4f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 Lucy Wood - Diving Belles (b019jw4n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:15 Old Ladies at the Zoo (b03lnyc8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
MON 22:00 The Museum of Curiosity (b06vk8xv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 Fags, Mags and Bags (b0105vtt)
Series 4
Magical Mister Murgatroyd
The hit Radio 4 series 'Fags, Mags & Bags' returns with a 4th series with more shop based shenanigans and over the counter philosophy, courtesy of Ramesh Mahju and his trusty sidekick Dave.
Written by and starring Donald McLeary and Sanjeev Kohli. 'Fags, Mags & Bags' has proved a hit with the Radio 4 audience with the show also collecting a Sony nomination and a Writers' Guild award in 2008. This brand new series sees a crop of new shop regulars, and some guest appearances along the way from the likes of Mina Anwar and Kevin Eldon.
In this episode Alok announces his sudden engagement to Siddiqua, the daughter of the local Pennywise empire and shop rival to Ramesh. So is it love that is driving Alok, or the promise of a gadget filled backshop?
So join the staff of 'Fags, Mags and Bags' in their tireless quest to bring nice-price custard creams and cans of coke with Arabic writing on them to an ungrateful nation. Ramesh Mahju has built it up over the course of 30 years, and is a firmly entrenched feature of the local area. Ramesh loves the art of the 'shop'.
However; he does apply the 'low return' rules of the shop to all other aspects of his life. Ramesh is ably assisted by his shop sidekick Dave, a forty-something underachiever who shares Ramesh's love of the art of shopkeeping, even if he is treated like a slave.
Then of course there are Ramesh's sons Sanjay and Alok, both surly and not particularly keen on the old school approach to shopkeeping, but natural successors to the business, and Ramesh is keen to pass all his worldly wisdom onto them whether they like it or not!
Cast:
Ramesh ..... Sanjeev Kolhi
Dave ..... Donald McLeary
Sanjay ..... Omar Raza
Alok ..... Susheel Kumar
Mrs Begg ..... Marjory Hogarth
Keith Futures ..... Greg McHugh
Siddiqua ..... Debbie Welsh
Shahid Mirza ..... Mani Sumal
Producer/Director: Gus Beattie
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 23:00 The News Quiz Extra (b06wqp3y)
Series 16
Episode 2
A satirical review of the week's news chaired by Miles Jupp. Tune in for bonus material from the live recording that didn't quite make it into the regular show.
MON 23:45 Helen Keen's It Is Rocket Science (b01hxmxk)
Series 2
Episode 2
This comic but informative look at the history of space exploration looks this week at the role that leaps of the imagination have played in the science of rocketry, including the strange story of Russian Cosmism, and how their mission to bring back to life everyone who has ever lived produced pioneering work on multi-stage rockets: and the even stranger story of a plan in the 1950s for a giant spaceship capable of carrying a hundred and fifty people that could have been built using existing technology - Project Orion. There was just one snag - it was to be fuelled by nuclear bombs.
Starring Helen Keen, Peter Serafinowicz and Susy Kane
Written by Helen Keen and Miriam Underhill
Produced by Gareth Edwards.


TUESDAY 19 JANUARY 2016

TUE 00:00 Terry Pratchett (b007jl80)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b00761xy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Cadfael (b007jlcr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 Big in Bangalore, Big in Beijing (b00n6v4f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Donna Tartt - The Secret History (b03ph302)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 Incarnations: India in 50 Lives (b05rptcs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving (b015fkl6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:45 Book of the Week (b03jz1hq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Plantagenet (b02qtfn6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Quote... Unquote (b012wdrw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 King Street Junior (b007jmjc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 Street and Lane (b00vzz09)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 The Museum of Curiosity (b06vk8xv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 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.
TUE 06:30 Big in Bangalore, Big in Beijing (b00sb0gv)
Episode 2
Rajan Datar follows Iron Maiden to India to seek out opportunities for Western music.
Are the new economies of India and China ripe for Western music acts to exploit? Rajan heads to Beijing to find out why China is another market western bands are targeting. With a growing, affluent middle class bands ranging from Mumford and Sons to Shakira are heading to the Far East in the hope of breaking this huge country.
However, touring China is not an easy proposition for bands.
On his travels Rajan discovers a litany of problems for bands trying to become popular in China. Tickets can often be expensive, especially if a band is not popular enough to play stadium venues. Then there is Government censorship - one festival had to drop all the foreign artists on the bill after it was discovered one of the bands, The Buzzcocks, once had some songs banned in the UK back in the 1970s.
Then there is the local police who can cancel gigs on a whim and an audience who have few cultural links to the West and are still relatively isolated from Western culture.
Rajan also discovers why the Icelandic singer Bjork has made touring China even harder for Western bands, and hears from the strange French band trying to tour this huge country, complete with all their instruments and equipment, using the rail network.
Producer: Tim Mansel
A Bite Yer Legs production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2010.
TUE 07:00 Fat Chance (b01b3fp9)
Weighty Matters
A TV star turns up at Wendy Bottomley's slimming club and Graham unwisely divulges his secret to Lee...
Jenny McDade's high-fat bittersweet comedy for those believing there's a thin person inside them begging to get out.
Graham Pitscottie ..... Gareth Corke
Wendy Bottomley ..... Janine Duvitski
Clive Bottomley ..... Michael Troughton
Soo Pitscottie ..... Anne Reid
Tina Tattersall ..... Julia Deakin
Kelly Chambers ..... Tilly Gaunt
Lee Dubs ..... Harry Myers
Mrs Enright ..... Frances Jeater
Producer: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1999.
TUE 07:30 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (b06vkg1w)
Series 2
The Swimsman
When Milton discovers the local lido is under threat of closure he unwisely decides to organise a sit-in. But his dreams for a state-of-the-art aquacentre are sunk when his trunks are declared a biohazard.
Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is 'Help!'. Because each week, Milton and his trusty assistant Anton (played by Milton regular, Tom Goodman-Hill) 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.
"Milton Jones is one of Britain's best gagsmiths with a flair for creating daft yet perfect one-liners" - The Guardian.
"King of the surreal one-liners" - The Times
"If you haven't caught up with Jones yet - do so!" - The Daily Mail
Written by Milton with James Cary (Bluestone 42, Miranda), and Dan Evans (who co-wrote Milton's Channel 4 show House Of Rooms) the man they call "Britain's funniest Milton", returns to the radio with a fully-working cast and a shipload of new jokes.
The cast includes regulars Tom Goodman-Hill ( Spamalot, Mr. Selfridge) as the ever-faithful Anton, Josie Lawrence and Dan Tetsell.
With music by Guy Jackson.
Produced and directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 08:00 Round the Horne (b00n905p)
Series 3
Episode 17
'What Shall We Do With The Drunken Nurker?' Rambling Syd Rumpo sings - and it's a Horne from home for Kenneth at Julian and Sandy's Bona Guest House.
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 May 1967.
TUE 08:30 The Men from the Ministry (b0124y9s)
How Now Brown Cow
The bumbling bureaucrats spark a right royal mix-up when they act on the hoof.
A weekly tribute to all those who work in government departments.
Stars Richard Murdoch and Deryck Guyler. With Norma Ronald, Ronald Baddiley and John Graham.
Written by Edward Taylor and John Graham.
'The Men from the Ministry' ran for 14 series between 1962 and 1977. Deryck Guyler replaced Wilfrid Hyde-White from 1966. Sadly many episodes didn't survive in the archive, however the BBC's Transcription Service re-recorded 14 shows in 1980 - never broadcast in the UK, until the arrival of BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Producer: Edward Taylor
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 in July 1972.
TUE 09:00 The News Quiz Extra (b06wqp3y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:45 Helen Keen's It Is Rocket Science (b01hxmxk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:45 on Monday]
TUE 10:00 Classic Serial (b01f5gvh)
Plantagenet: Series 3
Henry V - True Believers
by Mike Walker, inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles. Young prince Hal will inherit an unstable throne, and a kingdom riven with heresy and rebellion. Victory over the rebel Hotspur, and then the French, will bring peace to England and glory to the king - but at what cost to the man?
Hal ...Luke Treadaway
Catherine...Lydia Leonard
Thomas of Earlham...James Lailey
Sir John Oldcastle...Nicky Henson
Henry IV...Paul Moriarty
Badby...Simon Bubb
Bradmore...Carl Prekopp
With Rikki Lawton, Gerard McDermott and Christopher Webster
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer and Sasha Yevtushenko
Luke Treadaway, Al Weaver and Carl Prekopp take the roles of Henry the Fifth, Henry the Sixth and Richard the Third in the conclusion to Mike Walker's dramatic chronicle of the Plantagenets. From the greatest glory of the line in the reign of Henry the fifth, to the brutal infighting of the Wars of the Roses, the series charts the ultimate end of the first great dynasty of English kings.
TUE 11:00 Lucy Wood - Diving Belles (b019lwzx)
Of Mothers and Little People
A pot of shimmering eye shadow leads to a magical revelation. Amanda Lawrence reads Cornish writer Lucy Wood's story.
TUE 11:15 Andy Barrett - The Perfect Wood (b007jtmh)
When Bill retires from his tedious career in confectionery sales, he looks forward to spending his autumn years indulging in the ancient art of lawn bowls.
He and his wife are the best pair in the club and odds-on favourites for the Riddington Married Couples Cup. That is, until Matt and Jude move in next door...
Stars Geoffrey Palmer as Bill, Stephanie Cole as Margaret, Ben Crowe as Matt and Sara Poyzer as Jude.
Written by Andy Barrett.
Directed at BBC Birmingham by Peter Leslie Wild.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003.
TUE 12:00 Round the Horne (b00n905p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 The Men from the Ministry (b0124y9s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Cadfael (b007jld1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 Big in Bangalore, Big in Beijing (b00sb0gv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Donna Tartt - The Secret History (b03ph7cq)
Episode 7
Richard finally learns what Henry and the others were fleeing - a ritual gone wrong. William Hope reads Donna Tartt thriller. From April 1995.
TUE 14:15 Incarnations: India in 50 Lives (b05tkznc)
Mahavira: Soldier of Nonviolence
Professor Sunil Khilnani of the King's India Institute explores the life and legacy of Mahavira Jain. Born more than two thousand years ago, Mahavira is the inspiration for millions of followers of the Jain religion. It teaches that the way to liberation and bliss is to live a life of non-violence and renunciation. At its heart is a belief that the entire world, from the ground we tread on to the air we breathe, is filled with life: our duty is to protect this universe of living souls through non-violent action. Mahavira is the last in the line of Tirthankars, beings who were said to be able to cross over from the world of human suffering into the realm of spiritual liberation. Unlike the other Tirthankars, we can be certain that he existed. "Mahavira asked his followers to renounce untruths and sex, to give up greed and attachment to worldly things - and stop all forms of killing or violence," says Professor Khilnani. "In short, the normal, devious, grasping and aggressive self had to be conquered."
Produced by Mark Savage
Listeners can catch up with the series and see the list of remarkable Indians featured on the Radio 4 website.
TUE 14:30 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving (b015grhx)
Episode 7
Big decisions and mixed emotions for Vic and Ingrid, and their respective parents. Stars Lee Ingleby and Rebecca Callard. From July 2010.
TUE 14:45 Book of the Week (b03jznq5)
Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
Episode 2
Penelope Fitzgerald's novels were short, spare masterpieces, self-concealing, oblique and subtle. She won the Booker Prize for her novel Offshore in 1979, and her last work, The Blue Flower, was acclaimed as a work of genius.
The early novels drew on her own experiences - a boat on the Thames in the 1960s, the BBC in war-time, a failing bookshop in Suffolk, an eccentric stage-school. The later ones opened out to encompass historical worlds which, magically, she seemed to possess entirely: Russia before the Revolution, post-war Italy, Germany in the time of the Romantic writer Novalis.
Fitzgerald's life is as various and as cryptic as her fiction. It spans most of the twentieth century, and moves from a Bishop's Palace to a sinking barge, from a demanding intellectual family to hardship and poverty, from a life of teaching and obscurity to a blaze of renown.
She was first published at sixty and became famous at eighty. This is a story of lateness, patience and persistence - a private form of heroism.
Loved and admired, and increasingly recognised as one of the outstanding novelists of her time, she remains also mysterious and intriguing. She liked to mislead people with a good imitation of an absent-minded old lady, but under that scatty front was a steel-sharp brain and an imagination of wonderful reach.
This biography by Hermione Lee pursues Fitzgerald's life, her writing, and her secret self, with fascinated interest.
Read by Penelope Wilton
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:00 Classic Serial (b01f5gvh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 Act Your Age (b00g0nnv)
Series 1
Episode 4
Simon Mayo discovers which generation is the funniest. With Jon Richardson, Lucy Porter and Roy Walker. From December 2008.
TUE 16:30 Flying the Flag (b009x1kq)
Series 2
The Space Race
What goes up in the era of glasnost must come down, but exactly where is still a matter for negotiation...
Alex Shearer's Eastern bloc embassy sitcom.
Starring Dinsdale Landen as HM Ambassador Mackenzie, Peter Acre as William Frost, Moir Leslie as Helen Waterson, Stephen Greif as the United States Ambassador, Christopher Benjamin as Colonel Surikov and David Goodland as Olav.
Producer: Pete Atkin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1988.
TUE 17:00 Fat Chance (b01b3fp9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (b06vkg1w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Terry Pratchett (b007lzwx)
Wyrd Sisters
2. Three Wishes
The new monarch has a troubled conscience and a wife like Lucrezia Borgia.
The three witches have decisions to make...
Starring Sheila Hancock, Lynda Baron and Deborah Berlin.
Terry Pratchett's popular tale dramatised by Vince Foxall.
Granny Weatherwax …. Sheila Hancock
Nanny Ogg …. Lynda Baron
Magrat Garlick …. Deborah Berlin
Duke Felmet …. Ian Masters
Lady Felmet …. Kristin Milward
King Verence …. John Hartley
Mrs Vitoller …. Natasha Pyne
Vitoller …. Gavin Muir
The Fool …. Andrew Branch
Hwel …. Brian Hibbard
Director: Claire Grove
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1995.
TUE 18:30 That Reminds Me (b007jnyc)
Series 3
John Fortune
Satirist, comedian, writer and actor John Fortune shares memories of his career with an audience.
Giving his frank take on fame, John talks of his recent working encounters with John Bird and Rory Bremner - and names the top three funniest men that he's met - one of them is Peter Cook.
John Fortune: Born: 30 June 1939. Died: 31 December 2013.
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 in November 2001.
TUE 19:00 Round the Horne (b00n905p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 The Men from the Ministry (b0124y9s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Cadfael (b007jld1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 Big in Bangalore, Big in Beijing (b00sb0gv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 Lucy Wood - Diving Belles (b019lwzx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 21:15 Andy Barrett - The Perfect Wood (b007jtmh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
TUE 22:00 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (b06vkg1w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 The Show What You Wrote (b036kysj)
Series 1
Historical
The Show What You Wrote is a brand new sketch show, which is made up entirely from sketches sent in by the public. Recorded in Manchester in front of a live audience, and starring John Thomson, Helen Moon, Fiona Clarke and Gavin Webster.
We've picked the best sketches from thousands of submissions to make each show, and every week we'll be covering a different theme, from kitchen sink drama, to suspense heavy thrillers. This week's episode is Historical.
Script editor ...... Jon Hunter
Producers ..... Carl Cooper and Alexandra Smith.
TUE 23:00 Revolting People (b00w48m7)
Ezekiel is Kidnapped
Ezekiel upsets the Baltimore rebels in the 1775 American sitcom. With Andy Hamilton, Jay Tarses and Hugh Dennis. From May 2006.
TUE 23:30 Les Kelly's Britain (b01753jn)
Episode 2
Les Kelly hosts a magazine show from hell. Les is a cross between Jeremy Kyle and a slap in the face. He claims this is the only radio show for 'normal, decent people'.
Les meets Britain's first firm of emergency yodelers, a woman whose claim to fame is that she can walk backwards, and a man with such an embarrassing medical condition that Les refuses to have him on the show.
Starring Kevin Bishop as Les Kelly.
With:
Alan Francis
Pippa Evans
Laurence Howarth
Anthony Spargo
Written by Bill Dare and Julian Dutton.
Producer Bill Dare.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2011.


WEDNESDAY 20 JANUARY 2016

WED 00:00 Terry Pratchett (b007lzwx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 That Reminds Me (b007jnyc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Cadfael (b007jld1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 Big in Bangalore, Big in Beijing (b00sb0gv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Donna Tartt - The Secret History (b03ph7cq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 Incarnations: India in 50 Lives (b05tkznc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving (b015grhx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Book of the Week (b03jznq5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Classic Serial (b01f5gvh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 Act Your Age (b00g0nnv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Flying the Flag (b009x1kq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 Fat Chance (b01b3fp9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! (b06vkg1w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 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.
WED 06:30 The Sound of Magnolias (b00n5404)
Writer Irma Kurtz travels to Paris and Madrid to investigate the period just before the war when blind Spanish composer Rodrigo composed his famous Concerto de Aranjuez. She goes to the gardens of Aranjuez with his only daughter, Cecelia, and talks to guitarist Pepe Romero about the music's lasting impact.
WED 07:00 The Brothers (b00p2z5w)
Series 2
Episode 4
Zorro saves the day for the dysfunctional web designers, or does he? Stars Adam Godley and Pauline McLynn. From October 2005.
WED 07:30 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.
WED 08:00 The Navy Lark (b01gklt9)
Series 5
The Ghost Ship
Could HMS Troutbridge really be the next Marie Celeste?

Stars Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Stephen Murray as the Number One, Ronnie Barker as Able Seaman Johnson, Richard Caldicote as Captain Povey and Tenniel Evans as Taffy Goldstein.

Laughs afloat aboard British Royal Navy frigate HMS Troutbridge. The Navy Lark ran for an impressive thirteen series between 1959 and 1976.

Scripted by Lawrie Wyman

Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston.

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in May 1963.
WED 08:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b011ppvg)
Series 7
Episode 10
Gooseberries and Centurion tanks in Arthur Price's shopping news.
Starring Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Sketches written by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie
Originating from the Cambridge University Footlights revue 'Cambridge Circus', ISIRTA ran for 8 years on BBC Radio and quickly developed a cult following.
Music and songs by Bill Oddie, Liam Cohen and Dave Lee.
Producer: David Hatch/Peter Titheradge
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in March 1969.
WED 09:00 Counterpoint (b008x89s)
1999
Final
Ned Sherrin hosts the Grand Final with David Hunt of London, Buckinghamshire's Michael Eardley and Len Smith from Essex.
WED 09:30 Beachcomber... By the Way (b008g29h)
Series 2
Episode 4
JB Morton's whimsies as performed by Richard Ingrams, Patricia Routledge, John Sessions and John Wells. From August 1991.
WED 10:00 Classic Serial (b01fhp34)
Plantagenet: Series 3
Henry VI - A Simple Man
by Mike Walker, inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles. The once-great England of Henry V is bankrupt and losing territory in France. The times call for a strong man who can unite the kingdom. Not the weak, idealistic Henry VI, pleading for peace and incapacitated by bouts of insanity. As the House of York grows in power, Queen Margaret is forced to take up arms to protect her royal line.
Henry VI... Al Weaver
Margaret...Aimee Ffion Edwards
York... Shaun Dooley
Cardinal Beaufort...Paul Moriarty
Warwick...Gerard McDermott
Somerset...Carl Prekopp
Edward of York...Simon Bubb
With Rikki Lawton, James Lailey and Christopher Webster
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer and Sasha Yevtushenko.
WED 11:00 Lucy Wood - Diving Belles (b019lypl)
The Giant's Boneyard
12-year-old Gog struggles over feelings for best friend Sunshine, and his mum insisting that he is part giant. Read by Zac Fox.
WED 11:15 Vanessa Rosenthal - Bottle Blonde and Beautiful (b007jw27)
Single mum hairdresser Denise is in for a shock from a new client.
Vanessa Rosenthal's gripping northern town drama with a touch of thriller.
Starring Jeff Hordley as Steve, Jo Joyner as Denise Judith Davis as Mrs Howden, Ann-Marie Frater as Leanne, Craig Potter as Ashley and Rebecca Zienko as Hannah.
Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
WED 12:00 The Navy Lark (b01gklt9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b011ppvg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Cadfael (b007jldd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 The Sound of Magnolias (b00n5404)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Donna Tartt - The Secret History (b03phdnz)
Episode 8
After the horrific revelation from Henry, Richard learns more about Bunny's growing significance. Donna Tartt thriller read by William Hope. From April 1995.
WED 14:15 Incarnations: India in 50 Lives (b05tlvb2)
Panini: Catching the Ocean in a Cow's Hoofprint
Professor Sunil Khilnani, from the King's India Institute in London, looks at the life and legacy of Panini, a master of the ancient Sanskrit language who lived around two and a half thousand years ago. His grammar, known as the Astadhyayi, had a lasting impact and helped to make Sanskrit the lingua franca of much of Asia for more than a thousand years - not through conquest or colonisation but because it served a purpose. Panini's grammar relied on a system that functioned like a powerful algorithm, or a computer programme today. He created, "in a mere forty-pages, the most complete linguistic system in history and helped to make Sanskrit the lingua franca of much of Asia for more than a thousand years".
Produced by Mark Savage
With incidental music by composer Talvin Singh.
Listeners can catch up with the series and see the list of remarkable Indians featured on the Radio 4 website.
WED 14:30 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving (b015gzcy)
Episode 8
Married life for Vic and Ingrid does not go smoothly, and then disaster strikes. Stars Lee Ingleby and Rebecca Callard. From July 2010.
WED 14:45 Book of the Week (b03k0wmc)
Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
Episode 3
Penelope Fitzgerald's novels were short, spare masterpieces, self-concealing, oblique and subtle. She won the Booker Prize for her novel Offshore in 1979, and her last work, The Blue Flower, was acclaimed as a work of genius.
The early novels drew on her own experiences - a boat on the Thames in the 1960s, the BBC in war-time, a failing bookshop in Suffolk, an eccentric stage-school. The later ones opened out to encompass historical worlds which, magically, she seemed to possess entirely: Russia before the Revolution, post-war Italy, Germany in the time of the Romantic writer Novalis.
Fitzgerald's life is as various and as cryptic as her fiction. It spans most of the twentieth century, and moves from a Bishop's Palace to a sinking barge, from a demanding intellectual family to hardship and poverty, from a life of teaching and obscurity to a blaze of renown.
She was first published at sixty and became famous at eighty. This is a story of lateness, patience and persistence - a private form of heroism.
Loved and admired, and increasingly recognised as one of the outstanding novelists of her time, she remains also mysterious and intriguing. She liked to mislead people with a good imitation of an absent-minded old lady, but under that scatty front was a steel-sharp brain and an imagination of wonderful reach.
This biography by Hermione Lee pursues Fitzgerald's life, her writing, and her secret self, with fascinated interest.
Read by Penelope Wilton
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 15:00 Classic Serial (b01fhp34)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 Counterpoint (b008x89s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 Beachcomber... By the Way (b008g29h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 The Brothers (b00p2z5w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 It's Jocelyn (b06vkjc0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 Terry Pratchett (b007m481)
Wyrd Sisters
3. Hogwatch Night
The old King is dead. The new ruler has a troubled conscience and a wife on the warpath - in pursuit of the three witches...
Starring Sheila Hancock, Lynda Baron and Deborah Berlin.
Terry Pratchett's popular tale dramatised by Vince Foxall.
Granny Weatherwax …. Sheila Hancock
Nanny Ogg …. Lynda Baron
Magrat Garlick …. Deborah Berlin
Duke Felmet …. Ian Masters
Lady Felmet …. Kristin Milward
King Verence …. John Hartley
The Fool …. Andrew Branch
The Demon …. Gavin Muir
Shawn …. Brian Hibbard
Director: Claire Grove
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1995.
WED 18:30 Off the Page (b0076xp8)
Something Sensational
Dominic Arkwright discusses the pitfalls of writing a diary with Ion Trewin, Graham Dietz and Kirsty Crawford. From March 2006.
WED 19:00 The Navy Lark (b01gklt9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b011ppvg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Cadfael (b007jldd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 The Sound of Magnolias (b00n5404)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Lucy Wood - Diving Belles (b019lypl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 21:15 Vanessa Rosenthal - Bottle Blonde and Beautiful (b007jw27)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
WED 22:00 It's Jocelyn (b06vkjc0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Open Letters (b01hl29y)
Series 2
Compensation Culture
Sony Award-winning comedian Tom Wrigglesworth delivers an open letter to Ken Clarke MP.
He's asking whether compensation culture is actually directly opposed to the theory of evolution?
Written by Tom Wrigglesworth, James Kettle and Miles Jupp
Producer: Simon Mayhew-Archer.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2012.
WED 23:00 Listen Against (b0089j50)
Series 1
Episode 2
The show that prises the back off your radio, fiddles around with the programmes inside and then puts it all back together the wrong way round.
Alice Arnold and Jon Holmes get meddling with the Proms, JK and Joel, Any Answers and The Archers.
The brain-child of writer, comic and broadcaster Jon Holmes.
Producer: Bill Dare and Jon Holmes
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2007.
WED 23:30 And Now in Colour (b007jmn1)
Series 1
Intercity
The sketch show team takes the audience to Margate and asks 'Whose Pencil Line is it Anyway?'
Precision comedy written and performed by Tim Firth, Tim de Jongh, Michael Rutger and William Vandyck.
Producer: Lissa Evans
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1990


THURSDAY 21 JANUARY 2016

THU 00:00 Terry Pratchett (b007m481)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 Off the Page (b0076xp8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Cadfael (b007jldd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 The Sound of Magnolias (b00n5404)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Donna Tartt - The Secret History (b03phdnz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 Incarnations: India in 50 Lives (b05tlvb2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving (b015gzcy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Book of the Week (b03k0wmc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Classic Serial (b01fhp34)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 Counterpoint (b008x89s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 Beachcomber... By the Way (b008g29h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 The Brothers (b00p2z5w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 It's Jocelyn (b06vkjc0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 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.
THU 06:30 Comprehensively Eton (b00s96ng)
Jolyon Jenkins on the state-school boys who won scholarships to Eton. Bradley, Oscar, Joe and Rishad are bright all-rounders who went from their local comprehensive to the world's most famous school.
Eton is probably the most famous school in the world. With fees of almost £30,000 a year, it educates some of Britain's most wealthy and privileged boys. It also offers scholarships and bursaries to a small but growing number of bright and motivated boys who've been educated in the state sector.
But what does the scholarship scheme mean for the boys? How are they regarded by the fee-payers? What kind of boy does Eton want as a scholar? Do the scholarship-boys fit in at Eton, or is there a class divide? Do they stand out because their accents are different or once anonymised in the tail-coat are they woven into Eton's ancient fabric?
Bradley is from Blackpool, his parents are full-time foster carers who found out about the Eton scholarship when they read about it in 'The Sun'. Bradley started at Eton last September in what is known as 'F Block' (the equivalent is year 9 in the state sector).
Oscar Hardy is from Seaford on the south coast, a former young-mayor of Seaford and A*grade student; his comprehensive was closing its sixth form so he took a punt on an Eton scholarship - and succeeded. Jolyon hears from them, and Rishad and Joe, who all won scholarships - and significant bursaries - to attend Eton College.
Producer: Karen Gregor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2010.
THU 07:00 Hazelbeach (b0088nnw)
Series 1
Gardening
Ronnie has a devious idea to get Nick's ex-girlfriend back. What could possibly go wrong?
Caroline and David Stafford's comedy stars Jamie Forman as Ronnie Hazelbeach.
Ronnie ...... Jamie Foreman
Nick ...... Paul Bazely
Chloe ...... Tracy Wiles
James ...... John Dougall
Harry ...... Simon Treves
Producer: Marc Beeby
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2007.
THU 07:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b06vmzdy)
Series 5
Episode 2
John Finnemore - writer and star of Cabin Pressure and John Finnemore's Double Acts, regular guest on The Now Show and The Unbelievable Truth - returns for a fifth series of his multi-award-winning sketch show, joined as ever by a cast of Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan.
This second episode sees the voice in John's head push him to tipping point; a new approach to the News; and, well, since you ask him for a tale of espionage...
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme won the BBC Audio Drama Award for 'Best Scripted Comedy with Live Audience' in 2015; and a Radio Academy Silver Award for Comedy in 2014.
"One of the most consistently funny sketch shows for quite some time" - The Guardian
"The best sketch show in years, on television or radio" - The Radio Times
"The inventive sketch show ... continues to deliver the goods" - The Daily Mail
"Superior comedy" - The Observer
Written by and starring ... John Finnemore
Producer: Ed Morrish
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme is a BBC Radio Comedy production.
THU 08:00 Steptoe and Son (b007jn1s)
Series 5
Come Dancing
Albert sets out to help son Harold to conquer his fear of ballroom dancing.
Starring Wilfrid Brambell as Albert and Harry H Corbett as Harold. With Clifford Norgate as the Milkman.
Following the conclusion of their hugely successful association with Tony Hancock, writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson wrote 10 pilots for the BBC TV's Comedy Playhouse in 1962. The Offer was set in a house with a yard full of junk, featuring the lives of rag and bone men Albert Steptoe and his son Harold and it was the spark for a run of 8 series for TV.
Written for TV and adapted for radio by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Produced by Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in June 1974.
THU 08:30 The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C Potter (b007jtc1)
Series 1
The Pick Up
When Gerald reveals he's happy to pick up hitchhikers in his car, Diana is not impressed...
The convoluted chronicle of an optimistic crime writer written by Basil Boothroyd.
Starring Ian Carmichael as Gerald C Potter and Charlotte Mitchell as his wife and more successful writer, Diana.
With Jo Manning Wilson.
The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C Potter ran from 1976 to 1981.
Producer: Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1976.
THU 09:00 Genius (b0082b9x)
Series 3
Gyles Brandreth
A conveyor duvet for quibbling couples? Loaning out our royals abroad?
Dave Gorman asks author and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth to select the public's best loopy idea.
Award-winning comedian Dave Gorman and a celebrity guest chew over the ridiculous, unworkable but sometimes genius inventions, schemes and policies of the public.
Producer: Simon Nicholls
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2007.
THU 09:30 No Commitments (b007jp0p)
Series 7
The Wedding Party
Victoria is persuaded to hold a party for Charlotte, but will the star attraction be there? With Bill Nighy. From February 2001.
THU 10:00 Classic Serial (b01dmdnz)
Plantagenet: Series 3
Richard III - The Three Brothers
by Mike Walker, inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles. Despite his rebellious brother Clarence, and the formidable dowager Queen Margaret, Edward IV manages to bring a modicum of stability to the kingdom of England. But discontent at the power of his wife and her family erupt into civil war after his death, and his brother Richard is forced to take increasingly drastic steps to uphold Plantagenet power.The final episode of the series.
Queen Elizabeth...Nancy Carroll
Edward 4th...Simon Bubb
Richard 3rd...Carl Prekopp
Clarence...Christopher Webster
Margaret...Aimee Ffion Edwards
Warwick...Gerard McDermott
Stafford...Adam Billington
Lewis...James Lailey
Bishop...Paul Moriarty
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer and Sasha Yevtushenko.
THU 11:00 Lucy Wood - Diving Belles (b019m333)
Countless Stones
Questioning her past decisions, Rita sees her future bound to the standing stones above her village. Read by Amanda Lawrence.
THU 11:15 Drama (b0106vj8)
Lou Ramsden - Pouring Poison
by Lou Ramsden
Hazel spends her life describing plays for visually impaired people. But when she starts to describe the real world to her new friend Davy, is she giving an accurate picture of the world around her? She's looking for an escape from the pressures of looking after her disabled mother, but is she looking in the right place? A bittersweet romantic drama by award-winning writer Lou Ramsden.
Hazel. . . . . Kathryn Hunt
Davy. . . . . Nicholas Boulton
Phil . . . . . Jonathan Keeble
Suzanne . . . . . Alison Pettitt
Lynne . . . . . Marian Kemmer
Rob . . . . . Dan Hagley
Theatre Company: Nyasha Hatendi,
Jane Whittenshaw, Stuart McLoughlin, Sean Baker
and Alex Tregear.
Produced and directed by Peter Leslie Wild
Notes
Birmingham-born Lou Ramsden's previous play "Dos and Don'ts for the Mentally Interesting" won the Mind "Mental health in the Media" Award for Best Radio Drama, 2009. She has written several plays for Radio 4, including Sampler T6, Gunpowder Women, and Tree Splitting. She emerged through the BBC Writer's Room "Sparks" scheme.
Pouring Poison was written after time spent with audio describers in London theatres.
THU 12:00 Steptoe and Son (b007jn1s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C Potter (b007jtc1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Cadfael (b007jldr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 Comprehensively Eton (b00s96ng)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Donna Tartt - The Secret History (b03pj28f)
Episode 9
Richard becomes more and more involved in Henry's plans to deal with Bunny. Donna Tartt thriller read by William Hope. From April 1995.
THU 14:15 Incarnations: India in 50 Lives (b05tm4dg)
Kautilya: The Circle of Power
Professor Sunil Khilnani, from the King's India Institute in London, looks at the life and legacy of Kautilya, whose treatise on political power dates back at least two thousand years. The Indian political strategist has been compared to Machiavelli. Some say he is more ruthless. Kautilya's text, written on dried palm leaves, lay forgotten for more than a millennium until it turned up at a library in Mysore at the turn of the twentieth century, providing inspiration for early Indian nationalists. "The discovery summarily exploded a Western cliché: that Indians were primarily ethereal, spiritual thinkers," observes Professor Khilnani. "Here was a strategic text--focused on worldly ends, advocating ruthless means to achieve power."
Producer: Mark Savage
With incidental music by the composer Talvin Singh.
Listeners can catch up with the series and see the list of remarkable Indians featured on the Radio 4 website.
THU 14:30 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving (b015h37k)
Episode 9
After losing the baby, tensions rise between Vic and Ingrid. Can they work things out? Stars Lee Ingleby and Rebecca Callard. From July 2010.
THU 14:45 Book of the Week (b03k289h)
Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
Episode 4
Penelope Fitzgerald's novels were short, spare masterpieces, self-concealing, oblique and subtle. She won the Booker Prize for her novel Offshore in 1979, and her last work, The Blue Flower, was acclaimed as a work of genius.
The early novels drew on her own experiences - a boat on the Thames in the 1960s, the BBC in war-time, a failing bookshop in Suffolk, an eccentric stage-school. The later ones opened out to encompass historical worlds which, magically, she seemed to possess entirely: Russia before the Revolution, post-war Italy, Germany in the time of the Romantic writer Novalis.
Fitzgerald's life is as various and as cryptic as her fiction. It spans most of the twentieth century, and moves from a Bishop's Palace to a sinking barge, from a demanding intellectual family to hardship and poverty, from a life of teaching and obscurity to a blaze of renown.
She was first published at sixty and became famous at eighty. This is a story of lateness, patience and persistence - a private form of heroism.
Loved and admired, and increasingly recognised as one of the outstanding novelists of her time, she remains also mysterious and intriguing. She liked to mislead people with a good imitation of an absent-minded old lady, but under that scatty front was a steel-sharp brain and an imagination of wonderful reach.
This biography by Hermione Lee pursues Fitzgerald's life, her writing, and her secret self, with fascinated interest.
Read by Penelope Wilton
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 15:00 Classic Serial (b01dmdnz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 Genius (b0082b9x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 No Commitments (b007jp0p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 Hazelbeach (b0088nnw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b06vmzdy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 Terry Pratchett (b007jmq9)
Wyrd Sisters
4. Degrees of Royalty
Lancre's new ruler teeters on the edge of madness. The old King will be revenged. The three witches set to work!
Starring Sheila Hancock, Lynda Baron and Deborah Berlin.
The conclusion of Terry Pratchett's popular tale.
Granny Weatherwax …. Sheila Hancock
Nanny Ogg …. Lynda Baron
Magrat Garlick …. Deborah Berlin
Duke Felmet … Ian Masters
Lady Felmet …. Kristin Milward
King Verence …. John Hartley
The Fool …. Andrew Branch
Vitoller …. Gavin Muir
Hwel …. Brian Hibbard
Tomjon …. Roger May
Dramatised by Vince Foxall.
Director: Claire Grove
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1995.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b0076vxc)
Series 8
Nevil Shute
4 Extra Debut. Broadcaster Adam Hart-Davis selects 'On the Beach' and 'A Town Like Alice' novelist Nevil Shute. With Francine Stock. From December 2005.
THU 19:00 Steptoe and Son (b007jn1s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C Potter (b007jtc1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Cadfael (b007jldr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 Comprehensively Eton (b00s96ng)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Lucy Wood - Diving Belles (b019m333)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
THU 21:15 Drama (b0106vj8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
THU 22:00 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b06vmzdy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 The Secret World (b012mzvm)
Series 2
Episode 4
Alan Titchmarsh reveals a dark side when his career is at risk. Jon Culshaw explores famous folk's private lives. From July 2010.
THU 23:00 Susan Calman Is Convicted (b01qm4q4)
Series 1
Death Penalty
Susan Calman explores issues on which she has strong opinions. This week, she examines the issues surrounding the Death Penalty from the perspective gained whilst working on Death Row.
Susan was always stoically against capital punishment - because that was the expected position for a liberal student to take - and thought that she knew all about it. But it's very easy being so liberal when you're sitting in a country that doesn't have the death penalty. Then, as a law student, she travelled to North Carolina and worked on Death Row for a time. What she experienced whilst there persuaded her absolutely that she thought Capital Punishment was utterly wrong.
This is a story about the transition from casually adopting received opinion to developing your own belief system.
Produced by Lyndsay Fenner.
First broadcast on Radio 4 in 2013.
THU 23:30 The Museum of Everything (b007k1qj)
Series 1
The History of the Future
Badgerland goes international and experience the History of the Future.
Written and performed by Marcus Brigstocke, Danny Robins and Dan Tetsell.
With Lucy Montgomery.
Music by Dominic Haslam and Ben Walker.
Producer: Alex Walsh-Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2004.


FRIDAY 22 JANUARY 2016

FRI 00:00 Terry Pratchett (b007jmq9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b0076vxc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Cadfael (b007jldr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Comprehensively Eton (b00s96ng)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Donna Tartt - The Secret History (b03pj28f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 Incarnations: India in 50 Lives (b05tm4dg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving (b015h37k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Book of the Week (b03k289h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Classic Serial (b01dmdnz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 Genius (b0082b9x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 No Commitments (b007jp0p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 Hazelbeach (b0088nnw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b06vmzdy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 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.
FRI 06:30 Open the Vaults (b00p6rr0)
Razia Iqbal examines the tradition of banks as patrons of art - a role which dates back to 14th-century Italy.
She also asks what responsibility comes with owning great art, particularly in light of the 2007-2008 UK banking crisis.
Producer: Henrietta Harrison
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009.
FRI 07:00 1834 (b011pw52)
Dentists and Lovers
Ned needs root canal work, but 21st-century Jason needs lessons in 19th-century courting.
In Jim Poyser's riotous comedy of transportation and delight, Jason is now Tarquin, third son of Lord Belport with a faithful valet, Ned.
Jason Slater ...... Michael Begley
Ned ...... Joe Caffrey
Hoskins ...... Kenneth Alan Taylor
Lord Belport ...... Mark Chatterton
Stubbs ...... Glenn Cunningham
Millicent ...... Julia Rounthwaite
Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2003.
FRI 07:30 So Wrong It's Right (b01hxmws)
Series 3
Episode 2
Presented by Charlie Brooker, 'So Wrong It's Right' is a competitive game of failure where coming up with the wrong answer is the right thing to do.
Over a series of rounds, Charlie asks three guests a number of questions to rummage through their pasts and test their creativity. So Wrong It's Right celebrates the pungent taste of disappointment by turning embarrassing mistakes into perverse triumphs.
In this episode, the guests joining him to try and out-wrong each other are comedians Lee Mack, Holly Walsh and panel show legend Barry Cryer.
The panel's worst experiences at school and the best ideas for the worst TV News gimmicks are put to the panel. Will anyone surpass Barry Cryer's suggestion of a revamped 'Newsnight' presented by tabloid darling and reality TV superstar Katie Price?
The host of So Wrong It's Right, Charlie Brooker, also presents BBC2's How TV Ruined Your Life, Channel 4's You Have Been Watching and 10 O'Clock Live, and writes for The Guardian. He won Columnist of the Year at the 2009 British Press Awards and Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards 2009.
Produced by Aled Evans
A Zeppotron Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 08:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jpd5)
Series 6
The Last Bus Home
It's a long walk home in the rain when Sid, Bill and The Lad Himself get stranded.
Starring Tony Hancock.
With Sidney James, Bill Kerr, Warren Mitchell and Hugo Morton.
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 October 1959.
FRI 08:30 The Goon Show (b007jn48)
Series 6
The Jet-Propelled Guided Naafi
Grytpype and Moriarty set out to steal the plans for a secret new weapon.
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.
FRI 09:00 The 3rd Degree (b01f5hp1)
Series 2
University of Sussex
Coming this week from the University of Sussex, "The 3rd Degree" is a funny, lively and dynamic quiz show aimed at cultivating the next generation of Radio 4 listeners whilst delighting the current ones. It's recorded on location at a different University each week, and it pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors in a genuinely original and fresh take on an academic quiz. Being a Radio 4 programme, it of course meets the most stringent standards of academic rigour - but with lots of facts and jokes thrown in for good measure.
Together with host Steve Punt, the show tours the (sometimes posh, sometimes murky, but always welcoming!) Union buildings, cafés and lecture halls of six universities across the UK.
The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds and the 'Highbrow & Lowbrow' round cunningly devised to test not only the students' knowledge of current affairs, history, languages and science, but also their Professors' awareness of television, film, and Lady Gaga... In addition, the Head-to-Head rounds, in which students take on their Professors in their own subjects, were particularly lively, and offered plenty of scope for mild embarrassment on both sides...
The resulting show is funny, fresh, and not a little bit surprising, with a truly varied range of scores, friendly rivalry, and moments where students wished they had more than just glanced at that reading list...
Producer: David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 09:30 Albert and Me (b007jzdc)
Series 2
Minder
Bryan is offered a job at last, but where will he find a babysitter?
Stars Robert Lindsay and Pat Coombs.
Single parent Bryan Archer struggles to find work while raising his baby son, Albert.
Bryan Archer ...... Robert Lindsay
Mum/Albert ...... Pat Coombs
Mrs Willis ...... Diana King
Vera ...... Marcia Warren
Joe ...... Ron Pember
Mr Graham ...... Douglas Blackwell
Job Centre Clerk ...... David Graham
Incidental music by Max Harris.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1983.
FRI 10:00 Jill Paton Walsh - A Piece of Justice (b010vyt7)
When Fran gets the chance to take over the biography of the great mathematician Gideon Summerfield, she rapidly discovers there's a mystery over a few days he went missing in August 1978.
Her friend Imogen is the first to realise she may be in danger...
Dramatised by Neville Teller from the novel by Jill Paton Walsh.
Imogen Quy ..... Barbara Flynn
Janet Somerfield ..... Rosemary Leach
Francis Bullion ..... Tracy Wiles
Josh ..... Robert Harper
Dr Mistral ..... James Greene
Lady Buckmote ..... Marlene Sidaway
Sir William Buckmote ..... Geoffrey Whitehead
Professor Maverack ..... Colin Starkey
Meredith Bagadeuce ..... Peter Howell(
Pamela Zephyr ..... Di Botcher
David Swann ..... Iwan Thomas
Director: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
FRI 11:00 Lucy Wood - Diving Belles (b019m52y)
Notes From the House Spirits
A chronicle of the happenings and lives of the neglectful inhabitants of a Cornish house. Read by Amanda Lawrence.
FRI 11:15 Drama (b00zsjys)
Mike Harris - The Disappearance of Jennifer Pope
The Disappearance of Jennifer Pope
by Mike Harris in collaboration with Dave and Stefan Pope
The extraordinary true story of the disappearance of an English Nurse, in Ecuador, and how her husband and son tracked down her abductor. Dave and Stefan Pope spend a year in a country fraught with poverty and corruption, where they barely speak the language, with next to no money. But with heaps of determination and good will from a few key characters they eventually reap the rewards of justice.
Further info
In September 2005 Jenny Pope takes a year off to go back packing alone in South America because she believes her marriage is over. Dave has been living in the shed prior to this for the last 18 months. But they keep in touch by e-mail and, gradually, separation brings them back together again - their love is reignited. By the time Jennifer reaches Ecuador she's brought her flight forward as she's missing husband and son. But in January 2006, suddenly her e-mails stop and her credit cards are emptied. Dave and Jenny's 20 year old son Stefan go to Banyos in Ecuador, to find out what happened. They soon realise that the prime suspect is the security guard at the last hostel Jenny stayed; a man with a violent past who carries a gun and a machete in his car, who's bank account deposits match exactly those of Jennifers withdrawals. A poignant and life affirming story of how a father and son's loss and confusion is channelled into energy and determination to find justice for their beloved wife and mother.
FRI 12:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jpd5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 The Goon Show (b007jn48)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Cadfael (b007jldz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 Open the Vaults (b00p6rr0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Donna Tartt - The Secret History (b03pm1hw)
Episode 10
The murder has finally been committed. However, a phone call complicates things. Donna Tartt thriller read by William Hope. From April 1995.
FRI 14:15 Incarnations: India in 50 Lives (b05tpy82)
Ashoka: Power and Persuasion
Professor Sunil Khilnani of the King's India Institute in London looks at the life and legacy of the emperor Ashoka, who ruled over a large part of the Indian sub-continent. He came to power around the time the Romans were fighting Carthage and the Chinese were building their Great Wall but faded from view over time. Rediscovered by the British, he went on to become an inspiration to India's nationalists. Ashoka's symbol of four lions, each facing in a different direction, can be found on official Indian documents and the nation's currency. His most remarkable legacy is the rock edicts, public instructions to his people on correct behaviour - including religious tolerance and his own principle of Dhamma. "Dhamma described the ruler's duty to interest himself in the welfare of his people, their health and happiness. It even committed him to planting banyan trees and mango groves along the roads, to provide water and resting places for travellers . . an early statement about the private faith of a leader and the responsibilities of public office"
Producer: Mark Savage.
Researcher: Manu Pillai
With incidental music by the composer Talvin Singh.
Listeners can catch up with the series and see the list of remarkable Indians featured on the Radio 4 website.
FRI 14:30 Stan Barstow - A Kind of Loving (b015fv20)
Episode 10
Things come to a head in Vic and Ingrid's marriage. Who can Vic turn to for advice? Stars Lee Ingleby and Rebecca Callard. From July 2010.
FRI 14:45 Book of the Week (b03k2gqd)
Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
Episode 5
Penelope Fitzgerald's novels were short, spare masterpieces, self-concealing, oblique and subtle. She won the Booker Prize for her novel Offshore in 1979, and her last work, The Blue Flower, was acclaimed as a work of genius.
The early novels drew on her own experiences - a boat on the Thames in the 1960s, the BBC in war-time, a failing bookshop in Suffolk, an eccentric stage-school. The later ones opened out to encompass historical worlds which, magically, she seemed to possess entirely: Russia before the Revolution, post-war Italy, Germany in the time of the Romantic writer Novalis.
Fitzgerald's life is as various and as cryptic as her fiction. It spans most of the twentieth century, and moves from a Bishop's Palace to a sinking barge, from a demanding intellectual family to hardship and poverty, from a life of teaching and obscurity to a blaze of renown.
She was first published at sixty and became famous at eighty. This is a story of lateness, patience and persistence - a private form of heroism.
Loved and admired, and increasingly recognised as one of the outstanding novelists of her time, she remains also mysterious and intriguing. She liked to mislead people with a good imitation of an absent-minded old lady, but under that scatty front was a steel-sharp brain and an imagination of wonderful reach.
This biography by Hermione Lee pursues Fitzgerald's life, her writing, and her secret self, with fascinated interest.
Read by Penelope Wilton
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:00 Jill Paton Walsh - A Piece of Justice (b010vyt7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 The 3rd Degree (b01f5hp1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 Albert and Me (b007jzdc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 1834 (b011pw52)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 So Wrong It's Right (b01hxmws)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 Bill Murphy - Vostok (b007jzm4)
Three intrepid divers plunge into the world's last unexplored Antarctic lake. Stars Stuart Milligan and Ingvar Sigurdsson.
FRI 18:30 Soul Music (b0076m60)
Series 4
Swing Low Sweet Chariot
An exploration of the spiritual song, from its origins in slavery in America, to its role in English rugby. From July 2004.
FRI 19:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jpd5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 The Goon Show (b007jn48)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 Cadfael (b007jldz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 Open the Vaults (b00p6rr0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Lucy Wood - Diving Belles (b019m52y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 21:15 Drama (b00zsjys)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
FRI 22:00 So Wrong It's Right (b01hxmws)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World (b007t32k)
Series 1
Love
The sci-fi star and his crew set sail on a romantic cruise. With Tom Baker, Richard Herring and Stewart Lee. From November 1992.
FRI 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b06ynwvq)
From 10.00pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats to Jon Ronson.
FRI 23:00 The Gobetweenies (b01ljwm8)
Series 2
The Next Story
Tom and Lucy are furious they are not allowed a dog. Their parents say that when kids go between two households it's too complicated. But their mum and dad's love lives are even more tangled. After all, Tom has seen his parents kissing. So where does that leave their mum's new third husband, and the unstable pet shop owner their dad has been secretly dating?
Written by Marcella Evaristi
Director: Marilyn Imrie
Producer: Gordon Kennedy
An Absolutely Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:30 Hard to Tell (b016817k)
Series 1
Episode 3
Hard To Tell is a four part relationship comedy by Jonny Sweet (Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer 2009). who conjures up characters depicting every relationship from father and daughter to the mirror in the bathroom and the feller hiding at a party; from the stalker and the stalked to dog owners and their dogs; and from lifelong friends to long term partners and their dearly departed.
In episode 3, if your son is visiting with his new girlfriend, how far apart should their beds be placed? Can she be trusted with a remote control? And is it OK to indulge your fondness for Helen Mirren?
Producer: Lucy Armitage
A Tiger Aspect production for BBC Radio 4.