SATURDAY 19 MARCH 2016

SAT 00:00 I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (b007k0tb)
2. Tomb
Earth's last living man, Robert Neville, discovers that his wife's tomb is a lair for vampires.
Richard Matheson's 1954 cult classic set in 1976 USA. One of the 20th century's most significant vampire novels, combining sci-fi and horror.
Read by Angus McInnes.
Abridged by Scott Stainton Miller.
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by BBC Scotland and first broadcast in January 2006.
SAT 00:30 Soul Music (b008m82d)
Series 6
New York, New York
Andrew Collins and Mark Shenton present the story behind the classic song New York, New York.
Songwriting duo John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote the title song for the film. Unfortunately, the star Robert de Niro didn't like it, so they furiously wrote another one.
John Kander talks about the story behind the classic song.
Featuring:
Lorrena Turner
Michael Freedland
Huw Madoc-Jones
Terry Bennett
Alun Howells
Gareth Valentine
John Kander
Patrick Sasso
Rosemary Watts
Series about music that makes the hairs stand up on the back of our necks.
Producer: Sara Conkey
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2008.
SAT 01:00 Paul Temple (b00rmxpm)
Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case
5. That Good Old Intuition
With Lynn Ferguson missing - the suave sleuth heads off to question the owner of the La Mortella club, Louis Fabian.
Francis Durbridge's thriller starring Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury in another intriguing case for BBC radio's smoothest investigator and his glamorous wife.
Paul Temple …. Peter Coke
Steve …. Marjorie Westbury
Sir Graham Forbes …. Lester Mudditt
Charlie …. James Beattie
Lynn Ferguson …. Peggy Hassard
Wilfred Stirling …. Charles Leno
Louis Fabian …. Olaf Olsen
Peter Galino …. Robert Tietty
Detective Inspector Kingston …. Duncan McIntyre
Miss White …. Elizabeth London
Producer: Martyn C Webster
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in April 1954.
SAT 01:30 Let's Go To Misterland (b00qm467)
Created in 1971 by Roger Hargreaves, the Mr Men books have been an inherent part of so many childhoods.
Inspired by the author's son Adam, who one day inquired, "what does a tickle look like?". and the first character was born. The Little Miss books followed ten years later, worldwide sales have exceeded 100 million, and today the brand is flourishing under its new owners.
Stephanie Flanders takes a look at the Mr Men business and its growth over the years. She speaks to Adam Hargreaves who tells us the story behind the books and what inspired his father to create such a simplistic, yet hugely influential brand.
Created in the humble surroundings of a small home office, the characters have reached a global audience, and they appeal to today's children as much as their 1970s counterparts. Despite his death in 1988, Roger Hargreaves was the third best-selling author of the past decade, outstripping such feted writers as Jacqueline Wilson, Terry Pratchett and John Grisham.
Stephanie Flanders, daughter of the actor and singer Michael Flanders, examines the appeal of the Mr Men and how these bold, colourful drawings and simple stories continue to capture children's hearts.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2010.
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b01ngrxl)
Patricia Ferguson - The Midwife's Daughter
Episode 10
By Patricia Ferguson
Read by Joanna Tope
The new novel by Patricia Ferguson is the compassionate and moving story of two sisters and the young black orphan who changes their lives.
There is wonderful news for Grace but joy is short lived. And the final truth about the past is revealed.
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane.
SAT 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04d4ppb)
A Useful Weed
At a glance, Arabidopsis thaliana (Mouse ear cress) looks little more than a tiny flowering weed. But this nondescript plant became a Rosetta stone for understanding the molecular processes underpinning many plant traits when in 2000 it became the first plant to have its genome fully sequenced.
Professor Kathy Willis hears how Arabidopsis bagged the role in plant genetics research similar to that played by mice and fruit flies in animal research, and how amidst arguments for and against the technique of modification, it became a key to introducing new characteristics in a quicker and more targeted way than traditional plant breeding.
The overall size of the Arabidopsis genome however, is not typical of many plants. We hear how a new understanding of the surprisingly diverse range of genome sizes within the plant kingdom is shedding light on the speed of a plant's ability to reproduce and adapt in changing conditions, which could play a fundamental role in decoding the patterns of plant distribution we see around the world.
With contributions from historian Jim Endersby, plant scientist Prof Liam Dolan and cytogeneticist Ilia Leitch.
Producer Adrian Washbourne.
SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b011ld49)
Kieran Prendiville - Once More with Feeling
Episode 5
By Kieran Prendiville. A comedy drama set in the no-prisoners world of northern social clubs.
Its protagonist is Les Bone, a plumber who once came within sniffing distance of the big time when his band Nuclear Dump went mega.....without him.
And now, twenty five years down the line, still unlucky in love, single-parent Les has been tossed a second chance. His kids have a boyband (even if one of them is a girl) and they're a boy short for an upcoming tour of south Yorkshire, one of the hardest enclaves in clubland.
Against all odds, the family band makes the Blackpool showcase and comedian Denny gives the performance of his life.
Cast:
Les ..... Paul Copley
Sheila ...... Belinda Everett
Elaine ...... Blue Merrick
Denny ...... Christian Rodska
Chris ...... Harry Hepple
Alan/Scotch Billy ..... Rob Hudson
Kevin ..... Brogan West
Troy ..... James Baxter
Kimberly/Nurse ..... Joan Walker
Compere ..... Kieran Prendiville
Producer/Director: Clive Brill
A Pacificus Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b0100x2x)
Ken Campbell: The Great Caper
Episode 5
Michael Coveney's biography tells the story of Campbell, the great adventurer of British theatre.
In his later work, Campbell focuses on improvisation; taking the safety-net of the script away from his performers.
Ken Campbell, who died in September 2008, was one of the great mavericks of British theatre.
Ill-suited to a role in conventional theatre, he created a risk-taking confrontational style of performance, which often explored unlikely subject matter.
He became, in director Mike Leigh's words, "The outsider's outsider"
Bob Hoskins, Bill Nighy and Jim Broadbent are amongst the performers whose formative years were spent working with Campbell. What did the director and producer bring to performance that made him such a mesmeric figure?
Writer Michael Coveney is a long-standing theatre critic, who has worked for The Financial Times, The Observer and The Daily Mail. Actor Toby Jones played Truman Capote in 'Infamous' and Swifty Lazar in 'Frost/Nixon' and recently reprised the role of Dobby in the film 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. Toby has also appeared in a production of 'The Warp' by Neil Oram, the 22-hour epic created by Ken Campbell.
Read by Toby Jones
Abridged by Pete Nichols
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 03:00 CP Snow - Strangers and Brothers (b017sv17)
Corridors of Power - The Choice
As Roger Quaife's political destiny hangs on an extraordinary Commons debate, what future for Lewis Eliot? Stars David Haig. From June 2003.
SAT 04:00 Wildbrain (b073r48v)
1997 - Heat 6
Lionel Kelleway visits Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden, to test more wildlife knowledge in the BBC Natural History Unit's quiz.
SAT 04:30 No Commitments (b007jp2j)
Series 8
My Turn Now
Anna's sisters Charlotte and Victoria are even more self-absorbed than usual. Stars Rosemary Leach. From January 2002.
SAT 05:00 1835 (b0129v0m)
Haircut Sir?
Aristocrat Belport and his servant Ned join the police force, and are called upon to solve some murders in the city of London.
But first, to meet police regulations, they must both have hair cut:s - and as luck would have it, there's a barber's on Fleet Street, run by a Mr Sweeney Todd...
Comic saga of an aristocrat and his servant who struggle to find things to do in the mid- 1830s.
Belport ...... Paul Rider
Ned ...... Jason Done
Peel ...... Roy Barraclough
Trollope ...... Simon Greenall
Sweeney Todd ...... Jonathan Keeble
Written and directed at BBC Manchester by Jim Poyser.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2004.
SAT 05:30 Wordaholics (b01s6c9z)
Series 2
Episode 4
Gyles Brandreth chairs the word-obsessed comedy panel show.
Katy Brand and Alex Horne compete with Richard Herring and Natalie Haynes for wordy supremacy.
Richard Herring decides to reclaim the word 'middle class' and tries to decipher the 16th century phrase 'a mare's nest'. Team-mate Natalie Haynes tries to get rid of the word 'decimate' and despite being a vegetarian works out what the very meaty cookery term 'barding' means.
Alex Horne comes up with the correct definition for the Victorian phrase 'a scraping castle' and asks to take the word 'a' out of the dictionary. Meanwhile, Katy Brand takes a guess at what the unit of measurement 'the Warhol' is and reveals that her favourite word is 'plop'.
Writers: Jon Hunter and James Kettle.
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2013.
SAT 06:00 Dario Fo - Accidental Death of an Anarchist (b01s63cx)
While in police custody a suspected terrorist 'fell' to his death from the fourth floor of Police HQ.
But someone, disguised as a maniac, has got into the building and is determined to find out what really happened and who is to blame...
Dario Fo's world famous comic masterpiece is a biting satire on police corruption.
Adapted by award-winning comedian Jeremy Hardy.
Adrian Edmondson ..... Maniac
Jennifer Saunders ..... Maria Feletti
Jill Gascoine ..... Superintendent
Stephen Frost ..... Inspector Bertozzo
John Forgeham ..... Inspector Pissani
Mark Steel ..... Constables
From Gillian Hanna's translation and Gavin Richards' stage adaptation.
Producer: Turan Ali.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in 1992.
SAT 07:15 Gillian Tindall - The Real Novel (b07470y5)
4 Extra Debut. A novelist, wise beyond her years, is nominated for a prize. Nothing could have prepared her for the result. Read by Nina Wadia.
SAT 07:30 Touchline Tales (b00svs5x)
Series 1
An Uproar of Butterflies
Old friends Des Lynam and Christopher Matthew head for some famous sporting venues - to enjoy, observe, reminisce and trade tales about some of the greatest pleasures in their lives. They start in south London at a Pro-Am competition at the Royal Blackheath Golf Club, claimed by some to be the oldest in the world.
As a commentator and friend of sporting stars, Des has a fund of stories to tell, and insights to reveal, about the men and women in professional sport - their lives, their characters, their training regimes, their triumphs and their disasters. But Christopher more than matches him with his own experiences as a lifelong spectator at the highest levels of sport (and, like Des, an occasional participant at the lowest), as well as with his observations on sporting events he finds himself attending for the first time.
Indeed, amusing, informative and entertaining talk between old friends is what these programmes are all about.
Recorded entirely on location, their extended discourses have been edited down to a seamless half hour - with each programme capturing the atmosphere, the passion, the frustration, the humour and, at times, the sheer quaintness, of entertainments regularly enjoyed by millions of people up and down the land.
Programme first broadcast in 2010
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
SAT 08:00 Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em - A Celebration of A Comedy Classic (b074bg38)
"Ooh Betty!" it's a celebration of the BBC's hit TV comedy about the disaster-prone lives of hapless Frank Spencer and his long-suffering wife Betty.
Created by Ray Allen, it ran for 22 episodes over three series from 1973-78, starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice - spawning a host of catchphrases and impersonators.
In this behind-the-scenes documentary, scriptwriter Ray reveals his difficulty in getting the show commissioned - and how Michael Crawford wasn't first choice to play Frank.
The show's legendary daring stunts were co-ordinated by Stuart Fell who admits it was "ambitious for the BBC" at the time. Michele Dotrice recalls how filming on the edge of a cliff was "a bit hairy" and reveals her mother's reaction when the stunt hit TV screens.
Classic clips and rare archive appearances are interwoven amongst fresh and in-depth interviews in this celebration of the BBC's comedy classic.
Presented and produced by Richard Latto.
First heard on BBC Radio Solent in 2015.
SAT 09:00 Mark Billingham's Rule Book of Crime (b01r19jd)
Best-selling crime writer Mark Billingham has always been obsessed with the creative criminal minds of the past.
Over three hours, Mark sets out to detect the clues dropped in the BBC archives, by his favourite crime writers:
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Dame Agatha Christie
Raymond Chandler
PD James
Henning Mankell
Clues that reveal why their sleuthing creations - Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Philip Marlowe, Adam Dalgliesh and Kurt Wallander - are so enduring.
Having created his own flawed crime fighter, Detective Inspector Tom Thorne, Mark’s wrestled with the thorny issue of inventing a distinctive new voice amongst a myriad of detecting greats. What’s more important, devious plotting or debauched heroes, a killer in plain sight or rug-pulling twists?
In plundering the archive for answers, Mark has uncovered a hidden BBC radio detecting gem. Debuting in the late 1970s and running for a few seasons into the 1980s, it starred an actor who could be a lead in TV classic Cathy Come Home and voice an iconic children’s cartoon. It was penned by a writer that worked on TV police dramas Z Cars and Softly Softly.
All is revealed in Mark Billingham’s Rule Book of Crime.
Producer: Peter McHugh
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in March 2013.
SAT 12:00 Beachcomber... By the Way (b008m24j)
Series 3
Episode 1
The further adventures of Mr Justice Cocklecarrot. Captain Foulenough, Dr Strabismus (whom God preserve) of Utrecht, Big White Carstairs and more...
Richard Ingrams John Wells, John Sessions , Joan Sims amd Patricia Routledge recreate the world of JB Morton.
With Brian Bowles , Simon Greenall , Henrietta Gooden and featuring June Whitfield.
Running in the Daily Express from 1924 to 1975 – JB Morton’s surreally comic ‘Beachcomber’ column paved the way for a great deal of modern humour – thanks to characters he created between the wars.
Adapted by Michael Barfield with Richard Ingrams.
Announcer: the silken tones of Brian Perkins.
Producer: Harry Thompson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1994.
SAT 12:30 Mr and Mrs Smith (b019rpw8)
The Dinner Party
A year into married life and already things are a little creaky. So, following Will's unimaginative anniversary present (a draining rack), Annabelle's signed them up for a course of marriage counselling.
Counsellor Guy mediates a recent dispute between Will and Annabelle, with flashbacks to the events that spawned the argument...
Will Smith's sitcom about a couple in marriage counselling
Will Smith ..... Will Smith
Annabelle Smith ..... Sarah Hadland
Guy ..... Paterson Joseph
Katrina ..... Tracy Wiles
Doug ..... Simon Bubb
Heather ..... Morwenna Banks
Producer: Tilusha Ghelani
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2012.
SAT 13:00 Charlotte Bronte in Babylon: Omnibus (b074bnfv)
Accused of deceit by the publisher of Jane Eyre, Charlotte and Anne Bronte head straight to London. Stars Samantha Power.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b074bnjp)
Bradley Walsh
Actor and presenter Bradley Walsh chooses 'Stranger in Paradise' by Tony Bennett and 'The Hungry Years' by Neil Sedaka.
SAT 14:15 Drama (b010t6x7)
Charlotte Jones - The Diva in Me
Phillipa spends Saturday night eating toast and fantasizing about a boy-man from Southern Electric. She can sing anything from Bjork to Bassey with a touch of Judy Garland thrown in but the world has turned its back her. Why? A comedy with music by award-winning writer Charlotte Jones.
Phillipa...Philippa Stanton
Shadwell...Stuart McLoughlin
Vicki...Sally Orrock
Gene Kelly...Daniel Rabin
Mona...Joanna Monro
Trevor...Brian Bowles
Directed by Claire Grove
This comedy with music has been specially written by award-winning playwright Charlotte Jones for actress and extraordinary mimic Philippa Stanton. Philippa sings Garland, Kitt, Boyle, Winehouse, Bjork, Gaga and Bassey. The music is woven into the narrative and is an essential part of the story because this is a woman with an extraordinary facility to recreate the voices of the famous. And although the world has turned its back on her talent she finally discovers the ingredient that makes a diva truly great.
Charlotte Jones is an outstanding dramatist whose play 'Humble Boy' for the National Theatre won Best New Play 2001, and transferred to the West End to enormous box office and critical success. Her screenplay Bessie and the Bell won won the New York Film and TV Festival Award 2006. Her comedy MARTHA JOSIE AND THE CHINESE ELVIS for the Octagon Theatre, Bolton and Liverpool Playhouse, won the 1999 TMA Best Play Award. Charlotte Jones dramatised A WOMAN IN WHITE for Andrew Lloyd Webber and Matilda for Radio 4. She is currently writing for televison.
Philippa Stanton's credits include Paula Vogel's award winning play 'How I Learned to Drive' at the Donmar Warehouse, two seasons at Shakespeare's Globe, appearing opposite Mark Rylance in 'The Golden Ass'. Her television credits include 'Jill' in both series of 'How Do You Want Me' with Dylan Moran, and 'Clara' in the BBC's Great Expectations with Ioan Gruffudd. Her film credits include: The Clandestine Marriage with Joan Collins, Nigel Hawthorne and Timothy Spall. Unconditional Love with Cathy Bates, Rupert Everett and Richard Briers and Swinging with the Finkels with Martin Freeman.
SAT 15:00 Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em - A Celebration of A Comedy Classic (b074bg38)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Dario Fo - Accidental Death of an Anarchist (b01s63cx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:15 Gillian Tindall - The Real Novel (b07470y5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]
SAT 17:30 Touchline Tales (b00svs5x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 The Twilight Zone (b074bs88)
Series 3
Static
Ed Lindsay hates the television. He prefers to escape into the past with the help of his beloved radio set.
Stars Stan Freberg. With Ann Whitney, David Darlowe, Ellie Weingardt and Bernie Landis.
Narrator: Stacy Keach.
Adapted by Dennis Etchison and written by Charles Beaumont from a story by Oceo Ritch.

Originally a cult sci-fi and horror TV series created by Rod Serling and broadcast in the USA on CBS from 1959 to 1964, The Twilight Zone was first adapted by American producer Carl Amari in 2002 as a 40-minute radio drama series.
Rod Serling had managed to electrify the new medium of television - so armed with a licence from CBS and the Serling estate, Amari's slick adaptions are based on the original TV scripts.
Actor Stacy Keach (best known here as TV detective Mike Hammer) takes Serling's original role as narrator - with a full cast, music and sound effects.
Directed and produced by Carl Amari for Falcon Picture Group.
SAT 18:40 James Follett - The Pentworth Trilogy (b007jrd7)
Temple of the Winds
Episode 3
In Pentworth, strange events continue to plague Sergeant Malone, Ellen Duncan and teenager Vikki Taylor. Read by Nigel Anthony.
SAT 19:00 Mark Billingham's Rule Book of Crime (b01r19jd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Vivian Stanshall's Radio Flashes (b04d0ksp)
Episode 2
Music, comedy and Keith Moon, courtesy of Britain's greatest eccentric. Including more from Colonel Knutt.
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band singer Vivian Stanshall took to the airwaves of BBC Radio 1 on Saturday 21 August 1971.
Over two hours, relive Vivian's mix of zany comedy and music - including his take on Dick Barton's radio serial "Breath from the Pit". Featuring drummer Keith Moon from The Who.
Vivian has previously featured on 4 Extra - thanks to his solo comedy 'Sir Henry at Rawlinson End', which originated as sessions for the John Peel Show on BBC Radio 1 in the mid-1970s.
With Chris Bowler. Produced by John Walters.


SUNDAY 20 MARCH 2016

SUN 00:00 The Twilight Zone (b074bs88)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 00:40 James Follett - The Pentworth Trilogy (b007jrd7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:40 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 Charlotte Bronte in Babylon: Omnibus (b074bnfv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (b074bnjp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Saturday]
SUN 02:15 Drama (b010t6x7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em - A Celebration of A Comedy Classic (b074bg38)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 Dario Fo - Accidental Death of an Anarchist (b01s63cx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:15 Gillian Tindall - The Real Novel (b07470y5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 Touchline Tales (b00svs5x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 Once More With Feeling: Omnibus (b011p0n5)
Twenty five years after being sacked from his band, Les Bone is going back on the road. Stars Paul Copley and Belinda Everett.
SUN 07:15 Roger Law and the Chinese Curiosities (b01k9q6z)
Series 1
Episode 1
In the first in the series, Roger Law travels to China to find out what has brought about museum fever. With new museums opening every month, he wants to know what the Chinese are displaying and why. He begins in Shanghai with a visit to an opera museum, a rather unusual shoe museum in a private house, and a security museum where all the guns of the city's gangsters are on display. It's certainly a whole new world of curiosities.
SUN 07:30 Mr Blue Sky (b01gvkw9)
Series 2
With Deepest Sympathy
Written by Andrew Collins
Harvey Easter (played by Mark Benton), 46, is the eternal optimist. He is able to see the good in every situation, the silver lining within every cloud, the bright side to every bit of bad news.
This, however, is his downfall. Someone for whom the glass is always half-full can be difficult to live with, as his wife of 19 years, Jacqui (played by Claire Skinner), knows all too well. Even as life deals Harvey and the Easter family a series of sadistic blows, Harvey looks on the positive side. It's pathological with him. The way Jax sees it, instead of dealing with the problems of their marriage and their teenage kids, Harvey's optimism is actually his way of avoiding engagement with the big issues.
Mr Blue Sky is about one man battling to remain positive in moments of crisis, and one woman battling to live with someone who has his head in the clouds.
In this episode, the Easter family travel to Middlesborough to help Harvey's miserable, hypochondriac, racist mum Lou through a difficult time, and Charlie learns about mobile phone etiquette at a Catholic funeral mass and an Italian wake.
Cast
Harvey Easter ..... Mark Benton
Jacqui Easter ..... Claire Skinner
Charlie Easter ..... Rosamund Hanson
Robbie Easter ..... Tyger Drew Honey
Kill-R ..... Javone Prince
Lou Easter .... Sorcha Cusack
Priest .... Angus Deayton
Producer: Anna Madley
An Avalon Production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 08:00 ITMA - It's That Man Again (b074bwvs)
From 14/10/1943
Can Tommy Handley find talented performers for his new entertainment venture?
ITMA proved to be one of the BBC's most popular radio comedies ever produced. It was first transmitted just before the start of the Second World War in 1939 and ran to 1949. Domestic audiences topped 20 million, and the audience worldwide was said to number 30 million. It starred Liverpudlian comic Tommy Handley, who with Ted Kavanagh created the series named after the phrase newspapers often used to describe Hitler: It's That Man Again!
The original setting on a ship was deemed inappropriate once war broke out, and was replaced with the Office Of Twerps, with Tommy as Minister of Aggravation and Mysteries. Other settings followed - a seaside resort, and a war factory which by 1943, for this run of episodes, had been turned into a hotel.
Featuring a host of supporting characters including Dorothy Summers as Mrs Mopp and Jack Train as Colonel Humphrey Chinstrap.
Producer: Francis Worsley
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in 1943.
SUN 08:30 Doctor in the House (b007jsw0)
St Swithin's
Simon Sparrow dithers over registering to train as a doctor as St Swithin's hospital in London.
The misadventures of student doctor Simon Sparrow - adapted for radio by Ray Cooney from Richard Gordon's novel 'Doctor in the House' published in 1952.
Starring Richard Briers as Simon Sparrow, Geoffrey Sumner as Sir Lancelot Spratt, Ray Cooney as Tony Benskin, Erik Chitty as the Secretary, Beth Boyd as the Sister and Michael Deacon as the Padre.
Special guest star: John le Mesurier as The Dean
Producer: David Hatch
Recorded at the BBC Paris studio in London.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1968.
SUN 09:00 Quicksand: Omnibus (b074bwvv)
Henning Mankell copes with illness by recalling his childhood and an early secret. Posthumous essays read by Tim Pigott-Smith.
SUN 10:10 Inheritance Tracks (b06p4zp4)
Anita Dobson
The actress Anita Dobson chooses 'No One But You' by Billy Eckstine and 'Young at Heart' by Frank Sinatra.
SUN 10:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b011ttxt)
Victoria Wood
From The Doobie Brothers to Tom Waits. Comedy star Victoria Wood CBE shares her castaway choices with Kirsty Young
For decades Victoria has been one of our best-loved writers and performers. Her TV highlights - Acorn Antiques, Dinnerladies and Housewife 49 - have won her a devoted following as well as stacks of awards.
But, in a moving and open interview, she describes how, as a teenager, she felt she was a misfit - she had few friends, she struggled with her weight and at school she used to steal other people's homework. She joined a youth theatre and it was, she says, the saving of her. She found like-minded people and a sense that she had something to offer.
Victoria is very careful about how much of her own life she puts into her work. She doesn't mind saying she cuts her pubic hair with nail-scissors, but rarely discusses her children on the stage.
Victoria reveals her favourite tracks, book and luxury.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2007.
SUN 11:00 The Moth Radio Hour (b074c3rc)
Series 2
London Calling - with Crossfire, and a Vampire
True stories told live: Sarah Austin Jenness introduces four tales celebrating all things British. With writer Neil Gaiman.
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 (b0100j9q)
Series 2
Hummers
Hummingbirds are given spectacular names motivated by their striking colours, patterns and shimmering metallic iridescence; their names are beautiful as are the birds.
David Attenborough has filmed them on several occasions and is fascinated by their agility and flying skills to drink nectar from flowers inaccessible to any other animal. And propelled by this rocket fuel of nature they are capable of flying great distances and living life in the fast lane.
Enchanting in this story is how moved David Attenborough is when recalling a story of their conservation; a rare piece of good news he comments.
Written and presented by Sir David Attenborough
Producer: Julian Hector
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2011.
SUN 12:00 ITMA - It's That Man Again (b074bwvs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SUN 12:30 Doctor in the House (b007jsw0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
SUN 13:00 Once More With Feeling: Omnibus (b011p0n5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 14:15 Roger Law and the Chinese Curiosities (b01k9q6z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]
SUN 14:30 Trading Futures: Omnibus (b074c3rf)
Sixty-year-old Matthew Oxenhay, sacked from his job trading commodities, must now bet on his own future. Read by Toby Jones.
SUN 15:45 Julia Darling - Pearl (b074c3rh)
A lollipop lady loves babies. That must be why she knits baby clothes for the expectant mums she sees. Read by Charlie Hardwick.
SUN 16:00 Roger Hume - The Campden Wonder (b00mrhdm)
The true account of the mysterious disappearance of William Harrison, a rent collector in the service of the Campden family in Chipping Campden in 1660.
Stars Peter Jeffrey as Sir Thomas Overbury, Richard Derrington as John Perry, Nigel Anthony as Dr Shirley, David Holt as Sly/Edward Harrison and Kim Durham as Richard/Nathan.
Written by Richard Derrington and Roger Hume.
Directed at BBC Pebble Mill by Sue Wilson.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1994
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (b074c4m0)
Consorting with Angels
BBC Radio 4's Poet in Residence, Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive.
'Consorting with Angels' features troubled model and successful poet, Anne Sexton. Despite the glamour life, Sexton was a haunted figure who suffered from mental illness. Like Sylvia Plath, Sexton also wrote verse which reflected her tormented inner life, and about women's issues. And like Plath, she eventually committed suicide.
This personal look at her life and work is told by Anne's daughters and those who knew her. Using home recorded material made available by the family, we also hear actors voicing the transcripts of psychiatric counselling sessions between Anne Sexton and Dr Martin Orne.
Producer: Charlotte Austin
First broadcast on Radio 4 in January 2010.
SUN 17:30 Mr Blue Sky (b01gvkw9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 18:00 Sheila Hodgson - Here Am I Where Are You? (b074c5ct)
The tale of a cursed professor with a special red book, his very wayward nephew and an 18th century tankard.
Written by Sheila Hodgson - based on an idea by MR James
Stars David March as James, Lockwood West as Professor Zetterholm, Susan Sheridan as Paul Mallory and Joan Newell as Mrs Marriott.
Directed by David Johnstone
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1977.
SUN 18:45 Edgar Allan Poe (b03bv04c)
The Oblong Box
A passenger on a summer voyage to New York is curious about an artist, his new wife and his strange luggage.
An Edgar Allan Poe mystery, first published in 1844.
Read by James Aubrey
Producer: James Runcie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1984.
SUN 19:00 The Moth Radio Hour (b074c3rc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 19:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b0100j9q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:50 today]
SUN 20:00 Quicksand: Omnibus (b074bwvv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SUN 21:10 Inheritance Tracks (b06p4zp4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 today]
SUN 21:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b011ttxt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:15 today]
SUN 22:00 Mr Blue Sky (b01gvkw9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 22:30 The Shuttleworths (b007jqt5)
Series 2
Shuttleworth Diplomacy
John Shuttleworth decides he's not spending enough “quality time" with his family – so sets out to be a nicer, more approachable person.
Written and performed by Graham Fellows.
Producer: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1995.
SUN 22:45 The In Crowd (b008p84t)
Series 2
Episode 5
Microwave meals, vacuum cleaners - and the surprising discoveries of a beachcomber.
Sketch show from Manchester's Comedy Store.
With Robin Ince, Helen Moon, Smug Roberts and Kate Ward.
Producer: Graham Frost
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2002.
SUN 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b074vd86)
From 10pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats to Yuriko Kotani.
SUN 23:00 Newsjack (b073r1c6)
Series 14
Episode 6
This week's stories lovingly bashed, mashed and moulded into sketches, one-liners and vox-pops written by the public. Trying to make sense of it all is our host, Nish Kumar.
We tackle Osborne's budget, Matt Le Blanc's Top Gear gaffe, and the biggest news story of all this week - Peter Stringfellow's naming ceremony in a strip club.
Nish is joined by George Fouracres, Cariad Lloyd and Dominique Moore.
Newsjack was produced by Matt Stronge and Paul Sheehan.
The Production Coordinator was Sophie Richardson.
It was a BBC Radio Comedy Production.
SUN 23:30 Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off (b007jwbg)
Series 1
Sudan
The naive Budleigh Salterton gap year student goes fishing on the African continent. Stars Marcus Brigstocke. From July 2002.


MONDAY 21 MARCH 2016

MON 00:00 Sheila Hodgson - Here Am I Where Are You? (b074c5ct)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:45 Edgar Allan Poe (b03bv04c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:45 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 Once More With Feeling: Omnibus (b011p0n5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:15 Roger Law and the Chinese Curiosities (b01k9q6z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Sunday]
MON 02:30 Trading Futures: Omnibus (b074c3rf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Sunday]
MON 03:45 Julia Darling - Pearl (b074c3rh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Roger Hume - The Campden Wonder (b00mrhdm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (b074c4m0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 Mr Blue Sky (b01gvkw9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 Paul Temple (b00rq27n)
Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case
6. A Warning from Miss Wayne
Lynn Ferguson recounts her ordeal of being kidnapped - while suave sleuth Paul Temple gets some drunken advice from Betty Wayne.
Francis Durbridge's thriller starring Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury in another intriguing case for BBC radio's smoothest investigator and his glamorous wife.
Paul Temple …. Peter Coke
Steve …. Marjorie Westbury
Lynn Ferguson …. Peggy Hassard
Charlie …. James Beattie
Sir Graham Forbes …. Lester Mudditt
Detective Inspector Kingston …. Duncan McIntyre
Betty Wayne …. Grizelda Hervey
Lance Reynolds …. Richard Williams
Dan Priestley …. Cyril Shaps
Wilfred Stirling …. Charles Leno
Louis Fabian …. Olaf Olsen
Producer: Martyn C Webster
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in May 1954.
MON 06:30 Lucifer Matches: The Letters of Charlotte Bronte (b00756cj)
4 Extra Debut. In her correspondence, Jane Eyre's creator rarely minced her words - as Bronte's biographer, Juliet Barker, reveals. From February 1998.
MON 07:00 Trapped (b0076grw)
All Downhill from Here
A group of friends are landed in a situation they're desperate to get out of - on the slopes of a ski resort.
Six black comedies by Mark Maier and Daniel Maier.
Nadine - Olivia Colman
Clare - Joanna Holden
Craig - Mark Maier
Paul - Chris Pavlo
Enzo - Daniel Maier
Producer: Alex Walsh-Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2003.
MON 07:30 Just a Minute (b0736vv2)
Series 74
Episode 4
Graham Norton, Rufus Hound, Paul Merton and Pam Ayres join host Nicholas Parsons, and attempt to speak without repetition, deviation or hesitation. Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
On the cards today Copernicus, The Rat Pack, and Toast.
MON 08:00 Dad's Army (b007jrbf)
Series 3
Turkey Dinner
Corporal Jones mistakenly shoots a bird, so the platoon hatch a plan to cook it for the old folk of Walmington-on-Sea.
The comic exploits of a Second World War Home Guard platoon.
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
Private Walker …. Larry Martyn
Vicar …. Frank Williams
Mrs Pike ...... Pearl Hackney
Mr Blewitt ...... Harold Bennett.
Announcer/Newsreader …. John Snagge
Producer: John Dyas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1976.
MON 08:30 Listen to Les (b01mxtj8)
From 03/02/1985
Les Dawson pays tribute to a sheep-headed publican and Cosmo Smallpiece looks at holidays.
With Daphne Oxenford, Eli Woods and Colin Edwynn.
Music by Brian Fitzgerald.
Scripted and produced by James Casey.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in February 1985.
MON 09:00 Quote... Unquote (b01l7mq0)
Another edition of the 48th series of Quote... Unquote, the popular quotations programme presented and devised by Nigel Rees. The guests this week are Charlie Higson, Martin Kelner, Nat Luurtsema and Stephanie Merritt. The reader is Peter Jefferson.
Producer: Ed Morrish.
MON 09:30 King Street Junior (b007jml9)
Series 6
Safety First
All go at school with a serious road accident at the gates, and a radio show for the headmaster to record. Stars Karl Howman.
MON 10:00 Laurie Lee - Cider with Rosie (b0075qkb)
Episode 1
Tim McInnerny plays Laurie and Niamh Cusack his mother, in this production recorded on location in and around the Slad valley. In the first of two episodes dramatised by Nick Darke, the Lee family arrive in their new home.
Laurie........Tim McInnerny
Mother.......Niamh Cusack
Young Loll..Sunny Leworthy
With Jennifer Compton, Paul Currier, Briony Fforde, Daniel Clifford, Lisa Kay, Laura Strachan, Jed Blacklock, David Goodland, Constance Chapman, Val Lorraine, Chris Grimes, June Barrie, James Lawton, Pupils of Rodborough Primary School.
Music by Paul Burgess
Directed by Viv Beeby and Jeremy Howe.
MON 11:00 Sophie Hannah - The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories (b074g229)
The Visitors Book, Part 1/2
Victoria's friend Aaron has moved to a two-bedroom house in Walthamstow. But why does he have a visitors book? And why is Victoria so determined not to sign it?
Tales of the supernatural in modern, everyday settings, by Sophie Hannah.
Sophie Hannah is a best-selling writer of psychological crime fiction. In 2013, her novel The Carrier won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. The Monogram Murders, a Poirot novel approved by the Agatha Christie estate, was published in 2014.
Read by Polly Frame.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Sweet Talk Productions.
MON 11:15 Colin Haydn Evans - Forest Tales (b039ljtw)
Tristan and Iselda, by Colin Haydn Evans
Princess Iselda is betrothed to the old King, but doesn't want to marry him. When his son arrives to collect her, she takes drastic action - in this traveller's tale told by Guy.
14th-century France: in the mysterious Forest of Lussac, fleeing plague and war, five travellers (Guy, Constance, Gerard, Dame Ghislaine and Joan) tell tales to dispel the night shadows. But outside the firelight someone else is listening...
Three-part drama by Colin Haydn Evans.
Starring Michael Povey as Gerard, John Webb as Guy, Christine Pritchard as Dame Ghislane, Richard Elfyn as Tristan, Manon Edwards as Melusine, Elusine Jones as Constance and Julie Higginson as Iselda.
Director: Alison Hindell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
MON 12:00 Dad's Army (b007jrbf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 Listen to Les (b01mxtj8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 Paul Temple (b00rq27n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 Lucifer Matches: The Letters of Charlotte Bronte (b00756cj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 HE Bates - Sugar for the Horse (b007jvls)
The Widder
The incorrigible Uncle Silas heads off to sup wine with a widow.
David Neal reads the first of five stories featuring one of HE Bates' best-loved characters - Uncle Silas, who lived a life of wine, women and constant sunshine in an idyllic part of the English countryside.
Producer: Cherry Cookson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1992.
MON 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dk87y)
A Blooming Tree of Life
The new science of DNA sequencing during the 1990's would not only lead to the mapping of complete human and plant genomes but it was to also revolutionise the classification for flowering plants. For the first time, rather than the 200 year old tradition of classifying plants just on their shape and structures, scientists could begin to infer how closely plants were related by examining the differences in DNA between different families and species.
Kathy Willis examines the story of how new connections between plants were uncovered that appearance alone could never have suggested. She talks to Kew's Mark Chase, leader of the Angiosperm Plant Phylogeny Group - an international group of scientists who pioneered this work, and hears how this molecular analysis was to rewrite some of the many assumptions that we've made about close relationships within and between plant families.
Kathy also hears from plant morphologist Paula Rudell on how detailed pollen analysis was to back up some of the controversial findings that this work was suggesting The practical implications of this new way of classifying are huge and could open the way to identifying new plants for medicinal use, and help accurately determine the ability of plants to withstand future environmental change.
With additional contributions from Kew taxonomist Gwil Lewis and historian Jim Endersby
Producer Adrian Washbourne.
MON 14:30 Ladies of Letters (b007jwcq)
Ladies of Letters Spring Clean
Episode 1
Irene and Vera's mutual suitor falls ill. Carole Hayman and Lou Wakefield's comedy with Patricia Routledge and Prunella Scales.
MON 14:45 Book of the Week (b06mc8jf)
Charlotte Bronte: A Life
Childhood
Hattie Morahan reads Claire Harman's new and intimate biography of Charlotte Bronte, one of the nation's greatest novelists. This vivid and complex portrait is published ahead of the two hundredth anniversary of the writer's birth in April 2016.
The events of Charlotte Bronte's life - her motherless childhood on the Yorkshire moors, the early and tragic deaths of her beloved siblings and a great and unrequited love - all found their way into her novels. Claire Harman unravels the complexities of Bronte's life to reveal a fiercely passionate and determined woman who gave us some of our best loved novels and heroines, most famously Jane Eyre.
Claire Harman is an acclaimed and award winning biographer. Her books include Sylvia Townsend Warner, Fanny Burney, Robert Louis Stevenson and Jane's Fame which tells the story of Jane Austen's renown.
Hattie Morahan is an award winning actress of the stage and screen and has appeared in television dramas including, Sense and Sensibility, Lark Rise to Candleford and The Outcast. She won Best Actress at the 2012 Evening Standard Awards and the 2012 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for her performance as Nora in The Doll's House.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
MON 15:00 Laurie Lee - Cider with Rosie (b0075qkb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 Quote... Unquote (b01l7mq0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 King Street Junior (b007jml9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 Trapped (b0076grw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 Just a Minute (b0736vv2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (b007k0wz)
3. Vampires
Tortured by memories, Robert Neville, Earth's last living man, steps up his fight against the vampires.
Richard Matheson's 1954 cult classic set in 1976 USA. One of the 20th century's most significant vampire novels, combining sci-fi and horror.
Read by Angus McInnes.
Abridged by Scott Stainton Miller.
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
Made for BBC 7 by BBC Scotland and first broadcast in January 2006.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (b00763tc)
John Peel & Arabella Weir
Matthew Parris and his guests - broadcaster John Peel and comic actress Arabella Weir - discuss favourite books by Tracy Chevalier, Joshua Slocum and Arthur Mathews.
Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Publisher: Harper Collins
Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum
Publisher: Adlard Coles Nautical
Well Remembered Days by Arthur Mathews.
Publisher: Macmillan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2001.
MON 19:00 Dad's Army (b007jrbf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Listen to Les (b01mxtj8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 Paul Temple (b00rq27n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 Lucifer Matches: The Letters of Charlotte Bronte (b00756cj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 Sophie Hannah - The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories (b074g229)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:15 Colin Haydn Evans - Forest Tales (b039ljtw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
MON 22:00 Just a Minute (b0736vv2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b01phhb3)
Series 5
Meera Syal
Marcus Brigstocke invites actress Meera Syal to try new experiences.
How did she get on watching her first football match?
Series in which guests experience new things and give their verdicts to Marcus Brigstocke – and explain why they've waited so long to do it.
Producer: Bill Dare
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2013.
MON 23:00 The Now Show (b073bb5c)
Series 48
Episode 3
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by Andy Zaltzman, Lucy Porter, Mitch Benn and Freya Parker to present the week in news through stand-up and sketches.
This week the gang take a look at the winners and losers from the Budget 2016, Andy Zaltzman makes an argument for sport to save us all, Lucy Porter lays out her plans to open an academy school and Steve and Hugh discuss how the impending EU referendum is viewed from across the English Channel with the UK Correspondent for De Spiegel magazine Christoph Scheuermann.
MON 23:30 Elvenquest (b016pynv)
Series 3
Episode 3
The Questers continue their search for the Sword of Asnagar, the only weapon capable of ridding their land from the tyranny of the evil Lord Darkness.
Now they must take a short cut through the mysterious mines of Grazak-Dun. But the only man who can help them enter the mines is the Master Stonemason of Grazak-Dun. Luckily, he also happens to be Dean's dad.
Problem is, Dean's dad hates Dean. So the Questers must hatch a plan that'll help Dean win back the respect of his father...
Meanwhile, Lord Darkness is given the honour of writing the "Big Book of Evil", a task which he takes on with relish. But he soon finds that, as everyone knows, it's one thing to say you'll write a book, and quite another to actually sit down and write one...
Fantasy-based sitcom set in Lower Earth written by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto.
Vidar ...... Darren Boyd
Dean/Kreech ...... Kevin Eldon
Amis, aka The Chosen One ...... Dave Lamb
Sam ...... Stephen Mangan
Lord Darkness ...... Alistair McGowan
Little Dick ...... John Sessions
Penthiselea ...... Sophie Winkleman
Producer: Sam Michell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2011.


TUESDAY 22 MARCH 2016

TUE 00:00 I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (b007k0wz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b00763tc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Paul Temple (b00rq27n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 Lucifer Matches: The Letters of Charlotte Bronte (b00756cj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 HE Bates - Sugar for the Horse (b007jvls)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dk87y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 Ladies of Letters (b007jwcq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:45 Book of the Week (b06mc8jf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Laurie Lee - Cider with Rosie (b0075qkb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Quote... Unquote (b01l7mq0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 King Street Junior (b007jml9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 Trapped (b0076grw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 Just a Minute (b0736vv2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Paul Temple (b00rqjm4)
Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case
7. The Note
Detective Inspector Kingston shares his murder theory with the debonair sleuth - whilst Steve gets a shock.
Francis Durbridge's thriller starring Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury in another intriguing case for BBC radio's smoothest investigator and his glamorous wife.
Paul Temple …. Peter Coke
Steve …. Marjorie Westbury
Louis Fabian …. Olaf Olsen
Charlie …. James Beattie
Detective Inspector Kingston …. Duncan McIntyre
Lance Reynolds …. Richard Williams
Betty Wayne …. Grizelda Hervey
Producer: Martyn C. Webster
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in May 1954.
TUE 06:30 Never Mind the Bhangra (b00tcs23)
Adil Ray takes a light-hearted look at how the lack of brown faces in rock and pop has mortified and marginalised generations of music-loving Asian kids in Britain. He talks to famous British Asians about why there have been so few Asians in popular music, and finds out why Bhangra and Bollywood can never be enough.
East Enders star Nitin Ganatra talks about growing up in the 1970s in a racist area of Coventry where his parents ran a corner shop. Comedian Paul Sinha remembers being a chess-loving academic kid who didn't care about liking cool music. Presenters Anita Rani and Hardeep Singh Kohli discuss being called a "coconut" - brown on the outside but white on the inside - for liking rock and indie music.
We also hear from newsreader Mishal Husain; writer Sathnam Sanghera and Goodness Gracious Me star Kulvinder Ghir about musical passions, parental tensions and the struggle to fit in and be accepted in Britain.
Helped by former NME writer and now editor of The Guardian Guide, Malik Meer, Adil charts the journey of Asians in British music from Freddie Mercury - who rarely mentioned his Indian heritage - through the rise of the Asian Underground to modern day superstars like MIA. We hear from Talvin Singh as well as upcoming artists Nadine Shah and Prash Mistry from Engine Earz Experiment.
Presenter and comedy writer Adil Ray was a key figure on the BBC Asian Network for nine years, most recently on the Breakfast Show which he left in June 2010. He has also been a regular on BBC Radio 5 live's Fighting Talk and presented various Radio 4 documentaries including the series Picturing Britain. He was a presenter on BBC Two's Arts show DesiDNA and the RTS award-nominated show Is it Cos I Is Black? for BBC Three. He has recently appeared on the BBC Two comedy show Bellamy's People.
Producer: Vernee Samuel
An AlFi Media production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 07:00 55 and Over (b01p09pb)
3. Offspring?
With new partners on the scene the possibility of progeny suddenly seems more likely. But not everyone is so keen on later-in-life breeding.
Juliet Stevenson and Philip Jackson star in Peter Souter's comedy about love, sex and other foolhardy mistakes made by the modern 50pluser.
Jane ..... Juliet Stevenson
Ray ..... Philip Jackson
Tony ..... Patrick Brennan
Heather ..... Liza Sadovy
Honey ..... Stephanie Racine
Sam ..... Adam Nagaitis
Dr Miller ..... Robert Blythe
Portia ..... Sarah Thom
Director: Helen Perry.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2012.
TUE 07:30 Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting (b00g2glw)
Series 1
999 Emergency
Linda's procrastinating live-in builder finds fame and neighbour Betty's got worries.
Comedy series written by and starring Linda Smith.
With Femi Elufowoju Jr, Martin Hyder, Margaret John, Chris Neill and Mark Steel.
Producer: Lucy Armitage
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2001.
TUE 08:00 Round the Horne (b00svbbs)
Series 4
Episode 6
Kenneth Horne's in for a shock from sneaky Kenneth Williams in 'Big Broads Don't Squeal' - and bona gifts galore from Julian and Sandy.
With Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick and Betty Marsden.
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.
Written by Barry Took, Johnnie Mortimer, Brian Cooke and Donald Webster.
Music by The Max Harris Group.
Producer: John Simmonds
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in March 1968.
TUE 08:30 The Men from the Ministry (b013dzmy)
Food for Thought
The antics of the bungling bureaucrats attract some sinister interest from abroad...
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 April 1973.
TUE 09:00 The Now Show (b073bb5c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:30 Mr and Mrs Smith (b01b9kdj)
Sally's Birthday
Will and Annabelle attend her mum's 60th Birthday Party. Will makes an effort to get on with his straight talking father-in-law John.
Will Smith's sitcom about a couple in marriage counselling,
Counsellor Guy must mediate another dispute between Will and Annabelle, with flashbacks to the events that spawned the argument, and by the end, the couple find marital equilibrium once more. Sort of.
Will Smith ..... Will Smith
Annabelle Smith ..... Sarah Hadland
Guy ..... Paterson Joseph
John ..... Geoffrey Whitehead
Sally ..... Susie Blake
Shop Assistant ..... Tracy Wiles
Producer: Tilusha Ghelani
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2012.
TUE 10:00 Laurie Lee - Cider with Rosie (b00757rv)
Episode 2
In the second of two episodes dramatised by Nick Darke, young Loll experiences his first taste of the adult world.
Laurie.................Tim McInnerny
Mother................Niamh Cusack
Young Loll...........Sunny Leworthy
Rosie..................Emily Parrish
with Jennifer Compton, Paul Currier, Lisa Kay, Briony Fforde, Daniel Clifford, Jed Blacklock, David Goodland, Bill Wallis, Paul Dodgson, June Barrie, Chris Grimes, Megan Melish, Laura Beckett, Luke Glastonbury-Cole, Buster Reece, Alex Smith, Leanne French, Villagers of Slad and Rodborough.
Music by Paul Burgess
Directed by Viv Beeby and Jeremy Howe
Repeated Saturday 9.00 p.m.
TUE 11:00 Sophie Hannah - The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories (b074gntd)
The Visitors Book, Part 2/2
Victoria investigates why Aaron has called his house Netterden.
Tales of the supernatural in modern, everyday settings, by Sophie Hannah.
Sophie Hannah is a best-selling writer of psychological crime fiction. In 2013, her novel The Carrier won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. The Monogram Murders, a Poirot novel approved by the Agatha Christie estate, was published in 2014.
Read by Polly Frame.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Sweet Talk Productions.
TUE 11:15 Colin Haydn Evans - Forest Tales (b039ljv1)
A Tale of Three Beds
A cheery bedroom romp from Romania told by Constance entertains the fugitives, while Melusine's presence still haunts them.
14th-century France: In the mysterious Forest of Lussac, fleeing plague and war, five travellers tell tales to dispel the night shadows. But outside the firelight someone else is listening.
Three-part drama by Colin Haydn Evans.
Starring Eluned Jones as Constance, Michael Povey as Gerard, John Webb as Guy, Christine Pritchard as Dame Ghislane, Richard Elfyn as Tristan, Manon Edwards as Melusine, Lynne Seymour as Nicola, Nia Davis as Joan, Lynn Hunter as Wife, John Hartley as Innkeeper, Rolant Prys as Arianno and Keiron Self as Pennuchio.
Director: Alison Hindell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
TUE 12:00 Round the Horne (b00svbbs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 The Men from the Ministry (b013dzmy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Paul Temple (b00rqjm4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 Never Mind the Bhangra (b00tcs23)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 HE Bates - Sugar for the Horse (b007jvlz)
The Blue Feather
Loveable rogue Uncle Silas gets caught poaching. HE Bates's country tale is read by David Neal. From September 1992.
TUE 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dm6v3)
Dynamic Rainforest
Palms provide many basic necessities and are collectively one of the most important plants families after grasses and legumes. In 2007 and extraordinary new find came to light when a French plantation manager in Madagascar, came across a new species of palm tree 18metres high and with a 5m leaf span - visible from Google Earth. The palm family continues to grow at a rapid rate As new species make themselves known to science it's becoming vital to appreciate their potential uses. Discoveries are also helping to shed light on the "palm tree of life".
Professor Kathy Willis meets Head of Palms at Kew, Bill Baker, to examine how new technology such as DNA sequencing has come to provide an amazing evolutionary record of palms over timescales greater than the fossil record can offer. Crucially, it's beginning to show when the diversification of palms began. In doing so, the genetic analysis is beginning to rewrite our understanding of the origins of the rainforest and looking to favour Alfred Russel Wallace's overlooked "museum model " of the evolution of ancient rainforests.
With additional contributions from head of the Kew Palm House Scott Taylor, and former Head of Palms at Kew, John Dransfield
Producer Adrian Washbourne.
TUE 14:30 Ladies of Letters (b007jwcw)
Ladies of Letters Spring Clean
Episode 2
Wires get crossed as the emails fly. Meanwhile poor Edward is in hospital. Comedy with Patricia Routledge and Prunella Scales.
TUE 14:45 Book of the Week (b06nbylv)
Charlotte Bronte: A Life
Roe Head School
Hattie Morahan reads Claire Harman's new and intimate portrait of Charlotte Bronte. The biography of one of our greatest novelists looks ahead to the two hundredth anniversary of her birth in April 2016. Today, a decision to write to the poet laureate, Robert Southey, yields a surprising response. Meanwhile, the fourteen year old Charlotte begins life at Roe Head School as a pupil before returning as an intransigent teacher.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson.
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
TUE 15:00 Laurie Lee - Cider with Rosie (b00757rv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 Foul Play (b00jh5hn)
Series 3
Death By a Short Head
Crime writers Lady Antonia Fraser and Anthony Price try to solve the mystery death of a top jockey.
With the help of witnesses played by Maria McErlane and Lee Simpson.
Murder mystery panel game devised, written and chaired by Simon Brett.
Producer: Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1997.
TUE 16:30 Mr and Mrs Smith (b01b9kdj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
TUE 17:00 55 and Over (b01p09pb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting (b00g2glw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (b007k0y9)
4. Distraction
Earth's last living man, Robert Neville, edges towards a cure, but then he gets distracted.
Richard Matheson's 1954 cult classic set in 1976 USA. One of the 20th century's most significant vampire novels, combining sci-fi and horror.
Read by Angus McInnes.
Abridged by Scott Stainton Miller.
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
Made for BBC 7 by BBC Scotland and first broadcast in January 2006.
TUE 18:30 The Palace of Laughter (b007wld9)
Series 1
Belfast Grand Opera House
Geoffrey Wheeler is in Belfast meeting staff and performers at the Grand Opera House, which emerged from the Troubles as a symbol of the city's regeneration.
Mike Harding and Jimmy Cricket are among those recalling their experiences at this classic theatre built by Frank Matcham in 1895.
Series visiting variety theatres around the United Kingdom.
Producer: Libby Cross
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2002.
TUE 19:00 Round the Horne (b00svbbs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 The Men from the Ministry (b013dzmy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Paul Temple (b00rqjm4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 Never Mind the Bhangra (b00tcs23)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 Sophie Hannah - The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories (b074gntd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 21:15 Colin Haydn Evans - Forest Tales (b039ljv1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
TUE 22:00 Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting (b00g2glw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 Tim FitzHigham: The Gambler (b041vcqw)
Series 1
Episode 4
Comedian and adventurer Tim FitzHigham recreates an 18th Century bet, attempting to travel 25mph on water using only the means available to a gentleman in 1765.
History books record of the original attempt, "Something snapped, there was a fatality and the wager was abandoned."
Written by and starring Tim FitzHigham.
Additional material written by Jon Hunter and Paul Byrne.
Producer: Colin Anderson.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2014.
TUE 23:00 World of Pub (b007v1dk)
Series 2
Episode 4
Dodgy Phil lays on an unusual awards ceremony to improve the faded fortunes of Barry and Garry's pub.
Tony Roche's comedy about the world's worst pub in London's East End.
Dodgy Phil ...... John Thomson
Barry ...... Phil Cornwell
Garry ...... Alistair McGowan
Bob ...... Tony Roche
With Debra Stephenson and Simon Greenall.
Special effects: Carl Phillips and Nick Romero.
Music: Bill Bailey
Producer: Jane Berthoud
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1999.
TUE 23:30 Think the Unthinkable (b00cttcm)
Series 2
Christmas Party
The consultants' drunken office party looks like a recipe for festive disaster. Starring Marcus Brigstocke. From December 2002.


WEDNESDAY 23 MARCH 2016

WED 00:00 I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (b007k0y9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 The Palace of Laughter (b007wld9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Paul Temple (b00rqjm4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 Never Mind the Bhangra (b00tcs23)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 HE Bates - Sugar for the Horse (b007jvlz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dm6v3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 Ladies of Letters (b007jwcw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Book of the Week (b06nbylv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Laurie Lee - Cider with Rosie (b00757rv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 Foul Play (b00jh5hn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Mr and Mrs Smith (b01b9kdj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 55 and Over (b01p09pb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting (b00g2glw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Paul Temple (b00rs2dd)
Paul Temple and the Gilbert Case
8. The Guilty Party
Suave Paul Temple sets up a cocktail party - aiming to solve the case once and for all.
Francis Durbridge's thriller starring Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury in another intriguing case for BBC radio's smoothest investigator and his glamorous wife.
Paul Temple …. Peter Coke
Steve …. Marjorie Westbury
Betty Wayne …. Grizelda Hervey
Lance Reynolds …. Richard Williams
Sir Graham Forbes …. Lester Mudditt
Detective Inspector Kingston …. Duncan McIntyre
Louis Fabian …. Olaf Olsen
Wilfred Stirling …. Charles Leno
Detective Sergeant Johnson …. Alec Ross
Producer: Martyn C Webster
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in May 1954.
WED 06:30 Peter Coke and the Paul Temple Affair (b007jw9v)
The man behind radio's most debonair sleuth, actor Peter Coke talks to Michaela Saunders.
With the help of clips - from explosions to cocktail parties - Peter reveals how he got the part of Paul Temple - and ' By Timothy!' what does he really think of his famous catchphrase? He also reveals what Paul Temple's creator Francis Durbridge thought of a spoof episode they recorded.
Michaela also discovers what the actor got up to after his Paul Temple days.
Peter Coke died in 2008 aged 95.
Producer: Ben Motley
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in 2005.
WED 07:00 The Brothers (b00pcn0m)
Series 3
Mix Tape
Despite a new office, Nigel and Michael still struggle with life. Stars Raymond Coulthard and Adam Godley. From February 2007.
WED 07:30 Chain Reaction (b0738kq0)
Series 11
Victoria Coren-Mitchell interviews Sandi Toksvig
Writer and presenter Victoria Coren-Mitchell asks the questions to comedian and writer, Sandi Toksvig about her long career in broadcasting, her foray into politics and gets some advice on how to behave when you're staying at the Icelandic Prime Minister's house.
Chain Reaction is the long running hostless chat show where this week's interviewee becomes next week's interviewer.
Victoria Coren-Mitchell is a columnist for The Observer and GQ amongst other publications and has presented myriad documentaries on subjects as varied as The Bohemians and Mary Poppins. As well as a prolific writing career, she keeps order on the popular and fiendishly difficult television quiz, 'Only Connect'. She is also well-known as one of the world's top professional poker players and has achieved huge success at the card table.
Sandi Toksvig is a prolific writer and broadcaster who chaired the News Quiz on BBC Radio 4 for nine years and over 220 episodes. In 2015 she was a founder member of the Women's Equality Party and was named new host of the long-running BBC TV series, QI.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Radio Comedy production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in March 2016.
WED 08:00 The Navy Lark (b01k7g25)
Series 6
Stormy Weather
A firm ultimatum for Leslie, as HMS Troutbridge is ordered to sea.

Stars Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Stephen Murray as the Number One, Richard Caldicote as Captain Povey, Heather Chasen as Heather, Ronnie Barker as AS Johnson, Tenniel Evans as the Admiral and Michael Bates as Lieutenant Bates.

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 November 1963.
WED 08:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b0139bkv)
Series 8
Episode 7
The show's listeners go on strike - and a legendary royal's in marrying mode.
Starring Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Sketches written by Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and Jo Kendall
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 1970.
WED 09:00 It's Not What You Know (b037hmyc)
Series 2
Episode 4
Who is Nick Helm's all time hero? What is the most embarrassing thing Isy Suttie's mum ever did? Who would play Dougie Anderson in the film of his life?
All these questions, and more, will be answered in the show hosted by Miles Jupp, where panellists are tested on how well they know their nearest and dearest.
Producer: Sam Michell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2013.
WED 09:30 The Fall of the Mausoleum Club (b007jqgp)
The Pet and the Pendulum
Dr Vestler's inhuman hopping skills reveal an unholy project involving animals. Stars Jim Broadbent. From September 1988.
WED 10:00 Home Front (b06kv6s3)
21 December 1915 - Florrie Wilson (Season 6 start)
The first episode of Season 6: on this day, as Folkestone began to recover from a major landslide, it appears that the Wilsons have all developed little rituals.


Written by Richard Monks
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
WED 11:00 Sophie Hannah - The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories (b074j5tm)
The Last Boy to Leave
Max's home birthday party has been riotous. But who is the courteous little boy who hasn't yet been taken home?
Tales of the supernatural in modern, everyday settings, by Sophie Hannah.
Sophie Hannah is a best-selling writer of psychological crime fiction. In 2013, her novel The Carrier won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. The Monogram Murders, a Poirot novel approved by the Agatha Christie estate, was published in 2014.
Read by Polly Frame.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Sweet Talk Productions.
WED 11:15 Colin Haydn Evans - Forest Tales (b039ljv3)
The Story of Melusine
Ghislaine tells how the water spirit married Raymond of Poitou and gave birth to his children. And how he broke a vow.
14th-century France: In the mysterious Forest of Lussac, fleeing plague and war, five travellers tell tales to dispel the night shadows. But outside the firelight someone else is listening.
Conclusion of the three-part drama by Colin Haydn Evans.
Starring Manon Edwards as Melusine, Michael Povey as Gerard, John Webb as Guy, Christine Pritchard as Dame Ghislane, Eluned Jones as Constance, Geraint Owen as Raymond and Nia Davis as Joan,
Director: Alison Hindell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
WED 12:00 The Navy Lark (b01k7g25)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b0139bkv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Paul Temple (b00rs2dd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 Peter Coke and the Paul Temple Affair (b007jw9v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 HE Bates - Sugar for the Horse (b007jvm8)
Queenie White
Mischievous Uncle Silas recalls an amorous brush with a buxom publican's wife. HE Bates's country tale read by David Neal. From September 1992.
WED 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dmxwg)
Capture and Drawdown
In 2005 a landmark study was published which changed the political landscape for conservation, probably for ever. Rather than viewing biodiversity as something to be conserved for conservation's sake, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment started to assess the contributions that biodiversity makes to human livelihoods and well-being. These include regulating services ( such as modulating climate), cultural services (the spiritual, educational and recreational value) and provisioning services (the biodiversity that provides food, fresh water, and fuel).
Professor Kathy Willis examines the first of these new approaches to biodiversity conservation by firstly assessing the role plants play in regulating our atmospheric carbon dioxide. She talks to Yadvinder Mahli on the importance of trees in drawing down and capturing carbon and on new understandings in where the effect is most apparent on our planet.
But how we view ecosystems at the landscape scale is equally important if plants are to flourish in this capacity and recent reduction in vital plant pollination services are proving to be poorly understood .
But as Kathy Willis hears from chemistry ecologist Phil Stevenson, one of several approaches in improving the memory of bees that account for 30% of plant pollination could have a dramatic and significant effect in securing this vital function.
Producer: Adrian Washbourne.
WED 14:30 Ladies of Letters (b007jwd0)
Ladies of Letters Spring Clean
Episode 3
Confusion and recriminations fly as Irene and Vera correspond across the miles. Stars Prunella Scales and Patricia Routledge.
WED 14:45 Book of the Week (b06nbz4h)
Charlotte Bronte: A Life
In a Strange Land
Hattie Morahan reads Claire Harman's new and intimate biography of Charlotte Bronte which looks ahead to the two hundredth anniversary, in April 2016 of one of our greatest novelists. Today, Charlotte and Emily Bronte travel to Brussels to attend school at the Pensionnat Heger. Here Charlotte is powerfully and hauntingly attracted to her charismatic tutor.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
WED 15:00 Home Front (b06kv6s3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 It's Not What You Know (b037hmyc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 The Fall of the Mausoleum Club (b007jqgp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 The Brothers (b00pcn0m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 Chain Reaction (b0738kq0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (b00cfzw4)
5. Hunting
Earth's last living man, Robert Neville, steps up his hunt for the root of the plague.
Richard Matheson's 1954 cult classic set in 1976 USA. One of the 20th century's most significant vampire novels, combining sci-fi and horror.
Read by Angus McInnes.
Abridged by Scott Stainton Miller.
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
Made for BBC 7 by BBC Scotland and first broadcast in January 2006.
WED 18:30 Off the Page (b00771dl)
Telephones
Dominic Arkwright, Ben Goldacre, Sophie Borland and Joe Queenan discuss the cultural impact of the telephone. From November 2006.
WED 19:00 The Navy Lark (b01k7g25)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b0139bkv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Paul Temple (b00rs2dd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 Peter Coke and the Paul Temple Affair (b007jw9v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Sophie Hannah - The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories (b074j5tm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 21:15 Colin Haydn Evans - Forest Tales (b039ljv3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
WED 22:00 Chain Reaction (b0738kq0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 Seekers (b03c4htz)
Series 1
The Diary
Stuart is concerned that the gift he left Nicola in her desk drawer could be misinterpreted.
In fact, it's the worst gift in the history of gifts. Joe, uncharacteristically, offers to help and retrieve the gift (during a diversion created by Gary Probert). Joe only manages to make matters worse - or does he? Stuart could actually be finally getting somewhere with Nicola.
Steven Burge’s comedy about the staff and the clients who frequent a Job Centre in the Essex town of Rayleigh.
Starring Matthew Horne and Daniel Mays.
Stuart ...... Mathew Horne
Joe ...... Daniel Mays
Terry ...... Tony Way
Nicola ...... Zahra Ahmadi
Mr Rutherford ...... Alex Lowe
Mr Knowledge ...... Alex Lowe
Gary Probert ...... Steve Oram
Mrs Rossiter ...... Hannah Wood
Producer: Katie Tyrrell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2013.
WED 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b074v6hj)
The best in contemporary comedy. Isy Suttie is joined by Rob Deering.
WED 23:00 The Masterson Inheritance (b007jsmr)
Series 1
The Curse of the Mastersons
1760: Aristocratic rabbits and emancipation?
An improvised historical saga of a family at war with itself - based entirely on audience suggestions.
Starring Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Caroline Quentin, Jim Sweeney and Phelim McDermott.
Producer: Phil Clarke
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1993.
WED 23:30 At Home With The Snails (b00cbcpb)
Series 2
Episode 4
After faking their deaths, can George and Beverly finally manage to reunite their family?
Conclusion of Gerard Foster's comedy drama
George ..... Geoffrey Palmer
Beverley ..... Angela Thorne
Alex ..... Gerard Foster
Rose ..... Miranda Hart
Hosana ..... Debra Stephenson
Leboeuf ..... Dave Lamb
Yates ..... Tim Verrinder
Producer: Jane Berthoud
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2002.


THURSDAY 24 MARCH 2016

THU 00:00 I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (b00cfzw4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 Off the Page (b00771dl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Paul Temple (b00rs2dd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 Peter Coke and the Paul Temple Affair (b007jw9v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 HE Bates - Sugar for the Horse (b007jvm8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dmxwg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 Ladies of Letters (b007jwd0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Book of the Week (b06nbz4h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Home Front (b06kv6s3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 It's Not What You Know (b037hmyc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 The Fall of the Mausoleum Club (b007jqgp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 The Brothers (b00pcn0m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 Chain Reaction (b0738kq0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 VI Warshawski (b007jnjn)
Deadlock
A Hero's Death
At the funeral of her ice-hockey hero cousin, private eye V I Warshawski gets suspicious. Was his death really an accident?
Sara Paretsky's thriller stars Kathleen Turner as VI Warshawski. With Eleanor Bron as Lottie, William Hootkins as Bobby Mallory, James Aubrey as Martin Bledsoe, Peter Marinker as Nils Greyfalk, Teresa Gallagher as Paige Carrington and William Roberts as Clayton Phillips.
Sara Paretsky has created one of the most popular female sleuths in modern crime-fiction. Her heroine, VI Warshawski, is a strong female character in a male-dominated world. VI is comfortable packing heat and trailing nasty suspects but she never loses touch with her basic femininity. Paretsky says of her Warshawski: "I was troubled by the way women were portrayed in (detective fiction) they always seemed either evil or powerless. I thought it was time for a tough, smart, likeable female private investigator".
Kathleen Turner also starred in the same role in the 1991 film 'VI Warshawski'.
Dramatised by Michelene Wandor.
Director: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1993.
THU 06:30 Bryn Terfel Masters Wine (b00m83p0)
Opera singer Bryn Terfel explores his love of wine and attempts to become a master sommelier. Taking a break from the stage, Bryn meets some of the world's finest wine experts and finds out what the role of sommelier involves, from tasting to service to food matching.
Featuring contributions from wine writer Sarah Ahmed, chief examiner for The Court of Master Sommeliers Brian Julyan, managing director of Cullen Wines Vanya Cullen, sommelier at Gidleigh Park Restaurant Edouard Oger, restaurant manager at High Timber Restaurant Neleen Strauss and Master of Wine at Berry Bros Alun Griffiths.
A Parrog production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 07:00 PG Wodehouse (b00c075v)
What Ho! Jeeves: Joy in the Morning
Jeeves Sails into Action
Furious Uncle Percy gets trapped and Bertie Wooster tries to avoid getting arrested!
Conclusion of the PG Wodehouse romp adapted in seven-parts by Chris Miller.
Starring Michael Hordern as Jeeves, Richard Briers as Bertie Wooster, Jonathan Cecil as Boko Fittleworth, Peter Woodthorpe as Percy, Lord Worplesden, Rosalind Adams as Nobby Hopwood and Michael Kilgarriff as Stilton Cheesewright.
Producer: Simon Brett
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978.
THU 07:30 Hal (b04p5vl1)
Series 1
Career
Comedian Hal Cruttenden stars as a stay at home father who is having a mid-life crisis.
Written by Hal Cruttenden and Dominic Holland.
WIth Dominic Holland, Ronni Ancona, Ed Byrne, Anna Crilly, Jonathan Kydd, Gavin Webster, Dominic Frisby, Samuel Caseley, Lucy Robbins and Emily Robbins.
Hal stars as himself, married to Sam and father to two lovely girls. The problem is that, as Sam's career blossoms internationally and daughters Lilly and Molly grow up and are no longer dependent on their loving and caring father, Hal feels restless.
So, with the help of his ever unreliable mates Doug, Fergus and Barry, Hal decides to try new things in his life. But, inevitably, things don't go to plan!
Further challenges come from Hal's now deceased father, who was a true adventurer and all-round hero (something his son sadly is not) and is starting to appear to Hal at the most inopportune times to give unwelcome advice.
In this opening episode, Hal is arranging a special romantic getaway for Sam with some difficulty, Lilly and Molly are becoming almost strangers to Hal, his friend Fergus thinks he's finally found love, and Hal is forced to replace Sam in making a talk at the girls' school as Sam has to go on a work trip abroad.
Producer: Paul Russell
An Open Mike production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in November 2014.
THU 08:00 Steptoe and Son (b007k4gh)
Series 6
And So to Bed
Harold hopes a brand new bed will impress his girlfriends.
Starring Wilfrid Brambell as Albert and Harry H Corbett as Harold.
Written for TV and adapted for radio by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Albert ...... Wilfrid Brambell
Harold ...... Harry H Corbett
Marissa Wrigley ...... Norma Ronald
Salesman ...... Michael Burlington
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.
Producer: Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in March 1976.
THU 08:30 Radio Active (b008pc9s)
Series 4
Salute to New York
It's Radio Active's live transatlantic link-up with the Big Apple, but sadly Mike Channel is stuck behind in the UK studio.
Starring:
Helen Atkinson-Wood
Angus Deayton
Geoffrey Perkins
Philip Pope
Michael Fenton-Stevens
Music by Philip Pope and Steve Brown.
Written by Angus Deayton and Geoffrey Perkins. With Jon Canter, Moray Hunter, John Docherty, Roger Planer and Mark Smith.
Producer: Jamie Rix
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1984.
THU 09:00 Booked (b0075lfg)
Series 3
Episode 1
Ian McMillan's irreverent literary game with Mark Thomas, Dillie Keane, Rory Motion and Roger McGough. From October 1997.
THU 09:30 Beachcomber... By the Way (b008p7w7)
Series 3
Episode 2
Wartime escapades of the Belle of the Southern Command – and a reporter meets the oldest living old person...
Richard Ingrams John Wells, John Sessions, Joan Sims amd Patricia Routledge recreate the world of JB Morton.
With Brian Bowles, Simon Greenall, Henrietta Gooden and featuring June Whitfield.
Running in the Daily Express from 1924 to 1975 – JB Morton’s surreally comic ‘Beachcomber’ column paved the way for a great deal of modern humour – thanks to characters he created between the wars.
Adapted by Michael Barfield with Richard Ingrams.
Announcer: Brian Perkins.
Producer: Harry Thompson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1994.
THU 10:00 Home Front (b06kvclc)
28 December 1915 - Ruth Billings
On this day the Evening Herald reported the return of 800 wounded soldiers to Plymouth, and Ruth Billings's temper gets her into trouble.

Written by Richard Monks & Shaun McKenna
Directed by Allegra McIlroy
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
THU 11:00 Sophie Hannah - The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories (b074wh4r)
All the Dead Mothers of My Daughter's Friends, Part 1/2
Who is the new, bitchy mother that Mel meets at the school gate? And how does she know so much about Mel and her daughter, Bee?
Tales of the supernatural in modern, everyday settings, by Sophie Hannah.
Sophie Hannah is a best-selling writer of psychological crime fiction. In 2013, her novel The Carrier won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. The Monogram Murders, a Poirot novel approved by the Agatha Christie estate, was published in 2014.
Read by Lorraine Ashbourne.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Sweet Talk Productions.
THU 11:15 David Constantine - The Listening Heart (b00769sq)
Summer 1802: Traumatised Ludwig van Beethoven’s life is at crisis point – will he be able to live with his impending deafness?
David Constantine's drama recreates this critical of the German composer and pianist’s life, set against a background of the music he was composing at the time.
Beethoven ...... Robert Glenister
Casimir ...... Jamie Glover
Juliet ...... Anastasia Hille
Violinist: Sue Lynn
Pianist: David Owen Norris
Director: Elizabeth Burke
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2002.
THU 12:00 Steptoe and Son (b007k4gh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 Radio Active (b008pc9s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 VI Warshawski (b007jnjn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 Bryn Terfel Masters Wine (b00m83p0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 HE Bates - Sugar for the Horse (b007jvmc)
The Singing Pig
The incorrigible Uncle Silas gets nostalgic over a melodic porker. HE Bates's country tale read by David Neal. From September 1992.
THU 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dqngm)
Green and Pleasant Lands
Prof. Kathy Willis examines the different kinds of spiritual, physical and intellectual links that we have with the landscape and their diverse ecosystems and the extent to which they contribute to our health and well being.
As well as providing a source of inspiration and recreation there's plenty of anecdotal evidence suggesting that green spaces can make a positive contribution to our health, but what kinds of landscapes are of greatest benefit?
Kathy Willis assesses the some of the latest research assessing physiological and psychological benefits that ecosystems can provide from manicured botanical gardens to wild open countryside
With contributions from Richard Barley, director of horticulture Kew Gardens; Rachel Bragg researcher in Green Care at Essex University, Shonil Bhagwat environmental geographer at the OU, and historian Jim Endersby
Producer Adrian Washbourne.
THU 14:30 Ladies of Letters (b007jwd4)
Ladies of Letters Spring Clean
Episode 4
Irene is musing on life, death and daughters. Vera is at the vet's having her hip sorted out. With Patricia Routledge.
THU 14:45 Book of the Week (b06nbz8q)
Charlotte Bronte: A Life
Being Published
Hattie Morahan reads Claire Harman's new and intimate biography of Charlotte Bronte. This vivid and complex portrait of one of our greatest novelists looks ahead to the two hundredth anniversary of her birth in April 2016. Today, the Bronte sisters set about the business of bringing out their best known books. Meanwhile, their brother Branwell is the source of strained relations at the parsonage in Haworth.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
THU 15:00 Home Front (b06kvclc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 Booked (b0075lfg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 Beachcomber... By the Way (b008p7w7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 PG Wodehouse (b00c075v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 Hal (b04p5vl1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (b007k10v)
6. Shock
Crushed by his dog's death, Robert's vampire quest continues, with a shock in store.
Richard Matheson's 1954 cult classic set in 1976 USA. One of the 20th century's most significant vampire novels, combining sci-fi and horror.
Read by Angus McInnes.
Abridged by Scott Stainton Miller.
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
Made for BBC 7 by BBC Scotland and first broadcast in January 2006.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b0076zht)
Series 10
Leon Trotsky
4 Extra Debut. Writer and journalist Christopher Hitchens chooses Russian revolutionary leader, Leon Trotsky. With Matthew Parris. From August 2006.
THU 19:00 Steptoe and Son (b007k4gh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 Radio Active (b008pc9s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 VI Warshawski (b007jnjn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 Bryn Terfel Masters Wine (b00m83p0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Sophie Hannah - The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories (b074wh4r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
THU 21:15 David Constantine - The Listening Heart (b00769sq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
THU 22:00 Hal (b04p5vl1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 The Headset Set (b01206cg)
Series 1
Episode 1
It's Sailesh's first day as team leader at Smile5, the mail order catalogue company selling everything from Rolex watches to lawnmowers, from financial products to phone and broadband, from holidays to health insurance.
And somewhere in a brown-field wasteland, miles from the nearest town, it runs one of the largest call centres operating in the UK. This is the world of The Headset Set.
Eavesdrop on both sides of the bizarre, horrific and ludicrous phone calls when customers call in as events unfold with company staff.
Aleesha and other characters ..... Chizzy Akudolu
Bernie and other characters ..... Margaret-Cabourn Smith
Big Tony, Ralph and other characters ..... Colin Hoult
Sailesh, Bradley and other characters ..... Paul sharma
Various ..... Philip Fox
Writers: James kettle, Stephen Carlin, Andy Wolton, Ben Partridge, Colin Hoult, Dan Tetsell, Dale Shaw, Kevin Core, Rob Gilroy and Tom Neenan
Script editor: Dan Tetsell
Producer: Tilusha Ghelani
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
THU 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b074v7p8)
The best in contemporary comedy. Isy Suttie chats to Rob Deering.
THU 23:00 Old Harry's Game (b007jmb2)
Series 3
Another Country
The professor is convinced that societies evolve and mature. So Satan introduces him to Bill Clinton.
Andy Hamilton’s devilishly funny sitcom set in Hell.
Satan …. Andy Hamilton
The Professor …. James Grout
Thomas …. Jimmy Mulville
Scumspawn …. Robert Duncan
Other characters played by Felicity Montagu, Philip Pope, Michael Fenton Stevens and Nick Revell
Producer Paul Mayhew-Archer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1999.
THU 23:30 Arthur Smith's Balham Bash (b010mztl)
Series 3
Episode 4
Arthur Smith presents comedy and music from his flat in Balham, south London.
With Billy Jenkins, Kevin Eldon, Imran Yusef plus poetry from Kate Fox
Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2011.


FRIDAY 25 MARCH 2016

FRI 00:00 I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (b007k10v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b0076zht)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 VI Warshawski (b007jnjn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Bryn Terfel Masters Wine (b00m83p0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 HE Bates - Sugar for the Horse (b007jvmc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dqngm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 Ladies of Letters (b007jwd4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Book of the Week (b06nbz8q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Home Front (b06kvclc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 Booked (b0075lfg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 Beachcomber... By the Way (b008p7w7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 PG Wodehouse (b00c075v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Hal (b04p5vl1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 VI Warshawski (b007jnk5)
Deadlock
Down the Hatches
Private eye VI Warshawski's dead cousin "Boom Boom" knew too much about something - and his flat is burgled, leading to another murder...
Sara Paretsky's thriller stars Kathleen Turner as VI Warshawski. With William Hootkins as Bobby Mallory, Kerry Shale as Murray, James Aubrey as Martin Bledsoe, Teresa Gallagher as Paige Carrington and William Roberts as Clayton Phillips.
Sara Paretsky has created one of the most popular female sleuths in modern crime-fiction. Her heroine, VI Warshawski, is a strong female character in a male-dominated world. VI is comfortable packing heat and trailing nasty suspects but she never loses touch with her basic femininity. Paretsky says of her Warshawski: "I was troubled by the way women were portrayed in (detective fiction) they always seemed either evil or powerless. I thought it was time for a tough, smart, likeable female private investigator".
Kathleen Turner also starred in the same role in the 1991 film 'VI Warshawski'.
Dramatised by Michelene Wandor.
Director: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1993.
FRI 06:30 Men Against The Eiger (b07525kg)
Dougal Haston tells Jack Singleton about becoming the first Briton to climb the Eiger mountain of the Bernese Alps by the direct route on 25th March 1966.
With Chris Bonnington and Ian McNaught-Davis
Producer: Alex Turnbull
First broadcast on the BBC Third Programme in May 1966
FRI 07:00 1835 (b012gpr4)
The Reluctant Aristocrat
In order to prove he's not a feckless, idle aristocrat, Belport manages to kick off the world's first rail strike - in the process proving to everyone that he's a feckless, idle aristocrat...
Comic saga of an aristocrat and his servant who struggle to find things to do in the mid- 1830s.
Belport ...... Paul Rider
Ned ...... Jason Done
Arbuthnot ...... Roy Barraclough
George ...... Simon Greenall
Charlie ...... Jonathan Keeble
Written and directed at BBC Manchester by Jim Poyser.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2004.
FRI 07:30 Wordaholics (b01s8mns)
Series 2
Episode 5
Gyles Brandreth chairs the word-obsessed comedy panel show.
Milton Jones and Robin Ince compete against Natalie Haynes and Lloyd Langford for wordy supremacy.
The Letter of the Week is 'W'. Lloyd Langford hazards a guess as to what 'Welsh cricket' is while Natalie Haynes has to work out what 'Whistling breeches' are.
In a round about Australian slang Robin Ince tries to guess the meaning of 'guttergripper' while Milton Jones takes a stab at 'shypoo'.
All the panellists come up with some brilliant new toponyms and also reveal their pet-hate words.
Writers: Jon Hunter and James Kettle.
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2013.
FRI 08:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jpvv)
Series 6
Hancock in Hospital
Laid up with a broken leg, the lad soon regrets a visit from Sid and Bill.
Starring Tony Hancock. With Sidney James, Bill Kerr, Joan Frank and Patricia Hayes.
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 December 1959.
FRI 08:30 The Goon Show (b007jndr)
Series 7
Drums Along the Mersey
A newspaper claims Neddie Seagoon is set to inherit a million pounds. Stars Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. From October 1956.
FRI 09:00 Wildbrain (b075562j)
1997 - Semi-final
Lionel Kelleway visits Mere Sands Wood in Lancashire, to test more wildlife knowledge in the BBC Natural History Unit's quiz.
FRI 09:30 No Commitments (b007jp3j)
Series 8
Wanderlust
Roger is tempted to stray, but he'd be keeping it in the family. Stars Rosemary Leach and Bill Nighy. From January 2002.
FRI 10:00 Home Front (b06kvdtc)
4 January 1916 - Dorothea Winwood
On this day, Lord Derby published a report that over 650,000 fit single men hadn't offered themselves for service, and Dorothea Winwood is getting into the rhythm of work at the Bevan.

Written by Mike Walker
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes

SECRET SHAKESPEARE
A Shakespeare quote is hidden in each Home Front episode that is set in 1916. These were first broadcast in 2016, the 400th anniversary year of the playwright's death. Can you spot them all?
FRI 11:00 Sophie Hannah - The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories (b07559m2)
All the Dead Mothers of My Daughter's Friends, Part 2/2
Mel learns more about Lisa Paskin, and about the difference between day-time and night-time ghosts.
Tales of the supernatural in modern, everyday settings, by Sophie Hannah.
Sophie Hannah is a best-selling writer of psychological crime fiction. In 2013, her novel The Carrier won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. The Monogram Murders, a Poirot novel approved by the Agatha Christie estate, was published in 2014.
Read by Lorraine Ashbourne.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Sweet Talk Productions.
FRI 11:15 Drama (b011vdtz)
Park Life
By Harvey Virdi.
Rauf and Malkeet share an unlikely friendship. A tender story about two British Asian elders who have more in common than they care to admit. For comically bombastic Malkeet and romantic Rauf, retirement has turned out very differently from expectations, so they spend their days passing time in the local park.
Inspired by interviews and research, Harvey Virdi's play explores the taboo subject of Asian elders neglected by their children. It was originally commissioned and performed as Meri Christmas, a stage play for Rifco Arts.
Malkeet ..... Shelley King
Rauf ..... Paul Bhattacharjee
Agnes ..... Ambur Khan
Amir ..... Inam Mirza
Daljit ..... Rina Mahoney
Bubloo ..... Pushpinder Chani
Produced and directed by Fiona Kelcher
Harvey Virdi is an actor and writer. Her writing credits include "Two Old Ladies" for Leicester Haymarket (co-written with Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti), "Meri Christmas" for Rifco Arts, and "Where's My Desi Soul Mate?" (co-written with Sonia Likhari). Recent acting credits include "Arabian Nights" for the RSC, "England People Very Nice" at the National Theatre, and "Tiger Country" at Hampstead Theatre.
FRI 12:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jpvv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 The Goon Show (b007jndr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 VI Warshawski (b007jnk5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 Men Against The Eiger (b07525kg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 HE Bates - Sugar for the Horse (b007jvmk)
Aunt Tibby
A cunning landlady proves to be as resourceful as the mischievous Uncle Silas. HE Bates's country tale read by David Neal. From September 1992.
FRI 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dqwyh)
The Great Providers
Prof Kathy Willis concludes her major new history series by asking how much plant biodiversity is worth, and examines new research into securing the future of our staple crops.
Understanding the distribution, diversity and potential of plants for food, lay at the heart of the 18th century botanical impresario Joseph Banks' vision to "improve Britain's estates of the world". To secure future resilience of crops in today's world there's a growing need to conserve the closest wild relatives of our staple crops.
Kathy Willis discovers, given climatic threats to some of our most substantial crops such as coffee - for which the industry currently depends on a single species, the economic value of wild relatives of today's domestic crops is considerable.
And as we hear, some important future crops are still to be found from previously overlooked plants.
With contributions from Richard Thompson, Business valuations partner at Price-Waterhouse Cooper; historian Jim Endersby; head of coffee research at Kew, Aaron Davis; Kew's head of yams Paul Wilkin.
Producer Adrian Washbourne
Music for the series was composed by Mark Russell.
FRI 14:30 Ladies of Letters (b007jwdc)
Ladies of Letters Spring Clean
Episode 5
Vera uncovers a sinister scandal, and Irene is on her way home. Stars Prunella Scales and Patricia Routledge.
FRI 14:45 Book of the Week (b06nbzds)
Charlotte Bronte: A Life
Affairs of the Heart
Hattie Morahan reads Claire Harman's new and intimate biography of Charlotte Bronte. This vivid and complex portrait of one of our greatest novelists looks ahead to the two hundredth anniversary of her birth in April 2016. Today, Charlotte grieves for her brother Branwell and her sisters Emily and Anne who died in quick succession. Affairs of the heart are also on her mind.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
FRI 15:00 Home Front (b06kvdtc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 Wildbrain (b075562j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 No Commitments (b007jp3j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 1835 (b012gpr4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 Wordaholics (b01s8mns)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (b007k125)
7. Suspicion
*** THIS EPISODE WAS ORIGINALLY DUE TO BE BROADCAST ON BBC RADIO 4 EXTRA LAST FRIDAY, BUT WAS POSTPONED FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH **
Earth's last living man's shock discovery leaves him feeling deeply suspicious.
Richard Matheson's 1954 cult classic set in 1976 USA. One of the 20th century's most significant vampire novels, combining sci-fi and horror
Read by Angus McInnes.
Abridged by Scott Stainton Miller.
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
Made for BBC 7 by BBC Scotland and first broadcast in January 2006.
FRI 18:30 Soul Music (b008nz60)
Series 6
Finlandia
Jean Sibelius's glorious orchestral work was adopted by the Finnish people as a symbol of its fight for independence from Russia, and well over 100 years later it is still regarded as Finland's second national anthem.
Its popularity is international, both in orchestral form and also in shorter form as the Finlandia Hymn.
Featuring Sibelius's great-grandson Jaakko Ilves and conductor John Storgards.
Series about music that makes the hairs stand up on the back of our necks.
Producer: Karen Gregor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2008.
FRI 19:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jpvv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 The Goon Show (b007jndr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 VI Warshawski (b007jnk5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 Men Against The Eiger (b07525kg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Sophie Hannah - The Visitors Book and Other Ghost Stories (b07559m2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 21:15 Drama (b011vdtz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
FRI 22:00 Wordaholics (b01s8mns)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 Rudy's Rare Records (b01nl77d)
Series 4
It's Grim Up North
Adam attends a business conference to network and is determined to leave his dad behind. He fails. Not only does Rudy attend but he knows the guest speaker.
Father and son comedy set in the finest old-school record shop in Birmingham. Starring Lenny Henry, Larrington Walker and some terrific tunes.
Rudy's Rare Records is a tiny down at heel old reggae record shop in Birmingham - one of a dying breed; a place with real soul, stacked with piles of vinyl, where the slogan is "if we don't have it - them don't mek it". It's owned by the charismatic, irrepressible Rudy Sharpe (Larrington Walker), reluctantly helped out by his long-suffering neurotic son Adam (Lenny Henry) and Handsworth's first, black, surly girly goth, Tasha (Natasha Godfrey). Rudy has recently married his long-term love interest Doreen (Claire Benedict) who is enjoying the challenge of getting the Sharpe men in shape.
Adam.......Lenny Henry
Rudy.....Larrington Walker
Tasha......Natasha Godfrey
Doreen......Claire Benedict
Bernard Sheedy...Justin Moorhouse
Brinsley Forde.....Brinsley Forde
Katerina.......... Liza Sadovy
Attila/Receptionist ......... Adam Nagaitis
Written by Danny Robins
Producer: Katie Tyrrell
Music featured in this episode:
TRAIN TO SKAVILLE * THE ETHIOPIANS
RADIO * RAPHAEL SAADIQ
SHINE * ASWAD
SIMMER DOWN * BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS
SWEAT ( A LA LA LA LA LONG) * INNER CIRCLE
JAMAICA IS THE PLACE TO GO * CHARLIE BINGER AND HIS QUARTET
HOT IN HERE * NELLY
LET'S GET IT ON * MARVIN GAYE
RUBY SOHO * JIMMY CLIFF
BE PREPARED * WINSTON SAMUEL
DON'T TURN AROUND * ASWAD
PRESSURE DROP * TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS
GIRLFRIEND IN A COMA * THE SMITHS.
FRI 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b076pxk0)
The best in contemporary comedy. Arthur Smith chats to Pierre Novellie.
FRI 23:00 The Mark Steel Lecture (b007jlx9)
Series 2
Leonardo da Vinci
The radical comedian profiles the Italian artist and scholar. Was he a genius or a hopeless absent-minded buffoon? From March 2001.
FRI 23:30 Hard to Tell (b03hwbr9)
Series 2
Episode 2
Second series of the relationship comedy written by Jonny Sweet.
It tells its central love story through the couple's individual conversations with their family and friends. In the process, we are introduced to all manner of relationships from a father and his cherished tour van to two women rivalling for the position of Best Friend, from a brother and sister comparing notes on Brazilians to a vicar and his new parish, and from a lodger's historic fling with a local waitress to a mum's lack of control over her desire to monitor her son's life.
Recorded on location, Hard To Tell's naturalistic, contemporary and conversational style brings new meaning to restaurants, funerals, French dressers and monkey puzzle trees.
Jonny Sweet is also the writer of Radio 4's Party and co-writer/co-star of Chickens on Sky 1.
Episode 2:
It's Valentine's Day and Tom is determined to protect his relationship from the threat of Ellen's ex-boyfriend. He organises a surprise trip and borrows his Dad's old tour van.
Producer: Lucy Armitage
A Tiger Aspect production for BBC Radio 4.