SATURDAY 20 AUGUST 2016

SAT 00:00 William Golding - Lord of the Flies (b036j238)
Gift for Darkness
Since the crash, the survivors have maintained a signal fire. A split has developed and tensions rise. Narrated by Ruth Wilson.
SAT 00:30 Soul Music (b00r0smn)
Series 9, Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.
When Mendelssohn wrote his Violin Concerto in 1844 he could hardly have imagined how famous and well loved it would become. In this programme, people tell how it has played an important part in their lives.
Violinist Daniel Hope tells how he got caught practising this concerto secretly locked in the bathroom at school. Harry Atterbury remembers hearing the Mendelssohn for the first time on the night before a Second world War air raid which turned his life upside down. Composer Stephen Pratt describes discovering that his father had played this concerto to cheer fellow soldiers in the jungle in Burma, and explains how this inspired him to write his own violin concerto.
To find out more about Stephen Pratt's Violin Concerto, go to:
http://www.liverpoolphil.com./1132/rlpo-recordings/stephen-pratt-lovebytes.html
The recording of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto featured in this programme was by violinist Maxim Vengerov with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Kurt Masur. Teldec 4509-90875-2.
SAT 01:00 Vintage Crime: Edgar Wallace - PC Lee stories (b07p6c5g)
The Silence of PC Hirley
PC Lee investigates the mystery of the Ladbroke Gardens murder and discovers a distinct sting in the tale. Concluded by Toby Jones.

In 1909 Edgar Wallace wrote a series of 24 short stories featuring a street-wise London police-constable, PC Lee. Wallace himself features in some, with PC Lee recounting his adventures as a bobby on the beat in and around the district of Notting Dale. Toby Jones brings this wonderful, little-known character to life for BBC Radio 4 Extra in 10 charming and witty tales.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Greenlit Productions.
SAT 01:15 15 Minute Drama (b01m6b52)
Craven, Episode 5
Starring Maxine Peake.
The case is looking too big to solve and the body count is rising. Craven and Macca may finally get to talk, if her mum doesn't get in the way - but Craven's priorities are exposed when work, family and love life collide.
Craven must find La Thu Huyen if she has any chance of solving this case. And she must work out a strategy to deal with her mother and her lover at home.
This case concludes - Craven returns as an Afternoon Drama on Radio 4 on Monday 3rd September.
Producer: Justine Potter
A Red Production Company production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 01:30 Classics Illustrated: The Comic Book Unbound (b016812s)
Bill Paterson marks the 70th anniversary of the launch of the comic book series Classics Illustrated.
Marking the 70th anniversary of the comic book series Classics Illustrated, actor Bill Paterson explores the publication's impact and recent revival on Britain's bookshelves.
Classics Illustrated, the comic book adaptations of classic literature, began in America in 1941, starting with an adaptation of The Three Musketeers, followed by Ivanhoe and The Count of Monte Cristo, and soon became a favourite reading material for children and many adults.
Paterson reveals his lifelong passion for the comic as he charts the fortunes of Russian Jewish immigrant Albert Kantner, who conceived the idea of a comic book series as self-contained abridgments of a literary work into a single comic book.
Over a thirty year period a vast range of literary classics were adapted; from The War of the Worlds, to Sherlock Holmes, Moby Dick, Treasure Island, Faust and Dr No. These publications later became popular in Britain but the series regularly came under fire for distracting children from reading the original stories.
Contributors include Professor John Sutherland and British bookseller Jeff Brooks who in recent years revived the comic book versions using the original artwork with new covers.
Readings are provided by Buzz Hawkins, Jayne Ashbourne and Barnaby Gordon.
The programme is written by Roger Dobson and produced in Manchester by Stephen Garner.
SAT 02:00 Marina Lewycka - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (b012brz6)
Episode 5
Father and his young wife Valentina argue over her visa appeal, but everyone has a cunning plan. Read by Sian Thomas.
SAT 02:15 Sport and the British (b01c7wxb)
Ireland, North of the Border
While sport is endlessly talked of as a force for unity, in today's edition of Sport and the British, Clare Balding's in Belfast on the Falls Road, where it's clear that here sport was just another arena to reinforce divisions that rent the community in two.
In Northern Ireland the sporting choices for people were, for so long, based on their religious and political backgrounds. In soccer there was one team for the Catholics, Belfast Celtic, Linfield for the Protestants. Clare hears about the violent clashes that always ensued when these two teams met, finally leading to the disbandment of Celtic. Boxer, Barry Mcguigan talks about how he tried to be identified with neither side and we hear about the only sporting hero that did manage to straddle the divide, uniting both sides, George Best
Producer: Lucy Lunt.
SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b01dd3kk)
JL Carr - The Harpole Report, Episode 5
Councillor Blossom makes an improper suggestion to Harpole, but true romance may be just around the corner. Stars Lesley Nicol.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b015sz8r)
Christopher Hitchens - Arguably, Flaws of Gravity
Hitchens' uses Peter Ackroyd's biography of Isaac Newton as a springboard for a nostalgic rumination on science and Cambridge.
Christopher Hitchens is a British-born political journalist and reviewer, who has been based in the USA for over 25 years (he is now a US citizen). His journalism, invariably polemical, has appeared in a variety of publications, mainly in the USA, but in the UK too. Arguably is the fifth collection of his journalism - the columns defined as 'Essays' in the book.
The five 'Essays'selected for Book Of The Week all originally appeared in The Atlantic Journal.
Written by Christopher Hitchens
Abridged by Pete Nichols
Read by Roger Allam
Producer: Gordon House
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 03:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0122k4h)
The Fight for St Swithin's
Hamer's political campaign starts in Bradford with rousing speeches to the crowds. 19th-century saga starring Ian McKellen.
SAT 04:00 The 3rd Degree (b01rqnf1)
Series 3, University of Edinburgh
A lively and funny quiz show, hosted by Steve Punt, where a team of three University students take on a team of three of their professors.
Coming this week from the University of Edinburgh, the specialist subjects are Biological Sciences, History of Art and International Relations and the questions range from Lady Chatterley and Aubrey Beardsley through to laughing gas and Carly Rae Jepson.
The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds, and the 'Highbrow and Lowbrow' round cunningly devised to test not only the students' knowledge of current affairs, history, languages and science, but also their Professors' awareness of television, film, and One Direction.
The resulting show is funny, fresh, and not a little bit surprising, with a truly varied range of scores, friendly rivalry, and moments where students wished they had more than just glanced at that reading list.
The host Steve Punt, although best known as a satirist on The Now Show, is also someone who delights in all facets of knowledge, not just in the Humanities (his educational background) but in the sciences as well. He has made a number of documentaries for Radio 4, on subjects as varied as "The Poet Unwound - The History Of The Spleen" and "Getting The Gongs" (an investigation into awards ceremonies), as well as a comedy for Radio 4's Big Bang Day set in the Large Hadron Collider, called "The Genuine Particle".
Producer: David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 04:30 Kathmandu or Bust (b07p6ksb)
Turkish Delight
The travellers arrive in Turkey, but will they all be able to explore the land of Kismet? Stars David Haig. From June 1996.
SAT 05:00 Dave Sheasby - One Flat Summer (b0075243)
The Craven Stakes
Newly redundant Ken is drawn into the tempting world of gambling. Stars Gerard McDermott and Gillian Bevan. From August 1997.
SAT 05:30 Fresh from the Fringe (b07npz1f)
Fresh from the Fringe: 2016, Part 1
Recorded at the BBC's Edinburgh Fringe festival site, Newsjack host Nish Kumar showcases the cream of stand-up and sketch comedy from this year's festival. This edition features Australian stand-up Tom Ballard, rising star Sophie Willan, hilarious double-act and previous Best Newcomer nominees Lazy Susan and the unique comic genius that is Paul Foot.
Producer...Joe Nunnery
Production Coordinator...Sophie Richardson
It was a BBC Studios Production.
SAT 06:00 Saturday Drama (b00y4cvg)
Classic Chandler, The Big Sleep
In 1939 Raymond Chandler created a different kind of detective, the fast-talking, trouble seeking Californian private eye Philip Marlowe, for his great novel The Big Sleep. Marlowe's entanglement with the Sternwood family - respectable sister with gambling addiction, younger sister with drink/drug problem and an attendant cast of colourful underworld figures - is enshrined in the iconic film version with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Toby Stephens plays Philip Marlowe in a landmark series bringing all Chandler's ground breaking Philip Marlowe novels to Radio 4.
Dramatised by Robin Brooks
Directed by Claire Grove
This series brings all the Philip Marlowe novels to Radio 4's Saturday Play. The Big Sleep 1939, Farewell My Lovely 1940, The High Window 1942, The Lady in the Lake 1943, The Little Sister 1949 and The Long Goodbye 1953, and two lesser known novels, Playback 1958 and Poodle Springs, unfinished at the time of his death in 1959. The series will be aired in Spring and Autumn 2011.
Toby Stephens is best known for playing mega-villain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day (2002) and Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre (2006). In autumn 2010 Toby starred as a detective in Vexed, a three-part comedic television series for BBC 2 and Toby made his debut at the National Theatre as George Danton in Danton's Death.
Kelly Burke makes her radio debut as cool, sophisticated Vivien Sternwood (the role which made Lauren Bacall famous).
Marlowe is a character the R4 audience think they know, but do they? He is a moral man in an amoral world. This is California in the '40's and 50's, as beautiful as a ripe fruit and rotten to the core, reflecting all the tarnished glitter of the American Dream. The police are corrupt. The businessmen are well-heeled racketeers with politicians in their pockets and their daughters have gone to the bad. It is the taxi-drivers, maids and bartenders who restore Marlowe's faith in human nature. They scratch out a living at the bottom of the pile and Marlowe is there with them, in his shabby office with its cracked sign and no air-con, waiting for the next client to walk through the door.
Raymond Chandler was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 23, 1888, but spent most of his boyhood and youth in England, where he attended Dulwich College. In 1919 he returned to the United States, settling in California, where he eventually became director of a number of independent oil companies. The Depression put an end to his business career, and in 1933, at the age of forty-five, he turned to writing, publishing his first stories in Black Mask. By the time he published his first novel, The Big Sleep (1939), featuring the iconic private eye Philip Marlowe, it was clear that he had not only mastered a genre but had set a standard to which others could only aspire. Chandler died in 1959.
Stephen Wyatt (dramatist) is a Sony Award Winning Playwright. Recent work for R4 includes dramatising three of the Complete Ripley series including The Talented Mr Ripley for Saturday Afternoon, The Yellow Plush Papers for 11.30am and Tom Jones for Classic Serial. His original play Memorials for the Missing won a Sony Award in 2008.
Robin Brooks (dramatist) has recently dramatised I Claudius in 5 episodes for BBC Radio 4. Other Classic Serials include: Boswell's Life of Johnson, My Cousin Rachel and The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West .
SAT 07:30 Electric Ride (b00sw3s9)
Episode 3
Peter Curran continues his attempt to drive a battery powered car round Europe. This week, the autobahns of Germany and an uphill struggle over the Alps. En route he visits the huge Volkswagen plant and test drives a hydrogen car.
But Peter's main concern is finding enough places to charge up the battery, and at one point he ends up in a garden full of gnomes...
Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b0366wnh)
Dial-a-Poem
Brian Patten, one of the original Liverpool poets, explores how radical, subversive and occasionally risqué poetry - rooted in the counter-culture of the late 1960s - became available to a mass audience at the end of a phone line for the first time.
Dial-a-Poem changed the public face of poetry for generations.
Producer: Llinos Jones
A Terrier production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 09:00 Deadpan (b04p522v)
Made for 4 Extra. What is deadpan? Comedian Gary Delaney puzzles it out with the help of actor and director Neil Maskell, writer and comedian Diane Morgan, comedy guru Colin Anderson and novelist Marius Brill. Including The Sunday Format and It's Been a Bad Week.

Produced by Martin Dempsey for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
SAT 12:00 The 99p Challenge (b007js0s)
Series 2, Episode 1
Crazy panel show capers as Sue Perkins grills Jack Docherty, Pater Baynam, Armando Iannucci and Simon Pegg. From March 2004.
SAT 12:30 Two Doors Down (b008fdj0)
Series 2, The Feminine Thrust
Marlborough Road's Clare is giving a lecture, with cleaner Sally smoothing the way. Stars Stella McCusker. From July 2002.
SAT 13:00 Graham Greene - Monsignor Quixote: Omnibus (b07pwy98)
Episode 2
A robber is helped by Father Quixote and Sancho, who pay an unexpected price for their deed. Starring Bernard Cribbins.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b07pwy9b)
Jack Vettriano
The popular Scottish artist Jack Vettriano chooses Kitty Kallen's 'Little Things Mean a Lot' and 'My Father' by Judy Collins.
SAT 14:15 In the Psychiatrist's Chair (b047bvj5)
Gitta Sereny
Gitta Sereny chose controversial figures for biographies and held the belief that we are all born 'good'. From September 1998.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b0366wnh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Saturday Drama (b00y4cvg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Electric Ride (b00sw3s9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 The Scarifyers (b008jdzz)
The Thirteen Hallows, Episode 3
Professor Dunning embarks on an Athurian adventure, while Harry Crow has to go on the run. Stars David Warner.
SAT 18:30 Terry Pratchett (b010tzfb)
Night Watch, Episode 3
Commander Sam Vimes is stuck in the past, literally. Unfortunately, so is an old arch enemy and assorted foes. Stars Philip Jackson.
SAT 19:00 Deadpan (b04p522v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 4 Extra Stands Up (b07pwy9v)
4 Extra Stands Up at the Fringe, Episode 1
Made for 4 Extra. Familiar and exciting rising stars. Zoe Lyons introduces some of the best comedians from the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
SAT 23:00 The Comedy Club at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (b07pwy9x)
2016, Episode 4
BBC Radio 4 Extra's Comedy Club - the home of the best in contemporary stand-up and decade-defining sitcoms and sketches - sends Arthur Smith to the biggest arts festival in Europe.
SAT 23:05 The Mary Whitehouse Experience (b048w5gl)
Series 4, Episode 5
Plumbers, eh, what are they like? Satire starring Hugh Dennis, Steve Punt, Robert Newman and David Baddiel. From November 1990.
SAT 23:35 The Comedy Club at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (b07pwy9z)
2016, Episode 5
BBC Radio 4 Extra's Comedy Club - the home of the best in contemporary stand-up and decade-defining sitcoms and sketches - sends Arthur Smith to the biggest arts festival in Europe.
SAT 23:45 Ivor Cutler - A Stuggy Pren (b00cmjv9)
Episode 2
Alison O'Kill wants to read Ivor Cutler a poem, while Murray-Orr can't think with the sun in his eyes. From May 1994.


SUNDAY 21 AUGUST 2016

SUN 00:00 The Scarifyers (b008jdzz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 00:30 Terry Pratchett (b010tzfb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 Graham Greene - Monsignor Quixote: Omnibus (b07pwy98)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (b07pwy9b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Saturday]
SUN 02:15 In the Psychiatrist's Chair (b047bvj5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Archive on 4 (b0366wnh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 Saturday Drama (b00y4cvg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 Electric Ride (b00sw3s9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 The Harpole Report - Omnibus (b01dh78t)
JL Carr's comic novel, dramatised by Jonathan Smith. Idealistic young teacher George Harpole wants to shake things up as he becomes acting head of a primary school.
SUN 07:15 A Dark History of British Gardening (b07pwyhk)
Hubris
Writer Jenny Uglow reflects on our garden weaknesses - how pride and hubris flourish in our gardens.
SUN 07:30 Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully (b01r7b8n)
Series 1, Power Block
Katrina Lyons was only visiting Cresdon Green, the village where she grew up, to borrow some money from her parents. But when she tried to head back to London, it turned out alien beings known as the Geonin had lowered a force field around the village and were refusing to let anyone in or out.
Unfortunately almost everyone in the village is too cowardly, apathetic, polite or stupid to stand up to this alien menace, so Katrina has no choice but to start the resistance movement herself. In the cricket pavilion.
EPISODE THREE: Power Block.
Uljabaan is busy with a construction project and asks Margaret to help with some routine duties in the village - collecting data, checking up on the man they put down the old well, that sort of thing. Katrina is dismayed - he's too busy to oppress the humans, so he's getting them to do it to each other. But the construction project involves opening up the force-field that surrounds the village. Can Katrina and Lucy sneak a message into the outside world?
Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully is written by Eddie Robson (That Mitchell and Webb Sound, Newsjack), and stars Hattie Morahan (Outnumbered, Critic's Circle & Evening Standard Theatre Awards Best Actress'), Julian Rhind-Tutt (Green Wing, The Hour), Jan Francis (Just Good Friends, Emmerdale), Peter Davison (A Very Peculiar Practice, Dr Who), Hannah Murray (Skins, Game of Thrones), and John-Luke Roberts (Spats, BBC Three Live At The Fringe).
Producer: Ed Morrish.
SUN 08:00 We're in Business (b07pwyhm)
The Parrot
Dudley and Harry's rent is overdue. Can a new visitor help them out? Stars Peter Jones and Harry Worth. From April 1960.
SUN 08:30 Meet the Huggetts (b00p1hnz)
'Ail and Hearty
The family worries when Joe is seen calling in at the doctor's surgery. Stars Jack Warner and Kathleen Harrison. From June 1961.
SUN 09:00 Paul MacAlindin - Upbeat: Omnibus (b07pwyhp)
In 2008, 17-year-old Iraqi pianist Zuhal Sultan decided to create a national youth orchestra. Read by Kenny Blyth.
SUN 10:10 Inheritance Tracks (b07pwyhr)
Amanda Abbington
Sherlock actor Amanda Abbington, chooses 'Dear Prudence' by The Beatles and 'Furious' by Joan as Police Woman.
SUN 10:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b07pwyht)
Olympians, Ade Adepitan
4 Extra Debut. From Linda Harrison to Public Enemy, paralympian and broadcaster Ade Adepitan shares his castaway choices with Kirsty Young. From September 2012.
SUN 11:00 The Moth Radio Hour (b07pwyhw)
Series 3, Cops, Dumpster Diving and Mental Illness
True stories told live in the USA: Meg Bowles introduces stories about grief, opportunity, motherhood and love under strain.
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 12:00 We're in Business (b07pwyhm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SUN 12:30 Meet the Huggetts (b00p1hnz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
SUN 13:00 The Harpole Report - Omnibus (b01dh78t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 14:15 A Dark History of British Gardening (b07pwyhk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]
SUN 14:30 Hilary Mantel - Eight Months on Ghazzah Street (b07pwyhy)
Episode 1
Cartographer Frances Shore encounters significant challenges when she goes to Saudi Arabia. Read by Anna Maxwell Martin.
SUN 15:45 Patrick O'Brian - Samphire (b04t6k35)
Hunting a samphire plant on a cliff edge, Molly and her husband plumb the depths of their relationship. Read by Diana Bishop.
SUN 16:00 Stephen Wyatt - Piglaw (b007jvly)
When a pig kills a small child in medieval France, a lawyer puts the pig on trial to prevent him causing any more problems. Stars Tony Robinson.
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (b07pwyk3)
Adventures in Poetry - The Listeners
4 Extra Debut. Daljit Nagra introduces the classic poem The Listeners by Walter de la Mare. From November 2008.
SUN 17:30 Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully (b01r7b8n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 18:00 The Price of Fear (b007jm89)
An Eye for an Eye
Even horror legend Vincent Price can't face the meal that is placed before him. With Christopher Bidmead and Anne Jameson.
SUN 18:30 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (b007jm12)
Primary Phase, Fit the Fourth
Arthur learns the lucrative answer to the question of Life, the Universe and Everything. By Douglas Adams. From March 1978.
Arthur Dent is one of only two survivors from Earth, demolished to make way for a by-pass. He survived thanks to his friend, Ford Prefect (who hails not from Guildford, but somewhere near Betelgeuse), a writer for the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, "the most successful book ever to have come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor". Now paired with fellow Earth survivor Trillian and duplicitous two-headed hustler Zaphod Beeblebrox, Arthur and Ford are on legendary planet Magrathea - and Arthur in particular is about to understand his demolished home world in a new and startling way.
The global multi-media success story that is "Hitchhiker's" started life as a Radio 4 series in March 1978. The original scripts by the late Douglas Adams then went on to spawn a series of novels, a feature film, at least three stage shows, a TV series, a computer game, a collection of comic books - and various towels.
Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge and died in 2001 at the age of 49. He suffered a fatal heart attack after working out at his gym in California.
With Peter Jones, Simon Jones, Geoffrey McGivern, Mark Wing-Davey and Stephen Moore. Produced by the late Geoffrey Perkins.
SUN 19:00 The Moth Radio Hour (b07pwyhw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 20:00 Paul MacAlindin - Upbeat: Omnibus (b07pwyhp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SUN 21:10 Inheritance Tracks (b07pwyhr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 today]
SUN 21:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b07pwyht)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:15 today]
SUN 22:00 Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully (b01r7b8n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 22:30 The Comedy Club at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (b07pwyk5)
2016, Episode 6
BBC Radio 4 Extra's Comedy Club - the home of the best in contemporary stand-up and decade-defining sitcoms and sketches - sends Arthur Smith to the biggest arts festival in Europe.
SUN 22:35 Ivor Cutler - A Stuggy Pren (b00cqd9l)
Episode 3
Ivor Cutler and his friends present dark tales, offbeat songs and some tips for aspiring poets. From June 1994.
SUN 22:50 The Comedy Club at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (b07pwyk7)
2016, Episode 7
BBC Radio 4 Extra's Comedy Club - the home of the best in contemporary stand-up and decade-defining sitcoms and sketches - sends Arthur Smith to the biggest arts festival in Europe.
SUN 22:55 Think the Unthinkable (b01mypwd)
Series 4, Superco
The dotty management consultants check out Britain's biggest supermarket chain. Stars Marcus Brigstocke. From October 2005.
SUN 23:25 The Comedy Club at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (b07pwyk9)
2016, Episode 8
BBC Radio 4 Extra's Comedy Club - the home of the best in contemporary stand-up and decade-defining sitcoms and sketches - sends Arthur Smith to the biggest arts festival in Europe.
SUN 23:30 The Young Postmen (b00fz7bp)
Top of the Pops
The eager threesome attempt a Christmas number one. Stars Ben Miller, John Thompson and Alistair McGowan. From December 1992.


MONDAY 22 AUGUST 2016

MON 00:00 The Price of Fear (b007jm89)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:30 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (b007jm12)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 The Harpole Report - Omnibus (b01dh78t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:15 A Dark History of British Gardening (b07pwyhk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Sunday]
MON 02:30 Hilary Mantel - Eight Months on Ghazzah Street (b07pwyhy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Sunday]
MON 03:45 Patrick O'Brian - Samphire (b04t6k35)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Stephen Wyatt - Piglaw (b007jvly)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (b07pwyk3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully (b01r7b8n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 Poirot (b007jm2f)
Evil Under the Sun, Episode 1
Zut alors! Can't a Belgian sleuth have a peaceful Devon holiday without getting embroiled in a murder? Agatha Christie whodunit with John Moffatt.
MON 06:30 Liberty, Fraternity, Anarchy - Le Punk Francais (b00yz3h8)
The recorded histories of punk concentrate on two places - the USA and England - and while it's true that much of the scene's most important activity took place there, one other key territory has been largely written out of the story - France. Andrew Hussey argues that without the French, punk would simply have been pub rock with shorter hair.
Many of the ideas, he shows, and much of the look of punk came from the French: Malcolm McLaren and Tony Wilson were hugely influenced by the Situationist movement in particular, and deliberately and explicitly trawled it for images and lyrics that were to become iconic punk expressions (the Sex Pistols record covers, lyrics such as 'Cheap holidays in other people's misery'...); the first festival of punk music took place at Mont de Marsan in 1976; the first Rough Trade release was from the Parisian band 'Metal Urbain'; the punk 'look' first embodied by Richard Hell was drawn straight from fin de siecle French poets, and the graffiti strewn clothing of The Clash comes straight from the 50s group les Lettrists.
As Hussey will show, not only did the French influence the international scene, it also contributed bands such as Stinky Toys, Marie et les Garcons and Starshooter, bands that often explored the potential of electronic music within the punk sound (an avenue unexplored by their US and UK equivalents) - anticipating the popularity of electronics over the course of the following years.
Hussey speaks with some of the key players in the French scene in the streets le punk francais took place to bring this forgotten moment in Gallic culture vividly to life.
MON 07:00 Elephants to Catch Eels (b00vsx4v)
Series 2, Mother
A surprise for 18th-century smuggler Tamsyn, and confusion aboard a boat to France. Stars Sheridan Smith. From April 2004.
MON 07:30 Just a Minute (b07npvfc)
Series 76, Episode 2
Nicholas Parsons and guests return for the 76th series of the panel show where participants must try to speak for 60 seconds without hesitation, deviation or repetition. No repetition? That's no small order after nearly 50 years.
Paul Merton, now the second most prolific player of the game after Kenneth Williams, is joined by Julian Clary, Tony Hawks and Zoe Lyons and will be tackling topics such as 'Let them eat cake', 'A Brief Encounter', but get sidetracked by a debate on chips.
Hayley Sterling blows the whistle.
Produced by Matt Stronge.
It was a BBC Studios Production.
MON 08:00 Parsley Sidings (b007k122)
Series 2, The Purity League
Things look tricky for Percy following Horace's morality drive. Stars Arthur Lowe and Kenneth Connor. From November 1973.
MON 08:30 The Betty Witherspoon Show (b007jprd)
Kenneth Williams and Ted Ray cross their comedy swords. Characters, songs and sketches with Miriam Margolyes. From April 1974.
MON 09:00 The Write Stuff (b0156mth)
Series 14, Edgar Allan Poe
James Walton and team captains, John Walsh and Sebastian Faulks delve into the troubled life of Edgar Allan Poe who is this week's "Author of the Week". As well as attempting to solve the usual book-based brain-teasers they also pastiche Poe's work by imagining what it would have been like had Poe attempted to write romantic comedy.
Joining Sebastian and John this week are the novelists, Sue Limb and Philip Kerr.
MON 09:30 A Whole New Ball Game (b00g27cg)
Series 2, How Was It for You?
Will Guy and Robert make it back into Father Benedict's team? Stars Desmond Barrit and Brenda Blethyn. From November 1994.
MON 10:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0122k1z)
Lovers and Losers
Dirty tricks are played by a ruthless opponent - how will Labour fare in the by-election? 19th-century saga with Ian McKellen.
MON 11:00 Mary Costello - The China Factory (b01qfhjt)
The Astral Plane
A forgotten book and an email arriving out of the blue trigger the tipping point for a marriage. Read by Niamh Cusack.
MON 11:15 Afternoon Drama (b00y2xn6)
Stephen Wyatt - Double Jeopardy
Patrick Stewart stars as Raymond Chandler and Adrian Scarborough is Billy Wilder in this entertaining glimpse inside the Hollywood film industry. In 1944 the two men came together to work on a screen adaptation of James M Cain's novel Double Indemnity. Billy Wilder is a 36 year old German Jewish émigré just making his name as a director and Raymond Chandler is a reformed alcoholic with a developing reputation as a novelist but absolutely no experience of writing for movies. The play follows their famously difficult collaboration.
Directed by Claire Grove
Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler are legendary. The English-educated, middle-aged , would-be intellectual versus the ambitious young German émigré. Paramount Studios put Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder together because none of the big names would touch James M Cain's novel. With its adulterous lovers, and a crime that could be copied, it was judged too controversial to adapt because of the censorious Production Code guidelines. Chandler and Wilder famously hated each other but in a space of some four months locked in an office together they created an outstanding screenplay for a ground-breaking classic film .
MON 12:00 Parsley Sidings (b007k122)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 The Betty Witherspoon Show (b007jprd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 Poirot (b007jm2f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 Liberty, Fraternity, Anarchy - Le Punk Francais (b00yz3h8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Marina Lewycka - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (b012fc0q)
Episode 6
Vera and Nadia try to stop Valentina's plans. Marina Lewycka's wry portrait of a marriage of convenience. Read by Sian Thomas.
MON 14:15 Sport and the British (b01cjm4t)
War Games
Week five of the series that explores how sport made Britain and Britain made sport. In this episode Clare Balding visits The Imperial War Museum to discover the vital role sport has played, both on the battle field and on the home front, during both World Wars. She starts in the Hall of Remembrance in front of John Singer Sargent's, Gassed, an oil painting more than twenty feet long, depicting the aftermath of a mustard gas attack during the First World War, with a line of wounded soldiers walking towards a dressing station. Yet in the background there are groups of men playing football. As Prof. Tony Collins of De Montfort University explains, sport became an essential part of army life, alleviating the boredom and the terror, by 1916 there was a football ground in each brigade area of the Western Front.
During the Second World War, Prof Tony Mason explains the importance of sport to those captured and detained in German prisoner of war camps, with football, in particular being used as a way of providing entertainment for troops overseas.
The series was made in partnership with The International Centre for Sport History and Culture at De Montfort University, Leicester.
The Reader is Alun Raglan
Technical presentation: John Benton
Producer: Garth Brameld.
MON 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b018b63y)
AS Byatt - Possession, Episode 1
Roland Michell, an academic research assistant, is completing some work in the London Library, when he comes across two unfinished letters written by the Victorian Poet, Randolph Henry Ash. These letters have obviously not been found by anyone else and they are not to his wife but to an unknown woman. Roland, whose entire academic life has been devoted to studying Ash, decides, recklessly to pocket the letters and try to determine exactly who they were written to.
This is the beginning of a quest that will change literary history and with the help of a feminist literary scholar Maud Bailey, they are determined to find out the truth behind these letters. Certain other characters hear about the letters and are eager to get their hands on them for their own financial gain and will do so, by any means necessary, and so the chase begins.
Written by AS Byatt. Dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Cast:
Maud ...... Jemma Redgrave
Roland ...... Harry Hadden-Paton
Ash ....... James d'arcy
Lamotte ..... Rachael Stirling
Blackadder ..... Bill Paterson
Cropper ..... Matthew Marsh
George ...... Kenneth Cranham
Joan ....... Joanna David
Beatrice Nest ...... Stella Gonet
Euan ...... Nicholas Boulton
Fergus ...... Jonjo O'Neil
Hildebrand ..... Robert Portal
Val ...... Laura Pyper
Leonora .... Lorelei King
Raoul/Toby Byng .... Sam Dale
Mrs Wapshott/Mrs Cammish/Mrs lees ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Beth/PA/Mrs Judge/Librarian ...... Rachel Atkins
Girl ...... Sylvie Goodwin
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 14:45 Book of the Week (b015yt3s)
Carmen Aguirre - Something Fierce, Episode 1
Born a week after the death of Che Guevara, Carmen Aguirre was always destined to become a revolutionary. After Pinochet's violent coup in Chile in 1973, her family is forced to flee to Canada. And when, a few years later, the Chilean resistance calls for exiled activists to return to fight the cause, Carmen's mother heeds the call. Determined to make mini revolutionaries of her two daughters, she takes them with her - and so Carmen's double life begins. Posing as a westernised teenager by day, at night she is drilled in surveillance techniques, cryptography and subterfuge, not to mention political theory and revolutionary history. It is a time of high excitement, but also one of fear and paranoia, of who to trust, and who to fear.
From Pinochet's repressive rule in Chile, to Shining Path Peru, dictatorship-run Bolivia to post-Malvinas Argentina, this is a darkly comic coming-of-age memoir is a rare first-hand account of a life as teenage revolutionary. It is also the story of a young girl trying to reconcile her commitment to the cause with her very unrevolutionary new interests in boys, music and fashion.
Today: dressed as an all-American teenager, Carmen returns to Latin America with her mother and sister to join the underground, and a new life of subterfuge and danger.
Author: Carmen Aguirre is a playwright and actor, now living in Vancouver.
Reader: Mia Soteriou.
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett.
MON 15:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0122k1z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 The Write Stuff (b0156mth)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 A Whole New Ball Game (b00g27cg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 Elephants to Catch Eels (b00vsx4v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 Just a Minute (b07npvfc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 Charles Chilton - Journey Into Space (b007jx5r)
The Red Planet, Episode 1
Captain Jet Morgan and his crew blast off for Mars, but there is a problem. 1954 classic set in the future world of 1971. Stars Andrew Faulds.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (b00769c7)
Roger Lloyd Pack & Philip Franks
4 Extra Debut. Rosie Boycott, Roger Lloyd Pack and Philip Franks discuss books by Mary Shelley, Louis de Bernieres and Graham Greene. From September 2002.
MON 19:00 Parsley Sidings (b007k122)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 The Betty Witherspoon Show (b007jprd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 Poirot (b007jm2f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 Liberty, Fraternity, Anarchy - Le Punk Francais (b00yz3h8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 Mary Costello - The China Factory (b01qfhjt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:15 Afternoon Drama (b00y2xn6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
MON 22:00 Just a Minute (b07npvfc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 That Mitchell and Webb Sound (b00mwm67)
Series 4, Episode 6
The new yoghurt for women, and meet Britain's best police tortoise. Stars David Mitchell and Robert Webb. From September 2009.
MON 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b07r1h7g)
Tom Wrigglesworth chats to Jack Rooke.
MON 23:00 The Museum of Curiosity (b07ns0r2)
Series 9, Reeves, Wyatt, Williams
This week, the Professor of Ignorance John Lloyd and his curator Noel Fielding welcome:
Vic Reeves, the comedian, artist and game show host whose credits include Vic Reeves Big Night Out; The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer; Bang, Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased); Catterick; House of Fools; and Shooting Stars. Vic also is the author of Vic Reeve's Vast Book of World Knowledge and presented Vic Reeves' Pirates - a six-part documentary on West Country pirates.
Dr Tristram Wyatt, Senior Research Associate and Emeritus Fellow at Kellogg College, Oxford whose main areas of interest are the evolution of pheromones and animal behaviour.
His TEDx talk on the 'Smelly Mystery of Human Pheromones' has had over a million views and the transcripts have been translated into 24 languages.
Professor Kate Williams, who co-presented BBC Two's Restoration Home, presented Young Victoria for BBC Two commentated for the State Opening of Parliament, the Diamond Jubilee and the Royal Wedding as well as covering the Olympic Opening Ceremony for BBC News. She was the resident historian on Radio 4's The Rest is History with Frank Skinner and is a regular guest panellist on BBC Two's Insert Name Here.
This week, the Museum's Guest Committee appreciate a pale bird that fakes injury to protect its young; a childishly photoshopped picture that fooled Conan Doyle; and a faint smell that may or may not exist, but (if it did) might drive you wild.
The show was researched by Mike Turner and Anne Miller of QI.
The producers were Richard Turner and James Harkin.
It was a BBC Studios Production.
MON 23:30 Arthur Smith's Balham Bash (b00s3h46)
Series 2, Episode 3
Comedy and entertainment with Arthur Smith in his own home - with Doc Brown, Gomez, Henry Paker and Richard Herring.


TUESDAY 23 AUGUST 2016

TUE 00:00 Charles Chilton - Journey Into Space (b007jx5r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b00769c7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Poirot (b007jm2f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 Liberty, Fraternity, Anarchy - Le Punk Francais (b00yz3h8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Marina Lewycka - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (b012fc0q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 Sport and the British (b01cjm4t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b018b63y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:45 Book of the Week (b015yt3s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0122k1z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 The Write Stuff (b0156mth)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 A Whole New Ball Game (b00g27cg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 Elephants to Catch Eels (b00vsx4v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 Just a Minute (b07npvfc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Poirot (b007jm30)
Evil Under the Sun, Episode 2
When a glamorous American starlet is found strangled, Poirot has a hotel full of suspects to investigate. Stars John Moffat.
TUE 06:30 The War Brides Return (b016x4ss)
In the 1940s, over 70 thousand women, and 22 thousand children sailed across the Atlantic in more than 60 ships, on a one way passage, to begin a new life with their American and Canadian husbands they had met and married during the war. This War Bride exodus - is one of the greatest and unheralded mass movements in recent history. In April 2011, the Queen Mary 2nd brought some of them home.
Recorded as a montage programme on board the ship as it travelled from New York back to Britain, these women who are now in their 80s and 90s, tell extraordinary tales of that one way passage. Tales of falling in love, hasty marriages and arriving in a foreign land thousands of miles from home. For most of them it worked out - for some it didn't. But today there are over a million descendants in America and Canada, of these remarkable women who followed their hearts and took a leap of faith all those years ago.
Producer: Angela Hind
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 07:00 Two Doors Down (b008gbvs)
Series 2, Mythical Kings and Iguanas
Marlborough Road's multitasking mother Saffron turns to cleaner Sally for help. Stars Stella McCusker. From August 2002.
TUE 07:30 Fresh from the Fringe (b07npz2w)
Fresh from the Fringe: 2016, Part 2
Recorded at the BBC's Edinburgh Fringe festival site, MC extraordinaire Tom Allen showcases the cream of stand-up and character comedy from this year's festival. This edition features Welsh comic Kiri Pritchard-McLean, last year's Fosters Best Show nominee Kieran Hodgson, South African stand-up Loyiso Gola and rising Irish star Al Porter.
Producer...Joe Nunnery
Production Coordinator...Sophie Richardson
It was a BBC Studios Production.
TUE 08:00 Steptoe and Son (b00s7r4n)
Series 1, The Holiday
Harold fancies a holiday by himself in France, but his father Albert is not so keen.

Starring Wilfrid Brambell as Albert and Harry H Corbett as Harold.

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.

Adapted for radio from Galton and Simpson's TV script by Gale Pedrick.

Produced by Bobby Jaye

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in August 1966.
TUE 08:30 The Men From the Ministry (b01852vy)
Postal Disorder
The Post Office must boost business. Can the bungling duo deliver? Stars Deryck Guyler and Richard Murdoch. From August 1975.
TUE 09:00 The Museum of Curiosity (b07ns0r2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:30 Chambers (b007znmz)
Series 1, The Cab Rank Rule
After extolling high standards at the bar, John Fuller-Carp is embarrassed over animal rights. Stars John Bird. From April 1996.
TUE 10:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0121xgr)
Deaths and Entrances
Hamer Shawcross's political pursuits lead him to Westminster and Welsh valley mines. 19th-century saga with Ian McKellen.
TUE 11:00 Mary Costello - The China Factory (b01qfkzv)
Little Disturbances
A farmer avoids the doctor, aware his test results are bad. Dying is no concern - it's life that makes him tremble. Read by Dermot Crowley.
TUE 11:15 Afternoon Drama (b0151t3t)
Stephen Wyatt - Strangers on a Film
By Stephen Wyatt. To accompany Radio 4's Classic Chandler season, Patrick Stewart plays Raymond Chandler and Clive Swift is Alfred Hitchcock in their famous collaboration on 'Strangers on a Train'. In 1950, Alfred Hitchcock invited Raymond Chandler to work with him on a screenplay based on Patricia Highsmith's novel. Chandler was not only recognised as a fine novelist and had also received an Academy Award nomination for his original screenplay, The Blue Dahlia. The omens were good but their collaboration turned out to be a disaster.
Directed by Claire Grove.
TUE 12:00 Steptoe and Son (b00s7r4n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 The Men From the Ministry (b01852vy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Poirot (b007jm30)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 The War Brides Return (b016x4ss)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Marina Lewycka - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (b012gq0s)
Episode 7
Vera and Valentina come to blows, and Nadia and her father celebrate their first step to freedom. Read by Sian Thomas.
TUE 14:15 Sport and the British (b01cjwtv)
Broadcasting to the Nation
Clare Balding discovers how the birth of broadcasting changed British sport for ever. Radio played a crucial role in the popularisation of sport, suddenly you didn't need to be at the event to know exactly what happened or to be swept up in the excitement of the match. Jean Seaton, the BBC's historian explains how the events that were chosen for outside broadcast began to provide a secular calendar for the year, with the schedule being dominated by the most commentator friendly sports; football and tennis were a fit, flying fishing and pigeon racing were not.
We hear some of the earliest and most celebrated sports broadcasters ; George ' by Jove' Allison, Raymond Baxter, Brian Johnson and John Arlott, who describes the man responsible for the first sports programming on the BBC, Seymour Joly de Lotbiniere.
The series was made in partnership with The International Centre for Sport History and Culture at De Montfort University.
Readers: Stuart McLoughlin and Jo Munro
Technical presentation: John Benton
Producer: Lucy Lunt
Executive producer: Ian Bent.
TUE 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b018cdmz)
AS Byatt - Possession, Episode 2
Roland Michell, an academic research assistant, is completing some work in the London Library, when he comes across two unfinished letters written by the Victorian Poet, Randolph Henry Ash. Theses letters have obviously not been found by anyone else and they are not to his wife but to an unknown woman. Roland, whose entire academic life has been devoted to studying Ash, decides, recklessly to pocket the letters and try to determine exactly who they were written to.
This is the beginning of a quest that will change literary history and with the help of a feminist literary scholar Maud Bailey, they are determined to find out the truth behind these letters. Certain other characters hear about the letters and are eager to get their hands on them for their own financial gain and will do so, by any means necessary, and so the chase begins.
Written by A S Byatt. Dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Cast:
Maud ...... Jemma Redgrave
Roland ...... Harry Hadden-Paton
Ash ....... James d'arcy
Lamotte ..... Rachael Stirling
Blackadder ..... Bill Paterson
Cropper ..... Matthew Marsh
George ...... Kenneth Cranham
Joan ....... Joanna David
Beatrice Nest ...... Stella Gonet
Euan ...... Nicholas Boulton
Fergus ...... Jonjo O'Neil
Hildebrand ..... Robert Portal
Val ...... Laura Pyper
Leonora .... Lorelei King
Raoul/Toby Byng .... Sam Dale
Mrs Wapshott/Mrs Cammish/Mrs lees ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Beth/PA/Mrs Judge/Librarian ...... Rachel Atkins
Girl ...... Sylvie Goodwin
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 14:45 Book of the Week (b015zm94)
Carmen Aguirre - Something Fierce, Episode 2
Mia Soteriou reads Carmen Aguirre's coming-of-age memoir of life as a revolutionary in Latin America.
Born a week after the death of Che Guevara, Carmen Aguirre was always destined to become a revolutionary. After Pinochet's coup in Chile in 1973, her family is forced to flee to Canada, but a few years later return to join the underground movement against Pinochet. And so Carmen's double life begins. Posing as a westernised teenager by day, at night she is drilled in surveillance techniques, cryptography and subterfuge. It is a time of high excitement, but also one of fear and paranoia, of not knowing who to trust, or who to fear.
Today: After a perilous visit to her beloved Chile, Carmen finds herself questioning her commitment to the cause.
Author: Carmen Aguirre.
Reader: Mia Soteriou.
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett.
TUE 15:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0121xgr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 Jest a Minute (b017ptbk)
Series 2, Episode 5
Greg Davies, Eggsy, Lloyd Langford and Chris Corcoran join Rhod Gilbert for the comedy quiz from Cardiff. From January 2009.
TUE 16:30 Chambers (b007znmz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
TUE 17:00 Two Doors Down (b008gbvs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Fresh from the Fringe (b07npz2w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Charles Chilton - Journey Into Space (b007jpkd)
The Red Planet, Episode 2
Captain Jet Morgan is bound for Mars, but one of his crew is adrift in space. 1954 classic set in the future of 1971. Stars Andrew Faulds.
TUE 18:30 John Hersey - Hiroshima (b07pzdqr)
A Noiseless Flash
4 Extra Debut. The first minutes after the bombing. Recollections of six survivors of the world's first atomic bomb drop. From October 1948.
TUE 19:00 Steptoe and Son (b00s7r4n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 The Men From the Ministry (b01852vy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Poirot (b007jm30)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 The War Brides Return (b016x4ss)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 Mary Costello - The China Factory (b01qfkzv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 21:15 Afternoon Drama (b0151t3t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
TUE 22:00 Fresh from the Fringe (b07npz2w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 The Maltby Collection (b00czc0j)
Series 1, Episode 6
A TV detective star fancies Prunella during filming at the museum. With Geoffrey Palmer and guest Hugh Dennis. From July 2007.
TUE 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b07r1hfy)
Tom Wrigglesworth chats to Jack Rooke.
TUE 23:00 Clare in the Community (b00fw5jh)
Series 2, Relax
Romantic Brian is plotting to surprise the social worker on holiday. Stars Sally Phillips and Gemma Craven. From November 2005.
TUE 23:30 Delve Special (b007jm3s)
Series 2, The Archibald Gallery Robbery
Reporter David Lander reopens the investigation into 1983's Archibald Gallery robbery. Kevin Watts is the key suspect, but was he framed?

Stephen Fry plays spoof undercover investigative reporter David Lander. Co-starring Brenda Blethyn, Stephen Frost, Tony Robinson and Arthur Smith.

Delve Special ran for four series from 1984 to 1987 and later transferred to TV as: This is David Lander.

Written by Tony Sarchet. Producer Paul Mayhew-Archer.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1985.


WEDNESDAY 24 AUGUST 2016

WED 00:00 Charles Chilton - Journey Into Space (b007jpkd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 John Hersey - Hiroshima (b07pzdqr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Poirot (b007jm30)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 The War Brides Return (b016x4ss)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Marina Lewycka - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (b012gq0s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 Sport and the British (b01cjwtv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b018cdmz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Book of the Week (b015zm94)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0121xgr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 Jest a Minute (b017ptbk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Chambers (b007znmz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 Two Doors Down (b008gbvs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Fresh from the Fringe (b07npz2w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Poirot (b007jm3j)
Evil Under the Sun, Episode 3
Suspects-a-plenty, along with witchcraft and a secret love-letter for the Belgian sleuth to investigate. Starring John Moffatt.
WED 06:30 The Bob Graham Round (b0184vh6)
The Bob Graham Round is perhaps the most gruelling of all Fell Running challenges. Athletes have to climb 42 peaks, run about 70 miles and ascend 27 000 feet - which is about the height of Everest from sea level - all in a period of 24 hours. The run takes place in the glorious beauty of The Lake District, with its rapidly changing weather and underfoot conditions. It's a challenge which unites two diverse motivators of great art : human endeavour and the beauty of nature.
This year, while determined runners made their attempts at the Bob Graham Round, a young Italian composer has been writing a brand new piece of music that celebrates fell running in The Lakes. Maurizio Malagnini had never visited Cumbria before and had never heard of fell running. Ironically these were two of the reasons he was asked to write a new piece of work for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, they wanted to see how fresh eyes would be inspired.
The programme follows two stories: the development of Maurizio's composition and the attempt of two runners seeking to complete The Bob Graham Round.
WED 07:00 A Whole 'Nother Story (b0076b9h)
Series 2, Episode 3
Can Pete and Cassie's friendship avoid causing jealousy all around them? Stars Debra Stephenson and David Lamb. From November 2002.
WED 07:30 To Hull and Back (b07nrlr3)
Series 2, Is There Anyone Out There?
Lucy Beaumont stars as the daughter trying to escape her overbearing mother played by Maureen Lipman in the second series of this warm hearted sitcom set in Hull.
"It's like a cross between a Victoria Wood Sketch and a Mike Leigh film". Radio Times
Episode 2 - Is There Anyone Out There?
Sophie takes a shine to the new lodger; but the last thing Sheila wants is her daughter getting romantically involved with a UFO fanatic, or anyone else for that matter. She does her best to get rid of this interloper.
Writer ..... Lucy Beaumont
Producer ..... Carl Cooper
Production Co-ordinator ..... Sophie Richardson
This is a BBC Studios Production.
WED 08:00 The Navy Lark (b015qxph)
The Potarneyland Training Exercise
Phillips' navigation skills are hired to a foreign power, but diplomacy breaks down. Stars Leslie Phillips. From September 1965.
WED 08:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b007k0xt)
The End of the Series
The cast reminisce over how they all first met. Stars Tony Hancock, Moira Lister, Bill Kerr and Sid James. From February 1955.
WED 09:00 The 99p Challenge (b007js37)
Series 2, Episode 2
Crazy panel show capers as Sue Perkins grills Simon Pegg, David Quantick, Peter Baynham and Richard Herring. From June 2000.
WED 09:30 Rent (b04lxtl4)
Series 2, Episode 1
Maria and Richard have a happy marriage, no children, but their house is falling down. It looks like there's only one thing for it - they'll have to start taking in lodgers. From May 1993.
Stars Barbara Flynn as Maria, Patrick Barlow as Richard. With Diane Louise-Jordan as Ruby and Toby Longworth as Paul. Produced by Liz Anstee.
First heard on BBC Radio 4.
WED 10:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0125g87)
Hamer's Women
Social reformer Hamer is tempted by Lady Lettice, as his wife fights for the suffragettes. 19th-century saga with Ian McKellen.
WED 11:00 Mary Costello - The China Factory (b01qfpj9)
Things I See
A woman is haunted by an event from her past which remains unchallenged. Tension-laden story read by Elaine Symons.
WED 11:15 Christopher Reason - The Final Furlong (b0075cwc)
An old man with a broken heart wonders whether he can remedy his sorry situation. Poignant monologue with Bernard Cribbins.
WED 12:00 The Navy Lark (b015qxph)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b007k0xt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Poirot (b007jm3j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 The Bob Graham Round (b0184vh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Marina Lewycka - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (b012gr6f)
Episode 8
Where is Valentina? Who is the mystery man outside? And whose version of a family's story should be believed? Read by Sian Thomas.
WED 14:15 Sport and the British (b01ckgg5)
Driving Innovation
Clare Balding continues to explore how Britain shaped sport and sport shaped Britain. Horse racing may be the sport of kings but the princes, playboys and plutocrats of the modern era have preferred motor racing and the British have been at the wheel throughout. Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have all led the way but in the early days women were central to this story too, with Mrs EM Thomas being the awarded the first 120 mph badge at Brooklands in 1928.
The series was made in partnership with The International Centre for Sport History and Culture at De Montfort University.
Technical presentation: John Benton
Producer: Sara Conkey.
WED 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b018fljt)
AS Byatt - Possession, Episode 3
Roland Michell, an academic research assistant, is completing some work in the London Library, when he comes across two unfinished letters written by the Victorian Poet, Randolph Henry Ash. Theses letters have obviously not been found by anyone else and they are not to his wife but to an unknown woman. Roland, whose entire academic life has been devoted to studying Ash, decides, recklessly to pocket the letters and try to determine exactly who they were written to.
This is the beginning of a quest that will change literary history and with the help of a feminist literary scholar Maud Bailey, they are determined to find out the truth behind these letters. Certain other characters hear about the letters and are eager to get their hands on them for their own financial gain and will do so, by any means necessary, and so the chase begins.
Roland and Maud find themselves in the house where poet Christabel LaMotte spent the last few years of her life and more letters are discovered.
Written by A S Byatt. Dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Cast:
Maud ...... Jemma Redgrave
Roland ...... Harry Hadden-Paton
Ash ....... James d'arcy
Lamotte ..... Rachael Stirling
Blackadder ..... Bill Paterson
Cropper ..... Matthew Marsh
George ...... Kenneth Cranham
Joan ....... Joanna David
Beatrice Nest ...... Stella Gonet
Euan ...... Nicholas Boulton
Fergus ...... Jonjo O'Neil
Hildebrand ..... Robert Portal
Val ...... Laura Pyper
Leonora .... Lorelei King
Raoul/Toby Byng .... Sam Dale
Mrs Wapshott/Mrs Cammish/Mrs lees ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Beth/PA/Mrs Judge/Librarian ...... Rachel Atkins
Girl ...... Sylvie Goodwin
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 14:45 Book of the Week (b015zq2p)
Carmen Aguirre - Something Fierce, Episode 3
Mia Soteriou reads Carmen Aguirre's coming-of-age memoir of life as a teenage revolutionary in Latin America.
Born a week after the death of Che Guevara, Carmen Aguirre was always destined to become a revolutionary. After Pinochet's coup in Chile in 1973, her family is forced to flee to Canada, but a few years later return to join the underground movement against Pinochet. And so Carmen's double life begins. Posing as a westernised teenager by day, at night she is drilled in surveillance techniques, cryptography and subterfuge. It's a time of high excitement, but also one of fear and paranoia, of not knowing who to trust, or who to fear.
Today: when the situation in Bolivia becomes to dangerous, Carmen finds herself in rural Argentina in the depths of a harsh winter.
Author: Carmen Aguirre.
Reader: Mia Soteriou.
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett.
WED 15:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0125g87)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 The 99p Challenge (b007js37)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 Rent (b04lxtl4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 A Whole 'Nother Story (b0076b9h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 To Hull and Back (b07nrlr3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 Charles Chilton - Journey Into Space (b007jpnn)
The Red Planet, Episode 3
Whitaker is behaving strangely, as bad dreams plague the crew bound for Mars. 1954 sci-fi classic set in the future of 1971. Stars Andrew Faulds.
WED 18:30 John Hersey - Hiroshima (b07pzg0g)
The Fire
The first day of the aftermath of the explosion. Recollections of six survivors of the devastating atomic bomb drop. From October 1948.
WED 19:00 The Navy Lark (b015qxph)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b007k0xt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Poirot (b007jm3j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 The Bob Graham Round (b0184vh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Mary Costello - The China Factory (b01qfpj9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 21:15 Christopher Reason - The Final Furlong (b0075cwc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
WED 22:00 To Hull and Back (b07nrlr3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 The Castle (b01jyq99)
Series 4, A Term for the Worse
Hie ye to The Castle, a rollicking sitcom set way back then, starring James Fleet ("The Vicar Of Dibley"), Neil Dudgeon ("Life Of Riley"), Martha Howe-Douglas ("Horrible Histories") & Ingrid Oliver
Anne's off to Cambridge but Charlotte doesn't know the meaning of the word "thick". Literally. Is this the end of a beautiful friendship? And what will Sir Warenne do?
Written by Kim Fuller & Paul Alexander
Music by Guy Jackson
Produced and directed by David Tyler.
WED 23:00 Living with Mother (b01nl8gw)
Series 2, Star Turn
Living with Mother returns for a second series with further tales about sons who have never flown the nest.
Marlon is going to enter Britain's Got Talent, but his amateur Bontempist mother Helen is against it for good reason.
Marlon simply can't sing, but his dogged determination means he cannot back down and he convinces his mother to accompany him on the Bontempi. Poor Helen is in a quandary and feels she should tell her son that he can't sing but, true to form, he ignores any advice given.
Will Helen have the courage to put a stop to her son being humiliated or will she get a taste for fame herself?
Writing about the first series of Living with Mother, Radio Times described it as "Alexander Kirk's astutely-observed comedy series...underpinning each of these tales is a bittersweet poignancy, a moment when the easy laughs are replaced with a lip-trembling insight into the vulnerability, lack of self-confidence and interdependency".
Written by Alexander Kirk
Producer: Anna Madley
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:15 Mission Improbable (b01p0s15)
Series 1, Jungle!
A brand new series of fast-paced mini-adventures written by and starring Anna Emerson, Lizzie Bates and Catriona Knox, known collectively as The Boom Jennies.
Prompted by the pine-fresh fragrance of zoo keeper Amelia's new perfume, adventure journalist Jane is reminded of a story her uncle Norman once told her about a rare midnight orchid found only in the Guatemalan jungle. This is no ordinary flower, but one that gives off a scent with such aphrodisiac properties it makes the person wielding it utterly irresistible.
That's more than enough to convince perennial singleton Lucy that it is high time they all headed to South America. There follows a roller coaster ride of an adventure taking in waterfalls, crocodiles and a gang of ruthless drug smugglers. But our heroes remain unbowed. Each and every challenge thrown at them is met head-on with courage, determination and deeply inappropriate footwear.
Jane.................Catriona Knox
Lucy.................Lizzie Bates
Amelia..............Anna Emerson
Norman.............Paul Ryan
Written by Anna Emerson, Lizzie Bates and Catriona Knox
Audio production by Matt Katz
Produced by Dave Lamb and Richie Webb
A Top Dog production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:30 At Home With The Snails (b007k2ql)
Series 1, Episode 2
Alex is obsessed with snails, but can women ever replace them in his affections? Stars Gerard Foster. From July 2001.


THURSDAY 25 AUGUST 2016

THU 00:00 Charles Chilton - Journey Into Space (b007jpnn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 John Hersey - Hiroshima (b07pzg0g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Poirot (b007jm3j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 The Bob Graham Round (b0184vh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Marina Lewycka - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (b012gr6f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 Sport and the British (b01ckgg5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b018fljt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Book of the Week (b015zq2p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0125g87)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 The 99p Challenge (b007js37)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 Rent (b04lxtl4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 A Whole 'Nother Story (b0076b9h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 To Hull and Back (b07nrlr3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Poirot (b007jm42)
Evil Under the Sun, Episode 4
With sound alibis proven for the main suspects, Hercule Poirot makes a chance discovery in a nearby cove. Stars John Moffat.
THU 06:30 The Day of the Jackal (b011v1bl)
Celebrating 40 years of the seminal thriller The Day of the Jackal, Patrick Humphries explores just what made the book so riveting for him and so ground-breaking for a whole generation of thriller writers influenced by its author, Frederick Forsyth.
The Day of the Jackal was extraordinary for many reasons. For a start it broke so many of the 'rules' of thriller writing in that the assassin has no name, the story seamlessly mixes fact and fiction, the tools of the killer's trade are explored in considerable detail and the outcome of the story is known right from the start of the narrative. Harold Harris, Forsyth's editor at publisher Hutchinson and Co, noted all these new departures but still commissioned Forsyth for three novels of which the first was The Day of the Jackal, followed by The Odessa File and The Dogs of War.
The eponymous Jackal is a mercenary and in the novel he is hired by a real-life terrorist group, Organisation de l'Armee Secrete, whose members were intent on killing the French President Charles De Gaulle. The OAS wanted to retain Algeria as a French colony, and when de Gaulle reneged on his emotional avowal 'Vive l'Algerie francaise' ie 'Long Live French Algeria', and allow self-determination, he became the target of OAS assassins. Of course, as history proves, those assassins were never successful, though not for want of trying. Forsyth lived through those difficult times for French democracy as a Reuters correspondent in Paris and so it was an obvious choice of setting for his first attempt at thriller writing.
Patrick talks to an editor at Hutchinson, Tony Whittome, Professor of Modern English Literature John Sutherland, OAS expert Clement Steuer, writers Lee Child, Andrew Rosenheim, Sam Bourne and the Jackal's author, Frederick Forsyth.
Producer: Neil Rosser
A Ladbroke Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 07:00 The Little World of Don Camillo (b00t9xp6)
Series 1, Episode 4
Two grand openings bring Church and State rivalry to a head for the village priest. Stars Alun Armstrong. From April 2001.
THU 07:30 Simon Evans Goes to Market (b07nrxdl)
Series 3, Episode 4
Simon Evans' comedy lecture on four of the big life stages that mark our journey through life and how economics is part of every one of those stages, whether we like it or not.
As always, he is joined by Financial Times columnist and presenter of Radio 4's 'More or Less', economist Tim Harford, and by financial guru and editor of Money Week, Merryn Somerset Webb.
This week in the final programme of the series, Simon looks at (probably) the most final of life stages: Death.
From paying for funerals to the cost of cryonics, and the cheery subject of getting your final finances in order, this inevitably morbid programme will also make you laugh.
Special guest is Louise de Winter, funeral planner and the editor of the Good Funeral Guide.
Presenter: Simon Evans, with Tim Harford and Merryn Somerset Webb
Special guest: Louise de Winter
Written by Simon Evans, Benjamin Partridge and Andy Wolton.
Producer: Claire Jones.
THU 08:00 The Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise Show (b007qv81)
Series 3, From 04/12/1977
The legendary duo taste wine, pay tribute to marriage guidance and head to the garden. With Anita Harris. From December 1977.
THU 08:30 Radio Active (b007jvym)
Series 6, In-House Documentary
The production team follow a family around in a subtle fly-on-the wall style. With Geoffrey Perkins. From November 1986.
THU 09:00 The Unbelievable Truth (b01b9hjj)
Series 8, Episode 6
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents. Tony Hawks, Alan Davies, Tom Wrigglesworth and John Finnemore are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as: Wool, Flowers, The Radio and Pasta.
The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, the team behind Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.
Producer: Jon Naismith.
A Random Entertainment Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 09:30 The Elephant Man (b04phhxw)
It Could Be the Zoo
Southwood Zoo has tax problems and inept staff. Can the National Lottery help? Stars Peter Serafinowicz. From September 1996.
THU 10:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0125lky)
Nothing But the Truth, Almost!
The Great War dominates politics as leaders ask people to unite and Hamer's son joins up. 19th-century saga with Ian McKellen.
THU 11:00 Mary Costello - The China Factory (b01qfr26)
The Sewing Room
A retiring teacher recalls how a moment of bliss sends ripples of disquiet into every minute of her life. Read by Brid Brennan.
THU 11:15 Guy Meredith - Clicktrack (b04wwpwd)
1930s Britain. A new film seems doomed unless a young composer can save the day with a magical score. Stars Maurice Denham.
THU 12:00 The Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise Show (b007qv81)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 Radio Active (b007jvym)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Poirot (b007jm42)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 The Day of the Jackal (b011v1bl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Marina Lewycka - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (b012h98j)
Episode 9
Two women reveal their inner secrets. Marina Lewycka's tender and funny insight into life as an émigrée. Read by Sian Thomas.
THU 14:15 Sport and the British (b01ckmgn)
The Gentleman Amateur
Clare Balding's at Lords Cricket ground in London to explore the demise of the amateur gentleman and the rise of the professional player, as the 1960's saw the beginning of a new, more egalitarian era, in British sport.
In all walks of life, Britain's 'Establishment' was being scrutinized, criticised and satirised so it was hardly surprising that sport and particularly cricket should come under fire.
Dr Dilwyn Porter of The International Centre for Sport History and Culture at De Montfort University explains how the MCC had to finally abandon its long-standing distinction between gentlemen and players or amateurs and professionals. The distinction epitomised by David Sheppard (later Bishop of Liverpool) and Yorkshireman, Fred Trueman.
Readers: Sean Baker and Nyasha Hatendi.
Technical Presentation: John Benton
Producer: Garth Brameld.
THU 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b018flpb)
AS Byatt - Possession, Episode 4
Roland Michell, an academic research assistant, is completing some work in the London Library, when he comes across two unfinished letters written by the Victorian Poet, Randolph Henry Ash. Theses letters have obviously not been found by anyone else and they are not to his wife but to an unknown woman. Roland, whose entire academic life has been devoted to studying Ash, decides, recklessly to pocket the letters and try to determine exactly who they were written to.
This is the beginning of a quest that will change literary history and with the help of a feminist literary scholar Maud Bailey, they are determined to find out the truth behind these letters. Certain other characters hear about the letters and are eager to get their hands on them for their own financial gain and will do so, by any means necessary, and so the chase begins.
Mortimer Cropper, a collector of Ash memorabilia from Harmony City, New Mexico is in town. Will Roland manage to keep his secret away from Cropper's clutches.
Written by A S Byatt. Dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Cast:
Maud ...... Jemma Redgrave
Roland ...... Harry Hadden-Paton
Ash ....... James d'arcy
Lamotte ..... Rachael Stirling
Blackadder ..... Bill Paterson
Cropper ..... Matthew Marsh
George ...... Kenneth Cranham
Joan ....... Joanna David
Beatrice Nest ...... Stella Gonet
Euan ...... Nicholas Boulton
Fergus ...... Jonjo O'Neil
Hildebrand ..... Robert Portal
Val ...... Laura Pyper
Leonora .... Lorelei King
Raoul/Toby Byng .... Sam Dale
Mrs Wapshott/Mrs Cammish/Mrs lees ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Beth/PA/Mrs Judge/Librarian ...... Rachel Atkins
Girl ...... Sylvie Goodwin
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:45 Book of the Week (b015zrrl)
Carmen Aguirre - Something Fierce, Episode 4
Born a week after the death of Che Guevara, Carmen Aguirre was always destined to become a revolutionary. After Pinochet's coup in Chile in 1973, her family is forced to flee to Canada, but a few years later return to join the underground movement against Pinochet. And so Carmen's double life begins. Posing as a westernised teenager by day, at night she is drilled in surveillance techniques, cryptography and subterfuge. It is a time of high excitement, but also one of fear and paranoia, of not knowing who to trust, or who to fear.
Today: a mission across the Andes goes perilously wrong, and Carmen is forced to risk all.
Author: Carmen Aguirre.
Reader: Mia Soteriou.
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett.
THU 15:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0125lky)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 The Unbelievable Truth (b01b9hjj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 The Elephant Man (b04phhxw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 The Little World of Don Camillo (b00t9xp6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 Simon Evans Goes to Market (b07nrxdl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 Charles Chilton - Journey Into Space (b007jprf)
The Red Planet, Episode 4
The mystery over Whitaker deepens as tragedy strikes on board one of the Mars freighters. Stars Andrew Faulds. Classic sci-fi from 1954, set in 1971.
THU 18:30 John Hersey - Hiroshima (b07pzg5l)
Details Are Being Investigated
Between the day of the bombing and 12th August. Recollections of six survivors of the devastating atomic bomb drop. From October 1948.
THU 19:00 The Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise Show (b007qv81)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 Radio Active (b007jvym)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Poirot (b007jm42)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 The Day of the Jackal (b011v1bl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Mary Costello - The China Factory (b01qfr26)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
THU 21:15 Guy Meredith - Clicktrack (b04wwpwd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
THU 22:00 Simon Evans Goes to Market (b07nrxdl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World (b007jtql)
Series 2, The Scheme of Things
The sci-fi star probes the notion of a 'cosmic plan'. With Richard Herring, Stewart Lee and Tom Baker. From August 1993.
THU 23:00 Old Harry's Game (b00cbpy7)
Series 5, The Crusade
Satan starts a quest to improve mankind by infiltrating the world's great religions. Devilish comedy stars Andy Hamilton. From September 2005.
THU 23:30 The Shuttleworths (b007jp2b)
Series 3, Caravan Capers
While on a romantic break in Derbyshire, John and Mary discover a surprise guest. Stars Graham Fellows. From October 1997.
THU 23:45 The In Crowd (b0089jj8)
Series 1, Episode 4
Sketch show from Manchester's Comedy Store with Robin Ince, Helen Moon, Smug Roberts and Kate Ward. From August 2001.


FRIDAY 26 AUGUST 2016

FRI 00:00 Charles Chilton - Journey Into Space (b007jprf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 John Hersey - Hiroshima (b07pzg5l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Poirot (b007jm42)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 The Day of the Jackal (b011v1bl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Marina Lewycka - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (b012h98j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 Sport and the British (b01ckmgn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b018flpb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Book of the Week (b015zrrl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0125lky)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 The Unbelievable Truth (b01b9hjj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 The Elephant Man (b04phhxw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 The Little World of Don Camillo (b00t9xp6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Simon Evans Goes to Market (b07nrxdl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 Poirot (b007jm4n)
Evil Under the Sun, Episode 5
Determined to pinpoint the American starlet's killer, Hercule Poirot invites all his suspects to a picnic. Stars John Moffat.
FRI 06:30 Going on the Gallopers (b011c222)
A portrait of the life, popular art and remarkable engineering of Carters Steam Fair. John Carter was interested in old machinery and fairground art. People began giving him gear and rides, or selling them to him when they retired, knowing he would keep them working.
His obsession encompassed his family and now, a decade after his death, Carters Steam Fair, staffed by John's widow, his sons and many old friends, travels for 7 months of the year, and spends winter in the yard fettling, burnishing and painting.
There are gallopers (no, not carousels) of extraordinary glamour and beauty, dizzying steam yachts and the amazing Chair -o - Planes. The family and workers live in exquisite 1940s art deco showmen's wagons, with cut-glass clerestories.
Their set-up is different everywhere they go because they regard all this as art and architecture - that moves. Even their lorries are ancient and beautiful - This programme, recorded in their winter yard and on site while they work, captures the wild, bright, musical, oily beauty, and thoughtful philosophy, of the life of the steam fair.
Producer: Julian May.
FRI 07:00 Dave Sheasby - One Flat Summer (b007529g)
The 2,000 Guineas
Excited by a good win at Newmarket and a promising partnership, redundant Ken is drawn deeper into the serious world of gambling. Stars Gerard McDermott. From August 1997.
FRI 07:30 Fred MacAulay's Wet Hot Political Summer (b07pn82g)
Fred MacAulay looks at the momentous summer of 2016, a tumultuous period which saw (in no particular order) Brexit, the resignations of David Cameron, Roy Hodgson and Chris Evans, the non-resignation of Jeremy Corbyn, A new female PM, Labour leadership challenges, Nicola Sturgeon and the possibility of another Scottish referendum and Olympic glory!
Recorded at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Fred is joined by Rory Bremner, Andy Zaltzman, Ahir Shah and Gráinne Maguire, with stand up from Shappi Korshandi and Jonathan Pie.
"Wet Hot Political Summer" addresses the tumult of the summer of 2016, and begin to make sense of the new political landscape.
Host: Fred MacAulay
Panelists:
Rory Bremner
Andy Zaltzman
Ahir Shah
Gráinne Maguire
Stand Up:
Shappi Korshandi
Jonathan Pie
Host's Script by Gareth Gwynn, Jack Bernhardt, Liam Bierne and Max Davis.
Producer: Adnan Ahmed
A BBC Studios Production.
FRI 08:00 Something to Shout About (b07pzj5n)
Series 1, Episode 8
A cigarette TV advertising campaign causes a headache, until an unlikely star crops up. Stars Warren Mitchell. From August 1960.
FRI 08:30 The Goon Show (b007jpcq)
The Space Age
Neddy and Crun attempt to launch Min into space, but she gets stuck up the chimney. Stars Spike Milligan. From November 1957.
FRI 09:00 The 3rd Degree (b01rvnx3)
Series 3, University of Leicester
A lively and funny quiz show, hosted by Steve Punt, where a team of three University students take on a team of three of their professors.
Coming this week from the University of Leicester, the specialist subjects are Medicine, Sociology and, quite literally, Rocket Science (well, Astrophysics and Space Physics), with questions ranging from tummy rumbling to black holes via cheese, snooker and T.S. Eliot.
The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds, and the 'Highbrow and Lowbrow' round cunningly devised to test not only the students' knowledge of current affairs, history, languages and science, but also their Professors' awareness of television, film, and One Direction.
The resulting show is funny, fresh, and not a little bit surprising, with a truly varied range of scores, friendly rivalry, and moments where students wished they had more than just glanced at that reading list.
The host Steve Punt, although best known as a satirist on The Now Show, is also someone who delights in all facets of knowledge, not just in the Humanities (his educational background) but in the sciences as well. He has made a number of documentaries for Radio 4, on subjects as varied as "The Poet Unwound - The History Of The Spleen" and "Getting The Gongs" (an investigation into awards ceremonies), as well as a comedy for Radio 4's Big Bang Day set in the Large Hadron Collider, called "The Genuine Particle".
Producer: David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 09:30 Kathmandu or Bust (b01pkmq0)
The Truck Stops Here
The travellers have reached... um, well, actually they're lost in the middle of Uzbekistan. Stars David Haig. From July 1996.
FRI 10:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0125kcb)
Perish By the Sword
Labour has a brief taste of power, and fortunes are made and lost as Hamer Shawcross concludes his memoirs. Stars Ian McKellen.
FRI 11:00 Mary Costello - The China Factory (b01qfs6z)
The China Factory
A student regrets holding certain things back at her factory holiday job to fit in with the women workers. Read by Emily Taaffe.
FRI 11:15 Nick Warburton - Beast (b007wvyn)
A mysterious creature is pulled from the sea near a fishing village. Is it harmless or a threat? Stars James Fleet and Eve Best.
FRI 12:00 Something to Shout About (b07pzj5n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 The Goon Show (b007jpcq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Poirot (b007jm4n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 Going on the Gallopers (b011c222)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Marina Lewycka - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (b012hbxt)
Episode 10
Reconciliation and a new arrival as Nikolai prepares for the next phase of a long and chequered life. Concluded by Sian Thomas.
FRI 14:15 Sport and the British (b01cks4m)
Beating Us at Our Own Game
Clare Balding takes a look at Britain's most successful export ever - football. Yet in giving it to others, the British lost control of the game they had created and crafted. Clare, with the help of Prof Tony Mason of The International Centre for Sport History and Culture at De Montfort University, looks at our troubled relationship with the sport's governing body FIFA and asks if a British team will ever again come close to winning the World Cup.
Readers: Sean Baker and Nyasha Hatendi
Technical Presentation: John Benton
Producer: Garth Brameld.
FRI 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b018fmsx)
AS Byatt - Possession, Episode 5
Roland Michell, an academic research assistant, is completing some work in the London Library, when he comes across two unfinished letters written by the Victorian Poet, Randolph Henry Ash. Theses letters have obviously not been found by anyone else and they are not to his wife but to an unknown woman. Roland, whose entire academic life has been devoted to studying Ash, decides, recklessly to pocket the letters and try to determine exactly who they were written to.
This is the beginning of a quest that will change literary history and with the help of a feminist literary scholar Maud Bailey, they are determined to find out the truth behind these letters. Certain other characters hear about the letters and are eager to get their hands on them for their own financial gain and will do so, by any means necessary, and so the chase begins.
Roland and Maud have opened a Pandora's Box and the chase is on to find the evidence that will back up their theory and unravel the mystery.
Written by A S Byatt. Dramatised by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Cast:
Maud ...... Jemma Redgrave
Roland ...... Harry Hadden-Paton
Ash ....... James d'arcy
Lamotte ..... Rachael Stirling
Blackadder ..... Bill Paterson
Cropper ..... Matthew Marsh
George ...... Kenneth Cranham
Joan ....... Joanna David
Beatrice Nest ...... Stella Gonet
Euan ...... Nicholas Boulton
Fergus ...... Jonjo O'Neil
Hildebrand ..... Robert Portal
Val ...... Laura Pyper
Leonora .... Lorelei King
Raoul/Toby Byng .... Sam Dale
Mrs Wapshott/Mrs Cammish/Mrs lees ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Beth/PA/Mrs Judge/Librarian ...... Rachel Atkins
Girl ...... Sylvie Goodwin
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:45 Book of the Week (b015zsc1)
Carmen Aguirre - Something Fierce, Episode 5
Mia Soteriou reads Carmen Aguirre's coming-of-age memoir of life as a revolutionary in Latin America.
Born a week after the death of Che Guevara, Carmen Aguirre was always destined to become a revolutionary. After Pinochet's coup in Chile in 1973, her family is forced to flee to Canada, but a few years later return to join the underground movement against Pinochet. And so Carmen's double life begins. Posing as a westernised teenager by day, at night she is drilled in surveillance techniques, cryptography and subterfuge, until she finally takes the resistance oath herself.
Today: secret police, paranoia and mistrust, as the resistance begins to falter...
Author: Carmen Aguirre.
Reader: Mia Soteriou.
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett.
FRI 15:00 Howard Spring - Fame Is the Spur (b0125kcb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 The 3rd Degree (b01rvnx3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 Kathmandu or Bust (b01pkmq0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 Dave Sheasby - One Flat Summer (b007529g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 Fred MacAulay's Wet Hot Political Summer (b07pn82g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 Charles Chilton - Journey Into Space (b007jpv4)
The Red Planet, Episode 5
With communications to Earth lost, Jet Morgan's courage is tested during a meteor swarm. Stars Andrew Faulds. Classic 1954 sci-fi set in 1971.
FRI 18:30 John Hersey - Hiroshima (b07pzj7p)
Panic Grass and Feverfew
From 12th August 1945 to the first anniversary. Recollections of six survivors of the devastating atomic bomb drop. From October 1948.
FRI 19:00 Something to Shout About (b07pzj5n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 The Goon Show (b007jpcq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 Poirot (b007jm4n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 Going on the Gallopers (b011c222)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Mary Costello - The China Factory (b01qfs6z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 21:15 Nick Warburton - Beast (b007wvyn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
FRI 22:00 Fred MacAulay's Wet Hot Political Summer (b07pn82g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 Ian D Montfort Is: Unbelievable (b01ks6gt)
Pilot
Ian D Montfort, spirit medium, stars in this comedy showcase that'll amaze as well as entertain.
Ian channels conversations from "the other side", reveals the deepest darkest secrets of the audience, and is joined by celebrity guest Melanie Sykes, who will act as what is known in psychic circles as "a trusted witness".
Ian D. Montfort Is: Unbelievable is written and performed by Tom Binns, with additional material by Richard Turner.
Producer: Julia McKenzie.
FRI 23:00 Detective Sergeant Nick Mohammed (b018xtw1)
Series 1, Episode 4
Uh oh, not another bank Heist... Kerching! Join Nick and co. as they attempt to solve something akin to that bit at the start of The Dark Knight.
Written and performed by Nick Mohammed, with Anna Crilly & Colin Hoult.
Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
FRI 23:30 The Flight of the Conchords (b00dn8br)
Tower of London
The Kiwi novelty music duo try to make it big in the English capital. Improvised by Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, with Rob Brydon. From September 2005.