SATURDAY 22 JULY 2017

SAT 00:00 Ben Moor - Undone (b00pd7ck)
Series 3, UndergroundEdna and Tankerton traverse the Tube to stop someone changing the realities. Ben Moor's comic sci-fi saga with Alex Tregear, Ben Moor and Al Murray.
SAT 00:30 Soul Music (b03zy246)
Series 18, Crazy"It's the kind of music that makes you feel like you're just hurting so good"
People of different ages reflect on why the pop country classic 'Crazy' made famous by Patsy Cline brings out such strong emotions in them, including a young woman mourning the loss of a father's love after divorce, broadcaster Fiona Phillips on losing her father to Alzheimers and 87 year old Wayne Rethford who as a young man in 1961 met Patsy Cline and two years later happened upon the crash site where she died after her plane came down in a heavy storm in Tennessee.
"That music becomes embedded in your soul" he says.
Producer: Maggie Ayre.
SAT 01:00 Jedediah Berry - The Manual of Detection (b01q1h08)
Chapter 18All Unwin's dreams of returning to his day job rest on rescuing his boss Travis. But will he make it in time? The dark forces of Enoch Hoffmann are closing in. Concluded by Toby Jones.
Somewhere in an unnamed, rainy city, Charles Unwin, a lowly but efficient clerk in a big detective agency, has found his world turned upside down when his detective boss, Travis Sivart, disappears.
Suddenly promoted to the role - Unwin's been forced out into the field for the first time in his life. Unprepared and untrained, armed only with his trusty umbrella and The Manual of Detection. His first mission is to find out what happened to his boss.
Abridged by Eileen Horne
Produced by Clive Brill
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Pacificus Productions.
SAT 01:30 Great Aunt Mary's Tune (b0084ldp)
Lucy Neal reviews the archive of Victorian reformer Mary Neal, exploring the divisions in the English Folk Dance movement. From November 2007.
SAT 02:00 Keith Waterhouse - Billy Liar (b01f9wj6)
Episode 5Billy's fantasies have all been exposed. Will he leave to start a new life in London? Concluded by Stephen Tompkinson.
SAT 02:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04d4ppb)
A Useful WeedAt 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 (b03ws7gk)
Charlotte Jones - What Would Elizabeth Bennet Do?, LizzyBy Charlotte Jones.
Ever wondered what your favourite literary characters would do if they were around today? City boy James takes inspiration from his girlfriend's beloved Austen in plotting how to win her back. He wants to grab her attention with an offer he hopes she can't refuse...
With music from London based choir MKC.
Produced by Lucy Collingwood.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b01lv7xw)
Kate Summerscale - Mrs Robinson's Disgrace, Episode 5"The judges were presented with a singular case on Monday 14 June, a month after they had heard their first divorce suit. Henry Oliver Robinson, a civil engineer, was petitioning for the dissolution of his marriage on the grounds that his wife, Isabella, had committed adultery, and he submitted as evidence a diary in her hand."
These bare facts - the angry husband and the incriminating words - are, in the author's hands, shaped to tell a riveting story, that says much about the individuals involved and the social world they moved in...
The revealing of Isabella's diaries has caused much ado, and forced what will be an unforgettable trial
in a sweltering summer in London.
Reader Emma Fielding
Producer Duncan Minshull.
SAT 03:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lhsdj)
1-5 May 1917The third omnibus of Season 10, Our Daily Bread, set in Folkestone, in the week, in 1917, when the Archbishop of Canterbury warned, "when we come out of this war, we mean to come out with clean hands".
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Directed by Allegra McIlroy
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole
Story-led by Sarah Daniels
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Composer: Matthew Strachan
Consultant Historian: Maggie Andrews.
SAT 04:00 Who Goes There? (b0075z6w)
Series 4, Episode 5Martin Young's famous people quiz. With Francis Wheen, Fred Housego, Gyles Brandreth and Sheridan Morley. From November 2000.
SAT 04:30 Gush (b04yg54m)
Episode 2Could Cravate and Pomeroy's bitter rivalry ruin Prince Saudi's oil deal for world peace? With Martin Jarvis. From November 1994.
SAT 05:00 Ayres on the Air (b00mg9fy)
Series 3, ShoppingPam Ayres returns with a new series packed with poetry, anecdotes and sketches.
Pam is joined on stage by Geoffrey Whitehead and Felicity Montagu for poems and sketches on the subject of Shopping. Featuring sketches about braving the cosmetics department, and how some shop assistants think anyone over 40 should only wear beige.
Pam's shopping poems include 'Nowadays We Worship at Saint Tesco', the Contact Lens poem and 'I Can't Find Nice Knickers', one of her briefer poems.
SAT 05:30 The Absolutely Radio Show (b08xzcvk)
Series 2, Episode 4The cast of TV's hugely popular sketch show return for their second series on BBC Radio 4. Pete Baikie, Morwenna Banks, Moray Hunter, Gordon Kennedy and John Sparkes revisit some of their much-loved sketch characters, while also introducing some newcomers to the show.
In 2013, the group that made their name on Channel Four in the 1980s and 90s got back together for Radio 4's Sketchorama: Absolutely Special - which won the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Live Scripted Comedy. The first series of The Absolutely Radio Show picked up a Celtic Media Award nomination for Best Radio Comedy.
The final episode of the series features a fractious Stoneybridge Town Council meeting where there's controversy even when there's no agenda, the Little Girl with her take on US politics, Frank Hovis revealing how he met his wife, the Commissionaire on how best to manage a border wall between countries, Calum Gilhooley making a mountain out of buying a cup of coffee and Gwynedd shocking Denzil when she reveals her new beachwear - a beaver skin furkini. The team look at the rise of mobile phone zombies and there's a song about the pitfalls of being a self help junkie, while ageing rockers Joe and Davie try to resurrect the old magic in the recording studio.
Produced by Gordon Kennedy and Gus Beattie.
An Absolutely/Gusman production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 06:00 Saturday Drama (b008nb6p)
Peter Nichols - Passion PlayPassion Play
Peter Nichols's acclaimed study of adultery and betrayal.
James and Eleanor are happily married, or so they think. Kate, the young widow of one of their oldest friends, makes it clear to James that she thinks him very attractive. It is an offer he finds very difficult to resist.
James ...... Nicholas Le Prevost
Eleanor ...... Joanna David
Agnes ...... Gemma Jones
Kate ...... Emily Bruni
Directed by Colin Guthrie.
SAT 07:30 The Art of Monarchy (b01bsmdj)
Behind the Royal ImageBBC Arts Editor, Will Gompertz, begins an 8-part exploration of almost one thousand years of the British Monarchy as told through the objects of art they collected. In a weekly journey that takes him from the wilds of Balmoral in Scotland to the isolation of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, from the State Rooms in Buckingham Palace to the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, he'll be selecting choice items from the Royal Collection to see what they betray about the art of statecraft and a successful reign.
In each programme historians, academics and Royal Collection curators shed light on the mystery of kingship and the importance of faith, war, magnificence, progress and the people in the minds of monarchs.
He begins his investigations by looking at some of the most personal royal images in the Collection to see what insights they give us into the lasting power of the monarchy. From the very earliest royal photographs to the revealing portrait of a seductive Victoria, and from the forgotten son of Henry VIII to the manipulated images of George III, Will asks how important understanding their own image has been to the longevity of our Kings and Queens.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
SAT 08:00 Tony Benn on the Radio (b03zqmw3)
4 Extra Debut. Politician David Davis gives a personal exploration of Tony Benn's life and ideas through his many radio appearances. From March 2014.
SAT 09:00 A Date With Dyall (b06my9rb)
In this spooktacular showcase for Halloween, writer and actor Jonathan Rigby unlocks the vaults of the BBC sound archives to explore Valentine Dyall's broadcasting career. He reveals the enduring appeal of Dyall's most memorable character the menacing and creepy raconteur 'The Man In Black' and along the way he lifts the lid on some classic radio horror moments.
* Radio Dyall
Jonathan Rigby profiles the radio work of Valentine Dyall with rare archive of Dyall in conversation.
* Here Come The Men In Black
Featuring new and exclusive interviews. Actor Edward de Souza, a reincarnation of The Man in Black in the 1980's radio series Fear On Four, talks for the first time about his interpretation of the character, and Mark Gatiss the role's latest denizen reveals his joy and enthusiasm for portraying radio's most sinister personality. With rare archive of Valentine Dyall.
* Appointment With Fear
A classic episode from the ground breaking radio horror series
* Jonathan Rigby's Vault of Horror
Jonathan Rigby is joined by writer Kim Newman and Josephine Botting from the British Film Institute to chart the history of 'The Man in Black', reveal some memorable radio horror stories and get their teeth into why this genre continues to have us shivering under the sheets.
* Fear on Four: The Monkey's Paw
A man makes wishes on a very unusual gift that's been cast with a sinister spell. Stars Oliver Maguire and Trudy Kelly.
* Appointment With Fear
Another classic episode from the ground breaking radio horror series
* Fear on Four: The Snowman Killing
The Man in Black introduces the snowy mystery of a mother fearing evil in her own home. Stars Edward de Souza and Imelda Staunton.
Producer: Stephen Garner
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
SAT 12:00 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b007jq77)
Series 1, Episode 1The sofa-bound daytime presenters look at families and relationships. Stars Robert Duncan and Julia Hills. From April 1996.
SAT 12:30 Booked (b08yfb97)
Series 6, Episode 14 Extra Debut. Ian McMillan's irreverent literary game with Mark Thomas, Linda Smith, David Stafford and Stuart Maconie. From June 1999.
SAT 13:00 Assata Shakur: The FBI's Most Wanted Woman - Omnibus (b08ynnqp)
4 Extra Debut. Political activist Assata Shakur's autobiography. Shakur is gravely wounded in a shoot-out. Starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste.
SAT 14:10 Down Your Way (b08ynnqr)
Leslie Thomas in LymingtonWriter Leslie Thomas explores the Hampshire coastal town of Lymington, with stories of smugglers, salt flats and the curate who wrote 'Abide with Me'.
Leslie Thomas (1931-2014) was best known for his novel 'The Virgin Soldiers'
Down Your Way was a schedule staple for decades - starting on the BBC Home Service in 1946 and ending its run on BBC Radio 4 in 1992. Using a variety of hosts, including Richard Dimbleby and Brian Johnston, the programme toured villages, towns and cities across the UK. At the height of the series' success in the 1950s, it was attracting ten million listeners a week.
Producer: Jill Marshall
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1989.
SAT 15:00 Tony Benn on the Radio (b03zqmw3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Saturday Drama (b008nb6p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 The Art of Monarchy (b01bsmdj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Stephen Sheridan - The House at World's End (b0076hc6)
What terrible secret lurks in the library at Cranleigh Hall? Why is old Uncle Magnus so afraid of the night?
Stars John Rowe as MR James, Jonathan Keeble as Young James, Charles Simpson as Henry Gilbert and David Collings as Dr De Lacey.
A tale of the supernatural by Stephen Sheridan.
Director: David Blount
Studio Manager: Roy Fraser
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4 and first broadcast in 2003.
SAT 18:45 L'Abbe Bourdelot - Monsieur Oufle (b06r9k83)
Superstitious and weak-headed Monsieur Oufle believes he has been bewitched and turned into a werewolf. Read by Timothy Bateson.
SAT 19:00 A Date With Dyall (b06my9rb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Richard Herring's Objective (b00vcqm7)
Series 1, The HoodieRichard Herring reclaims objects that we've grown to hate - a tracksuit top with a hood. With Emma Kennedy. From October 2010.
SAT 22:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b01mx27b)
Series 2, Episode 3John Finnemore, the writer and star of Cabin Pressure, regular guest on The Now Show and popper-upper in things like Miranda and Family Guy, records a second series of his hit sketch show.
The first series was described as "sparklingly clever" by The Daily Telegraph and "one of the most consistently funny sketch shows for quite some time" by The Guardian. It featured Winnie the Pooh coming to terms with his abusive relationship with honey, how The Archers sounds to people who don't listen to the Archers and how Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde decided whose turn it was to do the washing up.
This episode doesn't feature any of those things, but it does feature a sketch about messengers, a sketch about the history of alchemy and a sketch... Sketch? "Sketch"? Sorry, you know when you repeat a word so often it starts to go weird? "Sketch". Sketch! Ssssssketch. That's got it, better now. Anyway, there's a sketch about that.
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme is written by and stars John Finnemore. It also features Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan. It is produced by Ed Morrish.
SAT 23:00 The Mark Steel Solution (b007jmtg)
Series 1, Anyone Born in England Should Be DeportedRadical proposals to improve our lives, with the comedian's emigration shake-up. From November 1992.
SAT 23:30 The Headset Set (b01nq7dx)
Series 2, Episode 2EPISODE 2
Sketches set in a call centre called Smile 5, a mail order catalogue company that sells anything and everything. On the Smile 5 call centre floor, Bernie is excessively angry over her missing lunch.
Aleesha and other characters ..... Chizzy Akudolu
Bernie and other characters ..... Margaret-Cabourn Smith
Big Tony, Ralph and other characters ..... Colin Hoult
Various characters ..... Lucy Montgomery
Sailesh, Bradley and other characters ..... Phaldut sharma
Writers ..... Various
Script editor ..... James Kettle.
Producer ..... Tilusha Ghelani.


SUNDAY 23 JULY 2017

SUN 00:00 Stephen Sheridan - The House at World's End (b0076hc6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 00:45 L'Abbe Bourdelot - Monsieur Oufle (b06r9k83)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:45 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 Assata Shakur: The FBI's Most Wanted Woman - Omnibus (b08ynnqp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:10 Down Your Way (b08ynnqr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Tony Benn on the Radio (b03zqmw3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 Saturday Drama (b008nb6p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 The Art of Monarchy (b01bsmdj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 What Would Elizabeth Bennet Do? (b03xcl05)
Omnibus. A 21st-century update of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Can James win his girlfriend back? Stars Kobna Holdbrook Smith.
SUN 07:15 David Self - Slow Release (b00765bf)
4 Extra Debut. A personal tragedy leads a successful entrepreneur to reflect over past actions. Read by Michael Tudor Barnes.
SUN 07:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b04v3838)
Series 2, The Well of LonelinessWhen Tom's father uncovers some potentially life-changing news through his research into the family tree, Tom is pressganged into helping him find a church which could be devastating for the Wrigglesworth name.
Meanwhile, Tom's mum and gran enter the cut-throat world of competitive well-dressing.
SUN 08:00 Educating Archie (b007jsv1)
From 01/03/1959Brough bets that he and school boy Archie Andrews can travel round Britain in eight days.
Radio ventriloquism with Dick Emery, Warren Mitchell, Bernard Bresslaw and Gladys Morgan.
Running from 1950-1958, Educating Archie introduced a number of soon-to-be household names to listeners, including Tony Hancock, Benny Hill, Harry Secombe, Dick Emery, Hattie Jacques, Bruce Forsyth and Max Bygraves - all taking a turn in tutoring Archie.
Scripted by: Ronald Chesney, Ronald Wolfe and Marty Feldman,
Producer: Jacques Brown
First heard on the BBC Light Programme in March 1959.
SUN 08:30 Whack-O! (b065y6qz)
From 08/08/1961A sneaky Sunday tabloid is after a school expose. Can Professor Jimmy Edwards fight back? With June Whitfield.
Starting life on BBC TV before transferring to radio, Chiselbury School is run "for the sons of gentlefolk".
Headmaster, Professor James Edwards, M.A. never misses a trick when it comes to exploiting the students and their parents. Sports pitches are given over to growing vegetables, which the boys nurture for their head to sell. Classes never exceed 95 pupils - 50 if private tuition is paid for at five guineas extra. It's only thanks to the efforts of the devoted deputy head, Mr Pettigrew, that the school exists at all.
Written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden and adapted for radio by David Climie.
Producer: Edward Taylor
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in August 1961.
SUN 09:00 Naoki Higashida - Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight: Omnibus (b08ynt10)
Author David Mitchell introduces this compelling book by a Japanese teenager with severe autism. Read by Matthew Beard.
SUN 10:10 The Listening Project (b02x9f5c)
Barbara and June - The Lifeboat LadiesFi Glover introduces a conversation about how wives and mothers cope when the lifeboat and menfolk are at sea, in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
SUN 10:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b08ynt12)
Stagecraft, Peter Nichols4 Extra Debut. From Fred Astaire to William Walton, playwright Peter Nichols makes his castaway choices. With Sue Lawley. From July 2000.
SUN 11:00 Radiolab (b08ynt14)
BlissRadiolab explores why people chase moments of total, world-shaking bliss. With Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich.
Radiolab is a Peabody-award winning show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and the human experience.
First broadcast on public radio in the USA.
SUN 12:00 Educating Archie (b007jsv1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SUN 12:30 Whack-O! (b065y6qz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
SUN 13:00 What Would Elizabeth Bennet Do? (b03xcl05)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 14:15 David Self - Slow Release (b00765bf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]
SUN 14:30 Rachel Joyce - The Music Shop Omnibus (b08ynt1b)
Episode 1Omnibus: It is 1988, and Frank only sells vinyl. He is never going to change. But then, everything does. Written and read by Rachel Joyce.
SUN 15:45 The Old Road (b0075qxn)
Winchester and AwayPatrick Muirhead retraces writer Hilaire Belloc's 1899 journey from Winchester to Canterbury. From December 1999.
SUN 16:00 Tom Stoppard - Albert's Bridge (b08ynt1d)
Tom Stoppard's award-winning play about a philosophy graduate named Albert, employed to help paint the cantilevered railway bridge spanning Clufton Bay.
Starring John Hurt as Albert, Haydn Jones as Fraser, Barbara Mitchell as Kate, Victor Lucas as the Chairman, Ronald Herdman as Fitch, Betty Hardy as Mother, Alan Dudley as Father, Nigel Anthony as Bob, Alexander John as Charlie, Geoffrey Wincott as Dad, Anthony Jackson as George and Ian Thompson as Dave.
In 1968, 'Albert Bridge' won both the Prix Italia prize in Rome and the Czechoslovak International Radio Play Festival in Prague.
Producer: Charles Lefeaux
First broadcast on the BBC Third Programme in July 1967.
SUN 17:00 Lost Voices (b00s1pdz)
Series 2, Thomas BlackburnBBC Radio 4's Poet in Residence, Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry with 'Lost Voices: Thomas Blackburn'.
Novelist Julia Blackburn joins Brian Patten to talk about the life and work of her father, Thomas, whose powerful and remarkable poetry reflects the lifelong struggles he had with his demons. Thomas's father handed on to his son a hideous sense of shame which was in due course compounded by alcoholism and an addiction to prescription drugs. Yet Thomas Blackburn's rich and unflinching poetry is still well worth reading, and at the end of his life he was able to make peace with the past and die in contentment.
Poems read by Patrick Romer.
Producer: Christine Hall.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
SUN 17:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b04v3838)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 18:00 Afternoon Drama (b03mj1y2)
Katie Hims - Listening to the Dead, Ruby's Shoesby Katie Hims, Ruby Tully grows up unaware of her clairvoyant heritage, and finds that her gift is a curse in an age of experimental psychology
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
SUN 18:45 Book at Bedtime (b03d6r34)
Algernon Blackwood's Ghost Stories, The Kit BagJohnson has attended a shocking court-case and, as he packs for his holiday, the memories of the details of a brutal murder comes back to haunt him. But so does something else.
Stories abridged by Robin Brooks
Read by Matthew Marsh
Producer: Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 19:00 Radiolab (b08ynt14)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 20:00 Naoki Higashida - Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight: Omnibus (b08ynt10)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SUN 21:10 The Listening Project (b02x9f5c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 today]
SUN 21:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b08ynt12)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:15 today]
SUN 22:00 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b04v3838)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 22:30 Gloomsbury (b03zby85)
Series 2, Anarchy Looms Over StaplehurstTalk of a General Strike is in the air as Lionel and Ginny Fox pay a visit to Sizzlinghurst Castle to see Vera Sackcloth-Vest and Henry Mickleton.
Green-fingered Sapphist Vera Sackcloth-Vest shares a bijou castle in Kent with her devoted husband Henry, but longs for exotic adventures with nervy novelist Ginny Fox and wilful beauty Venus Traduces. It's 1921, the dawn of modern love, life and lingerie, but Vera still hasn't learnt how to boil a kettle.
Ginny is writing a new book and wants to pick Vera's brains about her aristocratic childhood. But all is not well. Henry thinks that Ginny is a bad influence on Vera because Ginny is so highly strung and Lionel thinks that Vera is too aristocratic and not socialist enough for Ginny.
Terrified that the oppressed people of Staplehurst will rise up and storm the castle, they flirt with a posh kind of socialism until the working class DH Lollipop pops in with his demi-mondaine Venus Traduces and tells them that he likes them just the way they are.
Producer: Jamie Rix
A Little Brother production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b08zrbkq)
Twayna Mayne 2/2The best in contemporary comedy. Arthur Smith chats to Twayna Mayne.
SUN 23:00 Clare in the Community (b0089j0c)
Series 1, BabysitterClare Barker has entered a caring profession so that she can sort out other people's problems rather than deal with her own. Stars Sally Phillips.
SUN 23:30 I Think I've Got a Problem (b007xvrp)
Series 1, Episode 3Tom gets a courier job to Spain, but his 'imaginary' band causes plane mayhem. Stars Suggs and Bob Monkhouse. From July 2001.


MONDAY 24 JULY 2017

MON 00:00 Afternoon Drama (b03mj1y2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:45 Book at Bedtime (b03d6r34)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:45 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 What Would Elizabeth Bennet Do? (b03xcl05)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:15 David Self - Slow Release (b00765bf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Sunday]
MON 02:30 Rachel Joyce - The Music Shop Omnibus (b08ynt1b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Sunday]
MON 03:45 The Old Road (b0075qxn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Tom Stoppard - Albert's Bridge (b08ynt1d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Lost Voices (b00s1pdz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b04v3838)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08ynts0)
Series 3, Blackmail Is a Nasty WordCan con artist Harry use the words of a dying gangster to help him out of a tricky spot?
Starring Orson Welles as Harry Lime.
The films of Orson Welles, such as 'Citizen Kane', 'The Magnificent Ambersons' and 'Touch of Evil' guaranteed his place in the pantheon of silver-screen heroes.
In the celebrated 1949 film adaptation of Graham Greene's novel 'The Third Man', Harry Lime is introduce as one of cinema's most notorious anti-heroes. Sought in post-war Vienna by pulp writer Holly Martins [Joseph Cotton] and British Army Major Calloway [Trevor Howard], Lime manages to steal the show despite being absent for much of it!
This 1951-52 radio prequel to the film, 'The Lives of Harry Lime' earned Welles even more acclaim. His distinctive tones had already served him well as the radio voice of 'The Shadow' between 1937 and 1938, where he portrayed the crusader with distinctly questionable means of thwarting crime.
Stripped of the film cameras, the character of Harry Lime is not ameliorated for this radio outing. He's an out and out rogue. Lime made it to the airwaves thanks to another Harry - Harry Alan Towers, with whom Welles collaborated on 'The Black Museum'. Like its eponymous anti-hero, this series travelled widely, being syndicated across the USA and on Radio Luxembourg.
The music is by Anton Karas, the zither man.
Produced by Towers of London.
MON 06:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pf4x9)
Series 1, PlatypusSeries of talks by Sir David Attenborough on the natural histories of creatures and plants from around the world.
Along the soft, muddy river banks of New South Wales, the female duck-billed platypus makes a burrow to raise her family. Not only is this the strangest of creatures, it is also one of the most tricky to film.
MON 06:30 Fragments in Time (b0075rn6)
Christopher Morris explains how he found the torn, muddied remains of a diary in a Sussex ditch, which, when the pieces were reassembled, revealed the daily account of a young British woman who was trapped in Vichy, France, in 1944. But who was she and why was she there? From January 2000.
MON 07:00 Living With the Enemy (b0077154)
Episode 1Nick Revell and Gyles Brandreth star as a comedian who is now a holistic therapist and a Tory MP who is now a media figure. From November 2006.
MON 07:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b08y027x)
Series 67, Episode 4The antidote to panel games pays a return visit to the Victoria Theatre in Halifax. Old-timers Barry Cryer and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined on the panel by Susan Calman and John Finnemore with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell attempts piano accompaniment. Producer - Jon Naismith. It is a BBC Studios production.
MON 08:00 The Burkiss Way (b00dghc4)
Series 5, Wave Goodbyes to CBEs the Burkiss WayThe cult sketch show team's last-ever episode.
Starring Fred Harris, Jo Kendall, Nigel Rees and Chris Emmett.
With special guest David Jason.
Cult sketch comedy series which originally ran from 1976 to 1980.
Scripted by David Renwick and Andrew Marshall.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1980.
MON 08:30 Dad's Army (b007jp0x)
Series 2, The King Was in His Counting HouseWhen Captain Mainwaring's bank gets bombed in Walmington-on-Sea, his Home Guard platoon must guard all the money.
Starring Arthur Lowe as Captain Mainwaring, John Le Mesurier as Sergeant Wilson, Clive Dunn as Corporal Jones, John Laurie as Private Frazer, Ian Lavender as Private Pike, Arnold Ridley as Godfrey, Larry Martyn as Private Walker and Wendy Richard as Shirley.
Adapted for radio from Jimmy Perry and David Croft's TV scripts by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles.
Producer: John Dyas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1975.
MON 09:00 The Write Stuff (b01by9l4)
Series 15, Jackie CollinsAuthor of the Week this episode is million-selling author and steadfast purveyor of "bonkbusters", Jackie Collins.
Team captains Sebastian Faulks and John Walsh are joined by journalist, Jane Thynne, and creator of the DI Thorne novels, Mark Billingham as they attempt to answer questions based on her life and work.
For the finale of the show, the teams are asked to imagine Jackie Collins' version of a literary classic, such as Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre.
MON 09:30 North East of Eden (b01glrp1)
Episode 4Festival time on the island, but will a mystery illness put an end to Marcia's fun? Stars Rebecca Front. From July 1997.
MON 10:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lhslh)
8-12 May 1917The fourth omnibus of Season 10, Our Daily Bread, set in Folkestone, in the week, in 1917, when the Stockholm Conference refused entry to anyone on the side of the German Imperialists
Cast
Kitty Lumley ..... Ami Metcalf
Joan Edkins ..... Rachel Davies
Ralph Winwood ..... Nick Murchie
Cynthia Hamilton ..... Fenella Woolgar
Isabel Graham ..... Keely Beresford
Lilian Frost ..... Alex Tregear
Mrs Grimes ..... Amelda Brown
Reg Roach ..... Arthur Smith
Switchboard ..... Chetna Pandya
Florrie Wilson ..... Claire Rushbrook
Hilary Pearce ..... Craige Els
Noah Hamilton ..... Finn Monteath
Sylvia Graham ..... Joanna David
Victor Lumley ..... Joel MacCormack
Forsyth ..... John Dougall
Walter Hamilton ..... Joseph Kloska
Ruby Pearce ..... Katie Redford
Juliet Cavendish ..... Lizzie Bourne
May Arnold ..... Lois Chimimba
Nancy Parker ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Gabriel Graham ..... Michael Bertenshaw
Oscar Hendrickx ..... Pierre Elliot
Dorothea Winwood ..... Rachel Shelley
Evelina White ..... Rosie Cavaliero
Norman Harris ..... Sean Baker
Carson Martindale ..... Stephen Critchlow
Alec Poole ..... Tom Stuart
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Story-led by Sarah Daniels
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Composer: Matthew Strachan
Consultant Historian: Maggie Andrews.
MON 11:00 Nadine Gordimer - A Flash of Fireflies (b03g8nwd)
Six Feet of the CountryMarking Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer's death in July, the first of three stories from her remarkable career as a writer and political activist.
In this story, first published in 1953, a landowning couple face a stark dilemma when an illegal immigrant dies on their property.
Read by William Gaminara
Abridged and produced by Gemma Jenkins
The South African author and political activist saw the short story as the literary form for our age. She described the experience of human life as "the flash of fireflies. Short story writers see by the light of the flash; theirs is the art of the only thing one can be sure of - the present moment."
Three stories which shine a light on her country's turbulent past.
MON 11:15 EF Benson - Queen Lucia (b08yr2ss)
The GuruSummer 1920: Lucia (Mrs Philip Lucas) returns to her beloved Riseholme after the exhausting social round in London. But all, it seems, is not well.
In her absence an upstart has assumed control of the cultural life of the village. The light of battle enters Lucia's eye.
A five-part comedy series based on the novel by EF Benson, dramatised and narrated by Aubrey Woods.
Stars Barbara Jefford as Lucia, Jonathan Cecil as Georgie Pillson, Jane Wenham as Daisy Quantock and Bernard Brown as Colonel Boucher.
Producer: John Cardy
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1984.
MON 12:00 The Burkiss Way (b00dghc4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 Dad's Army (b007jp0x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08ynts0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pf4x9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 today]
MON 13:30 Fragments in Time (b0075rn6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b01mdbrz)
Ian McEwan - Sweet Tooth, Episode 1Ian McEwan's novel of love and deception set in MI5 during the early 1970s, read by Amelia Bullmore.
Episode 1 : "My name is Serena. More than forty years ago I was sent on a secret mission for the British security service. I didn't return safely."
Abridged and produced by Christine Hall.
MON 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dk87y)
A Blooming Tree of LifeThe 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 15 Minute Drama (b039zg2k)
Al Smith - Life in the Freezer, For When I Am Goneby Al Smith
The family that eats together, stays together or so believed June Cartwright, which is why she leaves behind a freezer full of food to guide her family through their grief following her death.
Directed by Sally Avens
At 66 June Cartwright finally lost her battle with Ovarian Cancer. She didn't fear death but what would happen to her family after she'd gone, for she knew she was the emotional glue that kept them together. For June, food was everything. A family that eats together, stays together.
June may have left behind her a husband and two children. What they will soon discover is that she also left behind fifty frozen meals, perfectly cooked to their tastes which serve to guide them through their grief, together. This series charts five meals, spread across six months during which the Cartwright family pull themselves apart, back together, and figure out how to move on after their mothers death.
Al Smith won the 2012 Wellcome Screenwriting Prize with his feature film HALF LIFE; he is currently writing the screenplay. Recently he script edited the BBC Natural History series AFRICA and wrote the narrative for the 90' single feature. He was the winner of the 2006 Pearson Playwriting Award and the Sunday Times Playwriting Award for a second time, with RADIO. In 2007 Al did the BBC Writers Academy and in 2008/9 wrote for HOLBY and EASTENDERS as well as theatre piece THE BIRD which received four star notices at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Al co-created,exec-produced and wrote interactive teen-soap THE CUT for BBC Switch which ran to 3 series.
MON 14:45 Book of the Week (b01m0kj6)
Daniel Tammet - Thinking in Numbers, Counting to Four in IcelandicWritten by Daniel Tammet.
Read by James Anthony Pearson.
First of five extracts from Daniel Tammet's new book of essays that celebrates "the science of imagination": mathematics. Today's essay explores the different ways in which cultures across the world approach and describe numbers.
Daniel Tammet is hailed the world over for his extraordinary mind and unique intelligence shaped by high-functioning autistic savant syndrome. He perceives words and numbers as shapes, colours, and emotions, and holds the European record for reciting the mathematical constant Pi to 22,514 decimal places. For Tammet, numbers are beautiful and illuminate our everyday thoughts and lives. His idiosyncratic world view gives us new perspectives on the universal questions of what it is to be human and how we make meaning in our lives.
Abridged and produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
MON 15:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lhslh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 The Write Stuff (b01by9l4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 North East of Eden (b01glrp1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 Living With the Enemy (b0077154)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b08y027x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 Ben Moor - Undone (b00pgnql)
Series 3, UnitedEdna sees a hypnotherapist, as her friends take up the worlds-protecting slack. Ben Moor's comic sci-fi saga with Alex Tregear, Ben Moor and Duncan Wisbey.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (b0076mhb)
Christopher Cook and Tracy ChevalierSue MacGregor and her guests, author Tracy Chevalier and broadcaster Christopher Cook, discuss novels by Christina Lamb, Luke Sutherland and Beryl Bainbridge. From July 2004.
The Sewing Circles of Herat, by Christina Lamb
Publisher: Flamingo
Venus as a Boy, by Luke Sutherland
Publisher: Bloomsbury
According to Queeney, by Beryl Bainbridge
Publisher: Abacus.
MON 19:00 The Burkiss Way (b00dghc4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Dad's Army (b007jp0x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08ynts0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pf4x9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 today]
MON 20:30 Fragments in Time (b0075rn6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 Nadine Gordimer - A Flash of Fireflies (b03g8nwd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:15 EF Benson - Queen Lucia (b08yr2ss)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
MON 22:00 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b08y027x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 The Consultants (b061gtpt)
Series 4, Episode 4A 'ladies man' sings about his suspect personal hygiene. Neil Edmond and James Rawlings' cerebral sketches. From November 2005.
MON 23:00 Dead Ringers (b08y2znp)
Series 18, 21/07/2017Recorded the day before transmission, the satirical sketch show remains as sharp and topical as ever. Impressions and caricatures are the charming couriers of explosively satirical truth-bombs.
The series is written by Private Eye writers Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain, together with Tom Coles, Ed Amsden, Sarah Campbell, Laurence Howarth, James Bugg, Laura Major, Max Davis, Jack Bernhardt and others.
The series stars Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis MacLeod, Debra Stephenson and Duncan Wisbey.
A BBC Studios Production.
MON 23:30 A Look Back at the Future (b01s5d66)
2099From August 1994, Brian Perkins, Hugh Dennis and Kate Robbins host a retrospective on 2099, the year that time ran backwards.


TUESDAY 25 JULY 2017

TUE 00:00 Ben Moor - Undone (b00pgnql)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b0076mhb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08ynts0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pf4x9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 Fragments in Time (b0075rn6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b01mdbrz)
[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 15 Minute Drama (b039zg2k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:45 Book of the Week (b01m0kj6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lhslh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 The Write Stuff (b01by9l4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 North East of Eden (b01glrp1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 Living With the Enemy (b0077154)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b08y027x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yr6ts)
Series 3, Paris Is Not the SameCan con artist Harry use a chance encounter to pursue an old flame and make it profitable?
Starring Orson Welles as Harry Lime.
The films of Orson Welles, such as 'Citizen Kane', 'The Magnificent Ambersons' and 'Touch of Evil' guaranteed his place in the pantheon of silver-screen heroes.
In the celebrated 1949 film adaptation of Graham Greene's novel 'The Third Man', Harry Lime is introduce as one of cinema's most notorious anti-heroes. Sought in post-war Vienna by pulp writer Holly Martins [Joseph Cotton] and British Army Major Calloway [Trevor Howard], Lime manages to steal the show despite being absent for much of it!
This 1951-52 radio prequel to the film, 'The Lives of Harry Lime' earned Welles even more acclaim. His distinctive tones had already served him well as the radio voice of 'The Shadow' between 1937 and 1938, where he portrayed the crusader with distinctly questionable means of thwarting crime.
Stripped of the film cameras, the character of Harry Lime is not ameliorated for this radio outing. He's an out and out rogue. Lime made it to the airwaves thanks to another Harry - Harry Alan Towers, with whom Welles collaborated on 'The Black Museum'. Like its eponymous anti-hero, this series travelled widely, being syndicated across the USA and on Radio Luxembourg.
The music is by Anton Karas, the zither man.
Produced by Towers of London.
TUE 06:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pfkw3)
Series 1, Giant BirdsSeries of talks by Sir David Attenborough on the natural histories of creatures and plants from around the world.
Madagascar, off the eastern coast of Africa, is the largest continental island in the world. It is also the place where the largest egg known to have existed was laid, and the bird that laid it was also a giant.
TUE 06:30 A Last Excuse Me Dance (b019rm1j)
The ever-popular children's writer and illustrator Shirley Hughes recently published a magazine article recalling the dances she attended as a teenager growing up in wartime West Kirby. Readers responded with their own memories of similar dances in other parts of the country. Amongst them was the writer and journalist, Philip Purser. But he didn't just remember similar dances: he remembered exactly the same ones.
Now, over seventy years after Shirley and Philip danced the foxtrot and joined in a Paul Jones or an Excuse-Me dance together, they are reunited for the very first time, not only in recalling these Saturday night dances but with the promise of taking to the dance-floor one last time.
Felicity Finch, herself a keen dancer, hears from Philip and from Shirley about their memories of the dances and the music, the clothes and shoes, and about the heated atmosphere of teenage courtship in West Kirby as nearby Liverpool blazed in the Blitz. She tracks down the girl whom Shirley envied above all others and whom Philip most desired - Joan Brotherton, now also in her late 80s - and hears her side of the story.
Finally, she reunites Philip and Shirley for what may be a last Excuse Me Dance.
Producer: Beaty Rubens.
TUE 07:00 Mr Finchley Goes to Paris (b007jzhn)
Episode 2After a contretemps with a haddock, the shy solicitor's clerk gains a guide and makes a move.
Richard Griffiths returns as the shy solicitor's clerk, Edgar Finchley, in a second series of adventures written by Victor Canning.
With Piers Gibbon as Lawrence Hume, Serena Evans as Marie Peters, James Cohen as Robert Gillespie, Jacqueline Tong as Madame Mignard and Keith Anderson as Waiter. James Villiers narrates.
Adapted for radio by Andy and Eric Merriman.
Producer: Gareth Edwards
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in June 1994.
TUE 07:30 Meet David Sedaris (b08y115k)
Series 6, Suitable for Framing; Diary ExtractsThe globetrotting, trash-picking, aisle-rolling storyteller with more words of wit and wisdom. This week, Suitable For Framing - a story about the significance of art in David's childhood family home - and additional extracts from his book Theft By Finding, a compilation of diary entries from 1977-2002.
With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, David Sedaris has become one of America's pre-eminent humour writers. The great skill with which he slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness proves that he is a master of satire and one of the most observant writers addressing the human condition today.
David Sedaris's first book, Barrel Fever (1994), which included The SantaLand Diaries. was a critical and commercial success, as were his follow-up efforts, Naked (1997), Holidays on Ice (1997) and Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000). He became known for his bitingly funny recollections of his youth, family life and travels, making semi-celebrities out of his parents and siblings.
David Sedaris has been nominated for three Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word and Best Comedy Album. A feature film adaptation of his story C.O.G. was released after a premier at the Sundance Film Festival (2013). He has been a contributor to BBC Radio 4 since 1996.
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 08:00 Steptoe and Son (b007jp46)
Series 6, The Seven SteptoeraiWhen the Steptoes fall victim to threats, Albert decides it time to fight back.
Starring Wilfrid Brambell as Albert and Harry H Corbett as Harold. With Henry Woolf as Frankie Barrow.
Following the conclusion of their hugely successful association with Tony Hancock, writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson wrote 10 pilots for the BBC TV's Comedy Playhouse in 1962. The Offer was set in a house with a yard full of junk, featuring the lives of rag and bone men Albert Steptoe and his son Harold and it was the spark for a run of 8 series for TV.
Written for TV and adapted for radio by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Produced by Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in March 1976.
TUE 08:30 The Men From the Ministry (b01092vz)
Trouble in the AirThe bumbling bureaucrats head to New York, but will it be 'plane' sailing?
A weekly tribute to all those who work in government departments.
Stars Richard Murdoch and Deryck Guyler. With Norma Ronald, John Graham, Gordon Clyde and John Curle.
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 August 1970.
TUE 09:00 Dead Ringers (b08y2znp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:30 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b007jsjq)
Series 1, Episode 2The sofa-bound lifestyle presenters look at sickness, friendship and sick friends. Stars Robert Duncan and Julia Hills. From May 1996.
TUE 10:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lhszc)
15-19 May 1917The fifth omnibus of Season 10, Our Daily Bread, set in Folkestone, in the week, in 1917, when sugar queues were reported in London, with supplies believed to be at their lowest yet.
Cast
Victor Lumley ..... Joel MacCormack
Kitty Lumley ..... Ami Metcalf
Walter Hamilton ..... Joseph Kloska
Esme Macknade ..... Katie Angelou
Noah Hamilton ..... Finn Monteath
Mildred Manchester ..... Annette Badland
Reg Roach ..... Arthur Smith
Florrie Wilson ..... Claire Rushbrook
Alfred Vane ..... Charlie Clements
Mabel Thatcher ..... Chetna Pandya
Dolly Clout ..... Elaine Claxton
Cynthia Hamilton ..... Fenella Woolgar
Noah Hamilton ..... Finn Monteath
Mrs Herrin ..... Georgie Glen
Adeline Lumley ..... Helen Schlesinger
Maggie Macknade ..... Hollie Thoupos
Nancy Parker ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Sylvia Graham ..... Joanna David
Isabel Graham ..... Keely Beresford
May Arnold ..... Lois Chimimba
Jessie Moore ..... Lucy Hutchinson
Gabriel Graham ..... Michael Bertenshaw
Oscar Hendrickx ..... Pierre Elliot
Mrs Joan Edkins ..... Rachel Davies
Evelina White ..... Rosie Cavaliero
Dicky Manchester ..... Roy Hudd
Mr Herrin ..... Stephen Critchlow
Alec Poole ..... Tom Stuart
Singers ..... Stephen Jeffes, Charles Gibbs
Written by Sarah Daniels
Directed by Allegra McIlroy
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Composer: Matthew Strachan
Consultant Historian: Maggie Andrews.
TUE 11:00 Nadine Gordimer - A Flash of Fireflies (b03gtxv7)
City LoversMarking Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer's death in July, the second of three stories from her remarkable career as a writer and political activist.
In this story of forbidden love, set during apartheid in South Africa and first published in 1975, an Austrian geologist falls foul of the country's Immorality Act.
Read by Alice Krige
Abridged and produced by Gemma Jenkins.
TUE 11:15 EF Benson - Queen Lucia (b08yr2sv)
Some Arrivals and a Precipitant DepartureDisaster strikes in 1920s Riseholme and must be hushed up to spare a multitude of blushes. Stars Barbara Jefford.
TUE 12:00 Steptoe and Son (b007jp46)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 The Men From the Ministry (b01092vz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yr6ts)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pfkw3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 today]
TUE 13:30 A Last Excuse Me Dance (b019rm1j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b01mdfwv)
Ian McEwan - Sweet Tooth, Episode 2Ian McEwan's novel of love and deception set in MI5 during the early 1970s, read by Amelia Bullmore.
Episode 2: Serena's affair with Tony is painfully over, but she's determined to pursue her chances with MI5.
Abridged and produced by Christine Hall.
TUE 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dm6v3)
Dynamic RainforestPalms 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 15 Minute Drama (b03b0wmq)
Al Smith - Life in the Freezer, Venison Stewby Al Smith
Leonard's birthday brings his children back home for a family meal, but he is finding it hard to cope on his own.
Directed by Sally Avens
At 66 June Cartwright finally lost her battle with Ovarian Cancer. She didn't fear death but what would happen to her family after she'd gone, for she knew she was the emotional glue that kept them together. For June, food was everything. A family that eats together, stays together.
June may have left behind her a husband and two children. What they will soon discover is that she also left behind fifty frozen meals, perfectly cooked to their tastes which serve to guide them through their grief, together.
The series charts five meals, spread across seven months during which the Cartwright family pull themselves apart, back together, and figure out how to move on after their mothers death.
TUE 14:45 Book of the Week (b01m44z6)
Daniel Tammet - Thinking in Numbers, Classroom IntuitionsWritten by Daniel Tammet.
Read by James Anthony Pearson.
Daniel Tammet's new book of essays celebrates "the science of imagination": mathematics. Today, he recalls how his time as a children's maths tutor helped to illuminate and inform his thoughts on how humans approach and understand numbers.
Daniel Tammet is hailed the world over for his unique intelligence shaped by high-functioning autistic savant syndrome. He perceives words and numbers as shapes, colours, and emotions, and holds the European record for reciting the mathematical constant Pi to 22,514 decimal places. Tammet's idiosyncratic world view gives us new perspectives on the universal questions of what it is to be human and how we make meaning in our lives.
Abridged and produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
TUE 15:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lhszc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 Whispers (b007k2zg)
Series 1, Episode 3Gyles Brandreth's quiz about scandals, with Anthony Holden, Stella Duffy, Jennie Bond and Geoffrey Durham. From November 2003.
TUE 16:30 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b007jsjq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
TUE 17:00 Mr Finchley Goes to Paris (b007jzhn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Meet David Sedaris (b08y115k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Ben Moor - Undone (b00pkvk9)
Series 3, UnendingThe Notting Hill Carnival sees the potential end of the worlds and new weirdness. Ben Moor's comic sci-fi saga with Alex Tregear.
TUE 18:30 Sounds Natural (b08yr9x7)
Dulcie GrayActress, crime writer and butterfly expert, Dulcie Gray, discusses her love of wildlife with Derek Jones.
Plus her choice of recordings from the vast BBC Sound Archives.
Produced in Bristol by John Burton.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1980.
TUE 19:00 Steptoe and Son (b007jp46)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 The Men From the Ministry (b01092vz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yr6ts)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pfkw3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 today]
TUE 20:30 A Last Excuse Me Dance (b019rm1j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 Nadine Gordimer - A Flash of Fireflies (b03gtxv7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 21:15 EF Benson - Queen Lucia (b08yr2sv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
TUE 22:00 Meet David Sedaris (b08y115k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 The Maltby Collection (b00mjrxp)
Series 3, Episode 4Sitcom by David Nobbs, set in a museum.
Museum cleaner Eva Tattle has been interviewed 'in depth' by Cleaners' Weekly (incorporating The Scrubbers' Gazette) and has managed to offend the entire museum in the process.
Rod Millet ...... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Walter Brindle ...... Geoffrey Palmer
Prunella Edgecumbe ...... Rachel Atkins
Susie Maltby ...... Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Julian Crumb-Loosely ...... Ben Willbond
Wilf Arbuthnot ...... Geoff McGivern
Eva Tattle ...... Juklia Deakin
Des Wainwright ...... Michael Smiley
Stelios Constantinopoulis ...... Chris Pavlo
Mike ...... Stephen K Amos
Hypnotist ...... Julia Deakin.
TUE 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b08zrcg7)
Catriona Knox 1/2The best in contemporary comedy. Iain Lee chats to Catriona Knox.
TUE 23:00 As Told to Craig Brown (b00vrssk)
Craig Brown's Lost Diaries, November and DecemberNovember & December. As winter sets in, John Prescott, Germaine Greer and Nigella Lawson's thoughts turn to home.
A second chance to hear satirist Craig Brown dip into the private lives of public figures from the 1960's to the present day.
Voiced by Jan Ravens, Alistair McGowan, Lewis McLeod, Ewan Bailey, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and Dolly Wells.
Written by Craig Brown.
Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
TUE 23:30 Britain Versus the World (b04v992d)
Series 1, Episode 1The start of a new comedy panel show - Britain Versus The World - that pits two British comedians against a team of comics from overseas to find out which side is superior. Joining the British captain, Hal Cruttenden, is the Scottish comedian Susan Calman while the captain of the Rest of the World - Henning Wehn - is teamed with Malawian stand-up Daliso Chaponda. The contest is overseen by Irishman Ed Byrne who does his very best to stay impartial.
Host
Ed Byrne
Guests
Hal Cruttenden
Henning Wehn
Susan Calman
Daliso Chaponda
Programme Associate Bill Matthews
Devised and produced by Ashley Blaker.


WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017

WED 00:00 Ben Moor - Undone (b00pkvk9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Sounds Natural (b08yr9x7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yr6ts)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pfkw3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 A Last Excuse Me Dance (b019rm1j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b01mdfwv)
[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 15 Minute Drama (b03b0wmq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Book of the Week (b01m44z6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lhszc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 Whispers (b007k2zg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b007jsjq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 Mr Finchley Goes to Paris (b007jzhn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Meet David Sedaris (b08y115k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yrcm1)
Series 3, Violets, Sweet VioletsCan con artist Harry play off the rival powers in occupied Marseilles and turn a profit? Stars Orson Welles.
Starring Orson Welles as Harry Lime.
The films of Orson Welles, such as 'Citizen Kane', 'The Magnificent Ambersons' and 'Touch of Evil' guaranteed his place in the pantheon of silver-screen heroes.
In the celebrated 1949 film adaptation of Graham Greene's novel 'The Third Man', Harry Lime is introduce as one of cinema's most notorious anti-heroes. Sought in post-war Vienna by pulp writer Holly Martins [Joseph Cotton] and British Army Major Calloway [Trevor Howard], Lime manages to steal the show despite being absent for much of it!
This 1951-52 radio prequel to the film, 'The Lives of Harry Lime' earned Welles even more acclaim. His distinctive tones had already served him well as the radio voice of 'The Shadow' between 1937 and 1938, where he portrayed the crusader with distinctly questionable means of thwarting crime.
Stripped of the film cameras, the character of Harry Lime is not ameliorated for this radio outing. He's an out and out rogue. Lime made it to the airwaves thanks to another Harry - Harry Alan Towers, with whom Welles collaborated on 'The Black Museum'. Like its eponymous anti-hero, this series travelled widely, being syndicated across the USA and on Radio Luxembourg.
The music is by Anton Karas, the zither man.
Produced by Towers of London.
WED 06:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pgrq6)
Series 1, SongstersSeries of talks by Sir David Attenborough on the natural histories of creatures and plants from around the world.
People are not the only species who sing. Many birds do and even another ape. What messages are conveyed in the syllables, melodies and repeated phrases, and who is listening?
WED 06:30 Losing the Children (b0076qk1)
Author Michael Rosen explores the meaning behind one of Germany's greatest fairy tales, The Pied Piper of Hamelin. From February 2005.
WED 07:00 Rent (b063rvm6)
Series 4, Episode 2Maria and Richard receive a windfall, while Paul and Ruby are busy house-hunting. Stars Barbara Flynn. From June 1998.
WED 07:30 Chain Reaction (b052jk2z)
Series 10, Adam Buxton talks to Reece ShearsmithChain Reaction is Radio 4's long running hostless chat show where last week's interviewee becomes this week's interviewer.
In the first episode of the series comedian, actor, technophile and one half of 'Adam and Joe', Adam Buxton talks to the co-creator and star of The League of Gentlemen, Psychoville and Inside No. 9, Reece Shearsmith.
Producer ... Charlie Perkins.
WED 08:00 The Navy Lark (b00v3vry)
Series 1, The Comfort FundCaptain Povey is auditing the unit accounts, and there is a big surprise for Heather.
Starring Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Dennis Price as Number One, Richard Caldicot as Captain Povey, Heather Chasen as Heather, Michael Bates as Commander Shaw, Ronnie Barker as AS Johnson and Tenniel Evans as Goldstein.
The Navy Lark ran for an impressive thirteen series on BBC Radio between 1959 and 1976.
Scripted by Lawrie Wyman.
Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in April 1959.
WED 08:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jp18)
Series 5, Hancock's WarThe lad impresses the vicar with tales of his heroic exploits in Military Intelligence.
Starring Tony Hancock. With Sidney James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams.
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 May 1958.
WED 09:00 Booked (b00759mv)
Series 6, Episode 2Ian McMillan's irreverent literary game with Mark Steel, David Stafford, Miles Kington and Sophie Hannah. From June 1999.
WED 09:30 Married (b00dvdlf)
Series 3, Episode 6Cantankerous bachelor Robin Lightfoot makes a vital discovery about his parallel universes.
Hugh Bonneville stars in the third series of the comedy drama about a confirmed bachelor Robin Lightfoot dealing with life in a parallel universe where he has kids and an ex-wife who hates him.
With Josie Lawrence as Lesley, Stephen Frost as Dirk, Ann Gosling as Maxine, Sam Bradley as Ned, Janet Ellis as Muriel and Arthur Smith as Arthur Smith.
Written by Tony Bagley.
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2001.
WED 10:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lk04h)
22-26 May 1917The sixth omnibus of Season 10, Our Daily Bread, set in Folkestone, in the week, in 1917, when Britain suffered its first ever airplane bombing raid.
Cast
Maisie Harris ..... Cassie Layton
Esme Macknade ..... Katie Angelou
Jessie Moore ..... Lucy Hutchinson
Kitty Lumley ..... Ami Metcalf
Alec Poole ..... Tom Stuart
Eve ..... Amelda Brown
Reg Roach ..... Arthur Smith
Hilda Moore ..... Bella Hamblin
Adam Wilson ..... Billy Kennedy
Alfred Vane ..... Charlie Clements
Switchboard ..... Chetna Pandya
Alice Macknade ..... Claire Louise Cordwell
Lady Penfold ..... Elaine Claxton
Cynthia Hamilton ..... Fenella Woolgar
Rob MacDonald ..... Finlay Robertson
Noah Hamilton ..... Finn Monteath
Maggie Macknade ..... Hollie Thoupos
Nancy Parker ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Sylvia Graham ..... Joanna David
Mayor Stephen Penfold ..... John Woodvine
Walter Hamilton ..... Joseph Kloska
Isabel Graham ..... Keely Beresford
Edna Harris ..... Lara J West
Juliet Cavendish ..... Lizzie Bourne
May Arnold ..... Lois Chimimba
Todd Merman ..... Luke Newberry
Ralph Winwood ..... Nick Murchie
Eric Morton ..... Paul Rainbow
Oscar Hendrickx ..... Pierre Elliot
Olive Hargreaves ..... Rhiannon Neads
Evelina White ..... Rosie Cavaliero
Ernie Moore ..... Sean Connolly
Singers ..... Nancy Cole, Ksynia Loeffler, Stephen Jeffes, Tom Raskin, Charles Gibbs
Organ - David Smith
Written by Sarah Daniels
Singers conducted by Sam Evans
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Composer: Matthew Strachan
Consultant Historian: Maggie Andrews.
WED 11:00 Nadine Gordimer - A Flash of Fireflies (b03hn2rw)
A Chip of Glass RubyMarking Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer's death in July, the last in this series of stories from her remarkable career as a writer and political activist.
In this tale of personal bravery, set during apartheid in South Africa, a bewildered husband struggles to cope with his wife's political activism.
Read by Raad Rawi
Abridged and produced by Gemma Jenkins.
WED 11:15 EF Benson - Queen Lucia (b08yr2sx)
A Fresh RebellionThe uncrowned Queen of Riseholme, Lucia faces rebellion while Georgie falls in love. Stars Barbara Jefford and Jonathan Cecil.
WED 12:00 The Navy Lark (b00v3vry)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jp18)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yrcm1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pgrq6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 today]
WED 13:30 Losing the Children (b0076qk1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b01mdgwv)
Ian McEwan - Sweet Tooth, Episode 3Ian McEwan's novel of love and deception set in MI5 during the early 1970s, read by Amelia Bullmore.
Episode 3
Still reeling from the news of Tony's death, Serena finds an alarming piece of evidence while she's operating under cover.
Abridged and produced by Christine Hall.
WED 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dmxwg)
Capture and DrawdownIn 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 15 Minute Drama (b03b2bkf)
Al Smith - Life in the Freezer, Christmas Dinnerby Al Smith
For the Cartwright family the strain of the loss of their mother begins to show across the Christmas dinner table as they eat the meal she has left prepared for them.
Directed by Sally Avens
At 66 June Cartwright finally lost her battle with Ovarian Cancer. She didn't fear death but what would happen to her family after she'd gone, for she knew she was the emotional glue that kept them together. For June, food was everything. A family that eats together, stays together.
June may have left behind her a husband and two children. What they will soon discover is that she also left behind fifty frozen meals, perfectly cooked to their tastes which serve to guide them through their grief, together.
This series charts five meals, spread across seven months during which the Cartwright family pull themselves apart, back together, and figure out how to move on after their mothers death.
WED 14:45 Book of the Week (b01m44zx)
Daniel Tammet - Thinking in Numbers, SnowmanWritten by Daniel Tammet.
Read by James Anthony Pearson.
Daniel Tammet's new book of essays celebrates "the science of imagination": mathematics. In this extract, he examines the mathematical complexity of snow.
Daniel Tammet is hailed the world over for his unique intelligence shaped by high-functioning autistic savant syndrome. His idiosyncratic world view provides new perspectives on the universal questions of what it is to be human and how we make meaning in our lives.
Abridged and produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
WED 15:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lk04h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 Booked (b00759mv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 Married (b00dvdlf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 Rent (b063rvm6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 Chain Reaction (b052jk2z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 Terry Pratchett (b007jlxd)
Only You Can Save Mankind, Episode 1As the alien fleet crosses the computer screen, 12 year old Johnny prepares to blow the ScreeWee into a million pieces - sparking a wild seesaw adventure involving space warfare, starships and aliens.
Terry Pratchett's sci-fi fantasy stars Tim Smith as Johnny, Janet Dale as ScreeWee Captain, Michael Angelis as the Gunnery Officer, Mark Finn as the PT Teacher, Akhbar Karim as Wobbler and Marian Kemmer as Johnny's Mother.
Dramatised by Bob Hescott.
Producer: Brian Lighthill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996.
WED 18:30 Off the Page (b017mszw)
Imaginary FriendsImaginary Friends. Did you have any as a child, or do you in fact have some now? Poet Matt Harvey, biographer Sarah Churchwell and writer Paul B Davies tell all about the imaginary relationships we have both as children and adults, to presenter Dominic Arkwright.
Producer Beth O'Dea.
WED 19:00 The Navy Lark (b00v3vry)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jp18)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yrcm1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pgrq6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 today]
WED 20:30 Losing the Children (b0076qk1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Nadine Gordimer - A Flash of Fireflies (b03hn2rw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 21:15 EF Benson - Queen Lucia (b08yr2sx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
WED 22:00 Chain Reaction (b052jk2z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 Armando Iannucci (b00dp32c)
Series 1, Episode 1Anarchic humour originally heard on Radio 1 in 1993. With David Schneider, Rebecca Front and Peter Baynham.
WED 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b08zrctl)
Catriona Knox 2/2The best in contemporary comedy. Iain Lee chats to Catriona Knox.
WED 23:00 Delve Special (b007jqfr)
Series 4, Bitter HarvestProbing pesticides and agricultural policy, intrepid reporter David Lander asks if farming is in crisis. Stars Stephen Fry. From September 1987.
WED 23:30 The Mitch Benn Music Show (b00b5tc3)
Series 2, Episode 2The comedian presents a selection of classic comic songs. With special guest singer-songwriter Isy Suttie. From October 2006.


THURSDAY 27 JULY 2017

THU 00:00 Terry Pratchett (b007jlxd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 Off the Page (b017mszw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yrcm1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pgrq6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 Losing the Children (b0076qk1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b01mdgwv)
[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 15 Minute Drama (b03b2bkf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Book of the Week (b01m44zx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lk04h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 Booked (b00759mv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 Married (b00dvdlf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Rent (b063rvm6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 Chain Reaction (b052jk2z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yrgxc)
Series 3, Double Double Cross1936: Can con artist Harry Lime extricate himself from a bad case of falling in love in Monte Carlo?
Starring Orson Welles as Harry Lime.
The films of Orson Welles, such as 'Citizen Kane', 'The Magnificent Ambersons' and 'Touch of Evil' guaranteed his place in the pantheon of silver-screen heroes.
In the celebrated 1949 film adaptation of Graham Greene's novel 'The Third Man', Harry Lime is introduce as one of cinema's most notorious anti-heroes. Sought in post-war Vienna by pulp writer Holly Martins [Joseph Cotton] and British Army Major Calloway [Trevor Howard], Lime manages to steal the show despite being absent for much of it!
This 1951-52 radio prequel to the film, 'The Lives of Harry Lime' earned Welles even more acclaim. His distinctive tones had already served him well as the radio voice of 'The Shadow' between 1937 and 1938, where he portrayed the crusader with distinctly questionable means of thwarting crime.
Stripped of the film cameras, the character of Harry Lime is not ameliorated for this radio outing. He's an out and out rogue. Lime made it to the airwaves thanks to another Harry - Harry Alan Towers, with whom Welles collaborated on 'The Black Museum'. Like its eponymous anti-hero, this series travelled widely, being syndicated across the USA and on Radio Luxembourg.
The music is by Anton Karas, the zither man.
Produced by Towers of London.
THU 06:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pgwgs)
Series 1, BowerbirdsSeries of talks by Sir David Attenborough on the natural histories of creatures and plants from around the world.
One of the most extraordinary structures in the animal world is constructed by a Bower Bird. Sir David tells the life story of the Vogelkopf Bower Bird, the one that raises the bar higher than the rest.
THU 06:30 Dancing Round the Mediterranean (b008jhjr)
Dancing shoes at the ready, Steve Carver joins a cruise ship as a gentleman host, ensuring that no passenger feels like a wallflower. From December 2007.
THU 07:00 In the Balance (b007k1g5)
Episode 2Will the BBC's maverick hack George Cragge catch the murderer - or last orders?
Mark Tavener's six-part sequel to his comedy thriller 'In the Red' set in the world of football, the BBC and party politics.
With Europe becoming a hot potato can the Prime Minister hold on to his job? To make matters worse England are hosting the World Cup and a killer is on the loose.
Starring Michael Williams as George Cragge, Barry Foster as Superintendent Jefferson and Jeremy Clyde as the PM.
With Robert Bathurst, Tracy Ann Oberman, Jim Carter, Peter Woodthorpe, Susie Brann and Christian Rodska.
Music by Paul Mottram
Producer: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1997.
THU 07:30 The Pin (b08y26qt)
Series 3, Party"The most exciting new comedy duo working today" - David Walliams
Their hugely successful second series won critical acclaim and a slew of awards. Now double-act The Pin are back with more of their trademark offbeat nonsense.
In this episode, having been spurned from the BBC's official office party, Alex and Ben are out to prove they can throw a party too...
"One of the smartest, punchiest new comedy duos to have appeared in a while...had me laughing out loud on my own in an empty room" The Guardian
"Exquisitely silly and very funny...makes you feel as though you might be hearing the next Mitchell and Webb" The Times
"Genuine moments of hilarity and a real breath of comedic fresh air" RadioTimes
Written and performed by Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen.
Featuring Liam Williams.
Produced by Sam Bryant.
A BBC Studios Production.
THU 08:00 Stop Messing About! (b00qtndn)
Series 2, Episode 1A bijou male voice choir present their bona repertoire.
Starring Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Joan Sims and announcer Douglas Smith.
After the unexpected death of Kenneth Horne in 1969, plans for the next series of Round the Horne were axed. Instead - using an old catchphrase of Kenneth Williams as a series title - Kenneth joined Hugh Paddick to continue the comedy tradition and was also reunited with his "Carry On" film co-star Joan Sims.
Written by Myles Rudge, David Cumming and Derek Collyer.
With the Max Harris Group.
Producer: John Simmonds
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in April 1970.
THU 08:30 The Goon Show (b007k370)
The Silent BuglerIt's 1902 and British secret agent Seagoon is heading to Dresden on a deadly mission. Stars Harry Secombe. From March 1954.
THU 09:00 Act Your Age (b00qcj8m)
Series 2, Episode 3Simon Mayo hosts the comedy show that pits the comic generations against each other to find out which is the funniest.
Team captains Jon Richardson, Ed Byrne and Johnnie Casson are joined by Jared Christmas, Mark Watson and Eddie Large.
THU 09:30 HR (b00hr5p5)
Series 1, A CommuteManager Peter and HR's Sam are late, but is their new boss also on the train? Stars Nicholas Le Prevost. From February 2009.
THU 10:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lk6hr)
29 May - 2 June 1917The seventh omnibus of Season 10, Our Daily Bread, set in Folkestone, in the week, in 1917, when the death toll from the Folkestone air raid reached 72.
Cast
Alice Macknade ..... Claire-Louise Cordwell
Kitty Lumley ..... Ami Metcalf
Gabriel Graham ..... Michael Bertenshaw
Jessie Moore ..... Lucy Hutchinson
Dorothea Winwood ..... Rachel Shelley
Anna White ..... Amelia Lowdell
Mildred Manchester ..... Annette Badland
Adam Wilson ..... Billy Kennedy
Bill Macknade ..... Ben Crowe
Soldier ..... Charlie Clements
Mabel ..... Chetna Pandya
Florrie Wilson ..... Claire Rushbrook
Sir Thomas Devitt ..... David Sterne
Albert Wilson ..... Jamie Foreman
Sylvia Graham ..... Joanna David
Walter Hamilton ..... Joseph Kloska
Forsyth ..... John Dougall
Mayor Stephen Penfold ..... John Woodvine
Esme Macknade ..... Katie Angelou
Ruby Tulliver ..... Katie Redford
Isabel Graham ..... Keely Beresford
Juliet Cavendish ..... Lizzie Bourne
Ivy Layton ..... Lizzy Watts
Mrs Riley ..... Lois Chimimba
Claude ..... Luke Newberry
Ralph Winwood ..... Nicholas Murchie
Oscar Hendrickx ..... Pierre Elliot
Archbishop ..... Richard Curnow
Dicky Manchester ..... Roy Hudd
Dennis Monk ..... Sam Swann
Alec Poole ..... Tom Stuart
Cristine de Groot ..... Ysabelle Cooper
Singers ..... Nancy Cole, Ksynia Loeffler, Stephen Jeffes, Tom Raskin, Charles Gibbs
Organ ..... David Smith
Conductor ..... Sam Evans
Written by Katie Hims
Directed by Allegra McIlroy
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole
Story-led by Sarah Daniels
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Composer: Matthew Strachan
Consultant Historian: Maggie Andrews.
THU 11:00 Stories From the South Downs (b03cdy3c)
Ashes to AshesA series of readings from new writers to radio evoking the South Downs.
Episode 1: Ashes to Ashes by Sara Sarre
A gentle tale about the dilemmas people face when left with their close relatives ashes and the weight of responsibility to scatter them in the best possible place. Julia can't decide what to do with her father's ashes, and matters are made worse when she becomes convinced that her husband, Phil is seeing another woman. Meanwhile, Phil thinks that a holiday would be a good way to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.
Recorded in front of an audience at the Church of St Pancras, Kingston (near Lewes) - a little village nestled at the bottom of the Downs.
Read by Hadyn Gwynne
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 11:15 EF Benson - Queen Lucia (b08yr2sz)
Purgatory and a PrincessLucia fails to comprehend, but Colonel Boucher's eyes are opened and Daisy gets the message. Stars Barbara Jefford.
THU 12:00 Stop Messing About! (b00qtndn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 The Goon Show (b007k370)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yrgxc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pgwgs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 today]
THU 13:30 Dancing Round the Mediterranean (b008jhjr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b01mdl9p)
Ian McEwan - Sweet Tooth, Episode 4Ian McEwan's novel of love and deception set in MI5 during the early 1970s, read by Amelia Bullmore.
Episode 4: Serena is given her first real mission for the Service; its codename is Sweet Tooth. Just as she's promoted, her friend Shirley is sacked - and she tells Serena she's being watched too.
Abridged and produced by Christine Hall.
THU 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dqngm)
Green and Pleasant LandsProf. 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 15 Minute Drama (b03b2v6r)
Al Smith - Life in the Freezer, Lamb and Apricotsby Al Smith
When Neil breaks up with his girlfriend he needs his mother but now he has only his father to turn to and Leonard isn't sure he's up to the task.
Director ...... Sally Avens
At 66 June Cartwright finally lost her battle with Ovarian Cancer. She didn't fear death but what would happen to her family after she'd gone, for she knew she was the emotional glue that kept them together. For June, food was everything. A family that eats together, stays together.
June may have left behind her a husband and two children. What they will soon discover is that she also left behind fifty frozen meals, perfectly cooked to their tastes which serve to guide them through their grief, together.
This series charts five meals, spread across six months during which the Cartwright family pull themselves apart, back together, and figure out how to move on after their mothers death.
THU 14:45 Book of the Week (b01m450m)
Daniel Tammet - Thinking in Numbers, The Cataract of TimeWritten by Daniel Tammet.
Read by James Anthony Pearson.
Daniel Tammet's new collection of essays celebrates mathematics as "the science of imagination". In this extract he interrogates how our experience of time changes as we age.
Daniel Tammet is hailed the world over for his unique intelligence shaped by high-functioning autistic savant syndrome. His idiosyncratic world view provides new perspectives on the universal questions of what it is to be human and how we make meaning in our lives.
Abridged and produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
THU 15:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lk6hr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 Act Your Age (b00qcj8m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 HR (b00hr5p5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 In the Balance (b007k1g5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 The Pin (b08y26qt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 Terry Pratchett (b007jlxx)
Only You Can Save Mankind, Episode 2The ScreeWee Captain asks Johnny to lead them, but the gunnery officer has other ideas. Terry Pratchett's sci-fi drama with Tim Smith.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b00m6c3y)
Series 19, Freya StarkMatthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
Travel writer Dervla Murphy discusses the life of another fearless woman traveller, Freya Stark. Stark roamed across Arabia and Persia, frequently risking her life, and during the Second World War set up a pro-British intelligence network in Cairo. She was brave but also infuriating, and was liable to make impossible demands on her friends, such as John Murray, who joins the discussion.
THU 19:00 Stop Messing About! (b00qtndn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 The Goon Show (b007k370)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yrgxc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pgwgs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 today]
THU 20:30 Dancing Round the Mediterranean (b008jhjr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Stories From the South Downs (b03cdy3c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
THU 21:15 EF Benson - Queen Lucia (b08yr2sz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
THU 22:00 The Pin (b08y26qt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 Thom Tuck Goes Straight to DVD (b01rvppv)
The OlsensIn his debut solo Radio 4 show, comedian Thom Tuck recounted heart-rending tales of loves lost while drawing comparisons with 54 Straight-to-DVD Disney movies he'd watched, so we don't ever have to.
Thom now turns his attention to other genres of Straight-to-DVD movies - seeking out further underrated gems and drawing parallels with captivating personal tales from his own life experience, backed by cinematic music, so we can rest easy.
In this third episode, Thom looks at the Straight-to-DVD offerings from "The Olsen Twins", self made millionaires from their empire of teenage market films. Thom looks at the journey of their success, and draws parallels with the wise (and not so wise) choices he's made in his life.
"...a seductive experience" The Guardian
Produced by Lianne Coop.
THU 23:00 And Now in Colour (b00cfzx5)
Series 1, MarathonThe sketch show team and their studio audience enter the London Marathon. With Tim Firth and Tim De Jongh. From April 1990.
THU 23:30 Shedtown (b01q03sb)
Series 2, End of the BeginningIn series two of Shedtown, our wooden 'man-cave', icon of escape and isolation - the shed - continues to be a symbol of possibility and change.
Episode 3: End of the Beginning
The creosoted community continues into surreal seaside chaos as it hits the headlines.
Father Michael spots a 'shopportunity' and Colin sees his failed dream, of running a successful visitor attraction, re-emerging.
Barry............................Tony Pitts
Jimmy..........................Stephen Mangan
Eleanor.......................Ronni Ancona
Colin..........................Johnny Vegas
Deborah.......................Emma Fryer
William.......................Adrian Manfredi
Diane.........................Rosina Carbone
Dave..........................Shaun Dooley
Father Michael............James Quinn
Wes..........................Warren Brown
Margaret....................Gwyneth Powell
Nell.............................Eleanor Samson
Narrator.....................Maxine Peake
Music.......................Paul Heaton & Jonny Lexus
Written and Directed by Tony Pitts
Produced by Sally Harrison
A Woolyback Production for BBC Radio 4.


FRIDAY 28 JULY 2017

FRI 00:00 Terry Pratchett (b007jlxx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b00m6c3y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yrgxc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pgwgs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Dancing Round the Mediterranean (b008jhjr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b01mdl9p)
[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 15 Minute Drama (b03b2v6r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Book of the Week (b01m450m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lk6hr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 Act Your Age (b00qcj8m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 HR (b00hr5p5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 In the Balance (b007k1g5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 The Pin (b08y26qt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yrlck)
Series 3, Murder on the RivieraCan con man Harry keep his post-war scam in France on track after he meets a woman with a dead man?
Starring Orson Welles as Harry Lime.
The films of Orson Welles, such as 'Citizen Kane', 'The Magnificent Ambersons' and 'Touch of Evil' guaranteed his place in the pantheon of silver-screen heroes.
In the celebrated 1949 film adaptation of Graham Greene's novel 'The Third Man', Harry Lime is introduce as one of cinema's most notorious anti-heroes. Sought in post-war Vienna by pulp writer Holly Martins [Joseph Cotton] and British Army Major Calloway [Trevor Howard], Lime manages to steal the show despite being absent for much of it!
This 1951-52 radio prequel to the film, 'The Lives of Harry Lime' earned Welles even more acclaim. His distinctive tones had already served him well as the radio voice of 'The Shadow' between 1937 and 1938, where he portrayed the crusader with distinctly questionable means of thwarting crime.
Stripped of the film cameras, the character of Harry Lime is not ameliorated for this radio outing. He's an out and out rogue. Lime made it to the airwaves thanks to another Harry - Harry Alan Towers, with whom Welles collaborated on 'The Black Museum'. Like its eponymous anti-hero, this series travelled widely, being syndicated across the USA and on Radio Luxembourg.
The music is by Anton Karas, the zither man.
Produced by Towers of London.
FRI 06:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pgydg)
Series 1, DragonsSeries of talks by Sir David Attenborough on the natural histories of creatures and plants from around the world.
What did Sir David do when he was confronted by a ten-foot-long grey-scaled reptile, with a long yellow forked tongue whipping in and out of its mouth? He didn't run and, in fact, was one of the first to film it: the Komodo dragon.
FRI 06:30 Peter and the Wolf (b0076vxg)
4 Extra Debut. Pianist and entertainer Rainer Hersch assesses the classic children's musical. With Terry Wogan and Angela Rippon. From December 2005.
FRI 07:00 Safety Catch (b00fc4vp)
Series 1, Show Me You CareGuilt-ridden arms dealer Simon McGrath cares about the world and his needy girlfriend. Stars Darren Boyd. From September 2007.
FRI 07:30 It's Funny and It's True (b08yn1xk)
Series 1, 23/07/2017Comedy is at its most powerful when it takes on our darkest fears and hardest times, and transforms them into laughter. Julia Sutherland looks into the corners of fellow stand up comedians' lives - performers who have chosen to share their deeply personal stories on stage to give a voice to issues otherwise overlooked. They have overcome their troubles and empowered themselves and many others to laugh at the things you're not supposed to laugh at.
Through comedy, Julia shows that sometimes it's OK not to be OK.
In this first episode, Julia meets Janey Godley. Brought up in near-Dickensian squalor in the tough East End of Glasgow, Janey has faced sexual abuse, murder within the family, violence, sectarianism and more. She has coped with everything her life has thrown at her by turning each challenge and tragedy into hilarious stand-up comedy. Her own empowerment has given a voice to thousands of others by shattering taboos and breaking emotional shackles.
Julia also meets Heather Ross, who has toured the world with her show Rape is Real and Everywhere. Through her stand up she has touched the lives of thousands of people who have had similar experiences, and has found relief in sharing her candid account and extremely dark humour. This is a very personal story told from a unique point of view.
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 08:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00spmnm)
Series 3, Episode 13Merry cross the Mersey - the team poke fun at Liverpool.
More quick-fire sketches, terrible puns, humorous songs and parodies.
Stars Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Written by Bill Oddie and Eric Idle.
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 Dave Lee, Bill Oddie and Leon Cohen.
Producer: Humphrey Barclay
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in May 1966.
FRI 08:30 Doctor at Large (b00bb9m8)
FellowshipAn x-ray mix-up leads Simon Sparrow's confused friends to fear his end is in sight.
The misadventures of newly qualified doctor, Simon Sparrow - adapted for radio by Ray Cooney from Richard Gordon's 'Doctor at Large' published in 1955.
Starring Richard Briers as Simon Sparrow, Geoffrey Sumner as Sir Lancelot Spratt, Ray Cooney as Tony Benskin, Norma Ronald as Wendy Swithenbank, Edward Cast as Taffy Evans, Dandy Nichols as Mrs Travers and Kathleen Helme as Sister
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1969.
FRI 09:00 Who Goes There? (b0075zbk)
Series 4, Episode 6Martin Young presents the biographical quiz show. Francis Wheen and Fred Housego captain the teams, with guests Claire Rayner and David Aaronovitch. From October 1984.
FRI 09:30 Gush (b050h4wd)
Episode 3Cravate and Pomeroy face execution. Can Lady Arabella win them a last-minute reprieve? Stars Martin Jarvis. From December 1994.
FRI 10:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lk6rg)
5-9 June 1917The final omnibus of Season 10, Our Daily Bread, set in Folkestone, in the week, in 1917, when biggest man-made explosion in history removed Messines Ridge.
Cast
Eric Morton ..... Paul Rainbow
Gabriel Graham ..... Michael Bertenshaw
Isabel Graham ..... Keely Beresford
Florrie Wilson ..... Claire Rushbrook
Ralph Winwood ..... Nick Murchie
Mrs Grimes ..... Amelda Brown
Anna White ..... Amelia Lowdell
Kitty Wilson ..... Ami Metcalf
Maisie Harris ..... Cassie Layton
Alice Macknade ..... Claire Louise Cordwell
Hilary Pearce ..... Craige Els
Adeline Lumley ..... Helen Schlesinger
Albert Wilson ..... Jamie Foreman
Sylvia Graham ..... Joanna David
Reporter ..... John Bowler
Walter Hamilton ..... Joseph Kloska
Juliet Cavendish ..... Lizzie Bourne
Esme Macknade ..... Katie Angelou
Gabriel Graham ..... Michael Bertenshaw
Oscar Hendrickx ..... Pierre Elliot
Joan Edkins ..... Rachel Davis
Dorothea Winwood ..... Rachel Shelley
Alfred Norris ..... Richard Curnow
Eleanor Tanney ..... Sarah Ridgeway
Norman Harris ..... Sean Baker
Wampach ..... Simon Treves
Jane Underdown ..... Susan Porrett
Alec Poole ..... Tom Stuart
Peter Lumley ..... Bea White
Written by Katie Hims
Directed by Ciaran Bermingham & Jessica Dromgoole
Story-led by Sarah Daniels
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Composer: Matthew Strachan
Consultant Historian: Maggie Andrews
NOTES:
Season 11 - focusing on Madness and Trauma, and set in Folkestone, will begin on 31 July.
FRI 11:00 Stories From the South Downs (b03df88n)
Poor Lily Never-Quite-the-TicketA series of readings from new writers to radio evoking the South Downs. Recorded in front of an audience at the Church of St Pancras, Kingston (near Lewes) - a little village nestled at the bottom of the Downs.
Episode 2: Poor Lily Never-Quite-The-Ticket by T W Robinson
Jill dreads her drive through the South Downs to Bognor Regis to visit her somewhat spiky elderly Grandmother, but after the death of her mother she is the only relation she has left and makes the journey nonetheless.
When, one day, she finds a family photograph she is unaware of the story that is about to unfold. On seeing the picture her grandmother reluctantly unravels her past and, in the telling of the story, Jill comes to understand why her grandmother is like she is. Wounds are healed and a new journey begins. Suddenly the drive to the South Downs doesn't seem so bad.
Read by Celia Imrie.
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 11:15 EF Benson - Queen Lucia (b08yr2t1)
Lucia ResurgentRobert and Daisy take action, while Lucia hatches a plan to regain her social power with a festive soiree. With Barbara Jefford.
FRI 12:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00spmnm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 Doctor at Large (b00bb9m8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yrlck)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pgydg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 today]
FRI 13:30 Peter and the Wolf (b0076vxg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b01mf841)
Ian McEwan - Sweet Tooth, Episode 5Ian McEwan's novel of love and deception set in MI5 during the early 1970s, read by Amelia Bullmore.
Episode 5
Serena's affair with Max Greatorex is not progressing as she'd hoped, but a new love interest emerges as she embarks on her Sweet Tooth mission and meets young writer Tom Haley Then Max tells her the devastating truth about Tony Canning, the lover who recruited her.
Abridged and produced by Christine Hall.
FRI 14:15 Plants: From Roots to Riches (b04dqwyh)
The Great ProvidersProf 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 15 Minute Drama (b03b2z9z)
Al Smith - Life in the Freezer, Tarragon Chicken With Limeby Al Smith
The family gather to scatter their mother's ashes and find themselves throwing a party.
At 66 June Cartwright finally lost her battle with Ovarian Cancer. She didn't fear death but what would happen to her family after she'd gone, for she knew she was the emotional glue that kept them together. For June, food was everything. A family that eats together, stays together.
June may have left behind her a husband and two children. What they will soon discover is that she also left behind fifty frozen meals, perfectly cooked to their tastes which serve to guide them through their grief, together.
This series charts five meals, spread across six months during which the Cartwright family pull themselves apart, back together, and figure out how to move on after their mothers death.
FRI 14:45 Book of the Week (b01m451j)
Daniel Tammet - Thinking in Numbers, The Art of MathsWritten by Daniel Tammet.
Read by James Anthony Pearson.
Daniel Tammet's essay, taken from his new collection, explores how beauty and creativity inform the work of mathematicians.
Daniel Tammet is hailed the world over for his unique intelligence shaped by high-functioning autistic savant syndrome. His idiosyncratic world view provides new perspectives on the universal questions of what it is to be human and how we make meaning in our lives.
Abridged and produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
FRI 15:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b08lk6rg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 Who Goes There? (b0075zbk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 Gush (b050h4wd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 Safety Catch (b00fc4vp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 It's Funny and It's True (b08yn1xk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 Terry Pratchett (b007ncfp)
Only You Can Save Mankind, Episode 3Johnny has the flu and just wants to go to bed, but the ScreeWee Captain is still in trouble. Terry Pratchett's sci-fi adventure with Tim Smith.
FRI 18:30 Soul Music (b040hx6j)
Series 18, Something Inside So StrongLabi Siffre wrote Something Inside So Strong in 1984. Widely believed to have been inspired by seeing film footage from South Africa, of young blacks being shot at by white policeman, he now reveals that the lyrics were also informed by the oppression he had experienced as a homosexual.
The song has been taken up by individuals and groups around the world who have suffered from discrimination. The Choir With No Name in Birmingham, made up of homeless singers, always close their concerts with the song. Choir members explain why it's so important to them, giving them a sense of pride and dignity.
The American singer Suede, talks about the power she finds in the song and the South African singer, Lira talks about making a special recording of it for the birthday of Nelson Mandela, as it was one of his favourite pieces. We hear how Celtic football fans sing it as an act of solidarity with their beleaguered manager, Neil Lennon.
In his first interview for over a decade Siffre explains how he still sings the songs as he tries to put his life back together after the death of his partner, Peter.
Producer: Lucy Lunt.
FRI 19:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00spmnm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 Doctor at Large (b00bb9m8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 The Lives of Harry Lime (b08yrlck)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:20 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00pgydg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:20 today]
FRI 20:30 Peter and the Wolf (b0076vxg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Stories From the South Downs (b03df88n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 21:15 EF Benson - Queen Lucia (b08yr2t1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
FRI 22:00 It's Funny and It's True (b08yn1xk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 BBC New Comedy Award (b08yrq9k)
2017, Heat 5 - CardiffThe fifth heat of the BBC New Comedy Award 2017 will be recorded at the Glee Club in Cardiff with host Kiri Pritchard-McClean.
The judges will be the comedian Lloyd Langford, BBC Radio Comedy Editor Simon Nicholls, and Steve Bennett from Chortle.
Ten new comedians will perform in the hope of making it through to the semi-final at the Edinburgh Festival.
FRI 23:30 Alice's Wunderland (b01l8n82)
Series 1, Episode 4A trip round Wunderland, the Poundland of magical realms. It's a kingdom much like our own, and also nothing like it in the slightest. Stay a while and meet waifs and strays, wigshops and witches, murderous pensioners and squirrels of this delightful land as they go about their bizarre business.
A sketch show written and performed by Alice Lowe.
Also starring Richard Glover, Simon Greenall, Rachel Stubbings, Clare Thompson and Marcia Warren.
Produced by Sam Bryant.