SATURDAY 27 OCTOBER 2018

SAT 00:00 Jenny Stephens - Jefferson 37 (b007k4s9)
Episode 4
Dr Abbots finds his own "party trick" being used against him, and Paul Smith tries to take advantage of the ensuing chaos. Eleanor forces Dr Abbots to take a hard look at his own morality.
Conclusion of Jenny Stephens' sci-fi thriller set on a clone farm.
Starring Oliver Hembrough as Jefferson 37, Dharmesh Patel as Patel 2, Emily Chennery as Lucy White 44, Alison Carney as Eleanor Riley, David Birrell as Dr Abbots, Rob Swinton as Dr Martell, Alex Jones as Paul Smith and Helen Monks as Saskia Treby 9.
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2006.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b00766pw)
Youth
Veteran historian Correlli Barnett and youngster Decca Aitkenhead exchange views in a clash of the generations.
In each programme, Professor Bigsby introduces a duo of writers of fact and fiction: new talent and established names. In the context of a discussion of one of the ideas and pre-occupations of our times, each presents a piece on this week's topic.
The best new writing and the freshest conversation from 2002.
SAT 01:00 Andrew Sachs - The Revenge (b007jr11)
Que? Andrew Sachs's pioneering thriller featuring sound effects and 11 actors, but no written dialogue.
This experimental play for radio an attempt to tell a story in terms of sounds alone. There is no dialogue, and no coherent speech, yet the play is a thriller with a straightforward storyline full of action and dramatic tension.
Recorded on location using the naturalistic recording techniques of binaural stereo.
Written and interpreted by Andrew Sachs, The Revenge, was the world's first radio drama without words...
With Andrew Sachs, Sean Barrett, Fraser Kerr, Graham Ashley, Paul Rosebury, Michael Deacon, Blain Fairman, John Rye, Melody Sachs, Frances Jeater and Leonard Fenton.
Producer: Glyn Dearman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978.
SAT 01:30 The Morricone Affair (b00f65l8)
Sir Christopher Frayling presents a tribute to the renowned Italian film score composer Ennio Morricone, as he is set to turn 80. With contributions from Goldfrapp, Chris Rea, Nitin Sawhney, Anne Billson and Andrew Paresi.
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b0460znp)
Sebastian Barry - The Temporary Gentleman
Episode 5
Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. In 1957, sitting in his lodgings in Accra, he urgently sets out to write his story recounting his strange and tumultuous marriage to the elusive great beauty of Sligo, Mai Kirwan, and the inevitable fate that he now feels compelled to reconcile himself with. He feels he cannot take one step further, or even hardly a breath, without looking back at all that has befallen him. He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things.
The Temporary Gentleman is, ultimately, a story about a man's last bid for freedom, from the savage realities of the past and from himself.
Ciarán Hinds is one of Ireland's most prolific and esteemed actors. His many television and film credits include: Game of Thrones, Munich, The Sea, Road to Perdition, There Will Be Blood, Frozen, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Woman in Black and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
Read by Ciarán Hinds
Abridged by Neville Teller
Producer Gemma McMullan.
SAT 02:15 The Global Gap (b01p7hdb)
Series 2: Turkey
Club Owners
Global Gap is a series of five programmes where two people who do the same job, one from the UK and one from another country (for this week, Turkey), have a thought provoking conversation, to compare and contrast their working lives and the issues that arise in their jobs.
A predominately Muslim country, Turkey nevertheless straddles Western and Eastern culture - and the series this week focuses on the religious versus the secular, capturing the differences in attitudes and society between Turkey and UK through conversation and recordings in workplaces.
Episode 5 (of 5): Nightclub Owners
Blackpool nightclub owner Basil Newby shares his experiences with Suleyman Demir, millionaire owner of the famous Halikarnas nightclub in Turkey's fashionable Bodrum resort. Suleyman has good connections in Turkey, attracting stars on their mega yachts to the large open air Halikarnas, recently refurbished with white marble and palm trees.
Basil is equally famous in Blackpool with his drag queen show Funny Girls, who performed before the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance, and as the owner other big clubs in Blackpool. Basil often has celebrities from Coronation Street and Strictly Come Dancing, and Joan Collins opened Funny Girls to a huge crowd.
Both have had to resolve issues around bureaucracy and licensing, but in Turkey there is nothing like going to the top man. Suleyman sought permission from the former President before he used one of the largest laser beams in the world, reaching to the Greek Islands, and he was allowed to continue running the Halikarnas at night in 1984 even though there was a curfew following Turkish/Kurdish unrest.
Producer: Laura Parfitt
Reporter: Sara Parker
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b03xgslm)
Charlotte Bronte - Shirley
A Proposal
Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, dramatises Charlotte Bronte's tale of romantic entanglements and turbulent times in the Yorkshire of 1811.
The Rioters have stormed Robert's mill and Shirley and Caroline wait anxiously for news. And some life changing decisions are about to be made.
Directed by Tracey Neale.
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b03js28v)
Philip Short - Mitterrand
Episode 5
Mitterrand left the Elysee Palace for the last time in 1995, after 14 years in power. In the words of his rival Jacque Chirac, he bequeathed to France 'a modern, calm democracy'.
He spent his last days not at the house he had shared with his wife, but in a state apartment where both of his families could spend time with him.
This biography of the French President was written by Philip Short, and is read by Henry Goodman.
Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall.
A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 03:00 DH Lawrence - Women in Love (b007jrcj)
Water Games
Gerald excites Gudrun with his physical brutality, but Ursula is infuriated by Rupert's prevarication. Stars Douglas Hodge.
SAT 04:00 The Personality Test (b007tzff)
Series 3
Toyah Willcox
Pop sensation and actress Toyah Willcox is in the hot seat posing questions all about her.
Tackling the ultra-personal quiz are Sue Perkins, Caroline Quinlan, Robin Ince and Will Smith.
Comedy quiz presented by a new guest host every show. All the questions are about them. .
Script by Simon Littlefield and Kieron Quirke.
Devised and produced by Aled Evans.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
SAT 04:30 Smelling of Roses (b007jrhd)
Series 1
Positive Thinking
Rosie's company goes New Age, promoting the Brighton leg of a lecture tour by a Californian positive-thinking guru.
Prunella Scales stars in the first of four series of Simon Brett's sitcom following the trials and tribulations of Rosie Burns and her event-management company based in Brighton.
With Arabella Weir as Kate, Rebecca Callard as Jo, Duncan Preston as Bob, Annette Badland as Tess, Alison Skilbeck as Darcy Philpotts and Kerry Shale as Lyndon Merchant.
Producer: Maria Esposito
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2000.
SAT 05:00 The Right Time (b0076mb8)
Series 4
Episode 2
From vampires and Feng Shui to turning 50.
Sketch show about life, written and performed by people who've lived a bit.
Stars Eleanor Bron, Dudley Sutton , Roger Blake, Paula Wilcox and Arthur Smith.
Written by Colin Bostock-Smith, Jill Brodie, John Pidgeon, Mike Haskins, Jan Etherington, Alex Lowe, George Poles, Arthur Smith, Chris Thompson and Pete Reynolds.
Script editors: Ed Dyson and George Poles.
Music by Ronnie & The Rex.
Producer: Katie Marsden
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2004.
SAT 05:30 Big Broadcast (b0bp2d8x)
Series 3
Quiz
Neil Brand's fast-talking musical comedy set in a 1930s Chicago Radio Studio starring Samantha Spiro and Chris Jarman, as the Hour of Charm team defend their show.
SAT 06:00 Alan Bennett - Forty Years On (b0075zyr)
Albion House's retiring headmaster is outraged by the school's traditional end-of-year play which is being produced by his successor.
The headmaster can only see his beloved standards being mocked. Yet within the parody lies a painful nostalgia for a more peaceful, vanished age.
Alan Bennett's acclaimed satirical comedy.
Starring Alan Bennett as the Headmaster, Eleanor Bron as Matron, Robert Bathurst as Franklin, Adam Godley as Tempest, Auriol Smith as Miss Nisbitt, Nicholas Boulton as the Teacher, Ilan Goodman as the Head Boy and Gavin Muir as the Radio Voice.
Other parts played by Hassan Akram. Luke Blackall. Mark Lowen, Nicholas Netzgen, Tom Milner, Marcus Mumford, Hiten Pankhania, Matthew Poulson, Jack Schennum, Ripton Scott, Simon Spiro and other pupils from King's College School, Wimbledon.
Choir boys: Dominic Conte and Luke Eastman.
Original music by Colin Sell, performed by members of the East 15 Acting School.
Piano: Pete Ringrose.
Director: Gordon House
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
SAT 07:30 Unmasking the English (b007z8s2)
Miss Jane Marple
Andrew Marr examines the people of England by comparing them with some quintessentially English characters - both real and fictional.
Agatha Christie's uber-sleuth Jane Marple is old-fashioned and posh, but what do her tactics of self-deprecation tell us?
Scotsman Andrew sets out to unmask the mysterious English with AA Gill, PD James, Peter York and Anita Anand.
Producer: Tom Alban
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b04n20v4)
Tears of a Clown
Robin Ince looks at the enduring cliché of the Sad Clown. What is the relationship between stand-up comedy and mental health?
"A room filled with comedians standing in silence is rarity, especially after midnight during the Edinburgh Fringe, but this was a scene across the bars and venues when the news of Robin Williams' suicide broke. The death of a comedian resurrects the numerous images of the comedian surrounded by laughter they have created, yet miserable themselves.
"But how true is this image of the melancholy comedian? While the lives of Kenneth Williams, Tony Hancock and Spike Milligan are raked over with new books and documentaries appearing on a yearly basis, hundreds of comedians seemingly live and perform without facing anxiety that reaches clinical levels.
"Is the image of the sad comedian a comfort for an audience: "they made us all laugh and brought so much joy, but don't worry, they were wracked with existential agony for the rest of their lives"?
"Is pain required to create comedy, or would Spike Milligan have created as much, if not more, absurd and delightful comedy had he not been so frequently institutionalised?
"Do plays and documentaries on comedians focus so much on the bleak side of their existence that they create a false vision of perpetual despair?
"Is the act of being a comedian more of a cure than a burden? While others may have no valve to release their festering thoughts, the stand up can transform their ludicrousness or burdensome thoughts into jokes. They are able to laugh at, and with, themselves and even make money out of it too.
"Is comedy just like every other profession, or is there a need for some loss or pain in childhood to create the outsider who wishes to spend each night making themselves face one of the top three fears of human beings, public speaking?
"Romantic vision, bitter truth, debatable myth - can we really work out the formula that makes a comedian?
"Give me the child until they are seven, and I will show you the entertainer?"
-Robin Ince, Aged 45 and 3/4.
SAT 09:00 Brian Blessed's Radio Adventures (b07y77x3)
Arthur Bostrom meets with Brian Blessed to celebrate the adventurer's remarkable life and career as presented on radio.
A giant of a man accompanied by an eloquent wit and booming, operatic voice the boisterous British actor Brian Blessed is known for his hearty, king-sized portrayals on film and TV, however what is often overlooked is his fascinating career in radio.
There are over 40 years of recordings in the BBC radio archives, including hilarious interviews, dramas, poetry readings and panel shows. He's presented Down Your Way, appeared on the nature series Sounds Natural and hosted his own radio show. As a regular guest Brian Blessed has been interviewed on a diverse number of subjects and memorably on BBC Radio 4's Midweek revealing how he helped to deliver a baby in a South London park.
With an enthusiastic audience at the BBC Radio Theatre in London, Arthur introduces extracts and programmes from Brian's radio years to build an enthralling and unique insight into the actor and explorer's life. In in his own irreverent style Brian reveals a passion for radio which has rarely been discussed.
Programmes include:
* Down Your Way: Stratford Shakespeare
Actor Brian Blessed was to have gone to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford straight after drama school. Instead he joined Z Cars and was unable to do a Season until 1984, he returns in this episode from 1991
* Sounds Natural:
Brian Blessed discusses with Derek Jones his interest in wildlife & mountaineering & chooses some recordings from the BBC's Sound Archive, in an episode from 1975.
* Outlook - Galahad of Everest:
Brian Blessed talks to John Waite about his expedition to climb Everest in the footsteps of George Mallory
* The Brian Blessed Show:
A programme from 1988 where Brian Blessed talks to theatre critic Jack Tinker about his career.
Producer: Stephen Garner
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in October 2016.
SAT 12:00 Who Goes There? (b00fj1rj)
Series 3
Episode 1
Martin Young chairs the quiz about famous people, from Biblical times to the pages of celebrity magazines.
Tackling the biographical teasers are team captains Francis Wheen and Fred Housego with guests Sue Cook and Annabel Giles.
Producer: Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2000.
SAT 12:30 The Code of the Woosters (b007w5j9)
The Silver Cow-Creamer
Bertie Wooster turns to Aunt Dahlia to help out Gussie.
PG Wodehouse romp adapted by Chris Miller.
Starring Michael Hordern as Jeeves, Richard Briers as Bertie Wooster, Patrick Cargill as Sir Watkin Bassett, James Villiers as Roderick Spode and Vivian Pickles as Aunt Dahlia.
Other parts by William Sleigh.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1973.
SAT 13:00 Ben Cottam - The Latvian Locum (Omnibus) (b09h3ry9)
Offbeat comic drama following the experiences of Latvian locum Dr Dace Zake - mistakenly hired in the belief she speaks Polish - in a beleaguered medical centre in the deprived South Shore area of Blackpool.
Dr Dace Zake is later on her first day, incurring the wrath of Jan the receptionist - and she encounters a man throwing up into a carrier bag outside the surgery.
Not a good start to the day.
Written by Ben Cottam
Dr Dace Zake .... Dolya Gavanski
Jan .... Michelle Holmes
Chris .... Ben Cottam
Candis .... Talisa Garcia
Jack .... Jack Loxton
Francis .... Sean Barrett
George .... Ian Puleston-Davies
Eileen .... Pippa Haywood
Lauren .... Ciara Baxendale
Director: Alison Crawford
First broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in October 2018.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b0bpqq2p)
Orla Kiely
Designer Orla Kiely chooses 'Night and Day' by Cole Porter and '7 seconds' by Youssou N'Dour ft Neneh Cherry.
SAT 14:15 Battlefield Ramblings (b0bpqqbx)
Series 1
Hastings
Muriel Gray is in Hastings to explore the Sussex battlefield with Paul Adams and Julian Humphrys.
BBC defence correspondent Paul Adams's earliest memory is of being lost in the middle of a battle re-enactment at Hastings in 1966. With the help of military historian Julian Humphrys and Muriel Gray, he's aiming not to repeat the experience.
Series exploring the areas around our greatest battlefields.
Producer: Lucy Lunt
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
SAT 14:45 15 Minute Drama (b0467lnf)
Val McDermid - Deadheading
Episode 2
Best selling crime writer Val McDermid's comedy detective story of murder on the allotments and a suspect list as long as a prize-winning leak. Starring Julie Hesmondhalgh and Miriam Margolyes.
Humans, like most other animals, are happiest when they are on their home territory. When they are forced into strange places, they always seek out environments that remind them of their own turf. Which is why Detective Sergeant Jason Trotter is still in the pub, a classic habitat of the detective story. Meanwhile, Alpha female DCI Alma Blair is very much in her natural environment. In a police car, with a suspect.
Sound Designer: Eloise Whitmore
Writer: Val McDermid
Directed and Produced by Justine Potter
A Savvy Production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b04n20v4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Alan Bennett - Forty Years On (b0075zyr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Unmasking the English (b007z8s2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Eric Pringle - It's Cold Outside (b082rbmd)
Ray wakes to find himself trapped inside his car in a snowdrift. He can't move. He doesn't know who he is - or how he came to be there...
Eric Pringle's chilling drama stars Kenneth Cranham as Ray, Julia Ford as Sophie, Neville Jason as Gerry and Elaine Claxton as Anna.
Director: Cherry Cookson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.
SAT 18:30 Fear On 4 (b007jqp3)
Tissue Memory
Anna is due to marry Paul and live happily in the city, but a change of heart takes her on a different journey. Written by Judy Upton. Starring Rachel Atkins.
SAT 19:00 Brian Blessed's Radio Adventures (b07y77x3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Paul Sinha's History Revision (b04pss53)
Series 1
Football
In Paul Sinha's History Revision the acclaimed stand-up and eleventh best UK quizzer Paul Sinha looks through all of human history and examines how we came to be where we are. He starts with something everyday, something we all know to be true; he then reveals the quirks of history and the fascinating stories that led up to this point.
In this first edition, Paul takes as his starting point the World Cup Final in June 2014, the biggest sporting event on the planet, a billion people watching twenty-five or so Germans and Argentinians play football in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. How did we end up here? it's a story that takes in fifteenth-century explorers, the slave trade, mass immigration, industrialisation, and British Army medical tests. Because no-one and nothing exists in a vacuum.
Paul Sinha is an acclaimed stand-up who was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy award for his show Saint or Sinha?. He frequently appears on The News Quiz, The Now Show, and Fighting Talk. He is a resident 'chaser' on the ITV quiz show The Chase. He wrote and starred in one-offs The Sinha Test (2011) and The Sinha Games (2012) on Radio 4 and in 2013 had his own four-part series, Paul Sinha's Citizenship Test.
Written and performed by Paul Sinha.
Produced by Ed Morrish.
SAT 22:30 Chain Reaction (b00tgx3w)
Series 6
Ade Edmondson interviews Ruby Wax
The new series of the tag team talk show continues as last week's guest, writer and star of "The Young Ones" and "Bottom", alternative comedy legend Ade Edmondson takes the microphone to interview the UK's favourite sharp tongued American, Ruby Wax.
Ade asks Ruby about the impact her strict parents had on her comedy, her start in entertainment as an RDC wench, her break into TV and those famous celebrity interviews, and how her journey has led her from being a celebrated TV entertainer and comedienne to a qualified expert on Psychotherapy and Neuroscience.
SAT 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b0bq3l08)
John Dowie 1/2
From 10pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats to John Dowie.
SAT 23:00 28 Acts in 28 Minutes (b01nswqw)
Series 1
Episode 2
John Humphrys gives 28 performers 60 seconds to entertain an audience:
Justin Edwards
Alfie Jerry
The Trap
Jo Enright
Dave Johns
Jim Jeffries
Joanna Neary
Danny Robins
Scott Capurro
Roger McGough
Toby Hadoke & John Warburton
Martin Hutton
Gary Le Strange
Debra-Jane Appleby
James Bachman
Steve Hughes.
Dan Antopolski
Sarah Millican
Patrick Monahan
Michael Redmond
Alan Cochrane.
Derek upon Tweed
Jayne Tunnicliffe
Glenn Wool
Kevin Day
Adam Bloom
Richard Herring
Slaughterhouse Live
Producers: Rohan Acharya and Ed Morrish
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006.
SAT 23:30 Mark Watson's Live Address to the Nation (b017mv2v)
Tolerance
Mark Watson continues his quest to improve the world, nimbly assisted by Tim Key and Tom Basden and with the additional help of the listening audience as we broadcast live and invite them to join in.
Mark will be asking the big questions that are crucial to our understanding of ourselves and society - in a dynamic and thought provoking new format he opens the floor to the live audience and asks them to jump into the conversation via tweets and messages to work out how we can all make the world a better place.
This week Mark looks at "Tolerance" - Religious tolerance, moral tolerance, not striking the person next to you on the bus because they haven't worked out you can send a text without your phone beeping every time you press a key. It's important to tolerate others' faults, their little quirks, and their massive despicable crimes. But can tolerance make us into doormats, allowing evil to thrive? Probably. Shame, that.
Mark Watson is a multi award winning comedian, including the inaugural If.Comedy Panel Prize 2006. He is assisted by Tim Key, winner of Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2009 and Tom Basden who won the the If.Comedy Award for Best Newcomer 2007.
Produced by Lianne Coop.


SUNDAY 28 OCTOBER 2018

SUN 00:00 Eric Pringle - It's Cold Outside (b082rbmd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 00:30 Fear On 4 (b007jqp3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 When the Clocks Change (b008347v)
How does the onset of winter influence our lives? Documentary exploring history of time and seasonal sleep patterns. From October 2005.
SUN 01:30 The Code of the Woosters (b007w5j9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:30 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 Ben Cottam - The Latvian Locum (Omnibus) (b09h3ry9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (b0bpqq2p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Saturday]
SUN 02:15 Battlefield Ramblings (b0bpqqbx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Saturday]
SUN 02:45 15 Minute Drama (b0467lnf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Archive on 4 (b04n20v4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 Alan Bennett - Forty Years On (b0075zyr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 Unmasking the English (b007z8s2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 Charlotte Bronte - Shirley (b03xzy4d)
Omnibus
"Something unromantic as a Monday morning." And so begins this passionate love story ...
Charlotte Bronte's tale of romantic entanglements and turbulent times in the Yorkshire of 1811.
Omnibus of the first five of ten parts adapted by Rachel Joyce.
Set against a Yorkshire industrial background, Bronte's powerful second novel is also an impassioned plea for social equality - for workers and women alike. Set during the time of the Luddite unrest, two strands weave together. One, the struggles of workers against mill owners, the other involving the romantic entanglements of the two heroines - Shirley Keelder and Caroline Helstone. It is the friendship of these two women, and the contrast between their situations, that lies at the heart of the piece. Many believe the character of Shirley was written for, and about, Charlotte's sister, Emily, who was dying as Charlotte wrote the novel.
An earthy, vivid and poignant re-telling of one of the lesser-known Bronte classics. The scenes of dangerous social unrest and conflict and love are as relevant today as when the novel was published. It's a story of friendship and love, longing and loss. A rollicking good story with plenty of cliffhangers to keep you hooked to the very end.
Charlotte Bronte .... Lesley Sharp
Shirley .... Jemima Rooper
Caroline .... Joanne Froggatt
Robert Moore .... Joseph Kloska
Louis Moore .... Joel MacCormack
Mrs Pryor .... Christine Kavanagh
Helstone .... Sean Murray
Hortense Moore .... Priyanga Burford
Mr Sympson .... David Seddon
Director: Tracey Neale
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
SUN 07:15 Collin Johnson - Birth Day (b0bpqt9s)
4 Extra Debut. Alexander realises that he has no idea of the magnitude of the arrival of his first child. Written and read by Collin Johnson.
SUN 07:30 Bad Salsa (b04bn088)
Series 1
The Shorefest Redemption
After treatment for Ovarian and breast cancer Chippy, is mad, Jill is sad and Terri is definitely dangerous to know! The road back after cancer treatment can be tricky and full of obstacles.
In 'Bad Salsa', two middle aged women and their younger friend seek to regain their zest for life and love by learning to dance at Bad Salsa, the club where everyone knows your name but no-one knows your prognosis!
Depictions of people with cancer on TV and radio too often follow a standard format; there is the diagnosis, the depression the chemo, then the false recovery followed by the tragic death.
Bad Salsa tries to paint a picture at once more hopeful and more in line with survival rates which have improved immensely over the past 20 years.
For many, 'living with cancer' is now their day to day challenge. The characters in the series have finished their treatment and are in the process of finding their way back to normal life or at least finding a "new normal." As in the real world, the challenges of everyday life go on for our characters; like us they have boring marriages, distracting crushes, troublesome children, difficult workmates and infuriating parents, but unlike us their brush with mortality has given them a new perspective.
The fun and excitement of the series is in watching them decide to preserve the pre-cancer status quo or in Terri's words, to say "sod it all" and "go for it!"
Follow the women as they embrace the world of salsa whilst they adjust to life after cancer.
SUN 08:00 Meet the Huggetts (b00nvyzd)
Clean Linen
A mix-up at the launderette sparks a whole pile of embarrassment for Joe and Ethel Huggett.
Stars Jack Warner as Joe, Kathleen Harrison as Ethel, James Langley as Bobby, Alanna Boyce as Jane, Charles Leno as Fred Stebbings and Alan Keith as the Detective.
Popular working-class family, the Huggetts first hit the cinema screen with a series of Gainsborough films between 1947 and 1949. Their subsequent BBC radio series ran from 1953 to 1962.
Scripted by Eddie Maguire.
Producer: Jacques Brown
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in June 1959.
SUN 08:30 Take It From Here (b01dtg79)
From 04/12/1958
Napoleonic double-doings, while Ron's latest news shocks broody Eth in 'The Glums'.
Starring Professor Jimmy Edwards, Dick Bentley and June Whitfield.
Announcer: Brian Matthew
Music from Wallace Eaton and the Keynotes and the BBC Revue Orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.
Scripted by Frank Muir and Denis Norden.
Producer: Charles Maxwell
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in December 1958.
SUN 09:00 Keywords for Our Time (Omnibus) (b0bpr2m1)
'Sovereignty': Michael Rosen and guests explore well-known phrases from the national conversation such as #metoo, post-fact and resilience.
By looking at their usage, origins, rhetorical power and linguistic construction, we can see how they frame public argument and shape our thinking (sometimes in ways we do not notice).
This series includes Natalie Haynes on 'Patriarchy', Stuart Maconie on 'The Nanny State'; Afua Hirsch on 'Sovereignty' and Isabel Hardman on 'Safe-Space'.
First broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.
SUN 10:10 The Listening Project (b050c5wm)
Catherine and Bea - The Art of Inspiration
Fi Glover introduces a mother and daughter who are both artists, debating who inspires whom, and discussing living with art and learning from it too.
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 learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
SUN 10:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b06myy9x)
Comedians
John Bishop
From the Beatles to Jim Reeves, the comic shares his castaway choices with Kirsty Young. From June 2012.
SUN 11:00 GrownUpLand (b0bpr2m3)
Going Through the Emotions
Mae Martin, Bisha K Ali, Bobby Friction and Johnny Cochrane join Ned Sedgwick in a podcast compilation on the theme of 'Happiness'.
Bisha K Ali, Mae Martin, Bobby Friction, Ned Sedgwick
If GrownUpLand is a place, then we got a bit lost along the way.
Each week on the GrownUpLand podcast, a special guest helps to answer listener questions and candidly shares their experiences, from failed dates and bizarre confrontations to guilty pleasures and worst nightmares.
Co-created by Deborah Frances-White for The Spontaneity Shop and BBC Radio 4.
Producer: Al Riddell.
SUN 12:00 Meet the Huggetts (b00nvyzd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SUN 12:30 Take It From Here (b01dtg79)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
SUN 13:00 Charlotte Bronte - Shirley (b03xzy4d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 14:15 Collin Johnson - Birth Day (b0bpqt9s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]
SUN 14:30 Melmoth (b0bpr3j2)
Omnibus 1/2
Helen Franklin's uneventful life as a translator in Prague is altered when a troubled friend gives her a mysterious document.
A contemporary novel set in Prague, inspired by an original Gothic story and written by Sarah Perry.
Melmoth the Witness is a terrifying and yet moving creation who repels and attracts our sympathies simultaneously. The novel explores some of humanity's darkest actions, asks us to consider our deepest secrets and conveys the importance of bearing witness to unspeakable events. At the same time, it's also a novel of redemption, of the possibility of forgiveness, hope and reconciliation, and the healing power of love.
Omnibus of the first of five of ten parts abridged by Jeremy Osborne.
Reader: Greta Scacchi and Anton Lesser
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2018.
SUN 15:45 Rivals in Stone (b00768mk)
Roehampton Estate
Architectural historian Joe Kerr concludes his tour of competitive buildings, with a trip to the rival halves of Alton Estate, in Roehampton.
Joe enlists the help of historian Alan Powers, an enthusiast for Alton East; and critic Hugh Pearman, who prefers the later work at Alton West; in comparing two contrasting visions of social housing, from the post-war era of reconstruction.
Producer: Matthew Dodd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
SUN 16:00 Daphne Du Maurier (b007k4qn)
September Tide
When Cherry comes home to visit her widowed mother Stella, she brings her new husband with her.
But surprises are in-store, as this is the first time mother and son-in-law have met.
Daphne du Maurier's bittersweet love story set in a beautiful house on a Cornish estuary.
Stars Paula Wilcox as Stella Martin, Jonathan Firth as Evan Davies, Alice Hart as Cherry Davies, John Rowe as Robert Hanson, Susan Jameson as Mrs Tucket and Duncan Walsh Atkins as the Neighbour.
Director: Tracey Neale
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005.
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (b0bpr3j4)
Batter My Heart: Growing Up and Growing Old with John Donne
Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive with 'Batter My Heart: Growing Up and Growing Old with John Donne'.
Novelist Ed Docx grew up with John Donne's love poems and found them useful billets doux with his early girlfriends. Now not so young he has been surprised by how as he has grown up so the poetry of Donne has kept him company.
Talking to three scholars - a young reader of Donne, a middle aged one and an elderly one, and armed with a stack of Bob Dylan records (another artist good for all ages) - Ed Docx discovers how Donne batters the heart of us all through life.
Producer: Tim Dee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
SUN 17:30 Bad Salsa (b04bn088)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 18:00 Edgar Allan Poe (b0bpr4dj)
The Fall of the House of Usher
4 Extra Debut. Roderick is a tormented man, with a twin sister suffering from an illness physicians do not understand. Stars Tim Pigott-Smith. From November 1978.
SUN 18:45 Ray Bradbury - The Shoreline at Sunset (b083h2t2)
At summer's end, two beachcombers have the shore to themselves again, until they discover a strange creature. Read by Ed Bishop. From April 1994.
SUN 19:00 GrownUpLand (b0bpr2m3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 20:00 Keywords for Our Time (Omnibus) (b0bpr2m1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SUN 21:10 The Listening Project (b050c5wm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 today]
SUN 21:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b06myy9x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:15 today]
SUN 22:00 Bad Salsa (b04bn088)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 22:30 The Mark Steel Lecture (b00sdyxt)
Series 3
Muhammad Ali
The radical comedian offers his humorous assessment of the life and career of the world heavyweight boxer. From October 2002.
SUN 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b0bq3lpc)
John Dowie 2/2
From 10pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats to John Dowie.
SUN 23:00 On the Hour (b007k3g0)
Series 1
Episode 1
From disasters and corruption to beachcombing and medical mayhem.
All the news as it happens, if it happens.
Plus all the sport from Alan Partridge.
Savagely satirical award-winning comedy starring Chris Morris.
With Steve Coogan, David Schneider, Rebecca Front, Patrick Marber and Doon Mackichan.
Written by Chris Morris, Richard Herring, Steven Wells, Andrew Glover, David Quantick and Stewart Lee.
Editor: Armando lannucci
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1991.
SUN 23:30 Ectoplasm (b007w5l4)
The Case of the Missing Lost Soul
A countess begs Lord Zimbabwe's help to skip eternity as a Barry Manilow fan. With Dan Freedman and Nick Romero. From July 2000.


MONDAY 29 OCTOBER 2018

MON 00:00 Edgar Allan Poe (b0bpr4dj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:45 Ray Bradbury - The Shoreline at Sunset (b083h2t2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:45 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 Charlotte Bronte - Shirley (b03xzy4d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:15 Collin Johnson - Birth Day (b0bpqt9s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Sunday]
MON 02:30 Melmoth (b0bpr3j2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Sunday]
MON 03:45 Rivals in Stone (b00768mk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Daphne Du Maurier (b007k4qn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (b0bpr3j4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 Bad Salsa (b04bn088)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jmrk)
Floater
Hitler has won the war...and the totalitarian Nazi regime in Germany has a terrible secret it needs to hide at all costs.
Anton Lesser stars as Xavier March, homicide investigator with the Berlin Kriminalpolizei called to investigate a suspicious death.
Best-selling thriller by Robert Harris - dramatised in five parts by John Dryden.
With Peter Ellis as Max Jaeger, Andrew Sachs as Rudi, Graham Padden as Krause, Robert Portal as Jost, Thomas Copeland as Pili, Amanda Walker as Frau Trinkl, Michael Byrne as Globus, Ian Gelder as Fiebes, Alice Arnold & Trevor Nichols as Newsreaders and Ned Sherrin as the Chat Show Host.
Author Robert Harris is former BBC reporter and newspaper journalist.
Producer: John Dryden
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
MON 06:30 The Trumpet Shall Sound (b00vg8yw)
From battlefields to royal celebrations, jazz man Julian Joseph goes in search of black classical musicians from the past. From December 2007.
MON 07:00 The Older Woman (b039gkz0)
Series 2
Episode 3
Roy's efforts to make a video diary become tinged with paranoia. The thought police and Michael Buerk from TV's 999 infiltrate his fantasies.
Surprisingly, Jane finds herself feeling sorry for Roy and makes a gesture she lives to regret.
Series two of Tony Bagley's romantic comedy drama serial that mixes fantasy with reality.
Starring Martin Clunes as Roy Hitchcock, Geraldine James as Jane Gallaghan, Nicky Henson as Chad Mann, David Troughton as Colin, Rebecca Front as Mrs Churchill, Tilly Vosburgh as Marina and Alistair McGowan as God and Michael Buerk.
Producer: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1994.
MON 07:30 The Museum of Curiosity (b0bpr5mn)
Series 13
Episode 4
Professor of Ignorance John Lloyd and his curator Lee Mack welcome journalist and author Lucy Mangan, scientist and writer Steve Mould and former England footballer Graeme Le Saux.
This week, the Museum's Guest Committee indulge in past pleasures with a mechanical talking robot, an amusement arcade penny pusher machine and the soothing sounds of a 1980s Sony Walkman.
The show was researched by Mike Turner and Emily Jupitus of QI.
The Producers were Richard Turner and Anne Miller.
A BBC Studios Production.
MON 08:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jnbl)
Series 5
The Scandal Magazine
The lad takes action over scandal rag Blabbermouth's scurrilous claims of him cavorting with Mabel Biggs the cigarette girl.
Stars 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 January 1958.
MON 08:30 Parsley Sidings (b01nw83v)
Series 1
The Beauty Queen Contest
Parsley Sidings' glamorous announcer Gloria Simpkins is pressured into promoting the sleepy station.
Starring Arthur Lowe as Horace, Ian Lavender as Bert, Kenneth Connor as Percy, Liz Fraser as Gloria and John Graham as Phineas Perkins.
Jim Eldridge's eponymous series is set in a sleepy railway station. The Hepplewhites have run 'Parsley Sidings' station for generations and the current Station Master, Horace, hopes that his son Bert will continue the line. Mild-mannered Ticket Clerk Bert wants to work anywhere but on the railways. His colleague, Station Announcer Gloria Simpkins, secretly loves him. Porter Percy Valentine is an archetypal wheeler-dealer and the ancient Signalman, Bradshaw, causes havoc and dispenses home-made remedies in equal measure. The 'Parsley Sidings' nemesis is Phineas Perkins, the station master of Potwhistle Halt, one stop down the line.
Re-created Announcements by Keith Skues.
Producer: Edward Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in December 1971.
MON 09:00 Just a Minute (b011p7t2)
Series 60
Episode 4
On this week's show, which Nicholas Parsons describes as having affection and aggro in equal measure, the panellists are Paul Merton, Julian Clary, Gyles Brandreth and Tony Hawks.
Nicholas metes out the subjects and challenges each panellist to speak on a subject for one minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation - a task much more fiendish than it sounds.
This week Tony Hawks describes The First Signs of Summer, Paul tells us some Reasons Not to Go On Holiday, Gyles reveals his theory on Dividing Household Chores and Julian reveals what gives him A Good Laugh.
Producer: Claire Jones.
MON 09:30 Snap (b00ttmvf)
Series 2
Episode 3
Trying to be mature and adult after their separation, Doug and Molly attempt to bury their differences to find out what's wrong with their son Ryan.
Paul Mendelson's sitcom stars Rebecca Lacey as Molly, Paul Venables as Doug, Soumaya Keynes as Kaz, Jessie Sullivan as Ryan, Marlene Sidaway as Annie, Samantha Spiro as Dawn and Richard Firth as Ansel.
Producer: David Ian Neville
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2004.
MON 10:00 DH Lawrence - Women in Love (b007k1yl)
Moonlight
Rupert proposes, but this decisive action leads to more questions rather than answers. With Clare Holman and Nicholas Farrell.
MON 11:00 Short Works: A Season of Murder, Mystery and Suspense (b0bpr708)
Series 3
A Mysterious Case, by Anna Katharine Green
A doctor's patient is under 24-hour supervision, but someone, somehow, is poisoning her. Read by Teresa Gallagher.
An occasional series of stories from life's murkier places.
Series 3 features a selection of mysteries from America.
Writer Anna Katherine Green was born in Brooklyn in 1846. She is sometimes referred to as 'the mother of the detective novel'. She wrote 30 detective mysteries of which the best-known is her first, The Leavenworth Case (1878). She died in 1935.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
MON 11:15 Bruce Bedford - Black Ice (b01hbdcc)
In 1911 - as a prelude to Captain Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole - three men set off in the darkness of the Antarctic winter. Departing from Scott's over-wintering hut, they were out to secure examples of the eggs of the Emperor Penguin.
Their survival, in temperatures of minus 60 or 70, can only be ascribed to astonishing courage and willpower.
Bruce Bedford's dramatised account stars Crawford Logan as Edward A. 'Bill' Wilson, Richard Greenwood as Apsley Cherry-Garrard and John Walsh as Henry R. 'Birdie' Bowers.
Director: Hamish Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995.
MON 12:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jnbl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 Parsley Sidings (b01nw83v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jmrk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 The Trumpet Shall Sound (b00vg8yw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b046kr4q)
Sebastian Barry - The Temporary Gentleman
Episode 6
Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. In 1957, sitting in his lodgings in Accra, he urgently sets out to write his story recounting his strange and tumultuous marriage to the elusive great beauty of Sligo, Mai Kirwan, and the inevitable fate that he now feels compelled to reconcile himself with. He feels he cannot take one step further, or even hardly a breath, without looking back at all that has befallen him. He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things.
The Temporary Gentleman is, ultimately, a story about a man's last bid for freedom, from the savage realities of the past and from himself.
Ciarán Hinds is one of Ireland's most prolific and esteemed actors. His many television and film credits include: Game of Thrones, Munich, The Sea, Road to Perdition, There Will Be Blood, Frozen, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Woman in Black and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
Read by Ciarán Hinds
Abridged by Neville Teller
Producer Gemma McMullan.
MON 14:15 Technicolour (b01q8l3h)
Colour Vision
In this series of five programmes, Tracey Logan dives into the world of colour, from biology to fashion.
Programme 1/5: Vision
We create all the colours we see around us. Cone cells in our eyes allow us to discriminate up to 10 million different hues. But not everyone's eyes contain the same type of cells, and this can change the range of colours we detect.
Tracey finds out what it's like to be colour blind and why there may be some women with superhuman colour vision, who can see more colours than the rest of us.
Presenter: Tracey Logan
Producer: Michelle Martin.
MON 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b03y0f06)
Charlotte Bronte - Shirley
The Valley of the Shadow of Death
Rachel Joyce's dramatisation of Charlotte Bronte's tale of love, longing and loss.
Robert has suddenly left Yorkshire, unaware that Caroline has fallen into a deep sickness.
Directed by Tracey Neale.
MON 14:45 Book of the Week (b03jz1hq)
Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
Episode 1
Penelope Fitzgerald's novels were short, spare masterpieces, self-concealing, oblique and subtle. She won the Booker Prize for her novel Offshore in 1979, and her last work, The Blue Flower, was acclaimed as a work of genius.
The early novels drew on her own experiences - a boat on the Thames in the 1960s, the BBC in war-time, a failing bookshop in Suffolk, an eccentric stage-school. The later ones opened out to encompass historical worlds which, magically, she seemed to possess entirely: Russia before the Revolution, post-war Italy, Germany in the time of the Romantic writer Novalis.
Fitzgerald's life is as various and as cryptic as her fiction. It spans most of the twentieth century, and moves from a Bishop's Palace to a sinking barge, from a demanding intellectual family to hardship and poverty, from a life of teaching and obscurity to a blaze of renown.
She was first published at sixty and became famous at eighty. This is a story of lateness, patience and persistence - a private form of heroism.
Loved and admired, and increasingly recognised as one of the outstanding novelists of her time, she remains also mysterious and intriguing. She liked to mislead people with a good imitation of an absent-minded old lady, but under that scatty front was a steel-sharp brain and an imagination of wonderful reach.
This biography by Hermione Lee pursues Fitzgerald's life, her writing, and her secret self, with fascinated interest.
Read by Penelope Wilton
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 15:00 DH Lawrence - Women in Love (b007k1yl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 Just a Minute (b011p7t2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 Snap (b00ttmvf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 The Older Woman (b039gkz0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 The Museum of Curiosity (b0bpr5mn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 Short Stories by Robert Heinlein (b00lblq5)
The Green Hills of Earth
Rhysling, the blind singer of the spaceways, captures the beauty of space and complexities of being a spaceman in songs about his heroic adventures.
Snatches of his music are interwoven with the story of how he lost his sight and became Earth's unofficial chronicler of the universe.
Read by Adam Sims.
Written in 1947, 'The Green Hills of Earth' is recognised as one of the best-ever sci-fi stories by master writer, Robert A Heinlein (1907-1988).
Produced and abridged by Gemma Jenkins.
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2007.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (b0bpr7b2)
Ray Connolly and Ann Leslie
Sue MacGregor and her guests - journalist, Dame Ann Leslie and music journalist, Ray Connolly - discuss favourite books by Paul Scott, JP Donleavy and Jean-Dominique Bauby. From 2007.
Staying On by Paul Scott
Publisher: Arrow
The Ginger Man by J P Donleavy
Publisher: Abacus
The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
Publisher: Harper Perennial.
MON 19:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jnbl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Parsley Sidings (b01nw83v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jmrk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 The Trumpet Shall Sound (b00vg8yw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 Short Works: A Season of Murder, Mystery and Suspense (b0bpr708)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:15 Bruce Bedford - Black Ice (b01hbdcc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
MON 22:00 The Museum of Curiosity (b0bpr5mn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 The Boosh (b007jxrs)
Hitcher
Howard and Vince take Tony the Prawn to a zoo for animal offenders. Stars Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. From November 2001.
MON 23:00 The Now Show (b0bpr8c7)
Series 53
Episode 1
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis present a comedic look at the week's news.
MON 23:30 Concrete Cow (b00768y0)
Series 1
Episode 1
Dr Jekyll's telling off, and Radio 4's new quiz for pedants. Sketch show with Robert Webb and Olivia Colman. From August 2002.


TUESDAY 30 OCTOBER 2018

TUE 00:00 Short Stories by Robert Heinlein (b00lblq5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b0bpr7b2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jmrk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 The Trumpet Shall Sound (b00vg8yw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b046kr4q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 Technicolour (b01q8l3h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b03y0f06)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:45 Book of the Week (b03jz1hq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 DH Lawrence - Women in Love (b007k1yl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Just a Minute (b011p7t2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 Snap (b00ttmvf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 The Older Woman (b039gkz0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 The Museum of Curiosity (b0bpr5mn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jms0)
Stuckart
Berlin detective Xavier March fraternises with an American journalist. Together they try to unravel the secret at the heart of a post-war Nazi state.
Best-selling thriller by Robert Harris - dramatised in five parts by John Dryden.
Anton Lesser stars as Xavier March, with Angeline Ball as Charlotte Maguire, Stratford Johns as Nebe, Eleanor Bron as Frau Luther, Michael Byrne as Globus, William Scott Masson as Krebs and Michael Culver as Stuckart.
Producer: John Dryden
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
TUE 06:30 Shot in Belfast (b0367mxj)
The history of Northern Ireland on film is rich and varied. Carol Reed's 'Odd Man Out', starring James Mason, was acclaimed upon its release in 1947 as 'the best film of all time', and is still regarded as one of the finest of the post-war era.
But for years, Northern Irish cinema goers often had to endure clichéd representations of the 'Troubles' as captured by Hollywood.
Now though Northern Ireland is ready to tell its own story. An indigenous film industry is taking shape and in this programme Peter Curran returns home to Belfast to explore the city's burgeoning movie business.
At the centre of things is a giant former 'paint hall' in the heart of the old Harland and Wolff shipyard, where cruise liners once received their finishing touches before setting sail. The old building has become Titanic Studios, a hub for film and television production, including the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones.
Northern Ireland provides attractive locations and financial incentives for film makers. So who's benefitting?
Here Peter Curran meets the main players, eavesdrops on current productions and considers how Northern Ireland is now starring in its very own movie.
Producer: Owen McFadden.
TUE 07:00 Second Thoughts (b00fnfp3)
Series 2
There Goes the Bride
It's Faith and Bill's wedding day - can they manage to tie the knot?
Sitcom about the battles of divorcees Bill MacGregor and Faith Greyshott trying to forge a relationship whilst balancing the demands of his ex-wife, Liza and her teenage children, Hannah and Joe.
Stars Lynda Bellingham as Faith, James Bolam as Bill, Celia Imrie as Hilary, Kelda Holmes as Hannah, Mark Denham as Joe, Belinda Lang as Liza, John Baddeley as the Registrar, Richard Tate as the Video Man and Ben Onwukwe as the Cabbie.
Series two of four inspired by the real lives of its writers, husband and wife Jan Etherington and Gavin Petrie.
A TV version made by LWT for ITV appeared in 1991 and ran for four series, with a spin-off 'Faith in the Future'.
Producer: Sioned Wiliam
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1989.
TUE 07:30 Gloomsbury (b0bprcrl)
Series 5
Nightmare Cottage
Vera is still very angry with Ginny and Lionel for creating havoc at Sizzlinghurst while she and Henry were in the USA. Henry notices that some of the silver is missing and suspects the Goslings.
Nutwood Cottage, a pretty cottage on the estate. has become vacant and everyone wants it - the Goslings especially and, in a surprise reappearance, Venus whose excuse is that it would be the perfect location for her to nurse her husband in his "last weeks of life".
Meanwhile Ginny is desperate to get back into Vera's good books and she and Lionel visit Scratchey and Barrington to house hunt for a weekend cottage. The hunt proves fruitless but inspires a fabulous idea.
Cast:
VERA SACKCLOTH-VEST................................MIRIAM MARGOLYES
HENRY MICKLETON........................................JONATHAN COY
MRS GOSLING...................................................ALISON STEADMAN
GINNY FOX........................................................ALISON STEADMAN
LIONEL FOX.......................................................NIGEL PLANER
GOSLING.............................................................NIGEL PLANER
VENUS TRADUCES...........................................MORWENNA BANKS
LYTTON SCRATCHEY......................................NIGEL PLANER
BARRINGTON.....................................................MORWENNA BANKS
RAYMOND..........................................................MORWENNA BANKS
A Little Brother production for BBC Radio 4
Producer Jamie Rix.
TUE 08:00 The Code of the Woosters (b007wnzd)
The Small Leather-Covered Notebook
Gussie Fink-Nottle causes a spot of botheration for Bertie Wooster.
PG Wodehouse romp adapted by Chris Miller.
Starring Michael Hordern as Jeeves, Richard Briers as Bertie Wooster, Rex Garner as Gussie Fink-Nottle, Bridget Armstrong as Madeline Bassett and Miriam Margolyes as Stiffy Byng.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1973.
TUE 08:30 The Men From the Ministry (b0195b7s)
Birds of a Feather
The feather-brained civil servants get themselves in a flap.
The first of 14 shows not kept in the archive and re-recorded in 1980 - previously never broadcast in the UK, until the arrival of BBC Radio 4 Extra.
'The Men from the Ministry' ran for 14 series between 1962 and 1977.
Stars Richard Murdoch and Deryck Guyler (who replaced Wilfrid Hyde-White from 1966).
With Norma Ronald, Ronald Baddiley and John Graham.
Written and produced by Edward Taylor.
Re-recording of 'Strictly for the Birds' made in April 1980.
TUE 09:00 Whose Line Is It Anyway? (b008kty5)
Episode 2
Clive Anderson hosts the famed improvisation game with Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, John Sessions and Enn Reitel. From January 1988.
TUE 09:30 Gilbert Without Sullivan (b0076pj3)
Series 2
The Wedding March
Things go from bad to worse on Woodpecker Tapping's wedding day. Everything that could go wrong, does.
The second series of short stories by WS Gilbert dramatised by Stephen Wyatt.
Starring Jonathan Coy as WS Gilbert, Jason Chan as Woodpecker Tapping, Paul Clarkson as Bapp, Amy Shindler as Leonora, John Rowe as Bopaddy, Alex Tregear as Anna Maria, Sion Probert as Old Poppytop and Charlotte West-Oram as the Marchioness.
Playwright and humourist, Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911) is best known for his comic opera collaborations with Sir Arthur Sullivan, which first captivated audiences across the English-speaking world in the late 19th century.
Director: Jenny Stephens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
TUE 10:00 DH Lawrence - Women in Love (b007k1zw)
Mountain Snows
A looming tragedy cements the future of Rupert, Gerald, Ursula and Gudrun. With Clare Holman, Stella Gonet and Douglas Hodge.
TUE 11:00 Short Works: A Season of Murder, Mystery and Suspense (b0bprffr)
Series 3
An Illusion In Red And White, by Stephen Crane
A curious tale of an axe-murder and conflicting evidence from a backwater in New York State. Read by David Holt.
An occasional series of stories from life's murkier places.
Series 3 features a selection of mysteries from America.
Writer Stephen Crane was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1871. His landmark novel, The Red Badge of Courage, was published in 1895. He died in 1900.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
TUE 11:15 Afternoon Drama (b03g9wxz)
Tom Wainwright - The Wainwrights
By Tom Wainwright.
Anarchic comedy-drama. When farmer Barry changes radio station and hears himself as the star of a daily soap drama he fears for his sanity and grapples wildly with questions of free will and identity. As the rest of the village turn against him, he sets off on a quest to track down the broadcaster responsible but finds himself falling further into the wormhole.
Sound design by Caleb Knightley
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko
Tom Wainwright is a writer, performer and theatre-maker living in Bristol. In 2011, Tom created the solo performance Pedestrian, co-commissioned and produced by Bristol Old Vic and Theatre Bristol. His play Muscle was produced by Bristol Old Vic. Tom also wrote and performed in the sell-out BOV Christmas sketch show Jesus Christ It's Christmas, plus Love in Idleness and The Grill Chef. Nuclear Family has been developed through Royal Court Young Writers Programme which Tom took part in 2010. Banksy: The Room in the Elephant was produced at Edinburgh Fringe 2013. This is Tom's first radio drama.
TUE 12:00 The Code of the Woosters (b007wnzd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 The Men From the Ministry (b0195b7s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jms0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 Shot in Belfast (b0367mxj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b046kyc5)
Sebastian Barry - The Temporary Gentleman
Episode 7
Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. In 1957, sitting in his lodgings in Accra, he urgently sets out to write his story recounting his strange and tumultuous marriage to the elusive great beauty of Sligo, Mai Kirwan, and the inevitable fate that he now feels compelled to reconcile himself with. He feels he cannot take one step further, or even hardly a breath, without looking back at all that has befallen him. He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things.
The Temporary Gentleman is, ultimately, a story about a man's last bid for freedom, from the savage realities of the past and from himself.
Ciarán Hinds is one of Ireland's most prolific and esteemed actors. His many television and film credits include: Game of Thrones, Munich, The Sea, Road to Perdition, There Will Be Blood, Frozen, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Woman in Black and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
Read by Ciarán Hinds
Abridged by Neville Teller
Producer Gemma McMullan.
TUE 14:15 Technicolour (b01q8njd)
Colour Naming
Tracey Logan looks at how language affects our perception of colour and discovers how infants see colour. From January 2013.
TUE 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b03y0qkz)
Charlotte Bronte - Shirley
The First Blue Stocking
Shirley is horrified when she discovers her uncle is determined to find her a husband of his choosing. How can a man who scorns art and literature ever be able to find the perfect partner for her?
Directed by Tracey Neale.
TUE 14:45 Book of the Week (b03jznq5)
Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
Episode 2
Penelope Fitzgerald's novels were short, spare masterpieces, self-concealing, oblique and subtle. She won the Booker Prize for her novel Offshore in 1979, and her last work, The Blue Flower, was acclaimed as a work of genius.
The early novels drew on her own experiences - a boat on the Thames in the 1960s, the BBC in war-time, a failing bookshop in Suffolk, an eccentric stage-school. The later ones opened out to encompass historical worlds which, magically, she seemed to possess entirely: Russia before the Revolution, post-war Italy, Germany in the time of the Romantic writer Novalis.
Fitzgerald's life is as various and as cryptic as her fiction. It spans most of the twentieth century, and moves from a Bishop's Palace to a sinking barge, from a demanding intellectual family to hardship and poverty, from a life of teaching and obscurity to a blaze of renown.
She was first published at sixty and became famous at eighty. This is a story of lateness, patience and persistence - a private form of heroism.
Loved and admired, and increasingly recognised as one of the outstanding novelists of her time, she remains also mysterious and intriguing. She liked to mislead people with a good imitation of an absent-minded old lady, but under that scatty front was a steel-sharp brain and an imagination of wonderful reach.
This biography by Hermione Lee pursues Fitzgerald's life, her writing, and her secret self, with fascinated interest.
Read by Penelope Wilton
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:00 DH Lawrence - Women in Love (b007k1zw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 The 3rd Degree (b08sltc4)
Series 7
The University of Derby
A funny and dynamic quiz show hosted by Steve Punt - this week from the University of Derby with specialist subjects including Education Studies, Forensics and Theatre Studies and questions ranging from cannibalistic beetles to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with a passing nod to Olivia Newton-John and orbital mechanics.
The programme is recorded on location at a different University each week, and it pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors in an original and fresh take on an academic quiz.
The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds and the Highbrow and Lowbrow round cunningly devised to test not only the students' knowledge of current affairs, history, languages and science, but also their Professors' awareness of television, sport, and quite possibly Justin Bieber. In addition, the Head-to-Head rounds see students take on their Professors in their own subjects, offering plenty of scope for mild embarrassment on both sides.
Other Universities featured in this series include Roehampton, Hull, Liverpool, Queen's University Belfast and St John's College Cambridge.
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 16:30 Gossip from the Garden Pond (b04hmrvc)
The Garden Spider and Great Pond Snail
The Garden Spider played by Amanda Root and the Great Pond Snail played by James Fleet, reveal the truth about life in a garden pond, in the last of three very funny tales, written and introduced by Lynne Truss, with sound recordings by Chris Watson and Tom Lawrence.
Hidden amongst the tall vegetation beside the pond the Garden Spider muses on her life. She suffers from arachnophobia. She note only dislikes, but fears the sight of herself; so much so that she only emerges under the cover of darkness to spin her web. She is not alone if finding her appearance quite hideous, she recalls a wasp who even as she wrapped him silk shuddered at the sight of her, rather than save his own life! Her musings are interrupted when she discovers another spider in her web; a visitor to the neighbourhood, a male, who instead of being frightened by her appearance finds her most attractive. Is her luck about to change?
The Great Pond Snail glides over the vegetation on his trail of slime, cleaning up as he goes. He's appalled when he sees evidence that another pond sail has not done the same. Great Pond Snails are excellent recyclers, even cleaning up their own waste matter. Our Snail takes great pleasure in this fact "But I'm not saying this makes us some sort of paragon. Just different". There's no getting away from it, he is self-righteous and judgmental but under the guise of political correctness. His only pleasure comes from slime. "My girlfriend used to say that my slime ropes were my best feature" he boasts. And on this subject, he has little time for the human race "All this modern talk of energy efficiency ... and you can't even be bothered to learn how to make slime". And don't get him started on sex and gender roles!
Producer Sarah Blunt.
TUE 17:00 Second Thoughts (b00fnfp3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Gloomsbury (b0bprcrl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Short Stories by Robert Heinlein (b00l3pzz)
Ordeal in Space
Deeply traumatised astronaut, William Cole is back on earth recuperating from a terrible accident.
After being jettisoned into outer-space, he's been left with a debilitating fear of falling. Facing the prospect of never returning to a job he loves, he's struggling to adapt to life as a civilian...
Read by Adam Sims.
Robert A Heinlein (1907-1988) is recognised by many as one of the great masters of sci-fi.
Produced and abridged by Gemma Jenkins.
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2007.
TUE 18:30 My Life in Five Songs (b01p6vbz)
Series 5
Colin Macintyre
Colin Macintyre is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Growing up on the west coast island of Mull he records under his own name and under the name of Mull Historical Society.
Colin talks to Phil Cunningham about his musical influences and picks five special songs which are important to him and have helped influence his career.
Phil opens the programme with the track The Lights from Colin's latest album City Awakenings.
Colin picks these five songs:
Simon and Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence
David Bowie - Changes
Radiohead - No Surprises
Bob Dylan - Queen Jane Approximately
The Flaming Lips - Race For The Prize
Phil closes the programme with Must You Get Low from the City Awakenings album.
TUE 19:00 The Code of the Woosters (b007wnzd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 The Men From the Ministry (b0195b7s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jms0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 Shot in Belfast (b0367mxj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 Short Works: A Season of Murder, Mystery and Suspense (b0bprffr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 21:15 Afternoon Drama (b03g9wxz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
TUE 22:00 Gloomsbury (b0bprcrl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 Think the Unthinkable (b01jldck)
Series 3
Barrington Zoo
The hapless consultancy tackle a council's problem with a zoo. Stars Marcus Brigstocke and Robin Ince. From August 2004.
TUE 23:00 The Skivers (b00hr7g8)
Series 3
Episode 1
Calm down, dear! Special guest Michael Winner joins in the sketch show fun with Nick Golsen and Tim de Jongh. From January 1997.
TUE 23:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b03gvqlz)
Series 9
The Personal Statement
Episode 1: "The Personal Statement"
He's back. Despite many thwarted attempts at literary success and a lifetime of scrimping and scraping to keep mind, soul and cat together, the curmudgeon's curmudgeon can never be kept down for long and returns to Radio 4 for a new series.
Ed Reardon once more finds himself grabbing at whatever scraps his agent, Ping, throws his way, with his only source of regular income coming from teaching the increasingly savvy and adventurous pensioners their module in short story writing. Jaz Milvane continues to be his nemesis, somehow making money out of mad schemes whilst Ed makes nothing and his love life remains, like his payment of utility bills, erratic to say the least.
As we renew our acquaintance with Ed we find him grovelling to his former girlfriend Fiona, claiming to be a 'changed man'. But as she quite rightly points out, he's still wearing the same socks and sandals. As Ed tries to get back into her good books, he finds himself retiring from the writing trade and applying for real jobs. So it is, he writes a personal statement and attends his first interview for a salaried position since, well, ever........
Written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas
Produced by Dawn Ellis.


WEDNESDAY 31 OCTOBER 2018

WED 00:00 Short Stories by Robert Heinlein (b00l3pzz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 My Life in Five Songs (b01p6vbz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jms0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 Shot in Belfast (b0367mxj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b046kyc5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 Technicolour (b01q8njd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b03y0qkz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Book of the Week (b03jznq5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 DH Lawrence - Women in Love (b007k1zw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 The 3rd Degree (b08sltc4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Gossip from the Garden Pond (b04hmrvc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 Second Thoughts (b00fnfp3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Gloomsbury (b0bprcrl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007r49s)
Switzerland
Probing the deaths of senior party officials in Adolf Hitler's post-war Germany, detective Xavier March gets a fresh lead...
Best-selling thriller by Robert Harris - dramatised in five parts by John Dryden.
Anton Lesser stars as Xavier March, with Angeline Ball as Charlotte Maguire, Peter Ellis as Max Jaeger, Stratford Johns as Nebe, Andrew Sachs as Rudi, Patrick Godfrey as Zaugg and Dan Fineman as the Swiss Detective.
Author Robert Harris is former BBC reporter and newspaper journalist.
Producer: John Dryden
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
WED 06:30 Feel the Chant: The Brit Funk Story (b01r5lms)
In the seventies and early eighties, Jazz Funk music swept the UK's dance floors and clubs. This new musical sound emerged from the shadows of disco and had a fascinating impact in Britain.
We hear from Mark King of Level 42, Gee Bello of Light of the World, Bill Sharpe and Jill Sayward of Shakatak, DJ's Chris Hill and Snowboy, Paul P of Hi-Tension and Southern Freeez singer Ingrid Mansfield Allman.
In this documentary, vocalist and presenter David Grant, who was part of the UK soul outfit Linx, revisits this unique era in British music which saw artists experimenting with a fusion of jazz, funk, urban dance rhythm and pop hooks.
He reveals the origins of the phrase 'Brit-Funk' and how the pioneers of this sound, groups Hi Tension and Light of the World, presented their music with a British twist to their instrumentation and vocals.
The Jazz funk scene was British, a club culture unique to these shores with no equivalent in the States. As the music became popular, the release of 12" singles fuelled a craze for white-labels.
Grant acknowledges that Brit Funk, although considered in some quarters as a pale imitation of US Jazz Funk, was nonetheless ours - and heralded a new dawn in dance music. The term evolved from the club DJs - legendary names such as Chris Hill, and James Hamilton of Record Mirror whose column had a major influence in launching new records.
With support from the club disc jockeys and labels such as Ensign and Elite, artists including Light of the World, Level 42, Shakatak and Freeez enjoyed chart success and made regular appearances on Top of the Pops alongside the new romantics and punk groups of this period. With club DJs gaining cult status, the scene also created many 'club hits' which, although they never achieved commercial success, are still remembered with great affection today and discussed on music forum websites and uploaded to Youtube.
Many British based soul and dance bands found themselves merging under the Brit Funk banner. These included Lynx, Central Line, Imagination and Second Image - and initially pop groups such as Haircut 100 and Wham tapped into the style and sound to help launch their careers.
Grant demonstrates how this scene was hugely significant in cutting through racial boundaries in the clubs and was instrumental in raising the profile of black and white musicians working together, notably Spandau Ballet who collaborated with Beggar And Co to produce the classic pop song 'Chant Number One'.
He explains how, during the success of the Jazz and Brit Funk period, "chanting" materialised in the discotheque and nightclub. This football crowd style of interacting with the music and DJ underlined the voice of a new generation which can still be felt today.
WED 07:00 Like They've Never Been Gone (b00c4bs5)
Series 3
Episode 4
Can a tribe of African pygmies be persuaded to endorse Tommy and Sheila's CD?
Ageing showbiz couple Tommy Franklin and Sheila Parr continue their second stab at fame.
Series 3 of Mike Coleman's six-part sitcom stars June Whitfield and Roy Hudd.
With Pat Coombs, Julian Eardley, Edward Halstead and Tracy-Ann Oberman.
Music by Frido Ruth.
Producer: Steve Doherty
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2001.
WED 07:30 Joy (b0bptthh)
New sitcom starring Jocelyn Jee Esien about the world of a youth group leader called 'Joy'.
Joy was written by Jocelyn Jee Esien and Bola Agbaje, the script editors were Sarah Campbell and Laura Major. The performers were Nicholas Bailey, Nimisha Odedra, Vivienne Acheampong and Nathan Bryon.
The producer was Suzy Grant and it was a BBC Studios production.
WED 08:00 The Navy Lark (b01k7g25)
Stormy Weather
A firm ultimatum for Leslie, as HMS Troutbridge is ordered to sea.
Stars Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Stephen Murray as the Number One, Richard Caldicote as Captain Povey, Heather Chasen as Heather, Ronnie Barker as AS Johnson, Tenniel Evans as the Admiral and Michael Bates as Lieutenant Bates.
Laughs afloat aboard British Royal Navy frigate HMS Troutbridge. The Navy Lark ran for an impressive thirteen series between 1959 and 1976.
Scripted by Lawrie Wyman
Producer: Alastair Scott Johnston.
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in November 1963.
WED 08:30 Beyond Our Ken (b0bptthv)
From 02/04/1959
Kenneth Horne's ripping yarn of Captain 'Poodle' Fawcett and 'Hornerama' on timber.
With Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee.
Written by Eric Merriman and Barry Took
Music from Pat Lancaster, the Fraser Hayes Four and the BBC Variety Orchestra conducted by Paul Fenoulhet.
Announcer: Douglas Smith
A madcap mix of sketches and songs, Beyond Our Ken hit the airwaves in 1958 and ran to 1964 - featuring regulars like Arthur Fallowfield, Cecil Snaith and Rodney and Charles.
The precursor to 'Round The Horne' - sadly only 15 shows survive from the original run of 21 episodes in Series 2. Audio restored using both home and overseas (BBC Transcription Service) recordings.
Producer: Jacques Brown
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in April 1959.
WED 09:00 Who Goes There? (b00fj2bw)
Series 3
Episode 2
Martin Young chairs the quiz which looks at the noteworthy and the notorious from history.
Tackling the biographical teasers are team captains Francis Wheen and Fred Housego with guests Amanda Foreman and Maria McErlane.
Producer: Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2000.
WED 09:30 Simon's Bug (b04hgsms)
Episode 3
Simon is sure he knows what his family are up to behind his back. Things are falling apart. Stars Hwyel Bennett. From March 1989.
WED 10:00 EF Benson - Secret Lives (b014r622)
A Most Desirable Address
A Most Desirable Address is how Durham Square is unerringly described by its inhabitants; but is this treasured status soon to be eroded by the arrival of Miss Susan Leg?
First published in 1932, EF Benson's novel dramatised in three parts and narrated by Aubrey Woods.
Pauline Collins stars as Miss Susan Leg.
With Margot Boyd as Margaret Mantrip, Ronald Herdman as Jimmie Mason, Rachel Gurney as Elizabeth Conklin, Pauline Letts as Lady Eva Lowndes, Peter Howell as Mr Cartwright, Edward de Souza as Arthur Armstrong, John Church as Bosanquet, Tim Reynolds as the Vicar, Sheila Grant as Miss Ascham, Manning Wilson as Mr Woodstock, George Parsons as Figus, Jennifer Piercey as Ellen, Gordon Reid as the Foreman, Jonathan Tafler as the Receptionist and Andrew Branch as the Dealer,
Assorted dogs played by the cast.
Music by John Owen Edwards.
Producer: Ian Cotterell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1987.
WED 11:00 Short Works: A Season of Murder, Mystery and Suspense (b0bpttx6)
Series 3
Doctor Dorn's Revenge, by Louisa May Alcott (Part 1/2)
Will Evelyn choose to marry the earnest Doctor Dorn or the wealthy John Meredith? Part one of two read by Teresa Gallagher.
An occasional series of stories from life's murkier places.
Series 3 features a selection of mysteries from America.
Writer Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832 in Pennsylvania. She is best-known for her Little Women trilogy (Little Women; Little Men and Jo's Boys). She died in 1888.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
WED 11:15 Afternoon Drama (b00s0fn5)
Richard Lumsden - The Six Loves of Billy Binns
By Richard Lumsden
Tom Courtenay stars as a 110-year-old who wants to remember what love feels like one last time before he dies. His past loves are ready to remind him.
Director ..... Sally Avens.
WED 12:00 The Navy Lark (b01k7g25)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 Beyond Our Ken (b0bptthv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007r49s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 Feel the Chant: The Brit Funk Story (b01r5lms)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b046n8q7)
Sebastian Barry - The Temporary Gentleman
Episode 8
Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. In 1957, sitting in his lodgings in Accra, he urgently sets out to write his story recounting his strange and tumultuous marriage to the elusive great beauty of Sligo, Mai Kirwan, and the inevitable fate that he now feels compelled to reconcile himself with. He feels he cannot take one step further, or even hardly a breath, without looking back at all that has befallen him. He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things.
The Temporary Gentleman is, ultimately, a story about a man's last bid for freedom, from the savage realities of the past and from himself.
Ciarán Hinds is one of Ireland's most prolific and esteemed actors. His many television and film credits include: Game of Thrones, Munich, The Sea, Road to Perdition, There Will Be Blood, Frozen, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Woman in Black and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
Read by Ciarán Hinds
Abridged by Neville Teller
Producer Gemma McMullan.
WED 14:15 Technicolour (b01q8qq1)
Feeling Colour
3/5: Colour and Behaviour
Does blue make you feel calm and red, ferociously angry? Myths abound surrounding the way different colours affect us. In this programme, Tracey gets to the bottom of whether colour really can change the way we behave.
She visits a psychologist who is testing which colours make us more creative and finds out why women may benefit from wearing red on a date.
Producer: Michelle Martin.
WED 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b03y13zj)
Charlotte Bronte - Shirley
News
Something is very wrong with Shirley but she refuses to tell anybody what ails her. Can Louis finally persuade her to confide in him? And everyone, especially Caroline, is anxious for news of Robert.
Directed by Tracey Neale.
WED 14:45 Book of the Week (b03k0wmc)
Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
Episode 3
Penelope Fitzgerald's novels were short, spare masterpieces, self-concealing, oblique and subtle. She won the Booker Prize for her novel Offshore in 1979, and her last work, The Blue Flower, was acclaimed as a work of genius.
The early novels drew on her own experiences - a boat on the Thames in the 1960s, the BBC in war-time, a failing bookshop in Suffolk, an eccentric stage-school. The later ones opened out to encompass historical worlds which, magically, she seemed to possess entirely: Russia before the Revolution, post-war Italy, Germany in the time of the Romantic writer Novalis.
Fitzgerald's life is as various and as cryptic as her fiction. It spans most of the twentieth century, and moves from a Bishop's Palace to a sinking barge, from a demanding intellectual family to hardship and poverty, from a life of teaching and obscurity to a blaze of renown.
She was first published at sixty and became famous at eighty. This is a story of lateness, patience and persistence - a private form of heroism.
Loved and admired, and increasingly recognised as one of the outstanding novelists of her time, she remains also mysterious and intriguing. She liked to mislead people with a good imitation of an absent-minded old lady, but under that scatty front was a steel-sharp brain and an imagination of wonderful reach.
This biography by Hermione Lee pursues Fitzgerald's life, her writing, and her secret self, with fascinated interest.
Read by Penelope Wilton
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 15:00 EF Benson - Secret Lives (b014r622)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 Who Goes There? (b00fj2bw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 Simon's Bug (b04hgsms)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 Like They've Never Been Gone (b00c4bs5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 Joy (b0bptthh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 Robert Aickman - Ringing the Changes (b0075yw2)
"Gerald had told Phrynne that if they were to marry in June they couldn't honeymoon until October. He was all too aware of the perils of marrying a girl 24 years younger than himself, to add to them by taking a conventional honeymoon."
When Gerald and Phrynne arrive at their destination, it's a curiously deserted seaside resort, where the church bells ring ... and ring.... and ring.
A chilling Hallowe'en special by Robert Aickman, dramatised by Jeremy Dyson and Mark Gatiss.
Starring Fiona Allen as Phrynne, George Baker as Gerald and Mark Gatiss as the narrator,
Music: Joby Talbot. Special sound design by 02
Director Pauline Harris
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
WED 18:30 Double Trouble (b007jpcz)
Flanagan and Allen
Arguably the first great comedy stars of the wireless age, Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen. first teamed up in the 1920s in Florrie Forde's Flo and Co revue before striking out on their own.
Stuart Maconie presents the series celebrating great British comedy duos.
With Roy Hudd and Fred Housego.
Producer: Angela Sherwin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002.
WED 19:00 The Navy Lark (b01k7g25)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 Beyond Our Ken (b0bptthv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007r49s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 Feel the Chant: The Brit Funk Story (b01r5lms)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Short Works: A Season of Murder, Mystery and Suspense (b0bpttx6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 21:15 Afternoon Drama (b00s0fn5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
WED 22:00 Joy (b0bptthh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 The Sofa of Time (b00j0hqt)
Here Comes Bod
Can Milford and Parker overcome Raamen Bod and find the Sofa of Time? Stars Mark Heap and Nick Frost. From November 2002.
WED 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b0bpyz3s)
Ray Bradshaw 1/2
From 10pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Rob Deering chats to Ray Bradshaw.
WED 23:00 The In Crowd (b06g26t0)
Series 4
Episode 5
Unsympathetic beauty therapy and renting videos. Manchester sketch show with Kate Ward, Smug Roberts and Robin Ince. From June 2004.
WED 23:30 Dan and Nick: The Wildebeest Years (b0085flc)
Incy Wincy Quincy
Dan Freedman and Nick Romero present spider pathologist Incy Wincy Quincy and The Archers abroad. From August 1998.


THURSDAY 01 NOVEMBER 2018

THU 00:00 Robert Aickman - Ringing the Changes (b0075yw2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 Double Trouble (b007jpcz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007r49s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 Feel the Chant: The Brit Funk Story (b01r5lms)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b046n8q7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 Technicolour (b01q8qq1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b03y13zj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Book of the Week (b03k0wmc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 EF Benson - Secret Lives (b014r622)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 Who Goes There? (b00fj2bw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 Simon's Bug (b04hgsms)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Like They've Never Been Gone (b00c4bs5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 Joy (b0bptthh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jmsy)
Discovery
As the 75th birthday of Adolf Hitler nears, detective Xavier March hits trouble with his terrifying investigation...
Best-selling thriller by Robert Harris - dramatised in five parts by John Dryde,
Anton Lesser stars as Xavier March, Michael Byrne as Globus, William Scott Masson as Krebs, Peter Ellis as Max Jaeger, Ian Gelder as the Hotel Manager, Thomas Copeland as Pili, Michael Culver as Friedman, Dan Fineman as the Car-hire Rep and Jonathan Coleman as the Nazi Music Critic.
Producer: John Dryden
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
THU 06:30 A Short History of the Fork (b0075ztd)
If you think about it - which you probably never have - the fork is an odd instrument - four curved, sharpened prongs emanating from a fat ridge joined to a handle.
But where did it come from, and how should it be used?
Joe Farrell tucks into the tale with a little help from collectors, manufacturers and fans of the fork.
Producer: Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2000.
THU 07:00 Dave Sheasby - One Flat Summer (b0075243)
The Craven Stakes
Newly redundant Ken is drawn into the tempting world of gambling. Stars Gerard McDermott and Gillian Bevan.
Newly redundant clothing salesman Ken Warburton finds himself adrift and drawn into the serious world of gambling.
Dave Sheasby's six-part comedy drama.
Starring as Gerard McDermott as Ken, Gillian Bevan as Margaret, Anthony Ofoegbu as Curly, Rachel Atkins as Christine, Keith Marsh as Dad, Andrea Pickering as Janice, Stephen Thorne as Tanker, David Brooks as Super Yankee, Tracy-Ann Oberman as the Shop Assistant and Hugh Dickson as the Bank Manager.
Director: David Hunter
First broadcast on BBC Radio in August 1997.
THU 07:30 Reluctant Persuaders (b0bptz46)
Series 3
Because She's Worth It
Work at Hardacre's advertising agency is brought to a standstill when Teddy (Rasmus Hardiker) becomes obsessed with a series of literary thrillers - the continuing adventures of John Soldier in titles such as Kill And Let Die and The Deathman Cometh.
Soon he has Joe (Mathew Baynton) and Amanda (Josie Lawrence) hooked on them as well, and all work is put on hold as the team obsess over the most exciting books they've ever read.
Meanwhile, Hardacre (Nigel Havers) receives a visit from an old flame (guest star Frances Barber), and finds himself caught in a battle for her affections with a wholly unexpected opponent.
Cast:
Hardacre...............................Nigel Havers
Joe...........................................Mathew Baynton
Amanda.................................Josie Lawrence
Teddy.....................................Rasmus Hardiker
Laura......................................Olivia Nixon
Laurie Patterson.................Frances Barber
Book Launch Host.............Edward Rowett
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4
Producer Gordon Kennedy.
THU 08:00 Yes Minister (b007k14t)
Series 2
The Whisky Priest
Facing a moral dilemma over the sale of British-made weapons, Jim Hacker tries to shun Sir Humphrey's advice.
Starring Paul Eddington as Jim Hacker, Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humphrey Appleby, Derek Fowldes as Bernard and Anton Rodgers as Major Saunders.
Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn's satirical sitcom ran on BBC TV between 1980 and 1984. Yes Minister is centred around the hapless Jim Hacker and a collection of civil service underlings headed by the Machiavellian Sir Humphrey Appleby and obsequious Bernard.
Adapted for radio by producer Pete Atkin.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1984.
THU 08:30 The Goon Show (b007jp0s)
The Histories of Pliny the Elder
The Romans hit Britain, but Seagoon, Eccles and Bluebottle are off to Rome's Colosseum. Stars Spike Milligan. From March 1957.
THU 09:00 Puzzle Panel (b00xmkdw)
Episode 4
Brainteasers galore with Chris Maslanka, William Hartston, Professor Angela Newing and Robert Eastaway. From June 1998.
THU 09:30 Romantic Friction (b0075w4v)
Episode 1
Lovelorn romance writer Anna is up against a deadline for her latest potboiler, a tale of love, suffering and jealousy. But her creative juices don't seem to be flowing as, after years of having a purely fictional love-life, she's met a real-live man.
She's also constantly thwarted by her characters, who keep leaping off the page into her living room to challenge her about their plotlines.
Michelle Read's 4-part comedy-drama stars Samantha Bond as Anna, Hugh Bonneville as Brian, Beth Chambers as Deirdre, Adjoa Andoh as the Fertility Doll and Michael Fenton Stevens as The Book.
Producer: Dawn Ellis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2000.
THU 10:00 EF Benson - Secret Lives (b014sh4w)
A Most Salubrious Seaside Resort
'A most salubrious seaside resort' is an apt description of Brighton.
But will the arrival of Mr Arthur Armstrong - critic, poet, novelist and Labour Member of Parliament - make it even more attractive to Miss Susan Leg?
First published in 1932, EF Benson's novel dramatised in three parts and narrated by Aubrey Woods.
Pauline Collins stars as Miss Susan Leg.
With Margot Boyd as Margaret Mantrip, Rachel Gurney as Elizabeth Conklin, Pauline Letts as Lady Eva Lowndes, Ronald Herdman as Jimmie Mason, Tim Reynolds as the Vicar, Peter Howell as Mr Cartwright, Edward de Souza as Arthur Armstrong, John Church as Bosanquet, Andrew Branch as Augustus, Sheila Grant as Minnie Mimps, George Parsons as Mr Puffy, Jonathan Tafler as the Receptionist, Manning Wilson as the Headwaiter and Gordon Reid as the Doctor.
Music by John Owen Edwards.
Producer: Ian Cotterell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1987.
THU 11:00 Short Works: A Season of Murder, Mystery and Suspense (b0bpv1kd)
Series 3
Doctor Dorn's Revenge, by Louisa May Alcott (Part 2/2)
Evelyn is gravely ill and only Dr Dorn can save her. Concluded by Teresa Gallagher.
An occasional series of stories from life's murkier places.
Series 3 features a selection of mysteries from America.
Writer Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832 in Pennsylvania. She is best-known for her Little Women trilogy (Little Women; Little Men and Jo's Boys). She died in 1888.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
THU 11:15 Afternoon Drama (b03ggrqg)
Sarah Wooley - Moving Music
Philip Glass and Steve Reich are best known as pioneers of minimalist music. What is less well known is that they ran a removal firm together to make ends meet while they were making their way as young composers in the 1960s.
Produced/directed by Gaynor Macfarlane.
THU 12:00 Yes Minister (b007k14t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 The Goon Show (b007jp0s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jmsy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 A Short History of the Fork (b0075ztd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b046ny8g)
Sebastian Barry - The Temporary Gentleman
Episode 9
Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. In 1957, sitting in his lodgings in Accra, he urgently sets out to write his story recounting his strange and tumultuous marriage to the elusive great beauty of Sligo, Mai Kirwan, and the inevitable fate that he now feels compelled to reconcile himself with. He feels he cannot take one step further, or even hardly a breath, without looking back at all that has befallen him. He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things.
The Temporary Gentleman is, ultimately, a story about a man's last bid for freedom, from the savage realities of the past and from himself.
Ciarán Hinds is one of Ireland's most prolific and esteemed actors. His many television and film credits include: Game of Thrones, Munich, The Sea, Road to Perdition, There Will Be Blood, Frozen, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Woman in Black and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
Read by Ciarán Hinds
Abridged by Neville Teller
Producer Gemma McMullan.
THU 14:15 Technicolour (b01q95yd)
Making Colour
Programme 4/5: Making colour
The first synthetic dye - a bright mauve - was discovered by accident in 1856 by an 18-year-old chemistry student. Since then, making colour has become a billion dollar industry across the globe.
Tracey Logan visits Hainsworth in Leeds, the oldest dye house in the UK, to discover how they make create a huge range of fabrics, from scarlet coats for military uniforms to green baize for snooker tables.
But our love for colour has a darker side - the commercial dyeing industry has been criticised for its poor environmental record across the world, from excessive water use to dangerous waste products. Tracey meets the chemists from Leeds University attempting to make 'greener' dyes.
Producer: Michelle Martin.
THU 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b03y36vy)
Charlotte Bronte - Shirley
Confessions
As Shirley and Caroline stay awake all night, waiting to hear whether Robert will pull through, Shirley agrees to tell her friend why she has been so secretive.
Directed by Tracey Neale.
THU 14:45 Book of the Week (b03k289h)
Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
Episode 4
Penelope Fitzgerald's novels were short, spare masterpieces, self-concealing, oblique and subtle. She won the Booker Prize for her novel Offshore in 1979, and her last work, The Blue Flower, was acclaimed as a work of genius.
The early novels drew on her own experiences - a boat on the Thames in the 1960s, the BBC in war-time, a failing bookshop in Suffolk, an eccentric stage-school. The later ones opened out to encompass historical worlds which, magically, she seemed to possess entirely: Russia before the Revolution, post-war Italy, Germany in the time of the Romantic writer Novalis.
Fitzgerald's life is as various and as cryptic as her fiction. It spans most of the twentieth century, and moves from a Bishop's Palace to a sinking barge, from a demanding intellectual family to hardship and poverty, from a life of teaching and obscurity to a blaze of renown.
She was first published at sixty and became famous at eighty. This is a story of lateness, patience and persistence - a private form of heroism.
Loved and admired, and increasingly recognised as one of the outstanding novelists of her time, she remains also mysterious and intriguing. She liked to mislead people with a good imitation of an absent-minded old lady, but under that scatty front was a steel-sharp brain and an imagination of wonderful reach.
This biography by Hermione Lee pursues Fitzgerald's life, her writing, and her secret self, with fascinated interest.
Read by Penelope Wilton
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 15:00 EF Benson - Secret Lives (b014sh4w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 Puzzle Panel (b00xmkdw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 Romantic Friction (b0075w4v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 Dave Sheasby - One Flat Summer (b0075243)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 Reluctant Persuaders (b0bptz46)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 HG Wells (b007jwgt)
A Dream of Armageddon
Stranger
A stranger on a train reveals his secret. When he dreams, he enters a future reality of an advanced civilization descending into senseless war. Read in two-parts by Robert Bathurst.
Written in 1901, this is a disturbing vision of the future - as Wells comes uncannily close to predicting the horrors of the Second World War.
English author and political philosopher, HG Wells is recognised as one of sci-fi's founding-fathers. Within his own lifetime, he became a literary celebrity, earning praise from contemporaries such as Henry James and Joseph Conrad. His influence was wide reaching; George Orwell in particular - "The minds of all of us, and therefore the physical world, would be perceptibly different if Wells never existed." In recent years his work has enjoyed a renaissance, including Steven Spielberg's 2005 film of War Of The Worlds.
Wells died on August 13th, 1946, aged 79.
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2006.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b019fx9s)
Series 26
Gracie Allen
Matthew Parris is joined by the actress Emma Kennedy to explore the life of the American comedienne Gracie Allen. George Burns and Gracie Allen were a hugely successful stage act who went on to conquer the new media of radio and television. But, unusually for the time, it was Gracie who was getting all the laughs, whilst George played the straight man. For actress and comic Emma Kennedy, Gracie was a pioneering female comic who, with her energy, wit and "illogical logic", paved the way for the likes of Lucille Ball and Roseanne Barr. Professor Brian Ward provides the expert analysis.
THU 19:00 Yes Minister (b007k14t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 The Goon Show (b007jp0s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jmsy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 A Short History of the Fork (b0075ztd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Short Works: A Season of Murder, Mystery and Suspense (b0bpv1kd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
THU 21:15 Afternoon Drama (b03ggrqg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
THU 22:00 Reluctant Persuaders (b0bptz46)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 Newsjack (b0bpv3z9)
Newsjack Unplugged, Series 2
Episode 2
Made for 4 Extra. Short-form show from the same team behind the long-running Newsjack.
THU 22:45 All the World's a Globe (b007k44p)
Civilisation
From Egypt to origami, the National Theatre of Brent presents the definitive history of Earth. Stars Patrick Barlow. From May 1990.
THU 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (b0bpyzmm)
Ray Bradshaw 2/2
From 10pm to midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Rob Deering chats to Ray Bradshaw.
THU 23:00 That Mitchell and Webb Sound (b03jb1wp)
Series 5
Episode 1
Comedy from the lopsided world of David Mitchell and Robert Webb, with Olivia Colman and James Bachman. This week's sketches include the future of farming - battery penguins; Thomas Hardy's exciting idea to make his books even sadder; and the very confusing goings on in a cash-register shop.
THU 23:30 1966 and All That (b010hcwh)
The 1960s
Albert Einstein discovers the Beatles, while for the first time, the nation discovers sex.
Plus a look at the era of "Flour Power"; the World Cup is won by a team of men all called Bobby; and the with-it Royal try barbecuing.
Craig Brown's satirical history of Britain reaches the 1960s.
Stars Joss Ackland, Eleanor Bron, Rory Bremner, Ewan Bailey, Margaret Cabourn-Smith and John Humphrys,
Producer: Victoria Lloyd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2006.


FRIDAY 02 NOVEMBER 2018

FRI 00:00 HG Wells (b007jwgt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b019fx9s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jmsy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 A Short History of the Fork (b0075ztd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b046ny8g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 Technicolour (b01q95yd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b03y36vy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Book of the Week (b03k289h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 EF Benson - Secret Lives (b014sh4w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 Puzzle Panel (b00xmkdw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 Romantic Friction (b0075w4v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 Dave Sheasby - One Flat Summer (b0075243)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Reluctant Persuaders (b0bptz46)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jmtf)
Closing In
Berlin Kriminalpolizei detective, Xavier March uncovers the terrible secret of Adolf Hitler's totalitarian state.
Conclusion of the best-selling thriller by Robert Harris - dramatised in five parts by John Dryde,
Anton Lesser stars as Xavier March, Michael Byrne as Globus, William Scott Masson as Krebs, Peter Ellis as Max Jaeger, Ian Gelder as the Hotel Manager, Thomas Copeland as Pili, Michael Culver as Friedman, Dan Fineman as the Car-hire Rep and Jonathan Coleman as the Nazi Music Critic.
Producer: John Dryden
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1998.
FRI 06:30 A Thor in One's Side (b00772pf)
In 1947, a crew of intrepid and hard-bitten Norwegians first set out on what was, on the face of it, a pretty flimsy premise - that you could cross the mighty Pacific Ocean from Peru to Polynesia with nothing more solid than a balsa wood raft.
That raft, the Kon-Tiki, and the exploits of those Norwegians, led by the visionary Thor Heyerdahl, were to become world renowned.
Tony Robinson tells the story of Heyerdahl's epic journey and its lasting effect on popular archaeology.
Producer: Geoff Ballinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
FRI 07:00 The Right Time (b0076mf5)
Series 4
Episode 3
Older bikers head to Margate - and trying out Roman orgies.
Sketch show about growing older disgracefully.
Stars Eleanor Bron, Dudley Sutton, Roger Blake and Paula Wilcox.
Written by Jill Brodie, John Pidgeon, Dave Dixon, Jan Etherington, Mike Haskins, Simon Littlefield, Alex Lowe, George Poles, Richard Preddy, Dudley Sutton, Alan Stafford, Chris Thompson and Pete Reynolds.
Script editor: George Poles.
Music by Ronnie & The Rex.
Producer: Katie Marsden
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2004.
FRI 07:30 Big Broadcast (b0bpv5cr)
Series 3
Location
The Big Broadcast: Location
Words and music by Neil Brand
A comedy with music. It's 1933 and Chicago Beefsteak's Hour of Charm is the most successful on Midwest US radio .... and today the studio team use new technology to entice a Hollywood superstar to sing on the show.
Myrna ..... Samantha Spiro
Jimmy Cagney ..... Ian Conningham
Arthur ..... Ryan Early
Jerry ..... Ryan Whittle
Grace Stibbens ..... Elizabeth Counsell
Stupendo ..... John Lightbody
Dixie ..... Kerry Gooderson
Princeton ..... Stephen Hogan
Jess ..... Emma Handy
Norma Chaffey ..... Lauren Cornelius
BBC Singers: Helen Neeves, Katherine Nicholson, Chris Bowen, Jamie W Hall
Director: David Hunter.
FRI 08:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00hg824)
Series 8
Episode 13
It's a song-packed edition - but is it really the end for wonderful Radio Prune?
Starring Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Sketches written by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie.
Originating from the Cambridge University Footlights revue 'Cambridge Circus', ISIRTA ran for 8 years on BBC Radio and quickly developed a cult following.
Music and songs by Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden, John Cleese, Liam Cohen and Dave Lee.
Producer: David Hatch/Peter Titheradge
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 in May 1970.
FRI 08:30 Doctor in the House (b007jtg8)
To Pass or Not to Pass
It's nerves and pints all round, as the St Swithin's medics sit their final exams.
The misadventures of student doctor Simon Sparrow - adapted for radio by Ray Cooney from Richard Gordon's novel 'Doctor in the House' published in 1952.
Starring Richard Briers as Simon Sparrow, Geoffrey Sumner as Sir Lancelot Spratt, Ray Cooney as Tony Benskin, Edward Cast as Taffy Evans and Dennis Ramsden as the Dean.
Special guest star: Irene Handl as Mrs Clark.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1968.
FRI 09:00 The Personality Test (b007vt9q)
Series 3
Eve Pollard
All about Eve - writer and ex-newspaper editor Eve Pollard is in the hot seat posing questions all about her.
Tackling the ultra-personal quiz are Sue Perkins, Caroline Quinlan, Robin Ince and Will Smith.
Comedy quiz presented by a new guest host every show. All the questions are about them.
Script by Simon Littlefield and Kieron Quirke.
Devised and produced by Aled Evans.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
FRI 09:30 Smelling of Roses (b007jrl9)
Series 1
Sleeping Partners
Rosie is arranging the activities for partners of delegates to a major finance company's conference.
Kate meanwhile sees it as her ticket back into a high-flying job...
Prunella Scales stars in the first of four series of Simon Brett's sitcom following the trials and tribulations of Rosie Burns and her event-management company based in Brighton.
With Arabella Weir as Kate, Rebecca Callard as Jo, Duncan Preston as Bob, Annette Badland as Tess, Debbie Norman as Sheila Wilkinson and Alan Cowan as Philip Wilkinson.
Producer: Maria Esposito
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2000.
FRI 10:00 EF Benson - Secret Lives (b014tcjb)
A Most Treasured Home
A most treasured home is exactly what 25 Durham Square has become for Miss Susan Leg.
But will its treasure turn to dross with the threatened unravelling of the mystery surrounding her secret life?
Conclusion of EF Benson's 1932 novel dramatised in three parts and narrated by Aubrey Woods.
Pauline Collins stars as Miss Susan Leg.
With Margot Boyd as Margaret Mantrip, Rachel Gurney as Elizabeth Conklin, Pauline Letts as Lady Eva Lowndes, Ronald Herdman as Jimmie Mason, Tim Reynolds as the Vicar, Peter Howell as Mr Cartwright, John Church as Bosanquet, Andrew Branch as Augustus, Sheila Grant as Minnie Mimps, George Parsons as Mr Gandish, Jonathan Tafler as Mr Salt, Manning Wilson as the Headwaiter, Gordon Reid as the Doctor and Jennifer Piercey as Ellen.
Music by John Owen Edwards.
Producer: Ian Cotterell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1987.
FRI 11:00 Podcast Radio Hour (b0bpv7jx)
BBC Sounds Launch
Made for 4 Extra. Amanda Litherland discovers the best podcasts at the BBC Sounds launch.
FRI 12:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00hg824)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 Doctor in the House (b007jtg8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jmtf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 A Thor in One's Side (b00772pf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b046p4nk)
Sebastian Barry - The Temporary Gentleman
Episode 10
Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never permanent. In 1957, sitting in his lodgings in Accra, he urgently sets out to write his story recounting his strange and tumultuous marriage to the elusive great beauty of Sligo, Mai Kirwan, and the inevitable fate that he now feels compelled to reconcile himself with. He feels he cannot take one step further, or even hardly a breath, without looking back at all that has befallen him. He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things.
The Temporary Gentleman is, ultimately, a story about a man's last bid for freedom, from the savage realities of the past and from himself.
Ciarán Hinds is one of Ireland's most prolific and esteemed actors. His many television and film credits include: Game of Thrones, Munich, The Sea, Road to Perdition, There Will Be Blood, Frozen, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Woman in Black and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
Read by Ciarán Hinds
Abridged by Neville Teller
Producer Gemma McMullan.
FRI 14:15 Technicolour (b01q97lj)
Selling Colour
5/5: Selling Colour
Emerald may be the new black for 2013, but the process by which designers select next season's colours is a story that goes back to World War I. Tracey Logan finds out why a naval blockade, cutting Paris fashion houses off from the rest of the world, created today's colour forecasting industry.
Nowadays, retailers have tight controls over the colours they choose and how they are produced. Tracey visits Marks & Spencer to find out how digital technology ensures they manufacture exactly the same shade of green across different fabrics, from your woollen coat to leather shoes.
Producer: Michelle Martin.
FRI 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b03y3kgj)
Charlotte Bronte - Shirley
The Winding Up
It is a time of change and decisions need to be made.
Directed by Tracey Neale.
FRI 14:45 Book of the Week (b03k2gqd)
Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
Episode 5
Penelope Fitzgerald's novels were short, spare masterpieces, self-concealing, oblique and subtle. She won the Booker Prize for her novel Offshore in 1979, and her last work, The Blue Flower, was acclaimed as a work of genius.
The early novels drew on her own experiences - a boat on the Thames in the 1960s, the BBC in war-time, a failing bookshop in Suffolk, an eccentric stage-school. The later ones opened out to encompass historical worlds which, magically, she seemed to possess entirely: Russia before the Revolution, post-war Italy, Germany in the time of the Romantic writer Novalis.
Fitzgerald's life is as various and as cryptic as her fiction. It spans most of the twentieth century, and moves from a Bishop's Palace to a sinking barge, from a demanding intellectual family to hardship and poverty, from a life of teaching and obscurity to a blaze of renown.
She was first published at sixty and became famous at eighty. This is a story of lateness, patience and persistence - a private form of heroism.
Loved and admired, and increasingly recognised as one of the outstanding novelists of her time, she remains also mysterious and intriguing. She liked to mislead people with a good imitation of an absent-minded old lady, but under that scatty front was a steel-sharp brain and an imagination of wonderful reach.
This biography by Hermione Lee pursues Fitzgerald's life, her writing, and her secret self, with fascinated interest.
Read by Penelope Wilton
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: Joanna Green
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:00 EF Benson - Secret Lives (b014tcjb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 The Personality Test (b007vt9q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 Smelling of Roses (b007jrl9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 The Right Time (b0076mf5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 Big Broadcast (b0bpv5cr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 HG Wells (b007k4kd)
A Dream of Armageddon
Escape
As war breaks out, our hero flees with his wife to try and shield her from the horrors of battle and bloodshed. Can he re-establish the romantic idyll he once enjoyed?
Concluded by Robert Bathurst.
Written in 1901, this is a disturbing vision of the future - as Wells comes uncannily close to predicting the horrors of the Second World War.
English author and political philosopher, HG Wells is recognised as one of sci-fi's founding-fathers. Within his own lifetime, he became a literary celebrity, earning praise from contemporaries such as Henry James and Joseph Conrad. His influence was wide reaching; George Orwell in particular - "The minds of all of us, and therefore the physical world, would be perceptibly different if Wells never existed." In recent years his work has enjoyed a renaissance, including Steven Spielberg's 2005 film of War Of The Worlds.
Wells died on August 13th, 1946, aged 79.
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2006.
FRI 18:30 Off the Page (b00766t3)
Home
Novelist Philippa Gregory and playwright Dolly Dhingra join Chris Bigsby to discuss what home really means to them.
In each programme, Professor Bigsby introduces a duo of writers of fact and fiction: new talent and established names. In the context of a discussion of one of the ideas and pre-occupations of our times, each presents a piece on this week's topic.
The best new writing and the freshest conversation from 2002.
FRI 19:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00hg824)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 Doctor in the House (b007jtg8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 Robert Harris - Fatherland (b007jmtf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 A Thor in One's Side (b00772pf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Podcast Radio Hour (b0bpv7jx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 22:00 Big Broadcast (b0bpv5cr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 The Nick Revell Show (b007jp6w)
Series 1
Episode 6
The writer ponders moving in with his girlfriend, and which geranium is sexiest? With Alistair McGowan. From February 1992.
FRI 23:00 The Mary Whitehouse Experience (b007jpq5)
From 17/02/1990
Nice or nastiness? What is embarrassing? Stars David Baddiel, Rob Newman, Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. From February 1990.
FRI 23:30 King Cutler (b008yt5q)
Episode 5
Phyllis King and Ivor Cutler present offbeat humorous songs, stories and poems. With Craig Murray-Orr. From February 1990.