SATURDAY 22 DECEMBER 2018

SAT 00:00 15 Minute Drama (b05wz0kf)
Chronicles of Ait - Magpie
Episode 5
Events in Ait have persuaded Lollo that her predictions of disaster are about to be fulfilled and that Linus' reunion with Alice is about to come to a tragic theatrical conclusion.Cast:Linus Scott..........Greg WiseAlice Pyper..........Amanda DrewLollo...................Gina AbolinsJason..................Joe ClaflinMarlene..............Heather CraneyTrench/Stanley...Christopher JamesAfiz/Lee..............Stewart ScudamoreMac.....................Mihai ArseneWriter: Michael ButtProduced and directed by John TaylorA Fiction Factory production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 00:15 Kate Mosse - The Mistletoe Bride and Other Haunting Tales (b03xh0ft)
The Revenant
An old man's guilt will haunt him and not release him until the truth is told. Read by Charlotte Emmerson."The Mistletoe Bride and other Haunting Tales" is a collection of haunting short stories written, abridged and introduced by Kate Mosse. They are all inspired by legends and folktales from the French and Sussex Countryside and each story explores the relationship between landscape and emotion. Grief and Guilt. Loss and happiness. They are timeless in their telling, ranging from the mythical past to the present day. Kate Mosse has chosen 5 out of the collection that exemplify the redemption experienced by the various grief stricken men and women as they come to terms with their destiny.Producer: Celia de WolffMade for 4 Extra by Pier Productions.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b04bzxbc)
Paranoia
Authors Mil Millington, Louise Welsh and Belfast journalist Malachi O'Doherty discuss paranoia with Matthew Parris.Matthew Parris introduces a group 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 EW Hornung - Raffles (b007jq3m)
Series 2
A Trap to Catch a Cracksman
When an American pugilist boasts of inventing a trap to catch the cleverest cracksman alive, it’s a challenge Raffles is quite unable to resist - with disastrous consequences.Starring Jeremy Clyde as AJ Raffles, Michael Cochrane as Bunny, Henry Stamper as Inspector Mackenzie, Alan Tilvern as Maguire, Peter Banks as Hambone, Michael Deacon as Cruncher, Frances Jeater as Ruby and Alan Dudley as the Cabby.EW Hornung's Raffles stories about the 'gentleman thief' dramatised by David Buck.Signature tune composed by Jim Parker.Director: Gordon House A BBC Radio 4/ BBC World Service production first broadcast in 1988.
SAT 01:30 Merry Christmas Morris Minor! (b00wqgmg)
Martin Wainwright sets off through the snow to give seasonal best wishes to the owners of Britain's favourite mass produced car - and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the special edition Morris Minor Million - the rarest minor of all.Highlight of the programme is a special rendition of 'Jingle Bells' from a Morris Minor 'choir.'Martin has a soft spot for the little car - often described as a large jelly mold with a speedometer sitting like a clock on the dashboard, and orange fingers for indicators. For it's time though, according to Stirling Moss, it was a nippy little car. Martin meets a mechanic who 'soups' the car up, owners like Dave Brown from 'The Mighty Boosh' and the drivers who 'danced ' their Morris Minors at the end of the Manchester Commonwealth Games . Finally, using the horn, various clunks and clicks from the car door and boot, and a squeak from the chassis, he conducts a unique version of ' Jingle Bells' by the Morris Minor 'choir.'Producers: Janet Graves and Geoff BirdA Pennine production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 02:00 Ian McEwan - Amsterdam (m0001p3v)
10. Retribution
In the dark finale, Clive and Vernon meet up in Amsterdam and exact their mutual revenge.Michael Kitchen concludes Ian McEwan's Booker Prize winning novel.Abridged in ten parts by Penny LeicesterProducer: Julia ButtFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1999.
SAT 02:15 In a Prince's Footsteps (b01sdw22)
Greece
In 1862 Albert, Prince of Wales, toured the Middle East. At the time it was still predominantly controlled by the Ottoman Empire. As he travelled, his photographer Francis Bedford kept a detailed photographic record of the trip. In this series John McCarthy revisits the scenes of Bedford's photographs - Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Greece. He considers how the immediate physical, political and social landscape has evolved during the intervening 150 years.Some of Bedford's photographs are of widely known locations - the Pyramids at Giza, the Mount of Olives, the temples at Baalbek, the Acropolis - others are of remote hilltops and apparently random buildings, scenes without any obvious significance. Both however hold fascinating and unexpected tales and insight.The series will reflect on the rise and fall of empires - the Ottoman, British and French all play their part in these stories. They are now all gone, but the world's powers still seek to influence the politics of the region.In each episode John McCarthy focusses on two of Bedford's original photographs, revisiting the sites and taking his own pictures of the same scenes today.In the final programme in this series John travels to Athens and the Greek island of Kefalonia.Presenter: John McCarthyProducer: Kevin DawsonA Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b03mthnm)
The Tales of Beatrix Potter
5. The Tale of Ginger and Pickles
Beatrix Potter's famous tales are celebrated this Christmas.Her love of the British landscape and its inhabitants - coupled with her world famous ability for storytelling - means she has been one of the most celebrated children's authors of the last hundred years.This suite of five of her tumultuous tales, including some of the lesser-known stories, brings comedic surprise, comfort and joy to the Christmas audience.Their timeless wonders pit the delight and childlike innocence of the very human characters against the dark and dramatic ruthlessness of the food-chain-led underbelly of Cumbria's fields and hedgerows.Stars Reece Shearsmith stars as Ginger with John Henshaw as Pickles.Adapted and Directed by Sean GrundyProduced by Sally HarrisonA Woolyback production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b03xgslh)
A Sense of Direction
Episode 5
The author Gideon Lewis-Kraus describes leaving America for life in Berlin, to ease the sadness after his father abandoned the family home. But Berlin isn't enough and only embarking on a series of world-wide pilgrimages will help him. The journeys turn out both amusing and moving, and are abridged in five episodes by Katrin Williams..5. It's to Uman in Ukraine to celebrate Rosh Hashanah withbrother Micah - and their elusive father!Reader Patrick KennedyProducer Duncan Minshull
SAT 03:00 HG Wells (m0001p3q)
Kipps
The Kippses
Artie Kipps, our heroic draper-turned-gentleman, is building a dream home for Ann. But is his fortune lost?Conclusion of 1905 novel by HG Wells adapted by Michelene Wandor. Mark Straker stars as Kipps; Paul Daneman as HG Wells; Moir Leslie as Ann; Kathryn Hurlbutt as Miss Walsingham; John Hollis as Uncle; Michael Jenner as Sid Pornick; Nickolas Grace as Chitterlow; Nigel Anthony as Masterman; Teresa Streatfield as Fanny; Judy Bennett as Baby Walt; and Brett Usher as the architect.Music by Ilona Sekacz.Director: Martin Jenkins.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1984.
SAT 04:00 Guess What? (b065jht1)
Episode 7
Animal, vegetable or mineral?Barry Took hosts a revised version of popular radio parlour game of 20 questions.Regular Geoffrey Durham is joined by Nigel Dempster and Frances Edmonds.Written by Michael Dines.Producer: Andy AliffeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998
SAT 04:30 Life in London (b011vjfn)
The Show Folks
Desperate for money, Pierce Egan tries to get Tom, Bob and Jerry's adventures onto the stage.Jerry rescues a damsel at Bartholomew fair who leads him once more to the rapacious lady wanton...Pierce Egan’s 19th-century comic novel adapted in six-parts by Dan Tetsell.Geoffrey McGivern stars as Pierce Egan.With Greg Wise, Mark Gatiss, James Bachman, Chris Douglas, Dave Lamb, Morwenna Banks, Neil Edmond and Margaret Cabourn-Smith.Original music by Ben WalkerProducer: Tilusha GhelaniFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2006.
SAT 05:00 Trapped (b0076h2t)
The Art Class
Art tutor Mark is having commitment issues until he meets a model who should be committed...Black comedy set in the art class at a local Adult Education centre - by Mark Maier and Daniel Maier.Mark .... Alex LoweMoira .... Wendy WasonJanice/Elspeth .... Tracy-Ann ObermanDonald .... Sam KellyAlan .... Roger SlomanBob .... Roger SlomanPeter .... Mark MaierProducer: Alex Walsh-TaylorFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2003.
SAT 05:30 Drama (m0001mv2)
Looking for Oil Drum Lane
A dramatisation of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson's comedy writing partnership - from Tony Hancock's departure to striking gold with Steptoe and Son. Starring Marc Wootton, Phil Cornwell, Barry Castagnola, James Hurn and Toby Longworth. Weaving comedy archive and newly written scenes, the show follows the tortuous search for Oil Drum Lane, the fictional address of Steptoe and Son. Ray Galton and Alan Simpson met in a tuberculosis sanatorium in 1948. They became friends through a shared passion for radio comedy. To amuse themselves, they broadcast their own sketches over the hospital radio. After sending their material to famous comedy writers of the day Denis Norden and Frank Muir, Alan and Ray were encouraged to post some scripts to the BBC. An unexpectedly positive response left the fledgling writers ecstatic. Soon they became regular sketch writers for the BBC. They met Tony Hancock and rose to the top of their profession. But when Hancock decided to go it alone Galton and Simpson were devasted and left high and dry. The team was then commissioned by the colourful head of light entertainment at the BBC, Tom Sloane, to write ten comedy plays - but the loss of Hancock generated an impenetrable writer's block - until they hammered out a pilot sit-com that became Steptoe and Son. Ray Galton........................................Marc Wootton Alan Simpson...................................Barry Castagnola Tony Hancock/Wilfred Brambell......James Hurn Harry H Corbett...............................Phil Cornwell Tom Sloan........................................Ian Pearce Duncan Wood..................................Toby Longworth Other parts were played by the cast Written by Ian Pearce Script Editor - Nick Romero Directed and Produced by Andrew McGibbon A Curtains For Radio production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:00 Daphne Du Maurier (b007k4b7)
Rebecca
Arriving at Manderley, the young Mrs de Winter finds the beautiful house and its occupants haunted by memories of Rebecca - her new husband's first wife.Daphne Du Maurier’s classic 1938 novel dramatised by Brian Miller.Starring Christopher Cazenove as Maxim de Winter, Janet Maw as Mrs de Winter, Rosalie Crutchley as Mrs Danvers, Nicholas Grace as Jack Favell, Frederick Treves as Colonel Julyan, Irene Sutcliffe as Mrs Van Hopper, John Gabriel as Frith, Margaret Courtenay as Beatrice, Danny Schiller as Ben, Elizabeth Mansfield as Clarice, Brian Miller as Horridge, John Bull as Tabb and Geoffrey Whitehead as Dr Baker.Director: Cherry CooksonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1989.
SAT 07:30 Britain in a Box (m0001pl3)
Yoghurt Pots and Sticky-Backed Plastic
It became a national TV institution, but the BBC’s flagship children’s show Blue Peter looked very different when it first began in 1958.Paul Jackson continues his exploration of cult TV with Biddy Baxter, who was the show's editor for 27 years, and former presenters Anthea Turner and Diane Louise Jordan.They consider Blue Peter's Reithian values, and three key ingredients: the appeals, the pets, and the makes (including Tracy Island). Not to forget a scene-stealing elephant called Lulu.Producer: Paul KobrakFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003.
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (b085hbz9)
The Many Faces of Ebenezer Scrooge
Christopher Frayling explores how Charles Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol has endured in popular culture for over 170 years.Victorian families sat around the fire to read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, published in 1843, over the festive season. It became an annual ritual.Now we might sit around the TV and watch It's A Wonderful Life - an Americanised version of the story.In between, there have been countless takes on the book - adapted for public readings, radio, television, film and stage. Cultural historian and writer Christopher Frayling considers how this short novel has shaped Christmas as we know it today, and discusses the circumstances in which it was written.Hearing from Dickens performers Simon Callow and Miriam Margolyes, as well as historians and fans, Christopher examines how the book’s potent mixture of nostalgia, social concern and celebration has become part of the cultural bloodstream.He assesses versions starring everyone from Alastair Sim to the Muppets, via Blackadder and the Goons, getting to the very heart of Ebenezer Scrooge.Dickens wrote of his novel, “may it haunt your house pleasantly”. It has done so - in ways he could not have imagined - for over 170 years.Producer: Jane LongA Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 09:00 Rik Mayall on Radio (m0001pl7)
Broadcaster and Producer John Lloyd explores the fascinating radio contributions of the actor and comedian Rik Mayall to reveal a remarkable and eclectic mix of programmes and archives.Rik Mayall, was one of the first and foremost alternative comedians in the UK, best known for his work on TV's The Young Ones, Bottom and The New Statesmen which all had tremendous impact on British situation comedy. However whilst enjoying tremendous success on television Mayall made many captivating contributions to radio which are often overlooked.In this special tribute, in the year Mayall would have celebrated his sixtieth birthday, John Lloyd introduces highlights from Mayall’s radio years along with illuminating new interviews from some of the people closest to him.Programmes featured include;** Higher Education (2000). Mayall stars in the Lloyd Peters drama.** The Reunion (2018) An edited version of the programme as Sue MacGregor reunites five people who made their names in the ground-breaking TV comedy The Young Ones.**Bedside Tales: May 22nd. (2009) A classic episode of Rik's series co-written with John NicholsonCharting Mayall's career through radio we also hear illuminating and rare footage of interviews along with extracts from his readings and plays.Producer: Stephen GarnerMade for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in 2018.
SAT 12:00 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! (b085t2l0)
Series 8
Randolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
After causing confusion with his Christmas nuts selection, Arthur attempts to round up reindeer and build Mount Fuji for his own Japanese themed Christmas wonderland.All false starts and nervous fumbling badly covered up by a delicate sheen of bravado and self-assurance, an expert in everything from the world of entertainment to the origin of the species, everyday life with Arthur is an enlightening, sometimes frustrating, never dull experience.Count Arthur Strong is supported in the Christmas special by his Radio Repertory Company (like the RSC, only better) - Alastair Kerr, Dave Mounfield, Mel Giedroyc and Alfie Delaney as Billy.Steve Delaney has been performing as Count Arthur Strong since the late 1990s. The character evolved from Edinburgh cult to a mainstay of BBC comedy via numerous series on BBC Radio 4 and three on BBC TV.A Komedia Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:30 The Goon Show (m0001p37)
A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens's Christmas tale takes a bashing from Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe. From December 1959.
SAT 13:00 The Haunting of MR James (Omnibus) (m0001plc)
Omnibus of five stories by the master of the ghost story, MR James – starring Mark Gatiss as MR James:** The Mezzotint:The new engraving Dr Williams orders for the university collection reveals a disturbing story. With Patrick Brennan and Tony Turner.** Casting the Runes:Edward Dunning, medieval expert, pursues the instigator of a curse passed on by a curiously inscribed slip of paper. With John Bowler and Ewan Bailey. ** The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral:A tale of likely murder, mysterious cats and ecclesiastical carvings. With Sean Baker and Carolyn Pickles. ** Warning to the Curious:The unearthing of an Anglo Saxon crown in the dunes unleashes supernatural forces for unfortunate medievalist Paxton. With Paul Heath and Michael Bertenshaw.** Rats:A remote inn, a locked room and young Thomson, the only guest, is curious. With George Watkins and Michael Bertenshaw.Dramatised by Neil Brand.Director: David HunterFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (m0001plg)
Curtis Stigers
Curtis Stigers chooses Rikki Don’t Lose That Number by Steely Dan and Something to Love by Jason Isbell.
SAT 14:15 Frankly Speaking (b05s8j39)
Brian Epstein
Brian Epstein, 29-year-old manager of the Beatles talks about his life to Bill Grundy.He was a quiet, well-spoken public schoolboy, RADA student, from a very comfortably-off Liverpool family. But knowing nothing of the world of pop - how did Epstein find himself in the world of agents and impresarios?As well as the Beatles, he represented other artistes including Cilla Black. Three years after this interview, Brian Epstein tragically died at the age of 32, after reportedly taking his own life.Launched in 1952, Frankly Speaking was a completely novel and ground breaking BBC series. Initially there were three interviewers and the series was both unrehearsed and unscripted.First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in 1964.
SAT 14:45 Robb Wilton - I Should Say So (b039gk6j)
Series 2
The Pantomime
Robb Wilton (1881 - 1957) was one of the most popular music hall and radio comics of the 1930s and 1940s.Famed as an all-round pessimist - what would he have made of 1980s Britain? Can Clara be prevented from playing Peter Pan? Michael Williams stars as Robb Wilton - making as little sense out of life as he did 40 years before...Written by Allen Saddler.Producer: Brian MillerFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1988.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (b085hbz9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Daphne Du Maurier (b007k4b7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Britain in a Box (m0001pl3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 The Devil's Violin (b04mhd5g)
A magical, murderous, musical fairy tale by Lucy Rivers.Life for 16-year-old Hannah is pretty miserable. Her mother's a drunk and her baby brother Gethin is an evil little gremlin child. But then one night she meets an alluring violinist who plays the most seductive melodies. He offers Hannah the chance to fulfil her darkest desires. How far will Hannah go to get what she wants?A wickedly playful dark modern fable with an original score composed and performed by Lucy Rivers.Guitarist ..... Dan MessoreViolinist ..... Lucy RiversComposer ..... Lucy RiversDirector ..... Helen PerryA BBC Cymru Wales ProductionLucy Rivers is a multi-talented writer, musician and performer. She's achieved great success with her company Gaggle Babble on acclaimed shows such as The Bloody Ballad - uniquely fusing music and theatre, humour and the macabre. The Devil's Violin is her first radio drama.
SAT 18:45 Fairy Tales Retold by Sara Maitland (b01pnlwg)
The Gingerbread Business
Acclaimed short story writer Sara Maitland gives a magical spin to the story of Hansel and Gretel, in The Gingerbread Business - a sumptuous tale of confectionery and cunning told by Lia Williams.Producer Beth O'Dea.
SAT 19:00 Rik Mayall on Radio (m0001pl7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Old Harry's Game (b00wnp6m)
Series 6
Investigation
Still keen to know who killed her, Edith discovers why Satan resented Jesus - he didn't like his "holier than thou" attitude.Andy Hamilton's comedy set in Hell.Starring Andy Hamilton as Satan, Annette Crosbie as Edith, Robert Duncan as Scumspawn and Jimmy Mulville as Thomas.Other characters played by Michael Fenton Stevens, Philip Pope, Felicity Montagu and Nick Revell. Producer Paul Mayhew-ArcherFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2007.
SAT 22:30 The Shuttleworths (b007p1np)
John Shuttleworth's Open Mind
The Bermuda Triangle
Sheffield's premier singer-songwriter tries to solve the Atlantic Ocean mystery. With guest Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.
SAT 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m0001xnk)
Ciaran Dowd 1/2
From 10pm - midnight, 7 days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats to Ciaran Dowd.
SAT 23:00 The Simon Day Show (b01j6t0s)
Series 2
Tommy Cockles
Simon Day and his characters once again welcome listeners to The Mallard, a small provincial theatre somewhere in the UK. Each week one of Simon's comic characters come to perform at The Mallard while the staff struggle with rivalries, self-doubt and the new owner's vision for the theatre's future.This week popular, blazered entertainer Tommy Cockles arrives at the theatre to find it transformed. There's a new Nigerian owner, soundman Goose has been replaced by an authoritarian ex-copper and receptionist Catherine has disappeared off to India to find herself.Cast list:Tommy Cockles ..... Simon DayCatherine ..... Catherine ShepherdEmanuel Akinyemi ..... Felix DexterPat Bennet ..... Morwenna BanksRon Bone ..... Simon GreenallWritten by Simon DayProduced by Colin Anderson.
SAT 23:30 Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better (b00cxr1s)
Series 2
Courage
The comedian promotes the virtue of courage, with Tim Key and Tom Basden providing feats of cowardice. From August 2008.


SUNDAY 23 DECEMBER 2018

SUN 00:00 The Devil's Violin (b04mhd5g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 00:45 Fairy Tales Retold by Sara Maitland (b01pnlwg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:45 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 The Haunting of MR James (Omnibus) (m0001plc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (m0001plg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Saturday]
SUN 02:15 Frankly Speaking (b05s8j39)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Saturday]
SUN 02:45 Robb Wilton - I Should Say So (b039gk6j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Archive on 4 (b085hbz9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 Daphne Du Maurier (b007k4b7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 Britain in a Box (m0001pl3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 The Tales of Beatrix Potter (Omnibus) (b0076gm4)
Five stories from celebrated children's author, Beatrix Potter - old favourites and some lesser known tales:1. The Tale of Pigling BlandTwo young pigs embark on an adventure on the way to market. Starring Johnny Vegas and Morwenna Banks.2. The Tale of Peter RabbitIf there's one thing we should all know - it's NOT to go into Mr McGregor's garden. Starring Chris Addison.3. The Tale of Jemima PuddleduckJemima looks for a quiet place to lay her eggs away from the farmer’s wife. Starring Janine Duvistki.4. The Tale of Mr TodTommy Brock the Badger and Mr Tod the fox are old enemies. Stars Seymour Mace and John Henshaw.5. The Tale of Ginger and PicklesA terrier and a ginger cat run a shop – mainly on credit. Stars Reece Shearsmith and John Henshaw.Potter's love of the British landscape and its inhabitants - coupled with her world famous ability for storytelling - means she's been one of our most celebrated children's authors.The timeless wonders of her stories pit the delight and childlike innocence of the very human characters against the dark and dramatic ruthlessness of the food-chain-led underbelly of Cumbria's fields and hedgerows.Adapted and directed by Sean GrundyProduced by Sally HarrisonA Woolyback production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2013.
SUN 07:15 Michael Carson - Untaken by Angels (m0001pzp)
Two friends, with very different wishes, want to send their shopping lists to Father Christmas.Benson thinks he deserves every item on his list, which he flicks deftly up the chimney, but Eric is being secretive about the contents of his own letter.Written by Michael Carson. Read by Michael N Harbour.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1989.
SUN 07:30 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b01r961y)
Series 2
With guest Nick Mohammed
New series of the comedy show hosted by Alex Horne and his five piece band and specially written, original music. Guests across this series include Phill Jupitus, Charlie Baker, Nick Mohammed, Doc Brown, Matt Lucas and Danny Baker.This fourth episode explores the theme of destiny including songs on allergies and chance meetings as well as showcasing Alex Horne's skills as a dream interpreter. Guest starring comedian Nick Mohammed who plays with the band and has a trick up his sleeve.Host .... Alex HorneTrumpet/banjo .... Joe AucklandSaxophone/clarinet ....Mark BrownDouble Bass/Bass .... Will CollierDrums and Percussion .... Ben ReynoldsPiano/keyboard .... Ed SheldrakeGuest performer .... Nick Mohammed and The Middle School Choir from Hall School, HampsteadProducer .... Julia McKenzie.
SUN 08:00 Life With The Lyons (m0001pzr)
Christmas Shopping
When the family head to a department store at Christmas, Ben’s left holding a baby. But whose is it?Starring Bebe Daniels, Ben Lyon, Barbara Lyon, Richard Lyon, David Enders, Horace Percival, Doris Rogers, Molly Weir, Hugh Morton, Harry Morris and Gwen Lewis.Written by Bebe Daniels, Bob Block and Ronnie Hanbury.Incidental music by Arthur Wilkinson. The BBC Variety Orchestra are conducted by Paul Fenoulhet.Producer: Tom Ronald.First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in December 1953.
SUN 08:30 A Life of Bliss (m0001pzt)
A Moving Story
David’s sister, Anne, has her heart set on a new house so asks him to cajole...Stars George Cole as David Bliss, Diana Churchill as Anne Fellows, Colin Gordon as Tony Fellows, Sheila Sweet as Zoe Hunter, Una Venning as Mrs Bainbridge and Percy Edwards as 'Psyche' the Dog.Godfrey Harrison's sitcom about shy, bumbling bachelor David Alexander Bliss.Beginning in 1953, it ran for six series of 118 episodes concluding in 1969 - but few survive in the BBC archive. (A TV series was made in 1969). For the first 7 episodes, David Tomlinson played David, but the rest starred the future star of The St Trinian's films - destined to find great fame as the dodgy Arthur Daley in ITV's Minder - George Cole.Producer: Leslie BridgmontFirst broadcast on the BBC Home Service in December 1958.
SUN 09:00 Bolder: Making the Most of Our Longer Lives (Omnibus) (m0001pzw)
How do we make the most of our longer lives?Journalist Carl Honoré brought the Slow Movement to wider attention with his book ‘In Praise of Slow’. Now he charts a major shift in our approach to ageing as he meets the revolutionaries who are inspiring us to live better for longer.Omnibus read by Darren BoydAbridged by Eileen HorneProduced by Eilidh McCreadieFirst broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.
SUN 10:10 The Listening Project (b04v5r6p)
Claire and Monica – Taking Things at Face Value
Fi Glover introduces a mother who remembers how her daughter’s birthmark affected her early life, and her daughter who confirms that her parents were right not to have it removed.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/listeningprojectProducer: Marya Burgess
SUN 10:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m0001rf1)
Absent Friends
Ken Dodd
Ken Dodd shares his castaway choices with Sue Lawley, including Perry Como, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Stevie Wonder and Nat King Cole.Then aged 62, the comedian looks back to his early years in Knotty Ash, and his continued attachment to the Liverpudlian suburb where people are "supreme optimists".He also recalls his interest in ventriloquism, itching powder and reveals the inspiration behind his famous tickling stick.Producer: Olivia SeligmanFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1990.
SUN 11:00 The Moth Radio Hour (m0001pzy)
Series 8
Hope and Glory
True stories told live in in the USA: Meg Bowles introduces stories of determination, hope and battling for both survival and respect.The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling based in the USA. Since 1997, it has celebrated both the raconteur and the storytelling novice, who has lived through something extraordinary and yearns to share it. Originally formed by the writer George Dawes Green as an intimate gathering of friends on a porch in Georgia (where moths would flutter in through a hole in the screen), and then recreated in a New York City living room, The Moth quickly grew to produce immensely popular events at theatres and clubs around New York City and later around the USA, the UK and other parts of the world.The Moth has presented more than 15,000 stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. The Moth podcast is downloaded over 27 million times a year.Featuring true stories told live on stage without scripts, from the humorous to the heart-breaking.The Moth Radio Hour is produced by Jay Allison and Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange.
SUN 11:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b010t6c0)
Series 2
Butterflies
When massing for their winter torpor in Mexico, the pine trees laden with Monarch Butterflies are one of the most mystical and magical places to be. David Attenborough is one of many naturalists, writers and broadcasters to marvel at this species migration feat and the spectacle of their over wintering - one of the natural wonders of the world. In this Life Story David Attenborough guides us through the butterfly's migration to Canada from Mexico - and back again - gently unpacking their natural history and wonder. And he immerses us in other butterfly congregations during filming trips over the years - but in a clever twist brings us back to his garden with an intriguing thought about the evolution of butterfly behaviour.Written and presented by David AttenboroughProduced by Julian Hector.
SUN 12:00 Life With The Lyons (m0001pzr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SUN 12:30 A Life of Bliss (m0001pzt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
SUN 13:00 The Tales of Beatrix Potter (Omnibus) (b0076gm4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 14:15 Michael Carson - Untaken by Angels (m0001pzp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]
SUN 14:30 Barbara Kingsolver - Unsheltered (m0001q00)
Omnibus 3/3
1875. Thatcher tries to come to terms with the shooting of Uri Carruth.2016. Willa's father-in-law, Nick, requests an unusual outing.Concluded by Laurel Lefkow.The new novel from Barbara Kingsolver, bestselling author of The Poisonwood Bible, The Lacuna and Flight Behaviour, interweaves the past and the present to explore the human capacity for resilience and compassion in times of great upheaval. It is a portrait of life in precarious times - when characters discover that the past has failed to prepare them for the future.Alternating between two centuries, Kingsolver examines the personal and social shocks that ensue when people’s assumptions about the world and their place in it are shaken to their foundations.Omnibus three of three.Abridged by Sian PreeceProducer: Gaynor MacfarlaneFirst broadcast in fifteen parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2018
SUN 15:45 Puzzling Passions (b0075yl9)
Crosswords
Marcel Berlins turns his focus on crossword puzzles. Harmless pastime or a potentially consuming addiction? From October 2000.
SUN 16:00 Gwyneth Hughes - Victory (b04d0l1g)
Admiral Lord Nelson, Sir William and Emma, Lady Hamilton have been living together in Italy.But when they return home to England their triangular relationship comes under public scrutiny, ending only with Nelson's death at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.Starring Imogen Stubbs as Emma, Ronan Vibert as Nelson and Stuart Richman as Hamilton.Produced at BBC Salford by Susan Roberts
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (m0001q04)
Adventures in Poetry - The Gate of the Year
Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive with 'Adventures in Poetry - The Gate of the Year'. Peggy Reynolds hears the story behind the poem King George VI quoted in his first Christmas broadcast on 25th December 1939.Written by the unknown Minnie Louise Haskins - it takes her from an unassuming suburb of Bristol to Sandringham, via the correspondence pages of The Times and the hand of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The poem has also popped up at the opening of two world wars and on countless tea towels, internet sites and books of inspirational verse.Producer: Christine HallFirst broadcast on Radio 4 in 2010.
SUN 17:30 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b01r961y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 18:00 The Prisoner (m0001q06)
Series 1
Your Beautiful Village
Something is very wrong, as Number 6 experiences the most disturbing sense deprivation.Almost complete darkness, filled with haunting sounds, fragments of conversations, and a desperate call from 9 start to test his reason.The original 17-episode TV series of The Prisoner created intrigue and controversy in equal measure when it first aired in the UK in 1967. In a taut psychological spy thriller, the main character, dehumanised as ‘Number 6’, has committed no crime, save for having resigned from some unspecified branch of the British Secret Service. His prison is a heavily guarded coastal village.Under constant surveillance, Number 6 can trust no-one and relentlessly works to establish who his captors are, a seemingly impossible task when the most senior figure he encounters – Number 2 – changes frequently...Mark Elstob stars as Agent ZM73 aka Number 6, with Ramon Tikaram as Number Two, Sara Powell as Number 9 and Helen Goldwyn as the Village Voice.Music - Jamie RobertsonScript Editor - Jamie Anderson.Written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.A Big Finish Production - based on the classic ITV series.
SUN 19:00 The Moth Radio Hour (m0001pzy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 19:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b010t6c0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:50 today]
SUN 20:00 Bolder: Making the Most of Our Longer Lives (Omnibus) (m0001pzw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SUN 21:10 The Listening Project (b04v5r6p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 today]
SUN 21:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m0001rf1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:15 today]
SUN 22:00 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b01r961y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 22:30 Steven Appleby's Normal Christmas (m0001q08)
Although Steven would like nothing more than a normal Christmas - a succession of meals and presents, as his parents tend to his every whim - this year it's going to be different. With Santa Claus on a bender, after his wife left him for Frosty the Snowman, Steven is his unlikely replacement. Will Christmas ever be the same again? Stars Paul McCrink as Steven and featuring Ewan Bailey, Rosalind Paul, Nigel Betts and Rachel Atkins.Director: Toby Swift.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
SUN 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m0001xnv)
Ciaran Dowd 2/2
From 10pm - midnight, 7 days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Arthur Smith chats again to Ciaran Dowd.
SUN 23:00 Clare in the Community (b00yyfkz)
Series 3
Merry Christmas Mrs Lawrence
Clare is determined to survive Christmas Day with her laid-back parents... Clare Barker is a social worker with all the politically correct jargon but none of the practical solutions. Award-winning sitcom by Harry Venning and David Ramsden.Starring Sally Phillips as Clare, Alex Lowe as Brian, Andrew Wincott as Simon, Richard Lumsden as Ray, Gemma Craven as Helen, Ellen Thomas as Irene, Nina Conti as Megan, Brigit Forsyth as Mrs Barker, Philip Davis as Mr Barker, Gerard McDermott as Grandad and Christine Kavanagh as Emma.Producer: Katie TyrrellFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006.
SUN 23:30 Laura Solon - Talking and Not Talking (b00cbptt)
Series 2
Episode 6
Divorcee Carol tries to sell covers - for cushion covers. Rosie Cavaliero joins the award-winning comedian. With Ben Moor and Ben Willbond. From July 2008.


MONDAY 24 DECEMBER 2018

MON 00:00 The Prisoner (m0001q06)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 The Tales of Beatrix Potter (Omnibus) (b0076gm4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:15 Michael Carson - Untaken by Angels (m0001pzp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Sunday]
MON 02:30 Barbara Kingsolver - Unsheltered (m0001q00)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Sunday]
MON 03:45 Puzzling Passions (b0075yl9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Gwyneth Hughes - Victory (b04d0l1g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (m0001q04)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b01r961y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 EW Hornung - Raffles (b007jq43)
Series 2
The Gift of the Emperor
Raffles plans the most daring enterprise of his career - the theft of a jewel worth £100,000.But Inspector Mackenzie is hot on his trail. Could the intrepid cracksman's luck finally run out?Starring Jeremy Clyde as AJ Raffles, Michael Cochrane as Bunny Manders, Henry Stamper as Inspector Mackenzie, Frederick Jaeger as Von Heumann, Zelah Clarke as Miss Werner, Alan Dudley as the Captain and Stephen Rashbrook as the Steward.EW Hornung's Raffles stories about the 'gentleman thief' dramatised by David Buck.Signature tune composed by Jim Parker.Director: Gordon HouseA BBC Radio 4/ BBC World Service production first broadcast in 1988.
MON 06:30 Christmas Past and Christmas Present at King's (m0001qm2)
Former choir member, Brian Kay, uncovers the First World War origins of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College Cambridge.Exploring its enduring appeal, Brian hears the memories of the former director of music Philip Ledger and organ scholar-turned-conductor Sir Andrew Davis.Producer: Michael SurcombeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2008.
MON 07:00 Flying the Flag (b00sxjmy)
Series 2
No Sudden Moves
“It's hard enough coping with adult life as it is, without having children going about being cleverer than you are.”East meets West in an epic chess game where politics, pride and chicken nuggets are at stake...Alex Shearer's Eastern bloc embassy sitcom.Starring Dinsdale Landen as HM Ambassador Mackenzie, Peter Acre as William Frost, Moir Leslie as Helen Waterson, Christopher Benjamin as Colonel Surikov and Richard Pearce as Keith Branley.Producer: Pete AtkinFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1988.
MON 07:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m0001mnx)
Series 70
Episode 6
Back for a second week at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Tim Brooke-Taylor is joined on the panel by programme stalwarts Susan Calman, Richard Osman and Rob Brydon with Jack Dee in the chair. Piano accompaniment is provided by Colin Sell.Producer - Jon Naismith.It is a BBC Studios production.
MON 08:00 Hancock's Half Hour (m0001qm4)
Bill and Father Christmas
It's a far-from-festive season as Bill gets a shock from overhearing the blabbermouth lad.Starring Tony Hancock. With Sidney James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques and Warren Mitchell.Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.Theme and incidental music written by Wally Stott. Recorded by the BBC Revue Orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.Producer: Tom RonaldFirst broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in December 1958.
MON 08:30 Parsley Sidings (b04cnsgs)
Series 2
Pass the Parcel
Bert's parcel mix-up at the station's Left Luggage Office sparks havocStarring Arthur Lowe as Horace, Kenneth Connor as Percy/Bradshaw/Rev, Liz Fraser as Gloria, Ian Lavender as Bert and Douglas Blackwell as the Brigadier. 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.Producer: Edward TaylorFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in September 1973.
MON 09:00 Just a Minute (b014fblm)
Series 61
Sheila Hancock, Graham Norton, Paul Merton and Tony Hawks
The ever popular panel game, hosted by Nicholas Parsons. With guests Sheila Hancock, Graham Norton, Paul Merton and Tony Hawks.Guests try to speak for a minute on a subject without hesitation, repetition or deviation. This week, subjects include 'Red Sky at Night' and 'The Meat Raffle'... except only one of the panellists seems to know what it is.Producer: Tilusha Ghelani.
MON 09:30 King Street Junior Revisited (m0001qm8)
Series 2
Priorities
Education and money - it seems you can't have one without the other, but sometimes you have to make a choice...School comedy created and written by Jim Eldridge. Ten series of this King Street Junior ran between 1985 and 1998. King Street Junior Revisited ran from 2002 to 2005.Stars Carolyn Pickles as Mrs Devon, Marlene Sidaway as Miss Lewis, Michael Cochrane as Mr Maxwell, Paul Copley as Mr Long, Teresa Gallagher as Miss Featherstone, Jacqueline Beatty as Miss Reid, Janice Acquah as Mrs Khan, Paul Brooke as Mr Dobson, Philip Philmar as Mr Adams, Rachel Smith as Mrs Flynn, Sonny Muslim as Gary and Danielle Downey as Samantha.Producer: John Fawcett WilsonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2003.
MON 10:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b007jzdv)
The Pickwick Club
The Pickwick Club, named in honour of the man who traced to their source the mighty Ponds of Hampstead and agitated the scientific world with his Theory of Tittlebats - was made up of the illustrious man himself, the susceptible Tracy Tupman, the poetic Snodgrass and the sporting Winkle.Their intention was to travel and so to extend the sphere of their observations, to the advancement of knowledge and the diffusion of learning.Charles Dickens 1837 novel dramatised in eight parts by Barry Campbell and Constance Cox.Starring Freddie Jones as Mr Pickwick, Paul Chapman as Mr Jingle, Elizabeth Spriggs as Mrs Bardell, Simon Cadell as Charles Dickens.Snodgrass ... Stephen ThorneWinkle ... Philip BondTupman .... .Michael Graham CoxMr Wardle ... Jack MayMiss Rachael ... June WhitfieldJoe .... Michael TroughtonWith John Bryans, Malcolm Gerard, Michael Goldie, Jane Knowles, Alan Laurence, Kenneth Shanley, Jonathan Scott and Michael Tudor Barnes.Director: Jane MorganFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1977.
MON 11:00 Hans Christian Andersen - The Fir Tree (b01pfwn0)
Out in the woods amongst his many large companions, a nice little fir tree is keen to grow up. Read by Paul Copley.
MON 11:15 Stephen Sharkey - All of You on the Good Earth (m0001qmd)
On Christmas Eve 1968, Apollo 8, the first manned flight to the Moon, orbited it 10 times.This mission is the most exciting thing to happen to young space enthusiast Neil, since Everton won the cup, and he becomes increasingly engrossed in his scrapbook as the drama at home threatens to ruin Christmas.Sean Harrison stars as Neil B O’Brien; Fiona Victory is Mum; Daniel Ryan is Dad; and Brian Perkins plays himself.Written by Stephen SharkeyDirector: Janet Whitaker.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2003.
MON 12:00 Hancock's Half Hour (m0001qm4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 Parsley Sidings (b04cnsgs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 EW Hornung - Raffles (b007jq43)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 Christmas Past and Christmas Present at King's (m0001qm2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b040hm7b)
History of the Rain
Episode 1
We are our stories. We tell them to stay alive or to keep alive those who only live now in the telling.19-year-old Ruth Swain is lying in her childhood home in the small Irish village of Faha in the attic room at the top of the stairs in the bed which her father had to construct in situ and which turned out to be as much boat as bed. She has Something Wrong with her, having collapsed during her fresher year at Trinity in Dublin, and finds herself bedbound in the attic room beneath the rain, in the margins between this world and the next.Ruth is in search of her father. To understand the father she has lost. To find him Ruth journeys through the ancestry of the curious Swain family - from the Reverend Swain her great-grandfather, to her grandfather Abraham to her father Virgil – and in doing so discovers an enchanting story of pole-vaulting, soldiering, stubbornness, leaping salmon, poetry, the pursuit of the Impossible Standard, and the wild rain-sodden history of fourteen acres of the worst farming land in Ireland. Above all, Ruth embarks on a journey through books. Three thousand, nine hundred and fifty-eight books to be precise, which are piled high and line the walls of her attic room. As Ruth searches for her father in their pages, her story becomes a vital, witty and poignant celebration of imagination, books, love and the healing power of storytelling.Niall Williams is also the author of bestselling novels including As It is In Heaven, The Fall of the Light, Only Say the Word and Four Letters of Love.Abridged by Doreen EstallRead by Ailish SymonsProducer: Heather LarmourFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
MON 14:15 The Invention of Childhood (b00s7r4q)
The Grave and the Cradle
Children's writer, Michael Morpurgo explores a thousand years of British childhood, beginning with the arrival of Christianity and the Norman Conquest.Readers: Timothy West, Adam Godley and Anna Maxwell Martin.Producer: Beaty RubensFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2006.
MON 14:30 Charlotte Bronte - The Professor (b00m0mb2)
Trade
Orphaned William Crimsworth is a young man with nothing. As he sets out to make his way in the world he doesn't want to be indebted to anyone. But running parallel with this need for self-control is the desperate need to love - and be loved in return.The least-known of Charlotte Bronte's novels: a subtle, ambiguous and unsettling love story dramatised in ten parts by Rachel Joyce.Starring Paul Venables as William Crimsworth, Jonathan Keeble as Edward Crimsworth, Gerard McDermott as Lord Tynedale and Ruth Sillers as Mrs Crimsworth.Director: Tracey NealeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005.
MON 14:45 Book of the Week (b04vdgpw)
Stories in the Stars
Episode 1
A seasonal reading for clear and frosty nights, when the skies sparkle with thousands of dots forming half remembered, almost traceable shapes. These are the stories behind the names and shapes of the constellations that pattern the night sky.Stories In The Stars by Susanna Hislop is read by a range of voices and accents from around the country and the globe. It might be one of the stories that the great Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy assigned to them in his masterwork that became known as the Almagest, or it might be a personified first person narration from the constellation Chameleon having a grumble about the number of different names and imagined shapes assigned to him over the millennia.From Greco-Roman mythology to the lives of the eighteenth century astronomers, this is a delightful miscellany which gives us a reason to step outside, look up and wonder at the magic lantern show above us.Readers: Susanna Hislop, Maggie Steed, Noma Dumezweni,Colman DomingoEpisode One:Susanna Hislop introduces us to the cartographers who first mapped the night sky. Corvus, the Crow and Cancer, the Crab offer different perspectives.Abridged, directed and produced by Jill WatersA Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
MON 15:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b007jzdv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 Just a Minute (b014fblm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 King Street Junior Revisited (m0001qm8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 Flying the Flag (b00sxjmy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m0001mnx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016pyp1)
The Linen Mill
The beautiful singing of a young girl is often heard in a Belfast office block but why is she doomed to haunt this building forever?Inspired by some of Ireland's most renowned female ghosts, Haunting Women is a group of stories from across the centuries, reliving five tragic tales of women who are doomed to haunt the island for eternity.Producer: Gemma McMullanFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005
MON 18:15 MR James: Ghost Stories (m0001qmg)
Canon Alberic's Scrapbook
A collector of antiquities encounters a hideous demonic figure in his hotel room. But did he really see it?Classic tales by the master of beautifully paced understatement, MR James (1862-1936). Abridged and produced by Paul Kent.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1997.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (m0001qmj)
Shappi Khorsandi and Roberta Taylor
Sue MacGregor and her guests - comedian, Shappi Khorsandi and actress, Roberta Taylor - discuss books by Marjane Satrapi, Ben Rice and Margaret Atwood. From 2007.Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, (Vol 1)Publisher: Jonathan CapePobby and Dingan by Ben RicePublisher: VintageThe Penelopiad by Margaret AtwoodPublisher: Canongate
MON 19:00 Hancock's Half Hour (m0001qm4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Parsley Sidings (b04cnsgs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 EW Hornung - Raffles (b007jq43)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 Christmas Past and Christmas Present at King's (m0001qm2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 Hans Christian Andersen - The Fir Tree (b01pfwn0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:15 Stephen Sharkey - All of You on the Good Earth (m0001qmd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
MON 22:00 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m0001mnx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 Tina C (b01bb7qh)
Tina C's Global Depression Tour
Europe
Country legend Tina C challenges the Secretary for the US Treasury, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and the former CEO of Goldman Sachs that where they have failed, she can come up with a solution to the Global Recession, and sets off on a six country tour to prove it.This week she visits EuropeTina C ...Christopher GreenWith Paul Mason and Victoria Inez HardyMusical arrangements by Duncan Walsh Atkins and Christopher GreenDirector Jeremy Mortimer.
MON 22:45 Knocker (b008g2dm)
Confidentialitydence
Experimental kitchen wipes sorely test market researcher Ian Dunn. Stars Neil Edmond and Paula Wilcox. From December 2007.
MON 23:00 Dead Ringers (m0001p7g)
Christmas Specials 2018
Episode 3
Satire and impressions from Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Duncan Wisbey, Lewis MacLeod and Debra Stephenson.The series is written by Private Eye writers Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain, together with Tom Coles, Ed Amsden, Laurence Howarth and others.A BBC Studios Production.
MON 23:30 Pleased to Meet You (b018j8cb)
A Very Dora Christmas
A Very Dora Christmas
Find out what, or rather who, saucy Dora Dale is roasting on an open fire. Stars Jake Yapp and Martin Kelner. From December 2011.


TUESDAY 25 DECEMBER 2018

TUE 00:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016pyp1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:15 MR James: Ghost Stories (m0001qmg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (m0001qmj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 EW Hornung - Raffles (b007jq43)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 Christmas Past and Christmas Present at King's (m0001qm2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b040hm7b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 The Invention of Childhood (b00s7r4q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 Charlotte Bronte - The Professor (b00m0mb2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:45 Book of the Week (b04vdgpw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b007jzdv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Just a Minute (b014fblm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 King Street Junior Revisited (m0001qm8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 Flying the Flag (b00sxjmy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m0001mnx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Miss Marple (b007jv9w)
They Do It With Mirrors
Episode 1
Miss Marple is invited to stay with her old school friend, Carrie at Stoneygates - a Victorian mansion doubling as a rehabilitation centre for delinquents.As she mulls over Carrie's life history on the train journey, just what is the danger that the sleuth is sensing?Agatha Christie's whodunit stars June Whitfield as the indomitable amateur detective, Miss Jane Marple. With Ursula Howells as Carrie Louise, Jill Balcon as Ruth Van Rydock and Peter Howell as Lewis SerrocoldFrom the book first published in 1952 and dramatised by Michael Bakewell.Director: Enyd WilliamsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
TUE 06:30 Charles Dickens's Playlist (m0001r45)
David Owen Norris imagines what music Charles Dickens would have put on a playlist, with the help of Simon Callow and biographers Claire Tomalin and Michael Slater.Dickens wrote and performed songs all his life. As a little boy, his mother stood him on the table in the local pub to sing; as a successful writer he sang to his guests after dinner. He also wrote the libretto for an opera titled The Village Coquettes.David and his guests make educated guesses about some contemporaneous favourite tunes, beginning with a song Dickens performed on the accordion, and ending with a carol from his famous festive novel.Recorded on location in Dickens's London drawing room, with songs performed by Gwyneth Herbert, Thomas Guthrie, Laura Crowther and chorister Hugh Summers.Producer: Elizabeth BurkeA Loftus Audio Production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
TUE 07:00 Second Thoughts (b007jzst)
The Fight Before Christmas
Faith's children and Bill's ex-wife threaten her dream of a perfect festive lunch.A festive edition of the popular sitcom about the lives of two middle-aged divorcees, starring Lynda Bellingham as Faith and James Bolam as Bill.With Julia Sawalha as Hannah, Belinda Lang as Liza and Mark Denham as Joe.Four series of 'Second Thoughts' were made for the BBC (1988-1992) before it transferred to ITV using the adapted radio scripts.Written by: Jan Etherington and Gavin PetrieProducer: Paul SchlesingerFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1992.
TUE 07:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b06s9l5c)
Series 3
A Christmas Not Special
Episode 6, 'A Christmas Not Special'. A ring of the doorbell interrupts an already unconventional Wrigglesworth family Christmas.Series 3 of the sitcom where Tom Wrigglesworth phones home for his weekly check-in with his Mum, Dad and Gran, giving listeners a glimpse into his family background and the influences that have shaped his temperament, opinions and hang-ups.Episode 6 "A Christmas Not Special": The Wrigglesworths receive a Christmas visitor while Tom struggles to get home in time for dinner.Starring Tom Wrigglesworth, Paul Copley, Kate Anthony, Elizabeth Bennett and Chris Pavlo.Written by Tom Wrigglesworth and James Kettle with additional material by Miles JuppProduced by Richard MorrisA BBC Radio Comedy Production.
TUE 08:00 The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C Potter (b00wt7n3)
Christmas Special
The Cousin
Gerald and Diana must prepare for a last-minute festive visitor.A Christmas Chapter in the convoluted chronicle of an optimistic author,Starring Ian Carmichael as Gerald C Potter and Charlotte Mitchell as his wife, Diana.With Michael McClain. Written by Basil Boothroyd.Producer: Bobby JayeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1977.
TUE 08:30 The Men from the Ministry (b007jw7r)
Christmas Spirit
The bungling bureaucrats are acting like Scrooge!One 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 by Edward Taylor.Producer: Edward Taylor.Re-recording of ‘The Magic Carpet’ made in April 1980.
TUE 09:00 Dead Ringers (m0001p7g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:30 Instant Sunshine (b00pf59k)
Seasonably Together Again
A Christmas entertainment in words and music to help you beat the weather, written and performed by Instant SunshineThe musical quartet features David Barlow, Peter Christie, Miles Kington and Alan Maryon-DavisWith their special guests: The Fine Arts Brass Ensemble. Producer: David Rayvern AllenFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1985.
TUE 10:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b008j0hh)
Dingley Dell
'You've got the address, Manor Farm, Dingley Dell, and I undertake that you shall see everything worth seeing. If you've come down for a country life, come to me and I'll give you plenty of it.'Mr Wardle's generous offer to the Pickwickians was to prove almost too much for them.Charles Dickens 1837 novel dramatised in eight parts by Barry Campbell and Constance Cox.Charles Dickens ..... Simon CadellMr Pickwick ... Freddie JonesMr Winkle .... Philip BondMr Tupman ..... Michael Graham CoxMr Snodgrass .... Stephen ThorneJingle .... Paul ChapmanMr Wardle .... Jack MayMiss Rachael ... June WhitfieldJoe .... Michael TroughtonSam Weller ... Douglas LivingstoneClergyman ... Michael Tudor BarnesEmily .... Heather BellIsabella .... Anne RosenfeldOld Mrs Wardle .... Kathleen HelmeMr Parker ....Timothy AlcockMr Staple / Coachman ... Michael GoldieMr Trundle / Tom .... Kenneth ShanleyPolly/Fat Lady/Boy ... Jane KnowlesDirector: Jane MorganFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1977.
TUE 11:00 John Mortimer - Not So Tiny Tim: God Bless Us Everyone (b007jtzf)
Sir Timothy Cratchit's selfish Christmas spent in Africa is rudely interrupted. Read by Nicholas Le Prevost.
TUE 11:15 Hercule Poirot (b008j05h)
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
Hercule Poirot does not care for the British weather at the best of times, but at Christmas he's convinced the only way to survive is to shut himself up in his London apartment.Imagine his horror, then that to avert a diplomatic catastrophe, he must take on a case that means spending the festive period in a large old house in the countryside. Attending an old-fashioned dinner party, he must use all his powers of deduction to retrieve a stolen ruby.Agatha Christie's whodunit stars John Moffatt as Poirot. With Donald Sinden as Colonel Lacey, Sian Phillips as Mrs Lacey, Ifan Meredith as The Prince/Michael and Elizabeth Proud as Mrs Ross.From a book first published in 1960 and dramatised by Michael Bakewell.Directed by Enyd WilliamsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
TUE 12:00 The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C Potter (b00wt7n3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 The Men from the Ministry (b007jw7r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Miss Marple (b007jv9w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 Charles Dickens's Playlist (m0001r45)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b040hy5t)
History of the Rain
Episode 2
We are our stories. We tell them to stay alive or to keep alive those who only live now in the telling.19-year-old Ruth Swain is lying in her childhood home in the small Irish village of Faha in the attic room at the top of the stairs in the bed which her father had to construct in situ and which turned out to be as much boat as bed. She has Something Wrong with her, having collapsed during her fresher year at Trinity in Dublin, and finds herself bedbound in the attic room beneath the rain, in the margins between this world and the next.Ruth is in search of her father. To understand the father she has lost. To find him Ruth journeys through the ancestry of the curious Swain family - from the Reverend Swain her great-grandfather, to her grandfather Abraham to her father Virgil – and in doing so discovers an enchanting story of pole-vaulting, soldiering, stubbornness, leaping salmon, poetry, the pursuit of the Impossible Standard, and the wild rain-sodden history of fourteen acres of the worst farming land in Ireland. Above all, Ruth embarks on a journey through books. Three thousand, nine hundred and fifty-eight books to be precise, which are piled high and line the walls of her attic room. As Ruth searches for her father in their pages, her story becomes a vital, witty and poignant celebration of imagination, books, love and the healing power of storytelling.Niall Williams is also the author of bestselling novels including As It is In Heaven, The Fall of the Light, Only Say the Word and Four Letters of Love.Abridged by Doreen EstallRead by Ailish SymonsProducer: Heather LarmourFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
TUE 14:15 The Invention of Childhood (b00s7w3z)
The Skill of the Goldsmith
Michael Morpurgo wonders if medieval people recognised a phase of 'childhood', using clues from Britain's first childcare guru.
TUE 14:30 Charlotte Bronte - The Professor (b00m0wn2)
Freedom
Eschewing his aristocratic background, Crimsworth has rejected aid from his mother's family and is now working as clerk to his brother. But all is not well...The least-known of Charlotte Bronte's novels: a subtle, ambiguous and unsettling love story dramatised in ten parts by Rachel Joyce.Starring Paul Venables as William Crimsworth, Jonathan Keeble as Edward Crimsworth, Gerard McDermott as Lord Tynedale and Ruth Sillers as Mrs Crimsworth.Director: Tracey NealeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005.
TUE 14:45 Book of the Week (b04vdy10)
Stories in the Stars
Episode 2
A seasonal reading for clear and frosty nights, when the skies sparkle with thousands of dots forming half remembered, almost traceable shapes. These are the stories behind the names and shapes of the constellations that pattern the night sky.Stories In The Stars by Susanna Hislop is read by a range of voices and accents from around the country and the globe. It might be one of the stories that the great Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy assigned to them in his masterwork that became known as the Almagest, or it might be a personified first person narration from the constellation Chameleon having a grumble about the number of different names and imagined shapes assigned to him over the millennia.From Greco-Roman mythology to the lives of the eighteenth century astronomers, this is a delightful miscellany which gives us a reason to step outside, look up and wonder at the magic lantern show above us.Readers: Susanna Hislop, Noma Dumezweni, Paul Copley, Colman DomingoEpisode Two:Orion is one of the most famous and recognisable figures in the night sky. Close by Taurus gallops across our night sky.Abridged, directed and produced by Jill WatersA Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 15:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b008j0hh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 The Food Quiz (m0001r4f)
Christmas Special 2005
Jay Rayner hosts a festive edition pitting chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Charita Jones against Giorgio Locatelli and the writer Michele Roberts.What is the correct pastry for mince pies? How many extra miles you need to walk to burn off extra Christmas calories? All these and more... Producer: Alice FeinsteinFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005.
TUE 16:30 Winston (b00g1hb2)
Winston at Christmas
Nancy has always had lovely family Christmases. So happy. So loving. So.... But then she discovers Winston filling his pillowcases with all the food from the fridge.Festive episode of Peter Tinniswood's bawdy comedy series.Starring Shirley Dixon as Nancy, Bill Wallis as Winston, Maurice Denham as Father, Liz Goulding as Rosie and Christian Rodska as William.Director: Shaun MacLoughlinFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Christmas Day, 1991.
TUE 17:00 Second Thoughts (b007jzst)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b06s9l5c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016q309)
The Wedding Bouquet
Could the tale of a tragic marriage from 1677 have implications for a couple tying the knot today? Stars Alison McKenna.
TUE 18:15 MR James: Ghost Stories (m0001r4j)
Lost Hearts
A young orphan is given a home by his elderly cousin. But how hospitable is the old man? Read by Benjamin Whitrow.
TUE 18:30 Bernard Cribbins (m0001r4l)
Sounds Natural
Celebrating his 90th birthday, Bernard Cribbins looks back to 1972's ‘Sounds Natural’.From the Meadow Pipit to the Red-Backed Shrike, actor Bernard Cribbins talks to Derek Jones about his love of bird watching, fishing and the importance of conservation - aided by recordings from the BBC Sound Archive.Producer: John Burton.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1972.
TUE 19:00 The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C Potter (b00wt7n3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 The Men from the Ministry (b007jw7r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Miss Marple (b007jv9w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 Charles Dickens's Playlist (m0001r45)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 John Mortimer - Not So Tiny Tim: God Bless Us Everyone (b007jtzf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 21:15 Hercule Poirot (b008j05h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
TUE 22:00 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b06s9l5c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 Think the Unthinkable (b01mypwd)
Series 4
Superco
The dotty management consultants check out Britain's biggest supermarket chain. Stars Marcus Brigstocke. From October 2005.
TUE 23:00 Beautiful Dreamers (b00vy0pn)
Crazy Bird: The Horace Wiggerley Story
Nat investigates the story behind Laurel Miller's iconic photograph 'Crazy Bird', the image that captures the moment when ex-con Horace Wiggerley drove across the opening arms of the 23rd Street bridge in New York City. Featuring contributions from Lucian Msamati, Alibe Parsons, Peter Marinker, Ewan Bailey, Sally Orrock, Sean Baker and Lloyd Thomas.Writers ..... James Lever and Nat Segnit.Producers ..... Steven Canny and Sasha Yevtushenko.
TUE 23:30 World of Pub (b008pb2m)
Series 1
Episode 3
Dodgy Phil builds the world's biggest pub named after the Titanic, but is it undrinkable? Stars John Thomson. From March 1998.
TUE 23:45 History Retweeted (b03wq2j5)
The Great Pyramid
The programme that sends us back in time as we hear people from the past comment on a series of major world events, in less than 140 characters.In The Great Pyramid - the Nile turns into video streams, order your pet mummification online, and find out how Pharaoh Khufu built that great feat of mankind while maintaining a hashtag game with his followers?Turning statuses into sounds, History Retweeted transports us to timelines gone by, feeding hashtags, trolls and trending topics into moments from history.Featuring the voices of Tim Barnes and Simon Berry, Wayne Forester and Annabelle Llewellyn,Peter Temple and Jelly Macintosh. With Lucy Beaumont as the voice of The Computer.Written by Tim Barnes and Simon BerryProduced by Sally HarrisonA Woolyback production for BBC Radio 4.


WEDNESDAY 26 DECEMBER 2018

WED 00:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016q309)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:15 MR James: Ghost Stories (m0001r4j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Bernard Cribbins (m0001r4l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Miss Marple (b007jv9w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 Charles Dickens's Playlist (m0001r45)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b040hy5t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 The Invention of Childhood (b00s7w3z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 Charlotte Bronte - The Professor (b00m0wn2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Book of the Week (b04vdy10)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b008j0hh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 The Food Quiz (m0001r4f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Winston (b00g1hb2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 Second Thoughts (b007jzst)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b06s9l5c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Miss Marple (b007jvb0)
They Do It With Mirrors
Episode 2
Clearly something's wrong at Stoneygates, but for Miss Marple, the most disquieting factors are the jealousies and simmering tensions within the family itself.Agatha Christie's whodunit stars June Whitfield as the indomitable amateur detective, Miss Jane Marple. With Ursula Howells as Carrie Louise, Peter Howell as Lewis Serrocold, Paula Jacobs as Juliet Bellever, Rebecca Lacey as Gina Hudd and Stephen Lucas as Walter Hudd.From the book first published in 1952 and dramatised by Michael Bakewell.Director: Enyd WilliamsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
WED 06:30 Oh Yes I Am (b00765dx)
Why does pantomime still attract the Christmas crowds? Oh yes it does!Panto history presented by author and playwright, Mark Ravenhill.Featuring Windsor Davies and Jim Davidson.Producer: Rebecca StratfordFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
WED 07:00 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! (b09jrkr8)
Christmas Special 2017: Bedbugs and Drumsticks
Arthur returns to BBC Radio 4 with a celebratory Christmas special of the long running comedy sitcom. The former variety star gets the opportunity to audition for a Christmas production of Bedknobs and Broomsticks. What could possibly go wrong?The show features Count Arthur and his erstwhile protégé Malcolm (Terry Kilkelly), surrounded by a host of regular characters created by Mel Giedroyc, Alastair Kerr and Dave Mounfield. The long-running series first aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2005 and ran for seven series until the former variety star transferred to BBC TV in his eponymous sitcom in 2012.Steve Delaney has been performing as Count Arthur Strong since the late 1990s. The character evolved from Edinburgh cult to a mainstay of BBC comedy via numerous series on BBC Radio 4 and three on BBC TV.A Komedia Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 07:30 Women Talking About Cars (m0001l8h)
Series 3
Una Stubbs
Actress, dancer and national treasure Una Stubbs talks to Victoria Coren Mitchell about her remarkable career from Summer Holiday to Sherlock, with memories of childhood and motherhood, movies and needlework, and discusses the vehicles she has driven along the way and why these days she has chosen to live car-free.With Readings by Sarah HadlandProduced by Gareth EdwardsA BBC Studios production.
WED 08:00 The Navy Lark (b01m42n7)
Series 6
The Emperor of Tratvia
Captain Povey calls on the crew of HMS Troutbridge to help him out of a domestic predicament.Stars Leslie Phillips as the Sub-Lieutenant, Jon Pertwee as the Chief Petty Officer, Stephen Murray as the Number One, Richard Caldicot as Captain Povey, Ronnie Barker as Able Seaman Johnson, Heather Chasen as Mrs Povey and Tenniel Evans as The Admiral.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 WymanProducer: Alastair Scott Johnston.First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in January 1964.
WED 08:30 Beyond Our Ken (m0001q7y)
From 11/6/1959
Kenneth Horne hits the high notes in a song contest and Hornerama tries to fathom water.With Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee.Written by Eric Merriman and Barry TookMusic from Pat Lancaster, the Fraser Hayes Four and the BBC Variety Orchestra conducted by Paul Fenoulhet.Announcer: Douglas SmithA 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 BrownFirst broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in June 1959.
WED 09:00 Dilemma (b03w0j4d)
Series 3
Episode 4
Sue Perkins puts Nick Doody, Angela Barnes, Dominic Lawson and Cush Jumbo through the moral and ethical wringer.The panellists attempt to resolve dilemmas based around horses and awkward family situations, plus a real-life dilemma about identity and an attempt to help an audience member with affairs of the heart.Devised by Danielle Ward.Producer: Ed Morrish.
WED 09:30 After Henry (b007k01q)
The Season of Relative Goodwill
"Even doing what you always do at Christmas presupposes agreement about exactly what it is that you always do".Sarah's mother makes everyone follow her strict timetable for Christmas Day.Simon Brett's comedy about three generations of women - struggling to cope after the death of Sarah's GP husband - who never quite manage to see eye to eye.Starring Prunella Scales as Sarah, Joan Sanderson as Eleanor, Benjamin Whitrow as Russell and Gerry Cowper as Clare.Four radio series were made, but instead of moving to BBC TV - Thames Television produced 'After Henry' for the ITV network.Producer: Pete AtkinFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1987.
WED 10:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b007jzhd)
Alarms and Excursions
'I will follow him. How do we know when he is deceiving? He deceived a worthy man once and we were the innocent cause. He shall not do it again, if I can help it.'Mr Pickwick is determined to expose Alfred Jingle as the rascal he is, but he can be an elusive gentleman.Charles Dickens 1837 novel dramatised in eight parts by Barry Campbell and Constance Cox.Charles Dickens ..... Simon CadellMr Pickwick ... Freddie JonesMr Winkle .... Philip BondMr Tupman ..... Michael Graham CoxMr Snodgrass .... Stephen ThorneSam Weller ... Douglas LivingstoneJob Trotter ...Tim WyltonCaptain Boldwig ... Michael GoldieMrs Bardell ... Elizabeth SpriggsTommy Bardell .... Heather BellJoe .... Michael TroughtonMr Dodson ... John GabrielMr Fogg ... Michael Tudor BarnesMr Jackson ....Peter WickhamMr Wicks... Tom OwenTony Weller ... John HollisMiss Tompkins ...Joan MathesonMiss Gwyn .... Brenda KayeMr Wardle .... Jack MayCook ... Jane KnowlesMiss Smethers ... Elizabeth BellGoodwin ...Mary Elliott NelsonMartin ... William EadleHunt .... Kenneth ShanleyLaundress.... Gladys SpencerDirector: Jane MorganFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1977.
WED 11:00 Bernard Cribbins (m0001q83)
Favourite Stories
During his long illustrious career, actor Bernard Cribbins has recorded many classic novels. To mark his 90th birthday, he performs selected extracts from three of his favourite stories. From The Wind in the Willows, he has chosen the first magical encounter between The Mole and the Rat; from Winnie-the-Pooh, the exciting Expotition to the North Pole which simply proves too much for one of the participants, Alexander Beetle; and finally from Alice Through the Looking Glass the strange meeting between Alice and an old, white-haired Knight who tries to hold her attention with a particularly poignant poem. To link each of the pieces, Bernard can be heard in conversation with drama director, Martin Jenkins, with whom he has worked for over 45 years on a wide range of dramas and readings. A wonderful opportunity to hear a master storyteller bringing a wonderful range of much-loved characters to life.
WED 11:15 Bernard Cribbins (m0001q85)
Looks Like Rain
For his 90th birthday, Bernard Cribbins looks back to Jimmie Chinn’s 2000 drama ‘Looks Like Rain’ in which he co-starred with Dora Bryan. After their mother’s death, Stan and Joyce unearth some strange, long-buried secrets.Jimmie Chinn wrote this play specially for Bernard Cribbins and Dora Bryan. All three originally hail from Oldham and Jimmie Chinn captures perfectly the speech rhythms and idiosyncrasies of the area. He creates two totally engaging characters, each very different but drawn together by their mother’s death. After the funeral they start looking through their mother’s possessions during which they make some disturbing discoveries which only increases the tension between them. Both also know their unpredictable brother could return at any moment. As the play progresses the mood darkens as brother and sister become increasingly wary of each other. When this play was first broadcast it proved so popular that Jimmie Chinn was commissioned to write two further plays about the same characters but this time with Roy Barraclough as the missing brother who also hailed from Oldham! Looks Like Rain is black humour at its very best with Bernard and Dora delivering wonderful pitch perfect performances which keep listeners glued to their radios and wanting more!Director: Martin JenkinsFirst Broadcast on Radio 4: 25th May 2000
WED 12:00 The Navy Lark (b01m42n7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 Beyond Our Ken (m0001q7y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Miss Marple (b007jvb0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 Oh Yes I Am (b00765dx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b040lj86)
History of the Rain
Episode 3
We are our stories. We tell them to stay alive or to keep alive those who only live now in the telling.19-year-old Ruth Swain is lying in her childhood home in the small Irish village of Faha in the attic room at the top of the stairs in the bed which her father had to construct in situ and which turned out to be as much boat as bed. She has Something Wrong with her, having collapsed during her fresher year at Trinity in Dublin, and finds herself bedbound in the attic room beneath the rain, in the margins between this world and the next.Ruth is in search of her father. To understand the father she has lost. To find him Ruth journeys through the ancestry of the curious Swain family - from the Reverend Swain her great-grandfather, to her grandfather Abraham to her father Virgil – and in doing so discovers an enchanting story of pole-vaulting, soldiering, stubbornness, leaping salmon, poetry, the pursuit of the Impossible Standard, and the wild rain-sodden history of fourteen acres of the worst farming land in Ireland. Above all, Ruth embarks on a journey through books. Three thousand, nine hundred and fifty-eight books to be precise, which are piled high and line the walls of her attic room. As Ruth searches for her father in their pages, her story becomes a vital, witty and poignant celebration of imagination, books, love and the healing power of storytelling.Niall Williams is also the author of bestselling novels including As It is In Heaven, The Fall of the Light, Only Say the Word and Four Letters of Love.Abridged by Doreen EstallRead by Ailish SymonsProducer: Heather LarmourFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
WED 14:15 The Invention of Childhood (b00s8j07)
New Shoes with Red Thongs
What did medieval children get up to when left unattended? Michael Morpurgo unearths some vivid descriptions.
WED 14:30 Charlotte Bronte - The Professor (b00m0zyn)
Belgium
Unable to work any longer for his tyrant of a brother, William has left the mill.With no job and no prospects, he finds himself in Belgium on Hunsden's advice. But how will he fare?The least-known of Charlotte Bronte's novels: a subtle, ambiguous and unsettling love story dramatised in ten parts by Rachel Joyce.Starring Paul Venables as William Crimsworth, Shaun Dooley as Hunsden, Roger May as Pelet, Harry Myers as Brown, Niamh Cusack as Zoraide Reuter and Natasha Pyne as Madame Pelet.Director: Tracey NealeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005.
WED 14:45 Book of the Week (b04vf6tk)
Stories in the Stars
24/12/2014
A seasonal reading for clear and frosty nights, when the skies sparkle with thousands of dots forming half remembered, almost traceable shapes. These are the stories behind the names and shapes of the constellations that pattern the night sky.Stories In The Stars by Susanna Hislop is read by a range of voices and accents from around the country and the globe. It might be one of the stories that the great Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy assigned to them in his masterwork that became known as the Almagest, or it might be a personified first person narration from the constellation Chameleon having a grumble about the number of different names and imagined shapes assigned to him over the millennia.From Greco-Roman mythology to the lives of the eighteenth century astronomers, this is a delightful miscellany which gives us a reason to step outside, look up and wonder at the magic lantern show above us.Readers: Noma Dumezweni, Jessica Gunning, Colman DomingoEpisode Three:A Unicorn – the constellation Monoceros is as likely to exist as Father Christmas.Abridged, directed and produced by Jill WatersA Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
WED 15:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b007jzhd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 Dilemma (b03w0j4d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 After Henry (b007k01q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! (b09jrkr8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 Women Talking About Cars (m0001l8h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016r25v)
The Waiting Wall
Grandmother Sarah returns to the village she grew up in, and relives the scandal and tragedy of her sister. Stars Doreen Keogh.
WED 18:15 MR James: Ghost Stories (m0001q87)
A School Story
A man recalls spooky events from 1870 involving his old teacher. What is "the well among the yews"? Read by Benjamin Whitrow.
WED 18:30 Bernard Cribbins (m0001q89)
Bernard Who?
This year, the actor Bernard Cribbins celebrates his 90th birthday and more than 70 years in showbusiness.In this programme from 2013 he talks to his friend and producer Martin Jenkins about his extraordinary career, and a cast of friends share their memories of working with Bernard, including David Tennant, Barbara Windsor, Barry Cryer and the late Richard Briers.He's been directed by Hitchcock, starred alongside a galaxy of screen legends including Peter Sellers and Kenneth Williams, is good mates with David Tennant, and has performed with Barbara Windsor wearing nothing but a bikini.The legendary Beatles producer George Martin recalls working with Bernard on the 1962 chart-toppers Right Said Fred and Hole in the Ground. Bernard reveals the secret to his storytelling magic on Jackanory, which captured the hearts and imaginations of a generation of children - including David Tennant. We hear how Bernard found the voices for Uncle Bulgaria and Tomsk in The Wombles and Jenny Agutter, his co-star in The Railway Children, discloses what she believes to be the secret of Bernard's eternal youth.David Tennant and the writer Russell T Davies give their insights on working with Bernard on Dr Who, and the joy of reminding the viewing public what an exceptional actor he is. "He can break your heart with a single line," says Russell T Davies.This is Bernard's own intimate retrospective of his career, told in conversation with his friend for more than 50 years, the acclaimed radio drama producer Martin Jenkins.Producer: Eve StreeterA Pier production for BBC Radio 4First Broadcast 2nd May 2013
WED 19:00 The Navy Lark (b01m42n7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 Beyond Our Ken (m0001q7y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Miss Marple (b007jvb0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 Oh Yes I Am (b00765dx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Bernard Cribbins (m0001q83)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 21:15 Bernard Cribbins (m0001q85)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
WED 22:00 Women Talking About Cars (m0001l8h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 Everyone Quite Likes Justin (b012l4ng)
Series 1
Episode 4
Sitcom by Justin Moorhouse & Jim Poyser starring Justin, Anne Reid and Paul Copley. A Manchester DJ tries to balance love, work, life and everything else without much success. This week house-hunting causes all sorts of difficulties.Anne Reid ..... GranChristine Bottomley ..... LisaJim Poyser ..... Lisa's boyfriendJustin Moorhouse ..... JustinLloyd Langford ..... BrynPaul Copley ..... RaySusan Cookson ..... TanyaProducer ..... Steven CannyIn one version of his life, Justin is a well-known local Manchester radio DJ who is successful, funny, and stopped in the street by adoring fans. He's the man who has everything. In another version he's a DJ in a slightly shabby local radio station who gets hassled by the occasional oddball on the street. And he's the man who hopes for everything. The truth lies somewhere in between.And at home? Well, naturally, his private life is chaotic. His wife has left him, taking custody of his 8-year-old son Justin jnr, and is in the process of taking him to the cleaners. So he's back on the market. As is his house - so he's currently living in his father-in-law's spare room in Bury. The only person who understands him is his Gran, living in luxury in an old folk's home in Warrington. Oh, and his producer Bryn but this might not be a good thing.Despite all this mess, Justin always remains positive. Every new day is a new opportunity, "When life throws you lemons, make lemonade".Recorded in front of an audience in Manchester.Everyone Quite Likes Justin is written by Justin Moorhouse and Jim Poyser. Justin is a comedian who sells out gigs across the country. He has also written plays and a previous show for Radio 4. Jim Poyser is a writer and producer of enormous experience in both radio and television.
WED 23:00 Victor Lewis-Smith (b086443n)
1992 Boxing Day Special
Festive-wrapped compilation of Victor’s more controversial items from his original BBC Radio 1 series.Award-winning controversial comedy surfaced on BBC Radio 1 in 1990 in the shape of Victor Lewis-Smith. The writer and producer took a comedy cudgel to the self-satisfied, mid-Atlantic style of the very network he was appearing on – with hoax phone calls, sketches, plus comic takedowns of high profile celebs. Featuring original jangly Radio 1 jingles made by JAM Creative Productions in Dallas, USA.Winner of the British Comedy Awards 1990 for Best Radio Comedy.After making 12 late night programmes for Radio 1, Victor took aim at TV in 1993 with BBC TWO's Inside Victor Lewis Smith, before sparking another stir on Channel 4 in 1998 with TV Offal.Written by Victor Lewis Smith and Paul Sparks. Producer: Victor Lewis SmithFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1992.
WED 23:30 4 at the Store (b007jw7y)
Series 2
Episode 1
Simon Bligh hosts a Christmas-flavoured, stand-up comedy show, with Luke Ponte, Mitch Benn and Ian Moore. From December 2001.


THURSDAY 27 DECEMBER 2018

THU 00:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016r25v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:15 MR James: Ghost Stories (m0001q87)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 Bernard Cribbins (m0001q89)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Miss Marple (b007jvb0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 Oh Yes I Am (b00765dx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b040lj86)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 The Invention of Childhood (b00s8j07)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 Charlotte Bronte - The Professor (b00m0zyn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Book of the Week (b04vf6tk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b007jzhd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 Dilemma (b03w0j4d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 After Henry (b007k01q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! (b09jrkr8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 Women Talking About Cars (m0001l8h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Miss Marple (b007jvb6)
They Do It With Mirrors
Episode 3
At Stoneygates, a murder has taken place in the Victorian mansion doubling as a rehabilitation centre for delinquents. Amateur sleuth Miss Marple assists the police with their inquiries.Agatha Christie's whodunit stars June Whitfield as Miss Marple. With Keith Barron as Inspector Curry, Ursula Howells as Carrie Louise, Peter Howell as Lewis Serrocold and Paula Jacobs as Juliet Bellever.From the book first published in 1952 and dramatised by Michael Bakewell.Director: Enyd WilliamsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
THU 06:30 Penguin, Puffin and the Paperback Revolution (b00tjrgz)
Children's author Michael Morpurgo tells the story of Penguin books, which was founded in 1935 by his father-in-law, Allen Lane. The idea for the iconic publishing house came when Allen was waiting for a train to take him from Exeter back to London. He went into a bookshop to look for something to read and all he found were badly produced, low quality books with gaudy covers. He realised that there was a gap in the market for high quality, well designed paperbacks available to everyone at the price of a packet of cigarettes.Michael grew up in a house that was especially full of Penguins and Puffins because his step-father, Jack Morpurgo, was one of the editors there. He remembers being intimidated as a child when Sir Allen Lane came over for dinner. When they met again, Michael was in his late teens and had fallen in love with Allen's eldest daughter Clare. They decided to get married - something Lane was not overjoyed about. It was only seven years later that Allen Lane died of cancer, so Michael never really got to know his father-in-law and never understood what had motivated him.In this programme, he delves into the Penguin archives and meets with family members and historians to uncover how Allen - who was not a literary man and left school at 16 - went on to revolutionise the publishing industry and change the way the nation reads. He explores the impact of Puffins, launched in 1940, on children's relationships with books and he reflects on what Lane felt about the infamous 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' trial in 1960.He also hears from Penguin authors Nick Hornby and Sue Townsend about what it feels like to be part of publishing history.Producer: Susie WarhurstA Unique production for BBC Radio 4
THU 07:00 Old Dog and Partridge (b007vmbx)
Episode 3
Nicola is on the verge of romance, while pub customer Andy faces being found out. Stars Michael Williams. From January 1999.
THU 07:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b086s7dk)
Series 6
Episode 2
John Finnemore, writer and star of Cabin Pressure and John Finnemore's Double Acts and regular guest on The Now Show and The Unbelievable Truth, returns for a sixth series of his multi-award-winning Souvenir Programme, joined as ever by Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin, and Carrie Quinlan.John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme was described by The Radio Times as "the best sketch show in years, on television or radio", and by The Daily Telegraph as "funny enough to make even the surliest cat laugh". Already the winner of a BBC Audio Drama Award and a Radio Academy Silver Award, John was named the 2016 Radio Broadcaster of the Year by the Broadcasting Press Guild for his work on Souvenir Programme.2/6This week on Souvenir Programme, John makes a decision on behalf of the nation; delivers an unusual rhythm; and has a bright idea about money. And, well... Since you ask him for a tale of strange transformations...Written by & starring ... John FinnemoreCast ... Margaret Cabourn-SmithCast ... Simon KaneCast ... Lawry LewinCast ... Carrie QuinlanProduction Coordinator...Sophie RichardsonProducer ... Ed MorrishA BBC Studios Production.
THU 08:00 Something to Shout About (m0001rq9)
Series 2
Episode 6
The team finds a novel use for the cake mix they’re supposed to be advertising."A light-hearted exposé of the advertising world!". Set in a London ad agency called 'Apsley, Addis, Cohen, Barbican, Blythe, Giddy & Partners'.Starring Michael Medwin as Michael, Fenella Fielding as Janet, Joan Sims as Mavis, Eleanor Summerfield as Maggie and Nicholas Phipps as Adrian. Other parts by Warren Mitchell.Series two (of three) written by Myles Rudge with Ronnie Wolfe.Producer: Eric MillerFirst broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in February 1961.
THU 08:30 The Goon Show (b00cyg6v)
The Missing Battleship
When HMS Boxer is stolen, you just know someone is going to fall in the water. Stars Peter Sellers. From November 1957.
THU 09:00 All the Way from Memphis (b00jj529)
Series 1
Episode 5
James Walton's pop music history quiz with Tracey MacLeod, Andrew Collins, David Hepworth and Carol Decker. From January 2005.
THU 09:30 Rent (b04pcxh5)
Series 2
Episode 5
When Paul delivers an ultimatum to Ruby, a visit to a fortune-teller with Maria tells them more than they bargained for.Lucy Flannery's sitcom about the struggles of Maria and Richard and their lodgers.Stars Barbara Flynn as Maria, Patrick Barlow as Richard, Linda Polan as Amy, Toby Longworth as Paul and Sally Grace as Madame Terry. With Sarah Parkinson, Vivienne Rochester, Joanna Brookes and Matthew Bell.Producer: Liz Anstee.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1995.
THU 10:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b007jzjn)
Perambulations and Proposals
Romantic encounters spark more confusion for Samuel Pickwick...Charles Dickens 1837 novel dramatised in eight parts by Barry Campbell and Constance Cox.Charles Dickens ..... Simon CadellMr Pickwick ... Freddie JonesMr Winkle .... Philip BondMr Tupman ..... Michael Graham CoxMr Snodgrass .... Stephen ThorneJingle .... Paul ChapmanSam Weller ... Douglas LivingstoneTony Weller ... John HollisMr Magnus ... David SinclairJob Trotter... Tim WyltonMiss Witherfield ... Hilda SchroderMr Nupkins ... Bruce PurchaseJinks .... Kenneth ShenleyMuzzle ... Eric AllanMary ...Alison FrazerMiss Nupkins .... Susan ColgraveTommy Bardell ... Heather BellGrummer... Michael GoldieMrs Bardell .. Elizabeth SpriggsMrs Cluppins ... Cecile ChevreauCook ....Deddie DaviesDirector: Jane MorganFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1977.
THU 11:00 Bernard Cribbins (m0001rqf)
Lancashire Monologues
To mark his 90th birthday, the wonderfully versatile and much-loved actor and singer Bernard Cribbins performs three humorous monologues. Each plays on his love of Lancashire. Bernard hails from Oldham where he made his professional debut at the local theatre some 75 years ago and each plays on his love for Lancashire, its language and inbred humour. The four monologues he has chosen were all written for the legendary actor, Stanley Holloway. Two focus on an unfortunate encounter between an inquisitive youth and lion which objects to the boy’s antics and decides to stop him for good whilst the others introduce us to the Battle of Waterloo and the pugnacious, stubborn, outspoken soldier Sam Small and his special relationship with the Duke of Wellington. To link each of the pieces, Bernard can be heard in conversation with drama director, Martin Jenkins, with whom he has worked for over 45 years on a wide range of dramas and readings. A unique opportunity to hear a master storyteller bringing a range of comic creations to life.Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Pier Productions.
THU 11:15 Bernard Cribbins (m0001rqh)
For I Have Sinned
In this powerful monologue by Wally K Daly, one of radio’s outstanding writers, Bernard Cribbins plays an elderly priest who is haunted by the memory of one particular confession.Wally K Daly has written many outstanding, award-winning plays for radio and has worked with director, Martin Jenkins for over 40 years. This play was specially written with Bernard Cribbins in mind. In it he plays an elderly priest who is haunted by the memory of one particular confession which has such a profound effect on him it makes him question his faith and his deepest held beliefs. As he struggles with his sense of failure and inadequacy he shares his innermost thoughts with the listener. He is confessing to us. Bernard gives a superb, subtle performance. This powerful monologue with its mix of dark humour and raw emotion led to the play, performance and production being nominated for a Sony award.With an introduction from Bernard in conversation with the director Martin Jenkins. Director Martin JenkinsA Pier Production for BBC Radio 4First Broadcast 20th October 1999
THU 12:00 Something to Shout About (m0001rq9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 The Goon Show (b00cyg6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Miss Marple (b007jvb6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 Penguin, Puffin and the Paperback Revolution (b00tjrgz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b040lprs)
History of the Rain
Episode 4
We are our stories. We tell them to stay alive or to keep alive those who only live now in the telling.19-year-old Ruth Swain is lying in her childhood home in the small Irish village of Faha in the attic room at the top of the stairs in the bed which her father had to construct in situ and which turned out to be as much boat as bed. She has Something Wrong with her, having collapsed during her fresher year at Trinity in Dublin, and finds herself bedbound in the attic room beneath the rain, in the margins between this world and the next.Ruth is in search of her father. To understand the father she has lost. To find him Ruth journeys through the ancestry of the curious Swain family - from the Reverend Swain her great-grandfather, to her grandfather Abraham to her father Virgil – and in doing so discovers an enchanting story of pole-vaulting, soldiering, stubbornness, leaping salmon, poetry, the pursuit of the Impossible Standard, and the wild rain-sodden history of fourteen acres of the worst farming land in Ireland. Above all, Ruth embarks on a journey through books. Three thousand, nine hundred and fifty-eight books to be precise, which are piled high and line the walls of her attic room. As Ruth searches for her father in their pages, her story becomes a vital, witty and poignant celebration of imagination, books, love and the healing power of storytelling.Niall Williams is also the author of bestselling novels including As It is In Heaven, The Fall of the Light, Only Say the Word and Four Letters of Love.Abridged by Doreen EstallRead by Ailish SymonsProducer: Heather LarmourFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
THU 14:15 The Invention of Childhood (b00s8lg8)
Mischief and Misrule
Were medieval children permitted to play? Michael Morpurgo learns about early football and festivals of misrule.
THU 14:30 Charlotte Bronte - The Professor (b00m16xk)
Zoraide
William feels he’s found his natural place. A gifted teacher, he’s happy and content.He finds further work in the neighbouring school for girls - in the very same place where he has heard a laughing voice, an enchanting ringing laugh...The least-known of Charlotte Bronte's novels: a subtle, ambiguous and unsettling love story dramatised in ten parts by Rachel Joyce.Starring Paul Venables as William Crimsworth, Roger May as Pelet and Niamh Cusack as Zoraide Reuter.Director: Tracey NealeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005.
THU 14:45 Book of the Week (b04vfczm)
Stories in the Stars
25/12/2014
A seasonal reading for clear and frosty nights, when the skies sparkle with thousands of dots forming half remembered, almost traceable shapes. These are the stories behind the names and shapes of the constellations that pattern the night sky.Stories In The Stars by Susanna Hislop is read by a range of voices and accents from around the country and the globe. It might be one of the stories that the great Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy assigned to them in his masterwork that became known as the Almagest, or it might be a personified first person narration from the constellation Chameleon having a grumble about the number of different names and imagined shapes assigned to him over the millennia.From Greco-Roman mythology to the lives of the eighteenth century astronomers, this is a delightful miscellany which gives us a reason to step outside, look up and wonder at the magic lantern show above us.Readers: Jessica Gunning, Paul Copley, Maggie Steed, Colman DomingoEpisode Four:A telescope – Telescopium – is given as a gift. Libra balances things out.Abridged, directed and produced by Jill WatersA Waters Company Production for BBC Radio 4
THU 15:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b007jzjn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 All the Way from Memphis (b00jj529)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 Rent (b04pcxh5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 Old Dog and Partridge (b007vmbx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b086s7dk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016r526)
The Shimmering Dress
In 19th-century Ireland, the beautiful Cecilia rejects the squire's advances. But can she ever escape him? Stars Alison McKenna.
THU 18:15 MR James: Ghost Stories (m0001rqk)
The Haunted Dolls' House
Why are the Chittendens so pleased to be rid of their rather splendid miniature mansion? Read by Benjamin Whitrow.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b01h6678)
Series 27
John Ford
John Ford had a monumental Hollywood career - over 140 films, Oscars he never turned up to receive, and a blunt way of approaching the business that made him enemies as well as friends. He stood up once at a meeting and said simply, "My name's John Ford, I make westerns."Critic Ed Buscombe also joins Matthew Parris and we hear archive of the tough-talking director John Ford. From 2012.Producer: Miles Warde.
THU 19:00 Something to Shout About (m0001rq9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 The Goon Show (b00cyg6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Miss Marple (b007jvb6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 Penguin, Puffin and the Paperback Revolution (b00tjrgz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Bernard Cribbins (m0001rqf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
THU 21:15 Bernard Cribbins (m0001rqh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
THU 22:00 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b086s7dk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 The News at Bedtime (b00wrbt8)
Review of the Year
Join legendary nurseryland broadcasters John Tweedledum (Jack Dee) and Jim Tweedledee (Peter Capaldi) as they return to Radio Fourtywinks for a one-off special, presenting their review of the year in Nurseryl Land, with the help of roving reporter Mary Mary Quite Contrary (Vicki Pepperdine) and a very special Thought for the Year with Peter Rabbi and a whole load of other festive treats.StarringJack Dee - John TweedledumPeter Capaldi - Jim TweedledeewithVicki Pepperdine, Lucy Montgomery, Alex MacQueen, Dan Tetsell and Lewis MacLeodWritten by Ian Hislop and Nick NewmanProduced by Simon Nicholls.
THU 23:00 Isy Suttie's Love Letters (b01s259m)
Series 1
Bob and Marie
Isy Suttie (Dobby from Channel 4's Peep Show and double British Comedy Award nominee) returns to BBC Radio 4 with these unique tales, recounting a series of love stories affecting people she's known throughout her life, told partly through song.Sometimes Isy has merely observed other people's love lives; quite often she's intervened, changing the action dramatically - for better or worse. Intertwined within these stories are related real life anecdotes from Isy's own, often disastrous, love life.In this fourth and final episode, Isy returns to Matlock to take driving lessons from instructor Bob, who she learns has a crush on another pupil, the mysterious Marie. While Isy tries to master an impeccable 3 point turn, she attempts to unite Bob with the girl of his dreams and discovers some important lessons in love of her own.With her multi-character and vocal skills, plus her guitar, Isy creates a hilarious and deeply moving world, sharing with us her lessons in life and love."A voice you want to swim in" The IndependentProduced by Lianne Coop.
THU 23:30 Party (b00r7l7j)
Series 1
Episode 1
Satirical sitcom by Tom Basden about a group of young idealists trying to set up a new political party.Simon ...... Tom BasdenMel ...... Anna CrillyDuncan ...... Tim KeyJared ...... Johnny SweetPhoebe ...... Katy Wix.


FRIDAY 28 DECEMBER 2018

FRI 00:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016r526)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:15 MR James: Ghost Stories (m0001rqk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b01h6678)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Miss Marple (b007jvb6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Penguin, Puffin and the Paperback Revolution (b00tjrgz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b040lprs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 The Invention of Childhood (b00s8lg8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 Charlotte Bronte - The Professor (b00m16xk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Book of the Week (b04vfczm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b007jzjn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 All the Way from Memphis (b00jj529)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 Rent (b04pcxh5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 Old Dog and Partridge (b007vmbx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b086s7dk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 Miss Marple (b007jvbc)
They Do It With Mirrors
Episode 4
Someone is systematically trying to poison Miss Marple's old friend, Carrie Louise. But who - and why?Agatha Christie's whodunit stars June Whitfield as Miss Marple. With Ursula Howells as Carrie Louise, Keith Barron as Inspector Curry, Rebecca Lacey as Gina Hudd, Natasha Pyne as Mildred Strete and Nick Waring as Alexis Restarick.From the book first published in 1952 and dramatised by Michael Bakewell.Director: Enyd WilliamsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
FRI 06:30 About the Boys (b03mfvlc)
From a solo boy chorister singing "Once in Royal David's City" at King's College, Cambridge on Christmas Eve to Aled Jones hitting the Top 10 with "Walking in the Air", the voice of the boy treble has long held a fascination for composers and audiences. But why? Is it because of its impermanence or what it implies about our notions of boyhood? Or is it just the sheer soaring quality?Christopher Gabbitas knows about being a treble because, as a child, he was a chorister at Rochester Cathedral. He's now a baritone with the world famous a cappella group "The King's Singers", but he remembers his treble days and the repertoire he sang, with great affection. In this programme he asks what it is about the singing voice of a boy which can inspire a range of reactions. And he finds out how different composers through the centuries have used- and continue to gain inspiration from - the treble voice.Among the people he talks to are his King's Singer colleague, Paul Phoenix, who became famous in the 1970s as the treble soloist for the theme music to the BBC's drama series "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy".Christopher also meets academic Martin Ashley to hear how the sound of boys' voices has changed over the decades.And he eavesdrops on a singing lesson to hear what makes a successful treble sound.We also hear about the way in which composers in opera have used boy's voices from Handel to Britten and into the present day.And there's an interview with the film composer Elliot Goldenthal who's used treble voices in his scores for "Alien 3" and "Interview with the Vampire".Producer: Emma Kingsley
FRI 07:00 Trapped (b0076h5p)
A Boy in a Well
A local TV news team are desperate for a dramatic story to boost their ratings.Pennine News Network needs a big story to go national and keep them all employed. So when 9-year-old boy falls down a well - will he be trapped long enough for the team to keep their jobs?Black comedy by Mark Maier and Daniel Maier.Ben .... Paul Popplewell Trevor .... Chris PavloMrs Pickery .... Catherine TateMacFee .... Ralph InesonBecky .... Catherine ShepherdMike .... Paul CopleyStuart .... Philip JacksonProducer: Alex Walsh-TaylorFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2003.
FRI 07:30 The Shuttleworths (m0001q6g)
Visiting Time
John Shuttleworth has to combine his Christmas Broadcast with a visit to the local hospital, as his friend Alan the Opera Singer is in for tests.John’s wife Mary, along with Ken Worthington and Joan Chitty, accompany him to the hospital for the day trip. Once the rather expensive fee has been paid in the hospital car park, the ladies go off to the café and hospital shop while John and Ken visit the patient.John has his trusty keyboard with him to play Alan a Christmas medley, but, when he arrives at the ward, Alan is nowhere to be found and his bed is worryingly empty. As Ken begins to panic about Alan’s state of health, John sings his new song Going Rapidly Downhill to take his mind off Alan’s disappearance.When Joan turns up with some mistletoe, John decides it’s time to go looking for Alan – especially as his tummy is rumbling.Written and performed by Graham FellowsProduced by Dawn EllisA Chic Ken production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 08:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again... Again! (m0001s9m)
Episode 2
Gardening Time, Yoga for Beginners and Cooking Corner – simultaneously!The classic comedy revived in a ‘Best Of’ with a new cast, new musicians but - pretty much - the same old gags.A ‘Best Of’ revival of the BBC classic comedy with a new cast, new musicians, new gags and old favourites‘I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again’ was a seminal BBC Radio comedy, spawning ‘The Goodies’ and ‘Monty Python's Flying Circus’ and was the forerunner to ‘I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue’. It featured John Cleese, Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Tim Brooke-Taylor, David Hatch and Jo Kendall.The show's mix of anarchic madness, puns, catchphrases galore and gloriously manic characters ran from 1964 to 1973, and had a youth following that made live recordings seem more like a rock concert than a comedy show.A four-part ‘Best Of’ revival radio series coming off the back of a critically-acclaimed and sold out theatre tour with guest cameos by Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Jo Kendall at every venue.Conceived, adapted and directed by Barnaby Eaton-Jones, from scripts and songs by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie.Starring Hannah Boydell, David Clarke, Barnaby Eaton-Jones, William KV Browne and Ben Perkins.Musical accompaniment of The Farrington Four.Produced by Barnaby Eaton-Jones.
FRI 08:30 Steptoe and Son (b00rvzks)
Series 1
The Economist
Fuming Harold decides their rag and bone business needs some bite.Starring Wilfrid Brambell as Albert and Harry H Corbett as Harold. With Ian Burford.Following the conclusion of their hugely successful association with Tony Hancock, writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson wrote 10 pilots for the BBC TV's Comedy Playhouse in 1962. The Offer was set in a house with a yard full of junk, featuring the lives of rag and bone men Albert Steptoe and his son Harold and it was the spark for a run of 8 series for TV.Adapted for radio from Galton and Simpson's TV script by Gale Pedrick.Produced by Bobby JayeFirst broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in July 1966.
FRI 09:00 Bernard Cribbins (m0001sk6)
Punch Line
For his 90th birthday, Bernard Cribbins looks back to his panellist role on Radio 2’s 1975 comedy quiz ‘Punch Line’.Bernard, Bob Monkhouse and June Whitfield throw the punches.Terry Wogan referees.From an idea by MYLES RUDGE , who also wrote the sketchesProducer EDWARD TAYLORFirst Broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1975
FRI 09:30 Life in London (b0121lz3)
An End to Life in London
With Bob "on the Fleet" for debts, Tom betrayed by Kate and Jerry so fatigued that rustication is recommended, is this an end to the trio's adventures?Some years on, an older, more reflective Egan ruminates on the heyday of Life in London.Conclusion of Pierce Egan’s 19th-century comic novel adapted in six-parts by Dan Tetsell.Pierce Egan ... Geoffrey McGivernTheodore Holt ... Giles TaylorCorinthian Tom ... Greg WiseGeorge Sala ... Ben GravesJerry Hawthorn Mark GatissFanny Margaret ... Cabourn SmithBob Logic ... James BachmanCorinthian Kate ... Amanda AbbingtonOriginal music by Ben WalkerProducer: Tilusha GhelaniFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2006.
FRI 10:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b007jzkz)
Christmas and a Wedding
Back from Ipswich, Samuel Pickwick prepares for his Christmas visit to Dingley Dell...Charles Dickens 1837 novel dramatised in eight parts by Barry Campbell and Constance Cox.Charles Dickens ..... Simon CadellMr Pickwick ... Freddie JonesMr Winkle .... Philip BondMr Tupman ..... Michael Graham CoxMr Snodgrass .... Stephen ThorneSam Weller ... Douglas LivingstoneTony Weller .... John HollisMrs Weller .... Stella TannerMr Stiggins .... Christopher BenjaminMr Wardle --- Jack MayOld Mrs Wardle .... Kathleen HelmeEmily .... Heather BellIsabella .... Anne RosenfeldArabella Allen .... Rosalind AyresBen Allen ..... Tim Piggott SmithBob Sawyer .... Nigel AnthonyJoe .... Michael TroughtonEmma ... Jane KnowlesCoachman ... Michael GoldieMr Trundle .... Kenneth ShanleyDirector: Jane MorganFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1977.
FRI 11:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m0001s9r)
Pick of the Pods 2018
Amanda Litherland presents a roundup of the best podcasts and guests featured on Podcast Radio Hour this year.Hear about Jessie Ware’s most disastrous dinner parties, why Ed Miliband thinks podcasts can change the world, and find out why Stephen Fry loves listening so much.
FRI 12:00 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again... Again! (m0001s9m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 Steptoe and Son (b00rvzks)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Miss Marple (b007jvbc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 About the Boys (b03mfvlc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b040lwwb)
History of the Rain
Episode 5
We are our stories. We tell them to stay alive or to keep alive those who only live now in the telling.19-year-old Ruth Swain is lying in her childhood home in the small Irish village of Faha in the attic room at the top of the stairs in the bed which her father had to construct in situ and which turned out to be as much boat as bed. She has Something Wrong with her, having collapsed during her fresher year at Trinity in Dublin, and finds herself bedbound in the attic room beneath the rain, in the margins between this world and the next.Ruth is in search of her father. To understand the father she has lost. To find him Ruth journeys through the ancestry of the curious Swain family - from the Reverend Swain her great-grandfather, to her grandfather Abraham to her father Virgil – and in doing so discovers an enchanting story of pole-vaulting, soldiering, stubbornness, leaping salmon, poetry, the pursuit of the Impossible Standard, and the wild rain-sodden history of fourteen acres of the worst farming land in Ireland. Above all, Ruth embarks on a journey through books. Three thousand, nine hundred and fifty-eight books to be precise, which are piled high and line the walls of her attic room. As Ruth searches for her father in their pages, her story becomes a vital, witty and poignant celebration of imagination, books, love and the healing power of storytelling.Niall Williams is also the author of bestselling novels including As It is In Heaven, The Fall of the Light, Only Say the Word and Four Letters of Love.Abridged by Doreen EstallRead by Ailish SymonsProducer: Heather LarmourFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
FRI 14:15 The Invention of Childhood (b00s9f4y)
A Thousand Histories and Fables
Michael Morpurgo learns about the impact of printing, and how it raised fears among adults that it was corrupting children.
FRI 14:30 Charlotte Bronte - The Professor (b00m1tfr)
Deceit
William now finds himself attracted to the fascinating Zoraide Reuter, head of the girls' school. But not everything is as it seems...The least-known of Charlotte Bronte's novels: a subtle, ambiguous and unsettling love story dramatised in ten parts by Rachel Joyce.Starring Paul Venables as William Crimsworth, Roger May as Pelet and Niamh Cusack as Zoraide Reuter.Director: Tracey NealeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005.
FRI 14:45 Book of the Week (b04vjh7p)
Stories in the Stars
26/12/2014
A seasonal reading for clear and frosty nights, when the skies sparkle with thousands of dots forming half remembered, almost traceable shapes. These are the stories behind the names and shapes of the constellations that pattern the night sky.Stories In The Stars by Susanna Hislop is read by a range of voices and accents from around the country and the globe. It might be one of the stories that the great Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy assigned to them in his masterwork that became known as the Almagest, or it might be a personified first person narration from the constellation Chameleon having a grumble about the number of different names and imagined shapes assigned to him over the millennia.From Greco-Roman mythology to the lives of the eighteenth century astronomers, this is a delightful miscellany which gives us a reason to step outside, look up and wonder at the magic lantern show above us.Readers: Colman Domingo, Paul Copley, Maggie SteedEpisode Five:Virgo - The Maiden points towards Spring. Canis Major is leader of the pack.Abridged, directed and produced by Jill WatersA Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:00 Charles Dickens - The Pickwick Papers (b007jzkz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 Bernard Cribbins (m0001sk6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 Life in London (b0121lz3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 Trapped (b0076h5p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 The Shuttleworths (m0001q6g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 Dermot Bolger - Haunting Women (b016q02f)
The Riding Crop
A bitter dispute between sisters 200 years ago means a precious wedding gift must be cared for in the present.
FRI 18:15 Matt Haig - The Keepers (b047d0wn)
Matt Haig's vision in which a man wonders from his cage in a zoo what it means to be human. In a letter to his daughter he describes the events leading up to the moment humankind's supremacy came to an end.Read by Barnaby KayProduced by Gemma JenkinsBestselling author of The Humans, A Boy Called Christmas and How To Stay Alive.
FRI 18:30 Off the Page (b04cnqz1)
Countryside
Rock critic Neil McCormick, poet Dorothea Smartt and writer Andy Miller share their love and fear of rural Britain.Matthew Parris introduces a group 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... Again! (m0001s9m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 Steptoe and Son (b00rvzks)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 Miss Marple (b007jvbc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 About the Boys (b03mfvlc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m0001s9r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 22:00 The Shuttleworths (m0001q6g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 What to Do If You're Not Like Everybody Else (b014qnds)
Series 2
Home Making
A second series of this popular and critically acclaimed series from Andrew Lawrence in which each episode addresses how we try to fit in and find our place in society. This week: Home making - exploring the perils and frustrations of decorating and furnishing our homes and then inviting people round.
FRI 22:45 Josie Long: All of the Planet's Wonders (b00htxbs)
Obscure Animal Facts
With her thirst for knowledge unquenched, the comedian aims to become the ultimate quiz show contestant. From March 2009.
FRI 23:00 Elis James's Pantheon of Heroes (b01b5yyr)
Series 1
Adventurers
Henry Morton Stanley, the 1958 Wales World Cup team and Alfred Russell Wallace face the vote. With Ben Partridge and Nadia Kamil. From February 2012.
FRI 23:30 Will Smith's Midlife Crisis Management (b00grsdt)
Episode 6
Comedy series in which comedian Will Smith seeks help and advice - primarily from his godfather Peter - on coping with the onset of middle age.Will tackles his lack of success with women with the help of Ed, an American love guru.Will ...... Will SmithPeter ...... Roger AllamEd ...... Simon GreenallGirlfriend ...... Jill CardoFirst date ...... Janice AcquahSecond date ...... Donnla HughesThird date ...... Dan StarkeyWaiter ...... Roger Drew.