SATURDAY 04 JANUARY 2020

SAT 00:00 Doctor Who (b08fjg55)
Serpent Crest
Survivors in Space, part 2/2
The Fourth Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey finally track down the hamlet of Hexford, just as the Skishtari Egg is about to hatch...
Tom Baker stars as the Fourth Doctor.
Conclusion of Paul Magrs’ five-story adventure,
The Doctor ...... Tom Baker
Mrs Wibbsey ...... Susan Jameson
The Visitor ...... David Troughton
Mike Yates ...... Richard Franklin
Deirdre ...... Nerys Hughes
Tish ...... Joanna Tope
Reverend Tongue ...... Cornelius Garrett
Lucius ...... Sam Hoare
Producer: Kate Thomas
Made by BBC Audio and reversioned for broadcast by BBC Radio 4 Extra.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b0076qjx)
Animal Lovers
Matthew Parris, Gerard Baker, Manda Scott and Hugh Thomson discuss our relationship with animals. From February 2005.
SAT 01:00 Hercule Poirot (b007jxgg)
One, Two Buckle My Shoe
Episode 5
With a killer still at large, the Belgian detective finds inspiration in the words of a psalm sung by the village church choir.
Conclusion of Agatha Christie's whodunit starring John Moffatt as Hercule Poirot.
Dramatised by Michael Bakewell.
Hercule Poirot ...... John Moffatt
Chief Inspector Japp ...... Philip Jackson
Frank Carter ...... Dominic Colchester
Alistair Blunt ...... Philip Franks
Jane Olivera ...... Amanda Waring
Mr Barnes ...... Patrick Godfrey
Howard Raikes ...... Robert Portal
Original music composed by Tom Smail.
Director: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2004.
SAT 01:30 The Shipwrecked Bears (b012r6tt)
3,000 teddy bears went missing in 1903, supposedly en route for New York from their native Germany.
Bear expert and storyteller-par-excellence Gyles Brandreth attempts to discover what really happened to these earliest toy bears.
In 1902 the first ever toy bear was designed in Germany by Richard Steiff: Bär 55 PB, a lifelike bear with joints, a humped back and a snout. A New York toy company placed an order at the Leipzig Toy Fair in 1903 for 3,000 of the novelties to be ready in time for the Christmas market. The bears were made and packed up for shipment, but there is no record of them reaching their destination and none of this load of US-bound bears has ever been found.
The templates, patterns and even photos of this bear exist but not even one sample was kept. One popular explanation is that there was a shipwreck and the bears had a watery end. All that is certain is that if one of these bears turned up now it would be 'open chequebook' time for certain museums and collectors.
Witty, magical and heart-warming, the documentary reveals fascinating detail behind the making of the bears, including a trip to the Steiff factory and a rifle through their detailed archives, as Gyles delights us with this little-known story, and imagines where water-logged bears might have washed up.
Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2011.
SAT 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b06c4l24)
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay
Episode 5
Amory begins a new chapter, and a new relationship, in New York.
William Boyd's novel follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the 20th century.
In 1915, Amory’s uncle unknowingly sets her life on its course when he gives her a Kodak Brownie No 2 as a present for her seventh birthday, igniting a lifelong passion for photography. Her camera will take her from high society London in the 1920s to the cabaret clubs and brothels of inter-war Berlin; to 1930s New York, the Blackshirt riots in London’s East End, and to France and Germany during the Second World War, where she becomes one of the first female war photographers.
She eventually comes to rest on a remote Scottish island, where she drinks, writes and looks back on a personal life that has been just as rich and complex as her professional one. She remembers the men that have been closest to her – her father, her brother, her lovers – irreparably scarred by two world wars, and reflects upon her own experiences of conflict and loss, passion and joy.
Read by Barbara Flynn
Abridged by Sara Davies
Producer: Mair Bosworth
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.
SAT 02:15 The Hidden Henry (b00kntj0)
Henry The Musician
In the final programme about hidden aspects of Henry VIII, marking the 500th anniversary of his coronation, Dr Stephen Rice, who researches and plays little-known renaissance music, investigates Henry VIII's musical abilties. Did he really compose 'Greensleeves' and other pieces attributed to him? He was certainly a patron of music, appreciating visits from foreign musicians and expanding the royal musical household. Dr Rice introduces music from the period, recently recorded by the Brabant Ensemble. He is joined by the Elizabeth Kenny, one of the UK's leading lutenists, and together they demonstrate how the repertoire reflects Henry's personal concerns, his poltical outlook, his religious convictions and his practical abilities as a musician and composer.
SAT 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b085yyzf)
Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey
Episode 10
Catherine returns to her home after her abrupt dismissal from Northanger Abbey. Will she ever know what she did wrong and more importantly will she ever see Henry Tilney again?
Jane Austen's satire pokes fun at the popular sensationalist fiction of the day.
Catherine ..... Georgia Groome
Henry ..... Luke Thompson
Mrs Morland ..... Alison Belbin
Mr Morland ..... John Bowler
Harriet ..... Keziah Joseph
George ..... Luke MacGregor
The Book ..... Miriam Margolyes
Directed by Sally Avens
By Jane Austen
Dramatised by Hattie Naylor
SAT 02:45 Book of the Week (b04vqvbq)
Ian Bostridge - Schubert's Winter Journey
Episode 5
Literature, religion and the hurdy-gurdy man. Internationally acclaimed tenor Ian Bostridge concludes his exploration of Schubert's existential masterpiece Winterreise, Winter's Journey.
Strange old man,
Should I go with you?
Will you to my songs
Play your hurdy-gurdy?
Written and read by Ian Bostridge
Abridged by Laurence Wareing
Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.
SAT 03:00 Charles Dickens (b01b3fqd)
Little Dorrit
Episode 5
After her father's death Little Dorrit is still in Italy when the newly-married Fanny has a strange visit from Mr Merdle.
Arthur is struck by disaster and Mrs Clennam is forced to reveal the family secret at last.
Conclusion of Charles Dickens's masterpiece of social satire and imprisonment.
Starring Sir Ian McKellen as Charles Dickens.
Recorded on location in London.
Charles Dickens ...... Ian McKellen
Arthur Clennam ...... Julian Wadham
Mrs Clennam ...... Margaret Tyzack
Little Dorrit ...... Jasmine Hyde
Fanny Dorrit ...... Indira Varma
John Chivery ...... Ben Crowe
Flintwinch ...... Ioan Meredith
Mr Pancks ...... Philip Joseph
Mr Doyce ...... Jonathan Keeble
Mr Merdle ...... Kenneth Cranham
Chivery ...... Gordon Reid
Dramatised by Doug Lucie.
Music by Mia Soteriou
Director: Janet Whitaker
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2001.
SAT 04:00 The Food Quiz (b0076mtq)
Series 2
Episode 3
Journalist and food critic, Jay Rayner gives four contestants a good grilling on their knowledge of food and drink.
What's a fucivore's favourite food? How is porridge traditionally eaten? Which wine writer had a bit part in a Hollywood blockbuster?
Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, food writers Anissa Helou and Sue Lawrence and greengrocer Charlie Hicks chew over these culinary conundrums.
Producer: Rebecca Wells
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2004.
SAT 04:30 The Emerald Green Show (b076c11b)
Celebrations
A vain, ambitious black woman dreams of becoming a chat-show queen.
Lisselle Kayla's 4-part comedy series starring Llewella Gideon as Emerald Green.
With Jonathan Firth and Iwan Thomas.
Director: Pam Fraser Solomon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.
SAT 05:00 1834 (b011vffj)
London
Trapped in 19th-century Macclesfield, bored 21st-century Jason heads to London, but is waylaid by a mint-popping highwayman...
In Jim Poyser's riotous comedy of transportation and delight, Jason is now Tarquin, third son of Lord Belport with faithful valet, Ned.
Jason Slater ...... Michael Begley
Ned ...... Joe Caffrey
Hoskins ...... Kenneth Alan Taylor
Lord Belport ...... Mark Chatterton
Millicent ...... Julia Rounthwaite
Henry ...... James Nickerson
Highwayman ...... Toby Hadoke
Duke of Cranmere ...... John Craig
Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2003.
SAT 05:30 There Was A Young Fellow Named Palin (m0001rzj)
Michael Palin, Britain’s nicest man, is probably Britain’s busiest man too, which might explain why he’s asked James Peak to step in and write him some limericks.
Limericks are the simplest of verse forms - only five lines, a bit of rhyming, and half of the first line "There once was a..." is already written for you.
It's child’s play you’d think - but writing a really good limerick is not as easy as it sounds.
Join Michael and James for a ridiculous half hour that proves, once and for all, that if you want something doing properly you should do it yourself.
With thanks to the National Poetry Library at the Southbank Centre.
Window Cleaner ….. Harriet Carmichael
Limerick Expert ….. Chris McCabe (as himself)
Written by Michael Palin and James Peak.
Producers: Andre Jacquemin and James Peak
A Goldhawk Essential production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:00 Saturday Drama (b00vv0n7)
Agatha Christie - And Then There Were None
Ten guests are separately invited to an island by a person none of them knows very well, if at-all. When they arrive, it seems they have all been invited for different reasons. Nothing quite adds up.
An anonymous voice accuses each of them of having murdered someone. By the end of the first night, one of the guests is dead. Stranded by a violent storm and tormented by the nursery rhyme 'Ten Little Soldier Boys', the ten guests fear for their lives. Who is the killer? Is it one of them?
Agatha Christie's famous detective story without a detective. First published in 1939.
Vera Claythorne ...... Lyndsey Marshal
Cyril ...... Harry Child
Captain Lombard ...... Alex Wyndham
Emily Brent ...... Joanna Monro
Dr Armstrong ...... Sean Baker
Mr Justice Wargrave ...... Geoffrey Whitehead
Anthony Marston ...... Lloyd Thomas
Mr Blore ...... Sam Dale
Narracott ...... Adeel Akhtar
General MacArthur ...... John Rowe
Mr Rogers ...... Wayne Foskett
Mrs Rogers ...... Sally Orrock
Hugo ...... Henry Devas
Gramophone Voice ...... Jude Akuwudike
Dramatised by Joy Wilkinson.
'And Then There Were None' was named the world's favourite Agatha Christie novel in a poll in September 2015.
Director: Mary Peate
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2010.
SAT 07:30 Beyond Today - The 2010s (m000d69w)
The Beyond Today podcast listens in on the big moments, memes, and the music that defined a decade.
Producer: Seren Jones
Mixed by Nicolas Raufast
Editor: John Shields
SAT 08:00 Archive on 4 (m0001cwc)
Elvis Presley Comeback Special
Paul Morley tells a parallel story of Elvis and America, from the vantage point of the King's finest hour in 1968.
"I've got to do this sooner or later," Elvis says sheepishly, "so I may as well do it now."
And so the 1968 Comeback Special begins: his quiff defying gravity and his leather jumpsuit chafing, as he bursts into an elemental rendition of Heartbreak Hotel. It had been one of his first singles thirteen years before, initially recorded when he was still a teenager living in the Jim Crow South at the beginning of rock and roll.
Much had happened in the meantime: JFK, the Beatles, the hippies and Detroit soul. And Elvis had become a different person, depressed, addicted and increasingly irrelevant.
So by 1968, after his stint in the army, the uninspired films and the years of absence from the stage, the Comeback Special was an opportunity to resuscitate Elvis's career, to claw back his status as a powerful, credible force.
And it did, fleetingly. He was fabulous, and his discography is never better showcased than on that day.
But it also marked the point at which it became clear that the King was fragile.
He was 33, a new father, and he would never be this good again.
Paul Morley believes the 1968 Comeback Special shows us Elvis at his best. But also that it offers a vantage point from which to look backwards, forwards and outwards to a changing America - remembering where the hillbilly kid had come from and poignantly aware of where he would end up.
Featuring historian Mary Frances Berry, filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, writer Luc Sante and theatre artist Greg Wohead.
Producer: Martin Williams.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018.
SAT 09:00 The Inimitable PG Wodehouse (m000cz81)
“Everything in life that’s any fun, as somebody wisely observed, is either immoral, illegal or fattening.” PG Wodehouse, Girl in Blue (1970)
Alexander Armstrong is at Westminster Abbey for a special dedication to PG Wodehouse (1881-1975), widely regarded as the greatest comic author of the 20th century.
During this showcase we hear a collection of some his best loved work, including a celebration of his creations, the feckless Bertie Wooster and his phlegmatic manservant, Jeeves, and his many other characters. All of them brought to radio life by stars including Simon Cadell, Michael Hordern and Richard Briers.
We’ll hear rare interviews and archive along with contributions from fans, friends and family.
Celebrating the comic brilliance of PG Wodehouse is for Alexander Armstrong (Armstrong and Miller, Pointless) a personal passion, especially as he’s president of the PG Wodehouse Society – which numbers fans from all over the world.
Producer: Stephen Garner
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in January 2019.
SAT 12:00 The Rest is History (b075mnxs)
Series 2
Episode 1
Frank Skinner loves history, but just doesn't know much of it. So he's devised a comedy discussion show in order to find out more about it.
Along with his historian in residence, Professor Kate Williams, Frank is joined by Katy Brand and Pierre Novellie, who discuss Hodge - the cat belonging to Doctor Samuel Pepys, Nelson and Lady Hamilton, and the Lyme Missal.
Producers: Mark Augustyn and Justin Pollard
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in April 2016..
SAT 12:30 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b06r5xx2)
Series 7
The Leaving of Barra
Back in 1949, a young assistant director on Whisky Galore, falls in love with a local girl on the Hebridean island of Barra where filming is taking place.
Sixty six years later, his memories of that golden time come flooding back.
Stanley Baxter plays the old man who abandoned a career in film to stay on the island with the woman he loved, and now faces a sad farewell.
Series of comic plays starring Stanley Baxter.
John Anderson...............Stanley Baxter
Peggy Anderson.............June Watson
Young John......................Scott Hoatson
Catriona ..................Samara Maclaren
Mary...............................Tracy Wiles
Other parts played by the cast.
Written by Michael Chaplin
Director: Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2015.
SAT 13:00 30 Eggs (Omnibus) (b06gx5ph)
Weary of life in the bustling Rwandan border town of Rusumo, Modeste, a blind and sickly homeless man resolves to return to his home village of Kibuye on the far side of the country with the help of his companion, Innocent, a cheeky seven year-old street orphan.
The journey starts well when they stumble upon a small amount of money but little Innocent inadvertently spends the cash purchasing a basket of thirty raw eggs during a mix up in a market melee. With their peculiar bounty of raw eggs the unlikely duo set off on an adventure of a life time along the rising road cresting atop the many rolling hills of Rwanda.
Irish writer Eoin O'Connor's beautiful, funny and inspirational story which catapults you into life in Rwanda and one remarkable journey.
Omnibus of five parts.
Modeste ...... Jude Akuwudike
Innocent ...... Milanne Gordon
Grace ...... Noma Dumezweni
Egg Vendor ...... Nyasha Hatendi
Cyclist ...... Richard Pepple
Customer ...... Damian Lynch
Assad ...... Josiah Choto
Richard ...... Khalil Vaughan
Producer: Gemma McMullan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2015.
SAT 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (m000cz83)
Toby Stephens
Actor Toby Stephens chooses You Are In My Vision by Gary Numan and Tubeway Army and She Belongs To Me by Bob Dylan.
SAT 14:15 In the Psychiatrist's Chair (b00751hc)
Paul Theroux
Controversial novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux talks to Dr. Anthony Clare about what spurs him on to write.
Psychiatrist Dr Anthony Clare's in depth interviews with prominent people from different walks of life.
Born in Dublin, author Anthony held a doctorate in medicine, a master's degree in philosophy and was a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. After becoming a regular on BBC Radio 4's Stop the Week in the 1980s, he became Britain's best-known psychiatrist and earned his own vehicle, In the Psychiatrist's Chair.
Starting in 1982, this series ran until 2001 and also transferred to TV. Series highlights include conversations with Bob Monkhouse, Cecil Parkinson and Gerry Adams.
Anthony Clare died suddenly in Paris aged 64 in 2007.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1997.
SAT 14:55 The Fanthorpe Investigations (b039b74y)
The Catacomb Phenomenon
The strange tale of the Catacomb Phenomenon.
Priest and paranormal investigator Lionel Fanthorpe relates stories from the world of the strange and unexplained.
Producer: Paul Arnold
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in 2013.
SAT 15:00 Archive on 4 (m0001cwc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SAT 16:00 Saturday Drama (b00vv0n7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Beyond Today - The 2010s (m000d69w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Dan Dare (m000cz85)
Series 2
Operation Saturn 1/2
It’s a year since Dan Dare and his crew helped rid Earth of The Mekon’s army of ruthless robots, although the evil alien is still at large.
After disappearing a decade ago, experimental ship the Nautilus suddenly reappears in orbit around the Moon, so Dan, Digby and Peabody are sent to investigate.
Clues point to Saturn being involved in some way, but the new threat to Earth comes from far closer to home...
More adventures based on the Eagle comic strip 'Dan Dare' created in 1950 by the Reverend Marcus Morris and Frank Hampson.
Dan Dare …. Ed Stoppard
Digby …. Geoff McGivern
Professor Peabody …. Heida Reed
Sondar …. Bijan Daneshmand
Sir Hubert …. Michael Cochrane
Blasco …. Jonathan Rhodes
The Vora …. Nicholas Briggs
Flight Control …. Diane Spencer
Maxwell .... Fiona McAlpine
On-Board Computer .... Dianne Weller
Original music: Imran Ahmad
Dramatised by Patrick Chapman from an original story by Frank Hampson.
Director: Andrew Mark Sewell.
Made by B7 Media.
SAT 18:30 Weird Tales (b01nrd24)
Series 3
Original Features by Christopher William Hill
When Carl and Rob buy a flat in a 19th century house, it seems they've found their perfect home.
With Carl away on business, Rob throws himself into restoring the flat, but he ends up with more of the original features than he'd anticipated...
Series of chilling plays for winter nights.
Carl ..... Martin Hutson
Rob ..... Carl Prekopp
Jess ..... Adjoa Andoh
Girl ..... Francine Chamberlain
Answerphone ..... Tracy Wiles
Woman ..... Alex Rivers
Man ..... Christopher Webster
Director: Mary Peate
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2011.
SAT 19:00 The Inimitable PG Wodehouse (m000cz81)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 The Show What You Wrote (b06r5d0m)
Series 3
Work and Play
Jason Manford, Janice Connolly, Gavin Webster, Fiona Clarke and Darren Kuppan star in the themed sketch show made entirely from contributions sent in by the public.
Series 3 of the best ideas chosen from thousands of submissions from new writers resulting in a show like no other.
The first theme is "Work and Play" - featuring someone being really challenged about their age, a club that doesn't play anything so clichéd as music, and some naughty fun...
Written by: Ben Behrens, Dave Bibby, James Bugg, Keith Carter, Lou Conran, Stu Cooper, Rob Gilroy, Dan Hobson & Jon Bridle, Daniel Hooper, Scott Kingsnorth, Steve Nelson, Christopher Stanners and Claire Wetton.
Producers: Ed Morrish and Paul Sheehan.
A BBC Radio Comedy production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2015.
SAT 22:30 Masala FM (b007x0c9)
Episode 1
Masala FM is East London's premier Asian community radio station.
Owner, Mr Krishna, wants to make some changes and everyone's scared, except for visiting Bollywood celebrity Johnny 'Muscles' Patel...
Six-part sitcom written by Meera Syal
Starring Sanjeev Bhaskar, Nitin Sawheny, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia.
Music by Nitin Sawhney.
Producer: Liz Anstee
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1996.
SAT 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m000djzg)
James Harkin & Dan Schreiber
From 10.00pm until midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Angela Barnes chats to James Harkin and Dan Schreiber about the 'No Such Thing As A Fish' book.
SAT 23:00 Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar (b083p88m)
Series 1
Careerism
Alexei reveals the surprising reason he disappeared from our TV screens in the 1990's, recounts a chance meeting with Ed Miliband, discusses rampant nepotism in most coveted careers and draws a striking comparison between capitalism and all you can eat buffets.
The Godfather of Alternative Comedy delivers a mixture of stand-up, memoir and philosophy from behind the counter of his Imaginary Sandwich Bar.
Written and performed by Alexei Sayle.
Additional Material from Liam Beirne.
Producer: Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in November 2016
SAT 23:30 Dr John Cooper Clarke at the BBC (b081qztt)
Series 1
Textiles
The Bard of Salford performs a selection of poems on stage at the BBC’s Radio Theatre in London.
* To a Tikki Shirt
* Smooth Operetta
* George
* Who Stole Bongo’s Trousers?
* 21 Gun Salute Suit
Written and performed by Dr John Cooper Clarke.
Introduction by Johnny Green.
Producer: Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in November 2016
SAT 23:45 Political Animals (b03ktz1b)
Series 2
Barney and George
Barney reveals how President George W Bush broke his heart by being unfaithful with a man called Tony.
Another unreliable dog's eye view of the trials and tribulations of living in the White House.
Written by Tony Bagley.
Director: Marc Beeby.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.


SUNDAY 05 JANUARY 2020

SUN 00:00 Dan Dare (m000cz85)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 00:30 Weird Tales (b01nrd24)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 30 Eggs (Omnibus) (b06gx5ph)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (m000cz83)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Saturday]
SUN 02:15 In the Psychiatrist's Chair (b00751hc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Saturday]
SUN 02:55 The Fanthorpe Investigations (b039b74y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:55 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Archive on 4 (m0001cwc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 Saturday Drama (b00vv0n7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 Beyond Today - The 2010s (m000d69w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 Jane Austen (b087kz86)
Northanger Abbey (Omnibus)
Episode 2
Henry Tilney enraptures Catherine with his tall tales of the gothic mysteries of his home Northanger Abbey but it's not long before Catherine begins to suspect there may be an element of truth in them.
First published in 1817, Jane Austen's satire pokes fun at the popular sensationalist fiction of the day.
Omnibus of the last five of ten parts dramatised by Hattie Naylor
Catherine ..... Georgia Groome
John ..... Stephen Wight
Isabella ..... Ainsley Howard
Mrs Allen ..... Tracey Wiles
Mr Allen ..... Kim Wall
Henry ..... Luke Thompson
James ..... Finlay Robertson
The Book ..... Miriam Margolyes
Director: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2016.
SUN 07:15 Shorts (b06wj6y1)
The Time Being
The Sandwich
Season 8 of the showcase for previously un-broadcast writers
With no one to talk to and in a job that he hates, Pan Wong can’t wait for lunchtime.
Thom Tuck reads Ben Pedroche's short story.
Ben Pedroche writes fiction, and also blogs about his two passions - London and hip-hop music. He has published books related to London history, and lives south of the river with his wife and daughter.
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in January 2016.
SUN 07:30 Guilt Trip (b07nrlqx)
Episode 4
On the last day of the walk, Ros and Laura still have 10 miles to go. But when they oversleep at the hotel they weren't supposed to be staying at in the first place, it's not looking good.
They're hung over and Ruth is organising a big reception for them at Tower Bridge - but will they get there in time?
Comedy drama written by Katherine Jakeways with Felicity Montagu and Olivia Nixon.
A mother and daughter are undertaking a two week sponsored walk along The Thames Path to raise money for the dead and divorced father's charity. Will they complete it?
Ros ...... Felicity Montagu
Laura ...... Olivia Nixon
Stepmother ...... Katherine Jakeways
With Katie Redford, Jeff Rawle Velibor Topic, George Watkins, Nancy Crane and Chris Pavlo.
Producer: Jane Berthoud
A BBC Comedy production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in July 2016.
SUN 08:00 Life With The Lyons (m000d01q)
You Can’t Get Blood Out Of A Stone
You Can't Get Blood Out of a Stone
There is much excitement when Barbara invites a very successful footballer for dinner - except from husband Ben.
Starring real-life American family: Ben Lyon and his wife Bebe Daniels and their children, Richard and Barbara. Life With the Lyons was one the BBC's most popular radio sitcoms between 1950 and 1961. It was also adapted for BBC TV.
With Barbara Lyon, Richard Lyon, Hugh Morton, Horace Percival, Doris Rogers, Molly Weir, David Enders, Gwen Lewis and Philip Ray.
Written by Bebe Daniels, Bob Block and Bill Harding
The BBC Variety Orchestra is conducted by Paul Fenoulhet, with incidental music by Arthur Wilkinson.
First broadcast on the BBC Light programme in April 1953.
SUN 08:30 Harry Worth in Things Could Be Worse (b09m5vf1)
Take a Chance
When Harry enters a radio quiz - will his general knowledge gleaned from cigarette cards suffice?
Harry blunders his way through another catalogue of mishaps.
Starring Harry Worth.
With John Baddeley, John Graham and Miriam Margolyes.
Written by David McKellar and David Renwick.
Producer: Simon Brett.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1976.
SUN 09:00 Surfacing (Omnibus) (m000d01s)
Beneath the broad Alaskan sky, long-buried artefacts spill from the thawing tundra. In the eroding sand dunes of a Scottish island, preserved Neolithic hearths and homes are uncovered by the wind.
And in a grandmother’s tenement flat, memories surface of a long-ago mining accident and a mother who was kind.
Award-winning poet Kathleen Jamie's essays reflect on time, memory and our connections to the past.
Abridged in five parts by Linda Cracknell
Omnibus read by Maureen Beattie
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
First omnibus broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in January 2020.
SUN 10:10 The Listening Project (b04jmd8r)
Soo and Kristy – Adoption: Fighting for the Future
Fi Glover with a conversation between friends about the challenges of parenting, especially when you want to make up to your adopted child for the difficulties of her early life.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess
SUN 10:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b0824q6f)
Americans
Stephen Sondheim
Known for his work in musical theatre, American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim shares his castaway choices with Sue Lawley.
Favourite track: Oh Bess, Oh Where's My Bess? by George Gershwin
Book: The collected works by EB White
Luxury: Piano
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2000.
SUN 11:00 Radiolab (m000cywg)
Series 6
Blood
Radiolab explores why are we - from horrifying movies to the holy - obsessed by blood? With Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich.
From medicine to the movies, the horrifying to the holy, and history to the present day — Radiolab considers the power and magic of the red liquid that runs through our veins. We meet an artist who opened his veins and got labeled a terrorist, douse ourselves in the meat and metaphors of blood in Shakespeare, wonder if clues to a gory fountain of youth could be lurking in the red blood cells of mice, and trace the complicated supply chain that gets blood from arms to operating tables.
Radiolab is a Peabody-award winning show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and the human experience.
Hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich investigate a strange world.
From WNYC. First broadcast on public radio in the USA in 2013.
SUN 12:00 Life With The Lyons (m000d01q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
SUN 12:30 Harry Worth in Things Could Be Worse (b09m5vf1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
SUN 13:00 Jane Austen (b087kz86)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 14:15 Shorts (b06wj6y1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 today]
SUN 14:30 The Secret Commonwealth (Omnibus) (m000d01w)
Episode 2
Lyra Silvertongue finds herself caught up in a conspiracy when her dæmon witnesses a murder.
Whilst travelling in disguise, Lyra finds her quest to be even more treacherous than she imagined.
Simon Russell Beale concludes the second volume of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed The Book of Dust trilogy.
It's 20 years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey. It is seven years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.
Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child...
The second volume of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her dæmon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. They must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost – a city haunted by dæmons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.
Omnibus of the last five of ten parts.
Abridger, Doreen Estall
Producer: Michael Shannon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2019.
SUN 15:40 The Listening Project (b04jmd8r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 today]
SUN 15:45 Travels with Bob (b0868qvw)
2. Neath
Paddy O’Connell travels the country with his dog, Bob, talking to the people he meets – perfect strangers who act as guides to where they live.
This time, Paddy and Bob wander the streets of Neath in South Wales, in search of the story of Harry Parr Davies. In his 1940s heyday, Davies composed many of our most famous wartime tunes, including Gracie Fields’ Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye. When he died, Fields paid tribute to him on BBC radio.
Today he’s largely forgotten – even in his hometown.
With thanks to the Neath Antiquarian Society for their generous assistance.
Producer: Hannah Marshall
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2016.
SUN 16:00 Ronnie Smith - Cherries Hung with Snow (b0075zy2)
Fulham, London, 1958: It's over five years since Tommie was de-mobbed after National Service. Now he's come back in search of some familiar faces
George Cole stars in Ronnie Smith’s poignant comedy which is interspersed with music of the period.
Older Tommie ...... George Cole
Younger Tommie ...... David Thorpe
Lil ...... Becky Hindley
Duckett ...... John Hartley
Doreen ...... Deborah Berlin
Mrs Letts ...... Kate Williams
Hank ...... Matt Podmore
Director: Enyd Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2000.
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (m000d01y)
Lost Voices - Harry Fainlight
Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive and chooses Lost Voices: Harry Fainlight who was a young man of rare promise when a trip to America to meet the Beat poets in the early 1960s changed his life forever. He lived a ramshackle, bizarre life but produced sublimely lyrical poetry.
Brian Patten, whose poetry was a celebrated part of the 1960s cultural scene, remembers a contemporary who did not survive the 20th century. Harry Fainlight was a deeply troubled magus and accomplished lyrical poet but he really was his own worst enemy. He upset people, he was upset by imagined slights, he could not bear the thought of publishers selling his work. Brian meets several of Harry's friends and talks to his sister, the successful poet Ruth Fainlight, to get an idea of who Harry really was. He also shares many of Harry's finest poems, all of which are now out of print.
Lost Voices is a series in which poet Brian Patten explores the life and work of lesser-known or forgotten poets.
Reader – Carl Prekopp
Producer – Christine Hall
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009.
SUN 17:30 Guilt Trip (b07nrlqx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 18:00 Ghosts From The Past (m000d020)
Black Stockings and Broken Mirrors by Bernadette Crosthwaite
A tragic accident returns to haunt Christine when she befriends her new neighbour.
Bemadette Crosthwaite's first play for radio stars Maureen O’Brien as Christine and Margot Boyd is Mrs Falkener.
‘Go 'Way from My Window’ is sung by Melanie Hudson.
Director: Martin Jenkins.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1992.
SUN 18:45 Book at Bedtime (b06ptqdz)
The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains
Episode 1
A dwarf seeks a guide to a certain cave on the Misty Isle.
Chilling revenge for a terrible crime is at the heart of Neil Gaiman's multi-award-winning novelette, inspired by a Hebridean myth and originally commissioned by the Sydney Opera House for the Graphic Festival with celebrated illustrator Eddie Campbell.
Reader: Bill Paterson
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Abridged and produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in November 2015.
SUN 19:00 Radiolab (m000cywg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 20:00 Surfacing (Omnibus) (m000d01s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SUN 21:10 The Listening Project (b04jmd8r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 today]
SUN 21:15 Desert Island Discs Revisited (b0824q6f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:15 today]
SUN 22:00 Guilt Trip (b07nrlqx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 22:30 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b06pxm45)
Series 3
The Madman in the Attic
With Tom's Dad advocating some rather drastic "rationalising", Tom realises that it might be time for him to have a clear-out himself.
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.
Tom ...... Tom Wrigglesworth
Dad ...... Paul Copley
Mum ...... Kate Anthony
Granny ...... Elizabeth Bennett
Written by Tom Wrigglesworth and James Kettle. With Miles Jupp.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Radio Comedy production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in November 2015.
SUN 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m000dk1h)
James Harkin & Dan Schreiber
From 10.00pm until midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Angela Barnes tests James Harkin and Dan Schreiber, from 'No Such Thing As A Fish', in a trivia quiz.
SUN 23:00 2000 Years of Radio (b007jnj7)
Series 1
Steaming - Radio Victoriana
Steam powered fun from the Great Exhibition of 1851, plus the latest inventions. Stars Marcus Brigstocke. From November 2000.
SUN 23:15 Poets' Tree (b00slxyx)
Episode 2
Islington poet Paul Hamilton meets a fruit linguist, and visits a young offenders institute to demonstrate the rehabilitative powers of poetry.
Poetry magazine spoof with Kevin Eldon and Stewart Lee.
With Olivia Colman and Peter Serafinowicz.
Producer: Ed Morrish
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2008.
SUN 23:30 As Told To Craig Brown (b00b0sh6)
Episode 2
Satirist Craig Brown presents a bundle of parody, social observation and nonsense in a romp through anything that's newsworthy and a good many things that aren't.
Narrated by Juliet Stevenson and Steve Wright.
With John Humphrys, Ronni Ancona, Jon Culshaw, Lewis McLeod, Sally Grace, Ewan Bailey and Margaret Cabourn-Smith.
Producer: Victoria Lloyd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2008.


MONDAY 06 JANUARY 2020

MON 00:00 Ghosts From The Past (m000d020)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:45 Book at Bedtime (b06ptqdz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:45 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 Jane Austen (b087kz86)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:15 Shorts (b06wj6y1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:15 on Sunday]
MON 02:30 The Secret Commonwealth (Omnibus) (m000d01w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Sunday]
MON 03:40 The Listening Project (b04jmd8r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:10 on Sunday]
MON 03:45 Travels with Bob (b0868qvw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Ronnie Smith - Cherries Hung with Snow (b0075zy2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (m000d01y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 17:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 Guilt Trip (b07nrlqx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000czhc)
F8 and Then Infinity
“Well, that's it. Shields. The measure of the opposition. Take a good look at it. That's what you'll be up against. Know your enemy.”
Teacher Johnny Shields has ideas for romance, but an unexpected meeting sparks a chain of alarming consequences...
Peter Coke stars in Roy Clarke’s thriller serial set in the world of highly-organised international smugglers.
Shields ...... Peter Coke
The Major ...... Bob Grant
Greta ...... Veronica Doran
Doreen ...... Sylvia Brayshay
Tadpole ...... Derrick Gilbert
Muff ...... Robert Powell
Jean Hogg ...... Heather Stoney
Alfie ...... Peter Stephens
Vera ...... Elizabeth Ashton
Mrs Beckett ...... Barbara Greenhalgh
Roy Clarke went on to write TV’s longest-running TV sitcom, Last of the Summer Wine, plus Open All Hours and Keeping Up Appearances.
Sir Alan Ayckbourn is the author of over 70 plays, including The Norman Conquests trilogy and A Chorus of Disapproval.
Producer: Alan Ayckbourn
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1968.
MON 06:30 Pete & Clive (b06nnnlc)
Pete Atkin and Clive James have shared a partnership in songwriting for half a century since their University days in Cambridge, creating an archive of 300 or more songs known for their intellectual ranking.
"Writing song lyrics is my favourite form of writing anything. But I've never managed to become famous for it" declares Clive.
Pete and Clive's songs are reminiscent of The Great American Songbook. Although Pete is well known for performing the songs, they were also writing songs for other people to sing in a similar tradition to Tin Pan Alley.
In the 1970s, their musical partnership was described as "one of the best song-writing partnerships alive", alongside Elton John, Joni Mitchell and The Beatles. At this time, Pete Atkin was the most booked artist on The John Peel Show for two years running. The songs gained most recognition in the 1970s thanks to DJ Kenny Everett and recordings by singers Julie Covington and Val Doonican.
In this programme, we hear revealing and personal reminiscences from Pete and Clive today as they discuss how it all began, the differences between writing poetry and song, and their thoughts on the future of their songs. Friends and colleagues contribute a personal insight into this unique pairing, considered to be masters of their craft by Stephen Fry, Bruce Beresford, Daniel Finklestein, Simon Wallace and Russell Davies.
Why is this the missing part in Clive James' career despite it being the one thing he wants to be most remembered for?
Producer: Hayley Redmond
A Sue Clark production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 07:00 Arrested Development (b0075vs2)
Episode 3
Kate's cottage is now in ruins thanks to an over-enthusiastic builder. And is that really Michael Caine in the local Croydon nick?
Simon Warne's four-part comedy serial.
Penny ...... Letitia Dean
Bob ...... Phil Cornwell
Andy ...... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Joy ...... Maggie McCarthy
Kate ...... Susannah Doyle
Frank ...... Roger Walker
Ken ...... Andrew Wincott
Producer: Tracey Neale
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2000.
MON 07:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m000cn4q)
Series 23
Episode 1
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.
Holly Walsh, Henning Wehn, Tony Hawks and Sally Phillips are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as actors, rules, dogs and Finland.
Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4
MON 08:00 The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket (b04phln5)
Series 1
The Cruise - 2/2
As their Mediterranean cruise continues, the Captain and the Brigadier compete for the ladies' affections.
Starring Dame Hilda Bracket and her lifelong companion Dr Evadne Hinge.
The dear ladies reside in the Suffolk village of Stackton Tressel. This was the genteel setting for three Radio 4 series between 1977 and 1979, with further spin-off seasons on Radio 2 until 1990. In the early 1980s, they expanded over to BBC TV with the series Dear Ladies.
Dame Hilda Bracket ...... George Logan
Dr Evadne Hinge ...... Patrick Fyffe
Brigadier Roland Baines ...... Michael Bates
Captain Frobisher ...... Donald Hewlett
Scripted by Mike Craig, Lawrie Kinsley and Ron McDonnell.
Produced at BBC Manchester by James Casey.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1977.
MON 08:30 Dad's Army (b008h50c)
Series 3
Absent Friends
Captain Mainwaring returns to platoon insubordination - and an escaped convict.
Adapted for radio from Jimmy Perry and David Croft's TV scripts by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles.
Captain Mainwaring …. Arthur Lowe
Sergeant Wilson …. John Le Mesurier
Corporal Jones …. Clive Dunn
Private Frazer …. John Laurie
Private Pike …. Ian Lavender
Private Godfrey …. Arnold Ridley
Private Walker …. Larry Martyn
Mrs Pike …. Pearl Hackney
Additional music by Dennis Gomm.
Producer: John Dyas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1976.
MON 09:00 Just a Minute (b01md9v4)
Series 64
Episode 5
Nicholas Parsons challenges Graham Norton, Liza Tarbuck, Sue Perkins and Paul Merton to speak for 60 seconds. From 2012.
MON 09:30 Semi Circles (b007jtv2)
Series 2
A Liberal Education
Ben would like to swap his daughter for a Porsche. Or is private education the answer?
The improving story of life and improving times in an improving neighbourhood.
Starring Paula Wilcox as Helen and David Wood as Ben
Written by Simon Brett
Helen ...... Paula Wilcox
Ben ...... David Wood
Mrs Kelly ...... Pay Heywood
Alastair ...... Tony Millan
Producer: Pete Atkin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1982
MON 10:00 Nick Warburton - Conversation from the Engine Room (b092gh2r)
Marriott is a school caretaker. He calls his boiler room the engine room of a ship, with the ship as the school and its cargo - the pupils.
One of them is Robert, a lonely boy, just as Marriott is a lonely man. But they have something else in common.... could it be innocence?
Nick Warburton’s school-based drama.
Marriott ...... Colin Douglas
Fox ...... Hugh Dickson
Miss Murdoch ...... Avril Clarke
Robert ...... Roy Merchant.
Recorded with contributions from the Music Teacher and pupils of St Gildas’ School in North London.
Director: John Tydeman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1986.
MON 11:00 TED Radio Hour (m000czhh)
Series 6
Comfort Zone
Host Guy Raz explores if we are all guilty of getting too comfortable with our routines, with our social circles and the status quo? Is it stopping our development?
In this TED Radho Hour TED speakers explore ways to push out of comfort zones.
A journey through fascinating ideas based on talks by riveting speakers on the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) stage.
First broadcast in the USA on National Public Radio in 2018.
MON 11:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00yz55m)
Series 2
Charnia
David Attenborough has always been fascinated by fossils; even as a boy he'd spend many hours exploring the local quarry near his home in Leicestershire.
Near his family home was a forest which he visited frequently, but didn't hunt for fossils there because he knew the rocks were too old to have any post cards of early life embedded in their layers.
But he was wrong - those rocks harboured a wonderful secret - a secret that would rattle the cages of the big thinkers of the time and would change the story of life on earth for ever.
Written and presented by Sir David Attenborough.
Producer: Julian Hector.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2011.
MON 12:00 The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket (b04phln5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 Dad's Army (b008h50c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000czhc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 Pete & Clive (b06nnnlc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b06d2g5x)
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay
Episode 6
Amory learns the full consequences of the Maroon Street riot.
William Boyd's novel follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the 20th century.
In 1915, Amory’s uncle unknowingly sets her life on its course when he gives her a Kodak Brownie No 2 as a present for her seventh birthday, igniting a lifelong passion for photography. Her camera will take her from high society London in the 1920s to the cabaret clubs and brothels of inter-war Berlin; to 1930s New York, the Blackshirt riots in London’s East End, and to France and Germany during the Second World War, where she becomes one of the first female war photographers.
She eventually comes to rest on a remote Scottish island, where she drinks, writes and looks back on a personal life that has been just as rich and complex as her professional one. She remembers the men that have been closest to her – her father, her brother, her lovers – irreparably scarred by two world wars, and reflects upon her own experiences of conflict and loss, passion and joy.
Read by Barbara Flynn
Abridged by Sara Davies
Producer: Mair Bosworth
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.
MON 14:15 Will Self's Great British Bus Journey (b09pl2sh)
Series 1
Back to the Future
Will Self embarks on a 1000 mile tour of the UK travelling only by bus and coach, exploring urban Britain and British identity at a time of flux.
Bus and coach windows afford Will a different perspective on the nation. He eschews the bright lights of the big cities, heading instead for smaller urban centres. His objective is to speak to Britons about how they view their cities and themselves in 2018.
Will's first trip takes him to Plymouth, once the cockpit of British naval power - a time when national identity was clear and certain.
Over ten programmes, Will takes in Swansea, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Preston, Middlesbrough, East Kilbride and Derry-Londonderry. In the fish and chip shops, the B&Bs, the pubs and car repair garages, Will debates the state of British identity - and discovers that Britain has become a highly debatable land.
Producer: Laurence Grissell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018.
MON 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b06r4bz1)
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - Heat and Dust
Journeys
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's beguiling story of two English women living in India more than 50 years apart.
In 1923, Olivia is unhappily married to a civil servant. Her step-granddaughter travels to the subcontinent years later to investigate Olivia's life, which her family regarded as ‘something dark and terrible’.
The story centres on the experiences of two very different women in pre- and post- Independence India. One is circumscribed by English mores and the formal social structures of the Raj while the other is free to fall in love, live among Indian people, feel part of the culture. So, it's the story of social change as well as a potent love story.
In this opening episode, Olivia meets the Nawab while, 50 years later, her step-granddaughter settles into her new room...
Dramatised by Shelley Silas.
Olivia ..... Pippa Bennett-Warner
Narrator ..... Abby Ford
Douglas ..... Simon Harrison
The Nawab ..... Ronny Jhutti
Harry ..... David Seddon
Inder Lal ..... Neet Mohan
Chid ..... Will Howard
Maji ..... Thusitha Jayasundera
Beth Crawford ..... Debra Baker
Dr Saunders ..... Sam Dale
Major Minnies ..... Chris Pavlo
Pianist ..... Laurie O'Brien
Director: Gaynor Macfarlane
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2015.
MON 14:45 Clive James: Falling Towards England (m000d6b2)
Soft Landing
Clive James reads volume two of his autobiography. 1962 sees his arrival in England by boat from Australia.
First published in 1985 and abridged by Brian Gear.
Known around the world for his dry wit, writer, broadcaster and poet Clive James was born in 1939. Moving to England in 1962, he rose to prominence as a literary critic and TV columnist. He went on to deliver wry commentary on international programming, most memorably in Clive James On Television.
Clive died aged 80 in November 2019.
Producer: Pamela Howe
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1988.
MON 15:00 Nick Warburton - Conversation from the Engine Room (b092gh2r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 Just a Minute (b01md9v4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 Semi Circles (b007jtv2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 Arrested Development (b0075vs2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m000cn4q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus (m000czhm)
Episode 1
Dark fantasy in which two young magicians become trapped in a dangerous game.
Erin Morgenstern's debut novel about love and magic set in a fin-de-siècle touring circus.
Read by Adjoa Andoh.
Abridged in five parts by Alison Joseph
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in December 2011.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (b00l0z38)
Victoria Hislop and Martin Newell
Kate Mosse and her guests - bestselling writer, Victoria Hislop and poet and musician, Martin Newell - discus a short novel, an autobiography and a satirical rant.
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Publisher: Vintage
The Angry Island: Hunting the English by AA Gill
Publisher: Phoenix
The Three of Us by Julia Blackburn
Publisher: Vintage
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2009.
MON 19:00 The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket (b04phln5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Dad's Army (b008h50c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000czhc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 Pete & Clive (b06nnnlc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 TED Radio Hour (m000czhh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:50 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00yz55m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:50 today]
MON 22:00 The Unbelievable Truth (m000cn4q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 On the Hour (b0090br1)
Series 2
Episode 2
Alan Partridge is at the Olympics. Barbara Wintergreen is in America.
All the news as it happens, if it happens from the BBC's urgent and incisive news overview.
Savagely satirical award-winning comedy starring Chris Morris.
With Steve Coogan, David Schneider, Rebecca Front, Patrick Marber and Doon Mackichan.
Written by Chris Morris, Armando Iannucci, Richard Herring, Steven Wells, David Quantick, Andrew Glover and Stewart Lee.
Producer: Armando lannucci
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1992.
MON 23:00 The News Quiz (m000cldf)
Series 101
Best of 2019
Nish Kumar starts the year with a look back at the best bits of News Quiz in 2019.
A review of a busy year of hypothetical ferry companies, not dying in ditches and some musical chairs in the News Quiz hot seat too.
Written by Catherine Brinkworth
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production
MON 23:30 Creme de la Crime (b0089jzj)
Carrion up the Jungle
Mutiny, murder, and a possible parking fine in a dastardly case of felony afloat.
David Pershore travels to the tropics of the Far East. That is, if he can bear to have the inoculations.
Recalled by Michael Feydeau -TV's much-loved Inspector Niblett - and crime expert David Pershore
Using a daring mixture of reconstructions, interviews, music and specially made noises, tales from the vaults of villainy.
Written by and starring Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis.
With:
Olivia Colman
Ewan Bailey
Director: Adam Bromley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2003.
MON 23:45 Helen Keen's It Is Rocket Science (b00z5hrv)
Series 1
Episode 1
Funny, off-beat but factually accurate account of the science of rockets and the brilliant but occasionally warped brains behind it all.
Helen Keen, Peter Serafinowicz and Susy Kane look at the three fathers of modern rocket science:
* 19th Century self-taught Russian visionary Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky and his dreams of orbiting space stations and Martian colonies;
* American Robert H Goddard, derided in The New York Times in the 1920s for his prediction of a lunar landing (A retraction was printed after the Apollo 11 launch);
* Transylvanian-German Hermann Oberth with his brilliant theories about space travel and his horrifying theories about racial supremacy.
Plus Helen reveals the surprising connection between space travel and a coach tour of the Jewels of the Rhineland.
Written by Helen Keen and Miriam Underhill.
Producer: Gareth Edwards
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2011.


TUESDAY 07 JANUARY 2020

TUE 00:00 Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus (m000czhm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b00l0z38)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000czhc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 Pete & Clive (b06nnnlc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b06d2g5x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 Will Self's Great British Bus Journey (b09pl2sh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b06r4bz1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:45 Clive James: Falling Towards England (m000d6b2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Nick Warburton - Conversation from the Engine Room (b092gh2r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Just a Minute (b01md9v4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 Semi Circles (b007jtv2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 Arrested Development (b0075vs2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m000cn4q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000czhv)
Light the Blue Touch Paper and Retire
After the dramatic death at the airport, Johnny Shields has arrived in Switzerland on his secret mission. He must now wait for the opposition to make a move...
Peter Coke stars in Roy Clarke’s thriller serial set in the world of highly-organised international smugglers.
Shields ...... Peter Coke
The Major ...... Bob Grant
Greta ...... Veronica Doran
Doreen ...... Sylvia Brayshay
Tadpole ...... Derrick Gilbert
Muff ...... Robert Powell
Julie ...... Anne Stallybrass
Bruno ...... David Mahlowe
Karl ...... Ben Kingsley
Karen ...... Cynthia Grenville
Gino ...... Ronald Harvi
Foster ...... Michael Stirrup
Producer: Alan Ayckbourn
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1968
TUE 06:30 Ecce! Fife! or Rediscovering the Lost Latin of Fife (b037v8vx)
In Fife in Scotland, schoolchildren are learning Latin through a project run by St Andrews University and the charity IRIS.
But as Natalie Haynes discovers, Fife has a lost Latin heritage, and one which scholars are working to bring back into the light.
Producer: David Stenhouse
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2013.
TUE 07:00 A Month of June (b01jxrmw)
Now You See Me, Now You Don't
There's skulduggery afoot in Mrs. Ramsbottom's safe house for refugees from the Sorcerers' Circle.
Written by Andy Merriman and Peter Morfoot.
Series of comedies written for the many voices of legendary actor June Whitfield.
Debra Cadabra ..... June Whitfield
Kitty French ..... Barbara Windsor
Harry Halliday ..... Robert Blythe
Billy .... Joe Sims
Fred ..... Patrick Brennan
Mrs Ramsbottom ..... Christine Absalom
Director: David Hunter
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2012.
TUE 07:30 The Casebook of Max and Ivan (m000cn0p)
Case #524 - New Year's Evil
Acclaimed double-act Max and Ivan return one last time as incompetent private detectives for hire.
It’s New Year’s Eve, but any plans for celebration are put on ice as Max and Ivan are tasked with investigating fearsome crime family matriarch, Mama Shanks - played by special guest Katherine Parkinson.
Word on the street is that she has something big planned for this very evening but, in a plot that takes in vaping, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and 10,000 bees, can Max and Ivan find out what it going down before it is too late?
Cast:
Max ..... Max Olesker
Ivan ..... Ivan Gonzalez
Martha Shanks ..... Katherine Parkinson
Narrator / Malcolm McMichaelmas ..... Lewis MacLeod
Lumpy ..... Jessica Ransom
PC Gribble ..... David Reed
Written by Max Olesker and Ivan Gonzalez
Original music by Huw Olesker and Samuel H James
Developed by John Stanley Productions
Produced by Ben Walker
A Hare and Tortoise production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 08:00 The Goon Show (b007k4sy)
The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (Solved)
Grytpype-Thynne needs a crew to discover the true fate of the mysterious brigantine.
Groundbreaking, surreal BBC radio comedy written by Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes.
Starring:
Peter Sellers
Harry Secombe
Spike Milligan
First billed as Crazy People, ten series of The Goon Show were recorded between 1951 and 1960, but sadly many of the earliest shows weren’t kept in the archive.
With the Ray Ellington Quartet and Max Geldray.
Orchestra conducted by Wally Stott.
Announcer: Wallace Greenslade
Producer: Peter Eton
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in November 1954.
TUE 08:30 Round the Horne (b00m1d2k)
Series 3
Episode 8
Kenneth Horne's all at sea, and drops into the Bona Nature Clinic for advice from homeopathic practitioners Julian and Sandy. Plus Rambling Syd Rumpo sings 'The Highland Lament'
With Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee.
Recorded at the BBC's Paris Studio in Lower Regent Street, London. Announcer: Douglas Smith
Round The Horne was born out of the demise of BBC radio comedy Beyond Our Ken, after the end of writer Eric Merriman's involvement. Using the same cast and producer, Barry Took and Marty Feldman were persuaded to write the scripts - which led to four series that ran between 1965 and 1968 - packed full of parodies, recurring characters, catchphrases and double-entendres.
Music by Edwin Braden and the Hornblowers and The Fraser Hayes Four.
Producer: John Simmonds
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in April 1967.
TUE 09:00 The News Quiz (m000cldf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:30 Creme de la Crime (b0089jzj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:30 on Monday]
TUE 09:45 Helen Keen's It Is Rocket Science (b00z5hrv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:45 on Monday]
TUE 10:00 Nigel Baldwin - The Tree of Liberty (m000czhx)
Friends in High Places
David Calder plays Lt Gen Lacroix, trying to police France despite the turmoil of the Revolution.
A girl is murdered while Robespierre is in town. Could there be a cover-up going on?
Nigel Baldwin's four-part detective series set in Amiens, 1791.
Lt Gen Lacroix ... David Calder
Monet ... Brian Hibbard
Charlotte .... Kathryn Pogson
Dupont .... Ian Rowlands
Roland .... Christian Rodska
Robespierre .... Brendan Charleson
Didier .... Steve Hodson
Mme Rives .... Bethan Jones
Surgeon .... Matthew Morgan
Mme Giradou ... Lesley Rooney
Duval ... Simon Ludders
Original music by Paula Gardiner
Director: Alison Hindell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1995.
TUE 11:00 How Lovely on the Mountain by Lucy Gannon (b06yfyp9)
A curiously behaving dog leads a postman to make a rather unexpected delivery, Kevin Whately reads Lucy Gannon's short story
One of a special series about some rather Special Deliveries, commissioned to mark the anniversary of the Royal Mail in 2016, 500 years after Cardinal Wolsey appointed the first Master of the Posts in 1516.
Producer: Heather Larmour
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2016.
TUE 11:15 Andy Rashleigh - Be Prepared (b0076m8m)
One of the key figures of the early 20th century, Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout movement, looks back upon a life embodying the spirit of Imperial adventure. From the balcony of his home, he regrets, he gives thanks, he wonders if he has at last found something like harmony and peace.
Written by Andy Rashleigh.
The cast includes Zoe Waites, Nicholas Boulton, Jon Glover, John Rowe and Philip Fox.
Directed by Cherry Cookson.
First broadcast on Radio 4 in July 2004.
TUE 12:00 The Goon Show (b007k4sy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 Round the Horne (b00m1d2k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000czhv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 Ecce! Fife! or Rediscovering the Lost Latin of Fife (b037v8vx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b06d2m00)
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay
Episode 7
Amory receives terrible news and is compelled to travel to France in search of answers.
William Boyd's novel follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the 20th century.
In 1915, Amory’s uncle unknowingly sets her life on its course when he gives her a Kodak Brownie No 2 as a present for her seventh birthday, igniting a lifelong passion for photography. Her camera will take her from high society London in the 1920s to the cabaret clubs and brothels of inter-war Berlin; to 1930s New York, the Blackshirt riots in London’s East End, and to France and Germany during the Second World War, where she becomes one of the first female war photographers.
She eventually comes to rest on a remote Scottish island, where she drinks, writes and looks back on a personal life that has been just as rich and complex as her professional one. She remembers the men that have been closest to her – her father, her brother, her lovers – irreparably scarred by two world wars, and reflects upon her own experiences of conflict and loss, passion and joy.
Read by Barbara Flynn
Abridged by Sara Davies
Producer: Mair Bosworth
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.
TUE 14:15 Will Self's Great British Bus Journey (b09q440l)
Series 1
Soup and Laverbread
Will Self continues his tour of urban Britain travelling only by coach and bus, assessing British identity at a time of flux.
It's a late night for Will as he speaks to some of Plymouth's homeless people who are gathering to make use of a mobile soup kitchen. After just a few hours sleep, he boards the 5am coach bound for Swansea, where he samples a local delicacy and examines the state of Welsh identity.
Producer: Laurence Grissell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018.
TUE 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b06r4xwt)
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - Heat and Dust
The Husbands' Wedding Day
Harry comes to stay with the Rivers in an attempt to break free of the Nawab while the narrator visits the Baba Firdaus shrine on the Husbands' Wedding Day.
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's beguiling story of two English women living in India more than 50 years apart.
In 1923, Olivia is unhappily married to a civil servant. Her step-granddaughter travels to the subcontinent years later to investigate Olivia's life, which her family regarded as ‘something dark and terrible’.
The story centres on the experiences of two very different women in pre- and post- Independence India. One is circumscribed by English mores and the formal social structures of the Raj while the other is free to fall in love, live among Indian people, feel part of the culture. So, it's the story of social change as well as a potent love story.
Olivia ..... Pippa Bennett-Warner
Narrator ..... Abby Ford
Douglas ..... Simon Harrison
The Nawab ..... Ronny Jhutti
Harry ..... David Seddon
Inder Lal ..... Neet Mohan
Chid ..... Will Howard
Maji ..... Thusitha Jayasundera
Beth Crawford ..... Debra Baker
Dr Saunders ..... Sam Dale
Major Minnies ..... Chris Pavlo
Dramatised by Shelley Silas.
Pianist ..... Laurie O'Brien
Director: Gaynor Macfarlane
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2015.
TUE 14:45 Clive James: Falling Towards England (m000d6bh)
Soul For Sale
Reappraising moral values and considering an advertising job.
Clive James continues volume two of his autobiography.
First published in 1985 and abridged by Brian Gear.
Known around the world for his dry wit, writer, broadcaster and poet Clive James was born in 1939. Moving to England in 1962, he rose to prominence as a literary critic, TV columnist and presenter.
Clive died aged 80 in November 2019.
Producer: Pamela Howe
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1988.
TUE 15:00 Nigel Baldwin - The Tree of Liberty (m000czhx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 Jest a Minute (b012n3rz)
Series 1
Episode 2
Justin Moorhouse, Rob Deering, Chris Corcoran and Tom Allen hit London in Rhod Gilbert's comedy quiz. From September 2006.
TUE 16:30 Odd Balls (b0076008)
Emma Harper: Tussles in a Theme Village
Ex-headmistress Emma Harper writes a column for a village newspaper. But when she's poached by the local radio station, her gossip programme causes controversy, anger and revenge...
One of four character based comedies by Don Howarth.
Emma ...... Marcia Warren
Vicar ...... Geoff Holman
Sid ...... David Holt
Mrs Cowley ...... Sara Coward
Mr Mole ...... Ian Brooker
Ms Spratt ...... Sharon Muircroft
Major Drum ...... Robert Uster
Director: Julie Beckett
Producer: Sue Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2001.
TUE 17:00 A Month of June (b01jxrmw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 The Casebook of Max and Ivan (m000cn0p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus (m000czj0)
Episode 2
The circus recruits a promising young illusionist.
Erin Morgenstern's debut novel about love and magic set in a fin-de-siècle touring circus where two young magicians are trapped in a dangerous game.
Read by Adjoa Andoh.
Abridged by Alison Joseph
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in December 2011.
TUE 18:30 Pioneers (b00xh8hq)
Series 1
Kim Cotton
Kim Cotton talks about the emotional impact after becoming the UK's first surrogate. She explains to Clare English about how this supposedly wonderful experience was quickly overshadowed by not only a media circus, but also by public criticism.
She describes how she received very little support from the surrogate agency which left her feeling completely isolated and mentally unprepared for when it came time to hand over baby Cotton.
TUE 19:00 The Goon Show (b007k4sy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 Round the Horne (b00m1d2k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000czhv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 Ecce! Fife! or Rediscovering the Lost Latin of Fife (b037v8vx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 How Lovely on the Mountain by Lucy Gannon (b06yfyp9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 21:15 Andy Rashleigh - Be Prepared (b0076m8m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
TUE 22:00 The Casebook of Max and Ivan (m000cn0p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 Sketchorama (b06172dj)
Series 4
Episode 1
The Twins Macabre, Massive Dad, and The Penny Dreadfuls.
Award winning actress and comedian Isy Suttie presents the pick of the best live sketch groups currently performing on the UK comedy circuit
Every show spotlights three up and coming groups featuring character, improv, broken and musical sketch comedy.
There are so many incredibly talented and inventive sketch groups on the British Comedy scene but with no dedicated broadcast format. Sketchorama aims to bring hidden gems and established live acts to the airwaves.
Producer: Gus Beattie
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2015.
TUE 23:00 Vent (b01f9xz7)
Series 3
Stirrings in the Night
Ben and Mary's love life is in jeopardy, so Blitz recruits Lord Byron to offer the couple some useful relationship advice.
Dark sitcom about a man in a coma, travelling through the distinctly odd landscape of his own unconscious mind.
Written by Nigel Smith.
Ben ...... Neil Pearson
Mary ...... Fiona Allen
Mum ...... Josie Lawrence
Blitz ...... Leslie Ash
Nurse ...... Jo Martin
Derek ...... Stephen Frost
Marley/Lord Byron ...... Spencer Brown
Bea ...... Scarlett Milburn-Smith
Director: Nigel Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2009.
TUE 23:30 A Look Back at the Nineties (b007jqk5)
1995
Sponsoring the British Army, the impact of total European integration - and the House of Commons votes for the Honesty Act...
Recorded in 1993 - Brian Perkins, Kate Robbins and Chris Barrie 'look back' at the rest of 1990s yet to happen - starting with 1995.
A satirical review set on New Year's Eve 1999 - the Sony Gold award-winning comedy recalls the events from 1995 to 1999.
Predicted by 'Spitting Image' writers Mark Burton, John O'Farrell and Pete Sinclair.
Producer: Caroline Leddy
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1993.


WEDNESDAY 08 JANUARY 2020

WED 00:00 Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus (m000czj0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Pioneers (b00xh8hq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000czhv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 Ecce! Fife! or Rediscovering the Lost Latin of Fife (b037v8vx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b06d2m00)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 Will Self's Great British Bus Journey (b09q440l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b06r4xwt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:45 Clive James: Falling Towards England (m000d6bh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Nigel Baldwin - The Tree of Liberty (m000czhx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 Jest a Minute (b012n3rz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Odd Balls (b0076008)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 A Month of June (b01jxrmw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 The Casebook of Max and Ivan (m000cn0p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000d04x)
The Minestrone Thickens and is Stirred
Shields has made contact with the Swiss gang through Karen and Bruno, but it's doubtful whether he'll live long enough to make use of it...
Peter Coke stars in Roy Clarke’s thriller serial set in the world of highly-organised international smugglers.
Shields ...... Peter Coke
The Major ...... Bob Grant
Greta ...... Veronica Doran
Doreen ...... Sylvia Brayshay
Tadpole ...... Derrick Gilbert
Muff ...... Robert Powell
Julie ...... Anne Stallybrass
Bruno ...... David Mahlowe
Karl ...... Ben Kingsley
Karen ...... Cynthia Grenville
Gino ...... Ronald Harvi
Foster ...... Michael Stirrup
Jean Hogg ...... Heather Stoney
Alfie ...... Peter Stephens
Producer: Alan Ayckbourn
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1968
WED 06:30 Why Bob the Builder Has Moved Overseas (b01r12ln)
In 2013, cartoonist Gerald Scarfe explored a crisis in British animation, a gripping tale of talent, toons and tax breaks.
Like so many other industries, it was moving abroad with Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine both owned by the American toy giant Mattel. Tax breaks in Ireland and Canada meant much British animation was being drawn overseas.
Having been involved in this business for over 50 years, Gerald Scarfe has worked for Disney on Hercules and Pink Floyd's The Wall, as well as doing a weekly cartoon for the Sunday Times. His son is an animator, and his grandson wants to work in the business too, but will the industry survive?
With contributions from Nick Park of Aardman, culture minister Ed Vaizey, and Brian Cosgrove, creator of Dangermouse and Count Duckula, this is a high quality insight into a business we all take for granted, but for which other nations have enormous respect. In 2012, the Chancellor George Osborne, in his budget statement, stated that it was government policy 'that we keep Wallace and Gromit exactly where they are'.
This then is the starting point for a gripping tale of talent, toons, and tax breaks.
Producer: Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013
WED 07:00 Electric Ink (b011qfr8)
Series 1
Episode 4
The paper hires a reality star as a columnist so Maddox must find a way of rewriting her copy without upsetting her.
Old hacks meet new media in Alistair Beaton’s satire set in the changing world of the newspaper industry.
Maddox ...... Robert Lindsay
Oliver ...... Alex Jennings
Amelia ...... Elizabeth Berrington
Tasneem ...... Zita Sattar
Masha ...... Debbie Chazen
Freddy ...... Ben Willbond
Announcer ...... Matt Addis
Debbie ...... Lizzy Watts
With additional material by Tom Mitchelson.
Director: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2009.
WED 07:30 The Missing Hancocks (m000cp2n)
The Counterfeiter
The Missing Hancocks recreates those episodes of the classic Hancock's Half Hour that have been wiped or lost from the archive.
The first modern sitcom, Hancock's Half Hour made stars of Tony Hancock, Sid James and Kenneth Williams, and launched Ray Galton and Alan Simpson as one of the most successful comedy-writing partnerships in history. But 20 episodes of the show were missing from the BBC archives. Now, after four highly successful series, the final batch of those episodes have been lovingly re-recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC Radio Theatre.
Tonight's episode: Hancock's fed up with Bill Kerr spending all day in bed, and decides to find him a job. But with Sid James involved, things were always going to get complicated.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and with the classic score re-recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, the show stars Kevin McNally, Kevin Eldon, Simon Greenall, Robin Sebastian and Margaret Cabourn-Smith. The Counterfeiter was never recorded by the original team, and the cast and crew of The Missing Hancocks are proud to present a Hancock premiere.
Produced by Neil Pearson & Hayley Sterling.
Written by Ray Galton & Simpson
Music recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Levon Parikian.
A BBC Studios Production.
WED 08:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b00t3twj)
Series 3
The Student Prince
The lad is lured to Moravia as an unknowing decoy for the endangered Crown Prince.
Starring Tony Hancock
With Bill Kerr, Sidney James, Andree Melly and Kenneth Williams.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Theme and incidental music composed by Wally Stott. Recorded by the BBC Revue Orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.
Producer: Dennis Main Wilson
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in January 1956.
WED 08:30 Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead (b00hk2f1)
Series 2
Episode 2
Improvement grants for everybody explained and a plumber muses on words.
A sequential entertainment for radio starring Ronnie Barker.
With Terence Brady and Pauline Yates. Pianist: Gordon Langford.
Written by Tony Bilbow, Mike Fentiman, David Climie, Gordon Langford, John Graham, Miles Kington, Roy Lomax, Myles Rudge, Max Harris and Peter Spence.
Producer John Fawcett-Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1972.
WED 09:00 The Rest is History (b0769tsq)
Series 2
Episode 2
Frank Skinner loves history, but just doesn't know much of it. So he's devised a comedy discussion show in order to find out more about it.
Along with his historian in residence, Professor Kate Williams Frank is joined by Al Murray and Isy Suttie, who discuss Robin Hood, wartime slogans, Annie Oakley and a statue-related history mystery.
Producers: Mark Augustyn and Justin Pollard
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2016.
WED 09:30 An Actor's Life for Me (b008h696)
Series 2
Up on the Roof
Landing a job performing in a prison, will Robert finally get a captive audience?
John Gordon Sinclair stars in Paul Mayhew-Archer's sitcom.
Robert Wilson ..... John Gordon Sinclair
Desmond Shaw ..... Gary Waldhorn
Sue ..... Caroline Quentin
With:
Stephen Garlick
Jane Slavin
Donald Gee
David Ryall
Charles Simpson
Marcia Warren
Moray Watson
Producer: Paul Spencer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1990.
WED 10:00 Nigel Baldwin - The Tree of Liberty (m000d050)
To Be a Pilgrim
Lacroix calls on the local sorceress to help him solve what appears to be a ritual killing.
David Calder plays Lt Gen Lacroix, trying to police France despite the turmoil of the Revolution.
Nigel Baldwin’s detective series set in Amiens, 1791.
Lt Gen Lacroix ... David Calder
Monet ... Brian Hibbard
Charlotte .... Kathryn Pogson
Madeleine .... Frances Tomelty
Didier .... Steve Hodson
Roland .... Christian Rodska
Mme des Chats ... Sue Roderick
Surgeon ... Matthew Morgan
Duval ... Simon Ludders
Original music by Paula Gardiner
Director: Alison Hindell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1995.
WED 11:00 Tony Law's Surreal Guide to Surreal Comedy (m000d052)
1. Simply Absurd
Absurdist Canadian comedian, Tony Law, takes us on a journey through the twists and turns of Surrealism in comedy.
He is accompanied by historian Mary Beard, writer Will Self and Noel Fielding.
Featuring a rare interview from Gerard Hoffnung and Monty Python’s Terry Jones presenting ‘Simply Absurd’.
Is the world becoming more surreal? Have the targets of Surrealism changed?
ToneZone, as he insists the Producer calls him, investigates...
Producer: Kerry McCarthy.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in February 2014.
WED 12:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b00t3twj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead (b00hk2f1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000d04x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 Why Bob the Builder Has Moved Overseas (b01r12ln)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b06d8ssv)
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay
Episode 8
Life takes an unexpected turn after the handsome officer tracks Amory down in Paris.
William Boyd's novel follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the 20th century.
In 1915, Amory’s uncle unknowingly sets her life on its course when he gives her a Kodak Brownie No 2 as a present for her seventh birthday, igniting a lifelong passion for photography. Her camera will take her from high society London in the 1920s to the cabaret clubs and brothels of inter-war Berlin; to 1930s New York, the Blackshirt riots in London’s East End, and to France and Germany during the Second World War, where she becomes one of the first female war photographers.
She eventually comes to rest on a remote Scottish island, where she drinks, writes and looks back on a personal life that has been just as rich and complex as her professional one. She remembers the men that have been closest to her – her father, her brother, her lovers – irreparably scarred by two world wars, and reflects upon her own experiences of conflict and loss, passion and joy.
Read by Barbara Flynn
Abridged by Sara Davies
Producer: Mair Bosworth
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.
WED 14:15 Will Self's Great British Bus Journey (b09q44n8)
Series 1
A Trip down Rusty Lane
Will Self continues his tour of urban Britain travelling only by coach and bus, assessing British identity at a time of flux.
After checking out of his Swansea B&B, it's time to move on to West Bromwich, where Will visits the place JB Priestley once described as the worst street in England. Will finds out what the street tells us about Britain today.
Producer: Laurence Grissell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018.
WED 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b06r5wlg)
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - Heat and Dust
Olivia
Olivia and Douglas hope for a baby.
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's beguiling story of two English women living in India more than 50 years apart.
In 1923, Olivia is unhappily married to a civil servant. Her step-granddaughter travels to the subcontinent years later to investigate Olivia's life, which her family regarded as ‘something dark and terrible’.
The story centres on the experiences of two very different women in pre- and post- Independence India. One is circumscribed by English mores and the formal social structures of the Raj while the other is free to fall in love, live among Indian people, feel part of the culture. So, it's the story of social change as well as a potent love story.
Olivia ..... Pippa Bennett-Warner
Narrator ..... Abby Ford
Douglas ..... Simon Harrison
The Nawab ..... Ronny Jhutti
Harry ..... David Seddon
Inder Lal ..... Neet Mohan
Chid ..... Will Howard
Maji ..... Thusitha Jayasundera
Beth Crawford ..... Debra Baker
Dr Saunders ..... Sam Dale
Major Minnies ..... Chris Pavlo
Dramatised by Shelley Silas.
Pianist ..... Laurie O'Brien
Director: Gaynor Macfarlane
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2015.
WED 14:45 Clive James: Falling Towards England (m000d6bf)
Cracking The Secret Code
1960s England: drooling over beauty and the struggle of finding work.
Clive James continues volume two of his autobiography.
First published in 1985 and abridged by Brian Gear.
Known around the world for his dry wit, writer, broadcaster and poet Clive James was born in 1939. Moving to England in 1962, he rose to prominence as a literary critic, TV columnist and presenter.
Clive died aged 80 in November 2019.
Producer: Pamela Howe
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1988.
WED 15:00 Nigel Baldwin - The Tree of Liberty (m000d050)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 The Rest is History (b0769tsq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 An Actor's Life for Me (b008h696)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 Electric Ink (b011qfr8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 The Missing Hancocks (m000cp2n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus (m000d055)
Episode 3
Sparks fly between Celia and Marco as the impact of their magical game takes a sinister turn.
Erin Morgenstern's debut novel about love and magic set in a fin-de-siècle travelling circus where two young magicians are trapped in a dangerous game.
Read by Adjoa Andoh.
Abridged by Alison Joseph
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in December 2011.
WED 18:30 The Palace of Laughter (b007wld9)
Series 1
Belfast Grand Opera House
Geoffrey Wheeler is in Belfast meeting staff and performers at the Grand Opera House, which emerged from the Troubles as a symbol of the city's regeneration.
Mike Harding and Jimmy Cricket are among those recalling their experiences at this classic theatre built by Frank Matcham in 1895.
Series visiting variety theatres around the United Kingdom.
Producer: Libby Cross
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2002.
WED 19:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b00t3twj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead (b00hk2f1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000d04x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 Why Bob the Builder Has Moved Overseas (b01r12ln)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Tony Law's Surreal Guide to Surreal Comedy (m000d052)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 22:00 The Missing Hancocks (m000cp2n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 The Lawrence Sweeney Mix (b00k9pcb)
Series 1
Episode 2
Lover's Leap, a Moon expedition - and so much more!
Josie Lawrence and Jim Sweeney make it up as they go along!
Faced with a live studio audience and a couple of microphones - the masters of improve create sketches from shouted out suggestions.
Producer: Dawn Ellis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2007.
WED 23:00 Clare in the Community (b00sx2ql)
Series 6
The Crush
Clare decides to focus on her son, sparking a chance meeting at Toddler Tunes that could change the course of her life.
Meanwhile, Brian's admiration for Nali grows when she visits his school and tames Year 9. All this plus Clare and Libby both interview for the Team Leader post.
Clare Barker is the self-absorbed social worker who has the right jargon for every problem she comes across, though never a practical solution. But there are plenty of challenges out there for an involved, caring social worker. Or even Clare.
Clare ..... Sally Phillips
Brian ..... Alex Lowe
Ray ..... Richard Lumsden
Helen ..... Liza Tarbuck
Megan ..... Nina Conti
Libby ..... Jess Robinson
Clerk .... Alex Tregear
Howard ..... Paterson Joseph
Other parts played by the cast.
Written by Harry Venning and David Ramsden
Producer: Katie Tyrrell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2010.
WED 23:30 Absolute Power (b007q93w)
Series 1
Episode 3
Prentis McCabe - the machiavellian doctors of spin – get involved in the race for London Mayor.
Mark Tavener's comedy about the two specialists in government and media relations.
Starring Stephen Fry as Charles Prentiss and John Bird as Martin McCabe.
With:
Tony Gardner
Siobhan Hayes
Colin McFarlane
Hugh Parker
Producer: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2000.


THURSDAY 09 JANUARY 2020

THU 00:00 Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus (m000d055)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 The Palace of Laughter (b007wld9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000d04x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 Why Bob the Builder Has Moved Overseas (b01r12ln)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b06d8ssv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 Will Self's Great British Bus Journey (b09q44n8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b06r5wlg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:45 Clive James: Falling Towards England (m000d6bf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Nigel Baldwin - The Tree of Liberty (m000d050)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 The Rest is History (b0769tsq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 An Actor's Life for Me (b008h696)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Electric Ink (b011qfr8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 The Missing Hancocks (m000cp2n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000czqc)
Saraband to a Burning Fuse
Johnny Shields and Julie are now on board the St Gothard Express bound for Lugano. Somehow they have to warn the authorities that Karl is in danger...
Peter Coke stars in Roy Clarke’s thriller serial set in the world of highly-organised international smugglers.
Shields ...... Peter Coke
The Major ...... Bob Grant
Greta ...... Veronica Doran
Muff ...... Robert Powell
Julie ...... Anne Stallybrass
Jean Hogg ...... Heather Stoney
Walter ...... Ben Kingsley
Producer: Alan Ayckbourn
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1968
THU 06:30 Texting Andy Warhol (b00n9097)
Does a picture made from words count as literature or art? Bidisha talks to gallery visitors reading Richard Long's words on the walls - how is that different from a book by Dali?
Bidisha considers text as art with Keith Tyson, Fiona Banner, Ed Ruscha and John Baldessari amongst others.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2009.
THU 07:00 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b06rz89l)
Series 7
The Flying Scotsman
A whodunnit set on the great Flying Scotsman in the days of steam. A rookie Detective Constable and a world weary Detective Inspector combine forces with a recalcitrant train guard to solve a murder and expose Soho gangland supremo Mickey Two Eyes and his side kick Legs Leona.
Stanley Baxter is the guard who rules over the passengers and the timetable with a rod of iron, and he’s joined by Beth Marshall and David Mara as Scotland Yard’s finest and Cathy Sara as a passenger with a secret.
Cast:
Train Guard..................Stanley Baxter
DI Ross.........................David Mara
DC Sarah McLeod.........Beth Marshall
Lil.................................Cathy Sara

Written by Rona Munro
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4
THU 07:30 Elephant in the Room (m000671w)
Episode 1
Sarah Millican hosts a new panel show using surveys to discover who is the most Average Jolene, and who is the most Maverick Matilda. This week's sparkling panel features Kathy Burke, Liz Carr, Desiree Burch and Tom Allen.
Surveys on subjects including childhood, daily rituals and favourite cheese are the basis for Sarah's questions to the panellists, discovering who is the closest to, and furthest from, the average. Surprising quirks, hilarious insights and unexpected anecdotes are revealed along the way.
The winner will be the most average. But joint winner will be the most different, the furthest from the norm.
A little bit like a dinner party, but one where you know all of the spoons.
A Chopsy production for BBC Radio 4
THU 08:00 The Ken Dodd Show (b05rcy5f)
From 04/07/1965
Doddy joins the Invercock-a-leekie Ballet Company and Andy Mann prepares to go on holiday
Starring Ken Dodd.
With John Laurie, Patricia Hayes, Judith Chalmers, Wallas Eaton, Percy Edwards, Alan Curtis and Graham Stark.
Music from The New Faces.
Doddy's Diddy Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Lockyer.
Script by Ken Dodd and Eddie Braben.
Producer: Bill Worsley
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in July 1965.
THU 08:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00s6n2b)
Series 3
Episode 7
Scary wannabes in 'Opportunity Flops' - and an Agatha Christie flavoured whodunit?
More quick-fire sketches, terrible puns, humorous songs and parodies.
Stars Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill Oddie.
Written by Tim Brooke-Taylor, Brian Cooke & Johnnie Mortimer, Graeme Garden, David Hatch, Alan Hutchinson, Bernard King, and Peter and David Lund.
Originating from the Cambridge University Footlights revue 'Cambridge Circus', ISIRTA ran for 8 years on BBC Radio and quickly developed a cult following.
Music and songs by Dave Lee and Bill Oddie.
Producer: Humphrey Barclay
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in April 1966.
THU 09:00 It's Your Round (b00zf4nz)
Series 1
Episode 5
'It's Your Round' is the comedy panel show where each of the panellists tries to beat the others at their own games. All the panellists have brought along their own round for the others to play, meaning that each show is unique, untried, and unpredictable.
In this episode Tim Key, Micky Flanagan, Bridget Christie and Nick Hancock battle it out to see who can become It's Your Round champion for the week.
Enjoy the hilarity that ensues when each of them play the games they've brought along. What is Micky's 'Cockney Rhyming Slang Charades' all about and is it any fun to play? Can anyone understand the rules to Tim's 'No More Women'? And what is Bridget's idea of her 'Fantasy Funeral'? Find out the answers to these questions, and more, in this show.
Angus Deayton is the host valiantly trying to make sure everyone comes out of it with their reputations intact.
Writers: Angus Deayton, Ged Parsons and Paul Powell
The reader is Christine Kavanagh
Devised by Benjamin Partridge
Producer: Sam Michell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2011.
THU 09:30 Capital Gains (b007qgnq)
Series 1
Risk Capital
Amateur philosopher, Julius Hutch is looking forward to spending his retirement just "pottering".
But one morning, he wakes early to find that his life is changed forever...
Peter Jones stars as Julius Hutch.
First of two series written by Collin Johnson.
Julius Hutch ...... Peter Jones
Mrs Pauline Tone ...... Celestine Randall
Kate ...... Justine Midda
Sexton Lewis ...... Jeffrey Wickham
News Reader ...... Collin Johnson
Producer: Andy Jordan.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1995.
THU 10:00 Nigel Baldwin - The Tree of Liberty (m000czqf)
Health of a Nation
When a doctor is found dead, his son confesses to the murder. But he's got an alibi, so why would he lie?
David Calder plays Lt Gen Lacroix, trying to police France despite the turmoil of the Revolution.
Nigel Baldwin’s detective series set in Amiens, 1791.
Lt Gen Lacroix ... David Calder
Monet ... Brian Hibbard
Charlotte .... Kathryn Pogson
Madeleine ... Frances Tomelty
Duval ... Simon Ludders
Ferrier ... Andrew Wincott
Mme Dupre ... Sue Roderick
Georges .... Robert Harper
Panchaud ... Steve Hodson
Surgeon ... Matthew Morgan
Original music by Paula Gardiner
Director: Alison Hindell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1995.
THU 11:00 Zarafa by Kate Woodward (b06z5jmf)
The tale of Zarafa, a very unusual gift for King Charles X of France.
Adrian Lukis reads Kate Woodward’s short story.
One of a special series about some rather Special Deliveries, commissioned to mark the anniversary of the Royal Mail in 2016, 500 years after Cardinal Wolsey appointed the first Master of the Posts in 1516.
Producer: Heather Larmour
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2016.
THU 11:15 Drama (b06flmdp)
David Spicer - Kempton and the Duke
Kevin Whately stars as Kempton Bunton, the pensioner who stole Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in 1961. A new comedy drama by David Spicer.
In 1961, a portrait of the Duke of Wellington by the great Spanish artist Francisco de Goya was bought by an American collector for £140,000. Following a public outcry the British Government stepped in, matched the bid and saved the painting for the nation.
It was put on display in the National Gallery from where, three weeks later, it was stolen by Kempton Bunton - a 61 year old retired lorry driver from Newcastle who was protesting about having to buy a television licence.
He was a dedicated campaigner who had already served time in jail for refusing to pay for his TV licence. His plan was to get the Government to pay another £140,000 for the return of the painting and then use this money to buy TV licences for OAPs. Once he had the painting safely stored in a wardrobe at his home in Newcastle, he started writing letters explaining his plan to the press and Chairman of the National Gallery. However, no one took his letters seriously.
This is a play about a heist, a manhunt and a marvellously English eccentric character. It also looks at art - highbrow Goya versus lowbrow TV - and the relative values we place upon it. Kempton Bunton was a man who, although he had a 19th century masterpiece in his wardrobe, just wanted to watch Emergency Ward 10 for free.
Written by David Spicer
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:00 The Ken Dodd Show (b05rcy5f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00s6n2b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000czqc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 Texting Andy Warhol (b00n9097)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b06d9lj9)
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay
Episode 9
Frustrated by her life in Scotland, Amory heads into the field once more.
William Boyd's novel follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the 20th century.
In 1915, Amory’s uncle unknowingly sets her life on its course when he gives her a Kodak Brownie No 2 as a present for her seventh birthday, igniting a lifelong passion for photography. Her camera will take her from high society London in the 1920s to the cabaret clubs and brothels of inter-war Berlin; to 1930s New York, the Blackshirt riots in London’s East End, and to France and Germany during the Second World War, where she becomes one of the first female war photographers.
She eventually comes to rest on a remote Scottish island, where she drinks, writes and looks back on a personal life that has been just as rich and complex as her professional one. She remembers the men that have been closest to her – her father, her brother, her lovers – irreparably scarred by two world wars, and reflects upon her own experiences of conflict and loss, passion and joy.
Read by Barbara Flynn
Abridged by Sara Davies
Producer: Mair Bosworth
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2015.
THU 14:15 Will Self's Great British Bus Journey (b09q4522)
Series 1
Rock On at the Giffard
Will Self continues his tour of urban Britain travelling only by coach and bus, assessing British identity at a time of flux.
Will visits Wolverhampton's Express & Star - which enjoys the highest circulation of any local paper - before winding down and rocking out at the town's goth pub.
Producer: Laurence Grissell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2018.
THU 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b06r84r2)
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - Heat and Dust
Pieces of Red String
Both women visit the Baba Firdaus shrine and make a wish.
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's beguiling story of two English women living in India more than fifty years apart.
In 1923, Olivia is unhappily married to a civil servant. Her step-granddaughter travels to the subcontinent years later to investigate Olivia's life, which her family regarded as ‘something dark and terrible’.
The story centres on the experiences of two very different women in pre- and post- Independence India. One is circumscribed by English mores and the formal social structures of the Raj while the other is free to fall in love, live among Indian people, feel part of the culture. So, it's the story of social change as well as a potent love story.
Olivia ..... Pippa Bennett-Warner
Narrator ..... Abby Ford
Douglas ..... Simon Harrison
The Nawab ..... Ronny Jhutti
Harry ..... David Seddon
Inder Lal ..... Neet Mohan
Chid ..... Will Howard
Maji ..... Thusitha Jayasundera
Beth Crawford ..... Debra Baker
Dr Saunders ..... Sam Dale
Major Minnies ..... Chris Pavlo
Pianist ..... Laurie O'Brien
Dramatised by Shelley Silas.
Director: Gaynor Macfarlane
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2015.
THU 14:45 Clive James: Falling Towards England (m000d6y3)
Statistical Catastrophe
1960s England: trying to impress a career girl - at the expense of his own job.
Clive James continues volume two of his autobiography.
First published in 1985 and abridged by Brian Gear.
Known around the world for his dry wit, writer, broadcaster and poet Clive James was born in 1939. Moving to England in 1962, he rose to prominence as a literary critic, TV columnist and presenter.
Clive died aged 80 in November 2019.
Producer: Pamela Howe
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1988.
THU 15:00 Nigel Baldwin - The Tree of Liberty (m000czqf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 It's Your Round (b00zf4nz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 Capital Gains (b007qgnq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b06rz89l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 Elephant in the Room (m000671w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus (m000czqh)
Episode 4
Celia desperately tries to find a way of bringing the game to an end without further loss of life.
Erin Morgenstern's debut novel about love and magic set in a fin-de-siècle touring circus where two young magicians are trapped in a dangerous game.
Read by Adjoa Andoh.
Abridged by Alison Joseph
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in December 2011.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b03zy2kd)
Series 33
Sarah Vine on Dante
"Whenever I have too much to drink, I bang on about Dante ...." Sarah Vine makes a choice from the heart - the great Italian writer Dante Alighieri, father of the Italian language and author of the Divine Comedy. "I'm not an expert," she says, "mine is more of a romantic infatuation."
As well as the outspoken Daily Mail columnist, Matthew Parris is joined by Claire Honess, professor of Italian studies at Leeds University.
Together they piece together an extraordinary life. Includes extracts from Radio 4's production of the Divine Comedy starring John Hurt
Producer: Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2014.
THU 19:00 The Ken Dodd Show (b05rcy5f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (b00s6n2b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000czqc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 Texting Andy Warhol (b00n9097)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Zarafa by Kate Woodward (b06z5jmf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
THU 21:15 Drama (b06flmdp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 today]
THU 22:00 Elephant in the Room (m000671w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 Lewis Macleod Is Not Himself (b04kbl8h)
Episode 4
A brand new impression and sketch show that looks behind the scenes at the life and work of star impressionist Lewis Macleod (Newsjack, Postman Pat, The Phantom Menace, Dead Ringers) with Kate O'Sullivan, Duncan Wisbey and Julian Dutton.
Producer: Lyndsay Fenner.
THU 23:00 The Hudson and Pepperdine Show (b0076254)
Series 2
Episode 2
Mel Hudson and Vicki Pepperdine have a diabolical visitor while 'Eminem' and 'Lesley Garrett' perform a duet. From May 2001.
THU 23:30 Cowards (b00fq6rq)
Series 2
Episode 4
Sketch show with a comic slant on human frailties. With Tom Basden, Tim Key and Lloyd Woolf. From December 2008.


FRIDAY 10 JANUARY 2020

FRI 00:00 Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus (m000czqh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b03zy2kd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000czqc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Texting Andy Warhol (b00n9097)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Book at Bedtime (b06d9lj9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 Will Self's Great British Bus Journey (b09q4522)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 15 Minute Drama (b06r84r2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:45 Clive James: Falling Towards England (m000d6y3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:45 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Nigel Baldwin - The Tree of Liberty (m000czqf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 It's Your Round (b00zf4nz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 Capital Gains (b007qgnq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b06rz89l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Elephant in the Room (m000671w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000d07j)
Smaller Shrinks the Standing Corn
Shields meets Marco and collects the plates. But before he and Julie can get clear of the island, the alarm is raised by one of Bruno's men...
Peter Coke stars in Roy Clarke’s thriller serial set in the world of highly-organised international smugglers.
Shields ...... Peter Coke
The Major ...... Bob Grant
Greta ...... Veronica Doran
Julie ...... Anne Stallybrass
Slip ...... Colin Edwynn
Sergeant ...... Ben Kingsley
Producer: Alan Ayckbourn
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1968
FRI 06:30 Maiden Voyage: The First Woman in Space (b026x9mr)
In 1963 Valentina Tereshkova, a simple factory worker, was sent on a solo mission to space. She became a hero in her country, a legend around the world and an icon of gender equality.
But what really happened on the flight was kept secret in Soviet times and remains mysterious, earning Valentina the moniker 'Greta Garbo of Space'. No woman would travel to space for nearly 20 years after she returned.
Lucy Ash travels to Valentina's hometown Yaroslavl, on Moscow's Golden Ring, in search of the person behind the legend, meeting her daughter, workmates and relatives.
At a time when Putin is reviving Soviet-era pride in the motherland, we look at what Valentina's incredible journey means today.
Producer: Dorothy Feaver
A Cast Iron Radio and Recording production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2013.
FRI 07:00 1834 (b0121lh5)
Victorian Principles
The young Queen Victoria is coming to Woolsley House for a visit. But when 21st century Jason invents the electric guitar, he unwittingly changes the course of history.....
In Jim Poyser's riotous comedy, Jason has been transported back to the 18th century as Tarquin, third son of Lord Belport with faithful valet, Ned.
Stars Michael Begley as Jason Slater, Joe Caffrey as Ned, Kenneth Alan Taylor as Hoskins, Mark Chatterton as Lord Belport, James Nickerson as Henry and Caroline Harding as Queen Victoria.
Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2003.
FRI 07:30 Fred at The Stand (m000cyw8)
Series 1
Lyons, Mazadza, Jones and Delaney
Fred MacAulay introduces some of the funniest comedians in the UK doing what they do best - pure stand-up comedy. Recorded at The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh.
This week, Zoe Lyons shares her insights into Buddhism, newcomer Wayne Mazadza integrates into British life, Rosie Jones doesn't let being northern hold her back, and the relentless Gary Delaney delivers a barrage of unstoppable one liners.
Produced by Richard Melvin
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 08:00 The Burkiss Way (b007js2t)
Series 4
Is Britain Going the Burkiss Way? Part 2
The Martians Are Coming! Or are they? Is this a spoof? Or a spoof of a spoof?
Starring Fred Harris, Jo Kendall, Nigel Rees and Chris Emmett.
Cult sketch comedy series which originally ran from 1976 to 1980.
Written by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick.
Producer: David Hatch
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1979.
FRI 08:30 Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel (b007jv6w)
Series 1
Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel
Shady lawyer Waldorf T Flywheel and his assistant Ravelli get themselves hired to guard a Rembrandt painting.
Recreation of the Marx Brothers' lost shows charting the adventures of shady lawyer Waldorf T Flywheel and his assistant, Emmanuel Ravelli. Originally broadcast with sponsors on America's NBC radio network in the 1930s. The scripts were rediscovered in 1988.
Starring Michael Roberts as Groucho Marx as Waldorf T Flywheel and Frank Lazarus as Chico Marx as Emmanuel Ravelli
With Lorelei King and Graham Hoadly.
Written by Nat Perrin and Athur Sheekman. Adapted by Mark Brisenden.
Music arranged and conducted by David Firman.
Producer: Dirk Maggs
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1990.
FRI 09:00 The Food Quiz (b0076n4w)
Series 2
Episode 6
Jay Rayner puts well-known gastronomes through their culinary paces.
This week's panellists are wine writer Jancis Robinson, wild man Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, chef Alastair Little and restaurateur Ruth Watson. Issues for digestion include what a Fat Rascal is, who spent sixty-seven thousand pounds on a new oven, and where dried tuna sperm is served as a delicacy.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
FRI 09:30 The Emerald Green Show (b077xx1r)
Cut
Emerald's illusions of glamour and fame are shattered when she meets her TV producer.
A vain, ambitious black woman dreams of becoming a chat show queen.
Lisselle Kayla's four-part comedy series starring Llewella Gideon as Emerald Green.
With Jonathan Firth as Tristram, Iwan Thomas as Fabio, Dean Hill as Victor, Sheila Reid as Eunice and Jonathan Keeble as David.
Director: Pam Fraser Solomon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.
FRI 10:00 Nigel Baldwin - The Tree of Liberty (m000d07l)
Moon Conjunct Uranus
The death of a young girl is linked to a magical sect. But as the evidence comes together, it seems to point back at Lacroix.
David Calder plays Lt Gen Lacroix, trying to police France despite the turmoil of the Revolution.
Nigel Baldwin’s detective series set in Amiens, 1791.
Lt Gen Lacroix ... David Calder
Madeleine ... Frances Tomelty
Duval ... Simon Ludders
Monet ... Brian Hibbard
Josephine ... Bethan Jones
Chalier .... Steve Hodson
Surgeon ... Matthew Morgan
Jean .... Robert Harper
Roland .... Christian Rodska
Michel ... Andrew Wincott
Simone .... Sara Harris-Davies
Original music by Paula Gardiner
Director: Alison Hindell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1995.
FRI 11:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m000d07n)
Presenters recommend their favourite podcasts and speak to the people who make them.
FRI 12:00 The Burkiss Way (b007js2t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel (b007jv6w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000d07j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 Maiden Voyage: The First Woman in Space (b026x9mr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Book at Bedtime (b06d9t3h)
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay
Episode 10
As her health declines, Amory wonders whether to continue.
William Boyd's novel follows one remarkable woman through the decades of the 20th century.
In 1915, Amory’s uncle unknowingly sets her life on its course when he gives her a Kodak Brownie No 2 as a present for her seventh birthday, igniting a lifelong passion for photography. Her camera will take her from high society London in the 1920s to the cabaret clubs and brothels of inter-war Berlin; to 1930s New York, the Blackshirt riots in London’s East End, and to France and Germany during the Second World War, where she becomes one of the first female war photographers.
She eventually comes to rest on a remote Scottish island, where she drinks, writes and looks back on a personal life that has been just as rich and complex as her professional one. She remembers the men that have been closest to her – her father, her brother, her lovers – irreparably scarred by two world wars, and reflects upon her own experiences of conflict and loss, passion and joy.
Concluded by Barbara Flynn.
Abridged by Sara Davies
Producer: Mair Bosworth
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2015.
FRI 14:15 Will Self's Great British Bus Journey (b09q3sp5)
Series 1
Jobless in Wolverhampton
Will Self continues his tour of urban Britain travelling only by coach and bus, assessing British identity at a time of flux.
Will speaks to jobless young people in Wolverhampton which has some of the highest rates of youth unemployment in the country.
Producer: Laurence Grissell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2018.
FRI 14:30 15 Minute Drama (b06r8bnf)
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - Heat and Dust
Staying On
Finding themselves in the same situation, both women must make life-changing decisions.
Conclusion of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's beguiling story of two English women living in India more than 50 years apart.
In 1923, Olivia is unhappily married to a civil servant. Her step-granddaughter travels to the subcontinent years later to investigate Olivia's life, which her family regarded as ‘something dark and terrible’.
The story centres on the experiences of two very different women in pre- and post- Independence India. One is circumscribed by English mores and the formal social structures of the Raj while the other is free to fall in love, live among Indian people, feel part of the culture. So, it's the story of social change as well as a potent love story.
Olivia ..... Pippa Bennett-Warner
Narrator ..... Abby Ford
Douglas ..... Simon Harrison
The Nawab ..... Ronny Jhutti
Harry ..... David Seddon
Inder Lal ..... Neet Mohan
Chid ..... Will Howard
Maji ..... Thusitha Jayasundera
Beth Crawford ..... Debra Baker
Dr Saunders ..... Sam Dale
Major Minnies ..... Chris Pavlo
Pianist ..... Laurie O'Brien
Dramatised by Shelley Silas.
Director: Gaynor Macfarlane
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2015.
FRI 14:45 Clive James: Falling Towards England (m000d6nv)
The Man in the Paper Bag
1960s England: trying to enjoy some private time with his girlfriend.
Clive James continues volume two of his autobiography.
First published in 1985 and abridged by Brian Gear.
Known around the world for his dry wit, writer, broadcaster and poet Clive James was born in 1939. Moving to England in 1962, he rose to prominence as a literary critic, TV columnist and presenter.
Clive died aged 80 in November 2019.
Producer: Pamela Howe
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1988.
FRI 15:00 Nigel Baldwin - The Tree of Liberty (m000d07l)
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FRI 16:00 The Food Quiz (b0076n4w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 The Emerald Green Show (b077xx1r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 1834 (b0121lh5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 Fred at The Stand (m000cyw8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 Ben Moor - Undone (b007jxhj)
Series 1
Unravelled
Things go from strange to stranger for Edna, Tankerton and both the Carlos...
Ben Moor's comic sci-fi saga stars Sarah Solemani as Edna, Ben Moor as Tankerton, Duncan Wisbey as Carlo and Tim Key as Grant.
Producer: Colin Anderson
Made for BBC Radio 7 and first broadcast in 2006.
FRI 18:30 Off the Page (b0076qn0)
Too Clever by Half
Matthew Parris, Toby Young, Louise Welsh and Arabella Weir discuss the dangers of being a smarty-pants. From February 2005.
FRI 19:00 The Burkiss Way (b007js2t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel (b007jv6w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 Roy Clarke - The 17-Jewelled Shockproof Swiss-Made Bomb (m000d07j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 Maiden Voyage: The First Woman in Space (b026x9mr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m000d07n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 22:00 Fred at The Stand (m000cyw8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 In and Out of the Kitchen (b03w01zk)
Series 3
The Travel Piece
Damien confronts his barbecue hatred while Mullaney is sorting his “shoffice”. Stars Miles Jupp and Justin Edwards. From 2014.
FRI 23:00 Party (b01n1qyg)
Series 3
The Splits
Series 3 of the satirical comedy about a group of young idealists trying to make waves with their new political party. This week the group are on their way to research for the by-election. Written by Tom Basden.
Simon .... Tom Basden
Duncan .... Tim Key
Jared .... Jonny Sweet
Mel .... Anna Crilly
Phoebe .... Katy Wix
European Man .. Jot Davies
Producer .... Julia McKenzie.
First broadcast on Radio 4 in 2012.
FRI 23:30 The Mel and Sue Thing (b0076b72)
Episode 6
There is a shocking loss on Leather Island, and Fanny gets a break. Sketches with duo Giedroyc and Perkins. From October 2002.