SATURDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2021

SAT 00:00 The Heart of Hark'un (b007jq83)
Episode 1
The Great Wizard sends student sorcerer Arcos on a mission, little realising how perilous and menacing it will prove to be...
A fantasy-adventure by Peter Thomson and Jamie Thomson in six parts.
Arcos ..... Francis Thomson
Kaddah ..... Trevor Peacock
Vanna ..... Elizabeth Whiting
Shazir ..... Crawford Logan
Bereneth ..... Edward Kelsey
Va ..... Melanie Hudson
Alviza ..... Emma Fielding
Zander ..... Robert Portal
Kishah ..... John Church
Rashiq ..... Theresa Streatfeild
Producer: Peter Hutchings
First broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in September 1991.
SAT 00:30 Off the Page (b00kpzdd)
Welcome to the Real World
Dominic Arkwright is joined by clinical psychologist Oliver James, author of The Selfish Capitalist and Britain on the Couch; French journalist Agnes Poirier; and Annie Caulfield, creator of the Radio 4 series Reasons to be Cheerful, to discuss why people avoid confronting reality, and what happens when they do.
Produced by Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009.
SAT 01:00 Shaun Prendergast - Only the Good Die Young (b007jzgw)
Episode 5
Acting on information from Seeta, Kim and DS Love follow the trail towards "Bird in Hand". But what secrets will their digging unearth?
Shaun Prendergast's techo thriller in six-parts.
CAST:
Kim Drake …. Siriol Jenkins
Todd …. Jack Klaff
Stone …. Kenneth Cranham
Charles …. Okon Jones
DS Love …. Jonathan Tafler
Jill Noone …. Alice Arnold
John Maschler …. Terence Edmond
Anne …. Kate Binchy
Frank …. Shaun Prendergast
Wilson …. Peter Gunn
Nelson …. Kenneth McClellan
Doctor …. Teresa Streatfield
Directed by Adrian Bean
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1992.
SAT 01:30 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008x7tk)
Series 1
Episode 5
Losing the struggle to keep his job, Simon receives an intriguing offer.
Following the death of one of its most prominent Dons, celebrity TV historian Peter Devanti - everyone at a Cambridge College gathers to attend the funeral. Simon, an ex-student and now disillusioned health and safety officer, starts wondering whether his death was not as straightforward as it at first appeared.
CAST:
Gilbert …. Geoffrey Palmer
Simon …. Samuel West
Patricia …. Rebecca Front
with Sharon Small, Michael Maloney, Jonathan Coy, Emily Wachter, Nicholas Boulton, Martin Hyder, Laurence Howarth and Beth Chalmers
Script Editor: Paul Schlesinger
Producer: Dawn Ellis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2005.
SAT 02:00 Dirt Road by James Kelman (b07ks4md)
Episode 5
Booker prize-winner James Kelman’s novel is a potent exploration of love, grief and the power of music.
As the days settle into a routine in Alabama, Murdo is beginning to feel trapped at Uncle John and Aunt Maureen’s house.
Read by Finn den Hertog
Abridged by David Jackson Young
Producer Eilidh McCreadie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
SAT 02:15 Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain (b08rfqb6)
Okay I Lied
Anthony Bourdain's no holds barred exposé of the restaurant trade. A high octane culinary adventure set in New York, dramatised by Marcy Kahan.
Kitchen Confidential was a sensation on publication in 2000, taking the reader right to the heart of a sweaty, noisy, fast and furious cooking station with a fiery, likeable anti-hero protagonist. This radio dramatisation is a full-on behind the scenes tour of a range of kitchens, which questions why anyone would want to lead the exhausting, adrenalin-fuelled, harsh and precarious life of a restaurant chef. Marcy Kahan's clever dramatisation brings out the tenderness and real passion of its writer, as well as his high-octane roller coaster career.
Episode 5: Okay I Lied
Anthony makes his final confession - everything he has told us is untrue. Well, sort of. His love of chaos and the dark side means that his version of restaurant life is not the only one. As an example, we visit the kitchen of Scott Bryan, a fellow cook and the antithesis of Anthony - quiet, calm, always well mannered. Anthony brings us up to date with his own career as a jet setting cookery writer and presenter, whose love of food drives all his endeavours.
The dramatist Marcy Kahan is an award-winning radio and theatre playwright and screenwriter. Her plays include 20 Cigarettes (Soho Theatre, 2007), a stage version of Nora Ephron's When Harry Met Sally (Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 2005) and Intimate Memoirs of An Irish Taxidermist (Perrier award, 1986 Edinburgh Festival). Marcy's screenplay Antonia and Jane was the first television film to be given cinematic distribution by Miramax and won a Gold Plaque award for best original screenplay at the 1991 Chicago Film Festival.
Anthony Bourdain .... Michael Esper
Dimitri .... Sargon Yelda
Mother .... Barbara Barnes
Scott Bryan .... Richard Laing
Dramatisation: Marcy Kahan
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Producer: Polly Thomas
Executive Producer: Robert Abel
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in May 2017.
SAT 02:30 The Vernons Girls (b0076wgg)
An all girl group from Liverpool rose to success in the male dominated popular music scene of 1950s and early 60s. Michael Angelis charts the girls rise to fame with songs such as 'We love the Beatles', 'Do the Bird' and 'Funny all over.' How did they fare when the rollercoaster ride was over and what are they doing now?
Produced in Manchester by Angela Sherwin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 2006.
SAT 03:00 Keats - The Eve of St Agnes (m000skhj)
A gothic fantasy in which the heroine Madeline hopes to be visited on St Agnes' Eve, according to legend, by the vision of the man she is to marry. The story inspired the romantic poet John Keats to write his celebrated poem.
CAST:
Beadsman .... David Calder
Keats .... Michael Maloney
Porphyro .... Robert Glenister
Madeline .... Emma Fielding
Angela .... Tessa Worsley
Baron .... Geoffrey Whitehead
Hildebrand .... Stephen Critchlow
Maurice .... Jonathan Keeble
Music specially composed by Elizabeth Parker
Director Cherry Cookson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1995
SAT 04:00 Say the Word (b00764zg)
Episode 5
Frank Delaney's panel game revolving around the English language.
With Andrew Sachs, Felix Dexter, Helen Lederer and Kathy Lette.
Plus words of wit from the Nimmo Twins
Producer: Simon Elmes
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2001.
SAT 04:30 The Sit Crom (b00m5qlg)
A Draught of Malmesy
The household is in need of a steward, The captain undertakes a search and Lady Anne is desperate for a drink.
Sue Limb's six-part comedy set during the English Civil War.
Sir John Firebasket ...... Joss Ackland
Lady Anne Firebasket ...... Denise Coffey
Tobias Thynne ...... Clive Merrison
Mercy, alias Melissa ...... Miriam Margoyles
Father Francis ...... Nickolas Grace
Slow Ned ...... Chris Emmett
Gazebo Fogg ...... Jack Klaff
Captain Arise Higgs ...... Alun Armstrong
Counter Tenor ...... Peter Hayward
Producer: Jonathan James-Moore
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1990.
SAT 05:00 Rudy's Rare Records (b00y8vkb)
Series 3
Rudy's Rare Record
Father and son comedy set in the finest old-school record shop in Birmingham.
With the discovery on one of the rarest records ever recorded on a dusty shelf at the back of the shop, Rudy, Adam and Richie each allow themselves to imagine what life would really be like if they were that rich. Turns out, their dreams are a bit premature...
Written by Paula Hines
Script Edited by Danny Robins
Produced by Lucy Armitage.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
SAT 05:30 Stand-Up Specials (m000sgwf)
Eleanor Tiernan: Success Without a Sex Tape
Stand-up comedy from Eleanor Tiernan, arguing with herself on the merits of releasing a sextape.
So you still haven't made your most intimate sexual acts available on pay per view? What?! Not even willing to tweet as much as a naked pic? How old school! In our click-bait, "no such thing as bad publicity" world, one woman dares to stand against the tide. How? By not releasing a sextape, obviously.
Written and performed by Eleanor Tiernan
Produced by Daisy Knight
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:00 There are Crimes and Crimes (m000sq14)
Paris, 1899: On the cusp of literary success, will Maurice keep his promise to Jeanne, his mistress, and Marion, their daughter?
Kenneth Griffith stars in Swedish playwright, August Strindberg's comedy.
Adapted by Max Faber from his English version.
Maurice Gerard, a playwright .... Kenneth Griffith
Jeanne .... Barbara Mitchell
Marion, her daughter .... Sheila Grant
Abbe .... Earle Grey
Emile, Jeanne's brother .... Anthony Viccars
Madame Catherine .... Vivienne Chatterton
Henriette Mauclere .... Joan Greenwood
Adolphe, an artist .... Nigel Stock
Police Commissaire .... Haydn Jones
Detective .... Michael Spice
Producer: HB Fortuin
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in February 1962
SAT 07:30 Great Lives (b079pr90)
Series 39
Richard the Lionheart
Richard the Lionheart has been portrayed on screen by Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins and Patrick Stewart, quite a starry list. But what is the reality behind the legend of this famous king?
Richard's nominator is Timmy Mallett, a legend of children's TV but also unexpectedly a history graduate. Great historical characters, he says, have great stories attached to them, and Richard's life was not short of adventure, particularly on the Third Crusade.
Applying a cool head to Richard's life is the historian and broadcaster Helen Castor. She concedes that much of Timmy's enthusiasm is probably deserved.
Presenter Matthew Parris attempts to discover the truth about whether the Lionheart was in fact gay.
Producer: Miles Warde.
Produced in BBC Bristol and first broadcast on Radio 4 in May 2016.
SAT 08:00 The Motion Show (b0075x94)
Series 2
Episode 6
Dr Phil Hammond chairs the debating game with Stuart Maconie, Steve Punt, Chris Neill and Linda Smith. From February 2000.
SAT 08:30 Beachcomber... By the Way (b0081s34)
Series 1
Episode 3
Cads and Swine, The Giddy Girlhood of Mrs Wretch, plus a few problems with parrots.
Richard Ingrams, John Wells, John Sessions and Patricia Routledge recreate the world of the JB Morton.
Running in the Daily Express from 1924 to 1975 – JB Morton’s surreally comic ‘Beachcomber’ column paved the way for a great deal of modern humour.
Adapted by Michael Barfield with Richard Ingrams.
Announcer: Brian Perkins
Producer: Harry Thompson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1989.
SAT 09:00 Elizabeth Jane Howard Remembered (b04wjh11)
BBC Radio 4 Extra celebrates the life of the novelist, Elizabeth Jane Howard who died aged 90 on January 2nd 2014.
This 3 hour special features material from the BBC archive including two of Howard's short stories, and her choice of Desert Island Discs from 1995. But it also includes an extract from her first novel The Beautiful Visit (read by Juliet Stevenson), as well as new interviews with, among others, her step-son Martin Amis and her biographer Artemis Cooper, all recorded at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.
As well as being the author of 14 novels, and selling more than a million books, Howard lived a richly eventful life. She walked out of her first marriage to naturalist Peter Scott, taking with her just £10, a suitcase and half a novel. She subsequently went on to remove herself from two more marriages. As her life-long friend, Jacqui Graham, points out, it was enormously brave. "Women just didn't do that."
Cathy Rentzenbrink, who presents the programme, says of Howard, 'What I find interesting is the way her life and fiction intertwines. I can't think of any other writer where the mistakes of life are transformed, reinterpreted, recycled into such brilliant novels."
Producer: Sarah Wade
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2015.
SAT 12:00 People In Cars (b00qx1m7)
Getaway
People In Cars
1. Getaway
The first in a season of three Simon Brett comedies set in cars. Gilly's fourteen year old son Ben complains that nothing exciting ever happens to them. Until a gangster on the run jumps into their car.
Gilly .... Samantha Bond
Ben .... Angus Imrie
Nigel .... Stephen Critchlow
Policewoman .... Tessa Nicholson
Writer: Simon Brett
Director: Peter Kavanagh
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
SAT 12:30 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b0075ng9)
Series 3
Episode 1
Sofa-bound TV presenters Mike and Sue take on party food and reading, plus therapy - could it have helped the Beatles and Henry VIII?
Series 2 of Bill Dare's sitcom stars Robert Duncan and Jan Ravens.
With Ronnie Ancona, Alistair McGowan, Roger Blake and Steve Punt.
Music by Mark Burton.
Producer: Aled Evans
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1998.
SAT 13:00 Archive on 4 (b07lf4gg)
The Norma Percy Tapes
Norma Percy draws on taped interview rushes and her own TV archive to reflect on her long career in documentary making, recalling her favourite encounters and the interviews she will never forget - as well as the role of television in making history.
For decades television documentary maker Norma Percy and her team have interviewed Presidents and Prime Ministers, global leaders and heads of state. She has spoken to key players in some of the most monumental events in modern history - from the end of the Soviet Union and the break-up of Yugoslavia to the quest for peace in Northern Ireland; from Iran and its relationship with the West to the rise of Putin and the fall of Milosevic, the war in Iraq, elusive peace in the Middle East and decisions inside Obama’s White House.
The list of interviewees for her TV series read like a Who’s Who of modern history and international politics: Obama, Sharon, Clinton, Gorbachev, Milosevic, Putin, Blair, Carter, Bush, Yeltsin, Powell, Barak.
At the heart of her approach lies ‘the method’, devised by Norma. The starting point is that key political decisions take place between powerful people, behind closed doors, in private. Many of these meetings are secret. So, for a television series to tell these stories, the interviewer must first find out that the meetings occurred, then uncover in detail what happened, and then get the people who were actually there to tell their version of events.
This is what her programmes do, producing a body of work that is archived and cherished by historians as primary source material for students and scholars. But it’s also exciting television, showing in incredible detail the human drama behind high politics.
Producer: Simon Hollis
A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
SAT 14:00 Revolting People (b007jrqj)
Series 1
Storm Clouds
The year is 1770 and Baltimore shopkeeper, Samuel Oliphant has much to worry about.
Historical sitcom written by Andy Hamilton and Jay Tarses.
Stars Jay Tarses as Samuel Oliphant, Andy Hamilton as Sergeant McGurk, Sophie Thompson as Mary Oliphant, James Fleet as Captain Brimshaw, Hugh Dennis as Ezekiel Spriggs, Felicity Montagu as Cora Oliphant, Tony Maudsley as Joshua Oliphant, Susie Blake as Mrs Arbuthnot.
With Penelope Nice and Michael Fenton Stevens.
Producer: Paul Mayhew-Archer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
SAT 14:30 Pleased to Meet You (b007k2kz)
Series 1
Episode 1
90-something good-time girl Dora Dale spills the beans on her many celebrity friends. And how did the Rat Pack get its name?
Betraying confidences and breaking unwritten rules galore, the friend of the stars reveals some surprising and salacious secrets.
Written by and starring Martin Kelner and Jake Yapp.
Made for BBC7 and first broadcast in July 2006.
SAT 15:00 Lee and Herring's Fist of Fun (b007zmh6)
Edinburgh
Stewart Lee berates Richard Herring for his lack of street cred, Peter Baynham shares some unusual recipes and is Radio 1 really the youth-friendly station it pretends to be?
Recorded at the Pleasance Theatre during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. With Alistair McGowan and Rebecca Front.
Stewart Lee and Richard Herring's mix of sharp sketches and situations, stand up topical gags and banter.
Lee and Herring went to write and star in their successful TV transfer to BBC TWO in 1995.
The rest of the series comes from university venues, including Plymouth, Lancaster and Belfast.
Cult BBC Radio 1 series first broadcast in October 1993.
SAT 15:30 The Brig Society (b0832rjd)
Series 4
Scandal!
Marcus Brigstocke becomes a victim of his own newspaper as he gets caught up in a scandal and discovers that it's really, really difficult to doorstep yourself.
This week, there's sex, scandal and saucy secrets on Radio 4! But enough about Moneybox Live. In this show, Marcus examines how the great British press combine the difficult jobs of both selling newspapers and ruining peoples' lives.
Helping him peek through the curtain will be Margaret Cabourn-Smith ("Miranda"), William Andrews ("Sorry I've Got No Head") and Colin Hoult ("Derek")
Written by Marcus Brigstocke, Jeremy Salsby, Toby Davies, Nick Doody, Steve Punt and Dan Tetsell
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 16:00 There are Crimes and Crimes (m000sq14)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Great Lives (b079pr90)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Red Moon (m000sq16)
Phase 4: Eclipse
Former agent Eddie Sloper ‘disappears’ for his own safety, then finds an ally.
An alternative-history, Cold War thriller, where American and Soviet Moon bases aim their nuclear missiles at targets across the planet.
Winner of Best Online Audio Drama at the BBC Audio Drama Awards, 2019.
CAST:
Eddie Sloper …. Philip Bulcock as Eddie Sloper
Dr Susan Madison …. Yasmine Holness-Dove
Mrs Jones …. Georgina Periam
Benji …. Richard Reed
SPACECOM Security Guard …. Greg Page
Music composed and performed by Francesco Quadraruopolo.
Story by Jack Bowman and Robert Valentine.
Written, directed and produced by Robert Valentine.
A Wireless Theatre Production recorded at the RNIB Talking Book Studios.
SAT 18:20 The Fanthorpe Investigations (b038bfcn)
The Moving Coffins of Barbados
The curious case of the moving coffins in a vault in a Barbados cemetery.
Priest and paranormal investigator Lionel Fanthorpe relates a story from the world of the strange and unexplained.
Producer: Paul Arnold
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in 2013.
SAT 18:30 John Wyndham - Trouble with Lichen (b007k3r3)
Episode 4
Biochemist Diana Brackley's attempts to conceal the true source of the antigerone are finally overcome.
The scientific world, government, media and the beauty salon collide in John Wyndham's 1960 sci-fi novel.
Read by Joanna Tope.
Abridged by Scott Stainton Miller.
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
Made for BBC Radio 7 by BBC Scotland and first broadcast in 2007
SAT 19:00 Elizabeth Jane Howard Remembered (b04wjh11)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 The Party Party (b007wwh3)
Episode 5
The town of Microcosm is set for revenge, greed and attempted murder. Stars Hugh Laurie and Clive Mantle. From June 1987.
SAT 22:30 Elastic Planet (b0089jhr)
The Shape
Drugged electricity and artificial icebergs.
Oliver Postgate narrates a stream of bizarre coincidences in Ben Moor’s cosmic comedy of connections.
With Johnny Ball, Henry Cooper, Kerry Shale, Dan Strauss, Michael Troughton, Neil Mullarkey, Siriol Jenkins, Jamie Owen and Alan Dedicoat.
Producer: Jon Naismith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995
SAT 22:45 We Know Everything (b08461wq)
Episode 3
If all roads lead to Rome, how do you drive out again? Dan Gaster and Paul Powell tackle audience quirky questions. From July 1995.
SAT 23:00 Tina C (b06s0njv)
Tina C: Herstory
Episode 3
It's 2003 and Tina has geo-political aspirations, and a role promoting US values overseas.
Ritula Shah asks about her role as a special advisor to US President George W Bush.
Written & Performed by Christopher Green.
Additional voices: Debra Baker & Leo Wan.
The band: Duncan Walsh-Atkins, Mark Hardisty & Phil Wraith.
Guest Interviewer: Ritula Shah.
Produced by Victoria Lloyd.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
SAT 23:30 Chain Reaction (b01lv7ys)
Series 8
Derren Brown interviews Tim Minchin
Last week's interviewee, Illusionist Derren Brown, dispenses with the trickery and gets inside the mind of Tim Minchin by cleverly asking him some questions then listening to the answers. They talk beliefs, magic, music and Minchin.
Producer ..... Carl Cooper
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2012.


SUNDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2021

SUN 00:00 Red Moon (m000sq16)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 00:20 The Fanthorpe Investigations (b038bfcn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:20 on Saturday]
SUN 00:30 John Wyndham - Trouble with Lichen (b007k3r3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 Archive on 4 (b07lf4gg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:00 Revolting People (b007jrqj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:30 Pleased to Meet You (b007k2kz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Lee and Herring's Fist of Fun (b007zmh6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 on Saturday]
SUN 03:30 The Brig Society (b0832rjd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 There are Crimes and Crimes (m000sq14)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 Great Lives (b079pr90)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 Dirt Road by James Kelman (Omnibus) (b07lpf3f)
Episode 1
Reeling from a family bereavement, young musician Murdo and his father prepare to leave Scotland for a road trip to the Southern States of America.
Booker prize-winner James Kelman's novel is a potent exploration of love, grief and the power of music.
Reader Finn den Hertog
Abridged by David Jackson Young
Produced Eilidh McCreadie.
SUN 07:10 Inheritance Tracks (m0001wl0)
Brian Eno
4 Extra Debut. The musician Brian Eno chooses a player piano version of Jerusalem and a gospel choir rendition of Peace Be Still. From 2008.
SUN 07:20 Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain (Omnibus) (b08rzm5y)
Anthony Bourdain’s exposé of the restaurant trade recalling his first encounter with cold soup and oysters. Stars Michael Esper.
SUN 08:30 Meet the Huggetts (b00ns2m9)
What Unusual Wallpaper
The poor Huggett family are suffering in a summer heat wave.
Stars Jack Warner as Joe, Kathleen Harrison as Ethel, George Howell as Bobby, Marion Collins as Jane, Charles Leno as Fred Stebbings and Kenneth Connor as Mr Cross/The Insurance Man/The Postman/The Decorator.
Popular working-class family, the Huggetts first hit the cinema screen with a series of Gainsborough films between 1947 and 1949. Their subsequent BBC radio series ran from 1953 to 1962.
Scripted by Eddie Maguire.
Producer: Jacques Brown
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in September 1957.
SUN 09:00 Drop Me Here, Darling (m000sqwn)
An Unfortunate Position
It's not easy being chauffeur to your ex-wife. Especially when she's wealthy and you're broke. Comedy about a former property tycoon who has fallen on hard times. Leslie wants to impress Walter and tries to keep up the pretence that he is really in charge of his ex wife's business. However, the plan backfires.
Leslie: Leslie Phillips
Caroline: Jill Bennett
Clare: Norma Ronald
Walter: James Taylor
Coats: Kenneth Connor
Writer: Andrew Palmer
Producer: Edward Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in December 1982.
SUN 09:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b00jn2d7)
Series 3
The Name-check
A new commission gets the writer's literary juices flowing - unlike his finances. Stars Christopher Douglas. From December 2006.
SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m000sqwt)
Castaway Novelists
Margaret Drabble
From Alan Price to Jean Sibelius. Novelist and biographer Margaret Drabble makes her castaway choices. With Sue Lawley.
Favourite track: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth - (from Messiah) by George Frideric Handel
Book: Old Wives Tale by Arnold Bennett
Luxury: Painting by Maurice Cockerill - Ariadne's Thread
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001.
SUN 10:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00mrzn0)
Series 1
Adam's Face
What are human eyebrows for? Possibly to allow communication without the use of words.
Testing the value of eyebrow communication came into its own when David Attenborough met the men of an aboriginal tribe in New Guinea where there was no other common language.
Series of talks by Sir David Attenborough on the natural histories of creatures and plants from around the world.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2009.
SUN 11:00 The Moth Radio Hour (m00083j7)
Series 9
Not for the Faint of Heart
True stories told live in the USA: Meg Bowles introduces stories of fear, from daily anxieties to moments of life-or-death terror.
The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling based in the USA. Since 1997, it has celebrated both the raconteur and the storytelling novice, who has lived through something extraordinary and yearns to share it. Originally formed by the writer George Dawes Green as an intimate gathering of friends on a porch in Georgia (where moths would flutter in through a hole in the screen), and then recreated in a New York City living room, The Moth quickly grew to produce immensely popular events at theatres and clubs around New York City and later around the USA, the UK and other parts of the world.
The Moth has presented more than 15,000 stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. The Moth podcast is downloaded over 27 million times a year.
Featuring true stories told live on stage without scripts, from the humorous to the heart-breaking.
The Moth Radio Hour is produced by Jay Allison and Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange.
First heard on PRX in June 2019.
SUN 11:50 Inheritance Tracks (m0001wl0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:10 today]
SUN 12:00 Poetry Extra (m000sqww)
Mother Tongue - Tracks of Time
Poet Daljit Nagra visits the BBC's poetry archive and selects Mother Tongue the globe-trotting poetry series presented by Helen Mort.
Poet Helen Mort explores exciting voices from around the world. This week, she hears poems in Macedonian, Old Norse and Russian - and in translation. Reflecting on the phrase 'tracks of time', she discovers how memory and history play a part in the work of these three poets.
Helen travels to Berlin to meet the Macedonian poet Nikola Madzirov. Described as one of most powerful voices in contemporary European poetry, he writes with great lyrical depth, insight and originality. In his collection 'Remnants of Another Age', he reflects on the history of his Balkan homeland and on ideas of shelter and nomadism with a restless, timeless intelligence.
Heading up the North Sea coast to Aberdeen, we hear Scottish poet Ian Crockatt reading his fresh versions of the Old Norse verses of Rognvaldr, Earl of Orkney. The collection, 'Crimsoning the Eagle's Claw', is a treasure trove of vivid snapshots of the life of this twelfth century poet, lover, nobleman and sailor. Like meeting a Viking face-to-face.
Finally, Helen travels to Oxford to meet one of Russia's foremost contemporary poets, Maria Stepanova and her translator, Sasha Dugdale. Stepanova writes formally inventive and thoughtful poetry, teeming with references from her country's cultural memory and political history. Through her journalism and editorship of an independent, crowdfunded site, she is also an important liberal voice.
Producer: Caroline Hughes
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.
SUN 12:30 Susan Calman - Keep Calman Carry On (b0717j1y)
Series 1
Cricket with Andy Zaltzman
Susan Calman is the least relaxed person she knows. She has no down time, no hobbies (unless you count dressing up your cats in silly outfits) and her idea of relaxation is to play Grand Theft Auto, an hour into which she is in a murderous rage with sky high blood pressure. Her wife had to threaten to divorce her to make her go on holiday last year. Her first for four years. But she's been told by the same long-suffering wife, that unless she finds a way to switch off, and soon, she's going to be unbearable.
So Susan is looking at her options to try and immerse herself in the pursuits that her friends find relaxing, to find her inner zen and outer tranquillity. Can she ditch the old Susan Calman and attempt to find the new Susan Calm?
This time, in a typically British leisure pursuit; Susan goes to a cricket match with Andy Zaltzman.
Keep Calman Carry On is an audience stand up show in which Susan reports on how successful she's been - both at relaxing and at the pursuit itself - as well as playing in and discussing a handful of illustrative clips from her efforts. It's an attempt to find out how people find solace or sanctuary in these worlds and how Susan can negotiate her own place in them.
Producer: Lyndsay Fenner.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2016.
SUN 13:00 Only in Naples by Katherine Wilson (Omnibus) (b07g75bj)
Katherine Wilson tells how she travelled to Naples in 1966, discovering love, food and family in a uniquely Neapolitan way.
Read by Fenella Woolgar
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2016.
SUN 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (m000sspc)
Jools Holland
Musician and presenter Jools Holland chooses Up Above My Head by Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Love Made Them Do It by Ruby Turner.
SUN 14:20 A Small Town Murder (Omnibus) (b07fyqfk)
Series 8
Family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell comforts the mother of a boy who has just been injured in a hit and run.
CAST:
Jackie Hartwell .... Meera Syal
Peter .... Matthew Marsh
Rachel .... Monica Dolan
Rob .... John Light
John .... John Hollingworth
Simone .... Jasmine Hyde
Written by Scott Cherry
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2016
SUN 15:30 David Bowie in New York (m000sj5z)
In 2002, as he prepared to release his latest album, David Bowie met BBC Radio 4’s John Wilson in a rehearsal room in New York City.
Over the course of an extraordinarily candid conversation, Bowie revealed his creative processes and inspirations behind some of his best loved albums. He looked back at how he created alter-ego characters, including Ziggy Stardust, through which he explored recurring themes in his work. “It’s all despondency, despair, fear, isolation, abandonment”, Bowie admitted. And he explained how the spaceship motif that often travelled through his songs was “an interior dialogue manifested physically .. it’s my own little space writ large”.
David Bowie, speaking just months after the 9/11 attacks on New York, also revealed how he had been seeking solace in spirituality as the prospect of death was weighing heavily on his mind.
Presented and produced by John Wilson
SUN 16:00 Marie Belloc Lowndes - The Lodger (b0076hh4)
1888: After multiple murders, Londoners are gripped by fear.
When wealthy Mr Sleuth takes up residence in the Buntings' lodging house they think their troubles are over. But they’re only just beginning...
Marie Belloc Lowndes’ classic piece of suspense fiction, inspired by the Jack the Ripper murders.
Narrator .... Nigel Anthony
Mr Bunting ....David Ryall
Mrs Bunting ...Maggie McCarthy
Mr Sleuth .... Jon Glover
Joe Chandler ... Harry Myers
Daisy .... Alison Pettitt
Chief Insp Hopkins ... Paul Moriarty
Policeman ... Brett Fancy
Dramatised by Stephen Sheridan.
Producer: David Blount
Made by Pier Productions for BBC Radio 4 and first broadcast in 2003.
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (m000sqww)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 today]
SUN 17:30 Susan Calman - Keep Calman Carry On (b0717j1y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:30 today]
SUN 18:00 Katie Hims - Listening to the Dead (b03mfwjs)
2. Four Sons
It's 1914, and Clara Tully, a Leeds baker's wife and the proud mother of four beautiful boys, knows the war won't be over by Christmas. And she knows a much darker secret besides.
Clara …. Michelle Terry
Eloise …. Georgie Fuller
Charlie …. Harry Jardine
Robin …. Joel MacCormick
George …. John Norton
Customer …. Priyanga Burford
Customer …. Sabina Arthur
Customer …. Carolyn Pickle
Lloyd George …. Sean Murray
Finley …. Will Featherstone
Joe …. Will Howard
Written by Katie Hims.
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.
SUN 18:45 Charles Dickens (b0728dsn)
Tales of the Supernatural
Chips Bargains with the Devil
A ship's carpenter attempts to break his pact with the Devil. Read by Adrian Scarborough.
Extracted from 'The Uncommercial Traveller', a collection of literary sketches and reminiscences, written by Dickens between 1860 and 1869, and first published posthumously as a complete set in 1875.
One of five tales of the supernatural by Charles Dickens.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Pier Productions.
SUN 19:00 The Moth Radio Hour (m00083j7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 19:50 Inheritance Tracks (m0001wl0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:10 today]
SUN 20:00 Marie Belloc Lowndes - The Lodger (b0076hh4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 today]
SUN 21:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m000sqwt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
SUN 21:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00mrzn0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]
SUN 22:00 Susan Calman - Keep Calman Carry On (b0717j1y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:30 today]
SUN 22:30 Dave Podmore (b007rkg1)
Dave Podmore's World of Cricket
Episode 1
Eat the Dream. Pod makes a bid to run the opening ceremony of the 2003 Cricket World Cup - on the cheap, of course.
Sitcom about the exploits of talentless, amateurish, smug, inept and self-deluding English cricketer Dave Podmore.
Starring Chris Douglas and Andrew Nickolds with Chris Pavlo and Nicola Sanderson.
Written by Chris Douglas, Andrew Nickolds and Nick Newman.
Producer: Richard Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2002.
SUN 23:00 Newsjack (m000sjws)
Series 24
Episode 1
Newsjack returns for a brand new series. Host Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by George Fouracres, Nimisha Odedra, Jason Forbes and a virtual audience to make sense of this week in news.
This week, we find out how Matt Hancock's 'friends got their hands on lucrative contracts, the real details of WhatsApp's new terms of service and what throwbacks are being flogged by influencers on TikTok.
Written by - The British Public
Script Editors - Catherine Brinkworth and Laura Major
Producers - Gwyn Rhys Davies and Hayley Sterling
Newsjack is a BBC Studios Production
SUN 23:30 Pleased to Meet You (b007k2t5)
Series 1
Episode 2
90-something good-time girl Dora Dale spills the beans on her many celebrity friends – from Elvis to Jimmy Carr.
Betraying confidences and breaking unwritten rules galore, the friend of the stars reveals some surprising and salacious secrets.
Written by and starring Martin Kelner and Jake Yapp.
Made for BBC7 and first broadcast in August 2006.


MONDAY 01 MARCH 2021

MON 00:00 Katie Hims - Listening to the Dead (b03mfwjs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:45 Charles Dickens (b0728dsn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:45 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 Only in Naples by Katherine Wilson (Omnibus) (b07g75bj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (m000sspc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Sunday]
MON 02:20 A Small Town Murder (Omnibus) (b07fyqfk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:20 on Sunday]
MON 03:30 David Bowie in New York (m000sj5z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Marie Belloc Lowndes - The Lodger (b0076hh4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (m000sqww)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 Susan Calman - Keep Calman Carry On (b0717j1y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 Shaun Prendergast - Only the Good Die Young (b007jn1q)
Episode 6
As Miss Gee persuades Kim to tell all about "Bird in Hand". Wilson plays an unexpected hand and Todd approaches his final hour. Will he take the world with him?
Shaun Prendergast's techo thriller in six-parts stars Siriol Jenkins as Kim Drake, Jack Klaff as Todd, Kenneth Cranham as Stone, Ann Davies as Miss Gee and Jonathan Tafler as DS Love.
Directed by Adrian Bean
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1992.
MON 06:30 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008y4fg)
Series 1
Episode 6
Exams loom large. Simon Harrison delves into his Health and Safety background for one final ruse. Can he unveil the killer?
Mark Tavener's comedy thriller.
CAST:
Gilbert …. Geoffrey Palmer
Simon …. Samuel West
Patricia …. Rebecca Front
with Michael Maloney, Jonathan Coy, Sharon Small, Emily Wachter, Beth Chalmers and Nicholas Boulton.
Script Editor: Paul Schlesinger
Producer: Dawn Ellis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2005.
MON 07:00 Boswell's Lives (b076bc7j)
Series 2
Boswell's Life of Bennett
Boswell attempts to locate the cream cracker under the settee of Mr Alan Bennett.
Jon Canter’s sitcom sees James Boswell, Dr Johnson's celebrated biographer, pursue other legends to immortalise.
James Boswell ..... Miles Jupp
Alan Bennett ..... Alistair McGowan
Producer: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2016.
MON 07:30 Just a Minute (m000sgsr)
Series 86
Episode 1
Paul Merton hosts the return of Radio 4’s longest running panel show. In the first episode back since the death of Nicholas Parsons, who hosted for 50 years, Paul challenges guests Sheila Hancock, Gyles Brandreth, Tony Hawks and Pippa Evans to talk without hesitation, deviation, or repetition. JAM trivia - Sheila Hancock also appeared in the very first episode back in 1967. Caroline Barlow blows the whistle.
Devised by Ian Messiter
Produced by Victoria Lloyd
A BBC Studios Production
MON 08:00 Steptoe and Son (b013fj7r)
Series 2
The Wooden Overcoats
Trouble ensues when Harold brings home coffins on the cart, sparking a burst of manic superstition from Albert.
Starring Wilfrid Brambell as Albert and Harry H Corbett as Harold.
Following the conclusion of their hugely successful association with Tony Hancock, writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson wrote 10 pilots for the BBC TV's Comedy Playhouse in 1962. The Offer was set in a house with a yard full of junk, featuring the lives of rag and bone men Albert Steptoe and his son Harold and it was the spark for a run of 8 series for TV.
Adapted for radio from Galton and Simpson's TV script by Gale Pedrick.
Produced by Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in June 1967.
MON 08:30 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b00751f6)
Series 3
Episode 2
Sofa-bound TV presenters Mike and Sue tackle terrorism and gardening.
Starring Robert Duncan and Jan Ravens.
With Ronnie Ancona. Alistair McGowan, Roger Blake and Tracy-Ann Oberman.
Written by Ian Brown and James Hendrie from a format by Bill Dare.
Music by Mark Burton.
Producer: Aled Evans
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1998.
MON 09:00 Act Your Age (b00g3hr8)
Series 1
Episode 5
Simon Mayo discovers which generation is the funniest. With Jon Richardson, Lucy Porter and Roy Walker. From December 2008.
MON 09:30 Married (b00dbqws)
Series 3
Episode 2
With the two universes collided, Dirk sees an ideal opportunity to make money so opens 'Cafe Apocalypse'. This gives Robin ample opportunity to dole out some of his usual scathing criticism - especially as Lesley has decided to display her new artwork there too...
Hugh Bonneville stars in the third series of the comedy drama about a confirmed bachelor Robin Lightfoot dealing with life in a parallel universe where he has kids and an ex-wife who hates him.
With Josie Lawrence as Lesley, Stephen Frost as Dirk, Ann Gosling as Maxine, Sam Bradley as Ned and Arthur Smith as Arthur Smith.
Written by Tony Bagley.
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2001.
MON 10:00 Heinrich Mann - Berlin (m000spm9)
Episode 1
"Berlin's the place for someone like me - where everybody is somebody or knows somebody who's somebody. I need only sit here, make myself agreeable, and by the end of summer everybody in the Cafe Hurrah will be shouting 'Hurrah' for me..."
First published in 1900, Heinrich Mann's novel dramatised in two parts by Patricia Hannah.
Originally titled "In The Land of Cockaigne", this is the story of the rise and fall of Andrew Zumsee, an innocent but self-confident young poet from the provinces, as he attempts to make a name for himself in Berlin society.
Andrew Zumsee .... John Kielty
Adelheid Turkheimer .... Joanna Tope
Louis Turkheimer .... John Shedden
Karl Kaflisch .... Simon Tait
Dr Bedeiner .... Ralph Riach
Lizzi Laffe .... Vivienne Dixon
Diederich Klempner .... Gregor Powrie
Friederich Kopf .... Simon Donaldson
Asta Turkheimer .... Lucy Paterson
Frau Moore...............Stella Forge
Clare Pinbush...........Hilary Neville
Blosch.........................Mark McDonald
Heinrich Mann .... James Bryce
The older brother of Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann is probably best remembered today as the author of the book which inspired the film "The Blue Angel".
Director: David Jackson Young
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2004
MON 11:00 TED Radio Hour (m000spmg)
Series 7
Teaching For Better Humans 2.0
A journey through fascinating ideas based on talks by riveting speakers on the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) stage.
Manoush Zomorodi explores how teaching is more than good grades. What do kids need for the future? This hour, TED speakers explore how to help children grow into better humans, both during and after this time of crisis.
First broadcast in the USA on National Public Radio in 2020.
MON 11:50 Inheritance Tracks (m000spmk)
YolanDa Brown
Saxophonist YolanDa Brown chooses ‘What's Going On’ by Marvin Gaye and ‘Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing’ by Tori Kelly.
MON 12:00 Steptoe and Son (b013fj7r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b00751f6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 Shaun Prendergast - Only the Good Die Young (b007jn1q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008y4fg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Dirt Road by James Kelman (b07lfrt8)
Episode 6
As his family look forward to the Alabama Highland Gathering, Murdo starts to worry about the practicalities of joining Queen Monzee-ay for the Lafayette gig.
Read by Finn den Hertog
Booker prize-winner James Kelman’s novel is a potent exploration of love, grief and the power of music.
Abridged by David Jackson Young
Producer Eilidh McCreadie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
MON 14:15 15 Minute Drama (b08z9pb0)
Henry James - Daisy Miller
Episode 1
Desire and propriety clash in Henry James' classic novella dramatised by Amanda Dalton.
Henry James is an extraordinary storyteller. His characters and their inner lives are vividly portrayed. The stories are compelling and the stakes are high. He writes about transformation through travel where innocence opens up to experience.
Frederick Winterbourne meets the beautiful and free spirited Daisy Miller and falls instantly in love but when his desire for her is met with disapproval from his aunt will he follow his heart?
CAST:
Henry James .... John Lynch
Frederick Winterbourne .... Jack Lowden
Daisy Miller .... Julianna Jennings
Mrs Costello .... Barbara Barnes
Randolph .... Haris Giannakopolos
Directed by Nadia Molinari
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2017.
MON 14:30 The Protection Game (b00zzsdj)
Bodyguards, or close-protection officers (CPOs), are the thing of Hollywood myth. But, in real life, do some bodyguards have to make the ultimate sacrifice and dive in front of the bullet?
Broadcaster Yasmeen Khan meets, and trains with, some new recruits at a Task International training course in Kent. These men and women are training to be close-protection officers for corporate clients from around the world. Yasmeen learns more about the training, and the wider world of CPOs from the Task trainer. She also hears about the recent work Task CPOs have undertaken in Cairo, bringing out UK citizens and taking in much needed medical and food supplies.
In a secretive London location, Yasmeen meets up with security expert Will Geddes, and together they discuss the ethics of personal protection, of selling your body & skills to someone else with the possible ultimate outcome of your own death. Who are the clients and what is the stark reality of being a CPO in the modern age? Will discusses his recent experiences in Libya and Cairo.
Yasmeen also talks with Bill Butler, the Chief Executive of the Security Industry Authority. Under the SIA's leadership it has now become mandatory for security staff to be licensed in the UK. Yasmeen wants to know how the SIA manages to ensure that unlicensed protection services don't succeed.
As Yasmeen learns, many CPOs come from a military background, but then there are also those who have long experience in the Special Branch and Royal Protection Detail. She heads to an even more secretive location to meet Brian Isdale, a former Special Branch officer, now running his own security service and hiring many ex-police officers. Business is clearly good, and with the Olympics looming, it seems it will only get better.
Producers: Neil Gardner & Yasmeen Khan
A Ladbroke Production for BBC Radio 4
MON 15:00 Heinrich Mann - Berlin (m000spm9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 Act Your Age (b00g3hr8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 Married (b00dbqws)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 Boswell's Lives (b076bc7j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 Just a Minute (m000sgsr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 The Heart of Hark'un (b007v25z)
Episode 2
Novice sorcerer Arcos is appalled by Kaddah's behaviour. Alviza is attacked mentally.
A fantasy-adventure by Peter Thomson and Jamie Thomson.
Arcos ..... Francis Thomson
Kaddah ..... Trevor Peacock
Vanna ..... Elizabeth Whiting
Shazir ..... Crawford Logan
Bereneth ..... Edward Kelsey
Va ..... Melanie Hudson
Alviza ..... Emma Fielding
Zander ..... Robert Portal
The General ..... Clarence Smith
Producer: Peter Hutchings
First broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in September 1991.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (b016817f)
Christopher Frayling and Nikki Bedi
Christopher Frayling, Professor Emeritus at the Royal College of Art, and broadcaster Nikki Bedi talk to Harriett Gilbert about the books they love.
Christopher's recommendation is a passionate political polemic: Ill Fares The Land: A Treatise On Our Present Discontents, by Tony Judt.
Nikki picks The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, the story of a boy growing up in an Indian family in America.
Harriett's choice is the first in the celebrated Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin.
Producer: Beth O'Dea
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
MON 19:00 Steptoe and Son (b013fj7r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Life, Death and Sex with Mike and Sue (b00751f6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 Shaun Prendergast - Only the Good Die Young (b007jn1q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008y4fg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 TED Radio Hour (m000spmg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:50 Inheritance Tracks (m000spmk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:50 today]
MON 22:00 Just a Minute (m000sgsr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 Ivor Cutler - A Stuggy Pren (b00ctktw)
Episode 4
Poet and composer Ivor Cutler on bargain hunting, water flowers and 'Beelyploomkins'. From June 1994.
MON 22:45 Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing (b01snbm8)
Series 2
About Animals
The story of young, up-and-coming comedian Nathan Caton, who after becoming the first in his family to graduate from University, opted not to use his architecture degree but instead to try his hand at being a full-time stand-up comedian, much to his family's annoyance who desperately want him to get a 'proper job.'
Each episode illustrates the criticism, interference and rollercoaster ride that Nathan endures from his disapproving family as he tries to pursue his chosen career.
The series is a mix of Nathan's stand-up intercut with scenes from his family life.
Janet a.k.a. Mum is probably the kindest and most lenient of the disappointed family members. She loves Nathan, but she aint looking embarrassed for nobody!
Martin a.k.a. Dad works in the construction industry and was looking forward to his son getting a degree so the two of them could work together in the same field. But now Nathan has blown that dream out of the window.
Shirley a.k.a. Grandma cannot believe Nathan turned down architecture for comedy. How can her grandson go on stage and use foul language and filthy material... it's not the good Christian way!
So with all this going on in the household what will Nathan do? Will he be able to persist and follow his dreams? Or will he give in to his family's interference?
About Animals
It turns out Grandma's Achilles heel is a mouse! Nathan can't believe he's lost his fearless Grandma because of a mouse and is determined to catch the mouse and restore his Grandma to feisty normality.
Written by Nathan Caton and James Kettle
Additional Material by Ola and Maff Brown
Producer: Katie Tyrrell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
MON 23:00 The Now Show (m000skdv)
Series 58
Episode 1
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis present the week via topical stand-up and sketches in front of a remote audience - and all from their own home!
In the first show of the new series, they are joined by Jessica Fostekew who relays her time volunteering in a vaccination centre. Ken Cheng talks about his experiences as a Chinese Briton plus music from Beardyman...
Voice Actors: Luke Kempner and Gemma Arrowsmith
Producer: Adnan Ahmed
Production Co-Ordinator: Carina Andrews
Editor/Engineer: David Thomas
BBC Studios Production
MON 23:30 The Jason Byrne Show (b01g7nry)
Series 2
Holidays
Award-winning comedian Jason Byrne tackles the stress of going on holiday.
Stand up and sketches with Laurence Howarth and Daisy Haggard.
Producer: Julia McKenzie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2009.


TUESDAY 02 MARCH 2021

TUE 00:00 The Heart of Hark'un (b007v25z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b016817f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Shaun Prendergast - Only the Good Die Young (b007jn1q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 Mark Tavener - High Table, Lower Orders (b008y4fg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Dirt Road by James Kelman (b07lfrt8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 15 Minute Drama (b08z9pb0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 The Protection Game (b00zzsdj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 Heinrich Mann - Berlin (m000spm9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Act Your Age (b00g3hr8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 Married (b00dbqws)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 Boswell's Lives (b076bc7j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 Just a Minute (m000sgsr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b08898tk)
Such as Sit in Darkness
PC Jamie has been posted, with his wife Pam, to the Yorkshire Moors.
But far from the quiet life they're expecting - the arrival of a mysterious letter sparks a terrifying chain of events and their first encounter with the powers of evil...
Roy Clarke's six-part serial directed by Alan Ayckbourn.
Stars Juliet Cooke as Pam, Brian Peck as Jamie, James Beck as Sergeant, Bob Grant as Probert and Heather Stoney as the Radio Voice.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1968.
TUE 06:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j1w35)
Series 1
1. Vanished
A man mysteriously disappears en route from London to start a new secret new job in Leeds. But when detectives Trueman and Riley start to probe, they uncover a deeper mystery...
Brian B. Thompson's detective series about the ill-matched duo is set in Leeds.
CAST:
D.I. Trueman …. Robert Daws
D.S. Riley …. Duncan Preston
Janie Tully …. Amy Robbins
Nick Tully …. John Dougal
The Barmaid …. Rachel Bavidge
The duo began life on BBC Radio 4 in 2002, with Detective Inspector Trueman called back to work after a nervous breakdown in order to solve a high profile murder case, backed up by Detective Superintendent Riley. This was followed by three new plays in 2005.
Director: Toby Swift
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in 2007.
TUE 07:00 The Break (b0b6htgg)
Series 2
The Last Farewell
The death of Frank's rival, Frank, causes Frank mixed emotions - glee and joy. Starring Philip Jackson, Tom Palmer, Alison Steadman, Mark Benton, Shobna Gulati and Rasmus Hardiker.
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 07:30 Henry Normal: A Normal... (m000sj8s)
Communication
"Shove up National Treasures. We need to make room for Henry Normal"
Simon O'Hagan - Radio Times
The seventh instalment in this acclaimed, occasional series in which acclaimed, occasional writer Henry Normal tackles those subjects so big only radio can possibly contain them. So far Henry has covered ‘Family’, ‘Life’, ‘Love’, ‘Imagination’, ‘Nature’ and ‘The Universe’; in this new episode he explores ‘Communication’, recorded with a virtual audience.
Through poetry, stories, jokes and quotes Henry will be looking at the way ‘how’ we communicate colours ‘what’ we communicate and exploring ‘why’ we communicate in the first place.
Henry Normal is a multi-award winning writer, producer and poet. Co-writer of award winning TV programmes such as The Royle Family, The Mrs Merton Show, Coogan’s Run and Paul Calf, and producer of, amongst many others, Oscar-Nominated Philomena, Gavin and Stacey and Alan Partridge.
He’s published eight collections of poetry including his most recent ‘The Beauty Within Shadow’. Plus his memoir written with Angela Pell ‘A Normal Family’ everyday adventure with our autistic son.
Praise for previous episodes in this series:
"It's a rare and lovely thing: half an hour of radio that stops you short, gently demands your attention and then wipes your tears away while you have to have a little sit down"
"It's a real treat to hear a seasoned professional like Henry taking command of this evening comedy spot to deliver a show that's idiosyncratic and effortlessly funny"
"Not heard anything that jumps from hilarious to moving in such an intelligent, subtle way as Henry Normal's show"
Written and performed by Henry Normal
Production Coordinator - Beverly Tagg
Produced by Carl Cooper
This was a BBC Studios production.
TUE 08:00 The Goon Show (b00d7jxr)
The Plasticine Man
Neddie Seagoon poses as a 6,000-year-old man to resurrect his rock 'n' roll career. Stars Spike Milligan. From December 1957.
TUE 08:30 Rent (b062r9w7)
Series 4
Episode 1
Paul and Ruby have moved out of the Reynolds' house, but they're not far away.
Maria and Richard, meanwhile, are getting to grips with a new arrival.
Lucy Flannery's award-winning sitcom about Maria and Richard Reynolds and their lodgers.
Stars Barbara Flynn as Maria, Patrick Barlow as Richard, Vivienne Rochester as Ruby, Dave Lamb as Paul and Sally Grace as the Barrister. With Sarah Parkinson.
Producer: Liz Anstee.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.
TUE 09:00 The Now Show (m000skdv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:30 Like They've Never Been Gone (b00cl49j)
Series 4
Episode 2
Tommy and Sheila's devious agent opens his own train company – on the cheap naturally – and needs his top talent to help him launch it.
But will there be anything worth launching?
Ageing showbiz couple Tommy Franklin and Sheila Parr battle on with their second stab at fame.
Series 4 of Mike Coleman’s six-part sitcom starring June Whitfield and Roy Hudd.
With Pat Coombs, Julian Eardley, Edward Halstead and Emma Kennedy.
Music by Frido Ruth.
Producer: Steve Doherty
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2002.
TUE 10:00 Heinrich Mann - Berlin (m000t0ds)
Episode 2
Aspiring young poet Andrew Zumsee has come from the provinces to make his name in Berlin society in the 1890s. With the wealthy Turkheimers as his patrons - and Adelheid Turkheimer as his lover - a glittering artistic career looks assured.
Conclusion of Heinrich Mann's novel dramatised by Patricia Hannah.
Andrew Zumsee .... John Kielty
Adelheid Turkheimer .... Joanna Tope
Louis Turkheimer .... John Shedden
Karl Kaflisch .... Simon Tait
Dr Bedeiner .... Ralph Riach
Lizzi Laffe .... Vivienne Dixon
Diederich Klempner .... Gregor Powrie
Friederich Kopf .... Simon Donaldson
Asta Turkheimer .... Lucy Paterson
Bienaimee Matzke ... Gayanne Potter
Frau Moore.................Stella Forge
Clare Pinbush.............Hilary Neville
Blosch............................Mark McDonald
Heinrich Mann .... James Bryce
Director: David Jackson Young
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2004.
TUE 11:00 Archive on 4 (b09lvy6l)
Frankenstein Lives!
Mary Shelley's extraordinary, ground-breaking novel about the creation of a living being who becomes a monster. Cultural historian and writer Christopher Frayling considers how the story of Victor Frankenstein and his creature has become a creation myth for our age.
Frankenstein is one of a handful of works whose title has passed into the language of everyday life and has been adapted countless times for cinema, radio, television and theatre - with each new generation discovering the unique power of the original.
In the overwhelmingly Christian society of 1818, the notion of man creating life was both unthinkable and blasphemous. Two centuries later, the moral dilemmas of the original story continue to challenge and perplex us. After Dr Christiaan Barnard performed the first heart transplant in 1967, he proclaimed "I am the new Frankenstein'. Since then we have truly entered an age of genetically and surgically modified nature - from cloned sheep to disease-resistant crop strains. Inevitably these developments are met with newspaper headlines that scream Frankenstein!
Christopher Frayling uses his expert knowledge to lead us through the rich and unsettling history of the Frankenstein myth, amidst a host of chilling archive recordings and insightful contributions from filmmakers, writers and scientists. He explores how and why, 200 years after it was born, Mary Shelley's nightmare creation is still very much alive and kicking.
Interviewees:
Kim Newman, critic and horror writer
John Landis, film director
Sara Karloff, daughter of Boris Karloff who played The Creature in the 1931 film
Madeline Smith, Hammer Studios actress
Miranda Seymour, biographer of Mary Shelley
Professor Sharon Ruston, science and literature expert
Stephen Hebron, Curator of Special Projects, Bodleian Library
Producer: Jane Long
A Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.
TUE 12:00 The Goon Show (b00d7jxr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 Rent (b062r9w7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b08898tk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j1w35)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Dirt Road by James Kelman (b07lg6k0)
Episode 7
Murdo is feeling out of place amongst the kilts and Saltires of the Alabama Highland Gathering - until the live music session begins.
Read by Finn den Hertog
Booker prize-winner James Kelman’s novel is a potent exploration of love, grief and the power of music.
Abridged by David Jackson Young
Producer Eilidh McCreadie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
TUE 14:15 15 Minute Drama (b08zc0qz)
Henry James - Daisy Miller
Episode 2
Henry James' classic novella dramatised by Amanda Dalton.
When Winterbourne meets the free spirited Daisy Miller again in Rome he finds himself torn between his desire for Daisy and his need to uphold the values and rules of conduct of his society. If he is to follow his heart he must ignore the disapproval and harsh judgement of those around him.
CAST:
Frederick Winterbourne .... Jack Lowden
Daisy Miller .... Julianna Jennings
Mrs Miller .... Laurel Lefkow
Eugenio .... Cesare Taurasi
Directed by Nadia Molinari
TUE 14:30 Be My Guest (m000sr7n)
Alfred Marks
Alfred Marks says Be My Guest and invites you to join him in recalling his early visits to London's Variety Theatres and Musical Shows; memories of wartime films, and records he likes to share with his family.
Producer Phyllis Robinson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1977.
TUE 15:00 Heinrich Mann - Berlin (m000t0ds)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 Dilemma (b05rnz1n)
Series 4
Episode 4
Sue Perkins presents another edition of the show that puts the big moral and ethical questions to a mixed panel to see the direction in their moral compasses point. This week, it's the turn of comedians Iain Stirling and Shappi Khorsandi, journalist Suzanne Moore, and writer and actor Dan Tetsell. Collectively they rate the merits of getting the money or the credit for something's success, as well as quickly resolving issues such as inheritance, racism, childhood dreams and Beyoncé. Episode four of six.
Dilemma is presented by Sue Perkins.
Devised by ... Danielle Ward
Producer ... Ed Morrish.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2015.
TUE 16:30 Like They've Never Been Gone (b00cl49j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
TUE 17:00 The Break (b0b6htgg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Henry Normal: A Normal... (m000sj8s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 The Heart of Hark'un (b007jq8x)
Episode 3
Shaznir calls on the power of the Deadlands, while Arcos meets a strange Brotherhood.
A fantasy-adventure by Peter Thomson and Jamie Thomson.
Arcos ..... Francis Thomson
Kaddah ..... Trevor Peacock
Vanna ..... Elizabeth Whiting
Shazir ..... Crawford Logan
Bereneth ..... Edward Kelsey
Va ..... Melanie Hudson
Alviza ..... Emma Fielding
Zander ..... Robert Portal
The General ..... Clarence Smith
Rashiq ..... Theresa Streatfeild
Producer: Peter Hutchings
First broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in September 1991.
TUE 18:30 Soul Music (b00rdyrb)
Series 9
Bach's Goldberg Variations
Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.
Bach wrote his Goldberg Variations for harpsichord in the 1740s, but today it's performed by pianists all over the world. People describe the place these pieces have in their lives, including a neuroscientist from New York, pianist Angela Hewitt, a father driving his family through the night in the Australian Outback, and a woman from Oregon whose life was transformed, perhaps even saved, by this music.
Produced by Sarah Conkey
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
TUE 19:00 The Goon Show (b00d7jxr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 Rent (b062r9w7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b08898tk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j1w35)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 Archive on 4 (b09lvy6l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 22:00 Henry Normal: A Normal... (m000sj8s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 Revolting People (b007jrt6)
Series 1
More Storm Clouds
Baltimore 1770. The reception of Cora and Ezekiel’s ‘wedding of the year’ ends in drunken chaos.
Historical sitcom written by Andy Hamilton and Jay Tarses.
CAST:
Samuel Oliphant …. Jay Tarses
Sergeant McGurk …. Andy Hamilton
Cora Oliphant …. Felicity Montagu
Ezekiel Spriggs …. Hugh Dennis
Mr Snavely …. Michael Fenton Stevens
Captain Grimshaw …. James Fleet
Joshua Oliphant …. Tony Maudsley
Mary Oliphant …. Sophie Thompson
Mrs Arbuthnot …. Susie Blake
Producer: Paul Mayhew-Archer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
TUE 23:00 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b045z943)
Series 3
Terry Alderton
Alex Horne and his five-piece band explore the theme of miscellaneous mysterious things
Live music and comedy, with songs about aliens, de ja vu and life from a fly's perspective.
Special guest comedian: Terry Alderton
Band: Joe Auckland, Mark Brown, Will Collier, Ben Reynolds, Ed Sheldrake
Producer: Charlie Perkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2014.
TUE 23:30 The Masterson Inheritance (b007jqyg)
Series 3
Masterson Rides Again
The life of young Billy at his Victorian boarding school. Improvised historical family saga with Paul Merton. From July 1995.


WEDNESDAY 03 MARCH 2021

WED 00:00 The Heart of Hark'un (b007jq8x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Soul Music (b00rdyrb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b08898tk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j1w35)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Dirt Road by James Kelman (b07lg6k0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 15 Minute Drama (b08zc0qz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 Be My Guest (m000sr7n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 Heinrich Mann - Berlin (m000t0ds)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 Dilemma (b05rnz1n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Like They've Never Been Gone (b00cl49j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 The Break (b0b6htgg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Henry Normal: A Normal... (m000sj8s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b089072d)
2. The Unquiet Dead
After their brush with violent death, Jamie and Father Probert find further evidence of the forces of darkness.
The arrival of a mysterious letter has sparked a terrifying chain of events on the Yorkshire Moor for policeman Jamie and wife Pam.
Roy Clarke's six-part serial directed by Alan Ayckbourn.
Stars Juliet Cooke as Pam, Brian Peck as Jamie, Bob Grant as Probert, James Beck as the Sergeant, Robert Wallace as the Vicar, Ella Atkinson as Maggie and Laurence Bould as the Coroner.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in April 1968.
WED 06:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j1whb)
Series 1
2. Story
A journalist has fallen from a building while working on a story, but was she pushed?
Trueman and Riley get a crash course in internet radio, 'citizen journalism' and fat dogs as they seek to find an answer.
Brian B. Thompson's detective series about the ill-matched duo is set in Leeds.
CAST:
D.I. Trueman …. Robert Daws
D.S. Riley …. Duncan Preston
David …. Anthony Glennon
Harriet …. Jasmine Callan
Aaron …. Paul Richard Biggin
The duo began life on BBC Radio 4 in 2002, with Detective Inspector Trueman called back to work after a nervous breakdown in order to solve a high profile murder case, backed up by Detective Superintendent Riley. This was followed by three new plays in 2005.
Director: Toby Swift
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in 2007.
WED 07:00 Start/Stop (b04th9fg)
Series 2
Glastonbury
Hit comedy about three marriages in various states of disrepair.
This week the three couples have tickets for Glastonbury. But the festival dates clash with Cathy's dad's birthday. Barney fears he will be marooned in a care home while his friends have the time of their lives at the music festival.
At the festival Alice tries to lose David, Evan tries to get David to loosen his tie, and Fiona tries to get Alice to lose her inhibitions and talk about Barney.
Meanwhile in the care home Barney is losing the will to live while being made to sing 'If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands'.
Barney ...... Jack Docherty
Cathy ...... Kerry Godliman
Evan ...... John Thomson
Fiona ...... Fiona Allen
David ...... Charlie Higson
Alice ...... Sally Bretton
Producer ..... Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2014.
WED 07:30 Gossip and Goddesses with Granny Kumar (m000sh97)
Episode 3
Granny Kumar is back! Meera Syal’s glorious comedy creation returns, with her great granddaughter Maya (Ambreen Razia) and arch nemesis “frenemy” Geeta (Harvey Virdi) to chat with the sisters.
Left alone while her family are stuck in quarantine on a world cruise, Granny Kumar decides to host her own series, born out of frustration at seeing or hearing the same old parade of guests on chat shows (mainly male, pale and stale).
She wonders why no one interviews any of the sisters and asks them about their extraordinary, complex and uplifting stories.
So, Gossip and Goddesses is born – Ummi Kumar gathers together her favourite inspirational women at Wembley Community Centre, aided by her millennial great granddaughter Maya and her arch nemesis “frenemy” Geeta, leader of the local Asian Ladies Silver Bats community group.
The show is a women-only party, where they share stories, laugh loads and chew the fat/dish the dirt/eat the biscuits…
A blend of sitcom, silliness and improvised chat, led by the best kind of interviewers who know how to make anyone talk - two really nosy old Indian women.
Guests:
Sharp stand-up comedian Ayesha Hazerika and Countryfile presenter Anita Rani
Cast:
Ummi Kumar – Meera Syal
Geeta Bhandari – Harvey Virdi
Maya Kumar – Ambreen Razia
Written by Meera Syal
Music by Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4
WED 08:00 The Missing Hancocks (b08k2ctk)
Series 3
The Racehorse
The Missing Hancocks recreates those episodes of the classic Hancock's Half Hour that have been wiped or lost from the archive. Something else has gone missing in this episode from the second series - the lad 'imself, who had absconded to Rome. In 1955, he was replaced for the first three episodes by the Goon Show's Harry Secombe. In this recreation, he has been replaced by Andy Secombe - Harry's son. Not heard since then, this is a real piece of comedy history.
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 on one of the most successful comedy-writing partnerships in history. But 20 episodes of the show are missing from the BBC archives. Now, after two highly successful series, another five of those episodes have been lovingly re-recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC Radio Theatre.
Tonight's episode: The Racehorse. With Tony Hancock indisposed, Harry Secombe has 10 bob left so Bill decides to spend it on a racehorse. The fact that it only has three legs doesn't deter Sid from entering it in the Britannia Steeplechase.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and with the classic score newly recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, the show stars Andy Secombe, Kevin Eldon, Simon Greenall, Robin Sebastian and Susy Kane. The Racehorse was first broadcast on the 3rd May, 1955.
Produced by Ed Morrish & Neil Pearson.
Written by Ray Galton & Simpson
Music recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Levon Parikian.
A BBC Radio Comedy Production.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.
WED 08:30 No Commitments (b007jmrd)
Series 1
Cracks In The Varnish
Caring and sharing can be hard work for Victoria. Stars Rosemary Leach, Celia Imrie and Nicola Pagett. From January 1992.
WED 09:00 Heresy (b07bdfm2)
Series 10
Episode 1
The programme that dares to commit heresy. Victoria Coren Mitchell and her guests have fun challenging knee-jerk public opinions, and exposing the wrong-headedness of received wisdom.
In the first programme of the series Victoria is joined by comedians Lloyd Langford and Katy Brand, and the artist Grayson Perry. They talk about French Style, God and Hitler.
An Avalon Production
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
WED 09:30 Beachcomber... By the Way (b0082ckc)
Series 1
Episode 4
Lord Shortcake takes up amateur dramatics, Captain Foulenough takes us back to his unsavoury childhood, Cricket is taken too seriously, and Prodnose is escorted to the graveyard in the hope he’ll take the hint...
Richard Ingrams, John Wells, John Sessions and Patricia Routledge recreate the world of the JB Morton.
Running in the Daily Express from 1924 to 1975 – JB Morton’s surreally comic ‘Beachcomber’ column paved the way for a great deal of modern humour.
Adapted by Michael Barfield with Richard Ingrams.
Announcer: Brian Perkins
Producer: Harry Thompson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1989
WED 10:00 Classic Serial (b0075qkb)
Laurie Lee - Cider with Rosie
Episode 1
Tim McInnerny plays Laurie and Niamh Cusack his mother, in this production recorded on location in and around the Slad valley. In the first of two episodes dramatised by Nick Darke, the Lee family arrive in their new home.
Laurie........Tim McInnerny
Mother.......Niamh Cusack
Young Loll..Sunny Leworthy
With Jennifer Compton, Paul Currier, Briony Fforde, Daniel Clifford, Lisa Kay, Laura Strachan, Jed Blacklock, David Goodland, Constance Chapman, Val Lorraine, Chris Grimes, June Barrie, James Lawton, Pupils of Rodborough Primary School.
Music by Paul Burgess
Directed by Viv Beeby and Jeremy Howe.
WED 11:00 Hardware, Software, Anywhere (m000sqjf)
3. Anywhere
Nick Baker’s collection of programmes and interviews reflects on how the impact of technology has changed, from the dawn of language to the age of virtual reality.
In this final episode, ‘Anywhere’, Nick looks at bigger changes in our physical perceptions, and experiences a new medium – Virtual Reality, as developed in the BBC Virtual Reality hub.
But there’s a different, more subtle way in which digital technology changes our perception of personal space, and that idea’s probed in an edition of ‘The Digital Human’ presented by Aleks Krotoski, called ‘Between’.
Then, a warning from literature, and from history. Stephen Fry and Nick Baker discuss E.M. Forster’s 1909 novella, ‘The Machine Stops’, which envisages a physical world changed, if not destroyed by technology. But what happens when that technology breaks down?
Producer: Stephen Garner
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in 2019.
WED 12:00 The Missing Hancocks (b08k2ctk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 No Commitments (b007jmrd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b089072d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j1whb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Dirt Road by James Kelman (b07lhgqz)
Episode 8
As excitement mounts for the Tennessee camping trip, will Murdo find the courage to travel to the music festival in Lafayette instead?
Read by Finn den Hertog
Booker prize-winner James Kelman’s novel is a potent exploration of love, grief and the power of music.
Abridged by David Jackson Young
Producer Eilidh McCreadie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
WED 14:15 15 Minute Drama (b08zdvgt)
Henry James - Daisy Miller
Episode 3
Henry James' classic novella dramatised by Amanda Dalton.
When Winterbourne meets the free spirited Daisy Miller again in Rome he finds himself torn between his desire for Daisy and his need to uphold the values and rules of conduct of his society. If he is to follow his heart he must ignore the disapproval and harsh judgement of those around him.
CAST:
Frederick Winterbourne ....Jack Lowden
Daisy Miller .... Julianna Jennings
Mrs Costello .... Barbara Barnes
Mrs Miller .... Laurel Lefkow
Randolph .... Haris Giannakopoulos
Mrs Walker .... Leanne Best
Directed by Nadia Molinari
WED 14:30 Piano Pilgrimage (b03nrlyg)
Episode 1
Jazz pianist Jamie Cullum explores the piano's place in modern life. With recent stories about the decline of the piano, Jamie delves behind the myths to find out about the history of the instrument he is most passionate about and looks at how the piano industry is still thriving in the UK.
In the first episode, Jamie begins by focusing on the piano itself and traces the story of an old abandoned piano that he rescued from a street corner. His journey leads him to the London Borough of Camden where piano historian Dr. Alastair Laurence takes him on a tour around the area that, only a century ago, was the world centre of the piano making industry.
After exploring some of the remaining piano retailers in the neighbourhood and playing London's most out of tune piano, Jamie travels to the Yorkshire Dales to visit one of the few places left in the country where pianos are still being made from scratch.
At Newark College, Jamie talks to the course leader and students at the last piano tuning course in the country and learns some surprising facts about the physics of piano tuning.
Finally, Jamie visits the Brontë's old family home to play on the sisters' own piano that has been carefully restored.
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft.
A Folded Wing production for BBC Radio 4
WED 15:00 Classic Serial (b0075qkb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 Heresy (b07bdfm2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 Beachcomber... By the Way (b0082ckc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 Start/Stop (b04th9fg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 Gossip and Goddesses with Granny Kumar (m000sh97)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 The Heart of Hark'un (b007jq8l)
Episode 4
One word is the key to the Grimoire. But is Arcos able to harness its magical power?
A fantasy-adventure by Peter Thomson and Jamie Thomson.
Arcos ..... Francis Thomson
Kaddah ..... Trevor Peacock
Vanna ..... Elizabeth Whiting
Shazir ..... Crawford Logan
Bereneth ..... Edward Kelsey
Va ..... Melanie Hudson
Alviza ..... Emma Fielding
Zander ..... Robert Portal
The General ..... Clarence Smith
Rashiq ..... Theresa Streatfeild
Producer: Peter Hutchings
First broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in September 1991.
WED 18:30 Short Cuts (m0001b10)
Series 17
Me and You
Josie Long presents new short documentaries and audio essays about intertwining with another person.
A father and son stare out to sea and talk about a lost love, a woman writes a letter to her young daughter unpicking the complex intersections between motherhood, art, selfhood and capitalism, and a widow finds an unusual spirit guide for her grieving.
Victoria, My Spirit Widow
Produced by Sophie Townsend
The Art of Knowing When to Retreat
Produced by Stacia Brown
Originally made for the podcast Hope Chest
A Friend
Produced by Sayre Quevedo
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2018.
WED 19:00 The Missing Hancocks (b08k2ctk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 No Commitments (b007jmrd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b089072d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j1whb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 Hardware, Software, Anywhere (m000sqjf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 22:00 Gossip and Goddesses with Granny Kumar (m000sh97)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 On the Hour (b007k3zk)
Series 1
Episode 4
Why cream maybe good for you - and another motorway goes missing...
All the news as it happens, if it happens – and the sport must go on for a bereaved Alan Partridge.
Savagely satirical award-winning comedy starring Chris Morris.
With Steve Coogan, David Schneider, Rebecca Front, Patrick Marber and Doon Mackichan.
Written by Chris Morris, Richard Herring, Steven Wells, Andrew Glover, David Quantick and Stewart Lee.
Editor: Armando lannucci
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1991.
WED 23:00 Laura Solon - Talking and Not Talking (b00p67ts)
Series 3
Episode 4
Laura Solon presents her third series of sketches, monologues and one-liners.
This week unwelcoming neighbour Annabelle quizzes an unsuspecting soul over his windchimes; useless entrepreneur, Carole Price, takes another swing at selling her bad ideas to the world and someone travels back from the very near future to warn a man about his blind date.
Starring Laura Solon, with Rosie Cavaliero, Ben Moor and Ben Willbond.
Producer: Colin Anderson.
WED 23:30 Vent (b00t4qzw)
Series 1
Gravity Gets You Down
Ben's physiotherapy seems to be working miracles when he gets far enough out of his coma to punch his physiotherapist.
And what are a tough-as-nails agent, a giant winged angel and Elvis doing in his unconscious mind?
Dark sitcom written by Nigel Smith.
Starring Neil Pearson as Ben Smith, Fiona Allen as Mary, Josie Lawrence as Mum and Leslie Ash as Blitzkrieg.
With Mark Perry, Dave Lamb, Jo Martin, Lucy Montgomery and Nicola Walker, Tim Whitnall and Sue Vincent.
Producer: Gareth Edwards
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2006.


THURSDAY 04 MARCH 2021

THU 00:00 The Heart of Hark'un (b007jq8l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 Short Cuts (m0001b10)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b089072d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j1whb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Dirt Road by James Kelman (b07lhgqz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 15 Minute Drama (b08zdvgt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 Piano Pilgrimage (b03nrlyg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Classic Serial (b0075qkb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 Heresy (b07bdfm2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 Beachcomber... By the Way (b0082ckc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Start/Stop (b04th9fg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 Gossip and Goddesses with Granny Kumar (m000sh97)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b0890hpm)
The Fires of Hell
Jamie and Probert meet fresh terrors - and Pam is in danger of her life.
The terrifying chain of events continue on the Yorkshire Moor for policeman Jamie and wife Pam.
Roy Clarke's six-part serial directed by Alan Ayckbourn.
Stars Juliet Cooke as Pam, Brian Peck as Jamie, Bob Grant as Probert and Colin Edwynn as Brown.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in April 1968.
THU 06:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j2510)
Series 1
3. Bond
Suspicion erupts at a James Bond convention as Trueman and Riley go in search of a stolen ring.
Tracy's ring, as worn by Diana Rigg, in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' is the 'holy grail' for collectors, but exactly what are they prepared to do to get it?
Brian B. Thompson's detective series about the ill-matched duo is set in Leeds.
CAST:
D.I. Trueman …. Robert Daws
D.S. Riley …. Duncan Preston
Karen …. Rachel Bavidge
Bill …. Paul Rider
Gerard …. Mark Straker
Jane …. Christine Kavanagh
The Receptionist …. Anthony Glennon
The duo began life on BBC Radio 4 in 2002, with Detective Inspector Trueman called back to work after a nervous breakdown in order to solve a high profile murder case, backed up by Detective Superintendent Riley. This was followed by three new plays in 2005.
Director: Toby Swift
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in 2007.
THU 07:00 People In Cars (b00r2dp6)
Miles on the Clock
People In Cars: Miles On The Clock
By Simon Brett
An elderly lady finds it easier to talk to her car than to people. She always has done, as she explains to the vehicle she's in today: a stately Roller.
Valerie ... Anne Reid
Limousine ... John Sessions
Director: Peter Kavanagh
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
THU 07:30 Between Ourselves with Marian Keyes (m000sjyz)
Shame
Back for a second series, Marian Keyes continues to be a publishing sensation. Her works of fiction - Rachel's Holiday, The Break and her latest, Grown Ups, among many others - have sold in their millions across the globe.
Marian reads selections from her non-fiction writing in conversation with her friend, the actor Tara Flynn.
With the on-going international unpleasantness – and in the brief respite between lockdowns - this series was recorded without a studio audience at Marian’s home in County Dublin, Ireland. If you listen carefully you might hear the number 96A bus rumbling past, outside.
What we might lack in a studio audience reaction we hope to make up for in warmth and witty, good-natured companionship. The first series was described in The Observer as “a laugh out loud hoot” and the Daily Mail called it “bright, funny and clever”.
This week's theme is shame. Alongside the craic, Marian tells the stories of her Bono Boots and an embarrassing experience in London involving Joan of Arc.
Presenters: Tara Flynn and Marian Keyes
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4
THU 08:00 Round the Horne (b00j05wv)
Series 1
Episode 8
Who killed the Amazing Proudbasket? And Kenneth Horne trolls round to 'Bona Tours' - courtesy of Julian and Sandy.
Starring Kenneth Horne.
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 1965.
THU 08:30 Living with Betty (b09jhp1v)
Episode 5
Bill and Betty look at a new flat, but how will Katherine react if they move?
The East End meets Cheshire in Arline Whittaker's six-part sitcom.
CAST:
Betty …. Barbara Windsor
Bill …. Glynn Edwards
Harold …. Peter Sallis
Muriel …. Rosalind Knight
Trevor …. Simon Molloy
Katherine …. Diana Mather
Producer: Mike Craig
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1986.
THU 09:00 Genius (b00802hh)
Series 3
Rob Newman
Hi-tech hitching to brushes with fingernails.
Dave Gorman asks comedian Rob Newman to select the public's best loopy idea.
Award-winning comedian Dave Gorman and a celebrity guest chew over the ridiculous, unworkable but sometimes genius inventions, schemes and policies of the public.
Producer: Simon Nicholls
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2007.
THU 09:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b00jty5v)
Series 3
Dad
His father's visit sparks ideas of inheritance in the misanthropic writer's mind. Stars Christopher Douglas. From December 2006.
THU 10:00 Classic Serial (b00757rv)
Laurie Lee - Cider with Rosie
Episode 2
In the second of two episodes dramatised by Nick Darke, young Loll experiences his first taste of the adult world.
Laurie.................Tim McInnerny
Mother................Niamh Cusack
Young Loll...........Sunny Leworthy
Rosie..................Emily Parrish
with Jennifer Compton, Paul Currier, Lisa Kay, Briony Fforde, Daniel Clifford, Jed Blacklock, David Goodland, Bill Wallis, Paul Dodgson, June Barrie, Chris Grimes, Megan Melish, Laura Beckett, Luke Glastonbury-Cole, Buster Reece, Alex Smith, Leanne French, Villagers of Slad and Rodborough.
Music by Paul Burgess
Directed by Viv Beeby and Jeremy Howe
Repeated Saturday 9.00 p.m.
THU 11:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m000sqwt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]
THU 11:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00mrzn0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 on Sunday]
THU 12:00 Round the Horne (b00j05wv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 Living with Betty (b09jhp1v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b0890hpm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j2510)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Dirt Road by James Kelman (b07lhj85)
Episode 9
Murdo has run away to the festival in Lafayette but after buying the accordion and bus tickets, his savings don’t run to somewhere to stay.
Booker prize-winner James Kelman’s novel is a potent exploration of love, grief and the power of music.
Read by Finn den Hertog
Abridged by David Jackson Young
Producer Eilidh McCreadie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
THU 14:15 15 Minute Drama (b08zd776)
Henry James - Daisy Miller
Episode 4
Henry James' classic novella dramatised by Amanda Dalton.
Daisy's close friendship with the handsome Italian Mr Giovanelli and her refusal to give him up invites the harsh judgement of the society and Winterbourne is forced to decide whether to follow his heart or turn his back on Daisy.
CAST:
Frederick Winterbourne .... Jack Lowden
Daisy Miller ..... Julianna Jennings
Mrs Miller .... Laurel Lefkow
Giovanelli ..... Cesare Taurasi
Mrs Walker .... Leanne Best
Directed by Nadia Molinari
THU 14:30 Piano Pilgrimage (b03pd2mv)
Episode 2
In the second part of his pilgrimage, jazz pianist Jamie Cullum uncovers the central role pianos have played in our communities in the past, and demonstrates the instrument's continued importance in many people's lives today.
Beginning at the family home of the Brontë sisters in West Yorkshire, he learns what the instrument meant for women in terms of courtship and their potential for marriage in the 1800s.
Jamie then heads to a school in Northern Ireland where the piano still plays a key part in the girls' education and wider social lives. After hearing a talented young pianist play, he performs an impromptu piece with the school choir around their grand piano.
Once a film student himself, Jamie looks at the position of the piano in silent cinema and learns about the resurgence of the phenomenon today at an open-air event in south London.
The pilgrimage eventually takes Jamie and his rescued old piano to a London pub to meet Chas and Dave. The three of them discuss the instrument's contribution to pub culture, before Jamie joins the Rockney duo for a crowd-pleasing sing-a-long around the piano.
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft.
A Folded Wing production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 15:00 Classic Serial (b00757rv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 Genius (b00802hh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b00jty5v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 People In Cars (b00r2dp6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 Between Ourselves with Marian Keyes (m000sjyz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 The Heart of Hark'un (b007jq9v)
Episode 5
Young novice sorcerer Arcos learns an unpalatable truth about his father from Kaddah.
A fantasy-adventure by Peter Thomson and Jamie Thomson.
Arcos ..... Francis Thomson
Kaddah ..... Trevor Peacock
Vanna ..... Elizabeth Whiting
Shazir ..... Crawford Logan
Bereneth ..... Edward Kelsey
Va ..... Melanie Hudson
Alviza ..... Emma Fielding
Rashiq ..... Theresa Streatfeild
Producer: Peter Hutchings
First broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in September 1991.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b07bbyjb)
Series 39
Charles Moore on Gordon Hamilton-Fairley
Gordon Hamilton-Fairley was a brilliant cancer specialist, the father of oncology in the UK.
Then in 1975 he was killed by an IRA bomb intended for a politician who lived in his street. Former editor of the Daily Telegraph Charles Moore chooses a man cut down in his prime. Joining him in the studio are three members of the Hamilton-Fairley family; plus the cancer specialist Ray Powles, who provides a compelling picture of how basic treatment for cancer sufferers used to be.
Presenter: Matthew Parris
Producer: Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
THU 19:00 Round the Horne (b00j05wv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 Living with Betty (b09jhp1v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b0890hpm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j2510)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m000sqwt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]
THU 21:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00mrzn0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 on Sunday]
THU 22:00 Between Ourselves with Marian Keyes (m000sjyz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 Newsjack (m000srnl)
Series 24
Episode 2
The week's news stories lovingly moulded into sketches and one-liners by the public.
THU 23:00 Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme (b05419jk)
Series 3
Cookery
This week the comic poet has left the studio for the kitchen, as he peers into 'Tim's shopping bag' and attempts to cook up a feast. He is assisted by his guitarist and commis chef, Tom Basden.
Written and presented by Tim Key
With Tom Basden and Yasmine Akram
Produced by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
The Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning comedian returns for a third series of his Late Night Poetry Programme. Since series two Tim has been busy touring his latest acclaimed live show, Single White Slut, thrilling audiences at the Old Vic in Daniel Kitson's Tree, as well as filming movies such as Steve Coogan's Alpha Papa and Richard Ayoade's The Double. But now he's back on late night Radio 4 doing what he does best - attempting to recite poetry whilst tormenting his friend and musician, the equally brilliant Tom Basden.
Praise for Tim Key
"...You never know when Key will suddenly toss you a fantastic joke or startlingly well-constructed line." Radio Times
"The show... has a kind of artistry and strange beauty that makes it unlike any other hour of stand-up you are likely to see." The Observer
"In any other sphere apart from comedy, we'd probably class this way of looking at the world as certifiable. Here it feels like genius." The Telegraph.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2015.
THU 23:15 iGod (b00wwc1r)
Robot
iGOD is a highly original and funny new late-night comedy series for Radio 4. It stars Simon Day (The Fast Show) and David Soul (Starsky & Hutch) and is written by one of the head writers of the BAFTA award-winning The Thick Of It, Sean Gray and produced by Simon Nicholls (Ed Reardon's Week / News At Bedtime).
We all worry about the end of the world, as economists and environmentalists speak in apocalyptic terms everyday. iGOD says that trying to predict the end of the world is as pointless as moisturising an elephant's elbow.
In each episode, an unnamed, all-seeing narrator (David Soul - Starsky and Hutch) shows us that it is stupid to be worrying, as he looks back at some of the most entertaining apocalypses on parallel Earths. Each week our case study is a normal bloke called Ian (Simon Day) who manages to accidentally initiate the apocalypse of a different parallel world through a seemingly harmless single act (telling a lie, being lazy, cooking some lambshanks). A succession of comic vignettes ensue that escalate to the end of a parallel world.
With a full-range of sound effects and wonderfully funny and surreal twists, iGOD will be a true aural extravaganza.
Writer: Sean Gray
Producer: Simon Nicholls
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
THU 23:30 Lee and Herring's Fist of Fun (b00804lf)
Exmouth
Back to the days of the poll tax, buying porn and true fables.
Recorded at the Plymouth University, Exmouth. With Peter Baynham, Jo Unwin, Kevin Eldon and Don King.
Stewart Lee and Richard Herring’s mix of sharp sketches and situations, stand up topical gags and banter.
Lee and Herring went to write and star in their successful TV transfer to BBC TWO in 1995.
Cult BBC Radio 1 series first broadcast in October 1993.


FRIDAY 05 MARCH 2021

FRI 00:00 The Heart of Hark'un (b007jq9v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b07bbyjb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b0890hpm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j2510)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Dirt Road by James Kelman (b07lhj85)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 15 Minute Drama (b08zd776)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 Piano Pilgrimage (b03pd2mv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Classic Serial (b00757rv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 Genius (b00802hh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b00jty5v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 People In Cars (b00r2dp6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Between Ourselves with Marian Keyes (m000sjyz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b08919pf)
The Hounds of Hell
The police move in - and Pam, Jamie and Probert are trapped - as the terrifying chain of evil events continues on the Yorkshire Moor.
Roy Clarke's six-part serial directed by Alan Ayckbourn.
Stars Juliet Cooke as Pam, Brian Peck as Jamie, Bob Grant as Probert, James Beck as the Sergeant and Harry Markham as the Tramp.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in April 1968.
FRI 06:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j272j)
Series 1
4. Speed
Detective Riley is feeling angry for being sent on a 'speed awareness' workshop.
But that puts him on the trail of ex-con from the old days in Hull - womanising rip-off merchant Frank Butters...
Brian B Thompson's detective series about the ill-matched duo is set in Leeds.
CAST:
D.I. Trueman …. Robert Daws
D.S. Riley …. Duncan Preston
Frank Butters …. Sam Dale
Melanie …. Christine Kavanagh
Eric Simonelli …. John Dougal
Inez …. Miranda Keeling
Svetlana …. Jasmine Callan
The duo began life on BBC Radio 4 in 2002, with Detective Inspector Trueman called back to work after a nervous breakdown in order to solve a high profile murder case, backed up by Detective Superintendent Riley. This was followed by three new plays in 2005.
Director: Toby Swift
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in 2007.
FRI 07:00 Rudy's Rare Records (b00yj2hq)
Series 3
Lights Out
Father and son comedy set in the finest old-school record shop in Birmingham.
Rudy is determined to prove to his girlfriend Doreen that she's finally met her match. He's even persuaded Adam to keep out of the way while he cooks Doreen a romantic meal for her birthday. The power supply across the West Midlands, however, has even more surprising treats in store.
Written by Danny Robins
Produced by Lucy Armitage.
FRI 07:30 Stand-Up Specials (m000sq6m)
Anna Morris: Kid-Life Crisis
Anna Morris hit forty, was single, childless and living back with her parents. Success! She hit a kid-life crisis – like a mid-life crisis but with the added pressure of diminishing fertility.
In this half-hour stand-up show, recorded in front of a remote audience, she looks at all the different ways in which women deal with ageing, dating and being childless – or child free. There's a difference in approach evident in just those two ways of describing women who don't have kids.
From an 'incompetent cervix' diagnosis to proud but patronising new mothers, Anna recounts her journey through the travails of a woman without children.
Written and performed by Anna Morris.
With Jess Robinson and Sam Underwood
Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 08:00 The Men from the Ministry (b007jnrc)
Bill Stickers Is Innocent
The bumbling civil servants scale new heights for grumpy Sir Gregory's latest poster campaign.
A weekly tribute to all those who work in government departments.
Stars Richard Murdoch and Deryck Guyler. With Norma Ronald, Ronald Baddiley and Jo Manning Wilson.
Written by Edward Taylor and John Graham.
'The Men from the Ministry' ran for 14 series between 1962 and 1977. Deryck Guyler replaced Wilfrid Hyde-White from 1966. Sadly many episodes didn't survive in the archive, however the BBC's Transcription Service re-recorded 14 shows in 1980 - never broadcast in the UK, until the arrival of BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Producer: Edward Taylor
First broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 in September 1970.
FRI 08:30 The Alan Davies Show (b007js69)
Episode 1
The struggling actor and his friends find themselves locked in - a lot! With Ronnie Ancona and Alan Francis. From May 1998.
FRI 09:00 Say the Word (b007652k)
Episode 6
Frank Delaney’s language game with Hunter Davies, Sheila Steafel, Roger McGough and Helen Atkinson Wood. From 2001.
FRI 09:30 The Sit Crom (b00mbc2k)
Night Exercises
With the sovereign set for a visit, confusion reigns in Lady Anne's bedchamber.
Sue Limb's six-part comedy set during the English Civil War.
Sir John Firebasket ...... Joss Ackland
Lady Anne Firebasket ...... Denise Coffey
Tobias Thynne ...... Clive Merrison
Mercy, alias Melissa ...... Miriam Margoyles
Father Francis ...... Nickolas Grace
Slow Ned ...... Chris Emmett
Gazebo Fogg ...... Jack Klaff
Posthumous ...... Nicky Henson
Counter Tenor ...... Peter Hayward
Producer: Jonathan James-Moore
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1990.
FRI 10:00 Drama (b08ymx5q)
D H Lawrence's The Gypsy
Drama inspired by D H Lawrence's The Virgin and the Gypsy. Handsome gypsy Joe and his family arrive in the small countryside village of Papplewick one summer looking for work. It isn't long before Joe is drawn to the local Rector's daughter. A tale of desire and repression set during interwar England.
CAST:
Joe .... Samuel Edward-Cook
Vina .... Candis Nergaard
Yvette .... Verity Henry
Lucille .... Harriet Chandler Judd
Granny .... Christine Cox
Rector .... Paul Stonehouse
Sergeant Eastwood .... Toby Hadoke
Written by Dan Allum
Directed by Charlotte Riches
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2017.
FRI 11:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m000ss23)
New Listening
Amanda Litherland and Scott Bryan review new podcast releases. Psychologist Kimberley Wilson and Dr Xand van Tulleken discuss Made Of Stronger Stuff, a show about the human body.
FRI 12:00 The Men from the Ministry (b007jnrc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 The Alan Davies Show (b007js69)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b08919pf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j272j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Dirt Road by James Kelman (b07lj6yr)
Episode 10
Murdo is on stage with Queen Monzee-ay and feels at home for the first time since the death of his mum.
Booker prize-winner James Kelman’s novel is a potent exploration of love, grief and the power of music.
Read by Finn den Hertog
Abridged by David Jackson Young
Producer Eilidh McCreadie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
FRI 14:15 15 Minute Drama (b08zdnm6)
Henry James - Daisy Miller
Episode 5
Henry James' classic novella dramatised by Amanda Dalton.
Winterbourne struggles to accept that Daisy's close friendship with the handsome Mr Giovanelli is innocent. When he discovers Daisy alone with Giovanelli one night at the Colosseum, consumed by jealousy, he confronts her.
CAST:
Henry James .... John Lynch
Frederick Winterbourne .... Jack Lowden
Daisy Miller ..... Julianna Jennings
Mrs Miller .... Laurel Lefkow
Mrs Costello .... Barbara Barnes
Randolph .... Haris Giannakopoulos
Giovanelli ..... Cesare Taurasi
Directed by Nadia Molinari
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2017.
FRI 14:30 Piano Pilgrimage (b03q4mlx)
Episode 3
In the final part of his pilgrimage, Jamie finds out what the piano means to its biggest fans. Starting outside York Minster, he comes across two fellow jazz pianists whose passion keeps them coming out on to the streets to busk on a specially modified upright.
Next, Jamie heads to a retirement village in Sheffield where he performs with musicians from a charity, Lost Chord, that uses the piano to help people living with dementia.
Jamie hears from Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger about the piano playing challenge he set himself, before learning about left hand alone repertoire from one-handed pianist Nicholas McCarthy.
In Northern Ireland, Jamie meets the talented young piano players being mentored by Adele's piano player, Neil Cowley. Over a pint at Bennigan's Bar, Jamie finds out from the pub's legendary landlord Joe, how a piano turned the place into the heart of Derry's music scene. Jamie then tests the ivories for a moving final performance together with Joe and local musician Põl.
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft.
A Folded Wing production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:00 Drama (b08ymx5q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 Say the Word (b007652k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 The Sit Crom (b00mbc2k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 Rudy's Rare Records (b00yj2hq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 Stand-Up Specials (m000sq6m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 The Heart of Hark'un (b007jqbs)
Episode 6
Is Shazir the real enemy? Can Arcos and his hero friends escape the Palace of Memory?
Conclusion of the fantasy-adventure by Peter Thomson and Jamie Thomson.
Arcos ..... Francis Thomson
Kaddah ..... Trevor Peacock
Vanna ..... Liz Whiting
Shazir ..... Crawford Logan
Bereneth ..... Edward Kelsey
Va ..... Melanie Hudson
Alviza ..... Emma Fielding
Rashiq ..... Theresa Streatfeild
Xander ...... Robert Portal
Producer: Peter Hutchings
First broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in October 1991.
FRI 18:30 Off the Page (b00ktprr)
Stripping Off
Dominic Arkwright, Zoe Simon, Catherine Blyth and Phil Hilton discuss whether being revealing is art or obscenity? From 2009.
FRI 19:00 The Men from the Ministry (b007jnrc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 The Alan Davies Show (b007js69)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 Roy Clarke - The Events at Black Tor (b08919pf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 Trueman and Riley (b00j272j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m000ss23)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 22:00 Stand-Up Specials (m000sq6m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 Alan Parker's 59 Minutes of Truth (b00yz8v4)
Episode 4
The urban warrior asks do you rave or rock?
More undeniable truths to a nation crying out for direction and guidance.
Comedy-music mix written by and starring Simon Munnery.
With Peter Serafinowicz.
Producer: Aled Evans
First broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in March 1995.
FRI 23:30 I Think I've Got a Problem (b00cc4qg)
Series 2
Episode 1
In an attempt to rid him of the band that lives in his head, Tom’s been sent to a special centre for the entertainingly afflicted. The treatment's going well - until the band can't take any more and make Tom burst into song.
Reunited once more, Tom and the band decide they've missed each other and hatch an escape plan...
Andrew McGibbon and Nick Romero's everyday story about a man who can't stop himself from breaking into song.
Suggs ..... Tom Caine
Bob Monkhouse ..... Dr Boone
Phil Cornwell ..... Bouche
Andrew McGibbon ..... Jake
Nick Romero ..... Monty DeVere
Bill Nighy ..... Malc
Julia Deakin ..... Phelia
Toby Longworth ..... Clammy
Tracy-Ann Oberman
Songs: Andrew McGibbon. Nick Romero and Suggs
Producers: Andrew McGibbon and Dawn Ellis.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2003.