SATURDAY 14 MAY 2022

SAT 00:00 Paradise Lost in Cyberspace (b007jpgs)
Episode 5
Now a fully-fledged OAP, George Smith is set for a special mission with Andrea Sunbeam and Mrs Cookson.
Starring Stephen Moore.
Colin Swash's dystopian comedy set in 22nd-century Britain.
George ...... Stephen Moore
Doris ...... Patsy Byrne
O'Connell ...... Geoffrey McGivern
Mrs Cookson ...... Edna Dore
Andrea Sunbeam ...... Lorelei King
Wilma P Random ...... Melanie Hudson
Other parts played by:
Christopher Douglas
Lewis MacLeod
Peter Serafinowicz
Producer: Richard Wilson.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1998.
SAT 00:30 Sounds Natural (b07lp1v3)
Derek Nimmo
From the Bar-Tailed Godwit to the Natterjack Toad.
Actor, producer, author and Just A Minute panellist, Derek Nimmo talks to Derek Jones about his love of wildlife photography and filming, plus his recent trip to Australia,
Aided by recordings from the BBC Sound Archive.
Derek Nimmo died aged 68 in 1999.
Producer: John Burton.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1973.
SAT 01:00 Wimsey (b007jvlr)
Unnatural Death
5. The Property Act
Unravelling property rules throws up some fresh clues for Lord Peter Wimsey as he continues his murder probe .
Ian Carmichael stars as the aristocratic sleuth.
Dorothy L Sayers' detective mystery.
Dramatised by Chris Miller.
Lord Peter Wimsey …. Ian Carmichael
Inspector Parker …. Gabriel Woolf
Mr Murbles …. Malcolm Hayes
Mr Towkington …. Garard Green
Mr Trigg …. Gordon Clyde
Mrs Mead …. Bridget McConnel
Producer: Simon Brett.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1975.
SAT 01:30 The House (m00175lz)
Series 2
5. A New Nomination
"Mr Speaker , will the Home Secretary explain why he is supporting the nomination of the twin brother of his closest friend? Has the Government rigged the election process? "
Is the Government involved in shady dealings for the election?
Starring Julian Glover and Peter Kelly.
Political thriller serial by Christopher Lee.
Charles Bannister .... Julian Glover
Dougal Baxter .... Peter Kelly
Mary Bannister ....Isla Blair
Henry Colville ....Christopher Benjamin
Juliet Cameron ....Siobhan Redmond
Rose ....Sheila Reid
Kay Bennett ....Jane Booker
Gerald Mossman ....David Neville
Speaker ....Terence Edmond
Producer: Neil Cargill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1991.
SAT 02:00 Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby (b007jwx3)
Episode 5
Musing on Arsenal winning the league - and searching for the right metaphor.
Nick Hornby concludes his football-obsessed memoir taking in the landmark year of 1989, when his beloved team were top of Division 1, in the days before the Premier League.
Producer: Matthew Walters
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1993.
SAT 02:15 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (b007jvxl)
10. Waterloo
1815, the Battle of Waterloo. As George and Rawdon fight, Becky and Amelia wait for news.
Stephen Fry narrates one of the greatest comic novels of the Victorian period.
Written by William Makepeace Thackeray.
Dramatised by Stephen Wyatt.
Becky Sharp .... Emma Fielding
Amelia …. Katy Cavanagh
Jos Sedley .... Toby Jones
Rawdon Crawley …. Ray Coulthard
Ensign Stubble .... Stephen Hogan
Peggy O'Dowd …. Monica Dolan
Director Claire Grove
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
SAT 02:30 Mr Pollock's Theatres (b0076dzn)
"Penny plain and twopence coloured...."
A phrase familiar to generations of pre-TV children that describes the toy theatres of Benjamin Pollock, a printer from Hoxton in London.
Simon Callow explores the magic world of the cardboard actor, which tells us so much about the real theatre of the 19th century.
Producer: Merilyn Harris
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2003.
SAT 03:00 Jack London - The Sea Wolf (b007jmcl)
4. Escape
Humphrey and Maud dash for freedom from cruel captain, Wolf Larsen, but Japan is 600 miles away...
Conclusion of Jack London's 1904 tale of brutality and survival on the high seas.
Starring Jack Klaff, Kerry Shale and Shelley Thompson.
Dramatised by Ed Thomason.
Wolf Larsen …. Jack Klaff
Humphrey van Weyden …. Kerry Shale
Maud Brewster …. Shelley Thompson
Music: Elizabeth Parker of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Director: Adrian Bean
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1991.
SAT 04:00 Guess What? (b066f71q)
Episode 8
Animal, vegetable or mineral?
Barry Took hosts a revised version of popular radio parlour game of 20 questions.
On the panel:
Geoffrey Durham
Chris Serle
Clare Francis
Written by Michael Dines.
Producer: Andy Aliffe
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.
SAT 04:30 Millport (b0076258)
Series 2
Story
Everyone's telling tales and making up stories.
Moira's acting oddly, no-one's listening to Bob and Agnes has discovered the medicinal benefits of alcohol
For once, Irene doesn't know what to do...
Bittersweet comedy written by and starring Lynn Ferguson.
Barmaid Irene Bruce is 30-something and hankering after a better life on the mainland.
Irene ...... Lynn Ferguson
Moira/Agnes ...... Janet Brown
Alberto/Robert/Doctor ...... Lewis McLeod
Ena/Bunty ...... Gabriel Quigley
Bob/Minister ...... Robert Patterson
Dougie ...... Matt Costello
Music arranged by Olly Fox.
Producer: Lucy Bacon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2001.
SAT 05:00 Says on the Tin (b00gqzw0)
Chowder
Eliott, Esther and Hannah compete aggressively to promote American Chowder to the British consumer.
Starring Michael Brandon.
Christopher William Hill's sitcom about an American advertising man, forced to relocate to London.
Eliott Thurber ...... Michael Brandon
Esther Finn ...... Samantha Bond
Hannah Walker ...... Pippa Haywood
Zadie ...... Joannah Tincey
Baz ...... Inam Mirza
Sal ...... John Guerrasio
Other parts played by:
Stephen Critchlow
Jonathan Tafler
Dan Starkey
Gunnar Cauthery
Donnla Hughes
Producer: Liz Webb
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2009.
SAT 05:30 Stand-Up Specials (m001743x)
Mike Bubbins: Retrosexual
Mike Bubbins is a good bloke, a good husband and a good Dad, but he never quite feels like he fits in. Not in an odd way, he's keen to point out. It's just he dresses like he lives in the 70s, his house looks like a 70s film set, and he drives a 70s Ford Cortina.
So yeah, in other words, in an odd way.
He's not done bad for a lad who failed his A-Levels, became a PE teacher (see 'failed his A-levels’), worked as an Elvis impersonator, and then signed up for a writing course but got the wrong day and turned up for a stand-up comedy course instead. Because it was raining, and his wife had already dropped him off, he decided he might as well stay.
Eleven years later, he presents his debut Radio 4 show.
We've all been through a lot, emotionally and psychologically, with the extraordinary events of the pandemic. In the middle of the biggest crisis the world has witnessed since the war, we all had to assess who we were, what our priorities were, what our core relationships are and how robust they really are.
 
Luckily, Bubbins isn't interested in any of that. He wasn't even involved in the pandemic. Because he lives in the 70s. In this show, he aims to take us back to a time before Covid and other complexities - a much simpler time .
An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:00 William Boyd - A Good Man in Africa (m0017cwm)
Morgan Leafy, well-meaning, a bit of a buffoon, is perhaps rather more absorbed in women than watchful of his career as a minor British diplomat in Africa.
It's a circumstance which leads him from crisis to farcical disaster until a good man dies...
Starring Alan Rickman and Alison Steadman.
William Boyd's award-winning novel.
Dramatised by Stephen Davis.
Morgan Leafy …. Alan Rickman
Priscilla …. Alison Steadman
Arthur Fanshawe .... David Garth
Celia …. Elizabeth Rider
Dr Murray …. Bill Paterson
Adenkunle/Robinson …. John Matshikiza
Chloe Fanshawe .... Tessa Worsley
Dalmire .... Colin Starkey
Isaac/Moses .... Alex Tetteh-Lartey
Jones .... Brian Smith
Geraldine/Tina .... Mia Soteriou
Kojo/Shango/Inspector Gbeho .... Louis Mahoney
Muller/Bilbow .... Bernard Brown
Duchess of Ripon .... Mary Wimbush
Director: Richard Wortley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1985.
SAT 07:30 Great Lives (b0bgfrvp)
Series 46
Helen Glover on Alison Hargreaves
Olympic rower Helen Glover champions the life of mountaineer Alison Hargreaves.
Alison's short life was defined by her love of the mountains. She became interested in climbing as a teenager and devoted her life to pursuing ever greater challenges.
She was the first woman to climb Mount Everest without oxygen and unsupported - before losing her life on the infamous K2 mountain in Pakistan in 1995.
Presented by Matthew Parris - with the help of Alison's biographer, Ed Douglas.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.
SAT 08:00 The Write Stuff (b00b0z0c)
Series 11
George Eliot
James Walton takes the chair for the game of literary correctness.
Team captains Sebastian Faulks and John Walsh are joined by Peter Kemp and Andrew Davies.
Author of the week is George Eliot.
Reader: Beth Chalmers
Producer: Katie Marsden
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2008.
SAT 08:30 1834 (b011klyr)
Strong Continental Lager
21st-century teacher Jason decides 19th-century Macclesfield needs a decent pub with decent beer.
Jason Slater is now Tarquin, the third son of Lord Belport with his faithful valet, Ned.
Jim Poyser's riotous comedy of transportation and delight.
Jason Slater ...... Michael Begley
Ned ...... Joe Caffrey
Hoskins ...... Kenneth Alan Taylor
Lord Belport ...... Mark Chatterton
Stubbs ...... Glenn Cunningham
Millicent ...... Julia Rounthwaite
Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2003.
SAT 09:00 4 Extra Says I Do (b0b2jd1q)
Comedian Lucy Porter rummages through the bottom drawer of the archives for a beady celebration of marriage, for better and for worse.
She tracks the shift in nuptial trends since the 1950’s, hears from three couples tying the knot in 2018 and a wedding photographer who’s chronicled the changes.
Lucy is joined by real-life husband - writer, actor and comedian Justin Edwards - to flick through their own wedding album, reminisce about embarrassing best men’s speeches and reflect on married life. Who gets first dibs on domestic material when both partners are comedians?
Featuring:
* 1950 archive of a panel of men reeling off their requirements for the perfect wife from WOMAN’S HOUR on the BBC Home Service.
* Trevor, the hapless groom, features in a drama from BLOOD IN THE BRIDAL SHOP by Nancy Harris and Louise Ramsden, in which he wonders how his mother in law has turned what promised to be a small private event into the wedding of the year.
* Justin Edwards stars as Antony, alongside Miles Jupp as Damien Trench, in an episode of IN AND OUT OF THE KITCHEN in which Antony has to give a best man’s speech.
* SIMON EVANS GOES TO MARKET looking at the economics of weddings and marriage.
* Safraz Manzoor explores how British Asians were quick to latch on to matchmaking on the internet in LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.
* A fly on the wall documentary from the series, LIVES IN A LANDSCAPE, tracking the wedding plans of Ryan and Mimi from Manchester.
* And Olivia Colman starts in an episode of FIVE WEDDING DRESSES by Katie Hims, as the bride who never wants to take off her wedding dress.
Producer: Lindsay Leonard
Made for 4 Extra and first broadcast in May 2018.
SAT 12:00 North by Northamptonshire (b00sp454)
Series 1
Episode 1
Clever, funny and touching series about a small town in the middle of Northamptonshire as it prepares for a talent night.
Sheila Hancock heads a stunning cast including Mackenzie Crook, Penelope Wilton, Felicity Montagu and Kevin Eldon.
Written by and also starring Katherine Jakeways.
Get to know the local supermarket manager who shares rather more than is usual about his private life over the store's tannoy system. Recently divorced Jan has been trying unsuccessfully to 'find herself' with a trip abroad to an elephant sanctuary. But it is at home in Wadenbrook that she starts to feel happier with herself as her friendship blossoms with ex-teacher Mary. And, joy of joys, could it be that Jan is going to experience a touch of romance at last?
Meet driving instructor and forthright self-defence teacher Esther and her gentle and put-upon Jonathan as they struggle to start a family and we meet possibly the only happy couple in town, Ken and Keith, as they attempt to teach their pet whippets to dance for the town talent night.
In this opening episode, Mary starts rehearsals for the town talent night and is shocked by 12 year old Gregory's slide show of Victorian ladies.
Meanwhile Esther sends her husband Jonathan out to collect money for the Leicestershire Infertile Males Project but he ends up at The Bricklayer's Arms looking at pictures of elephants with Jan.
Narrator ...... Sheila Hancock
Rod ...... Mackenzie Crook
Mary ...... Penelope Wilton
Jan ...... Felicity Montagu
Jonathan ...... Kevin Eldon
Esther ...... Katherine Jakeways
Keith ...... John Biggins
Landlord ...... Rufus Wright
Gregory ...... Sam Cotton
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2010.
SAT 12:30 Tomorrow, Today! (b016r51y)
Series 2
Dr Chaotica and the Rise of the Atomic Man-Bees
A BBC producer struggles to make a radio soap set in the unimaginably futuristic world of 2008.
Suspicious deaths provoke mixed reactions.
Starring Peter Bowles, John Fortune and Cheryl Campbell
The return of Christopher William Hill's futuristic sitcom set in 1962.
Nigel Lavery ...... Peter Bowles
Sylvia Hann ...... Cheryl Campbell
Godfrey Winnard ..... John Fortune
Sir Angus McNairn ...... Gary Waldhorn
Hugo Kellerman ...... Joseph Kloska
Douglas Bennings ...... Jon Glover
Keith Wood ...... Sam Pamphilon
Mrs Tinkler ...... Rachel Atkins
Graham Tinkler ...... Lloyd Thomas
Delivery Boy ...... Alex Lamipekun
Producer: Liz Webb
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2008.
SAT 13:00 Archive on 4 (m00026m2)
Powers of Persuasion: How Britain Learned to Sell
Designer Wayne Hemingway examines 100 years of British advertising on film and TV, with special behind-the-scenes access to the one of the world’s largest advertising collection at the British Film Institute.
Wayne follows advertisers’ first hesitant steps into both the big and small screen. It was a time when America was the global player. Beginning with films as early as 1900, he discovers how Britain carefully set itself apart from global advertising trends, crafting a model perfectly fine-tuned for our nation – the subtle, soft sell.
But it is this unique subtlety that took Britain to its most controversial moments in advertising – when entire series were banned for being duplicitous. Wayne draws parallels to modern day Britain, comparing how advertisers always try to break the rules in new mediums.
The BFI collection also contains many of the cinematic, directorial debuts from the mad men who went to Hollywood. Wayne investigates their timeless ads that created the Golden Era of advertising, and how each of them drew on tropes of British identity and archetypes of British society to sell to us.
Most theories on advertising suggest that it doesn’t actually input ideas into society – rather that it reflects them back. Yet this archive points to the moments when advertisers fuelled certain movements and fortified idealistic notions, re-defining and re-directing our sense of self and what it means to be British.
Producer: Anishka Sharma and Kate Holland
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in January 2019.
SAT 14:00 On the Hour (b008pcbq)
Series 1
Episode 2
Tackling dangerous dogs, TV evangelism probe - and a surprising new role for Margaret Thatcher.
All the news as it happens, if it happens – plus sport from Alan Partridge.
Savagely satirical award-winning comedy starring Chris Morris.
With:
Steve Coogan
David Schneider
Rebecca Front
Patrick Marber
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.
SAT 14:30 The Mary Whitehouse Experience (b044153k)
Series 4
Episode 2
The pernicious evil of shampoo and conditioner.
Starring double double-acts:
David Baddiel & Rob Newman
Steve Punt & Hugh Dennis
With:
Mark Hurst
BBC Radio 1's alternative comedy with sketches, stand-up and the odd spot of audience participation.
Starting in 1989, the foursome's popularity sparked a BBC TV-transfer of the same name.
Producer: Armando Iannucci
First broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in October 1990
SAT 15:00 Goodness Gracious Me (b008x8fx)
Series 1
Episode 1
The teenage Bhangramuffins are DJing, the Maharisha Yogi is lecturing - and the hungry comedy team go for an 'English'.
Starring:
Sanjeev Bhaskar
Kulvinder Ghir
Nitin Sawhney
Meera Syal
Nina Wadia
Gold Winner of the Sony Radio Academy Awards. The sketch comedy show originally ran on BBC Radio 4 from 1996 to 1998, later transferring to TV on BBC Two from 1998 to 2001.
Written by Sharat Sardana, Richard Pinto and the cast.
Producer: Gareth Edwards & Anil Gupta
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1996.
SAT 15:30 Knowing Me, Knowing You (b007jvc2)
Episode 6
A-ha! Chat show host Alan Partridge welcomes more guests to his sofa:
BBC TV's Commissioning Director, Tony Hayers
TV presenter, Trudy Sky
Fashion Designer, Yvonne Boyd
The maverick, Lord Morgan
With thanks to Alan's chief researcher Steve Coogan.
Assistant researchers:
Patrick Marber
Rebecca Front
Doon Mackichan
David Schneider
Producer: Armando lannucci
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 1992.
SAT 16:00 William Boyd - A Good Man in Africa (m0017cwm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 17:30 Great Lives (b0bgfrvp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 18:00 Vanessa Rosenthal - The Drover's Path (b0076q43)
A chilling ghost story set in 1890 on a remote sheep farm in Yorkshire.
Stars Jeff Hordley.
Vanessa Rosenthal’s dark drama is based on real-life family history.
John Whitam …. Jeff Hordley
Percy Metcalf …. Malcolm Hebden
Robert Whittam/Thomas Omerod …. Kenneth Alan Taylor
Ellen Whittam/Edith Whittam …. Elianne Byrne
Arthur Cunliffe/Edward Ormerod …. Matthew Lewney
Young Ellen/Young Edith …. Catherine Jenkins
Young John …. Oliver Hudson
Signature tune: Wench All
Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2005.
SAT 19:00 4 Extra Says I Do (b0b2jd1q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 22:00 4 at the Store (b00ct1wm)
Series 1
Episode 2
Stand-up at London's Comedy Store, with host Simon Bligh, John Mann, Marian Unfaithful and Paul Tonkinson. From December 1998.
SAT 22:30 Thom Tuck - Goes Straight to DVD (b01rl8nd)
Steven Seagal
Comedian Thom Tuck draws more parallels between underrated straight-to-DVD movies with captivating tales from his own life experience.
This time it’s action films!
Steven Seagal has made 27 sub-masterpieces which went straight-to-DVD. Thom has managed to extricate himself from the same number of scrapes during his life. He grabbed a man's face! Seagal punched a man's face!
It’s all backed by cinematic music, so we can rest easy.
Producer: Lianne Coop
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2013.
SAT 23:00 The Shuttleworths (b007jpr5)
Europigeon Special
Sheffield singer/songwriter John Shuttleworth makes a bid for the Eurovision Song Contest prize
Will he triumph with his romantic ballad with an upbeat lyric, 'Pigeons in Flight'?
This documentary mixes actuality and behind-the-scenes preparation to reveal an insider's view of the competition.
Written and performed by Graham Fellows.
Producer: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1994.
SAT 23:30 The Odd Half Hour (b00w1zxc)
Series 2
Episode 2
Comedy sketch show which answers the questions you probably never asked:
* Why is Bagpuss a bad influence for children?
* How can a seance go badly wrong?
* Why did the Vikings never use consumer focus groups?
Starring:
Kevin Bishop
Stephen K Amos
Doon Mackichan
Justin Edwards
Jessica Ransom
Written by Madeleine Brettingham, Jason Hazeley, Joel Morris, Steve Dawson, Andrew Dawson, Timothy Inman, Jane Lamacraft, Mike Ryan, Stephen Carlin, James Kettle and Dale Shaw.
Producer: Simon Mayhew-Archer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2010.


SUNDAY 15 MAY 2022

SUN 00:00 Vanessa Rosenthal - The Drover's Path (b0076q43)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 Archive on 4 (m00026m2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:00 On the Hour (b008pcbq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:30 The Mary Whitehouse Experience (b044153k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Saturday]
SUN 03:00 Goodness Gracious Me (b008x8fx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 on Saturday]
SUN 03:30 Knowing Me, Knowing You (b007jvc2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 William Boyd - A Good Man in Africa (m0017cwm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 05:30 Great Lives (b0bgfrvp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby (Omnibus) (m0017d29)
Nick Hornby reads his autobiographical account of his obsessive relationship with Arsenal Football Club.
It’s an important year - 1968:
Nick’s parents have split up, at one point his mother, sister and himself are homeless, he gets a severe attack of jaundice and starts at grammar school. But then his Dad took him to London’s Highbury Stadium and there was no looking back.
'I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically' - but does football ruin men and their relationships? Probably...
Nick plots his football-centric life from Arsenal vs Stoke City in September 1968 to Liverpool vs Arsenal in May 1989.
Omnibus of five parts.
Producer: Matthew Walters
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1993.
SUN 07:10 Inheritance Tracks (b05wcwsk)
Julian Clary
Comic Julian Clary chooses Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture and 'If Love Were All' by Noel Coward, as sung by Ian Shaw.
SUN 07:20 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (Omnibus) (b008p53p)
Episode 2
Ambitious Becky abandons marriage plans for a job as a governess. Luckily, this brings new marriage prospects.
Stephen Fry narrates one of the greatest comic novels of the Victorian period
Written by William Makepeace Thackeray
Omnibus of episodes 6 to 10 of twenty.
Dramatised by Stephen Wyatt
Becky Sharp .... Emma Fielding
Miss Crawley ..... Margaret Tyzack
William Dobbin .... Tom Smith
Miss Briggs .... Kate Buffery
Auctioneer .... Jon Glover
Sir Pitt Crawley .... Trevor Peacock
Rawdon Crawley .... Ray Coulthard
Amelia .... Katy Cavanagh
George Osborne ... Nicholas Boulton
John Osborne .... Geoffrey Whitehead
Mr Sedley .... Ian Masters
Pitt .... Jon Glover
Peggy O'Dowd .... Monica Dolan
Jos Sedley .... Toby Jones
Ensign Stubble .... Stephen Hogan
Peggy O'Dowd .... Monica Dolan
with Stephen Fry as the narrator
Director Claire Grove
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2004.
SUN 08:30 Albert and Me (b007jzd2)
Series 2
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
Can Bryan save his sister Vera's marriage from breakdown?
Stars Robert Lindsay and Pat Coombs.
Robert Lindsay plays single parent Bryan Archer struggling to find work while raising his baby son, Albert.
Bryan Archer ...... Robert Lindsay
Mum/Albert ...... Pat Coombs
Mrs Willis ...... Diana King
Vera ...... Marcia Warren
Edward ...... Gorden Kaye
Written by Jim Eldridge.
Incidental music by Max Harris.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1983.
SUN 09:00 Something to Shout About (b07pzj5n)
Series 1
Episode 8
A cigarette TV advertising campaign causes a headache, until an unlikely star crops up.
Comedy set in London advertising agency - Apsley, Addis, Cohen, Barbican, Blythe, Giddy & Partners.
Written by Myles Rudge and Ronnie Wolfe.
Michael …. Michael Medwin
Janet …. Fenella Fielding
Mavis …. Joan Sims
Maggie …. Eleanor Summerfield
Adrian …. Nicholas Phipps
Len Fawcett/Mr Morris …. Warren Mitchell
Music by The Jingle Belles and The Bernie Fenton Quartet, under the direction of Cliff Adams.
Producer: John Simmonds
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in August 1960.
SUN 09:30 Sneakiepeeks (b00pkbmh)
Echo
When the members of the Beagle Team take on their next mission, they find themselves in competition with old rivals, the Terrier Team.
Comedy by Harry Venning and Neil Brand about a team of inept, backstabbing surveillance operatives.
Bill ...... Richard Lumsden
Sharla ...... Nina Conti
Mark ...... Daniel Kaluuya
Mrs Davies ...... Tessa Nicholson
Customer 2 ...... Ewan Bailey
Edward Barraclough MP ...... Paterson Joseph
Norris ...... Joe Thomas
Ros ...... Lucy Montgomery
Customer 1 ...... Harry Venning
Customer 3 ...... Neil Brandr
Other parts played by the cast.
Producer: Katie Tyrrell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2010.
SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m0017d2c)
Platinum Jubilee
Viscount Linley
From The Animals to Mozart.
The Queen's nephew Viscount Linley shares his castaway choices with Sue Lawley.
The son of Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon has always made a point of playing down his royal connections.
Having set up his own company specialising in bespoke furniture, David Linley is now one of the country's most fervent advocates for modern craftsmanship.
He talks about his life and work and chooses eight records, a book and a luxury to take to the mythical island.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2002.
SUN 10:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00lmdh4)
Series 1
Dragons
What did Sir David do when he was confronted by a ten-foot-long grey-scaled reptile, with a long yellow forked tongue whipping in and out of its mouth?
He didn't run and, in fact, was one of the first to film it: the Komodo dragon.
Series of talks by Sir David Attenborough on the natural histories of creatures and plants from around the world.
Producer: Julian Hector
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2009.
SUN 11:00 Radiolab (m0017d2f)
Series 9
Mixtape 4 Help?
Radiolab is a Peabody-award-winning show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and the human experience.
Radiolab Mixtape, a special 4 part series featuring the impact of the cassette tape.
Radiolab Mixtape 4 Help? Stories of cassette tapes as peculiar helpers, self-help, village history and lost love.
Three stories: first, a tale of how the cassette tape supercharged the self-help industry. Second, cassettes filled with history make an epic journey across Africa with a group of Lost Boys. And finally, Simon meets up with fellow Radiolabber David Gebel to dig through an old box of mixtapes and rediscover the unique power of these bygone love letters.
Radiolab Mixtape was reported, produced, scored and sound designed by Simon Adler.
From WNYC. First broadcast on public radio in the USA in 2021.
SUN 11:55 Inheritance Tracks (b05wcwsk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:10 today]
SUN 12:00 Poetry Extra (m0017d2h)
Sir Ralph Richardson reads Oscar Wilde’s The Ballad of Reading Gaol
The 125th anniversary of Oscar Wilde's release from prison - May 19th 1897. To mark the occasion poet Daljit Nagra selects Sir Ralph Richardson reads Oscar Wilde's The Ballad of Reading Gaol from the BBC's poetry archive.
The poem was written about Wilde's time in prison after his conviction in 1895 when homosexuality was a criminal offence.
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in May 1963.
SUN 12:30 HR (b01bm0p7)
Series 3
Disabled
The two 60-something chums have just lost their pensions.
Sam balks at Peter's outrageous survival measures. But will he become embroiled?
Nigel Williams' much-praised comedy series
Peter ..... Jonathan Pryce
Sam ..... Nicholas le Prevost
Doctor ..... Paul Moriarty
Director: Peter Kavanagh.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2012.
SUN 13:00 The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton (Omnibus) (b0b9v0tb)
Episode 2
Jaxie is on the run after his father's violent death, journeying across the Australian outback towards the girl he hopes is waiting for him.
But out on the salt flats, he meets Fintan McGillis, alone in a ramshackle shepherd's hut. But can Jaxie trust him? And what has Fintan done to be forced into such profound solitude?
Written by acclaimed author Tim Winton.
Set in Western Australia, this is a heart-wrenchingly brutal and yet lyrical tale of survival in the outback featuring the irrepressible Jaxie Clackton.
Omnibus of the last five of ten parts abridged by Richard Hamilton.
Concluded by Adam Fitzgerald.
Producer: Justine Willett.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2018.
SUN 14:10 Inheritance Tracks (b06tkswf)
Dickie Bird
Cricket umpire Dickie Bird chooses Nat King Cole's 'When I Fall in Love' and Barbra Streisand's 'The Way We Were'.
SUN 14:20 Coach Karen's Half-Time Team Talk (Omnibus) (m00041cb)
Coach Karen has recently taken on an under-13 girls football team called the Hopperton Hoops.
They're not the most successful team in the league, in fact they've never won a game. And under Karen, this record is unlikely to change...
Harry Venning’s comedy about how a young woman with no life experience is desperate to share it with people even younger than herself.
Omnibus of five parts.
Coach Karen …. Karen Fishwick
Scarlett …. Eva Woodbridge
Polly …. Carla Abbott
Daisy …. Clara Shepherd-Thompson
Ava …. Iona Milward
Kirsty …. Safia Kadri
Ajoba …. Hana Doe
Tilly …. Catie Shakespeare-Kearns
Polly’s Dad …. Alex Lowe
Director: Alison Vernon-Smith
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2019.
SUN 15:30 The Lost Art of the TV Theme (b05tq6zy)
Few people who grew up in the 1960s could not now hum you the tunes from:
The Persuaders, University Challenge, Panorama, Crossroads, Dave Allen At Large, The Avengers, The Onedin Line, Blue Peter, Department S, Top of the Form, Tomorrow's World, Grandstand, Dad's Army, The Saint, Sportsnight – the list goes on and on.
The 1970s gave us:
Fawlty Towers, Colditz, Mr & Mrs, The Two Ronnies, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served, The Goodies, The Wombles, Blake's Seven, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em – and Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, whose theme tune perfectly captured the affectionate nostalgia of the comedy.
The melodies became so iconic that those shows which survived into the 21st century – Coronation Street, Mastermind, Match of the Day – have never ditched the theme music familiar to generations of viewers. And we haven't even mentioned Doctor Who, whose pulsing theme generated by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1963 has since regenerated itself many times over, and inspired enough new music to provide a programme for an entire Prom.
Rich Morton acknowledges that his age defines his taste in themes, as in so many other things. As a composer of very plausible tunes for TV shows and films which never existed, he favours the thrilling, brassy action themes of the 1960s or the jaunty hipster tunes of the 1970s.
Yet his suspicion is that programme makers in the 1980s – perhaps as a result of squeezed budgets - stopped commissioning specially-written music and turned instead to cheaper alternatives, such as adapting instrumental extracts from pre-existing pop records.
Rich argues that, while there are still memorable themes around, far too many shows now have bland or generic music which would defy most people's attempts to hum it, let alone remember it in 50 years' time.
In an age when many viewers access TV shows from Netflix, iPlayer or YouTube, the need for an instantly-recognisable theme as a clarion call to gather round and watch no longer applies.
Rich sets out to ask what it was that made those old themes so memorable, but is it now a Mission Impossible? Have TV themes diminished in importance as an art form?
Featuring some of the great practitioners of classic TV themes - Tony Hatch and Alan Hawkshaw, and one of the most successful TV composers of today, Debbie Wiseman.
Producer: Paul Bajoria
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2015.
SUN 16:00 Kevin Wong - In the Woods (b0075pr0)
Crown green bowls is a gentle sport.
Or so you might think?
But at one particular club in Chorlton-on-Sea - corruption, adultery and fraud are never far from the surface.
Kevin Wong's comedy drama.
Audrey Harris.... Pik-Sen Lim
Brenda Penistone ... Lynda Baron
Frank Armitage ... Richard Tate
Ivy Parkin ... Valerie Lilley
Gillian ... Anne Reid
William Turnclough .... Gary Waldhorn
Ron Penistone .... Ioan Meredith
Alfie .... Stephen Critchlow
Producer: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1999.
SUN 17:00 Poetry Extra (m0017d2h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 today]
SUN 17:30 HR (b01bm0p7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:30 today]
SUN 18:00 Nightfall (m0006fwt)
Series 1
3. Buried Alive
The Great Santini, a sleazy hypnotist, has been buried alive. It’s an insurance scam and he intends to double cross his wife, just as soon as she’s collected half a million.
But first he needs Rose to dig him out. He's six feet underground and running out of oxygen. Just how great are Santini's powers of persuasion?
Written by John Graham.
‘Nightfall’ is a series of supernatural and horror dramas - one of Canada’s CBC Radio's most popular shows in the network’s history. Running to over 100 episodes between 1980 and 1983, it features a mix of original stories and adaptations of classic tales.
Don Francks .... Santini
Lally Cadeau .... Rose
John Stocker .... Phil
Frank Perry .... The Minister
Director: Paul Mills
First broadcast on CBC Canada in 1980.
SUN 18:30 The World of Daphne Du Maurier (b09w2lgp)
3. Ganymede
The man arrived in Venice happy and contented with life.
He left Venice shattered by an unusual experience destined to mark him for life.
Starring John Le Mesurier.
Series of adaptations of Daphne Du Maurier's famous short stories.
The Man …. John Le Mesurier
The Boy …. Anthony Daniels
The Porter/Consul …. David Gooderson
The Fat Man …. John Sharp
Dramatised and produced by Derek Hoddinott.
First broadcast on the BBC World Service in August 1974.
SUN 19:00 Radiolab (m0017d2f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
SUN 20:00 Kevin Wong - In the Woods (b0075pr0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 today]
SUN 21:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m0017d2c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
SUN 21:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00lmdh4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]
SUN 22:00 HR (b01bm0p7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:30 today]
SUN 22:30 Delve Special (b007jq1p)
Series 3
A Rocket for Defence
Reporter David Lander investigates whether we really need the new 'Sea Snake' torpedo.
Every year each British taxpayer gives £700 to the Ministry of Defence for new nuclear weapons. Would we be better off putting an extra lock on the door and having a fortnight in Bermuda?
Presented by David Lander with assistance from Stephen Fry.
Studio production by:
Jack Klaff
Brenda Blethyn
Harry Enfield
Dramatic reconstruction by:
Felicity Montagu
Robert Bathurst
Mark Arden
Researched and compiled by Tony Sarchet.
Editor: Paul Mayhew-Archer
Delve Special ran for four series from 1984 to 1987 and later transferred to TV as ‘This is David Lander’.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1986.
SUN 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m0017n6p)
Andy Hamilton 1/3
From 10pm until midnight, seven days a week, The Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. And tonight, Paul Garner chats to Andy Hamilton.
SUN 23:00 The Masterson Inheritance (b007jps7)
Series 2
Beware the Ides of Masterson
Intrigue, terror, tyrants and togas set in ancient Rome.
The return of the award-winning improvised historical comedy series.
Based entirely on audience suggestions - this is the unfolding saga of the Mastersons - a family at war with itself.
Starring:
Paul Merton
Josie Lawrence
Jim Sweeney
Phelim McDermott
Caroline Quentin
Producer: Phil Clarke
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1994.
SUN 23:30 John Finnemore's Double Acts (b08rrc0m)
Series 2
The Queen's Speech
Victoria is very much hoping to see a conjuror, or at least a parrot. But instead meets Mabel.
Starring Stephanie Cole and Kerry Godliman.
Series of of six two-handers written by Cabin Pressure's John Finnemore.
Victoria ...... Stephanie Cole
Mabel ...... Kerry Godliman
Producer: David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in May 2017.


MONDAY 16 MAY 2022

MON 00:00 Nightfall (m0006fwt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:30 The World of Daphne Du Maurier (b09w2lgp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton (Omnibus) (b0b9v0tb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:10 Inheritance Tracks (b06tkswf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:10 on Sunday]
MON 02:20 Coach Karen's Half-Time Team Talk (Omnibus) (m00041cb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:20 on Sunday]
MON 03:30 The Lost Art of the TV Theme (b05tq6zy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Sunday]
MON 04:00 Kevin Wong - In the Woods (b0075pr0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Poetry Extra (m0017d2h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 HR (b01bm0p7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 Wimsey (b007jvm7)
Unnatural Death
6. Vera Findlater
The murder trail leads Lord Peter Wimsey to make a shocking discovery at the seaside...
Ian Carmichael stars as the aristocratic sleuth.
Dorothy L Sayers' detective mystery 'Unnatural Death' was first published in 1927.
Dramatised in seven parts by Chris Miller.
Lord Peter Wimsey …. Ian Carmichael
Inspector Parker …. Gabriel Woolf
Miss Climpson …. Ambrosine Phillpotts
Miss Findlater …. Gretta Gouriet
Sir Charles Pillington … James Thomason
Alf the Boy Scout/Maid …. Denise Bryer
Producer: Simon Brett.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1975.
MON 06:30 The House (m0017d2v)
Series 2
6. The Queen's Speech
"If we fall for this rumour about Hong Kong, Jules, we're caught between saying the Queen's right.... and she's interfering and has to go." "So who started the rumour, Denis?" "They did, of course. Number 10."
Chief whip Charles Bannister battles to find the source of damaging headlines about Buckingham Palace and Number 10
Starring Julian Glover and Peter Kelly.
Political thriller serial in eight parts by Christopher Lee.
Charles Bannister ...... Julian Glover
Dougal Baxter ...... Peter Kelly
Mary Bannister ...... Isla Blair
Juliet Cameron ...... Siobhan Redmond
Denis Wigton ...... David Ryall
Rose ...... Sheila Reid
Arthur ...... James Garbutt
Welsh MP ...... Brett Usher
Jack Ross ...... John Grieve
Queen's Private Secretary ...... Richard Caldicot
Producer Neil Cargill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1991.
MON 07:00 Sneakiepeeks (b00pqn27)
Two of Our Spies Are Missing
When Bill meets the organisation's most effective but least sane assassin, it's up to Sharla and Mark to find them.
Comedy by Harry Venning and Neil Brand about a team of inept, backstabbing surveillance operatives.
Bill ...... Richard Lumsden
Sharla ...... Nina Conti
Mark ...... Daniel Kaluuya
Ian ...... Paterson Joseph
Mrs Davies ...... Lucy Montgomery
Channing ...... Ewan Bailey
Tim the Tea Boy ...... Joe Thomas
Secretary ...... Tessa Nicholson
Other parts played by the cast.
Producer: Katie Tyrrell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2010.
MON 07:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m001741d)
Series 28
Episode 6
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.
Lou Sanders, Ria Lina, Milton Jones and Chris McCausland are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as flowers, wood, underground and goldfish.
Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4
MON 08:00 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b007jrk2)
I'll Never Forget Whatshername
Bob asks his fiancée, Thelma, to fix Terry up with a date.
Starring James Bolam and Rodney Bewes.
Created and written for BBC TV by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.
Adapted for BBC Radio by Patrick Tilley.
Terry …. James Bolam
Bob …. Rodney Bewes
Thelma …. Brigit Forsyth
Jackie …. Lois Daine
Barmaid …. Lorna Wilde
Producer: John Browell
Originally lost from the archive, the audio was recovered in a BBC Treasure Hunt.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1975.
MON 08:30 The Emerald Green Show (b078dlrj)
All For One
Will Emerald Green's ego be able to deal with the ambitious plans of new girl, Tanesha?
Starring Llewella Gideon.
Lisselle Kayla's sitcom about a vain, ambitious black woman who dreams of becoming a chat show queen.
Tristram ...... Jonathan Firth
Fabio ...... Iwan Thomas
Victor ...... Dean Hill
Eunice ...... Sheila Reid
David ...... Jonathan Keeble
Tanesha ...... Jo Martin
Director: Pam Fraser Solomon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1998.
MON 09:00 Counterpoint (b01132z4)
Series 25
2011 Heat 7
Paul Gambaccini chairs the general knowledge music quiz.
The questions cover every aspect of music - from the classical repertoire to world music, show tunes, film scores, jazz, rock and pop.
The seventh trio of 27 competitors are in Manchester as the 25th anniversary series continues.
Lawrence Cody from Stockport
Gordon Fyffe from Crewe
Keith Greenwood from Leeds
Producer: Paul Bajoria
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2011.
MON 09:30 Bangers and Mash (b0075gv1)
3. Inspection
A health inspector calls. Will the struggling catering team have to halt pie production?
Katie Hims's sitcom about a chaotic catering company.
Martina ...... Catherine Harvey
Jimmy ...... Gerard McDermott
Juan Jose ...... Roger May
Carol ...... Jane Whittenshaw.
Health Inspector ...... Anthony Zaki
Director: Cat Horn
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1999.
MON 10:00 The Raj Quartet (b09v64st)
The Jewel in the Crown
Episode 1
Daphne Manners arrives in Mayapore and meets two men who are to change her life: Hari Kumar and Ronald Merrick.
The last days of the British Raj in India as the Second World War leads inevitably towards independence.
Paul Scott's classic series of novels dramatised by John Harvey.
Daphne Manners ...... Anna Maxwell Martin
Ronald Merrick ...... Mark Bazeley
Hari Kumar ...... Prasanna Puwanarajah
Lily Chatterji ...... Josephine Welcome
Sister Ludmilla ...... Susan Engel
Dr De Souza ...... Kulvinder Ghir
Miss Edwina Crane ...... Phyllida Law
Dr Anna Klaus ...... Susan Jameson
Poulson ...... John Rowe
Sergeant Singh ...... Ravin J Ganatra
Other parts played by:
Helen Longworth
Robert Hastie
Emily Wachter
Stephen Hogan
Music by Raiomond Mirza.
Director: Sally Avens.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2005.
MON 11:00 TED Radio Hour (m0017d30)
Series 9
Heartache
A journey through fascinating ideas based on talks by riveting speakers on the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) stage.
Manoush Zomorodi explores how stress, fear, love and sadness can weigh upon our hearts. Can we mend our broken hearts?
First broadcast in the USA on National Public Radio in 2021.
MON 11:50 Inheritance Tracks (m0017d32)
Donna Leon
Novelist Donna Leon chooses Handel’s ‘O Thou That Tellest’ from ‘Messiah’ and ‘As With Rosy Steps The Morn’ from ‘Theodora’.
MON 12:00 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b007jrk2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 12:30 The Emerald Green Show (b078dlrj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:00 Wimsey (b007jvm7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 13:30 The House (m0017d2v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 14:00 Clock Dance by Anne Tyler (b0bbpb82)
1. 1967
It's 1967 and 11 year old Willa has to deal with a domestic crisis.
Anne Tyler's novel about family and self-discovery by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Tyler.
Abridged in ten parts by Sian Preece.
Read by Barbara Barnes
Producer: Gaynor Macfarlane
Made by BBC Scotland for BBC Radio 4 and first broadcast in July 2018.
MON 14:15 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (b007jvxx)
11. The Inheritance
Amelia is coming to terms with some grim news from the battlefield at Waterloo and Becky is getting bored in Brighton.
Stephen Fry narrates one of the greatest comic novels of the Victorian period.
Written by William Makepeace Thackeray
Dramatised by Stephen Wyatt
Becky Sharp .... Emma Fielding
Amelia …. Katy Cavanagh
Miss Briggs .... Kate Buffery
William Dobbin .... Tom Smith
Miss Crawley ..... Margaret Tyzack
Pitt .... Jon Glover
John Osborne .... Geoffrey Whitehead
with Stephen Fry as the narrator
Director Marc Beeby
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2004.
MON 14:30 Literary Walks (b047lrjd)
Literary Walks
Literary Walks
A premature wake?
Just one of the vivid memories of poe t and author, Laurie Lee as he takes Christopher Somerville on a stroll around Slad.
This is the Gloucestershire village where he grew up - and it's also where his novel 'Cider with Rosie' is set.
Producer: Jude Howells
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1985.
MON 15:00 The Raj Quartet (b09v64st)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:00 Counterpoint (b01132z4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 16:30 Bangers and Mash (b0075gv1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
MON 17:00 Sneakiepeeks (b00pqn27)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 17:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m001741d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 18:00 Paradise Lost in Cyberspace (b007jphb)
Episode 6
The future of the OAPs and, indeed, of the whole of civilisation, hangs in the balance.
Starring Stephen Moore.
Conclusion of Colin Swash's dystopian comedy set in 22nd-century Britain.
George ...... Stephen Moore
Doris ...... Patsy Byrne
O'Connell ...... Geoffrey McGivern
Mrs Cookson ...... Edna Dore
Andrea Sunbeam ...... Lorelei King
Other parts played by:
Melanie Hudson
Joanna Brookes
Christopher Douglas
Peter Serafinowcz
Lewis MacLeod
Producer: Richard Wilson.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1998.
MON 18:30 A Good Read (b03xf0gh)
Lorraine Kelly and Romesh Gunesekera
Harriett Gilbert and her guests - TV presenter, Lorraine Kelly and writer, Romesh Gunesekera - discuss their favourite books by Jack Kerouac, George Mackay Brown and Molly Keane.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Publisher: Penguin
Greenvoe by George Mackay Brown
Publisher: Polygon
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane
Publisher: Virago
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2014.
MON 19:00 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b007jrk2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 The Emerald Green Show (b078dlrj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 20:00 Wimsey (b007jvm7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 20:30 The House (m0017d2v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 21:00 TED Radio Hour (m0017d30)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
MON 21:50 Inheritance Tracks (m0017d32)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:50 today]
MON 22:00 The Unbelievable Truth (m001741d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 22:30 Everyone Quite Likes Justin (b0124nql)
Series 1
Pilot
In one version of his life, Justin is a well-known local Manchester radio DJ who is successful, funny, and stopped in the street by adoring fans. He's the man who has everything.
In another version he's a DJ in a slightly shabby local radio station who gets hassled by the occasional oddball on the street. And he's the man who hopes for everything. The truth lies somewhere in between.
And at home?
Well, naturally, his private life is chaotic. His wife has left him, taking custody of his 8-year-old son Justin Junior and is in the process of taking him to the cleaners. So he's back on the market. As is his house. So he's currently living in his father-in-law's spare room in Bury. The only person who understands him is his Gran, living in luxury in an old folk's home in Warrington. Oh, and his producer Bryn but this might not be a good thing.
Despite all this mess, Justin always remains positive. Every new day is a new opportunity, "When life throws you lemons, make lemonade".
Sitcom written by Justin Moorhouse and Jim Poyser.
Recorded in front of an audience in Manchester.
Justin ..... Justin Moorhouse
Gran ..... Anne Reid
Ray ..... Paul Copley
Lisa ..... Christine Bottomley
Bryn ..... Lloyd Langford
Tanya ..... Susan Cookson
Waiter ..... Jim Poyser
Head ..... Caimh McDonnell
Producer: Steven Canny
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2011.
MON 23:00 The News Quiz (m00174l8)
Series 108
Episode 4
Andy Zaltzman is joined by Mark Steel, Amy Gledhill, Angela Barnes and Michael Deacon to reflect on the State Opening of Parliament and to say farewell to the iPod.
Written by Andy Zaltzman with additional material from Alice Fraser, Catherine Brinkworth and Cameron Loxdale.
Producer: Richard Morris
Production co-ordinator: Katie Baum
A BBC Studios Production
MON 23:30 Sarah Millican's Support Group (b011j6lq)
Series 2
5. 'I'm a mother in need of quiet'
"Sibling Rivalry: The grass is always greener in my brother's massive garden"
"I'm a mother in need of quiet - do drum kits have a mute button?"
Sarah Millican is a life counsellor and modern-day agony aunt tackling the nation's problems head on, dishing out real advice for real people.
Assisted by her very own team of experts of the heart - man of the people local cabbie Terry, and self qualified counsellor Marion,
Sarah tackles the nation's problems head on and has a solution for everything.
Sarah ...... Sarah Millican
Marion ...... Ruth Bratt
Terry ...... Simon Daye
Melissa ...... Isabel Fay
Michael ...... Miles Jupp
Janet ...... Annie Aldington
Written by Sarah Millican.
Producer: Lianne Coop
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2011


TUESDAY 17 MAY 2022

TUE 00:00 Paradise Lost in Cyberspace (b007jphb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 A Good Read (b03xf0gh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Wimsey (b007jvm7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 The House (m0017d2v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Clock Dance by Anne Tyler (b0bbpb82)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:15 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (b007jvxx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 Literary Walks (b047lrjd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 The Raj Quartet (b09v64st)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Counterpoint (b01132z4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 Bangers and Mash (b0075gv1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 Sneakiepeeks (b00pqn27)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m001741d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Wimsey (b007jvmb)
Unnatural Death
7. Miss Climpson Investigates
Lord Peter Wimsey enlists some help to try and finally solve this puzzling murder mystery.
Ian Carmichael stars as the aristocratic sleuth.
Dorothy L Sayers' detective mystery.
Dramatised by Chris Miller.
Lord Peter Wimsey …. Ian Carmichael
Inspector Parker …. Gabriel Woolf
Miss Climpson …. Ambrosine Phillpotts
Mrs Forrest …. Bridget McConnel
Mr Tredgold …. John Forrest
Dr Faulkner …. John Dunbar
Sacristan …. Mark Penfold
Bunter …. Peter Jones
Producer: Simon Brett.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1975.
TUE 06:30 The House (m0017d2r)
Series 2
7. Jobs for the Boys
"Prime Ministers don't go around getting rid of their Chief Whips - not with an election on the cards".
Starring Julian Glover and Peter Kelly.
Political thriller serial by Christopher Lee.
Charles Bannister ....Julian Glover
Dougal Baxter ....Peter Kelly
Mary Bannister ....Isla Blair
Henry Colville .... Christopher Benjamin
Juliet Cameron ....Siobhan Redmond
Kay Bennett .... Jane Booker
Polly Bannister .... Ruth Gemmell
Gerald Mossman .... David Neville
Producer Neil Cargill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1991.
TUE 07:00 North by Northamptonshire (b00ss2cq)
Series 1
Episode 2
Clever, funny and touching series about a small town in the middle of Northamptonshire as it prepares for a talent night.
Sheila Hancock heads a stunning cast including Mackenzie Crook, Penelope Wilton, Felicity Montagu and Kevin Eldon.
Written by and also starring Katherine Jakeways
Rehearsals for the town talent night are well underway, with some of the worst acts ever seen on stage.
Recently divorced Jan has a surprise visit from neighbour and ex-teacher Mary and finds they have more than an untidy hedge in common.
Jan's ex, Frank, thinks his new love Angela may be eating too many peanuts.
Esther knocks Jan to the floor in her self-defence class but wait - could this be Jonathan coming to Jan's rescue?
And meanwhile supermarket manager Rod (Mackenzie Crook) gets trapped in an upturned shopping trolley.
Narrator ...... Sheila Hancock
Rod ...... Mackenzie Crook
Mary ...... Penelope Wilton
Jan ...... Felicity Montagu
Jonathan ...... Kevin Eldon
Esther ...... Katherine Jakeways
Keith ...... John Biggins
Frank ...... Rufus Wright
Angela ...... Lizzie Roper
Producer: Claire Jones.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2010.
TUE 07:30 Just William - Live! (m0004sgz)
William and the Musician
Award-winning Martin Jarvis performs the second of two Richmal Crompton comic classics, live on-stage. It's Just William as stand-up!
William’s imagination runs away with him when he tells an impoverished Punch and Judy man that he owns The Hall and is giving a garden party there. The little man believes him.
In fact, the event is courtesy of local wannabe Mrs Bott and she has invited a celebrated musician, Zevrier, to perform. When the Punch and Judy man turns up on the day to entertain, can William prevent a creative catastrophe?
A packed house at The Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond rocks with laughter as Martin Jarvis plays William himself - and everybody else. He is joined by violinist Sophie Mather who plays Zevrier’s ‘frightfully modern’ music.
Violin music composed by Richard Sisson
Director: Rosalind Ayres
A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 08:00 The Goon Show (b0b2r0jv)
Series 5
The Six Ingots of Leadenhall Street
On the trial of Moriarty and Grytpype-Thynne, Detective Neddie Seagoon joins an unusual brass band.
Groundbreaking, surreal BBC radio comedy written by Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes.
Starring:
Peter Sellers
Harry Secombe
Spike Milligan
First billed as Crazy People, ten series of The Goon Show were recorded between 1951 and 1960, but sadly many of the earliest shows weren’t kept in the archive.
With the Ray Ellington Quartet and Max Geldray.
Orchestra conducted by Wally Stott.
Announcer: Wallace Greenslade
Producer: Peter Eton
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in February 1955.
TUE 08:30 King Street Junior (b007jmkq)
Series 6
Travellers
A delicate mission for Mr Sims, and Mrs Rudd gets a shock from the school's new sponsor.
Created and written by Jim Eldridge.
Ten series of this comedy about King Street Junior School ran between 1985 and 1998. King Street Junior Revisited ran from 2002 to 2005.
Mr Sims …. Karl Howman
Mr Beeston …. James Grout
Mr Holliday …. Tom Watson
Mrs Stone …. Margaret John
Mr Long …. Paul Copley
Mrs Patterson …. Deirdre Costello
Mrs Rudd …. Vivienne Martin
Miss Lewis …. Marlene Sidaway
Julian Helm …. Richard Pearce
Mr Boswell …. William Simons
Video Shop Assistant …. George Sweeney
Sam …. Stuart Heath
Sally …. Colleen Kelly
Piano played by Max Harris.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1991.
TUE 09:00 The News Quiz (m00174l8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Monday]
TUE 09:30 Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me (b0076sqs)
Series 2
Thanks for the Memory
George is surprised when everyone seems to have forgotten his 70th birthday.
Roy, concealing his real plans, offers to buy him a bag of chips on the way home from the pub.
But an evening of celebration brings back some bittersweet memories.
Starring Don Warrington and George Layton.
Sitcom written by Marcus Powell, based on cantankerous trombone player Roy Walcott.
Roy …. Don Warrington
Vi …. Yvonne Brewster
George …. Sam Kelly
Barry …. George Layton
Bernadette …. Caroline Lee Johnson
Victor …. Marcus Powell
Trombonist …. Mike Kearsey
Producer: Carol Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2005.
TUE 10:00 The Raj Quartet (b09v676w)
The Jewel in the Crown
Episode 2
Daphne's friendship with Hari Kumar deepens as the relationship between Britain and India grows more volatile.
The last days of the British Raj in India as the Second World War leads inevitably towards independence.
Paul Scott's classic series of novels dramatised by John Harvey.
Daphne Manners ...... Anna Maxwell Martin
Ronald Merrick ...... Mark Bazeley
Hari Kumar ...... Prasanna Puwanarajah
Lily Chatterji ...... Josephine Welcome
Aunt Shalini ...... Nina Wadia
Sister Ludmilla ...... Susan Engel
Miss Edwina Crane ...... Phyllida Law
Mr Chaudhuri ...... Paul Bazely
Other parts played by:
Shiv Grewal
Rez Kempton
Jason Chan
Music by Raiomond Mirza.
Director: Sally Avens.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2005.
TUE 11:00 Archive on 4 (b019dzpp)
Bertrand Russell: The First Media Academic?
Bertrand Russell was one of the greatest thinkers of the last century.
His contributions to the field of mathematics and philosophy are still widely acknowledged as some of the most important of their kind.
But, as Robin Ince discovers, he was also arguably one of the first great media academic stars, who brought his own brand of rationalism and intellect to an audience far beyond the academic and political circles he routinely mixed with.
His relationship with the BBC goes back almost to the beginning of its own history, and his many broadcasts and appearances on radio, in particular, brought his ideas to a whole new audience.
He delivered the very first Reith Lectures back in 1948, and was a regular panellist on the hugely popular "The Brains Trust". His thoughts on themes ranging from education, through to nuclear armament and religion, were regularly broadcast on the BBC, right up to the end of his life.
Robin takes a listen back to some of Russell's great contributions to broadcasting and looks at the life of arguably the first great media academic.
Producer: Alexandra Feachem
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2012.
TUE 12:00 The Goon Show (b0b2r0jv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 12:30 King Street Junior (b007jmkq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:00 Wimsey (b007jvmb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 13:30 The House (m0017d2r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 14:00 Clock Dance by Anne Tyler (b0bbq1gw)
2. 1977
It's 1977. Willa and her boyfriend come into conflict with her parents.
Willa makes an impulsive decision.
Anne Tyler's novel about family and self-discovery by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Tyler.
Abridged by Sian Preece.
Read by Barbara Barnes
Producer: Gaynor Macfarlane
Made by BBC Scotland for BBC Radio 4 and first broadcast in July 2018.
TUE 14:15 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (b007jvy2)
12. Plans
Becky has plans to deal with her uncertain financial future.
Stephen Fry narrates one of the greatest comic novels of the Victorian period.
Written by William Makepeace Thackeray.
Dramatised by Stephen Wyatt.
Becky Sharp .... Emma Fielding
Hester …. Helen Longworth
Sir Pitt Crawley .... Trevor Peacock
Pitt .... Jon Glover
Lord Steyn …. David Calder
with Stephen Fry as the narrator
Director Marc Beeby
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2004.
TUE 14:30 Passing The Hat (b00mqhqr)
Jolyon Jenkins tries to learn the tricks of the busking trade at Mario Morris's Cardiff school of street performers.
Public humiliation, though, is never far from his thoughts.
So can he manage to entertain a crowd out on the streets of the Welsh capital city?
Producer: Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2009.
TUE 15:00 The Raj Quartet (b09v676w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:00 The Museum of Curiosity (b09pl664)
Series 12
Episode 4
Professor of Ignorance John Lloyd and his curator Sally Phillips welcome:
* The former merchant banker-turned-stand-up, Sindhu Vee
* The Nobel Prize-winning geneticist, Sir Paul Nurse
* The editor of The Amorist magazine, Rowan Pelling.
The Museum's Guest Committee blow hot and cold over the Danish concept of hygge, get in a spin at the Large Hadron Collider and end up dizzy with a choice collection of saucy limericks.
Researched by QI & Mike Turner.
Producers: Richard Turner, Anne Miller & James Harkin.
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in January 2018.
TUE 16:30 Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me (b0076sqs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
TUE 17:00 North by Northamptonshire (b00ss2cq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Just William - Live! (m0004sgz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Terry Pratchett (b007k0v6)
Mort
Episode 1
Hopeless young peasant Mort is hired as an apprentice to Death, and taken to his home beyond time and space to begin his training.
The fourth of Terry's Pratchett's comic fantasy stories set on Discworld.
Dramatised in four parts by Robin Brooks.
Narrated by Anton Lesser.
Mort ...... Carl Prekopp
Death ...... Geoffrey Whitehead
Lezek ...... Philip Fox
Albert ...... Phillip Jackson
Hames ...... Jon Glover
Ysabell ...... Clare Corbett
Princess Keli ...... Alice Hart
Director: Claire Grove
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2004.
TUE 18:30 Soul Music (b077gd5b)
Series 22
The Way You Look Tonight
'The Way You Look Tonight' was written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields for the 1936 film 'Swing Time'.
Sung by Fred Astaire to Ginger Rodgers while she was washing her hair, the song won an Oscar. It's been recorded by Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday.
Sarah Woodward, daughter of actor Edward, recalls how aged seven, she watched him sing it on The Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show with his 'angelic' voice.
Theatre director Michael Bawtree remembers the song being his father's favourite, and being distraught when he broke the gramophone record as a five year old.
And Glaswegian singer, Eddie Toal describes making an album of jazz songs, including 'The Way You Look Tonight' to remember his late wife, Irene.
Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.
Producer: Sara Conkey
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2016.
TUE 19:00 The Goon Show (b0b2r0jv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 King Street Junior (b007jmkq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 20:00 Wimsey (b007jvmb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 20:30 The House (m0017d2r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 21:00 Archive on 4 (b019dzpp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
TUE 22:00 Just William - Live! (m0004sgz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 22:30 The Nick Revell Show (b007jp6w)
Series 1
Moving
Struggling writer Nick ponders moving in with his girlfriend
And which of his geraniums is sexiest?
A sitcom for the 1990s, written by and starring Nick Revell.
With:
Alistair McGowan
Caroline Gruber
Brian Bowles
Doon Mackichan
Alison Sterling
Producer: Jon Magnusson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1992.
TUE 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m0017n6r)
Andy Hamilton 2/3
From 10pm until midnight, seven days a week, The Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. And tonight, Paul Garner chats to Andy Hamilton.
TUE 23:00 What Does the K Stand For? (b04vr5j8)
Series 2
Turning Cheeks
School bullying, family bickering - and who's that on the telly..?
Stephen K Amos's sitcom about growing up black, gay and funny in 1980s South London.
Written by Jonathan Harvey with Stephen K Amos.
Himself ...... Stephen K Amos
Young Stephen ...... Shaquille Ali-Yebuah
Stephanie Amos ...... Fatou Sohna
Virginia Amos ...... Ellen Thomas
Vincent Amos ...... Don Gilet
Miss Bliss ...... Michelle Butterly
Jayson Jackson ...... Frankie Wilson
Producer: Colin Anderson.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2014.
TUE 23:30 The Million Pound Radio Show (b007k0sb)
Series 2
Episode 5
Danger sports - and chicken terrorists.
Sharp-edged topical humour in the most expensive show on radio.
Written by and starring Andy Hamilton and Nick Revell.
With:
Felicity Montagu
Harry Enfield
Producer: Paul Mayhew-Archer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 1986.


WEDNESDAY 18 MAY 2022

WED 00:00 Terry Pratchett (b007k0v6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Soul Music (b077gd5b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Wimsey (b007jvmb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 The House (m0017d2r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Clock Dance by Anne Tyler (b0bbq1gw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:15 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (b007jvy2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 Passing The Hat (b00mqhqr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 The Raj Quartet (b09v676w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 The Museum of Curiosity (b09pl664)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me (b0076sqs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 North by Northamptonshire (b00ss2cq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:30 Just William - Live! (m0004sgz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 Oscar Wilde (b007jq36)
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
1. The Chiromantist
Attending one of Lady Windermere's regular Thursday evening society parties, the dashing Lord Arthur Savile offers his hand for a reading by the dastardly palmist, Podgers.
But he's shocked when his murderous fate is revealed...
Oscar Wilde's mystery written in 1891.
Read in three parts by Michael Maloney.
Produced at BBC Manchester by Katherine Beacon.
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in October 2003.
WED 06:30 The House (m0017d7w)
Series 2
8. Curtains
"Be warned, the backbenches are heaped with the bones of yesterday's men." "Thank you, Dougal, but when it's time for me to go I'll choose my own time and my own method." "You're not hearing me, Charles. You've become too powerful. That's not allowed."
Chief Whip Charles Bannister is offered a new position...
Starring Julian Glover and Peter Kelly.
Conclusion of Christopher Lee's political thriller serial.
Charles Bannister .... Julian Glover
Dougal Baxter .... Peter Kelly
Mary Bannister .... Isla Blair
Henry Colville .... Christopher Benjamin
Rose .... Sheila Reid
Juliet Cameron .... Siobhan Redmond
Polly Bannister .... Ruth Gemmell
Producer Neil Cargill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 1991.
WED 07:00 Mrs Sidhu Investigates (b097btt0)
Murder With Masala
The Peril of the Poisoned Puddle
Mrs Sidhu is a caterer from Slough, who is still busy sleuthing on the side.
Starring Meera Syal.
After Mrs Sidhu's evidence gives Inspector Burton a panic attack, she is soon on the trail of Josh Lucas, the playboy heir to the Lucas title and fortune - but Josh has turned over a new leaf.
Meanwhile Inspector Burton, ever eager to impress the rich and famous, jumps at the chance when Lady Lucas offers her help in the search of the property.
Mrs Sidhu is furious and suspects manipulation of both the evidence and the Inspector.
Comedy drama by Suk Pannu.
Mrs Sidhu ...... Meera Syal
Jemma ...... Amy Morgan
Tez ...... Hamza Jeetooa
Mr Varma ...... Vincent Ebrahim
Josh. ...... Justin Edwards
Mrs Brogan ...... Rachel Atkins
Director Marilyn Imrie
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in October 2017.
WED 07:30 The Confessional (m000wsjf)
Series 1
The Confession of Lucy Porter
Actor, comedian and broadcaster Stephen Mangan presents a comedy chat show about shame and guilt.
Each week Stephen invites a different eminent guest into his virtual confessional box to make three 'confessions'. This is a cue for some remarkable storytelling, and surprising insights.
We’re used to hearing celebrity interviews, where stars are persuaded to show off about their achievements and talk about their proudest moments. Stephen isn't interested in that. He doesn’t want to know what his guests are proud of, he wants to know what they’re ashamed of. That’s surely the way to find out what really makes a person tick. Stephen and his guest reflect with empathy and humour on why we get embarrassed, where our shame thresholds should be, and the value of guilt.
This week, comedian Lucy Porter apologises for a youthful indiscretion, discusses the disadvantages of PVC and reveals a secret as yet untold.
Other guests in this series include Cariad Lloyd, Dr Phil Hammond, Clarke Peters, Suzi Ruffell, Marian Keyes, Phil Wang, Joan Bakewell, Nigel Planer and Alastair Campbell.
Written and presented by Stephen Mangan
With extra material by Nick Doody.
Devised with Dave Anderson
Produced by Frank Stirling
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4
WED 08:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jny1)
Series 5
The Grappling Game
The Lad Himself and Miss Pugh go to the wrestling, with a shock result!
Starring Tony Hancock. With Sidney James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Theme and incidental music written by Wally Stott.
Producer: Tom Ronald
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in April 1958.
WED 08:30 If You're So Clever, Why Aren't You Rich? (b00srqfx)
Series 3
Happy New Year
The London flatmates throw a New Year's Eve party.
Judith has a hot director to impress; David has a hot sandwich maker to mend and Giles has a Hot Date to seduce.
Everything goes according to plan. Not!
Starring Tony Slattery, Paul Bigley and Amanda Root.
Comedy drama series about three promising graduates still underachieving in their 30s.
Written by Paul Shearer and Richard Turner.
Giles ...... Tony Slattery
David ...... Paul Bigley
Judith ...... Amanda Root
Other parts played by Kerry Shale, Simon Greenall, Debra Stephenson, Fiona Allen, Paul Shearer and Richard Turner.
Producer: Paul Schlesinger
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.
WED 09:00 Booked (b0075lcp)
Series 2
Episode 1
Piglet bumps into the Greek Chorus, Inspector Clouseau takes Blanche Dubois to a dance, and Hunter S Thompson writes a public school prospectus.
Outrageous parody, biting wit and bizarre couplings from:
Miles Kington
Mark Thomas
Dillie Keane
Roger McGough
Ian McMillan chairs the irreverent literary game.
Producer: Marc Jobst
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1997.
WED 09:30 1834 (b011pw52)
Dentists and Lovers
Ned needs root canal work, but 21st-century Jason needs lessons in 19th-century courting.
Jason Slater is now Tarquin, the third son of Lord Belport with his faithful valet, Ned.
Jim Poyser's riotous comedy of transportation and delight.
Jason Slater ...... Michael Begley
Ned ...... Joe Caffrey
Hoskins ...... Kenneth Alan Taylor
Lord Belport ...... Mark Chatterton
Stubbs ...... Glenn Cunningham
Millicent ...... Julia Rounthwaite
Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2003.
WED 10:00 The Raj Quartet (b09v8tlg)
The Jewel in the Crown
Episode 3
Daphne and Hari's relationship is brought to a painful conclusion.
The last days of the British Raj in India as the Second World War leads inevitably towards independence.
Paul Scott's classic series of novels dramatised by John Harvey.
Daphne Manners ...... Anna Maxwell Martin
Ronald Merrick ...... Mark Bazeley
Hari Kumar ...... Prasanna Puwanarajah
Lily Chatterji ...... Josephine Welcome
Aunt Shalini ...... Nina Wadia
Sister Ludmilla ...... Susan Engel
Miss Edwina Crane ...... Phyllida Law
Mr Chaudhuri ...... Paul Bazely
Other parts played by:
Shiv Grewal
Rez Kempton
Jason Chan
Music by Raiomond Mirza.
Director: Sally Avens.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2005.
WED 11:00 The Real Comedy Controllers: The Things That Made Us Laugh (m0017d7z)
Alternative Comedy...and Beyond
3. Goodness Gracious Me and On the Hour
BBC Comedy Controllers from across the decades look back at radio shows from the past.
Clocking up over 150 years on the job between them, Paul Jackson, Beryl Vertue, John Lloyd and Jimmy Mulville reveal what they do, why they do it and what makes them laugh.
(Very sadly Beryl Vertue passed away in February aged 90).
From London's iconic BBC Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House - the home of British Radio comedy.
In the last of three programmes, they travel back to the 1990s to celebrate alternative comedy.
Featuring:
Goodness Gracious Me - from 18th January 1997 - BBC Radio 4
On the Hour - from 9th September 1991 - BBC Radio 4
The League of Gentlemen Charity Shop: sketch - 21st November - BBC Radio 4
Round the Horne: - Rambling Syd Rumpo - 15th January 1967 - BBC Light Programme]
Series Producers: Paul Kobrak and Dixi Stewart.
Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in April 2017.
WED 12:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jny1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 12:30 If You're So Clever, Why Aren't You Rich? (b00srqfx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:00 Oscar Wilde (b007jq36)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 13:30 The House (m0017d7w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 14:00 Clock Dance by Anne Tyler (b0bbrdx7)
3. 1997
It's 1997 and Willa's life is about to change forever.
Novel about family and self-discovery by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Tyler.
Abridged by Sian Preece.
Read by Barbara Barnes
Producer: Gaynor Macfarlane
Made by BBC Scotland for BBC Radio 4 and first broadcast in July 2018.
WED 14:15 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (b007jvy5)
13. Tactics
Becky and Rawdon make a tactical visit to see some relatives - and Becky finds a new companion.
Stephen Fry narrates one of the greatest comic novels of the Victorian period.
Written by William Makepeace Thackeray
Dramatised by Stephen Wyatt
Becky Sharp .... Emma Fielding
Lady Jane …. Jemma Churchill
Miss Briggs .... Kate Buffery
Rawdon Crawley …. Ray Coulthard
Pitt .... Jon Glover
Lord Steyne …. David Calder
with Stephen Fry as the narrator
Director Marc Beeby
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2004.
WED 14:30 Mr Capra Goes to Hollywood (b01rw2zj)
"The art of [my films] is very, very simple... it's the love of people. Add two simple ideals to this love of people - the freedom of each individual and the equal importance of each individual - and you have the principle on which I've based all my films."
Frank Capra, 1982.
This is an exploration of the filmmaker Frank Capra's enduring vision of the American dream. The man behind It's a Wonderful Life, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Mr Deeds Goes to Town and It Happened One Night, he remains one of America's most popular directors - yet his movies can still divide critics.
Was he simply a peddler of sentimental 'Capra-corn' or do his films offer a much more complex view of American life?
Discover what makes a movie 'Capra-esque' - looking at the balance of humour and heart in his films through to their occasional dark, noir-like edges - as well as unpicking how the 'Capra-esque' has filtered down into the contemporary American political landscape.
Contributors:
Jeanine Basinger
Andrea Seabrook
Peter Swaab
Michael Newton
Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in April 2013.
WED 15:00 The Raj Quartet (b09v8tlg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 16:00 Booked (b0075lcp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 16:30 1834 (b011pw52)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
WED 17:00 Mrs Sidhu Investigates (b097btt0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 17:30 The Confessional (m000wsjf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 18:00 Terry Pratchett (b007k134)
Mort
Episode 2
Death sends his apprentice Mort to collect three lives, but the lad takes a fancy to one of them - a princess.
The fourth of Terry's Pratchett's comic fantasy stories set on Discworld.
Narrated by Anton Lesser.
Mort ...... Carl Prekopp
Death ...... Geoffrey Whitehead
Albert ...... Phillip Jackson
Ysabell ...... Clare Corbett
Princess Keli ...... Alice Hart
Cutwell ...... Adam Godley
Abbot ...... John Rowe
Ammeline ...... Sheila Mitchell
Stallholder ...... Jon Glover
Maid ...... Liz Sutherland
Dramatised by Robin Brooks.
Director: Gordon House
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
WED 18:30 How Tickled Am I? (b007k4jm)
Series 2
Beryl Reid
A multi-talented performer whose career spanned music hall, variety, stand-up comedy and straight roles such as 'The Killing of Sister George'.
Mark Radcliffe profiles the life and career of Beryl Reid.
Featuring:
Susannah York
Morwenna Banks
Ronald Wolfe
Series exploring some of the North of England's best loved and most influential comedians.
Producer: Libby Cross
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2000.
WED 19:00 Hancock's Half Hour (b007jny1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 If You're So Clever, Why Aren't You Rich? (b00srqfx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 20:00 Oscar Wilde (b007jq36)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 20:30 The House (m0017d7w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 21:00 The Real Comedy Controllers: The Things That Made Us Laugh (m0017d7z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
WED 22:00 The Confessional (m000wsjf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 22:30 That Mitchell and Webb Sound (b03kqg03)
Series 5
Episode 3
An unusually pedantic episode of BBC Radio 4's Gardeners Question time, digital life after death, and the mysterious world you might find at the back of a stationery cupboard.
Offbeat sketches from the lopsided world of David Mitchell and Robert Webb.
With;
Olivia Colman
James Bachman
Producer: Gareth Edwards
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.
WED 23:00 All the World's a Globe (b007jwp2)
1. The Creation
From the first amoeba to the Second World War.
It's the history of mankind.
Presented by the entire cast of the National Theatre of Brent - Desmond Olivier Dingle and Wallace, aided by Mr Barker.
Written by Patrick Barlow
With additional material by Jim Broadbent and Martin Duncan.
With thanks to
Patrick Barlow
Jim Broadbent
Martin Duncan
Producer: Lissa Evans
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1990.
WED 23:15 The Goldfish Bowl (m0017d81)
Series 2
Episode 1
Anton and Liam - the Eric and Ernie of the fish fraternity - are back with more underwater wit and fishy frivolity.
As their owners move house, Anton and Liam go on a little holiday.
Starring Sean Foley and Hamish McColl.
Goldfish bowl based sitcom written by Shaun Prendergast.
Anton .... Sean Foley
Liam ....Hamish McColl
Susan ....Tracy Ann Oberman
Struan ....Shaun Prendergast
Director: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2000.
WED 23:30 King Cutler (b008s3cc)
King Cutler II
A succulent batch of poems, songs and stories from Phyllis King and Ivor Cutler.
With wood-carver's words from Craig Murray-Orr.
Translation by Dylan Edwards and page-turning by David Lloyd.
Producer: Neil Cargill
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in January 1990.


THURSDAY 19 MAY 2022

THU 00:00 Terry Pratchett (b007k134)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Wednesday]
THU 00:30 How Tickled Am I? (b007k4jm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 Oscar Wilde (b007jq36)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 The House (m0017d7w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Clock Dance by Anne Tyler (b0bbrdx7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:15 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (b007jvy5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 Mr Capra Goes to Hollywood (b01rw2zj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 The Raj Quartet (b09v8tlg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 Booked (b0075lcp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 1834 (b011pw52)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Mrs Sidhu Investigates (b097btt0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:30 The Confessional (m000wsjf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 Oscar Wilde (b007jq3l)
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
2. The Bonbonniere
Acting on palmist Podger's chilling prediction, the dapper Lord Arthur Savile is in for a fresh shock...
Oscar Wilde's mystery written in 1891.
Read by Michael Maloney.
Produced at BBC Manchester by Katherine Beacon.
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in October 2003.
THU 06:30 Jack London - The Call of the Wild (b01d8ny1)
1. Kidnapped
Buck is a domestic dog, living in a weathy household in California.
When he's kidnapped and sold, he finds himself in the frozen landscape of the Yukon, pulling a sledge.
In this atmospheric adventure, we see the world through Buck's eyes as he battles for survival in a harsh, new environment.
Jack London's epic novella.
Dramatised in two parts by Robert Forrest.
Buck ... Robert Jack
Thornton ... Finn den Hertog
Manuel / Charles ... Robin Laing
Francois ... Nick Underwood
Perrault ... Grant O'Rourke
Mercedes ... Melody Grove
Director: Kirsty Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2012.
THU 07:00 Mum's on the Run (b00tt5vn)
Episode 5
Battling lippy kids, annoying neighbours and a jazz playing ex-husband means Jen's failing to be the yummy mummy she longs to be.
The desire to impress Mr Rigby and silence nagging children persuades Jen to attempt some charitable work. But a botched attempt to give blood and a disastrous baking error lead only to further humiliation.
Starring Ronni Ancona.
Mother of two, Master of none - the hectic life ("What life?") of single mum, Jen.
Written by Alexis Zegerman.
Jen ..... Ronni Ancona
Mr. Rigby ..... John Gordon Sinclair
Shelley ..... Alexis Zegerman
Felicity ..... Amy Dabrowa
Toby ..... Alexander Heath
Chugger ..... Lloyd Thomas
Nurse/David's Mum ..... Sally Orrock
Producer: Dawn Ellis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.
THU 07:30 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m00174f1)
Series 1
Round four: Everything
Paul Sinha and his live audience compile the questions for a perfect pub quiz.
THU 08:00 The Atkinson People (b007k1z5)
George Dupont
George Dupont - French philosopher, man or myth. Or man of mystery?
France, of course, has flourished into a force to be reckoned with in world-class philosophy.
Starring Rowan Atkinson.
Series of satirical, wry, parodic and startling investigations into the lives of imaginary great men.
Written by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis
With:
Hugh Thomas
Peter Wilson
Hilda Kniseman
Producer: Griff Rhys Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1979.
THU 08:30 Capital Gains (b00snlx2)
Series 2
Development Capital
There must be a way to stop the Haiku Jack Consortium from covering the land in concrete.
Accidental billionaire Julius Hutch turns to the law - and goes beyond it.
Starring Peter Jones.
Collin Johnson's sitcom about a man who spends his retirement as an amateur philosopher.
Julius Hutch …. Peter Jones
Pauline Hutch …. Celestine Randall
Kate …. Justine Midda
Sexton Lewis …. Jeffrey Wickham
Sir Gainford Blounty …. Stephen Thorne
Dahlia Sprout …. Jillie Meers
Ted Smoothie …. David Holt
Brian Perkins as Himself
Producers: Andy Jordan and David Blount
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1997.
THU 09:00 The Personality Test (b00mf3kk)
Series 2
Roy Hattersley
Former Labour party Deputy Leader and writer, Roy Hattersley quizzes a panel about his own political career, whims and interests.
With:
Sue Perkins
Lucy Porter
Robin Ince
Mark Dolan
Series with changing hosts who quiz the panel
Script by Richard Turner and Simon Littlefield
Devised and produced by Aled Evans.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2006.
THU 09:30 Tomorrow, Today! (b017071k)
Series 2
Squab is not the Language of Love
A BBC producer struggles to make a radio soap set in the unimaginably futuristic world of 2008.
Radio writer Hugo defects to TV.
Christopher William Hill's sitcom set in 1962.
Nigel Lavery ...... Peter Bowles
Sylvia Hann ...... Cheryl Campbell
Godfrey Winnard ..... John Fortune
Sir Angus McNairn ...... Gary Waldhorn
Hugo Kellerman ...... Joseph Kloska
Douglas Bennings ...... Jon Glover
Keith Wood ...... Sam Pamphilon
Georgina Barrett ...... Carolyn Pickles
Burton ...... Peter Marinker.
Producer: Liz Webb
First broadcast on Radio 4 in February 2008.
THU 10:00 The Raj Quartet (b09v9wsb)
The Day of the Scorpion
Episode 1
Susan Layton's engagement is announced.
Her fiancé, Teddie Bingham, is stationed with his regiment in Mirat and is sharing his quarters with Captain Ronald Merrick.
The last days of the British Raj in India as the Second World War leads inevitably towards independence.
Paul Scott's classic series of novels dramatised by John Harvey.
Sarah Layton ...... Lia Williams
Mildred Layton ...... Geraldine James
Susan Layton ...... Alex Tregear
Teddie Bingham ...... Nicholas Boulton
Nigel Rowan ...... Benedict Cumberbatch
Ronald Merrick ...... Mark Bazeley
Lady Manners ...... Irene Sutcliffe
Count Bronowski ...... Gary Waldhorn
Fenny Grace ...... Selina Griffiths
Pandit Baba ...... Nadim Sawalha
Ahmed Kasim ...... Shiv Grewal
Hari Kumar ...... Prasanna Puwanarajah
Gopal ...... Bhasker Patel
Other parts played by:
Stuart McLoughlin
Robert Hastie
Music by Raiomond Mirza.
Director: Jeremy Mortimer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2005.
THU 11:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m0017d2c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]
THU 11:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00lmdh4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 on Sunday]
THU 12:00 The Atkinson People (b007k1z5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 12:30 Capital Gains (b00snlx2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:00 Oscar Wilde (b007jq3l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 13:30 Jack London - The Call of the Wild (b01d8ny1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 14:00 Clock Dance by Anne Tyler (b0bbt61c)
4. 2017
It's 2017. A phone call changes the course of Willa's life.
Anne Tyler's novel about family and self-discovery by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Tyler.
Abridged by Sian Preece.
Read by Barbara Barnes
Producer: Gaynor Macfarlane
Made by BBC Scotland for BBC Radio 4 and first broadcast in July 2018.
THU 14:15 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (b007jvy8)
14. Georgia
A cash crisis forces Amelia to make a terrible decision about little George's future.
Stephen Fry narrates one of the greatest comic novels of the Victorian period.
Written by William Makepeace Thackeray
Dramatised by Stephen Wyatt
Becky Sharp .... Emma Fielding
Amelia …. Katy Cavanagh
Maria …. Alice Hart
John Osborne .... Geoffrey Whitehead
Mr Sedley …. Ian Masters
Georgy …. Harry Francis
with Stephen Fry as the narrator
Director Marc Beeby
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2004.
THU 14:30 Looking for Ripley (b00hrk2v)
From ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’ by Patricia Highsmith: “If there was any sensation he hated, it was that of being followed, by anybody. And lately he had it all the time.”
Ripley's right to feel worried, there is someone on his tail.
It's crime writer Mark Billingham.
Like millions of readers of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novels, Mark Billingham has long been fascinated and repelled by the suavely amoral Tom Ripley. Here he's on a quest to get closer.
In the course of his investigation Mark dives into the shadows and pretends to be looking the other way as he tracks down those with a real insight into Ripley's ambiguities and attractions for the contemporary reader.
The opera director Jonathan Kent once played Ripley and was thought to be perfect in the role by Highsmith herself.
Professor Dinesh Bhugra, President of The Royal College of Psychiatrists, is an avid fan and uses the Ripley books to teach medical students about psychopathy.
Andrew Wilson, Highsmith’s biographer, thinks the elusive Ripley is to be found in the unpublished notebooks of his creator.
Reader: Ian Hart
Producer: Erin Kelly
Editor: Rob Ketteridge
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2009.
THU 15:00 The Raj Quartet (b09v9wsb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:00 The Personality Test (b00mf3kk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
THU 16:30 Tomorrow, Today! (b017071k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
THU 17:00 Mum's on the Run (b00tt5vn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 17:30 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m00174f1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 18:00 Terry Pratchett (b007k1c1)
Mort
Episode 3
Death has fun in the real world, leaving his daughter Ysabell and Mort in charge of the life-collecting business.
The fourth of Terry's Pratchett's comic fantasy stories set on Discworld.
Narrated by Anton Lesser.
Mort ...... Carl Prekopp
Death ...... Geoffrey Whitehead
Albert ...... Phillip Jackson
Ysabell ...... Clare Corbett
Princess Keli ...... Alice Hart
Cutwell ...... Adam Godley
Keeble ...... Philip Fox
Landlord ...... Jon Glover
Dramatised by Robin Brooks.
Director: Claire Grove
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2004.
THU 18:30 Great Lives (b0bgrhxx)
Series 46
Greg Jenner on Gene Kelly
Public historian Greg Jenner has always loved Gene Kelly.
"So much better than he had any right to be."
Born in Pittsburgh in 1912, Gene Kelly was a broad-shouldered Irish American whose first love was ice hockey. But according to his biographer, Ruth Leon, he revolutionised movie-making by making the camera dance.
Kelly's great films are Singin in the Rain, On The Town and An American in Paris - with extracts and archive of Gene speaking, this is a joyful celebration of the great age of Hollywood musicals.
Presented by Matthew Parris.
Producer Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2018.
THU 19:00 The Atkinson People (b007k1z5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 Capital Gains (b00snlx2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 20:00 Oscar Wilde (b007jq3l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 20:30 Jack London - The Call of the Wild (b01d8ny1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 21:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m0017d2c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]
THU 21:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00lmdh4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 on Sunday]
THU 22:00 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m00174f1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 22:30 DMs Are Open (m0017d8l)
Series 1
Episode 1
DMs Are Open is a weekly comedy sketch show hosted by Athena Kugblenu (BBC 1 “Mock The Week” Radio 4 “Cancel Culture”) & Ali Official (BBC Three “Muzlamic” Radio 4 “The Train At Platform 4”)
It’s a brand new show that takes a satirical swipe at the latest news and trending topics. Each week, the Great British public will be sliding into Athena and Ali’s DMs with sketches, one liners and voice notes about anything from Martin Lewis taking over the world to Rihanna’s new baby. Tune in for the best comedy sketches, performed by some of the biggest social media influencers, showcasing the very best of the British public’s submissions.
It is an open submissions show which means it is written by you, the listeners! DMs Are Open seeks to develop new comedy writers and performers and is looking for sketches, one-liners, new characters and voicenote submissions.
Producers: Sadia Azmat and Rajiv Karia
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
A BBC Studios Production
THU 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m0017n6w)
Andy Hamilton 3/3
From 10pm until midnight, seven days a week, The Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. And tonight, Paul Garner chats to Andy Hamilton.
THU 23:00 The Consultants (b007vb2j)
Series 2
Episode 1
Time to hark back to a gentler age of radio for a rollicking archive adventure.
Archie Strutz and his Swinging Nuts were a favourite on the BBC Home Service and folktales sang of rustic careers "where the tales are our seed and the sod is your ears".
Cerebral sketch show with the winners of 2002's Perrier Best Newcomer award - who had to brace themselves for the inevitable backlash.
Written by and starring:
Neil Edmond,
Justin Edwards
James Rawlings
Producer: Will Saunders
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2003.
THU 23:30 The Secret World (b01mqpgm)
Series 3
Episode 2
From Al Pacino to Paul McCartney, Jon Culshaw and friends imagine the private lives of the famous.
The comedy impressions series examining the bizarre and private lives of public people.
Starring:
Jon Culshaw
Margaret Cabourn Smith
Julian Dutton
Debra Stephenson
Lewis Macleod
Duncan Wisbey
Written by Bill Dare, Julian Dutton and Duncan Wisbey
Created and produced by Bill Dare.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2012.


FRIDAY 20 MAY 2022

FRI 00:00 Terry Pratchett (b007k1c1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Great Lives (b0bgrhxx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 Oscar Wilde (b007jq3l)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Jack London - The Call of the Wild (b01d8ny1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 Clock Dance by Anne Tyler (b0bbt61c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:15 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (b007jvy8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:15 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 Looking for Ripley (b00hrk2v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 The Raj Quartet (b09v9wsb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 The Personality Test (b00mf3kk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 Tomorrow, Today! (b017071k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 Mum's on the Run (b00tt5vn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 05:30 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m00174f1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 Oscar Wilde (b007jq42)
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
3. The Ormolu Clock
Still thwarted in trying to fulfil his predicted dark destiny, Lord Arthur Savile decides to change his tactics.
Oscar Wilde's mystery written in 1891.
Concluded by Michael Maloney.
Produced at BBC Manchester by Katherine Beacon.
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in October 2003.
FRI 06:30 Jack London - The Call of the Wild (b01dhkpv)
2. Wilderness
Buck started life as a pet, living in a wealthy household in California. But kidnapped and sold, he found himself in the frozen Yukon landscape, pulling a sledge.
After battling with the dangerous but alluring wilderness - he's saved from certain death...
Conclusion of Jack London's epic novella.
Dramatised by Robert Forrest.
Buck ... Robert Jack
Thornton ... Finn den Hertog
Hans ... Robin Laing
Burton/Indian Chief ... Nick Underwood
Director: Kirsty Williams
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2012.
FRI 07:00 Says on the Tin (b00gvhxv)
Healthcare
Eliott makes a film to encourage US investment in the NHS, explaining that 'where there's pain, there's gain'.
Starring Michael Brandon.
Christopher William Hill's sitcom about an American advertising man, forced to relocate to London.
Eliott Thurber ...... Michael Brandon
Esther Finn ...... Samantha Bond
Hannah Walker ...... Pippa Haywood
Zadie ...... Joannah Tincey
Baz ...... Inam Mirza
Ted ...... Malcolm Tierney
Carl ...... Jonathan Tafler
Moses ...... Stephen Critchlow
Film Director ...... Janice Acquah
Hospital Exec ...... Dan Starkey
Other parts played by:
Stephen Critchlow
Jonathan Tafler
Dan Starkey
Gunnar Cauthery
Donnla Hughes
Producer: Liz Webb
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2009.
FRI 07:30 Stand-Up Specials (m0017ctz)
Lovecraft (Not the Sex Shop in Cardiff)
Lovecraft (Not the sex shop in Cardiff) is a one woman, comedy-science-music-show about the neuroscience of love and loneliness.
First performed in 2018 at Cardiff’s Festival of Voice, it has been to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Machynlleth Comedy Festival and Adelaide Fringe Festival where it won Best Cabaret award.
The show tackles the stigma around loneliness and breaks it down scientifically for what it is and how Carys Eleri came to recognise it in herself and combat it by finding love in different ways through the medium of rats and songs and science. It is essentially a celebration of community, a wider sense of love and the scientific importance of kindness.
Bringing down this well researched lesson to a 28 minute radio format has been quite the challenge, where songs about tits have been sacrificed to make way for an updated narrative as the show is now visited through the lens of the pandemic with new lessons learned of ways to cope in isolation.
Writer composer and producer: Carys Eleri
Co-producers: Branwen Munn at Goldhill Studios and Jo Southerd at Little Wander.
Neuroscientist consultant: Dr. Dean Burnett
Originally co-produced for stage by Carys Eleri and Wales Millennium Centre
A Little Wander production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 08:00 Dad's Army (b007jrbf)
Series 3
Turkey Dinner
Corporal Jones mistakenly shoots a bird, so the platoon hatch a plan to cook it for the old folk of Walmington-on-Sea.
The comic exploits of a Second World War Home Guard platoon.
Adapted for radio from Jimmy Perry and David Croft's TV scripts by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles.
Captain Mainwaring …. Arthur Lowe
Sergeant Wilson …. John Le Mesurier
Corporal Jones …. Clive Dunn
Private Frazer …. John Laurie
Private Godfrey …. Arnold Ridley
Private Pike …. Ian Lavender
Warden Hodges …. Bill Pertwee
Private Walker …. Larry Martyn
Vicar …. Frank Williams
Mrs Pike ...... Pearl Hackney
Mr Blewitt ...... Harold Bennett.
Announcer/Newsreader …. John Snagge
Producer: John Dyas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1976.
FRI 08:30 Married (b007ys7j)
Series 2
Betrayal
Divorced and penniless he may be, but Robin is about to discover that life can be sweet in his new universe - even if it is at someone else's expense.
Hugh Bonneville stars in Tony Bagley's comedy.
Robin .... Hugh Bonneville
Lesley .... Josie Lawrence
Dirk .... Stephen Frost
Murdo …. Lewis MacLeod
Ned …. Sam Bradley
Maxine …. Ann Gosling :
DS Cotton …. Simon Roberts
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2000.
FRI 09:00 Guess What? (b06759y1)
Episode 9
Animal, vegetable or mineral?
Barry Took hosts a revised version of popular radio parlour game of 20 questions.
Regular Geoffrey Durham is joined by Frances Edmonds and Nigel Dempster.
Written by Michael Dines.
Producer: Andy Aliffe
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1998.
FRI 09:30 Millport (b0076287)
Series 2
Growth
Bunty's nowhere to be found when an EU official arrives to inspect her vegetables.
Meanwhile the rest of Millport is bitten by the fitness bug, but the lack of any sports facilities poses a few logistical problems...
Bittersweet comedy written by and starring Lynn Ferguson as 30-something island barmaid Irene Bruce, who hankers after a better life on the mainland.
Irene ...... Lynn Ferguson
Moira/Agnes ...... Janet Brown
Alberto/Robert/Inspector ...... Lewis McLeod
Ena/Bunty ...... Gabriel Quigley
Bob/Minister ...... Robert Patterson
Dougie ...... Matt Costello
Music arranged by Olly Fox.
Producer: Lucy Bacon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2001.
FRI 10:00 The Raj Quartet (b09vb8y1)
The Day of the Scorpion
Episode 2
Lady Manners hears Hari Kumar's account of his interrogation at the hands of Ronald Merrick. In Mirat.
Susan and Teddie get married, and back in Pankot, Barbie Batchelor has trouble with her wedding gift.
The last days of the British Raj in India as the Second World War leads inevitably towards independence.
Paul Scott's classic series of novels dramatised by John Harvey.
Sarah Layton ...... Lia Williams
Mildred Layton ...... Geraldine James
Susan Layton ...... Alex Tregear
Teddie Bingham ...... Nicholas Boulton
Ronald Merrick ...... Mark Bazeley
Lady Manners ...... Irene Sutcliffe
Barbie Batchelor ...... Marcia Warren
And Mabel Layton ...... Margaret Tyzack
Count Bronowski ...... Gary Waldhorn
Fenny Grace ...... Selina Griffiths
The Nawab ...... Raad Rawi
Ahmed Kasim ...... Shiv Grewal
Aunt Shalini ...... Nina Wadia
Nigel Rowan ...... Benedict Cumberbatch
Hari Kumar ...... Prasanna Puwanarajah
Gopal ...... Bhasker Patel
With Amit Shah.
Music by Raiomond Mirza.
Director: Jeremy Mortimer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2005.
FRI 11:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m0017n8j)
Science Stories
Chris Pearson and science nerd Rick Edwards recommend factual science listening.
FRI 12:00 Dad's Army (b007jrbf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 12:30 Married (b007ys7j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Oscar Wilde (b007jq42)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 13:30 Jack London - The Call of the Wild (b01dhkpv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 14:00 Clock Dance by Anne Tyler (b0bbtghp)
5. Help
Willa has spontaneously responded to a request for help. She has travelled to Baltimore to look after her son's ex-girlfriend, who has been shot.
Anne Tyler's novel about family and self-discovery by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Tyler.
Abridged by Sian Preece.
Read by Barbara Barnes
Producer: Gaynor Macfarlane
Made by BBC Scotland for BBC Radio 4 and first broadcast in July 2018.
FRI 14:15 Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (b007jvyc)
15. Court
Becky is delighted to be presented at court - but Rawdon Crawley is unhappy.
Stephen Fry narrates one of the greatest comic novels of the Victorian period.
Written by William Makepeace Thackeray
Dramatised in twenty parts by Stephen Wyatt
Becky Sharp .... Emma Fielding
Lady Jane …. Jemma Churchill
Miss Briggs .... Kate Buffery
Rawdon Crawley …. Ray Coulthard
Pitt .... Jon Glover
Lord Steyne …. David Calder
with Stephen Fry as the narrator
Director Marc Beeby
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2004.
FRI 14:30 Fifty Years Around the Clock (b00js9vh)
Tony Wilson traces the story of the first rock n roll song to reach number 1 in 1955.
Hastily recorded in a converted ballroom in Manhattan and first released as an obscure B-side, Rock around the Clock only found its moment of glory when it was included in the film 'Blackboard Jungle' as the sound of teenage rebellion and an antidote to the jazz of Bix Beiderbecke.
With Virtuosa Guitarist Vini Reilley, Ex Rocker Sir Cliff Richard and broadcasting impresario Michael Grade.
Producer: Jane Lewis.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2005.
FRI 15:00 The Raj Quartet (b09vb8y1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:00 Guess What? (b06759y1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 16:30 Millport (b0076287)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
FRI 17:00 Says on the Tin (b00gvhxv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 17:30 Stand-Up Specials (m0017ctz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 18:00 Terry Pratchett (b007k1l2)
Mort
Episode 4
Death has disappeared, leaving his apprentice Mort, his daughter Ysabell and Albert the cook to carry on the life-collecting operation.
The conclusion of Terry's Pratchett's comic fantasy set on Discworld.
Narrated by Anton Lesser
Mort ...... Carl Prekopp
Death ...... Geoffrey Whitehead
Albert ...... Phillip Jackson
Ysabell ...... Clare Corbett
Princess Keli ...... Alice Hart
Cutwell ...... Adam Godley
Rincewind ...... Philip Fox
Duke ...... Jon Glover
Dramatised by Robin Brooks.
Director: Claire Grove
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2004.
FRI 18:30 Sounds Natural (b07m7kcq)
Bill Oddie
From the Bar-Tailed Godwit to the Black-Winged Stilt.
Back in the days when BBC Springwatch wasn't even a twinkle in Auntie's transmitters, Bill Oddie from 'The Goodies' tells Derek Jones about his longstanding love of bird watching, and his travels to see them - aided by recordings from the BBC Sound Archive.
Producer: John Burton.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1973.
FRI 19:00 Dad's Army (b007jrbf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 Married (b007ys7j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 20:00 Oscar Wilde (b007jq42)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 20:30 Jack London - The Call of the Wild (b01dhkpv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Podcast Radio Hour (m0017n8j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 today]
FRI 22:00 Stand-Up Specials (m0017ctz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 22:30 A World of Dowie (m0017d8t)
Episode 2
The unreconstructed John Dowie escapes from his wife and new baby when the band go on the road - to Edinburgh.
Here, he falls madly in lust...
Enter a brave new world created and presented by John Dowie.
With
Jim Sweeney
Steve Steen
Cathryn Harrison
Music from the Ronnie Golden Small Band
Producer Paul Mayhew-Archer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1991.
FRI 23:00 Laura Solon - Talking and Not Talking (b00bg3gf)
Series 2
Episode 1
Laura reveals 1001 uses for peas, missies a meeting and shuns a caravan owner.
Award-winning comedian Laura Solon's sketch and character comedy series
With Rosie Cavaliero, Ben Moor and Ben Willbond.
Written by Laura Solon. With additional material by Holly Walsh and Jon Hunter.
Producer: Colin Anderson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2008.
FRI 23:30 Mitch Benn Specials (b067x5j1)
Mitch Benn Is the Fat Pink Duke
David Bowie is the first rock star Mitch can remember being aware of.
He was two, David was Ziggy Stardust, and he remembers feeling that while he liked him he didn't really get him. As he's grown up - and David Bowie has grown up right along side - Mitch realises that Not Really Getting David Bowie is the whole point...
Mitch Benn takes you on a whistlestop tour of Bowie's back catalogue, examining his legacy and Mitch's own personal connection to his music.
Comedy series for anyone who's ever bought a record or fallen in love with a song.
Written by and starring Mitch Benn.
Producer: Alexandra Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.