SATURDAY 07 MARCH 2026

SAT 00:00 Soul Music (m001n1h5)
Ghost Town
Ghost Town was recorded by British two-tone band The Specials as a comment on urban decay and social unrest. It was released in June 1981 as riots were springing up around the UK and with the help of an iconic video it topped the UK singles charts. It was also be the band's final single.
Writer Alex Wheatle first heard 'Ghost Town' in 1981 whilst in a social services hostel in Brixton awaiting his court appearance. He'd been arrested following a day of action in Brixton to protest against racist treatment of Black people, after rumours of police brutality. He was sentenced to one year in prison and sang Ghost Town in his cell, as he began to find hope and purpose in his life.
Claire Horton grew up in Dudley and says Ghost Town echoed her experiences of watching the shops and nightclubs of this once vibrant town closing down. Her Dad was made redundant and it had a huge impact on her family, and as a young police officer she would walk the streets and understand why people were getting so frustrated with their situation.
Soul and Reggae DJ Dave Marshall Barrett traces the history of The Specials who formed in Dave's hometown of Coventry in 1977. It's the first thing people mention when he says where he comes from.
John Collins was surprised when Jerry Dammers asked him to produce the record. John created the initial opening 'ghostly' sounds on a synth at home but he says they now sound more like sirens. The song's success opened doors for John and he loves how it keeps finding new audiences.
Broadcaster Samira Ahmed grew up in London and said her the recession of the early 80s hit her family's catering business hard. Too young for nightclubs, she remembers the video of 'Ghost Town' playing on Top of the Pops and says the track made a huge impact on her understanding of music and politics.
Jazz singer Beverley Beirne covered Ghost Town for her 2018 album Jazz Just Wants to Have Fun and was reminded of it during the first lockdown when she wasn't able to perform.
Founder of The Specials Jerry Dammers reflects on the inspiration behind Ghost Town and how trombonist Rico Rodriguez was the heart and soul of the band.
Additional research: Melanie Pearson
Technical Producer: Michael Harrison
Editor: Emma Harding
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Toby Field.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2023.
SAT 00:30 Rock Transition (b08jb6s8)
For centuries musicians have defied gender boundaries to create some of the most evocative and provocative art and music.
Journalist and culture critic Laura Snapes joins the dots of a fascinating musical history that encompasses musical icons such as Ma Rainey, Little Richard, Lou Reed, the Pet Shop Boys, Grace Jones and Madonna, and looks at how today's musicians use music and performance to express who their own gender and sexuality.
In recent years the issue of gender and identity has been a hot topic in the musical landscape and beyond. From niche publications to tabloids and political debate, issues surrounding gender identity and how it influences both personal and social life have been widely publicised.
Amid the deeply complex personal world of gender identity and the often ruthlessly myopic world of the music industry, a new generation of artists are using music for fearless expressions of their gender and sexuality that break beyond the archetypes set by their forebears.
Rock Transition speaks with artists such as garage maverick Ezra Furman, Canadian pop stars Tegan and Sara, musician and author CN Lester, and musician and activist Ryan Cassata to understand why music offers an exciting platform to express and explore gender identity and sexuality - and asks how these artists can resist being marginalised and commodified by an industry keen to capitalise on a hot topic.
Producer: James Roberts
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2017.
SAT 01:00 Whodunnits (b011tz3y)
Agatha Raisin - Series 3
4. The Green-Eyed Monster
A murder at the hotel disco has forced the warring Agatha and James to co-habit.
But will they be able to solve this sudden death before they end-up killing each other?
Penelope Keith stars as the PR guru turned amateur detective.
MC Beaton’s novel dramatised by David Semple
Agatha Raisin …. Penelope Keith
James Lacey …. Malcolm Sinclair
Olivia Debenham …. Caroline Harker
Sam Payne …. George Layton
George Debenham …. Spencer Banks

Producer: Carol Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2006.
SAT 01:30 Whodunnits (b007jwgz)
Wimsey - Busman's Honeymoon
2. Credit Where Credit's Due
With William Noakes dead, Superintendent Kirk has his suspicions, but upper crust sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey is not so sure...
Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey – the British gentleman detective created by Dorothy L Sayers.
Dramatised by Alistair Beaton.
Lord Peter Wimsey …. Ian Carmichael
Lady Wimsey …. Sarah Badel
Bunter …. Peter Jones
Mrs Ruddle …. Pearl Hackney
Mr Puffett …. Michael Ripper
MacBride …. Roger Lloyd Pack
Frank Crutchley …. Kenneth Cranham
Narrator …. John Westbrook
Superintendent Kirk …. Peter Vaughan
Constable Sellon …. Christopher Beeny
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1983.
SAT 02:00 My Mammy and Me (m002s4nw)
Series 1
5. Kamikaze Weekend
Cathy McPhail's comedy about a woman's search for Mr Right continues.
Isobel’s weekend is ruined when her Mammy asks her to help with one of her little obligements - to give Ida a lift to see her sister.
Mammy …. Eileen McCallum
Isobel .... Kate Donnelly
Willie .... Jake D'Arcy
Ida .... Barbara Rafferty
Jada .... Forbes Masson
Sgt Blood .... Sean Scanlan
Elsie .... Carolyn Boneyman
Written by Cathy McPhail.
Producer: Kathy Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1995.
SAT 02:30 Steptoe and Son (b007k0k6)
Series 4
Is That Your Horse Outside?
Albert Steptoe advises son Harold on the art of seduction.
Starring Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett.
Classic sitcom about the lives of rag and bone men Albert Steptoe and his son Harold.
Written for BBC TV and adapted for BBC Radio by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Albert ...... Wilfrid Brambell
Harold ...... Harry H Corbett
With:
Jo Manning Wilson
John Samson
Producer: Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in February 1972.
SAT 03:00 Cooking in a Bedsitter (b09jrkr2)
Series 2
Bolognese Cutlets
Trisha is definitely over Deepak. She really, truly is.
Extracts from Cooking in a Bedsitter are read by Eleanor Bron.
Beattie Edmondson and Nikesh Patel star in Sue Teddern's romantic comedy set in the1960s.
Inspired by Katharine Whitehorn's cookery classic.
Katharine Whitehorn ...... Eleanor Bron
Trisha ...... Beattie Edmondson
Deepak ...... Nikesh Patel
Moira ...... Isabella Inchbald
June ...... Ellie Darvill
Len ...... Rupert Holliday Evans
Malcolm ...... Gary Duncan
Errol Tayla ...... Kovacevic-Ebong
Director: Emma Harding.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2017.
SAT 03:30 Anybody Can Do Anything by Betty MacDonald (b00js6rf)
10. A Reluctant Writer
Betty MacDonald’s hilarious account of survival in the Great Depression, under the wing of her sister Mary, abridged by Jennifer Howarth.
Mary tells a publisher about Betty's wonderful new book. It's news to Betty too. Will she be able to come up with a book?
Concluded by: Debora Weston
Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2009.
SAT 03:45 Ladies of Letters (b00tvlbc)
Ladies of Letters Say No
5. Revenge
A doomed plan for revenge on Alan brings Vera and Irene closer to Her Majesty.
Vera and Irene are back, and this time they're in a combative mood.
Starring Patricia Routledge as Vera and Prunella Scales as Irene.
Written by Lou Wakefield and Carole Hayman.
Vera Small .... Patricia Routledge
Irene Spencer .... Prunella Scales
Sir James Fotherington-Fanshawe .... Simon Treves
Producer: Liz Webb
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
SAT 04:00 One Person Found This Helpful (m001xdfc)
Series 1
5. The Old Man & The Fishfinger
The weird and wonderful world of online reviews explored in a panel game.
Frank Skinner and guests Scott Bennett, Jo Caulfield, Simon Evans and Esther Manito find out your verdicts on:
A scenic fishfinger and a wobbly cupcake.
Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Jason Hazeley, Rajiv Karia, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer & Peter Tellouche
Devised by Jason Hazeley and Simon Evans with the producer David Tyler.
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2024.
SAT 04:30 A Short Gentleman (b019rqh1)
Episode 4
QC Robert's nemesis approaches, along with Edward, basset hound of doom.
Hugh Bonneville stars as Robert Purcell, QC.
He's a perfect specimen of the British Establishment, who applies faultless legal logic to his disastrous personal life.
Conclusion of Jon Canter's comic novel adapted by Robin Brooks.
Robert Purcell ...... Hugh Bonneville
Geoffrey ...... Paul Moriarty
Father ...... James Hayes
Elizabeth ...... Lyndsey Marshal
Judy ...... Tracy Wiles
Pilkington ...... Ewan Bailey
Sergeant ...... Carl Prekopp
Isobel ...... Lauren Mote
Max ...... Ted Allpress
Alan ...... Gerard McDermott
Director: Jonquil Panting
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2012.
SAT 05:00 Drama on 4 (m000wrt3)
The Last of England by Neil McKay
A darkly comic drama with three 60-something friends on an overnight ferry to Santander. They argue passionately over the course of the ferry journey returning to their expat life in Spain after attending the UK funeral of their friend Ken, who went home for a visit and would never come back.
Hywel, a loquacious Welshman, Irishman Jim from Lurgan and pugnacious ex-MP Malcolm from Glasgow are unlikely allies (and enforced drinking pals) in the small Spanish town they now call home. Fuelled by some indifferent Rioja and cheap Spanish brandy, through the course of a night they try - and fail - to come to terms with life, death, truth and Brexit.
Also on the ferry are Ken’s daughter Gemma and her partner Rashid, carrying the ashes of Ken, to scatter beneath an almond tree in his favourite spot near the village.
But Gemma is furious with her father for abandoning his English family and falling for a bartender more than half his age. She’s furious with her father’s so-called friends for encouraging him. And she’s quite cross with Rashid.
As the ferry heads for Spain and the sea gets rougher, secrets and motivations are revealed, showing nothing is quite as anyone believed and nobody is quite what they seem. Is home where you live, or where your heart is?
Neil McKay is a BAFTA award-winning dramatist.
Cast
Hywel – Anthony O’Donnell
Malcolm – Gary Lewis
Jim – Dan Gordon
Rashid – George Bukhari
Gemma – Faye McKeever
Writer – Neil McKay
Director – Melanie Harris
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 2021.
SAT 06:00 Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh (m002sck2)
Time: 1928. Place: mainly London.
The decadent exploits of the Bright Young Things of the late 1920s, artistic socialites in a world that vanished before the Second World War.
Starring John Standing as Adam, Lynn Redgrave as Agatha Runciple and Anna Cropper as Nina.
Evelyn Waugh’s 1930 satire adapted by Barry Campbell.
Adam ... John Standing
Agatha Runciple ... Lynn Redgrave
Nina ... Anna Cropper
Lottie ... Julia Lang
Mrs Ape ... Margaret Robertson
Drunken Major ... Alan Lawrance
Lord Balcairn ... Ian Lubbock
Colonel Blount ... Anthony Jacobs
Social editress ... Grizelda Hervey
Ginger Littlejohn ... Sean Arnold
Mrs Florin ... Lynn Carson
Benfleet, a publisher ... Leo Maguire
Matron ... Diana Robson
Customs Chief/Judge ... Malcolm Hayes
Mr. Brown - Prime Minister ... Gerald Cross
Mrs. Brown ... Pauline Wynn
Miles Malpractice ... Richard Griffiths
Margot Metroland ... Carol Boyer
Faith ... Patricia Gallimore
Chastity ... Elizabeth Morgan
all other parts by members of the cast
Producer: R D Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1970.
SAT 07:30 Night Terrors by Alice Vernon (Omnibus) (m002sck4)
Alice Vernon often wakes up to find strangers in her bedroom.
Ever since she was a child, her nights have been haunted by nightmares of a figure from her adolescence, sinister hallucinations and episodes of sleepwalking. These are known as 'parasomnias' - and they're surprisingly common.
Now a lecturer in Creative Writing, Vernon set out to understand the history, science and culture of these strange and haunting experiences. Night Terrors examines the history of our relationship with bad dreams - how we've tried to make sense of and treat them, from some decidedly odd 'cures' like magical 'mare-stones', to research on how video games might help people rewrite their dreams.
Along the way she explores the Salem Witch Trials and sleep paralysis, Victorian ghost stories, and soldiers' experiences of PTSD. By directly confronting her own strange and frightening nights for the first time, Alice Vernon encourages us to think about the way troubled sleep has impacted our imaginations.
Read by Emily Raymond.
Abridged by Polly Coles.
Omnibus of five episodes.
Producer: Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 2022.
SAT 08:45 The Fosdyke Saga (b007jrk6)
1. New Horizons
'One more mouth to feed! That settles it. We're going.'
Lancashire, 1902: Will the luck of the Fosdyke family ever take a turn for the better?
A classic tale of struggle, power, personalities and tripe.
Bill Tidy and John Junkin's family saga - based on Tidy's Daily Mirror cartoon strip (1971-1985) parodying John Galsworthy's 'The Forsyte Saga' novels.
Jos Fosdyke ...... Philip Lowrie
Victoria Fosdyke ...... Miriam Margolyes
Tom Fosdyke ...... David Threlfall
Albert Fosdyke ...... Enn Reitel
Roger Ditchley ...... Christian Rodska
Ben Ditchley ...... Colin Douglas
Other parts played by:
Douglas Blackwell
Christopher Barr
Sally Grace
john Junkin
Producer: Alan Nixon
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1983.
SAT 09:00 At Home With Hinge and Bracket (b008qq3d)
4. Jack Brymer
Dame Hilda Bracket and her lifelong companion, Dr Evadne Hinge, invite you to eavesdrop on some informal music and conversation.
Joining them in the music room is renowned clarinettist and broadcaster Jack Brymer.
Dame Hilda Bracket ...... Patrick Fyffe
Dr Evadne Hinge ...... George Logan
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in December 1990.
SAT 09:30 Beyond Our Ken (m000mlj9)
Series 4
Episode 3
Kenneth Horne travels back in time, and Hornerama looks at London.
With Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden, Bill Pertwee and Announcer, Douglas Smith.
The precursor to ‘Round The Horne’, ‘Beyond Our Ken’ hit the airwaves in 1958 and ran to 1964 – featuring regulars like Cecil Snaith, Stanley Burkinshaw and Rodney and Charles.
Music from Janet Waters, The Hornets and the BBC Variety Orchestra conducted by Paul Fenoulhet.
Written by Eric Merriman
Producer: Jacques Brown
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in November 1960.
SAT 10:00 Cook and Greenaway: In Perfect Harmony (m0017l6v)
Celebrating the incredible careers of the song-writing duo Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway.
Born in Bristol, the award-winning partnership wrote some of the biggest songs in music history, for some of the biggest names.
Cook went on to have phenomenal success in Nashville and Greenaway with the Drifters in the UK.
Together they've enjoyed an unbelievable career spanning seven decades.
Producer: Tom Ryan
Made for BBC Radio Bristol and first broadcast in 2021.
SAT 11:00 Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh (m002sck2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SAT 12:30 Night Terrors by Alice Vernon (Omnibus) (m002sck4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SAT 13:45 The Fosdyke Saga (b007jrk6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 today]
SAT 14:00 At Home With Hinge and Bracket (b008qq3d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 14:30 Beyond Our Ken (m000mlj9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
SAT 15:00 Cook and Greenaway: In Perfect Harmony (m0017l6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
SAT 16:00 The State of the Art by Iain M Banks (b00hv1dz)
The Culture ship Arbitrary arrives on Earth in 1977 and finds a planet obsessed with alien concepts like 'property' and 'money' and on the edge of self-destruction.
When Agent Dervley Linter decides to go native, can Diziet Sma change his mind?
Sci-fi thriller novella written by Iain M Banks.
Dramatised by Paul Cornell.
The Ship ...... Antony Sher
Diziet Sma ...... Nina Sosanya
Dervley Linter ...... Paterson Joseph
Li ...... Graeme Hawley
Tel ...... Brigit Forsyth
Sodel ...... Conrad Nelson
Director: Nadia Molinari
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2009.
SAT 16:45 The Mermaid and the Rat Catcher by Moy McCrory (b00vknkp)
Can a lonely rat catcher keep his promise to a mermaid – or lose her forever?
Written by Moy McCrory
Read by Gerard McSorley
Producer: David Hunter
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1991.
SAT 17:00 Putting You Through, Caller (b098hjv5)
In 1958, the Queen made the first direct trunk telephone call.
It was the beginning of the end for the female operators known as the 'Hello Girls'.
Telephone operators had connected callers since the earliest days of the telephone, 80 years before. Despite the intimacy of phone conversations, subscribers willingly accepted the presence of a third voice on the line.
In this three hour showcase, Shaun Ley uses drama and comedy from the BBC archives to demonstrate how the telephone operator became a valuable dramatic device.
With the aid of the recordings from the GPO (General Post Office) and the BT archive, Shaun explores the role of the operator, the strict rules governing their work and some official secrets.
Featuring:
* Extracts from 'Liz and Sally' - a 1960s Post Office recruitment film
* Burn Your Phone - a radio drama by Andrew Wallace
Alan Cumming plays a telephone operator beset by voices, requests and problems. With Jonathan Keeble
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1995
.
* If You’re Glad, I’ll be Frank - a radio drama by Tom Stoppard

What happens when Frank recognises the voice of the GPO speaking clock as that of his long-lost wife?
Starring Timothy West and Patsy Rowlands
First broadcast on the BBC Third Programme in 1966.
* Ballylenon - an extract of the Irish village comedy set in County Donegal
Producer: Adam Bowen
Made for BBC for Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in October 2017.
SAT 20:00 At Home With Hinge and Bracket (b008qq3d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
SAT 20:30 Beyond Our Ken (m000mlj9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]
SAT 21:00 Cook and Greenaway: In Perfect Harmony (m0017l6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
SAT 22:00 Craig Brown's Lost Diaries (b01g6l4z)
March and April
Satirist Craig Brown dips into more of the private lives of public figures from the 1960's to the present day.
March and April: Gyles Brandreth celebrates his birthday through the years, and Sharon Osbourne auditions some handsome young singers.
Written by Craig Brown.
Voiced by:
Jan Ravens
Alistair McGowan
Lewis McLeod
Ewan Bailey
Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Dolly Wells
Producer: Victoria Lloyd
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2010.
SAT 22:30 Fred at The Stand (b09dysxg)
Series 1
Cook, Sutherland, Brimson and Waugh
Fred MacAulay introduces some of the funniest comedians in the UK doing what they do best - pure stand up comedy.
From The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh.
In this episode:
* Jason Cook tells a story about performing on a cruise ship
* JoJo Sutherland lets slip some of her supermum secrets
* Eddy Brimson survives a terrorist attack
* Scotsman Gareth Waugh has a plan to save the bees
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2017.
SAT 23:00 The Dream Factory (m001czhv)
Daydream Believer
It's Joz's first day working as a dream delivery boy for towering global monopoly, The Dream Factory Inc. He's very excited but also entirely useless.
The Dream Factory is the towering global monopoly which has been responsible for the manufacture and distribution of humanity’s hopes, fantasies and nightmares since the night before the dawn of time.
Due, presumably, to an admin error, The Dream Factory’s UK regional management have recently appointed the worst possible person to the delivery team - cheerful blockhead, Joz Norris. It’s now his responsibility to get the right dreams into the right heads at the right time. His life of well-meant but foolhardy failure, buoyed by friends and family, has been mostly harmless – until now.
Overnight, Joz has attained power over the dreams and fantasies of his friends and family. In no time he makes so many mistakes that the inner worlds of everyone he knows have been turned upside-down. His stunning ineptitude jeopardises all his significant personal relationships as he starts inadvertently messing with the contents of his friends’ heads. It also infuriates his bosses, and he risks losing his job, just as he’d finally found some stable work.
He is utterly inept, but cheerfully enthusiastic to the last, always assuming he can bluff his way out of any situation, no matter how rarely that seems to be true.
Written by Joz Norris and Miranda Holms.
Joz .... Joz Norris
Paula .... Desiree Burch
Anna .... Stevie Martin
Meg .... Roisin O'Mahony
Susie .... Chiara Goldsmith
Yak .... Kiell Smith-Bynoe
Boneless Man .... Ben Targét
With other parts played my members of the cast
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in October 2022.
SAT 23:30 The Harpoon (b00cgsrm)
Series 3
Episode 1
Is your journey really necessary?
Do you know your submarines?
Are you bored with your biscuits?
And above all - are you German?
The Empire's favourite is back with a special wartime edition of the nostalgic spoof of boys' adventure magazine.
Written by Julian Dutton and Peter Baynham.
Performed by:
Alistair McGowan
Peter Baynham
Susie Brann
Mary Elliot-Nelson
Julian Dutton
Producer: Sarah Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1994.

SUNDAY 08 MARCH 2026

SUN 00:00 The State of the Art by Iain M Banks (b00hv1dz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Saturday]
SUN 00:45 The Mermaid and the Rat Catcher by Moy McCrory (b00vknkp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:45 on Saturday]
SUN 01:00 Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh (m002sck2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Saturday]
SUN 02:30 Night Terrors by Alice Vernon (Omnibus) (m002sck4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Saturday]
SUN 03:45 The Fosdyke Saga (b007jrk6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 on Saturday]
SUN 04:00 At Home With Hinge and Bracket (b008qq3d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Saturday]
SUN 04:30 Beyond Our Ken (m000mlj9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Saturday]
SUN 05:00 Cook and Greenaway: In Perfect Harmony (m0017l6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m002sf0k)
Oscar Winners 3
Dustin Hoffman
Film actor Dustin Hoffman is castaway by Kirsty Young.
In spite of his Aunt Pearl telling him he wasn't good looking enough to be an actor for the past forty-five years he's been crafting landmark movie performances. He is that rare and apparently contradictory thing - a character actor and a superstar.
The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, Lenny, All The President's Men, Marathon Man, Kramer v Kramer, Tootsie, Rain Man, Wag The Dog, and Last Chance Harvey are just a handful of the movies that contribute to an unparalleled body of work: he is the only actor in history to have top billing in three films that won Best Picture Oscars.
Now in his mid-70s he is making his directorial debut.
He says "I'm always fighting to break through... I'm trying to show you the part of me that wants to love, wants to kill, that wants to find my way out, that feels there is no way out."
DISC ONE: Ritchie Valens - La Bamba
DISC TWO: Slim Gaillard Cement Mixer
DISC THREE: Otis Redding - (Sittin’On) The Dock of the Bay
DISC FOUR: Diana Krall - Frim Fram Sauce
DISC FIVE: Bette Midler - Shoot the Breeze
DISC SIX: Jon Hendricks - How High the Moon
DISC SEVEN: Donnie Brooks - Memphis
DISC EIGHT: Trevor Peacock and David Ryall - Are You Havin' Any Fun?
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Trevor Peacock and David Ryall - Are You Havin' Any Fun?
BOOK CHOICE: The complete works - Charles Dickens
LUXURY CHOICE: An endless bar
Producer: Cathy Drysdale
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2012.
SUN 06:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00lq99f)
Series 1
Archaeopteryx
Sir David recounts the remarkable story of a feather, like any other feather from a bird.
Only this one was 150 million years old, and the animal that lost it lived when birds had not yet evolved.
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 07:00 Poetry Extra (m002sf0n)
Stories In Verse - Robert Hardy
Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's poetry archive and selects Stories in Verse - Robert Hardy.
The acclaimed actor Robert Hardy reads the following poems:
*'Hiawatha's Wooing' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
*'The Burghers' by Thomas Hardy
*'The Diverting History of John Gilpin' by William Cowper.
Presented and produced by Joy Boatman
First broadcast on the BBC World Service in 1994.
SUN 07:30 Anybody Can Do Anything by Betty MacDonald (Omnibus) (m002sf0q)
Episode 2
During the worst of the Great Depression, Betty tries to improve her prospects, and come up cheap ways to have fun with her sisters.
Betty MacDonald’s hilarious account of survival in the Great Depression in America, under the wing of her sister Mary.
Omnibus of the first five of ten parts abridged in ten parts by Jennifer Howarth.
Read by Debora Weston.
Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2009.
SUN 08:40 Witness History (w3ct3c6p)
Paul Robeson and the transatlantic phone line
In September 1956, a telephone cable called TAT-1 was laid under the Atlantic Ocean, making high-quality transatlantic phone calls possible for the first time.
Eight months later in May 1957, 1,000 people squeezed into St Pancras Town Hall in London to listen to a transatlantic concert.
The person performing, Paul Robeson, was a globally renowned singer, but he’d been banned from travelling outside the USA. So, he made use of the new transatlantic telephone line to perform to his fans in the UK.
Ben Henderson speaks to John Liffen, who curated an exhibition on TAT-1 and the concert at the Science Museum in London.
(Photo: Engineers build repeaters used in TAT-1. Credit: Russell Knight/BIPs via Getty Images)
SUN 08:50 Ladies of Letters (b00tyx83)
Ladies of Letters Say No (Omnibus)
Vera has a new 'friend', but unsurprisingly, Irene doesn't approve.
Vera and Irene are back, and this time they're in a combative mood.
Starring Patricia Routledge as Vera Small and Prunella Scales as Irene Spencer.
Written by Lou Wakefield and Carole Hayman.
Omnibus of episodes 1-5.
Vera Small .... Patricia Routledge
Irene Spencer .... Prunella Scales
Alan Trumper .... John Rowe
Howard ... Christopher Kelham
Sir James Fotherington-Fanshawe .... Simon Treves
Producer: Liz Webb
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
SUN 10:00 Al Read Classics (m002sf0t)
The funny man from Salford entertains with jokes and sketches about everyday British life.
Removal men struggles, the frustrations of being a golf instructor and being a hospital patient...
Al Read does all the voices
Written by Ronnie Taylor.
Music from Alex Welsh and his Band.
Producer: John Browell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in April 1976.
SUN 10:30 Take It From Here (b01770vb)
From 19/05/1955
Can Ron ever thank Pa Glum enough for rearing him right?
Starring:
Professor Jimmy Edwards
Dick Bentley
June Whitfield
Wallas Eaton
Music from Alma Cogan, The Keynotes and the Augmented BBC Revue Orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.
Written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden.
Producer: Charles Maxwell
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in May 1955.
SUN 11:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m002sf0k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 11:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00lq99f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:45 today]
SUN 12:00 Poetry Extra (m002sf0n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
SUN 12:30 Anybody Can Do Anything by Betty MacDonald (Omnibus) (m002sf0q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 13:40 Witness History (w3ct3c6p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:40 today]
SUN 13:50 Ladies of Letters (b00tyx83)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:50 today]
SUN 15:00 Al Read Classics (m002sf0t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
SUN 15:30 Take It From Here (b01770vb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 today]
SUN 16:00 The Coma by Alex Garland (b007m5v9)
2. Blackouts
Carl fears the attack has caused brain damage, as he keeps having blackouts...
Alex Garland's surreal fantasy explores the lucid, but powerless workings of the mind of Carl, who is in a coma following a violent assault
It plays tricks on both the story's protagonist and the listener.
Read by Tom Goodman-Hill.
Producer: Gemma Jenkins
Made for BBC 7 and first broadcast in December 2004.
SUN 16:30 The Slide (m000llvy)
3. Analysis
On the instructions of the dominating MP Hugh Deverill, seismologist, Josef Gomez has been called in to examine earth tremors in Kent.
But the effects of the oozing mud on both people and animals is becoming increasingly evident...
Victor Pemberton's vintage sci-fi serial starring Roger Delgado and Maurice Denham.
Inspector Baxter… Geoffrey Matthews
Sorensen …. Fraser Kerr
Dr Ken Richards …. David Spenser
Professor Landers …. Rolf Lefebvre
Hugh Deverill, MP …. Maurice Denham
Josef Gomez …. Roger Delgado
Professor Lippert …. Allan McClelland
Anna Deverill …. Marion Mathie
Nursing Sister …. Eva Haddon
Janet Marshall …. Elizabeth Proud
Nurse …. Patricia Leventon
RAF Corporal …. Anthony Hall
'Tug' Wilson …. Stephen Jack
Mrs Wilson …. Miriam Margolyes
AC2 Gibbons …. Nigel Graham
Special Effects: The BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Producer: John Tydeman
First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in February 1966.
SUN 17:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m002sf0k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
SUN 17:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00lq99f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:45 today]
SUN 18:00 Poetry Extra (m002sf0n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
SUN 18:30 Anybody Can Do Anything by Betty MacDonald (Omnibus) (m002sf0q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
SUN 19:40 Witness History (w3ct3c6p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:40 today]
SUN 19:50 Ladies of Letters (b00tyx83)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:50 today]
SUN 21:00 Al Read Classics (m002sf0t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
SUN 21:30 Take It From Here (b01770vb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 today]
SUN 22:00 Mitch Benn Is the 37th Beatle (b03szxdh)
Musical satirist Mitch Benn explores his comedy connections to the story of the Beatles.
Mitch has realised that over the years many people have claimed the title The Fifth Beatle. In fact, so many of them have been described as such that there are now at least 36 of them. They can't all be right. But some of them are righter than others...
Fifty years on from the release of 'Please, Please Me', Mitch presents his own definitive list of the Beatles.
He presents a whistle-stop tour through musical history and the enduring legacy of the Fab Four, whilst shamelessly milking his own - incredibly tenuous- connection to it.
Written by and starring Mitch Benn.
Producer: Alexandra Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2014.
SUN 22:30 The Nick Revell Show (b00ct94s)
Series 2
The Promised Land
As writer Nick gets a lucky Hollywood break, his geraniums are terrorised by an old foe.
A sitcom for the 1990s, written by and starring comedian Nick Revell.
With:
Alistair McGowan
Doon MacKichan
Brian Bowles
Alison Sterling
John Guerrasio
Producer: Ioan Magnusson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1993.
SUN 23:00 In and Out of the Kitchen (b01qw8m7)
Series 2
On Location
Damien is sent on location to the Lake District to film a chunk of his new series for Sky Arts about "poets and their palates".
But when the sunshine turns to driving rain, Damien's spirits are further dampened when it appears Anthony might not be missing him quite as much as he had hoped...
Sitcom written by and starring Miles Jupp, charting the life of cookery writer Damien Trench and his partner Anthony.
Damien Trench ...... Miles Jupp
Anthony MacIlveny ...... Justin Edwards
Gary McDade ...... Ben Crowe
Sound Man ...... Ben Crowe
Mr Mullaney ...... Brendan Dempsey
Marion Duffett ...... Lesley Vickerage
Producer: Sam Michell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2013.
SUN 23:30 I've Never Seen Star Wars (b00hdb84)
Series 2
Arthur Smith
Balham-based comedian, Arthur Smith watches ‘Top Gear’, tries food for kids and goes see to ‘Les Misérables’.
Series in which Marcus Brigstocke invites celebrities to try new experiences.
Producer: Bill Dare
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2009.

MONDAY 09 MARCH 2026

MON 00:00 The Coma by Alex Garland (b007m5v9)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]
MON 00:30 The Slide (m000llvy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Sunday]
MON 01:00 Desert Island Discs Revisited (m002sf0k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Sunday]
MON 01:45 David Attenborough's Life Stories (b00lq99f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:45 on Sunday]
MON 02:00 Poetry Extra (m002sf0n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Sunday]
MON 02:30 Anybody Can Do Anything by Betty MacDonald (Omnibus) (m002sf0q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Sunday]
MON 03:40 Witness History (w3ct3c6p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:40 on Sunday]
MON 03:50 Ladies of Letters (b00tyx83)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:50 on Sunday]
MON 05:00 Al Read Classics (m002sf0t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]
MON 05:30 Take It From Here (b01770vb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Sunday]
MON 06:00 Whodunnits (b011vf01)
Agatha Raisin - Series 3
5. The Fairies of Fryfam - Part 1/2
Hurt by James once too often, Agatha takes a trip to the Cornish village of Fryham.
However, she's soon disturbed by some strange lights at the bottom of her garden...
Penelope Keith stars as the PR guru turned amateur detective.
Dramatised in two parts by David Semple from the novel by MC Beaton.
Agatha Raisin …. Penelope Keith
James Lacey …. Malcolm Sinclair
Mrs Bloxby …. Liza Sadovy
Lucy Danvers …. Rebecca Saire
Tolly Danvers …. Mark Straker
Mr Popplewell …. Stephen Critchlow

Producer: Carol Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2006.
MON 06:30 Whodunnits (b007k47f)
Wimsey - Busman's Honeymoon
3. A Policeman's Lot
As the questioning over the murder of William Noakes continues, some revelatory evidence emerges from the upper crust sleuth's cleaner.
Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey – the British gentleman detective created by Dorothy L Sayers.
Dramatised by Alistair Beaton.
Lord Peter Wimsey …. Ian Carmichael
Lady Wimsey …. Sarah Badel
Bunter …. Peter Jones
Mrs Ruddle …. Pearl Hackney
Narrator …. John Westbrook
Superintendent Kirk …. Peter Vaughan
Constable Sellon …. Christopher Beeny
Miss Twitterton …. Rosemary Leach
Reverend Goodacre …. Gerald Sim
Sergeant Foster …. Alexander John
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1983.
MON 07:00 Home Again (m0005gym)
Courage, Mother, Courage
Margaret plans to infuriate husband Fulton by revealing she’s taken a lover.
Starring Robin Bailey.
As suddenly as he disappeared, Fulton Jones returned to his family – wife Margaret, and children Rosie and Martin.
He went to the newsagent to buy matches 20 years before and, bold as brass, waltzed back assuming his role as father figure once more. Margaret is perplexed, whilst Rosie and Martin are furious with him.
Sitcom written by Peter Tinniswood.
Robin Bailey … Fulton
Doreen Mantle … Margaret
Liz Goulding … Rosie
David Troughton … Martin
Ursula Smith … Cyrilla
Christopher Benjamin … Ernest Blackrock
Producer: Griff Rhys Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1980.
MON 07:30 Dad's Army (b00qxh17)
Series 2
War Dance
Captain Mainwaring's platoon dance is disrupted by an announcement from Private Pike.
The comic exploits of a Second World War Home Guard platoon in Walmington-on-Sea.
Adapted for radio from Jimmy Perry and David Croft's TV scripts by Harold Snoad and Michael Knowles.
Captain Mainwaring …. Arthur Lowe
Sergeant Wilson …. John Le Mesurier
Corporal Jones …. Clive Dunn
Private Frazer …. John Laurie
Private Pike …. Ian Lavender
Private Godfrey …. Arnold Ridley
Private Walker …. Larry Martin
Mrs Pike …. Pearl Hackney
Violet Gibbons …. Wendy Richard
Announcer …. John Snagge
Producer: John Dyas
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1975.
MON 08:00 For the Love of Leo (m000t76v)
Series 3
The Tender-Hearted Poet
Edinburgh widower Leo still talks to his beloved wife Tamsin when he’s alone; though pregnant daughter Laura and housekeeper Sadie fill the house and his life.
Leo goes hill-walking in a beloved spot and meets a woman who desperately needs his help.
Comedy written by Michael Chaplin, starring Mark Bonnar and Beth Marshall.
Prepare to meet another of the women who come into Leo's life.
Leo Fabiani ..... Mark Bonnar
Tamsin ..... Beth Marshall
Grace ..... Hilary Maclean
Director: Catherine Bailey
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2021.
MON 08:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017cb0m)
1. Creating the Network
Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone, from hefty executive bricks that required a separate briefcase to carry the battery to the smart little devices complete with personal assistant we have today.
There are more mobile phones in the world than there are people on the planet: Stephen Fry talks to the backroom boys who made it all possible and hears how the technology succeeded, in ways that the geeks had not necessarily intended.
In the first episode, Stephen Fry meets the men who first dreamt of creating a cellular network. Back in the sixties, two Bell Labs engineers in the US thought perhaps a maximum of 50,000 people might use a cellular phone network. Now, there are billions of phones in the world, all of them dependent on the networks based on their design. It was an enormous technical challenge that took decades to complete; but the main problems were political. Motorola, for example, argued that phone calls were a frivolous waste of radio spectrum compared to more worthy causes like television.
Producer: Anna Buckley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2011.
MON 08:45 Ladies of Letters (b01213dz)
Ladies of Letters Go Green
1. Planet
Irene and Vera are back - and this time their thoughts turn to all things environmental.
Grandmothers Irene Spencer and Vera Small continue their tempestuous correspondence. They start to look beyond at the future of the planet - but as ever, soon manage to bring their focus back to themselves!
Starring Prunella Scales as Irene and Patricia Routledge as Vera.
Written by Lou Wakefield and Carole Hayman
Irene Spencer ..................... Prunella Scales
Vera Small ...................... Patricia Routledge
Producer: Liz Webb
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2008.
MON 09:00 Just a Minute (m002rd1y)
Series 96
5. That's a real headscratcher
Gyles attempts to sing his own version of a Benjamin Britten opera, Emma explains why she can't remember the plot of The Great Gatsby and one of the players finally gets their first minute.
Host: Sue Perkins
Players: Gyles Brandreth, Emma Sidi, Desiree Burch and Josie Lawrence
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Additional material by Ruth Husko
An EcoAudio certified production.
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.
MON 09:30 The Call (b00y2d7j)
Series 2
Concorde
Dominic Arkwright meets people who have made life-changing phone calls.
In the first programme in the series he meets Alice Brooking, who was on the phone to her sister Nathalie in London when an Air France Concorde crashed into her Paris hotel.
It was the 25th July 2000 and Alice Brooking was in the Hotelissimo in Gonesse, near Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. A language student working through her holidays as a tour guide, Alice was waiting for a party of young musicians to arrive from England. Torn between having a nap, having a shower and calling her sister for a chat, she picked up the phone to London. Half way through the conversation there was loud bang and the phone went dead. She went to the door of her room, to be met by searing heat and a wall of flame.
"I ran barefoot across the fields, because I'd left my shoes in my room, then tried calling the attention of the car drivers........ If I'd chosen to take a shower or a nap I'd be dead."
Producer: John Byrne
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2011.
MON 09:45 Daily Service (m002sf15)
Sing my soul - Sing to the Lord
A space for spiritual reflection from Bolton Parish Church with Bolton Parish Church Choir directed by Philip O'Connor and accompanied by Logan Ferris.
Theme: Sing my soul - Sing to the Lord
Presenter: Rev Hannah Lane
Reading: Psalm 104 31-35
Music:
Angel voices ever singing - Bolton Parish Church Choir
He Prayeth Best by Morfydd Owen - Bolton Junior Choir
How shall I sing that majesty - Bolton Parish Church Choir
MON 10:00 And the Academy Award Goes To... (b00hmc52)
Series 2
West Side Story
Continuing his series on Oscar-winning films, Paul Gambaccini turns his attention to one that tackled tough issues through the medium of the musical.
With a young fresh cast - Natalie Wood in her first adult role, Rita Moreno sweeping everyone else off the dancefloor, and a relatively inexperienced but dazzling array of support actors - the movie sizzles with colour, drama, the outstanding choreography of Jerome Robbins, the music of Leonard Bernstein and the lyrics of a young Stephen Sondheim.
Who could tell that behind the scenes there were arguments, voice dubbings and overruns, plus issues over racial casting and 'blacking up'?
What emerged from a tumultuous production was a triumph.
Producer: Sara Jane Hall
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2009.
MON 10:30 Off the Page (b00771dl)
Telephones
Dominic Arkwright invites Ben Goldacre, Sophie Borland and Joe Queenan to explore the cultural impact of the telephone.
Ben Goldacre has a sinister story of mobile phone stalking.
Sophie Borland recalls going undercover at a call centre.
And Joe Queenan, on the line from New York, describes telephone accents that he hates.
Producer: Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2006.
MON 11:00 Whodunnits (b011vf01)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 11:30 Whodunnits (b007k47f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 12:00 Home Again (m0005gym)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 12:30 Dad's Army (b00qxh17)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 13:00 For the Love of Leo (m000t76v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 13:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017cb0m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 13:45 Ladies of Letters (b01213dz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 today]
MON 14:00 Punch Line (m002sf17)
From 11/10/1975
Bernard Cribbins, Bob Monkhouse and June Whitfield throw the punches.
Terry Wogan referees.
From an idea by Myles Rudge, who also wrote the sketches.
Producer: Edward Taylor
First Broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in October 1975.
MON 14:30 Married (b00dvdlf)
Series 3
Episode 6
Cantankerous Robin Lightfoot makes a vital discovery about his parallel universes.
Starring Hugh Bonneville.
Confirmed bachelor Robin Lightfoot is dealing with life in a parallel universe where he has kids and an ex-wife who hates him.
Tony Bagley's comedy drama.
Robin .... Hugh Bonneville
Lesley .... Josie Lawrence
Dirk .... Stephen Frost
Maxine .... Ann Gosling
Ned .... Sam Bradley
Muriel .... Janet Ellis
Arthur Smith .... Himself
Producer: Claire Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2001.
MON 15:00 The Vicar, the Automaton and the Talking Dog by Lavinia Murray (b04dk880)
Using a mixture of fact and fantasy, this is an extraordinary day in the life of Alexander Graham Bell as a child.
We discover the roots of his genius, and how his mother's impending deafness helped lead him to his invention of the telephone. Aleck, with the help of his friend and brother, made an automaton that could say 'Mama' and further, he manipulated his dog's throat and mouth so he indeed had a talking dog.
Written by Lavinia Murray.
Aleck ..... John Bell
Ben .... Keir Beckwith
Reverend McReady ..... Stuart McQuarrie
Father, Voice of the Automaton, and Trouve ..... Seamus O'Neill
Mother .... Morag Siller
Melville .... Stephen Fletcher
Director: Pauline Harris
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
Further info:
We begin with a symphony of various telephone rings through the ages brought to us on a light Scottish breeze, and then we cut to answer machine. We see the stark difference between Bell's world of sound and his mother's world into silence. This is a drama not without humour, fascinating, illuminating and enchanting; providing a real, dramatic insight into the roots of a scientific genius, told with imagination and originality, and created especially for radio.
MON 15:45 Short Works (b07w6jhn)
Give Me a Buzz by Emma Healey
Carla has a telephone phobia, whilst her mother is seldom off the thing. Mother has a PhD in History of Art, and somehow telephoning and Dutch Flower Paintings become connected in this world of theirs.
Guve Me A Buzz is one of five stories originally commissioned from outstanding younger writers to accompany the 2016 BBC National Short Story Award.
Written by Emma Healey
Reader: Louise Brealey
Producer: Duncan Minshull
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2016
MON 16:00 And the Academy Award Goes To... (b00hmc52)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
MON 16:30 Off the Page (b00771dl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 today]
MON 17:00 Whodunnits (b011vf01)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
MON 17:30 Whodunnits (b007k47f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
MON 18:00 Home Again (m0005gym)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
MON 18:30 Dad's Army (b00qxh17)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
MON 19:00 For the Love of Leo (m000t76v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
MON 19:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017cb0m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
MON 19:45 Ladies of Letters (b01213dz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 today]
MON 20:00 Punch Line (m002sf17)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 today]
MON 20:30 Married (b00dvdlf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 today]
MON 21:00 The Vicar, the Automaton and the Talking Dog by Lavinia Murray (b04dk880)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 today]
MON 21:45 Short Works (b07w6jhn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 today]
MON 22:00 Just a Minute (m002rd1y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
MON 22:30 Listen Against (b00tmt97)
Series 3
Episode 1
A week of radio and TV that never happened in the show that works its way through it all, like a critical tapeworm going through a giant media dog.
* Jeremy Paxman finally breaks and goes rogue
* Today gets remade as a US sitcom
* Listeners thoughts on the Food Programme giving recipes for cooking a Flump and spit roasting a Clanger
Presenters:
Alice Arnold
Jon Holmes
With special guests Jenni Murray, Richard Bacon and John Humphrys.
Featuring:
James Bachman
Stephen Critchlow
Sarah Hadland
David Schnieder
Written by Jon Holmes, Matthew Charlton, Sam Bryant, Lyndsay Fenner, James Kettle, Joel Morris, Jason Hazely and Gareth Gwynn.
Producer: Sam Bryant
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.
MON 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m002ss06)
Ginger Johnson 1/3
From 10pm until midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Rob Deering chats to drag queen Ginger Johnson about how the character was created, her inspirations, and how she comes up with her show names.
MON 23:00 The Naked Week (m002s4qh)
Series 4
Episode 1
Andrew Hunter Murray and Jon Holmes return with a bold, audacious take on the week's news.
MON 23:30 The Museum of Everything (b007k1gw)
Series 1
The History of Everything
Discover the origins of the first-ever museum and learn the secrets of the Pyramids.
Meanwhile, Badgerland fights back
Written and performed by:
Marcus Brigstocke
Danny Robins
Dan Tetsell.
With Lucy Montgomery.
Music by Dominic Haslam and Ben Walker.
Producer: Alex Walsh-Taylor
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2004.

TUESDAY 10 MARCH 2026

TUE 00:00 And the Academy Award Goes To... (b00hmc52)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Monday]
TUE 00:30 Off the Page (b00771dl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Monday]
TUE 01:00 Whodunnits (b011vf01)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Monday]
TUE 01:30 Whodunnits (b007k47f)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Monday]
TUE 02:00 Home Again (m0005gym)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Monday]
TUE 02:30 Dad's Army (b00qxh17)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Monday]
TUE 03:00 For the Love of Leo (m000t76v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Monday]
TUE 03:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017cb0m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 on Monday]
TUE 03:45 Ladies of Letters (b01213dz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 on Monday]
TUE 04:00 Punch Line (m002sf17)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Monday]
TUE 04:30 Married (b00dvdlf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Monday]
TUE 05:00 The Vicar, the Automaton and the Talking Dog by Lavinia Murray (b04dk880)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 on Monday]
TUE 05:45 Short Works (b07w6jhn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Monday]
TUE 06:00 Whodunnits (b011vhyk)
Agatha Raisin - Series 3
6. The Fairies of Fryfam - Part 2: Murder in the Dark
Agatha continues to investigate the murder in the village of Fryfam in Cornwall - but, even more of a mystery, can James forgive and forget?
Penelope Keith stars as the PR guru turned amateur detective.
MC Beaton’s novel dramatised by David Semple
Agatha Raisin …. Penelope Keith
James Lacey …. Malcolm Sinclair
Mrs Bloxby …. Liza Sadovy
Lucy Danvers …. Rebecca Saire
Arthur Popplewell …. Stephen Critchlow
Producer: Carol Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2006.
TUE 06:30 Whodunnits (b007k48n)
Wimsey - Busman's Honeymoon
4. Not Why, But How
The upper crust sleuth and his new bride try to recreate the lead-up to the mysterious circumstances of the murder of Noakes.
Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey – the British gentleman detective created by Dorothy L Sayers.
Dramatised by Alistair Beaton.
Lord Peter Wimsey …. Ian Carmichael
Lady Wimsey …. Sarah Badel
Bunter …. Peter Jones
Mrs Ruddle …. Pearl Hackney
Narrator …. John Westbrook
Miss Twitterton …. Rosemary Leach
Frank Crutchley …. Kenneth Cranham
Salcombe Hardy …. Patrick Newell
Sid …. David Peart
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1983.
TUE 07:00 Flying the Flag (b00b0317)
Series 2
A Tooth for a Tooth
There’s no extradition agreement yet between the UK and the People's Republic - but some accusations can’t be lightly brushed aside...
Starring Dinsdale Landen.
Eastern Bloc embassy sitcom written by Alex Shearer.
HM Ambassador Mackenzie …. Dinsdale Landen
William Frost …. Peter Acre
Helen Waterson …. Moir Leslie
US Ambassador …. Stephen Greif
Colonel Surikov …. Christopher Benjamin
Producer: Pete Atkin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1988.
TUE 07:30 The Goon Show (b007jz4z)
Series 9
The Gold Plate Robbery
Neddie Seagoon goes overseas to pursue some stolen booty, but can Bloodnok be far behind?
Groundbreaking, surreal BBC radio comedy written by Spike Milligan.
Starring:
Harry Secombe
Spike Milligan
Peter Sellers
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: John Browell
First broadcast on the BBC Home Service in February 1959.
TUE 08:00 The Fair Intellectual Club (b081tdph)
A Rendezvous with Mr Voltaire
Lucy Porter's sitcom takes us to Edinburgh in the early 18th Century.
Monsieur Voltaire has been thrown out of France for immorality and has come to see his old friend Robert
He trades philosophical maxims with Ishbel and the fellow members of her secret society - Alison and Marjory.
The scholarly young ladies teach him the value of free speech and a brand new use for a broom handle.
Voltaire ...... Lewis Macleod
Robert ...... Simon Donaldson
Ishbel ...... Caroline Deyga
Alison ...... Jessica Hardwick
Marjory ...... Samara MacLaren
Music by Aly Macrae.
Director: Marilyn Imrie
Producer: Gordon Kennedy
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2016.
TUE 08:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017cfkj)
2. From Car Phone to Executive Brick
Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone, from hefty executive bricks that required a separate briefcase to carry the battery to the smart little devices complete with personal assistant we have today.
There are more mobile phones in the world than there are people on the planet: Stephen Fry talks to the backroom boys who made it all possible and hears how the technology succeeded, in ways that the geeks had not necessarily intended.
In episode two, Stephen Fry meets the men who brought mobile phones to Britain. Thanks to Margaret Thatcher opening up the airwaves, Britain became a world leader in mobile phone technology in the eighties. Vodafone (short for voice-data-phone) competed fiercely with the BT's mobile baby, Cellnet (short for cellular network), to create the first mobile phone network in the UK which was launched to great fanfare on Christmas Day 1985. Coverage was truly patchy, handsets were seriously hefty and calls cost a fortune, but mobile phones quickly replaced car phones as the ultimate yuppie accessory. Voicemail, incidentally, was a good excuse to charge customers yet more for a service that was, in reality, rather poor.
Producer: Anna Buckley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2011.
TUE 08:45 Ladies of Letters (b0121lhc)
Ladies of Letters Go Green
2. Dumped
Irene is appalled when Vera dumps an unwanted fridge in a river.
Grandmothers Irene Spencer and Vera Small continue their tempestuous correspondence. They start to look beyond at the future of the planet - but as ever, soon manage to bring their focus back to themselves!
Starring Prunella Scales as Irene and Patricia Routledge as Vera.
Written by Lou Wakefield and Carole Hayman
Irene Spencer ..................... Prunella Scales
Vera Small ...................... Patricia Routledge
Producer: Liz Webb
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2008.
TUE 09:00 Wing It (m002s4ds)
Series 2
The Spider's Lament
We're back! Alasdair Beckett-King plays host to a panel of improv comedy all stars, playing games full of emotional butchers, a three headed movie director, and the inner monologue of a spider trapped in the bath.
"No Script. No Prep. No Clue."
Presented by Alasdair Beckett-King.
Starring Cariad Lloyd, Steen Raskopoulos, Luke Manning, and Emily Lloyd-Saini.
Devised and produced by Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Baum
Additional material: Ruth Husko
Sound Editor: Chris Maclean
A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4
TUE 09:30 The Call (b00y8tzn)
Series 2
Sinking Ship
Dominic Arkwright meets people who have made or received life-changing phone calls.
Alex Evans was shopping in an Aberystwyth DIY store with his mum when he took a call from his friend Mark Corbett. Mark said he was on board a ship in the Caribbean and that it was sinking. The radio wasn't working and the only number he could remember was his best friend's.
Alex grabbed a till receipt, borrowed a pen from his mum, and started to take down the details. Both are volunteers for the RNLI, but when Alex heard the name of the vessel in distress there was a moment of hesitation.
"When he said the yacht was called Titanic, I did have to ask if this was a wind-up. But there was real panic in his voice, so I knew it was the real thing."
Producer: John Byrne
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2011.
TUE 09:45 Daily Service (m002sfym)
Sing my soul - Joyful songs
A space for spiritual reflection from Bolton Parish Church with Archdeacon Rachel Mann with Bolton Parish Church Choir and the Diocese of Manchester Choral Scholars, directed by Philip O'Connor and accompanied by John Hosking.
Theme: Sing my soul - Joyful songs
Presenter: Dr Rachel Mann
Reading: Psalm 100
Music:
Guide me o thou great redeemer - Bolton Parish Church Choir & the Diocese of Manchester Choral Scholars
Let all the world (Tomlin) - Bolton Parish Church Choir & the Diocese of Manchester Choral Scholars
How great thou art - Bolton Parish Church Choir & the Diocese of Manchester Choral Scholars
TUE 10:00 A Good Read (m000ktpl)
Fiona Shaw & Nicola Coughlan
Actors Fiona Shaw and Nicola Coughlan join Harriett Gilbert to discuss favourite books by Jon Ronson, Joan Didion and Dorothy M Hughes.
The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
Publisher: Picador
In a Lonely Place by Dorothy M Hughes
Publisher: Penguin
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
Publisher: Fourth Estate
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2020.
TUE 10:30 Open the Box (b0075rhq)
Sara Parker meets those for whom the red telephone box is far more than somewhere to place a call.
Set against the relentless 24-hour story of the phone box's life - from late-night revellers calling for cabs to the clean-up teams that scour out the box ready for another day,
Producer: Simon Elmes
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2000.
TUE 11:00 Whodunnits (b011vhyk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 11:30 Whodunnits (b007k48n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 12:00 Flying the Flag (b00b0317)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 12:30 The Goon Show (b007jz4z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 13:00 The Fair Intellectual Club (b081tdph)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 13:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017cfkj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 13:45 Ladies of Letters (b0121lhc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 today]
TUE 14:00 Hidden Treasures (b05qf1cg)
Parham House
Exquisite Louis XIV walnut chairs, and a pair of substantial leather boots - definitely not made for walking...
Lars Tharp chairs the light-hearted antiques quiz.
From the Elizabethan splendour of Parham House in West Sussex, where Queen Elizabeth I is said to have once dined
With:
Hilary Kay
Penny Brittain
Clive Stewart-Lockhart
Anthony North
Producers: Elizabeth Abrahams and Annie Bristow.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1998.
TUE 14:30 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.
TUE 15:00 Press the Hash Key Now by Peter G Morgan (m002sfyq)
Lorna has found messages from another woman on Joe's mobile and wants to dump him.
Joe has got different plans but modern methods of communication just keep letting them both down.
Starring Ruth Jones and Julian Rhind-Tutt.
Written by Peter G Morgan.
Lorna ... Ruth Jones
Joe ... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Will ... Bradley Freegard
Carla ... Mali Harries
Joseph ... Keith Woodason
Phil ... Laurence Allan
Daksha ... Shireen Shah
Director: Alison Hindell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2005.
TUE 15:45 Short Works (m001yj6z)
At Heart Centre by Bernie McGill
Stella is inspired to take up yoga again, despite having not tried since she was pregnant with her daughter.
An original short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the writer Bernie McGill.
Bernie McGill is the author of two novels and two short story collections. She has also written audio scripts for heritage projects and stage scripts for theatre. She studied English and Italian at Queen’s University, Belfast and graduated with a Master’s degree in Irish Writing. Her novel 'The Watch House' was nominated in 2019 for the Ireland/European Union Prize for Literature and 'The Butterfly Cabinet' was named in 2012 by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year. Her short story collection 'This Train is For' was awarded the Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2023.
Writer: Bernie McGill
Read by Seána Kerslake
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in April 2024
TUE 16:00 A Good Read (m000ktpl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
TUE 16:30 Open the Box (b0075rhq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 today]
TUE 17:00 Whodunnits (b011vhyk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
TUE 17:30 Whodunnits (b007k48n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
TUE 18:00 Flying the Flag (b00b0317)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
TUE 18:30 The Goon Show (b007jz4z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
TUE 19:00 The Fair Intellectual Club (b081tdph)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
TUE 19:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017cfkj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
TUE 19:45 Ladies of Letters (b0121lhc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 today]
TUE 20:00 Hidden Treasures (b05qf1cg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 today]
TUE 20:30 Says on the Tin (b00gvhxv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 today]
TUE 21:00 Press the Hash Key Now by Peter G Morgan (m002sfyq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 today]
TUE 21:45 Short Works (m001yj6z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 today]
TUE 22:00 Wing It (m002s4ds)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
TUE 22:30 John Shuttleworth's Lounge Music (b0848sqq)
Series 2
Nick Heyward
John Shuttleworth invites Nick Heyward from Haircut 100 to his Sheffield home to perform one of his own songs and also, more importantly, one of his.
Ken is very excited as he's heard that Nick has had a spiritual awakening and he's keen to learn how he can have one of his own. John feels that Ken is being silly wearing a kaftan and beads, but Ken is convinced that Nick can help him and ignores John.
Also, Mary is not happy with the smell of the josticks that Ken has lit so he's ejected by John while Nick wins Mary over with his rendition of Can't Go Back To Savoury Now.
In Top Tips on the Telephone, John learns from Tony Christie about coping with Eurovision failure!
Written and Performed by Graham Fellows.
With special guests
Nick Heyward
Tony Christie
Producer: Dawn Ellis
A Chic Ken production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2016.
TUE 23:00 Paul Sinha's History Revision (b08vzq7y)
Series 3
Episode 3
Comedian and quizzer Paul Sinha shines a light on the important historical moments that you never got taught at school.
This time, he explores the idea of 'greatness'. From an English king who we know less about than we think, to the Pope that accidentally killed millions of people, some leaders seem to get away with their dirty laundry being left unaired.
But there are also some leaders who truly deserve the title 'The Great', including another Pope, and a brutal tyrant who changed his ways.
Paul also looks at other countries' versions of the BBC's 100 Greatest Britons: who do the foreign general public think are "Great"? The answers may surprise you.
Written and performed by Paul Sinha.
Paul Sinha's History Revision was the winner of the 2016 Rose d'Or for 'Best Radio Comedy'.
Producer: Ed Morrish
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2017.
TUE 23:30 Chain Reaction (b01ljwn3)
Series 8
Chris Addison interviews Derren Brown
The comedian and the amazing illusionist in the talk tag show where the guest is the next interviewer
Chris Addison gets the rare chance to talk to the amazing Derren Brown about magic, comedy, art, faith and Hitler.
Recorded with an audience, the interviews focus on the life, career and the passions of the interviewee but often prove to be as revealing about the interviewer.
Producer: Carl Cooper
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2012.

WEDNESDAY 11 MARCH 2026

WED 00:00 A Good Read (m000ktpl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Tuesday]
WED 00:30 Open the Box (b0075rhq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Tuesday]
WED 01:00 Whodunnits (b011vhyk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Tuesday]
WED 01:30 Whodunnits (b007k48n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Tuesday]
WED 02:00 Flying the Flag (b00b0317)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Tuesday]
WED 02:30 The Goon Show (b007jz4z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Tuesday]
WED 03:00 The Fair Intellectual Club (b081tdph)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Tuesday]
WED 03:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017cfkj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 on Tuesday]
WED 03:45 Ladies of Letters (b0121lhc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 on Tuesday]
WED 04:00 Hidden Treasures (b05qf1cg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Tuesday]
WED 04:30 Says on the Tin (b00gvhxv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Tuesday]
WED 05:00 Press the Hash Key Now by Peter G Morgan (m002sfyq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 on Tuesday]
WED 05:45 Short Works (m001yj6z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Tuesday]
WED 06:00 No Place To Hide (m001kw7z)
1. How It All Began
Journalist Kathy Swenson, finds herself drawn into a frightening world when an MI6 agent is kidnapped in Paris.
An uncompromising John Rennie is sent to find him.
Starring Margaret Robertson and James Kerry.
Spy-based serial in eight parts written by Ted Allbeury.
Kathy Swenson .... Margaret Robertson
John Rennie .... James Kerry
Rennie's Father .... William Eedle
Young John Rennie .... James Holland
Mary Rennie .... Ellen McIntosh
Adam Fredericks .... Lockwood West
Hugo Paynter .... David Garth
Williams / French Driver .... Michael Jenner
Fleur Mason .... Maggie McCarthy
Director: Christopher Venning
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1984.
WED 06:30 Whodunnits (b007k4c3)
Wimsey - Busman's Honeymoon
5. Crossed in Love
As the debts of murder victim William Noakes start mounting up, the upper crust sleuth grows suspicious of one of his relatives.
Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey – the British gentleman detective created by Dorothy L Sayers.
Dramatised by Alistair Beaton.
Lord Peter Wimsey …. Ian Carmichael
Lady Wimsey …. Sarah Badel
Bunter …. Peter Jones
Mrs Ruddle …. Pearl Hackney
Narrator …. John Westbrook
Miss Twitterton …. Rosemary Leach
Frank Crutchley …. Kenneth Cranham
MacBride …. Roger Lloyd Pack
Mr. Solomons …. Bernard Spear
Voice from wireless …. Michael Bilton
Superintendent Kirk …. Peter Vaughan
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1983.
WED 07:00 Little Blighty on the Down (b00tv7wv)
Series 4
Episode 4
As the council launches a new charter, the opposition needs a new initiative.
‘80s political satirical soap opera set in the strangely familiar village of Little Blighty.
Life here is pretty uneventful, though the humdrum happenings include social turmoil, economic upheaval and vicious political squabbles.
Written by Mark Burton, John O'Farrell and Mike Coleman.
Starring:
Jo Kendall
Michael Troughton
John Baddeley
Bernadine Corrigan
Jonathan Kydd
Daniel Strauss
Producer: Lissa Evans
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 1991.
WED 07:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b0132tk2)
The Radio Ham: Pye's Re-recording
The Lad Himself talks to the world.
Starring Tony Hancock
The classic TV episode of 'Hancock', 60 years after it was re-recorded for release as a vinyl LP.
Re-created before an invited audience in Pye Records London studio in October 1961.
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Contains: references and attitudes of 60 years ago.
GLK London …. Tony Hancock
Mayday Caller …. Patrick Cargill
Phyllis, the Landlady …. Annie Leake
Albert, the Landlady’s Husband …. Deryck Guyler
HBX Belgrade, Flying Doctor …. John Bluthal
B45 Malaya and Police Radio …. Frank Thornton
Robin and Policeman 2 …. Clive Dunn
Desdemona …. June Whitfield
Policeman 1 …. Hugh Lloyd
Originally broadcast on BBC TV in June 1961
Re-recording first released on Pye Records in 1961
First broadcast on BBC 7 in July 2008.
WED 08:00 Reluctant Persuaders (m000td1s)
Series 4
4. Ask The Man Who Owns One
Hardacre’s advertising agency is shaken when one of their latest ads is ridiculed by industry bible Campaign. Copywriter Joe Starling takes the news especially hard, spiralling into depression.
Amanda and Hardacre compete to pull Joe out of his funk, and prove to the other that they are the more gifted mentor. Meanwhile Teddy has worries of his own, as he attempts to care for a new pet.
Edward Rowett's award-winning sitcom, based on an original idea by Edward Rowett and Robert Frimstone.
Hardacre .... Nigel Havers
Joe Starling .... Mathew Baynton
Amanda .... Josie Lawrence
Teddy .... Rasmus Hardiker –
Producer: Gordon Kennedy
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2021.
WED 08:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017chq0)
3. The Accidental Discovery of Text
Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone, from hefty executive bricks that required a separate briefcase to carry the battery to the smart little devices complete with personal assistant we have today.
There are more mobile phones in the world than there are people on the planet: Stephen Fry talks to the backroom boys who made it all possible and hears how the technology succeeded, in ways that the geeks had not necessarily intended.
Stephen Fry meets the men who created the first texting facility, as well as other less commercially successful products like taxifones, payphones on trains and in-car fax machines. He hears how texting triumphed unexpectedly when paging was all the rage, partly because paging services never seemed to work on Friday afternoon. On the earliest handsets there was no way of replying to a text. Later, just in case someone might want to reply, they included a short list of possible pre-set answers: yes, no and later. In the mid 90s texting was just one of countless facilities embedded within the new digital mobile phones: no one thought it that important. In 2010 alone, a staggering 6.1 trillion text messages were sent. And most of them received a reply.
Producer: Anna Buckley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2011.
WED 08:45 Ladies of Letters (b0122k7j)
Ladies of Letters Go Green
3. Recycling
Irene has been sorting through her late Aunt Doris's possessions.
Grandmothers Irene Spencer and Vera Small continue their tempestuous correspondence. They start to look beyond at the future of the planet - but as ever, soon manage to bring their focus back to themselves!
Starring Prunella Scales as Irene and Patricia Routledge as Vera.
Written by Lou Wakefield and Carole Hayman.
Irene Spencer ..................... Prunella Scales
Vera Small ...................... Patricia Routledge
Producer: Liz Webb
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2008.
WED 09:00 Stand-Up Specials (m002s4j7)
Live from the UK
S2 E2: Do You Prefer Individual or Group?
Angela Barnes is back on the road at some of the best comedy clubs in the country, bringing you the funniest stand ups around.
So if you want to know the struggles of not being a dog person, what a toddler keeps in their handbag, and why asking for Angela isn't always straightforward, then this is programme for you
In this episode, you can hear;
Danny McLoughlin at Hot Water Comedy Club in Liverpool
Kyrah Gray at Brighton Komedia
Alana Jackson at Monkey Barrel in Edinburgh
Suzi Ruffell at Brighton Komedia
Additional Material by Ruth Husko
Recorded by David Thomas and Sean Kerwin
Sound design by David Thomas
Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.
WED 09:30 The Call (b00yj5vd)
Series 2
Answerphone Messages
Dominic Arkwright meets people who have made or received life-changing phone calls.
When he bought a brand new ansaphone machine back in 1985, Mark Craig decided not to re-cycle his tapes but to keep them all in a box. Twenty years later he opened the box and started to listen back to the audio diary of his life that he had inadvertently created.
"I went to a remote house in Devon and spent days just listening to voices from my past. It was like therapy. It was their lives, but it was the story of my life as well."
Carefully selecting messages to create a short film, Mark ended up with both a very personal story and a tale of "everyman", growing through reckless youth, loss, birth and eventually, wisdom.
Producer: John Byrne
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2011.
WED 09:45 Daily Service (m002scv2)
Sing my soul - Give praise to the lord
A space for spiritual reflection from Bolton Parish Church with the Diocese of Manchester Choral Scholars, directed by Andrew Earis and accompanied by John Hosking.
Theme: Sing my soul - Give praise to the lord
Presenter: Rev Grace Thomas
Reading: Isaiah 12 2-5
Music:
When in our music God is glorified - Diocese of Manchester Choral Scholars
Litany to the Holy Spirit - Bolton Junior Choir
Praise to the Lord the almighty - Diocese of Manchester Choral Scholars
WED 10:00 Archive on 4 (b07z2j3r)
Song of the Singer Sewing Machine
The song of the Singer has whirred its way through more than 160 years.
There is not a town in the world where this machine has not made its presence felt.
Maria Margaronis considers the might of the sewing machine to make empires and change lives for better or worse.
Isaac Singer patented his machine in 1851. That bold fact alone doesn't even begin to describe the individual behind this perfection of technologies and processes. Impresario, inventor, actor and millionaire and father of 22 children with six wives, the last of whom was the model for the Statue of Liberty. There was skulduggery and power play at work in his ability to capture the market - the rise of the first multinational.
By the late 19th century Singer had 86,000 employees and 5,000 branch offices in 190 countries - a reach second only to the Catholic Church.
But we begin on a busy North London road. The shop simply says SINGER, inside is a nest of sewing machines. It is here that Maria has brought her mother's old machine and it is here she begins her story, unpicking the threads of time. This machine was one of millions made on Glasgow's Clydeside. Singer's European heartland until 1980. A place that produced some 36 million machines.
Maria travels to both Glasgow and to the site of the vast American Singer factory in Elizabethport New Jersey to piece together the story of a once all powerful empire. From the Amazon River where they were traded for emeralds to St Petersburg where the Bolsheviks had the temerity to nationalize the Singer factory. Drawing on oral history, newly recorded interviews and rare gems Maria follows the many threads of Singers presence in the world.
Producer: Mark Burman.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2016.
WED 11:00 No Place To Hide (m001kw7z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 11:30 Whodunnits (b007k4c3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 12:00 Little Blighty on the Down (b00tv7wv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 12:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b0132tk2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 13:00 Reluctant Persuaders (m000td1s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 13:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017chq0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 13:45 Ladies of Letters (b0122k7j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 today]
WED 14:00 The Museum of Curiosity (m000my7x)
Series 15
Episode 4
Professor of Ignorance John Lloyd and his curator Alice Levine welcome:
* Comedian and The Last Leg host Josh Widdicombe
* Mathematician and pianist Dr Eugenia Cheng
* Have I Got News For You captain Ian Hislop
The Museum's Guest Committee offer as exhibits Bowerman’s Nose, the equals sign and print.
Researchers: Mike Turner and Anne Miller of QI.
Producers: Richard Turner & James Harkin.
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2020.
WED 14:30 Turf Wars (b00z5hr2)
Losing the Plot
Bashful Edward passes a local allotment and speaks to an attractive female allottee.
He decides there and then that he must apply for a plot. But doing so involves an interview with ferocious site-manager Bernie, who runs the allotments with military rigour.
It's all looking unlikely until Edward reveals that his father was a local landscape horticulturalist, one Bernie has admired all his life.
Edward joins the site. And it is only then that he springs a surprise on Bernie. One that leads to explosive confrontation.
Which of them will lose the plot?
Starring James Fleet.
Nick Warburton's delicious four-part sitcom.
Edward ..... James Fleet
Amanda .... Joanna Monro
Bernie ..... Jonathan Coy
Director: Peter Kavanagh
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2011.
WED 15:00 Hello Caller by Jonathan Holloway (m00025fr)
In the last two years BT has decommissioned and removed at least 20,000 phone boxes.
But what if these boxes have always been able to remember all of the conversations that have been routed through them?
What if the wires hold memories suspended in their copper strands?
What if, faced with extinction, these voices breach, at least for a short time, the barrier between temporal reality and the pulses coursing through the cables?
Built from a series of intercut ‘trapped’ phone calls, this is a ramshackle, effervescent collection of tales.
Via the receiver and from within the wires we hear secrets, confessions, fears and declarations of love from voices now lost.
This is a ghost story that relies on physics.
All roles played by:
Annette Badland
Luke MacGregor
Sean Murray
David Reakes
Alex Tregear
Written by Jonathan Holloway.
Based on an idea by Tim Dee.
Director: Alison Crawford
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.
WED 15:45 Short Works (m001tjlp)
Dancing Ganesh by Alan Spence
A frustrated climber seeks enlightenment in Kathmandu in Alan Spence's short story.
Alan Spence is an award-winning poet, playwright and novelist based in Edinburgh. Appointed Edinburgh Makar in 2017, he is also Professor Emeritus in Creative Writing at University of Aberdeen. His longer works include novels, 'Its Colours They Are Fine', 'The Stone Garden', 'The Magic Flute', 'Way to Go' and 'The Pure Land'.
Reader: Michael Nardone
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2023.
WED 16:00 Archive on 4 (b07z2j3r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
WED 17:00 No Place To Hide (m001kw7z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
WED 17:30 Whodunnits (b007k4c3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
WED 18:00 Little Blighty on the Down (b00tv7wv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
WED 18:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b0132tk2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
WED 19:00 Reluctant Persuaders (m000td1s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
WED 19:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017chq0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
WED 19:45 Ladies of Letters (b0122k7j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 today]
WED 20:00 The Museum of Curiosity (m000my7x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 today]
WED 20:30 Turf Wars (b00z5hr2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 today]
WED 21:00 Hello Caller by Jonathan Holloway (m00025fr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 today]
WED 21:45 Short Works (m001tjlp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 today]
WED 22:00 Stand-Up Specials (m002s4j7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
WED 22:30 The Maltby Collection (b00mg0wp)
Series 3
Episode 3
Warring curators, wedding cleaners and a dodgy alarm system all add to the unwanted pressure on Walter.
Starring Geoffrey Palmer and Julian Rhind-Tutt.
David Nobbs’ sitcom about a small art museum staffed by eccentrics and obsessives.
Rod Millet .... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Walter Brindle .... Geoffrey Palmer
Prunella Edgecumbe .... Rachel Atkins
Susie Maltby .... Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Julian Crumb-Loosely .... Ben Willbond
Wilf Arbuthnot .... Geoff McGivern
Eva Tattle .... Juklia Deakin
Des Wainwright .... Michael Smiley
Stelios Constantinopoulis .... Chris Pavlo
Producer: Colin Anderson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2009.
WED 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m002ss0c)
Ginger Johnson 2/3
From 10pm until midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Rob Deering chats again to drag queen Ginger Johnson, about winning RuPaul's Drag Race, success in Masterchef, and what she's planning to win next.
WED 23:00 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (m000wsyb)
Series 9
Episode 6
The ninth series of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme is very different to the previous eight. It's still written by John Finnemore, "one of our best sketch writers", (The Observer), and performed by him with "a great supporting cast of Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan" (The Telegraph), and there are still sketches and songs. But, with no live studio audience this year, John has taken the opportunity to try something completely new
Every episode in this series of Souvenir Programme is made up of scenes from one person's life, played in reverse order.
There's no narrative to the episode; it's still a sketch show, not a sitcom.
For this final episode, we jump between the lives of those five characters - Russ, Deborah, Jerry, Vanessa and Newt - and jump back and forth in time,
Written and performed by ... John Finnemore
Newt ... John Finnemore
Russ ... Lawry Lewin
Deborah ... Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Jerry ... Simon Kane
Vanessa ... Carrie Quinlan
Other parts played by the cast.
Original music composed by .... Susannah Pearse
Original music performed by ... Susannah Pearse and Sally Stares
Recorded and edited by ... Rich Evans at Syncbox Post
Producer: Ed Morrish
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2021.
WED 23:30 Liam Williams: Ladhood (b098nfgb)
Series 2
Episode 3
Comedian Liam Williams recounts his youthful misadventures in this autobiographical sitcom.
Liam looks for love in all the wrong places as he tries to impress the ladies with some help from a sleazy pick-up manual.
Written and performed by Liam Williams.
With:
Al Roberts
Emma Sidi
Freya Parker
Kieran Hodgson
Paul G Raymond
Sally Grace
Paul Copley
Producer: Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in October 2017.

THURSDAY 12 MARCH 2026

THU 00:00 Archive on 4 (b07z2j3r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:00 No Place To Hide (m001kw7z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Wednesday]
THU 01:30 Whodunnits (b007k4c3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Wednesday]
THU 02:00 Little Blighty on the Down (b00tv7wv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Wednesday]
THU 02:30 Hancock's Half Hour (b0132tk2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Wednesday]
THU 03:00 Reluctant Persuaders (m000td1s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Wednesday]
THU 03:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017chq0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 on Wednesday]
THU 03:45 Ladies of Letters (b0122k7j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 on Wednesday]
THU 04:00 The Museum of Curiosity (m000my7x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Wednesday]
THU 04:30 Turf Wars (b00z5hr2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Wednesday]
THU 05:00 Hello Caller by Jonathan Holloway (m00025fr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 on Wednesday]
THU 05:45 Short Works (m001tjlp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 on Wednesday]
THU 06:00 No Place To Hide (m001kw53)
2. A Meeting in Amsterdam
Can John Rennie’s special training help him to track down the missing Secret Intelligence Service agent in Amsterdam?
Journalist Kathy Swenson is being drawn into a frightening world...
Starring Margaret Robertson and John Kerry.
Spy-based serial written by Ted Allbeury.
John Rennie .... James Kerry
Kathy Swenson .... Margaret Robertson
Derek Humphries .... Julian Wadham
Fleur Mason ....Maggie McCarthy
Hugo Paynter .... David Garth
Mary Rennie .... Ellen McIntosh
Peter Lambert .... Simon Hewitt
Jan Branders .... Ali Refaie
Adele Palmer .... Susannah Fellows
Young Mary .... Samantha Holland
Beth .... Karina Wilsher
Operator / Waitress .... Moir Leslie
Director: Christopher Venning
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1984.
THU 06:30 Whodunnits (b007k4d8)
Wimsey - Busman's Honeymoon
6. A Chain of Circumstance
With no clear murder suspect, the arrival of the removal men helps the upper crust sleuth to spot a vital clue.
Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey – the British gentleman detective.
Gripping conclusion of Dorothy L Sayers' vintage thriller.
Dramatised by Alistair Beaton.
Lord Peter Wimsey …. Ian Carmichael
Lady Wimsey …. Sarah Badel
Bunter …. Peter Jones
Mrs Ruddle …. Pearl Hackney
Narrator …. John Westbrook
Miss Twitterton …. Rosemary Leach
Frank Crutchley …. Kenneth Cranham
Superintendent Kirk …. Peter Vaughan
Mr Puffett …. Michael Ripper
Reverend Goodacre …. Gerald Sim
Constable Sellon …. Christopher Beeny
First Removal man …. Edward Cast
Second Removal Man …. Alex Jennings
Producer: Martin Fisher
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1983.
THU 07:00 A Whole New Ball Game (b00gf8dn)
Series 2
The Friendly
Fists fly when Andy and Robert's football teams meet, but not among the players. Stars Brenda Blethyn. From November 1994.
THU 07:30 The Burkiss Way (b00gsb7z)
Series 2
Govern Britain the Burkiss Way
The comedy team sweep to a political landslide.
The Burkiss Way to Dynamic Living from radio's Advanced Correspondence Course
With democratic instruction from:
Jo Kendall
Nigel Rees
Chris Emmett
Fred Harris
A proportionally representative script by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick.
Ministerial production by Simon Brett.
Cult sketch show first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1977.
THU 08:00 Alexei Sayle's Strangers on a Train (m00223qt)
Series 3
London to Berwick-upon-Tweed
Alexei Sayle takes his final train journey across Great Britain in this series and breaks the golden rule of travelling by train in the UK - by actually talking to his fellow passengers.
In this episode, he takes a trip from London to Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Among his many fellow travellers, he meets
*Christina, who is returning to Yorkshire after being scared of taking on such a long journey to London - especially the perils of travelling on the underground - but happily found a knight in shining armour to help her at King's Cross station.
*Steven who, apart from working on the railway, has carved out a budding career as a playwright
*Sally, who spent 24 years in the Army and now works as a philanthropy manager helping a leading cancer charity to raise money for its work
*Rahul and Priya, who are heading for Scotland on a short break sightseeing
Producers: Peter Lowe and Lyndon Jones
A Ride production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in August 2024.
THU 08:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017cjmn)
4. Shrinking the Handset
Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone, from hefty executive bricks that required a separate briefcase to carry the battery to the smart little devices complete with personal assistant we have today.
There are more mobile phones in the world than there are people on the planet: Stephen Fry talks to the backroom boys who made it all possible and hears how the technology succeeded, in ways that the geeks had not necessarily intended.
In the fourth episode, Stephen Fry talk to the engineers who turned mobile phones from hefty executive bricks into svelte fashion accessories. One man at Motorola dreamt of a mobile phone small enough to fit in a shirt pocket but it was Nokia , once more famous for making loo paper and wellies, that cornered the global market. In the early nineties, Nokia was on the brink of collapse. But the new chief executive, brought in to save the company from bankruptcy, made a bold decision to ditch the wellies and focus solely on mobile phones. Soon the iconic Nokia ringtone (extracted incidentally from a piece for classical guitar composed in 1902) was inescapable.
Producer: Anna Buckley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2011.
THU 08:45 Ladies of Letters (b0121xgw)
Ladies of Letters Go Green
4. Incommunicado
Irene tries to keep Vera's nose out of her son's wedding plans.
Grandmothers Irene Spencer and Vera Small continue their tempestuous correspondence. They start to look beyond at the future of the planet - but as ever, soon manage to bring their focus back to themselves!
Written by Lou Wakefield and Carole Hayman
Irene Spencer .... Prunella Scales
Vera Small .... Patricia Routledge
Producer: Liz Webb
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2008.
THU 09:00 The Shuttleworths (m001fwjq)
Series 6
All's well that begins badly
John Shuttleworth’s future is looking bleak as his sole agent, Ken Worthington, announces that he is going to retire. Who will secure John’s bookings at the local drop-in centre and sort his expenses?
John doesn’t know, but to take his mind off events, he decides to get his ladders and fix the car port roof.
When Mary’s friend, Joan Chitty arrives, he shares this news, and she tries to brighten his day by suggesting he could be a contestant on Love Island.
John isn’t convinced and, to escape Joan, he joins Ken in looking around the Golden Acres retirement home - where all is not as it first appears. Could this be the end of John’s career?
Comic series following the lives of Sheffield's favourite singer-songwriter John Shuttleworth, his wife Mary and his agent.
Written and performed by Graham Fellows.
Produce: Dawn Ellis
A Chic Ken Production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2022.
THU 09:30 The Call (b00m67vx)
Series 1
The Win
Dominic Arkwright meets people who have made life-changing phone calls.
Some people cry, some feel sick, some throw a 24-hour party, and some are millionaires already. Winning the lottery can be a traumatic event, but what's it like for the people on the other end of the line?
Dominic Arkwright talks to the operators on Camelot's lottery claim line, and discovers that even really good news can be quite a shock to the system. He hears about the winner who hid his ticket in a sponge cake for security reasons; the woman who sat and stared at her ticket for three hours before making the call, and the millionaire who calmly announced the win would come in useful to put a swimming pool in his country estate.
Producer: John Byrne
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2009.
THU 09:45 Daily Service (m002sf83)
Sing my soul - My soul glorifies the Lord
A space for spiritual reflection from Bolton Parish Church with Rev Hannah Currin with the Diocese of Manchester Choral Scholars, directed by Andrew Earis, accompanied by John Hosking.
Theme: Sing my soul - My soul glorifies the Lord
Presenter: Rev Hannah Currin
Reading: Luke 1 46-55
Magnificat in E (Watson) - Diocese of Manchester Choral Scholars
Magnificat (Taize) - Diocese of Manchester Choral Scholars
Tell out my soul - Diocese of Manchester Choral Scholars
THU 10:00 Great Lives (b00djvgk)
Lady Hester Stanhope
Entrepreneur Deborah Meaden chooses Georgian traveller, diplomat and spy, Lady Hester Stanhope.
The "Dragon's Den" investor, business woman Deborah Meaden, explains her fascination with the life of the Georgian political hostess, traveller, diplomat and spy, Lady Hester Stanhope.
Biographer Kirsten Ellis lends her expertise and Matthew Parris presents.
Producer: Isobel Eaton
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2008.
THU 10:30 Living Without My Smartphone (m00209dl)
A group of teenagers agree to give up their smartphones for five school days. The phones are locked in a box, and our subjects pick up their old style “brick” phone instead. What’s the best and worst of their smartphone free days?
Can they cope, and what, if anything, do they, their parents and teachers notice?
Rachel Burden has teenagers, and knows all about smartphone parenting.
She joins our intrepid students throughout their week, and reflects upon the positives and negatives of a world where everyone can choose to be constantly connected.
Produced by Victoria Farncombe and Tim O'Callaghan.
Mixed by Nicky Edwards.
Edited by Clare Fordham.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2024.
THU 11:00 No Place To Hide (m001kw53)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 11:30 Whodunnits (b007k4d8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 12:00 A Whole New Ball Game (b00gf8dn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 12:30 The Burkiss Way (b00gsb7z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 13:00 Alexei Sayle's Strangers on a Train (m00223qt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 13:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017cjmn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 13:45 Ladies of Letters (b0121xgw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 today]
THU 14:00 Foul Play (b00k7xd6)
Series 3
Death in Intensive Care
Crime writers Frances Fyfield and Peter N Walker try to solve a dastardly medical mystery.
Simon Brett hosts the murder quiz.
Suspects played by:
Maria McErlane
Lee Simpson
Producer Liz Anstree
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1998.
THU 14:30 Ballylenon (b00y8xdx)
Series 8
More News Than Is Fit to Print
Jobless Stumpy applies for a post as a journalist with The Vindicator.
Series set in the sleepy town of Ballylenon, Co Donegal in the 1960s.
Ballylenon, County Donegal. Pop. 1,999 was founded by St Lenon of Padua, when he fell into the river at this spot in 953. Ballylenon is situated on the shores of Lough Swilly with entrancing views of Muckish Mountain, in the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe. (Note: Ballylenon is a fictional name, but the other landmarks are identifiable.)
Written by Christopher Fitz-Simon.
Muriel McConkey ...... Margaret D'Arcy
Vera McConke ...... Stella McCusker
Phonsie Doherty ...... Gerard Murphy
Mrs Vivienne Hawthorne ...... Aine McCartney
Rev. Samuel Hawthorne ...... Dermot Crowley
Kevin 'Stumpy' Bonnar ...... Gerard McSorley
Guard Gallagher ...... Frankie McCafferty
Daniel O'Searcaigh ...... James Greene
Monsignor McFadden ...... Niall Cusack
Aubrey Frawley ...... Chris McHallem
Polly Acton ...... Joanna Munro
Eamonn Doylev ...... Patrick Fitzsymons
Mr Boylan ...... Derek Bailey
Pianist: Michael Harrison
Director: Eoin O'Callaghan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2011.
THU 15:00 RD Wingfield (m002sf85)
Innocent Victim
A victim of threatening phone-calls seeks the help of a private investigator, who finds there are other victims in this case - and he is one of them.
Starring Lee Harrington as Robbins, Edward Judge as Tyrrell, Frances Jeater as Wendy and David Lodge as Inspector Morrow.
Written by RD Wingfield.
Robbins ... Lee Harrington
Tyrrell ... Edward Judd
Wendy ... Frances Jeater
Det. Insp. Morrow ... David Lodge
Mrs. Furley ... Peggy Paige
Ruth ... Christine Absalom
Hilda ... Diana Bishop
Barman ... Ronald Herdman
Det. Serg ... Nicholas Courtney
Holy Joe ... Derek Pollitt
Director: Gerry Jones
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1981.
THU 16:00 Great Lives (b00djvgk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
THU 16:30 Living Without My Smartphone (m00209dl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 today]
THU 17:00 No Place To Hide (m001kw53)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
THU 17:30 Whodunnits (b007k4d8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
THU 18:00 A Whole New Ball Game (b00gf8dn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
THU 18:30 The Burkiss Way (b00gsb7z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
THU 19:00 Alexei Sayle's Strangers on a Train (m00223qt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
THU 19:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017cjmn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
THU 19:45 Ladies of Letters (b0121xgw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 today]
THU 20:00 Foul Play (b00k7xd6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 today]
THU 20:30 Ballylenon (b00y8xdx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 today]
THU 21:00 RD Wingfield (m002sf85)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 today]
THU 22:00 Stand-Up Specials (m0023hth)
Randy Feltface
4. Water
Randy Feltface takes a deep dive and comes up wishing he hadn’t. Extinction, pollution, rising temperatures and a very angry salmon all make an unwelcome appearance in this show - but will Randy press on with his plan to press the destruction button, or will he have a change of heart and share his hopes for the future?
This head-on charge into possibly the most important subject facing humanity comes to you via a show where you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll learn, you’ll laugh again between the learny bits and most of all, you’ll be able to say “I was there when Radio 4 decided to have show hosted by a puppet”
Randy Feltface has been seen on Netflix, ABC, NBC, and has a huge & devoted following across the globe (1m+ social media followers, 1.6m TikTok followers, 833k subscribers, 79m YouTube views). His hour-long specials are YouTube cult classics, his world tours are sold out sensations, and he's the only Radio 4 presenter to be entirely made of felt.
With Margaret Cabourn-Smith, William Hartley & Venice Ohleyer
Produced & directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4
THU 22:30 Brian Gulliver's Travels (b01mdg8l)
Series 2
Anidara
Brian Gulliver, a seasoned presenter of travel documentaries, finds himself in a hospital's secure unit after claiming to have experienced a succession of bizarre adventures.
More memories as Brian relives his experiences in Anidara where he finds himself put out to stud.
Starring Neil Pearson and Mariah Gale.
A satirical adventure story from Bill Dare.
Brian Gulliver ..... Neil Pearson
Rachel Gulliver ..... Mariah Gale
Computer ..... Duncan Wisby
Gem ..... Gerard McDermot
Markl ..... Harry Livingstone
Dorka ..... Vicki Pepperdine
Liberator ..... Duncan Wisby
Master ..... Patrick Brennan
Producer: Steven Canny
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2012.
THU 22:55 The Comedy Club Interviews (m002ss0f)
Ginger Johnson 3/3
From 10pm until midnight, seven days a week, the Comedy Club has two hours of comedy. Plus Rob Deering chats again to drag queen Ginger Johnson. They discuss how she comes up with new shows, why she loves being on tour, and why she has a cannon in storage.
THU 23:00 Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (b045z943)
Series 3
Terry Alderton
Alex Horne and his five-piece band explore the theme of miscellaneous mysterious things
Live music and comedy, with songs about aliens, de ja vu and life from a fly's perspective.
With guest comedian: Terry Alderton
Alex's Horne Section are:
Joe Auckland
Mark Brown
Will Collier
Ben Reynolds
Ed Sheldrake
Producer: Charlie Perkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2014.
THU 23:30 Small Scenes (b04l0y2l)
Series 2
Episode 1
A man uncovers a great Australian conspiracy and a financial advisor starts up a sideline as an assassin's assistant.
Small Scenes is back with more excerpts from odd lives.
Starring:
Daniel Rigby
Sara Pascoe
Mike Wozniak
Cariad Lloyd
Henry Paker
Written by Benjamin Partridge, Henry Paker and Mike Wozniak.
Producer: Simon Mayhew-Archer
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2014.

FRIDAY 13 MARCH 2026

FRI 00:00 Great Lives (b00djvgk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Thursday]
FRI 00:30 Living Without My Smartphone (m00209dl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Thursday]
FRI 01:00 No Place To Hide (m001kw53)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 on Thursday]
FRI 01:30 Whodunnits (b007k4d8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 on Thursday]
FRI 02:00 A Whole New Ball Game (b00gf8dn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 on Thursday]
FRI 02:30 The Burkiss Way (b00gsb7z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 on Thursday]
FRI 03:00 Alexei Sayle's Strangers on a Train (m00223qt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 on Thursday]
FRI 03:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017cjmn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 on Thursday]
FRI 03:45 Ladies of Letters (b0121xgw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 on Thursday]
FRI 04:00 Foul Play (b00k7xd6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 on Thursday]
FRI 04:30 Ballylenon (b00y8xdx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 on Thursday]
FRI 05:00 RD Wingfield (m002sf85)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 on Thursday]
FRI 06:00 No Place To Hide (m001kwh8)
3. Joanna Appears
After the seizure of a British MI6 agent, John Rennie must use every lead to try and track the kidnappers down...
Starring John Kerry and Margaret Robertson.
Spy-based serial written by Ted Allbeury.
John Rennie .... James Kerry
Kathy Swenson .... Margaret Robertson
Khalim Said .... Richard Kay
Adele Palmer .... Susannah Fellows
Jan Branders .... Ali Refaie
Hugo Paynter .... David Garth
Joanna de Vries .... Colette Hiller
Gabriella .... Carole Boyd
Dutchman/Porter .... Mark Straker
Policeman .... Charles Whaley
Piano played by Mary Nash.
Director: Christopher Venning
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 1984.
FRI 06:30 Only the Good Die Young (b007jn17)
1. Killed?
When Kim Drake's fiance is killed on their wedding day, the authorities agree on suicide.
But why would computer expert Mike kill himself on his wedding day?
Could it be connected to his decision to walk out of his sensitive job at Peregrine Communications Systems?
Starring Siriol Jenkins.
Shaun Prendergast's techno thriller in six-parts.
Kim Drake …. Siriol Jenkins
Mike Fisher …. Neil Roberts
Anne …. Kate Binchy
Frank …. Shaun Prendergast
Miss Gee …. Ann Davies
Stone …. Kenneth Cranham
Todd …. Jack Klaff
DI Dear …. Eric Alan
DS Love …. Jonathan Tafler
John Maschler …. Terence Edmond
Emma/Nurse Lewis …. Caroline Strong
Mary/WPC …. Nicola Boyce
Director: Adrian Bean
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1992.
FRI 07:00 My Mammy and Me (m002sg4z)
Series 1
6. Swami Mammy
Cathy McPhail's comedy about a woman's search for Mr Right continues.
Mammy thinks Isobel’s romantic life could use a little bit of magical intervention.
Mammy …. Eileen McCallum
Isobel .... Kate Donnelly
Willie .... Jake D'Arcy
Ida .... Barbara Rafferty
Sgt Blood .... Sean Scanlan
Con …. Forbes Masson
Elsie / Madame Fortunata .... Carolyn Boneyman
Marion …. Clare Hemphill
Mr Patel / Mrs Patel / Fraser …. Lewis
Organ played by Sheena Creighton
Written by Cathy McPhail.
Producer: Kathy Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in March 1995.
FRI 07:30 Steptoe and Son (b007k0rm)
Series 4
The Lodger
Albert and Harold Steptoe argue over their lack of cash.
Starring Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett.
Classic sitcom about the lives of rag and bone men Albert Steptoe and his son Harold.
Written for BBC TV and adapted for BBC Radio by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Albert ...... Wilfrid Brambell
Harold ...... Harry H Corbett
With:
William Eadie
Producer: Bobby Jaye
First broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in February 1972.
FRI 08:00 Mark Steel's in Town (m001bgrp)
Series 12
Nottingham
Mark Steel sets out to discover what makes Nottingham special.
Mark Steel returns with the 12th series of his award winning show that travels around the country visiting towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness. After thoroughly researching each town, Mark writes and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for a local audience.
In this first episode Mark visits Nottingham, a contrarian city, full of heroes, rebels, caves and lovers of mushy peas. He learns about local legends, Robin Hood, Lord Byron, DH Lawrence, Brian Clough, and the most famous of all, Frank the xylophone player. He looks at the history of the Luddites, the cheese riots and visits three pubs that are all the oldest in the country.
As well as Nottingham, later in this series, Mark be will also be popping to the Isles of Scilly, Tring, Salisbury, Newport and Paris.
Written and performed by Mark Steel.
Additional material by Pete Sinclair.
Producer: Carl Cooper
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in August 2022.
FRI 08:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017clwx)
5. The Chips Inside Smartphones
Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone, from hefty executive bricks that required a separate briefcase to carry the battery to the smart little devices complete with personal assistant we have today.
There are more mobile phones in the world than there are people on the planet: Stephen Fry talks to the backroom boys who made it all possible and hears how the technology succeeded, in ways that the geeks had not necessarily intended.
All mobile phones rely on hyper-intelligent silicon chips to run them. And the astonishing thing is 85% of the silicon chips inside all mobile phones are designed by one Cambridge-based company, ARM. Stephen Fry talks to the pioneers who designed these chips. They needed some micro-processors to build a better home computer, but didn't like what they saw and decided to make their own. Strapped for cash, they designed chips that were small, cheap and exceptionally low power and, quite by chance, ideally suited to the next generation of pocket-sized mobile phones. Not to mention today's power-hungry smartphones.
Producer: Anna Buckley
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2011.
FRI 08:45 Ladies of Letters (b012211j)
Ladies of Letters Go Green
5. Aftermath
Vera has ruined Irene's son's wedding by her unexpected arrival at the nuptials.
Grandmothers Irene Spencer and Vera Small continue their tempestuous correspondence. They start to look beyond at the future of the planet - but as ever, soon manage to bring their focus back to themselves!
Starring Prunella Scales as Irene and Patricia Routledge as Vera.
Written by Lou Wakefield and Carole Hayman.
Irene Spencer ..................... Prunella Scales
Vera Small ...................... Patricia Routledge
Producer: Liz Webb
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2008.
FRI 09:00 Stand-Up Specials (m002scs8)
Eddie Kadi and Friends
Travis Jay, Kyrah Gray, Diesel and Junior Booker
The second part of a two-part stand-up special featuring highlights from 1Xtra's Comedy Gala with some of the UK's top Black comedians, including Travis Jay, Kyrah Gray, Diesel and Junior Booker. Hosted by Eddie Kadi and filmed at the Hackney Empire in London, the unofficial home of Black British Comedy.
FRI 09:30 The Call (b00yyg1w)
Series 2
Forensics
Dominic Arkwright talks to Professor Peter French of York University about the art and science of forensic acoustics, including speaker profiling, voice line-ups, and sound enhancement.
Developments in new technology mean that sound recordings can be examined and prepared for use in extortion, blackmail and murder trials. Also, the proliferation of digital recordings in all walks of life mean that copies of recordings for evidential purposes can now be taken from mobile telephones, voicemail services, digital dictaphones, digital answer phones and other devices. So just how much information can be extracted from a phone call, and how much of ourselves do we reveal in conversation?
Producer: John Byrne
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2011.
FRI 09:45 Daily Service (m002sg53)
Sing my soul - The power of music
A celebration of the power of choral music, with readings, prayers, music and reflections by the Diocese of Manchester choral scholars.
FRI 10:00 Soul Music (b013f96w)
Series 12
Wichita Lineman
Witchita Lineman is the ultimate country/pop crossover track - written by Jimmy Webb for the Country star Glen Campbell.
Released in 1968, it tells the story of a lonely lineman in the American Midwest, travelling vast distances to mend power and telephone lines.
The song has been covered many times, but Glen’s version remains the best-loved and most played.
Johnny Cash also recorded an extraordinary and very raw version. Peter Lewry, a lifelong Cash fan, describes how it came about.
David Crary is a lineman from Oklahoma, who recalls his reaction to the first time he heard the song.
Meggean Ward's father was a lineman in Rhode Island. As a child she always felt it was written for her him.
Glen Campbell is also interviewed.
Shortly after it was recorded, he went public about his diagnosis of Alzheimer's. His contribution is brief, but it includes an acoustic performance of the song. It was a privilege to record ‘down the line’.
Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.
Producer: Karen Gregor.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2011.
FRI 10:30 Between the Ears (b08v8lzk)
Brighstone 428
Artist Graeme Miller captures the poetry of the landline. In this half hour, we follow the arc of a single call from dialling to hanging up, taking in the sweep across the global landscape of the 20th century. He draws out the private habits and distinctive speech as well as the collective dreams and nightmares of the landlines art and culture.
While collaging the mores and cadences of telephone behaviour and speech the piece also lands in the physical space of the landline - the actual line and the real land. The world of the telephone engineer atop a telegraph pole; the village operator, the maintenance or laying of underwater cables, the middle-of-nowhere phone box which exists oblique to the density of traffic of information and chat.
The plot lines of death and murder stalking the crossed lines of the city, to the call of the worried voice "Are you still there?". All these spaces are opened up with the reassurances and communities of landline use.
It is a line crossed next to the atmospheric space that denotes a fragility and hints at the ways in which the technology that opened up connection also imported in its liveness an equal and opposite force of disconnection.
Running out of change, the broken phone box, the drama and plunge into existential separation, opened up by the one-sided conversation and now, the relentless possibility of being in touch.
With thanks to Max Flemmich of Darvel Telephone Museum and Dr Sarah Jackson, Senior Lecturer English and Creative Writing, Nottingham Trent University.
A Cast Iron Radio production for BBC Radio 3, first broadcast in June 2017.
FRI 11:00 No Place To Hide (m001kwh8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 11:30 Only the Good Die Young (b007jn17)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 12:00 My Mammy and Me (m002sg4z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 12:30 Steptoe and Son (b007k0rm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 13:00 Mark Steel's in Town (m001bgrp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 13:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017clwx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 13:45 Ladies of Letters (b012211j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 today]
FRI 14:00 One Person Found This Helpful (m001xm0y)
Series 1
6. Everybody Loves Velociraptor
Frank Skinner and guests Simon Evans, Ania Magliano, Sunil Patel and Kiri Pritchard-McLean find out what you think about sharp carpets and a keg with a difference.
A panel game based on those reviews you leave when you shop online - the good, the bad and the downright baffling.
Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Jason Hazeley, Rajiv Karia, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer & Peter Tellouche
Devised by Jason Hazeley and Simon Evans with the producer David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2024.
FRI 14:30 King Street Junior Revisited (b00jnlsk)
Series 3
Half-Term Blues
Half-term is a time for King Street’s teachers to catch their breath within a busy autumn term. If only...
School comedy created and written by Jim Eldridge.
Mrs Devon ...... Carolyn Pickles
Miss Lewis ...... Marlene Sidaway
Mr Maxwell ...... Michael Cochrane
Mr Long ...... Paul Copley
Miss Featherstone ...... Teresa Gallagher
Miss Reid ...... Jacqueline Beatty
Mrs Khan ...... Janice Acquah
Rajesh ...... Pax Baldwin
Wayne ...... Daryl Moore
Kirsten ...... Ruby Williams
Dawn ...... Jessica Hill.
Ten series of this King Street Junior ran between 1985 and 1998.
King Street Junior Revisited ran from 2002 to 2005.
Producer: John Fawcett Wilson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2004.
FRI 15:00 Drama on 4 (b04cb9gy)
Close Call by Sarah Weatherall
With Apollo 11 about to land on the moon, the Watts family have finally installed their first telephone, little realising how much their lives will change with its arrival. The phone sits in the hallway, witnessing the activities of the house, listening to the family's secret loves, fears and joys.
There is much excitement at using a phone for the first time, in the days before mobiles and texts, and when no conversation was private.
Written by Sarah Weatherall
:
Frank Watts ..... Ricky Champ
Natalie ..... Angie Wallis
Vincent ..... Matthew Tennyson
Liam ..... Reece Buttery
DJ ..... Clive Hayward
Newsreader ..... Elaine Claxton
Director: Anne Bunting
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m0029hwh)
Up Dog Down Dog by Vicki Jarrett
A cleaner labours in a large townhouse while her client strives for inner peace.
Written by Vicki Jarrett.
Reader: Molly Innes
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in April 2025.
FRI 16:00 Soul Music (b013f96w)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 today]
FRI 16:30 Between the Ears (b08v8lzk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 today]
FRI 17:00 No Place To Hide (m001kwh8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:00 today]
FRI 17:30 Only the Good Die Young (b007jn17)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:30 today]
FRI 18:00 My Mammy and Me (m002sg4z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:00 today]
FRI 18:30 Steptoe and Son (b007k0rm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:30 today]
FRI 19:00 Mark Steel's in Town (m001bgrp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:00 today]
FRI 19:30 Stephen Fry on the Phone (b017clwx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:30 today]
FRI 19:45 Ladies of Letters (b012211j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:45 today]
FRI 20:00 One Person Found This Helpful (m001xm0y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:00 today]
FRI 20:30 King Street Junior Revisited (b00jnlsk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 14:30 today]
FRI 21:00 Drama on 4 (b04cb9gy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 today]
FRI 21:45 Short Works (m0029hwh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:45 today]
FRI 22:00 Stand-Up Specials (m002scs8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]
FRI 22:30 Unnatural Acts (b00jm3kz)
Series 1
Royal Fever
The gang get a genealogist to probe Jeremy Hardy's lineage. But who will be Queen?
A sitcom about a happily-married pair of young people and their crazy friends.
Jeremy.....Jeremy Hardy
Kit.............. Kit Hollerbach
Paul............Paul B Davies
Caroline.... Caroline Leddy
Written by Jeremy Hardy, Kit Hollerbach, Paul B Davies, Caroline Leddy, Peter Sinclair, Steve Punt.
Producer: David Tyler
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1987.
FRI 23:00 The Masterson Inheritance (b007jr62)
Series 3
The St Valentine's Day Mastersons
Budding starlette Genevieve hits seedy 1920s Hollywood.
The award-winning improvised historical comedy.
Based entirely on audience suggestions - this is the unfolding saga of the Mastersons - a family at war with itself.
Starring:
Paul Merton
Josie Lawrence
Lee Simpson
Jim Sweeney
Phelim McDermott
Caroline Quentin
Producer: Phil Clarke
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 1995.
FRI 23:30 Hal (b08lgdpn)
Series 2
Teenagers
Hal Cruttenden returns as a hapless house husband trying to cope with his mid-life crisis and doubting his every move.
His wife Sam is still a highly successful business woman, while daughters Lily and Molly continue to grow into teenagers and find their dad just a little annoying.
Racist neighbour Penny is a major thorn in Hal's side and his best mates Fergus and Barry hinder rather than help Hal's goal of finding himself.
In this opening episode, Lily is set to introduce the family to her new hip boyfriend, but Hal's need to re-kindle his own romantic past leads to unforeseen challenges.
Hal’s bitter and embittered sister Pippa has come to stay unexpectedly, after her husband decided to experiment with his sexuality...
Written by Hal Cruttenden and Dominic Holland.
Hal ...... Hal Cruttenden
Sam ...... Kerry Godliman
Penny ...... Ronni Ancona
Pippa ...... Abigail Cruttenden
Fergus ...... Ed Byrne
Barry ...... Gavin Webster
Oberon ...... Arthur Hughes
Therapist ...... Jonathan Kydd
Ian ...... Jonathan Kydd
Policeman ...... Simon Greenall
Bazman ...... Joe Attewell
Producer: Paul Russell
An Open Mike production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in April 2017.