[British Radio] BBC Radio Drama: Saturday 25th February - 3rd March

Drama of the Week: This is Not a Banksy
Sam's life is turned upside down when his girlfriend discovers a Banksy on his bottom. Starring Elis James and Kimberley Nixon. By Alan Harris. :download:


Saturday 26th March

All That Fall
Radio 4 14:30 A playful and mysterious journey of words and sounds. One of Samuel Beckett’s most naturalistic plays, inspired by memories of his native Foxrock in Ireland.

The Magus Episode 1.
Radio 4 21:00 The Magus Episode 1.
Nicholas Urfe, a young British graduate runs away from his monotonous life to take up a teaching post on the small Greek island of Phraxos. There he meets the enigmatic figure of Maurice Conchis and slowly gets drawn into a world full of strange encounters and elaborate tricks on Conchis's estate at Bourani. When Conchis introduces Nicholas to the enchanting and mysterious Lily Montgomery who bears a striking resemblance to Conchis's long dead fiancée, reality and illusion begin to intertwine, but what strange game is Conchis playing with Nicholas? Moreover, in this world coloured by artifice and deception, who is really telling him the truth?
First published in 1965 John Fowles's novel 'The Magus' soon achieved cult status, but has only been dramatized once before in a film of 1968. Now acclaimed dramatist and screenwriter Adrian Hodges (My Week with Marilyn, The Go-Between, Peter and Wendy, The Musketeers, Survivors, Primeval,) has adapted the novel for this new three-part dramatisation starring Tom Burke (War and Peace, The Musketeers) as Nicholas Urfe, Charles Dance (And Then There Were None, Game of Thrones) as Maurice Conchis, and Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter, Brideshead Revisited) as Lily.
Harpsichordist ..... Maggie Cole
Recorder player ..... Martin Feinstein
Writer ..... John Fowles
Adapted by ..... Adrian Hodges
Producer/Director ..... Heather Larmour.


Sunday 27th March

The Magus
Radio 4 15:00 Entranced by the charms of Lily, Nick struggles with his feelings for Alison, while things become increasingly dark and ominous at Bourani as Conchis continues his story. 2/3

The News From Home
Radio 3 21:00 A new play by Nick Dear on the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin. In a country house in the New Forest, two maids from Tipperary learn of insurrection in their homeland.


Monday 28th March

Hollywood Endings
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri When Kim is mistaken for the Hollywood 'A Lister' Faye Dexter, to whom she bears a passing resemblance, she little thinks this will become the worst day of her life.

Boswell's Lives
Radio 4 11:30 Julian Rhind-Tutt stars as Karl Marx and Miles Jupp as James Boswell, Dr Johnson's time travelling-biographer, recalling the lives of legends alive and dead in Jon Canter's comedy. 2/4

Rumpole: Rumpole on Trial
Radio 4 14:15 An aching tooth and the tedious evidence of a boring defendant provoke Rumpole to insult a judge and disobey his instructions. So Rumpole goes on trial. Starring Julian Rhind-Tutt.


Tuesday 29th March

Rumpole: Rumpole and Hilda
Radio 4 14:15 Hilda Rumpole – She Who Must Be Obeyed - falls for the charms of a smooth-talking solicitor. Will she be tempted to side with him against her husband? Starring Julian Rhind-Tutt.


Wednesday 30th March

A Charles Paris Mystery: A Decent Interval
Radio 4 11:30 Bill Nighy stars as the actor cum amateur sleuth. With the cast of Hamlet dropping like flies could there be a murderer in the company. Jeremy Front adapts Simon Brett's novel. 4/4

Other Peoples Countries
Radio 4 14:15 How can a house you never really lived in prove so hard to leave? A true story adapted from his book by Patrick McGuinness. Recorded where it happened in small town Belgium.


Thursday 31st March

Deep Swimmer
Radio 4 14:15 Mark Kennedy was a police officer who spent seven years undercover among environmental campaigners. Steve Waters’ factually-based drama examines events leading up to his unmasking.


Friday 1st April

Tempting Faith
Radio 4 14:15 When Faith's car is stolen she press-gangs Martin into a high-speed chase resulting in a hilarious series of harum-scarum incidents and near catastrophic results.

Drama of the Week: Boswell's Life of Marx
Julian Rhind-Tutt stars as Karl Marx and Miles Jupp as James Boswell, Dr Johnson's time travelling-biographer, recalling the lives of legends alive and dead in Jon Canter's comedy. :download:


Saturday 2nd April

Denmark Hill
Radio 4 14:30 Alan Bennett's idiosyncratic take on the Hamlet story adapted for radio. Seen largely through the beady eyes of a 15 year old schoolgirl, this is Bennett in black comedy mode.

The Magus Episode 2.
Radio 4 21:00 The Magus Episode 2.
Nicholas Urfe, a young British graduate runs away from his monotonous life to take up a teaching post on the small Greek island of Phraxos. There he meets the enigmatic figure of Maurice Conchis and slowly gets drawn into a world full of strange encounters and elaborate tricks on Conchis's estate at Bourani. When Conchis introduces Nicholas to the enchanting and mysterious Lily Montgomery who bears a striking resemblance to Conchis's long dead fiancée, reality and illusion begin to intertwine, but what strange game is Conchis playing with Nicholas? Moreover, in this world coloured by artifice and deception, who is really telling him the truth?
First published in 1965 John Fowles's novel 'The Magus' soon achieved cult status, but has only been dramatized once before in a film of 1968. Now acclaimed dramatist and screenwriter Adrian Hodges (My Week with Marilyn, The Go-Between, Peter and Wendy, The Musketeers, Survivors, Primeval,) has adapted the novel for this new three-part dramatisation starring Tom Burke (War and Peace, The Musketeers) as Nicholas Urfe, Charles Dance (And Then There Were None, Game of Thrones) as Maurice Conchis, and Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter, Brideshead Revisited) as Lily.
Harpsichordist ..... Maggie Cole
Written by ..... John Fowles
Adapted by ..... Adrian Hodges
Producer/Director ..... Heather Larmour.


Sunday 3rd April

The Magus
Radio 4 15:00 Conchis brings his masque at Bourani to an end but is everything – or everyone – what they seem? What trick has Conchis really been playing on Nicholas? 3/3

Dream of White Horses
Radio 3 21:00 When Chris discovers that Sean holds secret military films he persuades him to release them but the consequences tear their world to pieces in Linda Marshall Griffiths' drama.


Monday 4th April

How Does That Make You Feel?
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Of late, Richard Fallon MP seems to have avoided any major embarrassments on reality TV – but he has had an unfortunate recent encounter with a member of the Press.

Boswell's Lives
Radio 4 11:30 Miles Jupp stars as James Boswell, Dr Johnson's time travelling biographer, recalling the lives of other legends alive and dead in Jon Canter's comedy series. Today Madonna. 3/4

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 In the week in 1916 when a Zeppelin raid dropped bombs on the North East coast, old feuds are reignited in Ashburton.

The Final Cull
Radio 4 14:15 Black comedy by Matt Hartley about a disgruntled customer who takes matters into his own hands by confronting the staff at the call centre of his internet service provider.


Tuesday 5th April

Silk: The Clerks' Room
Radio 4 14:15 In Mick Collins' drama, barristers' clerk Jake finds himself in hot water when he goes behind the Head Clerk's back and asks a junior barrister to represent a friend. 1/3


Wednesday 6th April

Day Release
Radio 4 14:15 Lenny Henry stars as lifer Frank Watt who is coming to the end of his 30 year prison sentence and having to face up to life outside. 1/3


Thursday 7th April

Day Release
Radio 4 14:15 Lenny Henry as lifer Frank Watt. Frank escorts Geoff on his first day release – but it turns out that they have different plans for how the day will go. 2/3


Friday 8th April

Day Release
Radio 4 14:15 Lenny Henry as Frank Watt, a lifer coming to the end of a 30 year prison sentence. Frank tries to hide the real identity of his daughter during the London Mayoral elections. 3/3

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In the week in 1916 when a Zeppelin raid dropped bombs on the North East coast, old feuds are reignited in Ashburton.

Drama of the Week: Day Release
Lenny Henry stars as lifer Frank Watt who is coming to the end of his 30 year prison sentence and having to face up to life outside. :download:


Saturday 9th April

Reykjavik
Radio 4 14:30 Jonathan Myerson's rollercoaster drama about the surprise Reagan-Gorbachev summit in 1986.

The Magus, Episode 3.
Radio 4 21:00 The Magus, Episode 3.
Nicholas Urfe, a young British graduate runs away from his monotonous life to take up a teaching post on the small Greek island of Phraxos. There he meets the enigmatic figure of Maurice Conchis and slowly gets drawn into a world full of strange encounters and elaborate tricks on Conchis's estate at Bourani. When Conchis introduces Nicholas to the enchanting and mysterious Lily Montgomery who bears a striking resemblance to Conchis's long dead fiancée, reality and illusion begin to intertwine, but what strange game is Conchis playing with Nicholas? Moreover, in this world coloured by artifice and deception, who is really telling him the truth?
First published in 1965 John Fowles's novel 'The Magus' soon achieved cult status, but has only been dramatized once before in a film of 1968. Now acclaimed dramatist and screenwriter Adrian Hodges (My Week with Marilyn, The Go-Between, Peter and Wendy, The Musketeers, Survivors, Primeval,) has adapted the novel for this new three-part dramatisation starring Tom Burke (War and Peace, The Musketeers) as Nicholas Urfe, Charles Dance (And Then There Were None, Game of Thrones) as Maurice Conchis, and Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter, Brideshead Revisted) as Lily.
Writen by .....John Fowles
Adapted by ..... Adrian Hodges
Producer/Director ..... Heather Larmour.


Sunday 10th April

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Radio 4 15:00 Adapted by Jeanette Winterson from her acclaimed novel. A funny, dark and poignant coming of age story, quite unlike any other. Starring Lesley Sharp. 1/2

Everyday Time Machines
Radio 3 21:00 Al Smith's play looks at the fate of three physicists who meet at Oxford and how Time plays a central part in their work and their relationships with devastating consequences.


Monday 11th April

Writing the Century: The Secret
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri The series which explores the 20th century in the words of real people. Muriel Howard’s memoir of her Somerset childhood and keeping secrets adapted by Tina Pepler with Sara Davies.

Boswell's Lives
Radio 4 11:30 Miles Jupp stars as James Boswell, Dr Johnson's time travelling biographer, recalling the lives of other legends alive and dead in Jon Canter's comedy series. Today Alan Bennett. 4/4

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 In the week, in 1916, when reports reached Britain of a million Armenians massacred, the community in Ashburton find their world rocked by surprises.

The Liberty Cap
Radio 4 14:15 Can psychedelic drugs really have a use in the treatment of depression? Pete has tried every other treatment on offer and is now about to find out.


Tuesday 12th April

Silk: The Clerks' Room
Radio 4 14:15 Junior clerk Bethany's private ambitions of becoming a barrister come into the spotlight when she finds herself playing a key role in a criminal trial. By Janice Okoh. 2/3


Wednesday 13th April

Lament
Radio 4 14:15 A man and woman meet up again several years after they broke up. They gradually learn that the assumptions they've made about each other are quite wrong. By Debbie Tucker Green.


Thursday 14th April

Pandora
Radio 4 14:15 Things are fine. Pandora is young, living in Paris, she's got a nice boyfriend and a job that pays the bills. So why did she try to kill herself? By Caroline Horton.


Friday 15th April

Beyond Endurance
Radio 4 14:15 Dominic West stars as Ernest Shackleton in Meredith Hooper's play, charting the explorer's 1914 expedition planning to cross Antarctica, told in the words of the team themselves.

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In the week, in 1916, when reports reached Britain of a million Armenians massacred, the community in Ashburton find their world rocked by surprises.

Drama of the Week: Lament
A man and woman meet up again several years after they broke up. They gradually learn that the assumptions they've made about each other are quite wrong. By Debbie Tucker Green. :download:


Saturday 16th April

The Forsytes Continues
Radio 4 14:30 Soames delights in spoiling his effervescent daughter but how can he stop her falling in love with the wrong man. Jessica Raine & Joseph Millson star in Galsworthy’s epic saga.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Episode 1.
Radio 4 21:00 Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Episode 1.
Adapted for radio by Jeanette Winterson from her acclaimed novel.
A unique coming of age story and a darkly funny tale of religious excess and human obsession.
Mrs Winterson has grand plans for her adopted daughter. Having received Little Jeanette from the Lord she intends to give her back to the Lord - she'll be a Missionary and save the world from sin. But despite her strange and zealous upbringing Little Jeanette begins to question her future. Inspired by the legends of the Holy Grail, she may forge her own path - much to her mother's despair.
Piano performed by David Thomas
From the award winning novel by Jeanette Winterson
Dramatised for radio by Jeanette Winterson
Directed by Helen Perry
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production
Winner of the Whitbread Prize for best first fiction, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is Jeanette Winterson's semi-autobiographical novel. Her subsequent novels, including Sexing the Cherry, The Passion, Written on the Body, and The PowerBook, have also gone on to receive great international acclaim and Jeanette Winterson's honours include England's Whitbread Prize, and the American Academy' s E. M. Forster Award, as well as the Prix d'argent at the Cannes Film Festival.
Lesley Sharp is an award-winning stage, film and television actress, particularly well known for her variety of British television roles including Clocking Off, Scott & Bailey, Bob & Rose and Afterlife.


Sunday 17th April

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Radio 4 15:00 Adapted by Jeanette Winterson from her own acclaimed novel. A funny, dark and poignant coming of age story, quite unlike any other. Starring Lesley Sharp. 2/2

Song of Myself
Radio 3 21:00 Orson Welles read Whitman's trailblazing poem for the BBC Third Programme in 1953. His voice is interwoven with new readings from Michael Sheen, Clarke Peters and Eleanor Bron.


Monday 18th April

The Forsytes Continues
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Jessica Raine, Ben Lambert & Joseph Millson star in Galsworthy’s epic saga. In desperate need of distraction, newly married Fleur embraces the social whirl of 1920s London.

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 In the week, in 1916, when a British naval patrol intercepted Sir Roger Casement bringing munitions to Ireland, alliances are broken and made in Ashburton.

The Busker
Radio 4 14:15 Actor-singer Brian Protheroe stars as an ageing busker on the London underground. Joe Ward Munrow's first play for radio; a poignant and surreal glimpse into the world of busking.


Tuesday 19th April

Silk: The Clerks' Room
Radio 4 14:15 As the battle for supremacy of the clerks' room reaches fever pitch, John finds himself caught in the crossfire. By Mick Collins. 3/3


Wednesday 20th April

Rock Me Amadeus
Radio 4 14:15 Original British Dramatists: Simon Topping won the BBC Writers Prize with his first radio play about a young boy, Charlie, who's convinced she's a girl trapped in a boy's body.


Thursday 21st April

Holy Father
Radio 4 14:15 In the year 2020, 120 Cardinals have gathered in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new Pope. And for the first time since 1159 he might just be English.


Friday 22nd April

Big Time
Radio 4 14:15 Shakespeare is on his deathbed but Cervantes, who should be too, has plans for them both. A play to mark their death days by Jonathan Holloway.

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In the week, in 1916, when a British naval patrol intercepted Sir Roger Casement bringing munitions to Ireland, alliances are broken and made in Ashburton.

Drama of the Week: Big Time
Shakespeare is on his deathbed but Cervantes, who should be too, has plans for them both. A play to mark their death days by Jonathan Holloway. :download:


Saturday 23rd April

The Forsytes Continues
Radio 4 14:30 Fleur must face the consequences of flirting with danger. Jessica Raine, Ben Lambert & Joseph Millson star in John Galsworthy’s epic family saga of love, money and betrayal.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Episode 2.
Radio 4 21:00 Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Episode 2.
Adapted for radio by Jeanette Winterson from her acclaimed novel.
A unique coming of age story and a darkly funny tale of religious excess and human obsession.
Now 16, Jeanette's future as a budding missionary is called into question when she falls in love with one of her converts, Melanie. It's not long before Mrs Winterson discovers her daughter's 'unnatural passions'. As the congregation determine to exorcise her demons, Jeanette is forced to choose between her church, home and family or the woman she loves.
Piano performed by David Thomas
From the award winning novel by Jeanette Winterson
Dramatised for radio by Jeanette Winterson
Directed by Helen Perry
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production
Winner of the Whitbread Prize for best first fiction, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is Jeanette Winterson's semi-autobiographical novel. Her subsequent novels, including Sexing the Cherry, The Passion, Written on the Body, and The PowerBook, have also gone on to receive great international acclaim and Jeanette Winterson's honours include England's Whitbread Prize, and the American Academy' s E. M. Forster Award, as well as the Prix d'argent at the Cannes Film Festival.
Lesley Sharp is an award-winning stage, film and television actress, particularly well known for her variety of British television roles including Clocking Off, Scott & Bailey, Bob & Rose and Afterlife.


Sunday 24th April

Missing Presumed Dead: The Odyssey
Radio 4 15:00 Poet Simon Armitage re-visits Homer's Odyssey in Missing Presumed Dead . A government minister is on the run in Europe. He faces the unfamiliar in an undercover world to get home. 1/2

A Play for the Heart: The Death of Shakespeare
Radio 3 21:00 Robert Lindsay, Oliver Chris and Gwilym Lee star in Nick Warburton's new play, imagining Shakespeare's last day. What do his visitors want? And who is the man with bloody hands?


Monday 25th April

A Girl Called Jack
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri A dramatisation of Jack Monroe’s first cookery book about how to eat well on a tiny budget. Adapted by Sarah Daniels, starring Jaime Winstone and June Whitfield.

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 In the week that General Townshend surrendered, ending the Siege of Kut al Amara, there are calls to courage throughout the social scale in Ashburton.

The Sensitive: Heart of Darkness
Radio 4 14:15 A religious retreat in the Scottish Highlands becomes the venue for the final investigation by the psychic Thomas Soutar. By Alastair Jessiman. 1/2


Tuesday 26th April

The Sensitive: Heart of Darkness
Radio 4 14:15 After a serious accident at a religious retreat in the Highlands psychic Thomas Soutar struggles to cope with what will be his final investigation. By Alastair Jessiman. 2/2


Wednesday 27th April

All Mouth and Trousers
Radio 4 14:15 Husband and wife writing team Pauline Devaney and Edwin Apps recall their struggle to create the hugely successful TV sit-com All Gas and Gaiters. With John Sessions as Frank Muir.


Thursday 28th April

North
Radio 4 14:15 In 1939 the celebrated aviator Anne Morrow Lindbergh met writer Antoine de St Exupery. Did they have an affair? Samuel West stars in this off Broadway hit by Jennifer Schlueter.


Friday 29th April

The Great British Bridge Scandal
Radio 4 14:15 Medium Deborah Davis's story mirrors a bridge game: four players split into pairs pitted against each other, the stakes could not be higher but this is no game but a battle for truth.

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In the week that General Townshend surrendered, ending the Siege of Kut al Amara, there are calls to courage throughout the social scale in Ashburton.

Drama of the Week: A Play For the Heart: The Death of Shakespeare
Robert Lindsay, Oliver Chris and Gwilym Lee star in Nick Warburton's new play, imagining Shakespeare's last day. What do his visitors want? And who is the man with bloody hands?


Saturday 30th April

Look Back in Anger
Radio 4 14:30 To celebrate sixty years since John Osborne wrote his classic play, Richard Wilson directs a new radio dramatisation with David Tennant as Jimmy Porter.

Missing Presumed Dead: The Odyssey, Episode 1.
Radio 4 21:00 Missing Presumed Dead: The Odyssey, Episode 1.
In Simon Armitage's new version of Homer's Odyssey, a high ranking government minister with a colourful past is sent on a delicate diplomatic mission to Istanbul. When his trip ends up in a horrific bar room brawl, social media explodes and the enigmatic darling of a political party becomes Europe's most wanted man overnight. Chased by the authorities, damned by religious leaders, pursued by those looking for vengeance and head-hunted by fanatics, his Odyssey begins.Plunged into the ancient past Odysseus must now contend with all the unworldly beings and unnatural phenomena that stand in his way. In part one, The Lotus Flowers, Cyclops and Circe must all be overcome in the struggle for survival and the long voyage back to the present day. Here reality and mythology are blurred. At home, with her husband missing presumed dead, his wife Penelope and their young son are besieged by the press, ravenous for the full story.
The music was composed by James Fortune
Missing Presumed Dead was originally directed for the stage by Nick Bagnall and co-produced by The Liverpool Everyman and the English Touring Theatre
Directed for radio in Salford by Susan Roberts.


Sunday 1st May

Missing Presumed Dead: The Odyssey
Radio 4 15:00 Poet Simon Armitage re-visits Homer's Odyssey in Missing Presumed Dead . A government minister is on the run heading home in a Europe of shifting sands and unstable populations. 2/2

The Winter's Tale
Radio 3 21:00 Eve Best and Danny Sapani star in the magical product of the Bard's later years. Treading new dramatic ground the play embraces tragedy, poetry, folklore, music and comedy.


Monday 2nd May

Clouds in Trousers
Radio 4 10:45 Mon - Fri Katie Hims' drama follows Zoe as she grows up with every turn in her life marked by the weather. School is shut and the pond is frozen.

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 In the week, in 1916, when cheers met the announcement in Parliament that three Irish rebel leaders had been executed, it’s a week of collisions in Ashburton.

The Undivided Heart
Radio 4 14:15 Susan has recently died. Accident? Suicide? Murder? Three people visit her flat in a final communion with the woman they loved. But she is a different woman for each of them.


Tuesday 3rd May

Julius Ceasar
Radio 4 14:15 Tim Pigott-Smith stars as murder, ambition and betrayal take centre stage in a new 3 part production of Shakespeare's great political drama. Part of the BBC Shakespeare Festival. 1/3


Wednesday 4th May

Julius Ceasar
Radio 4 14:15 Part 2 of Shakespeare's great play about politics and betrayal. The conspirators gather at the Capitol where Caesar must meet his fate. Part of the BBC Shakespeare Festival. 2/2


Thursday 5th May

Julius Ceasar
Radio 4 14:15 The final part of Shakespeare's great Roman drama. Brutus and Cassius have been forced to leave Rome. But the combined forces of Mark Antony and Octavius are hot on their heels. 3/3


Friday 6th May

The Rage
Radio 4 14:15 Clare Lizzimore's stylish rapid-fire drama takes us inside the head of Anthony: a boy full of rage. Starring Theo Barklem-Biggs, Lee Ross and Danusia Samal.

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In the week, in 1916, when cheers met the announcement in Parliament that three Irish rebel leaders had been executed, it’s a week of collisions in Ashburton.

Drama of the Week: The Winter's Tale
Eve Best and Danny Sapani star in the magical product of the Bard's later years. Treading new dramatic ground the play embraces tragedy, poetry, folklore, music and comedy.


Saturday 7th May

Blood, Sex and Money by Emile Zola
Radio 4 14:30 Performance. A girl from the streets becomes a star. Dramatised from the work of Emile Zola by Oliver Emanuel. 1/9

Missing Presumed Dead: The Odyssey, Episode 2.
Radio 4 21:00 Missing Presumed Dead: The Odyssey, Episode 2.
In Simon Armitage's new version of Homer's Odyssey, a high ranking government minister with a colourful past is sent on a delicate diplomatic mission to Istanbul. When his trip ends up in a horrific bar room brawl, social media explodes and the enigmatic darling of a political party becomes Europe's most wanted man overnight. Chased by the authorities, damned by religious leaders, pursued by those looking for vengeance and head-hunted by fanatics, his Odyssey begins.
Plunged into the ancient past Odysseus must now contend with all the unworldly beings and unnatural phenomena that stand in his way. In part two, The Land of the Dead with Tiresias and his own mother Anticlea and The Sirens must all be overcome as well as a huge storm in the struggle for survival and the long voyage back to the present day.
At home, with her husband missing presumed dead, his wife Penelope and their young son are besieged by the press, ravenous for the full story.
The music was composed by James Fortune
Missing Presumed Dead was originally directed for the stage by Nick Bagnall and co-produced by The Liverpool Everyman and the English Touring Theatre
Directed for radio in Salford by Susan Roberts.


Sunday 8th May

Blood, Sex and Money, by Emile Zola
Radio 4 15:00 Power. An intoxicating blend of love and politics dramatised from the work of Emile Zola by Oliver Emanuel. 2/9

King Lear
Radio 3 21:00 When better than now to make a drama about “the division of the kingdom”? A new production with a Scottish cast headed by Ian McDiarmid as Lear and Bill Paterson as Gloucester.


Monday 9th May

Writing the Century: The Experience of Love
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Christopher Green tells the stories behind the National Lesbian and Gay Survey.

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 In a week when the Teachers Association strongly condemned the encouragement of child labour to replace conscripted men, the Ashburton community is on a steep learning curve.

Blood, Sex and Money, by Emile Zola
Radio 4 14:15 Love goes very badly wrong. Dramatised by Dan Rebellato, based on Zola’s 20 novel Rougon Macquart cycle. With Glenda Jackson, Anna Maxwell Martin and Sam West. 3/9


Tuesday 10th May

Blood, Sex and Money, by Emile Zola
Radio 4 14:15 A young girl’s struggle to reconcile her love of God with her feelings for a young man, dramatised by Dan Rebellato, starring Glenda Jackson, Anna Maxwell Martin and Mina Anwar. 4/9


Wednesday 11th May

Blood, Sex and Money, by Emile Zola
Radio 4 14:15 Martin Jameson's Innocence inspired by Zola's Rougon-Macquart. A man wakes in an idyllic garden in the care of a beautiful young woman but dark secrets unfold as his memory returns. 5/9


Thursday 12th May

Blood, Sex and Money, by Emile Zola
Radio 4 14:15 Jealousy by Martin Jameson inspired by Zola's Rougon-Macquart series. Dide's great grand-daughter Helene finds herself torn between sexual desire and motherhood. 6/9


Friday 13th May

Blood, Sex and Money, by Emile Zola
Radio 4 14:15 Affairs by Lavinia Murray inspired by Zola's Rougon-Maquart series. Dide's great grand-son Octave has come to Paris to find his fortune preferably through his affairs with women. 7/9

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In a week when the Teachers Association strongly condemned the encouragement of child labour to replace conscripted men, the Ashburton community is on a steep learning curve.

Drama of the Week: King Lear
When better than now to make a drama about “the division of the kingdom”? A new production with a Scottish cast headed by Ian McDiarmid as Lear and Bill Paterson as Gloucester.


Saturday 14th May

Blood, Sex and Money by Emile Zola
Radio 4 14:30 Lust. A story of insatiable desire. Dramatised from the work of Emile Zola by Lavinia Murray.

Cloud Howe
Radio 4 21:00 Cloud Howe.
Lewis Grassic Gibbon's powerful sequel to Sunset Song dramatised by Donna Franceschild.
Atmospheric drama about Grassic Gibbon's best-loved character, Chris.
Now married to Robert, a young and idealistic minister, Chris and her family move from the crofting village of Kinraddie to the mill town of Segget in Aberdeenshire. Living in the wake of the Great War and during the build up to the General Strike, they find themselves instrumental in the small town's epic class struggle.
Starring Amy Manson and Robin Laing.
Directed by Kirsty Williams.


Sunday 15th May

Blood, Sex and Money, by Emile Zola
Radio 4 15:00 Flesh. A famous courtesan returns to Paris in the season finale. Dramatised from the work of Emile Zola by Lavinia Murray. 9/9

Sonnets in the City
Radio 3 22:15 Five writers team with composers and respond to Shakespeare's most powerful sonnets to create five short, edgy contemporary dramas taking place in the city from sunset to sunrise.


Monday 16th May

Tales of the City: Michael Tolliver Lives
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series continues. It is 2005 San Francisco and Mrs Madrigal and her children are back. Dramatised by Lin Coghlan and starring Kate Harper.

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 In the week, in 1916, when unified Russian and British forces drove the Turks from the banks of the Tigris, sands are shifting in Ashburton.

World on the Move - Live Drama
Radio 4 14:15 Short drama by acclaimed playwright James Graham, performed live in the BBC Radio Theatre in London as part of World Without Borders.


Tuesday 17th May

Field Notes: The Peregrinations of a Most Musical Irishman
Radio 4 14:15 1832. The incorrigible Irish composer John Field leaves his Moscow home to begin a tour of Europe, along with the son he barely knows. Alistair McGowan stars in his own new drama.


Wednesday 18th May

School Drama
Radio 4 14:15 Four-part drama series with Tom Hollander. Deer Park Academy, a re-branded failing school, tries to turn itself around and inspire its students by staging Romeo and Juliet. 1/4


Thursday 19th May

School Drama
Radio 4 14:15 Has-been TV star, Geoff Cathcart, has been brought in to help stage a school production of Romeo and Juliet. But Geoff is a maverick with little time for rules. 2/4


Friday 20th May

School Drama
Radio 4 14:15 A failing school has brought in has-been TV star, Geoff Cathcart, to help stage a production of Romeo and Juliet. But Geoff is not quite who he seems. 3/4

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In the week, in 1916, when unified Russian and British forces drove the Turks from the banks of the Tigris, sands are shifting in Ashburton.

Drama of the Week: Blood, Sex and Money by Emile Zola Episode 9

Flesh. A famous courtesan returns to Paris in the season finale. Dramatised from the work of Emile Zola by Lavinia Murray.


Saturday 21st May


School Drama: Romeo and Juliet
Radio 4 14:30 A failing school has brought in a has-been TV star to help stage Romeo & Juliet. In this the final episode, the play itself is finally performed by the pupils. With Tom Hollander. 4/4

Cloud Howe Episode 2.
Radio 4 21:00 Cloud Howe Episode 2.
Lewis Grassic Gibbon's powerful sequel to Sunset Song dramatised by Donna Franceschild.
Atmospheric drama about Grassic Gibbon's best-loved character, Chris.
Now married to Robert, a young and idealistic minister, Chris and her family move from the crofting village of Kinraddie to the mill town of Segget in Aberdeenshire. Living in the wake of the Great War and during the build up to the General Strike, they find themselves instrumental in the small town's epic class struggle.
Tensions within the town grow as Chris and Robert help the spinners prepare for strike action. But nothing can prepare the family for the tragic events that are about to unfold.
Starring Amy Manson and Robin Laing.
Directed by Kirsty Williams.


Sunday 22nd May


Dangerous Visions: Brave New World
Radio 4 15:00 Aldous Huxley's thought-provoking classic tale of an irretrievably corrupt society where promiscuity is the norm, eugenics a respectable science and the drug Soma freely available.

The Wolf in the Water
Radio 3 21:00 What happened to Jessica, Shylock’s daughter in The Merchant of Venice? A bold new drama inspired by Shakespeare from cutting-edge writer, Naomi Alderman.


Monday 23rd May


Tales of the City: Mary Ann in Autumn
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series continues. It is 2008 San Francisco and Mrs Madrigal and her children are back. Dramatised by Lin Coghlan. Starring Kate Harper.

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 In a week when President Wilson advocated the formation of an Association of Nations to ensure future peace, relations in Ashburton are very troubled.

Dangerous Visions: Produce
Radio 4 14:15 When a couple discover that they can't have a healthy baby naturally, Zenith Genomics seems to offer the solution: a perfect, bespoke child. By Joseph Wilde.


Tuesday 24th May


Dangerous Visions: Your Perfect Summer, On Sale Here
Radio 4 14:15 What will happen when VR games can deliver real love? Ben Tavassoli, Oliver Chris and Claudie Blakley star in Ed Harris's future romance.


Wednesday 25th May


Dangerous Visions: News From Nowhere
Radio 4 14:15 Will wakes to find he has travelled 100 years into the future to a post-capitalist London. An exciting new version of William Morris' classic. Dramatised for radio by Sarah Woods.


Thursday 26th May


The Headline Ballads
Radio 4 14:15 As the refugee crisis in Greece subsides, Poet Louise Wallwein responds to what she has seen and heard over the past year, working as a volunteer on Kos.


Friday 27th May


Brotherhood
Radio 4 14:15 Yousaf returns home after being away for five years. It is a community that feels under pressure due to the media representation of Muslims. Starring Shane Zaza and Shobna Gulati.

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In a week when President Wilson advocated the formation of an Association of Nations to ensure future peace, relations in Ashburton are very troubled.

Dangerous Visons geht weiter. Alle Hörspiele der Woche, die zu der Reihe gehören, habe ich mit den gekennzeichnet.

Drama of the Week: Dangerous Visions: Produce
When a couple discover that they can't have a healthy baby naturally, Zenith Genomics seems to offer the solution: a perfect, bespoke child. By Joseph Wilde.


Saturday 28th May

Dangerous Visions: The Kraken Wakes
Radio 4 14:30 John Wyndham's science fiction novel adapted by Val McDermid. Performed with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in a terrifying modern retelling of alien invasion and global flooding.

Dangerous Visions: Brave New World Ep 1.
Radio 4 21:00 Dangerous Visions: Brave New World Ep 1 by Aldous Huxley
Radio 4's Dangerous Visions Season of dramas that explore uneasy reflections of the future opens with a Classic. It's 2116 and Helmholtz Watson and Bernard Marx are token rebels in an irretrievably corrupted society where promiscuity is the norm, eugenics a respectable science, and the drug Soma freely available. Dramatised by Jonathan Holloway.
Director: David Hunter.


Sunday 29th May

Dangerous Visions: Brave New World
Radio 4 15:00 In a corrupted society where promiscuity is the norm and eugenics a respectable science can John 'The Savage' remain true to the values he learnt on the primitive reservation? 2/2

Time and the Conways
Radio 3 21:00 A World War has just ended. The Conway family gather for Kay's 21st birthday party. But 19 years later we see that the future is far from the one they imagined.


Monday 30th May

44 Scoland Street Series 3: Edinburgh For Pretenders
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri There's trouble ahead for the Pollok family, new love for café owner Big Lou, and an encounter with pirates for anthropologist Domenica in this new series of, 44 Scotland Street.

Art, Artefacts and Angels
Radio 4 14:15 Comedy about the trials and tribulations of a modern museum. Written by a first time writer who used to work in a museum.


Tuesday 31st May

Departure
Radio 4 14:15 Colin Bytheway's drama about Life and Death. And choices. And the sock-to-trouser ratio of gay men. Starring Alison Steadman and Kevin Whately.


Wednesday 1st June

The Mystery of the Irish Crown Jewels
Radio 4 14:15 Who stole the Irish Crown Jewels? Was it Unionists attempting to derail Home Rule? Or Republicans trying to embarrass the Crown? The answer remains a mystery to this day…


Thursday 2nd June

Tommies
Radio 4 14:15 Based on eye-witness accounts, each episode of TOMMIES traces one real day at war, exactly 100 years ago. With Lee Ross, Indira Varma and Colin Hoult.


Friday 3rd June

Lost or Stolen
Radio 4 14:15 A romantic drama about two people adrift in London. From new writer Jessica Brown, winner of the Write Now competition two years running.

The Headline Ballads
Radio 4 21:00 As the refugee crisis in Greece subsides, Poet Louise Wallwein responds to what she has seen and heard over the past year, working as a volunteer on Kos.[/

Drama of the Week: Tommies Episode 1
Based on eye-witness accounts, each episode of Tommies traces one real day at war, exactly 100 years ago. With Lee Ross, Indira Varma and Colin Hoult.


Saturday 4th June

Dangerous Visions: The Kraken Wakes
Radio 4 14:30 Lone alien attacks are replaced global flooding. Wyndham's novel retold by Val McDermid in line with contemporary fears of climate change. With the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dangerous Visions: Brave New World Ep 2.
Radio 4 21:00 Dangerous Visions: Brave New World Ep 2.
by Aldous Huxley
The Dangerous Visions Season continues with the second part of Aldous Huxley's Classic dystopian tale . John the "Savage" has been brought back to a "civilised" world where promiscuity is the norm, eugenics a respectable science and the drug Soma freely available. Can he retain the ideal of freedom his childhood taught him? Dramatised by Jonathan Holloway.
Director: David Hunter.


Sunday 5th June

Major Barbara
Radio 4 15:00 Poldark stars Eleanor Tomlinson and Jack Farthing star in this George Bernard Shaw classic. Rebecca Front and Matthew Marsh join them in this treat for Radio 4 listeners.

Bix: Singing the Blues
Radio 3 21:00 Robert Forrest's play explores the heart and mind of legendary cornet player Bix Beiderbecke and his relationship with Louis Armstrong.


Monday 6th June

A Small Town Murder
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Jackie (Meera Syal) is sent to comfort Rachel Dickson whose son has just been seriously injured in a hit and run, and who is married to one of Birmingham's most notorious villains.

When the Night Has No Right to Be King
Radio 4 14:15 A man finds himself suspended between the living and the dead in this moving drama about grief and love by film actor and novelist John Lynch.


Tuesday 7th June

Murdering my Dad
Radio 4 14:15 A dark comedy about an adolescent girl who decides to kill her dad, exploring the dynamic and sometimes fraught relationship with fathers and adolescent daughters.


Wednesday 8th June

A Night Visitor
Radio 4 14:15 Forced by debt to downsize to an isolated cottage Hilary and Tom have a terrifying visitor one stormy night. A tale of jealousy, butchery and sausages.


Thursday 9th June

Tommies
Radio 4 14:15 Based on eye-witness accounts, each episode of TOMMIES traces one real day at war, exactly 100 years ago. With Lee Ross, Indira Varma, Sagar Radia and Ewan Bailey.


Friday 10th June

Paris, Nana and Me
Radio 4 14:15 When her eccentric French grandmother turns ninety, Caroline takes her on one last trip to Paris. A true story from writer/performer Caroline Horton.

Drama of the Week: Paris, Nana and Me

When her eccentric French grandmother turns ninety, Caroline takes her on one last trip to Paris. A true story from writer/performer Caroline Horton.


Saturday 11th June

Cassandra at the Wedding
Radio 4 14:30 Hayley Atwell stars in Dorothy Baker’s whip-smart 20th century American classic about an identical twin hell-bent on sabotaging her sister’s wedding day. Adapted by Peter Flannery.

Major Barbara, Episode 1.
Radio 4 21:00 Major Barbara, Episode 1.
After a long absence George Bernard Shaw returns
to the Radio 4 airwaves in this new 2 part drama.
Starring Eleanor Tomlinson as Barbara and
Rebecca Front as Lady Britomart.
Barbara's mission is to save East End souls in the West Ham
Salvation shelter. A tale of rich privilege and a battle of wills. All
wrapped up in a romance, the return of a long lost father and
a little matter of finding a foundling to carry on the Undershaft
arms and gunpowder empire.
Concertina played by Colin Guthrie and the
Cornet by Peter Ringrose
Produced and Directed by Tracey Neale
Major Barbara, written in 1905, is funny, enjoyable and crafty in dividing opinion and it leaves you pondering whether anything has changed over the years. It cleverly splits into two episodes for this Radio 4 production.
At its heart - a simple and intriguing conflict: the struggle between arms manufacturer Andrew Undershaft and his Salvationist daughter Barbara. Can a father win his daughter's heart and mind?
All the best things about George Bernard Shaw are here - the humour, the teasing paradoxical thinking and the sense of life being both absurd and deadly serious. How should people be ruled and how should they be helped? And who is really pulling the strings in the struggle for power - politicians or money?


Sunday 12th June

Major Barbara
Radio 4 15:00 Poldark stars Eleanor Tomlinson and Jack Farthing star in this George Bernard Shaw classic with Rebecca Front and Matthew Marsh. Episode 2.

Remorse, or, The Sorrows of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Radio 3 21:00 A play about addiction, broken friendship and unrequited love. With Alex Waldmann as Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Tim McInnerny as Porlock. By Robin Brooks.


Monday 13th June

Unsuitable Men With Familiar Smiles
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Eleanor Bron stars as Christine - a woman who has hidden her past from her family. But now she must reveal her extraordinary history of adventures with a string of unsuitable men.

Behind Closed Doors Series 3 - Contact
Radio 4 14:15 Harry donated sperm so his lesbian friend Beth could have a baby. Now the friendship has soured and Harry has gone to court to get contact rights to see 'his' daughter. 1/3


Tuesday 14th June

Behind Closed Doors Series 3 - Section
Radio 4 14:15 Barrister Rebecca Nyman represents Andrew - a client who has spent seven years in a secure mental hospital. Is it safe to release him now? A Tribunal has to decide. 2/3


Wednesday 15th June

Behind Closed Doors Series 3 - Protection
Radio 4 14:15 Barrister Rebecca Nyman is representing Harry, a husband, whose wife, Mary, has been in a Minimally Conscious State for over three years. Should Mary be allowed to die? 3/3


Thursday 16th June

Tommies
Radio 4 14:15 Based on eye-witness accounts, each episode of TOMMIES traces one real day at war, exactly 100 years ago. With Lee Ross, Indira Varma, Faye Castelow and Justin Salinger.


Friday 17th June

Reasons for Leaving
Radio 4 14:15 Lauren thinks someone is breaking into her house and calls the police, only to discover it’s Ian, her estranged husband who walked out and disappeared eleven months ago.

Drama of the Week: Reasons for Leaving

Lauren thinks someone is breaking into her house and calls the police, only to discover it’s Ian, her estranged husband who walked out and disappeared eleven months ago.


Saturday 18th June

Ferguson
Radio 4 14:30 Hugh Quarshie stars in Bonnie Greer's new play, inspired by Strindberg's The Father, updated to Chicago 2016 and the backdrop of recent fatal police shootings of young black men.

Major Barbara, Episode 2
Radio 4 21:00 Major Barbara, Episode 2.
While Barbara is out in the East End trying to save souls and raise money for the Salvation Army, Undershaft tells Dolly the two things necessary for Salvation are money and gunpowder and once he's got the Army he'll have Barbara too. Is he, as Dolly suspects, an infernal old rascal? Concertina played by Colin Guthrie and the Cornet by Peter Ringrose
Produced and Directed by Tracey Neale.


Sunday 19th June

Graham Greene: The Power and the Glory
Radio 4 15:00 Tabasco Mexico 1930s. The last priest is on the run from the anti-Catholic authorities. Stephen Rea and Hugo Speer star in Graham Greene's masterpiece, dramatised by Nick Warburton. 1/2

Electra
Radio 3 21:00 Kristin Scott Thomas stars in the Greek tragedy by Sophocles, in a version by Frank McGuinness. Radio transfer of the co-production by The Old Vic and Sonia Friedman Productions.


Monday 20th June

Dear Baby Mine
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri The story of Conor who is coming to terms with not being able to father his own child. Stars Jonathan Harden and Laura Donnelly.

The Victorian in the Wall
Radio 4 14:15 Will Adamsdale's delightful comedy with songs about a writer who discovers a Victorian man in the wall of his flat.


Tuesday 21st June

When I Lived in Peru
Radio 4 14:15 Comedy Drama starring Stephen Wight and Kelly Adams, written by Andrew Viner. Stay-at-home Martin takes extreme measures to compete with his globe trotting girlfriend.


Wednesday 22nd June

The Man Who Turned Into a Sofa
Radio 4 14:15 A depressed man and the sofa that sorted him out. A true story of illness overcome written and performed by Andrew Fusek Peters, Polly Peters and Rosalind Jana Peters. And a sofa.


Thursday 23rd June

Tommies
Radio 4 14:15 Based on eye-witness accounts, each episode of TOMMIES traces one real day at war, exactly 100 years ago. With Lee Ross, Indira Varma, Dean Logan and James Lailey.


Friday 24th June

From A-Z
Radio 4 14:15 Can A to Z dating reignite a rather rubbish relationship? Rom-com Starring Alex Carter and Catrin Stewart. By novelist and actress Rose Heiney.

Drama of the Week: The Victorian in the Wall

Will Adamsdale's delightful comedy with songs about a writer who discovers a Victorian man in the wall of his flat.


Drama of the Week: Ferguson

Hugh Quarshie stars in Bonnie Greer's new play, inspired by Strindberg's The Father, updated to Chicago 2016 and the backdrop of recent fatal police shootings of young black men.


Saturday 25th June

Miss Julie
Radio 4 14:30 Sofie Grabol (The Killing), Lars Mikkelsen (House of Cards) and Marie Bach Hansen (The Legacy) star in Roger James Elsgood's reimagined version of Strindberg’s 1888 play.

Graham Greene: The Power and the Glory 1/2
Radio 4 21:00 Graham Greene: The Power and the Glory 1/2
Tabasco, Mexico in the 1930s. The last priest is on the run from the anti-Catholic authorities, who put any priests they find before the firing squad. Stephen Rea and Hugo Speer star in Graham Greene's masterpiece, dramatised by Nick Warburton. Directed by Emma Harding.


Sunday 26th June

Graham Greene: The Power and the Glory
Radio 4 15:00 The last priest is on the run. Stephen Rea and Hugo Speer star in Graham Greene's masterpiece, set against Mexico's anti-clerical purges of the 1930s, dramatised by Nick Warburton. 2/2

Life in the Tomb
Radio 3 21:00 The First World War seen through the eyes of a Greek soldier. One of the most celebrated and controversial pieces of 20th century Greek literature, dramatised by April De Angelis.


Monday 27th June

How To Have a Perfect Marriage
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Can Karen and gay husband Jack stay wed? Are they hanging on because they can’t let go? The kids are fine so why rock the boat? But Jack wants a family life and his independence.

Ambiguous Loss
Radio 4 14:15 Around 250,000 people go missing in the UK each year. Most return within days. Michael Butt tells the story of the Stephens family whose wait for news continues 16 months later. 1/3


Tuesday 28th June

Ambiguous Loss
Radio 4 14:15 Sally Stephens hasn't seen or heard from husband Aidan for 16 months. Can he ever go back to his family after the devastation of what's happened? Michael Butt tells their stories. 2/3


Wednesday 29th June

Ambiguous Loss
Radio 4 14:15 Aidan walked out on his family 17 months ago, vanishing without trace. Michael Butt's drama catches up with the Stephens family as they try to negotiate his homecoming. 3/3


Thursday 30th June

Tommies
Radio 4 14:15 Tommies reveals a hidden true story, based on secret German documents, of a British signalling blunder on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.


Friday 1st July

Lance
Radio 4 14:15 A one-man show about growing up, hero-worship, betrayal and cycling. Written and performed by Kieran Hodgson, and nominated for the 2015 Edinburgh Comedy Award.

Drama of the Week: Amsterdam

New comedy drama by Lenny Henry. Juliette takes her newish boyfriend and her biggish sons on what she hopes will be a bonding trip to Amsterdam. What could possibly go wrong?


Saturday 9th July

Defoe: Moll Flanders
Radio 4 14:30 Jessica Hynes plays Moll Flanders to Ben Miles' Daniel Defoe in Nick Perry's free adaptation of the 18th century classic. 1/2

Roald Dahl: Going Solo 1/2
Radio 4 21:00 Roald Dahl: Going Solo 1/2
To celebrate the centenary year of his birth, a full dramatization of Roald Dahl's gripping autobiographical overseas adventure.
Beginning aboard the SS Mantola, Dahl sets sail for Africa at the tender age of 22. He experiences the remnants of colonial British life, filled with eccentric characters, and is thrown into a world as bizarre and surprising as any you will find in his fiction.
"Life is made up of a great number of small incidents and a small number of great ones."
Stationed in Tanzania, Dahl is faced with the excitement of the wild; lions carrying off women in their mouths; fatal green mambas captured by snake men. But his savannah-sun-drenched life is interrupted when World War II erupts. Dahl is ordered to round up the German inhabitants of Dar es Salaam and experiences first-hand the horror of war.
Patrick Malahide provides the voice of Dahl in a colourful adaptation by Lucy Catherine.
Dramatised by Lucy Catherine
Directed by Helen Perry
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production.


Sunday 10th July

Roald Dahl: Going Solo
Radio 4 15:00 Celebrating the centenary year of his birth, a dramatization of Dahl's autobiographical adventures. With war underway, pilot Dahl takes to the air in a series of daring deeds. 2/2


Monday 11th July

Life Lines
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Sarah Ridgeway stars in Al Smith’s tense drama about an ambulance call handler whose own life is fast becoming as much of an emergency as the calls she takes.

Brief Lives
Radio 4 14:15 Return of the popular drama series about legal reps in Manchester. Starring David Schofield as Frank Twist. 1/6


Tuesday 12th July

Foreign Bodies: Keeping the Wolf Out
Radio 4 14:15 Detective drama. A former secret policeman has been found murdered. Bertalan Lázár, a special investigator in Hungary during the Cold War, is assigned to the case. By Philip Palmer


Wednesday 13th July

Foreign Bodies: Keeping the Wolf Out
Radio 4 14:15 Murder most foul lies at the heart of a new case for Investigator Lázár of the Hungarian Police. Philip Palmer's crime drama is set in Communist Hungary in 1963. Stars Leo Bill.


Thursday 14th July

The Bee Maker
Radio 4 14:15 It's 2020 and humanity is waking up to the grim reality of a world without bees. And then people start getting lost. A cautionary tale about our busy technology-filled lives.


Friday 15th July

A Hospital Odyssey
Radio 4 14:15 An exploration of the nightmare world that emerges when a loved one is seriously ill. Maris's fear sets her on a quest to save her husband as reality shifts. By Gwyneth Lewis

Drama of the Week: Foreign Bodies: Keeping the Wolf Out
Detective drama. A former secret policeman has been found murdered. Bertalan Lázár, a special investigator in Hungary during the Cold War, is assigned to the case. By Philip Palmer


Saturday 16th July

Defoe: Moll Flanders
Radio 4 14:30 Jessica Hynes plays Moll Flanders to Ben Miles' Daniel Defoe in Nick Perry's free adaptation of the 18th century classic. 2/2

Roald Dahl: Going Solo 2/2
Radio 4 21:00 Roald Dahl: Going Solo 2/2
To celebrate the centenary year of his birth, a full dramatization of Roald Dahl's gripping autobiographical overseas adventure.
As World War II rages, Pilot Officer Dahl takes to the air in a series of daring deeds. An inspirational account of survival when things seem hopeless, in which the extraordinary is made human.
"The second part is about the time I spent flying for the RAF in the Second World War. There was no need to discard anything from this period because every moment was, to me at least, completely enthralling."
Having joined the RAF Dahl discovers a love of flying. But a crash in the Western desert almost ends his war before he's started. Eventually he rejoins his heavily depleted squadron during the hopeless last days in Greece. Dogged air fights, secret missions and many narrow misses with death ensue before he eventually returns home to his loving mother.
Patrick Malahide provides the voice of Dahl in a colourful adaptation by Lucy Catherine.
Dramatised by Lucy Catherine
Directed by Helen Perry
A BBC Cymru/Wales Production.


Sunday 17th July

Defoe: A Journal of the Plague Year
Radio 4 15:00 Ben Miles stars as the chameleon writer, businessman, debtor and hack, Daniel Defoe. In 1722, Defoe begins his fictional 'journal' of the Great Plague. Dramatised by Michael Butt.

The Deep Blue Sea
Radio 3 21:40 Terence Rattigan's celebrated 1952 play. It is post-war Britain and Hester Collyer has left her husband, an eminent judge, to be with Freddy, a younger, feckless ex-RAF pilot.


Monday 18th July

Lunch
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Stephen Mangan and Claire Skinner star in Marcy Kahan's comedy about two old flatmates who meet monthly for lunch and talk about everything except how much they love each other.

Brief Lives
Radio 4 14:15 Frank Twist and Sarah Gold run a legal rep firm that specialises in getting scrotes, crooks and even some innocent people off. 2/6


Tuesday 19th July

McLevy
Radio 4 14:15 New series of Victorian detective dramas, starring Brian Cox. Written by David Ashton.
Episode one: A Dangerous Remedy. Clients of the Just Land are attacked in the street.


Wednesday 20th July

McLevy
Radio 4 14:15 Episode 2: No Looking Back. A violent soldier is murdered at the Just Land.


Thursday 21st July

McLevy
Radio 4 14:15 Episode 3: A Pearl In the Oyster. A young girl dies on the steps of the Just Land.


Friday 22nd July

McLevy
Radio 4 14:15 Episode four: The Cross-Roads. McLevy is kidnapped by a grieving father.

Drama of the Week: Defoe: A Journal of the Plague Year
Ben Miles stars as the chameleon writer, businessman, debtor and hack, Daniel Defoe. In 1722, Defoe begins his fictional 'journal' of the Great Plague. Dramatised by Michael Butt.


Saturday 23rd July

Primo Levi's: The Periodic Table
Radio 4 10:30, 14:30, 15:30 & 19:00 Akbar Kurtha stars in a new dramatization of Levi's stories about the elements, introduced by Janet Suzman, dramatised by Graham White. Primo is a student chemist in Fascist Italy.

The Last Days of Troy Episode 1.
Radio 4 21:00 The Last Days of Troy Episode 1.
The Last Days of Troy. Simon Armitage's dramatisation of Homer's Iliad . The Greeks are laying siege to Troy to win back their abducted queen, Helen. But as the conflict drags on, and despite battlefields scarlet with blood, opposing forces have reached a bitter stalemate. Desperate and exhausted, both Gods and mortals squabble amongst themselves for the spoils of war and the hand of victory.
The Last Days of Troy reveals a world locked in cycles of conflict and revenge, of east versus west, and a dangerous mix of pride, lies and self-deception.
Lily Cole gives her radio debut as Helen of Troy - the face that launched a thousand ships.
Original Music by Alex Baranowski
Directed for Radio by Susan Roberts
First directed for The Royal Exchange Theatre by Nick Bagnall.
'Beyond the battlefield, the original tale is a back-room story of wounded pride, and the push and pull of family ties and national loyalty - tense and intriguing, with moments of great tragedy and breath-taking humility. Everything we have come to expect of the great myths'
Simon Armitage.


Sunday 24th July

Primo Levi's: The Periodic Table
Radio 4 15:00, 16:00 & 19:15 Henry Goodman stars in Levi's element-themed stories, introduced by Janet Suzman and dramatised by Graham White. Primo recounts amusing stories from a professional chemist's life.

Tartuffe
Radio 3 21:40 A Liverpool Playhouse production of Roger McGough's version of Moliere's comedy. With John Ramm, Joseph Alessi, Simon Coates, Rebecca Lacey and Eithne Brown.


Monday 25th July

Highlites: Natural Bounce
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Comedy starring Lorraine Ashbourne and Rosie Cavaliero. Bev and Shirl, the world's worst hairdressers, get into fitness. By Phil Nodding and Steve Chambers.

Brief Lives
Radio 4 14:15 Sarah is called in to defend a music teacher who has had an unlawful relationship with a student. 3/6


Tuesday 26th July

The Vicar, the Automan and the Talking Dog
Radio 4 14:15 A mixture of fact & fantasy drama, in an extraordinary day in the life of Alexander Graham Bell as a child, as we discover the roots of his genius & the invention of the telephone.


Wednesday 27th July

Black and Blue
Radio 4 14:15 Six young black male playwrights give personal responses to policing and profiling in the US and the legacy of the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. 1/2


Thursday 28th July

Black and Blue
Radio 4 14:15 Black teen Tonio finds solace on the basketball court, but he soon becomes threatened by a gang. A white beat cop tries to help him stay safe in a crime-riddled DC neighbourhood. 2/2


Friday 29th July

Strangers in the Night
Radio 4 14:15 Hollywood beckons for English actress Carol White, star of 'Cathy Come Home'. Once there she finds herself drawn into an unusual friendship with Frank Sinatra. By Georgia Fitch.

Drama of the Week: Defoe: Highlites: Natural Bounce
Comedy starring Lorraine Ashbourne and Rosie Cavaliero. Bev and Shirl, the world's worst hairdressers, get into fitness. By Phil Nodding and Steve Chambers.


Saturday 30th July

The Penny Dreadfuls Present: The Curse of the Beagle
Radio 4 14:30 The Penny Dreadfuls take on a comedic exploration of Charles Darwin’s adventures aboard the HMS Beagle. Starring Humphrey Ker, David Reed and Thom Tuck with Margaret Cabourn-Smith.

The Last Days of Troy, episode 2.
Radio 4 21:00 The Last Days of Troy, episode 2.
The Last Days of Troy. Simon Armitage's dramatisation completes Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid
The Greeks are laying siege to Troy to win back their abducted queen, Helen. But as the conflict drags on, and despite battlefields scarlet with blood, opposing forces have reached a bitter stalemate. Desperate and exhausted, both Gods and mortals squabble amongst themselves for the spoils of war and the hand of victory.
The Last Days of Troy reveals a world locked in cycles of conflict and revenge, of east versus west, and a dangerous mix of pride, lies and self-deception.
Lily Cole gives her radio debut as Helen of Troy - the face that launched a thousand ships.
Original music composed by Alex Baranowski
Directed for Radio by Susan Roberts
First directed for The Royal Exchange Theatre by Nick Bagnall.


Sunday 31st July

Reading Europe - Italy: My Brilliant Friend
Radio 4 15:00 A story about a friendship that lasts a lifetime. Growing up in a poor Naples in the 50s, Elena and Lila learn to rely on each other ahead of anyone - or anything - else. 1/2


Monday 1st August

Tinsel Girl and the Big Reunion
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Uplifting comedy drama about the life, loves and misadventures of wheelchair user Maz. Starring and inspired by Cherylee Houston. Written by Lou Ramsden"

Brief Lives
Radio 4 14:15 A Judge is accused of rape. He is very plausible in his explanations. Is he innocent? Or a practised liar? 4/6


Tuesday 2nd August

Poetry in Motion
Radio 4 14:15 We hear the thoughts of five people sitting near each other on a train travelling to Manchester. They all get on alone but they all leave a little less so. By Katie Hims


Wednesday 3rd August

Dad
Radio 4 14:15 A touching drama about a young, hands-on, full time, sleep deprived, clueless dad by Sarah McDonald Hughes. Starring Robert Haythorne and Reece Noi.


Thursday 4th August

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Radio 4 14:15 A new two-part dramatisation of Alexander McCall Smith's latest book, The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine.


Friday 5th August

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Radio 4 14:15 Mma Ramotswe is technically on holiday from the Agency but that does not stop her from stepping in to rescue an orphaned boy, or from taking on an important case.

Drama of the Week: Poetry in Motion

We hear the thoughts of five people sitting near each other on a train travelling to Manchester. They all get on alone but they all leave a little less so. By Katie Hims


Saturday 6th August

The Clintons
Radio 4 14:30 Three new dramas imagine key moments in the Clintons’ lives together, closely based on the published accounts and opinions of those who’ve witnessed their enduring partnership. 1/3

Reading Europe - Spain: Tomorrow in the Battle Think On Me 1/2
Radio 4 21:00 Reading Europe - Spain: Tomorrow in the Battle Think On Me 1/2
When the woman with whom he was about to begin an affair suddenly dies in his arms, Victor considers walking away - but is unable to resist delving into the woman's dark secrets.
Marta has just met Victor when she invites him to dinner at her Madrid apartment while her husband is away on business. When her two-year-old son finally falls asleep, Marta and Victor retreat to the bedroom. Undressing, she feels suddenly ill dies, inexplicably, in his arms.
What should Victor do? Remove the compromising tape from the phone machine? Leave food for the child, for breakfast? These are just his first steps, but he soon takes matters further - unable to bear the shadows and the unknowing, Victor plunges into dark waters.
Writer Javier Marías, Europe's master of secrets and of what lies reveal and truth may conceal, is on sure ground in this profound, brilliantly imagined and hugely intricate novel.
From the novel by Javier Marías
Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
Dramatised for radio by Michael Butt
Produced by Eoin O'Callaghan
A Big Fish production for BBC Radio 4.


Sunday 7th August

Reading Europe - Italy: My Brilliant Friend
Radio 4 15:00 A story about a friendship that lasts a lifetime. Growing up in a poor Naples in the 50s, Elena and Lila learn to rely on each other ahead of anyone - or anything - else. 2/2

Henceforward
Radio 3 22:00 Martin Jarvis directs Jared Harris and Joanne Whalley in Alan Ayckbourn's prophetic comedy. What's the most important thing for composer Jerome: a great new work, or his family?


Monday 8th August

Graham Greene: Monsignor Quixote
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Bernard Cribbins stars as Father Quixote in Graham Greene's 'entertainment', set in rural Spain a few years after the death of Franco. A comic take on Cervantes' classic novel. 1/10

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 Mon - Fri In this week in 1916 when the film The Battle of the Somme set box offices records for British cinema, extraordinary good fortune disrupts the lives of the Graham household.

Music to See By
Radio 4 14:15 1776 Vienna: Physician, Franz Anton Mesmer, offers to treat blind musical prodigy, Maria Theresia von Paradis with his revolutionary technique. But will her sight be restored?


Tuesday 9th August

Tracks
Radio 4 14:15 When a plane crashes in West Wales a dark mystery begins to unfold. The first in a major new nine-part conspiracy thriller, starring Romola Garai. Written by Matthew Broughton. 1/9


Wednesday 10th August

Recent Events at Collington House
Radio 4 14:15 A battle of beliefs in a return to Collington House, where the school governors are struggling to reconcile their religious and cultural differences.


Thursday 11th August

The Man Inside the Radio is My Dad
Radio 4 14:15 Charlie Brooks, Janine in EastEnders, stars in Louise Monaghan's play. Is Mum telling Chloe the truth about the absence of her Dad or is she holding something back?


Friday 12th August

The Tunnel
Radio 4 14:15 Science Fiction drama by David Lemon set in a near-future Britain following the collapse of the information age. An ailing grandfather tries to protect his granddaughter.

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In this week in 1916 when the film The Battle of the Somme set box offices records for British cinema, extraordinary good fortune disrupts the lives of the Graham household.