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

Drama of the Week: Blood, Sex and Money by Emile Zola Season 1 - Episode 1 Animals
Animals by Dan Rebellato inspired by Zola's Rougon-Macquart Series. Dide's son, Pierre siphons off her fortune and her grandson, Silvere, runs away to join the republican uprising. :download:


Saturday 28th November

Blood, Sex and Money by Emile Zola Season 1 - Blood Episode 8
Radio 4 14:30 Fury inspired by Zola's Rougon-Macquart novels. Jacques loves his train more than any woman he's ever met. But Dide is aware of the terrifying desires that he harbours within.

Bloody, Sex and Money by Emile Zola Episode 2
Radio 4 21:00 Bloody, Sex and Money by Emile Zola Episode 2
Episode 2 of 9
Listen in pop-out player
An epic 24 hours of drama inspired by the works of literature's greatest whistle blower, Emile Zola.
Passion, in every sense, is the theme of this episode, dramatised by Dan Rebellato.
Glenda Jackson stars as Dide, 104 years old, the matriarch to a family of wolves - the Rougon-Macquarts.
She is trapped in her small room in the local asylum in Plassans, southern France. Trapped, but omniscient as she broods over her extended family. As a young woman, she gave birth to two dynasties that exemplified French society. One legitimate - rich, powerful, obsessive and corrupt. The other illegitimate - poor, vulnerable, weak and depraved.
France is on the brink of a new Empire. Dide's family is a turbulent mix of the good, the bad and the misguided. This episode, Fire, focuses on Francois and Martha who are happily married, living a quiet, bourgeois life. Abbe Faujas, a charismatic, sinister priest, arrives on their doorstep and announces he has come to live in their spare room. Black comedy and tension ensue as his scheming drives a wedge between the couple, uncovering the darker side of this sleepy provincial town.
Dan Rebellato is a Sony nominated writer and Professor of Theatre at Royal Holloway.
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Produced and Directed by Polly Thomas
Executive Producer: Melanie Harris
Series Producer: Susan Roberts
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.


Sunday 29th November

Blood, Sex and Money by Emile Zola Season 1 - Blood Episode 9
Radio 4 15:00 Trains. Jacques has finally fallen in love but his murderous desires resurface. Dramatised by Dan Rebellato, inspired by literature's greatest whistleblower, Zola.

Curated by Harriet Walter: A Human Being Died That Nigh
Radio 3 21:00 Harriet Walter's curated season hosts a production from Cape Town's Fugard Theatre. Psychologist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela meets 'Prime Evil', aka apartheid assassin Eugene de Kock.


Monday 30th November

Greater Love
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Drama series charting the true story of the Plague in Eyam, Derbyshire. A new young Rector battles for authority with the puritanical former rector.

When Last I Saw You
Radio 4 14:15 Psychological thriller. Jane, says she has found, by chance, the man who violently attacked her five years ago. But he denies it, and she mistakenly identified a man before.


Tuesday 1st December

Oh You Pretty Things
Radio 4 14:15 When Ellie’s ex gets in touch after 25 years, her husband Dave can’t resist doing the same thing and calls his ex too. Is it ever wise to get back in touch with your ex?


Wednesday 2nd December

Tumanbay
Radio 4 14:15 Tumanbay, heart of a vast empire, is threatened by a rebellion and a mysterious force devouring the empire from within. Gregor begins the task of rooting out this insurgence. 1 /10


Thursday 3rd December

1977
Radio 4 14:15 How the writing of the music for the film Watership Down allows one woman to live the life she'd always wanted. With Rebecca Root.


Friday 4th December

Tess In Winter
Radio 4 14:15 Thomas Hardy lives with his second wife Florence in chilly seclusion. Two frozen hearts, until the local actress Gertrude Bugler comes between them. Stars Pippa Haywood.

Drama of the Week: When Last I Saw You
Psychological thriller. Jane, says she has found, by chance, the man who violently attacked her five years ago. But he denies it, and she mistakenly identified a man before. :download:


Saturday 5th December

Inspector Chen: Death of a Red Heroine
Radio 4 14:30 The murder of a model worker in Shanghai gives Inspector Chen his first challenge with the Special Case Squad. Award-winning crime drama by Qiu Xiaolong.

Bloody, Sex and Money by Emile Zola Season 1 - Episode 9 Trains
Radio 4 21:00 Bloody, Sex and Money by Emile Zola Season 1 - Episode 9 Trains
Episode 9 of 9
Jacques has finally fallen in love but his murderous desires resurface, with terrible consequences. Dramatised by Dan Rebellato, inspired by literature's greatest whistle blower - Emile Zola.
Glenda Jackson stars as Dide, 104 years old, the matriarch to a family of wolves - the Rougon-Macquarts - in this final drama of the series.
As society changes around her, Dide is still trapped in her small room in the local asylum, but omniscient when it comes to her extended family. As a young woman, she gave birth to two dynasties that exemplified French society. One legitimate - rich, powerful, obsessive and corrupt. The other illegitimate - poor, vulnerable, weak and depraved.
France is on the brink of a new Empire. Her family is a turbulent mix of the good, the bad and the misguided.
The brand new railway system was a powerful force. Dide's great-grandson Jacques, a train driver, has fallen in love with Sevrine, the first time a woman has come close to challenging his love of trains. As her marriage collapses under the weight of the murderous secret she and her husband share, she seeks her freedom to be with her new love. The pressure on Jacques becomes unbearable.
Dan Rebellato is a Sony nominated writer and Professor of Theatre at Royal Holloway.
Produced and Directed by Polly Thomas
Executive Producer: Melanie Harris
Series Producer: Susan Roberts
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.


Sunday 6th December
The Arabian Nights
Radio 4 15:00 An inventive adaptation by Glen Neath of wondrously entertaining and earthy tales, reviving old favourites such as Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves as well as lesser known stories. 1/2

Finlandia
Radio 3 21:00 As part of Radio 3's Northern Lights Season, Stephen Wyatt has created a psychological drama about Sibelius and weaves it around a Finnish epic and the composer's music.


Monday 7th December

Heat and Dust
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri A beguiling story of two English women living in India more than fifty years apart. Episode 1: Journeys.

Further from Heaven
Radio 4 14:15 Reckless Danny survives a serious car crash. His partner Catherine thinks he's very lucky. Maybe there's someone looking after him. Then an enigmatic old man knocks on the door and life for the couple will never be the same.


Tuesday 8th December

Pixie Juice
Radio 4 14:15 Award-winning writer Ed Harris' comic play about sight, insight and magic, stars Indira Varma as a tattooist who finds herself in a fairytale - with real fairies.


Wednesday 9th December

Tumanbay
Radio 4 14:15 Slave merchant Ibn waits for his family to arrive in Tumanbay. In the palace, Sarah the slave-girl is recruited by Gregor, to spy on the chief wife Shajar. Episode 2


Thursday 10th December

Bright Spark
Radio 4 14:15 Janine is a witness in a court case. She has persuaded her friend Mel to testify as well. The events happened over twenty five years ago. Can they persuade the jury their teacher abused them? Powerful drama about historical child abuse.


Friday 11th December

Sorry Boys You Failed the Audition
Radio 4 14:15 In the summer of 1962 the Beatles auditioned for producer George Martin at Parlophone Records. Having been rejected by every other record company, it was their last chance to get a recording contract. As the world soon found out, they passed the audition.

Drama of the Week: Finlandia
As part of Radio 3's Northern Lights Season, Stephen Wyatt has created a psychological drama about Sibelius and weaves it around a Finnish epic and the composer's music. :download:


Saturday 12th December

Inspector Chen: A Loyal Character Dancer
Radio 4 14:30 Inspector Chen has to use all his wits to solve a grisly murder and find the missing dancer at the heart of an international people-smuggling ring. Crime drama by Qiu Xiaolong.

The Arabian Nights Episode 1
Radio 4 21:00 The Arabian Nights Episode 1
The immortal stories of The Arabian Nights are brought to life in an inventive new adaptation by Glen Neath, reviving favourites such as Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves and The Fisherman and The Demon along with lesser known tales.
This is a world of wonder, magic and comedy - but also of contemporary realism. Successive generations in the east and the west have reinterpreted these tales, recognising the inept rulers, the resourceful slaves and the wondrous magicians. That's why this is one of the most enduring and influential books in literature.
In this first of two parts, we join Ata Madri (Indira Varma) as she heads to modern day Cairo to track down an elusive medieval copy of The Nights - one that is said to contain the original ending. A sea of stories awaits her.
An extraordinary ensemble of actors from east and west come together to tell the tales.
Sound design by Alisdair McGregor
Music by Michael Ward with David Lewin and Peter Rophone
Directed by Boz Temple-Morris
A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4.


Sunday 13th December

The Arabian Nights
Radio 4 15:00 An inventive adaptation by Glen Neath of wondrously entertaining and earthy tales, reviving old favourites such as Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves as well as lesser known stories. 2/2

Nordic Voices
Radio 3 21:00 As part of Radio 3's Northern Lights season, three short plays explore contemporary life in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Writing from Anna Bro, Arne Lygre and Jonas Gardell.


Monday 14th December

A Speck of Dust
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri When Zoe's husband Ben leaves her for another woman, she's determined that the family will get on just fine without him. By Sarah Woods.

The Morpeth Carol
Radio 4 14:15 9 year old Harry goes on a mysterious Christmas Eve road trip with a very unusual and very dangerous Santa. By Timothy X. Atack.


Tuesday 15th December

McLevy
Radio 4 14:15 New series. A Price To Pay. Victorian detective drama starring Brian Cox. The mild-mannered wife a town councillor admits to murdering her husband. 1/4.


Wednesday 16th December

Tumanbay
Radio 4 14:15 Adrift at sea in a small boat, daughter of slave merchant Ibn, depends on her slave captor for her survival. Madu, the nephew of the Sultan, swaps palace life for the army. 3/10


Thursday 17th December

Community Service
Radio 4 14:15 Daniel Mays, Leo Bill and Katie Redford star in Jonny O'Neill's moving and funny drama about a first-time offender's day in court.


Friday 18th December

A Greek Drama
Radio 4 14:15 This summer, behind closed doors, Greece and its creditors took each other to the brink. Now, in this original and meticulously researched docu-drama, the inside story can be told.

Drama of the Week: Nordic Voices
As part of Radio 3's Northern Lights season, three short plays explore contemporary life in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Writing from Anna Bro, Arne Lygre and Jonas Gardell. :download:

Drama of the Week: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
Oscar winning actor Jeremy Irons brings much-loved characters such as Bustopher Jones and Gus to life in this reading of T.S.Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
Available from 12:30pm, Friday 25th December.

Drama of the Week: Calendar Girls
Ambridge Am Dram Queen Lynda Snell presents the radio drama premiere of Tim Firth's comedy of jam and Jerusalem. Featuring the cast of The Archers and guest starring Sian Phillips.
Available from 20:45, Sunday 27th December.


Saturday 19th December

Inspector Chen: When Red is Black
Radio 4 14:30 Early 1990s Shanghai. Chen cannot turn down a lucrative translation job for a rich developer. But he must also find the murderer of a dissident writer. Crime drama by Qiu Xiaolong.

The Arabian Nights Episode 2
Radio 4 21:00 The Arabian Nights Episode 2
The immortal stories of The Arabian Nights are brought to life in an inventive new adaptation by Glen Neath, as present and past merge into one.
Ata Madri (Indira Varma) is in Cairo attempting to retrieve a lost manuscript of The Arabian Nights that is said to contain the real ending of the book. As we follow her search we slip into this sea of stories.
The Hunchback Cycle is told in this episode, including the story of The Barber (Alexei Sayle) and his brothers, as well as lesser known stories.
These tales of wonder and imagination have beguiled both east and west over generations and remain as seminal and influential as ever. Here, the stories are told in a rich world of sound by an ensemble of actors from around the world.
Sound design by Alisdair McGregor
Music by Michael Ward with David Lewin and Peter Rophone
Directed by Boz Temple-Morris
A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4.


Sunday 20th December

Memsahib Emma
Radio 4 15:00 Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Bhattacharjee sees no need for love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. 1/2

Brand
Radio 3 21:00 Ibsen's epic drama about a religious zealot who refuses all compromise. But faced with the possible death of his beloved wife and child, can he persist with his absolutism?


Monday 21st December

I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri A Savoy Cocktail as a Christmas treat. A star is born. How did George Grossmith, a small-time comedian, become the key collaborator of the Gilbert and Sullivan immortal Operas?

Home Front Season 6
Radio 4 12:00 On this day, as Folkestone begins to recover from a major landslide, it appears that the Wilsons have all developed little rituals.

Wildsong
Radio 4 14:15 A man seeks his brother to bring him to see their dying father. Integral to Joseph Wilde's play is music by Tim van Eyken that uses sounds, the wildsong, of the Somerset Levels.


Tuesday 22nd December

McLevy
Radio 4 14:15 Victorian detective drama starring Brian Cox. Chief Constable Craddock is outraged when an exotic dancer arrives in Leith. 2/4


Wednesday 23rd December

Tumanbay
Radio 4 14:15 As Shajar, the sultan’s chief wife, plots her son Madu's succession to the throne, Gregor is determined to discover what it is she has taken from the aged Hafiz. 4/10


Thursday 24th December

Suggs - My Mad-Life Crisis
Radio 4 14:15 The Madness frontman tells his funny and moving true-life story. Adapted for radio by Owen Lewis from the stage play My Life In Words And Music by Graham McPherson and Toby Follet.


Friday 25th December

Old Possum's Book of Practial Cats
Radio 4 08:30 Oscar winning actor Jeremy Irons brings much-loved characters such as Skimbleshanks and Macavity to life in his reading of T.S.Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Part One

Old Possum's Book of Practial Cats Part Two
Radio 4 12:15 Old Possum's Book of Practial Cats Part Two
Episode 2 of 2
On Christmas Day 1937 , nearly two years before book publication, five of T.S Eliot's Practical Cats poems were broadcast as readings by Geoffrey Tandy on BBC Radio . The Radio Times wrote' For some time past Mr Eliot has been amusing and instructing the offspring of some of his friends in verse on the subject of cats. These poems are not the kind that have been usually associated with his name'.
Over 75 years later, one of our greatest actors, Oscar- winning Jeremy Irons re-visits the original five poems along with the further ten which make up the Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats .
In this treat for Christmas day you will find familiar much-loved characters including Growltiger, Mungojerrie , Rumpleteaser, Old Deutoronomy, Mr Mistoffelees, Macavity Gus and Skimbleshanks . These are cats who are notorious , lurk in shadows, baffle Scotland yard, dance by the light of the moon and who must not be woken . They are found on trains, in the theatre, in the high street. They juggle, sleep, conjure, are curious and bore but they all show another side of one of our most important British poets .
T.S Eliot 's poems have been enjoyed by many in the musical Cats, but here we return to the poems without any music and celebrate the inventiveness in the original words. Following on from his powerful readings of The Waste land , Four Quartets and The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock for BBC Radio 4 Jeremy Irons continues his radio journey through the works of T.S Eliot with the cats .
Gus:The Theatre Cat
The Old Gumbie Cat
Bustopher Jones:The Cat about Town
Cat Morgan introduces himself
The Ad-dressing of Cats.

The Hunting of the Snark
Radio 4 14:15 Tony Robinson narrates Lewis Carroll's classic masterpiece following a strange assortment of characters on their quest for an elusive beast. With music and songs by Katie Chatburn.

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In the week following a massive landslide at the Warren, just east of Folkestone, the townsfolk are preparing for Christmas.

A Year at the Races
Radio 4 22:00 Nearing the end of his career Groucho Marx meets a young wisecracking fan, who’s determined to teach the old funny man some new comedy tricks. Starring Toby Jones

Tim Key's Christmas Poetry Programme
Radio 4 23:00 Comic poet Tim Key gets in the Christmas spirit, by reciting festive poetry. With musical support from Tom Basden.


Saturday 26th December

The Dog
Radio 4 13:15 Richard Wilson stars as a counsellor trying to save a failing marriage in Jon Canter's new comedy.

The Bed-sitting Room
Radio 4 14:30 Paul Merton & John Antrobus rework the 1960s post-apocalyptic, surrealist play for an all star cast including Derek Jacobi, Catherine Tate and Bernard Cribbins.

Memsahib Emma
Radio 4 21:00 Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Bhattacharjee sees no need for love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. 1/2

13A, 13B
Radio 4 22:15 Ruth Jones and Stephen Tompkinson star in Peter Souter's romcom set on a plane bound for Rome. Will love or a fear of flying win the day?


Sunday 27th December

Memsahib Emma
Radio 4 15:00 Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Bhattacharjee sees no need for love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. 2/2

Calendar Girls
Radio 4 19:15 Ambridge Am Dram Queen Lynda Snell presents the radio drama premiere of Tim Firth's comedy of jam and Jerusalem. Featuring the cast of The Archers and guest starring Sian Phillips.

Votes for Women
Radio 3 21:00 Zoe Tapper and Samuel West star in Elizabeth Robins's play, first performed in 1907 and written to support the cause of women's suffrage.


Monday 28th December

Incredible Women
Radio 4 10:45 Meet Kirstie Clarke. She tells it like it is. No matter who she offends. Rebecca Front introduces us to this incredible woman, with the help of her brother, Jeremy Front.

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 On this day the Evening Herald reported the return of 800 wounded soldiers to Plymouth, and Ruth Billings’s temper gets her into trouble.

Calendar Girls
Radio 4 14:15 Ambridge Am Dram Queen Lynda Snell presents the radio drama premiere of Tim Firth's comedy of jam and Jerusalem. Featuring the cast of The Archers and guest starring Sian Phillips.


Tuesday 29th December

McLevy
Radio 4 14:15 The Night Walker. Victorian detective drama starring Brian Cox as Inspector James McLevy. McLevy finds a young woman unconscious in the street. 3/4


Wednesday 30th December

Tumanbay
Radio 4 14:15 General Qulan arrives in the provinces to gather the armies to fight rebel "queen" Maya. In Tumanbay, Gregor is under pressure to find the spies. 5/10


Thursday 31st December

North by Northamptonshire
Radio 4 14:15 Sheila Hancock, Penelope Wilton and Geoffrey Palmer are amongst the stars of a final outing for this comedy drama. It's New Year's Eve and one this group of friends won't forget.


Friday 1st January

National Velvet
Radio 4 14:15 Young Velvet wins a horse for a shilling and decides to ride him in the Grand National. Dramatist Peter Flannery rescues Velvet from Hollywood in this new adaptation for Christmas.

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In the week that the Home Secretary resigned over the Compulsory Military Service Bill, the Bevan Hospital celebrates the new year.

Drama of the Week: Calendar Girls
Ambridge Am Dram Queen Lynda Snell presents the radio drama premier of Tim Firth's comedy of jam and Jerusalem. Featuring the cast of The Archers and guest starring Sian Phillips. :download:


Saturday 2nd January

The Continuing Adventures of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (Deceased)
Radio 4 14:30 An original western by Sebastian Baczkiewicz about the creation of a great American myth. Pat Garrett is haunted by the ghosts of his past and confronted with an uncertain future.

Memsahib Emma Episode 2
Radio 4 21:00 Memsahib Emma Episode 2


Sunday 3rd January

East of Eden
Radio 4 15:00 John Steinbeck’s epic tale inspired by the story of Cain and Abel. Dramatised by Donna Franceschild. 1/3

Death and the King's Horseman
Radio 3 21:00 Celebration of Wole Soyinka's 80th birthday, a drama based on a real event in 1940s Nigeria. A colonial district officer intervenes to prevent a local man committing ritual suicide.


Monday 4th January

Beloved
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri The spirit of a murdered child haunts the home of a former slave after the Civil War. Narrated by Adjoa Andoh. 1/10

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 On this day, Lord Derby reported that over 650,000 fit single men hadn’t offered themselves for service, and Dorothea Winwood is getting into the rhythm of work at the Bevan.

Where This Service Will Terminate
Radio 4 14:15 When two strangers meet on the train from Paddington to Penzance, an intense relationship develops over the course of the journey. By Katherine Jakeways.


Tuesday 5th January

McLevy
Radio 4 14:15 Victorian detective drama starring Brian Cox as Inspector James McLevy. Written by David Ashton. McLevy keeps a young woman in hiding while the Rev Gideon searches for her. 4/4


Wednesday 6th January

Tumanbay
Radio 4 14:15 With Tumanbay in chaos after the murder of a highly placed individual, Heaven and her slave companion find themselves prisoners of a nomadic tribe in the desert. 6/10


Thursday 7th January

79 Birthdays
Radio 4 14:15 Poet Michael Symmons Roberts tells the story of Jimmy's life through 79 Birthdays watched with Leila, his guardian angel. Inspired by the average male lifespan reaching 79 years .


Friday 8th January

National Velvet
Radio 4 14:15 Young Velvet wins a horse for a shilling and decides to ride him in the Grand National. Dramatist Peter Flannery rescues Velvet from Hollywood in this adaptation for Christmas. 2/2

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In a week when compulsory Military service became almost inevitable, the Bevan hospital becomes a welcome alternative to home for Dorothea.

Drama of the Week: Where This Service Will Terminate
When two strangers meet on the train from Paddington to Penzance, an intense relationship develops over the course of the journey. By Katherine Jakeways. :download:


Saturday 9th January

How to Flee From Sorrow
Radio 4 14:30 Brand new drama about the scandalous, chaotic and violent real-life antics of 17th Century Italian composer Alessandro Stradella by Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

East of Eden 1/2
Radio 4 21:00 East of Eden 1/2
Episode 1 of 3
By John Steinbeck
Dramatised by Donna Franceschild
An epic tale exploring the nature of good and evil, inspired by the story of Cain and Abel.
Cathy Ames is a young woman who has always filled her parents with a deep sense of unease.
Adam and Charles Trask are brothers whose relationship veers dangerously between love and hate.
Their lives are about to collide in a dark and febrile drama about familial love.
Starring Holliday Grainger, Robin Laing and David Yip.
Director: Kirsty Williams.


Sunday 10th January

East of Eden
Radio 4 15:00 John Steinbeck’s epic tale inspired by the story of Cain and Abel. Dramatised by Donna Franceschild. 2/3

Artist Descending A Staircase
Radio 3 21:00 This first new radio production for 43 years of Tom Stoppard's brilliant "comic tragedy", about the meaning and purpose of life and art, stars Derek Jacobi and Ian McDiarmid.


Monday 11th January

Beloved
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri When Beloved arrives at 124 Bluestone Road, Paul D. is unable to resist her advances. Now he must steady himself to face the consequences. Adaptation by Patricia Cumper. 6/10

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 On this day the Allies occupied the Kaiser’s villa on Corfu, and Nell is shocked by news of a patient close to her heart.

Sometimes into the Arms of God
Radio 4 14:15 It's WW2 and, as war rages, James-Lees Milne has his own battle to save West Wycombe Park for the National Trust. First of three linked plays by Christopher William Hill. 1/3


Tuesday 12th January

Original Death Rabbit
Radio 4 14:15 Jessie Cave stars as a girl who became an internet sensation just as the rest of her life fell apart. A modern tale about mental health and internet addiction by Rose Heiney.


Wednesday 13th January

Tumanbay
Radio 4 14:15 While the sultan dreams of victory against provincial leader Maya, Gregor is in pursuit of missing slave-girl Sarah and must venture into the catacombs beneath the city. 7/10


Thursday 14th January

Two Pipe Problems
Radio 4 14:15 Sandy turns chef and William shows courage and compassion in saving the day for an unhappy father and his son. 1/2


Friday 15th January

Two Pipe Problems
Radio 4 14:15 William and Sandy travel to a windswept wintry Suffolk in search of William's inheritance - and he makes a life-changing decision about his future. 2/2

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In the week when the Welsh and Scottish Trade Unions voted to oppose conscription, there’s pressure at the Bevan to return more wounded men to duty.

Drama of the Week: Where Original Death Rabbit
Jessie Cave stars as a girl who became an internet sensation just as the rest of her life fell apart. A modern tale about mental health and internet addiction by Rose Heiney. :download:


Saturday 16th January

Human Voices
Radio 4 14:30 Penelope Fitzgerald's comic novel set in Broadcasting House in 1940. Bureaucracy, camaraderie, eccentricity and love. With Helen George, Toby Jones and Geoffrey Streatfeild.

East of Eden 2/3
Radio 4 21:00 East of Eden 2/3
By John Steinbeck
Dramatised by Donna Franceschild
An epic tale exploring the nature of good and evil, inspired by the story of Cain and Abel.
Adam has fallen under the spell of the enigmatic Cathy - a woman who has murdered her parents and now, on the run, has married Adam. He's captivated by her. But on their wedding night it was Adam's brother Cathy slept with.
The newly-weds are about to start a new life in California, but it's not the one Adam imagines in this dark and febrile drama about familial love.
Starring Holliday Grainger, Robin Laing and David Yip.
Director: Kirsty Williams.


Sunday 17th January

East of Eden
Radio 4 15:00 John Steinbeck’s epic tale inspired by the story of Cain and Abel. Dramatised by Donna Franceschild. 3/3

El Cid
Radio 3 21:00 Honour, duty and love all conflict in the young Spanish hero's rise to glory and fame.


Monday 18th January

The One About the Social Worker
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Claire Skinner returns as the social worker with a past, in another rollercoaster story based on tough true cases by Martin Jameson.

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 On this day, the battle of Sheik Sa’ad represented the first of several efforts to relieve the Siege of Kut, and Ralph Winwood has a mission of his own.

The Unending Battle
Radio 4 14:15 The realities of World War ll strike home for James Lees-Milne, when the dashing and adored Tom Mitford returns unexpectedly on leave. Second of three linked plays by Christopher William Hill.


Tuesday 19th January

Up the Junction
Radio 4 14:15 Zoe Tapper and Lacey Turner star in Nell Dunn's Sixties classic. Chelsea girl Lily becomes friends with irrepressible sisters Sylvie and Rube in working class Battersea.


Wednesday 20th January

Tumanbay
Radio 4 14:15 Increasingly insecure and fearful for his life, the sultan begins a purge of the palace. Slave trader Ibn is reunited with the daughter he thought he had lost. 8/10


Thursday 21st January

Bang Up
Radio 4 14:15 A winner of the BBC Writer's Prize, Sarah Hehir's first radio play was inspired by her work in a young offenders institute. Bang Up stars Gillian Kearney and Samuel Holland.


Friday 22nd January

Because...
Radio 4 14:15 The victim of an apparent hit-and-run is a journalist with a reputation for fearlessness. Trevor Preston's drama follows her struggle to recover her memory of what really happened.

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In the week of the first concerted attempt to break the Siege of Kut, Folkestone’s characters are all looking for release.

Drama of the Week: Because...
The victim of an apparent hit-and-run is a journalist with a reputation for fearlessness. Trevor Preston's drama follows her struggle to recover her memory of what really happened. :download:


Saturday 23rd January

God of Carnage
Radio 4 14:30 A playtime altercation between eleven-year-old boys brings together two sets of parents for a meeting to resolve the matter. Contains strong language. Starring Lenny Henry.

East of Eden 3/3
Radio 4 21:00 East of Eden 3/3
By John Steinbeck
Dramatised by Donna Franceschild
An epic tale exploring the nature of good and evil, inspired by the story of Cain and Abel.
Adam Trask has been raising his twin boys with the help of his cook, Lee.
His estranged wife -the enigmatic Cathy - has taken over a brother after murdering its previous owner.
In order to protect the twins, Adam has always maintained that their mother is dead, but Cal, after listening in at a door, now knows the truth.
That knowledge is set to destroy the Trask world in this dark and febrile drama about familial love.
Starring Holliday Grainger, Robin Laing and David Yip.
Director: Kirsty Williams.


Sunday 24th January

Utopia
Radio 4 15:00 Poet Michael Symmons Roberts dramatisation of Thomas More's classic work of fiction and political philosophy, Utopia - to mark the anniversary of the original publication in 1516.

August 1914
Radio 3 21:00 For Russia, the first battle of WW1 was a catastrophic defeat that almost wiped out the army and fuelled the coming Revolution. By Nobel Prize winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.


Monday 25th January

November Dead List
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Psychological crime drama. In rural Norfolk, one of the lowest crime areas in the country, DCI Greave (Lia Williams) discovers two bodies in quick succession. Are they connected?

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 Mon - Fri In the week when President Woodrow Wilson declared “The world is on fire, and sparks are likely to drop anywhere”, pressures begin to tell at the Bevan hospital too.

What England Owes
Radio 4 14:15 WW2 is almost at an end and James Lees-Milne travels to Faringdon House, home to eccentric Lord Berners and his ménage a trois. Last of three linked plays by Christopher William Hill.


Tuesday 26th January

A History of Paper
Radio 4 14:15 A man goes through a cardboard box. Each piece of paper he picks out holds a memory. Pieced together the memories tell the story of an everyday and extraordinary love affair.


Wednesday 27th January

Tumanbay
Radio 4 14:15 Convinced of victory by the words of the prophet child, the sultan is now ready to march out with his armies and destroy rebellious provincial leader Maya. 9/10


Thursday 28th January

Holding Back the Tide
Radio 4 14:15 Ronald Pickup stars as John Hector who heads up an unlikely group trying to defend its home town against the worst ills of modernity.


Friday 29th January

Blood Count
Radio 4 14:15 A journalist visits a recording studio to conduct an interview with Duke Ellington, in search of some answers about their working methods and the question of artistic credit.

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In the week when President Woodrow Wilson declared “The world is on fire, and sparks are likely to drop anywhere”, pressures begin to tell at the Bevan hospital too.

Drama of the Week: A History of Paper
A man goes through a cardboard box. Each piece of paper he picks out holds a memory. Pieced together the memories tell the story of an everyday and extraordinary love affair. :download:


Saturday 30th January

The Forsytes
Radio 4 14:30 Juliet Aubrey, Jessica Raine and Joseph Millson star in this new dramatisation of John Galsworthy's epic novels of sex, money and power in an upper class family across 50 years.

Utopia
Radio 4 21:00 Utopia
2016 is the 500th Anniversary of Thomas More's classic work of speculative fiction, which has entered the culture so deeply that the name of his fictional island is the accepted term for our hopes and dreams of a better society.
Poet Michael Symmons Roberts dramatisation brings More's strange and enchanting island to life, told through the memoirs of Raphael Hythloday.
More goes on a diplomatic trip to Antwerp, to sort out a dispute in the commercial wool trade between Britain and the Netherlands. While he is there he meets an old man who is clearly widely travelled.
More complains about the petty politics of the trade dispute, and the old stranger bemoans the state of contemporary society. There is a better way, he says, and I have seen it. The stranger introduces himself as the explorer and adventurer Raphael Hythloday, who at the height of his career of was sent out from Antwerp to explore an unmapped and remote part of the ocean. After months of sailing, he chanced upon an island society unlike any he had seen before. The island was called 'Utopia'.
Utopia fleshes out the story of Raphael's visit to the island, giving us vivid descriptions of the place and its society, its laws and social patterns and customs.
All the bearings for this new drama are be taken from the rules and descriptions of the island in More's book, and the clues he gives about Raphael's visit.
Directed in Salford by Susan Roberts.


Sunday 31st January

The Honorary Consul
Radio 4 15:00 Greene's own favourite story stars Matthew Marsh and Geoffrey Streatfeild, in a tense switchback ride of political kidnap and sexual betrayal, set in 1970s Argentina.

A Raisin in the Sun
Radio 3 21:00 Walter has dreams and aspirations for his family. He wants to use his deceased father's insurance money to make this happen, but he makes a terrrible mistake.


Monday 1st February

The Forsytes
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Juliet Aubrey, Jessica Raine and Joseph Millson star in a new dramatisation of John Galsworthy's epic novels of sex, money and power. An unidentified body lies in the city morgue.

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 Mon - Fri In the week when Britain suffered the worst zeppelin raid thus far in the war, all of Folkestone is jumpy.

Demon Brother
Radio 4 14:15 The first in a dark two-part thriller about twin brothers, Jasper and Eddie, who decide to swap lives. Part one tells Jasper's story.


Tuesday 2nd February

Demon Brother
Radio 4 14:15 The second in a dark two-part thriller about twin brothers, Jasper and Eddie, who decide to swap lives. Part two tells Eddie's story.


Wednesday 3rd February

Tumanbay
Radio 4 14:15 The final chapter in this epic saga of revenge, betrayal and deception. The people of Tumanbay await news of the sultan’s great victory.


Thursday 4th February

The Ferryhill Philosophers
Radio 4 14:15 Joe’s elderly mother is frail, going blind. Her security and happiness are at stake. Joe has to decide what’s best for her. Starring Alun Armstrong and Deborah Findlay.


Friday 5th February

The Ferryhill Philosophers
Radio 4 14:15 Joe and Hermione see the wife of Joe’s friend with another man. What should he do? Tell his friend or keep quiet?

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In the week when Britain suffered the worst zeppelin raid thus far in the war, all of Folkestone is jumpy.

Die BBC hat ihre jährliche Radiohörspiel-Preisverleihung gehabt. Nachfolgend die Gewinner:

BBC Audio Drama Awards 2016 Winners

Big congratulations to this year's winners!

Best Adaptation
The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov
Producer Sasha Yevtushenko
Dramatized by Lucy Catherine
BBC Radio Drama London for Radio 3

Best Single Drama
Cuttin’ It
Producer Jessica Brown
Written by Charlene James
BBC Radio Drama London for Radio 4

Best Series or Serial
Children in Need: D for Dexter
Producer Mary Ward-Lowery
Written by Amanda Whittington
BBC Bristol for Radio 4

Best Actor
Alfred Molina in A View from the Bridge
Jarvis and Ayres Productions for Radio 3

Best Actress
Monica Dolan in Vincent in Brixton
BBC Scotland for Radio 4

Best Supporting Actor or Actress
Susan Wokoma in Three Strong Women
BBC Cymru Wales for Radio 4

Best Debut Performance
Karen Bartke in My Name Is…
BBC Scotland for Radio 4

Best Use of Sound
Fugue State
Sound by Julian Simpson and David Thomas
Producer Karen Rose
Sweet Talk Productions for Radio 4

Best Scripted Comedy Drama
In and Out of the Kitchen
Producer Sam Michell
Written by Justin Edwards
BBC Radio Comedy for Radio 4

Best Scripted Comedy with a Live Audience
Reluctant Persuaders Ep 3
Written by Edward Rowett
Producer Gordon Kennedy
Absolutely Productions for Radio 4

Best Online Only Audio Drama
The Kindness of Time
Written by Deirdre Burton and Tom Davis
Producer Rosie Boulton
Monty Funk Productions

Imison Award for Best Radio Drama Script by a New Writer
Society of Authors
30 Eggs
Written by Eoin O’Connor
BBC Northern Ireland for Radio 4

Tinniswood Award for Best Radio Drama Script
Society of Authors and Writers’ Guild of Great Britain
Fugue State
Written by Julian Simpson
Sweet Talk Productions for Radio 4

Outstanding Contribution
John Hurt

Lifetime Achievement
June Whitfield

Quelle: BBC 4
Zur dazugehörigen Bildergalerie gehts hier

Drama of the Week: Demon Brother
A dark two-part thriller about twin brothers, Jasper and Eddie, who decide to swap lives. Part one tells Jasper's story. Part two tells Eddie's story. :download:


Saturday 6th February

The Forsytes
Radio 4 14:30 Juliet Aubrey, Jessica Raine and Joseph Millson star in this new dramatisation of John Galsworthy's epic novels of sex, money and power in an upper class family across 50 years

Graham Greene - The Honorary Consul Episode 1.
Radio 4 21:00 Graham Greene - The Honorary Consul Episode 1.
The first of two episodes dramatised for radio by Nick Warburton.
In a conversation with Nicholas Shakespeare, Graham Greene once named 'The Honorary Consul' as his favourite among all his novels, "..because the characters change and that is very difficult to do."
In this superbly tense story of political kidnap and sexual betrayal set at the beginning of Argentina's Dirty War in early 1970s, Greene's characters find themselves on a switchback ride of love, sacrifice and violence.
Isolated Dr Eduardo Plarr, son of a missing political prisoner, is lured into collaborating with a defrocked priest in a kidnap plot, only to find the lives of two people he doesn't care for, suddenly in his hands.
Meanwhile Charles Fortnum, the elderly and drunken Honorary Consul in a one-horse town near the Paraguayan border, faces his own terrors, and the loss of the young prostitute he has fallen in love with.
Greene added: "For me the sinner and the saint can meet; there is no discontinuity, no rupture... The basic element I admire in Christianity is its sense of moral failure. That is its very foundation. For once you're conscious of personal failure, then perhaps in future you become a little less fallible. In 'The Honorary Consul' I did suggest this idea, through the guerrilla priest, that God and the devil were actually one and the same person - God had a day-time and a night-time face, but that He evolved, as Christ tended to prove, towards His day-time face - absolute goodness - thanks to each positive act of men."
Produced and directed by Jonquil Panting.


Sunday 7th February

Graham Greene - The Honorary Consul
Radio 4 15:00 Greene's own favourite story stars Matthew Marsh and Geoffrey Streatfeild, in a tense switchback ride of political kidnap and sexual betrayal, set in 1970s Argentina. Episode 2.

As Innocent As You Can Get
Radio 3 21:00 Freddie Fox and Paapa Essiedu star in Rex Obano's play about guilt and innocence. One a prison psychologist, the other a prisoner convicted under "joint enterprise".


Monday 8th February

Halfway Here
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Luke and Nettie are 15 year old twins in a normally dysfunctional family. When something happens to Nettie, it becomes clear that no-one knew much about her. By Lucy Catherine.

Home Front
Radio 4 12:00 Mon - Fri In the week that conscription came into effect, there are secrets and celebrations in Folkestone.

Stage Left
Radio 4 14:15 As they settle into their new premises the Stage Left Theatre Collective are faced with some unpalatable choices which lead to a clash of egos and ideals. Episode 1.


Tuesday 9th February

Stage Left
Radio 4 14:15 Stage Left Theatre Company has changed in the ten years since it was founded and not to everyone's taste. Tensions are rising between the founder members. Episode 2.


Wednesday 10th February

Stage Left
Radio 4 14:15 An unexpected guest attends the press night for Saul’s West End directorial debut. Episode 3.


Thursday 11th February

Stage Left
Radio 4 14:15 It's 2015 and Stage Left Theatre Company has changed beyond recognition, but any tensions between the old friends dissolve as they visit Alan's wife Sue in hospital. Episode 4.


Friday 12th February

Love me Tender
Radio 4 14:15 Comedy Drama about a Radio Producer who makes a documentary about trainspotters. All the characters speak in different verse forms.

Home Front Omnibus
Radio 4 21:00 In the week that conscription came into effect, there are secrets and celebrations in Folkestone.

Drama of the Week: Halfway Here
Luke and Nettie are 15 year old twins in a normally dysfunctional family. When something happens to Nettie, it becomes clear that no-one knew much about her. By Lucy Catherine.
Luke ..... Tyger Drew-Honey
Nettie ..... Katie Angelou
Ailsa ..... Sharon Small
Martin ..... Justin Salinger
Rachel ..... Jane Slavin
Orla ..... Rebecca Hamilton
Doctor Gaskill ..... Susan Jameson
Mr Holbroo .....Richard Pepple
Joe ..... Leo Wan
Michael ..... Ewan Bailey
Mrs Straun ..... Debra Baker
Police Officer ..... Caolan McCarthy

Director ..... Mary Peate
:download:


Drama of the Week: As Innocent as You Can Get
Freddie Fox and Paapa Essiedu star in Rex Obano's play about guilt and innocence. One is a prison psychologist, the other a prisoner convicted under "joint enterprise". :download:


Saturday 13th February

Rebus: A Question of Blood
Radio 4 14:30 Ian Rankin's DI Rebus investigates a school shooting but finds himself the main suspect in a fatal house fire. 1/2

Graham Greene: The Honorary Consul 2/2
Radio 4 21:00 Graham Greene: The Honorary Consul 2/2
Dramatised for radio by Nick Warburton
In a conversation with Nicholas Shakespeare, Graham Greene once named 'The Honorary Consul' as his favourite among all his novels, "..because the characters change and that is very difficult to do."
In this superbly tense and violent story of political kidnap and sexual betrayal set at the beginning of the Dirty War in early 1970s Argentina, Greene's characters find themselves on a hellish journey. Isolated Dr Eduardo Plarr, son of a missing political prisoner, is lured into collaborating with a defrocked priest in a kidnap plot, only to find the lives of two people he doesn't care for, suddenly in his hands. And Charles Fortnum, the drunken Honorary Consul in a one-horse town near the Paraguayan border, faces his own terrors, and the loss of the young prostitute he has fallen in love with.
Greene added: "For me the sinner and the saint can meet; there is no discontinuity, no rupture... The basic element I admire in Christianity is its sense of moral failure. That is its very foundation. For once you're conscious of personal failure, then perhaps in future you become a little less fallible. In 'The Honorary Consul' I did suggest this idea, through the guerrilla priest, that God and the devil were actually one and the same person - God had a day-time and a night-time face, but that He evolved, as Christ tended to prove, towards His day-time face - absolute goodness - thanks to each positive act of men."
In this concluding episode, Plarr's attempts to help Charley get him death threats from the police. Not only is the state closing in on Plarr, but his own past too.
Produced and directed by Jonquil Panting.


Sunday 14th February

Victory
Radio 4 15:00 Gwyneth Hughes tells the story of the triangular relationship between Admiral Lord Nelson, Sir William and Emma, Lady Hamilton, starring Imogen Stubbs and Ronan Vibert.

Uncle Vanya
Radio 3 21:00 This production of Chekhov's great play stars Neil Dudgeon, Anton Lesser, Lyndsey Marshall and Geoffrey Streatfield. By Anton Chekhov in the version by Christopher Hampton.


Monday 15th February

Halfway Here
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri 15 year old Nettie is still being kept alive artificially after her accident. Her mum is trying to find out what she was up to by looking at her laptop. By Lucy Catherine. 6/10

In Pieces to Camera
Radio 4 14:15 Sean Grundy's satirical take on scripted reality television starring Richard Lumsden and Michelle Holmes.

Modern Morality Tales
Radio 3 22:45 Mon - Fri Inspired by medieval morality plays, Lin Coghlan takes a comic look at our attitude to Moderation. Rebecca Front plays Eve, facing up to her past after her car crashes into a canal.


Tuesday 16th February

Deliverers
Radio 4 14:15 A dark comedy about a disastrous school trip to France. By Claudine Toutoungi. Starring Jonathan Bailey, Kate Fleetwood, Elizabeth Berrington and Jessica Turner.


Wednesday 17th February

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Radio 4 14:15 A new two-part dramatisation of Alexander McCall Smith's latest No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency book, 'The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon'.


Thursday 18th February

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Radio 4 14:15 Mma Ramotswe searches for answers as the campaign against Mma Soleti steps up a gear. Meanwhile the agency welcomes a new arrival, and an old wrong is finally righted.


Friday 19th February

Tittle Tattle
Radio 4 14:15 It is 1964 and the 'Carry On' films are at the height of their popularity. Kenneth Williams is taking his mother Louie out for afternoon tea to celebrate her 60th birthday. But who does he bump into? None other than fellow 'Carry On' actor Charles Hawtrey and his mother Alice.

Drama of the Week: Modern Morality Tales
Inspired by medieval morality plays, Lin Coghlan takes a comic look at our attitude to Moderation. Rebecca Front plays Eve, facing up to her past after her car crashes into a canal. :download:


Saturday 20th February

Rebus: A Question of Blood
Radio 4 14:30 Thriller by Ian Rankin, starring Ron Donachie as DI John Rebus. Rebus investigates the shooting of three pupils by an ex-SAS soldier at a private school near Edinburgh. 2/2

The Testament of this Day
Radio 4 21:00 The Testament of this Day
A new radio play written and directed by Edward Bond, one of our greatest living playwrights, who turns 80 this year. In true Bond style, this confronting and disturbing drama connects with realities of our lives and societies. A young man embarks on two journeys, He is in control of only one. He soon discovers there is no going back, from either. An arresting drama about the world today.
As one of the most important and prolific post-war playwrights, Edward Bond has been at the forefront of radical, political and influential drama for over 50 years. He is one of the most produced playwrights in Europe. He was born in London in 1934. He had virtually no formal education and left school at 15. The Royal Court Theatre staged Saved in 1965. The play created a national scandal, which was instrumental in the abolition of censorship of the English stage, and established Bond as a major British playwright. He has written more than 50 plays, including Lear, The Sea, Bingo, The Woman, Restoration, The War Plays and 'The Paris Pentad' (Coffee, Crime of the Twenty-first Century, Born, People, Innocence). Many of these have attained the status of radical classics.
The Testament Of This Day is Edward Bond's third original radio drama, the previous two, also for Radio 4, Chair, and Existence having both become stage versions that have been translated and performed in many countries. Bond has found a passion and a new voice in the writing of original radio dramas, produced through his long term collaboration with radio drama producer Turan Ali.
Producer - Turan Ali
Writer and Director - Edward Bond
A Bona Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 4
Overflow and notes:
Edward Bond has also written poetry as well as texts for the cinema and opera, and a large body of theoretical work on drama. He also works as a director (often of his own work), including this radio drama, his radio directing debut.


Sunday 21st February

Riot Girls: The Life and Loves of a She Devil
Radio 4 15:00 A darkly comic fairy tale about revenge, sex and power. A wronged woman plans diabolical punishments for her husband and his mistress. By Fay Weldon, adapted by Joy Wilkinson. 1/2

Modern Morality Tales
Radio 3 21:00 Rebecca Front plays 'Eve', a 21st-century Everywoman, in five stories inspired by medieval morality plays. In a secular age how do we deal with the nature of sins and virtues?


Monday 22nd February

Riot Girls: Fear of Flying
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri Radio premiere of Erica Jong's frank and funny novel about female sexuality - a controversial best-seller in 1973. Dramatised by Annie Caulfield, it stars Julianna Jennings.

Riot Girls: Susan
Radio 4 14:15 First of three new plays charting British feminism through three generations of women. Birmingham, 1975. Susan tries to forge a new life for herself in a commune. By Lucy Catherine.


Tuesday 23rd February

Riot Girls: Emma
Radio 4 14:15 1995. Emma works for New Labour. But how far have attitudes to women in the workplace evolved? Second of three plays charting feminism through three generations of women. By Lucy Catherine.


Wednesday 24th February

Riot Girls: Katy
Radio 4 14:15 2015. Student Katy determines to change the conversation about sexual consent - but how? Third of three plays charting feminism through three generations of women. By Ella Hickson.


Thursday 25th February

Cuttin' It
Radio 4 14:15 Winner of 'Best Single Drama' in the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2016. Charlene James' powerful play about two Somali teenagers living in London; strangers who share the same secret.


Friday 26th February

Fugue State
Radio 4 14:15 Winner of 'Best Use of Sound' in the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2016. A man in hospital in a fugue state holds the key to strange events reported in a remote village. Can they unlock him using sound recordings? By Julian Simpson.

Drama of the Week: Cuttin' It
Winner of 'Best Single Drama' in the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2016. Charlene James' powerful play about two Somali teenagers living in London; strangers who share the same secret. :download:


Saturday 27th February

Trial by Laughter
Radio 4 14:30 Present day 'Private Eye' satirists renowned for their battles with the establishment; dramatise a similar earlier struggle against censorship

Riot Girls: The Life and Loves of a She Devil Episode 1.
Radio 4 21:00 Riot Girls: The Life and Loves of a She Devil Episode 1.
by Fay Weldon, adapted by Joy Wilkinson. A darkly comic fairy tale about revenge, sex and power.
When Ruth discovers her husband is sleeping with a prettier, richer woman, she makes ingenious and diabolical plans to punish them both.
'The Life and Loves of a She Devil', written in 1983, is a gleefully bawdy satire on the war of the sexes, and a fable about the rewards and dangers of our capacity for transformation.
It is part of Riot Girls on Radio 4, a series of no-holds-barred women's writing that includes Erica Jong's 'Fear of Flying' and original plays following three generations of women by Lucy Catherine and Ella Hickson.
Adapted by Joy Wilkinson
Directed by Abigail le Fleming
The Writer
Fay Weldon CBE has written 34 novels, numerous TV dramas, several radio plays, 5 full length stage plays and five collections of short stories. She works as Professor teaching creative writing at Bath Spa University.
The Adapter
Joy Wilkinson was selected as a Screen International Star of Tomorrow 2015. She has several original feature projects and TV series in development, including the thriller KILLER CV, which was selected for the 2014 Brit List. Joy writes extensively for radio, on original dramas and adaptations. In theatre, her work has won prizes including the Verity Bargate Award.


Sunday 28th February

Riot Girls: The Life and Loves of a She Devil
Radio 4 15:00 A darkly comic fairy tale about revenge, sex and power. A wronged woman plans diabolical punishments for her husband and his mistress. By Fay Weldon, adapted by Joy Wilkinson. Episode 2

The Father
Radio 3 21:00 Kenneth Cranham's moving portrayal of a man suffering from dementia in Florian Zeller's darkly funny play.


Monday 29th February

Jane Eyre
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri A sparkling mix for Radio 4. Charlotte Bronte's most beloved novel and award winning writer, Rachel Joyce. This iconic and dangerous love story stars Amanda Hale and Tom Burke. 1/10

Dot
Radio 4 11:30 New comic adventures with Dot and the gals. A little East End snotling has found her way into the Cabinet War Rooms. How will Dot dispose of her? Fenella Woolgar stars. 2/4

Pilgrim
Radio 4 14:15 Pilgrim is on the trail of murderous magician Morgan Hambleton but first he must deal with the mysterious Mr Delancey, his strange wife Coral, and the secrets of Clennan Court.


Tuesday 1st March

Pilgrim
Radio 4 14:15 Mushrooms and a dead body help Pilgrim track down his former close friend Morgan Hambleton to a disused hospital, where some very unorthodox medicine is being practised.


Wednesday 2nd March

Pilgrim
Radio 4 14:15 Pilgrim unexpectedly meets some old friends when he takes his former friend Morgan Hambleton to a stone circle - and a strange and dangerous ceremony for the Queen of the Corn.


Thursday 3rd March

Pilgrim
Radio 4 14:15 When Pilgrim visits the home where he placed Mr Delancey's daughter, India, he learns that she has been abducted. But could looking for her be walking into the King's trap?


Friday 4th March

Pilgrim
Radio 4 14:15 Desperate to prevent his India's marriage to the King of the Greyfolk, Mr Delancey must find a way to release Pilgrim and his daughter from the sterile enchantment of Caudley Fair.

@*dot*:
Also das Hörspiel am Montag müsstest Du Dir ja eigentlich geben.

Drama of the Week: Pilgrim Episode 1
Pilgrim is on the trail of murderous magician Morgan Hambleton but first he must deal with the mysterious Mr Delancey, his strange wife Coral, and the secrets of Clennan Court. :download:


Saturday 5th March

His Master's Voice
Radio 4 14:30 Rob Brydon is radio ventriloquist Peter Brough whose alter-ego puppet takes over, in the true story behind Educating Archie. With Fenella Woolgar. By James Maw and Tim Sullivan.

Riot Girls: The Life and Loves of a She Devil Episode 2.
Radio 4 21:00 Riot Girls: The Life and Loves of a She Devil Episode 2.
by Fay Weldon, adapted by Joy Wilkinson. A darkly comic fairy tale about revenge, sex and power.
Ruth's campaign to punish her husband and his mistress is well-advanced, and now she will still stop at nothing to get the life, and the body, she desires.
'The Life and Loves of a She Devil', written in 1983, is a gleefully bawdy satire on the war of the sexes, and a fable about the rewards and dangers of our capacity for transformation.
It is part of Riot Girls on Radio 4, a series of no-holds-barred women's writing that includes Erica Jong's 'Fear of Flying' and original plays following three generations of women by Lucy Catherine and Ella Hickson.
Adapted by Joy Wilkinson
Directed by Abigail le Fleming.


Sunday 6th March

Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell
Radio 4 15:00 Sylvia Dobson's cousin, Philip, loves her totally but Sylvia is in love with seafaring whaler, Charlie Kinraid. Gaskell's last novel is set in Whitby in the 1790's. 1/2

The Master and Margarita
Radio 3 21:00 Winner of 'Best Adaptation' in the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2016. The Devil comes to Soviet Moscow in Lucy Catherine's new adaptation of Bulgakov's literary phenomenon, featuring original music from Academy Award-winning Stephen Warbeck.


Monday 7th March

Jane Eyre
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri A sparkling mix for Radio 4. Charlotte Bronte's most beloved novel and award winning writer, Rachel Joyce. This iconic and dangerous love story stars Amanda Hale and Tom Burke. 6/10

Dot
Radio 4 11:30 Dot's been sent to back to school to enlist a teacher for 'Shhh Bletchley Park', but is he of sound material? Ed Harris' new war time comedy starring Fenella Woolgar. 3/4

Dead in the Water
Radio 4 14:15 An overheard conversation in a busy fairground leads friends Holly and Nicole to suspect a murder is about to be committed. Can they stop it in time?


Tuesday 8th March

An Open Return
Radio 4 14:15 Comedy as Ian (Vincent Franklin) returns to his childhood home 30 years after he last saw his mother (Anne Reid). By Daniel Thurman.


Wednesday 9th March

A Charles Paris Mystery: A Decent Interval
Radio 4 11:30 Bill Nighy stars as Charles Paris, the actor who's never far from a murder. A production of Hamlet proves fatal for several of the cast. Jeremy Front adapts Simon Brett's novel. 1/4

The Reserve Rope
Radio 4 14:15 The Matterhorn was conquered on 14th July 1865 by Edward Whymper. But four men died on the descent. Damian Lewis stars as Whymper, forever tormented by the tragedy. 1/2


Thursday 9th March

The Reserve Rope
Radio 4 14:15 The Matterhorn was conquered on 14th July 1865 by Edward Whymper. But four men died on the descent. Damian Lewis stars as Whymper, forever tormented by the tragedy. 2/2


Friday 11th March

Burn Baby Burn
Radio 4 14:15 Jon Culshaw stars in this satire inspired by the Young British Artists movement and the Momart warehouse fire. Also stars Ronni Ancona, Ben Crompton, Carl Prekopp.

Drama of the Week: Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell Episode 1
Sylvia Dobson's cousin, Philip, loves her totally but Sylvia is in love with seafaring whaler, Charlie Kinraid. Gaskell's last novel is set in Whitby in the 1790's. :download:


Saturday 12th March

Wide Sargasso Sea
Radio 4 14:30 Jean Rhys' powerful prequel to Jane Eyre envisages the life of the first Mrs Rochester before she became the haunting 'mad woman in the attic'. A new version by Rebecca Lenkiewicz.

Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell Episode 1.
Radio 4 21:00 Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell Episode 1.
Sylvia Dobson's cousin, Philip, lives for her, he loves her totally but Sylvia is in love with seafaring whaler, Charlie Kinraid. Gaskell's last (completed) novel is set in Yorkshire. Set in the 1790's - the time of the Napoleonic wars. It takes place in Monkshaven (ie.Whitby). The Press Gangs were always lurking when the whale boats were returning from Greenland with their cargo. They intercepted the boats, seized the men and pressed them into service with the Royal Navy to fight the French.
Elizabeth Gaskell ...... Barbara Flynn
Sylvia ...... Jodie Comer
Philip ...... Graeme Hawley
Charlie Kinraid ...... Chris Connel
Bell ...... Siobhan Finneran
Daniel ..... Paul CopleySylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell
Dramatised by Ellen Dryden


Sunday 13th March

Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell
Radio 4 15:00 Sylvia marries Philip, believing Charlie to be dead. But chaos descends when Charlie returns, and Sylvia discovers Philip has lied to her. Set in Whitby in the 1790's. 2/2

Three Sisters
Radio 3 21:00 Three sisters living in a garrison town in provincial Russia dream of the day that they will return to Moscow. But somehow real life keeps getting in the way. By Anton Chekhov.


Monday 14th March

Charlotte Bronte in Babylon
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri After being accused of deceit by the publisher of Jane Eyre, Charlotte and Anne Brontë leave Haworth and rush down to London to put the matter right. By Charlotte Cory.

Dot
Radio 4 11:30 The Russian Ambassador's in town, Dot and the gals are on surveillance duty. Can they snaffle the Russian secrets? Ed Harris' new war time comedy. 4/4

My Life and Other Stories
Radio 4 14:15 When Kevin joins Jilly's writing course by mistake, literary licence and love collide in this romantic comedy. But has Jilly fallen in love with the real Kevin?


Tuesday 15th March

When the Laughter Stops
Radio 4 14:15 Stand up comic Rhakeele returns to Africa, hoping to reignite her and husband Musondi's relationship and careers, but they soon find themselves out of their depth. By Sibusiso Mamba.


Wednesday 16th March

A Charles Paris Mystery: A Decent Interval
Radio 4 11:30 Bill Nighy plays the actor cum amateur sleuth. Charles suspects foul play when the star of Hamlet is severely injured - who will be next? Jeremy Front adapts Simon Brett's novel. 2/4

Positive Affect
Radio 4 14:15 Kelly is unemployed; she's also cripplingly shy - a combination that makes regular difficulties hard enough, never mind the madness of job interviews and the threat of sanctions.


Thursday 17th March

The Strange Vanishing of Julian Quark
Radio 4 14:15 Newly-elected Prime Minister Julian Quark (Toby Jones) is in a political pickle: every time he tells a lie a body part disappears. Surreal and delightful comedy by Tom Wainwright.


Friday 18th March

Karma
Radio 4 14:15 Kulvinder Ghir and Shobu Kapoor star in Samina Baig's new drama. A shocking discovery in rural India forces an elderly couple into the spotlight where custom and morality collide.

Drama of the Week: Three Sisters
Three sisters living in a garrison town in provincial Russia dream of the day that they will return to Moscow. But somehow real life keeps getting in the way. By Anton Chekhov. :download:


Saturday 19th March

Murder Under Trust: The Massacre at Glencoe
Radio 4 14:30 In 1692 soldiers billeted in the homes of the MacDonald clan in Glencoe rose up and killed their hosts. Adrian Bean's play dramatises this infamous Highland massacre.

Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell Episode 2.
Radio 4 21:00 Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell Episode 2.
Dramatised by Ellen Dryden
Sylvia marries Philip, believing Charlie to be dead. But chaos descends when Charlie returns, and Sylvia discovers Philip has lied to her. Set in Yorkshire in the 1790's - the time of the Napoleonic wars, in Monkshaven (ie.Whitby), during the time of the Press Gangs, who intercepted the fishing boats, seized the men and pressed them into service with the Royal Navy to fight the French.
Produced/Directed by Pauline Harris
Further info: This was Gaskell's last (completed) and only historical novel, set in 1790's Whitby.


Sunday 20th March

The Magus
Radio 4 15:00 Disillusioned schoolteacher Nicholas Urfe gets drawn into a world of trickery and illusion when he accepts a job on an idyllic Greek island and meets the enigmatic Maurice Conchis. 1/3

The Skriker
Radio 3 21:00 Caryl Churchill's powerful play of environmental chaos and disorder, The Skriker, adapted for radio and introduced by the playwright. Maxine Peake is the doom-wreaking Skriker.


Monday 21st March

Hollywood Endings
Radio 4 10:45 & 19:45 Mon - Fri A plane crash in the Sierra Nevada piques the interest of Detective Anna Caceres of the LAPD. Starring Kathleen Turner.

Boswell's Lives
Radio 4 11:30 Lenny Henry stars as Muhammad Ali and Miles Jupp as James Boswell, time travelling biographer, recalling the lives of legends alive and dead in Jon Canter's comedy series. 1/4

Bowen and Betjeman
Radio 4 14:15 An imagined encounter between Elizabeth Bowen and John Betjeman as they meet for luncheon during the war.


Tuesday 22nd March

This is Not a Banksy
Radio 4 14:15 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.


Wednesday 23rd 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. 3/4

Blake in Lambeth
Radio 4 14:15 The poet William Blake meets a young woman on the streets of present-day Lambeth. With Toby Jones as Blake and Kirsty Oswald as Hope.


Thursday 24th March

A Sudden Surge
Radio 4 14:15 A belligerent bus driver discovers the unexpected benefits of a sudden surge of hormones as he begins to 'feel' - for the first time in his unreconstructed life. By Jack Dickson.


Friday 25th March

Planning Permission
Radio 4 14:15 A comedy about neighbours, architecture, tradition versus modernism - and James Bond. Architect Erno Goldfinger struggles to build his modernist dream home. By Sarah Wooley.