Radio 3 Drama & Readings, 2004

General notes: As programming is generally scheduled around evening concerts, start times have been noted after the date; Repeats again not marked in listings so I've noted them when I remember; The 'Sunday Feature' slot appeared to be solely documentary this year.

Barry Hodge

DRAMA ON 3:

(04-01-2004; 20:00) Elmina's Kitchen
(Kwame Kwei-Armah) Ex-boxer Deli runs a café in Hackney. Keeping his son safe, his business alive and staying out of trouble is a full time job in East London's notorious Murder Mile. Deli - Paterson Joseph, Digger - Shaun Parkes, Anastasia - Dona Croll, Ashley - Emmanuel Idowu, Clifton - George Harris, Baygee - Oscar James. Directed by Claire Grove. (90m) (NB: Repeated 29-08-2004.)

(11-01-2004; 19:55) Laughter In The Dark
(Vladimir Nabokov, dram Craig Higginson) Set in Berlin, in a period moving inexorably towards the Second World War, this is the story of the downfall of a middle-aged married man who becomes infatuated with a young woman he meets in the cinema. She uses him with startling callousness and ultimately destroys him. This darkly erotic dramatisation comes to vivid life as events unfold in the mind of a man who becomes blind and can only guess at the gross betrayals inflicted on him by a younger and more ruthless generation. Albert Albinus - Roger Allam, Margot Peters - Claire Price, Axel Rex - Alan Cox, Elizabeth - Geraldine Alexander, Irma -. Lauren Bird, Frieda -. Sarah Badel, Otto -. Dale Rapley, Karl Schwarz - Ewan Bailey, Doctor - David Shaw-Parker, Chambermaid - Tracy Wiles. Howard Davidson (composer). Directed by Maria Aitken. (100m)

(18-01-2004; 18:30) The Moving & The Still
(Howard Barker) A monastery in 1450. A young scribe, the finest calligrapher of his generation, greater even than John of Damascus or Ionides of the Feathered Style, is passionately committed to his art. Then a printing press arrives in his scriptorium from Germany. Hoik - Chris Moran, Slee - Neil Dudgeon, Mother - Lesley Manville, Tram - John Wood, November - Anton Lesser, Hergood/ Clerk - Damian Lynch, Light - Declan Wilson, Toonelhuis - John Rowe, Signor/Confessor - Vincenzo Nicoli. Directed by Peter Kavanagh. (90m)

(25-01-2004; 20:30) The Lovers Of Viorne
(Marguerite Duras, trans Barbara Bray, adap Bryony Lavery) A dismembered corpse scattered over a railway network and an unemotional confession leads a police interrogator to try to understand a woman's life and marriage in a provincial French town. The Interrogator - Roger Allam, Pierre - Peter Bowles, Other Voices - Andrew Hawkins, Claire - Juliet Stevenson. Directed by Annie Castledine. (75m)

(01-02-2004; 19:35) Measure For Measure
(William Shakespeare) In a world of sexual harassment, unwed mothers and the inability of the law to deal with either the Duke hands over his powers to his puritan deputy. Duke - Chiwetel Ejiofor, Escalus - Clive Swift, Angelo - Anton Lesser, Isabella - Nadine Marshall, Mistress Overdone - Claire Benedict, Pompey - Ewan Bailey, Lucio - Lloyd Hutchinson, Claudio - Jude Akuwudike, Provost - Colin McFarlane, Mariana - Adjoa Andoh. Original music composed by Helen Chadwick. Directed by Claire Grove. (130m)

(08-02-2004; 18:30) The Winter's Tale
(William Shakespeare) A magical and life affirming play exploring of the cycles of human life, the destructive capacity of jealousy and the struggle for understanding, forgiveness and reconciliation. Leontes - Michael Feast, Hermione - Emma Fielding, Polixenes - Kenneth Cranham, Camillo - David Fielder, Paulina - Claire Benedict, Perdita - Elianne Byrne, Florizel - Graeme Hawley, Mamillius - Matthew Beard, The Shepherd - Russell Dixon, The Young Shepherd - John Lloyd Fillingham, Autolycus - Toby Jones, Mopsa/Emilia - Olwen May, Dorcus - Deborah McAndrew, Antigonus - Seamus O'Neill, Cleomenes - James Nickerson, Dion/Time - Jim Findley, Archidamus - Jonathan Keeble, The accordion player - Nigel Waterhouse. Original music was composed by Gary Yershon. Produced by Nadia Molinari. (180m)

(15-02-2004; 19:40) The Tragedy Of King Richard III
(William Shakespeare) A new production of one of Shakespeare's most popular plays starring Douglas Henshall as Richard. Richard Duke of Gloucester - Douglas Henshall, Buckingham - Ben Miles, Richmond - Geoffrey Streatfield, Lady Anne - Jasmine Hyde, Queen Elizabeth - Anastasia Hille, Duchess of York - Geraldine James, Margaret - Barbara Jefford, Clarence - Michael Maloney, King Edward - Mark Bazeley, Hastings - Paul Bentall, Lord Stanley - John Rowe, First murderer - Jonathan Keeble, Second Murderer - Stephen Critchlow, Tyrell - Ewan Bailey, Dorset - Stuart Bunce, Grey - Chris Moran, Lovel - Damian Lynch, York - Rory Copus, Edward - Alex Green, First citizen - Rachel Atkins, Second citizen - Cherie Taylor-Battiste, Third citizen - Frances Jeater, Lord Mayor - Ioan Meredith, Brackenbury - Gerard McDermott, Cardinal - Peter Marinker, Ratcliff - Declan Wilson. Original music composed and realised by David Pickvance. Directed by Marc Beeby. (170m)

(22-02-2004; 20:00) Wormwood
(Jeff Young) At 17, Jeff Young left home and hitched to Paris, dissatisfied with his parent's decision to move from the centre of Liverpool to the suburbs in search of a better life. Wormwood is his personal essay - a montage drama - following his own search for Bohemia, and an alternative way of living. It's a tale of decadence, absinthe and broken dreams, interwoven with the desperate love story of poets Verlaine and Rimbaud. '17' - William Dixon, Paul Verlaine - Robert Pickavance, Rimbaud - Nick Bagnell, Harry - Josh Richards, Mona - Sarah Parks, Skeeter - Andrew Whyment, Dad/Jack Tramp - Vince Earl. With poet Gerald Mangham and Absinthe expert Peter Shaff. Directed in Manchester by Susan Roberts. (90m)

(29-02-2004; 20:40) Facing Leicester Square
(Various) Recorded live at The Albany Theatre, Deptford, this is a journey through the landscape of one of London's most famous landmarks at the beginning of the 21st Century. Actor and writer Lennie James comperes the work of some of the most exiting UK-based contemporary writers. Performing their own work: Mat Fraser, Segun Lee-French, Sophie Woolley and Shamshad Kahn. With Wil Johnson performing work by Ferdinand Dennis and Jenny Jules performing work by Diran Adebayo. Music composed and performed by Paul Gladstone-Reid, with Tony Wallard on cello. Artistic Consultant - Melanie Abrahams. Produced by Topher Campbell. (85m)

(07-03-2004; 20:00) The Mrichhakatikaa
(adap Roger Elsgood, with Willi Richards & Graeme Fife) The Mrichhakatikaa is a 5th century Sanskrit play atributed to King Sudraka, which has been adapted for BBC Radio 3. Unlike its older relative The Mahabharata, it is not a vast oral epic requiring a cast of thousands and hours of airtime, but an intimate play, rather like a Feydeau farce or perhaps a Christmas pantomime. It tells the story of Charudatta, a nobleman impoverished by his unconstrained altruism and Vasanta a beautiful-but-bored courtesan looking to settle down. Their romance is set in a time of civil unrest in 5th century Ujjain and is constantly thwarted by the bufoon brother-in-law of a wicked king. It features a Shampooer who transforms into a Buddhist priest, a housebreaker who becomes a revolutionary upstart and saves the city, a glorious confusion over the possession of a casket of jewellery, a near-death experience caused by getting into the wrong taxi and a conflagration of sub-plots which culminate in a very Indian denouement. It was recorded entirely on location in Khandala India with an all-Indian cast and has an eclectic soundtrack featuring the work of contemporary Indian musicians. Vasanta - Dipka Roy, Charudatta - Denzil Smith, Jaganmatha/Radha - Lovleen Mishra, Maitreya - Kunaal Roy Kapur, Guruji - Sohrab Ardeshir, Manda - Smita Rosemeyer, Sarvi - Joy Sengupta, Judge/Vardha - Farid Currim, Dardu - Rehaan Engineer, Captain Chanda - Quasar Padamsee, Captain Viraka - Nadir Khan, Aryaka - Digvijay Sawant, The Priest - Darshan Jariwala, The Executioner - Vinay Pathak. (100m)

(14-03-2004; 19:40) The Permanent Way
(David Hare) The broadcast premiere of David Hare's dramatic portrayal of the impact of the privatisation of the railways. Funny, tragic, and compelling, the play is based on interviews conducted by the writer and the Out Of Joint Company, with members of the railway industry, survivors of recent train disasters and bereaved families. Performed by Flaminia Cinque, Nigel Cooke, Matthew Dunster, Souad Faress, Sam Graham, Lloyd Hutchinson, Kika Markham, Bella Merlin, Ian Redford. Directed by Max Stafford-Clark. (110m)

(21-03-2004; 19:30) The Pretenders
(Henrik Ibsen, trans Michael Meyer) In a bitter struggle for power, three single-minded, self-centred men drag their country into civil war. (120m)

(28-03-2004; 20:00) Volpone
(Ben Jonson) Wealthy Volpone pretends to be old and infirm. This attracts greedy Venetians to his bedside, anxious to be included in his will. Shakespeare's works apart, Jonson's brilliant comedy is the most performed and influential play of the English Renaissance. And as a biting satire on human imperfection, Machiavellianism and spin, it is a play for all ages. Volpone - Ian McDiarmid, Corvino - Malcolm Sinclair, Voltore - Patrick Barlow, Corbaccio - John Rowe, Celia - Olivia Williams, Mosca - Tom Hollander, Bonario - Chris Moran, Androgyno - Declan Wilson, Nano - David Thorpe, Castrone - Jaimi Barbakoff, Avoc 1 - Ioan Meredith, Avoc 2 - Philip Fox, Avoc 3 - John Paul Ryan. Music performed by Mia Soteriou and Steve Bentley-Klein. Music by Mia Soteriou. Directed by Peter Kavanagh. (130m)

(04-04-2004; 20:00; Rpt) Dionysos
(Andrew Rissik) The first of three plays by Andrew Rissik which examine the conflict between religion and the power of the state. Dionysos is the leader of a charismatic religion which, by its belief in an ecstatic god of boundless power and goodness, makes no distinction between rich or poor, male or female, slave or free, and thereby threatens to destabilise the rule of King Pentheus. Dionysos - Chiwetel Ejiofor, Pentheus, King Of Thebes - Toby Stephen, Kadmos, his Grandfather - Paul Scofield, Agave, his Mother - Diana Rigg, Lykurgos - Roger Allam, Kritias - Pip Donaghy, Polybos - Bruce Purchase, Tiresias - Jeffery Kissoon, Condemned slave - Trevor Martin, Chorus leader - Anna Carteret, Chorus voices - Mali Harries, Yolanda Vazquez, Mia Soteriou. Music by Mia Soteriou. Directed by Jeremy Mortimer. (90m)

(11-04-2004; 18:15) The Art Of Love
(Andrew Rissik) In tonight's double bill of plays for Easter Sunday, Andrew Rissik presents stories of confrontation between the forces of change and the established order. The Roman poet Ovid is sent into exile when his allegedly subversive ideas about love and freedom and new ways of living and thinking appear to challenge the authority of the ageing Emperor Augustus. Ovid - Stephen Dillane, Julia - Juliet Aubrey, Fabia - Penny Downie, Augustus Caesar - Robert Hardy, Setorius - Peter Eyre, Falco - Ian McNeice, Paullus Fabius Maximus - James Laurenson, Palamedes - Ioan Meredith, Verrius - Damian Lynch. Music by Mia Soteriou, performed by Mia Soteriou and Steve Bentley Kline. Directed by Jeremy Mortimer. (105m)

(11-04-2004; 20:00) Resurrection
(Andrew Rissik) A confrontation between love and radicalism and political authority - this time between the Roman Civil Governor of Judaea, Pontius Pilate and a troublesome, itinerant preacher, Yeshua Ben Youssef. Yeshua Ben Youssef - Anton Lesser, Pontius Pilate - David Calder, Mary of Magdala - Julia Ford, Caiaphas - Sam Dastor, Shimon Annas - Raad Rawi, Nicodemus - John Rowe, Claudia Procla - Mia Soteriou, Titus Flavius - Chris Moran. Other parts were played by James Hayes, Jon Glover and Danny Sapani. Music by Mia Soteriou and performed by Steve Bentley Kline, Merlin Shepherd and William Lyons. Directed by Jeremy Mortimer. (90m)

(18-04-2004; 20:00) Embers
(Sandor Marai, trans Carol Brown Janeway, adap Lou Stein) What is the true nature of the bonds of friendship? How deep are those bonds when challenged by betrayal, passion, and a thirst for revenge? Patrick Stewart stars in this drama, adapted by Lou Stein from Sandor Marai's recent best-selling novel. Set in a vast, perfectly preserved aristocratic Hungarian castle in 1940, a 75-year old career military man, Henrik (known simply as the General by his servants) patiently waits for a guest whom he has not seen for 41 years. When his great childhood friend, Konrad, does appear, the General invites his guest to dine with him at the table which was last used 41 years ago, the day he discovered Konrad's passionate relationship with his young wife, Krisztina and his best friend's plan to kill him. The moment has come for the General to take revenge on Konrad's betrayal of their friendship. The General - Patrick Stewart, Nini - Sara Kestelman, Konrad - David Horovitch, Young General - Jamie Glover, Young Konrad/Gamekeeper/Servant - Laurence Kennedy, Krisztina - Jenny Agutter. Original Music by Deirdre Gribbin. Directed by Lou Stein. (90m)

(25-04-2004; 18:30) Venus & Adonis
(William Shakespeare) Broadcast in the anniversary week of his birth, Shakespeare's exquisite retelling of a classical myth concerning desire and loss. Narrator - Nicholas Boulton, Venus - Claire Skinner, Adonis - Chris Moran. Violinist: Anne Wood. Director: Sara Benaim. (75m)

(02-05-2004; 20:00; Rpt) Stalingrad Kiss
(Sebastian Baczkiewicz) Eyewitness to the Battle of Stalingrad, Vassily Grossman was loved by the front line soldiers for his vivid portrayal of their struggle. But twenty years later his great war novel Life and Fate, was banned by the KGB. It would never see print in his lifetime. Vassily Grossman - Anton Lesser, Sasha - Jimmy Chamberlain, Valentin - Steven Webb, Valentin (older) - Raymond Coulthard, Anya/Olga - Gillian Bevan, Commissar Bruk - Matthew Marsh, Colonel Gurtiev/Polyakov - Fred Pearson, Petrov - Andrew Tiernan, Grekov - Stephen Critchlow, Yuri/Concierge/Third Soldier - Ben Crowe, Corporal Tanya Driabin - Carla Simpson, Freddy Parkhomenko - Nicholas Boulton, Albert/Concierge - Kenneth Collard, Marya - Laura Doddington, Lyusia - Laura Martin-Simpson, Grossman's Mother - Jennie Stoller. With Scott Brooksbank, Simon Donaldson and Richard Firth. Assistant Producer: Janice Thomas. Director: Mark Burman. Producer: Jeremy Mortimer. (90m)

(09-05-2004; 20:00; Rpt) Heart Of Darkness
(Joseph Conrad, adap Jeremy Howe) With David Calder as Marlow. Marlow, a sea captain, is ordered to sail up the Congo River to find out what has happened to Mr Kurtz, an ivory trader. The journey takes him into the heart of an unknowable darkness. A new version for radio of one of the 20th Century's greatest novels. "Try to listen closely and undisturbed": Gillian Reynolds. Marlow - David Calder, Mr Kurtz - Bill Wallis, The Disciple - Kris Marshall, The Company Doctor - John Webb, The Manager - John MacKay, The Uncle - Jon Morrison, Man with a Moustache - Jeremy Swift, The Helmsman - Yemi Goodman Ajibade, The Stoker - Willie Jonah, Steamboat Captain - John Telfer, The Accountant - Mark Buffery, The Intended - Kate Byers, The Solicitor - Stephen Perring. Music composed by David Lord. Produced in Bristol by Jeremy Howe and Iain Hunter. (90m)

(16-05-2004; 20:00) The Loneliest Road
(Gregory Whitehead) A pirate radio broadcast from the occluded heartland of the American Dream, haunted by dead poets, Marilyn Monroe, and an angel's solemn whisper. Candy Mintz - Karen Lee, Terry Trenton - Thom Whaley, Post-Mortem Narrator - Jeff Kent, Una - Cynthia Atwood, Ted Stebbins - Jon Swan, Stu Berkowitz - Daniel Klein, Oswald Norris - Gregory Whitehead, Ava Ravenella - Anne Undeland. Original Music composed and performed by Paul de Jong and Nick Zammuto. Directed by Gregory Whitehead. (90m)

(23-05-2004; 20:45; Rpt) Adrenaline Heart
(Georgia Fitch) The story of the passionate and addictive relationship between a single white mum in her thirties and a slightly older black Londoner. (45m) (NB: Repeat of The Wire entry from 04-12-2003.)

(30-05-2004; 20:30) A Man Called Rejoice
(James Whyle) The true story of Rejoice Mpofu, a South African man with two-tone shoes and a taste for liquor and ladies. This play celebrates a life - an ordinary life in extraordinary times. Rejoice - Peter Mashigo, Orchard - Errol Ndotho, Susan - Jennifer Steyn, Warren - Mark Faith, Harmony - Juanita Waterman. Directed by Claire Grove. (60m)

(06-06-2004; 19:45) Arden Of Faversham
(adap/dir John Tydeman) With Michael Pennington, Michael Maloney, Emma Hamilton and David Burke. Alice, the young wife of well-to-do Arden has fallen in love with Mosby, a one-time butcher with social aspirations. The solution is to murder Arden. This is the first English murder thriller written by an unknown contemporary of Shakespeare (though he himself may have provided an authorial hand). It was based on true events of the period and mixes high drama with low comedy as class-envy, greed and passion drive the story to its tragic conclusion despite many humorous pitfalls on the way. Arden, a merchant - Michael Pennington, Franklin, his friend - David Burke, Alice, his wife - Emily Hamilton, Michael, their servant - Giles Fagan, Mosby, a steward - Michael Maloney, Susan, his sister - Victoria Woodward, Black Will, a rogue - Anthony Jackson, George Shakebag, another rogue - Matthew Morgan, Greene, a smallholder - Mark Straker, Clarke, a painter - Simon Treves, Bradshaw/Lord Cheiny - Steve Hodson, Mayor/Ferryman/Prentice - Sion Probert. (105m)

(13-06-2004; 20:00) Through A Glass Darkly
(Shelagh Stephenson) Martha Jardine obsesses over the diaries of renaissance man John Collingwood, but in the 18th century, Collingwood's family are discovering his secret. (90m)

(20-06-2004; 18:30) A Midsummer Night's Dream
(William Shakespeare) Theseus/Oberon - David Threlfall, Titania/Hippolyta - Sylvestre Le Touzel, Lysander - Samuel West, Hermia - Amanda Root, Demetrius - Nick Bagnall, Helena - Kathryn Hunt, Bottom - Richard Griffiths, Snug/Egeus - Donald McBride, Peter Quince - Peter Sallis, Philostrate/Robin Starveling - Derek Walmsley, Flute - Andy Cryer, Snout - Malcolm Hebden, Puck - Becky Simpson, Peaseblossom - Thomas Pinnock, Cobweb/Lead Fairy - William Haigh, Mustard Seed/Moth - Holly Grainger. Music was composed and performed by Robin Rimbaud. Directed by Susan Roberts in Manchester. A part of Midsummer Night Dreams - An evening of music, drama, poetry and more to celebrate the longest day of the year. Introduced by Richard Eyre. (NB: The whole programme, including the play, went on for 5.5hrs.)

(27-06-2004; 20:00) Uncle Varick
(John Byrne) To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of Anton Chekhov, Radio 3 presents a new version of Uncle Vanya by acclaimed Scottish playwright John Byrne. The action takes place on an estate in the remote North East of Scotland in the mid-sixties. Uncle Varick and his niece Shona have been running the estate, farm and the brewery for the benefit of Varick's brother-in-law, the literary critic and TV pundit Sandy Sheridan. When Sandy decides to retire to the estate with his young wife Elaine, their presence throws the lives of the inhabitants into disarray. Uncle Varick is desperate having, he believes, surrendered his chance at life and love for the benefit of a man he now knows to be a charlatan. Deeply in love with Elaine, Varick's crisis drives the action to a darkly comic, tragic finale. Uncle Varick - Paul Young, Sandy - Sandy Neilson, Doctor - Richard Greenwood, Estate Worker - Robert Jack, Shona - Vicki Masson, Elaine - Selina Boyack, Mother - Sheila Donald, Willie John Telfer - John Shedden, Kirsty Morag - Anne Lacey. Guitar arranged and performed by Kevin MacKenzie. The production was first staged by the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. Directed by Lu Kemp. (120m)

(04-07-2004; 13:00) Zdenka
(Hattie Naylor) A new play evoking Janácek's unhappy marriage through the eyes of his downtrodden wife. Zdenka - Annette Badland, Janácek - David Calder, Marie, their maid - Miriam Margolyes. (25m) (NB: Not billed as a 'DO3' - the only drama on a day devoted to a celebration of the 150th birthday of the Czech composer Leos Janácek.)

(11-07-2004; 20:00) How Many Miles To Basra?
(Colin Teevan) Set in Iraq in April 2003, a new drama exploring the aftermath of a fictional incident at a checkpoint near Basra. (90m)

(18-07-2004) No programme (BBC Proms coverage)

(25-07-2004) No programme (BBC Proms coverage)

(01-08-2004) No programme (BBC Proms coverage)

(08-08-2004; 20:45) Portugal
(Zoltan Egressy, trans/adap Ryan Craig, from a literal translation by Katalin Trencsenyi) In a pub in a rural village in Hungary, the regulars are looking forward to the annual funfair and the prospect of a visit by a famous football team - real diversions from the only constant one of alcohol. Instead Nick, a stranger from Budapest on his way to Portugal, appears and triggers mayhem, capturing the heart of the landlord's daughter and provoking intense jealousy in Turnip, her "fiancee". The little world of Ergacs is turned upside-down. Landlord - Alun Armstrong, Ribbon - Sheridan Smith, Turnip - Darryl Clark, Peg - Pearce Quigley, Woman/Wife - Sally Rogers, Priest - Philip Fox, Nick - Bertie Carvel, Satan - Jon Glover. Directed by Anastasia Tolstoy. (90m)

(15-08-2004; 18:20) Laughter In The Dark
(Vladimir Nabokov, dram Craig Higginson) Set in Berlin, in a period moving inexorably towards World War II, this is the story of the downfall of a middle-aged married man who becomes infatuated with a young woman he meets in the cinema. She uses him with startling callousness and ultimately destroys him. This darkly erotic dramatisation comes to vivid life as events unfold in the mind of a man who becomes blind and can only guess at the gross betrayals inflicted on him by a younger and more ruthless generation. Albert Albinus - Roger Allam, Margot Peters - Claire Price, Axel Rex - Alan Cox, Elizabeth - Geraldine Alexander, Irma - Lauren Bird, Frieda - Sarah Badel, Otto - Dale Rapley, Karl Schwarz - Ewan Bailey, Doctor - David Shaw-Parker, Chambermaid - Tracy Wiles. Composer: Howard Davidson. Directed by Maria Aitken. (100m)

(22-08-2004; 20:30) The Mrichhakatikaa
(Traditional) A 5th-century Sanskrit play recorded on location in India, the story of a romance between an impoverished nobleman and a beautiful courtesan. (105m)

(29-08-2004; 20:45; Rpt) Elmina's Kitchen
(Kwame Kwei-Armah) (NB: Repeat of 04-01-2004 - see above.)

(05-09-2004; 20:55) The Don
(Jeff Young) Inspired by Cervantes' Don Quixote, The Don is a gentle dreamer, disheveled and battered by too many years spent in life's shadows. Through the function suites, pubs and wedding dos of northern England, The Don, played by the incomparable Bill Nighy, staggers forever in pursuit of his imaginary lover Dulcie - his muse, his ideal 'lady', with his neighbour Sancho in tow. The Don - Bill Nighy, Sancho - Danny Webb, Priest - Sam Kelly, Receptionist - Rosie Cavaliero, Barber - Deka Walmsley, Steve - Declan Wilson, Landlady - Elizabeth Bell, Lad - Oliver Jackson, Dulcie - Clara Sanabras. Music composed and performed by Harvey Brough. Lyrics by Jeff Young. Mike Outram (guitar). (80m)

(12-09-2004; 20:00) Romeo & Juliet In Southwark
(Georgia Finch) A play written in collaboration with the Globe Theatre Education Department and the pupils from an inner-London school, this is the story of two ordinary London teenagers, their lives, and the very special day they share. Based on real events. Stephen - Mohammed George, Jessica - Petra Letang, Francis - Mark Monero, Jessica's Mum - Janice Acquah, Bola - Troy Glasgow, Mel - Medhavi Patel, Jade - Aml Ameen, Slick - Tyronne Lewis, Driver - Nick Boulton, Narrator - Georgia Fitch. Directed by Marc Beeby. (90m)

(19-09-2004; 20:15) Something Dark
(Lemn Sissay) Fostered as a baby and brought up in care, Sissay spent most of his adult life searching for his family. This is a poetic retelling of his journey. (75m)

(26-09-2004; 20:00) Hippomania
(Snoo Wilson) With Laurence Olivier preparing to film the patriotic epic Henry V in neutral Ireland during the Second World War, and the poet John Betjeman attracting the suspicious attention of the IRA, it is a heady time in Dublin. Snoo Wilsons astonishing fantasia, which springs from real events in Betjemans life, conjures up Nazis, assassins and fairies as the poet wanders blithely through seats of power, pubs and a cemetery. John Betjemen - Anthony Calf, Penelope - Anastasia Hille, Edna - Patricia Leventon, Sir Oswald Mosely - Andrew Woodall, Diana Mosley - Victoria Woodward, Betterton/Lord Powerscourt - Ian Masters, Officer, MI6/Sweney - Owen Sharpe, Susan Hilton - Katherine Igoe, James Blair/Declan - Stephen Hogan, Dannan - Renee Weldon, Bridy - Aoife McMahon, Titannicus - Gerard Murphy, Eammon de Valera/MacNamara - John Rogan, Laurence Olivier - Nicholas Boulton, Olawalu - Jimmy Akingbola, Princess Sobietska - Ndidi del Fatti, Conor - Andrew Scott, Guy Burgess - Tam Williams, Evelyn Waugh - Snoo Wilson. Other parts played by Alex Tregear, Emily Wachter, Jason Chan, Robert Hastie and Stuart McLoughlin. Music direction by Jay Owen. Directed by Ned Chaillet. (90m)

(03-10-2004; 19:30) Vieux Carre
(Tennessee Williams) The disturbing but often funny play set in a seedy boarding house in New Orleans run by a half-mad landlady. (120m)

(10-10-2004; 20:00) Mr Puntila & His Man Matti
(Bertolt Brecht) A drunken chaotic landowner leans heavily on his stoic chauffeur in a series of ever more outrageous escapades. (90m)

(17-10-2004; 20:00) The Moving & The Still
(Howard Barker) A monastery in 1450. A young scribe, the finest calligrapher of his generation, greater even than John of Damascus or Ionides of the Feathered Style, is passionately committed to his art. Then a printing press arrives in his scriptorium from Germany. Hoik - Chris Moran, Slee - Neil Dudgeon, Mother - Lesley Manville, Tram - John Wood, November - Anton Lesser, Hergood/ Clerk - Damian Lynch, Light - Declan Wilson, Toonelhuis - John Rowe, Signor/Confessor - Vincenzo Nicoli. Directed by Peter Kavanagh. (90m)

(24-10-2004; 20:00) Himmler's Boy
(Adam Thorpe) A new play by Thorpe, one of our leading contemporary writers. In 1931, in Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum, art history student Klaus Bessel meets and falls in love with the clever and vivacious Anya Goldberger. But Anya is a Polish Jew, and in a few short years Klaus will be a member of a special SS unit, personally charged by Reichsführer Himmler to plunder occupied Poland of its priceless art. Klaus - Thomas Arnold, Anya - Lesley Hart, Liesl - Vicki Liddelle, Himmler - Richard Greenwood, Schaefer - Paul Young, Muhlmann - Michael Perceval-Maxwell, Aunt Maryla - Joanna Tope. Directed by Patrick Rayner. (90m)

(31-10-2004; 20:15) The Lovers Of Viorne
(Marguerite Duras, trans Barbara Bray, adap Bryony Lavery) A dismembered corpse scattered over a railway network and an unemotional confession leads a police interrogator to try and understand a woman's life and marriage in a provincial French town. The Interrogator - Roger Allam, Pierre - Peter Bowles, Other Voices - Andrew Hawkins, Claire -. Juliet Stevenson. Director - Annie Castledine. (75m)

(07-11-2004; 20:00) A Taste Of Honey
(Shelagh Delaney, adap/dir Polly Thomas) A new radio production of one of the great stage plays of the 20th century. The powerful story of a pregnant teenage girl and her feckless mother trading insults and repartee in 1950s Salford. Helen - Siobhan Finneran, Jo - Beth Squires, Peter - Charles Lawson, Boy - Richard Mylan, Geof - Andrew Sheridan. (90m)

(14-11-2004; 20:00) In Parenthesis
(David Jones) Private John Ball and his fellow Royal Welch Fusiliers embark for France in December 1915. Six months later, the majority of this band of comrades are killed or wounded at the Battle of the Somme. A new production of this unique prose-poem marks Remembrance Sunday and the 90th anniversary of the outbreak of World War One. Adapted by Douglas Cleverdon. Action - Sian Phillips, Thought - Sara McGaughey, Memory - Manon Edwards, Prologue - Dorien Thomas, John Ball - Steven Meo, Dai Evans - Oliver Ryan, Crower - Thomas Arnold, Jenkins - Rhodri Hugh, Lewis - Iestyn Jones, Snell - Simon Ludders, Quilter - David Middleton, Wastebottom - Matthew Morgan, Clark - Carl Prekopp, Watcyn - Aled Pugh, Wyatt - Keiron Self, Saunders - Nathan Sussex. Original Music by John Hardy. Directed by Alison Hindell. (90m)

(21-11-2004; 19:45) Daughter Of The Air
(Pedro Calderon de la Barca, adap Sarah Woods) A new version for radio produced in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company. (105m)

(28-11-2004; 20:00) Pale Fire
(Vladimir Nabokov, dram Robert Forrest) A dramatisation of Nabokov's great novel by the Sony Award-winning playwright. Published in 1962, Pale Fire ranks alongside James Joyce's Ulysses and Marcel Proust's À La Recherche du Temps Perdu as one of the masterpieces of twentieth century fiction. Comic, tragic, heartbreaking, Shakespearean in its almost infinite depth and beauty, it moves between leafy Appalachia and the mysterious far northern kingdom of Zembla, telling the story of a homely American poet and his regally demented neighbour. Charles Kinbote - Finlay Welsh, John Shade - Angus MacInnes, Sybil Shade - Joanna Tope, Professor Hurley - Crawford Logan, Odon - Richard Greenwood, Disa - Gayanne Potter. Directed by Patrick Rayner. (105m)

(05-12-2004; 19:30) Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
(Edward Albee) A new production, recorded on location, of this classic American play where two married couples tear each other's lives apart in a drunken brawl after a university party. For the older couple, George and Martha, it is part of the ritual of their marriage but on this particular night things go too far... Martha - Juliet Stephenson, George - Alex Jennings, Honey - Anastasia Hille, Nick - William Hope. Directed by Cherry Cookson. (105m)

(12-12-2004; 19:50) The Provoked Wife
(John Vanburgh, adap Jim Poyser) 'What cloying meat is love when matrimony's the sauce to it?' A gloriously outspoken 18th century comedy of sex, marriage, debauchery and revenge. Restoration comedy at its finest. Sir John Brute - Dave Hill, Lady Fanciful - Josie Lawrence, Constant - Tom Mannion, Lady Brute - Saskia Reeves, Heartfree - Julian Rhind-Tutt, Belinda - Sarah Smart, Claudette - Tonia Chauvet, Rasor/Colonel Bully - David Crellin, Lord Rake/Justice -. Alexander Delamere. (100m)

(19-12-2004; 20:00) Packet Of Seeds
(Various) A journey that travels from Beckton to Bangalore, from the bottom of a dry well to the trail of a vixen, to explore the essence of creativity. Tim Etchells, Iain Sinclair and Jocelyn Pook are just a few of the internationally known award-winning artists and writers taking part in this adventure in storytelling, each taking as their starting point a packet of seeds. This production is a collaboration with London International Festival of Theatre and includes contributions from Tim Etchells, Mercedes Kemp, Ruth Wall, Bob Gilbert, Iain Sinclair, C F John, Romeo Castellucci with Societas Raffaello Sanzio, Jocelyn Pook, Wesley Enoch, Chartwell Dutiro, Sue Hill and Colin Seddon. Man - Shaun Dooley, Boy - Alex Slater. With Anne Stephenson, Mary Pook and Doug Enoch. (90m)

(26-12-2004; 20:00) Three Japanese Gothic Tales
(Izumi Kyoka, dram Georgia Pritchett) These are adult fairy tales for the Christmas season. Izumi Kyoka is known as the Japanese Edgar Allen Poe. He writes stories that are full of adventure, suspense and surprise as well as great beauty, tenderness and passion. The Holy Man Of Mount Koya: Sakagami - Simon Russell Beale, Monk - Adrian Scarborough, Wanderer - Paul Rhys, Peddler - Iain Robertson, Farmer - Neil Dudgeon, Woman - Lia Williams, Old Man - Geoffrey Palmer. A Tale Of Three Who Were Blind: Sakagami - Simon Russell Beale, Blind Man - Toby Jones, Older Blind Man - Geoffrey Palmer, Blind Woman - Lia Williams. One Day In Spring: Sakagami - Simon Russell Beale, Monk - Adrian Scarborough, Wanderer - Paul Rhys, Tamawaki Mio - Mairead McKinley, Priest - Neil Dudgeon, Man - Iain Robertson, Lion Boy - Oscar Ridley. Director Roxana Silbert. Composer Howard Davidson. (90m)

TWENTY-MINUTES:

Various dramatic twenty-minute pieces that are used as mid-concert interval pieces during Performance On 3 and Opera On 3; Writer/reader credits have been noted where available; Documentaries/talks have been omitted.

(21-01-2004; 20:35) The Silence
(Julian Barnes, read by Ian McDiarmid) An old composer, poignant and mischievous in equal measure, looks back on his career. And just what went on in Gothenburg?

(22-01-2004; 20:15) The Inventor Of Fireworks
(Ben Yeoh, reader unknown) For Chinese New Year, a new story that unveils the mystery behind the invention of fireworks.

(25-02-2004; 20:20) The Beast
(Michael Kruger, read by Anton Lesser) This story by the German author describes how a man's creativity is threatened by the appearance of a strange pet.

(19-03-2004; 20:20) The Return Of Chorb
(Vladimir Nabokov) A municipal German opera-house is the backdrop for a sublimely awkward evening, in this atmospheric tale of love and loss. Aging German couple the Kellers are forced to confront some unexpected news, when their son-in-law Chorb returns home early from his honeymoon.

(08-07-2004; 20:10) Reading Chekhov
(Janet Malcolm) To mark a hundred years since the author's death, an extract from the best-selling study that describes an eventful visit to Chekhov's house at Yalta. Narrator - Kate Harper, Anton Chekhov - Bertie Carvel

(13-07-2004; 20:25) Errand
(Raymond Carver, read by David Collins) Marking the centenary of the death of Anton Chekhov, arguably one of the world's greatest short story writers, Julian Evans introduces a pertinent short story by another master of the form. Raymond Carver's Errand evokes the author's death at a hotel in the Black Forest spa town of Badenweiler.

(20-07-2004; 20:15) Trespass
(Julian Barnes, read by David Thorpe) Geoff thinks he can impress Lynn by taking her hiking, with all the right equipment and know-how. Then things go wrong in the ferns at Froggatt Edge. Producer Duncan Minshull.

(21-07-2004; 20:20) Prague 1934
(Elena Lappin, reader unknown) A new short story set in the capital of Czechoslovakia when it was an enlightened and youthful democracy - yet just a few years away from invasion and occupation by Germany.

(22-07-2004; 20:35) Mobile Phones Off!
(Armando Ianucci) A look at what to do and what not to do in a concert hall, pondering the ritual of going to a concert and events on and off the stage. (NB: More a comical essay than a dramatic piece.)

(23-07-2004; 20:00) God Save The Rain
Queen (wri/read by Christopher Hope) Hope sets his story in the South African Highveld, where the Rain Queen, Her Majesty Bamadodi VI, holds sway as the authorised rainmaker. Her power though is chipped away by the modern attitudes sweeping the country, attitudes which bring an ambiguous promise of progress and the deadly threat of disease. The bond of friendship she forges with a white South African middle-class mother protects them both for a time.

(27-07-2004; 20:25) The Modern Soul
(Katherine Mansfield, read by Emma Fielding) Mansfield's short story is an amusing and satirical study of the eccentric characters a young Englishwoman meets whilst staying at a German boarding house. She describes how a pretentious Fräulein and the trombone-playing Herr Professor are brought together following their performance at a charity concert. Mansfield is now recognised as the initiator of the modern short story and is regarded as one of the pioneers of modern English literature. The story is taken from In a German Pension, first published in 1911.

(28-07-2004; 19:45; Rpt) New Nature Writing - In Crow Country
(Mark Cocker) A love affair with the Rook, Corvus frugilegus. (NB: Repeat of 31-07-2003, though unmarked - and the rest of the synopsis was lifted directly from last year's spiel, and the proposed 'new series' didn't happen.)

(30-07-2004; 20:10) Letters From England
(Karl Capek, trans Geoffrey Newsome, abr/prod Emma Harding, read by Owen Teale) For two months in 1924 the Czech writer and playwright Karl Capek travelled throughout England, Scotland and Wales. His witty, appreciative dissections of the 'English' national character and culture quickly established themselves as masterpieces of observation - and classics of modern Czech prose.

(05-08-2004; 20:25) The Swooner
(Ma Jian, trans Flora Drew, abr/prod Emma Harding) A short story from the award-winning Chinese writer Ma Jian, taken from his new collection The Noodle Maker. A young entrepreneur uses an old pottery kiln to set up a private crematorium and is overwhelmed by demand.

(11-08-2004; 20:05) Acquainted With The Night
(Christopher Dewdney, abr/prod Eugene Murphy, read by Peter Marinker) From the Canadian poet's new book celebrating the dark splendor of the night. A lyrical journey through the world after dark.

(15-08-2004; 16:50) An Unfinished Record
(Zhang Jie, trans W J F Jenner, read by Burt Kwouk) An elderly Chinese writer lives alone with his cat, the Grand Historian. On the day before he is due to go into hospital, he looks back on his life and recalls his unrequited love for a young colleague.

(18-08-2004; 20:15) Use Your Ears
(Armando Ianucci) A quirky look at how we listen to music. Why is our response to music not just about the piece of music in itself, but also about the circumstances in which we hear it - Who we're with, whether we rushed to get there, what else is on our mind. How musically literate do you have to be to appreciate classical music? And does more music in our lives, mean that we listen less? Armando explores these questions with the social psychologist, David Hargreaves.

(20-08-2004; 20:05) Slicing The Gingerbread
(Sara Maitland, read by Emily Woof) The story returns Hansel and Gretel to the forest, where Gretel recalls their dramatic childhood together.

(22-08-2004; 19:20) Widow's Walk
(Ronald Frame, read by Janet Suzman) A young girl from a provincial town in prewar Scotland takes an evocative life journey to the New World.

(24-08-2004; 20:10) The Primer Of Love
(Ivan Bunin) This story describes how Ivlev travels to a distant Russian province and is mesmerized by the secrets of a dusty library in a ramschackle house.

(01-09-2004; 20:25) The Clarinet Players
(William Palmer, read by Tobias Menzies) A young boy's grandfather dies, leaving him facing an important decision.

(02-09-2004; 19:45) The Bird That Habitually Walks
(wri/read by Nigel Collar) A story of addiction and heartbreak amongst the great bustards of Portugal.

(07-09-2004; 20:00) The Star
(H G Wells, read by Patrick Stewart) Astronomers discover a bright new star in the heavens rushing headlong towards the Earth on a collision course. A classic short story from the father of science fiction.

(08-09-2004; 19:50) A World Of My Own
(Graham Greene, abr/prod Duncan Minshull, read by Corin Redgrave) To mark the centenary of Greene's birth this October, we dip into his dream diary, which he kept between 1965 and 1989. Thoughts on fictitious towns, wayward popes, and difficult times in Haiti. And something comes to him from outer-space...

(09-09-2004; 20:30) The Princess & The Carpenter
(Michelene Wandor) Charpentier, who wrote all the music in this evening's concert, also wrote the first sonata to be composed in France, commissioned by the Marie, the Duchess of Guise, a cousin of Loius XIV. This play imagines the encounter between the composer and the duchess in which she asks for a piece of music which will shock the court. In a flirtatious tussle, hinting of intrigue, she plans an act of cultural revenge. Marie - Miriam Margolyes, Charpentier - Sam Dastor. Directed by Julian May.

(02-10-2004; 20:45) The Silence
(Julian Barnes, read by Ian McDiarmuid) An old composer, poignant and mischievous in equal measure, looks back on his career. And just what went on in Gothenburg? (25m)

(17-11-2004; 20:20) The Return Of Chorb
(Vladimir Nabokov, read by David Tennant) A municipal German opera-house is the backdrop for a sublimely awkward evening, in this atmospheric tale of love and loss. Aging German couple the Kellers are forced to confront some unexpected news, when their son-in-law Chorb returns home early from his honeymoon.

(23-11-2004; 20:15) Vera
(Stacy Schiff, unknown reader) An extract from the life of Vera Nabokov, wife of the author Vladimir. She was his leading light in all matters including driving him around in America.

(25-12-2004; 21:50) A Christmas Tree
(Charles Dickens, read by Oliver Ford Davies) This festive tale is about looking into the tree, beyond the lights and baubles, and seeing many a curious thing.

BETWEEN THE EARS

(03-01-2004; 21:45) Radio Tarifa Calling:
For half an hour Radio 3's frequencies are borrowed by another station - Radio Tarifa. Tarifa is the southernmost village in Spain and clearly visible from its shores are the mountains of Morocco. For 15 years three musicians - Faín S.Dueñas, Vincent Molino and Benjamin Escoriza - have been exploring the origins of Spanish culture; the music of the medieval Moors, the chansons of French troubadours and the poetry of Sephardic Jews, as well as Flamenco. They took their name from a radio station which would, if only it existed, broadcast this music. Tuning in to concert and studio recordings, interviews and readings, from anonymous romances about the Moors to Lorca, these musicians build a radio montage exploring their identity. (30m)

(10-01-2004; 22:40) The Cocktail Party Effect
(Liz Webb & Sheila Goff) Our ears receive all the sounds reaching them, but our brains decide which to register and which to disregard. This psychoacoustic phenomenon is called The Cocktail Party Effect. In this experimental play, PhD student Jennifer Rigby is trying to explain this phenomenon at a university cocktail party, when she starts to experience the effect first hand. Jennifer - Debra Stephenson, Patrick - Kim Wall, All other parts - Sue Elliott Nicolls, Simon Greenall, Debra Stephenson and Kim Wall. Composition and Sound Design by Nina Perry. Studio Management by Colin Guthrie. Directed by Liz Webb. (20m)

(17-01-2004; 22:15) Kindertotenlied - Song On The Death Of Children:
Nothing touches us quite like the death of a child. For a parent, it's the worst thing that can happen, almost too painful to contemplate. But artists have nevertheless been drawn to reflect on the loss. The son of violinist David Harrington died suddenly on Easter Day 1995. Terry Riley composed a 'Requiem for Adam' for David's group, the Kronos Quartet to perform in his memory. Evie Clarke began writing poems after being diagnosed with a tumour in the spring of 2003. Her father Nigel now treasures his 8 year old daughter's poetic legacy. Inspired by Mahler's settings of poems on the deaths of two of the poet Rückert's children, Kindertotenlied reflects on how art can help confront the inexpressible. (30m)

(14-02-2004; 22:30) Funeral Of A Bell-Ringer:
An audio portrait of the bell-ringing life and legacy of bell-ringer Bernard Mann interspersed with an account of the casting of a new bell. (20m)

(21-02-2004; 22:25) Brainwaves:
Up close and personal with the creative process, Brainwaves follows a group of would-be writers on two sweltering Saturdays in Sydney, Australia as - under the direction of novelist Sue Woolfe - their brains are stretched, scrambled and jogged into producing a short story. (30m)

(28-02-2004; 22:25) Music Tastes Like Roast Beef:
In his music workshops for deaf-blind people at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People at Polmead near Bath, Tony Heyes works in a world where sound becomes texture, where physical contact replaces the easy distance of speech and where music can be experienced as vibration and even taste. Tony invites listeners to experience the joy and subtle communication of his work. (30m)

(06-03-2004; 22:25) Brahms's Beard:
Think of Johannes Brahms and it's impossible to disentangle the image from the beard. He wears a full Olympian (or Patriarchal) facial growth - a Marx-ist beard with a Jimmy Edwards moustache. But does the beard obscure also our view of the composer's music? Until his mid-40s, Brahms was a handsome clean-shaven 'progressive', looking to extend the tradition of Bach, Beethoven and Schumann. Soon after growing the beard, the academic conservative image took over. The composer Hugh Wood, sculptor Manfred Sihle-Wissel, Wolfgang Sandberger and Cord Garben of the north German Brahms scene, author Michael Musgrave, image consultant Pat Henshaw, Frank Dobson MP, Phil Olsen of the World Beard Championship and Keith Flett of the Beard Liberation Front review our sense of Brahms, his music and his beard. With extracts from Brahms's Clarinet Quintet and musical decoration by Steven Faux. (30m)

(13-03-2004; 22:30) Notes From The Rainforest:
From the po-po-po of a passing riverboat to the complex song of a tiny bird, the Uirapuru. With sounds like these, Brazilian musician Albery Albuquerque Junior has created an exploration of the richness of the Amazon rainforest. Includes a specially commissioned piece for BBC Radio 3. (30m)

(20-03-2004; 22:30) Speaking In Tongues:
Turner prize winning artist Steve McQueen explores the boundaries of vocal expression with actor Billie Whitelaw, sound poet Cris Cheek and linguistics professor William Samarin. (30m)

(27-03-2004; 21:45) A Pebble In The Pond:
The philosopher would say that there is some danger of confusion as to the nature of memory: the image is in the present, whereas what is remembered is known to be in the past. With words by Eva Hoffman and music by Michael Zev Gordon, performed by The Composers' Ensemble conducted by Richard Baker. Featuring Michael Mears and the voices of Ruth Posner, Christopher Phillips and Michael Simpson. (45m)

(12-06-2004; 22:30) Walking Against The Wind:
A radio poem written by Bonnie Greer and mixed by Antony Pitts. What is it that a stranger knows? Walking through grey days, grimy streets, wandering, wondering - playwright and critic Bonnie Greer keeps moving through the streets of London and across the geographical unconscious to the beat of broken language, foreign voices, and untold stories. (30m)

(26-06-2004; 22:30) Zoom:
The man who mislaid his wife, a medieval leper girl and an actress falling apart in an interview do not intersect as we zoom from story to story in a vertiginous manner. With David Holt, John Rowe and Fiona Henderson. Music effects by Joe Acheson. (30m)

(03-07-2004; 21:45) Trimming Pablo:
An entertainment using archive, drama and music recalling Pablo Picasso's trip to Sheffield in 1950 for the Second World Peace Conference. (30m)

(10-07-2004; 22:15) No Ball Games:
Collaboration between Canadian author Douglas Coupland, Scottish visual artist Martin Boyce and the Burt Raymond MacDonald Quartet in search of the modernist revival. (20m)

(17-07-2004; 22:00) Words Per Minute
A portrait of a British call shop - a place of phone booths and cut price calls, where people from all over the world gather to make long distance phone calls, cramming in the maximum 'words per minute' to family and friends back home. Conversations overheard give a fleeting and poignant insight into immigrant life in Britain today, in turns both touching and disturbing. Told through the spoken word with new works 'overheard' from Kapka Kassabova, Imtiaz Dharker, Choman Hardi, Yang Lian, Malika Booker and Dorothea Smartt, and the personal emotions of recent asylum seekers. (20m)

(24-07-2004; 22:15) Hearing Voices:
A 'composed documentary' by sound artist John Wynne which features recordings of several click languages from the Kalahari Desert in Botswana. The sounds of these amazing languages provide material for subtle electro-acoustic manipulations as the piece moves seamlessly between documentary and abstraction, language and music. Hearing Voices weaves together interviews, field recordings and music in a compelling and adventurous exploration of languages on the verge of extinction. (30m)

(07-08-2004; 22:00) Radio Tarifa Calling:
For half an hour Radio 3's frequencies are borrowed by another station - Radio Tarifa. Tarifa is the southernmost village in Spain and clearly visible from its shores are the mountains of Morocco. For 15 years three musicians Faín S.Dueñas, Vincent Molino and Benjamin Escoriza have been exploring the origins of Spanish culture - the music of the medieval Moors, the chansons of French troubadours and the poetry of Sephardic Jews, as well as Flamenco. They took their name from a radio station which would, if only it existed, broadcast this music. In Radio Tarifa Calling that station comes on the air. Tuning in to concert and studio recordings, interviews and readings, from anonymous romances about the Moors to Lorca, these musicians build a radio montage exploring their identity. (30m)

(14-08-2004; 22:40) I Made Pizza For Kim Jong Il:
Italian chef Ermano Furlanis recalls his time working for the North Korean leader and contrasts his experiences with tales of poverty and famine. (20m)

(28-08-2004; 22:00) The Way The Truth:
Israeli artist Keren Amiran maps the city of Jerusalem as a physical place and a spiritual construction. (30m)

(04-09-2004; 22:00) Connecting:
Go where only your ears can take you. This is the story behind the first computer hackers, told in their own words, and featuring the voices of such legendary figures as Captain Crunch, Joy Bubbles, Mark Bernay and cofounder of Apple computers Steve Wozniak. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, big changes were taking place in the US phone network: armed only with a telephone, a little technical knowledge and a lot of curiosity, kids across America were exploring the phone system, discovering how it worked and what else it could be made to do. The first and original hackers, these 'phone phreaks' now talk candidly about the early days of hacking: the highs and lows, the clashes with the law, and how their early experiments contributed directly to the phenomenal rise of the home computer during the 1980s. Connecting makes extensive use of archive recordings made by the actual phreaks themselves to document party lines, long distance conversations and prank calls. Hear what it was like to be one of the original phone phreaks, working your way around the telephone system back in the early 1970s - hear intercept messages and system noises from the time. Written and presented by Ken Hollings, with music by Simon James. (30m)

(06-11-2004; 22:40) Project Jericho:
Dramatist Gregory Whitehead uncovers the latest attempts to harness sound as a weapon. (20m)

(13-11-2004; 20:45) A Pebble In The Pond:
A radiophonic meditation on memory and winner at this year's Prix Italia. Words by Eva Hoffman and music by Michael Zev Gordon, performed by The Composers' Ensemble conducted by Richard Baker. Featuring Michael Mears and the voices of Ruth Posner, Christopher Phillips and Michael Simpson. (45m)

(20-11-2004; 22:40) Between The Ears:
As a prelude to tonight's Hear and Now concert, Gavin Bryars has devised a binaural fantasy exploring the Icelandic saga of Egil: Viking warrior, poet, philosopher, drinker. Recorded entirely on location in the sea caves of the Faroe Islands and featuring the voice of Faroese bass Rúni Brattaberg. (20m) (NB: Part of the evening's 'Hear & Now' was 'Gavin Bryars: From Egil's Saga', "a BBC commission - which explores the relationship between the Nordic Sagas and the connected history of the East of England.")

(27-11-2004; 22:30) The Abandoned Road
- Near the French home of the writer Adam Thorpe lies a three-kilometre vestige of the former main road to the nearest village. Abandoned a hundred years ago, this old Languedoc road is now the haunt only of badgers, shepherdess and her brother and the memories of former times. Adam Thorpe's walk along the abandoned road is the starting point for a meditation in words and sound on the significance of roads and what it means when they fall into disuse. (30m)

(04-12-2004; 21:50) Don't Wear A Hat:
The residents of two care homes in Glasgow - David Cargill House and New Cleveden Lodge - give their opinions on the world as it is now: space travel, electricity, hair, manners, how they feel when they wake up in the morning, how to get to heaven, and how to make the perfect cup of tea. (20m) (

11-12-2004; 22:30) By The Rivers Of Babylon
(Judith Chernaik) The story of the unlikely collaboration between the already famous Lord Byron, and Isaac Nathan, a young, unknown Jewish musician who persuaded His Lordship to write lyrics to some ostensibly ancient songs of David. The venture was a publishing success, and a critical disaster. Byron's poems eventually inspired several composers much greater than Nathan. Byron - Giles Fagan. Nathan - Dominic Colchester. Pianist - Anna Tilbrook. Commentary by the conductor Charles Mackerras. (30m)

(18-12-2004; 22:45) A Strange Eventful History:
One man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages... From Shakespeare's infant through schoolboy, lover, soldier, judge, and pantaloon to second childishness, the passing of time is made audible in the hopes, fears and regrets of seven everymen. With a double soundtrack of music tracing the arch of Western civilisation and golden songs from the last seventy-odd years. Devised and produced by Alan Walker and Antony Pitts. (30m)

THE WIRE

(08-01-2004) Bampot Central (Christopher Brookmyre)
Parlabane has just walked into one of the worst conceived armed robberies hes ever had the pleasure to attend. Tommy and Jyzer appear to have been set up, not that they are aware of that fact. Holding up a Post Office in order to lay their hands on that mythical creature The Insurance Bond has to be their least smart move to date. But they can still make a few more along the way. Featuring Douglas Henshall as Jack Parlabane and David Begg, Richard Gordon and Murdo Macleod as themselves. Morag - Sheila Donald, Moira - Monica Gibb, Jack Parlabane - Douglas Henshall, English Crusty - John Paul Hurley, Jyzer - Tony Kearney, Constable Mclaren - Steven McNnicoll, Tommy - Michael Moreland, Helen/Pregnant Woman - Gayanne Potter, Mackay/Captain Finlay Craig - Paul Young. Directed by Lu Kemp.

(05-02-2004) Bone City (Tom Kelly)
Jimmy Orange is married to Mandy-Mu and there is nothing he would not do for her. But today is the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of their daughter.

(04-03-2004) Sound Mirrors (Hari Kunzru & Coldcut)
An experimental collaboration between novelist Hari Kunzru and DJ producers Coldcut. Dan is a sound engineer who, bombarded by the sounds and rhetoric of his life, withdraws into the detail of sound itself. Bidding for sound effects tapes on the internet, he mysteriously acquires some old MoD shellac records. When he starts hearing messages from a World War II spy Cora, code name Gabrielle, reality becomes fantasy as the sounds he hears take over his life in this super-sonic supernatural drama. Dan - Matthew Dunster, Su and Madeleine - Archie Panjabi. With Rachel Atkins and Philip Fox. (45m)

(01-04-2004) Clean (Jennifer Farmer)
Grace is in a residential centre undergoing treatment for substance abuse. She has been on drugs all through the childhood of her children, Joe and Yasmin. Finally, after her fifth stay in the centre, Grace is ready to go home. But Big Mama is not prepared to let her have control of the children. Grace - Angela Wynter, Big Mama - Jay Byrd, Da -. Oscar James, Joe -. Bluey Robinson, Yasmin - Kachaan Ellis, Counsellor - Peter Dawson. Directed by Jeremy Mortimer.

(05-05-2004) Plague (Lucy Gannon)
A new play for radio by the acclaimed television writer Lucy Gannon, set in Derbyshire during the Plague. With the arrival of a newly orphaned boy in need of shelter, Samuel's unthinking existence ignites to become a joyful, brief, but glorious flame. His sexual awakening unleashes a feeling he has never experienced before; a feeling that is unforgivable, and previously unimaginable. Samuel - Pete Meakin, Sarah - Esther Coles, Peter - Marc Jordan, Narrator - Ellie Haddington. Directed by Lucy Hannah. (50m)

(03-06-2004) The Colony (Dennis Kelly)
Paul collects ants. Vinnie wants to be a war reporter. Louise watches the world go by from her flat as she looks after her sick mother and Ade remembers his son and the bullet that killed him. When a child crawls along a balcony, untended each of them watches, caught up in their own obsessions. Paul - Adam Godley, Vinnie - Bryan Dick, Ade - Jude Akuwudike, Sarah - Gillian Wright, Louise - Carolyn Tomkinson.

(01-07-2004) My Arm (Tim Crouch)
'At the age of ten, for want of anything more meaningful to do, I put my arm above my head and kept it there. Now thirty years on, I'm so full of meaning, it's killing me.' This study of bloody-mindedness, modern art and how the things we do when we're ten stick with us for life is written and performed by Tim Crouch, and features Owen Crouch within a specially created soundscape by Chris Dorley-Brown.

(31-07-2004; 21:15; Rpt) The Woman With Fork & Knife Disorder (Jackie Kay)
Irene Elliot has a cutlery disorder which sprung up on her quite suddenly in the house she shares with her daughter. Struggling with her adolescence, Mary Ann hates everything about her mother - blaming her for the day her father took a machete to his marriage and walked out. Now everything is tense. The cutlery's mixed up, and Mary Ann is turning into her father. Irene - Siobhan Redman, Mary Ann - Julie Austin, The Doctor - Clive Russell. With music and the voice of the cutlery composed by Scanner. Directed in Manchester by Susan Roberts. (45m) (NB: Repeat of 07-08-2003.)

(05-08-2004; 21:45) Ammo (Lavinia Murray)
The unthinkable happens in a Manchester inner city secondary school; a teenage girl who, bullied and an outcast, takes two of her fellow students hostage at gunpoint. But is it all real or imagined? Martha/Gun - Joanne Froggatt, Finolla - Rhea Bailey, Faq - Charlie Ryan, Russell - Gary Damer. Directed by Pauline Harris.

(07-08-2004; 21:00; Rpt) Nicotine Jean (Robert Delamere)
Amidst the sounds of the urban night and the music of Nina Simone, Paul McCulloch lives a life unseen by the outside world. Sustained by his fitful imagination, Paul cares for Jean McCulloch, retired bookmaker's assistant and the love of his life. Paul - Sean Harrison, Jean - Rachel Davies. Soundscape Alisdair McGregor and Aidan Love. Directed by Kate Rowland. (NB: Repeat of 04-09-2003.)

(14-08-2004; 21:40; Rpt) Three Five Silly Twerp (Jack Klaff)
Peggy suffers a stroke. Then, just a few months later, as if in sympathy, her husband, Don, has a stroke, too. Same part of the brain, same limbs affected, speech affected in very similar ways. Peggy ends up with just two all-purpose words while Don is left with only one expression. Jack Klaff explores the ability of love and personality to triumph over the loss of the power to speak. Don - Alec McCowen, Peggy - Vivian Pickles, Karl - William Gaminara, Julie - Tara Fitzgerald, Sonia - Rachel Atkins, Josh - Jonathan Bee. Directed by David Ian Neville.

(21-08-2004; 21:15; Rpt) Sound Mirrors (Hari Kunzru & Coldcut)
(NB: Repeat of 04-03-2004 - see above.)

(28-08-2004; 21:00; Rpt) Bampot Central (Christopher Brookmyre)
(NB: Repeat of 08-01-2004 - see above.)

(02-09-2004) The Lamb's Snow (Lin Coghlan)
From the award winning writer a radio drama "road-movie" about eight lost souls on different journeys, whose paths cross one magical night in their search for love and happiness. Franky - Elliot Jordan, Bren - Petra Letang, Derry - Ken Campbell, Clegs - Christopher Fulford, Gino - Ben Crowe, Julie - Julie Peasgood, Radu - Ryan Dougal, Nadia - Lauren McDonald, Stokes - Martin Hyder, Lenny - Tom George. Directed by Tanya Nash.

(04-09-2004; 21:00; Rpt) Creamie (Luke Sutherland)
As Glasgow cop Tony finds a surveillance operation unravelling, his thoughts return to a reunion last summer with the daughter he had seen only once. (NB: Repeat of 01-05-2003.)

(07-10-2004; 21:45) The Gate (Jeremy Howe)
In a psychological research institute in a police state, experimenters try to channel the energy of an inmate's obsession with his past. If necessary, can his extraordinary powers of recall be used to send him into the future? The Storyteller - Will Houston, The Questioner - Nigel Anthony, Charlotte - Rachel Joyce, Jim - Stuart McLoughlin. Composer: John Hardy. Directed by Alison Hindell.

(04-11-2004) Hoop Lane (Patrick Marber)
An old man takes a walk around a cemetery to compose himself before a funeral. His sister fondly torments him with her conflicting views of the past. Him - Warren Mitchell, Her - Maureen Lipman, Gravedigger - Tom Mannion, Rabbi - Adrian Scarborough. Directed by Mary Peate. (30m)

(02-12-2004) S (Kazuko Hohki)
A teenage girl living in Tottenham believes she is the moon princess in a famous Japanese folk story. Tottenham street and Japanese serenity collide. The first full length radio drama from Kazuko Hohki, half of the Frank Chickens - a fantastical, funny story with music. Japanese S - Kazuko Hohki, Young S - Louisa Lytton, Father - David Hounslow, Wayne - Aml Ameen, Shopkeeper - Stefan Kalipha. Directed in Manchester by Polly Thomas. (45m) (NB: In listings the title was a uncapitalised s.)

OTHER

(08-12-2004; 19:30) Rebuilding The Ark:
Jeremy Harding introduces three and a half hours of live discussion, documentary, new poetry and the wildest sounds on earth celebrating and exploring our continuing cultural entanglement with wild animals even as we seem set on destroying their habitat and ours. Poetry included: (7.30pm) Twitching - A new sequence of bird poems by Andrew Motion, poet laureate. (15m) (8.30pm) Noye, Noye - The Ark rebuilt by poet Peter Reading. (10m); (9.30pm) A Peeled Wand - Poet James Lasdun watches a beaver do its thing. (15m); (10.05pm) The Big Hum - Paul Farley's poem eavesdrops on the sounds of the wild. (10m); (10.55pm) We Will Have None Of Them - A poem about unicorns by Lavinia Greenlaw. (5m) (NB: Note that there were a couple of these evenings through the year.)

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