Radio 3 Drama & Readings, 2010

General notes: As programming is generally scheduled around evening concerts, start times have been noted after the date; Repeats are noted where listings specify them; whoever was compiling this information at the BBC was sometimes using capitals for cast/crew info (altering this was a task too arduous to contemplate) and was also including large chunks of info on cast/crew not really relevant to a list/overview such as this - hopefully it will stay in perpetuity on the BBC's website for those interested.

Barry Hodge

DRAMA ON 3:

Sunday evenings, times and durations as noted, plus some Summer repeats on Saturday nights during The Wire's usual repeat season.

(03-01-2010; 20:00; Rpt) The Tinker's Wedding/Riders To The Sea
(J M Synge) To mark the centenary of the death of Irish playwright JM Synge, Radio 3 presents new productions of two of his pivotal short plays. The Tinker's Wedding is a light comedy about the country people of Wicklow while Riders to the Sea is often described as the definitive Irish tragedy. They are presented alongside a documentary recorded on location in Galway and the Aran Islands. Produced and directed by Steven Canny. (90m) The Tinker's Wedding: Sarah Casey - Denise Gough, Michael Byrne - Stephen Hogan, Mary Byrne - Brid Brennan, Priest - John Rogan. Riders To The Sea: Maurya - Brid Brennan, Nora - Fiona O'Shaughnessy, Cathleen - Denise Gough, Bartley - Nick Lee, Old Man - John Rogan, Another Man - Stephen Hogan, One of the Women - Caroline Guthrie. With contributions from Thomas Conway, James Harrold, Dara O Conaola, Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola, Maire Mulkerrin, Dolores Lyne and Sean O Coistealbha. (90m) (NB: Rpt of 15-03-2010)

(10-01-2010; 20:00) Fences
(August Wilson) Danny Sapani stars in this Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play exploring race relations in America. It is 1957 and once-famous baseball player Troy Maxson now works as a rubbish collector. The 1950s are yielding to the spirit of liberation of the 1960s. The civil rights movement is kicking in but Troy can't see it. Troy Maxson - Danny Sapani, Rose Maxson - Adjoa Andoh, Bono - Jude Akuwudike, Lyons - Alex Lanipekun, Cory - Daniel Anthony, Raynell - Lily Andoh-Cunnell, Gabriel - Ray Shell. Directed by Claire Grove. (120m)

(17-01-2010; 20:00) Season Of Migration To The North
(Tayeb Salih, trans Denys Johnson-Davies, dram Philip Palmer.) The late Tayeb Salih's wry and sensual masterpiece has been described as the most important Arab novel of the 20th century. First published in Arabic in 1966, ten years after Sudan's independence, it's a hall of mirrors which conjures poetry and suspense from the ambivalence of the colonial legacy. A young man returning from studying in Europe to his beloved village 'on the bend in the Nile' unravels a tale which will lead to murder. Suleyman - Beru Tessema, Mustafa Sa'eed - Zubin Varla, Mahjoub - Philip Arditti, Hosna Bint Mahmoud - Farzana Dua Elahe, Hajj Ahmed - Nadim Sawalha, Wad Rayyes - Oscar James, Bint Majzoub - Ellen Thomas, Jean Morris - Donnla Hughes, Isabella Seymour - Carolyn Pickles, with Mitchell Zhangazha, Jonathan Tafler, Chris Pavlo, Inam Mirza, Jill Cardo, and Dan Starkey. Produced and directed by Jonquil Panting. Producer Jonquil Panting. (90m)

(24-01-2010; 20:00; Rpt) The Cherry Orchard
(Anton Chekhov, trans Sasha Dugdale) A new production of Chekhov's timeless study of a Russian aristocratic family forced to sell their house and beloved cherry orchard during the great social transitions of the 19th century. Madame Ranevskaia - Sarah Miles, Gaev - Nicholas le Prevost, Varia - Anne-Marie Duff, Ania - Susannah Fielding, Trofimov - Gunnar Cauthery, Simeonov-Pishchik - Roger Hammond, Lopakhin - Matthew Marsh, Firs - Malcolm Tierney, Duniasha - Jill Cardo, Epikhodov - Stephen Critchlow, Yasha - Inam Mirza, Sharlotta - Hannah Nicholson. Music composed and performed by Olga Thomas-Bosovskaya. Directed by Peter Kavanagh. (120m) (NB: Rpt of 21-12-2008)

(31-01-2010; 20:00) The Seagull
(Anton Chekov/George Calderon/Stuart Paterson) Siobhan Redmond and Paul Higgins head a cast of leading Scottish actors in this new production of Chekhov's classic drama. In part a tragic play about eternally unhappy people, Chekhov has always surprised his audiences by viewing it as a comedy, poking fun at human folly. All the characters are dissatisfied with their lives. Some desire love. Some yearn for success. Some crave artistic genius. But no one ever seems to attain happiness. When famous actress Irina Arkadina arrives to spend the summer on her brother Sorin's country estate, tempers inevitably get frayed. Trigorin - Paul Higgins, Konstantin - Robin Laing, Sorin - Sean Scanlan, Nina - Ashley Smith, Shamrayev - Lewis Howden, Polina - Daniela Nardini, Masha - Meg Fraser, Dorn - Finlay Welsh, Medvedenko - Tom Freeman. Director - Dominic Hill. (110m)

(07-02-2010; 20:00) Amazonia
(Garry Lyons) Years before he found fame with Swallows and Amazons, Arthur Ransome was swept up in the dramatic events of the Russian Revolution, living a dangerous double life as a journalist and agent for both the Bolsheviks and the Foreign Office. War, revolution, espionage and romance feature in this biographical portrait of one of our best-loved children's authors. Arthur Ransome - Rory Kinnear, Evgenia Shelepina - Michelle Dockery, Ivy - Katie Collier, Foreign Office Minister, Lenin - Gordon Mounsey, Lockhart, Trotsky - Mark Chatterton, Russian Officer, Soldier - Joe Hughes, Tabitha - Emily Herbert, Young Arthur - George Herbert, Soldier - Christopher Anderton, Soldier - Christopher Arley. Directed and produced by Melanie Harris. (90m)

(14-02-2010; 20:00; Rpt) An Ideal Husband
(Oscar Wilde) The unprincipled Mrs Cheveley threatens to reveal Sir Robert Chiltern's secret past unless he agrees to give his support in Parliament to a questionable Argentinian venture. Faced with ruin in the eyes of the country and his wife, he seems to have no alternative. Wildean wit and the elegance of English society is woven into this classic drama. The Earl of Caversham - Geoffrey Palmer, Viscount Goring - Jasper Britton, Sir Robert Chiltern - Alex Jennings, Lady Chiltern - Emma Fielding, Lady Markby - Sara Kestelman, Miss Mabel Chiltern - Joanna Page, Mrs Cheveley - Janet McTeer, Vicomte De Nanjac - Oliver de Sueur, Mrs Marchmont - Patience Tomlinson, Countess of Basildon - Lucy Whybrow, Mr Montford/James - John Cummins, Phipps - Hugh Dickson, Mason - Derek Beard. Directed by David Timson. (120m) (NB: Rpt of 17-06-2007)

(21-02-2010; 20:00) I'm Still The Same Paul
(Annie Caulfield) Lenny Henry stars as singer and political activist Paul Robeson. As an outspoken apologist for Stalin and agitator for civil rights Paul Robeson had many enemies, including the CIA. His passport was taken away, his career curtailed and his health threatened. An FBI agent re-examines his story. Paul Robeson - Lenny Henry, Essie Robeson - Adjoa Andoh, Michael Vincent - Corey Johnson, Helen Rosen - Joanne Monro, Marian - Alibe Parsons, Phillips - David Seddon, Secretary of State - Rufus Wright, Frank - Alex Lanipekun. Director Claire Grove. (90m) (01-05-2011; 20:00)

(28-02-2010; 20:00) La Princesse De Cleves
(Madame de Lafayette/Jo Clifford) Set in the 16th Century, the play follows the life of a beautiful young lady newly presented to Court. It's the reign of Henri II and Mary Queen of Scots is safely ensconced in France. It's a time of dangerous liaisons when one step out of line could ruin a woman and her family. Quickly married off, the naïve Princess finds herself admired and taunted by those around her. And, whilst they gossip cruelly, she becomes helplessly and dangerously caught up in matters of love. Playfully adapted, this radio dramatisation offsets the Princess's painful conflict between duty and love with characters who delight in the wickedness of their world. La Princesse - Melody Grove, Her Mother - Candida Benson, Clèves - Liam Brennan, Nemours - Robin Laing, Guise - Laurie Brown, Marie Stuart - Meg Fraser, Chorus 1 - Irene MacDougall, Chorus 2 - Ralph Riach, Chrous 3 - Crawford Logan. Director: Kirsty Williams. Producer David Jackson Young. (90m)

(07-03-2010; 20:00; Rpt) These Are the Times - The Life Of Thomas Paine
(Trevor Griffiths) Drama about author and intellectual Thomas Paine, who influenced the American Revolution. Tom Paine arrives in America penniless just as the struggle for Independence is beginning. His ideas and his writings take him right to the heart of events and his words are read out to Washington's army. Part 2: The Age Of Reason - Tom Paine is again embroiled in revolution, this time in France. During the Terror his best efforts for the new Republic put him in prison, and American help is a long time coming. Jonathan Pryce - Tom Paine, Alan Howard - Benjamin Franklin, Kenneth Cranham - Jefferson, Romola Garai - Carney, Francois Guetary - Danton, Robert Glenister - Gouvernour Morris, Kelly Hunter - Marthe Daley, Philip Jackson - Washington, Will Keen - Short, John McAndrew - Lafayette, Marcella Riordan - Mrs Downey, Paul Jesson - Sam Adams/Edmund Burke, Hugh Ross - House Speaker/Bancal, Jack Shepherd - Rittenhouse/Clio Rickman, Nick Rowe - Joseph/Monroe, Clare Perkins - Sally Hemmings, Christopher Obi - Father, Kwayedza Kureya - Will/Thomas, Julia Reinstein - Lotte. Written by Trevor Griffiths. Music by John Tams. Directed by Clive Brill. Produced by Ann Scott. A Greenpoint production in association with Richard Attenborough. (180m) (NB: Originally broadcast as Radio 4's Saturday Play, 26-07-2008)

(14-03-2010; 20:00) Gone
(Debbie Tucker Green) A young woman has gone missing. No-one knows what has happened to her. She is described by an unconnected group of people whose lives she touched in some way on the last day anyone saw her. One or two of them knew her, some met her briefly and some just happened to see her. Young Woman 1 - Sheri-An Davis, Young Woman 2 - Michelle Asante, Cab Driver (Jaswinder) - Emil Marwa, Cab Driver's Girlfriend - Manjinder Virk, New Mum - Nadine Marshall, New Dad - Alex Lanipekun, Elaine - Naana Agyei-Ampadu, Burger Bar Worker - Richie Campbell, Girlfriend (of Burger Bar Worker) - Seroca Davis, Security Guard - Alan Williams, Wife of Security Guard - Dystin Johnson, Nathan - Jeffrey Kissoon, Bruce - Justin Pierre, Linda - Nicola Walker, Linda's Husband - Justin Salinger, Man on Bench - Danny Lee Wynter. Directed by Debbie Tucker Green. Produced by Mary Peate. (90m)

(21-03-2010; 20:00) Arms & The Man
(George Bernard Shaw) Shaw's romantic comedy exploring the ideals and realities of war. It is 1885, and there is trouble in the Balkans. The Serbians and the Bulgarians are at war.Raina Petkoff is convinced her fiancé Major Sergius Saranoff will glorify himself in the war and become her hero - but after a dramatic encounter with a down-to-earth Serbian officer who hides in her room, she is brought face to face with the mundane truth about the conflict rather than its glories. The ideals and realities of war, hypocrisy and nationalism are all entertainingly explored in this rare romantic comedy by one of our most acerbic writers. CAPTAIN BLUNTSCHLI - Rory Kinnear, RAINA PETKOFF - Lydia Leonard, MAJOR SERGIUS SARANOFF - Tom Mison, MAJOR PETKOFF - Hugh Ross, CATHERINE PETKOFF - Frances Jeater, NICOLA - Glen McCready, LOUKA - Jo Herbert, MAJOR PLECHANOFF - Roger May. Director - David Timson. Technical Direction - Norman Goodman. Producer - Nicolas Soames. An Ukemi Productions Ltd production for Radio 3. (120m)

(28-03-2010) No programme
(EBU Day Music For Holy Week coverage)

(04-04-2010; 20:00; Rpt) Cyrano de Bergerac
(Edmond Rostand, trans Anthony Burgess, adap John Tydeman Cyrano de Bergerac is, perhaps, the greatest classic romance. Set in 17th century France, it features the eponymous poet-swordsman with a misshapen nose but abundant panache who falls hopelessly in love with the beautiful Roxane. She, alas, loves another, the dashing Gascon soldier Christian de Neuvillette and Cyrano finds himself acting as the young suitor's ghost writer, pouring out exquisite love poems to win the day. This production uses Anthony Burgess's fine verse translation of Rostand's ever-popular play. Cyrano is played by Kenneth Branagh, Roxane by Jodhi May and Christian by Tom Hiddleston. They make the most not only of the passion and poetry and the famously moving conclusion, but also the humour which threads through the play. Cyrano - Kenneth Branagh, Roxane - Jodhi May, De Guiche - John Shrapnel, Christian - Tom Hiddleston, Rageuneau - Jimmy Yuill, Montfleury - Stephen Critchlow, Bellerose/Capuc - Hugh Dickson, Le Bret - Gerard Horan, Carbon/Cuigy - John McAndrew, Ligniere - Steve Hodson, Duenna/Marthe - Frances Jeater, Mother Superior - Susan Jamieson, Sister Claire - Joannah Tincey, Valvert - Oliver Le Sueur. Director: David Timson. Engineer: Norman Goodman. Producer: Nicolas Soames. An Ukemi production for Radio 3. (135m) (NB: Rpt of 23-03-2008)

(11-04-2010; 20:00) The Carhullan Army
(Sarah Hall & Dominic Power) In an unspecified near-future, life in Britain has become unrecognisable: the floodwaters have risen, food and fuel are scarce, and the country is run by the sinister Authority. All women are forced to wear contraceptive devices. Sister, as the book's narrator calls herself, escapes this repressive world and heads for a mysterious, quasi-mythical commune of women high in the Cumbrian fells, led by the legendary Jackie Nixon. The journey is a challenge but arrival is only the beginning of Sister's struggle. SISTER - ANNE-MARIE DUFF, JACKIE - GERALDINE JAMES, NICOLA - JANE WHITTENSHAW, LORRIE - SORCHA CUSACK, SHRUTI - ZAWE ASHTON, CORKY - SALLY BRETTON, MEGAN - ELIZA CAITLIN PARKES, CHLOE - JO HARTLEY, FOWLER/MARTIN - NEIL DUDGEON, JONES - ANDREW DUNN, CALUM/TERRY - EDWARD MACLIAM. Directed by Lawrence Jackson. Produced by Frank Stirling. (90m)

(18-04-2010; 20:00; Rpt) The Leopard
(Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, adap Michael Hastings) Don Fabrizio, a member of the old Italian aristocracy, contemplates his obsolescence amidst the great social changes during the Risorgimento of the 19th century. The head of an opulent household in Sicily, he reflects nostalgically on the past as his family grows to maturity and Garibaldi's republican movement puts an end to the feudal system and the traditions of the old bourgeoisie. Don Fabrizio -. Stanley Townsend, Princess Stella/Concetta at 70 -. Julie Legrand, Concetta -. Claire Price, Angelica -. Hayley Atwell, Ciccio/Pallavicino/Priest -. Joseph Alessi, Father Pirrone -. James Hayes, Francesco/Carlo -. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Tancredi -. Tom Hiddleston, Calogero/Chevalley -. Anthony O'Donnell, Giovanni -. Harry McEntire, Angelica at 70 -. Claire Nielson. Director: Lucy Bailey. Producer: Nicholas Newton. (95m) (NB: Rpt of 11-05-2008)

(25-04-2010; 20:00; Rpt) The Pattern Of Painful Adventures
(Stephen Wakelam) Antony Sher plays William Shakespeare in a play about the Bard's life. Business is going well, but the playwright urgently needs a collaborator for his latest play. His daughter is getting married. His brother has a sick child and is in need of a job. It is 1607 and Shakespeare's life is at a turning point. William Shakespeare - Antony Sher, Jack Robinson - Will Keen, John Marston - Stephen Critchlow, George Wilkins - Chris Pavlo, Susannah Shakespeare - Helen Longworth, Richard Burbage - John Rowe, William Ostler/ Robert Johnson - Robert Lonsdale, Edmund Shakespeare - Joseph Kloska. Produced and Directed by Jeremy Mortimer. (90m) (NB: Rpt of 23-11-2008)

(02-05-2010; 20:00) And So Say All Of Us
... (Dan Rebellato) Dan Rebellato is a Sony nominated radio drama writer. Linda McLean is a leading Scottish theatre writer and Duncan Macmillan is an up and coming talent (Royal Exchange Theatre Bruntwood winner). This is the first time these three writers have worked together. The cast features Tom Goodman-Hill, (currently appearing in Enron), Amelia Bullmore (now in Really Old Like Forty Five at the National) and David Annen (Measure for Measure at the Almeida). The play was recorded on location with original music by award winning composer Alice Trueman and sound design by Eloise Whitmore. Fran - Louisa Lytton, Eddy - Derek Riddell, Clare - Amelia Bullmore, Neil - Michael Begley, Chris, Prime Minister - David Annen, Chris, Leader of the Opposition - Tom Goodman-Hill, Chris, News Anchor Woman - Effie Woods. Producer: Melanie Harris. Director: Polly Thomas. (90m)

(09-05-2010; 20:00; Rpt) The Government Inspector
(Nikolai Gogol, trans Alistair Beaton) Gogol's landmark nineteenth century satire on corruption and sleaze. A penniless clerk is mistaken for a Government official by a corrupt town council. Starring Toby Jones and Paul Ritter. Khlestakov - TOBY JONES, The Mayor - PAUL RITTER, Education Director - JEREMY SWIFT, Anna - FRANCES BARBER, Osip/ Gendarme - RUSSELL TOVEY, Marya - DAISY HAGGARD, Dobchinsky - SEAN FOLEY, Bobchinsky - MARK HEAP, Shopkeeper 2 / Postmaster - PAUL RIDER, Widow / Magistrate's Wife - CAROLINE GUTHRIE, Locksmith's Wife / Khlopov's Wife - JANICE ACQUAH, Abdulin / Liuliukov - JONATHAN TAFLER, Mishka / Constable / Shopkeeper 1 - BENJAMIN ASKEW, Waiter / Doctor (German) / Ratakovsky - MATT ADDIS, Superintendent / Shopkeeper 3 / Korobkin - STEPHEN HOGAN, Magistrate - STEPHEN CRITCHLOW, Health Commissioner - MALCOLM TIERNEY, Avdotya / Korobkin's Wife - LIZZIE WATTS. Producer - Sally Avens. (135m) (NB: Rpt of 29-03-2010)

(16-05-2010; 20:00; Rpt) Krapp's Last Tape
(Samuel Beckett) Beckett's classic stage play broadcast as a tribute to actor Corin Redgrave who died in April 2010. On his sixty ninth birthday Krapp sits down to record a tape as he has done every year. Directed by Polly Thomas and Carrie Rooney. (30m) (NB: Rpt of 09-04-2006)

(16-05-2010; 20:30; Rpt) Embers
(Samuel Beckett) In 1976 Stephen Rea worked with Samuel Beckett on a production of the play, Endgame. During rehearsals Beckett said, 'don't think about meaning think about rhythm' and he regularly emphasised the humour in his work. Stephen Rea has translated his experience of working with one of the great modern dramatists into a funny and moving new production of this wonderful radio play, Embers. Henry (Michael Gambon) sits on the strand haunted by the sound of the sea. He conjures up voices, evocations, stories and sounds from his past as he tries to drown out the inescapable presence of the sea. The cast includes: Michael Gambon, Sinead Cusack, Rupert Graves, Alvaro Lucchesi and Carly Baker. The music is performed by Maebh Martin and arranged by Neil Martin. Directed by Stephen Rea. Produced by Stephen Wright. (60m) (NB: Rpt of 09-04-2006)

(23-05-2010; 20:00; Rpt) Girlfriend In A Coma
(Douglas Coupland) The first radio dramatisation of an iconic modern classic by Douglas Coupland, author of Generation X and Microserf, brought to the airwaves by Sony nominated Dan Rebellato. December 15 1979. Karen Ann McNeill goes into a deep coma after a teen party. She remains under until 1997. When she wakes up, the voices in her head keep telling her the world is about to end, but Karen doesn't believe them... Jared - Florian Hutter, Karen - Rayisa Kondracki, Wendy - Maggie Blake, Richard - Jason Durran, Hamilton - Simon Lee Phillips, Pamela - Heather Dann, Doctor - Peter Marinker, Megan - Julia Summer, Gloria - Buffy Davis. With original music composed by Alice Trueman. Produced by Polly Thomas. (90m) (NB: Rpt of 24-02-3008)

(30-05-2010; 20:00; Rpt) The Researches Of Herodotus
(Herodotus, trans/adap Tom Holland) Celebrated writer Tom Holland's new adaptation of his own translation of Herodotus' Histories - one of the most important books in literature and history writing. It is an extraordinary account by an Ancient Greek of how his country and people came into being through their encounters with other people. Described as the first history book, the work is also the first book of anthropology. It is an action novel, full of battles and blood and a political parable that warns its audience, and so the whole of Greece, of the dangers of getting embroiled on foreign soil. With Anton Lesser as Herodotus, plus a supporting cast including Richard Bremmer, Stephen Noonan, Owen Teale, Adam Levy and Pippa Heywood. Original music by Jon Nicholls. (90m) (NB: Rpt of 11-10-2010)

(06-06-2010) No programme
(EBU Schumann Day coverage)

(13-06-2010) No programme
(The BBC's Big Concert coverage)

(20-06-2010; 20:00; Rpt) The Hybernaculum
(Yolanda Pupo-Thompson) A play depicting a summer's day at The Wakes, the house of 18th-century amateur naturalist the Rev Gilbert White, when White, awaiting the final proofs of his book, is tormented by a form of tinnitus which he calls 'obsessive ruminations'. He is also distraught at the disappearance of his pet tortoise Timothy and, during the course of the search for his old friend, he is forced to emerge from his secluded hybernaculum and confront the fact that his days as a naturalist and active clergyman are nearly at an end. Rev Gilbert White - John Bett, Molly White - Madeleine Worrall, John Mulso - Simon Scott, Dr Chandler/Thomas Hoare - Crawford Logan, Hecky Chapone - Hilary Neville, Tom White - William Neville-Towle, Bee Boy - Carlos Williams. Music by Joe Acheson. Directed by Matt Thompson. (90m) (NB: Rpt of 23-08-2010.)

(27-06-2010; 20:00) Antony & Cleopatra
(William Shakespeare) Frances Barber and David Harewood star in the story of one of history's most famous couples. Shakespeare's last great tragedy is an epic play of action set against a huge political and geographical backdrop, but at the centre of the play is a story about what happens when two people fall in love. In this play, love is a madness that leads to excess and imbalance. Antony and Cleopatra are middle-aged people who have loved before and often and they seize this late love as if it is their last chance. Their love possesses them and destroys all rational behaviour. Antony and Cleopatra are a celebrity couple - they live their lives in public and they wield tremendous power. They are 'great' figures, and very conscious of their greatness - both are preoccupied with the figure they will cut in history. But they are also 'a soldier and his lass', driven by common human emotions. Shakespeare shows that great natures can produce great vices as well as great virtues - we see their vanity, cruelty and irresponsibility. Like glamorous stars, Antony and Cleopatra are both deeply attractive and open to harsh judgement. Cleopatra - Frances Barber, Mark Antony - David Harewood, Enobarbus - Roger Allam, Ocatavius Caesar - Colin Tierney, Lepidus / Clown - Ewan Hooper, Octavia - Amanda Root, Pompey / Sentry - Garry Cooper, Charmian - Claire Rushbrook, Iras - Helen Longworth, Eros / Varrius - Paul Hilton, Scarus / Alexas - Ben Onwukwe, Decretes / Thidias / Taurus - Martin Hyder, Philo / Canidius / Dolabella - Gerard McDermott, Maecenas / Demetrius - Sean Baker, Agrippa - Peter Marinker, Ventidius / Proculeius - Ben Crowe, Menas / Seleucus - Jonny Phillips, Ambassador / Soothsayer - Ian Masters, Mardian / Menecrates / Gallus - Peter Darney, Diomedes / Watchman - Carl Prekopp. Original music composed by Sylvia Hallett. Directed by Mary Peate. (180m) (NB: Marked as a repeat in the contemporary listing, but this has been changed on the BBC's website - there had been a previous DO3 production tx'd 07-12-1997 with an entirely different cast.)

(04-07-2010; 20:00; Rpt) Alone Together
(Neil McKay) Poet, priest, birdwatcher, scourge of the English, the ogre of Wales ... Who was R.S. Thomas, and why did his artist wife Elsi settle for a life of obscurity in increasingly remote Welsh parishes? A portrait of a curious marriage which captures that essence of all marriages - a sense of shared space but separate lives. Thomas was an unpublished poet when he met Elsi Eldridge, but she already had the makings of a successful artist. After winning the Royal College of Art's Prix de Rome scholarship and selling several paintings at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, she abandoned this to retreat with him to a small cottage in a remote part of North Wales. RS Thomas - Jonathan Pryce, Elsi Eldridge - Kate Fahy, Gwydion - Ian Puleston-Davies, Mrs Hackett - Kathryn Hunt, Colonel Pugh, Dilwyn - Dick Bradnum. Music by Peter Gregson. Directed and Produced by Melanie Harris. (90m) (NB: Rpt of 22-03-2010)

(11-07-2010; 20:00) Sarah & Ken
(Rebecca Lenkiewicz) A desperate love story, and a beautiful history of the treatment of mental health, written by one of Britain's foremost playwrights for the two lead actors. Sarah and Ken met as foster siblings, and fell in love. While he has married a good wife and fathered beautiful children, she has spent her whole life in institutions, and they have maintained a passion for each other that has no place in either of their surroundings. And now it's 1968, time to change. Sarah - Annette Crosbie, Ken - David Bradley, Lorna - Jessica Raine, Nurse - Christine Kavanagh, Doctor - David Seddon, Spank - Vineeta Rishi, Driver - Jude Akuwudike. Directed by Jessica Dromgoole. (90m)

(18-07-2010) No programme (BBC Proms coverage)

(25-07-2010; 20:45) Between Two Worlds
(Adrian Bean & David Hendy) Sir Oliver Lodge is a strange and forgotten figure from the Edwardian era: an Establishment scientist, the unacknowledged inventor of The Wireless before Marconi, a dabbler in psychic phenomena, the friend of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Albert Einstein. He was also a tragic figure: destined to spend his life searching desperately for a way to communicate, using seances, with his son, Raymond, killed on the Western Front in 1915. Sir Oliver believed he had cracked the thin veil that separates two worlds. Many of those seances were transcribed and form the heart of this new drama written by Adrian Bean and David Hendy. Owen Teale plays Sir Oliver Lodge, Amanda Root plays his wife Mary Lodge. Sir Oliver Lodge - Owen Teale, Mary Lodge - Amanda Root, Raymond Lodge - Sandy Grierson, Honor Lodge - Madeleine Worrall, Alec Lodge - Jim Webster-Stewart, Mrs Kennedy, Lawrence, Piper - Caroline Strong, Mrs Leonard and 'FEDA' - Madeleine Brolly, Myers, Padre and other parts - Crawford Logan. Producer: Matt Thompson. (90m)

(01-08-2010; 20:45) The Light Of Darkness
(Louis Nowra) As Turkey enters the war in 1915, the American consul is playing a diplomatic poker game. When Leslie Davis suddenly takes up a diplomatic posting in Harput, a remote province of Turkey, he is determined to find commercial opportunities for America. Instead, soon after his arrival, Turkey enters World War One on Germany's side. Davis finds himself playing poker to save the lives of his young secretary, his interpreter and many other Armenians. Later he wrote up the account of his Harput experience in a book called Slaughterhouse Province. Consul Leslie Davis - John Guerrasio, Garabed Bergosian - Wiliam El Gardi, Sushan Krikorian - Betsabeh Emran, The Governor, Sabit Bey - Jack Klaff, The Chief of Police, Rachid Bey - Basher Savage, Dr Atkinson - Scott Handy, Mrs Balakian - Tamara Hinchco. Other parts were played by members of the cast as well as Rita, Elise and Maral Ovanessoff, Gokman Gubener, Abdullah Tercanli and Haydar Koyel. Technical Production by Peregrine Andrews. Director/Producer: Judith Kampfner. A Waters Company production. (90m)

(08-08-2010) No programme
(BBC Proms coverage) (15-08-2010; 20:45) The White Devil
(John Webster/Marc Beeby) The play was first performed in 1612, but this production sets the action in a murky underworld of the 1950s - a world that seeks to hide its shifting alliances, betrayals and sudden violence beneath a flaky veneer of honour and respectability. The wealthy Brachiano conceives a violent passion for the married Vittoria Corombona. Her brother Flamineo, Brachiano's secretary, plots to bring his sister and his master together, in the hope of advancing his own career. Their plans are impeded by the return to Rome of Isabella - Brachiano's wife, and sister to the powerful Francisco. Desperate for Vittoria, Brachiano arranges to have both Isabella and Vittoria's husband murdered. And in so doing makes an implacable enemy of the deadly Francisco... Flamineo - Patrick Kennedy, Vittoria - Anna Maxwell Martin, Brachiano - Shaun Dingwall, Francisco - Peter Wight, Monticelso - Sean Baker, Ludovico - Harry Myers, Isabella - Christine Kavanagh, Gasparo - David Seddon, Camillo - Sam Dale, Cornelia - Frances de la Tour, Marcello - Michael Shelford, Giovanni - Lloyd Thomas, Hortensio - Tony Bell, Zanche - Pippa Bennett Warner, Dr Julio - Jude Akuwudike. Adapted and directed by Marc Beeby. (120m)

(22-08-2010) No programme
(BBC Proms coverage)

(29-08-2010) No programme
(BBC Proms coverage)

(05-09-2010; 18:30) Giovanni's Room
(James Baldwin, dram/dir Neil Bartlett) James Baldwin's classic novel in its world premiere radio production, set in Paris, 1954. When handsome blond American David meets the stunning Giovanni in a "bohemian" Parisian bar, he is swept into a passionate love affair. But David's fiancé, Hella, returns to Paris and, unable to admit the truth, David pretends the liaison never happened, with calamitous results for all three, especially for Giovanni, whose life descends into murderous tragedy. David - Damian Lewis, Father - John Lithgow, Hella - Greta Scacchi, Guillaume - Derek Jacobi, Jacques - Michael Feast, Giovanni - Antonio Magro. Directed by Neil Bartlett. A Bona Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 3. (90m)

(12-09-2010; 20:00) Faith Healer
(Brian Friel) A magisterial study of the torments of creative genius and the healing power of love. In one of the great classic plays in the modern Irish canon, a faith healer returns to his native Ireland to a potentially terrible fate. When fortune smiles, Frances Hardy's gifts are prodigious. Otherwise his devoted wife, Grace, can only watch on as he wages a drunken 'feud between himself and his talent'. Grace has given up a privileged background and a career in law to join Frank and his engaging wide-boy manager Teddy, touring remote corners of Scotland and Wales in a battered van. But now Frank senses that a return to his native land may be the only way to restore his waning powers. And so the fateful crossing is made, in a homecoming that will change the lives of all three forever. Frank - Owen RoeGrace - Lia WilliamsTeddy - Phil Daniels. Directed by Peter Kavanagh. (120m)

(19-09-2010; 18:45) Faust
(Johann Wolfgang Goethe, adap/dir David Timson) Goethe's Faust, one of the pillars of Western literature, is presented in a dramatisation by David Timson. In Part 1, following an agreement between Mephistopheles and The Lord, the scholar Faust is tempted into a contract with the Devil. His life is changed and he plunges into the enjoyment of sensuality until his emotions are stirred by a meeting with Gretchen, leading to a tragic outcome. Part 2, written much later in Goethe's life, presents a series of episodic scenes in which the poet places his eponymous hero in a variety of surprising circumstances reflecting the predicament of humanity. Funny, reflective and moving, this dramatisation shows why Goethe's Faust had such a massive influence on Western culture. Faust - Samuel West, Mephistopheles - Toby Jones, Gretchen - Anna Maxwell Martin, The Lord - Derek Jacobi, Wagner (Faust's assistant) - Stephen Critchlow, Martha - Joannah Tincey, Valentin (Gretchen's brother) - Peter Kenny, Helen - Emily Raymond, The Emperor - Gunnar Cauthery, The Earth Spirit and Thales - Sean Barrett, Lord Chancellor and Anaxagoras - Hugh Dickson, Homunculus - Anne-Marie Piazza, Nereus - Gerard Horan, Chiron and Proteus - Gunnar Cauthery, Manto and Panthalis - Auriol Smith, Lynceus - Peter Kenny, Care - Emily Raymond, Euphorion - Daniel Mair. Music by Roger Marsh. Musicians: The 24, directed by the composer with Peyee Chen (soprano) Georgina Wells (harp) and Mark Hutchinson (oboe). Sound Design and Additional Music by Norman Goodman. Producer: Nicolas Soames. An Ukemi Production for Radio 3. (255m)

(26-09-2010; 20:00) Yerma
(Federico Garcia Lorca/Michael Dewell & Carmen Zapata) The tragic tale of a woman's desperate yearning for a child that leads her to murder. Infused with poetic imagery and song this is one of Lorca's best known plays. Yerma - Emma Cunniffe, Juan - Conrad Nelson, Victor - Declan Wilson, Maria - Rebecca Callard, Pagan Old Woman - Annette Badland, Dolores - Clare Benedict, Dolores' Neighbour - Kate Layden, Washerwoman - Debbie McAndrew, Washerwoman - Fionnuala Dorrity, Washerwoman/Girl 1 - Liz Carter, Washerwoman/Female at the Pilgrimage - Helen Longworth, Male at the Pilgrimage - Kevin Harvey, Spanish Voice - Anna Castineiras. Composer, Tayo Akinbode. Musicians, Tayo Akinbode, Richard Arthurs, Chris Cruiks. Singers, Members of the cast and Leslie Pratt. Directed by Pauline Harris. (90m)

(03-10-2010; 20:00; Rpt) The Hairy Ape
(Eugene O'Neill) A classic American expressionist drama from 1921. It tells the tragic tale of Yank, a stoker whose whole world is turned upside down when a young heiress ventures into the engine room of a transatlantic ocean liner. Yank - Dominic West, Long - Shaun Dingwall, Paddy - Jim Norton, Mildred - Sasha Pick, Aunt - Annabelle Dowler, IWW Secretary - John Guerrasio. Other parts played by John Kay Steel, Joe Montana, Matt Addis, David Hargreaves, Stephen Hogan, Benjamin Askew and Philip Fox. Directed by Toby Swift. (90m) (NB: Rpt of 06-12-2010)

(10-10-2010; 20:00) The Great Game
(Stephen Jeffreys, David Greig, Ben Ockrent, Simon Stephens) A sequence of four plays tracing the history of the war in Afghanistan from the 1840s to the present day, introduced by Robin Lustig. Produced by Jeremy Mortimer. (120m) Bugles At The Gates Of Jalalabad (Stephen Jeffreys) In January 1842 a contingent of British soldiers, 16000 strong, retreated from Kabul. Only a few stragglers were left alive in the British Army's worst defeat in history. The General's wife, Lady Sale, documents the battles in the Hindu Kush; whilst four buglers sound the advance at the gates of Jalalabad as a signal to any survivors. Lady Sale - Jemma Redgrave, McCann - Daniel Betts, Dickensen - Tom McKay, Hendrick - Rick Warden, Winterflood - Karl Davies, Afzal - Nabil Elouahabi, Directed by Indhu Rubasingham. Miniskirts Of Kabul (David Greig) The Taliban are closing in on Kabul: shells and rockets are exploding around the capital. A woman is interviewing President Najibullah, who has sought refuge in the UN compound. He talks about fashion, communism, torture and whisky, but time is running out. Writer - Jemma Redgrave, Najibullah - Daniel Rabin. Directed by Indhu Rubasingham. Honey (Ben Ockrent) While civil war rages, a lone CIA agent realises the dangers of American disengagement. He's found an 'in' to persuade Commander Massoud, the Lion of Panjshir, to help them get back into the game. But with the Taliban closing in on Kabul, will it be enough? Masood Khalili - Vincent Ebrahim, Robin Raphel - Jemma Redgrave, Gary Schroen - Michael Cochrane, Ahmad Shah Massoud - Daniel Rabin, Reporter - Danny Rahim. Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko Canopy Of Stars (Simon Stephens) In a bunker guarding the Kajaki Dam, two soldiers talk of chips and gravy, football, women and whether the British should start to negotiate with the Taliban insurgents. A searing insight into soldiers at war, and what happens when they go home. Sergeant Jay Watkins - Tom McKay, Private Richard Kendall - Karl Davies, Lloyd - Lloyd Thomas, Murray - Danny Rahim, Cutty/Voice on Radio - Rick Warden, Cheryl/Medic - Cloudia Swann. Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.

(17-10-2010; 20:00) The Unfortunates
(B S Johnson/Graham White) Adaptation of B.S. Johnson's 1969 novel in which a sports journalist travels to a strange city to cover a football match, only to discover it was the city where he first met his friend Tony who has died young of cancer. We follow the journalist from his arrival at the train station, through lunch, to the match and on the journey home, as different memories of his friend are triggered. Originally published in 27 unbound pamphlets in a box, The Unfortunates was intended to be read in a random order. The lack of a fixed order is suggestive of the way memories occur, and the book becomes a meditation not just on friendship and loss, but also on the nature of memory and writing as our hero struggles to recall everything in order to 'get it all down' as he promised his dying friend. Bryan - Martin Freeman, Tony - Patrick Kennedy, Wendy - Claire Rushbrook, June - Jacqueline Defferary, Tony's Father - Sean Baker, First Aid Woman/Tony's Mother - Christine Kavanagh, Sation Announcer/Reporter - Tony Bell, Landlady/Clerk - Sally Orrock, Guest House owner/Reporter - Jude Akuwudike, Clerk/Newspaper Voice - Lloyd Thomas, Grocer/Clerk - Sam Dale, Passing Child - Joseph Dudgeon, Tony's son - Greta Dudgeon. Directed by Mary Peate. (90m) (NB: Rptd 02-10-2011; 20:30)

(24-10-2010; 20:00) Natural Born Caretakers
(Sarah Daniels) David Ashton is on the edge of retiring from his hectic job as a social work team manager; his wife Ann is about to leave him, and he is not sure what his teenage son Oliver does on a daily basis. Karen his colleague is beginning to doubt her reasons for leaving a successful business career in order to follow what she thought was her vocation. When Sue, their Team leader, calls them to her office first thing, they know it won't be good news. Ashley, a 4 year old boy on Karen's patch, has been rushed to hospital unconscious in the middle of the night. His mother, Nicole, has no coherent explanation for his injuries. When drugs are found on the premises and the police inform the social work team that a man was in the house, Karen and the team have to protect Sophie, Ashley's younger sister; find out what really went on; field press interest; and prepare a detailed report for their superiors. David - Michael Garner, Ann - Deborah Findlay, Karen - Nadine Marshall, Sue - Emma Fielding, Doris - Pamela Miles, Dr Harvey - Philip Bretherton, Ricki - Derek Riddell, Dr Omosoto - Angela Wynter, Oliver/Lucas - Will Payne, Ashley - Ray Dowland, Sophie - Mala Yorke, Dramatist - Sarah Daniels, Sound design - Eloise Whitmore. Producer/Director - Polly Thomas. A Somethin Else production for BBC Radio 3. (90m)

(31-10-2010; 20:00) Say Goodbye Twice
(Oladipo Agboluaje) To mark the 50th Anniversary of Nigerian Independence from Britain, a rollicking new Peckham-set comedy by acclaimed young playwright Oladipo Agboluaje. British Nigerian Noelle's son wants to move to Nigeria with his father, a Nollywood producer, for a taste of the good life he's been denied growing up on their Peckham estate. The fact that Noelle's a disgraced ex-copper with criminal past and a severe lack of money isn't helping her hang on to him. But when she takes one more dodgy job for cash, Noelle's pulled into a conspiracy which will finally force her to negotiate between her dual identities, and find a way of living with them both. Noelle - Ellen Thomas, Paul - Tobi Bakare, Chike - Jude Akuwudike, Femi Fatai - Estella Daniels, Shina - Femi Elufowoju Jr, Simeon Atta - Lucian Msamati, Kayode/Henry - Chucky Venn, Chang/Khan - Paul Courtenay Hyu, Sanni - Wale Ojo, Gibson - Sean Baker, Barry - Ben Crowe, Mrs Witham - Christine Kavanagh. Director: Jonquil Panting. (90m)

(07-11-2010; 20:30) Free Thinking: Vultures
(Roy Williams) Play about an angry white working-class man with a grievance against society. Sean wants to prove that he is more than" just one of the Bishop's", that his anger has a point. That he does matter and that just this once he can make everyone, particularly Yvette, listen to him. Sean Bishop has something to say. Yvette - Nadine Marshall, Sean - Sean Gallagher, Brian - Bill Fellows, Helen - Victoria Elliot. Directed by Kate Rowland. Recorded in front of an audience at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. (105m)

(14-11-2010; 20:00; Rpt) The Twyborn Affair
(Patrick White/D J Britton) Penny Downie and Julian Rhind-Tutt start in the first-ever adaptation of Nobel Prize-winner Patrick White's provocative and mysterious novel about sexual identity. Eadie was no good as a mother - raising eyebrows in Edwardian Sydney society was more exciting and anyway her child kept running away. Now in her old age, she hopes to rekindle family affections. As the London Blitz begins, the Twyborns reveal their unconventional choices. Eddie - Julian Rhind-Tutt, Eadie - Penny Downie, Joan - Hattie Morahan, Don - Philip Quast, Marcia - Leigh Funnelle, Angelos/Rod - John Rowe, Curly/Greg - David Henry, Peggy/Ada - Manon Edwards, Driver - Piers Wehner, Bridie - Emerald O'Hanrahan, Philip - Joseph Cohen-Cole. Dramatised by DJ Britton. Directed by Alison Hindell. (90m) (NB: Rpt of 27-09-2010)

(21-11-2010; 20:00; Rpt) Amazonia
(Garry Lyons) (NB: Rpt of 07-02-2010 - see above)

(28-11-2010; 20:00) Migrant Mother
(Michael Symmons Roberts) California 1936. Florence Owens Thompson and her family have joined the thousands of migrant workers flocking across America in search of work. Homeless, desperately hungry and faced with the threat of mob violence, her hopeful resolution is quickly fading. Photographer Dorothea is following the migrants to their make-shift refugee camps, desperate to find the image which will capture the extent of their hardship, to bring about a change in American policy and hearts. A chance meeting with Florence could bring about the image she is looking for. Although inspired by a true story, certain events and characters have been created or changed for dramatic effect. Dorothea -Teresa Gallagher, Paul - Ian Porter, Florence - Anne Wittman, Jim - Kerry Shale, Henry - Allen Lidkey, Troy - Oliver Lee, Receptionist - Kathryn Hunt. Music by Pat Mo Sheeran. Directed by Susan Roberts. Producer: Charlotte Riches. (90m)

(05-12-2010; 20:00) Perpetual Light
(Melissa Murray) It is the very near future. A new way to remember the dead has been developed. The Maken Corporation can construct an interactive avatar - a perfectly realistic representation of the deceased - in cyberspace, using all the data available on an individual. At first, this appears to be a huge comfort for the bereaved. They can see and speak to their dead. The pain of mourning is eased. But it's a controversial issue. One that divides society and divides families. When William Hellier dies suddenly his wife Barbara and daughter Rachel, not for the first time in their lives, come into conflict. Barbara goes to Maken and has an avatar of her dead husband created. But as she begins to spend more time with William - and more money at Maken - Rachel begins to believe that the corporation is preying on the grief of the vulnerable. Her cousin Jas, also has reasons to distrust Maken. He believes they have imprisoned William Hellier's soul. Can Jas persuade Rachel to destroy her father's avatar? And if he can, will Rachel go through with it once she comes face to face with the man she loved? Rachel - Claire Price, Barbara - Sian Thomas, Jas - Khalid Abdalla, William - Sam Dale, Castleford - Adeel Akhtar, Leader - Sean Baker, George - Tony Bell, Counter/Sat Nav - Claire Harry, Fee - Leah Brotherhead, Maken 1 - Iain Batchelor, Maken 2 - Henry Devas. Directed by Marc Beeby. (90m)

(12-12-2010; 20:00) Gilead
(Marilynne Robinson/Mike Kenny) Reverend John Ames (Roger Allam) is nearing the end of a long life. His son is still a young boy, the product of a late flowering love. Ames knows he will never see his son grow to be a man and, given that he owns nothing and lives in a tied church house, all he can pass on is what he knows and the life he has lived. So, the letter he writes to his son is both a memoir of a life lived, and the journal of the present in which it is being written.The tale is set in the 1950s, but takes us back through generations of preachers as far as the American Civil war, and projects into a future in which we now live. Into Ames's life comes Jack Boughton, (Elliot Cowan) the wayward son of his best friend (Colin Stinton). Jack was baptised by Ames, and named after him. He feels a particular responsibility for this prodigal, but has never been able to like him. A charmer, Jack appears to woo both Ames wife, Lila (Elizabeth McGovern) and son John, and the old man struggles with the feelings stirred by the younger man. His very presence makes him feel his age. We witness a good man wrestle with bad thoughts. It makes for an experience that is both surprising and deeply satisfying without leaving the few streets of a sleepy Midwest town. Ames - Roger Allam, Lila - Elizabeth McGovern, Boy - Taran Stanzler, Glory - Nancy Crane, Boughton - Colin Stinton, Jack - Elliot Cowan. Directed by Annie Castledine. A Catherine Bailey Production. (90m)

(19-12-2010; 20:00) The Royal Game
(Stefan Zweig, trans Anthea Bell, adap Yolanda Pupo-Thompson) The Viennese writer Stefan Zweig, most famous for Beware of Pity, wrote the original Schachnovelle or Chess Novel in 1942. It is the story of Dr. Berg (Paul Rhys) a well to do German banker who is interrogated by the Gestapo who want to find out where influential members of the Clergy and aristocrats have hidden their money. They hold him in a deserted hotel in solitary confinement in order to break him down. But he steals a book of chess puzzles from a guard and this keeps his mind active. Unfortunately after learning to play games in his head Dr. Berg goes mad. Dr. Berg - Paul Rhys, The Interrogator - Rupert Young, The Writer - Kevin Trainor, Katz - Allan Corduner, McConnor - Hamish Clark, Centovic/Bennett - Sandy Grierson, Servant/Nurse - Madeleine Brolly. The play was recorded on location in a deserted mansion in Belgrave Square by the sound designer Joe Acheson. Music is from Carl Orff's Schulwerk. Director Matt Thompson. (90m)

(26-12-2010; 20:00) The Marriage Of Figaro
(Beaumarchais/David Timson) As a prelude to The Genius of Mozart, Radio 3's major new season in the new year, a rare chance to hear Beaumarchais' original play. Bristling with social and political conflict, behind the comic intrigues of da Ponte's libretto lies a drama that was considered too dangerous to be allowed to be performed in its own time. It is edgy, political, dealing with class and stroppy servants sensing the smell of Revolution in the air. The author, Beaumarchais, led a life as colourful as the world of his plays. At the height of the French Revolution, as he had been a royal servant, he was brought before the Revolutionary council. His life was spared when he declared in his defence that he was the creator of Figaro. This character epitomised the underdog striving to be free and was hugely popular with the revolutionaries. Napoleon realised its power when he declared it to be 'the Revolution in action'. Figaro - Rupert Degas; Count - Nicholas Rowe; Suzanne - Joannah Tincey; Countess - Clare Wille; Antonio/Double-Main - Sean Barrett; Marceline - Frances Jeater; Bazile/Pedrillo - Hugh Dickson; Brid'oison - Stephen Thorne; Bartholo - Anton Lesser; Fanchette - Gina Bramhill; Cherubin/Gripe-Soleil - Charlie Morton. Produced by Nicolas Soames. (120m)

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.

(25-02-2010; 19:45) The Flirt
(Nadezhda Teffi, read by Lindsay Duncan) A short story by the émigré Russian satirist Nadezhda Teffi. A secret rendezvous onboard a Volga steamboat has unexpected consequences. Produced by Sasha Yevtushenko.

(19-03-2010; 19:30; Rpt) A Country Doctor
(Franz Kafka, read by Dermot Crowley) Kafka's fantastical story, translated by poet Michael Hoffman, centres on a weary doctor called out at midnight in a blizzard to attend to a young boy. It is then that strange things start to happen.

(02-04-2010; 19:55; Rpt) Wunderkind
(Carson McCullers, read by Madeleine Potter) In Wunderkind, her classic coming-of-age story, written when she was only 19, Carson McCullers explores the pressures and angsts of life as a child prodigy. Frances, a fifteen-year-old pianist, who for her whole childhood has been considered a shining musical prodigy, arrives for her lesson at her teacher's studio. Her playing has been faltering recently, while Heime, her fellow student and now rival, seems to be on the verge of an illustrious concert career. As the lesson progresses, the emotions spiral, until Frances has to face up to the fact that she might be only ordinary after all. Producer: Justine Willett.

(29-04-2010; 19:45) Monsieur Rose
(Irene Nemirovsky, trans Bridget Patterson, abr/prod Elizabeth Allard, read by David Horovitch) In Monsieur Rose by Irène Némirovsky a well heeled Parisian is forced to flee and leave his old life behind as chaos and panic gather pace at the onset of the second world war. Monsieur Rose is selected from Irène Némirovsky's collection Dimanche and Other Stories which is the first collection of her short stories to appear in English.

(07-05-2010; 19:30) Ryabov & Kozhin
(Izrael Metter, trans Michael Duncan, unknown reader) A man confronts the former policeman who had a hand in his own father's fate years before. "Two little boys were hunting crayfish off the wooden jetty. They were diving down under the steep bank and resurfacing, snorting out the water from their nostrils. They swam to the side of the jetty and, with triumphant cries, chucked their booty into a pail. Ryabov waited until one of them, feeling the cold, climbed out of the lake. Hopping about on one foot, his head tilted to one side, he was getting the water out of his ear. Only then did the young boy notice Ryabov. "Is it Grandfather you want?" he asked. In Izrael Metter's short story, the young man with the briefcase has come to a rural spot outside Moscow, in order to confront the older Kozhin, who was a 'high-up' in the police force many years back. Ryabov has come to confront him about the fate of his own father - Kozhin was responsible. But, strangely, Ryabov is unsure how to handle the situation, despite having the advantage of surprise. So what will happen? Izrael Metter was a leading novelist, short story writer and radio satirist after the second world war, and this tale was first published in 1976. He lived for most of his life in Leningrad. Producer Duncan Minshull.

(11-06-2010; 19:30) The Garden Of Time
(J G Ballard, abr/prod Duncan Minshull, read by Allan Corduner) "The garden of the villa extended for some two hundred yards below the terrace, sloping down to a miniature lake, spanned by a white bridge... Here in the garden the air seemed brighter. As was his custom before beginning his evening stroll, Count Axel looked out across the plain to the final rise...and saw that the advance column of an enormous army was moving slowly over the horizon..." In the Garden of Time by JG Ballard, the Count manages to repel the advance of the army by magically re-arranging time - time and time again! But soon the tools that help him will no longer will work. So how will he and his beloved wife - who is indoors, playing a Mozart rondo - manage to survive the threat, as it marches forward, closer and closer...

(26-07-2010; 19:45) The Bear
(Jeremy Dyson, abr/prod Gemma Jenkinsm, read by Mike Sengelow) A darkly humorous tale about the personal sacrifices people make to conform by award-winning writer, Jeremy Dyson. A mysterious transformation occurs when an ambitious young lawyer, determined to make a bold statement at his office masquerade ball, turns up in a fabulous antique bear costume.

(11-08-2010; 21:00) The Hothouse
(Tove Jansson, trans Silvester Mazzarella, abr/prod Gemma Jenkins, read by Andrew Sachs) A charming tale about friendship and old age by the acclaimed Finnish writer, Tove Jansson, best known as the creator of the "Moomin" stories. Two elderly eccentrics develop an unlikely friendship when they tussle over who gets to sit on a bench in the hothouse of a Finnish botanical garden. Although they are both solitary by nature, they begin to look forward to their weekly encounters in the hothouse and to the lively discussions that ensue. This thought-provoking story combines sharp observations about human nature with beguiling descriptions of the natural world. The story is taken from the newly published (for the first time in English) short story collection, 'Travelling Light'.

(12-08-2010; 20:30) Mouche
(Guy de Maupassant, read by Bill Nighy) A group of young men lead a care-free life, idling away their summer in a sailing boat on the Seine. Events take an unexpected turn when one of them introduces a girlfriend into the group. Produced by Sasha Yevtushenko.

(18-08-2010; 20:10) Monsieur Rose
(Irene Nemirovsky) (NB: Rpt of 29-04-2010 - see above)

(23-08-2010; 20:15) A Woman Without A Country
(John Cheever, read by Nathan Osgood) Cheever's classic short story is about a young woman whose moment of scandal in suburban America causes her to flee to Europe, starting with Genoa. But she later turns up at all the best watering-holes across the continent. She is restless. She is homesick. Then a momentous decision to return to America seems best for her, until that song is heard at Idlewild Airport... Producer Duncan Minshull.

(06-09-2010; 19:55; Rpt) The Visitors' Book
(Sophie Hannah, read by Fenella Woolgar) Katherine recalls the contents of an old volume when walking home in the fading light. Producer Duncan Minshull.

(01-10-2010; 19:50) Prague Pictures
(John Banville, read by John Rogan) Banville's lyrical account of his first visit to this great city takes in the architecture, street life, political reminiscence and some fruit dumplings at a 'literary' pub. Producer Gemma Jenkins.

(22-10-2010; 19:50) Chance Would Be A Fine Thing
(Anthony Burgess, read by John Sessions) An unpublished short story by Anthony Burgess about two middle-aged women and their ill-fated experiments with Tarot cards. The story was discovered among the author's unpublished papers in Monaco after his death in November 1993. Written in the early 1960s and partly inspired by T.S. Eliot's Aristophanic melodrama, Sweeney Agonistes, Burgess's story is about two middle-aged women and their ill-fated experiments with Tarot cards. Burgess himself was fascinated by the idea of cartomancy (or predicting the future with cards). He designed his own set of Tarot cards for domestic use, and, when working as a schoolmaster in Oxfordshire in the 1950s, he disguised himself as 'Professor Sosostris the famous clairvoyant' and told fortunes at a village fete.

(25-11-2010; 19:45) Barcarolle
(Polly Samson, abr Viv Beeby, read by Rory Kinnear) Polly Samson's new short story about a frustrated piano tuner captures in exquisite detail the pressures of growing up as a child prodigy. Richard's career as a concert pianist was cut short when he suffered a terrible case of stage fright. He now tunes pianos for a living but still dreams of performing Chopin's Barcarolle in front of an audience. Producer: Gemma Jenkins.

BETWEEN THE EARS

Saturday nights, 30mins unless otherwise noted; Writer credits, and in some cases entry titles, aren't always given.

(23-01-2010; 21:30; Rpt) Empty Ocean
- Islanders on Fair Isle lament the loss of fishing. And music performed by local musicians.

(30-01-2010; 21:15) The Chekhov Challenge:
The Sound Of A Breaking String - Exploring attempts to produce a famous stage direction in Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.

(27-03-2010; 22:00) The Haunted Moustache
- David Bramwell probes Victorian psychic phenomena as revealed by a false moustache.

(03-04-2010; 22:00; Rpt) UK Crossfade
- A journey in sound, moving across the UK in a series of fades from one location to another.

(10-04-2010; 21:30) The Mosque At The End Of The World
- Writer Tahir Shah explores the square Djemaa el Fna in Marrakech.

(17-04-2010; 21:30) Intensive Care
- Film-maker Terence Davies' memoir about his mother and his development as an artist. (60m)

(24-04-2010; 21:30) The Glass Piano
- Deborah Levy considers the life of the princess who thought she'd swallowed a glass piano.

(15-05-2010; 21:15) Other Mothers
- Writer Kate Clanchy hears women talking about the other mothers around them.

(29-05-2010; 22:00; Rpt) Woven in Time
- A story about black female identity told through the words of poets.

(05-06-2010; 22:00; Rpt) Tennyson In Skegness
- Exploring Tennyson's connection with Skegness, where he wrote some of his best-known verse

(12-06-2010; 22:00; Rpt) Salvado
- Spanish monks encounter native inhabitants of Western Australia in the 19th century.

(19-06-2010; 21:15; Rpt) A Season In Hell
- Setting of Rimbaud's hallucinatory prose poem. Contains language that might cause offence.

(10-07-2010; 21:30; Rpt) Bal Bazaar
- Daljit Nagra's new poetic narrative inspired by his uncle's shops in west London.

(14-08-2010; 22:00; Rpt) Melting Point
- Feature on the environmental, cultural and musical significance of several icy landscapes.

(30-10-2010; 20:30) Summer Sesshin
- Documentary about people balancing stressful lives with the silence of a Buddhist retreat.

(06-11-2010; 22:00) The Man With The Blue Guitar
- Kerry Shale reads the Wallace Stevens poem The Man with the Blue Guitar.

(13-11-2010; 22:00) A Moment Of Mishearing
- Amit Chaudhuri on how music has a common root in both Eastern and Western traditions.

(20-11-2010; 21:25; Rpt) A Wireless Revelation
- Radiophonic version of the text in the Book of Revelations. (55m)

(27-11-2010; 21:45) The Nightfishing
- Jonathan Davidson's adaptation of WS Graham's poem about a fishing trip.

(11-12-2010; 21:00) On The Trail Of The Snail
- Five radio producers give their responses in sound to Henri Matisse's collage The Snail.

(25-12-2010; 22:25) Sounds Of The 70s
- A radio composition by Jonny Trunk created from BBC Sound Effects recorded in the 1970s. (20m)

THE WIRE

Saturdays nights, times and durations as noted; Broadcast in batches again rather than monthly, including the usual run of repeats during the Summer months.

(06-02-2010; 21:45) The Gold Farmer
(Alan Harris) A dark fantasy by Alan Harris about two men striving to be warriors in an atomised world. Terry is a clerk in a Cardiff law firm. He only moved to Wales to be close to oblivious colleague Sally, and now he's lonely, alienated and beginning to get things out of proportion. But online, Terry is Tork Thunderbolt - a warrior in the Kingdom of Dragons. His best friend is Greyhawk, a fellow gamer. But Greyhawk is hiding a shameful secret. And that's not the only surprise waiting to derail Terry's delicate grasp on real life. Terry - Rory Kinnear, Chao - Paul Courtenay Hyu, Sally - Annabelle Dowler, Barrie - Philip Fox, Players - Stephen Hogan. Directed by Abigail le Fleming. (45m) (NB: Rptd 28-08-2010; 21:45)

(13-02-2010; 21:00) Rapture Frequency
(Abbie Spallen) Abbie Spallen's story of obsession and one man's extraordinary quest. Listening to the black box recording of an ill-fated transatlantic flight, analyst Michael Shorthall stumbles across an unexpected sound. Interference, white noise, or could it possibly be proof of something more celestial? Abbie Spallen's story of obsession and one man's extraordinary quest. MICHAEL - RICHARD DORMER, GINA - ESTHER HALL, STEVE - SHAUN DOOLEY, RENNIE - PHILIP JACKSON, FRANKIE HOYLE/PILOT - MARTY MAGUIRE, FR. BRIAN/ERIC - RICHARD HOWARD, CAPTAIN DESAIE/SIMON - PAUL KENNEDY, MRS WILLIAMS - SUSIE KELLY, DEBBIE - LAURA CONWAY, SUSIE - ABBIE SPALLEN. Sound Design by Bill Maul, John Simpson & Matthew Laughlin. Producer/director Heather Larmour. (60m) (NB: Rptd 17-07-2011; 21:15)

(20-02-2010; 21:00) Life On The Edges
(Nicola Wilson) Drama about the imaginary worlds of a grandmother and grandson which tragically collide. Deano's never met his grandmother, Ellen. But his mother's committed suicide and he's been placed in her care. Alone together they each occupy their own imaginary worlds. Ellen sees things - a bear in a white anorak, Victorian chimney sweeps, the disembodied head of Ian Beale. Deano, used to spending hours on his computer, is missing the imaginary world he created on Second Life. Then his avator turns up in his new bedroom and their adventures begin again. When Deano and Ellen's imaginary worlds collide, a dark and tragic tale unfolds. Ellen - Sheila Reid, Deano - Billy Seymour, Mexican Bob - Toby Jones, Dr Norton - Laura dos Santos, Barrister - Nigel Hastings. Producer: Kirsty Williams. (45m) (NB: Rptd 07-08-2010; 21:45)

(27-02-2010; 21:15) Look Closer
(Michael Bhim) When community officer Alexander Aldgate is instructed to speak to a local man about his anti-social behaviour, he unearths a mystery. Buried beneath the man's amnesia is a secret, and Aldgate must put the pieces together before it is too late. Aldgate - Andrew Scott Martin - Dave Fishley, Klara - Ania Sowinski, Rachel - Alison Pettitt, Leonard - Nigel Hastings, Man - John Biggins, David - David Seddon, Nurse - Keely Beresford. Producer - Sasha Yevtushenko. (45m)

(06-03-2010; 21:00) Lucy Island
(Laura Lomas) A powerful piece of new writing by one of Britain's most promising new playwrights in which a grieving young woman transforms herself and her community. Lucy - Georgia Groome, David - Joe Dempsie, Dianne - Esther Coles, Phil - Tony Bell, Vicky - Sophie Ellerby, Amy - Keely Beresford. Directed by Marc Beeby (45m) (NB: Rptd 04-09-2010; 21:45)

(13-03-2010; 21:05; Rpt) Random
(Debbie Tucker Green) A radio production of Debbie Tucker Green's stage play first produced at the Royal Court Theatre. Nadine Marshall plays four characters in a family whose ordinary day is shattered by unforeseen disaster. Cast also includes Petra Letang, Richie Campbell, Manjeet Mann, Jill Cardo, Inam Mirza and Gunnar Cauthery. Directed by Debbie Tucker Green. Produced by Jeremy Mortimer. (55m) (NB: Rpt of 11-10-2008)

(24-07-2010; 21:45; Rpt) Side Effects
(Morna Pearson) An outspoken and uncompromising play by an award-winning young Scots writer that explores the relationship of Rachel, 15, and her 17-year-old cousin - a relationship based on desire for escape from their empty lives in rural Aberdeenshire. Rachel's life is transformed, root and branch, when she swallows an apple pip and discovers a new way of living. Rachel - Ashley Smith, James - Gary Collins. Music by Pippa Murphy. Directed by Lorne Campbell. (45m) (NB: Rpt of 26-09-2010)

(31-07-2010; 21:45; Rpt) Me & Cilla
(Lee Mattinson) Pricilla's Stephenson's preparations are well underway for her perfect Christmas Eve party, but with her son about to make his first public appearance in a mini skirt, and her husband's affair with the neighbour about to rear its ugly head, will the glue holding this family together be strong enough? Will the powerful truth in Cilla Black's lyrics give them the words to show each other their wounds and start to heal? CILLA - Charlie Hardwick, ALFIE - James Baxter, RINGO - Trevor Fox. DIRECTED BY KATHERINE BEACON. (45m) (NB: Rpt of 24-10-2010)

(07-08-2010; 21:45; Rpt) Life On The Edges
(Nicola Wilson) (NB: Rpt of 20-02-2010 - see above)

(21-08-2010; 21:45; Rpt) The Lady Of Kingsland Waste
(J Parkes) Four inner-city children discover the beauty of life when they become strangely involved with a dying woman. J Parkes' magical story of love, death and redemption, recorded on location in Hackney. Bernie - Candassaie Liburd, Nathan - Pascal Akuwudike, Juliet - June Bailey, Pastor - Jude Akuwudike, Raff - Rhiannon Harper-Rafferty, Knolidge - Gabriel Akuwudike. Directed by Jessica Dromgoole. The Lady of Kingsland Waste has been shortlisted for The Imison Award 2010, for best dramatist new to radio. (45m) (NB: Rpt of 03-10-2010)

(28-08-2010; 21:45; Rpt) The Gold Farmer
(Alan Harris) (NB: Rpt of 06-02-2010 - see above)

(04-09-2010; 21:45; Rpt) Lucy Island
(Laura Lomas) (NB: Rpt of 06-03-2010 - see above)

(18-09-2010; 21:45) Lump Boy
(Chris Wilson) An adolescent boy has a terrible and frightening relationship with his acne, an increasingly distant relationship with his father and an unsettling and a dismal view of his 'evil auntie Jeanette' who sometimes resembles a man in drag. A bold, quirky, funny and touching play by a brand new writer. Alfred Bradley Radio Bursary Award winner Chris Wilson's first play is a vivid account of an adolescent boy's struggle with acne and grief. Andrew Logan - William Rush, Dad - Smug Roberts, Auntie Jeannette - Annette Badland, Big Smiggy - Stephen Hoyle. Directed by Pauline Harris. (45m) (NB: Rptd 06-08-2011; 21:15)

(25-09-2010; 21:30) Castlereagh To Kandahar
(Rosemary Jenkinson) An unrealised love between two boys. Speedy and Stig are best of mates who play in a band together. Not an ordinary band, it's an Orange Flute Band. The rhythms that pound in their veins are those of ancient war, of adrenalin mixed with atavism, blood and thunder, drugs and alcohol. The sheer 'white noise' of their lives, leads them to beatings, to kickings and the knowledge that if they don't get out, they'll end up dead. And how ironic is it then that within 8 months Stig has exchanged the streets of Belfast for those of Kandahar. And it's anybody's bet as to whether Stig in Afghanistan or Speedy in Belfast will be the first to come home in a box. Speedy - Richard Dormer, Stig - Paul Kennedy, The Road Marshall - Dan Gordon, Major - BJ Hogg, Alana - Abigail McGibbon, Mrs Murdoch - Stella McCusker. Music composed by Graeme Stewart. Producer: Eoin O'Callaghan. (60m)

(02-10-2010; 20:45; Rpt) The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life
(Martin Jameson) A shapeshifting, existential comedy nightmare about the modern world. Toby has a bad day at work on the phones for Careless the household cover people. When an angry customer pushes him too far - he snaps and tells him to have a heart attack and die. The next morning he wakes up as Dr Richard Jugg. And the next day as a homeless person called Deke. How are these events connected? And where will this nightmarish journey end? Toby / Richard / Deke / Clive-Jonathan Keeble, Craig / Scott-Andonis James Anthony, Tariq / Naz-Armand Beasley, Sheila-Sue Jenkins, Anastasia / Nurse Phoenix -Melissa Jane Sinden, Stacey / Renata -Catherine Kinsella, Directed by Gary Brown. (60m) (NB: Rpt of 10-10-2010)

(09-10-2010; 21:45) The First Domino
(Jonathan Cash) On Friday 30th April 1999, at 6.37pm, a nailbomb exploded in The Admiral Duncan pub in Soho, London. Playwright Jonathan Cash was standing a few feet away from the device as it exploded. The First Domino is a response to that event. A fiction inspired by that horrific bombing and other attacks like it, the play is woven around a series of conversations between a prisoner and a psychiatrist. It is a study of prejudice, extremism and marginalisation, as well as an examination of the human urge towards violence and revenge. In a radio version re-imagined and rewritten for The Wire, this play has been developed from Jonathan's stage version, which won the Award for Best Theatrical Performance at the Brighton Fringe Festival in 2010. The Cast stars Toby Jones (Infamous, Elizabeth I, Frost/Nixon, Harry Potter) and Carlton Hobbs Award-winner, Joseph Kloska. (45m) (NB: Rptd 13-08-2011; 21:45)

(16-10-2010; 20:00) Why I Don't Hate White People
(Lemn Sissay) Poet Lemn Sissay has been invited to do a reading at a community centre in Salford. Recorded in front of a live audience this is Lemn's one-man, roller-coaster investigation into why he doesn't hate white people from the unique stand point of a black man who grew up in the area and never knew another black person until he was eighteen. Tales of pain and injustice which make you cry with laughter. Written and performed by Lemn Sissay. Directed by Claire Grove. (50m) (NB: Rptd 31-07-2011; 21:15)

(23-10-2010; 21:30; Rpt) People Snogging In Public Places
(Jack Thorne) A frank and funny coming of age story about the fluctuating friendship between an uncle and his nephew. James - Rupert Simonian, Patrick - Adrian Scarborough, Angela - Lindsey Coulson, Tim - Philip Fox, Pete - Jamie DiSpirito, Lisa - Candassaie Liburd, Alice - Lizzy Watts, Phyllis - Annabelle Dowler, Mr Morris - Paul Rider, Doctor - Matt Addis, Speaking Clock - Malcolm Tierney. Sound Design - Caleb Knightley. Produced by - Steven Canny. Won the 2010 Sony Gold Award for best drama and was runner up for the Prix Italia. (60m) (NB: Rpt of 19-09-2010)

OTHER

Pieces that don't fit within the usual slots:

(27-03-2010; 12:15) Music Feature: The Arch-Musician
- We tend to think of the Italian Renaissance as a cauldron of iconoclastic ideas. But that's far less true of music than of visual art or science. In today's Music Feature Catherine Bott goes in search of a composer born 500 years ago who found that being a *musical* innovator was no easy task: Nicola Vicentino (...) With Anton Lesser as Vicentino and contributions from Manfred Cordes, Davide Daolmi, Mary Hollingsworth, Margaret Hunter, Lewis Jones, Laurie Stras, James Weeks, Jon Wild and members of the BBC Singers. (45m) (NB: There may be many other partially-dramatic entries in this slot, but this is the first that I've really noticed.)

(31-08-2010; 21:30; Rpt) Sunday Feature: Wheels & Stones
- Robert Powell reads from The Wheelwright's Shop, about making wooden wheels and wagons. (45m)

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