SATURDAY 17
THE SATURDAY PLAY: QUARTERMAINE’S TERMS
Radio 4, 2.30pm
Michael Palin takes the title role in Simon Gray’s play, set in a Cambridge language school in the 1960s, in which the surface bonhomie of staff-room life disguises only thinly the disgruntled self-absorption of everyone there. Maria Aitken stars and directs a strong cast that includes Andrew Lincoln and Harriett Walter.
SUNDAY 18
LIVING WORLD
Radio 4, 6.35am
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Yes, I know this one is early, but Lionel Kelleway has spent much of his working life getting up with the lark on our behalf, so it is time we did the same for once. He is following in the footsteps of 18th-century botanists along the Pennine Way in Teesdale, a rich source of botany and geology with which to fire up his empathetic observations.
MONDAY 19
WOMAN’S HOUR DRAMA: THE PASTON LETTERS
Radio 4, 10.45am/7.45pm
A three-generation perspective of medieval Britain comes courtesy of this serial inspired by family letters written between 1430 and 1495. Four kings, battles that included Bosworth, and the Princes in the Tower mean that there is much to write about. Geraldine James, Rosemary Leach and Gillian Kearney head the cast.
TUESDAY 20
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THE REAL WORLD
Radio 4, 9.30am
Monks and nuns from enclosed Christian and Buddhist orders returnto the outside world to experience life in a variety of situations, from a PR firm to football. Up first is Sister Yolanda, leaving her order in North Wales to spend time with an impoverished mother battling with truancy and the police. Hear it first before television snaps up the idea.
WEDNESDAY 21
28 ACTS IN 28 MINUTES
Radio 4, 6.30pm
Talk about quick-fire comedy. This variety show gives comedians and musical comedy acts just 60 seconds to deliver a routine. Those up for the challenge include Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis offering the complete history of the BBC, Ed Byrne musing on Back to the Future and the poet Roger McGough. Sneeze and you’ll probably miss something.
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THURSDAY 22
THE MARK RADCLIFFE SHOW
Radio 2, 10.30pm
Radcliffe takes his show, along with his sly intelligence, shambolic bonhomie and his band the Family Mahone, to the Shetland Islands for a live broadcast. Joining him are Roddy Woomble from Idlewild, the folk musician John McCusker and the singer Julie Fowlis, currently a busy champion of Gaelic music and old Herbidean folk tunes.
FRIDAY 23
DESMOND CARRINGTON AFTER SEVEN
Radio 2, 7pm
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Cosy Desmond chats with the even cosier Val Doonican, he of the comfy cardigans, rocking chair and songs as comforting as Ambrosia Creamed Rice with the same effect on your teeth. So what made him a primetime entertainer for years? It must be more than a lilting Irish accent, blue eyes and twinkly smile.