I have fixed ideas of what I want for these last precious hours of holiday. A period chiller; a head-clearing stroll; a palate cleanser after days of stodge; and a laugh-inducing game. Luckily the festive audio schedules have met my needs.
First, the drama. Jonathan Holloway’s adaptation of Dickens’s short story The Signalman (Radio 4, Christmas Day; BBC Sounds) was an eerily satisfying piece. It made the first-person narrator of the story Dickens himself, although identified as the Visitor (James Purefoy). It also amplified the creepy tale by drawing on Dickens’s own experience of a rail crash in June 1665 in which ten people died.
On a recuperative walking holiday, the Visitor takes an interest in the work of a signalman (Samuel West) manning a lonely stretch of line. The signalman seems troubled and on edge. This, he gradually reveals, is because he is being haunted by a spectral figure he believes to be a grim harbinger. I won’t give away the ending, but this was a stirring hour’s listen thanks to acting that was heightened without becoming hammy. Also because of the superlatively atmospheric sound design of David Thomas. When one of the credits is for “strings, musical saw and waterphone”, you know you are in safe hands.
The BBC is clearly committed to reviving the tradition of ghost stories at Christmas. “Meant to bring a pleasurable shiver, followed by the warmth of relief as you realise it’s just a story,” explained Danny Robins, the presenter and producer of Uncanny (Radio 4, Dec 22, 30; BBC Sounds). His gloriously hammed-up hit horror series had two festive outings. The first episode was striking for its unclassic ghost story setting, not a “country house or Oxford college”, but the council flat in North Lanarkshire where Kevin, a carpenter, was brought up by his single mother in the 1990s. Refreshing to hear of a ghost competing with PlayStation for a child’s attention.
Uncanny Live with Mark Gatiss shared more hair-raising tales. But the “spooktacular” star turn here was Gatiss, a ghoul obsessive and reluctant sceptic: “I think there’s something in it, I just don’t know what it is.” He brought a creepy tale, but also his wry commentary on others’ hauntings.
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Gatiss is lovely radio company. In Hunting Ghosts with Gatiss and Coles (Radio 4, Christmas Eve; BBC Sounds), from the maker of Uncanny, he travelled to the retired vicar Richard Coles’s former parish of Finedon, Northamptonshire, claimed by Coles to be England’s most haunted. If cosy ghost story is not already a subgenre like cosy crime, these two could make it one. A visit to the village bookshop prompted an enlightening chat about their beloved MR James, master of the Christmas ghost story.
There were a couple of teasing, spine-tingling moments, but mostly this was a warm meditation on their shared passion for chillers that was also touching when the pair spoke of their bereavements.
There were sounds of ghosts in the machine in the truly special Lights Out: Call Signs (Radio 4, Dec 27; BBC Sounds), recorded by Volodymyr Gutovy (call sign US71GN), a lawyer and amateur radio enthusiast in Kyiv. After Russia’s invasion in February, his wife and children left for Poland, leaving him with only the family hamster, Mouse, and his radios. He uses his skills to train operatives, listen in on Russian forces and warn of imminent raids, fix others’ radio sets, and sometimes just escape. This intimate, immersive, sometimes darkly funny documentary is part of a new podcast strand, Lights Out (BBC Sounds), showcasing ambitious audio documentaries. Seek it out.
An end-of-year, palate-cleansing treat was the Field Recordings podcast’s The Sound of 2022 slow weave. It took listeners from trumpeter swans in Oregon via England’s summer heatwave to muffled church bells after the Queen’s death. Contributors included the nature writer Melissa Harrison and the producer Eleanor McDowall, whose transporting podcast this is.
Finally, if you came to blows over a holiday board game, the December 14 episode of the podcast Three Bean Salad is knowingly entertaining on the subject. “No, you’re the soldering iron!” may for ever now be a tension-defusing cry in my home.
Clair Woodward’s radio picks for the week ahead
Sunday
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Damian Lewis – A Blues and Swing Special (Jazz FM, 5pm)
The actor who performed at the London Jazz Festival presents his favourite tracks. In Celebrating 20 Years of Bombay Dreams (Radio 2, 8pm), Preeya Kalidas’s guests share memories of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced musical. Tom Ravenscroft invites Jarvis Cocker to Peel Acres (6 Music, 1pm).
Monday
The Crowning of Everest (Radio 4, 1.45pm)
Examining how the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the first successful ascent of Mount Everest became intertwined in 1953. Convent-educated Olivia O’Leary looks at how the position of nuns in Irish society has changed in The Essay (Radio 3. 10.45pm). There’s a feast of classic soul from a classic broadcaster in Tony Blackburn, Your Soul Mate (Radio 2, noon).
Tuesday
Free Thinking (Radio 3, 10pm)
The centenary of the death of the New Zealand-born author Katherine Mansfield on January 9 is remembered, along with the life of the Canadian writer Mavis Gallant. The discussion explores what these women can tell us about the art of short-story writing. Jason Reed presents Stop and Search, a podcast with a frank attitude towards society’s relationship with illegal drugs.
Wednesday
Commonwealth Poetry (Podcast)
Gyles Brandreth and his daughter, Aphra, meet poets, performers and fans from across the Commonwealth, including winners of the Queen’s Commonwealth essay competition. The psychotherapist Julia Samuels talks to Alastair Campbell, Helena Bonham Carter and others about their experiences of dealing with difficult issues in Therapy Works (podcast).
Thursday
Free Thinking (Radio 3, 10pm)
Matthew Sweet is joined by Clare Walker Gore, Tom Shakespeare and Tanvir Bush to discuss how Wilkie Collins’s poor health led him to write about disability and physical difference in a more nuanced way than many of his Victorian contemporaries. The clock is turned back in Back to the 80s (6 Music, from 7am) with 1980s music playing all day and guest mixes from the decade’s artists.
Friday
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The Rock Show (Radio 2, 11pm)
Shaun Keaveny kicks off his month-long cover for Johnnie Walker with a show dedicated to the best anthems from 1973, 1983, 1993 and 2003. Razia Iqbal and guests try to predict which events and trends will shape 2023 in Correspondents’ Look Ahead (BBC World Service, 10am). After the Ending (podcast) ruminates on what happens to movie characters after the film ends.
Saturday
Doctor Who – The War Doctor (Radio 4 Extra, 4pm)
John Hurt stars as an incarnation of the Time Lord. Frozen Head (Wondery podcast) looks at the cryonics industry, where people hope that freezing their bodies, or parts thereof, will give them eternal life. In Peter Powell — From Star to Star Maker (BBC Sounds) the former Radio 1 DJ turned talent manager talks to Sean Tilley.
