BBC RADIO 4 SCHEDULE
Monday 1st Sept – Sunday 7th Sept
BOOK OF THE WEEK - 9.45am & 12.30am – Mon-Sat
Ghost Train to the Easter Star Stuart Milligan reads from Paul Theroux's account of a journey in which he retraces his own steps and follows in the tracks of his classic 1973 travel book The Great Railway Bazaar. 1: Paul sets out from a rain-soaked London by Eurostar on his journey from Europe to East Asia. He stops in Istanbul, a city of extraordinary mosques and churches but also with a seedier side. From Turkey, he travels on to the Georgian border.
BOOK AT BEDTIME – 10.45pm – Mon-Fri
Perfect Night Jamie Glover reads from Peter Grimsdale's political thriller. 6: A supposedly long dead terrorist is still alive. Nick Roker has stumbled on the secret, and now people around him are dying to keep it a secret. It can only be a matter of time before the killers catch up with Nick.
CLASSIC SERIAL - 9.00pm – Sat (repeated from Sun)
The Expedition of Humphry Clinker Tobias Smollet's uproarious satire of 18th-century life, dramatised by Yvonne Antrobus. 1: Squire Bramble and family embark on their whistle-stop tour of Great Britain. They encounter adventure, mayhem and the enigmatic Humphry Clinker. With Nigel Anthony, Marcia Warren, Helen Longworth, Stuart McLoughlin. Directed by Marc Beeby.
THE ABC OF THE BBC – 11.30pm - Saturday
80 years ago, The ABC of the BBC, Eleanor Farjeon's collection of alphabet poems, gave a lively impression of the corporation in its early days. Wendy Cope now offers her own specially commissioned ABC of the BBC, depicting the corporation in a contemporary light. Interspersed readings from both collections offer some humorous insights into how things have changed over 80 years.
CLASSIC SERIAL - 3.00pm – Sunday (repeated next Sat)
The Expedition of Humphry Clinker Tobias Smollet's uproarious satire of 18th-century life, dramatised by Yvonne Antrobus. 2: The family is stranded. Bramble is keen to continue their grand tour, but how can they leave London when Humphry is in gaol? With Nigel Anthony, Marcia Warren, Helen Longworth, Stuart McLoughlin. Directed by Marc Beeby.
BOOKCLUB – 4.00pm – Sunday
James Naughtie talks to one of the great American men of letters - novelist, screenwriter, playwright, essayist, raconteur and notorious wit Gore Vidal. Now in his eighties but with his acerbity still intact, Vidal joins an audience of readers to discuss his memoir Point to Point Navigation.
THE LAMENT OF SWORDY WELL 4.30pm – Sunday
Poet Paul Farley celebrates the work of John Clare through his landmark poem The Lament of Swordy Well, written in the 1830s before Clare was committed to an asylum. Swordy Well, a tract of limestone heath near Clare's home in Northamptonshire, is both the subject and the narrator of the piece. The site, now Swaddywell, is one of scientific interest, and has been preserved for its wildlife and habitat after decades of abuse.
To listen again to these programmes for up to 7 days after broadcast visit: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/