List of BBC Radio 4 programmes
Programming broadcast on the British talk radio station
This is a list of current and former programmes broadcast on BBC Radio 4 .
When it came into existence – on 30 September 1967 – Radio 4 inherited a great many continuing programme series which had been initiated prior to that date by its predecessor, the BBC Home Service (1939–1967), and in some cases even by stations which had preceded the Home Service. Such inherited programmes are included in the list.
The years indicated in brackets after programme titles refer to the dates, where known, of each programme's first, subsequent, and final broadcasts – and, in cases where Radio 4 programmes began their run on stations other than the Home Service, the names of those originating stations are also shown.
Note that many of Radio 4's past comedy and drama productions have been, and continue to be repeatedly rerun on Radio 4, as well as on the digital radio channel BBC Radio 4 Extra (previously BBC Radio 7 ).
News and current affairs
Drama
Arts
Quizzes
Comedy
Panel games
Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive Does the Team Think? Radio 2 ; 1970–71, 1974–76 Radio 4; 2007–09 Radio 2), parody of Any Questions? Foul Play , writers are asked to solve a murder mystery written by host Simon Brett [ 2] Heresy I Guess That's Why They Call It The News I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Inspiration , quiz about inventions presented by Chris Stuart[ 3] It's Your Round Just a Minute King Stupid The 99p Challenge Many a Slip The Motion Show My Music My Word! The News Quiz The 99p Challenge The Personality Test Petticoat Line Puzzle Panel Quote... Unquote So Wrong It's Right Charlie Brooker asks his guests to invent or nominate really awful thingsThe Unbelievable Truth We've Been Here Before , historically oriented panel show with Clive AndersonWhispers Who Goes There , biographical quizWhose Line is it Anyway? The Write Stuff
Sitcoms
Absolute Power public relations company satireAcropolis Now After Henry Alison and Maud All Gas and Gaiters Derek Nimmo All the Young Dudes Jim Sweeney As Time Goes By At Home with the Snails The Attractive Young Rabbi Rabbi and an older, more traditional male Orthodox RabbiBallylenon County Donegal village.Beta Female The Big Business Lark The Big Town All Stars a cappella group.The Bigger Issues Bleak Expectations
Brian Gulliver's Travels satirical modern pastiche of Gulliver's Travels The Brothers Brothers in Law Richard Briers , based on the TV seriesThe Cabaret of Dr Caligari Cabin Pressure The Castle Chambers Clare in the Community Count Arthur Strong Dad's Army Home Guard during World War IIDeep Trouble Delve Special The Department Do Nothing till You Hear from Me Double Income, No Kids Yet Double Science Ed Reardon's Week Elephants to Catch Eels ElvenQuest The Embassy Lark Fags, Mags and Bags The Fall Of The Mausoleum Club (1988), macabre comedy starring Jim Broadbent Fallen Arches (1988–89)Four Joneses and a Jenkins , family comedy-drama set in rural WalesFlatshare by Beth O'Leary Flying the Flag Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel Marx Brothers Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off Gloomsbury Hinge and Bracket At Home with Hinge and Bracket (1990)The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket (1977–1979)The Random Jottings of Hinge and Bracket (1982–1989)The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams Hordes of the Things The Lord of the Rings The House of the Spirit Levels Hut 33 Bletchley Park I Think I've Got a Problem , musical comedy with Bob Monkhouse and Suggs In the..., black comedies based on Mark Tavener's writing
King Street Junior Knowing Me, Knowing You Steve Coogan 's presenter characterLadies of Letters Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful , advertising satire starring Martin Jarvis Lenin of the Rovers Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting The Little Big Woman Show , sitcom about a wannabe singer working as a tempLittle Blighty on the Down A Little Night Exposure (1978)Living with the Enemy The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul Man of Soup , sitcom set in post-Soviet eastern Europe[ 4] The Masterson Inheritance McKay the New (1989–91), sitcomThe Men from the Ministry Millport. Set in main town of Great Cumbrae, island in River Clyde Milton Jones Mr and Mrs Smith , marriage guidance sitcom by British comedian Will Smith Mr Blue Sky show about an optimistic family man by Andrew Collins More Mr Mulliner , from PG Wodehouse's storiesThe Motorway Men (1972), sitcom about labourers building motorwaysNebulous The Next Programme Follows Almost Immediately The Nick Revell Show Night Class , Johnny Vegas sitcom about a pottery teacher[ 5] No Commitments Not Today, Thank You Old Dog and the Partridge , pub sitcomOld Harry's Game Andy Hamilton comedy about SatanOur Brave Boys Ministry of Defence Parsley Sidings Party The Party Line The Quanderhorn Xperimentations Rob Grant and Andrew Marshall The Rapid Eye Movement , sitcom about a writer with tiny actors living in his headReluctant Persuaders Nigel Havers , Josie Lawrence , Mathew Baynton , Rasmus Hardiker , Olivia Nixon and Kieran Hodgson Rent , house share comedyRevolting People American Revolutionary War Rigor Mortis Ring Around the Bath Robin and Wendy's Wet Weekends Romantic Friction , sitcom about a romance writerRonan the Amphibian (2003), about a financial adviser turned into an amphibian by aliensRudy's Rare Records , set in a record store starring Lenny Henry [ 6] [ 7] Scenes from Provincial Life , adaptation of William Cooper 's novelSean Lock :
Sean Lock, 15 Storeys High , sitcomSean Lock's 15 Minutes Of Misery , sitcomSeymour the Fractal Cat Share and Share Alike The Six Mothers-in-law of HenryVIII (2003), an unreliable history of Tudor times created and written by Barry Grossman
The Shuttleworths Smelling of Roses Snap , divorce sitcom by Paul MendelsonThe Sofa of Time Something or Other , dark comedy by Alex Bartlette and Grant CathroStanley Baxter and Friends , series of 4 sitcomsStockport, so Good they Named it Once , comedy dramaThink the Unthinkable Three Men Went to Mow (2002–03), gardening sitcomTim Merryman's Days of Clover (2003), business sitcomTime For Mrs Milliner , Jane Asher hat-making sitcom[ 8] To the Manor Born Toad Squad , episode of Hopes and Desires re-broadcast as a one-offTruly, Madly, Bletchley Two Doors Down , sitcom set in suburban GlasgowUnnatural Acts Up the Garden Path Sue Limb 's novelTomorrow, Today! Vongole , campus comedy with Bill NighyWeak at the Top Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? Creighton Wheeler , a Zelig -like figure in two series:
Wheeler's Fortune Wheeler's Wonder A Whole 'Nother Story , sitcomWild Things , garden centre sitcomWinston in Love , Peter Tinniswood sitcomThe Wordsmiths at Gorsemere , romantic poetry spoof by Sue Limb from her book[ 9] World of Pub Yes Minister You'll Have Had Your Tea Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden 's long-running characters
Sketch shows
And Now in Colour [ 10] Armstrong and Miller The Atkinson People Auntie's Secret Box Beachcomber, by the Way Bearded Ladies The Big Booth Boothby Graffoe and othersBigipedia wikipedia -like websiteThe Burkiss Way The Cheese Shop Chewin' the Fat The Children's Hour , spoof children's show reportsCliché (1981)Concrete Cow The Consultants The Curried Goat Show , sketch showDan and Nick: The Wildebeest Years Dead Ringers Dial M for Pizza Don't Start Down the Line Five Squeezy Pieces , largely female sketch show[ 11] Forty Nights in the Wildebeest Dan and Nick: The Wildebeest Years Goodness Gracious Me The Grumbleweeds Radio Show The Harpoon Harry Hill's Fruit Corner Hearing with Hegley , sketch show with poet John Hegley The Hudson and Pepperdine Show The In Crowd , sketch show from Manchester including Robin Ince In One Ear Injury Time The Jason Explanation , sketch show with David Jason[ 12] [ 13] John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme Laura Solon: Talking and Not Talking The League Against Tedium Simon Munnery On the Town With the League of Gentlemen Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World Listen Against Listen to Les Little Britain A Look Back at the Nineties Marriott's Monologues , monologues by comic writer Marriott Edgar The Mel and Sue Thing The Michael Bentine Show The Boosh The Miles and Millner Show , music and sketchesThe Milligan Papers Milligna (or Your Favourite Spike) The Million Pound Radio Show The Museum of Everything Naked Radio The Now Show The Omar Khayyam Show On the Hour The Pin Radio Active Radio9 The Reduced Shakespeare Radio Show , Shakespeare parodyRound The Horne Saturday Night Fry Six Geese a Laying , Zoe LyonsThe Six Mothers in Law of Henry VIII , parodic history documentaryThe Skewer The Skivers , sketchesThe Small World of Dominic Holland Son of Cliché Struck Off and Die The Sunday Format A Swift Laugh , Griff Rhys Jones selects great comedy momentsThat Mitchell and Webb Sound This Is Craig Brown , satirical sketchesTwo Thousand Years of Radio , comedy with Claire Downes and Stuart LaneWeek Ending
Individual comedy plays
The 15 Minute Musical Kenneth William's Playhouse (1975)Trapped , series of comedy dramas about trapped people, by Mark and Daniel Maier
Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar Boothby Graffoe In No Particular Order The Cabaret Upstairs Four at the Store , stand-upFour in a Field , stand-up from Glastonbury Festival and Latitude Festival The Frankie Howerd (Variety) Show Henry Normal's Encyclopedia Poetica , spoof guide to poetry with readings from comic poetsKen Dodd's Palace of Laughter , from his touring showThe Ken Dodd Show King Cutler Phyllis King and Ivor Cutler performing songs, poems, and storiesMark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better Mark Steel's in Town Ross Noble Goes Global Ross Noble On... A Set and a Song , comedy and musicSounding Off with McGough , performances by poet Roger McGoughStand Up 2 Stand Up America Stand Up Great Britain Stand Ups and Strumpets
Talks
Documentaries
Absent Friends , documentary about off-screen comedy characters by Alan StaffordThe Borscht Belt , documentary by David Prest Cartoons, Lampoons, and Buffoons (1998)Comedy Album Heroes [ 15] Double Trouble , documentary about famous comedy double actsFred Housego's Unknowns , documentary about lesser-known comedians[ 16] How Tickled Am I , profiles of comedians and comic actors by Mark Radcliffe Palace of Laughter Radio Anarchists , profile of American 1960s pranksters Coyle and SharpeRadio Fun , series on comics presented by Bob MonkhouseShould We Be Laughing? , documentary about disability in comedySix Characters in Search of an Answer , profiling well-known comedy charactersThere'll Never be Another , documentary on comedy with Graeme Garden Turns of the Century , comedy documentary
All in the Mind Another Five Numbers Brief History of the End of Everything Britain's X-Files Case Notes A Cell for All Seasons Changing Places Check Up Climate Wars The Columbia Astronauts Connect Costing the Earth Dial a Scientist — (~1976) (see Brian J. Ford (scientist))[ 17] Emotional Rollercoaster Five Numbers Frontiers The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Home Planet The Infinite Monkey Cage The Life Scientific Land Lines Leading Edge Life as an Adult Life as a Teenager Life in Middle Age Lifeblood Living with Pain Living World Material World Medicine Now Mind Changers The Mozart Effect Nature Nature's Magic The New X-Files One Man's Medicine Patient Progress: Strokes Rainforests of the Deep Red Planet Reith Lectures Science Now (1974–1975+ (?)) (see Brian J. Ford )[ 18] Scientists in a Shoebox Seeds of Trouble Small Dog on Mars Stars in Their Eyes Swan Migration Tales of Cats and Comets Think About It Tweet of the Day A Twist to Life Unearthing Mysteries Walk Out to Winter What Remains to Be Discovered? Whatever you think Where are you taking us? Wild Europe Wild Underground World on the Move Wrestling with Words
Religion and ethics
History
A History of the World in 100 Objects The Norman Way Apprentice Back to Beeching The Child Migrants City of the Sharp Nosed Fish Creme de la Crime , documentary about famous crimes with Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis The Dark Origins of Britain The Decade of Self-doubt Document Falkland Families For What It's Worth Great Lives Heroes and Villains A History of Human Folly In Our Time Lend Me Your Ears The Long View Making History Mapping the Town Memory Like Shells Bursting Reconciling Histories The Reunion The Roman Way The Routes of English The Secret Museum Soldier, Sailor Spies R US: the history of the CIA The Telemark Heroes This Sceptred Isle The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Tiger Tales Voices of the Powerless What If..? Why Did We Do That?
Factual and Documentaries
The Archive Hour Between Ourselves Breakaway Cartoon Clichés Chetham's School of Music Community Caring Cutting a Dash A Dance through Time Darcus and Dickens Deep Blue Desert Island Discs A Different World Down Your Way Excess Baggage Feedback: Radio series File on 4 The Food Programme Four Corners Four Thought Herbs: Pure and Simple Home This Afternoon The House I Grew Up In Gardeners' Question Time Go 4 It Going Places Great Lives Home Truths In Living Memory In Our Time In Touch An Indian in Bloomsbury Is It On? It's My Story: Physician, Heal Thyself Last Word The Learning Curve Let's Pretend Lights Out (2018 - 2023)Lives in a Landscape The Message Nothing to Do But Drink On the Ropes On Your Farm Open Country Painted Fabrics Poisoned Angel: the Story of Alma Rosé Public Records, Private Lives Questions, Questions Ramblings Reel Histories The Reunion Short Cuts Subterranean Stories Thinking Allowed This Sceptred Isle Traveller's Tree Travels with my Anti-Semitism (1999), David Cohen Veg Talk Weekend Woman's Hour Winnie the Pooh Lost and Found Wireless Nights Woman's Hour Word of Mouth A World in Your Ear You and Yours
Conversations
Miscellaneous
References
^ Arnold, Sue (15 February 2004). "What a proper Charlie" . The Observer . Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016 . ^ "Simon Brett, Mystery, And Drama" . CBS News . 31 March 2001. Retrieved 4 March 2013 .^ "Inspiration" . BBC Radio 4 website . Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2013 .^ Arnold, Steve. "Man of Soup" . British Comedy Guide . Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 4 March 2013 . ^ Lezard, Nicholas (1 September 2002). "Radio: Comedy turns on the potter's wheel; Night Class Radio 4" . The Independent (UK) . Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. ^ Reynolds, Gillian (22 February 2010). "Radio's unlikely whirlwind affair with Lenny Henry, review" . The Daily Telegraph (UK) . Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2013 . ^ Lezard, Nicholas (2 March 2008). "Gabby Logan Radio 5 Live Rudy's Rare Records, Radio 4" . The Independent (UK) . Archived from the original on 18 January 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2017 . ^ Daoust, Phil (7 July 2003). "Radio Pick of the day" . The Guardian (UK) . Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2013 . ^ "Ms Sue Limb" . Debretts . Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013 .^ "And Now In Colour" . TV Cream . 24 August 2009. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013 .^ "Five Squeezy Pieces" . British Comedy Guide . Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2013 .^ "The Jason Explanation" . TV Cream . 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013 .^ Arnold, Steve. "The Jason Explanation" . British Comedy Guide . Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2013 . ^ "Frank Muir Goes Into..." TV Cream . 21 September 2009. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013 .^ "On the record" . Chortle . 14 May 2003. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2013 .^ "Fred Housego's Unknowns" . Radio Listings . Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2013 .^ "Answers from Dial a Scientist" (ISBN 0563128925 , pub. 1976)
^ "Brian J Ford's "Science Now" 'bibliography' – Accessed 12 Jun 2007" . Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2007 .^ " (PDF) . Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2019 .^ Jeremy Nicholas (lyricist) – Accessed 12 Jun 2007 Archived 27 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine ^ Brian J Ford's 'bibliography' for 1973 Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Accessed 12 Jun 2007^ Brian J Ford's 'bibliography' for 1974 Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Accessed 12 Jun 2007
External links
Programmes
Comedy Drama and Entertainment Factual News and Religious Other
Other
