A Funny Sort of Sound Radio 4, Saturday 10.30am
An affectionate look at the musical comedy sub-genre of light entertainment acts. Julian Clary is an amiable host as he explores the world of entertainers who use instruments conventional or otherwise (playing the saw, anyone?) to amuse. With contributions from Ken Dodd and Jim Tavare.
The Saturday Play: Journey Into Space: The Host Radio 4, Saturday 2.30pm
Radio 7 often brushes off the original tales of Jet Morgan and his stalwart crew, but this is an all-new production with Toby Stephens taking on the role of Morgan. And in a hat tip to the original series, the original Jet Morgan, David Jacobs, gets a role too — although it is as the deadly Host, whose plan threatens all mankind.
Elaine Paige on Sunday Radio 2, Sunday 1pm
This week’s guests are Daniel Boys and Julie Atherton, the leads in Avenue Q which has settled in nicely at its new home of the Gielgud Theatre. They will be performing a couple of numbers from the show, although I suspect the daytime slot will prevent some of the musical’s ruder numbers from being included.
Drama on 3: Fall Radio 3, Sunday 8pm
When it was staged at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, Fall received two accolades from The Stage. The production as a whole was awarded Must See status, while lead actress Geraldine Alexander was nominated in the Best Actress category of the Stage Awards for Acting Excellence. Alexander reprises her role in Zinnie Harris’ play, which Stage reviewer Thom Dibdin described as exploring “the convulsions shaking a country which is trying to drag itself out of post-civil war decline and decide what to do with those who perpetrated the horrors it has had to live through.”. Expect strong language and graphic descriptions of brutality — all the more terrible when the imagery is in our own heads.
Woman’s Hour Drama: Sacred Hearts Radio 4, Monday-Friday 10.45am & 7.45pm
Sarah Dunant’s new novel, dramatised in ten parts over this week and next, chronicles the life of Serafina (Natalie Dormer), locked in a convent in 16th century Italy by her family against her will. Dame Eileen Atkins also stars as the Abbess, while Geraldine James plays Zuana, the convent’s healer.
Stonewall: The Riots That Triggered the Gay Revolution Radio 2, Tuesday 10.30pm
A new documentary marking the 40th anniversary of New York’s Stonewall Riots, which started the gay liberation movement. Raids on private members’ clubs were frequent, but when police stormed the Stonewall Inn just hours after gay icon Judy Garland’s funeral, the gay community started to fight back. Tom Robinson presents, with contributors including the policeman who led the raid, a journalist who was in the bar at the time, and British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell.
Afternoon Play: Torchwood Radio 4, Wednesday-Friday 2.15pm
Ahead of Torchwood’s new series on BBC1, which will run Monday to Friday from July 6, Radio 4 follows up its September 2008 story Lost Souls with a trilogy of plays featuring Cardiff’s least secret top-secret alien hunters. TV regulars John Barrowman, Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd reprise their roles as Jack, Gwen and Ianto in each story, with Tom Price (PC Andy) and Kai Owen (Rhys) also making appearances.
Wednesday’s production, Asylum by Anita Sullivan, features a mysterious teenage runaway who’s found carrying a mysterious weapon; on Thursday, James Goss’s Golden Age sees the team travelling to Delhi and discovering that Torchwood India, presumed shut down 80 years previously, is still gonig strong — and its members haven’t aged a day; while on Friday, The Dead Line by Phil Ford sees Cardiff residents falling into comas seemingly induced by phone calls from a number that hasn’t been active for over 30 years.
Update: As well as being made available via the standard iPlayer, all three Torchwood plays will be available as MP3 downloads to UK listeners.
