Turn off the TV: radio choices, March 20-26

Jonathan Ross Radio 2, Saturday 10am
Guests include Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, authors of Ghost Stories playing at the Lyric Hammersmith.

Sport Relief Comedy Controller Radio 7, Saturday 10am (repeated 8pm)
To mark the BBC/Comic Relief sports-related charity event, Radio 4 & 5 Live sports presenter Garry Richardson introduces comedy episodes all with a sporting theme, including Knowing Me Knowing You, Radio Active, Hancock’s Half-Hour, The Game’s Up, Richardson’s own Look Away Now and Dad’s Army.

Saturday Play: Playing with Trains Radio 4, Saturday 2.30pm
A new version of Poliakoff’s 1989 play, originally staged by the RSC and here playing over two Saturdays. Timothy Spall is Bill Galpin, an inventor who made his fortune in the gramophone industry in the 1960s, and decides to use his wealth to help other inventors rather than growing his business for quick profit. His philanthropy sets him in conflict with his financier son.

Desert Island Discs Radio 4, Sunday 11.15am
Private Passions Radio 3, Sunday 12pm
Playwright, screenwriter and former Coronation Street scribe Frank Cottrell Boyce is Kirsty Young’s castaway on Radio 4, after which TV choirmaster Gareth Malone shares his favourite classical music with Michael Berkeley. Unsurprisingly for Malone, most of his choices are choral in nature, which should make for a good listen for Sunday lunchtime.

Elaine Paige on Sunday Radio 2, Sunday 1pm
A special edition marking Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday on Monday.

The Laurence Olivier Awards Radio 2, Sunday 8pm
The Society of London Theatre’s annual bash makes its debut on Radio 2. How it will work on radio remains to be seen, but there are plenty of musical performances so it should be an interesting listen. Video coverage of the ceremony will also be streamed live online.

Drama on 3: Arms and the Man Radio 3, Sunday 8pm
George Bernard Shaw’s 1894 romantic comedy, starring Rory Kinnear as Captain Bluntschli and Lydia Leonard as Raina Petkoff.

Composer of the Week: Stephen Sondheim Radio 3, Monday-Friday 12pm (repeated 10pm)
To celebrate Sondheim’s aforementioned 80th, Radio 3 celebrates his work as composer and lyricist, with contributions and reminiscences from the man himself.

Barry Cryer’s You Won’t Believe This Radio 7, Monday-Friday 2.45pm
Comedian and writer Cryer wrote his “autobiography of sorts” in 1998, so this repeated broadcast of his reading of the same doesn’t cover the last 12 years.

Afternoon Play Radio 4, Monday-Friday 2.15pm
With all the hubbub over Radio 4’s decision to drop the Friday Play slot and the subsequent reactions, it’s nice to see a week of Afternoon Plays that shows off the range of drama that this slot carries throughout the week. a * Monday: Listening to Time sees Kate Buffery and David Troughton play a couple who meet by chance when meeting the Aran Islands * Tuesday: Crime and Trial: Rage on the Road dramatises the real-life story of Tracie Andrews (Sian Brooke), who claimed that the brutal murder of her fiance had been the result of a road rage incident, but had in fact set up an elaborate plan to kill him herself * Wednesday: The Sensitive - A Nobody sees the return of Glawsegian psychic detective Thomas Soutar, whose assistance with solving crimes has left him with mental health problems of his own * Thursday: Scummow: Things Washed Up By The Sea is a surreal comedy by Annamaria Murphy, in which a Cornish woman rescues an Irish sailor whose healing effect on the local village is in contrast to his own demons * Friday: No Place Like Home stars Alex Jennings and Toby Stephens in a topical tale of a man who confronts a burglar armed with a (legally owned) shotgun. When shots are fired, the neighbours, the authorities and the media start to take interest.