There are few better feelings in radio listening than flicking over from some Radio 4 warhorse to find a congenial alternative on Radio 4 Extra, which is now the BBC’s most popular digital station. It can be a bit of a lottery. In the past, I would run from the news only to find myself in the arms of The Navy Lark, which was not even funny in 1961 (and back then we would laugh at anything). My luck’s been in of late; I’ve switched over to find Clare In The Community, Yes Minister and Round The Horne, all of which are, if anything, funnier than they were at the time. It’s the feeling of relief in switching over that makes the experience special; like thinking you’ve got double maths and finding you’ve got the teacher with the funny stories instead.
There is some appointment listening as well. The repeat of the 1994 production of JB Priestley’s When We Are Married (Sunday, 4pm, Radio 4 Extra) starring Nicola Pagett, Alun Armstrong, Brenda Blethyn and Alan Bennett, actually features the line, “trouble at t’mill”. It’s interesting to hear how even the most accomplished actors struggle with the reduction of the definite article in Yorkshire dialect. This prewar play, which became an am-dram staple in the 60s, is rooted in a world where there was a chasm – moral and probably pecuniary – between the couples who were married and those who were, gasp, living together. It’s quaint to hear nowadays, but that’s no reason not to hear it. In fact, quaintness is part of the appeal of Radio 4 Extra.
Mrs Thatcher And The Writers (Thursday, 11.30am, Radio 4) recalls the time in the 80s when one of the prime minister’s inner circle felt she might benefit from meeting some of the Britain’s literary lions. DJ Taylor uses this as a jumping-off point for a look at how, more than any other postwar leader, Thatcher has fascinated writers from all over the political map. Many of the authors who were first invited to Downing Street, people such as Philip Larkin and Anthony Powell, are dead now, but Taylor is able to piece together recollections from their letters and diaries. He goes on to talk to Hilary Mantel, who has included Thatcher in more than one fictional work, and biographer Charles Moore, who says she scarcely ever read novels and had a reputation for not finishing thrillers. The same thing could be said for most of us. Maybe it was her lack of interest in the things that writers traditionally stand around talking about that made her popular with some voters.
One of the first untruths Andrew Roberts deals with in Napoleon: The Man And The Myths (weekdays, 1.45pm, Radio 4) is the one about Bonaparte’s stature. He was actually 5ft 6in, average for the time and certainly tall enough to loom over our Horatio Nelson. Bunk Bed (Wednesday, 11pm, Radio 4) returns for another short series in the somnolence slot. Two middle-aged men, Patrick Marber and Peter Curran, lie in the dark keeping each other entertained with their musings. It works brilliantly. I am reminded of the Seinfeld routine: “Girls, you want to know what men are thinking about? I’ll tell you: nothing.” I can pay it no higher compliment. Also returning is It’s A Fair Cop (Thursday, 6.30pm, Radio 4) in which policeman-turned-comedian Alfie Moore asks a studio audience to accompany him on a notional perambulation around the war-torn streets of Grimsby and takes them through every stage involved in the policing of antisocial behaviour. It’s an education.
