Radio Week

The picks of the best of this week’s radio

ENTERTAINMENT Soul Music

TUESDAY, 6.30PM, BBC RADIO 4 EXTRA ★★★★★

Brian Wilson once claimed it took him and his lyricist, Tony Asher, just 45 minutes to write that enduring hit God Only Knows. It may not have taken Brian long to write but, as we hear in this charming compilation of interviews from fans of the achingly romantic song by The Beach Boys (pictured), it lingers forever in their minds.

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FRIDAY, 7.15PM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★ Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye open a new series of the show in which each piece of music played has a connection with the work that preceded it. This episode features guests Richard Stilgoe and harpist Alina Bzhezhinska, and the theme from The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.

FACTUAL Wild Inside

TUESDAY, 11AM, BBC RADIO 4 ★★★★ The wingspan of the great grey owl can exceed five feet, making it one of the world’s largest owls. This predator, known as the Phantom Of The North, hovers over the coniferous forests close to the Arctic Circle, or perches silently at the edges of clearings. Framed against the evening sky it looks enormous — but appearances are not always what they seem. In this programme, two experts on the owl’s anatomy explain how much of the owl’s bulk is made up of feathers that hide a deceptively small body.

Hollow Earth

WEDNESDAY, 2.30PM, BBC RADIO 4 EXTRA ★★★★

For thousands of years humans the world over wondered what lurked in the ground beneath our feet. Many cultures believed that the earth was hollow and, using hidden doors and secret passages, we could enter this mysterious world. Robin Ince takes a look at these ancient beliefs and hears how the Greeks and Romans thought the dead dwelt underground and Christians thought the fiery pits of Hell raged beneath our feet.

MUSIC Dan Hegarty

MONDAY, 11PM, 2FM ★★★★

This week’s For The Record finds Dan focusing on Paddy Casey’s 1999 debut Amen (So Be It). Released in June of that year, it features live favourites like Fear, Sweet Suburban Sky, and Everybody Wants. Listeners can hear tracks all this week, and there’ll be an interview with Paddy on Wednesday’s show.

DRAMA

Around The World In 80 Days

MONDAY-THURSDAY, 6.30AM, BBC RADIO 4 EXTRA ★★★★

One of the most famous bets in literary history was made 150 years ago this month, when Phileas Fogg accepted a £20,000 wager that set him off on his famous fictional journey. BBC Radio 4 Extra marks this anniversary from Jules Verne’s story with a four-part drama from the archives, starring Leslie Phillips as Phileas and Yves Aubert as his resourceful valet Passepartout.