TODAY’S RADIO

Afternoon Concert

2PM, RADIO 3

Arthur Sullivan got rich writing operettas with W.S. Gilbert, but much of his other work is not quite so well-known. The dazzling BBC Concert Orchestra does its bit to put that right with a performance of Sullivan’s acclaimed oratorio The Light Of The World.

Open Country

3PM, RADIO 4

They dig deep into the past on Radio 4 today. In this programme, we follow detectorists, service veterans and archaeologists as they take part in Exercise Shallow Grave. Working at an idyllic site in Gloucestershire, they carefully sift through the earth, just below the topsoil, looking for Saxon remains and artefacts. The veterans bring their own

particular skills to the operation, while also finding a way to deal with their own buried pasts.

Rich Hall’s (US) Breakdown

6.30PM, RADIO 4

The American comedian Rich Hall is good at combining cynical worldweariness with fierce wit. It’s been his stock in trade for decades, but even he is finding life in Trump’s ever emptying White House almost beyond satire. Nonetheless,

Rich pulls on his cowboy boots and slopes into the studio to deliver a selection of sketches, gags and spoof interviews in an attempt to make sense of current political life in America.

Making History

8PM, RADIO 4

In this edition of the series that links the past to the present, we hear how the new HS2 route between London and Birmingham has disturbed the dead. Ancient graveyards along the line have been unearthed, giving archaeologists a glimpse into the past. Here, Tom Holland and Iszi Lawrence will be talking to the archaeologists about some of their discoveries.

Rich Hall (6.30pm, Radio 4)