RADIO CHOICE

RICH, manipulative and very creepy, Mrs Lemarchand has set her heart on having Hilda, a poor Englishwoman, as her servant. She does a deal with Hilda’s husband, but she wants more than work from Hilda. She wants Hilda to love her, and she wants to own her. Sian Phillips (pictured) is chillingly good in HILDA (RADIO 4, 2.15PM), a compelling drama about the power of money and modern-day slavery.

THE Lyme Missal, printed by William Caxton, was one of the first books printed in two colours, and contains a liturgy for mass and a marriage service. It was hidden away for centuries, but can now be seen at Lyme Park in Cheshire. Frank Skinner, a keen history buff, talks about the Missal in the discussion show THE REST IS HISTORY

(RADIO 4, 6.30PM). Other subjects for consideration are Samuel Pepys’s cat and the scandalous relationship between Nelson and Lady Hamilton.

SEYMOUR STEIN heard a recording by Madonna when she was an unknown, and was keen to sign her up. He was seriously ill in hospital, and Madonna came to his bedside to close the deal. ‘She would,’ he says, ‘have come to the cemetery.’ Seymour talks about Madonna and some of the other big music stars he’s worked with in the concluding part of LAST OF THE GREAT RECORD MEN (RADIO 2, 9PM).