Radio choice Charlotte Runcie

Drama: The Vital Spark: Intelligence

RADIO 4, 2.15PM

This drama by Sarah Wooley vividly imagines the great Scottish novelist Muriel Spark’s early career in the British Black Propaganda Department of MI6 during the Second World War. It was a job which involved what Spark called “a tangled mixture of damaging lies, flattering and plausible truths”, and began her development into a writer. Fine Scottish theatre actress Jessica Hardwick stars as Spark, alongside Stuart Mcquarrie (Trainspotting; 28 Days Later) as the propagandist Sefton Delmer.

The News Quiz RADIO 4, 6.30PM

 It’s a new year, which means that the time is ripe for some fresh news-based fun. The News Quiz returns for another series to kick off 2018 with Miles Jupp fully ensconced as chair. For this series, the show’s 95th, Jupp is joined by stalwarts Jeremy Hardy, Andy Hamilton, Susan Calman and Hugo Rifkind and other wits to take a light-hearted look on the headlines. Some news is naturally funny, whereas other stories take a bit more comic expertise to make entertaining, but the ongoing Brexit negotiations continue to provide fertile ground for comedy.