TODAY’S RADIO

The Early Music Show

2PM, RADIO 3 On All Saints’ Day, 1755, an earthquake, fire and tidal wave destroyed Lisbon, killing thousands. Among the many treasures lost was much of the vocal music composed by Domenico Scarlatti. Catherine Bott presents this programme featuring a few of the surviving pieces.

Sword Of Honour

3PM, RADIO 4 Guy Crouchback has seen Fascism up close, and he knows he wants to fight it. The Second World War turns out to be an exclusive affair, however, and no regiment wants an unskilled soldier in his late 30s. Eventually, the eccentric Royal Corps of Halberdiers proves less choosy, so Guy finds himself in uniform, and failing on the firing range. Tim Pigott-Smith and Paul Ready are among a superb cast for this sure-footed, seven-part adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s funny and tragic masterpiece.

Poetry Please

4.30PM, RADIO 4 Many of Charles Causley’s poems were inspired by his service in the Second World War. Roger McGough presents work from the man who wrote Song Of The Dying Gunner.

Words And Music

5.30PM, RADIO 3 Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid endures terrible pain to have feet that she can dance on. T.S. Eliot’s Prufrock hears the mermaids singing, and a river mermaid swims through Debussy’s music. Amanda Root and Toby Stephens are the narrators for this selection of prose, poetry and music on the theme of mermaids.

You Never Can Tell

10PM, RADIO 3 It’s August, 1896, and a young woman is having a tooth extracted by a young dentist. The patient isn’t having gas, as that costs five shillings extra. Sophie Winkleman, Jamie Bamber and Rosalind Ayres star in this ‘battle of the sexes’ comedy by George Bernard Shaw.

BEST OF THE REST Len Goodman

5PM, RADIO 2 Suave Mr G plays calypsos, dance music, jazz standards and hit tunes.

Clare Teal

10PM, RADIO 2 Clare picks classic swing from Crosby, Ellington, Basie and others. SJ

Sophie Winkleman