SUSAN JEFFREYS’ Radio Week

A LEAP IN THE DARK

SATURDAY, 3PM, RADIO 4 ★★★★ Putting plays on the radio seemed a frightfully ghastly idea to the actormanager Nigel Playfair; then, he heard his rival, Noel Coward, might get a job out of it, so he changed his mind. Alex Jennings stars in this period comedy drama.

JTOZ

SATURDAY, 5PM, RADIO 3 ★★★★

The aptly named Preservation Hall Jazz Band was founded in 1961, with a line-up of veteran musicians from the Roaring Twenties jazz scene. Here, Julian Joseph learns how the latest generation of these traditional players are still stomping.

21ST CENTURY COUNTRY

SUNDAY, 9PM, RADIO 2 ★★★★

Bob Harris features music by some of country music’s top male stars, including Eric Church and Luke Combs, ahead of this year’s C2C: Country To Country festival.

DEATH BY CONSPIRACY?

MONDAYFRIDAY, 9.45AM, RADIO 4 ★★★★

Gary Matthews died of Covid at 46. Caught up in a world of conspiracy theories, he took no precautions or tests for the disease. This ten-part series looks at the lead-up to Gary’s unnecessary death.

THE TRAINSPOTTER’S GUIDE TO DRACULA

MONDAY, 4PM, RADIO 4 ★★★★

As far as Miles Jupp is concerned, Dracula isn’t about vampires – it’s about trains. With Bram Stoker’s novel in one hand and a bunch of timetables in the other, Miles plots his way across Europe to the undead Count’s doorstep.

YELLOWSTONE WOLVES WEDNESDAY, 2.30PM, RADIO 4 EXTRA ★★★★

To mark the 150th birthday of the world’s first national park, this documentary looks at whether it was such a good idea to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone.

CONVERSATIONS FROM A LONG MARRIAGE

WEDNESDAY, 6.30PM, RADIO 4 ★★★★

Roger Allam and Joanna Lumley are back as husband and wife in this new series of Jan Etherington’s comedy two-hander. In the opening episode, a big birthday looms.

ARCHERS UPDATE

No one in Ambridge seems to be much bothered about Lent this year. Jill is usually a stickler for getting the locals to exercise a bit of restraint, but – what with one thing and another – restraint is not really the sprightly widow’s thing these days. With this kind of laxity prevailing, the village is on the slide. Eavesdropping and gossip flourish, Neil and Hannah continue in their cloak-and-dagger machinations, and Amy struggles to say no. Chris, up until now a model of probity, finds himself with some explaining to do, and Justin’s greed for power, land and money grows. No wonder someone other than Phoebe is planning a break for the border.