BOOK of the WEEK - 9.45Am & 12.30Am Mon-Sat s2

BBC RADIO 4 SCHEDULE

Monday 15th Sept – Sunday 21st Sept

BOOK OF THE WEEK - 9.45am & 12.30am – Mon-Sat A Strange Eventful History Eleanor Bron reads from Michael Holroyd's biography of Ellen Terry and Henry Irving, two greats of the Victorian stage. 1: Ellen Terry's early life was spent in the shadow of her talented elder sister. In order to escape the gossip and rivalry of life on the stage, she married the eminent artist George Frederick Watts. But the marriage was soon to break down, and Ellen ran off with an architect friend of Oscar Wilde. Only when her debts begin to mount was she tempted back to the stage.

BOOK AT BEDTIME – 10.45pm – Mon-Fri Someone at a Distance Deborah Findlay reads from Dorothy Whipple's 1953 novel, abridged in ten parts by Jill Waters. 6: After Avery North and the young Frenchwoman, Louise Lanier, have been surprised in an embrace by his wife and daughter, Ellen has told Louise that she must leave the house immediately. CLASSIC SERIAL - 9.00pm – Sat (repeated from Sun) The Expedition of Humphry Clinker Tobias Smollet's uproarious satire of 18th-century life, dramatised by Yvonne Antrobus. 3: The Bramble family's adventures continue as they begin the long trip home, a journey full of surprises and unexpected revelations. With Nigel Anthony, Marcia Warren, Helen Longworth, Stuart McLoughlin. Directed by Marc Beeby. POETRY PLEASE – 11.30pm - Saturday Poetry that spans the ages will feature in the first of a new series of the requests programme presented by Roger McGough, with verse by the 8th century Chinese poet Du Fu, William Makepeace Thackeray, ee cummings and Polly Clark, to name just a few. CLASSIC SERIAL - 3.00pm – Sunday (repeated next Sat) The Worst Journey in the World Apsley Cherry-Garrard's gripping account of his experiences as the youngest member of Captain Scott's polar expedition team, adapted in two parts by Stef Penney. 1: In the austerely beautiful icescapes of Antarctica, things go disastrously wrong. With Matt Green, John McAndrew, Carl Prekopp, Mark Meadows. Directed by Kate McAll. OPEN BOOK – 4.00pm – Sunday Mariella Frostrup presents the books magazine. She talks to Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Marilynne Robinson, author of Gilead, about her new book Home. Guests including novelist Iain Sinclair discuss a new history of book collecting. POETRY PLEASE 4.30pm – Sunday Roger McGough introduces listeners' poetry requests. He marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Robert W Service, nicknamed the Canadian Kipling, one of the most widely read poets of the twentieth century. Many of his works commemorated the hardships and drama of the Yukon Gold Rush. Jimmy Yuill reads such classics as The Shooting of Dan McGrew. To listen again to these programmes for up to 7 days after broadcast visit: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/