List of BBC Radio 4 programmes


This is a list of current and former programmes broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
When it came into existence – on 30 September 1967 – Radio 4 inherited a great many continuing programme series which had been initiated prior to that date by its predecessor, the BBC Home Service, and in some cases even by stations which had preceded the Home Service. Such inherited programmes are included in the list.
The years indicated in brackets after programme titles refer to the dates, where known, of each programme's first, subsequent, and final broadcasts – and, in cases where Radio 4 programmes began their run on stations other than the Home Service, the names of those originating stations are also shown.
Note that many of Radio 4's past comedy and drama productions have been, and continue to be repeatedly rerun on Radio 4, as well as on the digital radio channel BBC Radio 4 Extra.

News and current affairs

  • The Africans
  • Americana
  • Analysis
  • Any Answers?
  • Any Questions?
  • Asian Diasporas
  • The Bottom Line
  • Broadcasting House
  • Checkpoint
  • The Commission
  • The Copysnatchers
  • Crossing Continents
  • Does He Take Sugar?
  • Face the Facts
  • Farming Today
  • Farming Today This Week
  • File on 4
  • From Our Own Correspondent
  • In Business
  • In Search of the British Work Ethic
  • In Touch
  • Inside Money
  • iPM
  • Law in Action
  • Letter from America
  • Midnight News
  • Money Box
  • More or Less
  • Nice Work
  • The Pariah Profession
  • PM
  • A Point of View
  • The Politics of Hunger
  • Profile
  • Seven Days
  • Six O'Clock News
  • Sport on Four
  • Straw Poll
  • Straw Poll Talk Back
  • Taking Issue
  • Taking a Stand
  • Talking Politics
  • Today
  • Today in Parliament
  • United Nations or Not?
  • Week in Westminster
  • The Westminster Hour
  • With Us or Against Us
  • The World at One
  • The World This Weekend
  • The World Tonight
  • ''Yesterday in Parliament''

    Drama

  • A Touch of Mistletoe, 1930s-set sentimental drama
  • The Afternoon Play
  • The Archers, farming soap opera
  • Cashcows
  • The Classic Serial
  • Dr Finlay's Casebook
  • The Friday Play
  • Paul Temple
  • Saturday Night Theatre
  • Talk to Sleep, 4-part comedy-drama by John Dryden
  • Woman's Hour Drama
  • Neverwhere
  • Tumanbay
  • Tracks
  • The Children of the Stones
  • The Stone Tape
  • ''The Lovecraft Investigations''

    Arts

  • The Afternoon Reading
  • Back Row
  • Book at Bedtime
  • Book of the Week
  • Bookclub
  • Bookshelf
  • The Film Programme
  • Front Row
  • A Good Read
  • Kaleidoscope
  • Loose Ends
  • The Heard
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  • Open Book
  • Poetry Please
  • Radio Lives, profiles of radio personalities
  • Radio Roots, profiles of radio personalities
  • The Saturday Play
  • Saturday Review
  • Soul Music
  • White Nights
  • ''With Great Pleasure''

    Quizzes

  • Counterpoint
  • Brain of Britain
  • Masterteam, general knowledge quiz
  • Prompt!, theatre quiz
  • Round Britain Quiz
  • The 3rd Degree
  • Wildbrain, natural history quiz
  • ''X Marks the Spot''

    Comedy

Panel games

  • Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive, satirical quiz
  • Does the Team Think?, parody of Any Questions?
  • Foul Play, writers are asked to solve a murder mystery written by host Simon Brett
  • Heresy, the presenter and a panel of guests commit "heresy" by challenging people's most deeply held opinions on a subject
  • I Guess That's Why They Call It The News, satirical news-based quiz
  • I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, nonsensical word and musical games played by comedians
  • Inspiration, quiz about inventions presented by Chris Stuart
  • It's Your Round, game in which each contestant suggests a game to play for one round
  • Just a Minute, parlour game involving speaking without hesitation, deviation, or repetition
  • King Stupid, earlier version of panel game The 99p Challenge
  • Many a Slip, contestants must spot mistakes in texts and music
  • The Motion Show
  • My Music, musical games
  • My Word!, word games played by comedy writers and journalists
  • The News Quiz, satirical quiz on week's news
  • The 99p Challenge, silly games and tasks
  • The Personality Test, a guest host asks questions about his or herself
  • Petticoat Line, all female discussion
  • Puzzle Panel, puzzles
  • Quote... Unquote, quiz about quotations
  • So Wrong It's Right, Charlie Brooker asks his guests to invent or nominate really awful things
  • The Unbelievable Truth, game in which contestants deliver a mostly untrue speech and panelists must identify true statements
  • We've Been Here Before, historically oriented panel show with Clive Anderson
  • Whispers, quiz about celebrity rumours and gossip
  • Who Goes There, biographical quiz
  • Whose Line is it Anyway?, improvisational comedy game
  • The Write Stuff, questions about literature and writing parodies of a specific author
  • Wing it, an improv panel show

    Sitcoms

  • Absolute Power, public relations company satire
  • Acropolis Now, the fictional adventures of historical figures in ancient Greece
  • After Henry, about three generations of women living together following a bereavement
  • Alison and Maud, sitcom about sisters running a bed and breakfast
  • All Gas and Gaiters, church farce starring Derek Nimmo
  • All the Young Dudes, comedy-drama written by and starring Jim Sweeney
  • As Time Goes By, radio adaptation of BBC TV sitcom about a rekindled romance
  • At Home with the Snails, somewhat surreal family sitcom about the dysfunctional family of a man who is obsessed with snails
  • The Attractive Young Rabbi, gentle comedy about the clash of attitudes between a young female Reform Rabbi and an older, more traditional male Orthodox Rabbi
  • Ballylenon, sitcom set in a 1950s County Donegal village
  • '
  • The Big Business Lark, sitcom set in the boardroom of a national plastics business
  • The Big Town All Stars, sitcom about an up-and-coming a cappella group
  • The Bigger Issues, set in the world of fringe theatre
  • Bleak Expectations, Dickensian parody
  • Brian Gulliver's Travels, a satirical modern pastiche of Gulliver's Travels
  • The Brothers, sitcom about two brothers who give up their careers to design websites
  • Brothers in Law, legal comedy with Richard Briers, based on the TV series
  • The Cabaret of Dr Caligari, macabre comedy
  • Cabin Pressure, comedy about a very small airline with one plane
  • The Castle, medieval parody
  • Chambers, legal sitcom, later moving to TV
  • Clare in the Community, about a social worker
  • Count Arthur Strong, adventures of elderly comedian prone to malapropism
  • Dad's Army, about the Home Guard during World War II
  • Deep Trouble, nuclear submarine comedy
  • Delve Special, investigative journalism parody
  • The Department, satirical comedy about a mysterious organisation
  • Do Nothing till You Hear from Me, about a trumpet player
  • Double Income, No Kids Yet, about a childless couple surrounded by families
  • Double Science, about school science teachers
  • Ed Reardon's Week, a struggling and aging writer
  • Elephants to Catch Eels, historical sitcom about Cornish smugglers
  • ElvenQuest, fantasy parody
  • The Embassy Lark, diplomatic comedy
  • Fags, Mags and Bags, set in a newsagent/general store
  • The Fall Of The Mausoleum Club, macabre comedy starring Jim Broadbent
  • Fallen Arches
  • Four Joneses and a Jenkins, family comedy-drama set in rural Wales
  • '
  • Flying the Flag, Cold War diplomatic satire
  • Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel, law firm satire featuring the Marx Brothers
  • Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off, adventures of a posh idiot travelling the world
  • Gloomsbury, a parody on the Bloomsbury Set
  • Hinge and Bracket, musical comedy from female impersonators:
  • *At Home with Hinge and Bracket
  • *The Enchanting World of Hinge and Bracket
  • *The Random Jottings of Hinge and Bracket
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, science fiction comedy by Douglas Adams
  • Hordes of the Things, parody of The Lord of the Rings
  • The House of the Spirit Levels, parody of business and northern family sagas
  • Hut 33, set among code-breakers at Bletchley Park
  • I Think I've Got a Problem, musical comedy with Bob Monkhouse and Suggs
  • In the..., black comedies based on Mark Tavener's writing
  • *In the Red
  • *In the Balance
  • *In the Chair
  • *In the End
  • King Street Junior, junior school
  • Knowing Me, Knowing You, parody celebrity chatshow with Steve Coogan's incompetent presenter character
  • Ladies of Letters, sitcom with Patricia Routledge and Prunella Scales playing elderly correspondents
  • Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful, advertising satire starring Martin Jarvis
  • Lenin of the Rovers
  • Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting
  • The Little Big Woman Show, sitcom about a wannabe singer working as a temp
  • Little Blighty on the Down, satirical village comedy
  • A Little Night Exposure
  • Living with the Enemy, former left-wing comedian and right-wing politician forced into house-share
  • The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, Douglas Adams adaptation
  • Man of Soup, sitcom set in post-Soviet eastern Europe
  • The Masterson Inheritance, improvised historical comedy parodying costume drama
  • McKay the New, sitcom
  • The Men from the Ministry, civil service farce
  • Millport, set in main town of Great Cumbrae, island in River Clyde
  • Milton Jones, pun-driven stories:
  • *Another Case of Milton Jones
  • *The House of Milton Jones
  • *The Very World of Milton Jones
  • Mr and Mrs Smith, marriage guidance sitcom by British comedian Will Smith
  • Mr Blue Sky show about an optimistic family man by Andrew Collins
  • More Mr Mulliner, from PG Wodehouse's stories
  • The Motorway Men, sitcom about labourers building motorways
  • Nebulous, post-apocalyptic
  • The Next Programme Follows Almost Immediately, 1970s show set in a comedy factory starring David Jason
  • The Nick Revell Show, absurdist sitcom about a writer and his talking geraniums
  • Night Class, Johnny Vegas sitcom about a pottery teacher
  • No Commitments, about three sisters
  • Not Today, Thank You, absurdist comedy about broadcasting
  • Old Dog and the Partridge, pub sitcom
  • Old Harry's Game, Andy Hamilton comedy about Satan
  • Our Brave Boys, set in British Ministry of Defence
  • Parsley Sidings, set in a quiet railway station
  • Party, about young people founding a new political party
  • The Quanderhorn Xperimentations, a science fiction spoof by Rob Grant and Andrew Marshall
  • The Rapid Eye Movement, sitcom about a writer with tiny actors living in his head
  • Reluctant Persuaders, London's worst advertising agency. Written by Edward Rowett. Stars Nigel Havers, Josie Lawrence, Mathew Baynton, Rasmus Hardiker, Olivia Nixon and Kieran Hodgson
  • Rent, house share comedy
  • Revolting People, set in North America in the run-up to the American Revolutionary War
  • Rigor Mortis, in hospital pathology department
  • Ring Around the Bath, domestic sitcom
  • Robin and Wendy's Wet Weekends
  • Romantic Friction, sitcom about a romance writer
  • Ronan the Amphibian, about a financial adviser turned into an amphibian by aliens
  • Rudy's Rare Records, set in a reggae record store starring Lenny Henry
  • Scenes from Provincial Life, adaptation of William Cooper's novel
  • Sean Lock:
  • *Sean Lock, 15 Storeys High, sitcom
  • *Sean Lock's 15 Minutes Of Misery, sitcom
  • Seymour the Fractal Cat, science fiction
  • Share and Share Alike, sitcom about two brothers who must learn to live peacefully with each other
  • The Six Mothers-in-law of Henry VIII, an unreliable history of Tudor times created and written by Barry Grossman
  • The Shuttleworths, comedy about domestic life of character John Shuttleworth
  • Smelling of Roses, Prunella Scales as an event manager
  • Snap, divorce sitcom by Paul Mendelson
  • The Sofa of Time, fantasy comedy
  • Something or Other, dark comedy by Alex Bartlette and Grant Cathro
  • Stanley Baxter and Friends, series of 4 sitcoms
  • Stockport, so Good they Named it Once, comedy drama
  • Think the Unthinkable, about management consultants
  • Three Men Went to Mow, gardening sitcom
  • Tim Merryman's Days of Clover, business sitcom
  • Time For Mrs Milliner, Jane Asher hat-making sitcom
  • To the Manor Born
  • Toad Squad, episode of Hopes and Desires re-broadcast as a one-off
  • Truly, Madly, Bletchley, sitcom about public access radio
  • Two Doors Down, sitcom set in suburban Glasgow
  • Unnatural Acts, sitcom about a married couple
  • Up the Garden Path, family comedy from Sue Limb's novel
  • Tomorrow, Today!, science fiction parody
  • Vongole, campus comedy with Bill Nighy
  • Weak at the Top, business and management satire
  • Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, adaptation of TV series about two working-class men
  • Creighton Wheeler, a Zelig-like figure in two series:
  • *Wheeler's Fortune
  • *Wheeler's Wonder
  • A Whole 'Nother Story, sitcom
  • Wild Things, garden centre sitcom
  • Winston in Love, Peter Tinniswood sitcom
  • The Wordsmiths at Gorsemere, romantic poetry spoof by Sue Limb from her book
  • World of Pub, pub sitcom
  • Yes Minister, adaptation of satire about politician and civil service
  • You'll Have Had Your Tea, silly Scottish comedy using Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden's long-running characters