the times | Saturday December 18 2021 saturday review 55
Times Radio
Digital only7.00am Christmas Day
Breakfast with Calum
Macdonald 10.00 Matt and
Mariella’s Selection Box 11.00
Times Radio Presenters in
Conversation with Luke Jones.
Some of Times Radio’s
best-known names discuss
their lives, childhoods and
careers 3.00pm HM The
Queen’s Christmas Message.
The Queen’s annual festive
speech 3.10 2021: What a Year!
Listeners reflect on the highs
and lows of 2021 4.00 Matt
Chorley’s Christmas Cracker.
Matt’s big quiz, his annual
pantomime and more 7.00
Podcast Takeover. A festive
selection of the best podcasts
from the year 10.00 Podcast
Takeover. A festive selection of
the best podcasts from the
year 1.00am Highlights from
Times Radio. Some of the best
interviews of the weekRadio 2
FM: 88-90.2 MHz5.00am Radio 2 in Concert (r)
6.00 Mica’s Gospel Christmas
8.00 Good Morning Christmas
10.00 Junior Choice 12.00
Paul O’Grady 2.00pm Richie
Anderson’s Festive Boy Bands
v Girl Bands 5.00 Gary Davies
with 70 Christmas Number
Ones 7.00 Human League:
Don’t You Want Me at 40: with
Gary Davies 8.00 Westlife’s
Christmas Day Pop Party
10.00 Trevor Nelson’s Soul
Christmas 12.00 Ana
Matronic’s Dance Devotion
2.00am Phantom at 35 (r)
3.00 Radio 2 in Concert (r)Radio 3
FM: 90.2-92.4 MHz7.00am Breakfast
9.00 Christmas Morning Live
With Stephen Hough, and
music by Granny’s Attic
1.00pm A Festival of Nine
Lessons and Carols From the
candlelit Chapel of King’s
College, Cambridge (r)
3.00 Sound of Cinema
Marking the 90th anniversary
of Abbey Road studios
4.00 Four Peaks Sound Walk
New series. Horatio Clare hikes
up the highest peak of each
UK nation, with Glen Nevis in
the Highlands the starting
point, as he walks towards the
huge rampart of Ben Nevis
5.00 J to Z Leading figures
from jazz share their
favourite Christmas tunes
6.30 Opera on 3 A 2008
production of Humperdinck’s
Hänsel and Gretel, with Colin
Davis conducting the Tiffin
Boys’ Choir and Children’s
Chorus and Orchestra of the
Royal Opera House (r)
10.00 New Music Show
12.00 Freeness (r)
1.00am Through the NightRadio 4
FM: 92.4-94.6 MHz
LW: 198 kHz MW: 720 kHz5.30am News Briefing
5.43 Prayer for the Day
5.45 Four Thought (r)
6.00 News and Papers
6.07 Open Country (r)
6.30 Farming Today
This Week Agriculture
7.00 Gardeners’ Question
Time Kathy Clugston hosts
7.45 Book of the Week: Taste
— My Life Through Food (r)
8.00 With Great Pleasure at
Christmas Poetry and prose (r)
9.00 Christmas Service
9.45 50 Things That Made
the Modern Economy (r)
10.00 Saturday Live
11.00 Moominland Midwinter
Robin Brooks’ adaptation of
Tove Jansson’s Moomin story
12.01pm (LW)
Shipping Forecast
12.04 Short Works: Daddy
Christmas By Paul McVeigh
12.30 Dead Ringers (r)
1.00 News
1.02 You’re Dead to Me:
Medieval Christmas
1.30 Ed Reardon’s Christmas
Week Ed needs a room (r)
2.00 Jacqueline Wilson’s
Wonderful World with the
BBC Symphony Orchestra
3.00 HM The Queen
3.05 News
3.15 Drama: The Princess
Bride By William Goldman.
See Choice (1/2)
4.15 Weekend Woman’s Hour
5.00 Fortunately with Fi &
Jane: Christmas Special
5.54 Shipping Forecast
6.00 Six O’Clock News
6.15 Loose Ends
7.00 Profile
7.15 This Cultural Life
8.00 Archive on 4: The Many
Faces of Ebenezer Scrooge (r)
9.00 Jeremy Irons
Reads TS Eliot (1/5) (r)
9.45 Dr John Cooper
Clarke at the BBC (2/2) (r)
10.00 News
10.15 The Moral Maze (r)
10.30-5.20am (LW) Live Test
Match Special: Australia v
England Commentary on the
first day of the third Test
11.00 Quote: Unquote (r)
11.30 Uncanny12.00 News and Weather
12.15am Christmas
Meditation
12.30 Short Works:
Daddy Christmas (r)
12.48 Shipping Forecast
1.00 As BBC World ServiceRadio 5 Live
MW: 693, 9095.00am 5 Live Boxing 6.00
5 Live Sport 7.00 Saturday
Breakfast 9.00 Christmas
Round Stacey’s 11.00 Elis and
John 12.00 News 12.30pm
Headliners 1.00 Scott Mills
and Chris Stark 3.00 5 Live
News 3.30 Teach Me a Lesson
4.00 Laura Whitmore 6.00
Headliners 6.30 News 7.00
Christmas Round Stacey’s
9.00 Elis and John 11.00 Live
Test Match Special: Australia v
England. The third Ashes TesttalkSPORT
MW: 1053, 1089 kHz5.00am Gameday Preview
6.00 Breakfast 10.00 2021
The Verdict 12.00 English
Football Genius 1.00pm
Hawksbee and Jacobs Clips of
the Year 4.00 Top 5s of the
Year 6.00 Fergie at 80 7.00
The Summer it Nearly Came
Home 10.00 Fight of My Life
12.00 English Football Genius
1.00am Martin KelnertalkRADIO
Digital only5.00am Clashes of the Year
7.00 Julia Hartley-Brewer
10.00 Mike Graham 1.00pm
Ian Collins 4.00 Drive 7.00
Christmas Planks 8.00 Kevin
O’Sullivan 10.00 James Whale
1.00am The Overnight ShowRadio 4 Extra
Digital only8.00am Quote: Unquote
8.30 All the Young Dudes
9.00 Sue Perkins 12.00 Goon
Show 12.30pm Hancock’s Half
Hour 1.00 The Forum 1.40
A Christmas Tree 2.00 The
Penny Dreadfuls Present 3.00
Conversations from a Long
Marriage at Christmas3.30 Old Harry’s Game
4.00 Neil Gaiman’s Norse
Mythology 5.30 Great Lives
6.00 The Turn of the Screw
7.00 Sue Perkins 10.00
The Lee Mack Show 10.25
Comedy Club Extra 10.30 Ida
Barr: Artificial Hip Hop 10.45
Paperback Hell (r) 11.00
Count Arthur Strong’s Radio
Show! 11.30 Hut 33 12.00
The Turn of the ScrewBBC World Service
Digital only9.00am News 9.06 BBC OS
Conversations 9.30 The
Explanation 9.50 Over to You
10.00 News 10.06 Sports
Hour 11.00 Newsroom 11.30
WorkLifeIndia 12.00 News
12.06pm Documentary 1.00
Newshour 2.00 News 2.06
The Real Story 3.00 News
3.06 HM The Queen’s
Christmas Message 3.12 On
the Podium 4.00 News 4.06
Documentary 6.00 The
Newsroom 6.30 World of
Wisdom 6.50 Sporting
Witness 7.00 News 7.06 The
Evidence 8.00 News 8.06
Arts Hour 9.00 Newshour
10.00 Newsroom 10.20
Sports News 10.30 The
Cultural Frontline 11.00 News
11.06 Music Life 12.00 News
12.06am OS Conversations
12.30 World of Wisdom 12.50
Over to You 1.00 News 1.06
The Science Hour 2.00
Newsroom 2.30 Healthcheck
3.00 News 3.06
Documentary 4.00 News
4.06 From Our Own
Correspondent 4.30
The Cultural Frontline6 Music
Digital only6.00am Amy Lamé 8.00
Radcliffe and Maconie 10.00
The Huey Show 1.00pm
Jamz Supernova 3.00 Gilles
Peterson 6.00 The Craig
Charles Funk and Soul Show
9.00 The Blessed Madonna
12.00 Lose Yourself With
2.00am Cillian Murphy 4.00
The Morning After MixVirgin Radio
Digital only6.00am Amy Voce 9.30
Graham Norton 12.30pm On
Demand 4.00 Bam 7.00 Ben
Jones 10.00 Stu Elmore
1.00am Through The NightClassic FM
FM: 100-102 MHz6.00am Breakfast 10.00
Requests 1.00pm The
Nation’s Favourite Carol
3.00 The Queen 3.05
A Royal Christmas 5.00
Christmas with Sir Trevor
McDonald 7.00 The Story
of Carols 10.00 Smooth
Carols 1.00am Katie
Breathwick 4.00 Sam PittisToday’s pick
The Princess Bride
Radio 4, 3.15pm
One of the 1980s’ most
beloved family adventures,
based on William Goldman’s
splendid novel, The Princess
Bride is adeptly filleted by
Stephen Keyworth for this
irrepressibly enjoyable two-
parter, with Goldman’s wry
meta-commentaries retooled
for an audio version, some
extra backstory for some
familiar characters, and the
swashbuckling sequences
handled surely. For the
uninitiated, it’s a love storybetween Princess Buttercup
(Ruby Barker) and farm boy
Westley (Lorn Macdonald),
chucking in pirates, bandits,
giants and derring-do galore.
To miss it would be, well,
inconceivable. Gabriel TateFilm4
FV 14 FS 300 SKY 313 VIRGIN 42811.00am Mrs Doubtfire
(12, 1993) Comedy with Robin
Williams and Sally Field
1.35pm Little Women
(U, 1994) Period drama
starring Winona Ryder
3.55 Bumblebee (PG, 2018)
Transformers prequel
starring Hailee Steinfeld
6.10 Independence Day (12,
1996) Sci-fi adventure with
Will Smith and Bill Pullman
9.00 John Wick: Chapter 3 —
Parabellum (15, 2019) The
seemingly invincible assassin
returns, this time hunted by
armies of bounty hunters.
Action thriller starring Keanu
Reeves and Halle Berry
11.35 Hear My Song (15, 1991)
Comedy with Adrian Dunbar
1.45am-4.00 In Bruges
(18, 2008) Comedy drama
starring Colin FarrellTalking Pictures TV
FV 81 FS 306 SKY 328 VIRGIN 4456.00am The Boy Who Stole
a Million (PG, 1960) Comedy
adventure starring Virgilio
Teixeira and Maurice Reyna
7.40 12 Days of Christmas
7.50 Good Tidings
of Great Joy
8.55 Christmas 1945: The
Homecoming Christmas
9.00 Hawkeye & the
Last of the Mohicans
9.30 The Christmas Tree
(U, 1966) Family drama
starring William Burleigh
10.40 Phantom Creeps
11.05 Glimpses
11.40 1942 Christmas Cartoon
11.55 Christmas 1945: The
Homecoming Christmas
12.00 Mantovani Plays the
Music of Christmas
12.30pm Early One Morning
12.45 Scrooge: A Christmas
Carol (PG, 1951) Fantasy
starring Alastair Sim
2.30 El Cid (U, 1961) Historical
drama with Charlton Heston
6.00 Scotland Yard
6.35 The Lavender Hill Mob
(U, 1951) Ealing comedy
starring Alec Guinness
8.15 Public Eye
9.15 Steptoe and Son Ride
Again (PG, 1973) Comedy
starring Harry H Corbett
11.15 Water (15, 1985) Comedy
starring Michael Caine
1.15am Notorious (U, 1946)
Thriller starring Cary Grant
3.15 Home of the Brave
(PG, 1949) Wartime drama
starring James Edwards
4.55-5.30 Get Some In!GREAT! Movies
FV 33 FS 302 SKY 321 VIRGIN 4259.00am GREAT! Movie News
9.10 The Taming of the Shrew
(U, 1967) Shakespeare’s
comedy with Elizabeth Taylor
11.35 GREAT! Movie News
11.45 Vice Versa (PG, 1988)
Fantasy comedy with Judge
Reinhold and Fred Savage1.40pm GREAT! Movie News
1.50 The Net (12, 1995)
Thriller with Sandra Bullock
4.05 Vertical Limit (12, 2000)
Action adventure with Chris
O’Donnell and Bill Paxton
6.25 Stepmom (12, 1998)
Drama starring Julia Roberts
9.00 The Other Boleyn Girl
(12, 2008) Historical drama
starring Natalie Portman
11.25-1.30am Closer (15,
2004) Drama starring Jude
Law and Julia RobertsTCM Movies
SKY 315 VIRGIN 4156.00am Hollywood’s Best
Film Directors Double bill
7.10 TCM Shorts:
Ben Miller Off Set
7.30 Arizona Bushwhackers
(12, 1968) Western
starring Howard Keel
9.25 Doctor Zhivago (PG,
1965) Drama starring Omar
Sharif and Julie Christie
1.30pm Casablanca (U, 1942)
Romantic drama starring
Humphrey Bogart
and Ingrid Bergman
3.35 TCM Shorts:
Ben Miller Off Set
3.55 North By Northwest
(PG, 1959) Hitchcock thriller
starring Cary Grant
6.45 The Goonies (12, 1985)
Family adventure with Sean
Astin and Corey Feldman
9.00 Se7en (18, 1995)
Thriller starring Brad Pitt
11.40-2.00am Run All Night
(15, 2015) Action thriller
starring Liam NeesonSky Cinema Premiere
SKY 301 VIRGIN 401Midday In the Heights
(PG, 2021) Musical
2.25pm Fatman (15, 2020)
4.10 Last Train to Christmas
(PG, 2021) Festive drama
starring Michael Sheen
6.00 Peter Rabbit 2 (U, 2021)
Bored of life in the garden,
Peter goes to the big city.
Animated sequel with the
voice of James Corden
7.40 In the Heights (PG, 2021)
Musical with Anthony Ramos
10.05 Fatman (15, 2020)
Comedy starring Mel Gibson
11.50-1.45am Last Train to
Christmas (PG, 2021) Festive
drama starring Michael SheenChristmas Day
Film guide
Radio guide
Rose Byrne in Peter Rabbit 2
(Sky Cinema Premiere, 6pm)