Joy on the BBC

If you're interested in hearing those BBC full-cast radio dramatizations of the P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves and Bertie stories starring Michael Hordern and Richard Briers that I mentioned last week, you're in luck, Chuck: tune your wireless internet browser to BBC 7, where the Beeb's 24/7 radio station for drama, comedy, and quiz programmes is now running the serial of Joy in the Morning on each Monday for the next few weeks. They're currently on Episode Two, but Bertie gives a slap-dandy "the story so far" at the beginning of every ep. and you'll soon be up to speed. EDIT on 5/8/07: Actually, this week starts with the beginning and Episode One! (Sorry, I misread the BBC7 radio directory.) So you won't miss a second of Hordern's harrumphing as Jeeves if you start listening this week.

Complicated time-shifting and technical note: The BBC 7 "Listen Again" page I linked to above allows you to listen to any of their shows starting the day after they broadcast it, for a period of six days. Joy in the Morning runs on Mondays, so you can listen to the newest episode online starting Tuesday for six days. (Go to the page linked above and click on "Monday" to see the schedule and find the Wodehouse show.) If you don't see Monday at the top of the page, that's because it is Monday, so brew up a cuppa and relax until Tuesday comes about, and then you can listen to streaming audio of Monday's shows. Sic gloria tuesday, as I always say.

Root about in the "Listen Again" daily schedules and you'll likely find other programmes you may enjoy: dramatizations of Lord Peter Wimsey and Sherlock Holmes mysteries, classic British comedy like Hancock's Half Hour, Round the Horne, The Goon Show, The Navy Lark, Steptoe and Son and The Milligan Papers, funny quiz programmes like The News Quiz, Just a Minute and I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue, plenty of children's programming, and, on Saturdays, long blocks of classic shows introduced by famous British comedians. If you've never heard 'em, I recommend relatively recent radio comedies Dead Ringers and The Museum of Everything, and there's plenty more besides. The BBC! Your free portal to entertainment even if you don't pay the licencing fee!