Radio: Pick Of The Day

IT'S NOT CLEAR why it was felt necessary to liven up Flora Thompson's auto-biographical account of village life in late 19th-century Oxfordshire with 1990s folk blathering. Despite the intrusions, there is still much to enjoy in the second instalment of the Afternoon Play (2.15pm R4), Lark Rise and Beyond, which stars Maggie Steed (right) as the reminiscing Laura.

In Tune (5pm R3) gives us the lowdown on Delius's opera The Magic Fountain, on the eve of its premiere by the Scottish Opera. Meanwhile, The Sunday Format (6.30pm R4) is pretty unconvincing as a satire on Sunday newspapers, but its confidently delivered poppycock should please those hungry for On the Hour-type fodder.

Dominic Cavendish