Festive radio

Published on Saturday 22 December 2007 13:05

WHETHER it's Frank Capra reminding us that true wealth is having friends, not money, Macaulay Culkin proving that kids are more resourceful than their parents might think, or rediscovering for ourselves year after year that gluttony soon leads to regret, there's a moral to every story at Christmas.

But no one is better known for teaching valuable life lessons than Aesop, the creator of more than 650 fables. On Christmas Eve, children's writer Michael Morpurgo, right, gives AESOP'S FABLES (BBC Radio 4 2.15pm).

From the darker depths of storytelling, Bram Stoker's DRACULA (BBC World Service, Saturday and January 5, 8pm) is brought back to life in a two-part adaptation by Liz Lochhead. David Suchet swaps Poirot's pencil moustache for some over-defined canine teeth to play the bloodsucking title role in this irrepressible gothic horror classic. After witnessing him scaling the walls at night and morphing into other forms, Jonathan regrets not paying heed to his host's strange dinner habits.

Martin Jarvis's gift of metamorphosis is put to use on JEEVES LIVE (BBC Radio 4, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, 11.30am), a one-man performance of some of PG Wodehouse's most popular characters. First up is Fixing It For Freddie, where Jeeves, the ever-able valet, comes up with a plan to reunite Freddie and Elizabeth, followed by Bertie Changes His Mind, the only story Wodehouse wrote with his signature character as narrator.

Christmas is an apt time for celebrities to hijack the airwaves, and this year good things come in small packages with KYLIE MINOGUE'S CHRISTMAS SPECIAL (BBC Radio 1, Christmas Day, 1pm) and RICHARD HAMMOND, who hosts Radio 2's breakfast show on Christmas Eve (7.30am). Perhaps the biggest surprise is DAVID BECKHAM'S LINE OF INQUIRY (BBC Radio 2, Christmas Day, 3pm), an interactive show which gives fans the rare chance to question the celebrity footballer.

Radio 1 eases us into the New Year with recommendations for 2008 from some of the stars of 2007, including DIY dance hero Calvin Harris, Klaxons and Doctor Who's Freema Agyeman. Tune into NEW FOR 2008 (New Year's Day, 7pm), for five hours worth of tips on new music, films and fashion trends.

Alternatively, if you'd prefer some familiarity, join Emmylou Harris as she chats to Nick Barraclough about working with Bob Dylan and her love of all things Cash and Parton on MY COUNTRY JUKEBOX (BBC Radio 2, January 3, 11pm), a new four-part series featuring some of the genre's top stars and their influences.

TORTOISE (BBC Radio 4, New Year's Eve, 2.15pm) is a radio premiere of work from the late screenwriter Jack Rosenthal, produced by his widow Maureen Lipman. Felicity Montague and Stephen Mangan play a married couple who have lost their lust for life and each other, with Shelly resorting to an affair with her boss, and Roy spending more time with his beloved pet tortoise.

"When a man says he has exhausted life one knows that life has exhausted him" is one of the memorable phrases of Oscar Wilde, left (it is spoken by Lady Narborough in The Picture Of Dorian Gray). SUNDAY FEATURE – OSCAR IN AMERICA (BBC Radio 3, December 30, 10.15pm) is an intriguing bio-snippet exploring the overseas impact of the literary giant. Owen Dudley Edwards, Declan Kiberd and Wilde's grandson Merlin Holland all shed light on the icon.