Radio listener by Jim Gilchrist

What is it that sustains certain people as they push themselves to the very limit, physically and psychologically, amid the world’s most hostile environments?

In survival, part of BBC Scotland’s ongoing “Explorers” season on TV and radio, Mark Beaumont speaks to such extraordinary individuals as mountaineers Vicky Jack and Jamie Andrew.

Both are well-qualified to comment on the phenomenon of human endurance. Jack, for instance, was the first Scottish woman to climb the tallest peaks on all the continents and the oldest British woman to scale Mount Everest – narrowly escaping death on her first attempt. Andrew has refused to let the loss of his hands and feet curtail his climbing exploits after a tragic incident in the French Alps that claimed the life of his climbing partner, Jamie Fisher.

For those of us more inclined to a quiet night in, Sue Perkins leads a panel of comics, writers and others to struggle through the moral mire in the new panel show dilemma. Don’t expect to feel too ethically wrung out, however; the show’s panel of comedians Dave Gorman and Richard Herring, actress and writer Rebecca Front and journalist Dominic Lawson wrestle with such tongue-in-cheek chestnuts as “Would you cheat on your spouse for £1 million?”.

Would Michael Corleone have made Oscar Wilde an offer he couldn’t refuse? In oscar and al pacino, the Godfather star reveals his fascination with Wilde’s play Salome, his Los Angeles stage production which is the subject of his new drama-documentary, Wilde Salome. Talking to Mark Rickards, he recalls first being hooked by a Steven Berkoff performance of the play.

Survival

Monday, Radio Scotland, 2:05pm

Dilemma

Tomorrow, Radio 4, 7:15pm

Oscar and Al Pacino

Monday, Radio 4, 4pm