Radio Listener by Jim Gilchrist

TUNNELS of light, detachment from physical self, “higher presences”..., all have been cited as phenomena associated with near-death experiences, but are they truly mystical encounters or simply the result of endorphins released by the dying brain?

In a five-part Radio Scotland series, TALES OF THE UNEXPLAINED, Clare English talks to those who have been in extremis, but survived to tell the tale. Among them is Will Murtha, whose life was dramatically changed after he was swept off Devon seafront by a freak wave and, while struggling in freezing waters, became conscious of a “higher presence”.

No such elevating thoughts from Spike Milligan, who died ten years ago this Monday. “I told you I was ill” was his famous, self-composed epitaph, now inscribed – though in Irish – on the Celtophile arch-Goon’s tombstone in a Kent churchyard. Radio 4 Extra pays a three-hour tribute to the comedian, actor and author in THE SPIKE SHOW: MILLIGAN REMEMBERED, when his friend and agent Norma Farnes discusses his life, and other features include a classic Goon Show and the documentary Spike Milligan: Serious Poet.

This week’s drama includes the work of another departed but evergreen name, as John Mortimer’s RUMPOLE AND THE MAN OF GOD is adapted by Richard Stoneman. The plot finds Rumpole engaged to defend a clergyman accused of shoplifting and who is clearly innocent but seems strangely reluctant to be cross-examined under oath. Meanwhile, Hilda Rumpole drops a domestic bombshell. Rumpole is played by Timothy West, his younger self by Benedict Cumberbatch, while Jasmine Hyde essays the formidable “She Who Must Be Obeyed”.

Getting down to harder facts, on the World Service Assignment: tHE BATTLE FOR EGYPT charts the events of the past year since President Hosni Mubarak was brought down last February after 18 days of tumultuous protest. Magdi Abdelhadi, who reported from Tahrir Square – seen as the epicentre of the upheaval – last year, returns to assess a still uncertain state of affairs.

• TALES OF THE UNEXPLAINED, Thursday, Radio Scotland, 2:05pm

• THE SPIKE SHOW, last Saturday, Radio 4 Extra, 9pm

• RUMPOLE AND THE MAN OF GOD, Thursday, Radio 4, 2:15pm

• ASSIGNMENT: The battle for Egypt, Thursday, BBC World Service, 8pm