As always, sandwiched in-between the umpteenth re-runs, BBC Four always manage to dig a little deeper to unearth some items of interest. Here’s a few that have caught my eye.

Play of the Week – Fairies (tx 27th September 1982) has already aired earlier in the week (and will be seen again on 9/3/25, at 00:45). The story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s championing of the Cottingley fairies, it’s well worth an hour or so of your time. James Grout plays Conan Doyle with the likes of Hugh Burden and Charles Kay in support. Linda Searle and Helen Fraser play the two young sisters who manage to hoodwink Conan Doyle.

An edition of Arena is broadcast on Monday (10th March, at 21:55). Originally broadcast in September 1980, it profiles the work of two young playwrights – Andrea Dunbar and Victoria Wood.

The first two episodes of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin are on Tuesday the 10th, from 20.00. We’ll have to wait and see whether this marks the beginning of a re-run of all three series.

On Wednesday the 12th (23.00) there’s a chance to see the 1982 BBC Schools production of An Inspector Calls. Given the running time (80 minutes) the text is slightly cut, but otherwise it’s a very faithful adaptation of the source material (which is understandable, since it was designed primarily as a teaching aide – although it’s also a cracking drama in its own right). The always immaculate Bernard Hepton heads the cast as Inspector Goole.

Thursday the 13th (21:45) sees a documentary about Len Deighton (The Truth About Len Deighton) receive its first airing since 2007.

And to round off the week, there’s another rare edition of Parkinson, this one features Dave Allen (as well as Toyah Wilcox and Peter Skellern).