by Stephen Mollett.
A villa in Rome for a semi in Streatham, but the mysteries of Rome are not as intriguing as the secrets of the owners.
(Stereo)
(See panel opposite)

R4
Television - in the form of Dr Who's companion Leela, Tenko's Blanche and Bergerac's girlfriend Susan - has kept Louise Jameson away from radio for nearly ten years. But this week she's back as a tormented wife in Stephen Mollett's Curious Exchange.
'I knew the director Sue Wilson from the Bristol Old Vic and we blocked it (arranged the moves) just as if it was on stage.' says Louise. 'As there are only two people in it (her co-star is David Yelland) it was a round-the-microphone luxury we could afford.'
Louise and David play a couple who find that a holiday in Rome (swapping their Streatham semi for an Italian villa) is the catalyst that throws their relationship - and the problems of the past - into sharp focus. David feels the play 'doesn't fall easily into any category', while Louise believes that many people will be able to relate in a positive way to the couple's problems.
She's currently playing another problem lady - Molly in Sleeping Nightie at London's Royal Court Theatre - but coming back to radio was no problem at all:
'Cicely Berry, the voice coach at the RSC, always taught me that "least is best" and that's certainly true on radio. If you overdo it, you sound false.'
And now Louise plans more time for radio because, in the new year, she says goodbye to her long-running role in Bergerac.
'It was the most wonderful job - all those summers in Jersey - but it's time to go,' she says, adding mysteriously: 'I'll be written out in a very dramatic way in the first episode of the new series.'
(David Gillard)
Curious Exchange, 3.00pm Radio 4