Alexander Armstrong's Radio Heroes

The X-Men? Pah! Superman? Bah! Give us Jet Morgan any day!

Alexander Armstrong celebrates those fine gentleman adventurers of the wireless

Big screen do-gooders like the Avengers have the glam and the moves, but you don't have to be superhuman to be a hero. Enjoy our very own British brand of intrepid adventurer, for whom style, panache, wit and guile serve just as well as x-ray vision, awesome strength or vivid underpants.

No stranger to style, panache and wit himself - Alexander is our guide through this modern pantheon - although he assures 4 Extra his underpants are suitably subdued.

Along the way, we'll ponder what makes these characters so enduringly heroic? – and what qualities does a hero need?

Featuring:

RAFFLES:
EW Hornung's gentleman cracksman seizes a challenge. Starring Jeremy Clyde.

JOURNEY INTO SPACE:
Captain Jet Morgan in the classic 1950s sci-fi from Charles Chilton. Starring Andrew Faulds.

SEXTON BLAKE
The comic strip crime fighter devised for radio in the 1960s by Philip Ridgeway. Starring William Franklyn.

DICK BARTON: SPECIAL AGENT
The BBC Light Programme's hugely popular radio hero revived in 1972 and starring Noel Johnson.

JUDGE DREDD:
Gary Martin stars as the legendary law enforcement officer. Produced by Dirk Maggs.

THE DEVIL IN AMBER
The decadent Edwardian dandy and defender of the realm, Lucifer Box. Written and read by Mark Gatiss.

Producer: Martin Dempsey

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in 2013.