SATURDAY 27 JANUARY 2024

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m001vlph)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland (m001vbqp)
Episode Five - Immersion

Andrew Leland reads from his witty and revelatory memoir about losing his sight and his quest to learn about the rich culture of blindness.

Andrew is midway through his life with an inherited eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa, suspended in the liminal state of the soon-to-be blind. He grew up with full vision, but starting in his teenage years, his sight began to degrade from the outside in, such that he now sees the world as if through a narrow tube. Soon, but without knowing exactly when, he will likely have no vision left.

Full of apprehension but also dogged curiosity, Andrew embarks on a sweeping exploration of the state of being that awaits him. He negotiates his changing relationships with his wife and son, and with his own sense of self, as he moves from his mainstream, ‘normal’ life to one with a disability. Andrew is determined not to merely survive this transition but to grow from it: to seek out and revel in that which makes blindness enlightening.

Thought-provoking and brimming with warmth and humour, The Country of the Blind is a deeply personal and intellectually exhilarating tour of a way of being that most of us have never paused to consider, and from which we have much to learn.

In this final episode, Andrew describes his experience at a training centre for the blind and contemplates how his life will be when he has lost all of his sight.

Andrew Leland’s writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker and The San Francisco Chronicle. He has hosted and produced The Organist, an arts and culture podcast, and has been an editor at The Believer magazine since 2003. He lives in western Massachusetts with his wife and son.

Reader: Andrew Leland
Abridger: Ellin Stein
Producer: Jane Greenwood
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001vlpk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001vlpp)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001vlpt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m001vlpy)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001vlq2)
A reflection to start the day with Mairéad Nic Craith, a Professor of Public Folklore at the University of the Highlands and Islands


SAT 05:45 The Banksy Story (m001nvr1)
4. Reverse Heists

James Peak isn't an art critic, or even a journalist. He's a Banksy super-fan, and in this series he, and his soundman Duncan, get closer than close to Banksy's secret world - telling the story of the graffiti kid who made spraying walls into high art, the household name who is completely anonymous, the cultural phenomenon who bites the hand that feeds him.

James persuades a member of Banksy's secret team – someone who worked closely with the artist when they were starting to cut through – to talk about the experience. The story that results is a rollercoaster ride.

In this episode, Banksy's hilarious reverse heists at the world's best museums and galleries gain him some serious notoriety.

Written, Produced and Presented by James Peak
Sound & Commentary: Duncan Crowe.
Voices: Keith Wickham & Harriet Carmichael
Music: Alcatraz Swim Team & Lilium
Series Mixing: Neil Churchill
Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
With special thanks to Hadrian Briggs, Pete Chinn, Patrick Nguyen, John Higgs and Steph Warren.

An Essential Radio production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m001vt10)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m001vlcq)
The changing river with Philippa Forrester

For over two decades presenter and wildlife expert Philippa Forrester has lived in a house with a river flowing through the garden. It's home to an abundance of species including Kingfisher, Mink and Egrets, and it's been the backdrop to a remarkable period of time when Philippa helped raise two orphaned otter cubs ready to be released back into the wild.

In this programme Philippa tells some of the stories of this river, and remembers how whole trees and even a car have come floating past after particularly heavy rains. She talks about how the river changes in the seasons, but also how she's seen legions of Signal Crayfish marching down after the sluice gate has been opened. Philippa drops down to Keynsham to speak to Simon Hunter about what can be done to help tackle this invasive species, and Ben Potterton from The Otter Trust pops over to the house to talk about those enigmatic and elusive carnivores.

Presenter: Philippa Forrester
Guest: Ben Potterton, The Otter Trust
Guest: Simon Hunter, Bristol Avon Rivers Trust

Producer: Toby Field for BBC Audio Bristol


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m001vt14)
Farming Today This Week: threat to hedgerows, farmers versus supermarkets, health rules for fishermen, family farms

This week, MPs debated giving hedges legal protection in England. Rules that had stopped farmers from cutting them back during the nesting season and from farming within 2m of the centre of a hedge came to an end on the 31st of December; before that those actions were restricted as part of what’s called cross-compliance, the rules farmers had to follow to get direct payments. Now the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts and the Woodland Trust are calling for immediate action to restore what they argue are vital protections.

After the get Fair About Farming campaign more than 100,000 people signed an e-petition urging retailers and their suppliers to treat British farmers more fairly. That triggered a parliamentary debate which took place in Westminster Hall this week.

A fisherman who underwent gastric sleeve surgery to pass newly introduced medical requirements, says he's incredulous to hear the rules may now be changed.

We often describe a farmer by the number of generations their family has been on the land. It's not unusual to speak to a fourth, fifth or even sixth generation; farming has long been a family business. That brings advantages and disadvantages. All week we've been talking about the family farm.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


SAT 06:57 Weather (m001vt18)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m001vt1d)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m001vt1n)
Tom Odell, Zoë Colville, Nathan Heaney, Iain Stirling

Tom Odell, the Ivor Novello Award winning musician discusses his new album 'Black Friday' and reveals why freshly baked cakes helped with his piano lessons.

Zoë Colville, aka The Chief Shepherdess, went from the madness of hairdressing in a trendy Soho salon in London, to the ‘relative’ tranquillity of tending sheep on a farm in Kent.

Boxer Nathan Heaney describes his journey from fighting with grief to being the underdog and now British Middleweight Champion.

Plus, we have the Inheritance Tracks of comedian and Love Island narrator Iain Stirling.

Presenters: Nikki Bedi and Greg James
Producer: Lowri Morgan


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m001vt1t)
Pythagoras

In this episode, Greg Jenner is joined by Professor Edith Hall and comedian Desiree Burch to learn all about ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras. Pythagoras is famous in maths classes everywhere for his triangle theorem, but surprisingly little is known about his actual life, and his theorem was actually invented by Babylonian mathematicians centuries before he was born! Taking in his beliefs about reincarnation, his possible divine parentage, and the cult he might have started, this episode explores the myths and legends that grew up in the ancient world about Pythagoras’s life in the centuries after his death.

Research by: Josh Rice
Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse


SAT 10:30 Alexei Sayle's Strangers on a Train (m001p6nc)
Series 2

Cheltenham to Maesteg

Comedy icon Alexei Sayle continues his series of rail journeys across the country with a trip from the regency elegance of Cheltenham to Maesteg, deep in the heart of the former mining communities of South Wales.

Alexei’s mission is to break the golden rule of travelling by train and actually talk to his fellow passengers, in a quest for conversations with strangers that will reveal their lives, hopes, dreams and destinations.

Along the way, Alexei holds a finger into the wind of the thoughts and moods of the great British travelling public. There’s humour, sadness and surprise as people reveal what is going on in their lives and, as Alexei passes through familiar towns and cities, he also delves into his own personal stories of a childhood in Liverpool and a long career as a comedian, actor and author.

Alexei has a life-long ticket to ride in his DNA, as his father was a railway guard. As a child, Alexei travelled on trains with his mum and dad, not only in the UK but also abroad. While other children in Liverpool at the time thought a trip to Blackpool was a big adventure, Alexei travelled to Paris, experienced the Orient Express, had summer holidays in Czechoslovakia and visited mysterious cities with unpronounceable names in the farthest corners of Europe.

In this programme, Alexei meets hospital worker Kevin who, on his days off, takes pot luck at his local train station ticket office and simply asks for a trip to somewhere interesting. Jenny tells Alexei how her years in the middle east changed her life, Donna and Paul take Alexei into the addictive world of murder mystery weekends, Ruth tells of her memories of her childhood in a mining community, and Julie and David describe to Alexei how, for nearly 50 years, they have run a general store in the Welsh valleys - now the only shop left in the village.

A Ride production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m001vt21)
Pippa Crerar, political editor of The Guardian analyses the latest political developments at Westminster.

Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Damian Green and Labour MP Sarah Owen discuss whether the government should introduce tax cuts in the forthcoming Budget.

This week marks the centenary of the first Labour government. Journalist and broadcaster Anne Perkins and Tom Baldwin, former Labour adviser and author of ‘Keir Starmer: The Biography’, discuss what that victory meant for the Labour movement and the current fortunes of Keir Starmer.

The newly-appointed chair of the Standards in Public Life Committee, Doug Chalmers, discusses his new role.

And, Katy Balls, Political Editor of The Spectator magazine, discusses the digital strategy of political parties with Tom Edmonds, who runs a digital consultancy. He also worked for the Conservative party and ran their digital campaigns, under David Cameron, at the 2015 election.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m001vt29)
Ayodhya: a defining moment for India

Kate Adie presents stories from India, Bangladesh, the US, Switzerland and Finland.

This week, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, opened a grand Hindu temple in the northern city of Ayodhya. The site on which it sits was once home to a centuries-old mosque which was demolished by a Hindu mob thirty years ago. Yogita Limaye reflects on the impact of the new temple, which fulfils a dream for many Hindus, but has alienated much of India's Muslim minority.

Samira Hussain attends a press conference in Bangladesh, soon after Sheikh Hasina was returned to power for a fourth consecutive term as prime minister. With voter turnout at almost half that of the previous election, Samira explores why Bangladeshi voters are feeling despondent, amid claims of growing autocracy in the country.

After securing victory in the Republican primary in New Hampshire, Donald Trump is currently in a strong position to clinch the party's presidential nomination. Within his base is a sizeable contingent of evangelical Christians. Mike Wendling met with some of them, to hear how they have become a political force.

China's human rights record has been under the microscope at the UN in Geneva this week. It's attracted particular interest as, since the last review, China has faced criticism for its continued repression of Uyghur Muslims, while clamping down on democratic freedoms in Hong Kong. Micky Bristow was there to watch proceedings.

And John Kampfner visits one of the world's last remaining museums dedicated to Vladimir Lenin. Located in the Finnish city of Tampere, it tells the story of the complex relationship between Finland and Russia over the last century.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m001vtb6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m001vt2r)
Fraud Victims Treasury Meeting and Funeral Scams

Campaigners for victims of pension and investment fraud met with the Treasury this week. We'll hear from the Conservative MP who is the co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Investment Fraud, Caroline Nokes, who was at that meeting.

What's the latest for working parents of two year olds planning to take advantage of the free 15 hours of childcare in term time which begins in April?

Thieves are stealing the identities of bereaved families to try and steal money from friends and relatives of the person who has died. The National Association of Funeral Directors says it has seen a spike of such frauds in the past few weeks in Northern Ireland. What do you need to look out for?

And, some new rules started this month for platforms which allow people to sell goods online. We'll clear up some confusion after listeners contacted the programme.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Sarah Rogers
Researchers: Sandra Hardial and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 27th Jan, 2024)


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m001vlnm)
Series 113

Episode 4

Andy Zaltzman quizzes the news. Providing all the answers are Lucy Porter, Geoff Norcott, Alasdair Beckett-King, and Cindy Yu.

In this episode Andy and the panel address the issue of BBC bias after upsetting a minister with last week's show, try and figure out exactly what Keir Starmer stands for, and ask the question... who is ready for war?

Written by Andy Zaltzman

With additional material by: Cody Dahler, Mike Shephard, and Meryl O'Rourke

Producer: Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4


SAT 12:57 Weather (m001vt2y)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m001vt34)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m001vlp1)
Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, Fay Jones MP, Anna Mikhailova, Nick Thomas-Symonds MP

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from HaverHub in Haverfordwest. On the panel: Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, Fay Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Wales, Mail on Sunday Deputy Political Editor Anna Mikhailova, Nick Thomas-Symonds - Shadow Minister without Portfolio.

Producer: Ed Prendeville
Lead broadcast engineer: Nick Ford


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m001vt3b)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week


SAT 14:45 Opening Lines (m001vt3m)
Tam O'Shanter

John Yorke explores Robert Burns’s only long form narrative poem, Tam O’Shanter. He discovers Tam’s wild ride through a stormy Scottish night where witches and warlocks are at play.

Robert Burns was born in 1759, one of the children of a tenant farming father and a mother who was a great singer and storyteller. He found fame with the publication of Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect and it was the Scots language that gave his poetry such energy and vigour.

Tam O’Shanter tells the story of a wild ride through a stormy Scottish night where witches and warlocks are at play. Having finishing drinking in the pub, Tam must venture out into the night on his horse Meg and pass the haunted church where the ghouls are out dancing in the graveyard. The poem has a quote at the beginning that comes from a medieval Scots translation of Virgil's epic poem, the Aeneid, where the hero goes into the underworld, into the dark world of spooks and terrifying imaginings. And that's where Tam O'Shanter takes its listeners, along with humour and a tongue-in-cheek attitude to Tam’s foibles.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for nearly 30 years, and he shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised on BBC Radio 4. From EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book Into the Woods. As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy John has trained a generation of screenwriters - his students have had 17 green-lights in the last two years alone

Contributors
Kirsteen McCue Professor of Scottish Literature and Song Culture at the University of Glasgow, home of the centre for Robert Burns Studies.
Robert Crawford Poet and author of The Bard, a biography of Robert Burns

Readings: Brian Cox, Robert Crawford

Researcher: Nina Semple
Production Manager: Sarah Wright
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Mark Rickards
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 15:00 Tam O'Shanter (m001vt3s)
Robert Burns’s narrative poem mischievously reimagined for a contemporary audience by Gary McNair.

With music by Malin Lewis and Michael John McCarthy.

Tam has something of a thirst for alcohol.

His wife’s warned him of the trouble he’s likely to get in if he doesn’t change his ways.

Does Tam listen? No.

But he’s about to face the night of his life, when her prophesy becomes reality…

Performed by Gary McNair, with music and original composition by Michael John McCarthy and Malin Lewis.

Studio and Live Recordings by Fraser Jackson, Kris McConnachie and Sean Mullervy

Sound Design by Michael John McCarthy

Directed by Kirsty Williams


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m001vt3y)
Long Covid, Professor Jo Phoenix tribunal victory, Paying children for chores

Hundreds of doctors - led by campaign group Long Covid Doctors for Action - are planning to sue the NHS over claims that inadequate PPE provision has left them with Long Covid. Dr Nathalie MacDermott, joins Emma Barnett to discuss.

Do you pay your children to do the chores around the house? The journalist Helen Carroll faced an online backlash after revealing she pays her son £40 a month to load the dishwasher everyday. To navigate the thorny issue, Sue Atkins, Parenting Coach and Author of Parenting Made Easy joins Anita Rani to discuss.

In an exclusive interview, Emma speaks to the academic Professor Jo Phoenix who has won an unfair dismissal claim against the Open University after she was compared with “a racist uncle at the Christmas table” because of her gender-critical beliefs.

China is experiencing its biggest population drop in six decades. In an attempt to recover from the ‘one-child policy’ introduced in 1980, the government are now urging women to have more children. But a large amount of women in China are saying no – they don’t want children, or to get married. Ty Dr Ye Liu from King’s College London and Cindy Yu, host of the Spectator’s Chinese Whispers podcast, discuss.

Rapper Princess Superstar speaks to Emma about finally hitting the big time after a 30-year career in the music industry. Her song, Perfect, features on the soundtrack of the blockbuster film Saltburn.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Dianne McGregor


SAT 17:00 PM (m001vt43)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m001vt48)
The Blair and Hague One

Sir Tony Blair and Lord William Hague sit down with Nick Robinson to discuss their vision for a new "national purpose". They reflect on facing each other across the dispatch box 25 years ago and how to deal with an unstable world

Producer: Daniel Kraemer


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001vt4g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m001vt4p)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001vt4v)
Government "appalled" by claims that UN staff were involved in Hamas' attack on Israel. Defence Secretary condemns the latest Houthi attack on ships sailing through the Red Sea.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m001vt55)
Tracy-Ann Oberman, Daliso Chaponda, Mathew Baynton, Annette Badland, Gaby Kettle, BenObi, Richie Anderson, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Richie Anderson are joined by Tracy-Ann Oberman, Daliso Chaponda, Annette Badland and Mathew Baynton for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from BenObi and Gaby Kettle, recorded at Stratford Playhouse, Stratford-upon-Avon.


SAT 19:00 Profile (m001vt5j)
Jurgen Klopp

He’s led Liverpool Football Club to countless victories and is adored by fans for his touchline antics.

As he announces his departure from Liverpool FC after nine years, Timandra Harkness looks at the life of Jurgen Klopp, from his childhood in the Black Forest to the young player who could run like the wind, before hanging up his boots to become a coach.

Presenter: Timandra Harkness and Becky Milligan
Production: Ellie House, Phoebe Keane, Diane Richardson
Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele
Editor: Richard Vadon


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m001vsbv)
Frank Auerbach

A rare interview with Frank Auerbach, one of the world’s greatest living painters. At 92 years old, he has been painting for over 70 years and still works every day. A child refugee from Nazi Germany whose parents were killed in Auschwitz, he made his name alongside his friends and fellow painters Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and Leon Kossoff in the 1950s. He’s well known for the thick layers of the paint used to create his portraits and images of the streets around the studio in Camden Town where he has worked since 1954.

Frank Auerbach talks to John Wilson about his fragmentary memories of his early childhood in pre-war Berlin and his education at the boarding school Bunce Court in Kent, where he arrived aged 7. He recalls the huge impression that a black and white reproduction in a children's encyclopaedia of Turner's The Fighting Temeraire made on him as a boy, making him want to "do better and be less superficial". Auerbach also discusses the influence on him of the artist David Bomberg who taught him at London's Borough Polytechnic, and his friend and fellow student Leon Kossoff. He also talks about his friendships with Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud and why he still paints and draws in his studio seven days a week.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001vt5w)
Dom Joly - Goth or Not?

Dom Joly used to be the award-winning presenter of Trigger Happy TV. But before that he used to be a goth. Looking more like Robert Smith than Robert Smith, he joined the ranks of what would turn out to be one of Britain’s most enduring sub-cultures.

But looking back, Dom’s not really sure whether he really was a goth, because he doesn’t really know what being a goth meant or even what it was all about. So could he really be part of a sub-culture he couldn't actually define? What does goth stand for, what are the membership rules and was he ever really part of that club?

To get some answers to his questions he trawls through the BBC archive, hearing what Siouxsie thought of Robert Smith’s lipstick, and from Gary Numan on who he think was to blame for panstick.

He talks to gothdom experts like Wayne Hussey, John Robb and Lol Tolhurst about what exactly goth is. Kirk Brandon discusses why he's the only person he talks to who claims to be a goth and why Dom thinks he's the only who's not.

Jo Whiley tells Dom about the pitfalls of being a blonde goth and he talks to Marcus Brigstocke about how this bunch of introverted extroverts came to his rescue.

And Dom steps back into his youth when he goes to the goth weekend in Whitby. .

Written and presented by Dom Joly
Contributors; Lol Tolhurst, Kirk Brandon, Wayne Hussey, Jo Whiley, Marcus Brigstocke
Archive material from:
A Brief History of Goth, BBC 6Music 2017
Rock Family Trees, BBC 2 1998
London Plus, BBC1 2014
The G Word, Radio 2 2009
The People's Songs: Love Cats A Particularly British Style, Radio 2 2017

Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith
Production Coordinator: Ellie Dobing
Executive Producer: Julian Mayers

A Yada-Yada production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 Drama on 4 (m0002lj6)
China Towns

Episode 2

Inspired by the novels of Arnold Bennett, an epic tale of money, passion and defiance set in the Staffordshire potteries. Dramatised for radio by Lin Coghlan and Shaun McKenna

One family is about to be hit by scandal while elsewhere in the community religious rivalry threatens to turn ugly.

Ephraim Tellwright ….. Neil Dudgeon
Darius Clayhanger ….. Tim McInnerny
Edwin ….. Cameron Percival
Aunty Hamps ….. Carolyn Pickles
Big James ….. Ian Conningham
Constance ….. Bryony Hannah
Sophia ….. Alexandra Constantinidi
Mrs Baines ….. Clare Corbett
Mr Povey ….. Lewis Bray
Gerald ….. Christopher Harper
Janet ….. Saffron Coomber
Cassie ….. Jeanette Percival
Maggie ….. Evie Killip
Mr Orgreave ….. Tony Turner
Titus Price ….. Michael Bertenshaw

Incidental music arranged by Colin Guthrie and performed by Colin Guthrie, Peter Ringrose and Ian Conningham.

Produced and directed by Marion Nancarrow


SAT 22:00 News (m001vt69)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Screenshot (m001vlnx)
Dreams

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode take a deep dive into the cinematic subconscious to explore dreams in film and television.

Mark talks to Sandra Hebron, psychotherapist and head of screen arts at the National Film and Television School, about the origins and history of dreams in film.

He also speaks to director Bernard Rose, best known for his 1992 film, Candyman. They discuss his debut film, Paperhouse, and how it portrays the blurred lines between reality and dreams.

Taking a look at everything from The Sopranos to The Big Lebowski, Ellen investigates some of film and TV's most memorable dream sequences with help from film critic, Anne Billson.

Ellen then speaks to independent film director, Tom DeCillo, whose 1995 film, Living in Oblivion sought to subvert the clichés of the cinematic dream sequence.

Producer: Queenie Qureshi-Wales

A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:00 Counterpoint (m001vkvt)
Series 37

Heat 7, 2024

(7/13)

Three more music lovers join Paul Gambaccini at the BBC's Salford studios for another wide-ranging contest of musical knowledge. The winner will proceed to the semi-finals and take another step towards the title of 37th Counterpoint champion. To do so they'll not only have to prove the range of their musical knowledge, but will also have to select a special musical topic on which to answer individual questions, from a list of which they have been given no warning.

Taking part are
Stephen Draper from Liverpool
Jo McEvedy from Whitley Bay
Mike Meakin from Harrogate

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria


SAT 23:30 Offstage: Inside The X Factor (m001vttg)
1. For Our Entertainment

Join Chi Chi Izundu as she looks back on the world of The X Factor, where contestants perform in front of celebrity judges to realise their dream. It’s a world of glamour and excitement, but also of hard truths, hard words and hard work. For our hopefuls, the first step is the audition process. We go behind the scenes to look at how the process unfolds, and what staff and contestants remember about the beginning of their road to stardom.
Offstage: Inside The X Factor captures the emotion, the excitement and the drama of the show and features some of the captivating characters that led to its enduring success. But it also looks beyond the glitz and glamour revealing how contestants and staff felt, the toll it took on some of them and what they say happened behind the scenes. 

Presenter: Chi Chi Izundu
Producers: Rob Brown, Jo Adnitt, Lucy Burns, Joe Kent
Editor: Clare Fordham
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

Archive:
The X Factor series 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 (Fremantle/Syco/ITV)
Youtube/nats89

SUNDAY 28 JANUARY 2024

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m001vt6p)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Across the Divide (m001t31r)
Inside Israel 1948

Israeli and Palestinian societies are divided by history, conflict and trauma. But they are also inexorably connected. In Across The Divide Zak Brophy speaks with Israelis and Palestinians with different backgrounds and beliefs to learn about their family histories and the reality of their day to day lives. To hear their hopes, fears, dreams and concerns. Could the testimony of a handful of the millions who are caught up in the conflict reveal some of the nuance and complexity that is so often lost in times of war? In this episode we hear from two close friends. Both are Israeli citizens but their family histories cross the divides of history.

The Across The Divide series is presented and produced by Zak Brophy.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001vt74)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001vt7d)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001vt7r)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m001vt83)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m001vt8c)
St George’s church in Didbrook, Gloucestershire

Bells on Sunday, comes from St George’s church in Didbrook, Gloucestershire. By 1706 the church had a ring of just four bells all cast by William Bagley of Northamptonshire. In 1911 these bells were recast and augmented to a ring of six by the John Taylor of Loughborough foundry. The Tenor weighs six hundredweight and is tuned to the note of B. We hear them ringing Grandsire Doubles.


SUN 05:45 Profile (m001vt5j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m001vt81)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b038x32q)
Anger

Classicist Llewellyn Morgan confesses that he is what Aristotle called an 'orgilos', a naturally irascible man!

In this edition of Something Understood, he draws upon the reflections and experiences of writers including James Lasdun, Dorianne Laux and Timothy Steele to explore an emotion that isn't always as negative as it might at first appear. With music by Elvis Costello, Monteverdi and Arvo Part.

Produced by Alan Hall.
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m001vt8b)
A Wilder Way to Farm

70% of the UK's landscape is farmed. For the writer and estate manager, Jake Fiennes, that statistic alone shows that farmers need to lead any effort to bring back our depleted wildlife.

As brother of Ralph and Joseph, Jake grew up in a bohemian family of artists and actors but he always felt the pull of the land. A spell helping to run the legendary Limelight nightclub in London in the 1980s had him rubbing shoulders with George Michael and Tina Turner but, exhausted by the high life, he retreated to the Knepp Estate run by his friend Charlie Burrell. There he learned his trade as a gamekeeper and quickly absorbed the skills of estate management.

After rising up through the ranks he took on the role of Conservation Manager on the enormous 25,000 acre Holkham Estate in North Norfolk, a position that has given him the chance to pursue his instinct that productive, modern agriculture can be adapted to become much more friendly to nature. The transformation of the estate is outlined in his book, Land Healers. For On Your Farm he guides Tom Heap around Holkham's acres, explaining how crop yields can be maintained whilst wetlands expand and fresh territory is carved out for natterjack toads and turtle doves.

Producer: Alasdair Cross


SUN 06:57 Weather (m001vt8j)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m001vt8n)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m001vt8s)
C of E safeguarding concerns, Nicaragua Catholic Church crackdown, Jesus in pop music

The Church of England is facing renewed criticism following its decision to close its own Independent Safeguarding Board last year. At the time, church authorities said they closed the board in order to replace it with a more independent and more effective body. But some victims and survivors of abuse say that decision left them feeling abandoned, silenced and re-traumatised. William Crawley hears from one of those survivors, as well as from David Glasgow, a clinical psychologist who has published his own report into the matter, and from Dr Jamie Harrison, chair of the House of Laity on the Archbishops' Council.

In Nicaragua, Catholic universities and charities have been closed or seized by the government because bishops and priests have publicly challenged what they view as the regime's abuse of human rights. Francisco Urrutia, General Secretary of the Association of Jesuit Universities in Latin America, tells the programme that President Daniel Ortega's regime is set on silencing the church's voice in public life.

The rapper Lil Nas X is the latest musical artist to cause controversy with his new song, "J-CHRIST", accompanied by a music video in which he's strapped to the cross in place of Jesus. He has apologised insisting he didn't mean to mock Christianity. Delvyn Case, Professor of Music at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, explores the history of pop music's sometimes uncomfortable relationship with Jesus.

PRESENTER; William Crawley
PRODUCERS: Amanda Hancox and Alexa Good
EDITOR: Dan Tierney.


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m001vsjl)
The OHMI Trust

Writer and broadcaster Tom Shakespeare makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of The OHMI Trust.

To Give:
- UK Freephone 0800 404 8144
-You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope ‘OHMI Trust’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘OHMI Trust’.
Please note that Freephone and online donations for this charity close at 23.59 on the Saturday after the Appeal is first broadcast. However the Freepost option can be used at any time.

Charity Number: 1143623


SUN 07:57 Weather (m001vt8x)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m001vt91)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m001vt95)
She who would valiant be

A service celebrating the 80th anniversary of the first woman to be ordained in the Anglican communion, recorded at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London.

The Revd Dr Florence Li Tim-Oi was ordained on 25 January 1944 in Shui Hing, Free China (Hong Kong) and was given charge of the Anglican congregation in the Portuguese colony of Macau where, at the time, refugees were fleeing to from China. Florence Li Tim-Oi's legacy is celebrated by women across the world, and the foundation in her name supports women throughout the Anglican communion. It is also 30 years this year since the first women were ordained in the Church of England in 1994.

The service was held on 25th January by the Li Tim-Oi foundation, with contributions from its Director, Revd Christina Rees, Revd Frances Shoesmith, a granddaughter of Bishop Hall who ordained Florence, and, the Bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkin preached. Music was provided by St Martins Voices and the Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir including a piece written for the occasion.

Producer: Miriam Williamson


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m001vlp4)
I See No Ships

As the size and capability of the Royal Navy is thrust into the spotlight with events in the Red Sea, Stephen Smith reflects on whether this will put an end to speculation of planned cuts to the oldest arm of the British armed forces.

And with a spot of naval history in his family, Stephen examines why Britain's relationship with the sea, for all its flaws, is fundamental to who we are.

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Liam Morrey
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b03dx6nq)
Willow Tit

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Martin Hughes-Games presents the Willow Tit. Willow Tits are declining rapidly in many areas: they are very similar to marsh tits, so alike in fact that no-one realised that they existed here until 1897 and their identity as a breeding bird in the UK was confirmed three years later.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m001vt99)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m001vt9g)
WRITER: Caroline Jester
DIRECTOR: Kim Greengrass

Brian Aldridge… Charles Collingwood
Helen Archer … Louiza Patikas
Jolene Archer … Buffy Davis
Kenton Archer … Richard Attlee
Natasha Archer … Mali Harries
Tony Archer … David Troughton
Lilian Bellamy … Sunny Ormonde
Alice Carter … Hollie Chapman
Susan Carter … Charlotte Martin
Harry Chilcott … Jack Ashton
Clarrie Grundy … Heather Bell
Ed Grundy … Barry Farrimond
Eddie Grundy … Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy … Emerald O‘Hanrahan
Brad Horrobin … Taylor Uttley
Chelsea Horrobin … Madeleine Leslay
Adam Macey … Andrew Wincott
Azra Malik … Yasmin Wilde
Rebecca Price … Rose Robinson


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m001vsl8)
Jamie Dornan, actor

Jamie Dornan is an actor who first came to the attention of television audiences in 2013 when he played serial killer Paul Spector in the BBC series the Fall. Two years later he starred alongside Dakota Johnson in the film Fifty Shades of Grey and went on to play the same part in the rest of the trilogy. In 2022 he was the lead in the BBC drama the Tourist which was watched by millions of viewers and recently returned for its second season.

Jamie was born in Holywood in County Down. At 10 he played Widow Twankey in the school pantomime - a defining moment for him when he experienced the thrill of playing to a live audience.

After dropping out of university Jamie became a model and worked on big campaigns for some leading fashion brands before landing his first acting part in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette in 2006. His role in the Fall was his big break and the Fifty Shades films catapulted him to movie star status.

In 2021 he played Pa in the film Belfast which was written and directed by Kenneth Branagh about his own childhood, growing up at the beginning of the Troubles.

Jamie is married to the musician and composer Amelia Warner and they have three children.

DISC ONE: Caravan - Van Morrison
DISC TWO: Violin Concerto No. 1: II. Composed by Philip Glass and performed by Adele Anthony (violin) and Ulster Orchestra, conducted by Takuo Yuasa
DISC THREE: Hoppípolla - Sigur Rós
DISC FOUR: Bridge over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
DISC FIVE: Metarie - Brendan Benson
DISC SIX: Forever – The Beach Boys
DISC SEVEN: Something - The Beatles
DISC EIGHT: The Whole of the Moon – The Waterboys

BOOK CHOICE: Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
LUXURY ITEM: A golf club and balls
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Forever – The Beach Boys

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m001vt9l)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (m001vkwn)
Series 92

3. Ned Kelly is Australian, right?

Sue Perkins challenges guests Paul Merton, Eleanor Tiernan, Heidi Regan and Tony Hawks to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation.

The long-running Radio 4 panel game is back for a new series with subjects this week ranging from Apostrophes and Catastrophes to Hermits.

Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia
An EcoAudio certified production.

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m001vscj)
How has a small island become the nation with the highest rate of obesity?

Sheila Dillon investigates what we can learn about food and public health from the extreme case of Nauru. It’s the world’s smallest republic yet has the highest rate of obesity.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m001vt9s)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m001vt9w)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world


SUN 13:30 Gangster (p0h2qrgg)
Catching the Kingpins

Catching the Kingpins: 4. Who Built EncroChat?

Little is known about who invented the EncroChat network and who owned it. Even the police who investigated the criminals using the network, know little about who’s behind it.

Journalists David James Smith and Joseph Cox explain what their investigations into the company reveal.

Plus, why an expert in cryptography thinks the whole EncroChat operation could fall apart on a legal technicality.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Series Producer: Andrew Hosken
Editor and Executive Producer: Innes Bowen

Catching the Kingpins is a BBC Studios Production for BBC Sounds.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001vll5)
Masham

Is it possible to use too much manure? What can I do to protect my larger plants from being damaged by builders? What’s the panel’s favourite plant with a rude name?

Kathy Clugston is in Masham, North Yorkshire for this week's programme along with a panel of horticultural experts, including garden designer Matthew Wilson, houseplant expert Anne Swithinbank, and curator of RHS Bridgewater Marcus Chilton-Jones.

Later, Matthew Wilson pays a visit to Rudding Park's kitchen garden where he speaks to kitchen gardener Emma Pew and head chef Callum Bowmer about what benefits of growing fresh produce directly on the hotel grounds has on their guests and visitors.

Senior Producer: Dan Cocker

Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod

Executive Producer: Carly Maile

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 The Banksy Story (m001nw3r)
5. Crude Oils

James Peak isn't an art critic, or even a journalist. He's a Banksy super-fan, and in this series he, and his soundman Duncan, get closer than close to Banksy's secret world - telling the story of the graffiti kid who made spraying walls into high art, the household name who is completely anonymous, the cultural phenomenon who bites the hand that feeds him.

James persuades a member of Banksy's secret team – someone who worked closely with the artist when they were starting to cut through – to talk about the experience. The story that results is a rollercoaster ride.

In this episode, Banksy's new show, Crude Oils, stars 200 live rats scuttling about the gallery floor. It certainly brings in the crowds.

Written, Produced and Presented by James Peak
Sound & Commentary: Duncan Crowe.
Voices: Keith Wickham & Harriet Carmichael
Music: Alcatraz Swim Team & Lilium
Series Mixing: Neil Churchill
Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
With special thanks to Hadrian Briggs, Pete Chinn, Patrick Nguyen, John Higgs and Steph Warren.

An Essential Radio production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 The Medici (m001vtb2)
Series 2: The Inheritors

Episode 1 - Alessandro

By Catherine Johnson.

Alessandro de Medici, known as The Moor, was the first hereditary Medici duke. He was popular with the Florentine people but his cousins Ippolito and Lorenzino never forgave him for taking up what they felt was Ippolito's birth right. It was only a matter of time before the assassination attempts would succeed. Alessandro was murdered in somebody else's bed, aged 26.

CAST
Alessandro de Medici- Elliott Barnes-Worrell
Lorenzino de Medici- Sion Daniel Young
Ippolito de Medici - Jacob Ifan
Taddea Malaspina - Kiran Sonia Sawar
Simonetta da Collevecchio - Marsha Millar
Giorgio Vasari - Nico Pimparé
Pope Clement - Arwel Gruffydd
Emperor Charles V - Michael Bertenshaw
Margaret - Kitty O'Sullivan
Scoronconcolo - Tyler Cameron
Strozzi - John Lightbody
Young Alessandro - Hardy Yusuf
Young Ippolito - Huw Huckstep

Series Creator: Mike Walker
Sound: Catherine Robinson
Director: John Norton
A BBC Audio Drama Wales Production


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m001vsjn)
Michael Cunningham

Michael Cunningham speaks to Johny Pitts about his new novel, Day: a portrait of an unconventional Brooklyn family on one day in each of three consecutive years - facing a love triangle of sorts, a questioning of direction, and the pandemic's influence on all their lives.

Novelist Helen Oyeyemi talks about her new novel, The Parasol And The Axe, a 'love letter' to her adopted home of Prague. And we hear more about writing from the Czech capital with editor Jan Zikmund on The Book Of Prague: A City In Short Fiction.

And weathering the whodunnit, BBC New Generation Thinker and author Oskar Jensen shares his favourite meterological moments in crime and thriller novels.

Presenter: Johny Pitts
Producer: Emma Wallace

Book List – Sunday 28 January and Thursday 1 February
Day by Michael Cunningham
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
The Parasol And The Axe by Helen Oyeyemi
The Book of Prague by Jan Zikmund
Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Helle and Death by Oskar Jensen


SUN 16:30 Jan Pienkowski: Meg and Mog and Me (m001vtb8)
Jan Pienkowski, who died in 2022, remains one of the most celebrated and beloved illustrators in the history of children’s literature, perhaps best known for his work on the ‘Meg and Mog’ series with Helen Nicoll. He was a pioneering force in the development of pop-up books, with the award-winning 3-D explosion that was ‘Haunted House’ becoming an immediate favourite, while his sophisticated silhouette work in titles such as ‘The Kingdom Under The Sea’, and A Necklace of Raindrops’ created mindscapes that have by now entranced generations of children. In this programme Ed Vere, a children’s illustrator who knew Jan since he himself was a child, sorts through some of his friend and mentor’s archive, stored in a giant wooden chest in Jan’s home. He talks to Jan’s husband, David, as well as other writers and illustrators including Nadia Shireen, Frank Cottrell Boyce, SF Said and Chris Riddell - and we hear archive of Jan himself describing his traumatic childhood in war-torn Europe and the impact the enforced exile from his home in Poland had on his life and work.

Produced by Geoff Bird.


SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m001vm56)
Bailiffs Behaving Badly

Councils in England and Wales are owed half a billion pounds - mainly in uncollected taxes and fines; money that's needed for essential services. Now, more and more, many are turning to bailiffs to recover the money. File on 4 hears from those on the receiving end - and industry insiders who say their colleagues are incentivised to behave badly. Mark Lobel also speaks to those at the forefront of industry reform who believe say the industry still needs to clean up its act.

Reporter: Mark Lobel
Producers: Phil Marzouk
Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston


SUN 17:40 Profile (m001vt5j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001vtbb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m001vtbd)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001vtbg)
The early evening national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m001vtbj)
Jess Gillam

From Boy George singing Bowie songs into a cola can and Bayard Rustin using early music for activism, to the story of the first female cabinet minister and a pretty unhappy radio listener. The challenge of creating window illusions, bailiffs behaving badly, and - of course - haggis, neeps and tatties... we’ve got it all on Pick of the Week.

Presenter: Jess Gillam
Producer: Elizabeth Foster
Production Co-ordinator: Lydia Depledge-Miller


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m001vsbj)
Jolene and Kenton are having to make difficult phone calls cancelling pre-arranged functions due to the power outage in the pub. Both are worried about what this will do to the business and how long The Bull might be closed for. The only saving grace is that at least they have electricity still in their flat. The couple are struggling to find an electrician who can come at short notice when they realise that neither of them has asked Lilian to speak to the contractors she employs through Amside. Later Lilian comes up trumps, having persuaded a contractor called Pete away from his Sunday roast to come and have a look. Kenton is hopeful the power will be back in time for the Renew Fashion Show. Lilian suggests that they should put Tracy and Emma to work doing other tasks since they can’t do their normal jobs behind the bar.

In the tea room, Fallon and Mia are discussing the final details for the show. Mia seems stressed and overwhelmed, complaining about Lily and her over-the-top ideas for the choreography and special effects for the catwalk. It’s obvious she is worried about the pub and whether the power will be back on by Friday. Later, as they sort donated clothes at The Bull, Lilian suggests creating a glossy programme and generously offers to pay for it. Mia is horrified, insisting it is an eco-friendly, paperless show. When Lilian suggests she may be excluding older audience members, Mia is dismissive and Lilian leaves, disgruntled.


SUN 19:15 Wing It (m001vtbl)
"No Script. No Prep. No Clue."

Mike Wozniak plays host to a panel of improv all stars in this new spontaneous game show, full of ridiculous challenges & completely made up games.

Presented by Mike Wozniak.

The contestants were, Josie Lawrence, Steen Raskopoulos, Cariad Lloyd, and Thomas Mayo.

With additional material from Shoot From The Hip

Producer: Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound Editor: Joe Bayley

A BBC Studios Production


SUN 19:45 Bodies of Water (m001vtbn)
4: Pond Life

Wild-child Becca recalls the summer she spent caring for her Grandmother, who had severe dementia, the confidences they shared and how rebuilding the garden pond brought them closer together.

Pond Life is episode four of a series of stories by the award-winning writer Saba Sams, all inspired by bodies of water.

Reader: Clare-Hope Ashitey.


SUN 20:00 More or Less (m001vlmb)
Shopping, shipping and wind chill-ing

Was Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves wrong about the increase in the price of the weekly shop? What has the violence at sea done to the cost of shipping? Why did YouGov feel the need to correct an analysis of their polling? Are there 30 million GP appointments every month? And how does wind chill work?

Tim Harford investigates the numbers in the news.

Presenter: Tim Harford
Reporters: Charlotte McDonald and Nathan Gower
Producer: Debbie Richford
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production coordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Mix: Rod Farquhar


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m001vlly)
Norma Barzman, Lord Saye and Sele, Jim Hobson, Susan Campbell

Matthew Bannister on

Norma Barzman, the screenwriter from the Golden Age of Hollywood who fled to Europe after facing being blacklisted from the House Un-American Activities Committee for her Communist views.

Lord Saye and Sele, the aristocrat who served in the army during the Second World War, then worked to restore the historic family seat Broughton Castle.

James 'Jim' Hobson, the Assistant Chief Constable of West Yorkshire who was in charge of the Yorkshire Ripper enquiry when Peter Sutcliffe was arrested.

Susan Campbell, the illustrator who co-founded the Walled Kitchen Garden Network.

Interviewee: Larry Ceplair
Interviewee: John Barzman
Interviewee: Martin Fiennes
Interviewee: Franco Pardini
Interviewee: Jim Buckland
Interviewee: Caroline Conran

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

CSULB Human Rights Forum - Norma Barzman, the Advanced Media Production Center, California State University Long Beach, Beach TV CSULB, YouTube, uploaded 06/04/2009; The Locket (1946), RKO Radio Pictures; Norma Barzman, Hollywood Exiles, Podcast, BBC World Service, 15/01/2024; The House Committee of Un-American Activities Actuality, Omnibus, Hollywood on Trial, BBC Two, 04/11/1973; Give us This Day (1949) Dir, Edward Dmytryk; IMDB; Lord Saye and Seye interview, From D-Day to Bergen-Belsen: Lord Saye & Sele, Dir/Prod Nathan Portlock-Allan, YouTube uploaded 26/01/2021; Lord Seye and Sele, SignPost, BBC, 25/04/1962; News Conference, Newsbeat, BBC Radio, 04/09/1979; The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A Very British Crime Story, BBC Four, 11/04/2019; Susan Campbell "Trained Fruit in Historic Kitchen Gardens", Garden Conservation YouTube uploaded 30/09/2022; Susan Campbell makes her first visit to Althorp, Episode 8, Walled Garden Historian, spencer1508.com;


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m001vt2r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m001vsjl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 Loose Ends (m001vt55)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m001vtbr)
Ben Wright is joined by the Conservative MP Katherine Fletcher; Labour frontbencher Sir Chris Bryant; the crossbench peer and journalist Patience Wheatcroft; and the Spectator's political editor, Katy Balls. They discuss reports of a plot to depose Rishi Sunak, and the announcement about a ban on disposable vapes. The programme also includes an interview with the SNP's leader at Westminster, Stephen Flynn.


SUN 23:00 Moral Maze (m001vmcv)
Ukraine - the moral case for ceding land for peace

It’s now nearly two years since Russia began its full scale invasion of Ukraine. Hopes that Ukraine might seize back its territory have been dashed, in a conflict that’s become deadlocked. At first it felt clear – the invasion is wrong, Putin must fail and be seen to fail, Ukraine’s defiance and bravery must be supported with everything its allies can provide. But as the death, destruction and bloodshed continues, with little sign of progress on either side, questions have been raised about how the war might ever be brought to an end.

How realistic is it for Ukraine to aspire to recapture all of its land, even Crimea? This year’s US presidential election has sharpened the focus: A Trump victory could threaten Ukraine’s future supply of arms. Some believe Russia would settle for the land it has already captured. If so, for Ukraine the bitter pill of ceding some 20% of its territory would at least bring the war to an end. But what’s the moral case for this? What’s the real value of peace – bought at the cost of justice? If western powers are seen to allow aggression to win the day in Ukraine, what message would that send to Vladimir Putin and other tyrants around the world? In Ukraine, what’s the moral case for ceding land for peace?

Presenter: Michael Buerk
Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Assistant Producer: Linda Walker
Editor: Tim Pemberton

MONDAY 29 JANUARY 2024

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m001vtbt)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m001vmcj)
THE ENGLISH

THE ENGLISH: Laurie Taylor asks how the country house became ‘English’ and explores changing notions of Englishness over the past 60 years. He’s joined by Stephanie Barczewski, Professor of Modern British History at Clemson University, South Carolina and author of a new book which examines the way the country house came to embody national values of continuity and stability, even though it has lived through eras of violence and disruption. Also, David Matless, Professor of Cultural Geography at Nottingham University, considers the way that England has been imagined since the 1960s, from politics to popular culture, landscape and music. How have twenty-first-century concerns and anxieties in the Brexit moment been moulded by events over previous decades?

Producer: Jayne Egerton


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m001vt8c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001vtbw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001vtby)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001vtc0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m001vtc2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001vtc4)
A reflection to start the day with Mairéad Nic Craith, a Professor of Public Folklore at the University of the Highlands and Islands


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m001vtc6)
29/01/24 International trade; Pollock fishermen; Land sales.

New border controls are being phased in - these are the checks on imports introduced post Brexit, which have been delayed five times. There have been warnings that the extra costs imposed will be passed onto consumers and could add hundreds of millions of pounds to the nation's food bill. All this week we will be looking at trade: from these new rules to trade deals and their impact on British farmers. Today we speak to the International Chamber of Commerce

There are growing calls for the government to support fishermen affected by the sudden ban on catching pollock. The zero quota came into force at the beginning of the year after concerns over fish stocks, but rod and line fishermen in Torquay say the decision could put them out of business.

More farmland in England has been sold to investors and lifestyle buyers than farmers for the first time - figures for last year from the agents Strutt and Parker show that less than half of buyers last year were farmers - that's in comparison with 50 to 60 % in previous years. Private investors were involved in 28% of transactions; institutional investors in 13% a rise of 10% on 2022; and lifestyle buyers in 16%.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


MON 05:56 Weather (m001vtc8)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03ths4v)
Chaffinch

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

John Aitchison presents the chaffinch. The name chaffinch refers to its habit of flocking in stubble fields, often in the company of other birds, to sort through the chaff for seeds. In less tidy times when spilled grain was a regular feature in farmyards and stubble was retained for longer periods, these winter flocks were widespread.


MON 06:00 Today (m001vs6z)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m001vs75)
Made out of glass

The history of glass-making dates back to at least 3,600 years ago in Mesopotamia, and both manufactured and naturally-occurring glass have been used in a wide variety of objects across the world. The curator and director of the Stained Glass Museum in Ely, Jasmine Allen, looks back at its long and varied history, highlighting its practical and artistic qualities.

In the last century or so its industrial heartlands in Britain have been in the Black Country and the north east of England. John Parker, Professor of Glass Science at the University of Sheffield and curator of the Turner Museum of Glass, is an expert on the history of glass in this region, and the impact of mechanisation at the end of the 1800s.

A new exhibition, The Glass Heart, at Two Temple Place in London (until 21st April) showcases industrial glass making as well as contemporary artworks. The artist and glassblower Ayako Tani finds inspiration in traditional calligraphy for her glass art, as well as the more recent development of glass ships in bottles from the 1970s.

Glass can be moulded into all shapes and sizes and developed with different strengths, but the materials scientist Professor Claire Corkhill from the University of Bristol says it’s still quite a difficult and mysterious material. Her research is looking into innovative ways to use glass, and exploring whether it could even be the answer to the growing dilemma of managing Britain’s radioactive waste.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Food for Life by Tim Spector (m001vs7d)
Ep1 - How We Choose Food

Choosing the food we eat can be a complicated business, with many factors affecting what we pick from the shelves of supermarkets and shops. Professor Tim Spector reveals how both evolution and modern marketing can affect those choices and the impact they have on our health and our amazing gut microbiome.

Written by Tim Spector
Read by John Lightbody
Abriged by Rosemary Goring
Produced by Naomi Walmsley


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001vs7x)
Fasting and women, Conscription, Cuteness exhibition

Following the speech last week by the head of the British Armed Forces calling for a new ‘citizen army’, we look at what this could look like and what role women would play. Emma Barnett speaks to former RAF Group Captain Kathleen Sherit the author of Women on the Front Line, and to Diane Allen, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel.

It's been reported that the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fasts for 36 hours at the start of each week. He is said to stop eating by 5pm on a Sunday and doesn't permit himself to touch food again until 5am on a Tuesday, and allows himself to drink only black coffee and water. It is said that he has followed this practice for years. Emma is joined by Dr Saira Hameed to discuss fasting and how men and women should approach it differently.

Amy and Anu are identical twins, but just after they were born, they were taken from their mother and sold to separate families. Years later they connected online and realised they were among thousands of babies in Georgia stolen from hospitals and sold, some as recently as 2005. Emma speaks to one of the twins, Amy Khvitia, and also Fay Nurse, a BBC journalist behind a new documentary, Georgia’s Stolen Children.

From cute cat memes to plush toys, a new exhibition at Somerset House explores the power of cuteness in contemporary culture. But is buying into a cute aesthetic regressive or even sexist, or can cute be reclaimed as a form of protest? And how would you feel, as a grown woman, about being labelled 'cute' or 'adorable'? To discuss, Emma is joined by Dr Isabel Galleymore, a consultant on the Cute exhibition; and the journalist Vicky Spratt.

Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Emma Pearce


MON 11:00 Black, African and British (m001vs89)
Black, African and British in Culture

British Nigerian broadcaster Jumoké Fashola travels across the country to ask what it means to be Black, African and British and to explore how these communities are shaping British politics, faith, business and culture today.

Episode 4: Black African and British in Culture

Whether it’s Stormzy, Dave or Little Simz, Idris Elba, Daniel Kaluuya or Michaela Coel or writers like Ben Okri and Bernadine Evaristo the impact of Black African British creatives is undeniable. Yet there was once a time when actors like Idris Elba felt they had to move to the USA for opportunities.

Three leading British cultural voices talk to Jumoké about how their art and creativity is shaped by their experiences as Black African Brits.

The bestselling author Yomi Adegoke discusses how the internet changed diversity in culture and empowered artists like her. She also discusses the positives and negatives of the impact of Black Lives Matter on publishing.

Jumoké visits the studio of Grammy award winning producer Jae5 and gets an insight on what it takes to make an Afrobeats mega-hit.

The comedian and entertainer Eddie Kadi tells Jumoké why he wanted to bring his distinctly British-Congolese perspective to his comedy and to Saturday night prime-time TV on Strictly Come Dancing.

You can join the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #BlackAfricanBritish


MON 11:30 The Bottom Line (m001vlj4)
Many unhappy returns

Some major fashion brands have started charging for online returns, or even banning customers who routinely send products back. The companies say that growing levels of returns are hitting their profits, so just how costly is it to process an unwanted dress, and what really happens when we pop it back in the post?

Evan Davis and guests take us behind the scenes into the hidden world of returns and the mini-industry that has sprung up to deal with the billions of pounds of items rejected by customers.

It's a growing problem, according to many retailers, with a small number of customers causing particular damage, so what's the best way to tackle it and does the responsibility lie with brands, shoppers, or governments?

Evan is joined by:

Robert Kulawik, chief operating officer, Everything5pounds.com;
Andy Rough, CEO, ACS Clothing;
Dr Regina Frei, associate professor of digital economy, University of Surrey.

PRODUCTION TEAM:

Producer: Simon Tulett
Researcher: Paige Neal-Holder
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Rod Farquhar and Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinator: Rosie Strawbridge

The Bottom Line is produced in partnership with The Open University.

(Picture: A woman putting folded clothes into a cardboard box. Credit: Getty Images)


MON 12:00 News Summary (m001vs8n)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m001vs91)
Stolen Loyalty Points, EV Charging and Unexpected Deliveries

Members of the Nectar loyalty scheme are finding it harder to play their cards right to get money off their shopping. Some have been saving them up only find their points have been wiped. We hear from one listener who tells us how much it cost her family.

We’re posting less than half the amount of letters than we used to. So why are the ones we’re expecting taking longer to arrive? Listeners tell us that aside from parcels they’ve had no post for more than a week. Royal Mail acknowledges the problem but says solving it means embracing Ofcom’s suggestion to reduce its deliveries. Could it work? We find out how things have got to this point with analysis from its former director of strategy.

Every motorway service station in England should have at least six rapid or ultra-rapid electric car chargers by now. That was a government target. New data from the RAC reveals that only four in ten do. The lack of public charge points is causing stress and anxiety for some electric car owners who say it can take longer to drive long distances than catch multiple trains. We explore one potential solution.

Finally, imagine you’ve bought the most stylish jacket on Vinted but when you pick up the parcel from an InPost locker, it contains a bag of fake cobwebs someone else ordered for Halloween. Mix ups like these aren’t rare. 28,000 people have joined Facebook groups attempting to track down their parcels and reunite their unexpected deliveries with their rightful owners. We go through the various options you’ve got if you’ve something you weren’t expecting.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Julian Paszkiewicz


MON 12:57 Weather (m001vs9g)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m001vs9v)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


MON 13:45 Ian Hislop's Oldest Jokes (m001vsb8)
Animals

There are a number of themes or types or techniques in British comedy that seem to survive any social or political upheaval. We love wordplay, we're suckers for Double entendre and while animals can be cute or terrifying, they can also make us laugh. In this series Ian Hislop looks back to try and find the first examples of these jokes or comedy genres. We love a good parody but when did that become a thing? Can we really find Anglo-Saxon Double Entendre? You bet we can, and filthy to boot, another trove of British Humour.
He visits libraries, museums and chapels, and also talks to comedy stars and writers of today like Nina Conti, Paul Whitehouse, comedy song writing duo Jo and Joan and parodist Craig Brown.

In the sixth programme Ian is in Aberdeen to see the University's famous Bestiary, a Medieval manuscript so richly illuminated that it attracted Henry VIII who borrowed it, permanently from its original home somewhere in the North of England. Now it resides in Aberdeen University's new library, complete with its illustrations and sermons about animals. It's all very straight, until you reach the Bonnacon, a mythical beast that appears to have no biblical message beyond its capacity to make the reader laugh. Ian also takes advice on our abiding comic relationship with animals from Nina Conti and Monkey, with whom she shares a sometimes fractious but always funny relationship.

Producer: Tom Alban


MON 14:00 The Archers (m001vsbj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 This Cultural Life (m001vsbv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Saturday]


MON 15:00 Counterpoint (m001vsc5)
Series 37

Heat 8, 2024

(8/13)

Three more amateur music lovers will be trying to impress Paul Gambaccini with their knowledge of music in all its varieties, whether it's opera, choral music, show tunes, jazz, folk, rock and pop, or music from the world of film and gaming.

Today's competitors are
Stephen Hatcher from Ashbourne in Derbyshire
Annie Hodkinson from Kingswinford in the West Midlands
Leslie Hooper from Glasgow

To earn a place in the semi-finals they'll need to prove the breadth of their musical knowledge, as well as selecting a special musical topic on which they'll get a set of individual questions with no prior warning of the categories on offer.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m001vscj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 History on the Edge (m001pmbx)
Lennox Castle Hospital

Anita Anand goes on the trail of another story from the recent past that’s fallen through the cracks of mainstream history. In this episode, she travels to Scotland to uncover a dark chapter in the history of care.

Lennox Castle Hospital was set up near Glasgow in the 1930s as a forward-thinking institution for the care of those with learning and other disabilities, but the victims of the hospital’s savage regime also included teenagers involved in petty larceny and young women who’d given birth outside marriage and had been labelled as prostitutes. As Anita discovers, patients were subjected to a strict and dehumanising regime, and to physical punishment for challenging behaviour or trying to escape.

With oral Historian Howard Mitchell as her guide, Anita takes a steep walk through the Campsie Fells to the ruined Lennox Castle whose remote location, Mitchell says, helped keep its patients shut away from mainstream society.

Howard has recorded many interviews with those who lived and worked at the hospital and even presented a series on the hospital’s history for the Open University. But, having worked as a nurse at Lennox Castle in the 1970s, the historian is also an invaluable first-hand witness, with insider knowledge of the brutality inflicted on the patients.

Today, many of the custodians of memory are either no longer with us or unable to be interviewed. But after the hospital closed in 2002, former ‘patients’ and families shared their memories for the Lennox Castle Stories Project and these are featured in this episode of History on the Edge. There is also the story of Patrick, who as a teenager was admitted to Lennox Castle because of his challenging behaviour and who spent years there, until his father successfully fought for him to be returned to mainstream society.

Anita also speaks to Dr Sam Smith, who helped re-settle Patrick and others and has since founded an organisation helping those with disabilities and challenges live in the outside world.

Producer: Sara Parker
Executive Producer: Simon Elmes
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m001vscx)
What Should We Teach in RE?

Teacher and Tik-Toker Henna Karin-Sayer (@mrsreandpsheteacher) shares her passion for her subject, and the challenges facing those trying to teach religious education today.

A shortage of experienced subject teachers and a very mixed picture in what children are taught has led to a 'post-code lottery' in the quality of RE teaching. The subject has different names and different legal requirements depending on what nation your child goes to school in, but it's compulsory to teach religious education to all children across the UK throughout their school life. The differences are in what is taught, how it's taught and the quality of teaching.

Fiona Moss is the CEO of the National Association of Teachers for Religious Education (NATRE), advising and training hundreds of teachers every year and lobbying for better funding. Stephen Evans is the Chief Executive Officer for the National Secular Society and Rabbi Benjy Rickman is Head of Religious Education at King David High School in Manchester, a Jewish faith school. They debate how the subject is and should be changing and why it's important.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted
Assistant Producer: Ruth Purser


MON 17:00 PM (m001vsd7)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001vsdh)
Iran has denied involvement in the attack in Jordon which killed three American troops


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m001vsdr)
Series 92

4. Kerry Godliman was an Olympic diver

Sue Perkins challenges guests Paul Merton, Kerry Godliman, Zoe Lyons and Daliso Chaponda to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation.

The long-running Radio 4 panel game is back for a new series with subjects this week ranging from Living Theatrically, to The Tattoo I Narrowly Avoided.

Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia
An EcoAudio certified production.

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


MON 19:00 The Archers (m001vsct)
Emma and Tracy are trying to make themselves useful by giving the pub a spring clean while it is closed. They are hard at work when Eddie arrives asking for a favour. He wants them to tell Mia that he won’t be modelling in the show on Friday, as Mike has asked him to do some work in Birmingham and he needs the cash. Tracy and Emma refuse, knowing that Mia is going to be furious, and telling him to do his own dirty work. Before he leaves he pleads with them to find a way to get the electricians to work faster as the village isn’t the same without the pub.

Later while Tracy is cleaning Jolene’s car – and larking about in a water fight with Emma - the alarm goes off. Jolene comes out and tells her it is faulty and needs to be looked at.
Kenton and Jolene break the good news to Emma and Tracy that they’ve found a way to open the Ploughman’s – only offering bottled beers and soft drinks - to start bringing in some revenue. The reopening is a success with them enjoying a good trade - a mixture of regulars and casual customers. A rowdy group of newcomers are happy to flash the cash, flirting and giving Emma and Tracy large tips. But Jolene seems uneasy, avoiding the group and making excuses to disappear. At the end of the evening Kenton finally announces the winner of the longest drinker competition as Neville Booth.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m001vsf0)
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Gruff Rhys, Colin Barrett

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, who have been married for close to thirty years, talk to Tom Sutcliffe about playing three couples on stage in Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite. They’re joined by director John Benjamin Hickey to explain why they wanted to bring this very New York show to London’s West End.

Having won both awards and praise for his short stories, Colin Barrett discusses his funny and thrilling first novel Wild Houses, set in the margins rural Ireland.

Welsh musician, composer, filmmaker and author Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals fame talks about his 25th album, Sadness Sets Me Free, and performs a track especially for Front Row.

Producer: Olivia Skinner
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe


MON 20:00 The Rise of Sinn Féin (m001vsf8)
Ireland correspondent Chris Page looks at the growth of Sinn Féin across the island of Ireland over the last 30 years and explores how it has achieved that. He examines the party's current aims and policies, from housing to the economy. And he asks, given the current trend in the polls, what the implications might be of the party being in government in two jurisdictions - in Belfast and in Dublin.

Presenter: Chris Page
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Lead broadcast engineer: Ilse Lademann

Credit: "Two Tribes", RTÉ One, 22nd December 2022


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m001vl9d)
American Mercenaries: Killing in Yemen

While recent attention has focused on the Houthi rebel movement in Yemen, BBC correspondent Nawal Al-Maghafi investigates a different, hidden aspect of the country’s long civil war.

The conflict in Yemen began in 2014. It has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. In 2015, a coalition formed by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia invaded Yemen. Its stated aim was to return the elected government to power, and to fight terrorism.

However, Nawal Al-Maghafi , from BBC Arabic Investigations has found evidence that the UAE has been funding a method of covert warfare in southern Yemen – assassinating those who have spoken out against the UAE’s operations in the country. Assassinations were initially carried out by a band of former American Special Forces operatives turned mercenaries, who were paid by the UAE. These extra-judicial killings, conducted in the name of counterterrorism, continue to this day. The UAE denies the allegations.

Reporter: Nawal Al-Maghafi
Producer: Alex Last
Sound mix: Rod Farquhar
Series Editor: Penny Murphy
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Executive Producer for BBC News Arabic: Monica Gansey


MON 21:00 Wild Inside (m001vm42)
The Bearded Vulture

Ominously called the lamb vulture, there are many myths and misconceptions surrounding the bearded vulture. Flying the mountainous ranges across central Asia and eastern Africa, with a wingspan of almost three meters, the bearded vulture is am impressive Old World vulture. Prof Ben Garrod and Dr Jess French are looking past the beautifully coloured plumage, and delving deep inside to learn what this bird of prey really eats and what keeps its great wings aloft.

Co-Presenters: Ben Garrod and Jess French
Executive Producer: Adrian Washbourne
Producer: Ella Hubber
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m001vs75)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m001vsfn)
White House mulls response to deadly strike on American troops

Why are England's maternity services struggling so badly?

The "holy grail" of shark science


MON 22:45 The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (m001vsfv)
1: 'That is what a son should be.'

Tom Hollander begins Madeline Miller's masterful retelling of Homer's Iliad - an electrifying tale of love, ambition and immortal fame.

In Ancient Greece, in the Age of Heroes, Prince Patroclus is a disappointment to his father. And after an act of shocking violence, he is exiled to the court of King Peleus, where he meets his son, the beautiful, golden-haired Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and, as they grow into young men, their bond blossoms into something deeper - to the fury of the gods.

But when news comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Before long the cruel Fates will test them both - and demand a terrible sacrifice.

Today: after a tragic accident, the young prince Patroclus is exiled to Phthia, where he meets the heroic young Prince Achilles...

Writer: Madeline Miller is the bestselling author of two novels: The Song of Achilles, which won the Orange Women’s Prize for Fiction 2012, and Circe, which was short-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019
Reader: Tom Hollander is an acclaimed and award-winning British stage and screen actor, known most recently for White Lotus, Gosford Park and In the Loop.
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Justine Willett


MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (m001vm4q)
Words for Sale!

Michael Rosen explores how language has become an online commodity, with Dr Pip Thornton, Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. Dr Thornton explains, with the help of auction props and a receipt machine, what happens to the words that we put into an online search and how the engines make money from our words and phrases. We discover why William Wordsworth's daffodils and clouds have had their context 'stolen', how Lewis Carroll wrote an incredibly 'cheap' poem and why mesothelioma is the most 'expensive' word. Plus Michael proposes a new form of poetry - the Monetised School of Poetry.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Ellie Richold


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001vsg1)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

TUESDAY 30 JANUARY 2024

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m001vsg5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Food for Life by Tim Spector (m001vs7d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001vsg9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001vsgf)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001vsgk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m001vsgp)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001vsgw)
A reflection to start the day with Mairéad Nic Craith, a Professor of Public Folklore at the University of the Highlands and Islands


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m001vsh4)
Thousands of French farmers have been protesting, blocking major routes across the country, and causing chaos on the roads around Paris. The tractor blockades follow similar action in Germany and Holland. The French protesters are calling for better returns after facing rising production costs, and for a change to environmental regulations which farmers say are putting them out of business.

All this week we're looking at trade. New post-Brexit import checks are coming in on 30th April - that means goods classed as "medium risk" under the Border Target Operating Model, will require new more stringent checks. The government's confirmed those rules won't come in for fruit and veg before October this year, but growers are worried the additional checks will add further friction to trade, and increased costs. We visit a grower and importer of salads in the Lea Valley and speak to the Fresh Produce Consortium who estimate that the changes could add £200 million to the cost of imports for their members.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03dwz7f)
Linnet

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Martin Hughes-Games presents the Linnet. Linnets gather in large flocks to feed on weed-seeds and the seeds of oilseed rape and flax left behind after harvesting. You can often identify the flocks from a distance as the birds circle over a field, by their tight formation and bouncing motion.


TUE 06:00 Today (m001vs7h)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 Things Fell Apart (p0h24c8j)
S2. Ep 4: Spicy Brando

How a disenfranchised young man, maddened by the strict lockdown laws in Michigan, joined a club of like-minded men and suddenly found himself under arrest for the most unlikely and horrific crime.

Written and presented by Jon Ronson
Produced by Sarah Shebbeare
Original music by Phil Channell


TUE 09:30 The Miners' Strike: Return Journey (m001vs7z)
Sunderland

The year long miners’ strike, that started in March 1984, dominated the news for 12 months. It’s been described as “a site of contested memories” and it still evokes strong feelings in those who lived through the strike and had direct experience of it.

Chris Jackson, in his very first job as a young radio reporter in South Wales, found himself covering the dispute that scarred a generation and more. Now, 40 years after the start of the strike, he’s meeting people from different sides, and together they return to a place that holds some very personal memories.

In this episode, Chris is in Sunderland to meet Neil Foster, a fourth generation miner who went on strike for the full year. They meet outside the Stadium of Light, the home ground of Sunderland Football Club, which is built on the former site of the Monkwearmouth Colliery. It’s where Neil worked and its where he got arrested on a picket line during the strike.

Presenter: Chris Jackson
Producer: Jo Dwyer
Executive Producer: Rosamund Jones
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 09:45 Food for Life by Tim Spector (m001vs8k)
Ep2 – The Magic of Mushrooms

Mushrooms are the fruit of fungi. They grow underground, in the damp, and in the dark, and they can be very peculiar in appearance. However, these adaptable creatures (when edible) contain multitudes of vitamins, proteins, and chemicals that are brilliant for our bodies. 

Tim Spector explores the mysterious world of mushrooms and reveals exactly what they have to offer. 

Written by Tim Spector
Read by John Lightbody
Abriged by Rosemary Goring
Produced by Naomi Walmsley


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001vs8y)
Misogyny in the music industry, author Lisa St Aubin de Terán, cervical smears

A new report comes out today by the Women and Equalities Select Committee about the serious problems faced by women in the music industry. To tell Emma Barnett what's in it is the Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee and Conservative MP Caroline Nokes. Emma also gets the reaction of academic and business research consultant Vick Bain.

Sky Sports presenter Jo Wilson has been gracing our screens since 2011, but what you might not have known is that Jo has also lived with Stage 3C cervical cancer. After a difficult birth experience in 2020, she was reluctant to book a smear test, but convinced herself to do it 19 months later leading to her diagnosis. Her treatment was successful, and she is now speaking out about her personal experience in a bid to encourage women to take up their smear tests. NHS data shows that almost a third of women in England did not attend their test last year. Emma speaks to Jo and to Theresa Freeman-Wang, consultant gynaecologist and clinical advisor to Jo’s Trust.

After 20 years of silence, prize-winning author Lisa St Aubin de Terán is back with a new book. Aged 16, Lisa married a Venezuelan landowner-turned-bank robber; she eventually ran away from him with her young daughter only to end up trapped in a castle with the Scottish poet George MacBeth. From there she eloped to Italy and in 2004 she settled in north Mozambique, establishing the Teran Foundation to develop community tourism. She lived there until 2022 when a cyclone took the roof off her house, and returned to London with a bag full of manuscripts including her memoir, Better Broken than New. She joins Emma in studio.

Last week we spoke about the record low birth rate in China as the country struggles to revert effects of the decades long one-child-policy. Today, we turn our attention to Japan. The population of the world’s third biggest economy has been declining for 16 years. An ageing workforce, combined with the country's strict immigration control, has, among other things, led to significant labour shortages. Could women be Japan’s hidden asset? Emma speaks to Moeka Iida, The Economist’s reporter and researcher in Tokyo.


TUE 11:00 Wild Inside (m001vs99)
The Aphid

The tiny sap-sucking aphid, at just a few millimetres long, is the scourge of many gardeners and crop-growers worldwide, spreading astonishingly rapidly and inflicting huge damage as it seeks to outwit many host plants’ natural defences. With insights and guidance from aphid expert George Seddon-Roberts at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, some delicate dissecting tools, and a state of the art microscope, Professor Ben Garrod and Dr Jess French delve inside this herbivorous insect to unravel the anatomy and physiology that’s secured its extraordinary reproductive success, whilst offering new clues as to how we could curtail its damaging impact in the future.

Co-Presenters: Ben Garrod and Jess French
Executive Producer: Adrian Washbourne
Producer: Ella Hubber
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


TUE 11:30 The Failure of the Future (m001vs9p)
Mirai No Haikyo

For decades, artists and scientists have dreamed up utopias that aim to reform the way we live. But why did they not become the future we are living in today? Is there something in those “what-might-have-beens” that’s worth returning to?

Writer and artist Johny Pitts explores a series of failed visions of the future. But rather than discarding them with the sands of time, he asks what we can learn from those past projections. And might elements of these forgotten worlds propel us towards a brighter tomorrow?

For Johny, there was a time when he felt he was living inside the future. Between 1950 and 1990, Japan was a time of great prosperity, innovation and invention. The nation seemed to be mapping out an advanced reality that could shape the future that the rest of the world might live in. And yet, that didn't come to fruition.

In this third episode, Johny zooms in on how Japanese artists had begun to carve out alternative visions of the future after living through a period of tumultuous change. Creators in post-war Japan had their hopes of utopias destroyed after witnessing the meteoric rise of the bubble era and the subsequent economic crash. They summed up what was left as "mirai no haikyo" meaning "ruins of the future". In response, Japanese artists were motivated to steer society towards new ideas for what the future could be. Might their imaginations of how to overcome times of hardship be useful to us today?

Presenter: Johny Pitts
Producer and sound design: Anishka Sharma
Mix Engineer: Andy Fell
Executive Producer: Phil Smith

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m001vsb0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m001vsbf)
Call You and Yours: How are smoking and vaping affecting you, your family and your friends?

On today’s Call You and Yours we want to hear about your experience of smoking and vaping. What it’s like if you’re trying to give up? And how did you get hooked in the first place? The Government wants to ban disposable vapes to help tackle the rise in the number of young people taking up vaping. It’s already said it’s going to ban cigarette sales to anyone born after 2008 to create “a smoke free generation”. Figures from the Action on Smoking and Health charity (Ash) suggest the number of 11 to 17-year-olds now vaping regularly or occasionally have almost doubled since 2020.

Are you a parent or do you work with young people and are concerned by the impact of vaping or smoking?
Or are you one of the many people who’ve used vapes to quit smoking? What’s your experience of using vapes? Has it helped you to stop smoking?

We want to hear your stories – both good and bad. How are smoking and vaping affecting you, your family and your friends?

Call us on 03700 100 444. Lines are open at 11 am on Tuesday January 30th. You can also email us now at youandyours@bbc.co.uk
Don't forget to include a phone number so we can call you back.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Tara Holmes


TUE 12:57 Weather (m001vsbr)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m001vsc2)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


TUE 13:45 Ian Hislop's Oldest Jokes (m001vscf)
Parody and Sir Topaz

There are a number of themes or types or techniques in British comedy that seem to survive any social or political upheaval. We love wordplay, we're suckers for Double entendre and while animals can be cute or terrifying, they can also make us laugh. In this series Ian Hislop looks back to try and find the first examples of these jokes or comedy genres. We love a good parody but when did that become a thing? Can we really find Anglo-Saxon Double Entendre? You bet we can, and filthy to boot, another trove of British Humour.
He visits libraries, museums and chapels, and also talks to comedy stars and writers of today like Nina Conti, Paul Whitehouse, comedy song writing duo Flo and Joan and parodist Craig Brown.

And it's the art of parody that's the subject of today's programme as Ian visits Oxford's Bodleian library with Professor Marion Turner, to look at Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th century humble-brag parody, the Tale of Sir Topaz, from his Canterbury tales. It's the tale told by Chaucer himself, the poet pilgrim mocked by the host and apparently for good reason because the rhyme scheme and subject of Sir Topaz is award-winningly awful. The targets of the parody, the romance tales of the era are less familiar now, but Ian is still able to rejoice in the verse and the beautiful manuscript in which it has been captured. Craig Brown offers expert observation from today's perspective, explaining what is required of the parodist and why a good parody is much more than a simple imitation.

Producer; Tom Alban


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m001vsct)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m001vsd6)
Exodus to Shanghai

As the Nazi regime rose to power in the 1930s, Jews in Germany and Austria faced increasing discrimination and violence. Stripped of their citizenship, names, and the means to earn a living, many were desperate to escape and began looking for potential safe havens around the world.

Their options were few. The US only wanted refugees who could support themselves financially, which ruled most people out, and the UK would only grant entry to women who were willing to fill vacant jobs as housekeepers. Those accepted were allowed to take one child with them – but only one.

And then a rumour began to spread that there was a city whose doors were open to everyone - Shanghai in China. It was a long sea journey away from Europe but if you could get there, you could enter freely, without a visa. Many sold the last of their possessions to buy a ticket for one of the boats leaving from Genoa or Trieste in Italy. Months later they arrived in Shanghai with virtually nothing.

Fast forward to the late 1980s. After hearing stories from his grandmother, Steve Hochstadt, a historian, began tracking down and interviewing elderly German and Austrian Jews who had escaped to Shanghai, and were still alive to tell the tale. Thanks to Professor Hochstadt, and the archive he collected, we are able to give voice to some of the 20,000 people that China helped to save.

This drama-documentary is composed of the accounts of five people, taken from Steve Hochstadt’s interviews, and includes an additional description of leaving Vienna originally given by Lisbeth Loewenberg.

The words of Ernest Culman are read by Anton Lesser; Paul Reisman by Henry Goodman; Melitta Colland by Joanne Whalley; Trude Reisman by Samantha Spiro; and Gerard Kohbieter by Elliot Levey.

Music composed by John Biddle
Sound design by Iain Hunter.

Adapted and directed by Kate McAll
A Rhiannon Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m001vsdf)
Series 37

Roots

Josie Long presents short documentaries that go back to the start. The musician Lucinda Chua traces the journey of a rose, a connection is forged between a young woman now and a trapeze artist on New Year's Eve 1942, and a touching personal archive illuminates the journey of a word.

Muscles and Mysteries
Produced by Teresa Kristoffersson

First Words
Produced by Kalli Anderson
Featuring the voices of Kalli's parents, Kathy Hunt and Lance Anderson, as well as Kalli's husband, Zack Finkelstein, and their two children, aged 12 and 8.

Reclaiming The Rose
Produced, narrated and music by Lucinda Chua
Chinese Narration by XiaoQiao
Poetry in English and Chinese by He Sun

Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:30 The Israeli Hostages (m001vxlh)
Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostages, including children and babies, women, and elderly people.

The exact numbers are still changing. Some of the hostages have been released under a deal brokered by Qatar, but many remain in captivity inside Gaza.

Anna Foster talks to people who were there when the attacks happened at the kibbutzim and the Nova music festival. They share the pain of hiding and trying to escape, as their loved ones were killed or taken away from them.

This is their story.

Presented by Anna Foster
Produced by Louise Clarke
Edited by Clare Fordham
The Technical Producer was Richard Hannaford


TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (m001vsdp)
Unequal English

Michael Rosen is joined by language scholar Ruanni Tupas, to discuss Unequal English - how native English is perceived differently, depending on where you come from.

Ruanni, who's from the Philippines and also spent two decades in Singapore, has spent his career thinking about what it means to be a native English speaker when you come from somewhere other than the West. He chats with Michael about his own experience of speaking four languages (English and three Philippine languages), how being judged by how he spoke English at university affected the rest of his life and research, and what it means for his children speaking English as a first language, havng grown up in Singapore. They also discuss what is really meant by English as a 'global language', and why he prefers thinking of multi-lingualism as having a language repertoire.

Ruanni Tupas is Associate Professor of Sociolinguistics at UCL, London.

Produced by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio Bristol


TUE 16:30 A Good Read (m001vsdy)
Ian Rankin and Colin MacIntyre

THE GLASS PEARLS by Emeric Pressburger chosen by Ian Rankin
WIDOW BASQUIAT by Jennifer Clement chosen by Colin MacIntyre
THE PATIENCE STONE by Atiq Rahimi chosen by Harriett Gilbert

Rebus creator, Ian Rankin, expresses his admiration for filmmaker and novelist Emeric Pressburger's skilfully empathetic characterisation of a fleeing Nazi war criminal in his novel, The Glass Pearls. All the more impressive when you realise that Pressburger was a Hungarian Jew who'd had to flee Nazi Germany.

Mull Historical Society singer-songwriter, Colin MacIntyre, recommends Widow Basquiat by Jennifer Clement - the biography of the New York street artist Jean Michel Basquiat's long suffering girlfriend and muse Suzanne, documenting their life together in the New York art scene of the early 1980s, a time when hip-hop, New Wave and street art converged to make New York the edgy centre of a burgeoning arts scene.

Presenter Harriett Gilbert chooses The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi, a novel told from an Afghan woman's perspective, as she sits in one room praying over the comatose body of her wounded fighter husband. Battles rage outside, as she sits and prays for his recovery. But as time passes, her voice becomes louder and more powerful as her rage grows.

Producer: Maggie Ayre, BBC Audio Bristol


TUE 17:00 PM (m001vsf6)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001vsfg)
The Democratic Unionist Party has accepted a deal with the UK government


TUE 18:30 The Ultimate Choice (m001vsfq)
Series 2

5: Crabs v Wasps

Steph McGovern asks some seriously funny minds to offer definitive answers to the great questions of our age. Or not.

Welcome to the world's most devious game of Would You Rather? With guests Russell Kane and Isy Suttie.

Host: Steph McGovern
Guests: Russell Kane and Isy Suttie
Devised and written by Jon Harvey & Joseph Morpurgo
With additional material from Laura Major
Researcher: Leah Marks
Recorded and mixed by David Thomas
Producer: Jon Harvey
Executive Producers: Ed Morrish and Polly Thomas
Photo: Carolyn Mendelsohn

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m001vsfw)
As the fashion show draws nearer Mia is starting to unravel under the stress. In the village shop while collecting boxes she unintentionally offends Susan, implying that Neil wouldn’t be suitable as her senior male model. She’s unable to conceal her anger over Eddie dropping out. Unfortunately, she seems to be offending people left and right, with the Button sisters angry with her for comments she has made about their hair and Chelsea furious about the fallout. Later when Brad is helping her sort through clothes, Mia gets a message saying that Kenton has agreed to be her senior model. This good news doesn’t seem to quiet her nerves, however. And they have an argument when Brad refuses to model for her in his green velvet suit. Brad storms out.

At the Bull, Kenton and Jolene are pleased with how the evening has gone, praising Tracy for her hard work in tidying up the beer garden to make it look inviting. Whilst clearing up at the end of the night, Jolene notices some men with vehicles in the car park. Kenton tells her he saw them earlier but assumed they had taken a wrong turn. Alarmed, Jolene goes to call the police but realises she’s left her phone upstairs. While she’s gone Kenton goes out and yells at the men that they can’t stay there when a large dog breaks loose and attacks him. When Jolene returns she finds him lying in the car park, in agony and covered in blood, with the men having disappeared. Distraught, she calls an ambulance, pleading for them to come quickly.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m001vsg0)
Jonny Greenwood of The Smile, Self Esteem on music industry report, Artes Mundi prize winner

The Smile is a trio comprising Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner. That Yorke and Greenwood are members of Radiohead assures keen interest the band. Nick Ahad talks to Jonny Greenwood about Wall of Eyes, The Smile’s second album. After many years Greenwood still enjoys making music with Yorke, and drummer Tom Skinner adds to the excitement.

The winner of this year’s Artes Mundi prize, the UK’s leading international contemporary art prize is Taloi Havinian, an artist from the Autonomous Region of Bougainvillle – an island nation in the South West Pacific. Havinian joins Front Row to discuss her work which has been described as a “visual composition of the experiences of Bougainvilleans with colonialism, mining, resistance, and land and water protection, from the 1960s to the present day.”

Sexism and misogyny are rife in the music industry, a boys club where sexual harassment and abuse are common, according to a Government report. The musician Self Esteem has her say.

A report from the rugged, mythical coast just outside of Newcastle, the location which inspired David Almond’s A Song For Ella Grey, an award-winning novel being adapted for stage by Zoe Cooper and directed by Pilot Theatre’s Esther Richardson.

Presenter: Nick Ahad
Producer: Ekene Akalawu


TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m001vsg4)
Ireland's Far Right Riot

When three young children and their carer were stabbed outside a school in Dublin, protests against immigration began, fuelled by rumours on social media. A night of rioting then followed, with shops looted, vehicles set alight, and police attacked. The rioting has placed immigration centre stage of Irish politics, with one of the country’s most famous sports stars, mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, claiming Ireland is “at war” and saying he wants to be president. File on 4 investigates what caused the riots, and asks is Ireland at a turning point in its history?

Reporter: Shane Harrison
Producers: Fergus Hewison and Surya Elango
Technical Producer: Sue Stonestreet
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m001vsg8)
Local sight loss charities; Doctor Who

Local sight loss charities exist throughout the UK to provide practical and emotional support to blind and visually impaired people. We wanted to learn more about the services they offer and the challenges they face. Fiona Sandford is the CEO of Visionary, the membership organisation for these charities and she joins us to answer our questions.

The immensely popular BBC programme Doctor Who recently celebrated it's 60th anniversary. We look at how the show has been made more accessible to its many blind fans and speak to some of the people who have made it happen.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Fern Lulham
Production Coordinator: Liz Poole

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch"; and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to
the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.’


TUE 21:00 Inside Health (m001vsgd)
A guide to the perimenopause

It’s been referred to as puberty in reverse but what actually is the perimenopause? How do you know if you’re in it? What can you do to soften the symptoms and what can men do to help those they care about going through it? Inside Health is talking about the peri-menopossibilities and learning why it’s not as bad as you’ve been led to believe. Endocrinologist Professor Annice Mukherjee and Professor in Reproductive Science at University College London Joyce Harper are alongside Inside Health's resident GP Margaret McCartney and presenter Laura Foster. They're answering your questions to help demystify the perimenopause.

Presenter: Laura Foster
Producer: Tom Bonnett


TUE 21:30 Things Fell Apart (p0h24c8j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m001vsgj)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (m001vsgn)
2: 'He will be a god.'

Tom Hollander continues Madeline Miller's masterful retelling of the Trojan War - an electrifying tale of love, ambition and immortal fame.

In Ancient Greece, in the Age of Heroes, the awkward young prince Patroclus, is exiled to the court of King Peleus, where he meets his son Achilles - strong, swift, and beautiful. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men, their bond blossoms into something deeper.

But when news comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Soon the cruel Fates will test them both and demand a terrible sacrifice.

Today: after Achilles choses Patroclus as a companion, their friendship blossoms - to the fury of Achilles' mother, the sea goddess Thetis...

Writer: Madeline Miller
Reader: Tom Hollander
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Justine Willett


TUE 23:00 Icklewick FM (m001vsgv)
2. The Queue

Chris and Amy are left scratching their chuffs when a mysterious queue forms in the middle of Icklewick. Concerned mum Sharon L’Beech is furious (as per) but luckily, IcklewickFM’s roving reporter Simon Toke is actually on the scene for once! Too bad he gets immediately swept up in the mass hysteria before he can find out any answers.

Meanwhile, magician and local lad done good The Great Zambino drops into the studio to promote his new tour and confirm he’s definitely, definitely not a virgin.

Mr Patel would like to confirm that there is nothing blue in this episode.

Created and written by Chris Cantrill and Amy Gledhill with additional material from the cast.

Starring:

Lucy Beaumont
Tom Burgess
Tai Campbell
Janice Connolly
Phil Ellis
Colin Hoult
Katia Kvinge
Alex Lowe
Nimisha Odedra
Nicola Redman
Mark Silcox
Shivani Thussu

Sound Design and Music by Jack Lewis Evans.
The Line Producer is Laura Shaw.

Produced by Benjamin Sutton.

Icklewick FM is A Daddy’s SuperYacht Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001vsgz)
Susan Hulme reports as MPs question the government about the proposed takeover of The Telegraph.