SATURDAY 05 DECEMBER 2009

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b00p352h)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b00p6yws)
The Hair of the Dog and Other Scientific Surprises

Episode 5

Karl Sabbagh book explores the surprising science behind seemingly trivial assumptions.

A ship that repaired itself; how the earliest telephones worked without bells; why it's a good thing for skyscrapers to sway; and how Europe to America in an hour, by train, may one day become a reality.

Read by Toby Longworth.

Abridged by Libby Spurrier.

A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00p352k)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00p352m)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00p352p)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b00p358j)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00p358l)
Daily prayer and reflection with Andrew Graystone.


SAT 05:45 Running Away (b00f671m)
Andrew Sachs

Actor Andrew Sachs needs little persuasion to take a well-earned break from penning his autobiography and enjoy a grand day out at the zoo - and a stroll down memory lane.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b00p358n)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SAT 06:04 Weather (b00p3nz0)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (b00p3nz2)
Gloucestershire Wildlife ER

Helen Mark visits Vale Wildlife Rescue, a hospital where wild animals and birds are taken when they're found injured in Gloucestershire and the surrounding region. Perhaps surprisingly, the hospital provides good indicators of the health of local wildlife: it's possible to tell which species are flourishing by the numbers brought in. They also run wildlife rehabilitation courses for people who want to know what to do when they come across an injured animal or bird.

Helen talks to the staff, and meets patients and long-term residents, including owls, buzzards, foxes, deer....and a skunk. A colony of skunks has sprung up in the nearby Forest of Dean and one was recently brought into the Rescue centre. The family who captured the skunk tell of their adventure, and why it is that skunks are now to be found living wild in the UK.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b00p3nz4)
Farming Today This Week

From robotic milking machines to meat grown in a petri-dish, Farming Today This Week takes a close look at the innovations and advances in agricultural technology that will help to feed future generations.

Charlotte Smith puts research and development under the spotlight and meets the farmers and scientists striving to take agriculture forward.


SAT 06:57 Weather (b00p3nz6)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (b00p3nz8)
Presented by John Humphrys and James Naughtie.

American student Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, have been found guilty of murdering British student Meredith Kercher in a drunken sex game two years ago. Ms Knox has been sentenced to 26 years in prison and Mr Sollecito to 25 years in prison. Correspondent Dominic Hughes reports from Perugia.

Conservative leader David Cameron is in Afghanistan to meet British troops. He has promised to double the allowance paid to soldiers returning from the combat and pledged to set up a war cabinet and appoint a national security advisor, if he wins the next election. Political editor Nick Robinson analyses Mr Cameron's defence policies.

The inquiry into the 2003 Iraq invasion has been hearing from leading public figures for a fortnight. Many revelations have come to light, including the influence of the Blair-Bush bond. Correspondent Peter Hunt reflects on the week's events.

A High Court judge has ruled that the South African Zulu tradition of bull slaying can continue, despite attempts by animal rights activists to ban it. The killing is a symbol of gratitude for the harvest. Correspondent Karen Allen reports from Johannesburg.

Steelmaker Corus has confirmed it will cut production at its Teesside factory, putting 1,700 people out of work. The company said it has struggled to find new orders for the site in Redcar since an Italian-led consortium pulled out of a deal to for the supply of its products earlier this year. Peter Rogan, engineering team leader at the Lackenby site in Redcar, discusses the job losses.

The United Nations has adopted a Bob Dylan song as its unofficial anthem for the climate change summit in Copenhagen. Correspondent Barbara Plett reports on the preparations for the summit.

The British Trust for Ornithology is celebrating 100 years of 'ringing' at their annual conference today. Ringing birds with small tags and has provided almost all the existing data on migration patters, and has ranged from the use of metal to sophisticated satellite tags. Dr Phil Atkinson, head of international research at the British Trust for Ornithology, discusses the historical importance of ringing.

Thought for the Day with Rev Rob Marshall, an Anglican priest.

President Obama announced his long-awaited Afghan policy earlier this week. 30,000 troops are to be sent to the region over the next six months, with an exit strategy planned to commence in 2010. Professor Akbar Ahmed, former Pakistan high commissioner in London and currently the chairman of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington DC, discusses the implications of the speech and strategy for Pakistan.

Conservative leader David Cameron has promised to maintain a long-term commitment to Afghanistan if he wins the next general election. On a visit to the country, he pledged to double the allowance paid to soldiers returning from the region and to set up a war cabinet. Mr Cameron discusses his Afghan policies.

An Italian court has convicted American student Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend of murdering British student Meredith Kercher. The case has taken two years to complete and gripped the world. American journalist Andrea Vogt, who has been following the case, reacts to the sentence.

Do you prefer to write with a keyboard or pen? A typewriter belonging to American novelist Cormac McCarthy has sold for 150,000 pounds at an auction in New York. The old light blue Olivetti machine was used by the novelist for 50 years, and has shocked some writers who use a computer to work. Crime writer Ian Rankin, who uses a computer, and author Philip Henshaw, who writes his works with a green pen, discuss writers' implement of choice.

How do you balance scientific facts with public policy? Scientists are faced with pressure to present evidence on issues of public policy and to lobby for a particular outcome. Leaked emails from the University of East Anglia which imply that climate change data was manipulated have demonstrated the clash between politics and science. Correspondent Tom Feilden reports on the latest 'emailgate' developments, and Professor Malcolm Grant, President and Provost of UCL, discusses how far politics should rely on science.

UN peacekeepers have been in Haiti for more than five years to restore order. Many are wondering why they have remained in the country, which has seen a huge drop in the number of murders, rapes and kidnappings. US authorities have scaled down travel warnings for the country and former president Bill Clinton has been calling on richer nations to invest there. But, with legislative elections due next year, tensions remain high and there are fears that the current situation could be the calm before the storm. In the last of three reports, correspondent Mike Thomson examines Haiti's political climate.

Royal Bank of Scotland's decision to pay out huge bonuses has come under criticism from the Treasury and the public, who want


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b00p3nzb)
The Rev Richard Coles is joined by Industry Leader for Technology at Google Sarah Speake. With poetry from Matt Harvey.


SAT 10:00 Excess Baggage (b00p3p53)
Actor Richard Johnson, star of Hollywood films, stage and radio, was interested in environmental issues long before they became a widespread concern. He talks to Sandi Toksvig about his latest real-life role as the founder of a responsible tourism website which enables people to find and compare green destinations. He has also taken up travel writing for a newspaper and reveals how it has led him to go white water rafting at the age of 82.

Angola is often described as war-torn although the civil war, which ravaged the country for decades, is now over. Sandi meets Mike Stead, formerly 'our man in Luanda', about why he has written a guide to a country where there are few tourists and whose facilities for them can be measured by the fact that it has, apparently, only one working escalator.


SAT 10:30 Bob Marley: The Chrysler Year (b00p3p56)
Lifelong reggae fan Jonathan Charles traces the missing year when Bob Marley dropped out of the Jamaican music scene and spent a year driving a forklift truck in the Chrysler car factory in Wilmington, Delaware.

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (b00p3p58)
Peter Riddell of The Times takes soundings on whether or not President Obama's troop surge in Afghanistan will work.

He also unpicks the latest drive for independence by the SNP in Scotland, and hears why a record-breaking number of MPs are standing down at the general election.

There's also a look at the latest reforms on conduct and expenses in the House of Lords. What's to be done about peers who don't show up?


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b00p3pkz)
Kate Adie introduces BBC foreign correspondents with the stories behind the headlines.

It's been a turbulent few days in the history of Guinea on Africa's west coast. The country's military leader was attacked as those around him argued over who would be blamed for a massacre of opposition supporters in September. Mark Doyle's just back from the capital Conakry, where he heard repeated demands for those responsible for the killings to be brought to justice.

The days ahead will reveal much about the world's determination - or lack of it - to confront the challenge of global warming. Will the nations gathered at the Copenhagen summit strike the kind of deal that will really make a difference? We'll hear the politicians talk, and watch the activists march. But far from the conference chamber, almost unnoticed, some of the world's poorest people will be struggling to cope with the hard realities of climate change. David Shukman explains what the rising temperatures mean for one neighbourhood in Bolivia.

'The earthquake itself was terrifying. The shaking and shaking went on forever,' said a survivor on the South Pacific island of Samoa. But what came next was even worse. Dozens of people were swept to their death in the tsunami triggered by the quake. All that was about two months ago. And now Samoa's people are gradually coming to terms with the aftermath of the disaster. John Pickford is just back from Samoa and says its society has been drawing on all its traditional resilience.

'Africa's time has come'. Those were the words of the South African delegation as the country claimed the right to stage the World Cup. It's still more than six months to the kick-off, but already you can feel the anticipation mounting. Andrew Harding says there are, of course, all the usual worries. Will there be enough hotel rooms, transport and so on? And in a country which has become associated with incidents of violent crime, will the World Cup visitors be safe?

Muslims around the world have just celebrated one of the major events in their calendar, Eid al-Adha. It's a time deeply imbued with notions of sacrifice and obedience to God. But the festival is also an occasion for dressing smartly, visiting relatives, handing out presents and eating! And as Luke Freeman explains, the tradition of the feast means that one particular animal suddenly finds itself in a rather awkward spot.


SAT 12:00 Money Box (b00p3pl1)
Paul Lewis with the latest news from the world of personal finance.

Card transaction fees anger airline customers, but how can you avoid them?

Home insulation grants get squeezed.

Money Box listeners debate 'feckless' borrowers.

And how to be taxed as a foreigner, even if you're born here.


SAT 12:30 The Now Show (b00p34yr)
Series 29

Episode 2

Tonight Steve Punt & Hugh Dennis assess the threat of the nuclear family; Marcus Brigstocke meets his nemesis; Mitch Benn seeks independence for Alex Salmond and Jon Holmes explains why Dubai is worse than Margate.


SAT 12:57 Weather (b00p3pl3)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 13:00 News (b00p3pl5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b00p34yt)
Eddie Mair chairs the topical debate from Stratford-upon-Avon. Panellists include director of Liberty Shami Chakrabarti, broadcaster John Sergeant, associate editor of The Times Daniel Finkelstein and columnist AA Gill.


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b00p3pl7)
Eddie Mair takes listeners' calls and emails in response to this week's edition of Any Questions?


SAT 14:30 Saturday Drama (b00817zc)
Dover Beats the Band

Comedy thriller by Joyce Porter, dramatised by Paul Mendelson.

Inspector Dover, with less than total enthusiasm, investigates the murder of a mild-mannered philatelist in a holiday camp. His sergeant, however, cares a bit too much. But as the investigation begins to uncover a sinister conspiracy, even Scotland Yard's laziest detective becomes determined to catch the killer.

Chief Inspector Dover ...... Kenneth Cranham
Sergeant McGregor ...... Stuart McQuarrie
Dr Hirst/Nora Hull ...... Joanna Tope
Captain Maguire/Sven ...... Michael Mackenzie
Sir Egbert Rankin/Rupert Pettit ...... Finlay McLean
Inspector Telford/Osmond ...... Nick Underwood
Sandra/Doreen Knapper ...... Lucy Paterson
Mavis/WPC Elvira Marchmount ...... Samantha Young

Other parts played by members of the cast.

Directed by David Ian Neville.


SAT 15:30 Tales from the Stave (b00p2cq0)
Series 5

Bach's B-Minor Mass

There are very few scores anywhere in the world of more value than Bach's famous Mass. So fragile is it that the Berlin library where it's kept (the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin) allows only a very few people ever to see it, let alone touch it.

Choral conductor Simon Halsey and the Bach soprano Deborah York join Frances at the Library to get closer to the great German composer's extraordinary industry and to catch a glimpse of his humanity. It is often half-jokingly said that, to his fans, Bach is not so much a composer as a religion; but here, in his neat hand, are the crossings out and re-workings of a man still seeking to perfect music, much of which was written earlier in his life.

Simon Halsey has described the B-Minor Mass as 'Bach's greatest hits', since in many ways it is a compilation of pieces he had composed over a number of years. The Berlin score isn't simply a fair copy of this assembly, but shows Bach still hard at work, changing his mind, rewriting - a phrase shifted here, a key modulated there - introducing new instrumentation and striving for something better.

There is also an incredible technological story to tell. Bach's pages are literally thick with music - so thick that in many places the ink has actually burned through the paper, leaving it almost impossible to read. So the Library has had to split the single pages open and insert a protective sheet to stabilise the ink-burn.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b00p3pl9)
Weekend Woman's Hour

Highlights of this week's Woman's Hour programmes with Jane Garvey.

Delia Smith's advice on cooking turkeys, puddings and more festive fare; black and white relationships in the era depicted by Andrea Levy's novel Small Island; childbirth and identifying those at risk of serious mental health problems; singer Annie Lennox on World AIDS Day; is there a need for a female alternative to Viagra?; and performance from cabaret artist Camille O'Sullivan.


SAT 16:56 1989: Day by Day (b00p3plc)
5th December 1989

Sir John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 20 years ago.

Mrs Thatcher faces her first leadership challenge.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 17:00 PM (b00p3plf)
Saturday PM

Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Carolyn Quinn, plus the sports headlines.


SAT 17:30 iPM (b00p3plh)
The weekly interactive current affairs magazine featuring online conversation and debate.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b00p3plk)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (b00p3plm)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00p3plp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b00p3plr)
Clive Anderson and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.

Clive is joined by the Liberal Democrat MP Vince Cable, entertainer Lionel Blair and restaurateur Oliver Peyton.

Emma Freud talks to professional time waster Robin Cooper, a man who delights in sending organisations and clubs absurd letters and phone calls, with humourous results.

With music from singer-songwriter Lissie and the soul-jazz sounds of Michael Olatuja.


SAT 19:00 From Fact to Fiction (b00p3plt)
Series 7

Ghost Writing

The trial of alleged Nazi guard John Demjanjuk has begun in Munich. Jeremy Front looks at why it's still important to confront one's past. Performed by David Schneider and Geoffrey Hutchings.


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b00p3q4b)
Steven Soderbergh's latest film The Girlfriend Experience and the V&A's new Medieval and Renaissance Galleries

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by writers Susan Jeffreys and Miranda Sawyer and musician Pat Kane to discuss the cultural highlights of the week.

Debbie Allen's Broadway all-black production of Tennessee Williams' play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof comes to London. A powerful Southern family gathers at a birthday celebration for patriarch Big Daddy, who is unaware he is dying. In a scramble to secure their part of his estate, family members hide the truth about his diagnosis from him and Big Mama. Tensions mount between their son, alcoholic former football hero Brick, and his beautiful but sexually frustrated wife Maggie, 'the Cat'. As their troubled relationship reaches a stormy climax, family secrets are revealed.

Director Steven Soderbergh's latest film The Girlfriend Experience tells the story of Chelsea, a 2,000 dollar-an-hour escort in Manhattan. Her services include a 'girlfriend experience' where she'll dress with the client in mind, go to dinner and a movie and listen attentively to talk about work and finances. Clients can buy her time but do they ever get the real her? Former porn star Sasha Grey plays Chelsea.

The Victoria and Albert museum's new Medieval and Renaissance Galleries have taken seven years and 31.75 million pounds to create. Collections are presented in continuous displays to tell the story of European art and design from the fall of the Roman Empire to the end of the Renaissance period. More than 1800 works of art are on display, including important loans from the British Library, the British Museum and the National Gallery.

We've also been looking at the yearly annuals of political cartoons including the Daily Telegraph's financial strip Alex, the Peter Brooks cartoons in the Times and Matt, the Telegraph's front page cartoonist.

And enjoying The Art of Russia, a new BBC4 series in which presenter Andrew Graham-Dixon traces the prehistoric elements of Russian culture through the influence of Byzantine art.


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b00p3q4d)
The Turner Prize Turnaround

As the Turner Prize reaches its 25th year, art critic Waldemar Januszczak considers its transformation from a widely criticised award to a much anticipated and often controversial annual spectacle. Januszczak looks back at the art and artists that have grabbed the headlines and investigates how the Turner Prize has influenced the appreciation of modern art in Britain, with millions now visiting Tate Modern.

The programme includes new interviews with Turner Prize-winner Damien Hirst, Tate director Nicholas Serota and art critics Matthew Collings and Sarah Kent.


SAT 21:00 Classic Serial (b00p1fj2)
Book 1: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Part 1

Dramatisation by Shaun McKenna of John le Carre's classic novel featuring intelligence officer George Smiley.

Ever since the capture and torture of their agent in Czechoslovakia, the British Secret Intelligence Service has been in trouble. Now, the government has been forced to call George Smiley back from retirement to investigate the whole incident and to seek out the mole they believe to be at the heart of the service.

George Smiley ...... Simon Russell Beale
Ann Smiley ...... Anna Chancellor
Jim Prideaux ...... Anthony Calf
Peter Guillam ...... Ewan Bailey
Oliver Lacon ...... Alex Jennings
Ricki Tarr ...... Jamie Foreman
Irina ...... Vera Filatova
Mendel ...... Kenneth Cranham
Connie Sachs ...... Maggie Steed
Magyar ...... Peter Majer
Roddy Martindale ...... Philip Fox
Bill Roach ...... Ryan Watson

This episode is available until 3.00pm on Sunday 2nd May as part of the Series Catch-up Trial.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b00p3qg6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 22:15 Moral Maze (b00p2z8m)
Michael Buerk chairs a debate on the moral questions behind the week's news. Michael Portillo, Matthew Taylor, Claire Fox and Clifford Longley cross-examine witnesses.

Can science ever be truly morally neutral? The leaking of e-mails from the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit has raised the issue of where should we draw the line between science and campaigning? In a complex world of competing interests, it's vital that we have an independent and rational method to judge and inform policies. But is it naive to expect scientists to put their personal views aside when dealing with such an important issue? Do we rely too much on scientific evidence to shape policy and is it driving out political and moral debate in society?

Witnesses:

Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist Green Peace

Professor John Milbank, Professor of Religion, Politics and Ethics at Nottingham University

Dr Ben Goldacre, full-time medic, science journalist and author of Bad Science

Professor Lewis Wolpert, Emeritus Professor in Cell and Developmental Biology at University College, London.


SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (b00p28w7)
Russell Davies chairs the eighth heat of the perennial general knowledge contest, with contestants from the Midlands.


SAT 23:30 Adventures in Poetry (b00p1ftk)
Series 10

An Arundel Tomb

Peggy Reynolds explores the background, effect and lasting appeal of some well-loved poems.

Philip Larkin was disappointed by his 'Tomb poem': one of the pivotal details was wrong and another, he discovered, had been invented by a Victorian restorer 500 years later. 'Muddle to the end,' he complained, and yet it is now one of his best-loved and most quoted poems.